I am on a bibliographic instruction kick lately and I have been obsessing over communicating tech skills to everyone from students to the general public. Having done instruction for both the general public and for a variety of students, I can safely say, as librarians, we should never be done thinking about this topic. Even if we don't do formal instruction, whenever we talk to a patron we are, in a sense, doing bibliographic instruction. As I go through and re-think some of my classes and how I talk to patrons, a few things became crystal clear.
First, remember the learner. What do they want? What do they know? A freshman English composition student is not the same as a over 40 year old commuting grad student. A senior citizen is not the same as a teenager, even if the skill levels are identical. Tailor your conversation and your examples to what would be meaningful for your learner. Process and context are more important than "content".
Second, remember your goals. (If you don't have instructional goals, please get one!) For senior citizens learning technology, my goal is helping them gain confidence to ask additional questions and to not be afraid to try "something". For a college freshman, I want them to think about the library as the first place to go when they have questions. Notice that the my goal was NOT to impart total knowledge of a database or do some kind of "fact dump" on someone.
Regardless of the kind of library, the job of the librarian is to help the user navigate the minefield of knowledge and technology. Be sensitive to our learners and realize that "telling" someone something is not the same as teaching or training.
Mary
Mary, I really appreciate all the very practical advice you post on this blog. I am a new(ish) librarian who just started a new position as an adjunct librarian at a large community college. My audience is often incredibly mixed--adult learners who are returning to school with various computer abilities, freshmen who are computer literate but have never done academic research, etc. etc. Defining a goal for this sort of group is daunting. Do you have any advice for this sort of situation?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am often asked by professors to give their specific classes a "library orientation" session. This is often less than 1 hour. I'm struggling to avoid simply "telling" my students, but there's so much to cover in such a small amount of time! How do I convey the most vital info while also actively engaging them?
I have been there! Each situation might be different, but stick to one or two concepts at most. Work it to death and use a topic that is kind of fun or provocative (use your judgement of course!) Avoid showing "additional options" or stuff that librarians think are cool. Choose one general purpose, full text database. The worst thing is trying to cover too much... (I had a real disaster with this approach and everyone was overwhelmed and learned NOTHING)
ReplyDeleteEvery opportunity with a student should also include the phrase "of course I can't show you everything, but feel free to ask as many times...etc." I also tell them there is no point in trying to "memorize" because someone will change it up just when they get the hang of it!