It's the last week of the current semester, so the past ten days have been super-busy, and the next few days will be similarly full-on, but today has been the eye of the storm, and so quiet I actually got to take my full lunch hour, and start to get caught up on my LIS blog reading!
Here's a quick snapshot of the posts and articles which most caught my eye today:
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Defining “Authentic Librarianship” | Peer to Peer Review | Rick Anderson
"to me, authentic librarianship is motivated primarily by concern for those we serve as librarians, rather than by concern for our own agendas or preferences."
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Library Instruction Outlines | Portland State University (pdf)
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My Five Blocks of Library Outreach: conceptualizing the engagement impulse | Brian Mathews
"That’s when you know you are on to something—when it becomes less about the library pushing it’s own ideas, but instead, evolves into collaborating with that user community for the benefit of all."
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‘I Need Some Help Over Here!’ | Brian Mathews
"Shouldn’t our conversations always be about improving the user/student/instructor/researcher experience? Their success is our success, yes?"
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A study of the information search behaviour of the millennial generation | Arthur Taylor
"The longitudinal study detailed in this paper evaluated the search behaviour of millennial generation students conducting information searches in a naturalistic environment... Research has provided little insight into how information behaviour differs on the Internet, specifically with the millennial generation, and whether or not previously identified models are appropriate. Results could provide the basis for improved information search process models which better reflect current technology and the generation of information seekers raised with this technology."
(there's something about the tone of this report that bothers me slightly, if I'm honest, but actual research on US undergraduate business students is not to be sneezed at. Although - data collected in 2007, report in 2012? Think of the impact of ipads, e-readers and the like, none of which were around when this data was collected.)
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How Do We Want Students to Feel About the Library? | Brian Mathews
"If we think about these life-defining chaotic moments then the first semester of college has to be one of those key times. Leaving home, moving away, losing friends, independence, academic stress, pressure to succeed, opportunities for fun and romance. It’s a swirl of commotion. And it’s a perfect time for establishing a relationship with the library."
(switch out "first semester of college" for "arriving in a foreign city" and it's like he just reached inside my head and articulated something that's been brewing away in there for a while, about our program, and about the library.)
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Yes, that's quite a high concentration of Brian Mathews, but I seem to like the way he thinks!
