Course Reflection LIS 501: History and Foundations of Libraries and Librarianship

I like to think of LIS 501 as one long discussion of the history and values of libraries. It seemed like every discussion topic lead back to another, and we all learned and grew from each other reflecting on how libraries have been used and valued in the past, both in this country and abroad, and how libraries are evolving to uphold their mission in serving their patron. I enjoyed seeing how libraries have become what they are today, and seeing how I, as a future librarian, can continue to shape the libraries I work in, and serve the community throughout my entire career.
Our final assignment in LIS 501 was to express our own professional philosophy of librarianship. Here is mine which I believe sums up what I learned in 501. Here it is with comments from the instructor.

Course Reflection LIS 570: Research Methods

Looking back at LIS 570 I can see how much information we try to cram in such a small space of time. Much of what we covered in 570 I have had covered before either in in my undergrad (specifically Psychology and Sociology coursework), or even in high school as we discussed the scientific method. However, this was the first time that I covered the material with the assumption that it was something that I could do.
We began the course with a dissuasion of different research paradigms and the different philosophies behind them, as well as ethical concerns for many types of research.
From there we worked our way through the research process, formatting a question/hypothesis/statement, conducting a literature review with a team. I had never done a team literature review before, and it was quite the experience to see that it all fit and flowed together, especially as it was the first written assignment to turn in, and therefore we were unsure of what our instructor was looking for).
Next up we designed our own research based on the literature review. Here is mine-- I am quite proud of how it turned out (For those of you who care to see the instructor's comments, here they are). We had to think both creatively to decide what to look for and how to go about getting information, and practically for what could reasonably be achieved. I decided to plan my design as if I had much more financial resources available to me than I probably would have in a practical setting, but chose practical methods for engaging my research participants.

I like to think of the later modules as a kind of cool-down period from the rest of the course. We looked at how to analyzed both qualitative and quantitative data and I enjoyed having free reign and data to play with excel. Our final project pulled from all previous modules and required us to look at the beginnings of someone else's research and critique it.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in LIS 570 because it both stretched me creatively, and also indulged my analytical side.

Job Opening-- Teen Librarian

A surprise position has opened at my own library for a teen librarian. Here is the posting.
Once again I am reminded how much competition there is for these jobs, both from new grads and highly experienced people, and with the local library world being small, most of my future competition are my friends.

Teen Movie Night

Every Friday during the School year Tualatin library hosts a Teen Movie Night. The library closes at 6, but the teen room stays open and the teens play games, and vote on the movie they want to watch. We often range between a dozen and thirty teens mainly middle-schoolers without other Friday night plans. We get many repeat teens and in teen movie night are able to build relationship s with them that carry on through the rest of our interactions in the library. I often find that the teens that come to teen movie night are more willing to ask reference questions and ask the all of the staff for help. Having programs like teen movie night makes teens especially feel welcome in the library.

Paper Pals Part 2

Today I conducted my second Paper Pals program. We had 4 stations-- card making, origami, drawing, and of course, Paper airplanes. The program went really well, I would have liked to have a volunteer to help give the kids the attention they would like. I enjoyed helping the kids both individually and in groups, and many asked when we were doing it again, so I think it was quite successful.

Craftastic Afternoon-- Altoid Tin Wallet

Today I had the honor of leading my first Craftastic afternoon with the teens of the Tualatin Library. It was a bit more chaotic than I had anticipated. We made Altoids tin wallets /gift boxes. Unfortunately, the teens are unable to come all at the same time, so each person was at a different step in the process at a different time. This worked well for not having enough supplies for every one but I kept thinking how much easier it would be if there were 3 of me to give the teens the attention and assistance they needed.
However, it was a success, the teens enjoyed themselves, and follow directions and made great wallets and gift boxes.
Next time I run Crafttastic (February-- book marks) I’ll do more planning into the prep of the program, and also have printed instructions for the teens to follow along with what we are doing.

Reading for Healthy Families-- Presentation 1

Part of the Reading for Healthy Families initiative is to connect Library staff with Healthy Start workers to promote Early Literacy to the families who need it most. It just so happens that one of my school friend's little sisters IS a healthy start worker, and during a game night recently we discussed ways we could work together.

This came to fruition on Thursday evening when I was invited to speak at a play group for all the Life Works NW families (with children 0-3). I was very nervous, first of all because this was my first time presenting Early literacy on my own, and second because it was a large group, half of which didn't speak English. The group ended up being (number) families-- (number) people total.

Because I had 15 minutes I just picked a few things to focus on-- 5 tips for sharing books with babies and 5 tips for sharing books with toddlers. We started the session with the families coming in and playing with all the toys and craft supplies and eating cookies, then sang a couple songs, then I read a story (Peak-a-Zoo) which was a great success. Jahaira was my translator and she was AMAZING. I went through the tips for babies and tips for toddlers and then we pulled names out of a bowl for what order the families could come and partake in the many books I brought for them to take home. They had a bit more play time before clean-up.

I am completely impressed with the Healthy Start program-- something that 6 months ago I had no idea even existed. I am not convinced that libraries and these families really have a lot to share with each other.

A Few More Job Openings

A few more positions came through recently so here they are:

Posted 11/10/10
Library Children's Services Technician.
Closes: 12/10/10
Scappoose, OR

The Scappoose Public Library District is accepting resumes for a Part-Time Library Children's Services Technician. The position is 32 hours per week, including day, evening and weekend hours.

Primary duties include developing, implementing, and presenting library programs for children, teens, and families. Outreach to schools and other community organizations is an important part of this position. This position is also responsible for creating flyers and displays. Additional duties include working at the circulation desk, shelving, providing reader's advisory and reference assistance, and computer instruction. Excellent customer service skills and the ability to work as part of a team are essential.

The successful applicant must demonstrate the ability to develop and present a pre-school age story time program. If selected for an interview, applicants will be required to make a presentation at the time of the interview.

In addition he or she must demonstrate the ability to alphabetize and understand the Dewey Classification system. Previous experience working with children in libraries required and experience working with a summer reading program in a public library is highly desirable. Computer skills are required and experience with a library computerized circulation system desirable. High School Diploma or equivalent required. Physical requirements include the ability to bend and to lift piles of books weighing up to forty pounds.

$11.25/hr. with pro-rated benefits.

Successful candidate must pass background check. Open until filled. EOE Submit cover letter and resume to: Dan White, PO Box 400, Scappoose, OR 97056 or email dwhite@scappooselibrary.org Phone: 503-543-7123.

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Posted 11/8/10
Youth Services Manager
Closes: 11/29/10
Eugene, Oregon

Eugene Public Library is seeking a dynamic, service-oriented librarian to lead the Youth Services Section.

The Youth Services Librarian Manager plans, organizes, and supervises operations in the Youth Services Section of the Eugene Public Library, providing library service to Eugene residents from birth through the teen years. This position reports to the Library Services Director.
This position manages the day-to-day operations of the Youth Services Section within the Eugene Public Library. The Youth Services Librarian Manager exercises direct supervision over Youth Services staff, including 10.5 FTE librarians and support staff.

Minimum Requirements: Four years of increasingly responsible professional library experience, including one year of supervisory experience,ALA-accredited MLS and requires a valid Oregon driver's license or ability to obtain by date of hire.

Additional Qualifications: Youth Services experience, public library experience, and experience managing in a union environment preferred. Ability to speak Spanish preferred.

To apply online, access the City of Eugene Job Opportunity page at www.eugene-or.gov/jobs>. Applications must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 29, 2010.
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Reading for Healthy Families

I just had a 2 day training from Steven Engelfried for Reading for Healthy Families (RFHF). This is an initiative that partners public libraries with Healthy Start-- a group that helps first time parents to get the tools they need to raise their children to be successful. The training was INTENSE, but really helpful and educating and entertaining-- I'm just not used to sitting for so long.
We started by learning what RFHF was, and how it works-- Joanne Contini used Russian nesting dolls to explain that the ECRR that the ALA developed, an is being used throughout the country is being passed down to trainers, to the more local trainers (like Steven) to the Librarians and Healthy Start workers (us), so we could teach the parents, so the parents can work with their children.

We learned about Healthy Start from the workers themselves in small groups- this was very helpful to me, because, while I know the idea behind healthy start from their website and hearing other librarians talk about it, I didn't know how they put their theories into practice. What a strenuous job they have!And what important work!

Then we jumped right into the training on the early literacy skills. We received binders full of information to share with families, to learn ourselves, and bags upon bags of books to give away, books to entice people to come to the library, and books and toys for us to use when we pass the information on to families.

Steven is a wonderful educator-- he presented the information as we would present it to the parents we'll work with, giving us tips and hints he has found helpful, and making sure we understood what we are being asked to teach. My favorite teaching tip he gave us-- which he repeated a few times, is to present the information to parents, and then ask them to "fast forward" to the time when their child is in first or second grade and presented with a text they haven't seen and asked to read it. After learning print awareness he discussed that children who have developed print awareness will be excited to learn what the text contains and will be willing to work through the tough process to decoding to have the book make sense. After we learned about vocabulary he asked us to fast forward to when the child encounters a rare word and after decoding us (using phonological awareness and letter knowledge) realizes they have heard the word before, even if they don't use it themselves.

I am very grateful that I am able to be trained in these early literacy skills, and I feel such a great responsibility to go out and "preach" this early literacy gospel to 15 families. Now I just have to figure out how to find them!

Unfortunately I forgot my camera at the training, so have no photos of the Salem Public Library (or their AWESOME discovery room-- seriously-- go check it out, it's like OMSI in the LIBRARY!)
Here's all my bags unpacked:

Flathead Job opening

As part of LIS 501 we need to find and analyze job announcements-- bringing to light a few more that I haven't caught already. The Flathead county, for example, posted this announcement, that has this job description. It's for a youth services librarian, and (get this!) new graduates are encouraged to apply. To bad it's in Montana.
I hope that this 501 assignment will help with the professional portfolio I put together out of this working blog!

Paper Pals

After the demise of Stick Buddies my supervisor offered for the other Reference assistant and I to have our won easy to run regular programs. The idea being that either of us (or any librarian) could put it together and go. Much like stick buddies—little preparation, just ease.

After Carson described her enjoyment of zines and drawing, and I mentioned how much I enjoyed having special origami paper we decided to form Paper Pals, a program for kids in grades 1-5 to hang out in the library and draw, trace, color, fold, fly paper airplanes, or any other number of activities you can do with paper.

We alternate who will be in charge of the program each month- September was Carson, and so I took October. Today was my first day in charge of Paper pals.

Setting up the room is an important part of each program. Things must be welcomeing, an din order so that kids have an idea of where everything belongs before they begin.

I set a LOOOOOONG piece of paper on the floor for big drawings, brought in a table and chairs for drawing and tracing, and pulled out tables for origami and card making ( a new edition from last month). And set up the flight test area for the paper airplanes. On Carson’s suggestion we only made and flew the airplanes in the last 15 minutes. Otherwise the kids go WILD! This wasn't quite enough time for them to fold and fly their airplanes-- they wanted to fly them in clean-up time! Next time I'll start them making airplanes half an hour before the end.

The program is fairly easy to do, after the room is set up the kids start to come in and go to what ever station they like-- drawing, folding, cards, and they choose to stay at that station or move between them. The trouble is that some stations, especially paper folding needs a lot of attention- this is where a volunteer is especially handy. I made the mistake of making a water bomb as an example and so all the kids also wanted to make a water bomb, which is a challenge piece of work.

The next time I do Paper Pals, I'll be sure to either have a volunteer for that station, or just scrap it and have the kids stick to drawing, tracing, coloring, and card making.

Job Posting

Another job opening was brought to my attention today. Oh to be done with the degree, have the required experience, and be able to work full time.
Battle Ground WA is looking for a full time Youth Services library to work with kids birth-teens. Just up my ally.
Here is the posting and here is the job description.

Every Child Ready to Read Workshop part 2

The Workshop went off without much of a hitch. We had 9 families represented-- 10 grown-ups and 3 kids. I think they learned a lot-- we had a good mix of interaction-- asking for responses, and lecture. One part of my presentation was showing how to make a book to share with their baby out of zip-lock sandwich bags, card stock, staples and duct tape-- they seemed to enjoy that. One of the points we tried to get across was that they should speak and read to their babies in the language they felt most comfortable with--and I think that got through! At least the books they were making not only had English, but several had Spanish words and Japanese or Vietnamese as well.
The parents asked good and thoughtful questions and I think they were relived to learn that what they already do now-- sing, play, read, and talk with their babies all promote early literacy. Hopefully they have learned the importance of such simple things and will continue to keep their babies brains growing strong.

Every Child Ready To Read Workshop Pt. 1

After observing a workshop on Brain development last spring, my supervisor and I discussed the possibility of me co-presenting a workshop this fall. Tonight that comes to fruition.

I will be co-presenting an Every Child Read to Read workshop for parents and caregivers for children aged birth through 18 months-- just babies!

In these workshops we present parents with the findings of research showing the positive influence that reading, singing, talking, and playing with your baby has to their being ready to learn how to read when they enter school.

We'll discuss the 6 skills for Early literacy (Print Motivation, Vocabulary, Print Awareness, Narrative skills, Phonological awareness, and letter knowledge), and how parents can (and do) promote these skills with their babies right now. For example, I play to sing, peek-a-boo, twinkle twinkle, and the itsy bitsy spider. I'll bring in my rag doll (I can't find the Cabbage Patch doll), and we'll also-- as a little break, make a baby book out of zip lock bags to promote print motivation, narrative still,s and vocabulary.

I hope this will be a fun and insightful evening. I'll post more about it after the fact.

Résumé

Here is a pdf of my current library experience résumé for job applications etc... This will be updated periodically.

As you can see I try to show both of my current jobs, and my previous experience interning and shelving as a progression of gained responsibility and upward career goals. Now let's hope the job market in Children's Librarians grows and I AND all my other youth service oriented friends can find fruitful and satisfying work.

Job Postings Feb-July 2010

While the job market is still in a tough spot I have come across a few positions that would serve me well to begin my professional career, although none are the ideal full time, local job, they all provide the type and professional level of work I would like to do in a public library setting.

In late February 2010 the Willsonville Public Library posted a part time children's librarian position as show here, in the job announcement, and the job description. Also included are supplemental questions.

In April 2010 Esticada was looking for a Youth Services Coordinator. This position appears to be mainly programing and working with the public as opposed to the collection development role of a librarian, it does require a MLIS or equivalent (yet the pay does not seem to reflect the high level of education needs). Here is the job description, the announcement, and the application.

Later in April Salem posted a senior children's library position. While the job requires more experience than I have, it is a position I would like to end up in after a few years as a children's librarian. Here is the announcement.

In June 2010 Fort Vancouver posted a highly coveted position for a collection development librarian for children's materials. Here is the announcement, and supplemental questions.

I continue to be on the look out for more professional openings in the greater Portland area. I know that we need not limit ourselves to our desired location, hours, or rate of pay for the portfolio, but it's the easiest way to look for jobs at this time.

How to Train your Dragon Program

In anticipation of the animated movie BCL hosted a "How to Train your Dragon" program for kids in 3-6 grades. We made dragon sock puppets (my idea and model), had a yelling contest (complete with audio measuring devise....), played stick ball which ended up a lot like hockey, drew pictures, had dragon races, completed an obstacle course, and many other fun and viking inspired activities.

Wild Things Program

In preparation for the release of Where the Wild Things Are as a feature film (big disappointment imho...) we celebrated with a Wild Things party at the BCL. We used the monster clompers (purchased for Ramona Q party) in a maze sort of thing for the kids, and made monster feet from paper bags, monster masks, clay boats, read the story, roared our terrible roars, gnashed our terrible teeth and rolled our terrible eyes while we had a wild rumpus of a time as we made one kind of mischief and another.

Tualatin Bulletin Boards

Another one of my duties in Tualatin is to create eye catching bulletin boards for the teen room. This board face out onto a busy street were traffic is often jammed, and an artistic choice in lighting calls attention to the board by cars and pedestrians, so not only must the display be attractive and interesting to teens who use the room, also the passers-by who come into the library to see what is up with those crazy lights.

Here is February's for Valentine's day-- a controversial holiday for many teens.


For National Poetry Month we celebrated the 6 word memoir. The bulitan board had many from the book "I can't keep my own secrets" and we asked teens to make their own 6 work memoir with the opportunity to win prizes.


This is one inspired by an "anti-Bella" book list from another library-- Kick Butt Heroines.



And here is the Summer Reading bulletin board-- Make Waves @ Your Library.

Program Flyers

As a reference assistant at BCL part of my job is to create the quarterly program flyer for all the children's activities at the library. Not only must I ensure that all the librarian's programs are represented, but also that the information is accurate, rooms have been booked, and the flyer is attractive and clear. Likewise, a separate flyer goes out to the schools, local day cares, and the branch library. Here are several examples of program flyers I've put together.

• Fall 2009
• Spring 2010
• Summer 2010
• Fall 2010

Teen Booklists

In my first few weeks as a public services assistant in the Teen Room I started making a book list for banned and challenged books, as banned books week was just a few weeks away. Aimee really liked it and asked that I crate more book lists. As this was a brand new teen room in a brand new library they didn't have any book lists for the teens to review. Using the BCL teen book lists as a model I created several book list that staff and patrons use every day. Aimee, the teen librarian encouraged and helps me keep them up to date, and Cherie, another ischool grad proof reads them and ensures they are formatted correctly. Here is a link to the Tualatin Library Teen book list page for the examples of the book lists I have made. Making book lists helps me really get to know the collection, as well as gives the the opportunity to read many reviews and understand how books are chosen for the collection, and how they are chosen to be highlighted on a book list, this has definitely been a great help as I build skills in both collection development and readers advisory.

Ramona Party

Last summer (2009) BCL hosted a party based on the Ramona Quimby books by Beverly Cleary (this was before we knew that there was going to be a Ramona movie in 2010.... oh, well-- guess we have to have another party).
Similar to Fancy Nancy, we had a dress up station and a photographer to take the kid's pictures ("Peas," anyone?). The kids made a photo frame from Popsicle sticks, made flags for a parade, drew the longest picture in the world, ate bananas and drank oveltine, played "gray duck" or "duck, duck, goose" and in general had a creative, exciting, and run-around good time.

Because the comments we received after Fancy Nancy included having more obvious tie-ins to the book series we had both a read aloud from the first chapter of Ramona the Pest (by Children's librarian, Ann B.) and a book display of all the books that had been referenced in the Ramona Series.

I learned from this program, that while dress-up is fun and imaginative play, it should not be done in the same program in which we use puff paints.

Fancy Nancy Party

In my first year at BCL I helped with a party based on the popular Fancy Nancy books. We aimed this program at kids age 3-5, and had mostly girls in princess dresses show up. (It was very cute). We had several different stations for this kids and the parents to visit including a dress-up station with a red carpet for photo shoots, big dogs, spectacular spectacles, fancy cookies (the circus animal crackers), butterfly name tags, and so many other fun activities. Here is the passport I created so the kids knew what stations they were able to visit.

In this program I learned that it isn't enough just to have references to the books in each activity but must tie in the books and characters even more with at least a display, and preferably read the book out loud. It was a great first program for me to help with.

Course Reflection LIS 530: Organization of Information

In Organization of Information we were introduced to many new concepts such as how information is organized in different schema and for different uses. For example the cataloger must anticipate the needs of many different users to make the catalogs at all useful, and that different rules apply to different thesauri and ways of organizing information. One of or quests dealt with this issue as we studied what subject headings to give to a particular Wikipedia article in three different thesauri. Here is Quest 3.

Course Reflection LIS 550: Information in the Social Context

In LIS 550 we tackled so many aspects of information that the lay person does not typically think of when handling or retrieving information. We thoroughly discussed issues of copyright (including fair use), ethics, and liability and how information plays a major role in each. This course involved much "thinking like a lawyer" in doing research in particular laws and how those laws are interpreted through specific court cases. Our final project in this course was a group paper combining these three topics in a hypothetical situation involving the fictional library Crystal Springs and their map project that may have gotten out of hand. Here is the (extremely long) final paper.

Book Lists for Teens: Money

Recently I was asked to create a quarter sheet book list (front and back) of books we own, or could purchase for teens regarding personal fiance for a workshop we will host in the fall. Here is the link to a pdf of the book list.

Course Reflection LIS 520: Reference Services and Collection

In LIS 520 we got our first taste of reference work, both in creating reference collections, and working with patrons for both simple and complex research. We looked at reference work throughout time, and the tools available to us as librarians today. This course focused only on adult reference, were I taking it today I would have tried to tailor the assignments to my interest in youth services.

Our first assignment was to write a review of a reference material. I chose a DK reference book on trees and their identification. The second assignment involved specific in-depth research for an individual to solve one of their information gaps. My father hates buying new cars and takes years trying to decide how to go about it. For the assignment I looked at what he was interested in, what he has done before and what he could try on his own.

Our final group project involved finding a specific user group and studying their needs. We then read reviews, reviewed materials, and developed a collection of 10 reference materials that would fit their needs. My group chose chocolatiers and had great fun researching their needs and materials. Here is that final paper.

Course Reflection LIS 510: Information Behavior

As one of the first classes I took as part of my MLIS I found that 510 was challenging in many ways. It was the first time I had taken an online courses, worked on group projects online, and also the first time I had through about how information flows from person to person and system to system.

Out first project for the class was writing about information grounds—places where information is exchanged or shared, but not places where people go expressly to gather information. For example, my group chose to study outdoor markets like farmer’s markets in our area, and the Portland Saturday Market in Portland Oregon. Here is that very first MLIS paper.

The main objective of the course was to research and study one group of people and see how they searched for, found, and where they went for information, and also create a model that would represent the group’s information needs and process. My group focused on K-12 students and found a plethora of information on them. We created a full presentation, broken into smaller parts. Here is my portion of the presentation, the Literature Review for it in Internet Explorer and Fire Fox.

Course Reflection LIS 500: Information Life Cycle

LIS 500 was a two week course that seemed to throw us in the deep end of what our MLIS program would be like, discussing definitions we would encounter throughout the program, and a general introduction to what to expect in the next three years (more or less).
For the course with Stuart Sutton we wrote a reflection and goals of what we planned to accomplish and what we have already done. Here is mine.

Course Reflection LIS 560: Instruction for the Information Professional

In this course with Loraine Bruce we studied the different ways people learn and how to support different kinds of learning. We learned theories of education with different theorists and different types of learning and how to hit the different learners with different ways. Some learn by doing, watching, hearing about, and experimenting etc…

We started by studying the best ways that WE learn. What I liked bout this class is that we chose a project at the beginning, and each assignment was specifically designed for our group we would teach. Then we build a lesson plan around it. My project was on teens applying for summer jobs for the first time—I studied the different ways teens learn, and interact, and how they search for information, then applied that to my topic and used the theories of education to create a lesson plans to reach different types of learners. This class was very practical for working in a public library setting.

Here is my final presentation for Internet Explorer, and Fire Fox.

Program Reflection: Phineas L. MacGuire Erupts Volcano Party

At the BCL on Friday I helped to host a Science Party based on the Phineas L. MacGuire books by Frances O'Roark Dowell. We had 27 boys in grades 3, 4, and 5, and many of their caretakers (Moms, Dads, Grandmas, and a couple older brothers) participate.

Ann B, one of the Children's librarians at BCL was the main coordinator, I, as assisting reference Assistant came up with 2 of the 6 stations and the grand finale, and we had 2 invaluable summer inters helping coordinate the volunteers and get the program ready.
The program ran for 2 hours in the spacious meeting rooms of the library.

There was a puzzle race, a trivia table, a book auction, a paper construction table, and my 2 tables: individual volcano (backing soda and vinegar), and flubber (glue, borax, and water).

After getting our high school volunteer set up with the baking soda and vinegar table, I coordinated 6 groups of 4-7 boys making flubber. We observed what the glue and water mixtures looked like, and mixed food coloring in, then we added our borax and water solution and mixed until the reaction occurred. There was about one kid in each group that was hesitant to stick his finger in glue, but once they saw how much fun the other kids were having they dove right in.
Flexibility is required in putting on programs like this-- for example getting the kids to a sink to wash their gooey hands was an unplanned for necessity, but we all did really well with it.

For the grand finale of the program the Summer Intern, Dawn and I went out side the meeting rooms and the kids gathered around the window. Once outside Dawn and I showed the kids the infamous diet cola and Mentos reaction making a soda geyser shooting 25 feet in the air. Not only were the kids and their parents impressed, but also many people walking along the street.

I've done several special book programs, and this one has been my favorite so far. Mush in thanks to the planning of the librarian, and interns, and the maturity of the kids.
This is defiantly a program we can repeat parts of in the future.

Course Reflection LIS 569: Multicultural resources for Youth

The Cleary Professor of Children and Youth Services, Eliza Dresang offered her first online course: Multicultural resources for Youth, and I just had to take it. It was quite the eye opening experience as we spent approximately 2 weeks on each major racial group in the United States, discussing the quality and quantities of materials for children that were accurate and authentic to the culture and the people they were representing. We looked at how different racial and ethnic groups were portrayed in children’s books throughout time, and how progressive or non-progressive these books could be.

We took the time to explore the many different ALA awards that highlight the best books for children, representing authentically different racial or ethnic groups—these awards (some of which are controversial) are extremely useful to teachers, librarians, parents, and so many other adults in growing their collection, and helping to distribute authentic materials for children.

This course left me with an extensive resource list—I subscribed to many blogs such as the Brown Bookshelf, and those by Debbie Reese, as well as many other awards sites and information that I know check on a regular basis to keep up with the new materials begin produced that focus on different racial groups tat may not be represented very well in the collections I work with.

Our final assignment for the class was very practical and useful. We looked at an existing collection of materials for youth, recognized points where the collection was lacking in materials for a specific racial group, and then created an annotated bibliography of materials that could be added to the collection. I took at look at the Teen materials in the Tualatin library which I am familiar with, and after talking to the teen librarian, I chose to focus on books and materials for and about Asians and Asian American. Here is my final annotated bibliography.

Course Reflection LIS 566: Young Adult Materials: Evaluation and Use

While I see my future career to be centered on library services for Children, I have great respect for YA librarians, and the teens they work with. In fact I work 15 hours a week with teens in the Tualatin library. It was a great pleasure for me to take LIS 566: YA materials.

In this class we covered many different genres and types of YA materials, from traditional genres literature like sci-fi, fantasy, realistic fiction, and mysteries, we also covered graphic novels and manga, and lots and lots of online resources and websites to find both fiction and non-fiction for teens. We discussed the teenage brain, and what information needs teens today have, and the anonymity they feel they need to access that information. We discussed teen created materials and how they share them with each other and we even touched on programming for teens.
For my program I created a Read-In which is described here. This program was implemented by the Tualatin Library during the Summer Reading Program 2010.

Course Reflection LIS 565: Children’s Materials Evaluation and Use

At the same time I was taking LIS 567 (see post below), I also studied Children’s materials. In this class we DID focus on collection development, from everything from board books, picture books, early readers, series paper backs, chapter books, tween books, magazines, DVDs, music CDs, console games, websites, and just about everything that one finds in the Children’s section of a library. It was a whirl wind tour, but one of the best classes I’ve taken.

In the last week alone I’ve drawn on knowledge I learned in this course in helping patrons choose books for their own reading, my family members choose gifts for babies, and my own reading choices. We looked at printed reviews in places like School Library Journal, and Booklist, and read a very large amount of the actual materials- things we wouldn’t have normally done on our own (at least those of us without children of our own to read to). Here is a document with all I read for this class, and my own reviews of it.

We also created booktalks—commercials for books, to get kids excited about reading. Here are mine for We are the Ship a non-fiction chapter book relating the story of the Negro baseball league, and The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex.

Reflection LIS 567: Youth Services in the Public Library

When I saw that Youth Services in the Public Library was offered through the UW ischool I just HAD to sign up. I’ve worked in children’s and young adult departments of public libraries for four years, and I intend to work as a children’s librarian for many years to come.

In LIS 567 we covered aspects of what a youth services librarian does that are not directly related to collection development (covered in LIS 565 and 566) or storytelling (LIS 561). We did observe and reflect on librarian’s storytimes, and interview current youth services librarians about aspects of their work. Here is the final presentation for Internet Explorer and here it is for Fire Fox I created outlining the work that the Children’s librarians do at The Beaverton City library, where I work as a reference assistant.

We also tackled programming for youth, both special programs and clubs. I chose to create an Alice in Wonderland themed program for children, as the Alice in Wonderland movie was set to come out in the spring 2010. I gave my program to one of the children’s librarians at Beaverton, and she used a couple of my ideas in an Alice in Wonderland program she developed in the spring.

As the freedom to read what ever you like is a tenet of libraries, we spent a lot of time in LIS 567 discussing how to handle challenges to books. I chose to review The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. Here is the assignment.

Reflection of LIS 561: Storytelling

I must say I was amazed that Storytelling was offered as one of my on-line courses through the ischool. When I applied to the online program I had excepted it would have been one of the courses only offered to residential students.
I'm very glad I took this course, I not only learned and practiced live storytelling, but dabbled in how storytelling can look in an asynchronous online format.

For this course I borrowed a ukulele from a co-worker and wrote a three-chord song for the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Since then I have purchased my own ukulele and have dabbled with it. I use it in storytime at my library, and whenever I'm asked to preform for groups of children.
Linked here is the blog that each of us kept throughout the course. You will see my written assignments, as well as links to audio versions of my stories created for this course.

Reflection of LIS 580: Managment

I am thrilled that the iSchool requires LIS 580 to help us learn not only to be competent information professionals, but also leaders in our field. To be taking classes from so many brilliant and top-notch instructors, and to be able to work with diverse and intelligent classmates enhances my education.

In LIS 580 we studied Management. More specifically, management of projects and people. Working in groups we played out scenarios such as the example if we were the manager during a re-model of an academic library, in which the library building would be inaccessible for 2 years but still had to be open for business. So much has to go into such projects, like defining what “open for business” means and what aspects are dependent on other aspects happening first (like moving in desks before moving in computers).

We studied different management styles, and how management has been viewed in the past. The most interesting discussion for me was the differences between a manger and a leader. These roles may be played by the same person, but they are, in fact very different. Nancy described the differences as the leader “has their eye on the horizon” where as the manager “has their eye on the bottom line.”

Our final project for LIS 580 was compiling a case study of an organization. I chose to focus on American Girl (that company that makes dolls, books, clothing, and magazines for girls ages 8-12), and how management handled a situation in which some customers were not pleased with who American Girl chose to partner with. It is attached here. Enjoy!

Reflection of INFX 542: XML

I had been a little worried about fulfilling the technology requirement for my MLIS. In fact I and one of my friends continued to put it off in hopes that the requirement would change. We took the class together to support each other though it. She helped me often but checking in, and I helped her understand what was needed, and we both learned from each other’s mistakes. I was greatly surprised to discover that taking Information structures of XML with Bob Boiko was not the struggle I had anticipated.

He gave us a choice between more technical and less technical tracks, so we had greater control over the speed and difficulty of the materials. While I may not end up working directly with creating XML in my work, I have come away from this course with a much stronger understanding of the separation between format and content, and how one can manipulate content with out affecting format, or vise versa. Using the program Oxygen we created XML pages from scratch inputting data, as well as created schemas to better understand the content needed, and transforms to crate formatted and human-readable materials.

The concept and activity I most struggled with in this course was that of the schema—as I began the course I didn’t see the point in having one, as it didn’t DO anything- it didn’t’ hold data like the XML page and it didn’t make the data readable as per the transform. After working through several projects and lectures I now understand that the schema is important in knowing what you need in an XML page—what information you’re looking for and how that information is arranged within a hierarchy of information. To be able to see how XML is used in my library catalog, government websites, and even restaurant menus allows me to have a greater understanding of the storage and presentation of information that we use everyday in my work with the public and information.

Welcome

Welcome to my Digital Repository or Working Portfolio! In this blog I will collect the work I've done throughout my MLIS studies so that in the winter of 2011 I can crate a professional portfolio as a capstone to my masters of Library and Information Science.

As this blog is continually a work in progress and specifically created for the preparatory work for LIS 596 it will not be written for the entertainment or education of the general public, or even those interested in libraries, but instead for the students and instructors of LIS 596 in winter of 2011.