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.

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.

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.

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.