Far Off Librarian

Roller Jammin'

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:48:00 +0000

An online librarian friend from GA, upon hearing that I was joining the new meat ranks of a local Roller Derby league (I don't get a meat name until after 3 practices), asked "You too? What is it with librarians and roller derby?"

Indeed, I know of at least 2 or 3 other librarians who roll (such as the awesome Jan Dawson). I also hear there is another librarian in my league, although I haven't met her yet.

But before I get ahead of myself: at this point, I can barely skate! I am in good jogging shape, but roller derby uses a whole different set of muscles. As with most new adventures/experiences, I'm sure this will give me further insight into my teaching and learning skills.

Anyways, I came away from the recruitment practice night feeling good (although sweating profusely) and promptly ordered some gear online. Once I make a decision to do something, I'm usually all in. I'm looking forward to learning about the sport and hopefully eventually (after a minimum of 3 months of 2-3x practices a week, and passing some skills tests) getting into a bout!

Instructional Roleplaying Idea: Stone Age Hunter

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:13:00 +0000

A thought popped into my head a few minutes ago and I'm now (perhaps unwisely) setting down those half-baked initial thoughts here.

We 're in the process of overhauling our out-dated self-paced information literacy online course. I'm not doing the day-to-day work, but am giving feedback regularly, in an attempt to keep the project on an even keel and give it my thoughts as far as two skills I do relatively well in: student-centered instruction/design and strategic thinking. My focus has been on suggesting ways to streamline things (keeping the jargon to a minimum, basing the content on real world experiences that students can relate to), making sure content addresses multiple learning styles and is as interactive as possible (given no access to programming or visual design skills), and that a coherent narrative and design flow is maintained. We are using WordPress for the new site (the current one resides in Lotus Notes and is almost totally text-based).

My current thoughts are on the best way to get students thinking critically about the steps in the research process; how to get them invested in the entire process at the outset; interested in exploring the details, or at least open to the idea. Currently, we've got the research steps labeled simply (which is good), but broadly and rather generically (each category contains multiple subsections):

Develop a Topic
Strategize
Search
Evaluate
Cite

My concern is: will students gain anything from these labels? Will they be able to connect those labels to the more concrete steps outlined within each of them? If not, is there a better way to "brand" the research process within this site so it has more a visceral impact?

So my half-baked idea is this: turn the research process into a role-playing scenario where the student becomes a stone age hunter seeking to feed his or her family. The steps in the research process would then become the steps needed for the student to hunt and kill a stone age creature, such as a mastodon. The alternate labels I came up with were:

Seek populated hunting grounds (topic creation)
Coordinate the attack (strategize)
The Hunt (search)
Take the best cuts of meat (evaluate)
Honor the animal's spirit (cite)

I know this metaphor could use lots of work (perhaps there might be a "gatherers" metaphor to mine from this, too, for the vegetarians?) and I'm not even certain it would resonate with anyone, but in spare moments, I'll see if this path bears any fruit. Going a couple steps further, I could see, for example, this kind of thing being a cool setting for an instructional role-playing game (IRPG?). Your thoughts?

The Gentle Art of Teachable Moments

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:11:00 +0000

I hope by now that most librarians have come to realize we all do instruction. Some of us in formal learning situations, but all of us in various informal ways. Is this kind of worldview of the profession taught or discussed in LIS schools, I wonder? It certainly wasn't when I went in the late 90's and I suspect it still isn't.

In reality, every single interaction we have with students, faculty, patrons, colleagues, administrators, what have you, is a potential teachable moment. Using those teachable moments effectively is not a skill that can be quantified or taught. Rather, it is an art form that has to be felt instinctively (but grows with experience), and acted upon confidently.

The real artistry of our profession comes in recognizing when and how much teaching can be injected into any interaction. The reality, at least in my dealings with adult distance learners, is that knowing when and how much "providing the fish" versus "teaching them to fish" to use is extremely tricky. Give out too much fish and you've missed the teachable moment and perhaps harmed the ability of that person to improve their own information skills in the longer term. But you can go overboard with the teaching part, too. Some people don't have the time or inclination or have the current frame of mind to want to learn in that specific moment. Trying to inject too much teaching into those interactions can turn the person off to using library services at all.

One of the John Henry's of the librarian twitterati (I mean that in a good way!), Andy Woodworth (@wawoodworth), posts an excellent periodic twitter poll and recently asked what librarians thought the number one quality of library staff should be. There were a ton of great answers to that poll question. My answer is: the ability to effectively recognize and act upon teachable moments. Everything else we do successfully, in my humble opinion, can flow from that crucial skill.

Semantic Web or Romantic Dream?

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 02:17:00 +0000

First, if you haven't done so, watch this excellent short film by Kate Ray, which looks at the concept of the semantic web and interviews leading thinkers in the field such as Tim Berners-Lee, Clay Shirky, etc:

http://kateray.net/film/

The skeptics section really struck a chord for me in this way: is the idea of a semantic web even possible without the benefactors of it (people) giving up a ton of privacy control? Facebook's recent highly controversial privacy policy changes can be viewed as an early but misguided attempt to harness some of the ideas of a semantic web. At least some of their aim, beyond the primary one of making more money, was probably to deliver a more personalized experience to their users by mining their habits and likes (via targeted ads, etc.). Will successful tools arise from this idea that don't either start or develop into commercial, for-profit undertakings? And if not, then do we really expect semantic web tools to actually understand our wants and needs on the fly, without having and sharing those habits with others?

I guess the next question that arises from this is, and to me the one that most closely associates with my own interests and the profession of librarians: do people have anywhere near the information and privacy literacy skills to understand these issues and the possible consequences of not paying attention to the security and privacy of their own information and information habits? Do they even have the skills necessary today? I would argue no, and that for any kind of significant semantic web concept to succeed, that literacy piece needs to be addressed in a serious way.

What say you?

Stuff I've been playing with recently

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:25:00 +0000

Things at MPOW have been very, very chaotic and busy these past couple of months and will probably continue to be through the summer. Here is a short list of some tech I've been experimenting with or implementing recently for various projects:

LibraryH3lp: this is our replacement for Meebo for chat reference (which is now our main avenue of reference interaction). It is cheap and several steps above meebo as far as flexibility, functionality and stability. Any library doing their own chat reference should look at this.

WizHelp: great web-based tool for screen sharing and taking (or giving) control of a screen from someone else. Going to use this for online research assistance program.

Setster: the scheduling piece to our research assistance program. It lets you easily create a site and set an online schedule and generate code to display a schedule widget on any web page. Basic functions & limited scheduling are free, but for some uses and functions you need to subscribe.The best thing about this tool is that it removes time slots that have already been reserved automatically.

Wallwisher: in a low effort effort to gather feedback from our users, I've put a link to one of these on our home page. It is basically an online post-it note board. Users post simple text notes (anonymously by default) onto a shared web space. The notes can then be moved around, group into categories, etc. I thought it might be a low-barrier, fun way to gather some open-ended feedback on our services and web site. Needs more promotion.

VoiceThread: this is more a theoretical thing. I've been thinking a lot lately about ways to pull students into the online library. One idea I had was to use VoiceThread (or similar platform) to build an online book and video discussion club. For example, we subscribe to Films on Demand, so it might be cool to pick out a good documentary from our collection and see if we can get students and faculty to participate in watching it and creating a multimedia discussion across the college community about the issues involved. A similar thing might be done with an e-book from our collections.

Prezi: dynamic presentation tool. This is (so far) a failure for me. For my last presentation (SUNYLA 2010: Marketing Library Services at a Distance), I tried, but failed, to convert my presentation ideas into this medium. Part of the problem was my material (lots of images, sequential) and part was just my limited thinking patterns: I'm just not used to thinking of my presentations in ways that play to Prezi's strengths (in my view, it's real strength is showing scale). I'll try again, but was a little frustrated with this tool on my first try.

My Android Apps

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Fri, 28 May 2010 18:40:00 +0000

Needing a break from a busy Friday, I decided to throw out a quick list of my favorite Android apps that I use frequently on my Nexus One. I think just about all of these are free or at least have free versions (some of the games, especially, have limited free versions):

Communication & Productivity:

AppBrain: find & sync your apps on the web (also great backup of all your apps)
Gmail - functional e-mail app
gTasks: simple offline tasks app that syncs with Google Tasks
SMS Unread Count: visual display to check unread text messages
Google Voice: listen or read your voice mails
Google Maps: excellent GPS nav tool. Used extensively at recent trip to DC
Foursquare: my fave location-based app! Earn badges & mayorships!
~~Twidroid~~ Twitter (official app) - better Twitter app than Seesmic in my opinion
Voice Recorder - simple but effective way to record audio (i.e., thoughts, discussions)

Information & Social:

NPR News - listen or read latest NPR stories
The Weather Channel - I can quickly access weather for 3 locations I frequent.
NewsRob: a bare bones Google Reader app.
RunKeeper: track your exercise! Works with my phone's GPS & GMaps to log my walks, runs and cycling treks and outputs calories burned & other data.
Diigo Bookmarks: instant access to all my bookmarks!
Facebook
Yelp: get user reviews of restaurants, pubs, what have you on the fly

Utilities:

Aldiko Book Reader: A must-have! Good selection of books, too.
Dolphin Browser HD : until Chrome or Firefox versions launch for Android, this is the best one available. It's fast and reliable with minimal bells and whistles.
CallFilter - block unwanted calls
Lookout Mobile Security - anti-virus & data backup
Dock Simulator: home or car dock for time, alarm clock, etc.
Dropbox: file storage - can sync files with other computers
Adobe Reader: read PDF files
BarCode Scanner: scan any barcode with your camera to get info on it
Tricorder: for your inner Trekkie! A working Tricorder app, including the classic beeps! This one has fascinated my friends the most!

Games (note: I have a preference for tower defense games on this platform - if that isn't your thing, you can probably skip this section):

Robo Defense - great defense game with achievements & leveling up. Best one.
Retro Defense
Chess for Android
Tower Raiders
Quest! Swords and Spells: RPG
SpiraDefense

Other apps of note I haven't used as much yet: Google Goggles (augmented reality app), Pandora Radio, Meebo IM, WordPress, Tuner - gStrings (chromatic tuner), and Last.FM.

My Computers in Libraries 2010 Backchannel Notes

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 03:44:00 +0000

I spent this past week in Alexandria, VA at Computers in Libraries 2010. It was one of the better conferences I've been to in a while. Mostly because it's one of the first times, outside SUNYLA, where I've felt confident enough to really network and meet people. I also got to spend time with some awesome relatives who live in McLean, VA that I don't get to see very often. Finally, and most importantly, because this conference gathers together many smart people with the same sort interests as me:

"emerging technology" and ("library services" or "information literacy" or transliteracy)

My notes from the 4 days of the conference (including a day of preconference workshops) primarily consisted of a large number of tweets. I've gathered these tweets together below and got rid of some of my shorthand and added to them for clarity:

Day 1, Preconference Workshops:

[I took 2 preconference sessions (Embedding Libraries in Learning, and Website Usability) that were very informative. In the former, we discussed strategies (from the managing director of the Harvard Business School Library) to undertake sustainable strategic shifts via planning and design thinking. This has given me pause to consider how much the librarians at MPOW don't yet know about what Deb Wallace described as the "learning landscape" (all the elements that fill in the context of learning and teaching, such as the tenure process, curriculum design, etc.). Knowledge of these processes is crucial to bringing library services into better alignment with that landscape, the college mission, and learning outcomes.

On the Usability side, I am convinced more than ever that the library must soon undertake a usability study of our extensive library website and online resources. Our online presence is our library! Without understanding how our students and faculty use it, we cannot make effective design changes and service innovations. That session provided me with some really helpful guidelines and techniques that should allow us to undertake such a project with limited funds and staffing.]

Integrating Libraries in Learning: Creating Sustainable Strategic Shifts: Deb Wallace (Harvard Business School)

excellent discussion: collaboration, curriculum design, strategic shits, design thinking
strategic shifts take time - make your plan and its trajectory transparent
shifts: e.g., a chart/matrix that shows how all the parts fit together and are effected. Visual communication!
spend time making sure you have all the necessary capabilities to get from plan to goals: project management framework.
they created marketing materials & info to make sale to faculty: case-based structure (i.e., fit the information and communication style to a structure faculty are familiar with)
1st step/goal: understand the learning landscape: librarians sit in classes, talk with faculty, students & staff to understand
provide visualized models of services/info products available to faculty (faculty love the models!)
use faculty materials when developing content (helps get buy-in). HBS: entrepreneurship = action ; 10% of librarian time / week spent on professional development (formalized)
manage faculty expectations - lay out plan components, position them as tools to make doing the work easier

My "real" notes:

Most important: know the learning landscape (context): how does tenure and curriculum design work at your institution. Design thinking.
We need a mission: “research support curriculum” - keep strategy focused: less is more. Align to larger org goals. Idea: “research services” instead of “reference services”
HBR library created a matrix to plan out (and communicate clearly to library staff and other impacted parties) their plans and targets for strategic shifts (develop this idea for us!!!). Charts changes over several years.

Innovation = ideas
challenges: resources/funding, time, commitment and energy, creativity and inspiration. Approach: clear vision, strategic plan, phases (feasibility study, pilots), org structure and culture.

Entrepreneurs = action :

risk takers
curious learners
self confident & tenacious
sense of urgency
less concerned with status
problem solvers
optimistic
sense of purpose

Service Design components:

learning landscapes
opportunity analysis (strategy alignment)
services description: benefit/needs met, development milestones
critical success factors: what capabilities (human & material) are needed
measurement and eval

Website Usability, Amanda Etches-Johnson (McMaster University Library) http://influx.us/

iterative design instead of redesign (e.g., look at Amazon changes over time - they keep key functions in relatively same spots)
**best web design is showing as little design as possible to users #simplicity
whimsy design: intersection between surprise ("oh, that is cool") and clarity
when doing card sorting w/ users, host only 1 user at a time to avoid "group think"

More "real" notes:

6 Usability Tips:

scannable
concise, short URLs
** iterative changes ** - don't redesign, maintain some structure if possible
match labels & pages
appearance matters: simplicity: try to display as little “design” as possible to users
watch people use your site!!!

Testing:

AB Testing technique: get 3 ppl to test 2 altenative options

Some testing tools:

InfoMaki (built on Ruby)
Google Developer tools (has built in usability tools)
Screenflow $$
** Crazyegg.com** install script: heatmaps of where people are clicking.
Usabilla
Morae - $$

Planning:

Be willing to forget current site (e.g. workflow, structure, etc.)
Gather planners
Determine audience (personas)
Assess & rank needs (card sort)
Compare personas
Outline steps

Personas exercise:

15 things user needs to do
$100: divide the money between the tasks (how much value does each task get?)
Card sorts: a) open: already defined tasks – categorize them b) closed: already have main categories: see where users put tasks in that structure
with users: only have one user at a time
also have librarians do it: compare users vs librarian outcomes (often very different and can be used to reduce objections to changes?)

Books:

Mental Models: Young
Don't Make Me Think: Krug
The User is Always Right (working w/ personas)
Letting Go of the Words: Redish
The Non-Designers Design Book
Elements of User Experience: Garrett

Day 2, Conference Sessions:
Information Fluency Strategies & Practices
Libraries & Transliteracy
Website Redesign: Two Case Studies
Gen X Librarians: Leading from the Middle
Digital Managers Sound Off

use instructional portfolios for critical thinking
information fluency is critical thinking and evaluation: higher order skills
61 second timer: "Ask Us" IM widget pops up for users who linger on web pages
twitter moment for audience: wonder if display of student tweets as backchannel distracts or focuses their attention?
diigo assignment: find main theme and highlight it in the document via Diigo sticky notes: instills knowledge of peer review, critical thinking, reflection

screensharing done via yuuguu (we are using Dimdim)
#transliteracy wonder if it's better to use new term (transliteracy) or redefine old to encompass 21st century skills (information literacy)?
transliteracy is not a destination; its an ability to adapt
transliteracy as new 3 R's: essential educational & lifelong learning skills
@buffyjhamilton is fab speaker, thinker
some IT dept's go into siege mode w/ all free stuff now available to all of us; spotlight is on them to keep up with/support all this? they're not used to it
An idea: an iTunes-like genius bar for library research? Put in your needs and a couple of sources you've already found and it recommends similar tools/resources. Who wants to call Apple and get on this? :-)
accessibility: Firesizer, etc
usability in site redesign: if possible do it repeatedly, continuously
Drupal used as content management system; they use 30 diff erent Drupal modules!
Gen X session with my Immersion peep Karen Sobel
Gen X'ers are a transition, bridge generation: web and social technology bridge between Boomers and Millennials (who've grown up with all this), etc

Day 3:
Training in the Cloud, or Mobile Labs!
Virtual Learning and Training: From Classrooms to Communities
Instructional Technology: It's a Team Thing

30 boxes or Doodle for scheduling
virtual learning with Meredith Farkas and Joan Petit starting in 5 min
virtual learning: participation, wisdom of crowds, social constructivism
learning management systems are too structured
uses Drupal front page to display student content & discussions
each student gets own space via blogs; good community building; they feel connected
Cairo project: blogging forces reflective learning; participation; debate
problems w repressive culture; blogs had accidental free speech learn effect? Tres cool!
almost failed w blogs: overwhelming technology at first, getting librarian buy-in: meant more work for librarians
student love of blogging saved project; assessed via a final assignment: how did they feel about blogs?
students should have feeling of owning the learning space - YES!!!
they did a staff environmental scan: what skills can we tap, what do we need to accomplish goals?
chart/matrix of project's low/high impact x low/high effort
use "collabratories"
team: flexibility is key; innovation important too
presentation style used (2 at mic for some) reinforces their "team approach" message
if you make something cool, strive to make it available to all for re-purposing
Libraries and Transliteracy Group on Facebook
Participated in my 1st live T is for Training podcast (ep. 44) over audio (have done it via chat before)
theme I've taken away so far: fearless, continual innovation

Day 4:

Persuasion, Influence and Innovative Ideas
From Podcasts to Blogs and Beyond!
Ebooks: Landscape and Implications

your ideas = change for others; change is scary for most unless there's something in it 4 them: 2 make sale on idea: clarify that
you must divest organization of some services in order to add new services
every organization has naysayers and yaysayers; sometimes we need to just let the 16% of staff who can be considered laggards go [technology adoption lifecycle]: they may not change
influence: competence + clarity + relationships
in podcasting session w/ @butternutsquash and @jazzmodeus
podcasts: RSS + mp3 (many people use the term more broadly, such as with YouTube videos, but to be precise, the RSS part is important - i.e., you're not "casting" it anywhere if users can't get hooked via an RSS feed subscription)
podcasts = serials ; YouTube video or audio = monograph (a metaphor used to describe difference to librarians not familiar with podcasting)
podcasts: blue snow portable microphone for recording in 360 deg; free audio tool: audacity (or garageband for Mac users)
podcasts: put some creative commons music at beginning and end: makes it slicker: easy to do
**podcasting best practices**: keep it short, never read from a script (audience can always tell if you do), 2 or more people talking, having a conversation, is better (conversation makes it much more listenable)
use podcast as pre-assignment for one-shot sessions (work with faculty to assign it?)
marketing podcasts is key, use some humor if possible, partner w/ Marketing dept?, track subscribers; put into iTunesU
podcasts: informal, conversational: Adventures in Library Instruction: best podcast around (along w T is for Training)!
collaboration tools for podcasters at a distance: skype, Blogspot, Audacity, Internet Archive, Feedburner, DropBox, iTunes
podcast uses in libraries: teaching, orientation/tours, service promotion, archive events, booktalks
@librarianbyday (& others) say ipad may be ebook game changer.
@jasongriffey via video recording showing off ipad
@griffey predicts publishers will eventually come around on DRM-less content [I have my doubts about that]

Overall, I loved this conference and will certainly go again next year. But as others have commented, it was really at lobby-con and through other informal conversations over meals and events that I learned the most. Thanks go out to all the CiL and LSW vets and my formerly know-online-only peeps who made me feel so welcome!

Response to SUNY's Strategic Plan draft

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:41:00 +0000

SUNY has just put out a draft Strategic Plan, and as long-time library advocate Bill Drew rightly points out, there is not a single mention of libraries or librarians in it. As such, here is the hastily written response I sent to the Strategic Planning team's call for feedback:

Dear SUNY Strategic Plan team,

As a librarian for the last seven years in the SUNY system, it is disheartening to read through the SUNY Strategic Plan document, with it's emphasis on the "knowledge economy," "core values" and on creating "involved citizens", and not see a single reference to the contributions and value of SUNY libraries and librarians. In my view, the ongoing fight to improve "information literacy" (the ability to effectively interact with information, in any form, to solve needs or problems) lies at the core of all these SUNY values. The basic ability to find, evaluate and synthesize information is one of the key structures that allows a knowledge economy to flourish, and these abilities are what librarians fight to instill in our students every day. Indeed, librarians could be viewed as essential in the struggle to have a more informed and effective citizenry in any democracy. I believe SUNY libraries have a role to play in this plan, and request their voices be added to this document. Thank you for your time and consideration.

The Power of Failure and Argument

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:28:00 +0000

Most of us are, by nature, upbringing and education, reticent to examine our failures or engage in vigorous exchange of differing points of view or ideas.

On the argument side, this can be termed brainstorming, discussion, argument; depends on your point of view and communication preferences. If nothing else, our political leaders and media pundits, and their constant squabbles, reinforce this reticence to embrace failure or regard arguments as a beneficial mechanism to getting things done.

But research shows these mechanisms can actually be very powerful tools for developing critical thinking skills, learning in general, and getting things done. Two recent blog articles discuss these issues in terms far more eloquent (and researched) than I could even attempt:

The Importance of Thinking about Thinking
Make Meetings More Productive by Arguing
(addendum edit) Set Sail for Fail video (ALA 2010 Unconference session)

I think both these excellent articles reinforce a theme that has been building in a few corners of the library world (see the 3/12 T is for Training podcast, and posts in the LSW FriendFeed): a call to engage in more examination and analysis of our failures as library professionals and institutions, especially at conferences and other professional development venues. I also think they hold great untapped potential as mechanisms for information literacy instruction and general training. Students who are not afraid to fail and learn from those failures probably make better critical choices in the long run, and become better researchers. If nothing else, they are probably more willing to ask us for help when they need it!

How I Became a Librarian (addendum)

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:10:00 +0000

After re-reading the last post I wrote, it occurred to me this morning that while all of that is true, it wasn't until I actively engaged the library community via social media and my local associations (after having time to establish myself at MPOW), that I truly became a librarian. I think before that I was just sort of going through the motions. Unsure of myself and uncertain if the profession was truly my calling. Certainly, I had my own issues I was struggling with (coming to terms with my trans-ness and then legally and socially changing my gender was a full-time job that took years!), but it was only when I was able to make connections and share ideas and experiences with librarians beyond those I work with on a daily basis, via twitter and friendfeed and SUNYLA, that I was able to get a real sense of the scope and infinite possibilities of the profession. That, and realizing many others were struggling with some of the same professional issues I was, such as how to bring about organizational change, integrate emerging technologies and get the concepts and dire need for more/better information literacy integration into the minds of the organization's faculty and academic leaders.

Many of the diverse librarians I have met online, and hearing about the amazing work they do, have provided me lofty goals to try and meet for myself. While I haven't met most of them face to face yet (alas, damn limited travel budgets!), I consider many of them to be great role models and thank them all for helping me truly become a librarian!

Secret Origins of the Disobedient Librarian (How I became a librarian)

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:21:00 +0000

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now, ever since the "How I became a librarian" meme surfaced months ago. Here's my simplistic timeline that only vaguely answers that question.

Dana's Evolutionary Librarian Timeline:

Lives cloistered life of shy junior & senior high school student who does lots of reading and has aspirations of becoming a science fiction and historical fiction writer
1987-1991: lazy college student, specializing in drinking games and killing brain cells and doing a minimum amount of work; drops creative writing (and very briefly, secondary ed) aspirations after 1st semester; remains undecided, unfocused and unmotivated until senior year
1991: graduates from SUNY Geneseo with a history degree, focusing on European history with aim of going on to graduate school
1991-1994: as her only real "skill," she works in various restaurants (sometimes 2 at once) as line cook/kitchen manager (despite having a lifelong hatred of the restaurant business cultivated from having a chef as a father); 2 quickly aborted stabs at history grad classes sour her to grad school in general
1993-1994: gets into volunteer work in Pittsburgh: Literacy Council and Goodwill (sorting donated books)
Spring of 1994: Goodwill book sorting program run by volunteer librarian; awareness of "librarian" as actual profession awakens her to possibility of finding career she actually likes, one of top library schools (ranked #2 in US at the time) happens to be in same city!
Summer of 1994: takes first library class: Cataloging! Takes PT job as library page (and maintains part-time kitchen mngr job, while taking classes PT)
1996: switches to FT classes and takes internship at academic ref desk; solidifies her focus on reference services
1997: graduates from the University of Pittsburgh with her MLS!!!
1997-1998: burns quickly through several part-time, unsatisfactory entry-level library jobs
1998: unwisely moves to Austin, TX for the sake of a relationship (which quickly dissolves); takes PT job at a UT library as "library assistant"
1998-2002: moves to Baltimore and takes job as "information specialist" with start-up web company that provides info/research services to academia and research orgs
2002: downsizing and general dissatisfaction with job, despite promotion, prompts her to move back to area of origin in upstate NY with no job and little money; takes crappy PT library job at a "college" located in a mall.
2003-present: lands job at current location; grows up a bit (but not too much); takes on growing responsibilities; transitions at work; learns to love profession and job; innovates and pushes for change and gets several promotions over the years, despite a lack of diplomacy and social graces; finally gains confidence in herself as person and professional

Doing Research and Publishing as a Librarian

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:21:00 +0000

The title above does not describe me. I have never done serious scholarly research nor have I ever had anything I've written officially "published" in print. Not even a book review. Sad, I know, especially when I compare myself to all the librarians I network with. Honestly I don't know how they get all that stuff done on a regular basis.

But then again, I have little incentive to publish. I am considered professional staff at my college. My performance program vaguely mentions "contribute to scholarly, professional and research publications within the college and externally," even though I am given absolutely zero support for actually doing any of that. My current everyday duties, projects and management responsibilities are really those of two separate full-time jobs. The idea that I have time (let alone funding or even encouragement) to do any sort of real research seems fanciful to me at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I present at (mostly regional) conferences on a regular basis (and do get financial support for that) and have a ton of ideas for research. But actually devoting time to creating the proper environment around a project so that we can properly set up and assess it is something that is rarely done here. It's not in our current "work culture" I guess you could say.

The idea of doing that on my own time is daunting as well. Outside of work and my lengthy commute, I get about 4-5 hours per weekday evening, tops, of awake time. Calculate in eating and walking the dog, socializing, and do the solo things I enjoy like working out, playing video games, reading for pleasure, etc., and I would have precious little time to do my own research. The bottom line is I'm selfish. I enjoy my down time and sacrificing some of it for something that I'm not required to do,nor can easily see a tangible benefit for (even though I know it's there) is a hard thing to build into my thinking, let alone follow through on in a sustained way.

Anytime I've brought up the idea of faculty status for the librarians (and the accompanying impetus for and support to publish), the notion has been met with blank stares or a quick change of topic by my superiors. My two librarian employees do not seem keen on the idea of having to publish either, so the faculty status idea is going nowhere anytime soon.

On the other hand, if I had real incentive to publish, I think I would relish the task. Am I sure? Nope. I'm certainly not a great deep thinker or theorist, although I've always been good at intuitively seeing bigger pictures and thinking strategically. But I'm really at my best when just plain doing, or solving immediate problems. Or trying to simplify processes or concepts or information structures into usable, everyday, graspable objects for our users. That stuff comes naturally to me; the added aspect of reflecting on and deconstructing and placing those things within larger, more rigorous research structures, does not.

So now I'm thinking that rather than undertake a lame New Rear's resolution to cut out something bad from my diet, yadda, yadda, yadda, I may instead set myself a goal of getting something published in the library literature. Any one of the many unique things I do on a regular basis working with our adult distance learners in an academic library without books is certain to have appeal somewhere if I can just get off my lazy butt and do it!

SideWiki's Demon Soul

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:47:00 +0000

This post was prompted most directly by an excellent post from the scholarly kitchen on Google's newly launched and somewhat controversial SideWiki tool, as well as a recent video review I saw on a new RPG video game I ordered for my PlayStation 3 called Demon's Souls.

How the hell do these weird topics come together, you ask?

My answer is that both SideWiki and Demon's Souls are built around innovative and immersive systems of collaborative experience sharing. They also, in theory anyways, both have mechanisms in place to reward communally beneficial behavior and prevent abuse and manipulation by those who inevitably try to do so.

Some explanations are in order.

First, Demon's Souls. This has a cool feature built into it's very difficult role playing game design (you're meant to die a lot and need to do lots of trial and error to proceed through the levels, defeat bosses, etc.): the ability to leave messages, hints and advice within the game environment that any other players of the game can opt to view. Those that are found to be helpful are voted so (and I believe the people leaving helpful messages are also rewarded in-game via health increases) and remain in the system, those that aren't disappear quickly. In other words, a sort of wiki-like help system with built in rewards for beneficial behavior.

Google SideWiki is a Google Toolbar add-on that allows those using it to leave comments on any page on the web, see the comments that others have left on any page, and rate the helpfulness of others comments (you can also report spam comments). Google SideWiki claims to have an algorithm in place to automatically display the most relevant comments at the top.

In both cases, in one aspect at least, this is standard social media, user-driven design. Neither concept is totally original (for example Diigo has many of the same web page annotation features as SideWiki), but I believe they both hold great potential beyond that to transform how we interact and share experiences. Both transcend the single user or single site experience.

In the case of SideWiki, instead of comments being relegated and controlled by the site owner, they are set free from those confines and placed over top of any individual site or page. There are lots of reasons to be distrustful of Google's ubiquitous and growing control of information through these kinds of initiatives (read the comments here for lots more on that, especially the concerns of site owners), but I want to instead look past that; focus on the positive potential it holds for library users, information literacy, and library instruction.

Examples of possible use:

As a library site owner I can place useful tips on how to navigate and find resources or do searching right on the pages where they'll have the most impact and without intruding on the precious real-estate of the actual page. From what I gather there is a way to identify yourself as the site owner (via some embedded code similar to Google Analytics) so that your comments appear at the top by default.
As an instructor, I could have an exercise, for example, where I ask students to find information on their topic within our site and on each page along the way, make a reflective comment on their choices and what worked or didn't work for them. I could take it a step further and have each student then go to the profile of a fellow student and follow their footsteps and make further comments on their comments, etc. I don't think this will work within secure pages, but as far as navigating our site to get to a specific search tool and get the students to think critically about their choices, this has potential.
As a distance learning student, I can potentially participate in a communal activity to share experiences and ideas with my peers and classmates. Building an online college community is one I'm especially interested in, since this is a large obstacle to overcome (and desire on the students' part, based on feedback the college has collected) for our institution.

Those are just a couple of ideas off the top of my head. The big question is whether will this tool survive the rigors of time, user adoption, and spammers and marketers? Having the Google brand behind it certainly helps. I'm looking at ways to experiment with it (and of course, with Google Wave if I ever get an invite!). If you have any ideas, let me know!

Google to Teach Library Search Techniques?

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:24:00 +0000

I am contemplating using this kind of thing as exercise or demo for my next batch of "Introduction to Searching" workshops (as well as for a self-paced information literacy tutorial we are revamping.

One of the connections I seek to make when teaching is the importance of early search strategy steps such as gathering a list of keywords and combining them in such a way that you get relevant results. In other words, "making the sale" to students to invest some time and thought into brainstorming/crafting a useful search strategy/search strings. I never use the term "Boolean," but I do talk about basic search techniques such as AND, OR, double quotes, etc.

Below are some screen shots of results from Google and ProQuest showing the differences between typing a whole search topic or sentence into a search box (which a lot of our students do) versus ones that have been more properly formatted so that a search tool will understand what you are looking for and hopefully give you more relevant results:

Google search 1 (unformatted): 3.9 million results

Google search 2 (formatted): 17,200 results

Library Database search 1 (unformatted): 14 results

Library database search 2 (formatted): 160 results:

The complexity arises in the contradiction that an unformatted Google search gets you way too many results, while an unformatted library database search will sometimes get you too few (if any) results or too many (i.e., EBSCO will default to their SmartText search if none are found). I'm not sure if taking the time to show these differences will make it more confusing or less for students as to why they should format their searches, especially since more and more vendors are making it possible to put in entire sentences and at least get some results...

Digest of Recent Useful Links for Library Instruction

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:18:00 +0000

Just a quickie list of some recent links from my Diigo account of tools/sites I think have some real or potential use for teacher librarians and or for library instruction:

Tweeterview: conduct an interview or discussion in Twitter and it formats it like a Q&A session.
Screenr: create screencasts & screen recordings easily - integrates w/ twitter.
Trailfire: browse or create "trails" through the web. Could be used to create a tour of a certain topic or to house, for example, sites for students to evaluate for an assignment. You can add comments to each page, and tags too.
Information Literacy in Upper Level Undergraduate Biology: Undergraduate Science Librarian blog post describing her methods
Wikipedia as Venue for Historical Research & Writing: lesson plan by N Kogan using Wikipedia (students create Wikipedia account and make edits to an entry)
Information Literacy & Inquiry Learning models: select list of Information Literacy, Research, or Information Problem Solving models available for teachers to use with pupils.
Twitter Storytelling Challenges: West Port Book Festival, Edinburgh. Four twitter-based storytelling challenges posed to audience - possibly a way for libraries to do the same kind of thing? Maybe even somehow incorporate info lit concepts in?
The 10 Bona Fide Best Sites for Sharpening Your Critical Thinking Skills

Recording of Instructional Session

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:18:00 +0000

I recently did three in-person 50 minute instructional sessions for incoming BA nursing students and (without telling me until I arrived), one of those sessions was recorded and put into a fairly slick streaming media presentation format using Accordant. The side panel only includes rough screen shots, but next time I want to do a live screencast to go alongside video of me teaching. The room I was given was also not ideal: a tiny conference room with a giant, unmovable table in the middle, so the video angle isn't great (note: this may not work on some FireFox browsers without a plug-in, but works in IE just fine):

http://mediafiles.empire-edutools.net/accord3z/Library_orientation/f.htm

I cringe looking at myself in these kinds of things, and the last session I did went much smoother, but this turned out ok I guess.

Reading Habits Meme

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:07:00 +0000

Picked up via the Opinions of a Wolf blog, a reading habits meme:

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?

Not usually. Although I do enjoy sipping a beer or a glass of wine while reading sometimes.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of
writing in books horrify you?
The idea doesn't horrify me, but I tend not to do it simply because I like to lend books out to others and my own preference is to come at a story (whether book, movie, etc.) with a blank slate, with no foreknowledge of the details or detailed opinions from others on it.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
I have a few random objects I use, such as an Animatrix patch I got somewhere, a joker playing card, and I think an old monopoly $100 bill somewhere...

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
I prefer fiction (science fiction, comics and graphic novels specifically), but delve into classic and modern fiction or interesting non-fiction on occasion.

Hard copy or audiobooks?
Hard copy. When listening, I prefer loud, fast music and doing something else (like driving or housework or working out).

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you
able to put a book down at any point
I read every night before bed so I can put a book down at any point. I suspect though that most, like me, prefer to stop at chapter ends.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
I used to do this a lot more, but nowadays I can usually get a meaning from the context.

What are you currently reading?
The Diamond Age: Neal Stephenson

Ultra: The Luna Brothers

What is the last book you bought?
Ultra: The Luna Brothers

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can
you read more than one at a time?
I usually have one novel, one graphic novel and one comic going at the same time, but rarely have more than one of each going at any one time. If I'm reading something that isn't grabbing me enough I just put it aside for another time and move onto the next one from my "on deck" shelf.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?
My fave place is on a hot sunny day (or morning) at the beach or at a quiet park.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
Doesn't matter to me as long as they have compelling stories, although to me there are few series that can stay fresh and compelling after more than a couple titles.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?
Neal Stephenson and William Gibson I recommend all the time, even to non sci-fi fans because their stuff is just that good. Watership Down is my fave title of all time and something that everyone should read as an adult.

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)
I organize by author last name, although I separate out (mostly due to space) my "on deck," reference, poetry, science fiction and graphic novel collections into their own shelves.

Use of Analogy in Instruction

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:44:00 +0000

I got to thinking about my use of analogies for library instruction recently; as a way to relate info lit concepts to student experiences. I need to do this more often (another way ACRL Immersion had an effect on me).

Here are two I use, in brief (keep in mind I teach adult learners, so the analogies reflect that):

Information evaluation is skill you already possess. E.g: How many of you go grocery shopping? When buying milk or a piece of meat, what do you look at before buying? Expiration date, brand, price, nutrition information, right? No one really had to teach you that skill. You just don't want to end up with spoiled food. Same thing applies to information. You just need to think a little more deliberately about it at first and then you'll start doing it naturally and make sure you don't include any rotten or spoiled pieces of information in your paper! (handout related to this)
Research requires planning and adaptation. If you've ever put together or even attended a dinner party, birthday party, shower, or wedding, you probably know that at least in part, a failed party was due to poor or non-existent planning, or perhaps too rigid a plan, right? If some thought wasn't put into what supplies and entertainment and floor planning was needed, or if some flexibility wasn't intentionally built into a party plan, allowing for things to change if needed, disaster can easily follow. The same thing applies to doing a research assignment. Your professors can spot a poorly planned paper from a mile away and your grade will often reflect that. So I'm here to tell you, start thinking strategically about your research assignments in advance. What information do you need? When can I devote time to doing that research? But also think of doing research as a loose plan that can and often does need adjustment. If your original research topic or thesis doesn't fit what you're finding when you start searching and reading the literature, think about adapting your topic. If your search strategy isn't finding any relevant information, think about adapting your search strategy. Am I using the most effective search terms? Have I combined those terms in a way the tool I'm using can understand?

What analogies do you use?

Wonder Wheel

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Sat, 30 May 2009 14:27:00 +0000

While I'm on a roll (2 posts within 24 hrs!) and talking about Google, I thought I'd talk a little about another recently launched Google product called Wonder Wheel. It's a new (and kind of buried) feature for Google Search (and I'm unclear if it's available to everyone by default yet or not) that I think has some potential use for our students and for information literacy instruction.

You can read about what this tool is, step-by-step, here and here. Basically, it's a visual keyword map/thesaurus, which allows you to drill down into specific aspects of a topic; to explore the relationships between terms. When you click on a related or sub-term, it shows you new results based on that new term. Below is a screen capture I did for "drug abuse." (a topic I use a lot for instruction exercises).

In effect, this is very similar to tools such as VisualThesaurus, but more practical from the student perspective (because it is integrated into Google!). This kind of tool, properly taught within the context of information evaluation and basic discipline terminology (because I'm assuming Wonder Wheel terms displayed are based not on any controlled or discipline-related terminology), could be useful for information literacy instruction in helping students overcome the all too common issues of paper topic narrowing and finding a usable place to start getting a handle on the terminology surrounding that topic.

If only it was integrated into Google Scholar and Google Books! Hopefully that will come in time, and not get spoiled by the inevitable monetization of the product via paid placement, etc..

Quick Thoughts on Google Wave

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:28:00 +0000

I haven't posted on here in ages. Seems recent personal events (I'm single for the 1st time in years) and my dual twitter and gaming addictions have seriously eroded my blogging output!

Anyways, some brief, initial thoughts on Google's recently announced Wave product. It has generated a decent amount of blogosphere chatter already and I imagine that once a public version is launched and developers start cranking out apps from it, there will be much more discussion and argument about how we communicate, collaborate and socialize online and how this does or doesn't change things. I suspect that this tool won't be an end-all-be-all, paradigm-changing product, even on a par with Twitter, but it may mark the beginning of a shift away from what has now been several decades of "traditional" email communication, and in my scifi-addled mind, move us one more tiny step towards a less-nefarious version of a Borg-like collective intelligence.

From a library standpoint, this sort of path may further muddle (but I hope in the end, after unavoidable growing pains, help us overcome) already seriously backwards and muddied online intellectual property and copyright issues and laws. Where we will end up is anyone's guess, but I'm excited to see the discussions that grow out of all this.

Amazon Censors LGBT Books

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:56:00 +0000

I thought this issue was important enough, and certainly relevant to librarians, that I'm reposting from my other, personal blog:

The recent and on-going imbroglio over Amazon's seemingly intentional censorship of LGBT books (despite their claims denying it) got me thinking: what else might the mega-information companies (Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, our Government, the telecoms, etc.) that we all now pretty much depend on, be influencing/censoring/favoring based on political/social/religious beliefs, that we don't even know about yet?

Kind of scary, isn't it?

On the other hand, the fact that this Amazon thing (which I won't discuss, as far more knowledgeable people than me have done that already here, here & here) was caught so early and then publicized so widely and loudly by the blogosphere as to make Amazon rethink their stance, gives me hope that there is power in the collective citizen potential of web 2.0 (and beyond) technologies.

Info Lit on the Rise at MPOW!

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:08:00 +0000

Fact: the level of student information literacy skills at MPOW is scarily low, in just about every measurable facet. Don't get me wrong, there are many very smart and very talented and very motivated students here, they just aren't directed (i.e., forced) towards learning opportunities in this area. This is to be expected, I suppose, when talking about working adult, distance learners, many of whom haven't been near a library or a research paper beyond the high school level in decades, if ever. They are juggling work, family and school responsibilities, so participation in strictly-voluntary online info lit instruction sessions can only have limited reach, even if we had a giant marketing budget and the active support of all our faculty (which we don't).

There is no requirement for students to get any sort of information literacy or library instruction; not even a library orientation (granted, we don't have a physical library, so it would be a virtual orientation). There is an optional Info Lit course, but it is not taught by a librarian and the content, from what I can tell, is not tied into our resources or current learning theory much at all. Since all classes (there are hundreds) are either entirely online, or blended at our regional locations, and there are only 3 FT librarians on staff (none at any of the regional locations), delivery of course-level instruction is virtually impossible. Instead, in theory, a watered-down and generalized Gen. Ed. "information management" requirement is "infused" into the curriculum. Whether these requirements, let alone a more rigorous set of skills as outlined in ACRL standards, are given much consideration in the instructional design process is up for debate.

A few months ago I participated in an assessment of our Information Management rubric using a sampling of papers provided to us from various classes. Of the 100 or so papers that I assessed, only about 2 or 3 (that's not a typo!) cited any sort of peer-reviewed source or even anything from any of our library databases. Many (far too many) cited only the textbook and or a couple of dubious-quality web pages. Even then many facts were not cited and the citations included often followed no formatting style. I was thoroughly disheartened/disillusioned/frightened after this experience and I made it clear (as the only librarian serving on that assessment team) that we needed to address this asap.

A little more background: the college was chartered without a physical library (we started out in the 70's as a correspondence college), and the online library is managed by the office of Ed Tech (which is itself viewed with disdain by some faculty). I think librarians here have always been viewed as 2nd class citizens by both the faculty and the administration, and the idea of faculty status is greeted mostly with silence. When I started 5 years ago, the library consisted of myself and the library manager. There was (and never had been) any direct library instruction offered to students (except what could be done via phone and email reference interactions). A limited amount of instruction was aimed at faculty, with the idea, I suppose, that faculty would then incorporate these skills into their instructional design and or pass it along to students in other ways. In addition, tutorials were placed on the website, and a flash-based orientation to the library was buried in a CD about technology at the college, and given to all new students.

Two years ago we did break through the barrier a little when I was tasked with designing and coordinating a pilot program of online, hands-on basic skills workshops for students who can drive into one of our regional centers, in cooperation with a cadre of newly hired, front-line academic support directors (who do have faculty status). Keep in mind also that instruction is not a primary part of my performance program and I had little teaching or instructional design experience at that point (and I still have a ton to learn!).

It appears the assessment outcomes, and the constant pleading from the librarians has had an impact. We have been doing the online workshops for students for more than a year (and now offer a version that students can participate in directly from home) and I got some hints from my boss that I should start investigating the possibility of designing a credit course of some kind.

So things are looking up in the information literacy biz here, thankfully. And hopefully after I come back from the Info Lit Immersion program this summer, I'll be brimming with great ideas and a solid theoretical foundation on which to build a more in-depth and innovative info lit program.

Virtual, Collaborative Info Lit Instruction at the Consortial Level?

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 08:31:00 +0000

As I sit here at 4am Saturday morning , insomnia stubbornly staving off slumber, I thought I'd take a stab at reviving this blog with a random thought.

I've been using an online, synchronous classroom tool called Elluminate Live! Academic for a while now to teach simple one or two hour, hands-on, voluntary workshops, both to students who can come into our participating regional computer labs located throughout the state (each regional center is semi-autonomous & not every one participates in this program for reasons I have yet to figure out, but most likely territorial), and directly to students at their home computers. The program has mostly been a success so far (the @Home version is still in pilot phase), although not without a few hiccups along the way.

I should mention that Elluminate is also tentatively (there are many administrators and faculty who have a hard time with this kind of technology, and many centers and units do not yet have the equipment or technical support know-how to use it effectively) being used throughout our geographically dispersed college centers and units as a means of convening virtual meetings, and by the language faculty as a way of doing live language speaking exercises with their students.

In addition, I've also offered up our library's Elluminate room as a means of holding meetings for the SUNYLA instructional subcommittee I sit on. I have also suggested that SUNYLA, SUNYConnect (the body that purchases library resources for use by all SUNY institutions) or even SUNY as a whole, think about purchasing a consortia-wide subscription to this product or something similar for use by libraries, faculty and administrators.

I view such an initiative as a parallel to today's economic crisis and Obama's stimulus plan. We need to spend money up front to save money in the long run and make things run smoother. On the financial side, a consortial-wide subscription would allow us to negotiate a large discount, as well as save everyone who serves on various SUNY- or SUNYLA-wide bodies tons of money on travel and lodging.

On the academic side, it could potentially open up a whole new avenue for collaboration. For example, I could see interested instructional librarians coordinating on planning, delivering and assessing a suite of workshops targeting many kinds of information literacy skills to students (and faculty) at various levels of experience. With the ability to team-teach (and offer a great way to mentor & train new or even still-in-school instructional librarians) and offer exponentially expanded instructional opportunities across institutions as well as to students regardless of physical location, this could have a major impact on the acquisition of basic information literacy skills, which I would guess continues to be a major concern at all institutions.

Alas, whether a large and varied consortia like SUNY can ever come to a consensus on what product to purchase, how to pay for it, and how to administer it, let alone whether it's worth the price up front to do it, is a challenge far beyond my meager strategic experiences. But I think it's certainly worth looking at.

Another Book Meme

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:51:00 +0000

via the Baby Boomer Librarian:

Rules:
* Get the book nearest to you. Right now.
* Go to page 56.
* Find the 5th sentence.
* Write this sentence - either here (in comments) or on your blog.
* Copy these instructions as commentary of your sentence.
* Don't look for your favorite book or your coolest but really the nearest.
* [mine own suggestion]: don't include book details - see if you can figure out where others' posts are taken from

Mine:

"I turned my back to her and concentrated on calming myself."

Twitter role play exercises?

disobedientlibrarian@gmail.com (Dana) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:49:00 +0000

I was contemplating today the idea of using twitter as a role playing environment for education. In this scenario, which I'm sure others have talked about (but right now I'm too lazy to search for), you would assign students take on say, historical or fictional figures in twitter, based around some event such as Watergate or the Battle of Waterloo or Shakespeare. Each student would then be responsible for researching the time line for that event and how their assigned persona fits into it. They would then each tweet imaginatively about their view of that event as it unfolds around them; as how they imagine that person might view things.

An example of this, although based around a fictional television-based world, are those who tweet as various Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters.

I have no idea if such an exercise would work, but I'm intrigued by the possibility.