Building a Teaching Community: 2nd Annual Summer Retreat for Librarians, June 29 @ Chapman University

Gentle readers--LIS Candidate Derek Stalcup and I attended this one-day conference at the Leatherby Libraries, Chapman University in Orange, CA.  Annie Knight, Wenling Tseng and Stacy Russo were our gracious hosts and I thank them for their hospitality.  This gathering wasn't billed as an "unconference", such as the one at Santa Barbara City College and was a bit more formal, but still with a relaxed summer "vibe". 

Take-aways:  Derek and I learned about systems for students to give instant feedback with cell phones (no clickers needed).  We intend to look into this for the before- and after-lecture surveys that Derek has created for assessing library instruction.  SurveyMonkey and similar programs can be used in on lab computers...but what if you're teaching 100 students in a big lecture hall?  Cell phones may well be the answer, since almost every student has one.  Paper surveys can be used by anyone who might have to pay for data messages.

Monday, June 18, 2012 - Opening of Oxnard College Library Learning Resource Center

There was a flurry of last-minute cleaning, then the doors opened.  It was a trickle at first...then more students arrived as word spread.  We still have last-minute items and tech problems to fix, of course.  But all in all, a glorious day.









Here's a shot of our very first "new customer": 

 Jeff Erskine and Ray Acosta at the circulation desk...

 Diva Ward in her office...

...and yours truly at the new reference desk.  I conducted my very first instruction session for Dr. Linda Chaparro's Psych 101 class yesterday, with two more this week.  Life is good.

Oxnard College Library Learning Resource Center Dedication, May 9, 2012

It was a beautiful day a week ago when we dedicated our new building.  The weather was perfect, the speeches were short and heartfelt and we heard lots of great comments about the building.  We haven't moved it yet; that takes place over the intersession, which starts today.  We'll be officially moved in and opened at 8:00 am on Monday, June 18, the first day of summer session.  Best wishes to the College's Spring 2012 graduates, whose commencement is today at 6:00 pm.

Without further ado, the photos...

 One of the second floor areas where the reference books will "live".

 Second floor periodical reading area.

 Jeff Erskine, IT manager, looking over the new library classroom/computer lab, where library instruction will take place.

 Yep...this is me, your friendly associate librarian, Tom Stough. 

 Beverley Young, Ray Acosta and Tina Sasaki.

 Connie Campos, Dean Marjie Price and a student worker from the Liberal Studies Division.

 Derek Stalcup, former student worker in our old Media Center.  Derek will be a library science intern for us during the summer and fall semesters and we're glad to have him help us with the transition.

 Former library dean Delois Flowers, my boss from 2000-2007.

 Delois' daughter Kenna and a friend.

 Outgoing student health director, and emcee extraordinaire Mary Jones, being honored for her years of service to Oxnard College.  She is transferring to Ventura College soon.

 Unveiling the plaque...

 ...and the plaque itself.

Another view of the classroom with Diva Ward, learning resources supervisor and Ellen Carey, librarian from Santa Barbara City College.

Community colleges, and the State of California, face many challenges these days...but let's take a moment to mark this special  new beginning of improved library and learning resource services begin at Oxnard College.  We shall prevail.

Unconference @ Santa Barbara City College Library

 Organized by SBCC Library Director Kenley Neufeld and his able band of librarians and staffers...this Unconference on May 5, 2012 had some excellent presentations for California community college librarians in general.  I learned about new and innovative ways to collect and use reference desk usage data, for example.  Digesting all the ideas from this and previous conferences will be one of my summer projects.

With views like the one above, how does anyone ever get any work done at SBCC??  I've been wanting to try an unconference since I first learned of the concept in October at Internet Librarian.  It's great:  cheap, easy and informal....

 ...did I say, "informal"??  I never quite got the rhythm to keep the Hula Hoop spinning, but had fun trying!

From my deep, dark past at Los Angeles Public Library:  the infamous "shelvers from hell" T-shirt!  Thanks to Sarah Bosler for taking these shots.

Come one, come all to the dedication of the new Library Learning Resource Center (LLRC) at Oxnard College.  It's on Wednesday, May 9 @ 4:00 pm.  Please consult your "engraved invitation" at:  LLRC Dedication

Please note:  the building will not be officially open to the public until Monday, June 18 (the first day of summer session).

Regards/Tom

Tuesday Night: Web Faceoff 2.0 was great!!!

This was a wonderful, FUN gathering.  I took the afternoon off (major info overload).  The whole idea of teams competing to present the "kewlest" Web 2.0 tools was great....and I'm gonna look into this "unconferencing" thing I've been hearing about.  I suspect it's more like tonight's session and less like today's (no offense meant to the speakers who put a lot of hard work into their shows).  It's just that something looser is more my style, I think.

That said, let's be clear: I haven't heard the words "student learning outcome" or "accreditation" ONCE during this conference...and I'm delighted to have taken a respite from that before I head back to SoCal and reality.

Day 2 Workshop: Creating Web 2.0 Apps w/ SharePoint

By Danielle Pollock, Sandia National Laboratories.  Excellent presentation on using SharePoint for both in-house and outside users.  In a college environment, that would be staff and students, respectively.  Since my college already subscribes to this service, using it for blogging with students would be a natural.  Also, I like the idea Danielle suggested of creating an announcements page.  This could be a game-changer for my library.