Competency M
"Demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations."
Introduction
Traditionally, librarians are thought to be glasses-wearing ladies with blue-gray hair ready to shush at the slightest noise. However, librarianship is a profession that requires excellent communication skills to help teach library users information retrieval skills or find answers to library users' questions or even recommend books for recreational reading based on the library user's tastes. To borrow David A. Tyckoson's terminology, virtual and physical reference service and instruction is the "personal side of librarianship" (Haycock & Sheldon, 2008, p. 127).
Excellent communication is also necessary when advocating or marketing library services. A poorly written grant proposal can be the difference between being awarded funds for a project that is in actuality very good or having to cut a valuable service. Reaching out to the community and legislators through presentations and other means is also necessary to show how libraries are relevant to daily life. If would-be library users are not made aware of the services the library provides and if legislators are not made aware of the library's importance to communities, both outcomes may lead to closures or cuts.
Within the internal library environment, good communication with co-workers and managers, whether in meetings or through email, is crucial to morale and encouraging creativity and innovation in solving problems. Much of library work is collaborative; librarians serve on committees, train other staff or volunteers, and plan events which require expertise from various departments and community partners. Librarians also have the great opportunity to learn from other library professionals from different institutions by participating in and attending conferences, participating in library associations, and participating in the discussions on listservs.
Evidence
As evidence of meeting competency M, I am submitting work from my job as a library assistant I at the Stanislaus County Library system, LIBR 204, and LIBR 287, which concentrated on information literacy.
Stanislaus County Library: Ceres Healthy Start PowerPoint Presentation and Story Time Plan
The Stanislaus County Library system, located in California's Central Valley, has 13 branches and serves approximately residents. In my part-time position as a bilingual library assistant in the children's department at the main branch library in Modesto, I plan and perform all the Spanish and bilingual story times, provide children's reference service, and I also help plan for the annual Día de Los Niños/Día de Los Libros (Day of the Book/Day of the Child) event. In an outreach capacity, I also visit day care facilities and elementary schools to perform Spanish or bilingual story times and give presentations on early literacy for Spanish-speaking parents and caregivers. This work requires knowledge of early literacy skills, incorporating those skills in story times, and teaching parents and caregivers how they can incorporate these skills at home with their children. In these outreach events, I am the voice that represents the library system to the Latino community. This requires not only excellent communication skills but good rapport with children and adults.
In early September 2011, I was invited to the Ceres Healthy Start to give a Spanish presentation on early literacy to a group of Spanish-speaking parents followed by a story time with both the parents and their children. The Stanislaus County Library adheres to the Public Library Association (PLA) and Association for Library Service to Children's (ALSC) Every Child Ready to Read/Cada Niño Listo Para Leer initiative, which focuses on developing six pre-reading skills in young children, including print motivation, print awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, narrative skills, and phonological awareness (Whitehurst & Lonigan, 2004). In my presentation, I provided parents with information about each skill, as well as simple ideas that they can do to help develop these skills in their children. For example, to develop letter knowledge, parents can play the "word of the day" and focus on showing their children different things that begin with that letter, such as "P is for pantalones (pants), P is for pajaro (bird), P is for perro (dog), etc. To develop print awareness, parents can point to everyday signs like stop, exit, emergency, and names of stores and read these to their children. At the end of the presentation, I also provided parents with information about library card applications, story time hours at both the Ceres and Modesto branches, and answered a number of questions parents had concerning the library and the pre-reading skills addressed in the presentation. For example, one woman said that when she followed along with the words on a page, her youngest daughter would always move her hand away. A tip I shared was to perhaps point to just a few words, associating a particular word with the picture that represents that word, such as "Here is a picture of a strawberry. This word says strawberry." It may also be helpful if the daughter held the book. The other parents also gave advice for how they deal with situations like these.
Included below is the PowerPoint presentation I used to direct my presentation. The PowerPoint presentation was adapted from a presentation that was created from former SLIS student and co-worker, Olga Cardenas. Olga was the former bilingual library assistant in the children's department; she has moved to another bilingual position within the Stanislaus County Library system. Her advice was very helpful, and I incorporated many of her suggestions.
After the discussion, the pre-school children came in to join their parents for a story time session. The theme for my story time was eating/foods. The stories I read were ¡A Comer! (Let's Eat!) by Pat Mora, La Oruga Muy Habrienta (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) by Eric Carle, my own translation of Rose Robart's The Cake That Mack Ate (El Pastel Que Mack Se Comió) which I performed with props, and Alimentos Rojos (Red Foods) by Patricia Whitehouse, in which I had the children tell me the names of the red fruits and vegetables pictured. In between the stories, I had the parents and children participate in fingerplays and activity songs, such as "Jueguemos a Aplaudir" ("Clapping Game"), "Cabeza y Hombros" ("Head and Shoulders"), "Las Ruedas del Camion" ("The Wheels on the Bus"), and "Manzanas y Plantanos" ("Apples and Bananas"). The songs and fingerplays enforce many pre-reading skills, such as vocabulary and phonological awareness. The story time plan is also included below.
LIBR 204: Using GoogleDocs for Group Work
Many of my classes required group assignments or provided the option to work with classmates. As the MLIS program at San José State University is a distance-education program, there are not many opportunities for classmates to meet in person. However, there are many technological tools that can be used to communicate and work on projects together. In my classes, I used Elluminate web conferencing software, Skype, email, instant messaging through GoogleTalk, and GoogleDocs to work with teammates. GoogleDocs allows people to virtually be able to collaborate together on a presentation or assignment in real-time; users can literally see writing appear on the page! In LIBR 204, several team members and I worked on developing a strategic plan for the Mechanics' Institute Library in San Francisco. For the research and write-up, we divided the various sections, and then each of us posted our sections in one GoogleDocs document. To differentiate one student's work from another student's, we used different colors of font to expand on sections or make changes. Below is the link to our collaborative document within GoogleDocs. This particular draft also shows some conversation one student and I had while both on GoogleDocs at the same time. Our assignment was a success because we were clear about our goals, expectations, and division of labor. Using GoogleDocs aided our desire to be transparent throughout the project.
LIBR 287: Google Scholar Jing Screencast
Screencasts, short movie-like tutorials with narration, can be effective tools to give library users tips on how to use a catalog or a specific database at the point of need, share technological problems by showing IT staff the problem rather than trying to explain in written words alone, or even give presentations or lectures that can be accessed at any time of the day by clicking on a link.
In LIBR 287 Seminar in Information Science, which concentrated on information literacy, one of the assignments was to create a five-minute screencast using the software and topic of our choice. While there are many different screencasting software programs, I chose to use TechSmith Jing, which is free and easy to use, to teach library users about Google Scholar and how to set library preferences. Below is the link to the screencast.
References
Tyckoson, D.A. (2008). Reference service: The personal side of librarianship. In K. Haycock & B.E. Sheldon (Eds.),
The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts (pp. 127-146). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Whitehurst, G., & Lonigan, C. (2004). Cada niñolisto para leer @ su bilioteca. Chicago, IL: ALA
Traditionally, librarians are thought to be glasses-wearing ladies with blue-gray hair ready to shush at the slightest noise. However, librarianship is a profession that requires excellent communication skills to help teach library users information retrieval skills or find answers to library users' questions or even recommend books for recreational reading based on the library user's tastes. To borrow David A. Tyckoson's terminology, virtual and physical reference service and instruction is the "personal side of librarianship" (Haycock & Sheldon, 2008, p. 127).
Excellent communication is also necessary when advocating or marketing library services. A poorly written grant proposal can be the difference between being awarded funds for a project that is in actuality very good or having to cut a valuable service. Reaching out to the community and legislators through presentations and other means is also necessary to show how libraries are relevant to daily life. If would-be library users are not made aware of the services the library provides and if legislators are not made aware of the library's importance to communities, both outcomes may lead to closures or cuts.
Within the internal library environment, good communication with co-workers and managers, whether in meetings or through email, is crucial to morale and encouraging creativity and innovation in solving problems. Much of library work is collaborative; librarians serve on committees, train other staff or volunteers, and plan events which require expertise from various departments and community partners. Librarians also have the great opportunity to learn from other library professionals from different institutions by participating in and attending conferences, participating in library associations, and participating in the discussions on listservs.
Evidence
As evidence of meeting competency M, I am submitting work from my job as a library assistant I at the Stanislaus County Library system, LIBR 204, and LIBR 287, which concentrated on information literacy.
Stanislaus County Library: Ceres Healthy Start PowerPoint Presentation and Story Time Plan
The Stanislaus County Library system, located in California's Central Valley, has 13 branches and serves approximately residents. In my part-time position as a bilingual library assistant in the children's department at the main branch library in Modesto, I plan and perform all the Spanish and bilingual story times, provide children's reference service, and I also help plan for the annual Día de Los Niños/Día de Los Libros (Day of the Book/Day of the Child) event. In an outreach capacity, I also visit day care facilities and elementary schools to perform Spanish or bilingual story times and give presentations on early literacy for Spanish-speaking parents and caregivers. This work requires knowledge of early literacy skills, incorporating those skills in story times, and teaching parents and caregivers how they can incorporate these skills at home with their children. In these outreach events, I am the voice that represents the library system to the Latino community. This requires not only excellent communication skills but good rapport with children and adults.
In early September 2011, I was invited to the Ceres Healthy Start to give a Spanish presentation on early literacy to a group of Spanish-speaking parents followed by a story time with both the parents and their children. The Stanislaus County Library adheres to the Public Library Association (PLA) and Association for Library Service to Children's (ALSC) Every Child Ready to Read/Cada Niño Listo Para Leer initiative, which focuses on developing six pre-reading skills in young children, including print motivation, print awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, narrative skills, and phonological awareness (Whitehurst & Lonigan, 2004). In my presentation, I provided parents with information about each skill, as well as simple ideas that they can do to help develop these skills in their children. For example, to develop letter knowledge, parents can play the "word of the day" and focus on showing their children different things that begin with that letter, such as "P is for pantalones (pants), P is for pajaro (bird), P is for perro (dog), etc. To develop print awareness, parents can point to everyday signs like stop, exit, emergency, and names of stores and read these to their children. At the end of the presentation, I also provided parents with information about library card applications, story time hours at both the Ceres and Modesto branches, and answered a number of questions parents had concerning the library and the pre-reading skills addressed in the presentation. For example, one woman said that when she followed along with the words on a page, her youngest daughter would always move her hand away. A tip I shared was to perhaps point to just a few words, associating a particular word with the picture that represents that word, such as "Here is a picture of a strawberry. This word says strawberry." It may also be helpful if the daughter held the book. The other parents also gave advice for how they deal with situations like these.
Included below is the PowerPoint presentation I used to direct my presentation. The PowerPoint presentation was adapted from a presentation that was created from former SLIS student and co-worker, Olga Cardenas. Olga was the former bilingual library assistant in the children's department; she has moved to another bilingual position within the Stanislaus County Library system. Her advice was very helpful, and I incorporated many of her suggestions.
After the discussion, the pre-school children came in to join their parents for a story time session. The theme for my story time was eating/foods. The stories I read were ¡A Comer! (Let's Eat!) by Pat Mora, La Oruga Muy Habrienta (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) by Eric Carle, my own translation of Rose Robart's The Cake That Mack Ate (El Pastel Que Mack Se Comió) which I performed with props, and Alimentos Rojos (Red Foods) by Patricia Whitehouse, in which I had the children tell me the names of the red fruits and vegetables pictured. In between the stories, I had the parents and children participate in fingerplays and activity songs, such as "Jueguemos a Aplaudir" ("Clapping Game"), "Cabeza y Hombros" ("Head and Shoulders"), "Las Ruedas del Camion" ("The Wheels on the Bus"), and "Manzanas y Plantanos" ("Apples and Bananas"). The songs and fingerplays enforce many pre-reading skills, such as vocabulary and phonological awareness. The story time plan is also included below.
LIBR 204: Using GoogleDocs for Group Work
Many of my classes required group assignments or provided the option to work with classmates. As the MLIS program at San José State University is a distance-education program, there are not many opportunities for classmates to meet in person. However, there are many technological tools that can be used to communicate and work on projects together. In my classes, I used Elluminate web conferencing software, Skype, email, instant messaging through GoogleTalk, and GoogleDocs to work with teammates. GoogleDocs allows people to virtually be able to collaborate together on a presentation or assignment in real-time; users can literally see writing appear on the page! In LIBR 204, several team members and I worked on developing a strategic plan for the Mechanics' Institute Library in San Francisco. For the research and write-up, we divided the various sections, and then each of us posted our sections in one GoogleDocs document. To differentiate one student's work from another student's, we used different colors of font to expand on sections or make changes. Below is the link to our collaborative document within GoogleDocs. This particular draft also shows some conversation one student and I had while both on GoogleDocs at the same time. Our assignment was a success because we were clear about our goals, expectations, and division of labor. Using GoogleDocs aided our desire to be transparent throughout the project.
LIBR 287: Google Scholar Jing Screencast
Screencasts, short movie-like tutorials with narration, can be effective tools to give library users tips on how to use a catalog or a specific database at the point of need, share technological problems by showing IT staff the problem rather than trying to explain in written words alone, or even give presentations or lectures that can be accessed at any time of the day by clicking on a link.
In LIBR 287 Seminar in Information Science, which concentrated on information literacy, one of the assignments was to create a five-minute screencast using the software and topic of our choice. While there are many different screencasting software programs, I chose to use TechSmith Jing, which is free and easy to use, to teach library users about Google Scholar and how to set library preferences. Below is the link to the screencast.
References
Tyckoson, D.A. (2008). Reference service: The personal side of librarianship. In K. Haycock & B.E. Sheldon (Eds.),
The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts (pp. 127-146). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Whitehurst, G., & Lonigan, C. (2004). Cada niñolisto para leer @ su bilioteca. Chicago, IL: ALA
Files and Links
Below are the files and links to my pieces of evidence.
Ceres_Healthy_Start_Early Lit_September-8-2011.pdf | |
File Size: | 1141 kb |
File Type: |
Ceres_Healthy_Start_StoryTime_Septemeber_8_2011.pdf | |
File Size: | 87 kb |
File Type: |
http://docs.google.com/View?id=df9pjkxz_1cfhdhpdp
This is the link to the LIBR 204 GoogleDocs document.
This is the link to the LIBR 204 GoogleDocs document.
http://www.screencast.com/t/fV3lqYj0np5m
This is the link to the LIBR 287 Google Scholar Jing Screencast