2016 Program
2016 KLA LIRT Retreat Program
July 15, 2016 | Ekstrom Library, University of Louisville
Full presentations and handouts from the 2016 KLA LIRT Retreat are available here. Presentations are linked via Slideshare, Prezi, or individual presenters' institutional repositories.
Closing Keynote
From Cynicism to Empowerment: How Instruction Librarians Can Resist Burnout
Maria T. Accardi, Associate Librarian & Coordinator of Instruction and Reference | Indiana University Southeast
Instruction librarians often face a number of challenging conditions in higher education, such as marginal status in the campus community, faculty who do not understand information literacy and why it matters, the repetitive nature of one-shot library instruction, and a general lack of time and resources. These conditions can lead to the emotional distress, exhaustion, and cynicism that characterize burnout. This keynote will identify common causes of and solutions for burnout for instruction librarians and guide attendees toward developing concrete strategies for enacting a burnout prevention and recovery plan, emphasizing self-care and personal empowerment to bring about personal and professional change.
Presentations
Reframing Library Instruction: Applying Metacognitive Pedagogy to One Shots and Beyond
Heather Beirne, Education Librarian and Nicole Montgomery; Associate University Librarian, Reference & Instruction | Eastern Kentucky University
Handout, Further Reading, and Ideas Generated During Session: Photo #1 and Photo #2
Metacognition, or the ability to think about one’s own thinking, is being adopted across higher education. Teaching and Learning Centers are offering campus wide workshops and initiatives, nationally known speakers are being brought in, and the language is even being incorporated into QEP plans. But can these same strategies that are being embraced by subject faculty be used to assist students in the research process? The session will discuss metacognition, what it is, some of its key strategies, and how it is being applied in higher education. The presenters will provide successful (and unsuccessful) examples of metacognitive pedagogy from their own library instruction. The presenters and participants will brainstorm together, using facilitation methods, about how metacognitive strategies can add value to library instruction, even helping to address the threshold concepts of the new ACRL Framework. Extended discussion and brainstorming will surround the different levels of collaboration with faculty, helping participants create a take away list of good, better and best concrete strategies for incorporating metacognitive pedagogy into their library instruction.
How Do We Know What They Know? Creating a Learning Assessment
Amy Bessin, Instructional Services Librarian and Katrina Salley, Education Librarian | Asbury University
We teach our students about research and information, but how do we know if any of it actually sinks in? As part of a larger information literacy project at our institution, we realized that we needed a learning assessment focused on our students’ research and information literacy skills. However, when we looked at the current assessments available, nothing seemed to fit exactly what we were looking for. Consequently, we decided to create our own! This session will focus on our process for creating our learning assessment and how we came to decide this type of assessment was the most appropriate for our goals. We also want to hear what you think, so be sure to bring your questions and your own experiences to share!
Jane Hammons, Instruction Librarian, Jennifer Smith, Learning Resource Librarian, and Anne Ryckbost, Special Collections Manuscript Processor |Northern Kentucky University
Learning critical research and information habits does not begin at the college level, and recognizing the prior knowledge and experiences of undergraduate students is crucial for building an effective information literacy program. In order to learn more about the information literacy efforts in local school districts and to share knowledge from the higher education perspective, librarians at Northern Kentucky University have teamed up to deliver a variety of programs aimed at p-12 librarians and teachers. This session will briefly highlight the program offerings and propose practical solutions for academic librarians to work together toward p-12 outreach. Presenters will explore information literacy integration within the Kentucky Academic Standards and the connection between the AASL Standards for the 21st Century and the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. It is the presenters’ intent to open a conversation about information literacy education, including expectations we might have for students at various levels and barriers librarians encounter when integrating instruction. Ultimately, this session will engage participants in reflection about how academic and school librarians might work together to enhance and build on students’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions regarding research and information use.
Making Old Things New Again: Revamping Out-of-Date Instructional Media
Karla Aleman, Distance Instruction Librarian | Morehead State University
Do you have a new catalog or discovery tool in your library that makes your current online instructional content obsolete? Do you also lack the time to create brand new instructional content? If so, then join this session for practical tips in revamping instructional videos, tutorials, and media to make them useful once more. This session will explore basic steps for editing online instructional content and blending new content with old media. The presenter will also demonstrate numerous editing options within TechSmith products (Camtasia, Snagit, and Jing), and will engage the attendees in an open discussion on best practices.
Under Pressure: A Conversation on Programmatic Assessment and Improvement
Rob Detmering, Information Literacy Coordinator | University of Louisville
Jane Hammons, Instruction Librarian | Northern Kentucky University
In an era of shrinking budgets and ongoing public debates about the merits of expensive college degrees, the pressure to demonstrate the value of information literacy instruction as part of the higher education enterprise continues to increase. At the same time, the prevailing instructional model in academic libraries—the one-shot—does not lend itself to meaningful assessment, especially in relation to retention and other key metrics of student success. While a number of library instruction programs have developed strong practices for evaluating quality and impact, many—perhaps most—programs remain in a state of perpetual uncertainty with assessment, adopting ad hoc or piecemeal approaches of limited significance. In this interactive panel, two librarians will discuss the state of assessment at their respective institutions (including specific methods) and use their experiences to guide audience members in a discussion of the “big questions” related to assessment. How do we know if our teaching is effective? Can we really assess one-shots effectively? How do we use assessment data to demonstrate value and improve program quality? Are we even collecting the right data? Why haven’t we solved the assessment problem yet? Join us for lively discussion, debate, and brainstorming!
Quest for the Holy Grail: Observational Assessment of the One-shot Library Instruction Session
George Bergstrom, Instructional Librarian, Associate Professor | Sullivan University
Assessment of a library one-shot instruction session has been the Holy Grail for reference and instruction librarians as well as assessment experts. This talk will briefly introduce the observational assessment method and its use for assessing one-shot library instruction. Examples will be provided as well as ideas to expand its use to an entire instruction program.
What's Appening? Collaborating with Teaching Faculty on a Research App
Andrew Adler, Public Services Coordinator | Georgetown College
With more students equipped with mobile devices, developing a research tool that students could have access to with the tap of an icon was a logical step. Working in collaboration with teaching faculty from three different departments we are developing a mobile application called Research Genius. Comprised of various modules, Research Genius will provide students with an introduction to proper academic research, the research process, and how to properly cite sources and avoid plagiarism. Each module contains a pre and post quiz to help assess student’s prior knowledge and that the modules are achieving their desired learning outcomes. Aiming for a launch date of fall 2016, the app is still in development, so while this presentation explores the different frameworks used to develop the app, feedback will be sought for improvements and other suggestions from session attendees.