These sections give some examples of my academic work at UNT, and they relate how these assignments correlate to each of the ALA Core Competencies.
ALA Competency 1: Foundations of the Profession
INFO 5400, Privacy, Censorship & Legislation
The purpose of this assignment was to investigate the principles of patron privacy, censorship, and legislation, and how each affects the library of our choice. The assignment was submitted on July 26, 2021 as a Word doc; it has been uploaded here as a PDF.
This assignment had us approach privacy, censorship and legislation as they impacted the library we had been studying all semester; in my case, Fondren Library at SMU, an academic library. This had us considering how such central values as patron privacy and the right to access information would come up against challenges from patrons and requests from governmental officials for patron data.
Because of this deep dive into the core values for librarians, the assignment correlates to 1A, our ethics and values as librarians; 1B, our role in the promotion of intellectual freedom; 1F, policies and trends that relate to libraries; 1G, the legal frameworks within which we operate; and 1H, the importance of advocacy.
INFO 5960, Virtual Symposium
The purpose of this assignment was to create a multimedia presentation that synthesized the main themes of our course on the hyperlinked library. The embedded presentation below was submitted on December 1, 2020; I also submitted an all-text presentation for accessibility.
While the course was rooted in the use of emerging technology, the constant themes of the course revolved around the creation of community. I summarized our main concepts as follows:
- The only thing that should be constant is change.
- Stories are powerful. We need to collect them from our community.
- Technology can be used to create community, both virtually and in person.
- Beware of technolust. Plan, budget and assess. Repeat.
- Our humanity is more important than our technology.
While the course used technology to create community, I felt it went to the core of who we should be as librarians. This symposium, and the course it summarizes, touched on the values of our profession (1A), technological and service trends both nationally and internationally (1F), and the need to advocate for librarians within the community (1H). Because we communicated throughout the semester via blogging and were encouraged to experiment with video presentations, graphic software, and other ways of communicating — with each other and our patrons — the symposium and the course also explored effective communication techniques (1I).
INFO 5960, Context Book Assignment
The purpose of this assignment was to read and summarize a book that related to both librarianship as a whole and the themes being discussed in our class, which focused on the Hyperlinked Library. The post below was originally turned in on our course website on September 12, 2020. Because the course site is erased at the end of every term, I have replicated my personal posts and assignments here on my professional website; the full assignment can be read here, or as a PDF.
The book, BiblioTech by Mr. John Palfrey, looks at how libraries and librarians have served their communities from the Roman era into the modern one. This history, and the perception that libraries only are a space where books are kept and stored, come back into play throughout the book as Mr. Palfrey theorizes what libraries can look like in the future. By considering how technology will shape future libraries, he posits these central themes:
- Librarians need to work with their patrons to create the space that their patrons need.
- Librarians need to network with and learn from other librarians (and non-librarians) to continually reinvent themselves and their libraries.
- Librarians can work together as a community to manage both analog and digital libraries.
- At the end of the day, the core mission of librarians hasn’t changed since the libraries of Roman times: Librarians help patrons access knowledge.
Because the book focuses on the past, present and future of libraries (and librarians), the assignment correlates to ALA’s 1st competency. The book and my discussion considered the history of both libraries and how they communicate with their users (1C and 1D), how various libraries can adapt and adopt technological trends for the future (1E and 1F), and how copyright law is one of the biggest barriers to these changes (1G).
Most importantly, the book embodies the essence of 1I (the techniques used to analyze complex problems and create appropriate solutions): Mr. Palfrey considers the current state of libraries and posits a variety of ways to partner with our users and patrons to create modern libraries, where librarians would continue to fulfill the role they have held for more than 2000 years: Helping others find and access information.
INFO 5000, Term Paper: Literature Review
The purpose of this assignment was to complete a literature review in order to learn more about the information professions. The term paper was turned in on November 24, 2019; it can be downloaded from this link.
As a librarian in training, I am still learning about the various positions and responsibilities across libraries, even within a single college campus. I wanted to know more about what may come next: What should I be prepared for as I study to become an academic librarian?
The skills I found necessary for librarians in the past, present and future are the foundation of our profession, and, as such, the paper ties directly to ALA’s 1st competency. My research led me through descriptions of what librarians have done in the past (1C), underscored the importance of advocacy, analysis and communication to our profession (1H, 1I and 1J), and, overall, analyzed important trends to be aware of within librarianship (1F). And while the future of libraries may rely more and more on technology to access knowledge, I felt comforted by the fact that their role remains constant: Librarians will continue to play a role in helping others find information.
ALA Competency 2: Information Resources
INFO 5400, Collection Development Policy
The purpose of this assignment was to understand the plethora of policy that must be created and followed for collection development at any library. This assignment was turned in as a Word doc on August 1, 2021; it has been posted here as a PDF.
This was by far the largest assignment I’ve had to do on my own in library school, coming in at more than 100 pages. While the content I had to create was primarily limited to a length of 20 pages, the appendices of demographic tables (mostly pulled from other assignments or reports) and policies for both Fondren Library and Southern Methodist University created a fun labyrinth of citations and cross references to continually edit and update. It allowed be consider all of the sections one creating a collection development policy would need to include while becoming very familiar with the policies for Fondren.
Points covered in the assignment relate to several of the competencies for information resources, especially the acquisition and disposition of resources (2B), collection management (2C), and collection maintenance (2D).
INFO 5400, Needs Assessment and Gap Assignment
The purposes of these assignments were to do a complete needs assessment and suggest purchases for a chosen library based on gaps in the collection. The needs assessment was turned in as a Word doc on June 28, 2021, the gap assignment on July 11, 2021. They have both been posted here as PDFs:
- Needs Assessment
- Gap Assignment (suggested titles were tracked in this spreadsheet)
These assignments allowed us to explore the process of doing a needs assessment of a library, whether of one section, its services, or its collections as a whole, along with that of selecting new titles for a library. For the needs assessment, I chose to evaluate whether patrons of SMU Libraries have problems accessing electronic resources; the gap assignment focused on expanding diverse titles on cultural intelligence and anti-racism. Given the short summer term, the assessment was not as thorough as it would be during a true needs assessment, but allowed us to consider all the parameters and steps necessary to do one. And while our purchasing at Fondren Library is often driven by purchasing profiles, this fit the project-based way we often fill gaps in the collections.
These assignments directly related to competence 2B, particularly the evaluation of and selection for collections.
INFO 5740, Digital Library Prototype
The purpose of this assignment was to create a prototype for a digital library using Omeka. The URL for my website was submitted for review on July 1, 2020.
This assignment allowed me to explore the intricacies of an open-source software like Omeka. While I have worked with WordPress for more than 10 years now, I had never used this software before. I approached this project with my experience in marketing and content management in my back pocket, and my about page on the site notes that my goal was to share photographs for use in marketing. The framework is from a marketing perspective, but the organization of and metadata for my resources was strictly rooted in librarianship. I also particularly enjoyed learning how to use the plug in StoryMapJS to create a map of the locations of my photographs.
The limitations of the free version of the software (500 MG of storage space) forced me to carefully consider the inclusion of each resource. How did each resource relate to the mission of this library? How large should each collection be? And how did they all interrelate in ways that would be useful to others?
Because of these considerations as I built the website, while it certainly relates to ALA’s technical competences in 4A and 4B, I felt this project correlated more strongly to the competences related to information resources, particularly 2B, the acquisition and disposition of resources, 2C, the management of various collections, and 2D, the maintenance of collections.
INFO 5200, Information Organization System
The purpose of this enormous project was to learn and apply the principles of information organization to a hypothetical collection. It was created in four sections over the entire semester; this 40-page Word doc was turned in on April 26, 2020.
While the main purpose of this assignment was to contemplate the organization of resources, competency three, I had to consider what types of resources to include before they were organized. This is explained in section 1.1 of the document, Collection and information objects, which details the selection of resources for the collection.
This consideration relates directly to competence 2B, the evaluation and selection of resources.
ALA Competency 3: Organization of Recorded Knowledge & Information
INFO 5745, Core Assignments Evaluating Organization of Digital Information
The purpose of these assignments was to evaluate how information was organized on a variety of websites, and, in some cases, to research and suggest improvements to the organization. The below PDFs were turned in as Word docs on June 28, July 12, and July 24, 2021.
- Assignment One: Website Analysis
- Assignment Two: Benchmarking Exercise and Card Sort Analysis
- Assignment Three: Reorganization of Website
These assignments gave our class the chance to learn and apply various principles of information organization on websites before having to suggest our own site architecture for an existing website as our final project (see Competency 4 for the project). All three of the above assignments had us consider the organizational and labeling systems used for the information on the website, as well as how the information was discovered through navigation and site searches. Assignment One was a deep dive into all four systems: organization, labeling, navigation and search. Assignment Two had us consider user needs and compare (benchmark) competing websites, then do a card sort analysis to practice gathering user feedback on the organization of information. Assignment Three was a quick analysis of the organization and labeling used on a website, followed by our own suggestions for reorganizing the site’s information.
While the information organized here is digital rather than physical objects, the concepts still apply to two of the three competences: the principles for the organization and representation of information (3A), and the skills needed to organize such information (3B).
INFO 5200, Information Organization Project
The purpose of this enormous project was to learn and apply the principles of information organization to a hypothetical collection. It was created in four sections over the entire semester; the 40-page Word doc was turned in on April 26, 2020.
Throughout the entire semester, this course would introduce concepts in our readings and lectures that were applied in the project. The project allowed us to focus on a subject that interested us, since we would be working on it for four months, and topic knowledge would be beneficial as we built certain sections. I chose to create a collection of books about Tudor history, specifically during the reigns of Henry VIII and his three children. While contemplating how to organize these resources, I had to consider where the collection would reside; the users’ demographics and knowledge, as well as how they would ask for the resources; and the representation of the resources, including entity level, metadata elements and semantics, the ideal record structure and specifications, and the content and input rules.
Then we started comparing these ideals to a sample software, LiBib. This led to discussions of access and authority control, as well as the representation of information content within the database, including subject access, which required the creation of a thesaurus for our subject headers, and name authority control (and a related Name Authority file). And we had to create a classification system to allow both for the organization of the collection in a physical space and collocation of similar resources.
Finally, we evaluated our system using a SWOT analysis, considered how to improve the database to enable better searches for resources, and reflected on what we had learned from the entire project. It was easily the most pragmatic assignment I have had so far in grad school.
This project directly correlates to all of the competences listed in ALA’s list for the organization of recorded knowledge and information: 3A (principles involved in the organization and representation of recorded knowledge and information), 3B (developmental, descriptive, and evaluative skills needed to organize recorded knowledge and information resources), and 3C (systems of cataloging, metadata, indexing, and classification standards and methods used to organize recorded knowledge and information).
INFO 5200, Concept Briefing
The purpose of this assignment was to explore concepts related to the organization of information. A Word doc containing my briefing on the concept of collocation was turned in on February 12, 2020.
Collocation is a key component of doing research and finding resources. I was fortunate to have completed this assignment early in the semester while considering how to construct my theoretical collection. The concepts I researched for the briefing came back to me while I wrote several sections of my IOP (above), as I determined how to classify and construct not only the Call Numbers and physical organization on the collection’s shelves, but also the virtual organization of the collection within the software used for the project.
This concept briefing directly correlates to ALA’s core competence 3A, the principles involved in the organization and representation of recorded knowledge and information.
ALA Competency 4: Technological Knowledge & Skills
INFO 5745, Reorganization of the UNT Toulouse Graduate School Website
The purpose of this assignment, done with a partner, was go through the steps necessary to revamp a website: Plan a timeline; research the context, content and users of and the website; analyze data collected and determine new labels for the site; map existing content and determine a new blueprint and wireframe for the site and pages; create a mock-up of the new site architecture on Drupal; and summarize all of the above in a packet for a client. The packet was turned in on August 4, 2021, along with spreadsheets of a Gantt chart, a content inventory of the existing site, and a sheet detailing the suggested reorganization; all four documents can be downloaded below.
Created over five crazy weeks, my partner and I worked through the above steps to evaluate and redesign a portion of the UNT website, that of the Toulouse Graduate School. Our first challenge was to understand the existing site and its users. I researched the organization and the stakeholders for the website, then created a user experience survey used to gather information about prospective students for the graduate school and what they would hope to learn on the site. This data allowed me to create personas that could be used later on to confirm the redesign met user needs.
The next portion of our work focused on mapping existing content and agreeing on new labels and organization of the site. After I did a complete content map of the existing site, my partner considered page layout through wireframes while I suggested a new blueprint for the site, and he also created a new controlled vocabulary for the site. Finally, we took all of this information and used it to create a mock-up in Drupal. While the page layout options were limited, it allowed us to demonstrate how to find the upper-most pages in a new organization. I continued my previous work, creating the pages and architecture in Drupal, then my partner came in and did what he could with the page layout, particularly in redesigning the site footer.
This assignment applied to several ALA competences, but within the technical competences, it most closely correlates to 4C, assessing and evaluating technology-based services, and 4D, analyzing emerging technologies in order to implement relevant technological improvements.
INFO 5960, Director’s Brief
The purpose of this assignment was to develop a director’s brief about an emerging technology in libraries; the below brief investigates movement labs on two different campuses here in the U.S. The brief was originally turned in via our course website on November 22, 2020; the brief can be downloaded here.
This brief gave me a chance to research something near and dear to my heart: Investing in technology that enables experimentation for performance and movement. These labs give students, faculty and staff the ability to explore the possibilities of using expensive equipment to record and manipulate movement, to use projections in performances, to visualize choreography using virtual reality goggles, and more.
The brief covers the origins of these labs at The Ohio State University, and the common technology found at such labs, as well as how to learn more about these labs and considerations for implementation. It also gave us the chance to experiment with a more graphic presentation of the information, which allowed me to play with various templates at Canva to create the brief.
This project correlates to the last two core competences for technical knowledge and skills, assessing and evaluating the use of emerging technology (4C), as well as the practical considerations for implementing the technology (4D).
INFO 5960, Emerging Tech Planning Project
The purpose of this assignment was to create a plan for incorporating an emerging technology into any library; the below plan is based on my experience at SMU as a Research & User Experience Intern. The post below was originally turned in on our course website on October 23, 2020. Because the course site is erased at the end of every term, I have replicated my personal posts and assignments on this website; the full assignment can be read via the blog.
The assignment gave us a template to use for planning such a large-scale project, but, of course, we had to fill in all of the details on our own. The central idea of the project can be summed up into an Action Brief Statement; the ABS from my project was as follows:
Convince library staff and administrators that by adding a YouTube account to our digital presence (and embedding it on our library website) they will enhance user knowledge of how to use our website, which will improve user experience because patrons will be able to access more resources and expand their research without having to ask librarians for assistance.
Once we’d considered audience, project goals, and the ABS, we had to expand our thoughts into such practical areas as guidelines and policy, funding and staffing, and training and promotion, as well as the continuous evaluation necessary to determine whether the project is succeeding, as well as how it could be improved.
This project correlates to several of the ALA’s core competences for technical knowledge and skills. Obviously it considers possible information and communication technologies for service delivery (4A). It also assesses and evaluates the use of such technology (4C), as well as the practical ways of implementing the technology (4D).
INFO 5740, Digital Library Review
The purpose of this assignment was to evaluate an existing digital library. The below PowerPoint presentation containing my evaluation of Digital Maryland was turned in on June 20, 2020.
Bliss Digital Library Review from Joanna Russell Bliss
This review enabled us to dig deeply into a particular digital library, seeing how the project was developed and to analyze whether or not the project is successful. We evaluated whether the mission statement was being carried out, who has responsibility for the project — both the managing organization and its partners, and how it is funded. We looked critically at the resources, collections and exhibits: Do the resources relate back to the mission of the project? Is the metadata sufficient for searching — or for research? How do the exhibits connect the resources? And we investigated its services and technology: How does the library interact with its audience? How well does the interface work for users?
I found that the library had a decent foundation, but that there is plenty of room for improvement. Compared to libraries with similar missions, like the Portal to Texas History housed at UNT, the library at Digital Maryland had just a fraction of their resources, and was lacking in services, particularly interactivity. I suspect that a lack of manpower and budget is to blame. As I assert in one of the final evaluation slides, “Trying to create such connections and exhibits takes a great deal of time, particularly when you do so with multiple partner organizations. The fact that the most recent exhibit was created in 2005 is also a sign that the current managers of the site just don’t have the time or resources to create any more of them.”
This review correlates to all four of the ALA’s core competences for technical knowledge and skills, particularly 4C, the assessment and evaluation of technical products and services, and 4D, understanding the principles and techniques for identifying and analyzing emerging technologies and innovations.
ALA Competency 5: Reference & User Services
INFO 5900, Profile of Adult Learners
This assignment allowed us to create a profile of the learning community of our choice. I researched the demographics of first-year learners at three separate universities here in Texas, turning in a paper on January 25, 2021.
As this class on instruction began, we started with discussions of the qualities of adult learners. The lectures are quite broad as the class includes people from all points in the instruction spectrum: students like myself who hope to work with undergraduate students at colleges and universities to others wanting to create public programs at libraries that appeal to fresh graduates, new parents, and even Boomers learning new skills. The assignments are therefore quite broad, allowing us to find our own pertinent research and creating work that reflects the types of programs we hope to lead.
The paper touches on the first competence for Reference and User Services, 5A: The concepts, principles, and techniques of reference and user services that provide access to relevant and accurate recorded knowledge and information to individuals of all ages and groups. In particular, it reminds us that in order to serve our populations, we must first understand who they are and their specific needs.
INFO 5330, Information Literacy Presentation
The purpose of this assignment was to create a brief presentation on information literacy for first-year college students preparing to write a research paper. I created my slides and recorded the presentation using Canva and Zoom, submitting the below embedded presentation, as well as a PDF handout that included all text from the slides and a transcription of the audio for accessibility, on December 7, 2020.
While this was submitted for my course through UNT, as I am working at SMU, I’m more comfortable presenting about using the resources available through SMU Libraries. The presentation covers the basic steps of the research process while also discussing several guidelines from the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education as published by the ACRL: exploring the construction of authority, the process of information creation, research as inquiry, and strategic exploration through searching.
The presentation touches on two of the competences for Reference and User Services: Techniques used to evaluate and synthesize information (5B), and information literacy techniques and methods (5D).
INFO 5000, Career Development Project
The purpose of this assignment was to work with an information professional to learn about real-world practices and important current topics. I interviewed Megan Heuer, the Head of Information Literacy at Southern Methodist University, about teaching information literacy to college students. A paper summarizing our interview and what I learned was turned in on December 1, 2019.
While we learned about the RUSA guidelines for teaching information literacy, I wondered how we teach this topic in a world where phrases like “fake news” or “alternate facts” are used in environments like our federal government, institutions that were previously considered trustworthy and a reliable source of facts. My goal was to discuss how Ms. Heuer does this in the classroom, as well as how she teaches students to discern bias and authority in a variety of settings.
The act of researching new topics and ideas should include the ability to perceive bias and recognize disinformation. Students today are used to doing a basic Web search when looking for general information. How do we take those instincts and show them how to apply these skills to scholarly research? And, conversely, how do they apply critical reading and thinking to non-scholarly sources, in order to recognize what is well-researched vs. what is disinformation? Information literacy is not only a key component of the ALA competences for research and user services, it is a necessary skill in today’s digital society.
Our interview focused on two of the competences for Reference and User Services: Techniques used to evaluate and synthesize information (5B), and information literacy techniques and methods (5D).
ALA Competency 6: Research
INFO 5080, Group Project Library Research Assignment
The purpose of this assignment was to collect and analyze data about a population of library patrons. This PDF was turned in as a group on April 19, 2021.
This was a project for my class on research, one of our culminating assignments that had us use all of the skills and information we had learned throughout the class. In particular, this assignment had us consider how to plan for and describe the central components of a research study, like populations and samples, what statistical tests to use, and more. In a normal year, we would have gone to a library and observed patrons for the data; this year, we used sample data and constructed a scenario around the data, showing how we would plan for such a study and communicate the results to a library director.
The learning demonstrated in this assignment was directly tied to the core competence of Research, particularly 6A, the fundamentals of quantitative and qualitative research methods.
INFO 5080, Research Article Evaluation
The purpose of this assignment was to thoroughly analyze a research article for its quality of research. The PDF for this assignment was turned in on April 25, 2021.
This was another project for my class on research, another way to have us use all of the skills and information we had learned throughout the class. The assignment had us consider all of the components of a research study — how much the author considered a framework for the study when doing a literature review and defining the problem and components of the study; what was explained about the parameters for the study, including its variables, hypothesis, population and sample; how the study was conducted through its instrumentation and methods, and its analysis; and were the results, discussion and conclusion not only significant but also validated.
This assignment was directly tied to the core competence of Research, especially the fundamentals of quantitative and qualitative research methods (6A) and the assessment of actual and potential value of new research (6C).
INFO 5000, Job Description Assignment
The purpose of this assignment was to analyze a variety of job descriptions and postings related to an area of interest. The below PowerPoint summarizing my findings was turned in on September 22, 2019.
Bliss Job Description Analysis from Joanna Russell Bliss
Since I have been working as a Reference and User Experience Intern at Southern Methodist University, I wanted to see what types of similar positions exist within user experience (UX) or user services — What kinds of skills are required? What would the daily duties look like?
I found that the duties would be similar to what I do at the SMU reference desk at Fondren Library, providing reference information both in-person and virtually. Some listings required knowledge of content management and creation, which I have done for clients outside libraries but could easily do within that world. My one disappointment was that only three of the 15 listings that I analyzed mentioned information literacy, a key aspect of reference and user services (and ALA competence 5D), and something that I have become drawn to as a component of teaching research skills to students.
While the skills necessary for positions in user experience or user services are directly tied to ALA’s 5th core competence, Reference and User Services, the project was compiled using the research skills listed in the competencies for Research. In particular, I studied the central research findings and research literature of the field (6B).
ALA Competency 7: Continuing Education & Lifelong Learning
INFO 5900, Lesson Plan and Slides for a Workshop on Information Literacy
For the final assignments for our instruction course, I developed a lesson plan and created the slides and presentation for a workshop on search strategies. The lesson plan was submitted on April 18, 2021, and the below slides (along with a PDF of the slides + my script, for accessibility), were submitted on May 2, 2021.
Bliss Instructional Materials from Joanna Russell Bliss
These assignments were the culmination of a semester learning more about developing and leading appropriate programming at public and academic libraries. The goal was to have a possible instructional program by the end of the course. These particular assignments allowed us to think through the educational goals and objectives of the program and how those might best be reached before creating our materials for the program.
Similar to the below assignment, done at the beginning of the course, these assignments related to competences 7C and 7D, learning theories and their applications, and principles related to teaching and learning, respectively.
INFO 5900, Fostering Literacies for Adult Learners
As my instruction course continued to discuss the characterists of adult learners, we worked on assignments that explored learning theories and how to foster literacy for life. I turned in two papers during this module, one on the information behavior of adult learners on February 8, 2021, and another on fostering literacies for adult learners on February 23, 2021.
These assignments allowed us to explore the scholarship related to our chosen populations. I continued to explore the learning behaviors of and literacies for first-year students at colleges and universities. While the paper on information behavior focuses on the learning theories of Krikelas and Kuhlthau, I also was reading and exploring the theories of information overload and information anxiety, which are pertinent to first-year learners on campus. The second paper investigates the teaching of information literacy on campuses, but discussions in class also pointed to the importance of media and graphic literacy, specifically the questions alluded to in the ACRL Framework: Where is this data from? And is it trustworthy?
These assignments related specifically to the latter two competences of lifelong learning: Learning theories and their applications in libraries (7C), and principles related to teaching and learning (7D).
INFO 5960, Discussion of Professional Learning Experiences
After extensive reading on continuing education and professional learning experiences, we were to write a reflection that considers our readings and connects them to the central themes of the class; this was posted on November 11, 2020. Because the course website is erased at the end of every term, I have replicated my personal posts and assignments on this website. The reflection can be read via my blog.
While this is one small assignment, our discussion in the class noted that this is a mindset that is imperative for modern librarianship — the embrace of constant change and lifelong learning. Librarianship is a moving target these days, and we must learn from our peers while asking what is next on the horizon.
The module for professional education, as well as my reflection on the topic, covered all four competences for continuing education and lifelong learning: The necessity of professional development (7A), the role of the library in helping our community learn (7B), instructional methods and achievement measures (7C), and principles related to teaching and learning (7D).
INFO 5600, Group Project
The purpose of this assignment was to develop an instructional information service with a team. I worked with two others to develop a series of three workshops to refresh basic software skills. Our PowerPoint containing slides for all three presentations, below, along with an overview document defining our roles and how the workshops would be delivered and promoted, was turned in on December 3, 2019.
Team Project Slides from Joanna Russell Bliss
When our group first began discussing what we might present on, we discussed how quickly technology changes, and the necessity of keeping up with the latest developments. This was emphasized in our original description of our workshop series:
Once people start working in an office, they often don’t know what new functions are available after software updates, and they may be less productive because there are easy shortcuts or functions they can use for their work. Our presentation will be a way for faculty and staff who have been at the university for a while to review the basic tasks and functions available in the most commonly used software offered by Microsoft: Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
As I was researching quick tips for using Microsoft Word, I found that there was an entire area for writing research papers that had not existed the last time I’d done academic writing. The functions to track one’s references and citations are easy to use for both writing in-text citations and creating reference lists. It was a reminder that there are always new things to learn, whether for a software that’s used everyday or new technology to be used within the library — as the ALA points out in the core competences, it is essential for librarians to continually learn (7A).
ALA Competency 8: Administration & Management
INFO 5400, Library Profile
Throughout my class on Information Resources, we researched various areas of library management that would apply to collection development. This was the first of several papers for the class; it was turned in on June 13, 2021 as a Word doc and has been uploaded here as a PDF.
This detailed profile investigates my home library at Southern Methodist University, allowing me to peek behind the curtain and learn more about various processes. I thoroughly researched our university demographics; talked to our Head of Technical Services about funding, budgeting and purchasing; and considered the strengths and weaknesses of our collections.
The assignment relates to several different ALA competences, but I’ve included it here for its coverage of 8A, planning and budgeting.
INFO 5900, Planning Documents for Programming
The purpose of these assignments was to consider how to fund programming through grants, prepare marketing for programming, and create a strategic plan for a program. These were turned in on March 5, March 22, and April 5, 2021 as slides to review grant possibilities, posters and a marketing rationale and elevator speech to discuss the marketing of programs, and a strategic plan to grow an existing program, respectively.
The second part of my class on instruction focused on the logistics of planning programming — how to apply for grants, how to create a plan to build and grow programs, and how to market such programs. These assignments allowed me to explore how many grants are available, particularly for information literacy, and how to consider what steps need to be taken when assessing programming, whether that’s an initial plan for creating a new program, or a plan to grow a program that has some success but could be better.
My examples, linked to from above, considered programming that I have been working with at Southern Methodist University, specifically the Research & Writing Lab, a partnership between the Writing Center on campus and SMU Libraries. In particular, I appreciated that the creation of a strategic plan can help in various stages of programming, and that the steps in the plan can document what has been agreed upon by the team involved in the implementation of the program. These assignments relate to several of the competences for administration and management, particularly 8A, planning in libraries; 8C, the assessment and evaluation of library services and their outcomes; and 8D, the development of partnerships and collaborations at the library.
INFO 5330, Midterm Interview Project
This project tasked us with interviewing someone working at an academic library about their experience. The PDF for this assignment was submitted on October 15, 2020.
The Associate Dean of the Libraries, as well as the director of the building where I report at SMU, was generous with her time, sending a thoughtful, lengthy email responding to my initial questions, and granting me an hour-long video interview, where I could ask follow-up questions about the organization and management of SMU Libraries. Our conversation gave me a great deal of insights about the pros and cons of faculty status, the importance of how the library is organized within the university as a whole (and how communication is facilitated, both inside the library organization and across the university), and how making connections across campus can drive improvement within the libraries.
This interview and analysis tied into most of the competences associated with administration and management: 8B, effective personnel practices; 8D, the importance of developing partnerships, collaborations and networks within and across the community (in this case, the libraries and the university as a whole); and 8E, the concepts behind, issues relating to, and methods for, principled, transformational leadership.
INFO 5306, Project Management Packet
This assignment was built throughout the semester to help us learn the central components of project proposals: creating the scope, a work breakdown structure, a schedule, a budget, and reflection about the project. The below packet proposal was submitted on July 30, 2020, along with two spreadsheets were submitted, one of a Gantt chart detailing the project schedule, as well as a complete breakdown of the budget.
With the compacted timeline of a summer term and a team made of five people spread throughout Texas, it was a challenge to collaborate on this project, and we often had to begin creating content that built on the previous week’s work without feedback before moving on. But I particularly enjoyed the challenge of building a projected budget, particularly researching how much it would cost to create a complete marketing plan. (See the notes at the end of the packet; for a real marathon, we’d have to trim the costs I found, as my marketing budget was the biggest by far as compared to my teammates’ findings.)
This project primarilyn focused on competency 8A, planning and budgeting, but it also touched on 8D, the importance of developing partnerships, collaborations and networks, and 8E, leadership.
INFO 5300, Case Study Analyses
The purpose of these assignments was to analyze a variety of hypothetical management case studies. These discussions were posted in Canvas on February 12, March 26, April 15 and April 27, 2020; this PDF includes all four case studies.
Using case studies to discuss hypothetical management situations is a common way to discuss business conundrums, including within a library environment. In addition, because these case studies were posted on a discussion board, we could (and were required) to read and respond to others’ posts, considering the variety of ways our peers might respond to each situation and comparing them to our own solutions.
As the case studies were spread throughout the semester, they dealt directly with the topics from our readings, including planning, human resources, leading and coordinating, as well as consideration for ethical guidelines and the importance of communication. As such, they tie directly to several of the ALA’s core competences related to administration and management, including 8A (planning and budgeting), 8B (personnel and human resources), and 8E (transformational leadership).