Several weeks ago I attended my first community college commencement. Despite my staff status, I was pleased to be invited to sit among the faculty behind the stage. From this vantage point I was able to watch the ceremony and play a small role in it (faculty, please stand; faculty, please sit) while reflecting upon [...]

This is the second in a two-part series on librarian collaboration with faculty. Part 1, published on April 7, 2011, presents a five-step program for building collaborative relationships, while Part 2 addresses specific examples and strategies for collaboration. I. What we talk about when we talk about collaboration On April 7, 2011, I published “Collaborating [...]

This is the first in a two-part series on librarian collaboration with faculty. Part 1 presents a five-step program for building collaborative relationships, while Part 2, published on July 13, 2011, addresses specific examples and strategies for collaboration.   Introduction Collaboration has become something of a buzzword of late, which puts us in danger of [...]

A few weeks ago John Dupuis, of Confessions of a Science Librarian fame, posted his Stealth Librarianship Manifesto. He begins: This particular edition of the manifesto applies to academic libraries. The principles of stealth librarianship apply to all branches of the profession, each in particular ways. Other manifestos could exist for, say, public or corporate [...]

Working in an academic environment, the majority of my student interactions are based around a specific assignment. Every semester there is at least one assignment that comes across my reference desk that makes me throw my hands up in exasperation (such as: a scavenger hunt that was written before we moved much of our content [...]

Social networking may have started out as a way for students to keep track of their friends, but it has expanded in just about every direction. These days, you can find at least one related social networking site on just about any general topic, including music, photography, television, books, shopping, and bookmarking. But it isn’t [...]