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Student Learning Outcome 4
Diversity is part of every community, every library, and every collection. This means that the services libraries provide have to be diverse to reach as many users as possible. But, they also have to be relatable to the patrons in order to benefit the community. The internet has made information easily accessible, resulting in information overload. Libraries and the librarians within them are here to vet information to help the user find what they need. This is why librarians create courses, curate collections, provide database subscriptions, and design programs.
There are tools for information that make searching, gathering, finding information easier for the user. My Information Sources and Services class described how libraries use resources and specifically how librarians use reference consultations to guide users. The design is really all about sussing out the right information to match the user - their need, their comprehension level, their accessibility capabilities, etc. After learning how to create libguides, I’ve been able to design collections and organize resources into one place. Since the COVID-19 pandemic became a mass of media and information, I’ve been assisting our Outreach Librarian with a libguide that gathers reliable news, articles, and media on the subject. Libraries are the filter to get the right information to the user who needs it.
One of the best ways to disseminate information is to gather the knowledge and materials into one location. There are many tools and programs to create electronic resources that help provide information. I created a libguide called “The Human Library” for my Information Sources and Services class. It was the first time I had used the libguide tool through Springshare. Jenny Dale from Jackson Library provided a guided class on how to create a libguide. Our assignment allowed for us to pick the topic we wanted to explore and gather as many different resources to add into the guide.
The topic I selected was The Human Library because it’s still a relatively new organization and global movement that is being supported by all types of libraries. Joyner Library on East Carolina University’s main campus hosted a Human Library event that was the catalyst for my interest. It’s events like this that bring the community together to learn more about what is beyond their purview and helps combat bias. The Human Library has so many social and cultural aspects that I wasn’t sure the information I found would fit into one guide. Not to mention everything was so media rich that I would be remiss not to embed the material. I was able to organize it all to create an informative and enlightening libguide.
Collection development, as I have learned from my Collection Management course, is more than just selecting books to add in the stacks. There are so many aspects to consider at the planning stage of collection development. This was apparent when I developed my own Open Education Resource collection as part of the practice educational collection my academic libraries group designed. The assignment was to create a webpage of resources for our individual collection. I chose the format of a libguide that also had to include bibliographic description and annotation for the resources chosen.
Libguides are user friendly, and library synonymous, which made it easy to create one to provide my collection information. I have a passion for open access and wanted to express that through this collection based on education by gathering sources for Open Educational Resources. It was required to find a variety of resources beyond books, e-books, and journals. I included blogs, websites, databases, videos, etc. I understand that everyone learns differently so my goal was to create a collection that could be used by those who seek print resources, electronic resources, and media resources. In retrospect, I would hope that the collection I designed is helpful to not only academic fields, but also any school or institution that is looking for Open Educational Resources.
Geographic Information Systems are great tools for measuring, analyzing, and planning programs and services for libraries and other information institutions. This project introduced me to the use of GIS through programs like SimplyAnalytics, Policy Map, SocialExplorer, US Census, etc. as tools to analyse demographics in the area and community around libraries. This assignment for my Digital Libraries class brought up the question of user need and how the library can define the services they provide. The focus I chose for this project was compiling the information necessary to propose a plan to develop a flu clinic at a rural public library. I used maps to represent the number of citizens concentrated around the area of the library, their age in regards to the need for the flu shot, and the location of area doctors that would be accessible.
This research showcased how the area had a large number of older citizens who would need the shot as well as the lack of places, like doctor’s offices, to receive this service. I was able to make a pretty solid case for the need of a service like a flu shot clinic and how the library would benefit from hosting such a service. Something else to learn from GIS is how it can be used in other areas such as health services, environmental impact, business, etc. It can even highlight the need for this information supplied through the library to furnish learning opportunities, especially in the case of health literacy. There are many different fields that can build services and programs based on GIS information and statistics.
Patti Wilson
Writer & Librarian
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