What does technology bring to the table?

One of my pet peeves as a kid was having to do lessons with poorly integrated technology.  It seemed to me to be akin to being forced to use a certain formula to solve a math problem, even when you could get to the answer in other ways.  At the time, I didn't really grasp that gaining technology proficiency was one of the goals - all I saw was technology getting in the way of tasks that I could easily complete on my own.

Technology has come a long way, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a waste of time if used incorrectly.  I now know the value of requiring students to acquire technology skills as a part of their work, but I'm still leery of frustrating them, and of being that librarian that sticks technology into situations where it doesn't quite fit.

I had to really look at what I was doing today.  As one of my major practicum projects, I'm developing a new, self guided library orientation.  The plan was for students to use the library's Ipods to scan QR codes which would launch webpages describing challenges at different stations throughout the library.  At each station, they would either submit an answer through an HTML form, take a photo to prove they completed their task, or scan a QR code that wouldn't be given to them until they finished the challenge.

I spent the first week of my practicum writing the questions, applying standards, and brainstorming how the stations would flow from one to the next.  I wrote to other librarians who've created similar programs, and wrote to a company that licenses an Ipod app for such scavenger hunts (no reply from them, btw).  Meanwhile, my host librarian attempted to track down the Ipods, which as it turned out, very few people were keeping tabs on.

The ipods were finally located.  The wireless router was finally configured.  Today was the day I actually sat down with a device, planning to begin writing HTML and testing pages on it.  Today was the day I learned: these are scaled down educational versions of the Ipod.  That is, where the camera should be, there is a piece of plastic.  No camera.  No QR reader.  Fudge.

Yeah.  Back to the drawing board.  My host librarian suggested (with a bit of well deserved bitterness; she is not happy with the functionality of these devices) that maybe instead of the Ipods, we could use the library's laptops, which do have webcams.  A little searching revealed that although it's a little unusual, some dude had indeed developed a QR reader for laptops.  Awesome.  Let's download it and test it!

Nope.  Turns out you need an administrative login to do that!  I typed up a description of exactly what we need to do, and my host librarian sent it off to the person she says is most likely to help.  So I was left considering what this tour would have to look like in order to work on either device.  On the Ipods, it would have to be entirely link based, with task completion assessed by a multiple choice question or form submission.  On the laptops, we could stick with our original ideas.  However, the excitement of the project dropped a notch as I pictured students lugging laptops around instead of the newer, sexier devices they would prefer to use.

I started wondering: what are we accomplishing that the old paper-based library orientation didn't?  I really had to think about it.  Thankfully, the more I think about it, the more I am realizing the potential benefits of using the laptops.  Instead of text prompts for all the challenges, I can use embedded video.  It will probably be easier to write the HTML or modify a template.  Students can actually complete the challenges that require them to use the OPAC and databases on their own computers.  Okay.  So if I do a good job, the technology is serving a purpose.

I will admit that today was a frustrating day.  The project is basically at a standstill, as anything I do for one device will be a wasted effort if we end up going with the other.  These are the nuances they don't teach you in library school...

What I've learned

It's funny to think about how quickly the past 4 years have gone by.  I've experienced a lot, but it doesn't really feel like it until I hit on something in a class or at work and realize that I understand it because of those experiences.  What brings this to mind is the fact that I'm sitting here reading a powerpoint about controlled vocabularies, and it talks about the fact that although they can be great for more effective and organized searching, they need supervision and can be slow to be updated.  My brain flashed back to my very first internship, where I spent a day with a technical services librarian, who showed me the thousands of printed pages of changes to LoC subject headings that she had to go through and update in the school's local catalog - manually.  Many of them were tweaks to make terms more specific, or more technically correct, and some occurred because terms acquired new social connotations (for example phasing out outdated means of referring to various ethnicities).

Having seen this process in action (albeit very slow action) and having talked about the ways in which Dewey is based around the ideas and values of the time in which it was created, I wonder if Dewey has ever undergone such revision?  Presumably subjects such as computing have been added in, but under what original topic?  I realize I'm mixing apples and oranges a bit, but I'm just realizing that I don't really know the answer, and I'm super curious to know more about how Dewey has evolved.

And isn't it just the way that I'm writing the rare blog post tonight, when I really should be doing my project?

:)

Tomorrow I start my internship at the high school where I graduated. I'm both excited and terrified. The school is only vaguely familiar, as it's been entirely renovated since I went there, and the majority of my teachers retired a year or two after I graduated. But it's still nice to be "keeping it in the family", as it was with my first fieldwork. Much as I hated school as a teen, I do feel an affinity for the district. I'm also excited to still be in the loop with the same group of librarians, because I've been admiring and interacting with their work for almost a year, and also because I think it's going to be valuable to see the library program as a whole across the district's schools.

I will admit to feeling wholly unprepared. I had intended to spend the summer teaching myself HTML, developing lesson plans, and researching the program we'll be using to create a library orientation for the Ipods. Instead I spent it frantically trying to keep up in my Information Policy class. That class really tipped the balance of the summer for me. I truly did accomplish a lot: I survived a July that included the work for the full-summer Information Policy class, an intensive one month youth services class with a one week, full time on campus residency, triathlon training, summer reading madness at work, and studying for a certification test. I came out of it with a 4.0 GPA, my first triathlon medal, and responsibility for several new projects at the library. Truly, I was very successful this summer, but unfortunately the intensity of that Information Policy class made it an absolutely miserable process, and left me exhausted. So regardless of how well my time was spent, I am disappointed in my level of preparedness going into my practicum.

I'm trying to be level-headed about it. I'm not great at knowing when to cut myself some slack. I know people who just secured practicum sites last week, so at least I've had the summer to mull my projects over. I think I'm just sad because I've fallen short of what I had hoped to accomplish, regardless of whether it was ever realistic.

In any case, I'm going in tomorrow with a list of objectives and an understanding of what information I need. I'm going to be cheerful, keep my eyes and ears open, and soak up as much as I can. I'm going to try to be the best I can be in the moment, and not let my feelings of failure hinder that.

Aside from these concerns, I'm happy with my fall semester. I like my Information Resources class a lot so far, and my work schedule has shifted somewhat. I have far fewer hours working on the circulation desk, and I'm making up some of those hours doing special projects, which I'm pretty excited to have been entrusted with. I'm on a project team that is re-designing our library's book sale fundraiser, which is a massive task. We're basically working from the ground up to streamline processing/retrieval, storage, volunteer assistance and sales. We have a beautiful new display that's generating excitement and grabbing patrons' attention. For me, it's a fantastic mix of grunt work (digging through donations and sorting things into different categories), supervisory experience (developing a workflow and delegating to volunteers), marketing, merchandising, and developing a database for tracking inventory. Aside from that, I'm also taking on a collection development project, evaluating my favorite collection - teen fiction.

I also have a vacation coming up. A real, actual, get out of town vacation - a trip to Richmond for a wedding. Given that I had 2 days off between the spring and summer semesters, and essentially 2 work weeks (of which I sort of crashed for 2 days) between the summer and fall semesters, I'm truly excited. I haven't taken a real vacation since Las Vegas, which was in 2009. Right now my brain is in hardcore to-do list efficiency mode, so I'm beyond looking forward to switching off for a week.

I hope everyone is having a good fall so far. I would like to blog more often, particularly throughout my practicum. Reflection is always a revealing process for me, and helps me cement what I've learned. Comments are always welcome!