Incoherent Scribblings

My job title is Education Coordination Librarian at West Texas Town University Library. Most people (even librarians) don’t really know what my title means, so I explain it by saying that I am in charge of the educational activities at the library.

Of course, after I say that the next question is usually, “OK, but what exactly do you do?”

Let me explain…

The main component of my job is to provide instructional services regarding library resources on campus. Typically what this means is that sometime during the semester professors arrange to bring their class(es) to the library for one class period so that I can either (for lower-level undergraduates) introduce the library, its resources, and research methods to the class or (for upper-level undergraduates or graduate students) delve deeper into using specialized resources for research projects.

These classes take place in a classroom in the library that is equipped with computer workstations so that the students can practice searching. However, as you can imagine the temptation for students (especially undergraduates) to surf the web while I am instructing them on the library’s electronic resources is enormous.

When I first began doing library instruction I worked on the naïve hope that when students were using the computers while I was talking that they were actually following along with what I was doing. However, it quickly became apparent to me that while some students were following along, the majority were checking their MySpace or Facebook accounts or aimlessly surfing the web. I tried to ignore this, but recently when some students were caught red-handed ordering golf shoes during my demonstration I decided I had had enough!

Two weeks ago I took control of my classroom. From now on, I am making the students sit in the front rows with the computers turned off while I do an abbreviated demonstration that takes about half of the time I am allotted. During the second half of the class I then allow the students to spread out and use the computers to do sample searching while I mingle among the crowd and keep them on task.

Only time will tell if they retain the information better this way, but one thing I can already verify: When I make them sit in the front of the room without the computers to distract them I see a lot more eyes looking at me instead of those damn computer screens!