Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar

After attending the Politics in Minnesota session at MLA on Friday, it was good to move to the next convention at the Northland Inn and hear Minnesota Amy Klobuchar speak on Friday night. I was happy for a few hours of shopping at Rosedale between conventions.

Thanks to Nancy B.Olsen for sharing the photo from Michelle Obama's campaign 2008 appearance at Macalester College in St. Paul. (FLICKR)

Last Friday MLA Session - Politics in Minnesota

After seeing slick PowerPoint presentations at all the other sessions that I attended, it was a refreshing change to see political operative Sarah Janecek walk in at 9:30 when her session was scheduled to begin, ask for coffee, and apply lipstick before beginning her presentation. I had watched her on ALMANAC on Friday nights on KTCA for years and seen her in a Minneapolis restaurant one Sunday, so was happy to have another opportunity to hear her even though we do not share the same political philosophy. While not focusing on libraries specifically, her presentation could be considered to continue the literacy theme with news or journalism literacy.

Sarah began by saying that she walked past the Bloomington room of the Sheraton where she was "camped out" with the Coleman campain on the recent November fourth election night. She gave her impressions of the current Coleman-Franken recount, and said that Dean Barkely, the Independence Party candidate, is the most influential Minnesota political figure in recent years who is not given the credit for what he has done to change the Minnesota political scene. Sarah Janeck sees Minnesota becoming "the next Florida" with a recount that is "absolutely wild".

The presenter considers herself a "tiny red speck" in a big blue area in Minneapolis. She has law and journalism degrees from the University of Minnesota. In 1993, she began Politics in Minnesota, with the new edition scheduled to appear in February. She spoke of the importance of blogs in journalism and politics today. Minnesota is on the "high end" of political blogs. To know who moves and who shakes, blogs are updated daily. With the decline of political coverage in Minneapolis and St. Paul newspapers, blogs play a more critical role.

After commenting briefly on the Minnesota political scene, Sarah had plenty of time for discussion with those attending. When someone asked about the ignored role of county commissioners in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, Sarah said that the mainstream media ignores what is going on in counties. I mentioned the recent Jackson County commissioner race in my district where the incumbent lost over a current "hot issue". She asked how that was covered by the media.

Another interesting discussion was on the Minnesota climate of extremism that can elect Paul Wellstone as well as Michele Bachmann. Sarah also discussed the brilliance of Karl Rove in the Bush elections. She believes that the quality of the people serving is not as high as in the past, and that the salary should be tripled and the size of the Minnesota Legislature split. Sarah sees the current mainstream media as lazy.

Because of "selective reading", people do not see the big picture of what is happening in the world. When asked about the online MinnPost, Sarah Janecek responded that she does not see it lasting longer than six months, due to the problem with getting ads. She also does not see a good future for the StarTribune after the Senate recount.

While Sarah mentioned several times her appreciation of what librarians do, she did not seem to realize the vital role of public libraries in the current economic climate. I was glad that Bill DeJohn of MINITEX spoke several times to remind her how busy public libraries are - especially the computer use by those who do not own them at home. Sarah talked about funding for libraries and suggested that those in our group write OP-ED pieces to inform of our situation. When I watch Sarah Janecek on ALMANAC again, I will have a better understanding of her background and viewpoints.

Minnesota county map
Originally uploaded by mountainpath2001

First Friday Session at MLA 2008 at the Sheraton

100_2433
Originally uploaded by Daardi

Thanks to Daardi for the Flickr photo that I found from my alma mater.

4. WHAT DO COLLEGE STUDENTS LEARN IN HIGH SCHOOL ABOUT RESEARCH? - Kellian Clark, Minnesota State University - Mankato, Librarian.

Attending this session was appropriate as the Minnesota West librarians work at cooperation with area high schools. Pam Sukalski has been instrumental in this area while I am still working at continuing the earlier contacts established and carrying forward with more intense efforts.

SUMMARY

The presenter was dynamic in conveying her message to her audience with such a vital topic. At age 50, she realized that she had not visited high school libraries for many years. She appreciates Minnesota's education system after growing up in Wyoming, but had wanted to establish contact with current feeder schools for MSU - Mankato. Of the 12 schools she contacted, she only had responses from six. My question for her was concern with the other six as I wondered if they had qualified library media staff, or were just too busy to respond. In our area some schools have cut professional library media staff positions, but the ones that I am in contact with are from small, active libraries.

With so much data available on incoming college students, our presenter realized that in profiling the college student body, it is more important for librarians to know about the high school experiences of college freshmen than their ACT scores or nationalities. The literature standards state that students must be able to locate, evaluate, analyze, synthesize, and use information collaboratively.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

From a 2003 Minnesota study cited in an article by Ross Todd in the Winter 2007 issue (Learn Media), we learned that 63% of Minnesota schools with higher reading scores had full-time media specialists. In a 2003 School Library Journal article, we learned that 1/3 of book budgets for Minnesota library book budgets are from fundraising, and in some cases 100%! Since 2002, Minnesota schools lost an average of 29% per pupil on the amount spent for books. Other articles referred to in the presentation that I want to read are by Chris Lehmann in the July 2007 issue of School Library Journal and by Michael Gorman in American Libraries in October of 2005. In a Minnesota English Journal article available online, "Wait Until You Get to College", Cindy Olson and Anne O'Meara reported that high school students do more PowerPoint projects than research papers. Many students have limited English skills. There are "huge issues" with students being able to critically evaluate sources.

The presenter evaluated library websites of the 6 schools she visited, and found much library information available. Common on them were: LII, Refdesk, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, CIA World Factbook, and Citation Maker.

IMPRESSIONS FROM SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER VISITS

• Security is treated seriously (cannot just walk in a school)
• Busy places!
• Good (if dated!) reference collections (Encyclopedia of Bioethics)
• Fiction is actively sought and frequently circulates
• Similar concerns as college librarians
• Classroom use of technology is good
• Very service oriented - all about the students
• Budget cuts ("The book budget is the same as in 1982")
• Multitasking of staff - cataloging, reference, instuction, technology, EVERYTHING!
• Responsive - most media staff active in soliciting book requests from students
• Students producting movies and PowerPoint presentations more than writing papers
• Students have used databases
• Students have been required to cite
• Students have had access to reference books
• Students are familiar with Dewey system (not Library of Congress)
• Research problems are closely related to reading problems
• Students had problems finding, evaluating and using their sources WELL

CONCLUSIONS

1. Articulate familiar concepts (Databases, citing citations)
2. Introduce new concepts (Evaluation of all resources, controlled vocabulary)
3. Support high school libraries

APPLICATIONS FOR ME

1. Read the articles mentioned as well as the recent Chronicle of Higher Education one on the percentage of high school students being ready for college
2. Call more area media specialists rather than send email messages. In my experience from last spring, I had more responses from the area librarians that I already knew than those that I did not
3. Work with the other Minnesota West librarians to establish a plan to carry out goal of more contact with Minnesota West librarians (Use staff wiki)

OBSTACLES

The presenter has a great appreciation for school media personnel after realizing how much that they are expected to do. She admits that in her position she has one role - instruction, and does not need to do any cataloging or technology work. She contacts other MSU professional librarians for expertise in those areas. Attending the presention, helped to "fire up" the desire to work with high schools, but the time to do it and balance other roles is tricky.

New Guthrie Theater

New Guthrie Theater
Originally uploaded by alt text

Thanks to alt text for this great photo of the Guthrie. We only saw two plays at the first Guthrie Theater, but enjoyed our fourth one at the new one. After three sessions at the MLA conference on Thursday, I was ready to head downtown. This time we ate at the Guthrie rather than The Old Spaghetti Factory. It was a good time to celebrate the completion of the harvest with a special meal. I had the duck special which was very good. It had been a long time since I ate duck!

We enjoyed the movie, Shadowlands, (Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger) based on the life of C. S. Lewis, at an arts theatre next to the Arizona State University campus in Tempe years ago on the Saturday night before Easter when we spent spring break visiting Van 's family. Although the sheep and lovely English countryside scenes were not at the Guthrie, I think that I liked the play about as much as the movie. It was fun to be in the third row for a different perspective of the stage and actors. The movement of sets at the Guthrie is amazing. After seeing the Shadowlands movie, I read the C. S. Lewis book, A Grief Observed. Seeing the play after our one year of grief following the 2007 deaths of our mothers, was good timing. We looked at each other when Jack, (the C. S. Lewis character) talked about his mother dying when Jack was only eight years old. After Joy (wife of Jack), dies when her son Douglas was so young, I thought of how fortunate we were to have our mothers until they were 83 and 93 years old.

When Shadowlands ended, I thought about 1776, Third, and Little House on the Prairie, the other three productions we saw at the new Guthrie. I liked them all very much, but now would like to see another play on the thrust state where we saw 1776 after seeing the last three on the proscenium stage.

We enjoyed the twilight view of the new bridge from the Guthrie windows after seeing the collapsed mess of the old one when we saw 1776 in August of 2007 after Mom's death. Being the bridge collapse will always be associated with Mom's death in our memories, the new bridge is a great symbol of renewal and "Life Goes On."

MLA Met at Bloomington Sheraton

The annual conference of the Minnesota Library Association was held at the Bloomington Sheraton from November 19-21, 2008. This year's theme was Explore, Evolve Excel Together. I was happy to attend on Thursday and Friday. Every session I attended was so pertinent and informative for me. I also enjoyed connecting with many people including some who I had not seen for a long time. Most of the sessions that I attended were sponsored by the Academic and Research Libraries Division of MLA. I also attended the Thursday annual business meeting. At that meeting we learned that May First has been selected for the 2009 ARLD Day at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum at Chanhassen. The keynote speaker will be Katie Clark from the University of Rochester. The MLA has a new website. Online conference registration is now available from the website so can be used for the ARLD Day. Summaries of the MLA sessions I attended follow:

1. BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: CONNECTING FIRST YEAR STUDENTS TO THE LIBRARY - Julie Gilbert, Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter.

Outreach project to teach research skills:

• Investigate the current relationships between first year students and the library
• Examine reasons why the library wanted to connect better with students
• Analyze the results
• Reflect on lessons learned
• Discuss the results

Student comments included such questions as "Where do I check out a book?" and "Isn't everything on the Internet?" The OPAC is seen as confusing and outdated, and some students were baffled by access to full-text databases.

The mission of the library to teach information literacy was done in a first term seminar with 16 students per section. In the fall of 2007, nine sections with a total of 159 students were in a pilot program to determine the effects of multiple library sessions rather than one shot sessions to emphasize information literacy. Pre-tests and post-tests were done with control groups and experimental groups. The control group of four sections of students met only once for library instruction with a librarian. The experimental group of five sections met two or three times with the librarian for sessions of 80 minutes. The sessions included a library tour, questions and answers with the librarian, citation resources, evaluation of resources, advanced search techniques, subject headings and advanced search terms.

Pre-test results:

• Almost 3/4 start research projects with Google
• Almost half were not familiar with online databases
• Few used public libraries

Post-test results:

• Students in the experimental group were more likely to meet with a reference librarian
• Students in the experimental group had more success in locating appropriate sources
• Students in the experimental group were more confident in their abilities
• There was a positive difference in the experimental group over the control group in citing citations

There were few non-traditional students in the groups. Gustavus has PESO students from St. Peter High School, but no relationship with the high school librarian. Gustavus does not have a distance learning program.

Tips given:

• Have students put questions for the librarian on cards
• A good relationship with the IT department is important
• "Buy in" with faculty is important
• Move from Information Literacy to Information Fluency to get students to think critically about research

Gustavus will continue to move towards a more comprehensive information literacy program. Senior thesis students are the first ones to participate. There are plans to develop a library lab.

2. GOVERNMENT INFORMATION IN THE 21st CENTURY - Kristen Clark, University of Minnesota Libraries

The session was very helpful for me as I was not aware of the grant known as "G1 21" to make government information more readily available. I thought about the Government Documents class I took during the "Pre-Internet" days, and how searching for sources for my project would be so different now.

The government information may be found at WebJunction through the following site:

http://www.webjunction.org/gi21

Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico coordinated the project. Because government information is "everywhere", attempts were made to answer the following questions:

• Where is it?
• How do I use it?
• How can I learn more?

Over 250 Federal agencies are putting out information for us. 90 to 95 % of government information is available ONLY online. This is a transistion time with the switch to a new presidential administration. Because of a lawsuit with the Department of the Interior, there is not much on the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

In creating 22 modules for government information, the most popular in order are:

1. Demographics
2. Legal
3. Small Business
4. Immigration

Kids Stuff

Modules have been recreated with information focusing on children.

Chat

There is now an online chat service available 24/7 with government depository librarians.

Future

Because the grant ended in September of 2008, there is a new grant with a potential starting date of the Fall of 2009. There are 25 states including Minnesota, to be involved with the new one. Minnesota has 21 Federal depository libraries. Potential training would focus on non-depository library staff in academic and public libraries. Topics specific to Minnesota would focus on the Somali population and water issues.

3. A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO PROMOTING CRITICAL THINKING WITH (IN) LITERACY - Barbara Cox and Jeanne Iverson, Presenters - Perpich Center for Arts Education, Golden Valley, MN

The last Thursday session that I attended followed the literacy theme. "You had to be there" to feel the impact of the experience. The handouts will be available on the MLA website.

In 1989 the Perpich Center opened at the former Golden Valley Lutheran College. The library is a considered a state agency library, an arts high school library and a special/public library. It is a member of CALCO. Resources from the library can be accessed through ILL. Those on display at the session showed the multicultural perspective promoted by the Multicultural Voices Iniatiative. An authority in the field is Dr. James Banks of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington.

For 4 minutes and 41 seconds those at the session watched a spoken word video by Thomas King of Big Soul Productions, I'm Not the Indian You Had in Mind. After watching, the presenters went around the room to have each person there (40+) state their impressions. With such a large group, one really needed to pay attention to think of something different that had not already been stated.

Even though the presenters are from a high school, I could see that the approach would be good for critical thinking in a college setting. The reflective protocol used:

• description
• review
• description
• question
• speculation
• response from learner

As a literacy tool this approach to learning is used as a means to:

• improve critical thinking and problem solving skills
• analyze media for purpose, message, accuracy, bias and intended audience
• follow a research process

Website: http://www.pcae.k12.mn.us/

Blog: http://artseducation.typepad.com/

MnPALS

MnPALS User Group Meeting

On Thursday, 30 October, I attended the second day of the MnPALS User Group Meetings. This is the first year to use the new format of just having Fall User Groups with work days in the Spring. I really like having them at MSU-Mankato as I can leave home later than to be at work at 8 AM at Worthington! I always enjoy returning to MSU. Before 9 AM, I was in the parking lot. I was happy to have plenty of time to walk to the Student Union, but after arriving there I realized that I left my glasses in my vehicle when I checked my cell phone. Anyway, I am finally reading all of the hand-outs in my blue folder that I was unable to see too clearly that day!

I attended the 9:30 General Session in the morning, and the 11 AM interlibrary loan user group. At lunch, one of the MSU folks mentioned that the Al Franken folks would be coming to the Union at 3 PM, so I decided to stay for that after the last session.

My 1 PM session was on interlibrary loan best practices and workflow. At 2 PM, I attended the breakout session on inventory management. I do not think that we have done inventory at our library recently, so it was good to hear what other libraries are doing.

The campaigning group was late, so a student with a guitar sang in the basement of the Union until they showed up. Our Representative Tim Walz, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and our former Congressman Rick Nolan from St. Cloud spoke before Al Franken did. I had forgotten about Rick Nolan, and shook hands with him afterwards. He almost seems like a "Walter Mondale type" now. The Senate race with Senator Norm Coleman and Al Franken still has not been decided. I hope that the recount does not drag out too long . . .