Blogging in library and information science teaching and learning
-
Upload
sheila-webber -
Category
Business
-
view
5.569 -
download
1
description
Transcript of Blogging in library and information science teaching and learning
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Blogging in LIS teaching and learning
Sheila WebberUniversity of Sheffield Department of Information [email protected] 2007
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Photo of Sheila taken by Peter Stordy at 11.30, 29 May
Hello!
Me
Me in Second Life
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Outline• Blogs in education & for
LIS• Individual blogging• Organisational blogging• Resources
Comment: This the outline of my talk.
I talk about what blogs are good for in education, and specifically for library/information students
I talk about 2 types of blogging
I give examples from my own experience, and give examples from libraries in the UK and North America
“Resources” is simply a list of articles, websites etc. you may find useful.
This PowerPoint can be found athttp://dis.shef.ac.uk/sheila/blogging2007.ppt
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Blogs… in general• Good for
– news – things with timelines – that have a beginning and end
(e.g. projects)– developing and presenting ideas
• Not so good – as a reference source (though can still be useful) – as a tutorial– for fostering ongoing discussion on a range of topics
Comment: These are general points that I will be illustrating in the next slides and will return to later
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
In education, blogs useful forReflecting on
Communicating
Recording
Publishing
Developing
Progress
Projects
Ideas
Assignments
LearningComment: You can combine any of the words on the leftwith any of the wordson the right!
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
For information & library students
• Librarians and information managers using weblogs as part of job
• Therefore useful for LIS students and practitioners to learn more about– How they work– What they are good for
Comment: I expect Richard Wallis has already talked about the importance of Web 2.0 for librarians
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Points made by my students• Blog useful for reflection & recording progress• Blogging dissertation: helps progress and also
could avoid some of loneliness of dissertation process
• Could provide place to interact and share experience about a module e.g. a systems module
Comment: My studentsmade these points onthis blog which I will mention later
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Points made by my students: 2• May want to keep blog private• Students don’t want to have to use too many
different tools (blogs, discussion boards etc. etc.) for their studies
• Some people like blogs more than others: can’t assume that students will automatically like them
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Note that:
• Students (even 18 year olds) not necessarily familiar with blogs
• Our 1st year undergraduate students: doing more texting, phoning, Instant messaging, using Facebook: see paper cited in next slide
Comment: Sometimes it is assumed that all young people are automatically good at using all Web 2.0 tools and that they will want to use them in study. This is not true.
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
The next slides give examples from my own teaching experience
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
My experience: Teaching• Inquiry in Information
Management (1st year Undergraduate module)
Inquiry in Information Management: Staff Team http://inquiry-in-im.group.shef.ac.uk/team/
Staff team blog: teaching team reflected on use of blogs in this module & discussed use of blogs in teaching generally.
Paper at conference in March: Cox, A. et al. (2007) “Blogging to support Inquiry Based Learning.” Paper presented at Shock of the Social conference, Oxford University, March 2007.http://inquiry-in-im.group.shef.ac.uk/team/files/2007/03/shock-paper.pdf
Comment: A blog used by teaching staff
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
My experience: Teaching• Inquiry in Information
Management (1st year Undergraduate module)
Student blogs: One per student group.
Students had to post about project meetings, project progress and project results
Blog is worth 25% of module mark
Not sure we will use them again next year: group discussion board in Virtual Learning Environment (WebCT) could serve much of this function
Comment: Blogs usedby 1st year students
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
My experience: Teaching• In 2003 used a blog as a “class website” for 2 classes• I posted lecture notes etc. and used it for announcements
and class exercises• I used tags (e.g. “lecture notes”) so that students could
search and find e.g. all lecture notes• Was useful for alerting students to what is new• Not so useful for
– giving access to course material – having online discussions
• Virtual Learning Environment (e.g. WebCT, Blackboard) better
Sorry! New slideComment: Blogs used by teaching staff and students
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
My experience: Teaching• Educational Informatics
(Postgraduate module)
Educational Informatics session:http://edu-informatics.livejournal.com/
Used for 4 years (4 sets of students)
I ask students to identify where blogs could be useful in their course
Their views given in previous slide – also can be read on the blog!
Useful to get practice is blogging & to record and exchange ideas
Comment: A blog used by students and teaching staff
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
The next slides are examples from inside and outside Sheffield University
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
PhD student at Sheffieldhttp://jin-thoughts.blogspot.com/
Former PhD student of mine – blogged during and after dissertationhttp://invisibleweblog.blogspot.com/
Blogging the PhD
Comment: Some PhD students find this very useful
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Educational – reflective journals for a class“Human information behavior” (Rutgers University, USA)http://jennykthelibrarian.blogspot.com/http://dfahl.livejournal.com/
“This will be a record of my thoughts and questions during my journey through the readings for class.”
“Forgive my glee but I am glad to be done all of this work and reading these academic treatises. .”
Note: Screenshots removed before publishing to slideshare
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Centre for Inquiry Based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences: Student bloghttp://jin-thoughts.blogspot.com/
Blogging around an education theme and activity
Comment: A student blog. This blogwon a blogging prize!
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
To repeat an earlier slide!Blogs… in general
• Good for– news – things with timelines (e.g. projects, particular class activities)– developing and presenting ideas
• Not so good – as a reference source e.g. lecture notes on a class website
(though can still be useful) – as a tutorial– for fostering ongoing discussion on a range of topics
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Types of blogging
• Independent blogging (blogging for yourself)• Organisational blogging (blogging as part of the job,
or for an organisation)
• Will describe these 2 types, then return to some of the previous examples
Comment: There aredifferent motives and characteristics for the two types of blog
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Independent bloggingBlogging for yourself e.g.
– Record & reflection on what you’ve done
– Enjoyment of writing down thoughts, feelings
– To get practice in content creation & design
– e.g. Blogging the dissertation – e.g. For Continuing
Professional Development Blogging professional (CILIP) Chartershiphttp://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/kwiddows/
Comment: Here I give some benefits and motivations for bloggingindependently
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Independent blogging, variant 2Blogging independently, but with an audience at the front
of your mind. Issues are as in the previous slide, plus– Sharing knowledge and news (personal/professional)– May be blogging to help others as much as to amuse yourself– May want to improve professional profile & extend contacts– Some people happy to drift into this kind of blog, if their blog
becomes popular, others want to keep a personal blog private or anonymous
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Issues for individual blogging• Would I want my students/ loved one/ future
employer to stumble across this?• Is it part of of work?• Will it take over my life?
Comment: Just some background thoughts!Blogging has taken over my life a bit. I am careful in what I blog, though.
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
My experience: Information Literacy
• Independent variant 2: Information with personal slant (photos) and an audience in mind
• Aware that people use it as information source, so not too personal
• Blog needs constant feeding• Given me visibility, contacts
Version 1: 2003-2005Technical problems
Version 2: 2005 onwards500+ postings
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
My experience: Virtual • Blogging as my Second Life avatar
• An amusement for me…. but also
• …turning into a learning diary about using Second Life
http://adventuresofyoshikawa.blogspot.com/
“Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents”
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
As seen on previous slide - Educational – reflective journals for a class“Human information behavior” (Rutgers University, USA)
Students being forced to do Independent blogging – don’t always come up with results that teachers would want (though this student does, I think!)
Students may not want to be forced to be “creative” or “reflective” or “playful” for the teacher
Note: Screenshots removed before publishing to slideshare
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Organisational blogging
• Part of organisational strategy– To support & create community– To support & manage activities and tasks– To communicate & create relationships with customers– To support educational goals
• Definitely part of someone’s job – though may be carried out by individual bloggers who like blogging
• This is where librarian may be required or encouraged to blog
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Our Departmental bloghttp://information-studies.blogspot.com/
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Inquiry in Information Management: Staff Team http://inquiry-in-im.group.shef.ac.uk/team/
This blog, shown previously, is also “organisational blogging” (blogging the class): some colleagues enjoyed it more than others!
Comment: In other words, some did not enjoy it much! We also find there are some students who are not keen on blogging.
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Part of a search/teach task in one of my classes (creating a search guide to a database + a blog or Squidoo lens)
Comment: Requiring students to produce an “organisational” type blog
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Examples of library blogs
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) “communities”http://communities.cilip.org.uk/
Note: Screenshots removed before publishing to slideshare
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Knowledge & information sharing – reference desk blogReference at Newman Libraryhttp://referencenewman.blogspot.com/
Note: Screenshots removed before publishing to slideshare
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Community building & exchangehttp://elgg.leeds.ac.uk/
Note: Screenshots removed before publishing to slideshare
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Project bloghttp://epublications.wordpress.com/
Project blog
Project blog has become service blog (at same address)
Note: Screenshots removed before publishing to slideshare
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Project blogBirmingham Reusable Materials Projecthttp://brumproject.blogspot.com/
Note: Screenshots removed before publishing to slideshare
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
News for users and opportunity for feedback from usersCharles Sturt Universityhttp://yourlibrarycsu.blogspot.com/
Note: Screenshots removed before publishing to slideshare
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
News for users and opportunity for feedback from usersSouthampton Solent Universityhttp://solentlibrarynews.blogspot.com/
Note: Screenshots removed before publishing to slideshare
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
News for usershttp://www2.worc.ac.uk/wordpress/
“This blog is one of the places where you can keep up to date with any improvements and notices which will allow you to make better use of us!”
Note: Screenshots removed before publishing to slideshare
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
News for users – specific subjecthttp://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/businessblog/
Note: Screenshots removed before publishing to slideshare
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Issues for organisations which blog
• Acceptable use & level of monitoring• Balance between personal voice/ corporate
guidelines• Who allowed to see, to post, to comment• Staff: education & buy-in (see MULTA project)• If part of strategy: needs documenting, resourcing &
disaster planning• If educational: is it dealing with students ethically?
Comment: These areissues to be considered by library and information managers
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
“Staff are now blogging regularly to communicate internally and with the public, and we consider our experiment a success. … Following the change in
software we will need to customize it, create training guides, and begin training the staff on the new
software. It may seem like starting over, but we're past the hurdle of demonstrating the value of internal
blogging.” (Barton & Weismantel, 2006)
Comment: This is a quotation from a librarian
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
The MULTA staff development project “It has changed the way we do things in our library. We have formed a team to
implement recommendations made as part of the project. We are creating blogs to communicate internally and with our users. We are using wikis for our everyday work. Now the project has finished, participants are voluntarily running
education sessions for their work areas, often on demand from the people who didn't participate. We are looking at XML, APIs and mashups as part of what we do, not strange foreign
acronyms.”Greenhill, K. (2006) What Kathryn said she'd do... 25 October. Murdoch University.
http://multa.murdoch.edu.au/tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=3665&postId=3811
Comment: An Australian librarian comments on how following a Web 2.0 project has led to changes in thinking and practice.
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Summary• Weblogs are useful in education for certain things• Skill in knowing how and when to use blogs is useful part of
curriculum; students can use them in context of– Marketing– Teaching (information literacy)– Knowledge Management– Reference work
• LIS students can learn by doing (blogging)• Some people just like blogging: exploit their enthusiasm!
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Some resources
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Articles• Barton, E. and Weismantel, A. (2006) “Ref logs now.”
Library journal, 1 October. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6373314.html (Discusses blog to support librarians in reference desk enquiry work at Michigan State University)
• Educause. (2007) Blog. Educause. http://www.educause.edu/Blog/645?Parent_ID=645 (list of resources and links)
• Educause. (2005) 7 things you should know about blogs.Educause. http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7006.pdf
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Articles 2• HigherEdBlogCon. (2006) April 10: Blogging in libraries.
http://www.higheredblogcon.com/index.php/april-10-blogging-in-libraries/ (Introduction + 3 screencasts or presentations on blogging in libraries)
• Wiebrands, C. (2006) “Creating community: The blog as a networking device.” In: Click06: ALIA 2006 Biennial Conference. http://conferences.alia.org.au/alia2006/Papers/Constance_Wiebrands.pdf
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Librarian blogger discussion & posts
• Anjos, J. Biblio-blogosphere: the last 25 hourshttp://last25.janjos.com (Last 25 hours of posts, reverse chronological order)
• British Librarian Bloggers. http://groups.google.com/group/britlibblogs (discussion board)
• Librariesinteract. http://librariesinteract.info/ (blog for Australian librarians, includes blog list)
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Library blog wikis• Etches-Johnson, A. (Ed) Blogging libraries wiki.
http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php?title=Welcome_to_the_Blogging_Libraries_Wiki (wiki with links to lots of library blogs, listed by sector )
• Harper, C. and Watson, K. Libraryblogswikis. http://www.seedwiki.com/wiki/libraryblogswikis (wiki about use of blogs and wikis in Australian libraries, part of a project)
• Hubbard, J. (ed) Liswiki: Weblogs.http://liswiki.org/wiki/Weblogs (wiki with links to librarian and library weblogs, divided into “individual” and “organisational”)
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Learning about Library 2.0• Bradley, P. (2007) How to Use Web 2.0 in Your Library.
London: Facet Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85604-607-7• Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County . 23
Things. http://plcmcl2-things.blogspot.com/ (Exercises you can carry out, to discover different tools)
• Five weeks to a social library.http://www.sociallibraries.com/course/ (Online course that happened earlier this year)
• MULTA: Murdoch University Library Thinking Aloudhttp://multa.murdoch.edu.au/tiki-index.php (Australian staff development project)
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Photo of Sheila taken by Peter Stordy at 11.30, 29 May
Goodbye!
Copyright: Sheila Webber, May 2007
Sheila Webber [email protected] http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/
http://adventuresofyoshikawa.blogspot.com/
Sheila Yoshikawa