Realising a large amount of my time and efforts are currently spent on content creation…generating ideas and information that appeal to our students, library users and the wider audience.

I do this by creating and making accessible, written or visual content in the form of videos, infographics, blogs and indeed other formats, aided by the following (almost complete A-Z list!):

Apps… Bit.ly… Canva… Diijo… Easel.ly… Facebook… Google+… Hootsuite… Instagram… Kahoot… Layout… Messenger… Outlook… Powtoon… Quik… ResearchGate… SoundCloud… Twitter… VideoScirbe… Wordpress… YouTube… Zeetings

Anyone have an J, N, U or X they can recommend?

SoundCloud is the world's foremost social sound platform where anyone can listen to or produce audio and share them. I set up an account for GMIT Libraries as another means of reaching our library users. The main purpose being to provide library instruction to support learning. We already use YouTube for instructional purposes but decided that studetns may utilise Podcasts on the go; with the abitly to download and listen to them on their own devices.

Podcasts are convenient and easy to consume - checkout GMIT Libraries on SoundCloud today!

This years Western Regional Section of the Library Association of Ireland’s annual seminar took place in Ballinasloe Library on Monday 11th June 2018, centering on the theme of challenging times. The programme was thought-provoking and diverse.  

​Maura Stephens and I presented on the trials and triumphs of going open source which was based on GMIT Libraries experience of migrating to a web-based open-source integrated library system.

GMIT Libraries went live with Koha, a little over a year ago. It’s safe to say that not only has the past year been challenging but the period of implementation prior to going live was also extremely demanding. Koha is “the most advanced open-source Integrated Library System in use today by hundreds of libraries worldwide” (http://www.koha.org/about). Koha is a fully featured Integrated Library System (ILS), there is no cost for the license, you have the freedom to modify the product and adapt it to your Library’s needs. This presentation concentrated on GMIT Libraries experience of planning, implementing, using and reflecting on Koha together with considering the other parties involved with supporting Koha, including Interleaf Technology, PTFS Europe and EduCampus.

We discussed the software installation, data entry, data migration and UAT’s before going on to deliberate exploiting Koha. We discovered that we needed to do a great deal more work than anticipated to adapt the software to local needs. The dialogue focused on the benefits and drawbacks of implementing and using Koha. Discussing the stability, adaptability and user friendliness of the system, along with the availability of core modules together with their completeness and productivity. Koha currently supports the following library functions in a relatively easy to use interface: circulation, acquisitions, cataloguing, serials and the OPAC. With the latest Koha release there is basic framework built into the system for adding ILL support and workflows; this is somewhat a work in progress. The presentation also included a synopsis of integrating a discovery service, an app for online past exam papers and a shared institutional repository. 

Today marked the last of our contact hours for the Certificate in Teaching & Learning; it's been a whirlwind. I am delighted that I have almost completed Step 1 and Step 2... the deadline is next Tuesday, so nearly there and most certainly nearly ready. Fingers crossed for my 60 ECTS credits.

​“Just because the road ahead is long, is no reason to slow down. Just because there is much work to be done, is no reason to get discouraged. It is a reason to get started, to grow, to find new ways, to reach within yourself and discover strength, commitment, determination, discipline…”  
Ralph Marston.

The purpose of this research was to investigate what extent first years students participating in library instruction acquire information literacy skills. Through this research I hoped to determine if there was evidence of learning output from the library instruction sessions that complement GMIT’s Learning and Innovation Skills (LIS) module. Furthermore, it was endeavoured to obtain feedback for development of the library instruction sessions. My research question was clear and feasible and the deadlines given throughout the module ensured that I stayed focused. The instruction given throughout the module was excellent and the feedback was always helpful and reassuring.

As the library sessions had not been previously evaluated I sought to obtain feedback from both students and academics. Deciding to perform a student survey and academic interviews was part of the triangulated approach which was recommended as part of the research cycle methodology. The initial intention was to incorporate focus groups as part of the triangulated approach. However, due to time constraints I decided to omit this method and use the literature review as the third method. On reflection, attempting to a literature review along with a survey, interviews and focus groups was overly ambitious in the time frame available. I do not think there was a negative impact resulting from the elimination of the focus groups, the application of a triangulated approach ensures reliability and validity, using multiple methods to gather data while conducting primary research strengthens the research (Hesse-Biber, 2010). The most challenging of the three methods was the survey, as students were slow to engage. It was my expectation that at least 90 responses would be returned, however, 83 was the number returned within the time frame. With such a low response rate there is no evidence to suggest that the sample is representative of all first year students. Nevertheless, the results are valuable, as this small scale initial research gives an insight into students’ knowledge and awareness of information literacy.

From my experience completing the research I recognize that students learn information literacy skills through participation and engagement with library instruction. These findings are endorsed by the literature, as several sources indicate that students’ benefit and learn from library instruction (Oakleaf & Kaske, 2009 & McGuinness, 2006). How much they learn or benefit, according to the interview analysis, depends upon attendance, engagement and frequency of library use. The data was not difficult to analyse as the use of Survey Monkey, the free online survey software, facilitated the interpretation of results. Furthermore, the small sample of interviews comprising 10 academics meant that the use of Microsoft Excel was sufficient to conduct analysis. A larger sample set would have necessitated the use of more complex software such as NVivo.

The time frame was limited; as such planning and commitment were imperative to ensure all deadlines were adhered to. One of the most rewarding components of this module was presenting at the Research Cycle Conference, as it provided me with an extra platform to share my research. Engagement with the module has also resulted in further opportunities; I have been invited to present my research paper at the 2015 IIUG Library Conference. As a result of effective time management my written article was completed in timely fashion which allowed me to invest the necessary time to ensure a comprehensive presentation was prepared to disseminate my research. The research cycle module was both advantageous and rewarding, the support and encouragement received from Pauline and Barry was excellent.

References

Hesse-Biber, S. N. (2010). Mixed Methods Research: Merging Theory with Practice. New York: Guilford Press. 

Marston, R. (1998). Long road ahead. Retrieved from http://greatday.com/ motivate/980417.html

McGuinness, C. (2006). What faculty think–exploring the barriers to information literacy development in undergraduate education. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 32(6), 573-582.

Oakleaf, M., & Kaske, N. (2009). Guiding questions for assessing information literacy in higher education. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 9(2), 273-286.

I am pleased to have been awarded my Rudaí23 CPD Champion badge for completing all modules of the @Rudaí23 course and collecting all of the four category badges. 

Professional groups are important to individuals and organisations. Library Associations offer members the opportunity to raise their profile and establish professionalism. We are institutional members of the Library Association of Ireland (LAI) for years. I did in the past have a personal membership, but this has lapsed for sometime. This ‘thing’ has made me reconsider renewing my individual membership. Being a member provides a sense of community along with networking, collaboration and CPD opportunities. I particularly like the fact that you can join different sections and groups within the LAI; thus, making the membership more personal. Going forward I would like to apply for the Associateship of the Library Association of Ireland (ALAI) an award that signifies both academic success and practical experience in library and information studies.

The form is printed, I am going to fill it in this week and update my individual membership.

I found the tasks on critical thinking particularly challenging and stimulating. At no time had I considered PIM or indeed advocated Wikipedia, so I am pleased to have been given the opportunity to consider both. Whether we want to or not, we continuously contribute to a growing representation of who we are online, so no matter what we do online it's important that we know what kind of trail we're leaving and what the likely effects are. Librarians are good at sharing information and imparting knowledge, so I was at ease with Thing 17, sharing your work.
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• Thing 14: Personal Information Management
• Thing 15: Evaluating Information
• Thing 16: My Digital Footprint
• Thing 17: Sharing Your Work

On paper the idea of Personal Information Management (PIM) seems like something that could really benefit my life. However, I really didn’t think I could fully engage with any of the tools I experimented with for this task. However, the more I thought about PIM the more I thought about using Evernote, it would mean less paper in my life and the search functionally seems very good; the more you add the more useful the tool would be. PIM is about finding, keeping, organizing, and maintaining information, it’s about managing privacy and the flow of information something that information professional do continually in their professional roles; I now need to do the same with my personal information.

My opinion of Wikipedia has changed since doing thing 15. I had never thought of editing a Wikipedia entry and to be honest I tend to avoid Wikipedia at all cost, that is until I completed the task. As an information professional I consider myself dependable in judging the relevance of information sources, considering; authority, accuracy and objectivity. I use the CRAAP Test for my own research purposes and when delivering information skills sessions in evaluating information. ​I would always discredit Wikipedia but from now on I will be advising students to use it as a general reference and I realise it is a great source for information, as with all information it is up to the reader/user to think critically about all the information they find and use. I really enjoyed using the ‘Citation Hunt’ tool to edit a citation and can see me using the tool in the future.

Overall, I consider myself careful about my digital footprint. I always think before I post a personal picture or information. I would never click on an email where I do not know the sender. My online banking is only performed over a secure network. As with several previous ‘Things’ my eyes have been opened much wider since this task. I will be taking added precautions to consciously reduce my digital footprint going forward. The terms and conditions are not something I would usually read in the main for apps or downloads, so no, I seldom give informed consent, especially as far as social media is concerned. I must add this to my new to do list, especially with the latest Facebook controversy. I am guilty of using a derivation of passwords. Unfortunately, I cannot see myself changing this behaviour, since so much of my daily routines performed online requiring passwords, it would be impossible to be too obscure with them.

Librarians offer people the ability to discover information, we are good at resource sharing and we work together to advance library services. Thing 17 gave me the opportunity to update and share work on ResearchGate, a tool for sharing research work, it helps get your research ‘out there’ as well as offering a place to network with peers. I didn’t try SlideShare, this is on my ‘to do’ list, to upload a presentation to share across my social networks, I have a LinkedIn account so it should be fairly straightforward.

For professional growth we need to get out of our comfort zone, and into our growth zone. I think I have achieved this with the tasks included in the critical thinking section, I have experimented with several new tools and tried something that I would never have considered doing only for Rudaĺ 23.