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Instructional Inspirations: Issue #6 May 2010

This guide identifies a variety of activities, online tools, web 2.0 technologies and videos to enhance information literacy instruction.

May 2010

Nikol’s pick:

The Library Instruction Cookbook
Sittler, Ryan L. and Cook, Douglas (editors)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-8511-3
Year Published: 2009

The title of this book intrigued me (I know, don't judge a book by its cover or its title) so I asked that a copy be purchased for our library. The book is set up in cookbook format and each lesson includes: Nutrition Information (a summary of the teaching technique), Cooking Time (how long the lesson takes), Dietary Standards (the ACRL standards addressed), Main Ingredients (what you'll need to teach the lesson), Preparation, Allergy Warnings (trouble spots you might run into), and even a Chef's Note.

All together, the book contains 97 unique lessons contributed by librarians from around the country. It is divided up into 7 categories. The categories are: Library Orientation, Basic Library Skills, Citations and Plagiarism, Evaluating Various Types of Resources, Specialized Research Skills, Discipline Related Research, and Technology.

The writing is often humorous and the instructions are easy to understand and follow. The biggest problem I had with this book are that the vast majority of exercises require that every student have access to a computer. Since EMCC doesn't have a library classroom and computer classrooms are hard to schedule, many of these lessons aren't usable for me in my day to day library instruction sessions. Those of you with a library classroom that has computers will find a trove of great exercises and ideas to spice up your instruction.

If you would like to purchase the Library Instruction Cookbook for your library or for your personal collection, you can find it at:

http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2721
to purchase, includes full table of contents

Danielle’s pick:

Practical pedagogy for library instructors: 17 innovative strategies to improve student learning.
Cook, Douglas and Sittler, Ryan L. (editors)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-8458-1
Year Published: 2008
 
This book does live up to its title in so far as being practical, and if not completely innovative, at least interesting.
 
The introductory chapter describes the differences between direct instruction and student centered learning, including helpful charts which explain  the value and uses of each method.  The book is then organized based on these two overarching methodologies.  
 
Contributors from academic libraries around the country, each present a particular strategy. Each chapter includes the following sections: instructional goals, instructional strategy, description of the instruction session, reflection on the session, and lessons learned, all very practical information for any librarian thinking of trying out the strategy. The strategies include storytelling, games, metaphors, peer led discussions, simulations, and my favorite, using a brief personality test to teach Boolean logic!



May 2010

Nikol’s pick:

The Library Instruction Cookbook
Sittler, Ryan L. and Cook, Douglas (editors)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-8511-3
Year Published: 2009

The title of this book intrigued me (I know, don't judge a book by its cover or its title) so I asked that a copy be purchased for our library. The book is set up in cookbook format and each lesson includes: Nutrition Information (a summary of the teaching technique), Cooking Time (how long the lesson takes), Dietary Standards (the ACRL standards addressed), Main Ingredients (what you'll need to teach the lesson), Preparation, Allergy Warnings (trouble spots you might run into), and even a Chef's Note.

All together, the book contains 97 unique lessons contributed by librarians from around the country. It is divided up into 7 categories. The categories are: Library Orientation, Basic Library Skills, Citations and Plagiarism, Evaluating Various Types of Resources, Specialized Research Skills, Discipline Related Research, and Technology.

The writing is often humorous and the instructions are easy to understand and follow. The biggest problem I had with this book are that the vast majority of exercises require that every student have access to a computer. Since EMCC doesn't have a library classroom and computer classrooms are hard to schedule, many of these lessons aren't usable for me in my day to day library instruction sessions. Those of you with a library classroom that has computers will find a trove of great exercises and ideas to spice up your instruction.

If you would like to purchase the Library Instruction Cookbook for your library or for your personal collection, you can find it at:

http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2721
to purchase, includes full table of contents

Danielle’s pick:

Practical pedagogy for library instructors: 17 innovative strategies to improve student learning.
Cook, Douglas and Sittler, Ryan L. (editors)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-8458-1
Year Published: 2008
 
This book does live up to its title in so far as being practical, and if not completely innovative, at least interesting.
 
The introductory chapter describes the differences between direct instruction and student centered learning, including helpful charts which explain  the value and uses of each method.  The book is then organized based on these two overarching methodologies.  
 
Contributors from academic libraries around the country, each present a particular strategy. Each chapter includes the following sections: instructional goals, instructional strategy, description of the instruction session, reflection on the session, and lessons learned, all very practical information for any librarian thinking of trying out the strategy. The strategies include storytelling, games, metaphors, peer led discussions, simulations, and my favorite, using a brief personality test to teach Boolean logic!