Joy, Steve and I attended a 3-day Writing and Teaching Retreat for faculty, organized by the CTLR and held at the Mountain Top Inn in Chittenden. We led a session called “Undergraduates as Researchers,” brainstormed with faculty in syllabus workshops, and gave individual and small-group introductions to the course hub, Moodle, and other curricular technology.

Here are just a few take-aways from the event:

• During our session on undergraduates as researchers, several faculty members agreed that determining whether or not a source is appropriate for use in a paper is one of the most important skills for student writers to learn; it also is one of the most difficult skills to teach.
• In a session on oral presentation skills, we learned that simply taking a deep breath as you approach a podium can help you speak more clearly.
• When working with first-year seminar faculty, some in the CTLR like to share this advice:  ”You are creating the students you want to see in your other classes.”
• Both students and faculty won’t always ask for help, even if they might need it. “We don’t know what we don’t know,” one faculty member pointed out.
• When planning a class or a workshop, start at the end (ask, “What do I want the students to have learned?”) and work backwards. This should help you decide which content to prioritize.

One more thing: The Mountain Top Inn is a really nice place!

To allow more staff to attend, next Wednesday’s Liaison Discussion Section (Customer Care and Feedback, led by Jess Isler) has been rescheduled.  It will take the place of next Thursday’s optional all-LIS meeting.  Please come!

The updated invitation is here:
Liaison Discussion Section (AND optional all-LIS meeting): Customer care and feedback
 Wednesday, April 18, from 10:15-11:15 am Thursday, April 19, from 3-4 pm
LIB 145, Davis Family Library

Topic: Customer care and feedback: techniques and tips discussed. Led by Jess Isler.
Who’s Invited: All liaisons and anyone else who is interested
When: Wednesday, April 18, from 10:15-11:15 am Thursday, April 19, from 3-4 pm
Where: LIB 145, Davis Family Library

This will be a short presentation, followed by open discussion. Virtually everyone in LIS works in a service role for some type of customer, be they faculty, staff, students, or our fellow LIS colleagues. It can be helpful to reflect periodically on our approach to a familiar topic and see how we might improve upon it. Jess will share advice and techniques learned during meetings with College employees at the forefront of customer care (employees from within and beyond LIS) and supplemented by research (articles, blog posts, and books). Attendees will be encouraged to share their own tips and techniques for approaching customer care interactions and how to deal effectively with feedback. It will be geared toward all LIS staff whose work includes customer service. Please send Jess any questions in advance (jisler@middlebury.edu).

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“Liaison Discussion Section” meetings address research and/or technology topics of interest to liaisons. They can be conversations, or presentations, or both. They take place most often on the 3rd week of the month, but in order to allow people who work different hours to attend, they’re sometimes scheduled for different days/times.

This Liaison Discussion Section will take the place of the optional all-LIS meeting scheduled for May 19.

Divisional Faculty Advisory Groups meet once or twice per year to discuss library and technology issues and interests. All four groups met in the fall semester. Notes on their discussions are available on the LIS Advisors blog [shortcut: go/lisadvisors]. Here are the links:

Arts and Humanities
Highlight: Cross-departmental interest in video recording/storage issues…

Sciences
Highlight: LIS offers a virtual computer option that enables students to access specialized software when not in a computer lab…

Social Sciences
Highlight:  Summon.  Your students are using it – do you know what it is? Do you like it?

Languages
Highlight: Innovation: digital humanities, cyberinfrastructure…