Building upon our "eavesdropping" columns that invite groups of advisors to gather via email and discuss practice, philosophy, and methods, this issue invites us all back to school. Here four ILS faculty gather to consider the key principles of Readers' Advisory (RA) and their philosophy of RA service. They also answer why RA is not taught more broadly and they, of course, have a book to share. Most centrally, in this wide-ranging conversation, their passion for the service and the importance they place upon the activity of reading shines through.- Editors
Whether it is an Instruction Services Librarian revising her one-shot lesson plan or a programming librarian designing computer classes for public library clientele, universal design for learning offers a great way to create an inclusive learning environment. Arising out of the field of architecture, UDL offers a variety of teaching methods to eliminate barriers to learning and give all users, students, and patrons the chance to gain new skills. To that end, Catherine Baldwin has selected a range of books, journals and websites that should go in your library's professional development collection, and/ or for the circulating collection of your institution.- Editor
Whether it is an Instruction Services Librarian revising her one-shot lesson plan or a programming librarian designing computer classes for public library clientele, universal design for learning offers a great way to create an inclusive learning environment. Arising out of the field of architecture, UDL offers a variety of teaching methods to eliminate barriers to learning and give all users, students, and patrons the chance to gain new skills. To that end, Catherine Baldwin has selected a range of books, journals and websites that should go in your library’s professional development collection, and/or for the circulating collection of your institution.—Editor
Anyone who has worked at a public service desk in a library has probably had at least one encounter with a genealogy researcher avidly regaling them with some new fact they learned about their ancestors. Genealogy researchers bring a passion to their efforts that is unmatched, so it behooves libraries to have the best resources on hand. While a lot of the genealogy legwork is done online these days via Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org, there is still a need for high-quality print resources. At the time of the column’s writing, many libraries were shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, rendering print resources inaccessible. By the time this column appears, libraries will be again serving these passionate researchers with a range of the best print resources to go along with online tools. Author Katherine Pennavaria is Library Director at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She is the author of Genealogy for Beginners (2020) and Genealogy: A Practical Guide for Librarians (2015) as well as numerous columns on genealogy in Kentucky Libraries. Katherine has done numerous national and state presentations related to genealogy; topics include genealogy record types, search strategies, and resources the beginning researcher needs to know about.—Editor
On March 4, 2020, just a few days before changes and closures associated with the global COVID-19 pandemic swept across the United States and the world, our previous issue (vol. 59, no. 2) was published. It is accurate to say, though a bit of an understatement, that a lot has happened since then.This period has surely been one of the most unusual and challenging years ALA, its members, and indeed the world, have ever faced. Like each of you, and like professional membership organizations everywhere, both ALA and RUSA faced challenges of various types through this period. Let me offer my sincere apologies to all of you, our authors, column editors, and readers, for the disruptions and delays in publication and communications for the journal.
Student employees at circulation desks are the first points of contact for many library users with research questions, but they are challenged to respond or refer when librarians are unavailable. In an attempt to cultivate student employees' reference skills, confidence, and connection to the library's values and mission, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Division of the UC Berkeley Library developed an outcomes-based training program consisting of an interactive session and a dynamic online reference manual. Student employees completed pre-training and post-training assessments of their reference skills and self-efficacy. Qualitative feedback was analyzed to identify ongoing challenges and intangible benefits for student employees engaged in reference work. Challenges observed include user expectations, infrequent questions, and the complex information landscape; benefits observed include community building and student growth. Implications of these challenges and benefits for student training programs are discussed.
