Information Literacy Tips 2

Schedule as many classes as you can in the first few weeks of semester. This isn't because that's when the lecturers want the students to learn how to use the information resources that the library provides for their resources, but rather so that you can run around totally stressed out, shouting things like "I hate Summon!" at random passers-by. Librarians find public displays of insanity fun.

It's particularly useful in this context if your University Librarian considers that the only reason teaching is busy at the beginning of semester is because you, the librarian, have decided that's when you like to teach, not when the need is. This will make your life much easier, particularly if the powers-that-be have decided that your job is only required to be part-time.

As a part-time librarian, you will be required to do a full-time load of information literacy instruction in your part-time hours. What's awesome in this context is when a public holiday falls during Week 3, so your available preparation hours are further reduced.

Information Literacy Tips

When teaching a Library Skills class, ensure you have a whiteboard marker handy.

Do not, under any circumstances, use the miscellaneous marker that is left in the whiteboard's vicinity without checking what kind of marker it is.

Failure to follow this instruction may lead to the use of a permanent marker to draw a Venn diagram on the whiteboard, and to illustrate truncation.

A failure of this magnitude will leave you cleaning the whiteboard for half the time that the class went for. Of course, if you were planning on going to the gym, this counts as exercise so you can skip it and have another Caramello Koala instead.

Librarian Tip: Scanning is not reading

One of my friends commented that he likes the "librarian interludes" on this blog, so I'm going to instigate some librarian tips. Not to be confused with the polite librarian.
When I first scanned down The Age website's list of news this morning and saw this headline, the first thing I thought was "Not Parky! No way is he into sex and gambling!" Which, once read correctly, is not what this headline is implying, nor, hopefully, is it what is going in in Ches Parky.

However it just goes to show that scanning a blog trustworthy news site is not the same as reading it.

Just a piece of advice from a Librarian.

That is all, continue about your day.