Class Reflection: Week 2

Today in class Kristin introduced a concept which I really liked.She only spoke briefly on it but it struck me as something I hadn't realized before, and a possible reason why I chose this field. It was the idea of librarians as "formative instructors," I believe, meaning that librarians get the luxury of being teachers without having to play the authoritarian role. Librarians get to teach skills and knowledge in a collaborative effort. We get to play on the same team. This is something that I really enjoyed thinking about. One of the things I love best about my current job in an academic library is when people come up to the desk and say something like, "This might be kind of stupid, but I don't know how to ______. Can you help me?" And for the record, their question is never stupid. Then I get to turn on the monitor that faces the person so they can see what I am doing on my screen, which usually elicits a "Wow, that's such a good idea!" (and I have to agree), and I get to walk them through the steps of whatever their question was. Sometimes it is something I know very well how to do and only takes a few moments for the person to understand, too, such as looking up a book in the catalog. But other times it's something a little trickier, and my first attempt isn't successful, so the person has to bear with me a while as I fumble around. However, I usually think of this as a good experience for the person who asked me the question, too, so that they can see the different paths that they might take. I try to make sure that I am explaining as I go along, and very often once I have found the answer the person will ask me to retrace my steps and show them again how to get there. I try really hard to make sure that I am very friendly and open, and I often joke with the person in front of me. We get to establish a brief rapport, and I often am touched when people tell me that I have helped them immensely, or that I had been so much more helpful than what they had expected. It gives me warm and fuzzy feelings inside. I had briefly considered becoming a teacher at one point in my life, but whenever I really thought about it I decided that I am not cut out to be a teacher. But I think that I still have good qualities of a teacher, and that is why I am successful at teaching in a one-on-one, collaborative manner.

Another thing we touched on in class today was professional development. Yikes, I know that going to conferences and presenting and all that is an important facet of growing as a professional in the field, but I really have no idea where to start. 1. The ALA annual conference is in Vegas this summer, and I don't have the funds or the time to go to Vegas between my internship and my wedding. 2. I know we are encouraged to present at conferences, but I have no idea what I could possibly present on. I'm not qualified to present to professionals! I would have liked to submit something to U of M's own little Quasi-Con, but I don't even feel like I have something my own classmates would find useful. Am I behind? Should I have something amazing by this point? I'm a little nervous about all this.