Tag: Library

Celebrating Student Re$earch

Lindsay DavisLeave a comment

selective focus photography of multicolored confetti lot

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

I love graduation season. I love seeing pictures of folks in caps and gowns and reading posts about gratitude and accomplishment. (If you or a loved one just graduated, congratulations!) In the spirit of celebration and reflection, I started thinking about the library award committee I have been chairing the last two years and discovered that I never blogged about the first award cycle for the Abresch-Kranich Library Award, and the UC Merced Library just finished awarding the second set of scholarships this spring.

In 2018, we had two winners, Melissa Becerra and Nathan Parmeter. Each student received a $500 scholarship thanks to our donor, Arlene Kranich. You can read more about the award and our student winners in “New Scholarship Pays Homage to Persistence and Research.”

Last spring, my former Central Valley colleague Ray Pun also interviewed me about the award for the Credo Reference blog for the HIP (high-impact practices) in Action series. You can read the interview in “HIP in Action: Undergraduate Research & Awards.” It was great exposure for our library and UC Merced, and I hope the interview helped inspire other libraries.

In 2019, we also had two student winners, Marisela Padilla Alcalá and Sarah Lee. You can read more about our student winners in “Two Students Honored for Excellence in Use of Library Resources.”

After the second award cycle, I have a better idea of when and in what specific areas I need to ask for help. I also have ideas for changes to the workflow. I’m currently on vacation, but before I left, I started drafting my process with changes I might want to make regarding the timeline. The review and reception happens during the busiest time in the instruction season, and the process will go much more smoothly if we can open and close the application earlier. Currently, it opens Nov. 1 and closes Feb. 1, but opening it on Oct. 1 and closing it in mid-January will help me get the applications out to the five-member review committee more quickly. After a quick chat with the university librarian, he agreed with the earlier deadline, and we also determined that we should hold the reception before spring break, which is always in March. There are also some other changes I want to make, and I’m very thankful that two of my colleagues who have helped with reviewing student applications are interested in helping me streamline this process, which may also involve changing the award rubric. We’ll be doing this work in June.

Does your college or university library have a research award of some kind?

UC Librarian Review Process

Lindsay Davis1 Comment

On June 1st, I celebrated my two-year anniversary at UC Merced. Almost a week later, I also received the final packet for my first review.

While librarians in the California State University and California Community College systems are faculty, librarians in the University of California system are not faculty but are academic personnel. Our review process and criteria for advancement do highlight the academic nature of our positions. You can read more about UC librarians’ performance criteria and the review and appraisal process in the Academic Personnel Manual (APM), sections 360-10 and 210-4e.

We are evaluated in a peer review process every two years for those who are in the assistant and associate range or every three years for those who are full librarians. I was hired as an associate librarian with potential for career status. Because I started on June 1, 2016, it meant that I could have a review at 1.5 or 2.5 years as the process is based on calendar years (January-December). I was really worried about my output with the shortened time frame, but I was able to add a note that my review reflected 18 months of work. My supervisor also encouraged me to go through with the earlier review, so that’s, ultimately, why I decided to go ahead. But I was really nervous when I received my review notice at the end of November.

I was asked to provide the contact information of three people who could write letters of evaluation based on some aspect of my work in the last 18 months. For the letters, I asked the chair of a committee I served on from the Librarians Association of the University of California (LAUC); a colleague from an Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) committee I serve on; and a writing faculty member at UC Merced whose classes I have taught for a few times. While I didn’t see these letters until the very end of the review process, it helped to know I picked folks I trust.

In early February, I also submitted my current curriculum vitae, current and former job descriptions (an adjustment was made from Instruction Librarian to Instruction and Outreach Librarian in March 2017), goal statements, organizational chart, and my self-review. The self-review:

…consist[s] of a concise, vita-style enumeration of accomplishments keyed to the criteria […] specified by APM 360-10, followed by a narrative discussion of three of the most significant items within APM 360-10 b. (1) and three of the most significant items within APM 360-10 b. (2), (3), and (4).

I listed key accomplishments related to my professional competence and service within the library (A), professional growth and continuing professional education (B), university and library-related public service (C), and research/creative works (D). In the narrative, I also had to discuss three major items related to A, which signals my main job duties. I also had to discuss three other major items related to any combination of B, C, or D.

I was really pleased and a bit taken aback by my supervisor’s response to the documentation I turned in. It wasn’t so much her recommendation that I receive a merit increase and career status but what she wrote about my work. I and so many others in the library and on campus deeply respect her, and a colleague and I half-joke that we feel like we constantly fail her. She wrote five single-sided pages and included this:

It is already evident, from her liaison and outreach work, that Lindsay has made the library, its people, services, and resources more visible to some of our campus constituents. She has successfully started some collaborations and set the groundwork for future partnerships. Overall, I have been impressed with Lindsay’s initiative in reaching out to a variety of campus individuals and believe her endeavors directly support the library’s strategic focus (2017-2020) to engage the community.

[She and I both discovered that I’m not actually eligible for career status because my review came before I was employed for 24 months. Our Associate University Librarian (AUL) pulled me into a quick meeting to explain the error, but all it means is that I will receive career status during my review in 2020. (I still got the merit increase, though. Huzzah!)]

After signing off the initial recommendation, my supervisor submitted all of my documentation, including her narrative and my letters of evaluation, to the Committee on Appointment, Promotion, and Advancement (CAPA). The CAPA consists of my librarian colleagues at UC Merced, minus my supervisor, AUL, Deputy University Librarian (DUL), and University Librarian (UL). The CAPA then looks over all of the documentation and decides whether to agree or disagree with the recommendation, and the chair writes a letter to the UL with the committee’s decision. The UL then writes a letter with his recommendation to the Provost. The Provost then writes a letter back to me with the final decision. I received my letter in the final packet, which the UL went over with me.

This was also the first time I read the letters of evaluation, CAPA letter, and the UL’s letter. I have so much self-doubt, especially since I started my career in an isolated branch campus of a community college, but reading their feedback has made me feel really good and inspired me to continue to do good work for our students, campus, and profession.

I also learned something new about myself from the review: I’m quite relational. The CAPA letter specifically notes, “…[These activities] all speak to her collegiality, collaboration, and support for the success of others that characterize her professional endeavors.” I don’t think I had ever realized this, at least to this degree. Just like I do with thank you cards, I’ll be keeping this review packet near when I need a boost.

I also learned that I am pretty old-school when it comes to keeping track of my work. I have tried a variety of apps and online programs, and, ultimately, what works for me is to look at my color-coded Outlook calendar at the end of every month for classes and workshops I’ve given and webinars I have attended and note them down in Word / Google Docs. I also keep track of major projects in a planner, so I can see what I worked on every week, though I am not always good about filling it out. Last month, I realized that I could just simply start the document that I will be turning in for my review in 2020. I set it up with the headings I will eventually need, and it’s been going well so far, especially for the sections related to professional development and research/creative works. If you’re a UC librarian, here’s the basic template I am using, which can be downloaded and adjusted to fit your needs: bit.ly/uclib_review_template

If you are new to the UC librarian review process, don’t panic. Your colleagues who have been through the process will be happy to share tips. And when you get back your successful review, please celebrate and take joy in what your colleagues within and outside the library and your campus had to say about your work.

La Biblioteca Podcast

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In 2010, I had a summer fellowship in the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress. An interesting collection I came across was the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape (AHLOT), which contains recordings of authors from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, the Caribbean, as well as U.S. Latino authors. At the time, none of it was digitized. In 2015, some of the recordings were put online, but I somehow missed that memo. I rediscovered the collection just recently via Reforma‘s listserv because two of the Hispanic Division’s librarians, Catalina Gómez and Talía Guzmán-González, posted a message about a new podcast related to the collection called La Biblioteca. You can find the podcast at the LOC podcast site or on iTunes. (I included the episode descriptions below.)

I’m really excited to listen to all of the episodes and also plan to share this resource with our Spanish and Latin American history and literature professors. Although none of us in the library are subject specialists, we made the attempt to divide up liaison duties based on interest and/or past partnerships. I am happy that some of my work now includes communicating with faculty in the Spanish and Latin American Studies programs.

SEASON 1:  The Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape

  • Episode 1: “The Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape: An Introduction”
    The Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape (AHLOT) is one of the Library of Congress most unique literary collections. Founded in 1943, this audio archive has captured the voices of more than 750 poets and prose writers from the Luso-Hispanic world reading from their works. Reference Librarians Catalina Gómez and Talía Guzmán González speak with Georgette Dorn, who has been the curator of the collection since the 1970s.
  • Episode 2: “Listening to Mario Vargas Llosa”
    Peruvian Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa recorded for the Library of Congress’ Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape in 1977. Reference Librarians Catalina Gómez and Talía Guzmán-González speak with professor of Spanish Charlotte Rogers (University of Virginia) and discuss an excerpt from this historic recording. The episode also includes clips of other events with Vargas Llosa at the Library, including his interview with writer and journalist Marie Arana during the Library of Congress’ Living Legend Award ceremony in April 2016.
  • Episode 3: “Listening to Carlos Drummond de Andrade”
    Brazilian poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade recorded for the Library of Congress’ Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape in 1974. Reference Librarians Catalina Gómez and Talía Guzmán-González speak with the director of the Portuguese program at Georgetown University, Vivaldo Andrade dos Santos, and discuss an excerpt from this historic recording. The episode also includes clips of Drummond’s recording for our archive, as well as some translations of his poems.
  • Episode 4: “Listening to Álvaro Mutis”
    Colombian poet and author Álvaro Mutis recorded for the Library of Congress’ Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape in 1976. Reference Librarians Catalina Gómez and Talía Guzmán-González speak with professor of Spanish, Charlotte Rogers (University of Virginia), and discuss an excerpt from this historic recording. The episode also includes clips of Mutis’ recording for our archive, as well as an excerpt from the lecture “The Literary Legacy of Álvaro Mutis,” delivered by Dr. Rogers on May 13, 2016 here at the Library.
  • Episode 5: “Listening to Raúl Zurita”
    Chilean poet Raúl Zurita recorded for the Library of Congress’ Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape in 1985. Reference Librarians Catalina Gómez and Talía Guzmán-González speak with Literary critic and translator Dr. Anna Deeny, and discuss an excerpt from this historic recording. The episode also includes clips of Zurita’s recording for our archive, as well as some translations of his poem
  • Episode 6: “Listening to Octavio Paz”
    Mexican Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz recorded for the Library of Congress’ Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape in 1961 Reference Librarians Catalina Gómez and Talía Guzmán-González speak with former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, and discuss an excerpt from this historic recording. The episode also includes clips of Paz’s recording for our collection.
  • Episode 7: “Listening to Pablo Neruda”
    Chilean Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda recorded for the Library of Congress’ Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape in 1966 Reference Librarians Catalina Gómez and Talía Guzmán-González speak with writer an editor Mark Eisner, and poet Marjorie Agosín and discuss an excerpt from this historic recording. The episode also includes clips of Neruda’s recording for our collection.
  • Episode 8: “Listening to Gabriel García Márquez”
    Colombian Nobel Laureate Gabriel García Márquez recorded for the Library of Congress’ Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape in 1977. Reference Librarians Catalina Gómez and Talía Guzmán-González speak with writer an journalist María Arana and discuss an excerpt from this historic recording. The episode also includes clips of García Marquez’s recording for our collection.

Stat Lit & Other Small Writing

Lindsay Davis2 Comments

Although I finished graduate school six years ago this week, and I have been working as a full-time professional librarian for four years, I’m still a new librarian. However, now that my role is more specific, I feel more confident about spending most of my professional time and energy in instruction and outreach. I actually a couple of small pieces of writing in these areas this year, and I also have another couple of pieces coming out this spring.

I didn’t intend to set and meet any writing goals in 2017, partly because I struggle with selecting topics (the irony is that I help students with this) and partly because I thought that if I even expressed it in my goals statement, I’d jinx myself. But, somehow, I found things to write about on a small scale. Just recently, a colleague from Immersion tweeted a post about writing from The Librarian Parlor. In “‘I Wish I had Known That!’ Advice from the Field, A Librarian Parlor Series,” guest contributor Alison Hicks‘ first bit of advice for reluctant writers is to start small, from book reviews to reporting on professional development activities. Her post was very encouraging, and, if you’re newer to writing like I am, I hope you’ll be inspired by her advice. Starting small has been very liberating for me because it’s low-pressure.

In June, Lynda Kellam (who is awesome and was not at all bothered that a newbie librarian cold emailed to ask for help!) and I published “Keeping Up With…Statistical Literacy.” Keeping Up With… is an ACRL series focused on “trends in academic librarianship and higher education.” Last December, I was doing some reading on statistical literacy while researching lesson plans related to statistics and government information. I hope to one day be able to collaborate with a faculty member to create a lesson on statistical literacy for a class or do some more work in this area. (Um, and the world’s statistical literacy guru actually reached out to us about our little piece. It was super exciting!)

This year, I’m serving as co-convener of ACRL’s Library Marketing and Outreach Interest Group. In December, my fellow co-conveners and I published a short bibliography of free and low-cost marketing resources, including our brand-new LibGuide, in College & Research Libraries News. Check out “Marketing for the Beginner: Resources from the ACRL Library marketing and Outreach Interest Group.” The guide is linked in the article. We hope folks will find it useful and continue to contribute to the guide.

College and Research Libraries News

When I was about to transition to my new position at UC Merced, I submitted a chapter proposal for the Library Outreach Cookbook, which is part of a series of bite-sized ideas for librarians. This spring, I learned that my proposal, “Pass Me Smore Books, Please! Promoting New Print Library Books at a Small Community College Library,” was accepted for publication. I submitted the final draft this summer, and the book should be out in February 2018.

I’m also working on reviewing Video Marketing for Libraries: A Practical Guide for Librarians for Public Services Quarterly. It’s due in February.

Video Marketing for Libraries: A Practical Guide for Librarians

I’d like to set some other writing goals for 2018, but I’m pretty pleased to have taken the plunge in 2017.

Abrescy-Kranich Library Award for Student Research Excellence

Lindsay Davis1 Comment

Over the summer, I was part of a team that helped develop a new undergraduate student research award, the Carter Joseph Abrescy and Larry Kranich Award for Student Research Excellence. The award recognizes an undergraduate student research paper or project that was completed within the last 12 months for a credit-bearing course that demonstrates effective use of library resources and services. We will either award one winner with $1,000 or two winners with $500 each. We researched several library research awards from different institutions to create the criteria. Students will need to submit an abstract, their paper or project, bibliography, and a reflective essay about their research process. We also developed a rubric for reviewers to use when scoring the applications.

We hit a bit of a snag when it came to the money side of the initial set-up, so we got behind schedule for the launch. We were able to work with Financial Aid and Scholarships to use their undergraduate scholarship system to house the award application materials. Working with Financial Aid and Scholarships has been a great experience! The Scholarship Coordinator is very patient, and she does prompt work.

In s surprising turn events, I’m now chairing the committee. My colleague has several big projects, so she and I switched reins about three or so weeks ago. I’m a bit nervous chairing something like this, but it’s the next logical move for me in terms of committee work and event planning. My supervisor, who was also on the planning group, has been very helpful with my questions and in offering feedback.

Originally, we were going to begin advertising the award in October, but since the financial side wasn’t ready, it’s going to be a very tight turnaround during this initial year. I’m pleased to report that we were able to launch the award the Friday before finals. Whew! Applications are due Monday, Feb. 12, and the winner(s) will be announced by March 15. The award ceremony will take some time in mid-April. Our communications coordinator put out a quick email message to the campus community about the award, and she’ll be working on a larger campaign when students return from winter break. We are very fortunate that the scholarship system alerts students who have previously applied for scholarships about new scholarship opportunities, so over 1200 students received an alert. I’ve also made some other strategic contacts about the award.  Now that the award is live, we can be begin advertising earlier in subsequent years.

Right now, I’m working on recruiting members for the selection committee. The selection committee is a team of five: three librarians (as chair, I’m not one of the reviewers) and two faculty members. The faculty members, we hope, will be representatives from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) and Undergraduate Council. The chair of UGC has been in contact with me and has some good ideas.

I’m looking forward to seeing our submissions and awarding a student (or two!) with a prize for their research. I’m also curious about working with Development for the awards ceremony.

ACRL Immersion 2017

Lindsay Davis1 Comment

Back in the fall semester, I applied to ACRL’s Immersion Program, specifically, the Teacher Track. The program is essentially a week-long boot camp for librarians who teach information literacy skills and concepts. In February, I found out that I was selected for the program! The program is taking place at the end of July at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. I’m really looking forward to this action-packed learning experience, and I’m thankful for the support and encouragement from my supervisor.

Title Change

Lindsay Davis2 Comments

I just got back from ACRL 2017 in Baltimore late on Saturday night, and I’m definitely feeling the jet lag! I’ll write more about the conference later this week, but I wanted to update on my job. We’re getting another instruction librarian position, so our access services librarian is going to make a lateral move at the beginning of the fall semester. This afforded an opportunity for the instruction librarians to update our job descriptions a bit. We all do more or less similar things, and while we don’t have subject specialties, we decided to have one or two things in our descriptions that are slightly different.

I’m now the Instruction & Outreach Librarian, which is really exciting! Though we all do this type of work in our liaison areas and in other work that we do, my title change reflects a new job duty: “Collaborates with Student Affairs to increase students’ awareness and use of library services and resources.” I think my personality and creative spirit are really well suited to this kind of work; I’m just still getting used to our library culture, and I don’t think the various folks in Student Affairs will be used to the idea of partnering more closely with the library, but I hope to build some bridges. Creativity is really important to me, and I’m happy that I have some more wiggle room for it in my work.

This is also a very timely change because Jen Park at Mount Saint Mary College and I are starting our roles as co-conveners for ACRL’s Library Marketing and Outreach Interest Group right after ALA Annual in Chicago.

Committee Work

Lindsay DavisLeave a comment

It’s been a while since I have updated. I’ve basically been reblogging posts I’ve written for the CJCLS blog and a nice post with a shout-out from the Haggerty Library. I think I will work my way backwards to share what I have been up to. Today’s post is all about committee work for ACRL and the UC Merced Library, which seems fitting since ACRL 2017 is next week! (It’s actually going to be my first time attending the ACRL conference.)

In the fall, ACRL’s College Libraries Section (CLS) sent out an urgent email asking for someone to volunteer to serve as editor of the CLS Newsletter. I became a member of the CLS Communications and Membership Committee and am responsible for producing the fall and spring newsletters. Because of the tight timeline in the fall, I used a MS Publisher template from the previous editor. You can find the Fall 2016 CLS Newsletter here. For the spring newsletter, I will be looking to use something else to produce the newsletter. (If you have suggestions, that would be great!)

And, very unexpectedly, I was asked if I could co-chair the CLS Communications and Membership Committee for 2017/2018! My appointment starts after ALA Annual. I’m a continuing member on the committee, so only my role will change. I will have to find a new CLS Newsletter Editor! I do plan to end my time with CLS and the committee once my appointment is done since I work at a research university with graduate programs.

Back in September, I mentioned that I had started my tenure as the incoming co-convener for ACRL’s Library Marketing and Outreach Interest Group. I have loved working with Bonnie, Chris, Amy, Mark Aaron, and Jen! Jen and I will be leading the group after ALA Annual, and I am equal parts nervous and excited. Our group has grown significantly (nearly 3k have joined the Facebook group!). This year, our group had a lightning round during our regular meeting time at ALA Midwinter 2017 (sadly, I wasn’t able to attend Midwinter). I am excited to announce that we will have a panel discussion at ALA Annual 2017, “Transforming Our Academic Outreach Practices: Reaching Our Students, Faculty, Staff, & Administrators.”I worked on writing up the proposal, and I am so happy we were able to snag a presentation time outside of our regular meeting time. I am so excited for the members who were able to present at Midwinter, as well as those who have been selected to share about their marketing and outreach work at Annual.

I think I wrote about this previously, but my time with the Community and Junior College Libraries Section (CJCLS) and the CJCLS Communications Committee is coming to a close. I wanted to finish out my term even though I changed institution type. It was a good experience. I just have a few more posts left to write and a couple of administrative tasks.

I’m still serving on the Instruction Section’s Instruction for Diverse Populations Committee, but, to be honest, I haven’t done much with the group this year. I missed our last meeting, and I really need to get on the ball with the group again.

UC librarians have an association called Librarians Association of The University of California (LAUC). For this academic year, I’m serving as the local secretary for LAUC-M, which really only involves some elections later in the spring, but I’ve really enjoyed my time serving on the system-wide Research and Professional Development Committee. We just got done awarding spring project and presentation grants to those who were selected for awards. It has been so interesting to read about the applicants’ research projects. We have also been working on putting together a bibliography of the most interesting projects the Committee has helped fund over the last 37 years for LAUC’s 50th anniversary celebration this year, which will be celebrated at UC Irvine in April during the LAUC Statewide Assembly meeting (I’m not sure if I will be going yet).

At the UC Merced Library, I have also enjoyed being a member of our Student Recognition Committee. I’ve been putting together the award letters and taking photos of our monthly winners. We have great student workers, and I have liked getting to know them. I can’t say too much about it yet, but I am also serving on a committee that is developing a Student Research Award for the next academic year.

I’ll probably have a few other updates over the next few days. Thanks for reading!

 

Women’s March on Washington Archives Project

Lindsay Davis4 Comments

This post does eventually relate to archives.

I live in California’s Central Valley, just 90 miles away from San Francisco. The Valley is a conservative part of the state. This weekend, I was amazed by our hometown. My husband and I had planned to march in Sacramento, but he got off work very late on Friday, so we opted to go to the march in our own city. The march was sponsored by The Progressive Voice and the Democratic Women’s Club of Stanislaus County. My good friend Joey from Merced joined us with her two teenage daughters, and when we got there, we met with other friends and family members. I did not expect 1,000 people to participate. I did not expect the huge show of support from people in cars as we walked down one of the busiest streets in town. Here is an article from our local paper, “Signs, Chants, Honks, and Cheers Mark Large, Upbeat Women’s March Modesto.”

When I got home from the march, I spent some time looking at photographs people were posting of marchers and their posters. Here are some interesting articles related to posters from marchers and photographs round the world and within the United States.

The Society of American Archivists’ Women Archivists Section is interested in archiving materials, including posters, photographs, and oral histories from the women’s marches. Their project is called the Women’s March on Washington Archives Project. Click here to find the Project’s Facebook group and here for their Twitter account.

I plan to contribute photos. Some friends also gave me their posters. I just have to find out if California has a repository for the physical materials. Please feel free to share about this archival project. This could be a potentially rich source of primary material for those studying about the marches in the future.

Here are some photos I took this weekend.

Fake News & Media Literacy Syllabus

Lindsay Davis6 Comments

I have been collecting links related to fake news and media literacy for several weeks. The topic seems to have exploded since Stanford released its “Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning” report in November.  Also in November, the California State Auditor’s office released its report “School Library Services: Vague State Laws and a Lack of Monitoring Allow School Districts to Provide a Minimal Level of Library Services,” in which I learned that “California has by far the poorest ratio of students to teacher librarians in the nation.” Somewhere along the road, it seems that librarians were equated to finding information, and in the “age of the Internet” where anyone can find things, I have often heard the obsolete speech. At my previous job, there was a committee set up to discuss whether the college’s AA and AS degrees (not for transfer) needed to fulfill an information and computer literacy requirement. One of the administrators thought that in the age of Google Chromebooks, there was “no need.” I left that job before a decision was made, and I discovered that the requirement was removed. Given the present state of information literacy, this is a mistake.

Interestingly, our library’s Deputy University Librarian Donald Barclay  wrote a piece called “The Challenge Facing Libraries in an Era of Fake News” in The Conversation a few days ago, and it has made the rounds in so many places! In the piece, he provides an overview of how librarians have helped progress information literacy historically, as well as the challenges facing students in today’s more ambiguous information landscape. My lament about our work is that as long as it’s taught on the periphery–no matter how worthy the Framework and lesson plans we develop may be–Donald is right, “Real progress in information literacy will require librarians, faculty and administrators working together…Indeed, it will require higher education, as well as secondary and primary education, to make information literacy a priority across the curriculum.”

Since before the holidays, the instruction team and I at UC Merced have been developing a digital campaign for our social media accounts and digital signage related to becoming an informed news consumer. (The idea was sparked by this graphic you may have seen before.) Unrelated to this initiative, we’re also pitching a more robust instruction menu, and one of the options is about media literacy. My colleague developed a lesson plan, but I will need to get her permission to share it. Recently, there was a call from Linda Miles at Yeshiva University in the collib listserv for lesson plans related to media literacy. She’ll be sharing those findings soon.

If you’re interested, Programming Librarian will be offering a free 45-minute webinar “Post-Truth: Fake News and a New Era of Information Literacy” on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 2 pm EST. Register by clicking on this link.

My goal for this post is to share the links related to fake news and media literacy that I have been collecting for the last few weeks. I’m sure this sort of project is already in the works (indeed, I even signed up for Twitter again specifically for this topic…), but this is my attempt at a Fake News and Media Literacy Syllabus that can help academic librarians who teach information literacy. The link takes you to a Google Doc that can be edited. Feel free to add articles, tools, lesson plans, LibGuides, etc. to the Syllabus or to this post. I would love for folks to add their names and affiliations as well. I plan to do official citations later, as well as some kind of organization that makes sense. There is tons of stuff I haven’t added, but we’ll get there.

Last updated on Jan. 17, 2017