It's Academic

Last call for registration for this CRD sponsored program!

The College & Research Division presents ACRL Roadshow: Assessment in Action.

When: August 17, 2018
Where: Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

Description: In this day-long workshop on strategic and sustainable assessment, participants will identify institutional priorities and campus partners, design an assessment project grounded in action research, and prepare a plan for communicating the project results. This workshop is based on the highly successful ACRL Assessment in Action program curriculum.

Registration deadline: Friday August 10th. No registrations are accepted at the door. Attendance is limited to 100 people so register early.
PaLA Members – $45.00
Students – $25.00

REGISTER AT https://www.palibraries.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1121902&group=

More details and the full program schedule can be found at goo.gl/U2wRDC

This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, Governor, through the College and Research Division (https://crdpala.org/) of PaLA. Show your appreciation by becoming a member of PaLA! And if you are a member – thank you!

Register by using this ink…
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/crawl2018

I have been fortunate to have a good relationship with most of the faculty in the Schools where I am the library liaison.   However, there have been a few people who have never worked with me.   While not openly hostile, they just never seem to see a need for a librarian to assist their students with research. This year, I decided to find another way to build relationships.

I reviewed our fall course schedule and prepared a list of potential classes where my services might be helpful.   These included:

1. Classes where I had conducted sessions in the past.
2. Writing Intensive courses.
3. Introductory courses for the major.
4. Any class that I knew had a substantial research component.

I distributed this list at the final School meeting of the Spring Semester.   It served as a reminder for those professors who had used me in the past to schedule their sessions early.   It also was an invitation for others to contact me.   I emphasized that I knew class time was precious and told them that if they did not want an in-class session, I could create a course-specific LibGuide, prepare a module that could be embedded in Canvas, or schedule individual meetings with their students.

For several specialized classes, I went ahead and created course guides and contacted the professors with the following email.

I have created a LibGuide that I think will be useful for your class.   Of course, I would be happy to do an in-class session if you think that would be helpful.

 Right now the guide is private and may be accessed using this URL:

            setonhill.libguides.com/XXXXXX

 I welcome your comments for additions or deletions.   I may add some websites, but except for your suggestions, I think it is complete.

The response has been very positive.   I have several classes scheduled for the fall and many who have not scheduled classes have thanked me for the guide and made suggestions for things to add.   For the ones who have not responded, I think that I have a “foot in the door” and I hope to build on that for the future.

As soon as the Spring Course Schedule is available, I plan to do this again, as we have a six weeks between semesters to contact faculty and prepare.

Image courtesy of Institute of International Education, Open Doors 2017 Report.

Over a million international students studied at US universities last year–50,000 of them in Pennsylvania–and that number has been steadily increasing for decades, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE). Libraries are seeking ways to support these students.

Some suggestions for transforming libraries into “multilingual-friendly” spaces appear in Frans Albarillo’s recent College & Research Libraries article analyzing language preferences of foreign-born students. He mentions customized library instruction/orientation, linguistic diversity training for staff, computer labs with multilingual keyboard formats, collection development plus LibGuides focused on non-English scholarly sources, multilingual signage, and employment of multilingual librarians.

At Penn State Altoona, librarians have used some of these strategies, such as specialized orientation programming, name pronunciation workshops, and signage to welcome international students. Penn State is ranked 10^th in the US for hosting international students, with over 9,000 in 2017 (IIE). According to Penn State’s Fact Book, 259 of these international students were enrolled at the Altoona campus, making up 7% of the student body.

New Student Orientation for International Students

Penn State Altoona hosts a customized orientation for incoming international students and their parents the week before classes begin. As part of the event, Library Director Bonnie Imler teaches a 3-hour Tech Academy that introduces the students to technology at Penn State and includes a tour of the library and its Media Commons. Plus, librarian Alessia Zanin-Yost partners with the Writing Center to share information about library services and tutoring resources, tips for acculturating to their new community, student success skills, and strategies for avoiding plagiarism. In addition, the library works with staff from Student Affairs to provide access to scanners for international students as they finalize their student visa paperwork.

Name Pronunciation Workshops

Last year, the library hosted two workshops designed to help faculty and staff learn how to correctly pronounce the names of international students. In February, the library worked in partnership with librarians at Penn State University Park to publicize and remotely host a webinar on Indian Name Pronunciation taught by Ritu Jayakar, lecturer in Hindi at Penn State. In May, Chunyuan Di, lecturer in Chinese at Penn State, taught a Chinese name pronunciation workshop at the Altoona campus. Over 60 faculty and staff members attended the event, which was co-hosted by the library and the Internationalization Committee. Why these two languages? According to the IIE, the leading places of origin for international students were China and India.

Image courtesy of Institute of International Education, Open Doors 2017 Report.

Multilingual Welcome Signage

A poster designed by the ALA that says “Welcome” in 27 languages is posted near the entrance of the library to create an inclusive atmosphere. This poster is still available at the ALA store.

The Penn State Altoona library continues to seek ways to reach out to the growing number of international students on campus. Please share your suggestions in the comments.

Jessica Showalter is an Information Resources and Services Support Specialist at Penn State Altoona’s Eiche Library. Say hello on Twitter @libraryjms