Toothpaste, Meet Tube

March 19, 2021

Years ago at a conference, a librarian was talking about changing library hours in their presentation. The basic idea of what they said was, “Once you’ve extended services, it’s difficult to pull them back. It’s like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube.”

This idea has come to mind often during the past year. Libraries everywhere have adapted or re-imagined their services for social distancing in creative ways. And our circumstances will continue to change as we anticipate moving closer to a pre-pandemic routine in the next academic year.

We’ve heard lots of success stories, like those featured in this ACRL webinar “Let’s Keep Doing This!” But what is sustainable moving forward? How will we navigate patron expectations and the status of library budgets? What restrictions will remain with more humans on campus? How can we support students adjusting to in-person campus life, especially those who finished high school and started college virtually?

That’s just the tip of the uncertainty iceberg. Although nothing is ever certain — some of the issues I just mentioned are not new — that does not make this (gestures everywhere) easier to deal with.

Personally and professionally, we’ve all been impacted by the events of the past year. We’ve had to change our routines, adjust our expectations — basically, try to corral the toothpaste into something remotely functional. Add in the emotions that are a jarring part of humanity in crisis, and we’re facing effects that will last well into the future.

The American Psychological Association addresses the stress of uncertainty and ways to help mitigate it — yes, the ubiquitous “self care” suggestion is mentioned, but their list also includes seeking support, creating small elements of structure, limiting news exposure and reducing worst-case scenario thinking.

That being said, worst-case scenario thinking is a hard habit to break. The energy to frame problems as opportunities is, well, a lot. In the library world, we are accustomed to advocating for our patrons and our work. We want to provide the best service possible, and sometimes that means planning for the worst. When the container of possibility shrinks, it’s time to innovate – but the stress and discomfort of uncertainty is very real, and an important consideration for us and our patrons.

So other than try to take care of ourselves, what can we do? There may be a pull toward extreme positivity (“hey, at least it’s not….!”) or being consumed by all the negative what-ifs. I hope to try to steer my own thinking to a middle ground and seek or provide support when needed. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, they say. We just need to get there.

Imagining Board Game Events in the Academic Library

March 10, 2021

tags: games

by Kristen Seikaly

A person thinking in front of a Scrabble board

Image: Pixabay

The past year has made it difficult to know when we might be fortunate enough to have in-person events again. Still, many of us are using the time to imagine what post-pandemic library events will look like. Students, faculty, and staff will likely be eager to enjoy as many social activities as they can in the future, and it makes sense for academic libraries to be prepared.

Why Run a Board Game Event?

Board games provide a special opportunity to meet social desires on a college campus while also offering the opportunity to develop skills that will help students in the workforce, no matter their field of study. Board games allow players to develop soft skills such as critical thinking, teamwork, risk assessment, literacy, and leadership. Companies all over the state and country use board games to facilitate team-building exercises for these very reasons.

How to Run a Board Game Event in Academic Libraries

It’s important to imagine the experience first. Many board game events fall flat because too much emphasis is given to the game selection rather than the presentation. Selection matters, but the experience makes the difference between students coming to the library for a game night or choosing to go elsewhere.

To give a great board game experience, have students and staff alike facilitate the event. Students can teach games to attendees, and active student involvement in the event will encourage volunteers to invite their peers. Furthermore, having someone available to teach the games will encourage attendees to go beyond their previous experiences to learn something new.

Selecting Board Games for the Academic Library

Board games for the academic library should meet certain criteria. Library faculty and staff will want to keep games budget-friendly, but there are a few other thoughts to keep in mind, too.

First, board games for an event should remain relatively short. Games should require no more than 30 minutes of gameplay time. Even if an event lasts for several hours, this will allow attendees to cycle through a few games while still having time to learn new ones. Unassisted learning time for a board game, on average, can take half of the suggested gameplay. For example, budget 15 minutes to learn a 30-minute game.

Second, the best board game nights include a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar games. Some attendees will want to warm up with a familiar game and end with something new, while others will reverse this play. This is especially important if the library’s board game event is focused on developing soft skills.

Finally, although the focus for selecting games might be for an event, many public libraries circulate board games. This is an option for academic libraries, too. Having a few select games in the collection can give students a small stress buster in between study sessions. Academic libraries will want to select games that offer relatively quiet play and components that are easy to replace if they’re lost. (Most board game publishers will replace missing components at no cost, especially to educational institutions.)

With these points in mind, a few modern board games that would work well for any library include:

Sushi Go
Set
Blokus
Onitama
Love Letter
Chickapig
For Sale
Codenames
Just One

These pair well with classic board and card games like Scrabble, Scattegories, Chess, Checkers, and Clue. Alternatively, games can be selected by input from faculty members of different departments to support their curriculum.

Hosting a Virtual Board Game Event

If your library is eager to offer programming options now, there’s no need to wait, either. There are plenty of easy-to-use, engaging, and low-cost board game websites that allow for virtual board game events. Board Game Arena, Happy Meeple, and Jackbox Games all are great options. Virtual escape rooms also offer all the same benefits. The Hogwarts Digital Escape Room created by the Peters Township Public Library is a great example. Pair any of these options with a chat interface system like Teams, Discord, or even Zoom, and it’s possible to engage students in all these great social and professional benefits now.

C&CS Presents: “Revising the Revision: Moving New Information Literacy Instruction for FY Students Online in the Wake of COVID-19”, March 17 at 1 pm

March 8, 2021

by CRD of PaLA

C&CS Presents

Revising the Revision: Moving New Information Literacy Instruction for FY Students Online in the Wake of COVID-19 with Beth Transue

Wednesday, March 17 at 1:00 pm EST

Register Here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUrdeqhrzojGNdiboCo8vWU7XEZOF4Ts6yy

Throughout 2018-19, librarians at Messiah University worked with the Director of First Year Core Courses to develop a scaffolded four-session information literacy program throughout the two core writing courses in the First Year student’s curriculum. Academic year 2019-2020 was the first year for full implementation. The first three sessions were delivered in person and included flipped and active learning strategies. COVID-related closure of campus required immediate conversion of the final session to an online format. The presenter will share information about these curricular revisions, and then the revision of the final information literacy session to online.

Beth M. Transue, MLS MET is the Information Literacy librarian at Messiah University. She coordinates information literacy instruction across the curriculum, from first year students to graduate level. Beth also serves as the liaison librarian for health and natural science departments, based on her academic background and experience working with national resource centers on behalf of NIH and CDC. As Beth stays at home this year due to COVID, she has worked on improving her genealogy research skills, making some unique family finds.

All C&CS Sessions are recorded and made available via the CRD website following the presentation.

This project is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, Governor.

Support is also provided by the College and Research Division of the Pennsylvania Library Association: https://crdpala.org/.

C&CS Presents “Go with the Flow: Automations and More in Office 365” Recording Available

March 4, 2021

by CRD of PaLA

If you were not able to join us for Adam Haigh’s presentation on March 3, the recording is now available. Thanks to Adam for presenting and Katie Manwiller for moderating.

KISS: Can Acronyms and Terminology Be Barriers to Library Use?

March 3, 2021

by clblibrarian

“Not-so-pocket dictionary v. 2.0” by autumn_bliss is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Librarians love their acronyms. During my first semester of Library School, I took a “Library 101” type course, part of which was learning a glossary of library terminology including acronyms: MARC, ILL, OPAC, OER, ALA, ACRL, LC, that sort of thing. I had been a heavy library user during my undergrad – the heck with closing down the bar, I closed down the library on many a night. But this was my first introduction to the language of libraries. I hadn’t heard of many of these terms, so was at a bit of a loss when I was given the list of terms and acronyms to memorize. I feel like we even had a “vocabulary” quiz on the terms at some point during the semester.

That experience can give a little perspective of how students and other patrons must feel when we start speaking in the library-ese. What do they experience when we stand in front of a classroom, or behind the reference desk, and tell them that if they can’t find the book in the OPAC then they will need to request an ILL using OCLC’s WorldCat? If we needed flashcards and a quiz grade to help us learn the terms, shouldn’t we be more aware of how unusual these terms can be for our patrons? Libraries like UC San Diego or Rutgers University Libraries have created glossaries on their websites to help patrons de-code our library language. Though I wonder how many take the initiative to study and learn the terms. Do many just leave our interactions feeling frustrated and unwelcome?

I was reminded of my Library School vocab quiz when I moved to a new state and joined a new library. I won’t admit how many times I had to Google an acronym to figure out the organization sponsoring a particular workshop, or to identify which service was being updated. It was a humbling experience for someone who has been in the profession for many years. I was a bit embarrassed and hesitant to clarify the meaning of the terms or acronyms, so I either spent time searching for the meaning myself, or sat there in ignorance hoping that I’d eventually catch on enough to figure it out… eventually…

If this is how I reacted unknown acronyms and terms, how many of our new colleagues, student workers, interns, or others new to the profession encounter the same experience. Associations and organizations, like the Librarians Association of the University of California (LAUC) have made glossaries geared to library professionals, similar to the ones created for our patrons. But is there another way, rather then putting the responsibility on the patron or newcomer to figure out what we mean?

Remember to KISS

Maybe we should look for ways to Keep It Simple… and not ASSUME – we all know what “assume” stands for, right? We all can fall into the trap of being stuck in our own heads. We make sense to ourselves, so we forget about the step of making sure others understand us. It’s easier sometimes to use the acronyms or terminology; it takes extra time and keystrokes to translate what we mean into non-librarian speak. We would need to re-train the way we, as librarians, think, but the return on investment (ROI) on taking these steps can be valuable to the relationships we build.

A way to re-train yourself related to acronyms may be adopting an acronym policy like the one the Pennsylvania Library Association uses in some of its meetings. Write out an acronym completely before using the abbreviation later in the conversation or the email. This strategy ensures that anyone new to the conversation, or just needing a reminder, is on the same footing as everyone else. You may even want to self-impose an Acronym Fine Jar (hat tip to my former home in the Virginia Library Association and its executive director Lisa Varga).

Even if you are speaking to a faculty member, seasoned researcher, or another library professional take a beat to check in with them to make sure that they understand the terminology that you are using. Allow space for them to ask for clarification without drawing attention to themselves. You may even want to consider whether you should use the library term at all. If the term or acronym isn’t used on the library’s website or in its promotional materials, then it might be better to use the public label of a tool or resource. Instead of referring to the OPAC or Discovery Tool, do you have unique title or label for the search box on the library’s home page?

What we “name” things on the public side of our tools and services is a whole other blog post, so I am going to end things here. If you are interested in that part of the conversation, there’s a blog post by Emily Hampton Haynes from ACRLog and a 2012 document “Library Terms that Users Understand” by John Kupersmith to get the ball rolling. They are just some examples of the work that is out there on the topic.