MLA Conference 2010 - Thursday, October 7

reThursday, October 7 – 8:00am-9:15am
Current Trends in Instruction
Two University of Minnesota Librarians (Kristen Mastel and Kate Peterson) highlighted instruction trends and ideas they have picked up at 3 major conference they’ve attended in the past 6 months: 1) LOEX 2010, LOEX of the West, and ALA Annual Conference 2010. One presentation they referred to pulled on errors that are found online – they referenced C. Silverman’s books Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech as a key resource. The idea of using these errors as attention grabbers was discussed. I particularly liked the Miss Teen USA – South Carolina YouTube example. They also talked about using Cartoons and Humor and referenced cartoon generators like ToonDo. There were also examples of using visual literacy to help students refine and focus topics. A section on transitioning to college really caught my attention and made me think about how we could focus our efforts on working with the feeder schools for our college. We’ve tried to make connections with several school libraries in our region over the years, but this might be a more targeted focus we could pursue. I also got some ideas to consider incorporating into Freshman Seminar! http://www.transitioning2college.org/ based out of Ohio has good information.

Thursday, October 7 – 9:45am-11:00am
Minnesota’s Libraries & The Open Meeting Law
I put on my Public Library Board Member hat when I entered this session. After coming back on the Library Board in recent months, I’ve realized I do not know enough about state statutes relating to public libraries or the open meeting law. Nancy Walton, acting State Librarian, led this informative session. Ms. Walton talked us through some scenarios based on questions she has received in her office over the years and audience members posed their own questions. It was good to learn the state librarian’s office has resources at its disposal that public libraries can call on when questions arise. Minnesota Statutes 2009: Chapter 13D Open Meeting Law

Thursday Lunch - I enjoyed visiting with a public librarian, an academic librarian, and two regional library representatives during lunch while listening to music by the Irish Trio!

Thursday, October 7 – 12:15pm-1:30pm
Dessert Keynote: Erin Hart
Delving into the Otherworld: Murder, Myth and Music in False Mermaid
This was a fascinating introduction to Erin Hart’s work. I have not read any of her novels, although I have one checked out now! She talked about how she researched and came with ideas for False Mermaid, her third novel. This presentation included the best use of Power Point I have ever seen. She also supplemented her talk with live Irish traditional music (which featured her husband, Paddy O’Brien on the button accordion). Early in her presentation she said “Librarians are the original detectives, right?” I do believe that is correct! :) Her topic and her presentation were both spell-binding and I’m looking forward to reading her work.

Thursday, October 7 – 1:30pm-2:45pm
Legislative Outlook
Elaine Keefe gave her insight about the upcoming election and highlighted a few scenarios of what could happen depending on the outcome. There are so many unknowns yet until after November 2. We’ll be in wait-and-see mode until then! The draft MLA/MEMO 2011 Legislative Platform was also presented.

Thursday, October 7, 3:30-4:45pm
Briggs Library: Beyond Shushing
Librarians from the University of Minnesota, Morris, presented ideas they’ve used at their college to support college retention by making the library a welcoming, comfortable environment. They have worked on academic endeavors such as an embedded librarian in Research Methods, Biology, and Political Science, as well as having a “Librarian on the Loose” where a librarian takes a laptop and moves to different locations around campus to answer student reference and research questions. They have other areas/departments that work within the library area such as Academic Assistance, Disability Services, the Writing Center as well as a providing space for a TREC Program (Tutoring, Reading, Enabling Children). They also have a Library Associate (Friends) Board that accepts grants up to $500 for collection enhancements. Involvement in a campus group called SOFA (Something On Friday Afternoons) has also afforded opportunities for the library to participate in and draw students to the library. One Friday night a month the library stays open until midnight and has a game night. The library has also promoted a Food for Fines imitative where fines will be waived for can goods that are brought in. They also erase fines on “Random Acts of Kindness” days on campus.

Thursday, October 7, 5:00-6:00pm
MLA Annual Business Meeting
This was my first time attending an annual business meeting! Proposed by-laws revisions were brought forward along with explanations for the changes. These were approved after some discussion. The draft Legislative Platform was discussed again here. MLA Board Election Results along with memorial resolutions were presented.