MnPALS Reference/Instruction WorkDay - April 5, 2013

The Reference/Instruction work day started with a copyright refresher and open question/answer session with Gary Hunter, MnSCU's System Director for Intellectual Property. He walked through the basics of copyright, provided examples of application, and answered questions from the audience. Flowcharts and checklists were provided to help serve as guides when copyright questions arise.

Led by Perry Madden and Al Rykhus from PALS, session two was a demonstration and open discussion about MnPALS Plus Version 2. This will be the live version of MnPALS plus this summer. Some adjustments need to be made yet, but it is functioning and ready for use.

The first afternoon session I attended was a Web Scale Discovery presentation by Jennifer DeJonghe and Michelle Filkins from Metro State. They highlighted how their internal usability testing lead to the decision to pursue a discovery tool. They are new to implementation, but anticipate being able to alter BI sessions by having more time to focus on "higher level" skills such as search refinement, content and sources (e.g., scholarly vs. popular), source evaluation, choosing keywords, etc.  Their presentation also focused on the idea of serendipity being useful for students as they search. in the discovery tool where "all" disciplines are being searched at once, students will encounter connections for their topic they might not have considered.  They anticipate no longer teaching the catalog as a stand-alone tool, but teaching primarily the Discovery tool. Emphasis will be on critical thinking and evaluation. They anticipate using Subject Guides for more advanced classes where students need to be directed to specific databases.

A panel discussion about Online Library Instruction rounded out the day. Ideas such as using a webinar tool like Adobe Connect was introduced, along with a variety of ways librarians have embedded themselves into courses. Embedding video clips into online classes, updating subject guides and emailing them directly to faculty to have them link in their courses, and going the extra mile to ensure distance students had their login information were discussed. Getting involved in a new faculty session was described as a great way to let new faculty know about library services. Learning objects from PRIMO and MERLOT were also demonstrated.