Annual CONUL Teaching and Learning Seminar – June 10th 2014

A window of opportunity!
Setting: Lyons Estate
http://www.villageatlyons.com/
(Photo: B. Gardiner)

***Posted on behalf of Mary Antonesa, Senior Librarian for Learning and Research Information Services, The Library, NUI Maynooth***

If you are interested in attending the annual CONUL Teaching and Learning Seminar ( Formerly ACIL ) can you please let Mary know by Wednesday 28th May?

We have some great speakers lined up on the day and it should be a very exciting event!

Check out details of the programme for the day.

“A bit early for college” A transition year’s experience at NUIM Library

Taking the plunge!
TY, or not TY – that is the question.
Setting: Lyons Estate
http://www.villageatlyons.com/
(Photo: B. Gardiner)

The Library fosters a learning environment for Transition Year students from local schools in the area. This experience is of benefit to students and staff alike. Please enjoy Kate’s account of her time spent on work experience in the library during her Transition Year 2013/14.

***Posted on behalf of Kate Moore, Transition Year Student***

Voluntary work; Work experience; Gaisce; TY or not, these are all very intimidating words for a 15 year old already stressed about the Junior Cert. However, I was lucky enough to get a position at NUIM Library over the summer, and began working on the 2nd of October, 2013. After the initial introductions and outfitting (“Ooh look, I get a card! Ooh look, the card opens the door!”) I started work right away. One of the first (and most memorable) jobs I had was to help sort out the shelves in the reading room. The SP number of every book had to be taken down, and labels had to be made for every shelf. It might not sound like much, but it took two or three weeks.
On that note, I believe the sheaf catalogues deserve a mention as my constant companions for quite a few weeks. One thing I will say is that I passed my ECDL excel exam with flying colours and I firmly believe the sheer amount of time spent transferring information from the catalogues to a spreadsheet was the reason why.
Most weeks I would be processing books for the library, and that meant getting to grips with Aleph and databases like Worldcat; and once I learned how to use them, they became my new best friends. Don’t know if a book should be in special collections or out on the open shelves? Worldcat. I also had to process books for the open shelves, which meant stamp, bar code, tattle-tape and repeat. I consider myself lucky to have gotten the experience that I did, in the place that I did.
Another thing I consider myself lucky to have seen is the inside of the Russell Library. It’s a beautiful building and it doesn’t hurt that as soon as you walk in you’re hit by the smell of nearly two hundred year old books!
But I think the thing I will remember best is how friendly everyone was during my time here in the Library. Everyone was helpful, friendly, and I never felt like I couldn’t ask questions. I will definitely miss the people I’ve befriended here throughout the course of the year.

Teachmeet@UCD: UPcycle and upskill

I am a Lion, hear me roar!
Setting: Lyons Estate – The Beautiful Village at Lyons
http://www.villageatlyons.com/
Photo: B. Gardiner

Looking for an opportunity to share or discuss some of the following topics: student participation, learning spaces, assistive technology or exploiting social media sources for knowledge gathering etc. There are many more suggestions to choose from or perhaps you have a burning issue and you would welcome an opportunity to discuss it with your peers. Why not check out the following event?

Date: The library summertime “Teachmeet@UCD: upcycle and upskill” to be held 27th June, 2014.
Time: 2:00 – 5:00pm.
Venue: UCD James Joyce Library Hub & Link Space

Participants can choose to give a micro presentation (5 minutes), practice exchange (10 minutes) or as an audience member contribute to discussions. Presenters can use whatever medium they wish and whilst PowerPoint and a projector will be available, presenters are encouraged to consider other options also.

If you would like to present at the Teachmeet, please email the title of your suggested micro presentation or practice exchange to Jenny Collery by 12pm on Friday 13th June.

Check here for full details about the event and registration.

Poster alert! Check out the posters to be exhibited at the “The Librarian as Researcher” ANLTC seminar!

Poster Alert!
Photo: jarndt
http://www.morguefile.com/creative/jarndt

I am looking forward to the poster exhibition in the foyer of the library tomorrow Thursday 8th May as part of “The Librarian as Researcher” seminar here at NUI Maynooth. Click here for a list of posters being exhibited.

My experience of doing a poster for the ANLTC Poster Competition with my good friend and colleague Della Webb was both challenging and fun. We certainly learned a lot along the way and we were really excited and pleased when we were awarded joint second place in the competition. Working with Della was particularly nice as we were able to share our ideas and bounce them off each other. I would highly recommend grabbing an opportunity to formulate your work using this type of media. It forces you to consider the work you have done, so in that way it is both reflective and engaging. It is an opportunity to share your experience with a wider audience. You can find really useful guidelines for doing posters on the ANLTC website.

ANLTC course ‘Using Multimedia tools to present information’

Please enjoy and perhaps learn something new when you read my colleague Pauline’s account of the recent ANLTC course ‘Using Multimedia tools to present information’. ANLTC have a seminar entitled ‘The Librarian as Researcher’ taking place on Thursday 8th May. Those attending will also have an opportunity to tour our lovely library here in NUI Maynooth.

View from the Special Collections Reading Room in The Library, NUIM (Photo taken prior to landscaping of the area) – (Photo: B.Gardiner)

***Posted on behalf of Pauline Murray, Assistant Librarian, The Library, NUI Maynooth***

I was lucky enough, along with my colleague Elaine Bean, to be able to attend a one-day ANLTC course, in April, called ‘Using Multimedia tools to present information’

The course was given by the well known Phil Bradley
It was apparent even beforehand that this was going to be a course with an emphasis on the practical, when we received a 26 page document listing a wide range of multimedia tools potentially of interest to libraries. In fact this list proved to be central to the day. When we arrived Phil assured us we would be doing most of the work, he would guide us through the various areas and be there to deal with queries, make suggestions and so on.
This worked out very well. He used ‘Pearltrees’ as the collection for the relevant resources, broken down into different areas.
We worked our way through each section, usually starting with some introductory pointers from Phil. Each time, we had lots of scope to try out whatever appealed and plenty of time for discussion.
Of the many interesting resources to explore, some of those which caught my eye include:
• BBFlashback Express
This records your screen and sound and allows edits. There is a free version available to download. It could be considered as an alternative to ‘Articulate’ and would not have the drawback of being restricted to specific computers.

• Animato
With this you can turn your images into videos. The free version limits your slideshow to 30 seconds, but it’s possible, without spending a lot of money, to purchase longer shows.

• Padlet
This you can use as an ice-breaker, a bulletin board or for brainstorming. Basically, it’s a virtual wall, where people can put their thoughts on a common topic, using text, images and more.

Everyone enjoyed the demonstration Phil gave us of ‘augmented reality’. Definitely this was a glimpse of eBooks in the future.

Elaine and I were so impressed by the day, we hope our colleagues will have the opportunity to meet with Phil Bradley too.

Many thanks to the Library, NUI Maynooth for the opportunity to attend the course.

“Save the date” CONUL Teaching and Learning Seminar

Sphere – Trinity College Dublin http://bit.ly/1jkCdFi (Photo: D. de Haan)

***Posted on behalf of Mary Antonesa, Senior Librarian for Learning and Research Information Services, The Library, NUI Maynooth***

This is a “Save the date” reminder of an exciting seminar run by the CONUL Teaching and Learning sub-committee! Traditionally they run a seminar in May/June with a focus on information literacy in theory and in practice with a mixture of practical PechaKucha sessions and formal key note sessions. This year they will run the event on June 10th in the same venue as last year; the Trinity Long Room Hub at Trinity College Dublin. Further information will follow and could people please contact Mary Antonesa with any queries.

“In It Together: Responding to National Initiatives”

BMA House – Have you registered to attend the M25 Consortium Annual Conference? (Photo: en.wikipedia.org3264 × 2448 Google Images)

Bookings are open for the M25 Consortium Annual Conference. One Day Event:Tuesday 29th April, 2014. This year the conference will take place in the beautiful surroundings of BMA House in Tavistock Square and it promises to be a fascinating day. This poster gives further details of the programme and how to book.