Tuesday, January 21, 2014

METRO Annual Meeting - January 20, 2014

This week's blog is a short report on the amazing annual meeting that METRO (Metropolitan New York Library Council) held at the Vertical Building at Baruch College of CUNY last Wednesday.  Interesting and informative workshops, an opportunity to mix with other librarians from various venues, and the food were all terrific!  If you do not belong, you are missing a great opportunity to learn, grow, and expand in the library business :)



METRO Meeting 

Some Interesting Stuff

On Wednesday, January 15th, I went to the annual meeting of the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO).  This amazing organization supports all kinds of libraries and archives in the New York metropolitan area and this meeting is a chance to catch up with the latest happenings and to meet folks from all kinds of institutions.  There were presentations that ranged from Information Literacy for Faculty to Gaming at the New York Public Library.

Openness in the Library
The opening keynote speaker, Jessamyn West, spoke about “openness” in libraries.
Many insights into copyright issues, fair use policies, and more were explored with earnestness and humor.  Her entire presentation can be found at:  librarian.net/talks/metro   I think you will find the information to be valuable.


Information Literacy for the Faculty
For those of us who struggle to get faculty on board to become familiar with the library’s resources, one workshop covered ways to do just that!   Two librarians from St. Joseph’s College. Mayumi Miyaoka and Robert Lasner,  have instituted an instructional program that has had both successes and challenges. 

Here are links to an inspiring article from Western Michigan University that helped lead to the project that St. Joseph’s librarians pursued. 

http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1023&context=library_pubs

Here also is a link to a outstanding brochure that was developed at Brooklyn College as a guide for their faculty:



Literacy and Assessment: Online Gaming in the Library
There were two very enthusiastic presentations involving both teaching literacy skills through games and actually creating games as a library activity.   Katelyn Angell and Eamon Tewell from Long Island University in Brooklyn use games to stimulate interest in library skills and reviewing whether or not this has a positive impact.  Thomas Knowlton from the New York Public Library “offers patrons the opportunity to play, watch, and critically discuss video games” since its launch in April 2012. His mission is to link video games with books, film, and other resources, as well as promoting an understanding of games for their own merit through what he calls NYPLarcade. 

Some recommendations:
Book:
 Let the Games Begin – ideas for game-based learning

Game:  Citation Tic Tac Toe

Self-Evaluation for Students
www.socrative.com/

NYPLarcade
Contact:  thomasknowlton@NYPL.org

Slides of all of the workshops at the meeting are available here:


If you don’t already know about METRO or have not joined, you should know that it is an invaluable resource offering scholarships, grants, workshops, and more. 

Connect with METRO:  metro.org




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