Present: Connie McCarthy (Chair), Jack Bales, Esther
Onega, Ellen Wertman, and Ginger Young
Location: Clemons Library at the University of Virginia
in Charlottesville
Connie first welcomed the new Outreach Committee member, Ellen Wertman from Northern Virginia Community College, who briefly said a few words. Later we all introduced ourselves.
While discussing the forthcoming VIVA workshops, committee members first addressed Jack's instruction scenarios. He expressed reservations about them, noting that the teachers are not librarians and that they may not be familiar with either the topics or the resources. As was pointed out, however, the teachers can use the scenarios as typical instruction classes and as a base to answer the questions: "What are some of the best practices on how to present this class?" "How can librarians make a class relevant?"
What particularly helped was a survey that Ellen distributed, which included statements from students who had evaluated library instruction sessions. Following the students' statements were Ellen's comments and questions, which seemed to directly relate to our workshops. E.g., "Every class comes to us with a mix of library skills." Also, "Communication between the library instructor and the teacher who is bringing in the class is pretty critical." "Just what specifically would the instructors want their students to know after leaving the class?"
We also realized that we needed to carefully define the purpose of the workshops. As addressed in the Outreach Committee minutes of November 28, 2001, "The idea for VIVA workshops that focus on teaching skills originated from suggestions proposed by participants in the Outreach Committee's July workshop. These regional workshops, which will involve faculty members at host institutions, will help librarians get the most out of their one-hour library instruction sessions with students. Playing off on the 'one-minute manager' theme, we came up with the title, 'The Fifty-Minute Librarian: Strategies for Effective Library Instruction."
Building from this general concept, we came up with several teaching skills
that faculty members could address, such as:
We thought the workshop could last from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with the day broken down as follows:
| 9:30 to 10:00 | Registration and coffee, tea, or juice |
| 10:00 to 10:50 | Faculty member's 50-minute program |
| 11:00 to 11:50 | Faculty member's 50-minute program |
| 12:00 to 1:00 | Boxed lunches |
| 1:00 to 2:00 | Break-out sessions |
| 2:00 to 3:00 | Panel of librarians and faculty, with
audience questions and participation |
The small groups could discuss some of the themes that the faculty members focused on and come up with questions for the panel, which would discuss teaching techniques.
Suggested dates for the three workshops include the first week of August. Each workshop will be designed for 50 to 75 participants. Ginger has contacted Nancy Seamans at Virginia Tech to coordinate one workshop. Esther will take care of the details at the second, which will be held at the University of Virginia. Connie said that Loretta O'Brien-Perham at Hampton University would host a third. They will be scheduled on different days, so if interested persons cannot make one session, they can pick it up at another institution. Any faculty handouts will be copied for attendees.
Connie will get an estimate as to costs for coffee, tea, juice (in the morning) and box lunches, and she will discuss financial details at the next VIVA steering committee meeting. We would like mileage for attendees (if appropriate; i.e., only for out-of-town registrants), and an honorarium of $150 for faculty participants. Connie has a colleague, Pat Hausman, who has volunteered to help with details such as registration. Pat has experience with these tasks, and Connie will ask her to work on estimates for participants' mileage funding. The best practices will be put on the VIVA Web page.
Ginger said that as soon as she receives a template from John Duke, she will put the minutes on the VIVA Web site. Connie will talk to John and send him some of the VIVA Web page suggestions we came up with at our April 12 meeting. Ginger thought that he might want to meet with us and go over some of these suggestions and comments. We all thought this was an excellent idea. Ginger added that she can host this meeting, which is tentatively scheduled during the week of January 6.
Respectfully submitted,
Jack Bales
Secretary
November 21, 2002
Updated March 4, 2008