Month: July 2012

Posted in AALL, Outreach, Social Media, Technology

It’s Good to Feel Needed!

Posted on by ashleyahlbrand

This has been a good week.  The Twitter account continues to get new followers on an almost daily basis; I published the LibGuide I was creating on legal apps so that our patrons can access it from our Resource Guide page; and I have begun playing around with the IU course management system, Oncourse.

I was excited to see that, though I do not have my own course this Fall, I could still get a practice Oncourse site to explore.  From my own IU education, I knew there were a plethora of features available on Oncourse, from forums to email to wikis and more, but I suspected that faculty do not use all of these resources, and may not even know the range of resources Oncourse provides; thus my interest in playing with it!  Today, that experimenting paid off in spades.  Two people approached me today asking about the features of Oncourse.  I walked them both through my site, showed them things I had already tried, such as modules and quizzes, as well as other interactive features such as wikis, blogs, and chat rooms.  I later heard that one of these individuals had been very pleased to learn about all that Oncourse can do, so I am so glad that I brought it up in the initial meeting.

One of the individuals I follow on Twitter had tweeted about an article on Android apps for lawyers.  This sparked my interest in getting my LibGuide on law-related apps published – I have been working on it and editing it for a couple months – so I did just that and advertised it on our Twitter account (which also syncs with our Facebook account).  The other librarians were pleased to see that I had published it and we will be formally announcing it to our non-tweeting faculty in a week or so.

While these are all little things, this was my first experience having others approach me for guidance in my specialty area or suggest that work I had done should be announced to law school community.  It really made me feel like I had a true place at this school, and gave me the confidence to know that I can do this job, and I can do it well.
Next – off to Boston for the AALL Annual Meeting!  I’ll tell you all about my experiences next week!

Posted in Outreach, Social Media

New Beginnings: Ed Tech to Date

Posted on by ashleyahlbrand

After two weeks as the Educational Technology Librarian at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, I have the following to show for my work:

http://www.facebook.com/IndianaUniversityMaurerLawLibrary

https://twitter.com/IUMaurerLawLib

Although it easy to dismiss social media in an academic setting, Facebook and Twitter can certainly be used to enhance library services, as evidenced by the plethora of library Facebook and Twitter accounts in existence today.  Already I have been able to highlight changes to existing library infrastructure, such as the migration of our research guides to our new LibGuides account, as well as announcing the addition of a new video to our library’s YouTube channel.  In my opinion, one of the best things about a business or organization having a social media presence is the ability to blend formal and informal – conveying information professionally, but in a more relaxed manner; I believe this can often make the business or organization, especially a library or school, more approachable for patrons and students.  Especially in an academic setting, where most students today have Facebook and/or Twitter accounts, creating library accounts through these sites can be an excellent way to reach a larger portion of your patron base (and beyond).  I am excited to see how these accounts will affect our visibility in the law school community.

As the summer (unbelievably!) draws to a close, I will now shift my focus to technologies for the classroom so that I can reach out to our faculty members as they prepare for a new semester.

Posted in Professional Development

Another New Direction

Posted on by ashleyahlbrand

After 20+ years of education, I have achieved it – gainful employment!  What’s more, it is a job in a field that I love (law librarianship) at a library that I love (Indiana University Maurer School of Law Library).  Beginning on July 1st, I am the educational technologies librarian at the law school, responsible for incorporating emerging technologies into library projects, as well as assisting willing faculty members with the incorporation of technology into their course preparation and execution.  In essence, this is a very broad job description, meaning that the possibilities for what I can do in this position are far-reaching.  Having worked here for two years as a student while earning my master’s in library science, I could not be more thrilled to receive a permanent position here as well!

This means, however, that my blog is now taking another turn.  What began as a general exploratory blog evolved into a reflections journal during my internship and is now evolving again to chart my professional development and the development of this position generally as time progresses.  In addition to posting on projects I am working on at IU, I will also write about advancements in educational technology generally.

Look forward to more to come!