Internship @ Berea College: Day 20 (Entry 20)

Interesting RPS insights:

Most students said they agreed a course in research skills would be helpful. However, students sign and complain about coming back to the library for instruction. The information is conflicting. What were the students thinking when they answered the question? Do they realize that those skills are being taught in the instruction classes? Do they realize that you cannot learn those skills in one session?

Freshman think that the section on the beliefs about research should have a correct answer. Especially, when they think that their is a truth to be gotten in research somewhere and somehow.

The students agree that some people are naturally better at research. What about the research process? Do they not know there is a process? Should that be explained and explicit to them? Is this part of their anxiety?

I talked with Anne, the library director, today. It was interesting to talk to her and see what she is doing. She has been working on the budget. The budget is getting cut and she is trying to find places where the library can cut collections in a way that makes sense and agrees with the way Berea students are using them. She is working through mounds of data to track what will be spent in future and where the budget will be. It is interesting because I like working with numbers and I did enjoy collection management. I really like management in general. Working this internship and seeing what others have to deal with, I see more and more what I want to do. I want to do things that is management like. Help people make decisions and work through information and problems in a way that will help people make decisions or myself make decisions.

I am very similar to Julia and Anne, in there way of thinking and working through problems. We all take from many parts of our knowledge and background, as well as new knowledge from readings and talking with other people. It is very collaborative. Sometimes you need to talk thinks through with other people to get the picture or other ideas.

I also realized, besides being an outside looking at this data for them, that I am unbiased in general. I might have an idea sometimes, but I like having the data inform me. I like being surprised or seeing thing that are different. Life is not fun if you know the answer all the time. There is always something that can be found and changed to improve things. I am never surprised or shocked. Sometimes I have to be brought out of myself to look at the data with a critical librarian eye when I talk with Julia because I do not make judgments about the data until I start talking about what I am seeing.

I am close to being done with the first question to question look. I have about 6 questions left in the RPS. I am stuck at two ends: the big picture and the little pieces. I cannot wait to get to the middle section when trying to pick out the questions that are interesting, that we want to know the answers to, and start to get a picture of what is going on. This will lead to the questions about how we can teach them things they do not know, what should professors know, what do the interesting results tell us, and how it can all inform the decisions about what to make and change about instruction.