MJ's blog

Library Forum Facilitator

mjdelia — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:03:12 +0000

I recently accepted the role of “chair” (I prefer “facilitator”) for our Library Forum meetings. I made the video below in an attempt to set the tone and establish a new direction for this important staff meeting. I know that the video won’t have a wide appeal (since most of you don’t work at U of G); however, it’s my first shot at using Camtasia so I thought I’d post it.

Education Paradigms

mjdelia — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:31:09 +0000

I’m sure some of you have seen this already, but I thought I’d share for those who haven’t. I’m a big Ken Robinson fan and what’s not to love about the RSA Animate series?

I particularly like how he distinguishes between divergent thinking and creativity (near the end of the video). I guess you can thank the education system for beating (or boring) the creativity out of you.

Librarian as translator

mjdelia — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:40:05 +0000

Building on my previous post, I found another analogy that I had scribbled in my notes (from way back in February 2007). Scrawled across the top of my piece of graph paper was “Librarian as translator.” I kind of like that. Think about translators for a minute: What skills do language translators need to do their jobs? Translators need skills like:

Ability to use translation strategies: translators need to be able to rephrase idioms and other figures of speech and still capture the spirit of the original communication.
Cultural awareness: translators need to be aware of the cultures on both sides of the translation.
Knowledge of terminology in specialized fields: translators have to know the jargon (or at least know how to negotiate it).
Ability to use the tools and rules of translation: translators have to know which tool (e.g. dictionary, software, etc.) to use and how to apply proper grammatical structure.
Ability to deliver on time: translators need to understand the urgency of the work (and need to deliver competently).

As I scan the bullets above I like what I see. I like the idea of librarians as translators in the Information Age. This is just a short post – you could definitely push this analogy a bit further.

If you’re interested, I paraphrased the above list from here.

Librarians are like detectives…

mjdelia — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:31:28 +0000

This past week I’ve been preparing my presentation for the Canadian Library Association conference in Halifax. My topic is “Librarians are like detectives and other generative metaphors to rejuvenate the profession.” I’ll admit my title is a bit of a mouthful, but the idea is pretty simple: generative analogies – and other types of associative thinking – provide new insight, new possibilities, and new pathways.

My contention is that we need to be more expansive when we start trying to define exactly what we (librarians) do and what we bring to the table (wherever that table happens to be). I feel like we tend to be quite self-limiting as a profession – and yet if the CLA keynote by Frank McKenna is to be believed, we have a lot to offer the knowledge economy.

Generative analogies are not about wordsmithing a definition of librarianship; they’re about striking a bold and broad vision of the profession. In my session, I plan to challenge the participants to push their associative thinking. For example, how are librarians like dentists? What might we learn from dentists? I’m curious to see what the group comes up with.

The Great (Education) Reset

mjdelia — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:49:22 +0000

Throughout The Great Reset Richard Florida uses two past economic “resets” as instructive examples for our current economic situation. The First Reset was called the Long Depression (late 19^th century) and the Second Reset was the Great Depression (1930s). In the final chapter of the book, he uses these resets to comment on the current state of education:

“The First Reset gave us the modern system of public schools and laid the foundations of the modern university and college education system, as well as modern engineering education. The Second Reset expanded higher education, among other things sparking the creation of the modern research-intensive university. Those giant strides forward are but small steps compared to the changes required today.” (p. 183)

Think about that for a second… if Florida is right, then we need to overhaul the entire educational system (or invent something new that can run alongside the existing system). It’s a scary thought, but perhaps those of us in higher education are living on borrowed time – it’s only a matter of time before students, employers, and maybe even governments decide that they’re not getting the right return on their investment in traditional higher education environments. Then what do we do?

Face it: you’re creative

mjdelia — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:48:54 +0000

The Great Reset by Richard Florida suggests that the most recent recession is more than economic stumble. It actually signifies a much more significant culture change across the developed (and developing world). Florida focuses primarily on North America and builds his case using a lot of economic arguments (which probably have significant counterarguments), but it’s his last chapter that I find most inspiring. Here’s a particularly great paragraph:

“A simple, undeniable first principle is that every single human being is creative. Each and every effort and policy initiative we under take can be measured by this simple yardstick: how do they increase the ability of people, organizations, places, and companies to mobilize human creative capabilities? … we all have something we’re good at, our own creative spark, and there’s little in life more satisfying and rewarding than the chance to exercise that talent.” (p. 182)

In my recent experiences with Innovation Boot Camp and at the Creative Problem Solving Institute conference I am convinced that the way forward for any organization is to make sure the people are plugged in and using their full creative capacity. Managers shouldn’t look to hire “creative types” when they see a gap on their team, instead they should actively work to increase the creativity quotient of their current staff.

Analytical Skills and Social Intelligence

mjdelia — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:59:36 +0000

I just finished reading Richard Florida’s latest book, The Great Reset, and, as usual, I’ve come away with some interesting food for thought. I know some people scoff at Richard Florida’s work and the whole notion of the Creative Class, but I tend to think he’s right on track. There is a shift afoot in our economy and it’s most certainly away from manufacturing jobs. Here’s a passage that I found particularly poignant about the future of the workforce given that I teach second year students:

“The old manufacturing economy honed physical skills such as lifting and manual dexterity. But two sets of skills matter more now: analytical skills, such as pattern recognition and problem solving, and social intelligence skills, such as the situational sensitivity and persuasiveness required for team building and mobilization.” (p. 118)

For me, Florida is hitting a nerve. Corporations, governments and other organizations are demanding flexible employees who have creative problem solving abilities and the desire to work with others to make something happen. The scary thing is that our modern system of education just may not be equipped to teach these skills.

The “expert” trap

mjdelia — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:41:43 +0000

I’ve been reading more and more recently about the problem of the “expert” (which is an interesting term in its own right, but I digress…). In The Power of Positive Deviance the authors claim “The outsider’s ‘expertise’ spares the community from the essential trial and error of learning” (p. 49). In other words, when an “expert” parachutes in to solve a problem, the community misses out on the opportunity to engage, the chance to own their solution, and, ultimately, the learning journey itself.

This might be another reason why we (librarians) should be careful about how we use the term “expert.” I’m not suggesting that we’re not skilled in what we do. We certainly have a lot of knowledge (e.g. the research process, information architecture, information production, etc.), but we should be careful in how we apply it. We want to make sure our “expertise” doesn’t get in the way of someone’s learning.

Seeing vs. doing

mjdelia — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:14:16 +0000

In The Power of Positive Deviance the authors use the following Vietnamese proverb: “A thousand seeings aren’t worth one doing” (p. 46). In the book this proverb is used to describe the deeper social psychology behind internalizing knowledge, but I couldn’t help but apply it to my own position as an information literacy librarian.

What if we refused to do IL sessions that were only demonstrations (i.e. where the students only “see” the process) and only agreed to deliver interactive sessions (i.e. where the students actually “do” the process)? I can hear the objections already (classes are too big, time is too short, library resources are limited, etc.), but if most students don’t learn with even a thousand “seeings” maybe it’s time for a change.

Acting into thinking

mjdelia — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:11:54 +0000

In The Power of Positive Deviance I read a phrase that really resonated with me. In the book, the authors recount a number of scenarios where they’ve tried the positive deviance approach (childhood malnutrition in Vietnam, female genital mutilation in Egypt, hospital infections in Pennsylvania, etc.), in their experience they’ve found that “It’s easier to act your way into a new way of thinking, than to think your way into a new way of acting.” (p. 38).

Perhaps this is something that we all instinctively know, but I just loved how the authors phrased it – it’s simple and profound.

I’ve been reflecting a lot on our Innovation Boot Camp – I wondered what made it such a special experience for the participants (and me!) and I think this statement has something to do with it. The 8 people who embarked on IBC took the risk and tried out (or acted) in a different way than they usually do. In the end, they ended up convinced that they could be more creative and that our organization would benefit from more innovative practices. In other words, they found a new way of thinking that worked for them.

The Positive Deviance authors also suggest that the focus on self-discovery in their approach is just as important as the actual knowledge or solution discovered (p. 42). I couldn’t agree more. When people are invested in the process, they internalize the solutions and make them their own.