Over the past few weeks, I've conducted 8 scheduled research consultations and answered 2 chat questions via Microsoft Teams. This is approximately 30 percent of the 27 patron reference transactions that I have personally recorded since school resumed on March 23. While my overall numbers are down likely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the interactions... Continue Reading →
How to add a Microsoft Teams chat link to your Libguides profile box
Last week I added my Microsoft Teams chat link to my Libguides profile box. Since this required some different code than just adding a Teams chat link to a general guide, I thought I would share it here. Maybe you'll find it helpful. The code <style> #teamschat { background: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #545AAA; border-radius:... Continue Reading →
Research @ Home: Delivering asynchronous library instruction with web video during the Covid-19 pandemic
With the abrupt move to a blend of synchronous and asynchronous online learning for business students for the remainder of the semester, the faculty asked me to record a video for my research session. Here's my writeup of how this worked out. Perhaps others will find this useful as they develop their own remote teaching... Continue Reading →
How to add Microsoft Teams chat links to your Libguide and Libcal
Now that we're working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty, staff, and [sometimes] students are encouraged to use Microsoft Teams for chats, calls, and meetings. To help faculty and students connect directly to their librarian, we have added individual Teams chat links to our subject librarian and archivists directory. I have also incorporated... Continue Reading →
Teaching remotely with Microsoft Teams
This week I had the new experience of teaching with Microsoft Teams. While I have given webinars on many occasions to both student and librarian audiences, this was the first time I taught an instruction session to 120 students across three on-campus classrooms simultaneously from my office. Background The Business Cluster is the core educational... Continue Reading →
I am now a persona
Talk about a role reversal! Instead of thinking of our library users as personas, I have become a persona myself. This semester my business students have been researching the outdoor recreation industry. For their third project of the semester, the ~400 students did a marketing consulting project for the Bailey's Mountain Bike Trail System. Quite... Continue Reading →
So long to the Business Blog
Sometime this summer I will be shuttering the Business Blog, my WordPress website that I've used to provide tips, tricks, and tools to business researchers across the planet since 2004. This has been a tough decision, but I am excited about exploring other methods to create and deliver my instructional content. Here I address the highlights and challenges of using WordPress as a library research guide.
Library Service Desks and User Experience
As reference interactions declined, libraries have cut, modified, or reduced reference services. This means that librarians have to find new ways to keep in touch with the general library user. Our frontline user services staff can be advocates for general library user experience.
Cheers to my ALA friends
This weekend, thousands of librarians will descend upon the city of New Orleans for the American Library Association annual conference. It's a big deal in our profession, and for the first time in ages, I'm not there. There's a number of reasons I decided not to go, but they all boil down to just... Continue Reading →