Adventures of an instructional librarian
When people ask me to do a trivia event, my first thought is… blurgskdaskjhga. That’s right, blurgskdaskjhga is a real thing. Well, kind of. It’s a combination of two words. The words “blurg” and “skdaskjhga”. From Urban Dictionary, “blurg” is a “Versatile expression of confusion, annoyance, anger, boredom, or surprise, meaning … Read more
It seems like students these days are afraid of failing. I’m not talking about failing an entire course, I’m talking about what I call micro-failures, the biggest micro-failure fear I see from students is doing citations incorrectly. I’ve written about failure before, we need to be accepting of failure. If … Read more
Recently, I was approached by a colleague who requested my assistance in creating a fun and engaging activity to teach APA (American Psychology Association) citation in the classroom. Given that “APA citation” and “fun” are not often used in the same sentence, I knew this would be a challenge. However, … Read more
Years ago I saw this image popularized on social media and shared by an engineer friend of mine. Such a simple image had a huge impact on me and I have been reflecting on it as I consider my professional teaching philosophy. The image is clean, simple and concise and … Read more
I love talking about teaching and more specifically innovative teaching practices. One of my goals this year is to actually sit down and write an official teaching philosophy. A teaching philosophy helps you define your values, goals, and beliefs regarding both teaching and learning. This is really challenging! So I’ve … Read more
I’m not an overly emotional person when it comes to music. I’m also not a spiritual person but seeing Rage Against the Machine play at Bluesfest, last week was the closest thing to a spiritual experience I think I’ll have in my lifetime. Rage at Bluesfest Rage took the stage … Read more
Japan is known for some cool things, but you might not know that manhole covers are one of them. In Japan, there are artistically stylized manhole covers everywhere. It’s art on the ground! Check out S. Morita’s photo blog here. Similarly, Remo Camerota has an entire book about Japanese manhole covers in … Read more
As we celebrate Independence Day, I am reminded of my own personal journey of liberation. On July 4th, 2019, I had a difficult conversation with my father that marked a turning point in my life. It’s a story that I have hesitated to share, as it feels personal and intimate. … Read more
I am now the First-Year Experience Technician at Carleton University Library. Over the past year, I have researched theories and practices for teaching undergraduate students and more specifically first-year students about information literacy. In my research, I uncovered an undergraduate journal article, Dining with Anna Karenina: Opening the Invitation to Burke’s … Read more
I started to cleaning out my office in anticipation of a new position I will be starting in May of this year, the First Year Experience Technician at Carleton University Library. While I was Marie Kondo-ing my office space I came across a little black box. This box was part … Read more