FACULTY: Are you satisified with your students' scholarly research skills?

Contributing to the 4th annual Teaching and Learning Conference at SUNY Geneseo, Dr. Ellen Kintz (Anthropology) and Instruction Librarian Kim Davies Hoffman presented an informative and eye-opening session entitled, Transformation of Student to Scholar: Collaborative Research within the Millenial Classroom. To complete the full triangular collaborative model discussed by Kintz and Davies Hoffman, Geneseo students Tom Cardot (Senior, Anthropology with a Biology minor) and Felice La Pietra (Junior, Education/English) also spoke to conference attendees about their much improved level of scholarship as a result of the seamless integration of research skills into anthropological course content. See ANTH 229: Ethnography and Film as an example.

Conference participants were asked to reflect upon the scholarly research skills taught in each professor’s subject discipline and whether or not the corresponding academic departments placed emphasis on transforming their majors into scholars within the field. Comments from the group indicate that little attention is currently paid to raising the bar on students’ scholarly aptitudes within a specific field of study and that professors do not typically collaborate with librarians to achieve a higher level of student information literacy.

FACULTY: Please let Milne Library know (by commenting below) your biggest frustrations/complaints with how your students conduct their research.

Also, please comment on the biggest obstacle(s) that you see holding you back from working more closely with SUNY Geneseo’s instruction librarians.

Thank you for your continued support and assistance!

For more information on the Kintz/Davies Hoffman presentation, please contact Dr. Ellen Kintz (245-5276) or Kim Davies Hoffman (245-5046).

Update: The Writing Center will be open this summer

Contrary to our prior post, the Writing Learning Center will be open this summer from Monday to Thursday from 2:00pm to 4:30pm. The Writing Learning Center will be open through the end of summer classes on August 2nd.

The Center will be closed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and on days when the library is closed (Memorial Day, 5/28 and Independence Day, 7/4).

Did high school adequately prepare you for college?

On Friday, May 4, Kim Davies Hoffman attended the Spring Conference of the Western New York/Ontario (WNY/O) chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). The title of the conference was “Blur and Blend: Connecting Our Communities” and consisted of four sessions focused on librarian efforts to reach out beyond the physical library.

One of the more interesting and interactive presentations was offered by a working group of Rochester-area librarians, each situated in very different library settings – BOCES, Wilson Magnet High School, Rochester City Schools, Brockport High School, Monroe Community College, Bryant & Stratton College, SUNY Brockport, and the University of Rochester. The panel of speakers introduced the document, “Core Library and Research Skills Grade 9-14+,” that their committee has developed over the past few years and discussed various collaborative projects that have lessened the communication gap between high school and college librarians. The main objective of the ongoing conversations is to identify reasonable expectations of an entering college freshman's level of research aptitudes and attitudes and the efforts and skills needed at the high school level to adequately prepare graduating high school seniors. With high school and college librarians working together, we hope to create a more seamless and less anxiety-ridden transition of high school to college-level research.

Now that you are immersed in SUNY Geneseo’s expectations of college-level research, what information-seeking skills and attitudes do you wish your high school librarian had stressed more emphatically?

Writing Center Hours Update

The Writing Learning Center(s) will be closed for the semester effective Thursday, May 3rd.

The Centers will be open during the following times:

MONDAY, APRIL 30:
1:00 - 5:00 Welles, Room 217
8:00 - 11:00 Milne Library

TUESDAY, MAY 1:
1:00 - 5:00 Welles, Room 217
8:00 - 11:00 Milne Library

WEDNESDAY, MAY 2:
1:00 - 5:00 Welles, Room 217
8:00 - 11:00 Milne Library