Discovering Natural Resources: College Librarians

By Kim Jones

Most students on campus are familiar with the UW Bothell/Cascadia Community College campus library. We’ve all studied, worked on group presentations, and perhaps snuck in the occasional power nap on one of the over-sized reading chairs in the library. While students may be familiar with many of the library’s resources (napping chairs included), how many of us have utilized one of the most valuable aspects of our campus library: the librarians?

Leslie Bussert, Head of Instruction Services and the Literature and Humanities Librarian, offers reasons why students should use the librarians as a resource during any stage of the research process and explains how the library helps students before self-directed lifelong learners.

Why did you decide to enter the field of library and information science?

What really sold me was that it required a graduate degree – I love learning, so the thought of more school actually sounded attractive to me. This idea also made me reflect back on my undergraduate experience, and suddenly it all made sense why I was always poking around the library and its various collections – not even for an assignment!  It was amazing to me all the information available on such specific subjects, and the idea of helping people navigate that, and enhance their learning in the process excited me (and in turn, I would get to learn about new things through the topics I was helping library users’ research). So basically it was my constant curiosity, love of learning, and love of libraries as places and resources, that got me into the profession, with a little nudge from my cousin.

What advice do you have for students in using the library and librarians as resources?

Ask us! Anything!  We are here to help you first and foremost, and we want to help you navigate your research process so it’s a positive experience for you. We can help with many stages of that process: topic/question development and revision, identifying appropriate search tools and keywords, constructing database-friendly searches, accessing print or online materials, evaluating sources, determining when and how to cite sources, and more.

The amount of information we all have access to is increasing at an extremely rapid rate so we can help you get a sense of what’s out there, what’s not, and generally help you navigate to resources that should be most relevant to your needs.  We also want to hear from you if you have feedback for us about anything regarding the library and how we might be better able to serve you and contribute to your success:

https://catalysttools.washington.edu/umail/form/uwblibt/3499

What do you see as the role of the librarian in the school setting and what do you hope to bring to the library?

Librarians are educators, whether it means being in the classroom teaching or working with students one-on-one to teach them tools, processes, and skills, especially around the information they consume and utilize.

The concepts we teach students are those they can transfer into their personal and professional lives which will help them be good problem solvers who can engage in evidence-based decision making as well as in the free exchange of ideas in service of the growth and creation of new knowledge.  These concepts include critical inquiry, information literacy, and research skills, all which require accessing, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing, and producing knowledge.

How do you connect what you do in the library with the classroom curriculum?

We consider our library to be a “teaching library” so we are very focused on helping students gain the necessary skills to be self-directed lifelong learners.  One strategy which helps us reach a greater number of students, and which makes library research instruction more relevant to students, is to integrate Information Literacy instruction directly into the curriculum of each school/program on campus.

The librarian liaisons to the schools/programs on campus become very familiar with their respective curricula and have identified specific courses where it makes sense for us to offer classroom instruction.  These courses typically include a research component and may also be “core” classes required for the major, the latter of which also helps is reach the greatest number of students in that major.

We are also gaining ground offering instruction or other support to students through other modes of instruction, such as online video tutorials.  These can be intentionally integrated into a course or simply are available to students who’d like to review certain concepts or tools they may need to brush up on.

In terms of our library collections, we tie our selection of materials directly to the curriculum content (versus our UW Seattle colleagues, for example, who are tasked more with developing comprehensive collections around all areas of study).

Who Do You Write For: Knowing Your Audience

By Heather L. Miles

During my conferences at the Writing Center I often ask writers to consider how deeply they need to explain a term or topic in terms of the audience they are writing to. “Who is your audience?” I’ll ask them, “Who are you writing to here?” They inevitably respond, “My professor?”

And that’s correct; every student is writing to/for a professor. As students, we know that our job is to demonstrate our grasp of the material through writing, and that the professor is the ultimate judge of whether we have achieved this task. But there’s an inherent flaw in that process: we already know that the professor knows more than us about the subject of our query, so we don’t necessarily have to go into great detail about the particulars. For instance, if I’m writing to my psychology professor about how Humanism developed from Existentialism, I don’t have to explain what “phenomenology” is; I can just talk about why it’s important to the Humanistic perspective. My professor is a well-informed audience, and writing to a well-informed audience allows me to move beyond ruminating over simple details to expounding on more complex concepts.

Sounds great, right? Until I remember that the whole point of academic writing is to demonstrate my knowledge of a topic. It matters not if my professor understands phenomenology, but that I understand it well enough to explain the topic myself, and that my writing is up to academic standards. In other words, the devil is in the details.

So who, then, can I write to instead? The first step, of course, is to ask my instructor if I should be writing to a particular audience as part of the assignment. If not, then my challenge is to locate some target audience, besides my professor, to whom might I address an in-depth explanation of a complex topic using formal academic language. Who else might need to know about phenomenology’s role in Humanism? It is here that I would like to introduce to you, Exhibit A: The Fellow Student.

My classmates are the perfect target for delivery of highly specialized academic knowledge. They have spent the quarter studying the subject along with me, but have not yet encountered my particular thesis. When writing to this audience I am free to speak in the language of the topic at hand, but still bear the burden of explanation of significant details. And this burden is a boon to any academic writer; since a student’s academic success hinges on the thorough and engaging explanation of a topic, a writer who imagines herself responsible for this success will be automatically guided towards providing an appropriately detailed and relevant explanation to her imagined audience.  The result is a paper which accurately and appropriately demonstrates the writer’s knowledge to the actual audience: the professor.

I’m not sure when I started writing to my fellow students. I just happened to catch myself delivering a lecture to an imaginary classroom in my mind’s eye while writing a research paper last quarter, and realized that I’d apparently chosen a fictional college class as my paper’s audience. Since then I’ve been doing so intentionally, and with great success. Even now, I imagine that I’m writing to an audience of fellow students who turn to the local writing center blog for insight and entertainment, and who are going to try my “classmates-as-audience” technique on their next assignment. You are, aren’t you?

Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day: Poems by Writing Consultants

It is National Poetry Month and to celebrate our Writing Consultants have written some poems.

Ode to White and Strunk

By Cate Foster

I sat at the table of contents
feasting on serial commas
and mixed metaphors that went
straight to my head

periodic sentences came at the
beginning and stayed
to the end
but happily,
needless words were omitted
from the guest list

the vowels were late, having
stopped at the Glottal Café
for tea

the tenses and the participles
were present, but
the tenses kept shifting and
the participles
merely
dangled

all the while, overdressed
adverbs
ate awkwardly

in the end,
the infinitives
split

trespass

By Heather M

I can only
tell
so much of my soul
through narrative speech
the rest, I must communicate
through images which words can paint
poems seeking to eliminate
the boundaries of experience
and skin.
Borders broken, joy and grief
spring forth unbidden
and understanding
sneaks in.

Seasoned Words

By Kat S.

Spring, a joyous celebration of words
new growth and reemerging favorites
before the impact of grammatical fences
or the weeds of run-on sentences
have time to overtake subtler blooms
images painted with the written word
spoken in the rain’s poetic rhythm
bud, blossom, flower, fruit
season of poetry

Using PowerPoint: Tips for Crafting Visual Presentations

By Shana Hirsch

You will inevitably be asked to carry out several PowerPoint presentations throughout your college career, and with a little bit of practice and creativity, you can make your presentations engaging and lively. Here are a few tips to help you when designing slides and presenting to an audience:

Even though a visual presentation like PowerPoint is a different medium than a paper, you will want to make sure that you are communicating your main point, or thesis, and then backing that point up with relevant information. By treating your PowerPoint presentation just as you would a paper–by creating a thesis and an outline—you will make sure that you are getting all of your points across clearly. One method that will enable your presentation to flow is to think of your slides as an outline or a structure and your oral presentation as a location to expand on the main points that you are indicating on your slides.

Take some time to consider the design and layout for each slide. Try to think like a designer would and don’t clutter: keep it simple. Your slides should be a complement to your verbal presentation. It’s fine to put only a single picture on a slide, or as few words as possible, but be clear and think about how it relates to your thesis. Additionally, using images will help visual learners and can enhance and contrast with your oral presentation. In a PowerPoint presentation, spelling and grammar matter, so come on in to the Writing Center if you would like some help with refining your slides.

Remember: a presentation is as much about the audience as it is about you or your work; make sure that you treat the audience like honored guests. Interact with them; they came to see you, and to hear your ideas. One way to make sure that you connect with the audience during your presentation is to focus on them more than on your own slides. As with any presentation, speak to your audience and make eye contact. By practicing your presentation beforehand, and by having some note cards in hand, you can avoid having to turn your back to the audience as you read from your slides. Don’t be dependent on your slides; instead, use notes and practice your presentation in advance.

You’ve done a lot of hard work; now give your project the presentation it deserves!

Spring Break: Planning Strategies for Meaningful Vacations and Essays

By Elizabeth Babadzhanova

Being a student at the University of Washington Bothell, I have countless hours of essay writing experience. And like other students, I am looking forward to Spring Break. As much as I wanted to give my mind time to relax and daydream while planning my Spring Break vacation, a switch flipped and I began to plan my vacation the same way that I approach my essays.

A paper is nothing without a strong topic; similarly, a vacation is nothing without a destination. Whether that destination is Hawaii, or the bed that I’ve been separated from all quarter, the topic of my paper, like the destination of my vacation, needs to attract me in some way. Finding areas of attraction not only allows me to be passionate about what I am writing, but the appeal also allows me to believe that it will provide me with new insights and experiences. Without that allure, it is probable that my essay will turn out uninteresting and my vacation will seem uninviting.

To create structure, it is essential to establish the budget for the trip. For example, a thought-provoking and eloquent 1,000 word essay corresponds with a $1,000 budget to cover my adventurous and relaxing vacation. Just as a writer needs to know how to allocate words for sections of their paper, a trip planner needs to acquire the skill of distributing funds for a vacation.

Now comes the crucial point, building my thesis. How can I summarize the argument of my essay in one sentence? More importantly, how can I convince my parents that they should let me use their timeshare for my Spring Break vacation with my rowdy friends? If there was ever a reason to figure out my ultimate argument or purpose for my vacation, now is the time to start developing a strong case. How the argument is assembled and presented can make or break the quality of an essay, as well as any vacation plans.

Research is a key aspect of both paper writing and vacation planning. Thorough work depends on the quality of the resources I use. For example, using Wikipedia as my main research source is like depending solely on what a friend tells me she paid for a hotel room the previous year—not a good idea. Prices change, so at best my friend’s information is a ballpark figure. Like Wikipedia, my friend’s estimate might be a good place to start, but it would be better to go with something more reliable.  I avoid unreliable information by finding scholarly articles, which incorporate facts and relevant researched material. Such materials can be found through using article databases, or in the case of vacation planning, using a travel database.

I equate to going straight to the source such as the hotel’s website with using peer-reviewed articles. Sources such as these help a researcher understand the conversations occurring around this topic from multiple sources, giving a trip planner and writer the opportunity to compare, contrast, and engage in thought. Using reliable sources for research will provide my paper and my vacation with the strongest evidence to support my claims. There is no such thing as too much research because it can only help the preparation, in either scenario.

Finally, just as I would in my essays, I summarize what I learned and how that information supports my main point; in this case, how I can a have a fun Spring Break vacation for $1000. It is essential for me to finish strong by reminding the audience why I want or need this vacation, and making sure that thought sticks in the minds of my audience. By using a strategy such as this one I can ensure a thorough paper and/or a vacation that I will always remember as Spring Break 2012.

What people say about the UWB Writing Center

If you haven’t been to the Writing Center, do you ever wonder what people get out of our tutoring sessions? If you have come in, do you ever wonder what other  people think about using the Writing Center?

Using feedback collected from people who used our services during fall 2011, Writing Consultant Ani D. created an image that helps answer these questions.

 

Suffering from Citation Paranoia?

By Cate Foster

You’re not the only one. Trust me – just about every scholar on campus has a fear of improperly citing a source. Kurt Schick makes some excellent points in his blog post Citation Obsession? Get Over It!. However, I think perhaps he’s over-reacting just a bit.

Okay, so I need to make a confession right from the start. I am a word nerd. No, seriously, I am really a word nerd to the highest degree. So much so that I will admit to you right now that I have been known to read the Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook for fun. I even have my own copies of each sitting on my personal bookshelf.

I like citation styles. I do. I’ve conducted workshops and created (I hope) user-friendly guides for students about various styles used on campus. Citation styles appeal to my love of language and organization.

As much as I enjoy language in all its stylistic forms, I believe there is a tendency to place too much emphasis on citation styles, especially at the undergraduate level. That being said, however, I think that Schick is being a wee bit reactionary when he says it’s a “colossal waste” to incorporate the use of citations styles into academic writing. Is it formulaic? Of course.  But arbitrary? No. There is a reason for all the infuriatingly nit-picky and seemingly arbitrary rules in each style.

There is a lot of information to convey in a citation, and consistency ensures that a reader can locate the necessary information. However, we all need to remember that the various citation styles were developed long before the internet came into being. The need to properly cite a YouTube video or to distinguish between a newspaper article found online or one in an honest-to-goodness paper newspaper was not necessary when the various citation styles were first developed. As the possibilities for locating sources grow, so does the need for standardization of citing these new sources of information.

Navigating the path of citation styles can be tricky, but we mustn’t let the minutiae of citations  get in the way of the actual writing. Writing is a scary endeavor, and we frequently find any excuse to get out of writing assignments. I, for one, know that my kitchen was always cleanest the day before a big paper was due. Citing sources and formatting a bibliography can be just another way to avoid the actual writing of a paper. Writing a clear, cohesive paper is a much more satisfying accomplishment than knowing whether or not “p.” is used before a page number in MLA style (it isn’t, by the way – that’s a convention used in APA).

Citing sources is a way for scholars of all levels to engage in an ongoing conversation about a given topic. It is a way to honor the work of others and acknowledge the inspiration gleaned from research. But citations and their respective styles are merely a part of academic writing, and it’s a well-written, cohesive paper that is the ultimate goal.

So, citations and their appropriate style are not something you can ignore. Every paper is written within a given discipline and for a specific audience, and this dictates the citation style you choose to use (or are told to use). Every scholar must learn the rules and language of academic writing. Citation styles dictate that basic structure in academic papers, and therefore render their formulaic nature necessary.

Don’t get too wrapped up in the ins and outs of citation styles. Have an understanding of the basics; know what information is required. Then, if you end up using a source for which you cannot find an example, use your best critical thinking skills to create your citation and move on with your paper. And if you’re still stuck, give us a call or stop by. We can help with that.