The University Libraries and Archives will close July 3rd & 4th for the Independence Day Holiday. Mullen Library will be open on Sunday, July 5th from 1pm to 5pm as normal.

For more information, please see Mullen Library Hours.

May 18 through August 8, the University Libraries will be open during the following hours:

For more information including holiday hours please see Mullen Library Hours and Campus Library Hours.

Download the Summer 2009 schedule

Image 1, Flickr Commons (Library of Virginia)

Article:

de Winstanley, Patricia Ann, and Robert A. Bjork. (2002). Successful lecturing: Presenting information in ways that engage effective processing. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 89, 19-31.

Deets:

Monday afternoon, nine colleagues gathered on the third floor of Mullen library to kick-off the first CUA Library Instruction Journal Club (LIJC).*

de Winstanley and Bjork’s article begins by examining the actual goals behind the lecture—a term that has gained an increasingly negative connotation in recent years. As a group, we brainstormed our own objectives (optimistic and realistic) behind the lecture and came up with the following:

• To impart basic information to large (sometimes small) groups of individuals
• Convey new information
• Increase students’ enthusiasm
• To entertain
• To keep our job

These objectives then led to a discussion about what attributes our favorite past instructors had had.

Again, our list:

• Knowledgeable
• Interested
• Passionate
• Taught with clarity and simplicity
• Told stories
• Involved multiple senses (where one exceptional music instructor used a cake— providing both a visual and gustatory aid)

We listened to a short excerpt from WNYC-Radiolab to better illustrate the complexities of human learners as noted in the article, namely

1) learning is an interpretive process, relating to what

is already known,

2) information retrieval is a fallible process, and

3) retrieving information from memory is a potent

learning event.

After discussing the difficulties of how much should be reviewed and how to deal with unmotivated students, director Dr. Kim Kelley posed the rhetorical question “Are our goals manageable for a 50 min session?” Are they? Perhaps a topic for another LIJC.

Group members were quick to point out seeming contradictions in the article. For example, although PowerPoint was cited as dividing student attention, the use of visual images, mnemonics, graphs, film, and figures was encouraged as a technique to enhance processing.

In closing, I asked group members to share take-away elements of the article. What personally did they want to try in their own instruction? Answers ranged from making the material relevant to using word games and trivia in large groups. Others liked the idea of simple Lessig style presentations and making encoding possible by having students engage with the materials in small group settings. In toto the lively group participation made for an informative hour and a successful exchange of ideas.

More Info:

Missed the first meeting? Join us throughout the summer, the third Monday of each month at 2:00pm, where a different presenter will guide our discussion.

*LIJC is designed as a semi-structured gathering for library personnel to discuss scholarly articles relevant to library instruction and related topics (e.g., technology, pedagogy, students’ perceptions/misconceptions, involving faculty, active learning etc.).

Curious how to more fully engage faculty and students in library instruction? Interested in improving your instruction skills? Simply swamped with all those scholarly readings, you keep meaning to get to?

Well, I’m pleased to announce the start of the new Library Instruction Journal Club (LIJC)!*

This summer, we are launching a pilot program that will meet the 3rd Monday of each month in room 322 for one hour. Each month, a different presenter will select one (or two) scholarly articles to read. He/she will then guide a discussion central to the topic.

Anne Marie Hules has agreed to lead our first discussion, on Monday, May 18th at 2:00pm. We’ll be discussing early rhetoric and assumptions guiding the development of IL standards. The citation for the article is:

Connor, Lisa O. (2009). Information Literacy as Professional Legitimation: A Critical Analysis. Journal of  Education for Library and Information Sciences, 50 (2), 79-89. Click here for full-text.

Come to one session, all sessions, or none. Drop in or out as your schedule allows. LIJC is open to all!!

*For more information about Journal Clubs, check out this.

Beginning today, Mullen Library will remain open 24 hours per day until closing Friday, May 8 at midnight.

Limited services will be available after midnight. The stacks will be closed, but laptops will be available for loan . Everyone entering the library will be asked to show ID. Only those showing a CUA ID will be admitted after 2 a.m.

Mullen Library will be open extended hours – including all night – for final exams. Library hours will be:

Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3 9 a.m. until 2 a.m.

Monday, May 4 Open at 8 a.m.

Tuesday thru Thursday, May 5 - 7 Open 24 hours

Friday, May 8 Open until midnight

Saturday, May 9 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Limited services will be available after midnight. The stacks will be closed, but laptops will be available for loan . Everyone entering the library will be asked to show ID. Only those showing a CUA ID will be admitted after 2 a.m.

Need help with last minute research? Polishing your text? Join CUA’s Libraries and Writing Center to put the finishing touches on your final paper(s). Librarians and Writing Center staff will be on hand to answer all your questions on Wednesday, April 29 from 5:00-7:30pm in the MERIC classroom.

As the semester winds down,  join CUA’s Libraries and Writing Center to put the finishing touches on your final paper(s).  Librarians and Writing Center staff will be on hand to answer all your questions.

1. Thursday, April 23 from 5:00-7:30pm

2. Wednesday, April 29 from 5:00-7:30pm

Questions: contact Miranda at (202) 319-4628.

We are very pleased to announce that CUA students, faculty and staff now have access to the Education Research Complete database. We hope you will find it helpful. It includes bibliographic information and abstracts of articles from over 1600 journals, full text from over 1000 of those, and the full text of over 130 books and numerous conference papers. It covers all levels and specializations in education and education administration. It also crosses into areas such as psychology, health/nursing, and social work. As with all library databases, access is available from any internet connected computer.  Off campus users, log in using your CUA ID number.

The University Libraries will remain open with reduced hours during Spring Break.

* Please note that the Physics Library will only be open by appointment.

For more information please see Mullen Library hours and Campus Library hours.

Download the 2008-2009 schedule