The American Library Association- Reference and User Services Division (RUSA) October 2024 CE offerings offer an outstanding combination of repeat and new courses/webinars. Our list of upcoming programming is below:
Connecting Information Literacy Efforts to Student Retention
Four-week asynchronous course starting on October 7, 2024
Experts say that student retention in academe is the continued enrollment of a student from the first year to the second year, and on to graduation. In this class, we’ll discuss the difference a librarian makes as a teacher of information literacy, study skills, time management, and academic writing, and in mentoring and supporting from first year to graduation.
The instructor, Debra Lucas-Alfieri, Retired with Distinction from her position as the Head of Reference, Interlibrary Loan, Public Services, and Information Analysis and Instruction, at D’Youvile University in Buffalo, NY. Debra has been teaching online library science classes, seminars, and webinars for over a decade, working with national organizations. She has presented web-based symposiums for organizations in Florida and Montreal. Debra has vast experience and knowledge of the history of libraries, and its mission, her research and philosophies are highly regarded, studied, and cited across the world. Through teaching and writing, she has impacted students and scholars across the globe.
This course is for reference and user services librarians to study and implement.
Six-week asynchronous course starting on October 14, 2024
Reference Interview is a comprehensive six-week course focusing on the methods of evaluating reference service, behavioral aspects of reference service, and the different types of questions that can be used to help patrons identify what they need. Using images and text, this in-depth educational approach covers everything from the approachability of the librarian to how to follow-up with a patron. Scheduled chat sessions will model interviewing techniques using sample dialogues.
The instructor, Dave Tyckoson, has almost 40 years of experience in academic libraries. Prior to retirement, he was the reference librarian at the University Library, California State University, Fresno. Past positions include serving as Head of the Reference Department at SUNY-Albany, Reference Librarian at Iowa State University, and Science Librarian at Miami University (Ohio). Tyckoson has also taught in the Graduate Library schools at SUNY-Albany and the University of Illinois.
Previous attendees had this to say about this course:
The Reference Interview Course really helped me improve as a future librarian. It didn’t just make me better at my job technically, but it also taught me how important it is to understand and communicate well with people who come to the library. Thanks to Dave’s great and easy teaching and the detailed course from the RUSA ALA, I’m now much better at helping our library visitors. I’m very thankful for this chance to learn, and I’m excited to keep using what I learned to make our library a better place for everyone. Gaby Gomez, Seminole County Library Services (Florida)
I took Reference Interview 101 last spring and so enjoyed brushing up on this topic with Dave Tyckoson as my instructor. He made what could be a very dry topic engaging and interesting, often personalizing it, which held my interest while also reminding me of the importance of my position when answering patron’s reference questions: Making myself approachable and also to ask the proper open-ended questions to get to the real question patrons are trying to ask, but often do not know how to articulate to us. Lastly, I never felt anxiety over the quizzes or the work shared with fellow students online and had such fun when practicing what we learned with my partner as a final small project. I highly recommend this as a refresher and reminder for something that seems so basic, but has everything to do with building relationships with our patrons and their comfort in using our public library.Lisa Gottshall, Manitowoc Public Library (Wisconsin)
Three-week asynchronous course starting on October 21, 2024
Business Reference 101 is for any librarian who wants to gain confidence and knowledge around BizRef topics such as company and industry research, consumer and market research, entrepreneurship topics, and more. This course allows users to go at their own pace as they work their way through each section. In addition to interacting with other course participants and sharing BizRef “stumper” questions, students in this course will have access to a number of proprietary business research databases through trials set up specifically for them.
The instructor, Celia Ross, has been teaching Business Reference 101 to sold-out crowds since 2006. She has gained business research experience in a number of settings including a venture capital firm, a global consulting firm and in public and academic libraries. She is currently a Senior Associate Librarian at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
Teaching Youth Ethics through Reference Interactions
60-minute webinar on October 30, 2024
Reference interactions offer valuable learning moments to teach young people ethical information behavior contextually and just in-time based on their own information needs. This webinar provides guidance and scenarios on integrating ethical instructions when helping youth do research and other information tasks.
The presenter, Dr. Lesley Farmer, is a Professor at California State University (CSU) Long Beach, coordinated the Teacher Librarianship program, and was named as the university’s Outstanding Professor.
Don’t see a topic that interests you, check out our continually updated listings here or submit a proposal form here.
The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more at www.rusaupdate.org.