Webinars:
I have to say that I agree with what I've been seeing in my cohort's posts - the chat feature in the webinar platform often led down unrelated or irrelevant pathways instead of deeper discussion of the issues the webinars were addressing. Also, thank goodness for teammates who can watch the chat box while you're presenting - never have I had it driven home so clearly that I am abysmal at multitasking. I have to say that the webinar was actually a pretty cool experience, but with an amount of time that short, you've really got to think about what you want to get across and make sure all of your underlying notions are expressed, which I failed at, but I've learned my lesson for next time. The webinars I watched were really informative and interesting, but I doubt I did them justice in my interactions - I have been running on empty lately. Anyhow, good job everybody!
Professional Development Readings:
I found the ideas expressed in the readings this week to be engaging and interesting. (Though the comments in Blowers & Reed about how useful it was to learn to clean a mouse took me by surprise.) The principle, however, is timeless, even if the subject matter isn't. The idea of more self-motivated professional development really appeals to me, especially the notion of tailoring your program to your specific strengths and weaknesses. I have to say, I like that idea much more than the more traditional one-size-fits-all "Who Moved My Cheese?" style PD sessions. The Fusion program described by Semadeni definitely seems more empowering and useful than traditional PD efforts, and its usefulness in community-building would undoubtedly improve a teacher's chances of improvement and increase the dialogue among education professionals.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Week 10: Class reflection, Week 11: Twitter!
Week 10: Class Reflection
Last week in class we discussed Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science, as well as a couple of more recent incarnations of them. We spent the bulk of our discussion time on embedded librarianship and online learning. During the remainder, we met with our webinar groups to come up with a topic and a plan.
We discussed why institutions offer online learning program, why people choose online or face to face programs, possible pitfalls in online learning interfaces and communication. Before I came to SI, I had a choice between an online program at another highly ranked institution and the face-to-face program here. Because it was important to me to get to know my teachers and classmates, to get hands-on experience during the program, and to build up my professional network throughout, and because I know myself well enough to realize that I am not sufficiently self-motivated to stay on top of assignments in an online program, I chose the face to face program. Of course, every student has different priorities. If I was already working in a library with opportunity for advancement and an enjoyable work environment, I may have made the choice to attend an online program.
Week 11: Twitter
I've been on Twitter for a while, mostly using it to keep up with local events and friends, but this exercise has really revealed to me the usefulness of the tool in keeping up with library news and identifying innovative services and programs in libraries. I have to admit, however, I felt a bit uncomfortable with the whole retweeting thing. I don't really know why, though. I guess I feel like it's similar to introducing yourself to a stranger out of the blue, and that idea definitely makes me nervous.
I agree with Meggan, though, too. There's a lot of Facebook-ish triviality on Twitter. When I was looking for people to follow, I'd decide based on their descriptions. After I looked at my feed, though, I deleted the people who posted mainly about dinner, cats, etc. If I knew them personally, I'd probably leave them there and giggle at them. I find the wide range of topics interesting. Do many people, I wonder, have a personal and a professional Twitter account?
Last week in class we discussed Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science, as well as a couple of more recent incarnations of them. We spent the bulk of our discussion time on embedded librarianship and online learning. During the remainder, we met with our webinar groups to come up with a topic and a plan.
We discussed why institutions offer online learning program, why people choose online or face to face programs, possible pitfalls in online learning interfaces and communication. Before I came to SI, I had a choice between an online program at another highly ranked institution and the face-to-face program here. Because it was important to me to get to know my teachers and classmates, to get hands-on experience during the program, and to build up my professional network throughout, and because I know myself well enough to realize that I am not sufficiently self-motivated to stay on top of assignments in an online program, I chose the face to face program. Of course, every student has different priorities. If I was already working in a library with opportunity for advancement and an enjoyable work environment, I may have made the choice to attend an online program.
Week 11: Twitter
I've been on Twitter for a while, mostly using it to keep up with local events and friends, but this exercise has really revealed to me the usefulness of the tool in keeping up with library news and identifying innovative services and programs in libraries. I have to admit, however, I felt a bit uncomfortable with the whole retweeting thing. I don't really know why, though. I guess I feel like it's similar to introducing yourself to a stranger out of the blue, and that idea definitely makes me nervous.
I agree with Meggan, though, too. There's a lot of Facebook-ish triviality on Twitter. When I was looking for people to follow, I'd decide based on their descriptions. After I looked at my feed, though, I deleted the people who posted mainly about dinner, cats, etc. If I knew them personally, I'd probably leave them there and giggle at them. I find the wide range of topics interesting. Do many people, I wonder, have a personal and a professional Twitter account?
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Week 9: Class Reflection and Week 10: Readings Response
Week 9: Class Reflection
The main thing we did in the last class was to gather into our groups and deliver our workshops. The workshops delivered in our group were definitely enlightening. We had one on ethics in cataloging, one discussing Kickstarter, a tutorial on how to use Google Sites, and a workshop focused on engaging students with primary documents. I think the biggest challenge for our group was fitting everything we wanted to cover into such a short amount of time. 20-30 minutes is so much less time than you think, instructionally speaking, because you've got to introduce the concept, practice, and assess, then get feedback. I feel like we didn't have time for much depth, and in the workshop Tyson and I led, I don't think we quite accomplished our goals. The feedback from our participants echoed my own thoughts on the workshop and also pointed out areas of improvement that I hadn't noticed, things I'll be sure to keep in mind for next time.
Week 10: Readings Response
How People Learn, Ch. 7; Online Webinars! (Montgomery, 2010); The Embedded Librarian (Matos et al, 2010)
The two articles we read were about embedded librarians and webinars. I must admit, I have little experience with librarians within courses or schools and rarely utilize the reference services provided by libraries. I do agree with Matos, though, that a librarian who is physically in the same space as the faculty he is responsible to will have more opportunity to keep abreast of topics and trends in the department. I also found the differences between librarians' experiences with the faculty and students in various subjects to be interesting. It makes sense that the business librarian would also be seen as a resource for technological methods used frequently in business and that a music librarian who is also a musician would take on many different roles within the performing arts community.
At the same time, however, SI has its own librarian, right? At least theoretically? I don't think I've ever actually spoken to her. I've read her emails, but I wonder how much interaction with SI students and faculty members she has. That's the thing. There are so many resources available to students, and the vast majority of us utilize only a small proportion of those resources. I could see webinar attendance as a course requirement succeeding, but if it's not required, I really wonder how many students would take advantage of such a thing. Speaking personally, my focus is schoolwork, work, internships, and day-to-day concerns, then I'll think about talks and webinars and other enrichment opportunities, and I take advantage of those all too rarely. I don't know. I'm skeptical.
As for "Effective Teaching: Examples in History, Mathematics, or Science," I found it fascinating, but I finished unsure of the effect these techniques and insights would have on my (future) professional practice. I guess the concepts could be incorporated in programming, but that would be strikingly different from the classroom experience, in that it would likely be a one-shot sort of program. (And here begins my thinking-out-loud, rambling section.) I wonder, though, if public libraries could partner with local organizations or institutions to enact some sort of a companion program to the traditional summer reading program, a primarily educational exploration/enrichment sort of thing. Beginning with a nontraditional format in mind, how cool would it be to let the participants determine the specific content? Say, envisioning a program led by an avid outdoorsperson or other expert under the wider umbrella of the natural world or local ecosystems (or something) and letting the students narrow the focus and come up with questions to lead their exploration. Man, that would be awesome. Question is, would kids want to participate? Hmm..
The main thing we did in the last class was to gather into our groups and deliver our workshops. The workshops delivered in our group were definitely enlightening. We had one on ethics in cataloging, one discussing Kickstarter, a tutorial on how to use Google Sites, and a workshop focused on engaging students with primary documents. I think the biggest challenge for our group was fitting everything we wanted to cover into such a short amount of time. 20-30 minutes is so much less time than you think, instructionally speaking, because you've got to introduce the concept, practice, and assess, then get feedback. I feel like we didn't have time for much depth, and in the workshop Tyson and I led, I don't think we quite accomplished our goals. The feedback from our participants echoed my own thoughts on the workshop and also pointed out areas of improvement that I hadn't noticed, things I'll be sure to keep in mind for next time.
Week 10: Readings Response
How People Learn, Ch. 7; Online Webinars! (Montgomery, 2010); The Embedded Librarian (Matos et al, 2010)
The two articles we read were about embedded librarians and webinars. I must admit, I have little experience with librarians within courses or schools and rarely utilize the reference services provided by libraries. I do agree with Matos, though, that a librarian who is physically in the same space as the faculty he is responsible to will have more opportunity to keep abreast of topics and trends in the department. I also found the differences between librarians' experiences with the faculty and students in various subjects to be interesting. It makes sense that the business librarian would also be seen as a resource for technological methods used frequently in business and that a music librarian who is also a musician would take on many different roles within the performing arts community.
At the same time, however, SI has its own librarian, right? At least theoretically? I don't think I've ever actually spoken to her. I've read her emails, but I wonder how much interaction with SI students and faculty members she has. That's the thing. There are so many resources available to students, and the vast majority of us utilize only a small proportion of those resources. I could see webinar attendance as a course requirement succeeding, but if it's not required, I really wonder how many students would take advantage of such a thing. Speaking personally, my focus is schoolwork, work, internships, and day-to-day concerns, then I'll think about talks and webinars and other enrichment opportunities, and I take advantage of those all too rarely. I don't know. I'm skeptical.
As for "Effective Teaching: Examples in History, Mathematics, or Science," I found it fascinating, but I finished unsure of the effect these techniques and insights would have on my (future) professional practice. I guess the concepts could be incorporated in programming, but that would be strikingly different from the classroom experience, in that it would likely be a one-shot sort of program. (And here begins my thinking-out-loud, rambling section.) I wonder, though, if public libraries could partner with local organizations or institutions to enact some sort of a companion program to the traditional summer reading program, a primarily educational exploration/enrichment sort of thing. Beginning with a nontraditional format in mind, how cool would it be to let the participants determine the specific content? Say, envisioning a program led by an avid outdoorsperson or other expert under the wider umbrella of the natural world or local ecosystems (or something) and letting the students narrow the focus and come up with questions to lead their exploration. Man, that would be awesome. Question is, would kids want to participate? Hmm..
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Week 8: Class Reflection
Last week in class, we discussed a couple of different library issues in an ethical context and hashed out the details of our one-shot workshops for this upcoming week.
The issues we discussed in class were, hypothetically, how to deal with the recent ebook price hike, and the possibility of putting ads on the back of Toronto's public library's date due slips. One thing that came up in the first discussion was whether and how to share this development in the ongoing ebook struggle with your patrons. So many libraries have blogs now, could they include a "News from LibraryLand" category? Would that come off as whiny? Do patrons want to know? I mean, public libraries are largely publicly funded, so do we have an obligation to our patrons to notify them of major changes that will affect how we spend that money? It's undeniable that budgetary information should be available, but how specific should we be? I believe strongly that most public library patrons would care about what's happening behind the scenes, so why is that information not promoted? I mean, yeah, there are librarian blogs all over the place, but the library web site outside of catalog functionality seems (from my limited experience) to be mostly a promotional and PR tool rather than a place to learn about library issues. Maybe I'm just looking at the wrong library web sites?
That's the main thing that's been bouncing around in my head since class.
Side note: When I started applying to library schools, I started trying to be more aware of issues in LibraryLand. One of the things I found then was (I'm sure you can guess what it was. Last year, uproar in LL?) Harper Collins' 26 circulation cap on ebooks. Of course, I just wanted to discuss this with everybody I knew. So I did. Many of these people were longtime public library users. I don't think a single one of them knew anything about it, and they universally reacted with surprise and consternation, prompting some very interesting discussions.
The issues we discussed in class were, hypothetically, how to deal with the recent ebook price hike, and the possibility of putting ads on the back of Toronto's public library's date due slips. One thing that came up in the first discussion was whether and how to share this development in the ongoing ebook struggle with your patrons. So many libraries have blogs now, could they include a "News from LibraryLand" category? Would that come off as whiny? Do patrons want to know? I mean, public libraries are largely publicly funded, so do we have an obligation to our patrons to notify them of major changes that will affect how we spend that money? It's undeniable that budgetary information should be available, but how specific should we be? I believe strongly that most public library patrons would care about what's happening behind the scenes, so why is that information not promoted? I mean, yeah, there are librarian blogs all over the place, but the library web site outside of catalog functionality seems (from my limited experience) to be mostly a promotional and PR tool rather than a place to learn about library issues. Maybe I'm just looking at the wrong library web sites?
That's the main thing that's been bouncing around in my head since class.
Side note: When I started applying to library schools, I started trying to be more aware of issues in LibraryLand. One of the things I found then was (I'm sure you can guess what it was. Last year, uproar in LL?) Harper Collins' 26 circulation cap on ebooks. Of course, I just wanted to discuss this with everybody I knew. So I did. Many of these people were longtime public library users. I don't think a single one of them knew anything about it, and they universally reacted with surprise and consternation, prompting some very interesting discussions.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Week 7: Reflection, Week 8: Reading Response
(Week 7) Book Clubs!
I had a lot of fun this week during our book club sessions, and I feel like it went very well. I don't think anyone was hesitant to speak up, but there were a few moments when we were a bit stumped about what to say. All of the facilitators did a good job with this, though - very encouraging. The main problem I ran into was when someone was perhaps more eager than others to talk at length, drowning out some of the quieter voices. It seemed very teacherish to try to control those voices, and I was definitely a bit too reluctant to take that step. However, when I imagine a book club style discussion, I don't imagine anyone controlling the conversation, just encouraging it. Comments? Suggestions?
(Week 8) Ethics!
The Code of Ethics felt like a very strong stance to me. Weren't we recently discussing activism in here? Or am I thinking of another class (or outside of class) discussion? "Dangerous Questions at the Reference Desk," however, felt somewhat opposed to the ALA Code of Ethics. Lenker's stance that it is a librarian's responsibility to factor his or her own personal moral stance into the answering of a "dangerous" reference question seems completely contrary to two points in particular from the ALA document, "We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional duties and do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with fair representation of the aims of our institutions or the provision of access to their information resources," and "We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources."
Now, in answering a "dangerous" reference question, it's quite possible that the "aims of our institutions" might come into conflict with our service to a patron, but if we "resist all efforts to censor library resources," then I don't see the place of the librarian to keep any library resources from the patron. The idea of letting our own moral rules have a limiting effect on the information we provide to patrons makes me a little nervous. A couple of weeks ago in my reference class, we discussed library service to LGBT youth, and the article we read evaluated various librarians' reference service on the subject of GSA formation in schools. Overall, the librarians evaluated didn't do very well, though whether it was personal bias or a lack of knowledge of available resources was unclear in most cases. I hold that it's not the librarian's job to pass moral judgement on the patron or hinder her search for information. Does the possibility of illegal or "dangerous" future action on the part of the patron change that? I don't have an answer for that one, but I'd tend to lean towards no. I'm looking forward to hearing some other opinions, though, and I hope they'll help me clarify my own thoughts on the matter.
I had a lot of fun this week during our book club sessions, and I feel like it went very well. I don't think anyone was hesitant to speak up, but there were a few moments when we were a bit stumped about what to say. All of the facilitators did a good job with this, though - very encouraging. The main problem I ran into was when someone was perhaps more eager than others to talk at length, drowning out some of the quieter voices. It seemed very teacherish to try to control those voices, and I was definitely a bit too reluctant to take that step. However, when I imagine a book club style discussion, I don't imagine anyone controlling the conversation, just encouraging it. Comments? Suggestions?
(Week 8) Ethics!
The Code of Ethics felt like a very strong stance to me. Weren't we recently discussing activism in here? Or am I thinking of another class (or outside of class) discussion? "Dangerous Questions at the Reference Desk," however, felt somewhat opposed to the ALA Code of Ethics. Lenker's stance that it is a librarian's responsibility to factor his or her own personal moral stance into the answering of a "dangerous" reference question seems completely contrary to two points in particular from the ALA document, "We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional duties and do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with fair representation of the aims of our institutions or the provision of access to their information resources," and "We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources."
Now, in answering a "dangerous" reference question, it's quite possible that the "aims of our institutions" might come into conflict with our service to a patron, but if we "resist all efforts to censor library resources," then I don't see the place of the librarian to keep any library resources from the patron. The idea of letting our own moral rules have a limiting effect on the information we provide to patrons makes me a little nervous. A couple of weeks ago in my reference class, we discussed library service to LGBT youth, and the article we read evaluated various librarians' reference service on the subject of GSA formation in schools. Overall, the librarians evaluated didn't do very well, though whether it was personal bias or a lack of knowledge of available resources was unclear in most cases. I hold that it's not the librarian's job to pass moral judgement on the patron or hinder her search for information. Does the possibility of illegal or "dangerous" future action on the part of the patron change that? I don't have an answer for that one, but I'd tend to lean towards no. I'm looking forward to hearing some other opinions, though, and I hope they'll help me clarify my own thoughts on the matter.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Week 6: Reflection and Week 7: Reading Response
Week 6: Reflection
We discussed book clubs, do's and don'ts, Socratic Seminars, and how to implement them. I found the discussion about our own perceptions of book clubs to be interesting. I've never participated in one, though I have participated in lively discussions in literature classes, which seems to be similar. The one book club I've known of was actually a group of men I knew who read contemporary literary fiction and discussed it periodically. They missed literary discussions like they had participated in in college, so formed a group of like-minded people from their circle of acquaintances and made it happen. I've known quite a few people who talked about forming a book club, but never took the initiative.
I believe that there's a desire for lively discussion, whether it's of books, movies, or shorter works, but there's no argument to the fact that people's preconceived notions about book clubs contribute to a reluctance to participate. Perhaps beginning a new marketing strategy or empowering patrons to work with librarians to organize a discussion group would be ways of changing people's minds about book clubs. I don't know.
Week 7: Readings
It seems that most people in my reading group chose fiction. "Darkness" is a webcomic, though I didn't investigate further to see if it is part of an established series or a stand-alone. Honestly, it was not to my taste, but I'm looking forward to hearing what others got out of it. "Donkey Skin" is a fairy tale. I don't think I've read it before, but one of my comfort books (Deerskin, by Robin McKinley) is based on it, so it felt familiar. I'm going to have to work to keep my thoughts about the book out of the discussion of the fairy tale. At any rate, with the almost-incest, fairy godmother, voyeurism, and love at first sight in the story, I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about. "Cinnamon" was the story I found most interesting, also told in the style of a myth or legend. (I think it's the first thing I've read by Neil Gaiman. Don't judge) I'm definitely going to have to give everything a few more reads before I feel comfortable talking about the pieces. I have a feeling I'll be pretty quiet during the comic discussions anyway, though.
This exercise so far has driven home the importance of building a book club around common interests and tastes, and I'm looking forward to seeing how all of this works out tomorrow.
We discussed book clubs, do's and don'ts, Socratic Seminars, and how to implement them. I found the discussion about our own perceptions of book clubs to be interesting. I've never participated in one, though I have participated in lively discussions in literature classes, which seems to be similar. The one book club I've known of was actually a group of men I knew who read contemporary literary fiction and discussed it periodically. They missed literary discussions like they had participated in in college, so formed a group of like-minded people from their circle of acquaintances and made it happen. I've known quite a few people who talked about forming a book club, but never took the initiative.
I believe that there's a desire for lively discussion, whether it's of books, movies, or shorter works, but there's no argument to the fact that people's preconceived notions about book clubs contribute to a reluctance to participate. Perhaps beginning a new marketing strategy or empowering patrons to work with librarians to organize a discussion group would be ways of changing people's minds about book clubs. I don't know.
Week 7: Readings
It seems that most people in my reading group chose fiction. "Darkness" is a webcomic, though I didn't investigate further to see if it is part of an established series or a stand-alone. Honestly, it was not to my taste, but I'm looking forward to hearing what others got out of it. "Donkey Skin" is a fairy tale. I don't think I've read it before, but one of my comfort books (Deerskin, by Robin McKinley) is based on it, so it felt familiar. I'm going to have to work to keep my thoughts about the book out of the discussion of the fairy tale. At any rate, with the almost-incest, fairy godmother, voyeurism, and love at first sight in the story, I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about. "Cinnamon" was the story I found most interesting, also told in the style of a myth or legend. (I think it's the first thing I've read by Neil Gaiman. Don't judge) I'm definitely going to have to give everything a few more reads before I feel comfortable talking about the pieces. I have a feeling I'll be pretty quiet during the comic discussions anyway, though.
This exercise so far has driven home the importance of building a book club around common interests and tastes, and I'm looking forward to seeing how all of this works out tomorrow.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Week 5: Reflection -- Week 6: Book Clubs & Socratic Seminars Response
Week 5: Reflection
This week, we touched on transfer, gave more attention to the gaming discussion, discussed and identified the key issues we found in our blogger readings, and picked partners for the book club discussion. I must admit, I was looking forward to a little more discussion of transfer in class, but I feel that neglected that topic a little in our eagerness to discuss McGonigal's ideas of gaming. I did find our discussion of the bloggers' issues very interesting. Some of the contrasts between the issues discussed by the different types of bloggers were surprising. I was surprised in particular by the more detached style adopted by the public library bloggers in contrast to the reflective, open style of the academic library bloggers. Our small group discussion delved into the ideas of audience, purpose, and branding, which turned into a pretty engrossing class discussion.
Week 6: Book Club & Socratic Seminar Readings
"The Book Club, Exploded" focuses on ways to mix up the traditional focus of book clubs, mixing media, fiction and nonfiction, focusing on topic or genre and letting the group compare and contrast bigger issues than the ones contained in a single book. Hoffert also suggests connecting to authors, offering book club kits, and including "bonus materials," like author interviews and other works on similar topics or with similar themes.
"The Evolving Book Group" focuses more on innovation in placement and conduct of book clubs - a mix of online and face to face discussion, group meetings in senior centers and bars, partnerships with local bookstores and other organizations, and also nontraditional book club fare, like graphic novels. Dempsey stresses the need to create book clubs "with careful attention to patron needs and interests," to be willing to think outside of the box with regard to meeting times and places, and to be unafraid to reconfigure a struggling group to better fit user needs.
Both of these readings hold important lessons for libraries - most importantly, don't be afraid to think outside the box, consider patrons' needs, and look for ways to attract non-users.
"Teaching Reading" looks at the day-to-day mechanics of using a Socratic seminar in the classroom, discussing tips for implementation, possible pitfalls, and positive results. It's more of a case study than a comprehensive look at the use of Socratic seminars in education. "Socratic Seminars," on the other hand, is more of an overview of their use in education, as well as a look at the positive results of their use.
Though I wonder if a Socratic seminar format would be useful for book clubs, it might appeal to those former liberal arts majors (like myself, sometimes) who miss college literary discussions. I could also see its appeal for professional development purposes, to facilitate conversation about new practices or innovation in the use of traditional ones.
This week, we touched on transfer, gave more attention to the gaming discussion, discussed and identified the key issues we found in our blogger readings, and picked partners for the book club discussion. I must admit, I was looking forward to a little more discussion of transfer in class, but I feel that neglected that topic a little in our eagerness to discuss McGonigal's ideas of gaming. I did find our discussion of the bloggers' issues very interesting. Some of the contrasts between the issues discussed by the different types of bloggers were surprising. I was surprised in particular by the more detached style adopted by the public library bloggers in contrast to the reflective, open style of the academic library bloggers. Our small group discussion delved into the ideas of audience, purpose, and branding, which turned into a pretty engrossing class discussion.
Week 6: Book Club & Socratic Seminar Readings
"The Book Club, Exploded" focuses on ways to mix up the traditional focus of book clubs, mixing media, fiction and nonfiction, focusing on topic or genre and letting the group compare and contrast bigger issues than the ones contained in a single book. Hoffert also suggests connecting to authors, offering book club kits, and including "bonus materials," like author interviews and other works on similar topics or with similar themes.
"The Evolving Book Group" focuses more on innovation in placement and conduct of book clubs - a mix of online and face to face discussion, group meetings in senior centers and bars, partnerships with local bookstores and other organizations, and also nontraditional book club fare, like graphic novels. Dempsey stresses the need to create book clubs "with careful attention to patron needs and interests," to be willing to think outside of the box with regard to meeting times and places, and to be unafraid to reconfigure a struggling group to better fit user needs.
Both of these readings hold important lessons for libraries - most importantly, don't be afraid to think outside the box, consider patrons' needs, and look for ways to attract non-users.
"Teaching Reading" looks at the day-to-day mechanics of using a Socratic seminar in the classroom, discussing tips for implementation, possible pitfalls, and positive results. It's more of a case study than a comprehensive look at the use of Socratic seminars in education. "Socratic Seminars," on the other hand, is more of an overview of their use in education, as well as a look at the positive results of their use.
Though I wonder if a Socratic seminar format would be useful for book clubs, it might appeal to those former liberal arts majors (like myself, sometimes) who miss college literary discussions. I could also see its appeal for professional development purposes, to facilitate conversation about new practices or innovation in the use of traditional ones.
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