My Mom: "You know, you could have been a doctor."
Me: "But Ma, I didn't want to be a doctor."
"Well, you should have been a scientist then at least."
"I *am* a scientist- a library scientist!"
Showing posts with label library science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label library science. Show all posts
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Make It Happen 2012: Day 12 and 13
I love to teach.
What surprises me most about this realization is how many times I seem to have to make it. This past week I've been rediscovering the joys of getting in front of a group of people and sharing what I know, as our ILL shop is offering what we've billed as a series of "Open Training" sessions on various topics in resource sharing. At first we were simply thinking about doing some cross-training in the office, but then my boss said why not open it up to the rest of the Harvard ILL community at large?
Which, as it turns out, was a great idea. After two successful sessions this week- one in a lecture format, the other a hands-on workshop- not only is everyone already excited for next week's offerings, but they're already asking that we make this an ongoing thing. I would be thrilled to do some instruction on a regular basis, as I've really enjoyed being back in a classroom setting, but it also makes me think that I need to find a way to make teaching a more integral component of my job as I move forward.
In a former life I used to teach adult education, introducing students to the wonders of Ancient, Homeric, and New Testament Greek at a nonprofit cultural institution. Although the hours were nothing short of insane between my day job and my epic commute back to the North Shore every evening, I always left the classroom feeling exhilarated. Of course it always helps to have a self-selecting lot of motivated students who are taking a class not because they have to but because they genuinely want to know more about a given subject, but even when the going was tough I relished in helping get a struggling student out of the weeds and into a better understanding of the language.
I must say that this is something I miss dearly. While my job has its instructional opportunities and librarianship as a whole is chock full of teachable moments, I'm keenly aware of the fact that I have certain academic itches which aren't being scratched. Does this mean going back to school? I've been kicking around the idea of going for a Ph.D. in library science. Maybe this is a sign that I should stop dithering and do it already...
What surprises me most about this realization is how many times I seem to have to make it. This past week I've been rediscovering the joys of getting in front of a group of people and sharing what I know, as our ILL shop is offering what we've billed as a series of "Open Training" sessions on various topics in resource sharing. At first we were simply thinking about doing some cross-training in the office, but then my boss said why not open it up to the rest of the Harvard ILL community at large?
Which, as it turns out, was a great idea. After two successful sessions this week- one in a lecture format, the other a hands-on workshop- not only is everyone already excited for next week's offerings, but they're already asking that we make this an ongoing thing. I would be thrilled to do some instruction on a regular basis, as I've really enjoyed being back in a classroom setting, but it also makes me think that I need to find a way to make teaching a more integral component of my job as I move forward.
In a former life I used to teach adult education, introducing students to the wonders of Ancient, Homeric, and New Testament Greek at a nonprofit cultural institution. Although the hours were nothing short of insane between my day job and my epic commute back to the North Shore every evening, I always left the classroom feeling exhilarated. Of course it always helps to have a self-selecting lot of motivated students who are taking a class not because they have to but because they genuinely want to know more about a given subject, but even when the going was tough I relished in helping get a struggling student out of the weeds and into a better understanding of the language.
I must say that this is something I miss dearly. While my job has its instructional opportunities and librarianship as a whole is chock full of teachable moments, I'm keenly aware of the fact that I have certain academic itches which aren't being scratched. Does this mean going back to school? I've been kicking around the idea of going for a Ph.D. in library science. Maybe this is a sign that I should stop dithering and do it already...
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