So why “A Rested Librarian”?
Well basically, I’m on sabbatical (see more under About Me) and therefore hopefully “rested” or endeavouring to become “rested”. Up until now, a general state of extreme busyness and preoccupiedness with daily projects, meetings, and tasks has meant that, while I might have thought blogging was a good idea, and admired many librarians and others who engage in it, I felt like I never ever had the time to blog.
Also if you’ll allow me this play on words, “arrested” is a term which appealed, and dictionary definitions explain that arrested may mean “to stop, check” or “to catch and hold; attract and fix; engage”. This blog, I hope, will teach me to to stop myself more, to take stock, to reflect, and maybe it might, the odd time, help others do the same. And if it can arrest by catching, holding, fixing or engaging, even one or two people’s attention, then it’s surely worth it – something to aspire to at any rate!
And while each librarian’s sabbatical will be unique, I hope that by sharing my experience, other librarians who have upcoming sabbaticals might gain something from my sharing my experiences.
This blog in particular will provide:
- Insights in to life as a “Visiting Scholar” at a library school. I’m based at the School of Information and Library Studies (SILS) at University College Dublin from July to December of this year. It should be a year where I learn much from the faculty of the School and its students through projects, research and teaching experiences.
- Findings and discoveries as I engage in my own research, while on sabbatical, especially with regard to:
- faculty perceptions, attitudes and experiences of information literacy
- assessing student learning and attainment of information literacy competencies
- information literacy and pedagogy especially active learning, clickers, inquiry learning
- Snippets of interesting information re areas I track of general interest, most of which will relate to areas such as assessment, user experience and information literacy.