WWCC DFW – Week 1

I am excited! Winter quarter 2010 marks my first opportunity to do a library practicum. I am delighted that the Walla Walla Community College (WWCC) librarians have agreed to allow me to do my Directed Fieldwork (DFW) under their guidance. My learning objectives for this DFW fit nicely with my interest in Information Literacy Instruction (ILI), Reference Services, and gaining general library experience.

I chose to do my DFW at WWCC because I want to be able to compare academic librarianship to public librarianship, and because I have thoroughly enjoyed the connections I’ve had at WWCC the past few years. When I embarked on this journey of changing careers, I began by taking a variety of courses at WWCC in order to explore various interests. Even after entering into the UW MLIS program, I have continued taking music classes at WWCC, and more recently, I began working as a Writing Tutor as of this year. Though it is different from my passion for senior citizens, I have a passion for college students as well.

This week has been about pinning down my Learning Objectives, understanding the projects I will be working on this quarter, getting to know the staff, and observing librarianship in action. I was invited to attend a faculty in-service training session designed to introduce the faculty to the newly designed library web page and use of the new KOHA catalog system. The presentation was well done and informative. I was surprised, however, as to how few attendees there were. I have to admit that I would probably be quite disappointed if I were the one who had spent the time and effort to prepare a presentation that so few attended. I suspect that it is quite typical for this institution. No doubt, this is a situation where a librarian must draw upon the intrinsic reward of a job well done, despite the circumstances.