I was very pleased that the Workshop for Instruction in Library Use (WILU) was held in Hamilton, Ontario this year since it made it easy for me to volunteer and therefore attend part of the conference for free.
The responsibilities of volunteering: On the first day of the conference (May 12), I convened an afternoon session: Hybrid Learning: Integrating Online and Offline Activities into an IL Course led by Andrea Cameron and Jennifer Cyr (Concordia). This was my second time convening a session (in February, I convened a session at the Ontario Library Association’s Super Conference). I can now honestly say that convening is a pretty simple, stress-free way to become involved with a conference and gain some professional experience at the same time. I just had to introduce the speakers, keep an eye on the clock to ensure the session did not go too long, thank the speakers when they were done taking questions at the end of the session and collect evaluation forms.
The other part of my volunteer responsibilities at WILU involved ensuring people were directed onto the buses that would take them to the University Librarian’s Reception at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Pretty easy.
The perks of volunteering: The greatest part about volunteering at WILU was that it allowed me to attend sessions on the day that I was helping out. This meant that I was able to attend a session led by University of Guelph librarian Peggy Pritchard entitled Innovations in Information Literacy Training in the Sciences: Embedding an Electronic-Journal Project. I enjoyed this session immensely, especially because it related to what is at the heart of my own research interests: How instruction librarians can collaborate with faculty in order to effectively and creatively use technology to teach students information literacy skills relevant to the Twenty-first Century. (I want to spend some time very soon writing a post that reflects more directly on this session and similar initiatives currently underway in the world of academic libraries. For now, I’ll just say that the session was very enlightening and I am glad I had the chance to attend.)
The other session that I attended was the one that I convened, as previously mentioned. I quite enjoyed this session as well, especially since it discussed the practical advantages and disadvantages of using Moodle as part of an integrated information literacy course. (Again, Moodle deserves its own blog post since it is an amazing open source alternative to WebCT/Blackboard for those of us interested in cost-effective course management systems.)
Finally, I got to end my day at the conference reception. This was a great networking opportunity where I got to meet a number of librarians from across Canada while also getting to reconnect with former classmates from Western and former co-workers from McMaster. Additionally, attendees were able to explore the collection at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, which most notably features Kim Adams’ Bruegel-Bosch Bus.
I would be remiss to not also mention the opening and closing keynote speakers, each of whom spoke to conference delegates as well as the wider campus community who were invited to attend.
The opening plenary was delivered by Dr. James Paul Gee. Dr. Gee reflected on how Twentieth Century learning models are being surpassed by more technologically advanced initiatives focused on gaming and interactivity, which librarians are in a position to help encourage and support. For those who may be interested in learning more, the following is a brief clip where Gee briefly explains his perspective:
The closing keynote was delivered by Steven J. Bell (Temple University). His engaging talk was entitled Exploring the Instruction Mystery: Designing Our Way Past a Wicked Problem. What I got from this discussion was that learning processes go hand in hand with aspects of ambiguity, mystery and discovery that are inherently difficult to fully understand in librarians’ ongoing quest to prove we are making a difference in students’ lives and reaching our desired outcomes (e.g., fostering critical thinkers and lifelong learners). In library instruction, librarians therefore need to more willingly harness ideas of creativity, risk, technological innovation and exploration in what we teach students and the ways that we teach them. This can help ensure our relevance moving forward, and the relevance of what we teach. Hear, hear!
Moving on to next year: WILU 2011 will be held at the University of Regina. Hopefully I will be fortunate enough to attend once again. Small conferences of this nature are of particular value since they put the focus squarely on a topic of interest to all attendees (in this case, instruction). As well, they afford participants the opportunity to connect and engage with one another, which is not always as easily accomplished at larger conferences organized by the CLA, ALA and OLA, for instance.
* For more on WILU 2010, visit the conference Web site: http://wilu2010.blog.lib.mcmaster.ca. Also try searching for #wilu2010 on Twitter (lots of people were tweeting their reflections as the conference chugged along).
