Key Concepts Applied to Capstone Project

Librarianship as a C A R E E R

C ommunication

Communication is a very important concept for this project. One portion of the project was an interview with a librarian that deals with the social sciences. In using the interview, it shows the importance of communication with colleagues about library issues. Interviews were also done in ILS 615 - Humanities - Literature and Sources and ILS 620 - Legal Bibliography and Libraries. Additionally, ILS 503 - Foundations of Librarianship provided a mentoring opportunity, which reinforced the importance of communication.

A cquire

Acquiring materials was a second concept applied in the capstone project. The print sources collected in the pathfinder were materials in the Quad-Linc OPAC of the River Bend Library System. Anyone using this pathfinder could acquire the materials listed for any other library or consortium, as it is important to acquire the proper materials for the patrons of a given library. For example, a community college library would focus on general materials and materials for ungraduates, as opposed to a university which would use financial aid materials for graduate students. This concept was taught specifically in ILS 519 - Acquisitions and Development of Library and Information Resources.

R eference

Reference is another important concept in the capstone project. The ability to use materials for reference is an important skill for a reference librarian to learn. ILS 616 - Social Sciences - Literature and Sources is a reference course that covers many tasks that a reference librarian would do in a professional position. The course project, which is used for the capstone project is a pathfinder, which can be used as a reference material. The importance of this type of project was reinforced with similar projects in ILS 615 - Humanities - Literature and Sources and ILS 620 Legal Bibliography and Libraries. Furthermore, librarians must become familiar with all types of materials in a libraries collection and important web sites on the Internet.

E valuate

Evaluating sources is one of the most important concepts for a librarian to learn. Evaluation was crucial to the capstone project as the pathfinder portion of the project provided the opportunity to evaluate materials for financial aid. All of the courses in the program provided opportunities to learn the importance of evaluation. This included peer reviews, evaluation of print sources, and evaluation of web sites. In order to provide proper information, librarians must evaluate all types of sources for patrons before and after materials go on the shelves or in a web page done by the library.

E ducate

Educating patrons is one of the most important functions of an academic librarian. The capstone project provides an opportunity for educating students about good materials for financial aid. ILS 501 - Introduction to Information Science & Technology showed the importance of disseminating information, which is one way to educate patrons. In courses that provided opportunities for peer reviewing, projects were read by others in the class. This provides an opportunity to teach others new material. Examples included ILS 615 - Humanities - Literature and Sources, ILS 655 - Digital Libraries, and ILS 680 Evaluation and Research. ITC 575 - Instructional Design Principles provided a forum to see the importance of methods of educating students; specifically, being organized is very important, which is a strength of the pathfinder created for ILS 616 - Social Sciences - Literature and SOurces (the project chosen for the capstone project).

R esearch

Research is another important concept for the capstone project. One of the aspects of research that was taught in the course was that research should provide some coverage of a broader issue as well as a specific one. This aspect is demonstrated by the coverage of the study paper and pathfinder. Education as a whole is covered in the study paper, and the pathfinder covers a specific aspect of education, in this case financial aid.

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