Library Informs Education Majors on Resources
Brooke Burger
Senior Staff Writer
The Fred J. Taylor Library and Technology Center hosted an Education Fair for students in the School of Education to familiarize the students with library resources that can aid them in the pursuit of an education degree.
Sept. 16-18 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., any interested education students could participate in the self-guided library tour through resources specific to education, which was implemented by the School of Education liaison Paula Reaves, technical services and reference librarian.
Reaves said the fair benefited faculty, staff and students by providing them with information on what resources are available through the library in-print and electronically.
“I think it‘s been successful,” Reaves said. “It has accomplished what I wanted it to accomplish.”
According to Reaves, the idea to host the fair developed last semester when Reaves spoke with Sue Martin, assistant professor of education and teacher education coordinator, who suggested providing information on the available resources that would benefit education interns. Reaves considered the idea and decided such an event could benefit all education students; so she implemented the idea of an education fair.
The Education Fair included tours of the following library resources:
- The Curriculum Section – includes textbook materials for a variety of curriculum subjects, including general special, elementary and secondary resources.
- The Children’s Literature Section – includes access to children’s literature used in classrooms. In addition, the collection includes children’s literature award winners for the Caldecott Award, Newbery Award, Charlie Mae Simon Award and the Coretta Scott King Award.
- The Current Periodicals Section – provides current education print journals. Students seeking print journals can conduct a title search available through the library’s online catalog.
The tour concluded with a tutorial on navigating the library’s Web site, as well as using databases and accessing electronic journals. Education students can access similar information through the library’s online education research guide.
After the tour, students could enjoy light refreshments in the library’s Director's Conference Room. In this room, students could also view a display of books recently purchased for education and pick up free educational government document publications, which are also available to pick up on the Free Publications Table near the entrance of the library.
Reaves said, though the library did not take down specific comments from students who participated, she heard many students mention that they did not know about several of the resources included in the tour and wished they would have known about those resources sooner.
Jessica Grider, an education intern, said the Education Fair was beneficial.
“I feel like I can better navigate the library,” Grider said. “I know more about what it has to offer.”
Jason Johnson, also an education intern, added, “This should be something considered for freshmen.”
According to Reaves, the library hosts tours throughout the semester, but the Education Fair was a specific outreach strictly geared towards education students. Though the fair was specifically for education students, Reaves said any interested persons could participate.
Kay Crook, serials and technical processing assistant, noted that this is the first time the library has hosted a fair. Reaves said the library has discussed holding another event similar to the Education Fair for other units on campus. She asked that anyone interested in a library event for their unit should contact the library.
“I think it’s been successful enough to try it again,” Reaves said. She added that if any other unit is interested, “we’ll pursue it strongly.”
Crook, along with Linda Forrest, interlibrary loan and
administrative assistant, helped with the organizing the fair.
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©The Voice 2008
