Good But Steadily Getting Better

Dear Diary,

I was feeling a wee bit overwhelmed yesterday while preparing for this weeks SciFinder Structure Searching Lesson Plan.

But then I realized that this is completely new to me, and the last Chemistry lesson I had was over 16 years ago!

So all things considered, I am doing Darn Good. Just needed to remind myself that I literally learning this stuff at the same time I am required to teach it. I get maybe a 3 day head start.

A little perspective goes a long way on a stressful day.

Not Perfect but Darn Close!

Dear Diary,

Ever have one of those moments? Well, I did. Today in class, I was to demo the CrossFire Database first then have the students do the in-class assignment. And I had told them as much not 3 minutes before I decided....Nah!

So after my lecture (powerpoint slides) I just said "OK, no log on and do the worksheet!"...awkward pause then it hit me...."No-o-o-o....I demo it first!!" Oh nevermind! The students and my manager were wonderful but I felt so crazy!!

Oh well, I think I recovered nicely. Ha!

I mentioned that this database is difficult. My manager made a great suggestion that I refrain from saying things like that b/c they become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

I give myself much deserved credit b/c I not only learned the database, I was able to teach it! That was no small feat, b/c between you and I, it is DIFFICULT!! Shh!

I thought it was very kind of one student while I Previewed their citations for today's assignment before they submitted it, she said, "It must be a nightmare for you to have to grade all of these!" I smiled and thanked her for being concerned....and thought "From your lips to God's ears!"

Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till Screening with Keith Beauchamp

WOW!!

I am speechless!

The movie was powerful enough

but the Q & A after was amazing!

I asked him about the Photos taken by the Sheriff as soon as they pulled the body from the river. And about his father's military death and accusation of rape.

He said they are still looking for the photos. And out of respect for his mother, Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley, he withheld his finding on the murder of Till's father. But basically he was railroaded for dating a Captain's girlfriend and falsely accused of rape, and then hanged. This was used to try to discredit Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley during the murder trial of her son....implying "Like Father Like Son!" Bogus!

He told me that Alice Kaplan wrote about this Black Soldier lynching phenomenon in her book the Interpreter: http://www.rusoffagency.com/non_fiction/the_interpreter/the_interpreter.htm

Interestingly enough Mr. Beauchamp added that Dwight Eisenhower oversaw the murder of Till's father, and ignored Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley pleas to investigate the truth behind her son's murder!

For further information and to watch the theatrical trailers, visit this site: emmetttillstory.com

The event I attended was hosted by the Multicultural Student Programs and Services (MSPS) http://www.nd.edu/~msps/upcoming.htm


Keith A. Beauchamp has researched the Till case for over 8 years. During his monumental journey, he was able to work closely with the mother of Emmett Till, Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley to finally get her son's tragic story told. By using his expertise, Mr. Beauchamp was fortunate to find and hold exclusive interviews with eye witnesses of the Till case that will change the face of his-story.

The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till
In an event that contributed to the beginning of the civil rights movement, a black teenage boy in Mississippi was beaten and murdered for publicly addressing a white woman, and his killers were tried but released. The boy was Emmet Louis Till, whose story is told here in this documentary feature that, through eyewitness testimony and an interview with Till's mother, uncovers other potentially guilty parties, and helped cause the U.S. Justice Department to reopen the case.

Recent Press
CNN R. Alexander Acosta, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division said Monday that officials will reopen the Emmett Till's race-motivated murder following a long campaign by the NAACP, members of Congress and Mobley, who died in Chicago last year at age 81. Keith A. Beauchamp, found evidence after examining the case for nine years for "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till." He believes as many as seven additional people may have been involved, many of them still alive.NEW YORK TIMES, Robin Finn... Keith A. Beauchamp, whose as yet unreleased documentary, "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till," was pivotal in the Justice Department's decision this month to reopen that landmark 1955 murder case, often left the house with a parental salvo ringing in his ears. "Don't let what happened to Emmett Till happen to you," his mother warned.

Audioclip of NPR Interview with Keith Beauchamp

Recent Press:

NEW YORK TIMES, Stephen Holden17 August 2005"The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till," Keith A. Beauchamp's lean, harrowing inquisition into a murder that catalyzed the civil rights movement, is an incendiary documentary. Released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of his death, the 70-minute film has already made things happen.VILLAGE VOICE, Joshua Land16 August 2005No Justice, No Peace: Doc Reopens Old Wounds and a 1955 Case. A triumph of documentary activism nine years in the making, The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till revisits Till's death and the trial and acquittal of the two men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, who later confessed to the crime in a magazine interview (both have since died).

NEW YORK TIMES, Ellen Maguire...halfway through Keith A. Beauchamp's documentary "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till," the film cuts from Emmett's mother, Mamie Till Mobley, calmly describing her 14-year-old son's mutilation for whistling at a white woman — his head had been split side to side, and one eye left hanging from...CBS 60 Minutes Profile(CBS) For many, the name Emmett Till may not sound familiar, but what happened to him in 1955 stunned the nation, causing shock waves that still reverberate today.

Correspondent Ed Bradley reports.CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Robert K. ElderBeauchamp must be applauded for not only for his investigative daring but also his unflinching courage. At least one of his witnesses preferred to be interviewed in shadow, to protect her identity. After seeing Till's mashed features, bludgeoned so badly as not to be recognized as human, it's no wonder why. And all Emmett did was whistle.

VARIETY, Ronnie ScheibNine years in the making, Beauchamp's docu is the first-researched, second-released film on the subject. Stanley Nelson's "The Murder of Emmett Till" aired last year on PBS, following paths already blazed by Beauchamp.

TIME MAGAZINE Last week the Department of Justice announced it was going to crack open history and see if anything new crawled out. Assistant Attorney General, R. Alexander, described a joint project with the State of Mississippi to reopen the 1955 inquiry into the death of Emmett Till.

DETROIT FREE PRESS, Rochelle RileyBeauchamp began researching "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till" seven years ago, working with Emmett's mother, Mamie Till Mobley, until her death this year. It took three years for him to persuade Simeon Wright to talk. But Wright later introduced him to brothers John and Roosevelt Crawford. The latter, who recently retired from General Motors in Detroit, said it was about time. "It's been 47 years, and nobody ever tried to contact me or get in touch with me, not the NAACP, not the civil rights groups."

Is it Worth it?

Dear Diary,

Today my manager and I again discussed the reasons he created 20 different homework assignments for every single assignment, even though it dramatically increases the amount of time needed to grade each.

He insists he is doing his part to contribute to the environment of Academic Integrity. I consider it a "Lead them not into temptation..." approach.

I think back to the lectures on Millenials, that describes how this generation prefers a teamwork approach to learning. But he insists that it is important to disallow cheating on assignments. He insists "It is not fair to the other students who complete their homework assignments independently."

Today the Conservation Lab, hosted a Valentine's Day Open House complete with Catered Coffee and Smoothies. I made a journal. I watched paper get a bath. It was amazing!

Lastly, in my manager's class the computer system took nearly 5 minutes to load. So that drastically took away from in-class practice time. Luckily, I created "screen captures" of the entire process for today's in-class assignment. I figured since it was a complex database, the visual answers would help reinforce the concepts. And since some students did not have a chance to do the in-class practice, the answer sheet should help them.

Perfect timing, if I do say so myself! That reinforces my practice of having them log on at the beginning of class as opposed to waiting until I complete my lecture. I think it saves times.

Interesting thing I learned today:

Q. What is the chemical reason why water doesn’t “cool” your throat after eating hot sauce containing capsaicin?

A. After a review of the literature, it was determined that capsaicin is fat soluble. So if you eat hot sauce then consume something containing some Fat such as butter or whole milk.

Instructor, Writer, Librarian...Extraordinaire!!!

Dear Diary,

I just received notice that my article
Weary Helper:
From Private Investigator
to Librarian

has been published online
at LIScareer.com

available at http://liscareer.com/smith_pi.htm.

A Stroke of Genius

Dear Diary,

I noticed that my manager has a nice cover sheet attached to his graded assignments. He has a typed label with their name on it on a colored sheet of paper. Well since I am still trying to find supplies, I dare not use the limited stock I see in my library so instead, I decided to create a unique cover sheet that served multiple purposes. Bonus: my printer ran out of toner and I was forced to go upstairs and use the Color Printer.

But I digress. Since my manager and I agree that the 30 - 40 minute in-class worksheets are a preferable approach to database instruction, good old fashioned hands-on, we have foregone using all the active learning exercises I toiled over for the better part of the beginning of this year.

So as a way to still use my labors of love, I decided I'd put the students' names on them and use those "fun" activities as my Cover Sheets when returning assignments. The students won't have to do them, unless they want to. But at least they will have received them. I plan to ask for feedback on them at the end of the semester, all the same.

For example, today's cover sheet is a Bare Bones Tips Sheet for Web of Science, including Truncation, Synonyms, and Booleans search tips. Lots of white space but lots of information also. On the back, is a greatly reduced Word Find. Only 2 names to locate in the paper grid, and I listed 4 different names & possible Variations underneath. I listed the number of results the different variations retrieved in Web of Science. This activity originally required them to type in the variations I provided and record the different number of results returned.

So this way, they can clearly see how different spellings of the same name will retrieve very different results in Web of Science. They have the tip sheet that should assist with tonight's assignment and I have not wasted weeks creating these activities that no one would ever see.

It is a Win-Win situation. Gosh, I sure am glad I thought of it.

******************** On a different note******************

Today is another day to wear our "Gay? Fine By Me" T-Shirts.

It was a little scary wearing it the first time, but it was fine. Now that I am an instructor, it is yet again causing a bit of trepidation. But I suppose it is fitting seeing that Coretta Scott King's funeral was this week and as Dr. Martin Luthar King said:

"A threat to freedom Anywhere

is a threat to freedom Everywhere."

1 Potato...2 Potatoes...3...Potatoes...4

Dear Diary,

I have started trying to quantify my "busy - ness" so I can try to streamline some procedures that are time-consuming.

I realize now that today for example, I have:

Attended a weekly Reference Meeting.

Corresponded with students who have questions on Assignment #1, that I returned to them last week.

Graded Assignment #2, that I need to return this week.

Corresponded with students who have questions on Assignment #3, that is due this week.

Collaborated with my manager on this week's lecture, in-class exercises and Assignment #4, that I will hand out this week. Made photocopies for this weeks handouts.

I should add that part of my preparation for each week's class, I have to complete the upcoming assignments and in-class exercises to notify my manager if he need to make any chages.

I still need to write the grade sheets with comments and attach answer sheets with correct citations to each assignment.

Then I need to add the grades to my grade book. Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock.

***BONUS:

I received a copy of Christian Librarian with my article published:

Spiritual Literacy: A New Concept for a New Reality.

Yippee!!

Job Security for Librarians!

Dear Diary,

My manager showed me this timely N.Y. Times article aptly titled:

Pity the Scientist Who Discovers the Discovered
By GINA KOLATA

IN 1996, Rakesh Vohra, a professor at Northwestern University, and his colleague Dean Foster published "A Randomized Rule for Selecting Forecasts," a paper in the journal Operations Research. It illustrated how a random investor could outperform a group of professional stock pickers simply by following a "buy and hold" investment strategy.

It was important research, the authors believed, until they learned that the same discovery had been made at least 16 times since the 1950's. And no one, Dr. Vohra said, ever realized they were not doing original work.

The discovery that your discovery has already been discovered is surprisingly common, said Stephen Stigler, a statistician at the University of Chicago who has written about the phenomenon. Not only does it occur in every scientific field, he said, the "very fact of multiple discoveries has been discovered many times."

The result of duplicative research may be no more serious than chagrin over wasted time. But in other cases, say those involving medical research, there can be a real risk of harm to patients.

It may seem odd that scientists in the Internet age spend years on a line of research, even bet their careers on it, without having first determined that their mountain had not already been climbed. But Dr. Stigler said that scientists often are ignorant of the work being done by others in their field, and searches of scientific literature can be hard to conduct. Web search engines, for example, look for words, not ideas, and Dr. Vohra said he discovered that every researcher who had made his discovery had given it a different name and description.

Of course, it can be embarrassing to learn that your discovery isn't one. But the best defense may be a good offense.

For example, there is the oft-told story about Larry Shepp, a famous mathematician at Rutgers University. Dr. Shepp, when told that a piece of work he thought was his discovery actually duplicated another mathematician's breakthrough, replied: "Yes, but when I discovered it, it stayed discovered."

For complete article http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/weekinreview/05kolata.html

Just Keep Going & Going & ...

Dear Diary,

I am waiting to hear from my manager as to whether he will need to begin working part-time, and that will directly impact my workload. I know that he will be out during the month of April, but he just learned of this possibility last night. We will see.

I am still grading papers. I read through all papers once and simply credit the students with 1) On - time submission and 2) all answers present (including accompanying printouts / photocpoies, etc...)

Next I create a new grade sheet, weekly so I can make comments and return their grade with their assignments. Each assignment is different and so is my grade sheet. I do this on paper first and once the format is finalized then I create the electronic sheets.

I received an email from a fellow resident requesting feedback on my experience so far. I had not thought about the specific questions asked and so when I answered them I figured this would be a good thing to add here:

Challenges :

I have basically been getting acclimated to the hierarchy and the "acceptable" manner to move ideas forward. Careful of stepping on those toes!

I have to balance my desire to be involved in every possible endeavor, but not over-commiting myself and stretching myself too thin.

I want to knock their socks off without knocking myself out!

Goals
I'd like to gain experience in a variety of settings, in my case, Law and Chemistry BRANCH libraries as well as different departments in the Main Library such as Collection Development and projects with the African-American Subject librarian.

Also I'd like to positively convey the benefits of being a professional librarian to the High School students working in the library over the summer.

Teacher Becomes the Student

Dear Diary,

We live...we learn...and sometimes we learn as we go. That is the case with me and my first "for-credit" class. I have improved my system of organizing correspondence with my students. Today was the first day they got back graded assignments and so far only 1 person has brought to my attention, an oversight on my part.

The student emailed me and I responded in the affirmative about not having to cite call numbers for electronic journals if there is none given, which was also the information the reference librarian had provided. Well, in the midst of grading papers, I relied on the answer sheet from previous classes which provided call numbers. So I, in my auto-pilot mode simply deducted points for all those without call numbers. Luckily the student was kind enough to inquire and re-send my original email. I immediately corrected the grade and forwarded it with my most heartfelt apologies.

I also decided to print all the email correspondence with students regarding today's assignment and have attached the email "replies" to the student's assignments. This will remind me of discussions / decisions I've made. Because I see now interacting with 21 students can leave room for error or inconsistencies. And I plan to avoid any more such careless errors. I plan to implement this procedure for all future assignments.

Even though I am not perfect, as much as I hate to admit that, I am thoroughly enjoying my class. My manager commented on how much more livelier my class is than his session. My group is regularly laughing and talking to each other during the group work time. And today while doing an in-class worksheet to learn SciFinder Scholar which uses prepositions as opposed to boolean operators, and, or, not...I had 2 different students tell me about the Preposition Song they learned in high school. So I found the following that they confirmed was the song. They said it is sang to the rhythm of Jingle Bells.


Preposition Song

A preposition (clap clap)
is a word (clap clap)
used to show (clap clap)
the relationship (clap clap)
of a noun (clap clap)
or a pronoun (clap clap)
to some other word (clap clap)
in the sentence (clap clap)

(Set to the tune of Jingle Bells)

aboard
about
above
across
after
against
along
among
around
at
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
besides
between
beyond
by
concerning
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
ohhhhhhh….
into
like
near
of
off
on
out
over
pass
since
through
throughout
till
to
toward
under
underneath
unto
up
upon
with
within
without
that is the end of our preposition song.

Dear Diary,

Leslie and I are presenting at her alma mater, Wayne State on April 28th dealing with Writing & Publishing in Academia, in the Community, and the World. We will present on ChapBooks specifically how to write a grant for such a topic. Should be interesting. http://www.iupui.edu/~engwft/chapbooks.htm