How Basic is Basic? Kathleen Stacey Montgomery College, Germantown Campus

Rosy Future vs..... now  Working toward integrated information literacy  The one-shot presentation, flawed though it may be, is still the reality for many academic librarians

Definitions  “One shot” is a single presentation, usually less than an hour, to a college class  Conducted by librarian at request of professor  May or may not be tied into an assignment

We Can’t Cover Everything  Too much information available to present  Have to choose carefully  It’s all about what you leave out

Successful One-Shots  Clear objectives  Tied to a task  Includes hands-on time

Objectives  Often overlooked  Task based  Tangible results

Tied to a task  Students walk away with something  Have to apply skills immediately

Hands on time  A nod to short attention spans  Learning by doing  Time for individual questions  Time to accomplish the task

What to include in presentation  Lots of how, some what, minimal why  The smallest number of steps to perform the most basic of tasks  Get the students through a task successfully, then add the why

What to leave out  Advanced features  Evaluation of resources and results  Personal information about instructor  Jargon

The Humble Handout  Low tech but effective  To take away, in place of note taking  First steps only  Contact info for more help  1 side, lots of white space

Hands On Time  Need to actually try it, even briefly  Time needed to complete task  May be squandered