Before coming to the iSchool, my instruction experience could be summed up by a handful of company software training sessions. As a performer, I was never afraid of being in front of a crowd, but I had not had an opportunity to really dig into issues surrounding curriculum development and assessment. This changed very quickly when I accepted the position of Grants and Funding Information Services (GFIS) Manager at Suzzallo Library in the fall of 2006.

My main responsibility at GFIS is instruction: I teach two workshops to introduce graduate students and faculty to resources they need for identifying outside grants and potential funders. As a former fundraiser, it has been incredibly challenging to look at something I know and understand intimately from a completely different perspective.

The very first week on the job, I learned that I was going to need to be quick on my feet and rely on my improvisational skills to implement changes quickly. One of the workshops I teach focuses on learning how to search two very different databases and get high-quality results. My first day in the office, I learned that one of the database subscriptions had been changed, and I was going to need to create all new materials for that part of the curriculum. I was able to quickly familiarize myself with the tool and re-work the curriculum to focus around a new database that was starkly different from the tool I had spent time learning over the summer!

I have continued to face similar challenges in my position since the fall of 2006. I feel that my teaching skills have grown significantly: balancing group teaching and one-on-one consultations, learning to deal with improvising through equipment failure and changes to resources (one database released a new user interface that I saw for the first time in front of a class!), and reworking my materials over time to better reflect the needs of my audience are all areas where I have grown. As GFIS Manager, I have redesigned workshop materials, added a teaching component to introduce students to Boolean searching, and really honed my skills working with a truly diverse group of students and faculty from more than 52 graduate departments. Engaging such a diverse group has prepared me for instruction in any number of settings with students across all disciplines and academic levels. I feel like this experiences have given me a firm foundation in instruction that has prepared me for instruction in music library settings, whether working with majors, non-majors, graduate students, or undergraduate students.

These challenges have been incredibly rewarding, but not as rewarding as the people I have come to know. I have met students from the age of 22 all the way to students in their 60s who have been inspring to meet. They have ideas for projects that have the potential to change the world, and getting to know them and help them find the resources they need has been the most rewarding part of my instructional experience.

View my instruction materials for database searching
View my special resource sheet for music students