I feel like I’m coming into things a bit sideways, since I already have six years of experience behind me that’s shaping what I know. In a way I have to figure out how to put aside what I’ve learned in order to ensure that my mind is open to learning the ‘proper’ way that things can be done. No lie, I wish I was coming into this fresh and learning it all ‘correct’ from the get-go, but I also appreciate that having experience in the field will also make it a bit easier to think through things. The answers will be less hypothetical and more considering what I do in my day-to-day job.

As my education continues I look forward to looking back through these answers and seeing how a formal education shapes the way I think and the things that I find to be concerned with.

Answer the following questions from your perspective or experience. (in a few short paragraphs during week 1 and 2)

1. What types of media do you see in libraries, media centers, or other information related fields that you would like to learn?
   • Being in a small library I’m often a bit envious of the things I see other libraries using.  I would really like to see more up-to-date computers for the public at our libraries and better internet.  Being small and rural means we have a large population that relies on us for their internet access.  To that end, I would love to learn more about teaching young and old populations computer basics and how to engage with media online.  More than anything, I want a formal education in the types of media I’m already using.  Everything I’ve done so far has been self-taught, and while it’s gotten me by just fine I’m the kind of person that wants instruction and assurance that I’m using my best practices.
2. What types of instructional media is your school, library, or organization using now?
   • I don’t know that we have much in the way of instructional media as I understand it, though I wouldn’t be surprised if we are using something and I’m just not recognizing and labeling it as such. For the most part we are our own instructors, and so when there’s a technology class it’s our staff doing the teaching. We’ve done coding classes using Scratch, and for publicity flyers and such I use PowerPoint and PaintToolSAI for illustrations.  I’m very excited to have access to the Adobe suite to learn to use the graphic design and illustration software!
3. What do you see coming down the road (for your school, library, or organization or in general) ?
   • A lot of what we do is adapt things.  We often take a page out of the Mythbusters and using things not for their intended purpose!  For example we have two VR Occulus headsets that we are using for gaming programs but are going to be adding to and expanding to use as cultural and travel education experiences, letting people explore the world through AI since many of our citizens will never travel out of state.  We’re also getting our archival collection digitized and online, and using Omeka to do so, for which I hope to be able to get better at web pages so I can make the Omeka site a little more snazzy.