Towards innovative learning
JAMK Library has the great privilege to participate in EAPRIL Conference 2012 28th-30th November. You, Dear Attendee, are warmly welcome to meet and discuss with the library team!
The main theme of the conference is “Creating competence – Innovations in Learning and Development”. When considering this theme I see common ideas to daily library work as well. JAMK Library provides up-to-date collections, as well as premises and tools for learning and information seeking. And not just for students and staff of JAMK but everyone who needs practical information.
I really like to see JAMK Library as a place for action, a place where teachers, students, RDI staff and relevant information meet, rather than the place where these important players just quietly bypass each other under the watchful eye of the librarian (who is a little bit frightening because she has been sitting for hours without even blinking her eyes). Doing practice-based research teachers need theoretical information about her/his specific field as well, the RDI team may need RSS feeds or alarms from article databases or thesis writing students may need guidance about information seeking. JAMK Library offers quite a range of tools for learning and development.
Service examples
- Information seeking guidance: The main goal is to get an ability to search, locate and evaluate information and also to use it effectively. Besides curriculum embedded guidance, the library provides the optional online course, Specialized Information Seeking at 5 ECTS
- Thesis Sauna: Theses writing students can get one-to-one or small group guidance in database search problems. Guidance is provided in the library, not in the Finnish sauna building, so nobody needs to take towels for the event.
- Borrow a Librarian: JAMK staff can make an appointment for one-to-one or small group guidance on information seeking problems. Notice that the loan period of the librarian is just one hour, not longer than that.
- Support for RDI: Library has taken into account RDI work with the context of information seeking guidance, material acquisition and by publishing JAMK publication series.
Material examples
- Charming database trio Eric, Emerald and Ebsco (Academic Search Elite), (restricted access)
- Finnish UAS action research theses on Theseus (open access)
Literature (open access to bibliographic information only):
Lutakko Library
JAMK Library consists of four library units. One of them, Lutakko Library located in the conference place at Piippukatu 2, on the ground floor. So why not to pop in there and explore small book shows related to some themes of the conference?
Innovative library
So, there has been a lot of talking how JAMK Library supports learning and development with its services and collections, but what about the innovation role when creating competence of JAMK students and staff? It is a really difficult phenomenon to measure or even catch up, but what I think, is that library can support innovations related to learning, development, teaching and research if it provides the environment of true interaction for library customers. Library is not a light house which just guides individual persons in information needs to the right information sources. The library is not a horror house with frightening librarians, involuntary customers and enormous silence. And for sure, it shouldn’t be a warehouse with music and special offers instead of real and deep experience of lifelong learning. But the library should be a house of significant interaction with different JAMK players, information and services. Then we can truly say that we are involved in creating competence in an innovative way at Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences. And I hope we are on the way.
Kirsi Laasasenaho, librarian
Library Team in EAPRIL Conference 2012:
Pirjo Pohjolainen, Hanna Komulainen, Birgitta Kurvinen, Sirpa Warteva,
Taru Särkkä, Susanna Niemilahti-Könkkölä, Aira Välikangas, Kristiina Åberg