Metrolina Library Association: 7th Annual Information Literacy Conference

Last Thursday June 14^th I had the pleasure of attending the Metrolina Library Association’s 7th Annual Information Literacy Conference in uptown Charlotte. I attended the conference with three other colleges, Mary Susan Lucas, Cory Lenz, and Betty Thomas. (Our other colleague, Susan Catterall, found herself as Cinderella back in the library on the Reference desk.)

This conference was a very enriching and informative experience. It was my first time attending so I made sure to leave the house early enough to allow for the expected lost-in-uptown 10 minute diversion before locating the Johnson & Wales University Charlotte campus where the conference was to be held. Thankfully, parking was only a short walk from the campus so my feathers weren’t too ruffled by the time I walked in doors.

After a pleasant few minutes of coffee and chat with other local librarians where I had the pleasure of meeting the famous reference Svengali Dr. Moniz, I attended the panel “Remodel – No Train, No Gain: Instituting an Information Literacy Professional Development Program” presented by Jenny Dale and Amy Harris Houk from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Following this panel everyone mingled outside in the great hall for a “poster session” where we all had the opportunity to review and speak with the various librarians who had created information literacy themed posters.

After looking at all of the posters I scurried off to the second panel titled “Sharpen – The Feedback Loop: Student Reflection on Research, Writing, and Information Literacy” presented by Jennifer Arnold of Central Piedmont Community College. I attended one more panel “Engage – QUEST: A Learning Game Information Fluency” presented by Helen Fowler of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools before joining my newfound friends and colleagues for a delicious barbeque lunch prepared by the wonderful Johnson & Wales University chefs.

The spread that they had laid out for lunch was fantastic! The pulled pork and barbeque chicken were certainly far better than much of the fare that one can find for sale around the Gateway Village area. The ice tea was refreshing and the peach cobbler was tres bien.

After lunch I (sleepily) attended the final panel  “Engage – Beyond the Basics: Effective and Engaging Information Literacy Instruction for Upper-Level Students” presented by Lynda Kellam and Jenny Dale of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Lucky for me their presentation was quite energetic, otherwise the barbeque would have worked its magic and left me as one happily sedated librarian in the back of a freezing classroom.

The whole shebang was wrapped up by a keynote presentation from Jessamyn West, an extremely entertaining woman who expounded on everything from the digital divide, adult literacy, social networking, and Vermont floods. I look forward to attending next year’s conference and will endeavor to make the Metrolina Information Literacy Conference an annual tradition.

~Leanna Fitzgerald~

A Local Secret Garden

Wing Haven Gardens and Bird Sanctuary were created by Elizabeth and Edward Clarkson in 1927 on their estate off of Ridgeway Avenue in the Myers Park area of Charlotte. The gardens, enclosed on all sides by brick walls, encompass almost three acres in the heart of Charlotte and include lovely vistas, formal gardens, and woodland areas. Elizabeth’s gardens were planted to provide a sanctuary for birds and other wildlife. The gardens provide cover, nesting sites, food, and water for the fowl and other small animals that take refuge in the gardens.

When I visited Wing Haven last Friday I discovered that throughout the garden Elizabeth, and later her Estate, had placed small plaques bearing the names of the many plants and flowers. I also discovered small plaques inscribed with inspirational quotes hidden among rose bushes and in front small water pools.  Visitors to Wing Haven will marvel not only at the gardens but at the frequent sightings of birds and the small wildlife scampering throughout the property. Wing Haven truly is a quiet sanctuary secluded behind stone walls, iron fences, and large oaks.

The garden’s creator, Elizabeth Clarkson, was diagnosed with undulant fever and was often bedridden because of this illness. To entertain herself while recovering Elizabeth focused her interests on ornithology. She began journaling about birds and their habits in 1933. Elizabeth Clarkson was also an early environmentalist. When the city of Charlotte sprayed DDT to reduce the mosquito population, Elizabeth protested the pesticides by blocking the fogging trucks. You can read Elizabeth’s journal entries here http://www.winghavengardens.com/ECBlog/index.asp

After Elizabeth’s death the Clarksons gave the gardens to the Wing Haven Foundation and its Board of Directors has been responsible for maintaining the gardens in keeping with the Clarksons’ spirit and intent.

I myself discovered Wing Haven Gardens last weekend when I visited the gardens to listen to a selection of personal favorites played by Ayoung Lee, a classically trained pianist. I arrived at the gardens at about 6:30 p.m. with several friends and we drank champagne and nibbled on finger foods while we toured the shady oasis. The rose garden was exceptional and a very fragrant spot in the dusky summer evening. I saw my first chipmunks at Wing Haven and delighted to see them darting to and fro amongst the underbrush beneath the mature oaks. Being from Florida, I had not previously seen chipmunks. The birds kept up a constant chatter and all the while lovely sounds from the talented Ayoung Lee floated out to us in the garden from Mrs. Clarkson’s old Steinway. Visiting Wing Haven was a wonderful treat for an early summer’s evening.

I encourage you to visit this local treasure and make a donation supporting the Wing Haven Foundation. Check this link for information on Wing Haven events. http://www.winghavengardens.com/SeasonalEvents.asp?month=6&year=2012

 ~Leanna Fitzgerald~

27th Annual Computers in Libraries Conference

Last week I attended the 27^th Annual Computers in Libraries Conference in Washington, D.C. This was a fascinating experience and an incredible opportunity to interact with colleagues in the profession of librarianship. In addition to librarians, there were many conference attendees who worked in the IT departments of libraries as well as various Metadata Specialists and Information Architect professionals.

I relished the opportunity to meet diverse library personnel and discuss the conference topics with them. There were six tracks (Track A Mobile Trends & Practices, Track B Web Presence, Track C Inspiring Innovation, Track D Navigating Information Overload, Track E Content Management, and Track F Library Issues & Challenges) that you could attend. Luckily conference attendees were allowed to attend panels in each track. There were too many interesting panels to choose from! “Super Searcher Secrets for Success” and “Embedding Digital Literacy in the Curriculum” were two of my favorite panels.

Each morning of the conference began with a keynote speaker. One of the best keynote speakers we had was Michael Edson from the Smithsonian Institution. The keynote speaker’s presentation was followed by a brief coffee break where attendees could mingle and talk about the panels they had attended the day before. There were also “dine-around” sign-up sheets where conference attendees could find a group of librarians to try out a local restaurant with. The “dine-arounds” had set discussion topics and attendees could sign-up based on their interest in the restaurant venue or the topic of discussion. I choose a digital literacy discussion topic complete with a Greek restaurant venue. (Both of these factors proved to be great qualifying factors for my first “dine-around” choice!) The Computers in Libraries proved to be far more intensive and focused than the library conference that I had previously attended in 2010.

Every evening left me exhausted from a day of paneling, socializing, and walking around Dupont Circle. I sojourned at the Windsor Park Hotel which was located off of Kalorama Road. This hotel was in an excellent walking area and afforded me the opportunity to visit the home of Woodrow Wilson and the famed Anderson House. Embassy Row was also just a stone’s throw from the hotel’s front door. All in all it was a great trip and I was very happy to have the opportunity to attend! I am looking forward to sharing conference content with my colleagues and trying out some of the new conference ideas in our home library.

~Leanna Fitzgerald~

Introducing the Charlotte Law Civil Rights Clinic Blog!

The Charlotte School of Law Clinics are doing some pretty exciting things!

A standout story for the month of February involves the Civil Rights Clinic. Students who participate in the Civil Rights Clinic are often involved in local civil rights issues. Under the direction of Professor Jason Huber, who runs the Civil Rights Clinic at Charlotte School of Law, students learn how to advocate civil rights issues.  Jason Huber hones students’ skills in fact investigation, pleading, motions practice, depositions, trial work, as well as other various lesser-known litigation skills. The Civil Rights Clinic encourages the individual creativity of students who are learning to advocate civil rights issues within the bounds of legal ethics.

The new Civil Rights Clinic blog is an example of the Civil Rights Clinic’s creative initiative in the arena of civil rights issues and public awareness. Law student Evan Carney has been particularly instrumental in getting the Civil Rights Clinic blog up and running. Check out the blog at www.cslcivilrights.com. This blog provides updates on the Civil Rights Clinic projects to a wide audience of interested students, faculty, and members of the public. You can also find a link to the first episode of “The Legal Dose”, an internet radio show recently launched by the Civil Rights Clinic students that addresses contemporary legal, political and social issues, on the blog website.

The Civil Rights Clinic, like all of the Charlotte School of Law’s Clinics, teaches law students valuable legal practice skills such as teamwork, creativity, research, writing, brainstorming, networking, and effective time management. The clinics at Charlotte School of Law place an emphasis on perfecting these “practice ready” skill sets. So direct your browser to www.cslcivilrights.com the next time you have some free time and feel like reading about people who are making a difference for those in the Charlotte area and beyond. Don’t forget to click the “Follow” button to receive updates regarding new posts!

~Leanna Fitzgerald~

Do You Know about Downton Abbey?

Welcome back!  It’s the dead of winter and we are back at school and work. Perhaps many of you are feeling the strain of the forty hour work week or a fourteen hour course load. When you are putting out lots of energy it is important to eat well and rest well.

What do you like to do to unwind? I like to take my dog Leo on a nice long walk through the neighborhoods of Elizabeth and Eastover. Tree lined avenues and quiet evening air do my soul good. Long walks also keep my little pooch happy and fit.

I also like to watch evening specials on PBS such as the ever popular Downton Abbey. If you haven’t heard of Downton Abbey I encourage you to tune in and check it out!  Downton Abbey is a Primetime Emmy Award winning series shown on PBS on Sunday evenings. Downton Abbey is set at the turn of the century just as women were getting the right to vote and the automobile was becoming popular. The series follows an aristocratic family in England as they deal with the social and economic challenges of modern life. Colorful period costumes, pleasant British accents, and historic buildings make this a nice viewing experience. Downton Abbey is an excellent escape. There is nothing better than some delicious snacks and a PBS special!

I hope you all find your outlet and do not hesitate to indulge yourselves in something pleasant after you have left the workday behind.

~Leanna Fitzgerald~

New Faces in the Library

I would like to devote this blog posting to the recognition of new faces here at our Charlotte School of Law Library.  Perhaps you have recently noticed some new faces as you’ve drifted past the reference desk during the last week.

Last week our new full-time Reference Librarian Corey Lenz began working here at the law library. Corey hails from Connecticut and his new office is located next to the reference desk. I can’t say much more about his background as he will soon be posting a short autobiographical introductory blog posting so I won’t spoil the fun!

In addition to our newest full-time member Corey Lenz, the reference department has also gained two part-time Reference Librarians, Shannon Fitzpatrick and Betty Thomas.

Shannon is a recent Juris Doctor graduate and is considering obtaining her Master of Library Science. We hope her experience at the law library will contribute positively to helping her make this decision about her career.

Betty is a recent Master of Library Science graduate who does not have a Juris Doctor but has considerable experience in academic libraries. Betty is currently familiarizing herself with legal sources and mastering our collection.

Again, I won’t give away too much info regarding their unique backgrounds so you will just have to keep your eyes peeled for their up and coming blog postings!  Feel free to stop by the reference desk and say hi to our new staff whenever you find yourself in the library.

~Leanna Fitzgerald~

The Home Stretch – Statutes…

The time for the final Sloan Basic Legal Research Workbook exercise has nearly arrived!

This November students will be introduced to the basics of statutory research. This third and final Sloan exercise will cover both federal and state statutory research. The state statutory research portion of this exercise focuses only on statutes from North Carolina. The exercise is conducted purely in the print materials found in the Charlotte School of Law Library and everything that you need to complete the exercise (including the expertise of one of your CSL Law Librarians!) can be found in the Charlotte School of Law Library’s collection.

If you are a student reading this, it might be a good idea to find your way to the library on the second floor and map out the location of the print materials that you will be using. For the federal portion of the exercise you will be using the United States Code Annotated, that’s USCA and the Subject Index to the USCA. Similarly, for the state portion of the exercise you will be using the North Carolina General Statutes Annotated and the Subject Index to this volume set of statutes.

Note that your Charlotte School of Law Library has several sets of the North Carolina General Statutes. We have both the West and Lexis publications of the North Carolina General Statutes Annotated. An important distinction is that the Lexis publication of the North Carolina General Statutes Annotated is the official publication of the State Code of North Carolina.

So roll up your sleeves and dig into the collection for some statutes fun!

~Leanna Fitzgerald~

The Impact of Diet on Stress

As you begin the new school year perhaps you find yourself running in high gear. Never one to skimp on meals,  you opt for that “healthy” portion of meat and potatoes and round it off with a nice biscuit. After all, you need the energy and your carbohydrate metabolism knocks that  down to basic fuel.  You stay awake during all of your classes and distinguish yourself when you are called on by your professor. And you are still skinny enough to wear those  tiny jeans, so you aren’t worried about your “solid meals”. Then when evening comes, you are still up and buzzing around.  Despite your mental exhaustion your wheels are still turning and you can’t slip into the peaceful oblivion of REM sleep. Why is this? You seem healthy from the outside but have you ever stopped to consider that the oil used in the preparation of your food is feeding your anxiety due to its adverse effects on your body’s metabolic process?

It’s a fact that most Americans consume a diet that is high in Omega 6 fats which are inflammatory and contribute to a negative phenomenon known as insulin resistance. See Livestrong.com’s article on “Serum Omega-3 & Omega-6 Ration Insulin Resistance” at http://www.livestrong.com/article/496436-serum-omega-3-omega-6-ratio-in-insulin-resistance/.  Despite the stability of a diet that contains minimal protein and decent amounts of complex carbs such as baked potato and whole grain rice, many Americans are still insulin resistant and suffering from all the related effects such as insomnia, acne, attention deficit disorder, diabetes, and so forth. Most  food, even healthy foods such as vegetables, normal portions of protein, and whole grain breads are prepared with refined vegetable oils such as soybean oil which are Omega-6 oils.

How does all of this relate to stress? The body constructs hormones from Omega-6 fatty acids and Omega-3 fatty acids. The different types of hormones constructed from the different types of fatty acids have various effects on the body. Omega-3 fatty acids act to optimize hormonal levels due to their balancing effect on the adrenals and pituitary gland. Omega-6 fatty acids influence the production of cortisol which is a “stress hormone” and contributes to the hard to loose pooch around your middle and a lethargic “stressed out” and tired feeling. Additionally, elevated cortisol levels decrease your sensitivity and metabolic response to insulin, which in turn causes the body to kick up the production of insulin thereby disrupting your blood sugar levels which results in energy imbalances and eventually diabetic conditions. See http://www.docroberts.com/ar-25-the-omega-3-omega-6-balance—-a-crucial-factor-in-health-and-disease–.aspx. A diet too high in Omega-6 fatty acids also affects your brain’s metabolic process. Check out the Journal of Attention Disorder’s article on a study conducted on children suffering from ADHD with a proper Omega-3/Omega-6 ratio. After 6 months 47% of the study group had meaningful reduction of ADHD symptoms simply from this crucial diet change(http://jad.sagepub.com/content/12/5/394.short). Recently there have been numerous studies on this process with similar positive results with even higher percentage numbers. Here are the links to a few:

http://autism.healingthresholds.com/research/omega-3omega-6-fatty-acids-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-randomized-placebo-cont

http://www.annlouise.com/blog/2011/08/30/revisiting-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/

http://borntoexplore.org/omega.htm

This is unfortunate for all of us who consume the popular modern American diet of processed food prepared in refined vegetable oil that is high in Omega-6!

The solution is simple and metabolic homeostasis is achieved by having the proper ratio in your diet of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats. The benefits are numerous, too numerous in fact for the word limit on this blog post. Check out this website to educate yourself more on how good a diet properly balanced with Omega-3 and Omega-6 is:   http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400149/balancing-omega-3-and-omega-6.html.

But wait! Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater! You don’t need to give up eating normal portions of meats, complex carbohydrates (baked potatoes, brown rice, whole grains), and vegetables. You just need to make sure you are cooking them in the right oil –  a non-inflammatory Omega-3 oil. Cook the Italian way, or the Spanish way, and use healthy oils such as olive oil that are rich in Omega-3. Take the time to educate yourself on Omega-3 diets.

It is likely that your energy level will increase thereby increasing your attention span. You will also rest better at night when your metabolic process is efficient and your cortisol levels are normalized.

~Leanna Fitzgerald~

More Reference Team Fun…

Fall 2011 will witness the launch of a new Library Research Instruction component to CSL’s Lawyering Process (“LP”) program. The Reference department has risen to the new challenges facing CSL in accommodating a large entering class. The Reference department has opted to forego traditional face to face instruction formats for new innovative electronic based learning formats that build on CSL’s emphasis on practice ready skills.

To achieve this purpose, the Reference team is currently creating a series of online demonstrations of legal research concepts and further enhancing the Library’s TWEN page with these online research tutorials. Expect to see plenty LP students in the library this fall as they mill about in the collection looking for the correct resources to complete the Research Exercise that has been chosen for them by members of the Reference team in conjunction with the LP faculty. Rather than remain isolated in the classroom, LP students will find themselves embroiled in adventure in the stacks.

Wish them good luck and feel free to lend them a helping hand by pointing them to the nearest Reference Librarian!

~Leanna Fitzgerald~

Reference Summer News

This summer is turning out to be pretty busy at Charlotte Law Library! Even as I write this I cant help but feel that I should be working on the multiple tasks that I have been assigned to do this week.

The Reference staff is in the process of updating our library research instruction curriculum for the new term. We are also updating the Reference Manual, pro se patron information handouts and various LibGuides. Additionally, I am working on our Interlibrary Loan procedures.

Lots of fun! I could tell you more but it might be too exciting for you. Stay tuned for more juicy Reference tidbits!  Cheers!

~Leanna Fitzgerald~