FOCUS =

Back to Homepage

Throughout my degree I've become more aware of my own limitations in helping others, especially knowing that each individual has a distinct personal history. Nonetheless, despite the distractions or miscommunications that muddy the waters, I've learned communication, personality, and learning theories that have helped me discover someone's real need, even when it is not directly expressed.
The following projects demonstrate the primary objective of Librarianship - serving people and meeting needs - and are grouped by various SLIM Program Objectives.

Advocacy & Library Marketing

• Symbolic Interactionism & Library Marketing - Given the recent paradigm shift from a more ordered or Newtonian universe to a more chaotic and flexibly organized world, the library too has entered a new era. The image of the library therefore must change in order to remain viable. As an information professional the way we communicate - the words we use and even the attitudes we exhibit non-verbally - must create a space for the library in this evolving information society. This paper looks at George Herbert Mead's Theory of Symbolic Interactionism and advocates for change in the way we market and represent the library. (SP830/Communication Theory, Ed McGlone, Spring 2003)

Professional Involvement, Leadership & Initiative

• KU Classified Conference Presentation PowerPoint - As a Board member of the Classified Conference, or state employees at the University of Kansas, I was instrumental in putting together this PowerPoint for the annual meeting. The presiding president of the Classified Conference stepped down and I filled in by organizing and leading the seven-person committee. Though we worked together on the ideas and information gathering for the meeting, I did around 90% of the work for the PowerPoint seen here, including gathering statistcs and graphically representing the information. (Presented to the KU Library Dean and 100 Classified Employees at the KU Library Classified Conference Annual Meeting, Spring 2002)
  
• Beyond the Book: Promoting Effective Research - This paper was an extension of my LI 802 Diagnosis and Customization class and was the result of much research. It further explores three areas of great interest to me: The Information Search Process, Personality Theory, and Right Brain/Left Brain Cognitive differences. Because each individual has a different personality and cognitive style there will be different challenges they experience in the research process. If the Information Professional is wise he/she will question the individual to assess their personal style in order to intervene, thus promoting more effective research. The accompanying Beyond the Book PowerPoint provides an overview of the content and a beautiful visual aid.

Effective Communication, Collaboration, & Intercultural Awareness

• China Case Study - In collaboration with my classmate and at the time KU colleague, Carmen Doering, this presentation looked at a global issue - Smoking as a public healthcare crisis in China - and recommended an information transfer approach that was sensitive to cultural, political, and technological factors. This example of teamwork was one of many, though the others were mostly group projects in which no substantial documentation really exists to post here. (LI 823/International Information Transfer, John Agada, Summer 2002)
  
• Communication Website - Both practical and interesting, this website discusses communication differences as proposed by Stella Ting-Toomey's Face Negotiation Theory. Taking into account East/West Cultural Orientations, Individual Self Construal, and Societal Power Differences people approach conflict differently. As one improves his/her Intercultural Communication Competence through understanding the strategies and working through the practice scenarios of this site, one can learn to handle conflict more effectively - a skill of keen interest to anyone working with people. (SP830/Communication Theory, Ed McGlone, Spring 2003)
  
• Face Negotiation Theory in Action - Looking at my own experience as an information professional, this paper investigates some of my own communication faux pas in action. Standpoint Theory is also mentioned in reference to some of the difficulties I experience when communicating with men in my workplace. Though quite introspective, hopefully there are some practical tidbits - encouraging mindfulness and recognizing ones own independent vs. interdependent tendencies - for those experiencing problems communicating with coworkers, whether those of the opposite sex, or even those of the same sex with different styles and priorities. (SP830/Communication Theory, Ed McGlone, Spring 2003)
  

Creativity & Imagination

• Mind Map - This four page display or "mind map" shows how a variety of theories in disciplines like Psychology, Education and Sociology effect the information transfer process. The four panels represent: 1) Technological and Theoretical Theories, 2) the Information Transfer Process itself, 3) a person's individual style as effected by personality, occupation, age, and gender, and 4) A person's social background as influenced by cultural diversity, socio-economic factors, nurture, and belief system. Once the Information Professional better understands the "complete" person then he/she can best customize services for this client. (LI 801/Diagnosis and Customization, John Agada, Fall 2001)
  
• Right Brain/Left Brain Information Processing - This three page overview (html format) of the dichotomy between the functions of the right versus the left brain was the basis for a short classroom presentation I made for this online class. There is a chart delineating the functions typical for each cognitive side, an argument to urge whole brain creativity, a formula for creative thinking, and then specific ways the Information Professional can encourage each side of the brain. The idea is that if the professional sees certain tendencies to neglect one side, then they can encourage the other through questions and suggested strategies. (LI 802/Diagnosis and Customization, John Agada, Fall 2001)
  

Application of Theories & Models to Information Problems

• Diagnosing and Improving the Information Search Process - This paper was the result of an assignment to analyze the way an individual approached an actual information search and then to offer suggestions for improvement. At the professor's approval, I became my own best critic and looked at my own strategies as I researched a topic that was one of many to be combined into a group project. Throughout the paper most of the important information and learning theories are touched upon and the suggestions apply to others with a more right-brained/creative research approach. (LI 802/Diagnosis and Customization, John Agada, Fall 2001)

• Library Organizational Culture - This fifteen page paper is an analysis of the University of Kansas Library and its approach to change. At the time, I worked at this library and therefore felt familiar enough to explore this organization in light of various management theories. A bit of library history is given, the organizational stucture layed out, challenges listed, and then some organizational and marketing approaches, based on theories from the class, are offered. (LI 805/Organization Theories for Administering Information Agencies, Cecilia Salvatore, Summer 2001)