Featured Interview with the Library Tutor Jen Traore



Name:  Jen Traore

Position Title:  Library Tutor
Worked at the Library6 years
Contact Info:  jheiding@ivytech.edu or 480-4176
Q. What do you do at the library?
I teach information literacy skills to our patrons.  Most of my time is spent teaching others how to find information in databases and other resources, but information literacy also encompasses how to appropriately use and think critically about information.  I also dabble in decorating the library, creating library guides and marketing materials, and I organize our annual Edible Book Festival. 
Q. Where does your expertise come from?
I worked in my college library while earning bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, and after graduation I joined the Peace Corps to teach English in central Africa for a few years.  We were trained to lesson plan using 4MAT, which divides each lesson into segments where students are motivated, informed, practice what they’ve learned, and then apply it to new situations.  When I returned to the States I wanted to continue teaching while working in an academic library, and this position was perfect for me.  I’m now in my sixth year of researching on a daily basis and have grown very familiar with available databases and how they work.  It’s not always intuitive!  I also just finished a master’s degree in Library Science, which familiarized me with the wide variety of issues involved in running a library:  selecting and organizing library collections, intellectual freedom and censorship, management, etc.
Q. What is unique about you that could be of service to the Ivy Tech community?
I’m very familiar with where information sources are hidden and how to find them.  I am also naturally curious about the world and will pursue the answers to questions to the ends of the earth – it’s not at all unusual for me to continue looking for the “perfect” source long after the patron requesting it has left the building!  I can also chat with you in French if you prefer it to English.
Q. Recommend a book to us that you enjoyed.

A few years ago I took a class on youth literature, and futuristic novel The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld was assigned reading.  I don’t normally read teen fiction, but I found this one so compelling that I was driven to seek out and read the rest of the books in the series (usually until the wee hours of the morning.)  The constant cliffhangers drew me in despite the fact that I disliked the main character, but I also enjoyed the social commentary.

Q. What’s your favorite thing to do outside the library?
I love spending time with my family.  My daughter, Mimi, is 16 months old and enjoys dancing, taking long walks, and pretending to sneeze.
Q.  This YouTube video makes Jen laugh. See below:

It’s a jungle out there! : 52 nature adventures for city kids / Jennifer Ward

Call number: GV191.63 .W36 2011

Just because you live in the city doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy nature. This compact guide offers 52 nature-focused explorations, adventures, observations, and games that can help you and your child connect to nature while living in the city. While it may be hard to see nature through the traffic, buildings, and busyness of the city, there is still much of the natural world to explore when you turn your gaze to the cracks in the sidewalk, the trees on the street, or the green spaces that your city offers. Become an urban birder, make your own man vs. wild observations, and discover the not-so-hidden pockets of nature in your neighborhood. For children ages 4 to 8.(From Amazon)

The myth of the model minority : Asian Americans facing racism / Rosalind S. Chou

Call number: E184.A75 C515 2008

In this pathbreaking book sociologists Rosalind Chou and Joe Feagin examine, for the first time in depth, racial stereotyping and discrimination daily faced by Asian Americans long viewed by whites as the ‘model minority.’ Drawing on more than 40 field interviews across the country, they examine the everyday lives of Asian Americans in numerous different national origin groups. Their data contrast sharply with white-honed, especially media, depictions of racially untroubled Asian American success. Many hypocritical whites make sure that Asian Americans know their racially inferior ‘place’ in U.S. society so that Asian people live lives constantly oppressed and stressed by white racism. The authors explore numerous instances of white-imposed discrimination faced by Asian Americans in a variety of settings, from elementary schools to college settings, to employment, to restaurants and other public accommodations.
The responses of Asian Americans to the U.S. racial hierarchy and its rationalizing racist framing are traced’with some Asian Americans choosing to conform aggressively to whiteness and others choosing to resist actively the imposition of the U.S. brand of anti-Asian oppression. This book destroys any naďve notion that Asian Americans are universally ‘favored’ by whites and have an easy time adapting to life in this still racist society. See an interview with Rosalind S. Chou at Rosalind S. Chou Interview (From Google Books)

Salem Press and Videatives

The Library currently holds a variety of online health/medical books from Salem Press.  We’ve recently added history and forensic science online books to these existing library resources, as well as, a new video service from Videatives which features short videos for early education and child development.  They are linked on our BOOKS, AUDIO-VISUAL , and A-Z List pages.

JSTOR Additions

Six weeks ago we announced that the Library had purchased parts of the JSTOR collection, including Arts & Sciences I, Business I, and Mathematics & Statistics.  We have now added Arts & Sciences II-VIII and the Life Sciences collections.


JSTOR has full-text articles from scholarly journals; the articles go back to the volume1, issue 1, including previous and merged titles.  To learn more about JSTOR, click here.  You will find JSTOR linked on our Search & Find: Articles page and our 

A-Z list.

 

 

Original Minds DVD

Tracking number: 579CC


Wounded by the stigma of being in “special ed” the five teenage protagonists of ORIGINAL MINDS struggle to articulate how their brains work. Kerrigan is a deep thinker, often seeing connections between disparate ideas and concepts, but when it comes to telling you what you’ve just said he hasn’t a clue. When Nee Nee writes her fingers have a hard time keeping up with her thoughts.
People often get annoyed with Nattie because she doesn’t know when to stop teasing and kidding around.Marshall spends a lot of time in the bathroom, where his parents can’t bug him about homework. He says he wants to “turn over a new leaf” but he’s lost nine of his last fifteen math assignments.
Members of Deandré’s family tell him he is not college material. He’s determined to prove them wrong.

Parents, teachers, friends, therapists, and coaches all weigh in, sometimes with conflicting views, but it’s the kids who become the experts in this film, as they work intensively with the filmmaker to tell their stories and discover that they are smarter than they thought. Their narratives reveal the unique approach to learning that each must discern and claim as his or her own if they are to succeed in the world. ORIGINAL MINDS eschews the confusing thicket of labels for learning disorders and reveals universal truths about how we all acquire and process information. (From Bullfrog Films)

Motherhood Manifesto DVD

Tracking number: 1162GE

Did you know that…

Only four countries in the world – Lesotho, Swaziland, Papua New Guinea and the United States – fail to provide paid maternity leave to all workers? Canada now guarantees a full year of paid parental leave and California recently became the first state in the U.S. to provide such paid leave? Businesses that create flexible work environments find that productivity goes up, they attract more talent, turnover is reduced and their bottom line is improved?(From Bullfrog Films)
 

The Air We Breathe DVD

Tracking number: 60EP

This video traces the damaging connection between suburban sprawl, our addiction to the automobile, air pollution, and disturbing increases in asthma and other respiratory diseases.
The EPA and Congress have said we must lower the allowable ozone pollution in our cities. In the past ten years hospital admissions for asthma have doubled, and air quality specialists are pointing to alarming statistics correlating smog levels with high rates of respiratory diseases as well as higher mortality rates.
With insight and wit, THE AIR WE BREATHE examines our addiction to the automobile, the environmental consequences of suburban sprawl, and the damaging effects of commuter culture on both the air we breathe and our overall quality of life. We also hear from scientists, activists and urban planners who map out possible solutions that include alternative fuels, zero-emission vehicles, and integrated public transit plans.(From Bullfrog Films)

Addicted to Plastic DVD

Tracking number: 59EP


Addicted To Plastic is a point-of-view style documentary that encompasses three years of filming in 12 countries on 5 continents, including two trips to the middle of the Pacific Ocean where plastic debris accumulates. The film details plastic’s path over the last 100 years and provides a wealth of expert interviews on practical and cutting edge solutions to recycling, toxicity and biodegradability. These solutions – which include plastic made from plants – will provide viewers with a new perspective about our future with plastic. (From Bullfrog Films)