Blog Post 2 - Acronyms are a Turnoff and New Words Can be Scary

 Acronyms are a turnoff. I know that it is important to know what they stand for in order to have an intelligent conversation with another library scientist. I appreciate Riedling's glossary and I am glad that I live in the age of the internet, because unless I am using an acronym in my day to day studies or teaching, it usually let it wash over me. I think of all the acronyms we use in a day in the regular school system (FA, SSA, AO, FN support, APW, LD, SpEd) and how these short forms can make teachers sound like they are speaking a different language. Sometimes when I am around non-teacher friends I feel like I'm in a secret society.

I have a similar feeling as a newcomer to library studies. During my summer courses, my head was spinning with MARC records, L of C, CASL, and ALA.

I've tried to reframe the experience of my confusion as a learning tool. If I'm confused, there is a possibility my students are confused. With that in mind, I've tried in my classroom to be clearer when introducing new language around learning and the learning process.

Here is a confession, I did not access databases for a number of years, because I was not sure what they were. Every time the school librarian talked about them, I thought they were another form of spurious online research. I remained in the dark until a TL friend sat me down in a un-teachy environment and said “Here is something I think you will like.” That moment was a huge shift for me: I like learning and research, but I was stuck to print because I could not move past the new research language. Because I was stuck to print, I was unable to get my Web 2.0 students to effectively research for projects.

So, even though acronyms and new words are scary, I am learning what I already know: there is a freedom that comes once they are understood and embraced.