2015 VLA Annual Conference

The 2015 VLA Annual Conference was held in Richmond, VA on October 21-24. This year I had the honor to be a member of the VLA conference committee and the volunteer coordinator. This was a huge undertaking that I began working on in the spring. I had to manage volunteers for the entire conference. We could not have done it without the wonderful people who volunteered their time. There were 80 sessions and 80+ volunteers that helped everything run smoothly. Volunteers moderated sessions, pointed conference goers in the right direction and assisted with lunch distribution as well as luncheon and social gatherings. It was a great conference, and I got to meet a lot of wonderful librarians. Virginia libraries have created a community like no other.

I'm so proud to have been a member of this committee.

On top of being the volunteer coordinator I also co-presented a session with Candice Benjes-Small on Urban Legends and Practical Pedagogy, and co-presented a pre-conference that began the new cohort of the Presentation Academy with Candice Benjes-Small, Rebecca K. Miller and Nathan Flinchum. It was a busy 3 days for me.

I've agreed to be the volunteer coordinator at next year's VLA annual conference as well. The fun continues.

VLA 2016 Elections

I am honored to say that I was asked to run for Treasurer of VLA this year.

The elections begin today. If you are a member of VLA please consider voting for me. My biographical information and candidate statement are below.

Biographical Information
Jennifer Resor-Whicker is a Reference/Instruction and the Honors Academy Librarian at Radford University’s McConnell Library, where she has been employed since 2010. She holds the faculty rank of assistant professor. Jennifer has been a member of VLA since 2008. She served as Treasurer/Secretary of VLACRL from 2013-2015. She served as cochair to The Innovative Library Classroom conference for the 2014 and 2015 conferences. She is currently serving as a faculty member for the 2015 VLA Presentation Academy, and as volunteer coordinator for the 2015 VLA Annual Conference. Jennifer also serves as a member of the McConnell Library’s Outreach Committee, where she works to provide targeted support to RU’s faculty. She has represented the library as a member of RU’s Faculty Senate since 2013, and served on RU’s QEP ScholarCitizen Planning and Launch Committees. She has also served as a member and chair of McConnell Library’s Personnel Committee, and as chair of the library’s Faculty Committee. She holds an MLIS and a BA, both from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is a graduate of the 2012 ACRL Teacher Track Immersion Program. She has published in Virginia Libraries and in Communications in Information Literacy. ALA’s Library Instruction Roundtable selected an article she co-wrote with her RU colleagues on web evaluation as one of the top 20 articles of 2013.

Candidate Statement
I am honored to be nominated for the position of treasurer of VLA. I am excited by the opportunity this brings for me to become more involved in VLA. This has been a goal of mine since moving to Virginia in 2010. I am regarded in my library for my organizational skills. In my previous life I was an office manger for a commercial plumbing company, where I handled all the accounting duties. I believe my skill set matches up well with the duties of the VLA Treasurer. Thank you for this opportunity.

2014 VLA Annual Conference

In October 2014, I attended and presented at the 2014 VLA Annual Conference in Williamsburg, VA. I presented a poster with Katelyn Tucker on using Prezi to create online instruction videos. It can be seen below.

Zoom into online instruction: Using Prezi in online instruction videos from Jennifer Resor-Whicker

I also presented for the first time on the research I received IRB approval for concerning McConnell Library's chat reference service. It can be seen below.

ALA's LIRT Top Instruction Articles of 2013

I am so very excited to report that the article that I co-authored with Candice Benjes-Small, Alyssa Archer, Lisa Vassady and Katelyn Tucker was selected as one of the top 20 instruction articles of 2013 by ALA's Library Instruction Round Table. The announcement can be found here. This article, Teaching web evaluation: A cognitive development approach, was published in Communications in Information Literacy in 2013. The article can be seen here. We were also recognized by Senator Mark Warner for this achievement. Needless to say we were all quite excited about this recognition. This may be the best semester ever. :)

Letter from Sen. Mark Warner

9th Annual Metrolina Library Association Conference

My colleagues and I presented on our web evaluation class for the last time at the 9th annual Metrolina Library Association Conference held in Charlotte, NC on Thursday, June 12. I presented this concurrent session with Lisa Vassady, Alyssa Archer and Craig Arthur. We also wrote an article on our constructivist approach to teaching web evaluation that appeared in Communications in Information Literacy in 2013. The article can be seen here. The Metrolina presentation can be seen below.



I also presented a poster with Katelyn Tucker on using Prezi to create online instruction videos. It can be seen below.

Zoom into online instruction: Using Prezi in online instruction videos from Jennifer Resor-Whicker

Roanoke Valley Library Association Presentation

I was invited to speak at the Roanoke Valley Library Association Spring Meeting on May 15, 2014. I gave a presentation about using Prezi as a presentation tool. The presentation can be seen below.

The Innovative Library Classroom Conference 2014

On May 13, 2014, we held The Innovative Library Classroom Conference at Radford University. This conference was the brain child of Candice Benjes-Small and Rebecca K. Miller. I am so fortunate that they asked me to help them out as a co-chair. Organizational skills are a known superpower of mine. :)

Registration for this conference filled up in less than one day! We had 83 participants from 9 different states. It was an amazing day with lots of great presentations and conversations. I do hope we do this again next year.