Librarian Publishes Article on Library Instruction

Assistant Professor Nerissa Nelson has published "Visual Literacy and Library Instruction: A Critical Analysis" (Education Libraries 27/1, Summer 2004 5-10).  The article's purpose is best gleaned from the author's own summary:  "The purpose of this paper was to discuss whether librarians should be involved in visual literacy, and, if so, what form this involvement should take. Teaching visual literacy - the processes by which images are-constructed, organized and expressed to communicate meaning - goes beyond the librarian's role. Pertinent competencies are most effectively taught in connection with courses in subject-specific disciplines, such as history, physics, business, cultural studies etc. However, librarians should continue to make ample use of visual teaching methods, thereby accommodating their instruction to the visual learning style that, in the current age of multimedia technology, may work best for many, if not most, of the students."

Nerissa is also working on a long-term project.  In the spring of 2003 she was awarded a University Personnel Development Committee (UPDC) grant to begin research toward compiling an annotated bibliography of dancers from the American Ballet Theater:  Back into the limelight: An annotated bibliography of dancers from the American Ballet Theater, 1940-1963.  Part of her work has involved gathering data from the American Ballet Theater papers in the New York Public Library’s Dance Collection.

Researcher is only one of the many hats that Nerissa wears in the University Library.  In addition to coordinating the Foundation Collection and the Library's Web team, she serves as Reference Librarian, Instruction Librarian, and liaison to the Business/Economics, English, and Women's Studies disciplines at UWSP.  You can read more about Nerissa's incredibly rich background at http://library.uwsp.edu/faculty/nnelson.htm (hint: it does involve dance!).