Where am I?
John Baken
Circulation Supervisor/Reference Librarian/Assistant Professor
Area of Academic Focus: Academic Librarianship/Information Literacy
Number of Years at Fontbonne: Since July 2004
- Past-member of Freshman Common Reading Committee
- Past-member of Artist/Scholar Award Criteria Committee
- Past-member of Jason Sommer Dedicated Semester Award Task Force
- Past-member of Summer Assessment Reading Team: Managing Information (2009; 2010)
- Current member of UAC (Undergraduate Academic Committee)
- Current member of Appeals Committee on Academic Affairs
Course taught: INT199: Information Navigation and Evaluation (online)
Anecdotes or summary of how you help students in or outside the classroom: Nearly every encounter in the library and Information Commons is a teaching moment, and I try not to let any of those slip by. I enjoy helping students immensely, and my extensive teaching background, both at home and abroad, comes to the fore again and again, as I strive to assist students in their quest for information.
What you enjoy most about your area of expertise and teaching in general—what is your passion?
In the field of librarianship, especially through the teaching of INT199, I often get to see first-hand the look of discovery on the faces of students as I help them transition into the age of electronic research. Many of today's students are adept at "surfing the web" as they grew up with computers and the internet. However, when they are shown the proper techniques for finding peer-edited articles from scholarly journals, I have witnessed the lights coming on! This is the most rewarding part of my job currently. I also very much enjoy my interactions with other faculty members and staff as relationships and bonds build over time.