This is the orientation for the new RAs on campus. Rebecca and Carol will have a laptop on-hand to demo the Swem website. And they’ll be reminding (with a handout) the RAs about Swem’s myLibrarian program. And, of course, they’ll also have goodies like Swem bags and mints and magnetic rulers to give away.

The orientation aides are student volunteers with at least one year’s experience at W&M. The OAs help new studens during orientation. So, this is the orientation for the orientation aides. I’m sure the Swem group will be very popular as they’ll be providing cookies and lemonade for the OAs as well as talking up the library a little bit.

The PFOAs are a subset of the OAs. The day before classes start, the PFOAs will be shepherding the freshies around to various meetings and events that are part of orientation. Included in those events is a tour of Swem Library. On the 24th, Deb and I will teach the PFOAs all the stuff we want them to pass along to the new students during the tours.

The Family Resources Fair is event for the parents (and families) of new W&M students. After they drop the kid(s) off for good, the families come to the Fair, where they’ll learn a bit more about the many services that will be available to their member(s) of the Tribe. Rebecca and I will be there with our trusty laptop to show off the library website, some handouts (about myLibrarian; it always makes the parents happy to know that their freshman has a personal librarian!), and some other goodies (most notably some very cool pens that Rebecca got and some beautiful bookmarks printed for us by Karen McCluney, Swem’s graphics goddess.)

While the PFOAs give the tours, Swem staff will be on-hand to give out our famous custom Swem fortune cookies and handouts about the myLibrarian program to all the new students. We’ll also be feeding lunch to the PFOAs. Lots of people will be passing through Swem on the 29th. It should be exciting!

Orientation Concurrent Sessions
2:00pm – 2:50pm, 4:00pm – 4:50pm
Dulin Learning Center, Swem Library
Swem volunteer: Paul Showalter

During the concurrent sessions, new students can go to various parts of campus to hear folks talk about their various services. I’ll be conducting a couple sessions called, “Don’t Drown in the Sea of Information! Learn to Swem!” The sessions are just a quick overview of some of the things the good people at Swem can do to make life easier for new… well, actually, ALL… students. My goal is just to reduce the new students’ library and research anxiety some and to help them feel comfortable coming to us with questions.