Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference, February 14, 2013

1. What I Did Last Summer…
At Library Camp!
The Information Matrix Camp,
2007-2012 and Beyond
David D. Oberhelman
d.oberhelman@okstate.edu
Oklahoma State University Library

2. History of the IM Camp
• Established in 2007 by
OLA (Career Recruitment &
Retention Committee) and Rose
State College co-sponsors
• 3-Year $100,000 IMLS grant,
Donations from libraries,
Friends groups, OLA

3. What Participants Learn
• Shortage of librarians
• Many types of librarians with specialties
(including IT staff)
• Other information professional careers
• Role of libraries in lifelong learning
• If they do not become librarians, they will be
great library users, Friends, advocates, or board
members.
• Day in the life of a library

4. Camp Info & Schedule
• ~30 campers for 1 week
• 12-14 Year-old campers,
• Recommended by librarian
• $50 only (to help with food)
• Counselors – librarians
(OLA and RSC), night help
• Medical forms, permissions, etc.
• Tour libraries, archives,
museums in OKC/Tulsa
• Computer activities
• Evening activities at a library, librarian talks, library fun!

5. Libraries, etc., Visited
• Large, small, & medium public libraries
• Oklahoma History Center
• Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism
• Oklahoma Library for the Blind
• Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
• Will Rogers Memorial
• Medical & law libraries
• Corporate / special libraries (Devon Energy)
• Academic libraries: college, medium-sized university,
large university
• School libraries (help younger children w/ reading)

7. IM Camp Since 2007
• 2007-2009 camps based at Rose State, IMLS
grant
• 2010 OLA Endowment money only; camp at
University of Tulsa
• 2011-2012 camps at Rose State, 2nd IMLS grant
• 2013 location TBD
• New and repeat campers
• Advanced camp for 15-16 year-old?

8. 2012 Camp

9. IM Camp Visits OSU
• March 2012 request for first visit to OSU
Library
• OSU team assembled
(experience with school and
younger groups)
• Challenge: How to introduce
middle-schoolers to a big academic library
and get them interested in a career (or
learn to love libraries)?

10. Planning and Logistics
• Logistics:
– Tour schedule – ~30 minutes per area max
– Keep campers entertained & informed
– Moving campers from point A to point B
– Parking for bus / pick-up and drop-off
– Feeding them (funding from host library)
• Activities – scavenger hunt
• “Why I became a librarian” talks
• Goals of Tour:
– Prepare them for transition from school to college library settings
– Introduce them to range of academic services and careers

11. Schedule
Friday, July 20
Breakfast in Lobby
Leave 9:00 AM for Stillwater
10:15: OSU Architecture Library
10:45 Main Library
(Photo scavenger hunt)
11:15 Oklahoma Oral History Research Program
11:45 Box Lunches in Browsing Room
12:15 Room 206 Photos from scavenger hunt
12:45 Gov Docs
1:15 Special Collections and University Archives
1:45 Curriculum Materials Library
2:15 Student Union
2:45 Leave Stillwater for Rose State College

12. Architecture Library
• Special departmental / branch library
• Unique material (“pop-up
books” for architects)
• Learn about specialized
collections for different
areas of study and
careers (what kind of information does an
architect need? Design, codes, etc.)

13. Stress Test
• Materials Stress Test
with OSU School of
Architecture and
Civil Engineering faculty
• Hands-on science activity
• Learn how scientists depend
on libraries and information
(engineering handbooks, etc.) for their work and
value of STEM library collections

14. Photo Scavenger Hunt

15. Library Tour and Hunt
• Challenge: How to make tour fun
but also teach value of
libraries
• Photo scavenger hunt
• Combine with computer
time on using digital
images
• Introduce them to a big library and university
environment (studying, etc.)

16. Oklahoma Oral History Research Program
• Oklahoma Oral History
Program overview
• Highlights from the O-
State Stories interviews
• What is an oral historian?
• Build upon what students
have learned in archives & museums
about the many ways to document past

17. Oral History Interview Transcript
Former Oklahoma Governor Henry Bellmon, interviewed
by OSU President Burns Hargis, Nov. 2008

18. Special Collections & University Archives
• Introduce campers to
Special Collections
and archives (what
they do and what
they collect)
• Show the range of
materials in such a
library collection (books and much more!)

19. “Wow, OLD Books!”
• Incunabula and other
early books (and
MSS)
• Quick lesson in the
history of the book with visuals
and interesting facts (wormholes)
• Early print samples to show campers how
information was spread (school primer from
Colonial America, etc.)

20. Ephemera & “Cool Things”
• More the just books!
• Samples of the
different forms of
ephemera and how
they are cared for
• Discuss career
possibilities, including preservation and
conservation

21. Curriculum Materials Library
• Teaching collection
with YA books and
curriculum materials
• Learn how their
teachers learn!
• Time to look for their
favorite books or discover new authors

22. Final Group Shot

23. Future Visits
• 2013 camp plans underway
• Possible repeat visit to OSU
and see other unique collections
(Veterinary Medicine Library
and teaching hospital, Agricultural
Experiment Station, Fire Protection)
• Continue seeking new ways to
introduce students to libraries of all
varieties and create new library users/supporters