“Demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for professional collaboration and presentations”
Introduction
In any situation as human beings we need to be able to share our thoughts and ideas, and to receive this type of information from others. This can be done in many ways, from a simple face to face discussions, to phone calls or voice chats, presentations and lectures, instant messages (IM) and text, emails, letters, articles and books, to say nothing of music. By sharing these thoughts and ideas, we exchange the vital information that defines us with others like ourselves. The importance of oral and written communication skills cannot be overstated, as accessing and transmitting information is the primary talent of an LIS professional.
Oral communication is when ideas are exchanged between individuals using speech and listening. True communication involves more than just one person speaking; someone must listen to understand the message being sent. Confirmation of this message’s receipt to the original sender can lead to further dialog, and a refinement of the initial idea. Technological advancements mean that oral communication can happen in a variety of nonlocal ways. Phone calls are a traditional example of a artificial system that can transcend physical boundaries such as distance, while the various satellite, cellular and Internet technologies provide various options to extend and enlarge oral communication like web chats, 1-on-1 voice chats such as Skype, podcasts, large virtual classrooms, and live presentations.
Written is another form of communication in which ideas are exchanged, albeit in a slower fashion than oral communication. When speaking, the exchanges of information are short and fast, with little time to edit or substantially revise the message being sent– while many of us claim to have a hard time thinking on our feet, we all do quite well considering how little preparatory time is allowed in most conversations. With written communication, however, the exchanges are usually longer and there is ample time to edit and revise the flow of the dialog being recorded. Even in cases such as IM, where the exchange can be quite rapid, there is still time for the writer to reflect on what was written and make edits as needed.
Another important difference between written and oral information is their permanence. Without recording technology, oral communication is entrusted to only the mind of the listeners. Over time, no record of a speech will remain, save for written or otherwise recorded data. Our current digital communication technologies are a fusion of both these information styles, with digital records being written billions of times a second in the computers that transmit our voices farther than ever before.
Both of these written and spoken communication skills are very important in LIS work settings. Collaboration between LIS colleagues and their organizations requires a huge amount of information exchange, on a regular basis. Ensuring that this exchange is clear and understandable to all parties saves time and energy. Miscommunication, even in small aspects, can have dire effects in our profession. Take for example two libraries planning to exchange metadata records of their archived photograph collections. Clear communication up front about which metadata standards are being used can mean the difference between a project being completed on time or going badly over budget.
Presentations in LIS work settings allow for rapid dissemination of information. This ability to transmit new thoughts and ideas to a great number of people is especially important in our field, as the technology that we use changes far more often than in other professions. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are continuously developing and reinventing their potentials, so the need to share relevant data and collaborate effectively about these changes remains a high priority. Presentations allow one individual to create an organized, digestible, and accessible form of information transmission that can then be delivered, indefinitely and inexpensively, to a large number of individuals. Presentations performed in front of an audience are easily recorded and disseminated online, although many informational presentations are now produced exclusively digitally, sometimes with narrative audio or animations or videos to enhance the basic slide show format. Of course, fluency in both methods of communication is of great benefit to any presenter.
Evidence
My first piece of evidence is a discussion post called Week 7 Discussion Post from LIBR 243. This piece explores how crucial communication is to the successful planning and implementation of a new system, from the perspective of a systems librarian. I discuss knowledge and comfort levels of technology and how the lack thereof can create large problems. I also address possible solutions to these communication barriers such as: creating literature, providing an open door to questions and concerns, or hosting an informal class to explain the new technology.
My second piece of evidence is a Youtube video of a part of an assignment for week 11 from LIBR 240. I created this mp3 to demonstrate embedding media files in XHTML coding. We were tasked with recording ourselves ‘discussing anything’ for 2 minutes, then properly installing this sound file into a schema. I decided to talk about the play “She Stoops to Conquer” by Oliver Goldsmith, a favorite of mine. This presentation is an example of effective oral communication, as I describe the many levels of meaning which make this play so enjoyable to me.
My third piece of evidence is a Youtube video of a part of an assignment for LIBR 240. This assignment tasked me with linking a video with a map of places I’ve lived in my life. The interactive map had markers of approximate locations where I used to reside. The accompanying video has a slide show of copyright-free pictures of the areas which I mapped. The voice-over exceeds three minutes and has me discussing memories of the places and houses I’ve lived in, in chronological order.
Conclusion
Accurate information sharing is an important aspect of life itself, with errors in genetic codes responsible for deadly illness. Not only do LIS professionals remain at the forefront of information and communication technology (ICT) because of our specialization in efficient access of data, we rely upon our technological knowledge to keep us abreast of the incredible pace of advancement in ICT itself. The importance of presentations and online collaboration to share professional information makes both written and oral communication skills of vital importance to LIS professionals, and all of us would do well to continuously work at improving them.