Jorge Perez
Librarian
St. Petersburg College
Clearwater Campus
(727) 791-2415
perez.jorge@spcollege.edu

M.A. USF: Library and Information Science
B.A. FIU: Visual Arts
A.A. Miami Dade College

Teaching Philosophy Statement:

One of my most memorable experiences in college was when I discovered how to research material at the campus library. I felt I had the power to improve the content of my research papers and it gave me the confidence to tackle any assignment. I try to foster that skill in all of the students I serve at St. Petersburg College . My belief is that a student that has not used or does not know how to use the library, is ill-equipped to succeed academically. I strive to create self-sufficient learners who can refer to these research skills throughout their lives. I approach my library instruction and reference question interviews as an opportunity to succeed in attaining that goal.

As an academic librarian I would like to continue my high focus on serving my patrons. My goal is to encourage the use of the physical and the virtual library. The academic librarian's role is to serve students, faculty and community members. They work together with faculty to improve student research skills by conducting orientations that promote information literacy. Orientation sessions consist of a tour of the library, which familiarizes the students with the different services available within the library walls. The session also includes hands-on demonstrations on using the library catalog, online article databases, locating e-books and other online tools including accessing online reference help through the use of Ask-a-Librarian. The need to educate this population on the difference between utilizing a World Wide Web search engine, like Google, as opposed to a scholarly journal database, is crucial. Skills to evaluate electronic information for reliability are imperative in today's information-loaded society. I approach my classes with enthusiasm and focus on key events that relate to the lives of students. I also encourage participation by being approachable, welcoming questions, facilitating discussion, and formulating active learning activities.

I believe the college library is at the heart of research for all disciplines. The librarian is the key player in creating students who are information literate, imparting strong computer and research skills and creating individuals who succeed academically. I want to assist students in becoming lifelong researchers and for them to discover that these skills are applicable to life, regardless of whether or not they pursue higher education. Some students visit the library through an orientation, a library offered course, or to complete their school assignments. The librarian's role is one of mentor to the students who frequent the library.

Classes I currently teach:

LIS 1002 Electronic Research Strategies for College Students 1 credit

This course is designed to develop information literacy skills and to help students become full participants in the information retrieval, essential techniques for locating, analyzing, organizing and presenting information, and essential components of computer and information ethics and security. Emphasizing both technological skills and critical thinking abilities, the course teaches strategies for using a variety of electronic resources and for coping with the changing nature of information resources. 16 contact hours.

Syllabus Summer 2008

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