People Profile: Adam Murray

Against the Grain, Nov 2013

By Editor, Published on 11/04/13

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People Profile: Adam Murray

People Profi le: Adam Murray Editor 0 0 Head of Acquisitions, Murray State University 224 Waterfield Library , Murray, KY 42071 Phone: (270) 809-3510 Fax: (270) 809-3736 Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/atg Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Recommended Citation - Biz of Acq from page 58 hire, the position of Head of Acquisitions was vacant, resulting in a substantial gap in modern policies and procedures, especially regarding electronic resources and collection assessment. Preliminary steps towards acquiring an Electronic Resource Management System (ERM) had been undertaken, including product demonstrations and the formation of a planning committee. Policy gaps had a direct impact on both the needs of the institution and of the attendee. Staff members were aware of these shortcomings, but required a supervisor to suggest possible solutions; however, the attendee — being a recent library school graduate — needed confirmation from professional colleagues as to the viability of any solutions he suggested. The attendee also had the added need of an introduction to the world of library acquisitions in order to identify concerns of the position that had not occurred to either himself or his staff. The author had been on the job for three months when he attended his first professional library conference. This background information provides context to the application of Kolb’s ELM, particularly with respect to the concrete experience stage of the learning process. Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model The Experiential Learning Model developed by Kolb (1984) is used as an analytic framework for this exploration. There are a number of experiential learning models, such as those developed by Lewis, Dewey, and Piaget. Each of these models is based on the Hegelian notion that learning takes place through conflict between diametrically opposed forces. Kolb’s model posits two conflicts as the driving force of learning: concrete experience vs. abstract conceptualism, and reflective observation vs. active experimentation. The component factors of these two d i a l e c t i c s are also the stages in the process of learning. They are outlined in sequential order below: • Concrete experience: focuses on dealing with immediate situations and has a concern with “the uniqueness and complexity of present reality as opposed to theories and generalizations” (Kolb, 1984, p. 68). • Reflective observation: focuses on “understanding the meaning of ideas and situations by carefully observing and impartially describing them” (Kolb, 1984, p. 68). • Abstract conceptualization: emphasizes the creation of general theories rather against the grain people profile u in my Spare time i liKe to: Read, of all things! moSt meaningful career achievement: Mschool…getting a first job! B.A. – 2001 – university of north carolina at Wilmington. M.L.I.S. – 2006 – university of north carolina at greensboro . Since graduating from library • Active experimentation: practical applications rather than observation Individuals tend to emphasize different parts of this learning process to different extents, resulting in individual learning styles based largely on Jungian personality types. Kolb states that “each of these four dimensions becomes more highly integrated at higher stages of [individual] development” (Kolb, 1984, p. 140). Rather than focusing on individual learning styles and their integration (there is some evidence of poor correlations between Kolb’s learning styles and the Jungian personality types upon which Kolb based his model), this paper emphasizes the process by which learning takes place (Garner, 2000). In Kolb’s model, concrete experience and abstract conceptualization are diametrically opposed, as are reflective observation and active experimentation, yet these pairs of opposites are linked by the actions Kolb calls grasping and transformation, respectively. Kolb states: The simple perception of experience is not sufficient for learning; something must be done with it. Similarly, transformation alone cannot represent learning, for there must be something to be transformed, some state or experience that is being acted upon (Kolb, 1984, p. 42). From this perspective, Kolb posits the following working definition of learning: learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience (Kolb, 1984, p. 38). For the purposes of this exploration, Kolb’s ELM was chosen not for its emphasis on the different individual learning styles, but for its presentation of the learning process as the result of two dialectics. This process-oriented perspective lends itself to an exploration of learning at the institution level, where individual learning styles are not taken into account. Analysis While this exploration takes the form of a case study, the methodology utilized does not warrant calling this a true case study. Despite this, an attempt was made (...truncated)


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Editor. People Profile: Adam Murray, Against the Grain, 2013, Volume 19, Issue 1,