Knowledge Commons | Ruth-Ann Jones | Activity https://hcommons.org/members/ruthannjones/activity/ Activity feed for Ruth-Ann Jones. Sat, 04 Apr 2026 09:19:56 -0400 https://buddypress.org/?v=10.6.0 en-US 30 hourly 2 c7a5cd31ac4dce046b22853a9c05d909 Ruth-Ann Jones posted a new activity comment https://commons.msu.edu/activity/p/1863456/#acomment-1863464 Thu, 02 Nov 2023 20:17:30 -0400 My dad had a Commodore 64! He started as a computer programmer in the 1960s, when computers took up entire floors of an office building. Great title for the blog post, too!

In reply to - Sarah Mainville wrote a new post, Digital Curation Lab:, on the site Media Preservation at MSU Libraries Or: How MSU Libraries Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Obsolete Data Carriers In honor of World […] ]]> dcd970fb2040292f86959c8055b069cb Ruth-Ann Jones posted a new activity comment https://commons.msu.edu/activity/p/1856780/#acomment-1856887 Tue, 29 Aug 2023 19:33:08 -0400 Wow that basketball clip was pretty grainy! And very staticky at the beginning, as if the system needed to warm up to achieve its best reproduction.

In reply to - Melanie Goulish wrote a new post, Polavision: The Demise of a Legend , on the site Media Preservation at MSU Libraries Welcome to our new biweekly series! This semester, every two weeks on Tuesdays, we will be […] ]]> d6008dfd238940b787b7200e9936099a Ruth-Ann Jones wrote a new post, Pandemic reading continued: Afrofuturism, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=318 Wed, 21 Jul 2021 01:39:15 -0400 In late May I began another phase of my "reading the history of science fiction" project. I'm now working through Nisi Shawl's Crash Course in the History of Black Science Fiction. Out of 43 novels, short […]

]]> bdcfa3ac42b44aec82c905fd66b1bd6c Ruth-Ann Jones wrote a new post, Science fiction zines: how much subject analysis?, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=300 Sat, 10 Jul 2021 05:39:00 -0400 In yesterday's post I briefly described the science fiction zines I'm processing for Murray-Hong Special Collections. Right now I'm working on "assigning access points" for the 10+ boxes of zines that aren't fan […]

]]> 659ca74c474d9c553358409ed6e9d53d Ruth-Ann Jones wrote a new post, Organizing science fiction fanzines, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=288 Fri, 09 Jul 2021 04:31:47 -0400 For several summers I've been working on a massive collection of science fiction fan writing and publishing, large enough to fill nearly 40 file boxes. The collection includes donations from many different […]

]]> 5fe9249714411d00b9fe67bd5286a840 Ruth-Ann Jones wrote a new post, Leading in the classroom, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=278 Tue, 15 Jun 2021 01:56:26 -0400 In a recent post I considered the seeming discontinuity between an instruction librarian's role in the classroom and a Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) facilitator during an image discussion.

In that post I […]

]]> b3935ff43fded14d1dd5ed9d856d3c75 Ruth-Ann Jones's profile was updated https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1738667/ Wed, 19 May 2021 02:56:34 -0400 0 3d3e18b7484dd7f7bd933cd2f3f0950d Ruth-Ann Jones wrote a new post, Bringing broader narratives to the classroom, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=212 Wed, 19 May 2021 01:52:03 -0400 MSU's Murray-Hong Special Collections is a world-class scholarly resource for the study of popular culture: fittingly, since the field itself has strong roots at MSU. The Russel B. Nye Popular Culture Collection […]

]]> 1601576ca09dca5f6d1d116acab0409a Ruth-Ann Jones wrote a new post, Terminology: "controversial materials", on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=209 Tue, 18 May 2021 00:40:31 -0400 I just made a slight edit to yesterday's post on Controversial material in Special Collections and realized that to the non-librarian reader, the title could be misleading. (Even possibly to the librarian […]

]]> ffcc099376047e45e2ff7003fc0e338d Ruth-Ann Jones wrote a new post, Controversial materials in Special Collections, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=201 Mon, 17 May 2021 04:26:48 -0400 From 2005 to 2012, I was a cataloger for MSU Special Collections. In my role as digital project manager, I had worked primarily with 19th century Sunday school books and with 19th and early 20th century […]

]]> 9d2ca06dfd4da331401e91b04b701e60 Ruth-Ann Jones wrote a new post, Teaching "primary vs. secondary sources" -- history, humanities, social sciences, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=171 Fri, 07 May 2021 02:58:07 -0400 A recurring class request is "please introduce my students to Special Collections resources they might use for their term papers." This can be a difficult request from several angles, but the one that concerns me […]

]]> 5a05592a35d4686eef5c7feffd68ad05 Ruth-Ann Jones wrote a new post, Pandemic reading: the history of science fiction, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=87 Fri, 30 Apr 2021 23:05:18 -0400 I've read science fiction off and on since I was a teenager, mixed with many other genres: travel narratives, memoirs by women I admired, theology, history, and more. In the months preceding the pandemic, I'd […]

]]> 2fbb49c0f1839e9690076e5ac2dfbbc0 Ruth-Ann Jones wrote a new post, Outreach with kids: mystery books!, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=140 Wed, 28 Apr 2021 05:29:34 -0400 Sometimes with visiting class groups, there isn't much advance information about what the kids have been doing in class recently, which would normally give me ideas about what to share with them.

My favorite […]

]]> 3c1d893f4cad9b1ced00f6bf12c12683 Ruth-Ann Jones wrote a new post, Making artist's books with kids: free files, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=89 Wed, 28 Apr 2021 00:16:52 -0400 When there's not a global health crisis, I spend part of my summer doing programs for children attending summer camps on campus or enjoying the MSU Alumni program, Grandparents University.

For kids in […]

]]> 43acf2a9821458dd98b8f6a5d5b93324 Ruth-Ann Jones's profile was updated https://commons.msu.edu/activity/p/1736452/ Tue, 27 Apr 2021 23:50:23 -0400 0 fbe782401b201c9643d746939ab6f17a Ruth Ann Jones wrote a new post, The facilitator's role in Visual Thinking Strategies vs. the librarian's role in instruction, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=69 Mon, 26 Apr 2021 23:09:35 -0400 The role of the facilitator in Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) has a different character than the librarian's role in instruction -- at least, instruction as I practiced it earlier in my career.

I finished my […]

]]> 62b136303a7cd5b2d7d2c4dd77dd8cf5 Ruth Ann Jones wrote a new post, Visual Thinking Strategies: what images lend themselves to a good discussion?, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=57 Mon, 26 Apr 2021 18:50:10 -0400 Conversations using Visual Thinking Strategies facilitation (VTS) are as much, or even more, about process than about the subject matter of the image. Through VTS discussions, students can practice recognizing […]

]]> a78f75f79357482a880f60934853bcb3 Ruth Ann Jones wrote a new post, Visual Thinking Strategies in special collections instruction, part 2, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=39 Fri, 23 Apr 2021 01:29:05 -0400 In the previous post I described how I prepare for and conduct in-person class visits to MSU Special Collections. Students have the opportunity to explore a selection of historical documents, ephemera, or […]

]]> 498b148c56278b76724fd959b5e8629a Ruth Ann Jones wrote a new post, Visual Thinking Strategies in special collections instruction, part 1, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=35 Thu, 22 Apr 2021 22:44:53 -0400 My instruction sessions for MSU Special Collections allow plenty of time for students to investigate materials hands-on, with the freedom to choose which items to examine among a selection of sources related to […]

]]> 90502091917eeef4d032bf063c9887dd Ruth Ann Jones wrote a new post, Visual Thinking Strategies in Special Collections Outreach, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=26 Thu, 22 Apr 2021 20:38:32 -0400 In non-pandemic times, Special Collections outreach during the academic year centers around weekly "pop-up exhibits" in our classroom, which is centrally located on the first floor of MSU's Main Library, along […]

]]> c38d05c0a0959443fe3edf49c02d1a0f Ruth Ann Jones wrote a new post, Visual Teaching Strategies: The Method, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=20 Thu, 22 Apr 2021 14:28:51 -0400 I certainly didn't intend for five months to go by before I continued writing about Visual Thinking Strategies!

VTS is based in constructivism, the educational theory that students build knowledge using their […]

]]> f62f2f4682bf26262d9961febd7f849e Ruth-Ann Jones created the site Teaching in Special Collections https://commons.msu.edu/activity/p/1716166/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 01:34:22 -0500 0 5beba408b48e5b2fa51ef1b363274b03 Ruth Ann Jones wrote a new post, Visual Thinking Strategies: How I Got Started, on the site Teaching in Special Collections https://teachspc.msu.hcommons.org/?p=1 Wed, 11 Nov 2020 01:34:21 -0500 I first heard of Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) in June 2019 while reading Understanding Jim Crow: Using Racist Memorabilia to Teach Tolerance and Promote Social Justice.
The author, David Pilgrim, is founder of […]

]]> d6a04987e73430f6eecba7197a6718d4 Ruth-Ann Jones's profile was updated https://commons.msu.edu/activity/p/1716162/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 01:07:55 -0500 0