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Topnotcher Review


Being in the library means I'm studying and watching other people study as well. I admire those who make the effort to deposit their bags and their phones in the corner away from the tables where they are reviewing.

Some give up after a few minutes and fetch their phones to take advantage of the free wifi and do some "research" online.

To make your learning through self-study more effective and your review time more productive, here are some topnotcher tips: These are also the basic tips I can share for would-be board exam examinees.

1. Organize your thoughts by drawing a simple mind map for all aspects of librarianship and information science. For example:

  • Concepts like reference transactions/interview, information sources, and Samuel Swett Green all belong to the main topic of Reference Librarianship; 
  • DDC, LCC, subject headings, Cutter tables, and RDA belong to the main topic of Cataloging and Classification. 
  • WiFi, Ada Lovelace, virtual reality, automation, library systems, MS Access, CMS, database management belong to the main topic of Information technology.
  • RA9246, RA6966, Library Organization, PLAI, PRC-BFL all belong to the main topic of Library Management. 

Why do this? -- This will help you divide your tons of thousands of BLIS notes/hand-outs into separate folders before you even start reviewing. In the beginning, they're all jumbled together into one pile of mess (in your head or literally). Remember that the LLE itself is divided into the main subject areas. This will also help you mentally condition yourself to pass each subject area.

2. Have a study time every day. A good study habit means you know exactly what time you will start reviewing and what time you will end your daily review. Even if you're attending review classes, e.g., Libraryanihan, you still need a time to synthesize and summarize, even if it's just 30 mins after your classes.

This way, you'll be anticipating your review time, and you can arrange the rest of your work/leisure around it. Studying also means no distractions (netflix or social media), no noise, and no food.

This will help you attain level of discipline to prepare yourself for crunch time, a.k.a., cramming time, during which you'll both be panicking and cramming simultaneously. You'll forget to sleep and eat, and you'll be dependent on coffee for a few days.

During this time, only your strict study schedule will make sense to you, and you may even depend on your developed study routine as a security blanket. Nothing's making sense, but you draw comfort from the fact that you're at least attempting to study more.


3. Take Notes
  • In two of my posts (PLAI Takeaways I and II, I demonstrated how I would take notes during a lecture.
  • The main line should be the topic being discussed, then below it, list the details in bullet points format. Here's the template:
(1) Topic
(1a) Main information about the topic (what, where, when, how, why - FAQs)
(1b) Supporting information - what else do we need to know, assumptions, unconfirmed reports
(1c) Question about the topic that can be answered by research or interview. 
4. Make a Bibliography
  • For each subject area you are studying, you should have several credible references that you go to for advice or to verify something. These can be books, serials, even people.
  • Organize your bibliography according to type. If these are websites, make sure you don't just lift off Wikipedia. List the name of the site along with the URL. 

5. Make a Who's Who / Trivia List

  • Any topic has a 'father' or someone who studied the topic intensively at one point in history. For instance, if the topic is "cats," who discovered them? Who was the person who coined the name?
  • This will spike your interest about your topic and make you more eager to study it.
  • This list will keep you from getting bored. 

6. Sound off to someone else

  • Talk at length about your topic with someone to synthesize your thoughts. You're picking the brain of someone.
  • This person you talk to may or may not be an authority in the field, but he/she must be as interested as you are, e.g., a classmate or professor.
  • If there is no one in your immediate circle who knows something about this topic, find specific interest groups on the internet, especially social networks. Forum communities are usual in the early 2000s, but now these have been replaced by Facebook communities.
  • Use hashtags to find people who are already talking about your topic on Twitter and Facebook. 








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