This was a College of DuPage teleconference lead by Marie Radford. The discussion revolved around reference services and how they are in transition. She talked about the increased need for collaboration and consortial involvement; librarians no longer need to be the Lone Reference Desk Ranger.
The influence of mobile applications was discussed; this ties with the last College of DuPage teleconference on Libraries & the Mobile Technologies Landscape held on 9/24/10. She gave examples of augmented reality (AR app) and Quick Response Codes (QR Codes). (The 9/24/10 presentation also discussed QR Codes!)
She devoted a good portion of time to the discussion of outreach. Whether that is a public library with a drive-up window (interesting considering that had been on the table for the new Marshall-Lyon County Library building), or an academic library like Penn State University that has an "ASK Cart" that travels around campus with a librarian (a.k.a. Library Dude) at the helm. She also referenced Cornell University's tiered system of having a non-professional librarian staffing the Information Desk so that professional librarians could spend the majority of their time doing professional duties and be called upon as needed to answer true reference questions. (I recall a similar model in place at the University of Iowa when I was completing my graduate program there.) She noted that 85% of questions that come to the Information/Reference Desk are NOT reference questions. She also mentioned a small liberal arts college (Franklin & Marshall) whose librarians make "House Calls" to the academic departments. All of these examples demonstrate ways librarians can make themselves available at the point-of-need while at the same time help change perceptions of librarians (i.e., we're not all waiting behind an intimidating desk for people to approach us).
In response to a listener question about the future of print reference, Marie answered an unequivocal "Print Reference is Dead." She specifically mentioned that the Oxford English Dictionary is 100% an electronic product now and that Encyclopedia Britannica in print has been declining in sales since 1990. This reminded me that my 10-year-old daughter just asked me this week if we have an encyclopedia set at home. I responded that we (along with all Minnesotans) have access to a great encyclopedia online, so we don't need a print one in the house. She responded, "I thought so." :)
Marie's presentation concluded with her thoughts that as librarians we need to continue to thrive and move forward embracing the technologies our patrons are using and find ways to meet them in that environment.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
RDA: What It Is, and What It Means to You - November 11, 2010
I tuned in to a Minitex webinar led by Mark Ehlert about RDA (Resource Description and Access.) The presentation included an introduction to the foundations of RDA, FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) and FRAD (Functional Requirements for Authority Data), covered what RDA is along with an explanation of the toolkits available, the testing that has been done, and the potential rollout of RDA.
This was a great introduction to the topic and set the stage for learning more details about using RDA when/if that time comes. Mark made it clear AACR2 is not going away any time soon, but it's still a good idea to start planning for the likely change to RDA down the line.
These are the major ideas about RDA to keep in mind at this time:
1) RDA is the proposed successor to AACR2
This was a great introduction to the topic and set the stage for learning more details about using RDA when/if that time comes. Mark made it clear AACR2 is not going away any time soon, but it's still a good idea to start planning for the likely change to RDA down the line.
These are the major ideas about RDA to keep in mind at this time:
1) RDA is the proposed successor to AACR2
- rules for creating descriptions of resources
- rules for devising access points to discover resources
- rules follow AACR2 predominantly
- greater reliance on cataloger's judgment
- fewer abbreviations used; words are transcribed instead (e.g., First edition instead of 1st ed.)
2) Based on FRBR/FRAD rather than ISBD
3) Layout of the materials and terminology differ from AACR2 (not as linear)
4) 3 new fields (336, 337, 338) will be required in an RDA record
Surely much more to come on this topic!
Monday, November 1, 2010
MnPALS User Groups - October 28, 2010
I attended the MnPALS User Group meetings at the Wellstone Center in St. Paul on Thursday, October 28, 2010. As the Circulation User Group convener, I had been involved in the planning for this day and was looking forward to seeing librarians from around the state! It was a good, but packed day of meetings. I attended the following sessions:
ILL Subsystem Meeting
Circulation Subsystem Meeting
Systems Subsystem Meeting
Lunch/General Session
Reference Subsystem Meeting
Cataloging Subsystem Meeting
The staff at the PALS Office does a great job of keeping us informed of changes, especially in regards to the upcoming version change. The upgrade to Version 20 is scheduled for January 28-30. Online training sessions will be held with more details, but it was nice to catch a glimpse of some coming changes.
One of the biggest things I pulled away from this day of meetings is to take some time to look at the report options in ALEPH. The Reports Group has been working hard to create new reports that are key to the consortium. There is much clean-up of records that needs to be done, so I've started working on that project.
Overall it was a great day for connecting with colleagues and being active in the consortium.
ILL Subsystem Meeting
Circulation Subsystem Meeting
Systems Subsystem Meeting
Lunch/General Session
Reference Subsystem Meeting
Cataloging Subsystem Meeting
The staff at the PALS Office does a great job of keeping us informed of changes, especially in regards to the upcoming version change. The upgrade to Version 20 is scheduled for January 28-30. Online training sessions will be held with more details, but it was nice to catch a glimpse of some coming changes.
One of the biggest things I pulled away from this day of meetings is to take some time to look at the report options in ALEPH. The Reports Group has been working hard to create new reports that are key to the consortium. There is much clean-up of records that needs to be done, so I've started working on that project.
Overall it was a great day for connecting with colleagues and being active in the consortium.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
MLA Conference 2010 - Friday, October 8
Friday, October 8, 8:00-9:15am
A Level Playing Field?: ELM and the High School to College High Jump
Session revolved around an interesting study conducted by librarians at St. Thomas (a private Catholic university). Question was asked: “What expectations should we have as librarians of students’ information literacy skills?” A dichotomy exists between what is being taught/learned in high school and what college faculty/librarians expect students to know. The ELM (Electronic Library for Minnesota) can serve as a bridge to help narrow this gap. They also identified scaffolding opportunities related to this; scaffolding was a new concept to some of the college librarians. Their research was based on a survey to librarians at 30 Catholic schools in the Midwest. They got responses from 15 librarians and made site visits to those locations to have one-on-one conversations with the librarians. They referenced a few articles on this topic that I need to explore and compare to my own high school- community college collaboration grant I completed a few years ago. Another off-shoot of this research project we could consider exploring at Minnesota West is to focus on students who will transition from a 2-year to a 4-year college.
Friday, October 8, 9:30-10:45am
Reading 2.0: Improving Literacy in an Academic Environment
A team from Rasmussen College’s Academic Resource Team (ART) presented ways they have collaborated in attempts to raise literacy. The ART includes librarians, student support professionals, and faculty members. Strategies mentioned included SQ3R, Word Power! (Princeton Review), and other course specific ideas. They are using the MAPP assessment as students come into the college and when they graduate to help gauge literacy increases. They talked about the importance of getting all faculty on-board with the idea of including reading strategies in their courses/programs. One way they worked on this was to get all faculty enrolled in an online course about teaching reading comprehension. They have also instituted the practice that instead of faculty having office hours in their office, they tutor in the library one hour/week. Comments were made about how that time in the library helped faculty learn what students in other subject areas struggle with and also to hear how student peer tutors interacted with students.
Friday, October 8, 11:00am-1:00pm
Luncheon Keynote: Bruce Schneier
Security, Privacy, and the Generation Gap
Mr. Schneier talked about the feeling and reality aspects of Security; there are two different concepts on the same word. He spent time talking about privacy and how that is affected by the generation gap and also how the Internet is the greatest generation gap since rock ‘n roll. I laughed out loud when he said “to search is easier than to sort” = keeping emails and searching through them rather than deleting. Guilty as charged! I also thought his comparison about what was ignored environmentally in the industrial age in the 20th century that we find incredulous now will be akin to those looking back at our lack of protecting privacy in the early 21st century.
I enjoyed my MLA 2010 Conference experience and the wide-range of topics that were available. I believe I was able to gain information on aspects of my job as well as other librarian-related professional responsibilities.
A Level Playing Field?: ELM and the High School to College High Jump
Session revolved around an interesting study conducted by librarians at St. Thomas (a private Catholic university). Question was asked: “What expectations should we have as librarians of students’ information literacy skills?” A dichotomy exists between what is being taught/learned in high school and what college faculty/librarians expect students to know. The ELM (Electronic Library for Minnesota) can serve as a bridge to help narrow this gap. They also identified scaffolding opportunities related to this; scaffolding was a new concept to some of the college librarians. Their research was based on a survey to librarians at 30 Catholic schools in the Midwest. They got responses from 15 librarians and made site visits to those locations to have one-on-one conversations with the librarians. They referenced a few articles on this topic that I need to explore and compare to my own high school- community college collaboration grant I completed a few years ago. Another off-shoot of this research project we could consider exploring at Minnesota West is to focus on students who will transition from a 2-year to a 4-year college.
Friday, October 8, 9:30-10:45am
Reading 2.0: Improving Literacy in an Academic Environment
A team from Rasmussen College’s Academic Resource Team (ART) presented ways they have collaborated in attempts to raise literacy. The ART includes librarians, student support professionals, and faculty members. Strategies mentioned included SQ3R, Word Power! (Princeton Review), and other course specific ideas. They are using the MAPP assessment as students come into the college and when they graduate to help gauge literacy increases. They talked about the importance of getting all faculty on-board with the idea of including reading strategies in their courses/programs. One way they worked on this was to get all faculty enrolled in an online course about teaching reading comprehension. They have also instituted the practice that instead of faculty having office hours in their office, they tutor in the library one hour/week. Comments were made about how that time in the library helped faculty learn what students in other subject areas struggle with and also to hear how student peer tutors interacted with students.
Friday, October 8, 11:00am-1:00pm
Luncheon Keynote: Bruce Schneier
Security, Privacy, and the Generation Gap
Mr. Schneier talked about the feeling and reality aspects of Security; there are two different concepts on the same word. He spent time talking about privacy and how that is affected by the generation gap and also how the Internet is the greatest generation gap since rock ‘n roll. I laughed out loud when he said “to search is easier than to sort” = keeping emails and searching through them rather than deleting. Guilty as charged! I also thought his comparison about what was ignored environmentally in the industrial age in the 20th century that we find incredulous now will be akin to those looking back at our lack of protecting privacy in the early 21st century.
I enjoyed my MLA 2010 Conference experience and the wide-range of topics that were available. I believe I was able to gain information on aspects of my job as well as other librarian-related professional responsibilities.
MLA Conference 2010 - Thursday, October 7
reThursday, October 7 – 8:00am-9:15am
Current Trends in Instruction
Two University of Minnesota Librarians (Kristen Mastel and Kate Peterson) highlighted instruction trends and ideas they have picked up at 3 major conference they’ve attended in the past 6 months: 1) LOEX 2010, LOEX of the West, and ALA Annual Conference 2010. One presentation they referred to pulled on errors that are found online – they referenced C. Silverman’s books Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech as a key resource. The idea of using these errors as attention grabbers was discussed. I particularly liked the Miss Teen USA – South Carolina YouTube example. They also talked about using Cartoons and Humor and referenced cartoon generators like ToonDo. There were also examples of using visual literacy to help students refine and focus topics. A section on transitioning to college really caught my attention and made me think about how we could focus our efforts on working with the feeder schools for our college. We’ve tried to make connections with several school libraries in our region over the years, but this might be a more targeted focus we could pursue. I also got some ideas to consider incorporating into Freshman Seminar! http://www.transitioning2college.org/ based out of Ohio has good information.
Thursday, October 7 – 9:45am-11:00am
Minnesota’s Libraries & The Open Meeting Law
I put on my Public Library Board Member hat when I entered this session. After coming back on the Library Board in recent months, I’ve realized I do not know enough about state statutes relating to public libraries or the open meeting law. Nancy Walton, acting State Librarian, led this informative session. Ms. Walton talked us through some scenarios based on questions she has received in her office over the years and audience members posed their own questions. It was good to learn the state librarian’s office has resources at its disposal that public libraries can call on when questions arise. Minnesota Statutes 2009: Chapter 13D Open Meeting Law
Thursday Lunch - I enjoyed visiting with a public librarian, an academic librarian, and two regional library representatives during lunch while listening to music by the Irish Trio!
Thursday, October 7 – 12:15pm-1:30pm
Dessert Keynote: Erin Hart
Delving into the Otherworld: Murder, Myth and Music in False Mermaid
This was a fascinating introduction to Erin Hart’s work. I have not read any of her novels, although I have one checked out now! She talked about how she researched and came with ideas for False Mermaid, her third novel. This presentation included the best use of Power Point I have ever seen. She also supplemented her talk with live Irish traditional music (which featured her husband, Paddy O’Brien on the button accordion). Early in her presentation she said “Librarians are the original detectives, right?” I do believe that is correct! :) Her topic and her presentation were both spell-binding and I’m looking forward to reading her work.
Thursday, October 7 – 1:30pm-2:45pm
Legislative Outlook
Elaine Keefe gave her insight about the upcoming election and highlighted a few scenarios of what could happen depending on the outcome. There are so many unknowns yet until after November 2. We’ll be in wait-and-see mode until then! The draft MLA/MEMO 2011 Legislative Platform was also presented.
Thursday, October 7, 3:30-4:45pm
Briggs Library: Beyond Shushing
Librarians from the University of Minnesota, Morris, presented ideas they’ve used at their college to support college retention by making the library a welcoming, comfortable environment. They have worked on academic endeavors such as an embedded librarian in Research Methods, Biology, and Political Science, as well as having a “Librarian on the Loose” where a librarian takes a laptop and moves to different locations around campus to answer student reference and research questions. They have other areas/departments that work within the library area such as Academic Assistance, Disability Services, the Writing Center as well as a providing space for a TREC Program (Tutoring, Reading, Enabling Children). They also have a Library Associate (Friends) Board that accepts grants up to $500 for collection enhancements. Involvement in a campus group called SOFA (Something On Friday Afternoons) has also afforded opportunities for the library to participate in and draw students to the library. One Friday night a month the library stays open until midnight and has a game night. The library has also promoted a Food for Fines imitative where fines will be waived for can goods that are brought in. They also erase fines on “Random Acts of Kindness” days on campus.
Thursday, October 7, 5:00-6:00pm
MLA Annual Business Meeting
This was my first time attending an annual business meeting! Proposed by-laws revisions were brought forward along with explanations for the changes. These were approved after some discussion. The draft Legislative Platform was discussed again here. MLA Board Election Results along with memorial resolutions were presented.
Current Trends in Instruction
Two University of Minnesota Librarians (Kristen Mastel and Kate Peterson) highlighted instruction trends and ideas they have picked up at 3 major conference they’ve attended in the past 6 months: 1) LOEX 2010, LOEX of the West, and ALA Annual Conference 2010. One presentation they referred to pulled on errors that are found online – they referenced C. Silverman’s books Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech as a key resource. The idea of using these errors as attention grabbers was discussed. I particularly liked the Miss Teen USA – South Carolina YouTube example. They also talked about using Cartoons and Humor and referenced cartoon generators like ToonDo. There were also examples of using visual literacy to help students refine and focus topics. A section on transitioning to college really caught my attention and made me think about how we could focus our efforts on working with the feeder schools for our college. We’ve tried to make connections with several school libraries in our region over the years, but this might be a more targeted focus we could pursue. I also got some ideas to consider incorporating into Freshman Seminar! http://www.transitioning2college.org/ based out of Ohio has good information.
Thursday, October 7 – 9:45am-11:00am
Minnesota’s Libraries & The Open Meeting Law
I put on my Public Library Board Member hat when I entered this session. After coming back on the Library Board in recent months, I’ve realized I do not know enough about state statutes relating to public libraries or the open meeting law. Nancy Walton, acting State Librarian, led this informative session. Ms. Walton talked us through some scenarios based on questions she has received in her office over the years and audience members posed their own questions. It was good to learn the state librarian’s office has resources at its disposal that public libraries can call on when questions arise. Minnesota Statutes 2009: Chapter 13D Open Meeting Law
Thursday Lunch - I enjoyed visiting with a public librarian, an academic librarian, and two regional library representatives during lunch while listening to music by the Irish Trio!
Thursday, October 7 – 12:15pm-1:30pm
Dessert Keynote: Erin Hart
Delving into the Otherworld: Murder, Myth and Music in False Mermaid
This was a fascinating introduction to Erin Hart’s work. I have not read any of her novels, although I have one checked out now! She talked about how she researched and came with ideas for False Mermaid, her third novel. This presentation included the best use of Power Point I have ever seen. She also supplemented her talk with live Irish traditional music (which featured her husband, Paddy O’Brien on the button accordion). Early in her presentation she said “Librarians are the original detectives, right?” I do believe that is correct! :) Her topic and her presentation were both spell-binding and I’m looking forward to reading her work.
Thursday, October 7 – 1:30pm-2:45pm
Legislative Outlook
Elaine Keefe gave her insight about the upcoming election and highlighted a few scenarios of what could happen depending on the outcome. There are so many unknowns yet until after November 2. We’ll be in wait-and-see mode until then! The draft MLA/MEMO 2011 Legislative Platform was also presented.
Thursday, October 7, 3:30-4:45pm
Briggs Library: Beyond Shushing
Librarians from the University of Minnesota, Morris, presented ideas they’ve used at their college to support college retention by making the library a welcoming, comfortable environment. They have worked on academic endeavors such as an embedded librarian in Research Methods, Biology, and Political Science, as well as having a “Librarian on the Loose” where a librarian takes a laptop and moves to different locations around campus to answer student reference and research questions. They have other areas/departments that work within the library area such as Academic Assistance, Disability Services, the Writing Center as well as a providing space for a TREC Program (Tutoring, Reading, Enabling Children). They also have a Library Associate (Friends) Board that accepts grants up to $500 for collection enhancements. Involvement in a campus group called SOFA (Something On Friday Afternoons) has also afforded opportunities for the library to participate in and draw students to the library. One Friday night a month the library stays open until midnight and has a game night. The library has also promoted a Food for Fines imitative where fines will be waived for can goods that are brought in. They also erase fines on “Random Acts of Kindness” days on campus.
Thursday, October 7, 5:00-6:00pm
MLA Annual Business Meeting
This was my first time attending an annual business meeting! Proposed by-laws revisions were brought forward along with explanations for the changes. These were approved after some discussion. The draft Legislative Platform was discussed again here. MLA Board Election Results along with memorial resolutions were presented.
MLA 2010 Conference - Wednesday, October 6
Wednesday, October 6 – 11:30am-1:00pm
Keynote Speaker – Ed Holahan
“Seven Practices of the Inventive Creative”Interesting, engaging speaker talked about different ways people can be creative and innovative at work. He was a toy creator so had interesting stories about how his seven themes were used in his industry. His seven practices were 1) Dream Dreams (cast a net, not a hook), 2) Be Open and Prepared (loved his Nerf ball examples) 3) Try New & Different Things (had audience move watch or jewelry to other hand and talked about stepping out of one’s comfort zone) 4) Find Quiet Time (he mentioned taking time to meditate/think!) 5) Mak Mistakes (I’m sure this slide drove the librarians in the crowd crazy with his purposeful misspelling of Make!) 6) Share the Dream and 7) Let Go and Trust. I liked his quote “Ideas are Your Gold.”
Wednesday, October 6 – 2:00-3:15
Demystifying Ethnography: Exploring Student Use of Library Spaces
Librarians from Gustavus Adolphus College adapted a University of Rochester study to investigate how students interacted with their physical and virtual library spaces. The librarians highlighted their process for this qualitative research study. They emailed a survey (and had a 26% response rate), conducted eight semi-structured interviews, used linguistic listing, mapping, photo diaries, and image association. They also conducted web focus groups. I loved their incentive ideas for garnering participation including exclusive use of their VIP Study Room and giving out 20 free prints for the student printers. I enjoyed learning about their ethnographic study and how they worked to complete this in one semester’s time. A piece of advice they offered all attendees – use student workers as much as possible to conduct interviews, do the mapping, etc., and start recruiting early!
Wednesday, October 6 – 4:00-5:15pm
Cataloging and OCLC Previews & Reviews
This session was an overview of much of what Minitex does as well as major updates in the cataloging area. They stressed how Minitex will be providing free training for RDA (the proposed successor to AACR2). Although this session didn’t go into great detail about RDA, Mark Ehlert (MII) noted a couple of the major changes: 1) there is greater reliance on cataloger’s judgment and in turn a greater focus on the needs of the user 2) RDA spells out abbreviations and 3) new fields – 336, 337, 338. A final decision about if the national libraries will/will not adopt RDA is expected before the ALA National Conference. Sara Ring also touched on ContentDM (software used in Minnesota Reflections project) and noted that the QuickStart version of ContentDM is freely available so to consider that for small-scale digitization projects.
Wednesday evening
EBSCO Hosted reception at the Kahler Grand Hotel that evening gave me the opportunity to talk and network with colleagues in the state.
Keynote Speaker – Ed Holahan
“Seven Practices of the Inventive Creative”Interesting, engaging speaker talked about different ways people can be creative and innovative at work. He was a toy creator so had interesting stories about how his seven themes were used in his industry. His seven practices were 1) Dream Dreams (cast a net, not a hook), 2) Be Open and Prepared (loved his Nerf ball examples) 3) Try New & Different Things (had audience move watch or jewelry to other hand and talked about stepping out of one’s comfort zone) 4) Find Quiet Time (he mentioned taking time to meditate/think!) 5) Mak Mistakes (I’m sure this slide drove the librarians in the crowd crazy with his purposeful misspelling of Make!) 6) Share the Dream and 7) Let Go and Trust. I liked his quote “Ideas are Your Gold.”
Wednesday, October 6 – 2:00-3:15
Demystifying Ethnography: Exploring Student Use of Library Spaces
Librarians from Gustavus Adolphus College adapted a University of Rochester study to investigate how students interacted with their physical and virtual library spaces. The librarians highlighted their process for this qualitative research study. They emailed a survey (and had a 26% response rate), conducted eight semi-structured interviews, used linguistic listing, mapping, photo diaries, and image association. They also conducted web focus groups. I loved their incentive ideas for garnering participation including exclusive use of their VIP Study Room and giving out 20 free prints for the student printers. I enjoyed learning about their ethnographic study and how they worked to complete this in one semester’s time. A piece of advice they offered all attendees – use student workers as much as possible to conduct interviews, do the mapping, etc., and start recruiting early!
Wednesday, October 6 – 4:00-5:15pm
Cataloging and OCLC Previews & Reviews
This session was an overview of much of what Minitex does as well as major updates in the cataloging area. They stressed how Minitex will be providing free training for RDA (the proposed successor to AACR2). Although this session didn’t go into great detail about RDA, Mark Ehlert (MII) noted a couple of the major changes: 1) there is greater reliance on cataloger’s judgment and in turn a greater focus on the needs of the user 2) RDA spells out abbreviations and 3) new fields – 336, 337, 338. A final decision about if the national libraries will/will not adopt RDA is expected before the ALA National Conference. Sara Ring also touched on ContentDM (software used in Minnesota Reflections project) and noted that the QuickStart version of ContentDM is freely available so to consider that for small-scale digitization projects.
Wednesday evening
EBSCO Hosted reception at the Kahler Grand Hotel that evening gave me the opportunity to talk and network with colleagues in the state.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Library Futures: Libraries & the Mobile Technologies Landscape - 9/24/10
This was a College of DuPage teleconference with Joe Murphy, Yale Librarian, as the primary presenter. One of his initial comments was that using mobile technology has become standard and is not a passing fad - therefore libraries need to engage in this, particularly school and public libraries. He discussed a few mobile technologies: texting, mobile applications, and location-based services.
He also emphasized Mobile Literacy and how important it is for librarians to gain familiarity with a variety of mobile technologies and to be aware of the impact of the mobile technology on our patrons.
He discussed four mobile technologies he believes we all have to be familiar with:
1) text messaging
2) mobile applications
3) mobile web pages (he referenced Amazon's Kindle Store and Tech Crunch)
4) Twitter -- although he brought in another speaker via Skype to discuss this, he is a really big fan of Twitter -- here's his link: http://twitter.com/libraryfuture
A few examples he gave of how Twitter could be used by libraries/librarians were to post library news/happenings, to provide a link to a "New Items" list, to attend conferences via hashtags, or write 140-character book reviews. It was also mentioned that 10/1/10 is Follow a Library Day on Twitter!
Two current trends he referenced were:
1) Location - specifically location-based services. These answer the question "Where are You?" vs. the "What are you Doing?" that Twitter fulfills. The most common example of location based services that he provided was FourSquare. He refers to this as the "check-in culture."
2) QR Codes -- this was a new term and concept to me - I will have to do some investigating into this! I believe they are 2-dimensional barcodes that can be read by a Smartphone.
Yet another speaker chimed in (Lisa Carlucci Thomas from Southern Connecticut State University) to talk about e-books and e-readers. She pointed out that e-books have been around for about a decade, but it's just been in the past couple of years that the e-readers have become more commonplace. She talked briefly about the issues of digital ownership and referenced incompatible DRM -- we are encountering this topic at my college now with a new e-book being used for one of our microcomputer courses. This book requires a specific DRM before the book can be downloaded. Lisa commented that librarians need to have an understanding of device compatibility regarding e-readers.
Joe did also reference that there can be a heavy personnel cost to implementing some of these technologies. There needs to be an understanding of that both by the staff involved as well as administration. Decisions need to be made about where time and emphasis will be spent. We all know technology is a quickly changing environment so sometimes it is difficult to know which tools and technologies to move ahead with...as Joe said sometimes we'll have to "be willing to be wrong."
Thanks to Minitex for offering librarians the opportunity to listen to these College of DuPage teleconferences.
He also emphasized Mobile Literacy and how important it is for librarians to gain familiarity with a variety of mobile technologies and to be aware of the impact of the mobile technology on our patrons.
He discussed four mobile technologies he believes we all have to be familiar with:
1) text messaging
2) mobile applications
3) mobile web pages (he referenced Amazon's Kindle Store and Tech Crunch)
4) Twitter -- although he brought in another speaker via Skype to discuss this, he is a really big fan of Twitter -- here's his link: http://twitter.com/libraryfuture
A few examples he gave of how Twitter could be used by libraries/librarians were to post library news/happenings, to provide a link to a "New Items" list, to attend conferences via hashtags, or write 140-character book reviews. It was also mentioned that 10/1/10 is Follow a Library Day on Twitter!
Two current trends he referenced were:
1) Location - specifically location-based services. These answer the question "Where are You?" vs. the "What are you Doing?" that Twitter fulfills. The most common example of location based services that he provided was FourSquare. He refers to this as the "check-in culture."
2) QR Codes -- this was a new term and concept to me - I will have to do some investigating into this! I believe they are 2-dimensional barcodes that can be read by a Smartphone.
Yet another speaker chimed in (Lisa Carlucci Thomas from Southern Connecticut State University) to talk about e-books and e-readers. She pointed out that e-books have been around for about a decade, but it's just been in the past couple of years that the e-readers have become more commonplace. She talked briefly about the issues of digital ownership and referenced incompatible DRM -- we are encountering this topic at my college now with a new e-book being used for one of our microcomputer courses. This book requires a specific DRM before the book can be downloaded. Lisa commented that librarians need to have an understanding of device compatibility regarding e-readers.
Joe did also reference that there can be a heavy personnel cost to implementing some of these technologies. There needs to be an understanding of that both by the staff involved as well as administration. Decisions need to be made about where time and emphasis will be spent. We all know technology is a quickly changing environment so sometimes it is difficult to know which tools and technologies to move ahead with...as Joe said sometimes we'll have to "be willing to be wrong."
Thanks to Minitex for offering librarians the opportunity to listen to these College of DuPage teleconferences.
Marshall Breeding Webinar - 9/21/10
I had the opportunity to listen to Marshall Breeding (Director for Innovative Technologies and Research for the Vanderbilt University Libraries in Nashville, TN) speak via a webinar on September 21. (offered by Minitex) He spoke about network technologies and library automation. Here's his website: http://www.librarytechnology.org/
One of the tidbits I wrote down from his presentation (and I learned a colleague of mine did as well!) was the percentage of money being spent on people to work with print materials and yet budgets are moving more towards securing electronic content. Sometimes we have difficulty letting go of past workflows that we have traditionally used with print materials.
When Marshall was talking about the OLE project - which I have heard discussed a bit over the past year or so - it really struck home this time when he emphasized this is a back-end functionality project. It is not trying to be or replicate a front-end discovery interface: http://kuali.org/ole
I did have to chuckle at one of his comments about many young students today not knowing life without the Internet. I had just had that conversation with students in an Introduction to Microcomputers class the day before. Just to marvel at how much has happened in the past 20 years in relation to the Internet and World Wide Web is amazing to me...as it was to "non-traditional" students in that class. The generation who only knew life with the web, however, wasn't as fascinated by the topic ;)
One of the tidbits I wrote down from his presentation (and I learned a colleague of mine did as well!) was the percentage of money being spent on people to work with print materials and yet budgets are moving more towards securing electronic content. Sometimes we have difficulty letting go of past workflows that we have traditionally used with print materials.
When Marshall was talking about the OLE project - which I have heard discussed a bit over the past year or so - it really struck home this time when he emphasized this is a back-end functionality project. It is not trying to be or replicate a front-end discovery interface: http://kuali.org/ole
I did have to chuckle at one of his comments about many young students today not knowing life without the Internet. I had just had that conversation with students in an Introduction to Microcomputers class the day before. Just to marvel at how much has happened in the past 20 years in relation to the Internet and World Wide Web is amazing to me...as it was to "non-traditional" students in that class. The generation who only knew life with the web, however, wasn't as fascinated by the topic ;)
Friday, March 12, 2010
Information Literacy Education: A National Overview (College of DuPage Library Learning Network)
Three panelists led today's discussion about Information Literacy: Dr. Lisa Stock from DuPage, Dr. Jean Donham from the Univ. of Northern Iowa (and a former instructor at Univ. of IA Library School when I was in Grad School there!); and Dane Ward from Illinois State Univ.
Background information about Information Literacy, including the variety of standards (and diversity of students/patrons) related to information literacy kicked off the session. Recognition was also given to President Barack Obama declaring October 2009 National Information Literacy Month -- here's a link to his proclamation.
Dr. Donham referenced an article published in the Winter 2010 edition of College Teaching entitled Mental Models of Research: Generating Authentic Questions (authentication required to access) that questions how we as educators can help students move to a position of inquiry rather than reporting. Later in the session she referred to 7 dispositions that she believes are useful in ensuring students are ready to learn:
1) open-minded
2) curiosity
3) meta-cognitive
4) strategic
5) investigative
6) reasoning
7) evidence-based
Mr. Ward focused more on the collaborative aspect of information literacy and recognized elements of the collaborative process as:
* spontaneity
* expertise
* pushing the boundaries
* being present in the moment
* knowing each other
* knowing oneself
He summed this up by stating it is important for all involved in the collaboration to be open-minded and not to judge one another during the process.
Emphasis to grow information literacy on a national level needs to focus on these three areas, according to the panelists:
1) standards - moving beyond the boiler-plates that are there and also recognizing the different needs of the communities using the standards
2) work towards a model of moving beyond information seeking
3) context and collaboration are key to success
A follow-up question that piqued my interest was about what textbook they might recommend for a 1-credit information literacy course and Dr. Stock mentioned Research Strategies: Finding Your Way Through the Information Fog by William Badke.
Background information about Information Literacy, including the variety of standards (and diversity of students/patrons) related to information literacy kicked off the session. Recognition was also given to President Barack Obama declaring October 2009 National Information Literacy Month -- here's a link to his proclamation.
Dr. Donham referenced an article published in the Winter 2010 edition of College Teaching entitled Mental Models of Research: Generating Authentic Questions (authentication required to access) that questions how we as educators can help students move to a position of inquiry rather than reporting. Later in the session she referred to 7 dispositions that she believes are useful in ensuring students are ready to learn:
1) open-minded
2) curiosity
3) meta-cognitive
4) strategic
5) investigative
6) reasoning
7) evidence-based
Mr. Ward focused more on the collaborative aspect of information literacy and recognized elements of the collaborative process as:
* spontaneity
* expertise
* pushing the boundaries
* being present in the moment
* knowing each other
* knowing oneself
He summed this up by stating it is important for all involved in the collaboration to be open-minded and not to judge one another during the process.
Emphasis to grow information literacy on a national level needs to focus on these three areas, according to the panelists:
1) standards - moving beyond the boiler-plates that are there and also recognizing the different needs of the communities using the standards
2) work towards a model of moving beyond information seeking
3) context and collaboration are key to success
A follow-up question that piqued my interest was about what textbook they might recommend for a 1-credit information literacy course and Dr. Stock mentioned Research Strategies: Finding Your Way Through the Information Fog by William Badke.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Marshall-Lyon County Library Board - March 2010
I am pleased to be back on the Marshall-Lyon County Library Board and serving the community in this way! I previously served 2003-2006. This term begins immediately and expires December 31, 2012. My first board meeting is March 8 and I look forward to getting caught up on the progress with the public library.
YME High School Visit - February 23, 2010
I had a wonderful request from YME High School to come for a visit to their Media Center. I met with a senior high English teacher and the superintendent to talk about ways to improve their Media Center as they look to renovate. It enjoyed the visit and look forward to a continued partnership with them.
After my time at YME, I also made a stop at the Granite Falls Public library and had a nice visit with the library staff there!
After my time at YME, I also made a stop at the Granite Falls Public library and had a nice visit with the library staff there!
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