Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Britannica Presentation

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: ALA Presentation in Chicago for Britannica's Educator to Educator Series.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

ALA 2009 Annual Conference in Chicago

It was a busy four days and it has taken time to digest all the ideas. Two programs were especially relevant to LCPL and libraries in general: the first dealt with screencasting or short online tutorials for our patrons. As more and more of our patrons are visiting us online it is imperative that we're there to instruct them online and screencasts seem to be an efficient way to do this.

The second program presented new ways of dealing with collection development - one speaker actually proposed that librarians were a thing of the past - let the patrons decide what the library purchases: let patron requests (new or old titles) trigger purchases or else contract for a machine that would print on demand. Another speaker talked about centralized purchasing - a team of collection librarians purchased for all subject areas.

Interesting ideas in a time of shrinking staff and budgets.



Here are my notes:

ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
2009 Chicago, Illinois


Casting a Wide Net: Using Screencasts to Reach and Teach Library Users

Program was introduced by Committee co-chair, Michelle Jacobs, via screencast since she was not able to attend the conference.

http://rusamarshottopicsannual/2009.wordpress.com/

Panelists:
Eric Frierson, Education & Political Science Librarian, University of Texas at Arlington

Carmen Kazakoff-Lane, Head – Extension & Inter-Library Loans, Brandon University

Mick Jacobsen, Adult Services Librarian, Skokie Public Library, Illinois

The RUSA MARS Hot Topics Discussion Group presented a panel discussion on Screencasts. Screencasts are short instructional videos created by librarians and made available to patrons 24/7. Since many of our users are virtual, we need to make information available at their point of need.

Eric Frierson of the University of Texas at Arlington demonstrated how his library’s online catalog used embedded screencasts, with links to videos such as “Where’s the PDF?”, “I need peer-reviewed”, or “Bad Results” appearing when users are likely to need them. He has also created a welcome video to introduce users to his education subject guide – which can be a bit overwhelming for new users.

Mick Jacobsen of Skokie (Illinois) Public Library gave a public librarian’s use of screencasting and observed that his patrons are interested in information rather than reference sources. He stated, “very few people come to learn to Reference USA. They wouldn’t know what we’re talking about. But they would respond to ‘Do you want to find more customers?’” Skokie PL has a number of screencasts in their Skokie Business Portal.

Carmen Kazakoff-Lane, from Brandon University in Manitoba, demonstrated the Animated Tutorial Sharing (ANTS) Project, a collaborative project among librarians to create and share tutorial videos across institutions. The project currently involves librarians in Canada and the United States but is open to librarians elsewhere.

The goal of the project is to create a shared repository of library, research, and information literacy tutorials created using screencast software such as Adobe Captivate, Qarbon Viewlet Builder, Techsmith's Camtasia Studio , or similar products.

Tutorials contributed to the ANTS project are made publicly available for use by all libraries via our affiliated sites: LION TV and Screencast.com . Editable Source code is also available from our DSpace repository for those who wish to add their own brands, local links, etc.



What Do I Watch, Listen to, Play, or Download Next: Readers Advisory Techniques for the Digital World


Presenters:
Helen Stewart, Schaumburg Public Library (IL)

Amy Peterson, Schaumburg Public Library (IL)

Steve Gianni, Northbrook Public Library (IL)

Presenter Helen Stewart from Schaumburg started the session of with RA information for movies. She reminded the attendees of the challenges facing librarians who work with multi-media. Circulation for AV is “going through the roof.” Formats are always changing and librarians must keep a list of titles ready for recommendations and always know what’s playing in the local theaters.
Some display and marketing tips:
-think retail when displaying and change displays often to increase interest & excitement
-group movies by genre for “grab & go”
-be prepared to do reference interviews for movies – what type of movies has the patron enjoyed in the past, who are the favorite directors/actors, what about the rating of the film – are R-rated filsm ok?
-good resources for movies: reel.com; Amazon listmania; and Rotten Tomatoes and to be sure a movie is “kid-safe,” try Kids in Mind

The second presenter, Amy Peterson, also from Schaumburg, discussed audiobook advisory. Some tips from Amy:
-remember narrator preferences
-single narrator, multiple, or a full cast
-abridged versus unabridged
-production quality & format
-good sources for audiobooks: Audiofile magazine, APA, Booklist and audio discussion lists

The third presenter, Steve Gianni from Northbrook PL talked about his library’s music collections. Some tips:
-he recommends asking staff who may have interests in music beyond your own to build the collection
-arrange materials like retail stores do
-create displays based on what is going on in the music world locally and nationally
-make collection accessible and be ready to answer questions
-recommended resources: Billboard, New Music Express, and award lists from the Grammy and Town awards; for classical - NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection; and for kid safe music for tweens – Radio Disney



Collection Development 2.0: The Changing Administration of Collection Development

Speakers:
Rick Anderson, Associate Director from Scholarly Resources & Collections, University of Utah

Martha White, Director of Library Experiences, Lexington (KY) Public Library

Jonathan Nabe, Collection Development Librarian, Sciences & Technology, Southern Illinois University – Carbondale

Collection development is undergoing revolutionary changes. In the last few years, most libraries have made major changes in the way they manage collection development – what changes have some libraries implemented and why.

Jonathan Nabe from SIU in Carbondale
“Fewer Cooks @ SIU”
SIU hired three collection development librarians with full
responsibility for all aspects of CD: selection, analysis, policy, etc
Benefits:
Increased Oversight
Better balance
Better collection? Too early to tell
Wave of the Future? On the plus side this plan offers a new outlook and increased attention to the collection but on the negative side this is a heavy workload & a lot of responsibility for three librarians
What do we collect?
• No longer just what the publishers offer
• Materials produced within our institutions
• Institutional repositories
Current trends
• Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA)
• Pay-per-view
• ILL
• Cooperative Collection Development
Is Your Library a Repository?
Current trends work against libraries’ role as archival authority:
• Electronic journals and books:
– a license is only as good as the power to enforce it
• PDA:
– many books and people left out
• Pay-per-view:
– what about the patrons of tomorrow?
• ILL:
– unsustainable

Martha White from the Lexington Public Library mwhite@lexpublib.org

Themes from Ms White’s presentation:
1. Give the customers what they want
-multiple copies
-displays & website exposure
-“Power Wall” bookstore like, face out & categories
-signage
2. Centralized Selection
-representative interest across system
-replacement cycle > no circulation reports
-train staff to buy in
-through communication > gaps in collection
-scope statement
-weeding parties with strike teams
3. Reduced holding reserves from 7 to 5 days; charge $1 per book for non - pick up and have instituted self-service holds pickup

Rick Anderson from the University of Utah
Need to rethink the idea of library collections –
Why did we collect?
· Printed materials are physically awkward; hard to locate with card catalogs, and usually at another location
· Printed materials are expensive, usable by only one person at a time and usable only when the library was open

Should we continue to collect print?
· Users are online, online materials do not have physical constraints, can be used virtually by all anytime, anywhere, stored very cheaply
· Radically new information market – librarians guess wrong 50% of the time and patrons interest in print books has dropped dramatically
Bottom Line –
· CD is a guess
· Is wasteful
· Guesses today are much more expensive
· Point of need purchase is now an option – so why are we still guessing???
· Alternatives: electronic on demand – only purchase when patron checks out a book (NetLibrary); print on demand – INGRAM; ILL as CD (buy instead of borrow); in house printing > expedited patron requests; and cooperative collection development or regional warehouse.

Tough Questions –
· Why do we need librarians?
· Do patrons really want the best information?
· Who will preserve and safeguard information?
· Why are we rewarding laziness?



Who Cares About Privacy? Boundaries, Millennials, and the MySpace Mindset

Libraries have long trumpeted their role as protectors of privacy, but what does privacy mean in an age when people share all aspects of their lives with a worldwide audience? Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of The Anarchist in the Library and the blog/book in progress, The Googlization of Everything, and Frances Jacobson Harris, author of I Found It on the Internet: Coming of Age Online, will engage the topic of how the changing definition of privacy impacts the library research environment.

Speakers:
Siva Vaidhyanathan, Associate Professor of Media Studies and Law – University of Virginia and author

Frances Jacobson Harris, Librarian, University Laboratory High School; Professor of Library Administration, University Library -University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and author

Professor Jacobson Harris:
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/library/harrisvita.htm

http://bit.ly/12v600

Notes from Professor Jacobson Harris’ presentation:
Myths vs. realities:
- Predators don’t typically troll SNSs for victims
- Real teen responses to predators vs. researchers-as-teens response to predators
- Cyberbullying is an extension of f2f bullying
- Teens are not equally at risk online: those who are most at risk often engage in risky behaviors and have difficulties in other parts of their lives.
Libraries:
- How can we support & foster collaborative work; protect privacy; and remain relevant?
- How can we honor the role of social networks in communication and collaboration?
To do List:
- Look at those acceptable use policies & filters
- Look at how millennials do research, both formal and informal
- Look for ways to balance protecting privacy & fostering collaboration
- Look past traditional access points (toward mobile devices, online gaming communities, virtual worlds….)


Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan:
http://www.law.virginia.edu/lawweb/faculty.nsf/prfhpbw/sv2r

http://www.googlizationofeverything.com/2008/11/some_initial_answers_to_my_ini.php

Notes form Professor Vaidhyanathan’s presentation:
- There is NO such thing as Millenniums! To classify a group by age causes three things: 1)eroticizes them, 2)homogenizes them, and 3)encourages hammering
- We shouldn’t be pandering to these students > we owe them an education > give them guidance on managing their reputations
Reputations are managed through interfaces with:
- peer to state (data collection)
- peer to firm (data from businesses who collection information on card holders)
- peer to family
- peer to peer (friends & co-workers)
- Peer to power (boss, principles, church leaders, etc.)
Social Network Services (SNS) need tools for privacy & managing reputation instead there is technical bias encouraging sharing beyond context (add to your network theme)
Need laws to enforce policy changes:
- shift defaults
- disclosures up front
- protection of the minority
There is Class differential: Class & Public Persona
- one in four children are born in poverty
- poor children are less skilled to manage their public persona
- poor choose My Space over Face book
- More SMS on phones than on Twitter
Imagine the stakes of a soiled reputation – notion of being able to manage social reputation hard but almost impossible for the poor.
Societal challenge: all in this together > new technology challenges everyone, not just the young.





Comments welcome.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

June Reference Updates

Update Your Resume & Find a Job classes are being offered at the Central Library in June, July & August. (Check Happenings for dates and times). Reference Librarian Debbie Rzepczynski adapted the 2009 Staff Subject Overview: Trading Places into "hands on training" for the public. Powerpoint, handouts, & bookmarks are available if you want to offer the classes at your branches.

Plunkett Research Online LCPL's newest business database. This database is highlighted on the Magazines, Newspapers & Databases page. It contains data on 32 major industries. Patrons can use this database to conduct business & industry research, create marketing plans, analyze emerging technologies, analyze major companies, develop business plans & sales guides, download prospect lists and much more. The top 500 companies in each industry sector are profiled. Information is timely and up-to-date with a weekly update schedule. NOTE: it also has a Job Seeker Resources & Tools Center. Take a look at it today so you'll be ready to recommend it.

Are you ready for Adult Summer Reading? The committee has worked hard to coordinate this systemwide program. Thanks to Barbara Sakowski, Rosella Garcia & Bob Mele for all their hard work. Kudos to Donna Lison for designing the promotional materials! Your posters, entry box signs, & prizes have been sent out through dispatch. If you have any questions, contact any member of the committee. So get ready to recommend "great reads" to your patrons and Be Creative @ Your Library.

June Outreach: I'm promoting LCPL's business resources on June10th at the American Business Women's Club in Highland and on June 24th at the Cedar Lake Chamber of Commerce.


C. Strickland

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Reference Word Cloud

Wordle: Reference

I created this word cloud from words used in my Reference Annual Report 2008 - enjoy!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Managing Electronic Resource Collections

MARS Products & Services Committee Discussion Forum
2009 Midwinter

Discussion Questions

Print Reference Sources:
1) Are print sources obsolete? Should we continue to order them? Why? Why not?
2) Have you conducted any use studies of your print reference collection lately? Can you share the results?
3) What do you think is the right balance between electronic and print reference sources? What is the current balance in your library?

Electronic Reference Sources: Access & Integration
4) How do you provide access to your electronic reference collection? (catalog, portal product such as Reference Universe?) How successful do you find this approach?
5) Do you integrate access to electronic and print reference sources so that key print tools for a particular subject/discipline aren’t overlooked?
6) Do you integrate free and purchased reference sources? Why? Why not? How do you do it?
7) How do you facilitate patron discovery of electronic reference sources? (Browseable electronic reference collection? Subject or course-specific web pages? Subjection to google-like searches? Other ways?)

Electronic Reference Sources: Use by patrons
8) Do you find that your patrons are willing to use electronic reference sources? If not, how can we better promote these resources?

Are electronic reference sources valuable even if our users DON’T use them? For example, librarians may use Reference Universe all the time.


The Future of Electronic Reference Sources
9) What features would you like to see in electronic reference sources? For example:
a. Multimedia (graphics, sound files, videos)
b. Web 2.0 functionality (tagging, blogs, RSS feeds, discussion forums)
c. Customization options for librarians, faculty and students
d. Better inter-operability between different publishers and third-party products such as catalogs, portals, metasearch engines)
10) Do users currently use such features if available in reference sources? Do you think our users expect these features?
11) What message should librarians send to the major publishers of online reference sources? What are our priorities? (interface, platform standardization, variety of pricing models, ong term access, etc)

Answer the questions and we'll have our own online discussion forum. All comments welcome.

Can You Open This for Me?

Using and Understanding Open Source Tools

Hot Topics Discussion Group
Midwinter 2009

Presenters:
Marsha Schnirring, Instructional Services Librarian at Occidental College
· Discussed Zotero
Ian Chan, Web Development Librarian at CSU San Marcos
· Compared research guides using Moodle, Drupal, and Library a la Carte

Open Source: a peer-based design/development process that makes the product’s source accessible to the public. The term usually applies to software.

Open Source Software: Software that is developed using an open source process and that adheres to the Open Source Definition – see http://www.opensource.org/

OpenOfficehttp://www.openoffice.org/
An office software suite that includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database applications

Zoterohttp://www.zotero.org/ a bibliographic citation manager that works with Firefox Web browser

Library a’ la Cartehttp://alacarte.library.oregonstate.edu/ a content management system designed for creating and maintaining library research guides

Drupal - http://drupal.org/ a content management system

Moodlehttp://moodle.org/ a course management system used by many colleges and universities

I attended this Discussion Group to find out more about OpenOffice and came away with much more. I'm looking at Library a'la Carte and the other management systems to see if we can use one of them to manage our online training classes.

Comments welcome!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

How Librarians Are Using Web 2.0

RUSA MARS User Access to Services Committee hosted a discussion group on Web 2.0 tools. In 2008 the Committee sponsored a survey asking public and academic librarians a range of questions about how they are using Web 2.0 applications in their libraries.

There is interest and some implementation in public libraries with blogs, wikis, flickr and Facebook but overall public libraries have not jumped into the social networking aspect of 2.0 like academic libraries.

I think that the patron base accounts for much of this. Colleges & Universities are serving generations that have grown up with the Internet - this is how they communicate. So many colleges have developed interactive online classes for students and use YouTube and Podcasts.

The members shared a representative list of tutorials for some of the Web 2.0 products more commonly used in libraries. Here is a sampling:

Blogs: Blogger Video Tutorials
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryb4VPSmKuo
http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g
Wikipedia Tutorial
http://enwikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_tutorial
What is RSS?
http://rss.softwaregarden.com/aboutrss.html
Mashup Tutorials
http://www.deitel.com/ResourceCenters/Web20/Mashups/TashupTutorials/tabid/985/Default.aspx
How to Use del.icio.us
http://websearch.about.com/od/dailywebsearchtips/qt/dnt0412.htm

If you'd like to see the bibliography of tutorials, let me know and I'll send you a copy.