LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network

http://appl003.lsu.edu/ocsweb/louishome.nsf/index

LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network is a partnership with Academic Libraries, State and Private Libraries, Museums and Archives. With a centralized support staff of seven, commonly referred to as “LOUIS” and located on the LSU campus, LOUIS combines the collective resources to produce a dynamic library consortium. It provides information technology solutions to consortium members in a cloud computing environment: an integrated library system (ILS), a digital library, interlibrary loan, electronic scholarly resources, consulting, authentication, training, communication, and operational support. Established in 1992 by LALINC, LOUIS has 47 members and receives approximately $3 million annually in grants and membership fees to support consortium activity.

Association of Research Libraries - E-News for ARL Directors - February 2011 E-News

http://www.arl.org/news/enews/e-news-feb2011.shtml

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Governance and Membership Activities

1. ARL Board Convenes February 10–11

Influencing Public Policies

2. Budget Update

3. USA PATRIOT Act Update

4. ARL Issues Statement of Concern About Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA)

5. Sunshine Week Presents Webcast on Open Government

6. White House OSTP Launches R&D Dashboard Website

7. IPEC Releases Annual Report and Announces New IP Advisory Committees

Reshaping Scholarly Communication
8. Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing (CCSP) Issues Digital Technology Innovation Paper

9. Study of Open Access Publishing (SOAP) Project Presents Final Results

10. Call for Entries: Fourth Annual Sparky Awards

11. February 2011 Issue of the SPARC Open Access Newsletter Available Online

12. SPARC and bepress Announce ACRL “Pre-Game” Event in March: Winning Strategies from the Institutional Repository All Stars

13. SPARC Presents Webcast, “The (OA)Week Ahead”

14. Right to Research Coalition’s Nick Shockey Discusses Open Education and Policy with Creative Commons

Transforming Research Libraries
15. ARL and DLF Develop E-Science Institute

16. Deadline to Register for Scenarios Workshop Approaches

17. EDUCAUSE Releases 2011 Horizon Report

18. Sustaining Digital Scholarship for Sustainable Culture Group Releases Report on Sustaining Canada’s Digital Knowledge and Heritage

19. CNI Update

Diversity, Professional Workforce, and Leadership Development
20. ALA Releases Monograph by Former LCDP Fellow Teresa Neely

21. ARL Diversity Programs Participants Receive Scholarships to Attend ACRL Meeting

22. ALA Accepting Applications for 2011–12 Diversity Research Grants

Library Statistics and Assessment
23. ARL Annual Statistical Surveys Update

24. ARL Task Force to Review ARL Annual Salary Survey, ARL Statistics, and ARL Supplementary Statistics: Interviews Underway

25. ARL to Hold Meeting on ARL Annual Surveys in the Digital Age

26. ARL Balanced Scorecard Webinar Now Available Online

27. Library Assessment Blog Recruits Visiting Program Officer Blogger(s) and Other Contributors

28. Registration Now Open for "Basic Skills for Analyzing Library Service Quality Assessment Data"

Other Items of Interest to ARL Directors
29. ARL Transitions

LISWire: EBSCO Publishing Releases 24 New eBook Subject Sets

www.ebscohost.com

~Latest eBook Subject Sets Cover Nine Key Collection Areas ~
IPSWICH, Mass. — February 22, 2011 — EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) has released 24 new eBook subject sets. The subject sets are part of a rapidly growing collection of eBooks that are offered in convenient collections grouped by subject matter.
The latest eBook subject sets cover nine key collection areas including:
• arts & humanities
• business & economics
• hot topics & special interests
• medical
• non-English
• personal growth & how-to
• science and technology
• social sciences
• vocational education
Subject sets are a prepackaged set of titles chosen specifically for their subject appeal. The collection development team of librarians and collection specialists use their expertise and knowledge to create collections and sets for libraries. Director of Content Collections for EBSCO Publishing Eve-Marie Miller says some of the recent collections were created with the international markets in mind. “While subject sets are always available to libraries worldwide, with this round of sets we specifically wanted to showcase some of our great content that appeals to an international audience. These new sets were developed in consultation with our international teams and are tailored to help meet the needs and interests of libraries around the world.”
Twenty-four New Subject Sets
By offering the subject sets at a low price point, libraries are provided with an easy and convenient way to begin an eBook collection. Subject sets from EBSCO include titles published within the past three years, offering timely, updated information. The subject sets have no duplication among current or past offerings. The 24 new subject sets that are now available include:
• Aging & Gerontology
• Asian Regional Studies
• Biography
• Canadian Studies
• Career Choice
• Career Improvement & Professional Development
• Caribbean & Latin American Studies
• Civil Engineering
• Dentistry & Oral Sciences
• Disaster Management
• Electrical & Electronic Engineering
• Engineering Mathematics
• Finance
• Green Living
• Information Technology: French
• Latin American & Caribbean History: Spanish
• Mechanical Engineering
• Military History
• Natural & Alternative Medicine
• Robotics
• Technology: German
• Terrorism & Counterterrorism
• UK - Eire Studies
• Vocational Education II
Subject sets are just one of the ways libraries can select their eBooks on EBSCOhost®. Other options for content selection include custom collections and Patron Driven Acquisition. Custom collections allow libraries to work with EBSCO’s collection development team to develop collections for any subject, language or content type. Patron Drive Acquisition allows libraries to establish a collection of titles for patrons based on patron usage.
eBooks on EBSCOhost
eBooks on EBSCOhost offers nearly 300,000 eBooks and audiobooks. EBSCO is proactively soliciting new content in key areas and approximately 5,000 new titles are expected to be added each month. In April EBSCO will release a preview of eBooks on EBSCOhost with a full migration to the EBSCOhost platform expected by July.
About EBSCO Publishing
EBSCO Publishing is the world’s premier database aggregator, offering a suite of more than 300 full-text and secondary research databases. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals, magazines, books, monographs, reports and various other publication types from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). The company’s product lines include proprietary databases such as Academic Search™, Business Source®, CINAHL®, DynaMed™, Literary Reference Center™, MasterFILE™, NoveList®, SocINDEX™ and SPORTDiscus™ as well as dozens of leading licensed databases such as ATLA Religion Database™, EconLit, Inspec®, MEDLINE®, MLA International Bibliography, NISC™, The Philosopher’s Index™, PsycARTICLES®, PsycINFO® and RILM™. Databases are powered by EBSCOhost®, the most-used for-fee electronic resource in libraries around the world. EBSCO is the provider of EBSCO Discovery Service™ a core collection of locally-indexed metadata creating a unified index of an institution’s resources within a single, customizable search point providing everything the researcher needs in one place—fast, simple access to the library’s full text content, deeper indexing and more full-text searching of more journals and magazines than any other discovery service (www.ebscohost.com/discovery). For more information, visit the EBSCO Publishing Web site at: www.ebscohost.com, or contact: information@ebscohost.com.
EBSCO Publishing is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the United States.
###
For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Public Relations Manager
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebscohost.com

Ex Librian Newsletter February 2011

http://www.exlibrisgroup.com/category/NewsletterFebruary2011

libraryassessment.info: How valuable can libraries become?

By Andy Havens and Tom Storey

http://libraryassessment.info/?p=719

In the current economic climate, every dollar spent in support of libraries—whether public, academic, school or special libraries—is being more closely scrutinized than ever. In these circumstances, value calculations and Return on Investment (ROI) tools can provide powerful arguments for continued funding. In most cases, a snapshot of the value that your library provides will necessarily look backward, taking into account current services and resources. But are there ways to calculate value going forward? In an information landscape that seemingly changes from day to day, a view of your library’s future value may be an important consideration for budgetary analysis and planning.

LISWire: The Librarian's News Wire: Implementing Technology Solutions in Libraries

As Libraries Face a Rising Tide of New Technologies and an Increasingly Tech-Savvy Public, This Book Is a Timely Guide to Creating and Managing Library Technology Projects and Meeting Patron Needs

http://liswire.com/content/implementing-technology-solutions-libraries-libraries-face-rising-tide-new-technologies-an-1

By Rob Colding - Posted on 17 February 2011

For Immediate Release
Contact: Rob Colding
Information Today, Inc
609.654.6500 ext. 330

February 21, 2011, Medford, NJ—Information Today, Inc. (ITI) announced the publication of Implementing Technology Solutions in Libraries: Techniques, Tools, and Tips From the Trenchesby Karen C. Knox.

In this new book, Knox provides a practical, step-by-step approach to successfully implementing all kinds of technology projects in libraries and information centers.
“Very few libraries can afford to purchase and implement all the latest technology whenever it becomes available … in reality, no library actually needs to,” according to Knox. “Technology is a tool to be used to meet a library’s needs. … For any initiative, the key is to find the right solution to fill a particular need and integrate it into the library environment.”

The author has implemented many technology projects over the years, some more successfully than others, as she is quick to admit. In the book, she draws on her experience to help readers identify the most critical components of any project while modifying and scaling to meet their library’s unique needs. In addition to covering such nitty gritty topics as planning, building project teams, writing requests for proposals, working with vendors, training staff and customers, and evaluating a project, Knox deconstructs a successful implementation from start to finish, carefully examining each step.

“I wish I’d had this handy book about seven years ago,” said David Lee King, digital branch manager of the Topeka & Shawnee County (KS) Public Library. “It’s a great guide to technology planning in libraries.” Library consultant and futurist Joan Frye Williams concurs, describing the book as “clear and practical from start to finish—a comprehensive roadmap for rookies as well as success insurance for more seasoned implementers.”

In addition to the author’s Introduction and 13 topical chapters, Implementing Technology Solutions in Libraries is thoroughly indexed and features six useful appendices including samples of a technology plan, a request for proposal, a review tool, and a recommendation for vendor solution, along with IT inventory and IP planner templates. As a reader bonus, the author has created a companion website (www.karencknox.com/itsil) that provides links to resources mentioned in the book, copies of the appendix documents, and updates to the print content.

“This guide will help you make a plan, stick to it, and successfully implement new technologies in your library,” said Nicole C. Engard, director of open source at ByWater Solutions.

Karen C. Knox is the IT manager at the Rochester Hills Public Library (RHPL) in Rochester, Michigan. She describes her niche in library technology as the perfect combination of her computer science skills and her love for libraries. Knox has a BS in computer science from the University of Michigan and an MLIS from the University of Texas at Austin. She has worked with technology in public libraries for more than 10 years, including five years at the Novi Public Library in Novi, Michigan, prior to joining RHPL.

Implementing Technology Solutions in Libraries: Techniques, Tools, and Tips From the Trenches (192 pp/softbound/$35.00/ISBN 978-1-57387-403-8) is published by Information Today, Inc. (ITI). It is available in bookstores and direct from the publisher by calling(800) 300-9868; faxing (609) 654-4309; emailing custserv@infotoday.com; or visiting the ITI website at www.infotoday.com.

Library Resource Guide: Funding and Priorities: The Library Resource Guide Benchmark Study on 2011 Library Spending Plans

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B9_KwJdDOiGrZmMxZjQyMjktY2JkZS00M2M2LTk4ZmItNDQwZDMzNDdjMWU1&hl=en

This study, conducted by the Library Resource Guide (LRG) — in conjunction with Unisphere Research, the market research division of Information Today, Inc (ITI) — in October and November 2010 among libraries listed in ITI’s American Library Directory, reveals current spending patterns for public, academic, government, and special libraries and projects budget and other spending trends for 2011.

BibMe! The fully automatic bibliography maker that auto-fills!

http://www.bibme.org/

Welcome to BibMe! The fully automatic bibliography maker that auto-fills.

It's the easiest way to build a works cited page. And it's free.

Search for a book, article, website, or film, or enter the information yourself.

Add it to your bibliography.

Download your bibliography in either the MLA, APA, Chicago, or Turabian formats and include it in your paper. It's that easy!

WebJunction: Where library staff gather to learn!

http://www.webjunction.org/home

Our online community is working together to provide the resources you need to power relevant, vibrant libraries. At WebJunction, you'll find free resources on library management, technology and services. Come here to attend online events, take courses, and participate in member groups or discussions—all in a friendly and supportive environment.

Contribute to the RAILS (Rubric Assessment of Information Literacy Skills) Project

The IMLS-funded Rubric Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (RAILS) project is designed to help academic librarians and faculty assess student information literacy skills. However, there is a growing number of rubrics included on the RAILS site that focus on non-instructional library services.

http://railsontrack.info/rubrics.aspx?catid=14

Currently, most are created by Syracuse iSchool students, but practicing librarians are most welcome to post their own library service rubrics as well.

To add a rubric, simply become a site participant (look for the pink tab) and fill in the short form. Then you can “make and save” derivations of any existing rubric or use a blank form to create your own. If you need help, please contact me at moakleaf@syr.edu.

Megan Oakleaf, MLS, PhD
Assistant Professor
iSchool
326 Hinds Hall
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244
moakleaf@syr.edu
www.meganoakleaf.info

National Library of Medicine - NLM Traveling Exhibitions

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/about/exhibition/travelingexhibitions.html


The National Library of Medicine has a number of exhibitions that travel from host library to host library around the country. Many times the only cost to the hosting library is that of shipping in order to get some fantastic exhibits.

Currently the Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library is hosting “Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil War Medicine” the National Library of Medicine Traveling Exhibit from February 1, 2011 - March 15, 2011. Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil War Medicine looks at the men and women who served as surgeons and nurses during the American Civil War. This exhibition explores how their service as medical providers challenged the prescribed notions of race and gender by pushing the boundaries of the role of African Americans in society. (This exhibition was developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health with research assistance from The Historical Society of Washington, DC)

There are other choices from NLM:

Against the Odds: Making a Difference in Global Health tells many stories about the revolution in global health that is taking place in villages and towns around the world.

Everyday Miracles: Medical Imagery in Ex-Votos explores the relationship between healing and faith through the ex-voto, a devotional painting that gives thanks for a miraculous healing or blessing.

Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature explores Mary Shelley's world that gave birth to Frankenstein. The exhibition considers how her novel provides a framework for discussions of contemporary bio-medical advances that sometimes challenge our understanding of what it means to be human.

The Literature of Prescription: Charlotte Perkins Gilman and The Yellow Wall-Paper examines a nineteenth-century writer's challenge to the medical profession and the relationship between science and society.

A Voyage to Health explores the recent revival of the ancient arts of navigation and voyaging of the people of Hawai‘i. The exhibition explores this resurgence and its significance for health, well-being, and self-determination.

Please go to http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/about/exhibition/travelingexhibitions.html

to learn more.

Cynthia

Cynthia L. Henderson, MILS, AHIP
Executive Director
Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library
Howard University
501 W Street, NW
Washington, DC 20059
cynthia.henderson@howard.edu
202.884.1723 voice
202.884.1733 fax
http://hsl.howard.edu/

Science: Three New Research Guides From The Library of Congress

http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/63845

http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/

February 8, 2011 01:33

1. New LC Science Tracer Bullet: Forensic Sciences

Forensic science is the use of science to solve criminal cases. It can include the use of many disciplines, such as anthropology, biology, botany, chemistry, computer science, engineering, entomology, genetics, medicine, and toxicology.

This guide highlights the diversity of the scientific professions and disciplines used in investigations and provides sources on the general practice of criminalistics. Also included is information on ballistics, firearm examination, and scientific examination of documents.

2. New Science Reference Guide: Diets and Diets: A History of Weight Loss in America

This guide lists a selection of material on dieting and food habits in the United States starting with William Banting's "Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public" from 1864 and carry up to the press.

3. New Science Reference Guide: United States War Department/Department of the Army Technical Manual (TM) Collection

This inventory focuses on those War Department and Department of the Army Technical Manuals that were primarily received into the general collections of the Library of Congress from the 1940s to the 1970s. (After the mid-70's the Library no longer received this material.) A little over 300 titles were fully cataloged; individual volumes were received as serials with the TM number issued as the volume number, under the single Library of Congress classification "U408.3.A13."

The Library of Congress does not have a complete set of these publications, but its holdings are extensive and significant. This inventory attempts to reveal the depth and breadth of the collection available to the researcher.

Bibliofuture: The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains & Book Discussion: The Shallows - Chapter 1

http://www.lisnews.org/shallows_what_internet_doing_our_brains

http://www.worldcat.org/title/shallows-what-the-internet-is-doing-to-our-brains/oclc/449865498&referer=brief_results

LISNEWS member Bearkat contacted me and said that he would be interested in discussing the book "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains"

Both CHOICE and Library Journal Review recommended the book. We will be starting the discussion on the book soon. If you would like to join the discussion here are some ways to obtain the book.

Some of the ebook versions available.
Amazon
B&N Nook
Google ebookstore
Kobo

All four of these ebook versions have readers for PC so you do not need to have a dedicated ereader to use the ebook version.


_______________________________________

http://lisnews.org/book_discussion_shallows_chapter_1
Chapter 1
Prefacing with the HAL supercomputer “my mind is going” vignette (2001: A Space Odyssey), Carr refers to his mind changing, especially in regards to reading: “my concentration starts to drift after a page or two. I get fidgety, loose the thread, begin looking for something else to do “ (7). Others such as bloggers Scott Karp, Bruce Friedman, and Philp Davis (7-8) also refer to this tendency.

Some questions to help open up discussion:
• Is the lack-of-concentration tendency solely indicative of our connectivity with the Internet and smart phones? How does this relationship compare with other mediums, e.g., magazines, radio, television, etc?
• If you find that you, your friends, or your students experience lack of concentration while reading dense material, how do you/they address it, e.g., filter out background noise, turn the computer or email/messaging off, etc.?

Scott Karp mentions that instead of a reading a book in its entirety, he now prefers to read snippets of text from Blogs, Google Books, etc. and feels that in some ways he is “smarter” – as a hypertext document he is now more aware of connections and relationships (8).
• Karp and others seem to suggest that in-depth reading (mostly books or scholarly articles) and quick selective reading (mostly Internet and blogs) can’t exist alongside. Do you believe this is true?
• Cognitively what are we gaining from a reliance on quick selective reading? What are we loosing from less in-depth reading?

Video: LC's Deanna Marcum Speaks About the Impact of Collaboration For Libraries

http://about.jstor.org/support-training/help/deanna-marcum-ala-midwinter-2011-ithaka

February 1, 2011 22:28

Deanna Marcum, the Associate Librarian for Library Services at the Library of Congress and ITHAKA Trustee, spoke at the ITHAKA Participants' Meeting Breakfast at ALA Midwinter on January 9, 2011.

"[Marcum] framed the meeting with thoughts about how libraries will continue to thrive in the future and providing insight into a wide range of initiatives that exemplify the substantial impact that effective collaboration can bring for libraries and those they serve."

"University Libraries: Don't Put Them on the Shelf" (Texas A&M)

LISTen: An LISNews.org Podcast --- Episode #141

http://lisnews.org/listen_lisnewsorg_podcast_episode_141

BBC News Magazine: Are libraries finished? Five arguments for and against

http://lisnews.org/are_libraries_finished_five_arguments_and_against

The BBC News Magazine asks the question and provides both yea and nay answers.
"But no matter how eloquently Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy or author Colin Dexter extol their virtues, the fact is library visitor numbers - like their budgets - are falling.
So what can the internet provide that a library can't, and when is there simply no online substitute for a trip to your local library? Here are five examples on either side"

The New Library of Alexandria, the New Bibliotheca Alexandrina

http://www.bibalex.org/aboutus/overview_en.aspx

False Economy: Leave the libraries alone! You don’t understand their value!

http://falseeconomy.org.uk/blog/save-oxfordshire-libraries-speech-philip-pullman

Do libraries help or hurt publishing?

http://lisnews.org/do_libraries_help_or_hurt_publishing

With libraries around the world in such financial jeopardy, a couple of questions come to mind:
•What purpose (if any) has a library served for you?
•If libraries ceased to exist, what would the ramifications be?
•Do libraries help or hurt publishing?

Bibliophile Adventures: Science Researchers on Google Scholar, Web of Science, and PubMed

http://lisnews.org/science_researchers_google_scholar_web_science_and_pubmed

Shifting Sands: Science Researchers on Google Scholar, Web of Science, and PubMed, with Implications for Library Collections Budgets , Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, Fall 2010

Authors: Christy Hightower, Christy Caldwell
A study done by two librarians named Christy at UC Santa Cruz in Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship. Interesting implications for content budgets and publishers...

Abstract:
Science researchers at the University of California Santa Cruz were surveyed about their article database use and preferences in order to inform collection budget choices. Web of Science was the single most used database, selected by 41.6%. Statistically there was no difference between PubMed (21.5%) and Google Scholar (18.7%) as the second most popular database. 83% of those surveyed had used Google Scholar and an additional 13% had not used it but would like to try it. Very few databases account for the most use, and subject-specific databases are used less than big multidisciplinary databases (PubMed is the exception). While Google Scholar is favored for its ease of use and speed, those who prefer Web of Science feel more confident about the quality of their results than do those who prefer Google Scholar. When asked to choose between paying for article database access or paying for journal subscriptions, 66% of researchers chose to keep journal subscriptions, while 34% chose to keep article databases.

CFP: "E-Resource Round Up" column in Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship (JERL)

URL: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t792303957~db=all

The latest "E-Resource Round Up" column for volume 23, issue 2 of the Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship (JERL) is currently in preparation and the column editors are looking for additional contributions. If you've attended a conference or program recently that related to electronic resources in libraries, please consider submitting a report on it for the column.

The "E-Resource Round Up" column is dedicated to helping JERL readers better understand topics related to the ever-changing world of electronic resources and their roles in libraries. It covers developments in the areas of new and emerging technologies and systems related to electronic resources and the digital environment; reports from professional discussion groups, meetings, presentations, and conferences; news and trends related to electronic resource librarianship; tips and suggestions on various aspects of working with electronic resources; opinion pieces; vendor activities; and upcoming events of potential interest to JERL readers.

Your contribution to the column does not have to be lengthy, and could be on any of the topics listed above. This could be an ideal opportunity for you to report on sessions you attended that may benefit others in our profession.

The editors would like to receive contributions to the column by Tuesday, February 15, 2011.

If you have a submission or questions, please contact the column editors:

Bob Wolverton
Mississippi State University Libraries
(662) 325-4618
bwolverton@library.msstate.edu

Karen Davidson
Mississippi State University Libraries
(662) 325-3018
kdavidson@library.msstate.edu

Bibliofuture: IT's Role in the Library of the Future

http://chronicle.com/article/Tech-Therapy-ITs-Role-in-the/126195/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

Librarian in Black Blog – Sarah Houghton-Jan

www.librarianinblack.net

Why the Kindle Will Never Support Library Books

http://ireaderreview.com/2011/01/14/will-kindle-ever-add-support-for-library-books/

The folks at the Kindle Review have written a thought-provoking piece which asks the question, Will Kindle ever add support for library books? They bring up some interesting points, although many are meant to be inflammatory, it’s definitely worth a read.
“What benefit does Amazon get by supporting Library books?
Lots of benefits -
1. Kindle owners get an alternative to the Kindle Store – free library books.
2. Kindle owners get lots of alternatives to the Kindle Store – stores that sell ePub books.
3. It can help all its rivals by letting them sell books straight to Kindle owners.
4. Kindle owners buy less books and Amazon doesn’t have to spend a lot of time counting all the money it’s making.
5. There’s less profit so it can’t devote money to R&D, and then it won’t have to worry about creating better Kindles.”
via No Shelf Required

Call for Papers for Practical Academic Librarianship: The International Journal of the SLA Academic Division

Call for Papers for Practical Academic Librarianship: The International Journal of the SLA Academic Division

URL: https://journals.tdl.org/pal/index

Practical Academic Librarianship (PAL) is a peer-reviewed, open access journal for all academic librarians and information professionals serving academic departments or affiliated institutions including centers, institutes, specialized collections, and special units within or related toacademic units. Well-written manuscripts that are of interest to these communities will be considered, including: implementation of new initiatives and best practices; original and significant research findings with practical applications; analysis of issues and trends; descriptive narratives of successful and unsuccessful ventures; and examination of the role of libraries in meeting specialized client needs.

PAL publishes items as soon as they are ready by adding articles to the "current" volume's Table of Contents. The journal publishes two issues a year. The first issue runs January 1 - June 30 and the second issue runs July 1 - December 31.

The Journal publishes three categories of works:

• Peer reviewed research papers (original research): not more than 25 single-spaced pages

• Think pieces (intended to spur discussion, not blind peer-reviewed): 3-15 single-spaced pages

• Interactive online exhibits and demonstrations.

Authors need to register: https://journals.tdl.org/pal/user/register
with the journal prior to submitting, or if already registered can simply log in at https://journals.tdl.org/index/login and begin the 5 step process.

Leslie J. Reynolds

Associate Professor
Interim Associate Dean for User Services Founding Editor, Practical Academic Librarianship: The International Journal of the SLA Academic Division

Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843
Leslie.reynolds@tamu.edu
979-458-0138

Call For Proposals: 2011 LITA National Forum

http://lib.skidmore.edu/library/LITA_Proposal.html

CFP: 2011 LITA National Forum
September 29-October 2, 2011
Call for Proposals
(Due Date for proposals: February 18, 2011)

The 2011 National Forum Committee seeks proposals for high quality pre-conferences, concurrent sessions and poster sessions for the 14th annual LITA National Forum to be held in St. Louis, Missouri, September 29-October 2, 2011.

The 2011 theme is: Rivers of Data, Currents of Change

The Forum Committee is interested in pre-conferences and presentations about projects, plans or discoveries in areas of library-related technologies related to the identification, location, harvesting, harnessing, use, misuse, preservation and loss of data of all types and all formats in dynamic and emerging web environments. We welcome proposals related to all types of libraries: public, school, academic, government, special and corporate. Proposals on any aspect of library and information technology are solicited.

The Forum Committee is especially interested in presentations highlighting projects that are experimental or involve risk-taking. New this year to the Forum is a "Risky Business" contest in which attendees will vote for the presentation that best exemplifies these qualities.
Possible ideas for topics might include:
•Dynamics of Data
•The Intelligent Web
•Geolocation
•Data integration
•The Semantic Web
•Preservation of privacy and social data
•Linking data for personal growth, for enterprise and commerce
•Frameworks, boundaries and protocols
•Linking, sharing and intellectual property rights
•Public data vs. private data
•Data on the move
•Authentication, verification, validity
•Data economics
•Metadata and tagging

Presentations must have a technological focus and pertain to libraries. Presentations that incorporate audience participation are encouraged. Sessions can be full-day pre-conferences, concurrent sessions (50 minutes), or poster sessions. The format of the presentations may include single- or multi-speaker formats, panel discussions, case studies and/or demonstrations of projects.

We welcome and invite proposals for:
•Preconference (8 hours)
•Concurrent Session (50 minutes)
•Poster Session
All concurrent sessions will be 50 minutes this year.

Presenters will submit draft presentation slides and/or handouts on ALA Connect in advance of the Forum and will submit final presentation slides or electronic content (video, audio, etc.) to be made available on the web site following the event. Presenters are expected to register and participate in the Forum as attendees; discounted registration will be offered.

Submit proposals to: http://lib.skidmore.edu/library/LITA_Proposal.html
The online form will ask for:
•Contact information
•Title
•Summary (one sentence, 200 characters) (Please exclude any information identifying the presenter(s) or his/her/their organization.)
•Abstract (400 words max.)
•Participatory elements of the presentation
•Level indicator (basic, intermediate or advanced)
•Brief biographical information
•Preferred choice of format
•Whether you would like to consider a paper in ITAL based upon your talk
You will be notified about the status of your proposal by mid-April.

Any questions regarding the Forum? Please contact the LITA Office:
lita@ala.org
(312) 280-4268

Employment Opportunity: Assessment Director, University of Chicago Library

http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/jobs/librarianvacant.html

The University of Chicago Library is seeking an innovative, service-oriented individual for the position of Assessment Director to develop, implement, and maintain a successful and sustainable assessment program for the University of Chicago Library.

As a center of intense intellectual inquiry, the University of Chicago Library shares with the University of Chicago the aspiration to be the most dynamic research and learning environment in the world. The Library is the home of one of the largest and richest research collections, with resources at six library sites on the Hyde Park campus. For information on the Library’s collections and services, please visit the Library’s Web site at: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/.

The Assessment Director plans, designs, develops, facilitates, and/or implements library assessment initiatives under the general direction of the Head of Access Services and Assessment and in consultation with members of the Public Services Steering Committee, the Administrative Committee, and the Library Director. Working with the Assessment Project Team, the Director administers usability testing, questionnaires, focus groups, and other assessment tools to measure the effectiveness of the Library in meeting the teaching, learning, and research needs of its users, while promoting the integration of assessment into all phases of planning and services.

For a full description, please visit http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/jobs/librarianvacant.html

Qualifications: Master’s degree in library and information science from an ALA-accredited school. A minimum of three to five years of experience assessing user needs and satisfaction, preferably in a large university or research institution. Demonstrated knowledge of a wide range of assessment methodologies (both qualitative and quantitative) and analysis of statistical data. Experience in conducting assessment projects and in documenting data and providing recommendations for improvements. A good knowledge of data management systems as well as statistical packages. An ability to present complex information to audiences who possess different levels of library knowledge. Knowledge, background, or coursework in the social sciences and survey analysis. Experience in designing surveys, conducting usability testing, and facilitating focus groups highly desired.
Demonstrated ability to participate in complex projects in a team environment, meet deadlines, and to prioritize work in alignment with the service goals of the university and the libraries. Ability to work both independently and as part of a team. Excellent analytical, oral, and written communication skills. Strong service orientation and commitment to user service and support. Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with patrons, library, and systems staff. Demonstrated skill in building relationships and coordinating projects with all levels of library staff.
Salary and Benefits: Appointment salary based on qualifications and experience. Full range of benefits included in total compensation package, with retirement plan, health insurance, paid time off, and tuition benefit plan for college age and younger children.
Review of applications will begin upon receipt and continue until the position is filled. Applications received by March 11 will be assured consideration.

To apply, please visit http://academiccareers.uchicago.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=51460
For a full description, please visit http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/jobs/librarianvacant.html
The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

LISWire: Geek the Library awareness campaign increases library visibility and support among residents in pilot communities

www.oclc.org/reports/geekthelibrary.htm

Geek the Library, a community awareness campaign designed to highlight the value of public libraries and inform the public about critical library funding issues, positively changed community perceptions about libraries in a pilot, according to a new OCLC membership report. The report, Geek the Library: A Community Awareness Campaign www.oclc.org/reports/geekthelibrary.htm, offers a comprehensive overview of the pilot campaign completed in 2010.
“The pilot experience confirmed our hope that Geek the Library can not only get people’s attention, but that it can activate an interest in local library funding,” said Cathy De Rosa, global vice president of marketing for OCLC, a nonprofit library cooperative. “The campaign is bold, it’s fun and it gives libraries a unique opportunity to connect with the public and start important library funding conversations.”
• Geek the Library gets people’s attention. In just five months, more than half of surveyed residents were familiar with the campaign.
• Geek the Library encourages support. Over two-thirds of surveyed residents in both southern Georgia and central Iowa had planned or had taken an action supporting their local library, including talking to friends and family about the value of the library to the community or attending a library event.
Geek the Library was piloted in two primary regions: southern Georgia and central Iowa, with additional communities added later in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Comprehensive market surveys conducted before and after the pilot campaign, ongoing tracking of campaign elements and direct feedback from nearly 100 participating libraries confirm that the campaign not only garners attention, but it actually helps change public perceptions about the library, librarians and public library funding.
“The advertising makes a big splash, which causes people to come up and ask what it’s about when they see us at an event. It was also great to have the advertising bring up the funding issue, so it wasn’t coming directly from us,” said Art Weeks, Director of Ames Public Library in Ames, Iowa.
OCLC is currently conducting a program to help U.S. public libraries implement the campaign locally. Interested libraries can visit www.get.geekthelibrary.org for more information. Libraries adopting the campaign benefit from the results documented in the report, including an overview of the pilot implementation and strategy, results from quantitative and qualitative research conducted to test the impact of the campaign, and analysis of feedback from pilot participants.
“The Geek the Library campaign is effective because it is flexible. You can quickly personalize it to engage people of all ages,” said Laura Guenin, Public Relations Manager at Shelbyville-Shelby County Public Library in Shelbyville, Indiana.
Geek the Library was developed based on the results of OCLC’s research published in From Awareness to Funding: A study of library support in America. The pilot campaign was funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
About OCLC
Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, OCLC is a nonprofit library service and research organization that has provided computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing, e-content, preservation, library management and Web services to 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories. OCLC and its member libraries worldwide have created and maintain WorldCat, the world’s richest online resource for finding library materials. Search WorldCat.org on the Web at www.worldcat.org.
OCLC advocacy programs are part of a long-term initiative to champion libraries to increase their visibility and viability within their communities. Programs include advertising and marketing materials to reinforce the idea of the library as relevant, and market research reports that identify and communicate trends of importance to the library profession. For more information, visit www.oclc.org.
About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. Learn more at www.gatesfoundation.org.