Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Jackson State University: Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State awarded prestigious grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services


August 23, 2011

Tommiea King
601-979-2950
tommiea.p.king@jsums.edu

Thanks to a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University will put in place a feasibility study for a state-of-the-art research complex dedicated to the African-American experience.

The grant will not only determine the expected size, cost, and design of this new venue, but will enable the staff of the Margaret Walker Center and its partners at Jackson State, including students from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and the Department of Art, to engage leaders at museums and archives across the nation in discussions about best practices.

“This IMLS grant is the first step in a process that will protect all archival collections at JSU and will enable the Margaret Walker Center to solidify its future, especially as we implement a strategic plan taking us to Margaret Walker’s centennial year in 2015,” said Robert Luckett, center director. “We are extremely excited.”

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.

“This year’s funding will help African-American museums train staff, improve business practices and increase the use of technology to preserve and share African-American history and culture,” said IMLS director Susan Hildreth. “These organizations, their exhibits, programs and collections, and the people who lead them are truly inspiring. We are proud to support them.”

Museum grants for African-American history and culture are intended to enhance institutional capacity and sustainability through professional training, technical assistance, internships, outside expertise, and other tools.

For more information, visit https://duems01.dillard.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=be500dc55ab14098a3ef7919e7ec000d&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.imls.gov or https://duems01.dillard.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=be500dc55ab14098a3ef7919e7ec000d&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.jsums.edu%2fmargaretwalker. You can also contact the Margaret Walker Center at mwa@jsums.edu  or 601-979-2055.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Louisiana State Documents State Plan


Dear Louisiana Documents Depository Library Director:

Attached to this email is the most recent revision to the Louisiana State Documents Depository Program State PlanThe State Plan for Louisiana was created in 2000 by the Louisiana Advisory Council of the State Documents Depository Program. The Council revises the Plan every 5 years. The 2010 revision had minor changes. The Plan is also on our website http://www.state.lib.la.us/state-employees/depository-library-program/louisiana-state-documents-depository-libraries

Please respond to this email indicating your receipt of the State Plan. 
I would be happy to discuss any concerns or issues that you might have about the Plan. 

Thank you,
Ferol Foos

(Ms) Ferol Foos
Recorder of Documents
Louisiana State Documents Depository Program
State Library of Louisiana
Office of Lt. Governor
P.O. Box 131 / 701 North 4th Street
Baton Rouge LA 70821-0131 / -5232
Phone: 225-342-4929
Fax: 225-342-6817
La. Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism

GOOD Education: Are College Libraries About to Become Bookless?

Friday, August 26, 2011

Dillard University CTLAT Blog

Dillard University CTLAT Blog

LISNews: IT Security For Libraries First In A Series



This is part one in my many part series on IT Security In Libraries.In Part Three I covered passwords In Part One I tried to lay the foundation for security. In part 2 we talked privacy.

My first post will cover privacy, because I think it's closely related to security, and it's something we as librarians take seriously. Then I'll cover a bunch of ways to stay safe online, how to secure your browser, PC and other things you and your patrons use every day. I'll also cover some common security myths. Then we'll talk passwords: everything has a password now, and I want to make sure we all understand what it takes to make your password as secure as possible. Then we'll talk network security for a bit, followed by hardware and PC security. Then I'll focus on security issues that you'll find in your library. And last, but not least, some things I think you'll find interesting that sysadmins do with servers to make things safer for you, and that you'll never see as an end user.

One way to begin thinking about security for your library is by asking yourself few questions:
What do you have to lose?
What does your library & patrons have to lose?
What are the bad guys after?


Coming up with even a few quick answers to these questions can be helpful, I think, because it's important to remember we all have something to lose, and that we all have a part to play in keeping ourselves and our libraries safe.
It's also important to know that, ultimately, there is no such thing as a secure computer. Nothing we do can make things 100% safe. We can just make things safer than they were before. All of the security work we do is about reducing risk. It's about knowing what we're up against. We want to reduce the possible frequency of loss (by securing things as much as possible, given our resources) AND we want to reduce the potential magnitude of loss (by limiting what can be lost as much as possible).

To help set the stage for success we should keep in mind 2 things. "Any lock can be picked", and people are the weakest link in security chain. First, people:
People choose bad passwords, we write them down, we share them, we reuse them,
People email things we shouldn't
People post things on twitter or Facebook.
People click on links without knowing what's behind them.
People don't update our computers and programs.
People plug in USB drives w/o knowing where they came from.


Of course, we all want our computers to work. We don't want to worry about all this security. We just want things to be safe. We have better things to do. We do insecure things because we're tired and busy. We write down passwords because our brains are full. We have better things to do than update our computers and programs. It's not (only) because people are lazy. It's because every layer of security we add causes more work for them. Much of this advice, many of these things we want them to do just costs too much in terms of a daily burden when so few of them will really be harmed by evil doers. There is generally low motivation and poor understanding of why this could be important. People choose the easiest and quickest way to get things and hope for the best.

So even though we have better security than ever before, there are also more ways to defeat it than ever before. To make matters worse, we are now in the era of "steal everything." We all have something a hacker is interested in stealing. And to make things even worse, barriers to this particular type of theft are lower than ever.
Frequently, hacking requires little training or knowledge or investment of time. Hackers have moved beyond banks and are now stealing more mundane things that you have. These are all worth money, or can be used to cause trouble and spread malware. There are bad guys who will pay for email passwords, Facebook logins, trojaned PCs, game logins, nearly anything you have. Our libraries are no exception. They become targets because of what we have inside our ILSs, our public access machines, the OPAC, the databases and more.

What I'm hoping to do is in this series highlight ways to help reduce your exposure. That, in itself, could help make you safer because many hackers are just looking for easy targets, and they will move on if the common security holes are closed. To beat them you need to be proactive and know how the bad guys think.

The bad guys we're up against have many goals. Some are simply common criminals, others are spammers or doing blackhat SEO, they could be APT agents, corporate spies, or just hactivists. They are all over the world, and they are hard to find because they hide behind proxies and botnets. In a recent survey of 583 U.S companies conducted by Ponemon Research on behalf of Juniper Networks, 90 percent of the respondents said their organizations' computers had been breached at least once by hackers over the past 12 months. Now, remember that first question I asked? About what you had to lose? Security is a real issue, and hopefully this series of posts will help you reduce your risks.

The posts will be broken up into these main topics:
-Privacy
-Staying Safe Online
-Passwords
-Network Security
-Hardware Security / PC Security
-Security In Your Library
-Server Side Security

WorldCat turns 40: Libraries mark 40 years of online cooperative cataloging with WorldCat



DUBLIN, Ohio, August 26, 2011—Today marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of WorldCat, the world’s most comprehensive database of resources held in libraries around the globe.
On August 26, 1971, the OCLC Online Union Catalog and Shared Cataloging system (now known as WorldCat) began operation. That first day, from a single terminal, catalogers at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, cataloged 133 books online. Today, WorldCat comprises more than 240 million records representing more than 1.7 billion items in OCLC member libraries worldwide.
“We congratulate the thousands of librarians and catalogers around the world who have helped to build WorldCat over the past 40 years keystroke by keystroke, record by record,” said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO. “We who work at OCLC are proud to have been a part of this remarkable story, and I want to thank our member institutions and employees for the years of dedicated effort that helped build this unique resource. Fred Kilgour’s vision – improving access to information through library cooperation -- is every bit as vital today as it was in 1971. This anniversary is an important milestone in a shared journey that, I believe, will continue for many decades to come.”
WorldCat is a database of bibliographic information built continuously by OCLC libraries around the world. Each record in the WorldCat database contains a bibliographic description of a single item or work and a list of institutions that hold the item. The institutions share these records, using them to create local catalogs, arrange interlibrary loans and conduct reference work. Libraries contribute records for items not found in WorldCat using OCLC shared cataloging systems.
“In retrospect, I have to say that in those early days, I don’t think we really understood the enormity of the system that we were embarking upon, much less did we consider what the future possibilities might be,” said Lynne Lysiak, who had just started her career at Ohio University Libraries when WorldCat first went online, and is now retired. “As OCLC forges ahead now with WorldCat Local and cloud-computing developments, they are embarking on a new era and suite of services for libraries and their users. It’s an exciting time.”
“OCLC cataloging and resource sharing services and our library management systems continue to help libraries improve their productivity, save money and improve access to their collections,” said Mr. Jordan. “Against a backdrop of continuous technological change, WorldCat and the OCLC cooperative have continued to grow.”
Since 1971, 240 million records have been added to WorldCat, spanning more than 5,000 years of recorded knowledge, from about 3400 B.C. to the present. This unique collection of information encompasses records in a variety of formats—books, e-books, DVDs, digital resources, serials, sound recordings, musical scores, maps, visual materials, mixed materials and computer files. Like the knowledge it describes, WorldCat grows steadily. Every second, library members add seven records to WorldCat.
Once records have been added to WorldCat, they are discoverable on the Web through popular search and partner sites, and through WorldCat.org.
Records entered into WorldCat since 1971 have been continuously migrated, reformatted and updated to conform to newly issued cataloging standards. They have been touched and enhanced hundreds of times by librarians around the world and by OCLC staff and automated systems.
The first OCLC cathode ray tube terminal was the Irascope Model LTE, which was manufactured by Spiras Systems. OCLC deployed 68 LTES, one of which is now on permanent display in the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., and another in a new OCLC Museum dedicated today in Dublin, Ohio. The LTE was connected to OCLC via a dedicated, leased telephone line from AT&T; message traffic moved at the rate of 2400 baud (2,400 symbols per second).
People can now use their mobile phones to access WorldCat via WorldCat Local, where 4G wireless downloads are 2,500 times faster than the original OCLC network. Wired networks are now 416,000 times faster.
Find more about WorldCat on the OCLC website, and watch WorldCat grow as libraries around the world contribute to the database.
About OCLC
Founded in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing library costs. More than 72,000 libraries in 170 countries have used OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend, preserve and manage library materials. Researchers, students, faculty, scholars, professional librarians and other information seekers use OCLC services to obtain bibliographic, abstract and full-text information when and where they need it. OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the world’s largest online database for discovery of library resources. Search WorldCat on the Web at www.worldcat.org. For more information, visit www.oclc.org.

OCLC, WorldCat, WorldCat Local and WorldCat.org are trademarks/service
marks of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
Third-party product, service and business names are trademarks/service marks of their respective owners.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Credo Reference trial account for LOUIS Members


    

Black Librarian Nation: Black Power Mixtape Documentary




The Black Power Mixtape is a compilation feature documentary that displays the story of the African-American community 1967-1975, the people, the society and the style that fueled a change. Told with sparkling, beautiful and deep footage, lost in the archives in Sweden for 30 years. 

Written and Directed by: Göran Hugo Olsson
Produced by: Annika Rogell, Story AB
Co-Produced by: Joslyn Barnes & Danny Glover, Louverture Films
Art Director: Stefania Malmsten
Edited by: Göran Hugo Olsson & Hanna Lejonqvist
Including appearances by:
Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichae, Dr. Martin Luther King

Welcome to the Holy Cross of San Antonio's Library Resources Blog!

http://hcsablog.com/library-resources/2011/08/22/more-than-just-books/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LibraryResources+%28Library+Resources%29

 

Substituting Library Resources for Textbooks: What Can You Do?

http://als.csuprojects.org/library-resources

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

LIS News: Libraries Using Twitter

 
 

Six tools to simplify cataloging



Posted by joycevalenza on May 31st, 2011

iLibrarian: 10 Creative Social Media Resumes To Learn From

http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/2011/10-creative-social-media-resumes-to-learn-from/

Brian Anthony Hernandez at Mashable rounds up 10 Creative Social Media Resumes To Learn From. These are ten excellent examples of new ways think outside the box and promote yourself via social media tools. A must-see for all job-seekers.

The Library Quarterly, Vol. 81, No. 1 (January 2011)



Library Quarterly, a well-known scholarly journal in the field, presents the essays written by the five keynote speakers from the 2010 Library Assessment Conference, held in Baltimore on October 25-27, 2010. These papers emphasize the strategic approaches to issues of service quality, library as space, learning outcomes, performance measures and scorecards, and articulation of value and impact and are written by leaders in the growing field of library assessment and performance measurement:
  • Fred Heath – Library Assessment: The Way We Have Grown
  • Danuta A. Nitecki – Space Assessment as a Venue for Defining the Academic Library
  • Megan Oakleaf – Are They Learning? Are We? Learning Outcomes and the Academic Library
  • Joseph R. Matthews – Assessing Organizational Effectiveness: The Role of Performance Measures
  • J. Stephen Town – Value, Impact, and the Transcendent Library: Progress and Pressures in Performance Measurement and Evaluation
This special issue is guest edited by the conference co-chairs: Martha Kyrillidou, Senior Director for Service Quality Programs at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL); Steve Hiller, Director of Planning and Assessment at the University of Washington Libraries; and Jim Self, Director of Management Information Services at the University of Virginia Library. The guest editors introduce the keynote essays, providing a touch of library assessment history. John Carlo Bertot, editor of Library Quarterly, bookends the issue with a look at what the near future may hold for library assessment.

The 2010 conference, the third in its series, marked an opportunity for the Association of Research Libraries to reflect on the service quality assessment journey it embarked upon ten years ago. This special issue of Library Quarterly is simultaneously a retrospective, a current state of library assessment across a range of service areas, and a look toward the future of library evaluation.

Complementing the five keynote essays are 64 contributed papers and 80 posters that demonstrate the wide range of assessment activities taking place in our libraries. The presentations of the papers and posters are available on the conference Web site: http://libraryassessment.org/ and the proceedings are forthcoming. We look forward to seeing everyone and learning from their unique experiences at the 2012 Library Assessment Conference in Charlottesville, VA.

For more on Library Quarterly, visit: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/lq/home.html.

National Jukebox Historical Recordings from the Library of Congress

About the National Jukebox

The Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the extraordinary collections of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation and other contributing libraries and archives.

QR Code Roundup: 10 Resources for Librarians and Educators



By now you’ve probably heard about QR, or quick-response 2-D barcodes. These nifty little images make scanning in website URLs and contact information a snap are already being adopted by innovative librarians and educators around the world. They’re incredibly easy to create and offer a quick and interactive way to promote library events and services as well as engage students and patrons. If you’re still getting up to speed, these 10 resources should get you started: MORE

iLibrarian: Take a Twitter Audit


Social media guru Chris Brogan writes about how to Take a Twitter Audit to gauge how effective your microblogging efforts are for marketing. If you’re using Twitter to build community and engage an audience, you’ll want to check out these helpful tips. Here are the first five:
  1. Look at your last 20 tweets. How many were @ replies? How many were retweets of other people’s work?
  2. In your last 20 tweets, how many promote your own work versus pointing towards others’ ideas?
  3. Do you have at least one ongoing Twitter search going? (use http://search.twitter.com to set one up.
  4. Are the tweets you hope will be retweeted under 120 characters so people can retweet them?
  5. Of the people you follow, how many are “influential” in some way, how many are potentially good for referrals, how many are just celebrities?

Monday, August 22, 2011

The Future Of Libraries In The E-Book Age


http://www.npr.org/2011/04/04/135117829/the-future-of-libraries-in-the-e-book-age

Lynn Neary at NPR discusses The Future Of Libraries In The E-Book Age. In light of the recent Harper Collins controversy over setting limits on how many times e-books can be checked out by libraries, Neary speaks with Eli Neiburger, Director for IT & production at the Ann Arbor District library and other librarians about the larger issue at hand.
“From the traditional to the visionary, the conversation about libraries in the digital age has begun in earnest. Roberta Stevens, president of the American Library Association, wants more publishing companies to get involved in the conversation, because at the moment some publishers aren’t even willing to sell e-books to libraries. Libraries may be able to survive without those books now, says Stevens, but in the future a lot of books will only be available electronically.”

Dillard University CTLAT Blog

Dillard University CTLAT Blog

What Students Don't Know - Inside Higher Ed

What Students Don't Know - Inside Higher Ed

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Charleston Conference: Shared Print Archiving: Building the Collective Collection, and a Print Safety Net!





http://www.katina.info/conference/program.php

Wednesday, November 2, 2011
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Convenors: Sam Demas, College Librarian, Carleton College; Bob Kieft, College Librarian, Occidental College; Rick Lugg, R2 Consulting
Lightning Round: Rachel Frick, Kathryn Harnish, Clem Guthro, Michael Levine-Clark, John McDonald, Lizanne Payne, Judith Russell, Emily Stambaugh,
Cost: $150

How do libraries build a national shared collection while responsibly drawing down local legacy collections? After an overview of the challenges libraries face in developing a national shared collection, the program will continue with an intense lightning round of presentations with discussion of the key issues, presented by seasoned veterans. Lightning round topics will include: a. Making the case for collective collections, b. Elements of a 21st century collection management plan, c. Archiving models: nodes/centralized vs distributed, d. Collective archiving agreements, policy, requirements, e. Information systems to support the work with collections comparisons/data quality, f. Archiving disclosure in metadata/catalog records, g. Prospective collection management and development (e and p), h. Digital backbone of the collective collection.

In the afternoon the program will engage participants in identifying and understanding: 1. what kinds of action are required locally to participate nationally, 2. how shared print archiving will affect the work of acquisitions, serials, consortia, resource management, and collections professionals, and 3. how these professional sectors can best contribute to a national effort to ensure that our legacy collections are preserved for the future in the face of a national draw-down of redundant holdings. This will include a grass-roots brainstorming session to seed the national conversation with perspective from the front lines of library collections workers, and begin to shape agendas for professional development, best practices, policy formulation, local outreach, and other facets of this national challenge.

Friday, August 19, 2011

LOUIS Users Conference (LUC) 2011: Thursday, October 13, 2011 - Friday, October 14, 2011


Louisiana State University
Patrick Taylor Hall (the old CEBA building)
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
The 2011 LOUIS Users Conference will be held in Baton Rouge, LA
on October 13 - 14, 2011 at
Louisiana State University Patrick Taylor Hall (formerly CEBA).
LUC 2011 Agenda
The opening session will begin at 9:00 am on Thursday Oct. 13th.  The keynote speaker this year will be Dr. Jim Purcell, the Commissioner of Higher Education. 

This year LOUIS will again be hosting a reception on the evening of Thursday October 13, 2011, in the Atrium area of Patrick Taylor Hall from 6-8 p.m.  We hope to see you there!

LUC 2011 SponsorsEBSCO
SirsiDynix
IEEE
Elsevier
LearningExpress, LLC
Gale|Cengage Learning
SPRINGSHARE
ProQuest
OCLC
H.W. WILSON
CQ Press
Chemical Abstract Services (CAS)
Annual Reviews
Marcive Inc.
Thomson Reuters
LexisNexis
LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network
 

LOUIS Mini-Consortium


http://appl003.lsu.edu/ocsweb/louishome.nsf/$Content/LOUIS+Mini-Consortium?OpenDocument

  • Annual Reviews
  • Biological Abstract Backfiles (EBSCOhost)
  • Communication and Mass Media Direct (EBSCOhost)
  • Compendex (EI Village 2)
  • IEL (IEEE)
  • JSTOR Biological Sciences
  • NetLibrary 9
  • Nursing Resource Center (EBSCOhost)
  • Oxford Reference Online
  • Philosophers Index
  • PsycArticles (EBSCOhost)
  • Scifinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts Service)
  • Social Work Abstracts (EBSCO)
  • Web of Knowledge (ISI Web of Science)

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

LALINC-L: Upcoming Conference in Lafayette: Louisiana Support Staff Association of Libraries (LaSSAL)


Dear Colleagues,
This e-mail is a reminder that the Louisiana Support Staff Association of Libraries (LaSSAL) is having our annual statewide conference at the Holiday Inn in Lafayette on September 23. We have several programs that will be of interest to those who work in academic libraries: LEAN thinking, library fundraising, business etiquette for library staff, using social media to promote the library and the Southern Forest Heritage Museum. We know that budgets are tight, so we have set our fees low ($30.00 for LLA members and $45.00 for nonmembers) so that as many people as possible can be with us.

While we design our programs to have broad appeal, we would like to get the word out that we are here to serve the support staff population working in Louisiana libraries. Therefore, if you know someone in your institution who would be interested, please forward this e-mail. More information about the agenda, lodging, and registration can be found on our website: http://www.llaonline.org/sig/lassal/events.php. The deadline for hotel reservations is August 23 and for registration is September 9, 2011. We will have on-site registration the day of the conference as well.

Hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Elissa S. Plank, Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect
LaSSAL
225.578.3216


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Codex: the Journal of the Louisiana Chapter of the ACRL - Call for Submissions

 
 
 
Dear Librarians:
 
As you may already know, I am guest-editing an issue of Codex which is the peer-reviewed journal for the Louisiana chapter of ACRL. The theme of this issue is “Successful Transitions to Academic Research”, which focuses specifically on developing information literacy skills in students aged 16-18 years, or roughly, from 11th grade in high school to first-year college freshmen. This is probably the most crucial moment in the intellectual development of young adults, because whatever misconceptions and misapprehensions they have about the usefulness of libraries and librarians is quickly becoming an inviolable gospel underwritten by Google.
 
I would like for anyone who receives this email to strongly consider submitting ideas for articles which include all of those enumerated below in the original CFP. I’m also interested in receiving submission for bibliographic essays, which are extremely useful, but seem to get short shrift from the typical LIS journal editorial board.
 
Please contact me with any questions you may have. I realize that the due date for submissions is October 1st, and that it may prove difficult for many of you who are new to writing for publication. Please rest assured that a particularly astute and energetic group of “elder librarians” stand by to assist you in this process. And by “elder”, I don’t necessarily mean elderly, although my wife tells me I am hard of hearing.
 
I thank you in advance for sharing your eloquent ideas, articulate abstracts, and even your fuzzy notions about the role of information literacy instruction.
 
Sincerely,
Michael Matthews
 
CODEX
Call for Papers
Special Issue: Successful Transitions to Academic Research
 
Codex: The Journal for the Louisiana Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries is seeking article submissions for its theme issue “Successful Transitions to Academic Research”. The focus of our issue is the reporting and evaluation of collaborative efforts between academic and school librarians to teach information literacy skills to traditional college students aged 18-20 years. We encourage evidence-based contributions for improving student engagement and learning, as well as approaches which critique present pedagogical practices. The following types of submissions will be accepted until the closing date of OCTOBER 1st, 2011.
 
•Research articles on information literacy (IL) programs and initiatives including both course-integrated instruction and formal IL courses in school and university curricula. Articles should be supported by empirical evidence that demonstrate the value or success of the program/initiative, lessons learned, and an applicable list of best practices.
 
•Articles that examine the current state of IL pedagogy using applicable theories from literary studies, library and information science, anthropology, sociology or philosophy.
 
•Interviews with practitioners in the field, including high school and college level teachers, librarians, and LIS faculty.
 
• Essay and opinion pieces on the state of IL and its future, especially in consideration of mobile technologies and changing notions of literacy
 
Please send all inquiries to the guest editor of this issue, Michael Matthews, at matthewsm@nsula.edu.
 
___________________________________________
Michael Matthews MLIS
Head of Serials, Media & Interlibrary Loan Services
Northwestern State University of Louisiana
Watson Memorial Library, Room 311-D
Natchitoches, LA 71497
318-357-4419

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Vacant Position: Research and Instruction Librarian (Humanities) - Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University



 Howard-Tilton Memorial Library invites applications for a Research and Instruction Librarian (Humanities) to join he Center for Library User Education (CLUE) in expanding its information fluency program. The library seeks to build its professional staff by recruiting talented, energetic librarians interested in shaping the future of Tulane University and New Orleans.
 
POSITION SUMMARY
The Research and Instruction Librarian (Humanities) is a creative, team-oriented librarian who combines information fluency instruction, research expertise, and outreach with collection development in the humanities. Reporting to the Head of CLUE, the librarian collaborates with colleagues to design, deliver and assess information fluency instruction with a focus on student learning. The librarian provides general help and research assistance at the Research Help Desk in the Learning Commons and assists remote patrons through phone, e-mail, web and other technologies; performs collection development for assigned humanities subject areas and acts as the library liaison to the academic departments linked to the subjects; provides in-depth research consultations for humanities disciplines; and assumes other responsibilities as assigned. S/he will contribute service to library committees and task forces as well as to professional associations. This position includes some evening and weekend hours. Subject assignments for collection development will be based on the experience and background of the successful candidate.
 
QUALIFICATIONS
Required: ALA-accredited MLS; commitment to providing effective and engaging information fluency instruction with a focus on student learning; knowledge of current trends and best practices in information fluency instruction and assessment; familiarity with ACRL Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education and other learning standards; proficiency in providing research services; excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills; ability to work collaboratively as well as independently; commitment to professional development.
 
Preferred: Degree or scholarship in a humanities discipline; one year of teaching experience; experience with instructional design, lesson planning, developing instructional materials in print, online, and multi-media formats; participation in ACRL Institute for Information Literacy; experience with collection development in an academic library; reading ability in one or more non-English western languages; experience with emerging technologies.
 
Salary/Benefits: Rank and salary commensurate with experience; generous benefits including a choice of health plans, tuition waiver for self, and undergraduate tuition waiver for dependents.
 
Environment
Tulane University is an AAU/Carnegie Research Institution and ranked by U.S. News and World Report among the top fifty national universities in the United States. The university is located in beautiful uptown New Orleans where it borders the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line and Audubon Park. Howard-Tilton Memorial Library is the university's main library with an ARL research collection of more than four million titles. 
 
To Apply
Review of applications will begin on September 1, 2011 and will continue until the position is filled with an expected start date of December 1, 2011. To ensure full consideration, applicants must submit a letter of application, résumé, and names with full contact information of at least three professional references via email to Andrea Bacino (abacino@tulane.edu) or mail to:
 
Tulane University
Howard-Tilton Memorial Library
Attn: Andrea Bacino
7001 Freret St. 2nd floor
New Orleans LA 70118
 
Tulane University is an AA/EO Employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The New York Times: Library E-Book Checkouts Get a Major Boost

http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2011/06/15/15readwriteweb-library-e-book-checkouts-get-a-major-boost-65162.html?ref=technology

The Bivings Report: The Internet has turned you into a librarian



June 14, 2011

The stereotypical librarian is a bespectacled lady who goes around shushing everyone. Having completed the University of Maryland Master of Information Management program through which I took classes with Master of Library Science students, not only have I learned that librarians are typically anything but quiet but thanks to the Internet more people – maybe even you – provide library services.  Librarianship is not just for the bespectacled!

Here are some social media trends that allow the Internet to turn you into a librarian:

1. Classifying data
“Tagging” is a cool way of saying “classifying.”  Whether you use Delicious to save links with descriptive tags, place blog posts into categories (just like this post is categorized!), add a hashtag to your tweets, or tag a flickr image/Youtube video/last.fm song, you’re classifying data so that it is easier for others to find.

2. Answering questions
One of a librarian’s main duties is to help people find information.  There are sites specifically designed for this – like Yahoo! Answers.  However, there are other methods for answering questions online.  I frequently see friends ask questions via Facebook and Twitter, and they get answers through those sites.  Maybe you have answered someone’s question…

3. Recommending information sources
Google recently rolled out its +1 button.  This was partially in response to the like and recommend Facebook buttons and Tweet buttons that provide easy ways to share links through those networks.  Let’s not forget digg, Reddit, LinkedIn, “e-mail this” functions, etc.  Further, there are many sites that allow one to rate a page by using intuitive scales like presenting five stars.  How often do you recommend information to other people?

4. Reviewing/Spotlighting books, music, television, and videos
Newt Gingrich was an active book reviewer on Amazon; he had his own a virtual “Newt’s Picks” section.  How often do you see a “Staff Picks” section in a library?  Like Amazon, many social networking sites allow people to list their favorite books, movies, music, and television show on profile shows.  Through these sites, you can set up your own section of your favorites – just like Newt.

5. Providing instruction
While the stereotypical bespectacled librarian merely checks out/in and shelves books (when he or she isn’t shushing someone), many modern librarians are also instructors.  Back in 2009 in the New York Times explained how many librarians teach. Likewise, many people have created web videos that teach how to play a musical instrument, tie a bow tie, make Chinese food, etc.  Then there are bloggers and people who contribute to sites like About.com or HowStuffWorks.com.  What have you taught online?

6. Reading stories aloud
One of my favorite things to do in elementary school was to go to the library to listen to a story.  However, one no longer has to actually go visit someone else to listen to them read a story.  There are sites like Librivox where people read literature in the public domain for others to download and listen.  Although many of these people are volunteers, some are quiet good.  Who doesn’t like to listen to a good story?
This is not an exhaustive list – especially since librarianships is much broader than the stereotype suggestions.  Feel free to comment on how the Internet brings out the inner librarian in you.

Update: Read my post "Librarians offer plenty in a social media world" for my thoughts about what credentialed librarians have to offer considering that social media have allowed many of us to participate in librarianship.

Dillard University CTLAT Blog: Avoiding The future of libraries and research being decided by Google

Dillard University CTLAT Blog: Avoiding The future of libraries and research being decided by Google