Whether or not you have a library degree, you work in the profession and you know the ideas, skills, and other things that are important to you and your workplace. Share those! Your voice, and your experience, is important here!
“The Simmons College School of Library and Information Science is conducting a brief survey intended to identify core skills and knowledge areas for the MS(LIS) program. We are interested in which skills and knowledge areas you perceive to be most needed in the field now, and in the near future. Your responses will help as as we review and continue to revise and improve our curriculum to ensure our graduates are well prepared for the job market.
Your responses are important. The survey should take about 5 minutes to complete. Please access the survey and respond by Monday April 17th.
One of the coolest things about being in the library profession is seeing the big diversity of dictionaries, and other exciting reference sources! (Yes, I’m a big library nerd – it’s a happy thing!)
And now there is a neat new dictionary: a Sideways Dictionary of technology terms. “It’s like a dictionary, but using analogies instead of definitions. Use it as a tool for finding and sharing helpful analogies to explain technology. Because if everyone understands technology better, we can make technology work better for everyone.
Here are a few samples:
Bandwidth —
It’s like a water pipe
that serves the shower, washing machine and dishwasher in your apartment. If you run all three at the same time, you’ll notice a drop in pressure and whoever’s in the shower will get annoyed.
It’s like a road.
A single-lane highway has low bandwidth and things clog up, especially in rush hour. A multi-lane highway is wider and faster, so even if a big file is chugging down the inside lane, there’s plenty of room to overtake.
It’s like a stream supplying several paddy fields.
Sometimes your neighboring rice farmer will try to hog the supply or sneakily divert some of your water into his field. Time to change your WiFi password.
It’s like the stairway in an office block.Easily big enough for the normal comings and goings of the hundreds of people who work there. But suddenly pretty narrow when there’s a fire alarm and everyone rushes out at once.
IP Address —
It’s like a postal address for the internet.
This is a numeric address that identifies where a destination computer is attached to the Internet, similar to a postal address for a destination residence or business.
It’s like telephone numbers.
The telephone system works because each number is different. The numbers also contain general information about which country and region you are in. With IP addresses, you can have a static address (the same number all the time – like your landline), or a dynamic address (a temporary number assigned each time you make a call – like using a random payphone).
It’s like the number on your team shirt.
Michael Jordan will always be 23. Wayne Gretsky will always be 99. But most players will take whatever number they’re given.
It’s like the postal system of the internet.
You address a package, drop it into the system, and someone gets a nice web page through their letterbox.
Check it out for yourself, and share it with your patrons!
CMLE members (and others!) – if you are working with teens, and would like to go to Washington DC for Library Legislative Day – YALSA wants to help you!
Check out this opportunity below:
Due to the fact that the White House’s budget proposes eliminating all federal funds for libraries, YALSA’s Board has re-opened the travel stipend application in order to send an additional member to Washington DC to advocate for teens and libraries. The stipend, funded by Friends of YALSA, will enable one qualified recipient to receive up to $1,000 to attend ALA’s 2017 National Library Legislative Day, which will be held in Washington, DC, May 1-2, 2017. Apply by April 10, 2017. Applicants will be notified the week of April 17, 2017. Here is the application:
CMLE members – this discussion was happening on a listserve, and had some great ideas you might want to try in your library! Don’t forget: if you do baking projects in your library, CMLE Headquarters is available for taste-testing!
“Like I’m guessing many of you, I was excited by the idea of a baking club posted over at SLJ here:
We are able to cook food and have it as part of our events, at least as of right now, so we’re not as restricted as many libraries are.
However, I am curious how, if you have a cooking or baking club, how do you handle:
Kitchen safety and knife skills?
Allergens and making sure the food is as safe as you can make it?
Permission slips — if so, examples?
Favorite recipes?
Different types of cuisine to try?
Thanks for any and all advice or tips! I know my teens will really love this, but I’d love to hear from any other librarians who do similar programs.”
The ACRL Framework Sandbox: sandbox.acrl.org is accepting contributions!
The Sandbox is an openly accessible platform and repository for librarians engaged with the Framework to discover and share classroom and professional development resources related to the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.
The Sandbox is a place of discovery and sharing that provides opportunities for collaboration and innovation in approaches to the Framework, both in the classroom and in terms of professional development.
Searching is freely available to everyone – you don’t need a login to start searching. And since the content of the Sandbox comes from you, the most important way you can celebrate the recent launch of the Sandbox is to contribute your Framework-related materials by creating a contributor account.
Jump into the Sandbox to share and learn from others!
–Framework for Information Literacy Advisory Board
Partnering with libraries for visioning, advocating, and educating
