All posts by John

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Denver Public Library's online local music service

cdsWith the decline of the physical CD, and the rise of the digital music file, many libraries are beginning to offer online music services too. Recently, The Denver Public Library (DPL) began an “online collection of local music that’s available for free streaming and download for anyone with a library card.” With this service, called Volume, and its local spin, the DPL is creating a self publishing-like service; but instead of eBooks for authors, it’s online music for local musicians.

The Reverb piece about the service describes how it got started and also its mission. “We thought this could be an amazing opportunity to connect with our local community,” said Volume project manager Zeth Lietzau. “What we’re trying to find is a place that creates a really Denver-centric community. That’s a niche that people are interested in.”

This local message even limits the content that can be on Volume. “Any band that’s not based in Colorado isn’t allowed to be included…”

Beyond its “local” focus, Volume hopes to attract younger people not using the library as well as people who are using the library but who might not know the local music scene.

Interested in Denver music? Check out the Volume website for free 30 second clips of local artists.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/qzjqo9x, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

MLA Annual Conference

better_together_-_smallThe 2014 MLA Annual Conference is fast approaching. This year’s event will be at the Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato, MN on Wednesday-Thursday, October 8-9, 2014.

REGISTER NOW!

Better Together, this year’s conference theme…, will focus on creating partnerships and building communities. Other features will include:

  • Keynote and featured presentations by authors
  • More than 60 breakout presentations
  • A conference-within-a-conference titled: We’re All in This Together: Strengthening Libraries Through Professional Development
  • Sessions tailored to your area of interest, including academic libraries, children and young people, Friends of the Library, intellectual freedom, government information, leadership excellence, paraprofessionals, public libraries, reader advisory, reference services, rural libraries, technical services, and trustees/advocates
  • An exhibit hall with 50+ vendors showcasing library products and services
  • Hundreds of library professionals to network with

 

No Money? A CMLE scholarship of up to $200 is yours to use for registration, hotel, mileage, meals, or to subsidize the cost of your employer hiring a substitute worker so you can be away. If you approach your boss to say you have found a way to contribute  $200, they will know you are invested and have taken initiative. The application process is easy, CMLE would love to exhaust its scholarship budget this year, so go for it!

Finally, remember you can stay up to date with upcoming events in our events table.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Explore eBooks MN Summit: A CMLE Scholarship

ebook-mn5The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient Audrey Misiura, CMLE and ECRL Board Member.

Explore eBooks MN Summit

 

I had the opportunity to attend the Explore eBooks MN Summit on the beautiful campus of St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul last month.

The keynote speaker was Deb Hoadley, an advisor and team leader for a statewide e-book project in Massachusetts. She talked about the journey of implementing a statewide e-book partnership for the library patrons of Massachusetts.

I especially appreciated her candidness in sharing the mistakes and setbacks her team experienced throughout the project.

The Technology of Participation group facilitators were awesome. I was amazed that in a short time the group would have boiled down our objectives into a few key concepts.

Although a statewide leader did not emerge from the conference, I am hopeful that momentum will grow as Minnesota library stakeholders see the need and benefit to resource sharing among all types of libraries in Minnesota.

I think that for Minnesota moving forward it remains helpful to understand that other library professionals have gone on before us, celebrated their successes, managed their losses and are able and willing to share their knowledge and experience with us. E-book collaboration and resource sharing continue to challenge library administrators across our state. However, as our society becomes increasingly digital and as the needs of our patrons continue to evolve and change, and as new technology becomes available, sharing and collaboration will become inevitable.

 

Did you miss the Explore ebooks MN series of webinars? Not able to make it to the Explore ebooks MN Summit? Not to worry, all content from the webinars and summit are available at theExplore ebooks MN website.

 

 

 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

GRRL Educator Request Form

GRRLAre you a busy educator in need of a collection of learning resources for study at your school? A new service from Great River Regional Library (GRRL) is here to help you out!

“Using the Educator Request Form on the GRRL website, educators can request subject-specific library materials by specifying the grade level they are teaching, the information they need, how the information will be used, and the sources already checked. On receiving the request, library staff will pull together a selection of books from across the region that are suitable for the specified classroom use. The educator can then pick up the materials at whichever of the library’s 32 locations he or she selects” (Press Release).

Among other reference and research services, the Educator Request Form can be found under the Ask A Librarian link on the library’s home page.

Check this out:

Shrinking Academic Library Budgets

Once again libraries, as a percentage of overall university expenditures, have lost ground. Phil Davis, an independent researcher and former science librarian, recently wrote that “based on reports from 40 research libraries, the percentage of university funds spent on libraries has shrunk by over one-half in the past three decades, from a high of 3.7% in 1984 to just 1.8% in 2011.”

Looking at the updated graphic from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), we can see this downward trend for ourselves.

arl_library_expenditure

Phil Davis’ goes beyond the numbers and tries to offer explanation and even place a little blame. “I believe that ARL’s graph of library expenditure decline tells a mixed story of success and failure,” he writes, “success on the part of the library to live within its means, and failure for librarians to get a larger slice of a growing pie. As for the growing pie, it may indicate that universities have failed miserably to keep their own spending under control.”

Make sure to read the entire article on The Scholarly Kitchen for the complete picture.

Do you agree with Mr. Davis’ assesment? Are academic libraries doing everything they can to get a piece of the pie? Should universities be working harder to control their own spending?