Category Archives: Academic

Academic, Public, Training

RUSA Summer Online Learning Opportunities

Direct ALL questions to Jennifer Cross, Web Services Manager at jcross@ala.org.

The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) is pleased to announce summer 2017 online learning opportunities:

  • July
    • “Serving those who served: Working with the Veteran and Military Communities” Webinar – 7/13/17 
      In this webinar, two librarians who are also military veterans themselves will help librarians get started working with veteran and military-affiliated patrons by sharing some crucial background information about the veteran and military communities, including common pitfalls and FAQs. They will also share ideas, strategies, and success stories related to library outreach and programming for the veteran and military communities in both public and academic libraries.
    • “The Google Driver’s Manual” Webinar – 7/21/17
      Google Drive is a great option for librarians to share with their patrons. Learn all the tricks Google Drive can do for you and your patrons (and maybe even your library).
    • “Successful Outreach and Marketing for any Library” eCourse – 7/31/17
      Do you want to improve your libraries outreach and marketing activities? Do you want to attract new patrons and reach out to underserved communities? Over the course of six weeks, participants will learn how to assess marketing needs, expand the reach of outreach activities, integrate free and low-cost tools into their outreach activities, and develop an outreach and marketing plan for the library of their choice.
  • August
    • “I am Not A Robot: Using Emotional Intelligence to Humanize Virtual Reference” Webinar – 8/24/17
      This webinar will assert that improving emotional intelligence will improve our overall virtual communication. This webinar will provide librarians and staff with an emotional intelligence toolkit to improve their virtual reference experience as well as provide tips for implementing a training program that incorporates emotional intelligence principles.

About RUSA
The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, offers multiple online professional development opportunities year round that are open to the public. Whether you want to acquire new skills or sharpen your current skills, RUSA’s online courses and webinars offer convenient and flexible learning opportunities on both basic and advance topics. Basic topics may include the reference interview and readers’ advisory to name a few. For advanced topics we dive into specialty areas such as business reference, genealogy and topics related to prison libraries among others. RUSA members qualify for discounted registration rates including discounts on group registrations. RUSA represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services and collection materials they need.

Academic, Books, Tech

What’s in the box: Penn State brings Short Edition reading dispensers to campus

Short Edition Stories 1

(From the Daily Collegian, by Erin O’Neill)

“Students looking for a quick read on the way to class may be in luck.

Penn State became the first educational institution in the world to collaborate with Short Edition, a French-based company that produces dispensers to print free short stories.

The goal of the partnership is to foster discussion on creative story-telling and promote the arts and humanities.

There are four dispensers in Penn State’s libraries, as well as one downtown at the Schlow Library.

The other two dispensers are in the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library in Stuckeman Building and the Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library in Davey Lab.

Since being installed on May 9, the dispensers at the university’s main libraries have printed over 1,000 stories, according to Jill Shockley, Manager of Public Relations and Marketing for Penn State Libraries.

“My initial reaction was, wow,” said Shockley of so many stories being printed with many students home for the summer. “Ultimately we hope this sparks dialogue between reader and author.”

Penn State’s recent collaboration with the Short Edition will facilitate further conversation around creative writing pieces on a custom website.

“We see the partnership with Short Edition as the first step toward a growing number of thoughtful and creative exchanges, beginning with the installation of Short Edition dispensers around the University Park campus and the development of the online content management platform,” said Barbara I. Dewey, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications, according to a press release.

Short Edition dispensers allow readers to request a one, three, or five-minute story, which is then printed on a paper as wide as a typical receipt.

Penn State students, faculty, staff or community members will soon be able to submit their own work for print.”

(Read the rest of this article here!)

 

Academic, Books

Primary Research Group Inc. has published the International Survey of Research University Leadership: Evaluation of the Academic Library

“Primary Research Group Inc. has published the International Survey of Research University Leadership: Evaluation of the Academic Library, ISBN 978-157440-453-1

The 125-page study presents the findings from a survey of 314 deans,  department chairmen, provosts, registrars, trustees, chancellors, vice presidents, administrative department directors and other upper level administration and management from more than 50 research universities in the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland and Australia.  Data is broken out by title and also by department or work role, such as for fundraising and marketing, technology transfer, student services, educational administration and other
categories.  Data is also broken out by country, for public and private
universities and by other variables such as level of compensation and gender, among others.

We asked these higher education leaders what they thought of the overall performance of their library, of the performance of the library in meeting the needs of their particular departments, and of library performance in a range of areas: cost control, information literacy, collection breadth, supplier of bibliometrics, and other areas.  Those sampled also give their opinion on which items the library should be spending more, or less, or about the same, with specific data on books, eBooks, journals, workstations and other content, practices and items.

Just a few of the study’s many findings are that:

•       Younger administrators were more pro-library than older administrators; nearly 69% of those aged 31-39 awarded an “A” grade to their library while only 47.25% of administrators 60 or older did the same.

•       The best paid administrators, those earning more than US $250,000 per year, were also less enthusiastic than others at lower pay grades about increasing the library budget: only 20.83% of them wanted to increase library spending.

•       Support for increased spending on library workstations was strongest from those in positions in university business and finance, where 41.18% wanted to spend more and 5.88%, much more, and in student services, where 47.06% wanted to spend more, and 2.94% much more.

•       Administrators in North America were particularly disillusioned about their library’s performance in information literacy and positive performance assessment fell off considerably from the highest to the lowest ranked universities.

For further information view our website at www.PrimaryResearch.com.”

Academic, Communication, Conference

Call for First-Time ALA Annual 2017 Attendees: ACRL Buddy Program

“Are you planning to attend your first ALA Annual Conference? First-time attendees are invited to sign up for a conference buddy who can guide you through selecting conference sessions, navigating conference venues, and answer any other questions you might have. This is a great way to learn about ACRL and expand your professional network!

How much time are we talking? It’s up to you. We suggest the buddy/mentor make the first contact after initially signing up and go from there. You may want to meet up at the ACRL 101 on Saturday, June 24, from 8:30-10:00 a.m. at the Hilton Chicago, Continental C (a great start for newbies, and refresher for veterans), the Exhibit Opening Reception on Friday, June 24, from 5:30-7:00 p.m., or meet for coffee.

You might meet up with your buddy just once, or a few times throughout the conference. The intent is primarily for helping orient the new person to the event and helping them feel comfortable (we were all new once!).

Interested? Sign up now! The deadline is Wednesday, June 14.​

Want to be a buddy/mentor for a first-time attendee? Stay tuned. A call for mentors will be coming soon.

Steven Bell
Associate University Librarian

Temple University Libraries

Member, ACRL Membership Committee”