New Co-Editors of "It's Academic!" Column

The CRD Board is pleased to announce that Rachel Masilamani and Larissa Gordon are the new co-editors of the "It's Academic!" column in the PaLA Bulletin, effective January 2011. Both are 2010 graduates of PALS. Rachel is Reference Librarian at the J. Clarence Kelly Library of Penn State Greater Allegheny Campus, and Larissa is Information Literacy Coordinator & Reference Librarian at the Landman Library of Arcadia University.

The Board is looking forward to their contributions. Please join us in welcoming them aboard and congratulating them!

--Linda Neyer, "It's Academic!" out-going editor and Vice-Chair Elect of the CRD

CRD Election Results

The results of the PaLA CRD elections are in. Linda Neyer was elected Vice Chair/Chair elect and Mary Lou Patrick was elected Secretary. Their terms begin in January 2011. Congratulations to both of you!

CRD officers for 2011:

Chair: Bonnie Oldham, Information Literacy Coordinator, The University of Scranton
Vice Chair: Linda Neyer, Health Sciences/Science Librarian, Bloomsburg University
Treasurer: Erin Dorney, Outreach Librarian, Millersville University
Secretary: Mary Lou Patrick, Reference Librarian, Altoona Campus, The Pennsylvania State University

Students: Web Savvy?

clipped from www.northwestern.edu

Not as Web Savvy as You Think

Young people give Google, other top brand search results too much credibility

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Google it. That's what many college students do when asked to read an excerpt of a play for class, write a resume or find the e-mail address of a politician.

They trust Google so much that a Northwestern University study has found many students only click on websites that turn up at the top of Google searches to complete assigned tasks. If they don't use Google, researchers found that students trust other brand-name search engines and brand-name websites to lead them to information.

The study was published by the International Journal of Communication.

Read the article.

Information Commons in the Wild: Lessons from the Field

The Information Commons was the theme of CRD’s 2010 spring conference. The program began with a presentation by Scott Bennett, who has written and consulted widely on

library space planning. As one of the founders of Project Muse, Bennett fostered some of the changes in information use that are driving innovations in the use of library space.

In his keynote session, Dr. Bennett noted that the concept of a learning commons is not just about space, it’s a philosophy. He posed some pivotal questions that libraries should consider prior to undertaking an information or learning commons project. The systematic gathering of data about student behavior and about how students learn being the most important question to ensuring the creation of a successful information or learning commons. He suggests that this data will reveal that librarians should stop thinking of students as information consumers. Instead, we should think of students as learners. The library focus would then be on accommodating the learning needs of students, and reference librarians would see their role as collaborators with student learners.

The afternoon session consisted of a panel of administrators who have already implemented an information/learning commons at their libraries or who are in the process of building one representing a variety of size and type of institution. The panel included: Don Smith, Dean of the Library at the University of Louisiana at Monroe; Katherine Furlong, Associate Director for Access & Administrative Services at Lafayette College; Sally Kalin, Associate Dean for University Park Libraries, Pennsylvania State University; and Anuradha Vedantham, Director of the Weigle Information Commons at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bennett served as panel moderator.

One attendee commented, "The workshop gave me a lot to think about. I especially appreciated the idea of using what you have - but using it better - rearranging + improving facility to make it more learner-centered."

CRD will be posting Dr. Bennett's presentation as well as a list of publications that he mentioned on the CRD Web site in the near future. We will also post several of the panelists' slide shows.

CRD Board Candidates for 2011

Following are the PaLA-CRD members running for the CRD Board for 2011. More information on the candidates will be posted here before the elections, so watch this space!

VICE-CHAIR/CHAIR ELECT:

Calida Barboza, Instruction/Reference Librarian, Kings College, Wilkes-Barre

I am an Instruction/Reference Librarian at King's College (Wilkes-Barre, PA) and a graduate of the first PaLA Academy of Leadership Studies (PALS) class. As a result of speaking with academic librarians about how PaLA can meet their needs, I decided that I'd like to be more involved in the College & Research Division. I am currently the Intellectual Freedom Chair of the PaLA Northeast Chapter and a member of the Chapter's Membership Committee. I was recently part of a panel on the PALS experience at the Chapter workshop and at the 2009 Conference. Since joining PaLA in 2007, I was awarded a PaLA Brodart Conference Grant to attend the 2007 Conference and volunteered at the CyberSuite during the 2009 Conference. I am also involved with the ACRL Virtual Conference Committee and two ALA New Members Round Table committees. I earned an MSLIS from Drexel University, an MA in English from Youngstown State University, and a BA in English from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

Valerie Lynn, Head Librarian, Hazleton Campus, The Pennsylvania State University

After serving as the Instruction Librarian at the George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library at the Penn State Hershey College of Medicine for approximately four years, I was recently promoted to Head Librarian at the Penn State Hazleton campus. I hold a Master of Science degree in Instructional Technology from Bloomsburg University and attended the Dartmouth College, Evidence-Based Medicine Institute, last year.

Linda Neyer, Health Sciences/Science Librarian, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

As editor of the College & Research Division's "It's Academic!" column in the PaLA Bulletin, I have been actively involved on the Board since 2003. I'm especially proud of my role in getting the Bulletin indexed in EBSCOhost's Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts, a free database. As a member of the PaLA Membership Committee, I've also worked on ways to promote the value of a PaLA membership to academic librarians. One of my current interests is to explore ways of increasing collaboration between school librarians and academic librarians within Pennsylvania. I think PaLA provides an ideal forum for this collaboration!

SECRETARY:

Karen Cook, Assistant Professor, Library Science Department, Clarion University of Pennsylvania

I am running for PaLA-CRD Secretary because I believe strongly in the importance of the Association and that I have the requisite experience and skills to make a positive contribution to the Division's good work for our academic library community and the Pennsylvania Library Association. During twenty years of active involvement with professional library organizations at the state (Indiana, Alabama, and Louisiana, and now Pennsylvania), regional, and national levels, I have had the honor to be elected to various offices, including Secretary of national ALA/Exhibites Round Table; I have also served as secretary for other entities (academic, professional, and governmental) on numerous occasions. I thank you for your consideration, and hope to have the opportunity to serve you and PaLA-CRD as Secretary.

Lizah Ismail, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Public Services, Marywood University, Scranton

Lizah Ismail is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Public Services at the Marywood University Library in Scranton, Pa. In her current position, she supervises circulation services, oversees reference services and teaches information literacy classes. She is a Board member of the Pennsylvania Library Association Northeast Chapter and serves on the Membership, Distance Learning and Communications committee of the ACRL College Libraries Division. Lizah has published in the area of library use and needs of Millennial as well as non-traditional/adult students and has written several reviews of library online resources. She received her MS in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and her MA in Communications from the Annenberg School for Communication , University of Pennsylvania.

Jennifer V. Luksa, Head of Collection Resource Management, Bevevino Library, Misericordia University, Dallas

I am the Head of Collection Resource Management at Misericordia University where I have been employed for over 16 years. I received my MLS from Drexel University in 2008, and I am a graduate of the inaugural class of the Pennsylvania Academy for Leadership Studies (PALS). I served on last year's PaLA Scholarship Committee, and I have served on numerous committees at Misericordia. As an academic librarian, I see numerous challenges ahead as the concept of "library as space" changes with the development of new technologies. CRD provides the opportunity for all academic librarians in Pennsylvania to share ideas and give support as we meet these challenges.

Mary Lou Patrick, Reference Librarian, Robert E. Eiche Library, Altoona Campus, The Pennsylvania State University

As a candidate for the office of PaLA CRD Secretary, I would like to introduce myself. At Penn State Altoona, I am a reference and instruction librarian and the collection development coordinator for the Robert E. Eiche Library. I also serve as a member of Penn State University’s Alumni Library Board. Previously, I worked as a reference, instruction, and collection development librarian with Pennsylvania Highlands Community College (PHCC). During that time, I was elected to two terms as recording secretary for PHCC’s Faculty Senate. I also served as a Senate Curriculum Committee member and as the Senate’s coordinator for its Blackboard site and Web page. My academic credentials include a Master of Science degree in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Arts degree in Adult Education and Communications Technology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. It would be an honor to contribute to the work of the Division as CRD Secretary, and if elected I would conscientiously strive to fulfill my duties and responsibilities.

Librarians do Gaga

This video from University of Washington's Information School is making the rounds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_uzUh1VT98

We No Longer Have Librarians

Fortunately most college and university presidents realize the value of librarians. Michael MacDowell, Misericordia University President, apparently is not one of these enlightened people. In response to the question, "How has technology affeced libraries at colleges?" President MacDowell stated, "We no longer have librarians or head librarians." MacDowell was being interviewed by a reporter from The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, PA because he will be receiving a special achievement award from The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

MacDowell further states that while "...students themselves come [to college] with a great deal of ability to use technology in communications...sometimes the students pick up things on the Internet and determine that they're definitive and they aren't."

One of the reasons that academic librarians are recognized as valuable resources is because they are the ones who are teaching Information Literacy skills to the students on their campuses. While all students may know how to use Google and Wikipedia, many of then don't know how to find a book or how to find an article in a scholarly journal. Or even know what a scholarly journal is. They can't synthesize the information they do find when they are writing papers, and they don't know how to give credit to the sources that they use. Where do students gain these skills? Why from librarians of course!

Best Practices in Library Instruction

Doug Cook and Ryan L. Sittler took a tag team approach to their keynote presentation at the PaLA Library Instruction Roundtable (LIRT) workshop on April 16, 2010. They used some hands-on examples from their book, The Library Instruction Cookbook (published in 2009 by ACRL) to demonstrate how easy it is to incorporate active learning into information literacy instruction. Some techniques included using the Telephone Game to determine where primay sources end and secondary sources begin, using clues placed in coffee cans to determine which database would be the best for specific questions, and writing a haiku poem as a form of self-reflection about one's research.

Doug is Reference Librarian/Professor at Shippensburg University, and Ryan isInstructional Technology/Information Literacy Librarian /Assistant Professor at California University of Pennsylvania. If you weren't able to attend Friday's program, you can sign up for their Preconference, Practical Pedagogy for Library Instructors, which will be held from 1:00 to 4:30pm on Friday, June 25 at the ALA Annual Conference.

Following the keynote speakers was a Best Practices Panel. Larissa Gordon shared how Arcadia University Library used mini-grants to foster faculty-librarian collaboration; Margaret Montet and Willliam Hemmig shared how they enhance an embedded eBrarian program at Bucks County Community College; and Kelley Beeson shared how the Allegheny County Library Assoication used 23 Things-n'at to create an non-threatening environment for library staff to learn about Web 2.0 technologies.

A second panel featuring assessment followed the lunch break. In addition to Hedra Packman, who spoke about how the Free Library of Philadelphia uses a variety of methods to assess the variety of instruction programs they provide, there were two presentaions on assessment in academic libraries. Tom Reinsfelder, from the Mont Alto Campus of Penn State, explained how PSU used the SAILS Test for incoming students at select PSU campuses. They administered the test before any Information Literacy instruction had been done in order to establish a baseline for students' knowledge about Information Literacy. This enabled them to identify what was the most important skill set for librarians to teach. When asked about testing upper level students, Tom indicated that it would be difficult to re-test the same students since the original test was administered throught faculty class time. Olga Conneen presented a rubric that the library is using to assess student learning outcomes for a library assignment in the "Achieving the Dream" program at Northampton Ccommunity College. Though active learning, she demonstrated how the librarians were able to improve this assignment by evaluting interrater reliability.

Bonnie Imler, Altoona Campus of Penn State, the day's final presenter, compared the feature four screen capture software options and included some tips for using this type of software for online tutorials.

This workshop was partially funded with Federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds administered by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries and would not have been possible without the help of the College and Research Division of PaLA.

Innovation and Libraries

On Tuesday, April 6, Stephen Abram spoke on the topic of "Innovation and Libraries" to members of the Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services (CASLIS), a division of the Canadian Library Association. Abram was listed by Library Journal as one of the top 50 people influencing the future of libraries, and he recently left SirsiDynix to join Gale as vice president of strategic partnerships and markets. On his blog, "Stephen's Lighthouse," he posted his presentation. He also has compiled all of his previous postings on the value of libraries. His post on the Value of Academic and College Libraries, highlights a study called “Libraries Designed for Learning” by Scott Bennett--keynote speaker at the CRD's Spring program, "Information Commons in the Wild: Lessons from the Field" which will be held on June 15 at The University of Scranton. Abram calls this study, "... an articulate report on what needs to be considered to place the library at the heart of the new university – virtual and bricks."

Why I Attend Small Conferences

A recent post on Inside Higher Ed by Kevin Brown sums up nicely the value of attending a small conference, like the annual PaLA Conference. Brown, an English professor at Lee University, weighs the pros and cons of attending large conferences vs small conference:

Large, national conferences are important for a number of reasons... However,
for the rest of us, smaller local conferences make more sense and are more
enjoyable. They help us to build smaller communities within the discipline with
peers who hold similar values and who want to see everyone involved improve.

Read the entire post here.

SAVE THE DATE! June 15, 2010

"Information Commons in the Wild: Lessons from the Field"

Where: DeNaples Campus Center, The University of Scranton, Scranton, PA

Keynote Speaker:
Scott Bennett, Library Space Planning Consultant, Yale University Librarian Emeritus, and one of the founders of Project Muse, will lead a session designed to promote active learning about the design of an information or learning commons. Conference participants will then be asked to work together on some key questions that Scott will pose about the design of information or learning commons, concluding with a reporting out session meant to share the wisdom of the group.

Panel:
Don Smith, Dean of the Library at the University of Louisiana at Monroe
Katherine Furlong, Associate Director for Access & Administrative Services at Lafayette College
Sally Kalin, Associate Dean for University Park Libraries at Penn State University
Anuradha Vedantham, Director of the Weigle Information Commons at the University of Pennsylvania

Watch the CRD Web site for further details and registration information: http://www.lehigh.edu/~inpla/CRD/
For more information, contact Bonnie Oldham. You can also find us on Facebook.

PaLA CRD: help newer librarians become leaders!

(Above: 2009 PALS Attendees)

The College and Research Division (CRD) of the Pennsylvania Library Association would like to sponsor two attendees to the PaLA Academy of Leadership Studies (PALS) to be held June 6-9, 2010 at the Radisson Penn Harris, Camp Hill, PA. We invite nominations and applications from academic librarians who have less than six years of experience and who have the potential to become the next generation of library leaders in the state of Pennsylvania. The CRD will pay for Academy registration for the two librarians chosen and will work closely with them as they continue to enhance their careers. Further information about the Leadership Academy can be found at:

http://www.palibraries.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=102

If you are interested in applying or in nominating someone to be sponsored by the CRD, please send the following by April 1, 2010 to Tina Hertel at tina.hertel@lehigh.edu:

• A letter of interest
• A letter of nomination from your supervisor
• Current resume of the nominee
• Statement indicating PaLA membership or intention to join at the end of the program

Nominees will be informed of the CRD's decision by April 16, 2010.

Please call or email me with any questions or concerns about the process.

Thank you.

Tina Hertel
College & Research Division

Connecting Research and Writing Through Students

Tuesday, October 20 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Speakers: Greg Skutches, Tina Hertel, Kenzie Bartlett, Deborah Streahle (Lehigh University)

Moderated by Christine Roysdon

The innovative TRAC (Technology, Research and Communication) Writing Fellows Program at Lehigh University is based on the “tried-and-true notion that collaboration among peers is one of our most effective and efficient methods of learning.” Greg Skutches described the evolution of the TRAC concept over his initial year as the Coordinator of Writing Across the Curriculum at Lehigh. He stressed that his rather unique placement within the Library and Technology Services unit, as opposed to the usual WAC placement within an academic college, enabled him to imagine a program that encompassed not only writing, but also the research process, the use of technology, and faculty development.

The program tests the idea that student writing mentors embedded in courses can knowledgeably and empathetically interact with peers on assignment drafts and research progress, and can even help faculty fine-tune assignments. Fellows chosen are talented undergraduate student writers from across the majors, nominated by faculty, and selected through a highly competitive application process. As a group, they are enrolled in a semester-long training course that encompasses not only writing, but also library research and instructional technology.

Tina Hertel has developed the library research aspect of the program. She noted that in the first year she presented the big picture of the information environment, but now has adopted a more practical focus. She has observed that the TRAC students tend to be good researchers who are sometimes surprised by the methods used by fellow students.

The two TRAC fellows, Kenzie Bartlett and Deborah Streahle, have been thinking about how the libraries can be better integrated into the student research process. They emphasized the importance of just-in-time librarian visits to courses with assignments, and the need to simplify and streamline the navigation of library systems.

Christy Roysdon

When Students Go Mobile: The Effects of Smartphones on Information Literacy and Academic Library
Featuring Kristen Yarmey-Tylutki, Digital Services Librarian, Weinberg Memorial Library, The University of Scranton and moderated by Erin Dorney

Smartphone – phone with computing ability

Over 50 thousand apps for iPhone as of last year

In 2008 smartphone sales in North America grew by 63%

Lost of apps are student-designed

Mobile librarians and libraries – Joe Murphy

How do these impact the research process? Information literacy?

It’s hard for students to find big blocks of time for research – mobile helps them break it up into chunks

Looking at 2000 ACRL standards for information literacy – 5 standards

What did mobile phones look like in 2000? Cell phones called people, stored contacts, could text but many people didn’t. A lot has changed since then!

Standard One: “The information literate student defines and articulates the need for information”

• Free apps vs. authoritative, more costly apps (in terms of reference resources)
• Talk to vendors about providing mobile interfaces
• Think about subsidizing cost of authoritative mobile apps
• Devices can be used to both collect and analyze data
• Can confuse students – new set of formats (print, electronic, mobile, website, app, device specific?), third-party developers w/ somewhat sketchy documentation.
• Cost and benefit – students pick free over pay, website over print, w/smartphones, they will probably choose mobile over computer-based.
• It needs to be affordable and accessible to students in order for them to use it

Standard Two: “The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently”

• New ways of searching – the ACRL standards assume word-based searching, but now we have different input types – pictures, barcodes, audio keywords, location
• These options can make searching easier for students, but we need to know how to help them and incorporate this into information literacy
• No extra typing – fewest keystrokes possible = no long search strings, Boolean, etc.
• Mobile raises expectations – traditional services won’t be enough
• On a smartphone, we only see the first 3/4 results in a Google search – will students scroll down or click to the next page?
• Extracting information – lots of note taking tools out there and microphones built in (i.e. Margins, tools to convert spoken notes into written notes)
• iPhone can’t run different applications at once – this is a problem but should be fixed (Palm Pre does it)

Standard Three: “The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.”

• Ebook apps – more time for reading in their lives, but is it “deep reading?”
• All in one devices are fabulous but also distracting
• Students are going to want to use things that are designed well
• Mobile research look at more items but spend less time on/with them
• Discussing research with peers

Standard Four: “The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.”

• Syncing mobile and computer applications
  

Standard Five: “The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally”

• Privacy issues, personal information – outward flow of information, educate students about what they post to the web and how it can impact their future
  
• “Collaboration has become a fact of life” – Kristen YT

Standards hold up well, but there are some new themes relating to smartphones

Is dividing literacy between information and technology helping or harming our students?

Continuous partial attention – we need to be informed – education, psychology, sociology

What’s next? Plans to talk with students about how smartphones are being used by students. Looking for collaborators!

Q: Tools for libraries to mobilize? SMS is first step, in terms of resources, haven’t seen it written about yet

Q: Multi-literacies? Kathleen Tyner

Q: What about faculty using smartphones? Mixed bag, some embrace, some still don’t want to talk about Google. New generation of faculty will help with this transition. We don’t have to push it, but some will be interested.

Avoiding Certain Doom: Integrating Information Literacy Through Collaboration
Alison Gregory, Assistant Professor, Snowden Library, Lycoming College

I had the good fortune to be the moderator for this session of the 2009 PaLA Conference on Monday, October 19. This topic was of particular interest to me since I recently became the Information Literacy Coordinator at The University of Scranton. To begin, Alison highlighted several of the articles on the extensive list of recommended readings in her handout that address why librarians should collaborate with faculty and how they should do it.

Before she shared how she collaborated with faculty at Lycoming College, Alison asked attendees to write down an assignment from their institutions that they considered to be “doomed” and then had us share this assignment with a neighbor.

Alison’s first example of collaboration was from an entry level political science course. The professor’s goal was for the students to increase their critical thinking skills. Alison collaborated with this professor to develop a problem-based learning assignment in each of three content areas for a total of six classes that met in the library. The majority of this class time was spent doing research. When students asked a question, Alison often answered them with another question. Rather than providing the students with the name or the call number of a specific book in which information could be found, she would suggest types or categories of resources that might be useful. Instead of a one-shot, “sage on the stage,” Alison said, “It became very Socratic,” and as a result one-third of the course was devoted to library research.

The second collaborative endeavor that Alison shared involved a faculty member in the History Department who had previously “banned” Wikipedia as a source. She worked with this professor on an assignment that required students to contribute to Wikipedia. They selected topics that were either missing or were stubs (a term used by Wikipedia for incomplete articles). Students were required to use primary and secondary sources to write their entries, and the professor had to approve the entries before they could be posted. Students came to the realization that others might cite the information from one of their entries. Their classmates were not “experts” on these topics, yet their entries might be treated as authoritative by someone. As a result of this assignment, the students in this class had a better appreciation of why not to use Wikipedia as source material for a paper.

After sharing her experiences, Alison then suggested ways for those of us in the audience to collaborate with faculty at our institutions:

1. Be reasonably familiar with a variety of pedagogies so that you can knowledgeably discuss them.
2. Let faculty know that your priority lies in improving student skills.
3. Be willing to be a sounding board and be willing to put in your 2 cents, for example, “I heard about an assignment that might meet your goals for this project…”

Then she came back to those “doomed” assignments that we had shared. She gave us the task to think about some potential alternatives, not for the assignment that we had written down, but for our neighbor’s “doomed” assignment. Some of us then shared these alternative ways to improve a specific assignment. This active learning assignment gave us all something concrete that we could take back to our own libraries. I know I did!

The State of the State Networks 2009

Susan Pannebaker, Director, Office of Commonwealth Libraries
Joe Scorza, Executive Director, HSLC/Access PA
John Barnett, Assistant Director, PALCI
Catherine Wilt, President, and Ann Yurcaba, Director of Regional Services, Lyrasis

I always try to go to this session each year to get a sense of the overall library community statewide. It's basically a 'show and tell' session for the different speakers to review last year's developments and 'coming attractions' (or coming disasters?).

Susan spoke first; unfortunately, she has no good news to tell us. Budget essentially went to $3 million from $11 million. Will know more about the final outcome in the next few weeks. Things will be lost, no doubt. They are establishing priorities. However, some good news. They are starting a state partnership with WebJunction. Will subsidize some of the online courses, which will help with staff development. Can also develop some courses; let them know if there are courses you're interested in.

Joe Scorza was next. Spoke about programs "which may possibly continue; may possibly continue in different forms." They don't know yet what programs are going to go away.
1) 77 libraries are currently using Millennium System, which can automatically update AccessPA database
2) Access PA Digital Repository - ContentDM - 67 collections (approx.) - work with Pittsburg site to harvest data; host the websites. Approval process; currently no cost (may change?) - U. S. Civil War Collection at State Library, for example
3) POWERLibrary - over 40 databases currently; ceased development with WebFeat, looking at an alternative front-end interface for federated searching
4) Ask Here PA Virtual Reference Service - used by Gov Rendell himself; averaging over 500 questions a day; 70+ libraries; users very happy about it; 50% of activity supports school-age children
4) Access PA Online Training - had been using eCollege, but will be switching all training to WebJunction system; will no longer be doing live training, much more cost effective

John Barnett spoke next, from PALCI. They currently have about 75 member libraries, 70 in PA, 3 in NJ, 2 in WV (includes branch campuses). Traditional focus has been on resource-sharing (ILL); EZborrow and RapidILL. Also work with collection development, disaster preparedness, electronic resources. 28 institutions currently participate in RapidILL. 60 institutions now participate in EZBorrow. Number of books borrowed continues to grow. Sept. 2009 was busiest month so far, despite losing 4 schools. Uses Sirsi Dynix but are developing new software (Relais, a Canadian ILL) - May/June 2010 roll-out. Will eliminate 'groups'; but will target other collections, too, like e.g. open archives / open access collections.

RapidILL - developed by Colorado State U libraries; electronic delivery of journal articles predicated on 24-hour turnaround. Over 129 participants in US, Canada, East Asia, members are grouped into 'pods'. Cosmo pod (60 members) allows for 'cross-podination'. There is a PALCI pod, but you can 'qualify' to be members of different pods.

Other resource-sharing efforts - reciprocal ILL photocopying, and faculty borrowing privileges; members of IDS of PA.

Electronic resources:
ACS, Annual Reviews, ACM, eBrary, IEEE, MathSciNet, Opinion Archives, ProQuest, Reference USA, StatUSA; and adding more. Are looking at e-books right now.

CD & Management: CCD Task Force
-Shared print journal archive
-Focuses on print science journal collections by major scientific socieites: APS/ AIP, ACS
A-im is to have complete print runs to 2000; let libraries weed collections older than 10 years
-'Dark' archive for safe-keeping; 'light' archive for ILL
-Should be in place by Fall 2009

Disaster preparedness
-fostering collaborative approach to disaster preparedness
-received $25K LSTA grant to provide consortium-wide disaster preparedness raining and continuing ed; 6 regional training sessions planned; subcontracting with Tom Clareson, Lyrasis, to provide training
-MayDay activities - take 1 day out of year to do one thing for disaster preparedness
-Alliance for Response - goal is to do a state-wide program. In Pittsburgh, they have had discussions on mold-prevention, fire prevention, insurance and risk prevention, etc.

Digitization
-not so much the mechanics, but the 'big picture'
-Digital collection guidelines for PA
-Pennsylvania Digital Library search interface (meta-data harvestor); PALCI supports Lyrasis mass digitization project

MINES for libraries ' Measuring the Impact of Networked Electronic Services'
-ARL protocol for determining electronic resource use, by whom and for what purpose
-provides info on electronic resource use; under development
-ARL has to work with systems people in your library

EBook collections
-also under development
-looking at

LOCKSS network - developing a PALCI network. There are 7 PALCI members currently participate in LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe)
-will be surveying members

Cathy Wilt and Ann Yuracaba of Lyrasis spoke next.
Lyrasis = Solinet, PALINET + NELINET; integrating services.
Ann is 'Legacy Palinet' representative.
What's in it for PALINET members - more services
1900 PALINET members; more than 4000 members overall

New service development:
-Digital services; want to support the other regional orgs. Received a grant to digitize PA libraries, based on open-access
-Enterprise-wide library computing - RFP for open source options. Examples: Drupal, Evergreen
-Collaborative collections - what will model be for delivering materials in future?
-Leadership
-Strategic Plan 2010-2012
-Consortial 'deals' with vendors
-Education: hundreds of classes, on-demand, etc. Expanded offerings: Ebooks (free seminar); Information Literacy, Management 101, Open Source, etc.
-Consulting: Strategic planning, Leadership and management, grant-writing assistance
-Technology - 'Tech Squad'; open source support
-Preservation & Digitization
-'My Lyrasis' account coming soon; also has job bank

Adventures in Site-seeing: Implementing Web Usability Tests for Your Library Web Site
Rob Behary, Duquesne University

Rob gave an excellent presentation; unfortunately, Sydney Walden, his co-presenter was unable to attend due to personal reasons, but he gave her full credit for her help in preparing the session.

I was very interested to hear what he had to say, as we are in the process of redesigning our web page using LibGuides.

Assumptions they started with:
-No budget for testing
-No software, no staff budget
-Library web sites still matter
-Any improvements are worth the time

Duquesne is a conservative culture, want to manage university's 'image' closely. The library's goal was to make their web page more user focused. Their LibQUAL study showed that users found their webpage deficient.

Good article: Jeng, J. Usability Assessment of Academic Digital Libraries Libri 2005

Elements of their study
-learnability
-satisfaction
-efficiency
-effectiveness
-error correction
-ease of use
-visual appearance

In their next LibQUAL study they added some library specific questions, to get more information about their web site. They had some support in place, multimedia graduate program and strong faculty partners, had some software and hardware available for testing. Students approached them about testing their web site

Used Morae - TechSmith software (expensive $2,000 for license, but their IT dept. had already)- used for experimental testing. It has a high learning curve. Tracks mouse clicks and mouse movements, time between mouse clicks, and time on a task, also works with a video camera to track user responses.

Needed additional data - did brief survey to library staff; did a card sort/free association; 'what would you put at the top level?', etc.

Advice:
- Before starting come up with elements, what you're going to be testing
- Do an environmental scan, what resources are available to you - student or faculty partners?
- Don't get frustrated by user expectations

Minimal expertise needed:
- Ability to conduct and analyze primary research
- Ability to conduct interviews
- Ability to do a basic modal analysis

Ideal
- Understand how to design a study
- Some experience with inferential statistics

Consider your resources -- ideally need at least 2 people; both taking notes, helpful to get 2 perspectives (one to handle interruptions)

Minimal requirements for technology:
-Workstations
-Isolated room, preferably soundproofed (can also use video camera)
-Survey software

If you need to build your skills, ACRL offers an e-learning course: Intro to Website Usability Course (developed in 2007). Can also audit university courses on research design (Ed or social sciences).

If you need to obtain software, can use Morae for a 30 day trial. There are less expensive/free options. Possibly forego the software?

How We Did Our Testing
- Referred to article "Why you only need to test with 5 users" Jakob Nielsen
- Needed mix of faculty/staff/students, undergrad and grad
- It didn't really matter what tasks they gave their users, they all seemed to make the same comments about font, color, etc.

Morae analyzed total time, time to complete, number of times back button used, umber of mouse clicks, success rate, number of errors, negative feedback (facial expressions and negative comments)

Some students and faculty analyzed the library's site, and the librarians made a point of attending their sessions where they presented their research/

Extremely useful web site for creating detailed statistics on text comments: TextSTAT - they used it to analyze their LibQUAL comments; it even shows key word in context

Also surveyed users, including library staff: "Please answer the following from very important to not important, and then from very easy to not easy"
-Accessing the library webpage
-Asking the library a question online
-Finding a book
etc.

They used 30 users for their card sort: they had them choose categories, and organize other items under the categories they suggested.

Constraints
-University template was developed to recruit students; library web site is more an application than a public relations tool or fundraising tool (although it does have that function, too)
-Limitations on coding/scripting
-Duquesne uses Luminis Content Management System - allows them to share pages with each other, sustainability advantage

Has Usability Helped?
-University redesign, everyone is switching to the CMS, library was 'early adopter'
-New appreciation for library as such, are performing leadership role on campus

Where are we now?
-Some subject pages redesigned; Rome wasn't built in a day, however
-New design in progress

Copyright Challenges in a Web 2.0 World and Virtual World
Stephen Marvin, West Chester University

Importance of copyright -
-educator issues: photocopies, websites, distance learning
-research interests: publishing, repositories, storage
-library and research issues: ILL, reserves, access and learning
-are you the author? faculty are!
-unpublished / published
-orphan works

Benefits of copyright
Rights to the author
Is your work considered 'work for hire'?

Librarians are naturals to be 'go to' expert on copyright on their campuses.

Fair Use Exemptions - must have all 4 - PANE acronym:
P - Purpose - education vs. corporate
A - Amount - 'reasonable'
N - Nature - fictional, unpublished, nonfiction
E - Effect - impact on profitability

Courts look at other factors:
-creativity
-originality
-fixation (a fixed, tangible medium)
-AND effect on market

Ken Crews wants librarians to 'push' the envelope on copyright
Expand fair use! Think in terms of blogs, Flickr, YouTube, etc.

Classical fair use - 'appropriation' art
Personal fair use - home recording of t.v. shows
Personal productive use - combines the categories of classical and personal uses into a new category of home users

Criticism, parody, sarcasm - Moral Rights are not recognized in this country but are in other countries, particularly European ones

Examples of some cases where 'transformative' use is being questioned
Shepard Fairey - Los Angeles street artist, who used someone else's original photo to create a poster of President Obama labelled 'hope' - AP is prosecuting him

Joy Garnett and Susan Meiselas (look for Harper article)

Steven Vander Ark vs. J. K. Rowling (fined the minimum however; Johnathan Band wrote article, "How Fair Use Prevailed in the Harry Potter Case")

DMCA lets you submit a DMCA counter-notification (if you get a 'takedown' notice)

Do you need institutional guidelines? Yes, but don't make them too 'prescriptive'.

Librarians should be teaching students about copyright. Why? Plagiarism involves infringing others' copyright.

Problems
-Problems with social networking: giving double messages 'Copyright' vs. sharing links..
-Books and Google - Books Rights Registry
-Email management systems - many have a problem with people posting emails asking for full-text articles via this medium; ILL
-Instructional media - can you convert VHS > DVD - only if use within the library
-Images - should not be permanent

There are some librarians who blog about copyright, such as Bobby Newman - "how to attribute a creative commons license..." blog post (look up)

He encouraged us to consider using more social network tools to have users interact with our resources, like Flickr for digital archive images. Encourage our users to 'mash' our data: how to do mashups; check out http://www.programmableweb.com/mashups

Whole Lotta Online Tools in a Short Amounta Time (or '40 Online Tools in 60 Minutes')
Tina Hertel, Help Desk/Web Support Librarian at Lehigh University

OK, this isn't what Tina's session was officially called, but it's what she had on her presentation and I thought it was a great 'alt' title! All the links that Tina reviewed are available on a website available at: http://bit.ly/HT3S1. This session has become a 'PaLA Annual Classic', over 100 (at least) attended, and there was literally standing room only.

A few of my notes (I missed the first part due to a phone call)

• Hakia uses semantic ranking rather than popularity ranking, as does Google. They also label all results and 'relevant' results (picked by librarians).
• ChaCha - mobile searching (can also text questions)
• Virtual Reference Shelf - reference sources by formats like almanacs from Library of Congress
• GovTrack.us - create your own 'track'
• Wolfram Alpha - provides info about a topic rather than websites
• Forvo - tells you how to pronounce words in over 200 languages
• Diigo - 'Delicious on steroids' -- allows you to put sticky notes on and highlight; can set it up in Diigo so that your Delicious account will be automatically updated
• Netvibes - personal reading page which you can also make public (similar to iGoogle and PageFlakes, which do not let you make your page public)
• Awesome Highlighter - easiest to use of three similar tools - highlights a section of a web page
• Zamzar - free online file conversion; works with MS Works
• bit.ly - makes smaller URLs than TinyURL (good for Twitter users) AND tracks usage, including others linking into the URL
• YouSendIt - lets you send large files for free
• Communication tools - Skype
• Meebo - Web-based manages Twitter, AIM, or other chats and other accounts
• TinyChat - can create a chat room without an account; permanent
• Collaboration - Basecamp - has word processing, calendars, etc.
• Wiggio - for working as a group; also have video chat
• eLearning - through Eluminate - online video conferencing; can meet with 3 people for 'free'; free 'public' version that is open to anyone; or can purchase a paid sub
• Slideshare - lets you upload and share presentations (PPT); can also handle audio
• Prezi - zooming presentation editor; can create a path
• Jing - free and paid version; from Camtasia; can use for one-on-one help
• Online Mapping Tools - alternative to outlining (or whiteboarding, brainstorming), graphically based
• Polling Everywhere - Text Message Polling
• Poll Daddy - similar to Survey Gizmo
• Doodle - easy scheduling online
• Picnik - can do photo editing
• Back Up URL - make a cache
• How do I keep track of new tools?Techcrunch, Lifehacker, KillerStartups (evaluates new web sites, 15 each day)

Putting the Wow into Your Library Using Nonverbal and Merchandising Principles
Larry Nesbit, Mansfield Univ (retired)
Joyce Seno, Larson Design Group
Judy Brown, Brodart Co.

I was interested in this session as we're thinking about reconfiguring some space in our library but have no budget, and I thought I could get some 'free' tips. Although the session was mostly directed at public libraries, there were lots of nuggets that academic libraries could use too.

The three speakers followed a format of each addressing the same 'talking point' from their perspective, usually with Nesbit first, and then Seno and Brown following. Larry is a Library Building Consultant and helps libraries develop a program for renovation within their budget. Once he's consulted with the client, he'll turn the project over to Joyce, the architect, who then designs a graphical plan (including HVAC and electrical). And finally Judy works with library to make decisions on furniture, etc.

They first addressed how much library buildings have changed so much in last 6 years, primarily in that libraries are now being designed from the user's perspective not the librarians'. Libraries are (no surprise here) looking at retailers, especially bookstores, to pick up some cues for improving their space.

2 important factors to keep in mind: Everyone wants a cafe! Why? Because commercial bookstores have them! Also, computers are omnipresent.

Nonverbal communication is very important in design and varies by culture. 75% of how we communicate is nonverbal. Nesbit used an example from Wegman's - they use ceramic tile to slow down carts in their produce section because they want shoppers to take their time. Use of flooring, smells and textures are important to the user experience.

Library as the 3rd space
1st space: Home
2nd space: Work
3rd space: Community space

Requirements for 3rd space is that it be safe and comfortable, provide social opportunities, and provide a place where people can accomplish something worthwhile

The retail view looks at space from a user's viewpoint, and looks at different zones.

Civic zones:
-Outside the building, be aware of surroundings, look at retail stores
-Entrances are very important; take stuff off windows and doors, it creates clutter and confusion
-Put displays and maybe a bench in your vestibule
-When you walk into a Borders, what do you see? Books. When you walk in a library, what do you see? The Circulation Desk. Don't make your users have to hunt for your 'stuff'
-When you create displays, don't put too much on display, which causes confusion
-Leave enough space so people are 'butt-brushing' - women especially hate this

Information commons idea is the marriage of computers with service
Villanova (which used Larson) used individual and group work stations, flooring/carpeting to direct the traffic flow, and decluttered. The individual and group areas are both important; want to let users create a sense of territory and privacy.

Brodart has designed some flexible Information Commons furniture - "grid wall" to separate spaces.

Seating is important, "seating says you care". Use empty space or extra space for placing seating. Seating is the #1 request of users. Keep seating next to windows or use lamps if cannot.

Keep in mind the use of endpanels in your stacks. The stacks are the "Forgotten Zone" -- we want users to get into the stacks and use more. Carve out searing in stacks areas. Pull out some books for display, if possible. Use lower shelving too. Have 'lookup stations' with computers at ends of stacks, for ease of use.

Administrative Zone -- how to get a flow through technical services. May need to reconfigure this area too.

Larry recommended reading Paco Underhill's book, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping; it's a classic! I didn't manage to snag his bibliography, so I guess I'll have to email him for a copy.