Truncation humor, gotta love it!
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Greetings from King of Prussia!
The PaLA Annual 2008 Conference has begun. The College and Research Division has lined up a very impressive slate of speakers this year. Unfortunately, I can't attend them all, although I'd like to.
The first session I attended was on Sunday afternoon, entitled, "Researching Student Searching'. The session was comprised of two sets of speakers who addressed student learning from two different angles. The first 2 speakers, Kate Carter, Digital Initiatives Coordinator, and Spencer Lamm, Digital Initiatives Programmer/ Analyst, both of Swarthmore College. They discussed the findings of the Swarthmore Digital Initiatives Group which tested some of the myths or assumptions held by students attending the Tri-College (Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford). After making the caveat that their findings would not necessarily apply to other institutions, they discussed the findings and how they impacted their services.
Myth 1: Students don't use the library anymore; they pretty much start and end with Google.
In reality, 40% of the students they surveyed did start their searches with Google and/or Wikipedia, but usually for those topics about which they knew very little.
21% start with JSTOR (!), which they had learned to use in high school and tended to go to by default
14% start with Amazon to identify books on a topic that they want, and then move over to the catalog. They reported liking Amazon's search capabilities and being able to get some results, unlike searches in their catalog which often resulted in 0 'hits'
The remainder (25%?) began their searching in various subject databases including one 'outlier' who reported beginning searching in Lexis-Nexis (!)
Myth 2: Students want the single search box that searches everything the library has.
Reality: To test this myth, the Digital Initiative group observed students actually using Metasearch (360Search). Students initially reported that they really liked the concept of being able to search everything; however, as they used it they reported disliking the search interface and the results. Why? Overall, they found the process user-unfriendly and tedious.
Myth 3: Students will transfer the technologies they use in their personal lives (like Facebook) to their academic lives; AND students want to express themselves by adding tags and reviews to library web sites.
Reality: Students did not thinking tagging would be that helpful if done by other students. They thought it might be helpful if their professors tagged. In short, students did not want to take the trouble to tag and do reviews, nor did they want other students to do it. What did they want? 91% wanted spell check in the OPAC. And many of them mentioned wanting a new EZBorrow interface.
Essentially, students wanted technology that worked and they wanted it customized. When they were shown WorldCat Local, they liked many of its features but did not like the lack of customization. The Digital Initiatives group noted that many of the next generation catalogs (like VuFind and Library Find out of Oregon) are not quite ready yet. So the question is, how to improve what is already being offered in their catalog called Tripod. The Digital Initiatives group has begun offering bookmarklets so that users doing a search on Amazon, for instance, can easily check and see if it's in Tripod. Bookmarklets.com offers code that can easily be individualized for a library.
Kate and Spencer also reported using Library Thing for Libraries for Tripod. Simply send your ISBNs to Library Thing, and they will supply tags. Look for more information on the PaLA Conference Web site.
The second session was entitled, "Teach Them to Fish! Incorporating Active Learning into Information Literacy Sessions for Developmental Students," given by Rachel Rohlf, Harrisburg Area Community College, who gave a very engaging presentation discussing active learning strategies she uses with developmental students. For those not familiar with the term developmental, this refers to students who must take remedial classes to get their skills up to speed before they can take college classes for credit.
Rachel began by showing the 'Learning Pyramid' which illustrates the different modalities by which people learn and how much they retain with this modality. At the top of the pyramid, which people retain least, is the 'Lecture', followed by Audio-Visual (i.e., movies), Demonstrations, Discussion, Practice, and Teaching Others.
Preparing 'active' learning sessions, using the bottom of the pyramid requires a lot of preparation on the instructor's part, but is less work in the long run. It also means sacrificing quantity for quality. You cannot 'cover' everything in a single session. This is a problem with some faculty because -- they want it all! One way around this is to use instruction menus with faculty, to find out exactly what their goals for the session are and to let them see the amount of time each will take.
So what types of instruction do they offer at HACC? They offer individual subject-specific sessions, of course, as well as their Library Workshop Series, for which some professors give extra credit to students for attending. And they also teach a component of the College Success class for the developmental students for 4 weeks. The bulk of Rachel's session was devoted to describing the learning activities she uses for this course. They have found that providing lots of repetition to these students help them master the content. Some successful activities include:
The PaLA Annual 2008 Conference has begun. The College and Research Division has lined up a very impressive slate of speakers this year. Unfortunately, I can't attend them all, although I'd like to.
The first session I attended was on Sunday afternoon, entitled, "Researching Student Searching'. The session was comprised of two sets of speakers who addressed student learning from two different angles. The first 2 speakers, Kate Carter, Digital Initiatives Coordinator, and Spencer Lamm, Digital Initiatives Programmer/ Analyst, both of Swarthmore College. They discussed the findings of the Swarthmore Digital Initiatives Group which tested some of the myths or assumptions held by students attending the Tri-College (Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford). After making the caveat that their findings would not necessarily apply to other institutions, they discussed the findings and how they impacted their services.
Myth 1: Students don't use the library anymore; they pretty much start and end with Google.
In reality, 40% of the students they surveyed did start their searches with Google and/or Wikipedia, but usually for those topics about which they knew very little.
21% start with JSTOR (!), which they had learned to use in high school and tended to go to by default
14% start with Amazon to identify books on a topic that they want, and then move over to the catalog. They reported liking Amazon's search capabilities and being able to get some results, unlike searches in their catalog which often resulted in 0 'hits'
The remainder (25%?) began their searching in various subject databases including one 'outlier' who reported beginning searching in Lexis-Nexis (!)
Myth 2: Students want the single search box that searches everything the library has.
Reality: To test this myth, the Digital Initiative group observed students actually using Metasearch (360Search). Students initially reported that they really liked the concept of being able to search everything; however, as they used it they reported disliking the search interface and the results. Why? Overall, they found the process user-unfriendly and tedious.
Myth 3: Students will transfer the technologies they use in their personal lives (like Facebook) to their academic lives; AND students want to express themselves by adding tags and reviews to library web sites.
Reality: Students did not thinking tagging would be that helpful if done by other students. They thought it might be helpful if their professors tagged. In short, students did not want to take the trouble to tag and do reviews, nor did they want other students to do it. What did they want? 91% wanted spell check in the OPAC. And many of them mentioned wanting a new EZBorrow interface.
Essentially, students wanted technology that worked and they wanted it customized. When they were shown WorldCat Local, they liked many of its features but did not like the lack of customization. The Digital Initiatives group noted that many of the next generation catalogs (like VuFind and Library Find out of Oregon) are not quite ready yet. So the question is, how to improve what is already being offered in their catalog called Tripod. The Digital Initiatives group has begun offering bookmarklets so that users doing a search on Amazon, for instance, can easily check and see if it's in Tripod. Bookmarklets.com offers code that can easily be individualized for a library.
Kate and Spencer also reported using Library Thing for Libraries for Tripod. Simply send your ISBNs to Library Thing, and they will supply tags. Look for more information on the PaLA Conference Web site.
The second session was entitled, "Teach Them to Fish! Incorporating Active Learning into Information Literacy Sessions for Developmental Students," given by Rachel Rohlf, Harrisburg Area Community College, who gave a very engaging presentation discussing active learning strategies she uses with developmental students. For those not familiar with the term developmental, this refers to students who must take remedial classes to get their skills up to speed before they can take college classes for credit.
Rachel began by showing the 'Learning Pyramid' which illustrates the different modalities by which people learn and how much they retain with this modality. At the top of the pyramid, which people retain least, is the 'Lecture', followed by Audio-Visual (i.e., movies), Demonstrations, Discussion, Practice, and Teaching Others.
Preparing 'active' learning sessions, using the bottom of the pyramid requires a lot of preparation on the instructor's part, but is less work in the long run. It also means sacrificing quantity for quality. You cannot 'cover' everything in a single session. This is a problem with some faculty because -- they want it all! One way around this is to use instruction menus with faculty, to find out exactly what their goals for the session are and to let them see the amount of time each will take.
So what types of instruction do they offer at HACC? They offer individual subject-specific sessions, of course, as well as their Library Workshop Series, for which some professors give extra credit to students for attending. And they also teach a component of the College Success class for the developmental students for 4 weeks. The bulk of Rachel's session was devoted to describing the learning activities she uses for this course. They have found that providing lots of repetition to these students help them master the content. Some successful activities include:
- Using Guided Note Taking - during a session, the instructor provides a worksheet which students have to complete by filling in the blanks. This means they have to listen carefully; the definitions are written out, students merely have to listen for what the term is that's being defined and fill out the sheet. Graded assignments are based on these guided notes
- Narrowing topics - rather than just telling students to narrow a topic, they have them work through, in small groups, some practice topics that actually are narrowed
- Hands-on scholarly vs. popular - criteria for evaluating them are provided, and then students work in groups to practice working on identifying different types of periodicals and tell why they are either scholarly or popular
- Dewey Decimal Game - students are assigned a number and have to line up in decimal order
- Boolean Operators - students have to respond by standing up in groups of 1) who is wearing blue jeans, 2) who is wearing blue jeans OR pants, 3) who is wearning blue jeans AND pink -- and then explain what is going on
- Concept blocks -- helps students break down their thesis statement into component parts; helps them identify synonyms, Boolean identifiers, etc.
- A GOOD Treasure Hunt (yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus) -- Students work in a group with assigned roles like time keeper, note taker; every group has a DIFFERENT assignment (key), and then the groups report back to the larger group and are given a GRADE for completing the assignment (also key)
Last of all, Rachel shared her favorite web tool for creating online games for students to practice various skills -- Quia.com. It's relatively cheap for a one year subscription ($49 for individual, group rates available). Go to http://www.quia.com/shared/ and check out some of the quizzes others have created. Just go to Library Science to view a list of games.
Rachel offered to send her slides to anyone who emailed her at rsrohlf (at sign) hacc (dot) edu. I dare say that many of her suggestions can be adapted for regular students. -- LN
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
The LIS Faculty Perspective: The Evolving Digital Age at Drexel University
Steven Bell gave the last presentation of the day, providing a different perspective on transitioning to electronic resources by drawing from his experience teaching in Drexel's iSchool. He spoke about the raison d'etre for electronic resources -- the students -- and how their use of them has changed from the 1990s.
Currently 70% of the students at Drexel's iSchool are totally online students. For them, e-journals are essential. Students are coming out of library school having had a vastly different experience with electronic resources than most librarians have had in their LIS education.
Steven surveyed three classes (2 face-to-face and and 1 online class) about the amount of readings they had in electronic format. The greatest number of students (approximately half) reported that 81-99% of their readings were online, and slightly more than one-quarter reported that 61-80% of their readings were online. Most students reported that they had not had much experience using electronic resources as undergraduates.
Students said that the positive impact of electronic resources on the LIS experience were that it:
Steven Bell gave the last presentation of the day, providing a different perspective on transitioning to electronic resources by drawing from his experience teaching in Drexel's iSchool. He spoke about the raison d'etre for electronic resources -- the students -- and how their use of them has changed from the 1990s.
Currently 70% of the students at Drexel's iSchool are totally online students. For them, e-journals are essential. Students are coming out of library school having had a vastly different experience with electronic resources than most librarians have had in their LIS education.
Steven surveyed three classes (2 face-to-face and and 1 online class) about the amount of readings they had in electronic format. The greatest number of students (approximately half) reported that 81-99% of their readings were online, and slightly more than one-quarter reported that 61-80% of their readings were online. Most students reported that they had not had much experience using electronic resources as undergraduates.
Students said that the positive impact of electronic resources on the LIS experience were that it:
- makes earning a degree possible for those who are employed or otherwise unable to attend face-to-face classes
- enabled them to save money on gas!
Some of the negative factors:
- Students said that they should be forced to the library to experience print and know how to find stuff in the library
- They did not like the experience of reading e-books online
- They felt they needed to print out all their readings because they would lose access to them after the course ended
So how are the faculty using electronic resources? Steven referred to a 2006 Ithaka study, titled "Studies of Key Stakeholders in the Digital Transformation in Higher Education" published in August 2008 and available here. Highly recommended reading.
Steven's parting thoughts:
- traditional students find value in e-resources; we should facilitate faculty efforts to support students use of e-resources
- this goes double for online students!
- LIS students live in an e-resource world
- the Humanities/Social Science faculty may need more of a push to use e-resources
Steven's PowerPoint is available here.
Monday, September 29, 2008
From Innovation to Transformation: Managing the Transition from Print to Electronic Journals
Patrick Carr, the Electronic and Continuing Resources Acquisitions Coordinator at East Carolina University, spoke next. He began by recapping the problem currently faced by libraries: rising serial subscription costs of roughly 10% a year and flat library budgets. Expenditures for serials consume an ever-greater percent of the library budget, and libraries have been faced with essentially two alternatives: consortial buying partnerships or pay-per-view access. Consortial partnerships have become the dominant model for acquiring e-journal content.
At Mississippi State University, where Patrick previously worked, the Library was able to increase the number of journals they subscribed to via their "journal expansion project." By working with liaison librarians and faculty subject experts, they identified duplicate titles and titles to be cancelled, and swapped them for desired titles. Working with vendors like Wiley and Elsevier, they were able to add new subscriptions for less or only slightly more money.
Patrick commented that the pay-per-view model isn't really a mainstream model. It requires libraries to develop accounts whereby authorized users can download articles at the library's expense. The problem with this model is that it's difficult to keep control of costs. However, some institutions have adopted this model, providing their users with access to journals they would normally be unable to use.
With regards to providing users with content, Patrick noted two trends.
Trend #1) Every user his or her access point
There is no one correct way of approaching or accessing information. For example, users might find their information via the OPAC, A-Z Journal lists, a metasearch engine, link resolvers, and so on.
Trend #2) Toppling information silos
There is a greater reliance on using a single knowledge base (a la VuFind, metasearch, etc.) to access information. The number of libraries using metasearch continues to grow as more and more librarians accept the reality (to paraphrase Jane Burke) that a federated search engine is a necessity, not a luxury.
Patrick next discussed the administration and support of e-resources, which are closely allied. In particular, he discussed several standards/initiatives that will impact e-resources:
1 - Electronic Resources Management Initiative (ERMI) - Its goal is consistent, industry‐wide e‐resource management guidelines.
2 - Shared E-Resource Understanding (SERU) - This is a pragmatic alternative to license
negotiations. Patrick shared an instance when instead of renegotiating an unacceptable license agreement, he was able to persuade the vendor to accept the standard SERU license agreement. He was happy, the vendor was happy.
3 - TRANSFER - This refers to a code of practices dictating what happens when an e‐journal transfers from one publisher to another (not a pretty situation as every tech services and public services librarian knows)
4 - Knowledgebases and Related Tools (KBART) - Provides guidelines for the effective interaction between members of the knowledge base supply chain (e.g., publishers, aggregators, link resolvers, libraries).
5 - Cost of Resource Exchange (CORE) - Its goal is interoperability between the acquisitions'
data in a library’s ILS and ERM system.
He noted that "effective e-journal management requires personnel capable of adapting to and mastering a complex and constantly changing array of tools, interfaces, and workflows," and he demonstrated this complexity by showing us a flowchart taken from an article by Rick Anderson and Paoshan Yue, "Capturing Electronic Journals Management in a Flowchart" (Serials Librarian 51:3/4: 101-8, 2007).
One piece of e-journal management is evaluation. Formerly, when evaluating a print subscription, librarians had a pretty clear-cut decision: either maintain a subscription or cancel it. With e-journals, there are more questions to be answered:
Patrick Carr, the Electronic and Continuing Resources Acquisitions Coordinator at East Carolina University, spoke next. He began by recapping the problem currently faced by libraries: rising serial subscription costs of roughly 10% a year and flat library budgets. Expenditures for serials consume an ever-greater percent of the library budget, and libraries have been faced with essentially two alternatives: consortial buying partnerships or pay-per-view access. Consortial partnerships have become the dominant model for acquiring e-journal content.
At Mississippi State University, where Patrick previously worked, the Library was able to increase the number of journals they subscribed to via their "journal expansion project." By working with liaison librarians and faculty subject experts, they identified duplicate titles and titles to be cancelled, and swapped them for desired titles. Working with vendors like Wiley and Elsevier, they were able to add new subscriptions for less or only slightly more money.
Patrick commented that the pay-per-view model isn't really a mainstream model. It requires libraries to develop accounts whereby authorized users can download articles at the library's expense. The problem with this model is that it's difficult to keep control of costs. However, some institutions have adopted this model, providing their users with access to journals they would normally be unable to use.
With regards to providing users with content, Patrick noted two trends.
Trend #1) Every user his or her access point
There is no one correct way of approaching or accessing information. For example, users might find their information via the OPAC, A-Z Journal lists, a metasearch engine, link resolvers, and so on.
Trend #2) Toppling information silos
There is a greater reliance on using a single knowledge base (a la VuFind, metasearch, etc.) to access information. The number of libraries using metasearch continues to grow as more and more librarians accept the reality (to paraphrase Jane Burke) that a federated search engine is a necessity, not a luxury.
Patrick next discussed the administration and support of e-resources, which are closely allied. In particular, he discussed several standards/initiatives that will impact e-resources:
1 - Electronic Resources Management Initiative (ERMI) - Its goal is consistent, industry‐wide e‐resource management guidelines.
2 - Shared E-Resource Understanding (SERU) - This is a pragmatic alternative to license
negotiations. Patrick shared an instance when instead of renegotiating an unacceptable license agreement, he was able to persuade the vendor to accept the standard SERU license agreement. He was happy, the vendor was happy.
3 - TRANSFER - This refers to a code of practices dictating what happens when an e‐journal transfers from one publisher to another (not a pretty situation as every tech services and public services librarian knows)
4 - Knowledgebases and Related Tools (KBART) - Provides guidelines for the effective interaction between members of the knowledge base supply chain (e.g., publishers, aggregators, link resolvers, libraries).
5 - Cost of Resource Exchange (CORE) - Its goal is interoperability between the acquisitions'
data in a library’s ILS and ERM system.
He noted that "effective e-journal management requires personnel capable of adapting to and mastering a complex and constantly changing array of tools, interfaces, and workflows," and he demonstrated this complexity by showing us a flowchart taken from an article by Rick Anderson and Paoshan Yue, "Capturing Electronic Journals Management in a Flowchart" (Serials Librarian 51:3/4: 101-8, 2007).
One piece of e-journal management is evaluation. Formerly, when evaluating a print subscription, librarians had a pretty clear-cut decision: either maintain a subscription or cancel it. With e-journals, there are more questions to be answered:
- How many 'simultaneous users' does the library need to pay for?
- What interface is best when there are several to choose from?
- Should the library subscribe to individual titles or to a package?
- Should it subscribe to archives or just current issues?
- Should access be by IP address or password?
- And so on...
He next talked about the impact of e-resources on the print collection, noting that libraries are devoting less space to housing print materials and more space to areas for patron collaboration. Some of the challenges faced when weeding the print collection include identifying titles, evaluating the quality of online access, finding environmentally responsible means of disposing of the print, and (very important) avoiding negative PR.
Finally, libraries need to ensure that they will have perpetual access to their electronic journals. Libraries should become members of some initiative to ensure this such as LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe) and Portico, a non-profit initiative developed with support from JSTOR, Ithaka, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Library of Congress.
Last of all, Patrick (who holds an MA in English) shared a poem by Samuel Beckett with us that sums up his belief that we need needn't be afraid to "Fail Better!":
Ever tried.
Ever failed.
No matter.
Try again.
Fail again.
Fail better.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Blogging "In the Transition Zone" - Part I, Judy Luther
Well, I'm finally getting around to blogging the excellent CRD workshop, "In the Transition Zone: Making the Move from Print to Electronic Journals," held in Grantville on Sept. 12. (I know, I should have live-blogged at the event itself, but I didn't, so that's that.)
Joe Fennewald, PaLA president-elect, opened the day by giving what Judy Luther called the absolute best 'pitch' to join an association she had ever heard. And I assume she's heard a few. (At PaLA Leadership Orientation this week, I suggested that Joe film his spiel for YouTube or some such and post it to the PaLA web site; it was that good.) Joe also distributed "Funds for the Future" brochures, which were snapped up by attendees apparently inspired to at least donate money to PaLA to support its advocacy work if not actually join it.
Judy Luther, president of Informed Strategies, gave her presentation entitled "Crossing the Digital Divide: Navigating the Changing Landscape." I had never heard Judy speak before and found her very engaging and easy to listen to. She compared an earlier study on growth in electronic resources with a newer one she recently completed with Rick Johnson for ARL, entitled, The E-only Tipping Point for Journals: What's Ahead in the Print-to-Electronic Transition Zone. Much of her talk was based on this study. The rate of change in ARL libraries from print only to electronic from 2002 to 2006 has exceeded her predictions, but there still remain some glitches or "bumps in the road" as she termed them. This quote from the study nicely sums up the problem:
Judy noted the difference in organizational perspective between libraries and publishers. Libraries have moved more quickly to e-only, while publishers are moving more slowly to drop the print. Publishers are still designing their publications as print ones and are challenged by the whole idea of metadata. She noted that XML is vastly preferred to PDF format for making this transition.
Factors affecting libraries' migration to e-only:
1) The readiness of readers to accept e-only
2) An e-only pricing model
3) Perpetual access and archiving provisions, such as those offered by LOCKSS and Portico
4) The management of e-only. For example, libraries should consider using SERU as an alternative to e-resource licenses. SERU stands for Shared Electronic Resource Understanding: "publishers and librarians agree on the products for which they wish to reference SERU and forgo a license agreement"
Factors affecting publishers' migration to e-only:
1) The readiness of readers
2) Assessment of risks of e-only option; for some publishers it means the potential loss of revenue, especially in clinical areas
3) Workflow and production issues
4) Distribution issues
She cited MIT's Technology Review as a good example of how more can be done with online publication but noted that change is and will be incremental.
Judy answered questions at the end of her session. Someone asked about the relationship between aggregators and publishers as more publishers are publishing electronically. She noted that there is lots of tension between the two groups. Aggregators do offer lots of content to libraries that could not afford it otherwise, and while the visibility is good on aggregator databases, it is also riskier for publishers, many of whose subscriptions are dropping 8-10% a year (for "core" publications in the Wilson indexes). If publishers are smart, they are imposing embargoes.
Someone else asked about the relationship between Open Access and e-only publishing. Judy said Open Access relies on e-only publishing but is not a business model. It works OK in the sciences, but not so well in the humanities and social sciences because of funding.
Well, I'm finally getting around to blogging the excellent CRD workshop, "In the Transition Zone: Making the Move from Print to Electronic Journals," held in Grantville on Sept. 12. (I know, I should have live-blogged at the event itself, but I didn't, so that's that.)
Joe Fennewald, PaLA president-elect, opened the day by giving what Judy Luther called the absolute best 'pitch' to join an association she had ever heard. And I assume she's heard a few. (At PaLA Leadership Orientation this week, I suggested that Joe film his spiel for YouTube or some such and post it to the PaLA web site; it was that good.) Joe also distributed "Funds for the Future" brochures, which were snapped up by attendees apparently inspired to at least donate money to PaLA to support its advocacy work if not actually join it.
Judy Luther, president of Informed Strategies, gave her presentation entitled "Crossing the Digital Divide: Navigating the Changing Landscape." I had never heard Judy speak before and found her very engaging and easy to listen to. She compared an earlier study on growth in electronic resources with a newer one she recently completed with Rick Johnson for ARL, entitled, The E-only Tipping Point for Journals: What's Ahead in the Print-to-Electronic Transition Zone. Much of her talk was based on this study. The rate of change in ARL libraries from print only to electronic from 2002 to 2006 has exceeded her predictions, but there still remain some glitches or "bumps in the road" as she termed them. This quote from the study nicely sums up the problem:
Publishers and libraries today find themselves in an extended transition zone between print-only and e-only journals. The persistence of dual-format journals suggests that substantial obstacles will need to be surmounted if the transformation to e-only publication is to be complete. Approximately 60% of the universe of some 20,000 active peer-reviewed journals is available in electronic form. Online journals are popular with readers; online use of library-provided journals exceeds print use by a factor of at least ten, according to a University of California study. While electronic formats offer powerful attractions for users, the costs of supporting hybrid collections are straining library resources and the economies of the e-only collection are still speculative.
Just as libraries currently support hybrid collections, publishers are investing in both print and online publishing. A declining number of mostly smaller publishers still offer their journals only in print and a growing number of journals are available only in electronic form. But today’s norm is dual print and electronic publication of a title. A few publishers, having adjusted their pricing to the dual-format model, are trying to hasten the day when they can discontinue print and the associated costs. But most are either navigating a gradual transition or holding onto print.
Judy noted the difference in organizational perspective between libraries and publishers. Libraries have moved more quickly to e-only, while publishers are moving more slowly to drop the print. Publishers are still designing their publications as print ones and are challenged by the whole idea of metadata. She noted that XML is vastly preferred to PDF format for making this transition.
Factors affecting libraries' migration to e-only:
1) The readiness of readers to accept e-only
2) An e-only pricing model
3) Perpetual access and archiving provisions, such as those offered by LOCKSS and Portico
4) The management of e-only. For example, libraries should consider using SERU as an alternative to e-resource licenses. SERU stands for Shared Electronic Resource Understanding: "publishers and librarians agree on the products for which they wish to reference SERU and forgo a license agreement"
Factors affecting publishers' migration to e-only:
1) The readiness of readers
2) Assessment of risks of e-only option; for some publishers it means the potential loss of revenue, especially in clinical areas
3) Workflow and production issues
4) Distribution issues
She cited MIT's Technology Review as a good example of how more can be done with online publication but noted that change is and will be incremental.
Judy answered questions at the end of her session. Someone asked about the relationship between aggregators and publishers as more publishers are publishing electronically. She noted that there is lots of tension between the two groups. Aggregators do offer lots of content to libraries that could not afford it otherwise, and while the visibility is good on aggregator databases, it is also riskier for publishers, many of whose subscriptions are dropping 8-10% a year (for "core" publications in the Wilson indexes). If publishers are smart, they are imposing embargoes.
Someone else asked about the relationship between Open Access and e-only publishing. Judy said Open Access relies on e-only publishing but is not a business model. It works OK in the sciences, but not so well in the humanities and social sciences because of funding.
Friday, June 27, 2008
PaLA Bulletin to be indexed by LISTA!
News flash! PaLA has signed an agreement with EBSCOhost to have the PaLA Bulletin indexed in Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts. Work should begin sometime this summer to begin the indexing and abstracting of the last 2 years' issues.
Getting the Bulletin indexed in LISTA will benefit all members but especially academic members who must 'publish or perish' in order to obtain tenure and get promoted. Having a presence in LISTA will benefit those who have written articles for the "It's Academic!" column by making their articles more visible and accessible.
Our thanks go to our hard-working PaLA staff, especially Glenn and Ellen, and to the Executive Board for moving PaLA to the next level!
News flash! PaLA has signed an agreement with EBSCOhost to have the PaLA Bulletin indexed in Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts. Work should begin sometime this summer to begin the indexing and abstracting of the last 2 years' issues.
Getting the Bulletin indexed in LISTA will benefit all members but especially academic members who must 'publish or perish' in order to obtain tenure and get promoted. Having a presence in LISTA will benefit those who have written articles for the "It's Academic!" column by making their articles more visible and accessible.
Our thanks go to our hard-working PaLA staff, especially Glenn and Ellen, and to the Executive Board for moving PaLA to the next level!
Monday, June 23, 2008
IMLS Grants to Bolster Library Education and Library Programs
The Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal program, has awarded grants totaling $20.3-million to 31 institutions to train librarians and to support library programs across the country. The grants, which were announced last week, are going mostly to colleges and universities.
In Pennsylvania, there were two awards given:
Drexel University - Philadelphia, PA
Grant Category: Research
Award Amount: $224,386; Matching Amount: $42,086
Contact: Dr. Jung-ran ParkAssistant Professor(215)899-1669; jung-ran.park@ischool.drexel.edu
Project Title: "Modeling Interpersonal Discourse for Digital Information Service: Evaluation of the Question-Answering Service of the Internet Public Library"
This Early Career Development grant will provide support for Assistant Professor Jung-ran Park to analyze interpersonal communication between librarians and the public in digital information service. Using transcripts from the Internet Public Library’s Question Answering Service, the researcher will study patterns of communication employed by librarians and the public in their email and real-time chat interactions and provide an empirical model for assessing the impact of interpersonal communication on successful digital information reference. Such a study carries the potential to enhance one of digital librarianship’s core skill sets.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh, PA
Grant Category: Continuing Education
Award Amount: $391,400; Matching Amount: $418,061
Contact: Mr. Paul VanderwielDirector, Human Resourcesvanderwielp@carnegielibrary.org
Project Title: "Management Skills Workshop"
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will conduct a staff development program that identifies and nurtures future leaders within the library's ranks in a year-long professional development program. Graduates of this program then enter a second tier of training that develops executive leadership skills and teaches nonprofit management skills. At the end of this three-year project they will produce a case study and educational training materials based on this model that will be available to other libraries.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal program, has awarded grants totaling $20.3-million to 31 institutions to train librarians and to support library programs across the country. The grants, which were announced last week, are going mostly to colleges and universities.
In Pennsylvania, there were two awards given:
Drexel University - Philadelphia, PA
Grant Category: Research
Award Amount: $224,386; Matching Amount: $42,086
Contact: Dr. Jung-ran ParkAssistant Professor(215)899-1669; jung-ran.park@ischool.drexel.edu
Project Title: "Modeling Interpersonal Discourse for Digital Information Service: Evaluation of the Question-Answering Service of the Internet Public Library"
This Early Career Development grant will provide support for Assistant Professor Jung-ran Park to analyze interpersonal communication between librarians and the public in digital information service. Using transcripts from the Internet Public Library’s Question Answering Service, the researcher will study patterns of communication employed by librarians and the public in their email and real-time chat interactions and provide an empirical model for assessing the impact of interpersonal communication on successful digital information reference. Such a study carries the potential to enhance one of digital librarianship’s core skill sets.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh, PA
Grant Category: Continuing Education
Award Amount: $391,400; Matching Amount: $418,061
Contact: Mr. Paul VanderwielDirector, Human Resourcesvanderwielp@carnegielibrary.org
Project Title: "Management Skills Workshop"
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will conduct a staff development program that identifies and nurtures future leaders within the library's ranks in a year-long professional development program. Graduates of this program then enter a second tier of training that develops executive leadership skills and teaches nonprofit management skills. At the end of this three-year project they will produce a case study and educational training materials based on this model that will be available to other libraries.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Carnegie Mellon University Libaries 'Library Arcade'
Check out I'll Get It! and Within Range, 2 fast-paced games guaranteed to sharpen your reference and classifying skills. The games were developed by graduate students from the Entertainment Technology Center, in collaboration with the University Libraries, with support from the Buhl Foundation.
I'm not usually into games, but I found these fun (once I figured out how to play). I can see using them with students.
Linda
Check out I'll Get It! and Within Range, 2 fast-paced games guaranteed to sharpen your reference and classifying skills. The games were developed by graduate students from the Entertainment Technology Center, in collaboration with the University Libraries, with support from the Buhl Foundation.
I'm not usually into games, but I found these fun (once I figured out how to play). I can see using them with students.
Linda
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
CRD's 2008 SPRING WORKSHOP
How to Hit a Research Homerun: Tips and Tricks from Some Heavy Hitters
Brian Mathews, The Ubiquitous Librarian blogger and User Experience Librarian at Georgia Tech, spoke about his experiences doing focus group studies. He is all about engaging library users. Tour Guides and Campus Celebrities are two of the groups that he targets to populate his focus groups. He doesn't record, but he does make use of ice breakers and other activities to stimulate conversation. He uses 10 new undergraduates each year to be "mystery shoppers." The thing that Brian said that resonated with me the most is that "things are always changing because the students are always changing."
Judi Briden, Digital Librarian for Public Services and Brain & Cognitive Sciences Librarian at the , discussed some of the methods used in Studying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester. Not only did she talk about the various approaches that they used for their qualitative research, but she also shared some of the techniques that they used to stimulate creativity. Judi emphasised that "my library is not your library," but that much of what they did could be adapted to suit any size library.
"Ask-the-Experts" Panel Session
Panelists (l to r): Joe Fennewald, Head Librarian, Penn State Hazleton; Marianne Goodfellow, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Sociology, Lebanon Valley College; Brian Mathews, User Experience Librarian, Georgia Institute of Technology.
Panelists (l to r):Judi Briden, Digital Librarian for Public Services, University of Rochester; Tim Wherry, Associate Professor and Library Director, Penn State Altoona; Nancy Dewald, Reference Librarian, Penn State Berks.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Blended Librarian Webcast: Opening New Windows of Opportunity: Creating Breakthrough Instructional Experiences
I just got an email that Brian Mathews, the Ubiquitous Librarian who will be speaking at the CRD Spring Workshop in Altoona on June 9, is a guest of the Blended Librarians Online Learning Community on Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 3 pm. EST, hosted by PA librarians Steven Bell and John Shank, co-founders.
Brian's 'event' is called 'Opening New Windows of Opportunity: Creating Breakthrough Instructional Experiences.' Brian will "speak on 'breakthrough opportunities' as he shares his latest ideas on creating interactive library experiences for students. This session will feature tactics for engaging students in both the classroom as well as in digital environments. Brian will also discuss possibilities for the library and librarians to become a more integrated part of campus and will highlight his ubiquitous 'push-out' philosophy."
The event is free, but advance registration is required. You also need to be a member of the Blended Librarians Online Learning Community. Here's a link to the Web page with a link to join. Sounds interesting.
I just got an email that Brian Mathews, the Ubiquitous Librarian who will be speaking at the CRD Spring Workshop in Altoona on June 9, is a guest of the Blended Librarians Online Learning Community on Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 3 pm. EST, hosted by PA librarians Steven Bell and John Shank, co-founders.
Brian's 'event' is called 'Opening New Windows of Opportunity: Creating Breakthrough Instructional Experiences.' Brian will "speak on 'breakthrough opportunities' as he shares his latest ideas on creating interactive library experiences for students. This session will feature tactics for engaging students in both the classroom as well as in digital environments. Brian will also discuss possibilities for the library and librarians to become a more integrated part of campus and will highlight his ubiquitous 'push-out' philosophy."
The event is free, but advance registration is required. You also need to be a member of the Blended Librarians Online Learning Community. Here's a link to the Web page with a link to join. Sounds interesting.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Library Association Newsletters
I've been doing some research into how library association newsletters are indexed in the library science literature for PaLA and have come up with the following chart. (Click on it to get a larger view; unfortunately, Blogger doesn't let you upload Excel spreadsheets, so I couldn't hyperlink the URLs.)
You'll see that 11 of the 21 associations that publish newsletters are indexed in the library literature. It's also interesting that only 7 of the 21 do not allow open access to their newsletters.
More to follow.
I've been doing some research into how library association newsletters are indexed in the library science literature for PaLA and have come up with the following chart. (Click on it to get a larger view; unfortunately, Blogger doesn't let you upload Excel spreadsheets, so I couldn't hyperlink the URLs.)
You'll see that 11 of the 21 associations that publish newsletters are indexed in the library literature. It's also interesting that only 7 of the 21 do not allow open access to their newsletters.
More to follow.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Best Wishes, Barbara!
The CRD Board bids a fond farewell to Dr. Barbara Burd as she steps down from the Board at the end of the 2007 -2008 academic year. Barbara will be leaving her position as Library Director for Misericordia University to assume a new position as Executive Director for the Library and Instructional Technology at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina. It sounds like an exciting opportunity for her, and we wish her all the best of luck!
We'll miss you, Barbara! Thanks for serving on the Board and please keep in touch.
LN
The CRD Board bids a fond farewell to Dr. Barbara Burd as she steps down from the Board at the end of the 2007 -2008 academic year. Barbara will be leaving her position as Library Director for Misericordia University to assume a new position as Executive Director for the Library and Instructional Technology at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina. It sounds like an exciting opportunity for her, and we wish her all the best of luck!
We'll miss you, Barbara! Thanks for serving on the Board and please keep in touch.
LN
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