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New Research Article From Project Info Literacy: “What Information Competencies Matter in Today’s Workplace?*

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:40:00 +0000

“Here’s a new full text article by Project Information Literacy researchers.

It appears in the latest issue (Vol 37, No 114 (2013)) of Library and Information Research.

Title

What information competencies matter in today’s workplace?

Authors

Alison J. Head
Director of Project Information Literacy (PIL,
Fellow at the Harvard University‟s Berkman Center for Internet and Society
Affiliate Associate Professor, University of Washington
Michele Van Hoeck
PIL researcher and the Instruction Coordinator at California Maritime Academy Library
Jordan Eschler
PIL ResearcherDoctoral Student, U. of Washington Information School
Sean Fullerton
PIL ResearcherDoctoral Student, U. of Washington Information School

Abstract

This is a qualitative study about the information competencies that employers seek in university graduates and the skills which graduates demonstrate when they enter the workplace. Included are findings from interviews with 23 US employers and focus groups with a total of 33 recent graduates from four US colleges and universities. Employers said they recruited graduates for their online searching skills but once graduates joined the workplace they rarely used the traditional, low-tech research competencies that their employers also needed. Graduates said that they used skills from university for evaluating and managing published content; yet most graduates still needed to develop adaptive strategies to save time and work more efficiently. A preliminary model compares information problems in the university with those of the workplace. Opportunities are identified for preparing students to succeed beyond the academy in the workplaces of today and tomorrow.

The article lists the following opportunities for Academic Librarians to assist students with Information Literacy Skills:

1. Reconfigure team-based assignments. Teamwork has become more prevalent in course assignments in recent decades, but according to employers recent graduates are not comfortable conducting collaborative research. A possible explanation may lie in the fact that undergraduate project groups are made up of a set number of student peers, while workplace teams include more experienced colleagues, even supervisors. Furthermore, in the workplace one must often identify and seek out an expert as a new information-need arises. Research assignments could include more „team-oriented scaffolding‟, such as small group brainstorming or discussion questions. Students could be encouraged to meet in groups with seasoned advisors, such as subject-specialist librarians.

2. Revise library reference services. The emerging consultation model of reference may be a better approximation of the workplace research environment. Traditional library reference service could be viewed as encouraging students to use people as sources. Yet, the drop-in reference desk, staffed by an information arbiter and generalist, is not found in most workplaces. In a scheduled consultation, by contrast, academic librarians can address higher-level competencies such as refining research questions and iterative, contextual exploration of sources. In this way, they can function as informal and occasional members of a student‟s research team.

3. Work with academic staff to develop research assignments that include the use of people as sources. To fill the competency gaps identified by this study, instruction librarians could focus additional effort on those ACRL learning outcomes that emphasize the social components of research.3 For example, instruction librarians can teach undergraduates how to identify a needed expertise and locate potential experts.

4. Incorporate social media into research assignments. Instructors can set up online social spaces for project teams to brainstorm, plan, share sources, and synthesize work. There is no shortage of free tools for collaborative research work: Zotero, Mendeley, Google Docs, and Diigo are popular and robust. These tools make the iterative nature of research more explicit and transparent. Annotated bibliographies posted on the Zotero cloud show the contributions of each team member; peer review of paper drafts can be submitted via Google Docs.

5. Go beyond coursework. One final solution emerged from the graduate focus groups, in which a participant described the value of managing a performing group on campus, which included a variety of challenging research tasks. Increased participation in such extracurricular activities may expose „near graduates‟ to the multifaceted challenges that they can expect to find in the workplace. Academic librarians could explore outreach to extracurricular groups to strengthen the information literacy learning opportunities already present in these activities.

Direct Link to Full Text Article (31 pages; PDF)”

Launch of Digital Public Library of America

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:30:00 +0000

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is a large-scale, collaborative project with the goal of creating "a unique and consolidated digital library platform, ensuring America’s cultural and scientific record is free and publicly accessible online through a single access point, available anytime and anywhere.” The new platform delivers digital collections found in American archives, libraries, museums, and cultural heritage institutions to students, teachers, scholars, and the public.

In addition to performing as a one stop search engine to disparate collections, the portal also includes special features such as a dynamic map, a timeline that allows users to visually browse by year or decade, a feature to browse items by subject, and an app library that provides access to applications and tools created by external developers using DPLA’s open data. Noteworthy contributors include the Library of Congress, HathiTrust, and the Internet Archive. The project wasofficially launched in April 2013.

Library 2.013 Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:42:00 +0000

Here is the official call for presentation proposals for the Library 2.013 Worldwide Virtual Conference, October 18 - 19, 2013 (in some time zones the conference will conclude on the 20th):

This fully online, participatory conference presents a unique opportunity to showcase the excellent research and work that done every day, with a focus on peer-to-peer presentations. How does your library manage digital collections? Is your library mobile friendly? Do you have a story to tell about maker spaces? Your participation as a presenter can help to steer the global conversation about the future of libraries.

Everyone is welcome to submit a presentation proposal and participate in this free event. There are no registration fees and no travel requirements. The entire conference will be held online via web conferencing, with presentations held in multiple languages and scheduled around the clock over the course of the two days.

The Library 2.013 Worldwide Virtual Conference presentations will cover eight subject strands, addressing a wide variety of timely topics, such as MOOCs, e-books, maker spaces, mobile services, embedded librarians, green libraries, and more! Doctoral students will also have their own strand for presenting their research. Plus, there will be a new strand dedicated to virtual library tours.

The Library 2.013 Conference Strands:

Digital Services, Preservation, and Access
Emerging Technologies and Trends
Learning Commons (for school libraries and/or academic libraries)
Management of Libraries and Information Centers in the 21st Century
User Centered Services and Models
Library and Information Professionals – Evolving Roles and Opportunities
Doctoral Student Research
Library and Information Center “Tours”

To view examples of presentation topics for each subject strand, click here. Your presentation does not have to fit into the conference strands to be considered – the strands exist for the convenience of those interested in finding particular themes.

Proposal acceptances will be communicated on a first-come, first-served basis starting June 15. If your proposal is accepted, you will be provided with the ability to schedule a presentation time that is convenient to your time zone and work schedule. Early proposal submission and acceptance will give you the most flexibility for scheduling your presentation. The deadline to submit presentation proposals is September 30.

Click Here to Submit a Proposal

The Library 2.013 Worldwide Virtual Conference is our third installment of the Library 2.0 conference series, sponsored again by founding partner San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science. Last year’s Library 2.012 conference featured 150 fully online presentations given by scholars and information professionals worldwide. If you missed any of the presentations, you can still accessrecordings of the presentations. A wealth of information was also shared during the inaugural Library 2.011 conference, and a list of those recordings can be found here.

For more information about the conference and how you can get involved as a partner, sponsor, volunteer, and advisory board member, please visit: http://library2013.com.

Please do share this call for proposals with your colleagues and friends. We look forward to receiving your presentation proposals!

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:19:00 +0000

Original Blog post can be found at: StateTech Magazine

Here are six library related blogs that you should subscribe to if you wish to keep up to date with new technologies in libraries.

TechSoup for Libraries

This blog is part of a larger network of IT resources and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This particular blog focuses keenly on the most current technology issues facing libraries. For example, recent posts covered responsive web design, how technology can empower people with disabilities and tips for improving digital literacy.
Visit the blog: http://www.techsoupforlibraries.org/blog

Denver Public Library Technology Blog

Denver’s public library is more than 120 years old, but it’s still on the cutting edge of information technology. It offers technology classes to Denver residents, and a staff member recently blogged about improvements to the library’s Wi-Fi. This blog is great for librarians who are looking for fresh ideas and technologists who want to find out what industry leaders are up to.
Read the blog: http://denverlibrary.org/category/blog-categories/technology-blog

Disruptive Library Technology Jester

Run by Peter E. Murray, a technologist and a librarian trained in systems analysis, the Disruptive Library Technology Jester blog has a tagline that sums up the site perfectly: “We're disrupted, we're librarians, and we're not going to take it anymore.” This blog is an enormously valuable resource for the 21st-century librarian.
Read the blog: http://dltj.org

ALA TechSource Blog

The American Library Association is probably the single best resource for librarians in the country, and their technology-specific blog measures up. Five authors contribute on a regular basis, creating a diverse and well-rounded source of modern solutions for today’s problems.
Read the blog: http://www.alatechsource.org/blog

American Libraries Magazine

This blog is published by the American Library Association and is a fabulous resource for experienced librarians and casual enthusiasts alike. The site isn’t updated daily, but it does highlight some of the most interesting and important news in the library community.
Read the blog: http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news

Free Range Librarian

Blogger and librarian K.G. Schneider spent time writing for ALA TechSource and served as the Internet Librarian columnist for American Libraries. She writes with energy, and, although not every post is focused on library technology, her musings are worth your time if you are at all interested in the future of libraries. Read the blog: http://freerangelibrarian.com

Other Blogs:

The DIY Movement - Makerspaces in Libraries

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:11:00 +0000

Makerspaces, sometimes referred to as maker culture, creation labs, hackerspaces and fablabs are creative, DIY spaces where patrons can gather to create, invent, and learn. These spaces have changed the view of libraries from spaces for consumption to spaces for creation. Libraries now provide resources such as 3D printers, Espresso machines, software, electronics, handicraft and hardware supplies and tools to Makers in Residence to assist them in developing their innovations.

The benefits of implementing such a service include the following:

Maker spaces promote learning through play
Facilitate informal learning opportunities
Nurture peer-to-peer training
Have the potential to demystify science, math, technology, and engineering; and encourage women and underrepresented minorities to seek careers in those fields.
They also tie in to the growing trend of indie/ independent artists in every medium—including books—who are bypassing traditional gatekeepers, taking advantage of new tools to produce professionally polished products, and going direct to the web to seek an audience.
Working and connecting with community members as true partners, not as users or patrons
Develop a culture of creating as opposed to consuming.
Maker space—or, more specifically, the act of making—encourages and gives people permission to tinker, hack, remake, and perhaps even change society

iLibrarian Elyssa Kroski does yeoman service by offering resources for librarians wishing to create makerspaces at their libraries under the headings Articles & Blog Posts, Events and Makerspace Directories.

Articles & Blog Posts

1. Libraries, Hackspaces and E-waste: how libraries can be the hub of a young maker revolution
“…there’s another gang of information-literate people out there, a gang who are a natural ally of libraries and librarians: the maker movement. Clustered in co-operative workshops called “makerspaces” or “hack(er)spaces,” makers build physical stuff. They make robots, flying drones, 3D printers (and 3D printed stuff), jewelry, tools, printing presses, clothes, medieval armor… Whatever takes their fancy. Making in the 21st century has moved out of the individual workshop and gone networked. Today’s tinkerer work in vast, distributed communities where information sharing is the norm, where the ethics and practices of the free/open source software movement has gone physical. Such hackspaces play a prominent role in my own fiction (thanks, no doubt, to the neighborly presence to the London Hackspace, which is directly over my own office in Hackney). In my new novel,”

2. What is a Makerspace? Creativity in the Library
“I first heard of makerspaces when, as I sat in my office, a colleague called me over to see if I wanted to join a webinar on makerspaces. Listening over her shoulder, I heard phrases like DIY, and tools kept popping up. Not the usual web-based tools talked about in webinars, physical tools… y’know, wrenches and pliers? Real tools. I’ve always seen libraries as community centers for people to gather and work together, but this? It stretched my imagination.”

3. From Stacks to Hacks: Makerspaces and LibraryBox
The makerspace movement is gaining momentum in the library world. In his recent report on “Libraries and the informational future: some notes,” Lorcan Dempsey of OCLC noted how “space is being reconfigured around broader education and research needs, and less around the management of print collection. In effect, space is shifting from infrastructure to engagement…” Nothing represents this emerging trend more than the recent growth of makerspaces within libraries.

4. Makerspaces, Participatory Learning, and Libraries
“The concept of libraries as makerspaces first hit my radar last November when I read about the Fayetteville Free Library’s FabLab. As I began hearing more buzz about libraries and makerspaces the first few months of this year, I decided that learning more about this concept and exploring how I might apply the elements of makerspaces to my library program would be a personal learning project for the summer.”

5. The Makings of Maker Spaces, Part 1: Space for Creation, Not Just Consumption
“Maker spaces in libraries are the latest step in the evolving debate over what public libraries’ core mission is or should be. From collecting in an era of scarce resources to curation in an era of overabundant ones, some libraries are moving to incorporate cocreation: providing the tools to help patrons produce their own works of art or information and sometimes also collecting the results to share with other members of the community.”

6. Library as Makerspace: Creating and Nurturing Communities of Teen Writers
“As part of our makerspace initiative this year (please see this blog post and this slidedeck here) and inspired by the work of the Sacramento Public Library, one of my focal points is thinking about ways the library can support creating communities of readers and writers who are crafting and composing texts (and I use the term text rather liberally). The Sacramento Public Library Winter 2012 “Write at iStreet Press” writing and publishing catalog offers a model of what the library as a makerspace for constructing texts looks like in a community through the public library. “

7. A Makerspace Takes Over A Local Library
“Makerspaces just might take over libraries. School of Information Studies professor Dave Lankes seems to think so. In his presentation to New York State librarians earlier this month, he asked the roomful of librarians to imagine libraries as places for people to learn and create, not consume and check out. In another talk he gave in October, he declared, “What will kill our profession is not ebooks, Amazon, or Google, but a lack of imagination.”

8. Making Things in Academic Libraries
“The past few months have seen lots of discussion about makerspaces in libraries. What’s a makerspace? Buffy Hamilton’s great post over at the Unquiet Librarian has a couple of good definitions, but essentially it’s a place for folks to make things, perhaps writing and illustrating a zine, using the open source Arduino computing platform to program a robot, screenprinting, or creating model houses with a 3D printer. Makerspaces often include tools and equipment that are too expensive or specialized for most people to have in their homes, as well as provide a gathering place for like-minded hobbyists to create and collaborate.”

9. Makerspaces Move into Academic Libraries
“During the past year, makerspaces have been gaining traction in libraries. A makerspace is a place where people come together to design and build projects. Makerspaces typically provide access to materials, tools, and technologies to allow for hands-on exploration and participatory learning. They are occasionally referred to as fablabs, hackerspaces or tech shops.”

10. Manufacturing Makerspaces
“Kids gather to make Lego robots; teens create digital music, movies, and games with computers and mixers; and students engineer new projects while adults create prototypes for small business products with laser cutters and 3D printers. Many libraries across the US have developed makerspaces—places to create, build, and craft—and they are experiencing increased visits and demand as a result. For public libraries, they are places to promote community engagement. For academic libraries, they are places where students and faculty feel welcome to do classwork and research.”

11. The Library as a Makerspace
“Libraries are no longer simply a holding area for books, they are community hubs. People gather at the library to share ideas and enrich their lives. Computers and internet are now standard in libraries and are often in demand. Unemployed individuals can come to the library and apply for jobs. Kids can do their homework (or play games) at the library. But did you know that libraries are now becoming much more than books, computers and internet? Libraries are becoming creation spaces, often called maker spaces (or makerspaces).”

12. Fab Labs at the Library
There’s something unusual sitting in the parking lot of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Ind. Pay a visit to the 50-foot trailer and you might be surprised with what you find. Inside are various tools for cutting and shaping wooden objects, an electronics work bench, an injection molding machine and one of the most advanced gadgets for inventors, a 3-D printer.

Events

13. Maker Faire Events
The Maker Faire is a festival of invention and celebration of the Maker movement. “Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors. All of these “makers” come to Maker Faire to show what they have made and to share what they have learned.”

MakerspacesDirectories

14. The Maker Map
An online and mobile map of makerspaces in museums, retail outlets, etc. Why aren’t Libraries a category in this application? Perhaps not enough of them are listed as having makerspaces! Libraries offering this type of DIY space will want to list themselves here.

15. Hackerspaces
This is a directory of events and listing of all active hackerspaces throughout the world as well as a source of information and resources.

16. Makerspace
This is a directory of makerspaces as well as a community and source of information and teacher resources.

10,000 Free Courses Available in OEDB Open Courses Directory

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:50:00 +0000

OEDb has just launched a free online open courses directory offering nearly 10,000 free courses from the world's leading universities in the liberal arts and sciences. The courses are available in a variety of formats including full courses, video lectures, audio lectures, text articles, and mixed media. The courses are wide ranging and easily accessible. Select courses include Learn How to Put On Your Own Webinar, Cryptography, Ancient Egyptian Dieties, Greek and Roman Mythology and Adobe Photoshop. Here is a list of the subject areas offered:

•Arts

•Business

•Education

•Engineering & Computers

•Liberal Arts

•Math

•Medicine

•Science

This open access directory was created "to help ambitious or prospective students find the most convenient, valuable, and relevant education programs to fulfill their academic and career objectives".

Review of 2012 and Trends to Watch in 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:41:00 +0000

Paula Hane's article in ITI's newsletter NewsBreaks provides valuable information on important technology trends in 2012 and an insight into what to expect for 2013. Here is a brief overview:

Hot Topics in 2012

Big Data was the buzzword of the year
Data analytics
Smartphone adoption skyrockets (45% of U.S. adults now own a smartphone)
Mobile apps
Blending of offline-online worlds
Gesture-based computing
Increased geo-tagging of information
Watching news on multiple devices simultaneously—TV and (mobile) internet
Fewer Americans read print newspapers and magazines (some big titles such as Newsweek move to online only)
Voice interfaces
MOOCs—Massive Open Online Courses
Increasing business engagement with social media
Video, video, video… (“Video is the fastest-growing digital content category; we forecast that more than 90% of the online population will regularly watch online video by 2017.”
Ebook self-publishing market grows (and is expected to surge in 2013)
Growing popularity of e-singles (“stories somewhere between 5,000 and 30,000 words, usually nonfiction, and sold as inexpensive ebooks”)
Tablets sales rise, sales growth of dedicated e-readers slows
Apple maps—big blunder and embarrassment (with iOS 6 Apple dropped Google Maps)
Facebook’s botched IPO
Publisher consolidation
Web-scale discovery for library collections
Evolving roles for librarians
The rise of monograph e-platforms (Books at JSTOR, University Publishing Online, University Press Scholarship Online, University Press Content Consortium Book Collections of Project MUSE )
Privacy and security concerns dominate policy discussions
Government tries to regulate the internet (SOPA and PIPA, ACTA, WCIT)—expect more battles in 2013
Progress in Open Access initiatives

Looking Ahead to 2013

Apple versus Google versus Facebook versus Amazon—battling on hardware and search (“The Lines Between Software and Hardware Continue to Blur”)
Battle of the mobile devices (Apple iOS, Google’s Android, Microsoft Windows)
Intelligent objects—The Internet of Things
More predictive personalization
Expansion of peer power
Growth in open source innovation/problem solving (e.g., more installations of Solr)
Expansion of cloud computing and thus a greater need for security and data center redundancy (outages are much more a problem than data breaches)
Work anywhere
More Big Data (as one search technologies expert said, “There’s plenty of hype around big data, but underneath there are compelling applications to be implemented which combine the best of enterprise search and business insight technologies.")
Publishers will use metadata in more sophisticated ways
Publishers will still grapple with testing new business models—library pricing, subscription models, DRM-free sales, etc.
Companies will increasingly have to deal with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) issues
Looking forward to Microsoft Surface Pro with full version of Windows 8
Enterprises may choose to bypass Windows 8 (because of interface issues) and wait for “Windows 9”
Anticipated launch of “iPad 5” and “iPhone 6”
Anticipated next Android launch—“Key Lime Pie”
More sales of near-field-communication (NFC) enabled mobile devices—and adoption of customizable NFC tags
Biometric security becoming more prevalent
T-Mobile targets AT&T customers
More publisher consolidation
Consumers with content stored in the cloud may encounter problems when they want to move to another provider

Read the full article here

Pew Report: Reading Habits in Different Communities

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:10:00 +0000

Summary of Findings

Reading is foundational to learning and the information acquisition upon which people make decisions. For centuries, the capacity to read has been a benchmark of literacy and involvement in community life. In the 21st Century, across all types of U.S. communities, reading is a common activity that is pursued in myriad ways.

As technology and the digital world expand and offer new types of reading opportunities, residents of urban, suburban, and rural communities at times experience reading and e-reading differently. In the most meaningful ways, these differences are associated with the demographic composition of different kinds of communities — the age of the population, their overall level of educational attainment, and the general level of household income.1

Several surveys by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project reveal interesting variations among communities in the way their residents read and use reading-related technology and institutions:

Book readers: Some 78% of Americans ages 16 and older say they read a book in the past 12 months. Urban (80%) and suburban (80%) residents are especially likely to have read at least one book in the past year. While rural residents are somewhat less likely to have read a book in the past year (71%), the book readers in rural areas read as many books as their counterparts in cities and suburbs.

Purposes for reading: Most of those ages 16 and older read books for pleasure, and that is especially true of suburban readers: 82% of suburbanites read for pleasure, compared with 79% of urban residents and 76% of rural residents. Urban residents (80%) and suburban dwellers (79%) are also especially likely to read to keep up with current events. Some 73% of rural residents do that. More than three-quarters of suburban residents (77%) read to research topics that interest them, compared with 74% of urban residents and 70% of rural residents. Finally, 57% of suburbanites and 58% of city dwellersread for school or work, compared with 47% of rural residents who do that.

Americans and libraries: The majority of Americans ages 16 and older (58%) have a library card and even more (69%) say the library is important to them and their families. Some 71% of city dwellers say the library is important to them and 59% have library cards — and 69% of suburban residents say the library is important and 61% have library cards. At the same time, 62% of rural residents say the library is important and 48% have library cards.

Book recommendations: Family and friends are the primary source of book discovery for Americans 16 and older, especially so for suburban (66%) and urban residents (66%). Some 60% of rural residents say they get book recommendations from family and friends. Similarly, city dwellers (25%) and suburbanites (24%) are more likely than rural residents (18%) to have gotten recommendations from book stores they visit. Residents of all three kinds of communities are equally likely to say librarians and library websites are sources of book recommendations.

Newspaper and journal readers: Some 58% of those ages 16 and older say they regularly read newspapers. There are not noteworthy differences across communities in the numbers of people who regularly read newspapers. But suburban residents (57%) and urban dwellers (56%) are more likely to say they at times read their newspapers on handheld devices than rural residents (45%). When it comes to magazines and journals, 52% of the suburbanites ages 16 and older say they read them regularly, compared with 47% of urban dwellers and 44% of rural residents. Among those who read magazines and journals, 36% of urban readers and 33% of suburban readers read their magazines and journals at times on handheld devices. That compares with 24% of rural readers who read magazines and journals that way.

Preferences for e-books vs. print books: Some 14% of readers read an e-book and a printed book in the past year. Those book readers in dual platforms were asked which type of book is better for different reading activities such as sharing books with others, reading in bed, reading with a child, or reading while traveling. Generally, urban readers in both formats are more likely to prefer e-books for many reading activities, while rural readers who have read in both formats tend to prefer print.

Click HERE to Read Full Report

World Digital Library

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:11:00 +0000

Developed to expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet, the World Digital Library makes it possible to discover, study, and enjoy cultural treasures from around the world on one site, in a variety of ways. These cultural treasures include, but are not limited to, manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, and architectural drawings.

Items on the WDL may easily be browsed by place, time, topic, type of item, and contributing institution, or can be located by an open-ended search, in several languages. Special features include interactive geographic clusters, a timeline, advanced image-viewing and interpretive capabilities. Item-level descriptions and interviews with curators about featured items provide additional information.

Navigation tools and content descriptions are provided in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Many more languages are represented in the actual books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, and other primary materials, which are provided in their original languages.

The WDL was developed by a team at the U.S. Library of Congress, with contributions by partner institutions in many countries; the support of the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and the financial support of a number of companies and private foundations.

Visit WDL by clicking here

New Findings Reaffirm Library Borrowers Are Also Buyers

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 20:17:00 +0000

An extensive online poll of library ebook readers finds that these patrons purchase an average of 3.2 books (both print and ebooks) each month, and a majority would consider purchasing books discovered on a library website. These ebook borrowers, who are at OverDrive-powered public library websites in the U.S., also report that their digital content purchases have increased in the past 6 months. Sponsored by OverDrive with the American Library Association’s Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP), the survey constitutes the largest study of library ebook usage to date, with more than 75,000 people responding.

Confirming earlier studies, such as the Pew Internet Project’s “Libraries, Patrons, and E-books,” the survey found that a significant percentage of library users regularly purchase books they first discover at the library. In fact, 57% of those surveyed said that the public library is their primary source of book discovery.

Library ebook borrower: Highlights
Public library is primary source of book discovery (57%)
Purchase average of 3.2 books per month (including print and ebooks)
Would consider purchasing books discovered on library website (53%)
Visit both the physical library and download ebooks (53%)
Digital book purchases have increased in past 6 months (44%)
Purchased book (print or ebook) after borrowing that title (35%)

Library ebook borrower: Demographics
Female (78%)
Adults aged 40-64 (55%)
Household income $75,000+ (48%)
College degree or higher (74%)

The survey also found that dedicated ebook reading devices—including Kindle, Sony Reader, and NOOK—were the devices most used to read ebooks from the library (8%). Desktop or laptop PCs (20%), smartphones (19%) and tablets (18%) rounded out the top four types, which reflects the rapidly escalating trend of borrowing on mobile devices recently reported by OverDrive. (In August, mobile devices accounted for 30% of checkouts and 34% of web traffic at OverDrive-powered library websites. Both statistics are up nearly 100% year-over-year.)

The survey took place between June 13 and July 31, 2012, at thousands of OverDrive-powered public library websites in the U.S., with 75,384 respondents completing all or part of the survey. The intent of the survey was to gain insight into the borrowing and buying behaviors of library ebook readers and is not representative of the U.S. population as a whole. To see the full survey data, visit OverDrive’s Digital Library Blog.

Source: Information Today Inc. Newsletter NewsBreaks

Libraries in the U.S.: A Snapshot of Priorities & Perspectives

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:00:00 +0000

These reports detail findings from a study OCLC conducted with libraries in mid-2011 to learn about their priorities, initiatives, thoughts on the future of their service points and the sources they use to keep up with developments in the library field. Full reports can be downloaded by clicking here:

Select Key Findings for Academic Libraries

Most academic library staff:

•Consider licensed e-collections to be a top priority

•Are focusing on e-books, other e-resources and discovery tools as top current initiatives

•Believe their current library location structure will be the same in five years

•Rely mostly on listservs and email to stay current—a few use social media

Select Key Findings for Public Libraries

Most public library staff:

•Are focusing their priorities on Internet access, demonstrating value to funders and delivering e-content

•Are concentrating on e-books as their top current initiative

•Rely mostly on listservs and email to stay current—while just a few use social media

•Opinions are split on the make-up of service points in the future

•The top priority for public library directors is demonstrating the library's value to funders

Select Key Findings for Community College Libraries

Most community college library staff:

•Consider licensed e-collections and e-books to be their top priority and current initiative

•Believe their current library location structure will be the same in five years

•Rely mostly on listservs and email to stay current—a few use social media.

•Community college library staff are less likely than other academic library and public library staff to expect that a national digital library will exist in the next five years.

•Community college libraries are distinctively putting more focus on outreach and library instruction and their back-end office technology compared to other academic libraries.

Get your library in Goodreads

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 21:47:00 +0000

Goodreads (one of the leading social book-review websites) has pledged to help libraries receive greater visibility with their more than 12 million site members. How? Now libraries can create their own "Group" pages, and a library group page will be listed first in a reader's group listings. In the future, they'll also highlight libraries that are geographically close to a reader's IP range, encouraging them to find their next read at their local library.

Goodreads site members can affiliate with their local library and find their next great read. Plus they're also likely to find other passionate readers in their area and be able to connect with them through social media.

Follow the simple steps to get your library going in Goodreads by clicking here

Library 2.012 Worldwide Virtual Conference - October 3 - 5

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 17:42:00 +0000

The virtual Library 2.012 conference is a unique chance to participate in a global conversation on the current and future state of libraries. Held worldwide over the course of two days, with 150 sessions and 10 keynotes, subject strands include physical and virtual learning spaces, evolving professional roles in today's world, organizing and creating information, changing delivery methods, user-centered access, and mobile and geo-social information environments. Attendance is free; sign up HERE to attend or to be kept informed.

Banned Books Week

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:38:00 +0000

Banned Books Week is the national book community's annual celebration of the freedom to read. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2012 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from September 30 through October 6. Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982. ALA has more information on Banned Books Week. According to the American Library Association, there were 326 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2011, and many more go unreported. The 10 most challenged titles of 2011 were:

1.ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle

Reasons: offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

2.The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa

Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

3.The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins

Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence

4.My Mom's Having A Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler

Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

5.The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

Reasons: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

6.Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Reasons: nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint

7.Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

Reasons: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit

8.What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones

Reasons: nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit

9.Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar

Reasons: drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit

10.To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Reasons: offensive language; racism

Source: http://bannedbooksweek.org/about

....

Twitter as a Tool for Professional Development

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 19:28:00 +0000

Here is a checklist of 25 ways Twitter can be used as a tool for professional development:

1.Keep your Twitter profile employer-focused:

Maximize the space that you have in your profile to share a professional description of yourself. Hobbies show personality, but accomplishments and professional interests might help you land a job. Professional Twitter names can be helpful, too. Ditch your @ohyeah420 screen name, stat, and try using your real name instead.

2.Use a photo of yourself:

An important part of your Twitter profile is your photo. Instead of leaving the default avatar or uploading an image, add a photo of yourself. It makes you look more professional, and allows others to connect with you personally.

3.Remember to give (and take):

Networking on Twitter is more about giving than getting. Experts believe that 90% of what you share on Twitter should be helpful, whether you’re sharing relevant information, retweeting followers, or connecting with others. The remaining 10% is then free for you to ask for help, sharing your latest blog post or anything else that might benefit you directly.

4.Follow for quality, not quantity:

Follow more people, and naturally, you’ll have more followers in return. But bigger isn’t always better. With too many voices in your Twitter stream, you’ll suffer from information overload, which is bad news for professional development. If you want to really learn from and connect with your followers on Twitter, keep your list to a manageable size and only follow people you genuinely want to connect with.

5.Take part in Twitter chats:

Regularly hosted chats on Twitter offer a great way to connect with and learn from others in your professional sphere. You can check out nearly 700 different Twitter chats available on the Twitter Chat Schedule. Use it to find relevant chats and hashtags for your professional and personal interests, and you can be a part of the discussion.

6.Keep things open:

Many people choose to keep their tweets private for personal reasons, but if you’re tweeting professionally, you should really stay unprotected. It makes your profile and tweets easier to find, share, and showcase to potential employers and colleagues.

7.Put some effort into branding:

Create a background that works with your personal branding. You can also work to establish a great Twitter brand by regularly sharing interesting news, articles, and tools for your industry.

8.Stay aware of professional issues:

Twitter can keep you in the loop professionally. Follow people who share lots of great news and insights that apply to your professional development, and you can use Twitter as a source for current awareness.

9.Use Twitter to break the ice:

Before heading to a meeting or conference, look up attendees on Twitter and connect with them. Conversing through social media can make it easy to break the ice and become familiar with others before heading to the event, making it easy for you to network and connect in person.

10.Be authentic:

Twitter is a great professional tool, but it’s important that you don’t forget to be a real person. Share some personality and voice in your tweets, and avoid copying and pasting headlines. Letting followers connect with the real you is a much more authentic way to develop your professional network.

11.Follow leaders in your professional circle:

Just about everyone is on Twitter these days, from CEOs to celebrities. Follow leaders in your niche, and you can find nuggets of wisdom in their tweets. You may even be able to connect with them through tweeting.

12.Don’t forget your manners:

Online, it’s easy to forget that manners matter. But politeness and diplomatic behavior will go a long way to professional development and a healthy online image. If you encounter a bully or incredibly rude person, it’s easy to simply unfollow or even block a user. And of course, remember that anything you say on Twitter can be retweeted and shared with the world.

13.Participate regularly:

No one likes a sporadic tweeter. Be sure to check in regularly so that your followers know they can count on you.

14.Put Twitter to work in your job search:

If you’re looking for a job, Twitter can help you find one. Through chats, personal connections, visibility, and even job listings on Twitter, there are plenty of opportunities for career growth through the service. Show that you’re professional and knowledgeable in your niche to better boost your job search.

15.Use Twitter to strengthen your network:

Twitter is an incredible networking tool, and it can be used to connect with contacts new and old. Discover new networking connections, and find people you already know to converse with them on a regular basis using Twitter.

16.Become an expert on Twitter:

Developing and presenting yourself as an expert in your industry on Twitter is a great way to actually become an expert. Stay on top of relevant news and developments, share what you know, and build authority through the social media service. If you are able to execute your expertise professionally, you can translate to expert status offline, too.

17.Use Twitter to get access to people and ideas:

Twitter is one of the most powerful information tools we have today. Through the site, you can not only connect with contacts, but find out what they think. Share your ideas and questions, and find out what others have to say about them.

18.Don’t forget to follow back:

Following isn’t a one-way street. Pay attention to new followers. You don’t have to follow all of them back, but you should at least check out their profiles, and follow the people that are relevant and interesting to you.

19.Join the conversation with hashtags:

Become a better part of a professional conversation by using hashtags. [Especially at professional conferences and meetings] You’ll become more visible to others who are using the hashtag, and be able to better connect with the rest of the conversation. You can even create your own hashtag to spark a conversation that’s important to your professional development.

20.Connect with colleagues:

If you telecommute, or work for a company with multiple locations, Twitter offers a great opportunity to connect with your colleagues, even if you can’t do it in person. Follow coworkers on Twitter, and you’ll be able to stay on top of their professional and personal development.

21.Develop a Twitter community:

Become a community leader on Twitter, creating networks, inviting others, and fostering communication between participants in your community. Heading up a group can be hard work, but it’s a great way to get front and center and be a part of major discussions and developments in your network.

22.Use Twitter as a research tool:

Twitter is an incredible place to find information that’s relevant to your career. It can be as simple as just following the right people in your network, or you can even make use of Twitter’s search function and RSS feeds to stay on top of specific search queries you’re interested in.

23.Help others, and you can learn, too:

Reach out and help others whenever you can. Answering questions, sharing resources, or pointing out useful links isn’t just for helping other people, it’s great for you, too. You can learn something as you offer your assistance, and as you become the go-to person for help in your professional field, you can build your network and find more opportunities for growth.

24.Ask for help:

Cash in on your good karma that you’ve earned by helping others and call in a favor yourself. Let others know you’re looking for a job, or ask a question that you need help answering.

25.Manage your presence:

Once you’ve started connecting and sharing on Twitter, consider how you’ll manage your presence on the site. Remember to regularly connect with others, check your mentions, and stay consistent with your interactions on Twitter. You may consider using tools like TweetDeck to manage your brand and networking efforts.”

Source: http://www.onlinecollege.org/2012/09/16/top-25-twitter-tips-your-professional-development/

WHAT ROLE WILL ACADEMIC LIBRARIES PLAY IN MOVING TOWARDS AN OPEN ACCESS FUTURE?

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:02:00 +0000

In April, leading independent academic and professional publisher SAGE convened a roundtable in association with the British Library into the role of the academic library in an open access (OA) future. Chaired by publishing consultant Simon Inger and attended by an international panel of 14 senior librarians and other industry experts, the conclusions of this discussion have been published in a report, “Moving towards an open access future: the role of academic libraries.” Among the key discussion points:

- Managing metadata will be very important for good discoverability of open access resources.

- Functions such as metadata management and preservation are likely to be done at Webscale, rather than on an institutional level.

- Individual library value will be judged on quality of service provision rather than on breadth of collection; value will also be added by digitizing and making available unique collections.

- Libraries will increasingly need to work together and share functions and services.

- Attention will shift from the library to the librarian: ‘the information professional is the library of the future.

- External discovery systems may be favored over the library catalog. Click here for more

Linked data for libraries - OCLC Video

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 21:02:00 +0000

Produced by OCLC this is a short introduction to the often discussed - but difficult- concepts and technology behind linked data, how it works and some benefits it brings to libraries.

Project Gutenburg Authors Community Cloud Library

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 16:27:00 +0000

Project Gutenberg, developers of the first online platform for free eBooks, has transcended to the next logical step and created a free self publishing portal for authors. The purpose of this portal referred to as the Authors Community Cloud Library is to “create a cloud service for contemporary writers to share their works with reader”. There is built in two way interaction for authors and readers as every eBook has its own Details Page, Star Ratings, and Reader Comment area.

Users can easily search for their favorite titles by keyword or limiting by genre categories such as adventure, art, biographies, children literature, education, fantasy and technology. There is no charge for using this service. Registration is not required for reading or downloading the books. However, registration is required to upload a book or post a comment.

Libraries can promote this tool on main library portals (blogs, webpages, library guides) as a self publishing platform for contemporary authors to publish their works and as a social network meeting place for readers and authors to share ideas.

Call for Papers Department of Library & Information Studies, UWI Jamaica 40th Anniversary Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:58:00 +0000

Conference Theme : From Search to Discovery: Reimagining the Library and Information Landscape
Date: October 4- 6, 2012
Venue: The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston Jamaica - Mona Visitors' Lodge & Conference Center

Summary:
The theme asks participants to envision how the changing information environment is impacting the role and functions of libraries, librarians, as well as library and information science education and research and information users. Further, persons are asked to relate this change to the current situation in the Caribbean.

We invite persons to contribute research-based paper and poster proposals; best practices; and critical essays on aspects of the conference theme including but not limited to the following:

1. Repositioning of LIS Education for enhanced competencies and capabilities

Interdisciplinary and collaborative initiatives
Curriculum redesign
Online Web-based teaching
Research directions

2. LIS Research Landscape: Crossing Disciplinary Lines

3. Envisioning Caribbean Libraries for Today, Tomorrow and Beyond

4. Reimagining the Role of the Librarian and the User

5. Creating and Evaluating Competitive Information Products and Services

6. The “I factor”

Role of Libraries in Information Management
Cloud computing and libraries
Visual data
Libraries and knowledge management

7. Reinventing our brand in the post- modern environment

Institutional [school, academic, corporate libraries]
Personal
Professional
Synergy with Archives and Museums

Deadline for paper/poster proposal submissions (maximum 1,000 words): July 31, 2012

Notification of acceptance: August 31, 2012

For more details Click here

Libraries, patrons, and e-books - PEW Report

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 20:33:00 +0000

Summary of findings from the latest Pew report on libraries, patrons, e-books:

58% of Americans have a library card, and 69% say that their local library is important to them and their family. Library card holders use more technology, and they report that they read more books.
12% of readers of e-books borrowed an e-book from the library in the past year. But a majority of Americans do not know that this service is provided by their local library.
E-book borrowers appreciate the selection of e-books at their local library, but they often encounter wait lists, unavailable titles or incompatible file formats.
Many Americans would like to learn more about borrowing e-books.
Library card holders are more than twice as likely to have bought their most recent book than to have borrowed it from a library. Many e-book borrowers purchase e-books, too.
Leading-edge librarians and patrons say that the advent of e-books has produced a major transformation in book searching and borrowing at libraries.

Source: PEW Internet & American Life Project

New ALA report explores challenges of equitable access to digital content

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Tue, 29 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Source: American Libraries Magazine

ALA recently released a new report examining critical issues underlying equitable access to digital content through our nation’s libraries. In the report, titled “E-content: The Digital Dialogue,” authors explore an unprecedented and splintered landscape in which several major publishers refuse to sell e-books to libraries; proprietary platforms fragment our cultural record; and reader privacy is endangered.

The report, published as a supplement to American Libraries magazine, identifies a number of ways libraries and publishers can collaborate to lessen the digital content divide. Some of the topics covered:

ALA´s Digital Content and Libraries Working Group cochairs, Sari Feldman and Robert Wolven,summarize recent ebook activities and suggest directions for the future.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone from the Office for Intellectual Freedom focuses on ebook privacy and related ethical issues.
James LaRue offers perspectives from a reader, librarian, publisher, writer, and bookseller on ebooks today and tomorrow.

You can read the report in the easy-to-use Zmag web browser format, or download it as a PDF for offline reading. Click on this link to read and download the report: “E-content: The Digital Dialogue”

Unglue it - ebook publishing service launches

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:52:00 +0000

Using the tag line Give eBooks to the World, Unglue.it - a new type of e-book servicd- launched on May 17, 2012 with active campaigns for site visitors to make monetary pledges towards books from five authors they wish to 'unglue'. The idea behind this new service is as simple, as it is innovative, and answers basic questions like the following: What if you could give a book to everyone on earth? Get an ebook and read it on any device, in any format, forever? Give an ebook to your library, for them to share? Own DRM-free ebooks, legally? Read free ebooks, and know their creators had been fairly paid?

Unglue.it as a crowdfunding site, allows book afficinados to pay authors and publishers to make their traditionally-published books free to the world under a Creative Commons license. If supporters pledge a dollar amount chosen by the books’ rightsholders before a given deadline, these books will be released as “unglued” or free electronic editions under the shared license

There is promise that this concept will catch on and the service will grow as who among us would not want to pledge toward creating ebooks that can be legally free ('unglued') and read worldwide.
The first five authors/publishers to grace the site:

Michael Laser, 6-321

Joseph Nassise, Riverwatch

Nancy Rawles, Love Like Gumbo

Budding Reader, Cat and Rat

Open Book Publishers, Oral Literature in Africa, by Ruth Finnegan.

Source: Unglue.it

New Multimedia Tools Help Museums, Libraries Support 21st Century Skills

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:23:00 +0000

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) revamped the webpage for its Museums, Libraries, and 21st Century Skills initiative. Museums and libraries visiting the page will now be able to access practitioner videos, a PowerPoint presentation, an updated resource list, and a toolkit that will help them organize 21st-century skills workshops in their communities. These new resources join IMLS’s 2009 report and self-assessment tool already in wide use.

The 21st Century Skills initiative is intended to assist museums and libraries as they leverage their resources to help individuals of all ages acquire such critical skills as critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and innovation, communication, and collaboration. Combining strengths in traditional and digital learning, libraries and museums are well-positioned to build the skills Americans need today.

The Making the Learning Connection Community Workshop Toolkit is based on a series of community workshops conducted by IMLS between June 2010 and May 2011. This toolkit is designed to assist museum and library leaders in planning and executing 21st-century skills workshops in their own communities. It outlines the planning process, provides timelines, sample exercises and agendas, and brief descriptions of the 2010-11 IMLS workshops. Museum and library staff can also use a new 21st Century Skills PowerPoint and an extended bibliography in their presentations and planning.

Source: Institute of Museum and Library Services

ALA State of America's Libraries Report 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:05:00 +0000

Libraries continue to transform lives, despite the challenges they faced in 2011. Patron demand for ebooks increased just as publishers decided to limit sales to libraries or increase the price dramatically. Budget cuts continued as the national economy struggles toward recovery from the Great Recession. The American Library Association continued to play a leading role in the battle for privacy and intellectual freedom. Read the Top Ten List of 2011's most challenged books.

These are just some of the highlights of the ALA 2012 report on the State of America's Libraries

Click here for the Zmag version

Building Digital Communities - IMLS Resource to Help Communities Bridge the Digital Divide

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Peltier-Davis) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:12:00 +0000

There are still 100 million Americans who do not have a broadband connection to the Internet. This sobering statistic has profound implications for economic success, educational achievement, and civic life. Communities face difficult challenges in their efforts to provide digital opportunity for all their residents.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), together with the University of Washington and the International City/County Management Association, has consulted with hundreds of community members and experts over the past 18 months to identify action steps and a framework for building digital communities.

With the release of Building Digital Communities: A Framework for Action and its companion primer Building Digital Communities: Getting Started, communities have a new resource to help set a vision for the future. These resources raise awareness about the access and adoption that are essential to digital communities and identify goals related to availability, affordability, design for inclusion, public access, relevance, digital literacy, and consumer safety. They also provide strategic areas where communities may wish to focus their digital inclusion efforts, such areas as economic and workforce development, education, and civic engagement, as well as concrete sample strategies for organizations and individuals to use in achieving a community’s goals.

For more information visit the IMLS website: http://www.imls.gov/building_digital_communities_new_resource_to_help_communities_bridge_the_digital_divide.aspx