Library Cloud

Libraries Transform: Because Statements

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:45:00 +0000

A simple search for the origin of the now infamous library sign stating "because not everything on the internet is true" led me to a story on the Libraries Transform site because page and this video. For me, key to the accompanying quote is noting transformation of library services and scope are not readily apparent to all. This video - and quote - has found it's way to our library blog.

"The ways in which libraries transform are as nuanced and varied as the people they serve. Physical transformations are easy to spot. Transformations in service and scope can be less apparent, but are ever changing." - Libraries Transform

Yes! It's time for Mock Caldecott

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 22:14:00 +0000

Buttons, pens, and ballots (oh, my)

Yesterday was my annual Mock Caldecott panel session with Dr. Mary Rycik's EDEC 323 Tradebooks and Technology with Literature class. I love this activity!

Students met in the library (second floor), outside the IRC, to review and evaluate picture books for a Mock Caldecott award. Tables are reserved and set up with pertinent handouts, books to evaluate, ballots for voting, IRC pens, and buttons proclaiming 'I voted for the Mock Caldecott.' This year I changed our voting process to include use of weighted ballots (first place vote = 4 points, second place vote = 3 points) and more closely follow the official nomination and voting process. In previous years, we voted by simple raise of hands. While it took longer to tabulate votes and move through the second nomination round and select a winner, student's seemed to enjoy using the ballots. I think it may also have helped remove any subtle peer pressure to vote for your group's initial nominated title. At the conclusion of our session, a clear winner (with 11 of 13 first place votes and a total score twice that of the next nominated title) and two honor books (tied for second place) were selected.

Students were introduced to elements picture book art and illustration such as layout, design, form and function, balance, use of space, and the importance of art telling the story. Artistic media and style, as well as the parts of a picture book are discussed. They discuss picture book awards and in this instance came with great questions regarding the process.

Sixteen picture books were considered; the selection included a mix of artists publishing their first picture book and well known and award-winning illustrators. A variety of artistic mediums were represented such as collage, gauche, painted oils, pencil, watercolors, and mixed media. All of the titles were recent additions to the library juvenile collection and met basic Caldecott Medal criteria established by the Association for Library Services for Children, American Library Association Medal committee.

All of the titles we reviewed are available on the Mock Caldecott Panel Pinterest board:

Follow IRC's board Mock Caldecott Panels on Pinterest.

Students reviewed nominated titles, and completed two rounds of voting to select a final winner and two honor books.

Our Mock Caldecott winner for Fall 2015:

The Night World, written and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein

Honor book distinction was given to:

My Pen, written and illustrated by Christopher Myers
If You Plant a Seed, written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson

The IRC web site Mock Caldecott Panels page and EDEC 323 LibGuide provide additional support and resources for this activity.

*Information originally published on the IRC Blog post Mock Caldecott Panel (9/8/15).

NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Library Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 13:00:00 +0000

"The NMC, the University of Applied Sciences (HTW) Chur, the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB), Hannover, and ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, are jointly releasing the NMC Horizon Report > 2015 Library Edition during a special online event. This is the second edition of the NMC Horizon Report that explores the realm of academic and research libraries in a global context." - NMC Horizon Report

Links to more information:

ALAO 2015: Registration Open

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 13:13:00 +0000

ALAO 2015
Cultivating Leadership: Preparing Academic Libraries for the Future
November 20th - Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center
100 Green Meadows Drive South
Lewis Center, Ohio 43035

Registration is now open for the 41st Annual Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO). This year's keynote address will be presented by Cindy Meyers Foley, Executive Assistant Director, Director of Learning and Experience Columbus Museum of Art.

Conference Website: http://www.alaoweb.org/conference
Register: http://alaoweb.org/event-1851495

Early Bird Registration ends September 30, 2015.

ALAO 2015 Pre-Conference Workshop
November 19, 2015

Are You Ready For Leadership? features Trevor A. Dawes, Associate University Librarian at Washington University in St. Louis Pre-conference.

Website: http://www.alaoweb.org/conference2015/preconference
Pre-conference Registration: http://alaoweb.org/event-1896310

Questions about conference/preconference registration?
Please contact Judy Cerqua, Registration Coordinator, at cerqua.1 at osu.edu.

If you have questions about the 41st Annual ALAO Conference or the preconference, please contact Brian Gray at bcg8 at case.edu.

Connect With Us! Follow the conference on Twitter #ALAO2015

*Posted on the ALAO Blog 7/10/15

Happy National Library Week

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 15:44:00 +0000

Common Craft & Libraries

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 13:31:00 +0000

Common Craft recently posted a new - free - explainer video, this one focuses on Libraries in the Internet Age. Why, you may ask. Their video summary and description provides that information: "We love libraries and librarians. We want them to succeed and we made this video to help the public understand how libraries have changed in the Internet Age."

This certainly explains why they were looking for librarian feedback in early March (smile).

CMCIG Spring Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 16:31:00 +0000

Novel Ties: Classics and Comics in the Classroom

Monday, April 20, 2015

The Ohio State University

Thompson Library, Room 150

1858 Neil Avenue Mall, Columbus OH 43210

With so much focus on technology these days, we’re going back to the books to look at how literature can be used in the classroom in innovative ways. We’ll examine the more “traditional” novel and get the inside story from a 2015 Newbery Committee member. We’ll also look at the graphic novel and how its popularity with students can be leveraged in the classroom to enhance reading instruction and to provide new opportunities to engage with text. In addition, we’ll take some time for small group discussions on topics of interest to CMC librarians. The day will conclude with a brief tour of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum.

To register: Click here
Directions: http://www.osu.edu/visitors/directions.php
Cost: $20.00, includes workshop, breakfast, lunch, & tour
OSU Parking: $11.25 / day

Workshop Program

9:30 am – 10:00 am Registration & Continental Breakfast
10:00 am Welcome & Introductions
10:10 am – 11:10 am

“An Insider's Look at the Newbery Medal Process”
Stephanie Bange, Wright State University

11:10 am – 11:20 am Break
11:20 am – 12:00 pm Round Table Discussions
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Lunch

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
“It's More Than Just a Comic…Using Graphic Novels to Engage Readers of All Levels”
Anita Gonzalez, Ohio Resource Center

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
“The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum: Exploring Teaching and Learning with Comics in the Classroom” - Caitlin McGurk, The Ohio State University

3:00 pm Visit to OSU’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum (optional)

*Originally published CMCIG Blog, 3/24/15

ALAO 2015: Call for Proposals

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 16:02:00 +0000

The Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) Conference Planning Committee is pleased to announce our call for proposals for the 2015 ALAO Conference, which will be held on Friday, November 20th at the Nationwide Hotel & Conference Center in Lewis Center, Ohio.

This year's theme is "Cultivating Leadership: Preparing Academic Libraries for the Future." For more information and submission guidelines:

The deadline for submitting break-out session presentations and poster sessions is Friday, March 27th. Questions about the program? Contact the program committee: program@alaoweb.org

#ALAO2015

ALA Presidential Candidates Forum

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 15:19:00 +0000

If you weren't able to attend ALAs midwinter meetings (I wasn't), there are a number of videos available on ALAs YouTube channel including the 2015 ALA Midwinter Meeting Presidential Candidates Forum.

Weekly Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 18:30:00 +0000

How to Manage Social Media in Higher Education
"Managing Social Media in Higher Education is no easy task. There is a lot of pressure to stay on top of current trends and strategies, maintain consistency in many channels, and ultimately build genuine digital relationships with our students that result in brand loyalty. Liz Gross, author of “How to Manage Social Media in Higher Education: A Guide for Campus Administrators”, joins us to give insight and tips on how to succeed in the fast-paced world of social media management." -- Amy Jorgensen, Higher Ed Live, 12/11/14

#TAGS New Homepage for Twitter Archiving Google Sheet
"Here at ProfHacker we’ve written quite a bit about Twitter over the years (as our archive of posts with the twitter tag reveals). One Twitter topic that we’ve addressed often is how best to maintain an archive of Tweets, whether your own or those associated with a particular hashtag. In two different posts, Mark introduced readers to what is, arguably, the best free solution for this: Martin Hawksey’s TAGS, “a free Google Sheet template which lets you setup and run automated collection of search results from Twitter.” -- George Williams, ProfHacker, 12/11/14 *

* Note: there's a great comment on this article with links to using IFTTT for this purpose.

BookCon To Partner With We Need Diverse Books For 2015 Conference
"BookCon and We Need Diverse Books are teaming up in 2015 for two panels highlighting diversity in literature. The panels, organized by ReedPop, the producer of BookCon, in partnership with We Need Diverse Books, will include prominent authors of color such as Jacqueline Woodson and Sherman Alexie. One of the panels will focus on children’s literature, while another will center on diversity in science fiction and fantasy." -- Claire Fallon, HuffPost Books, 12/11/14

Twitter 2014 Year in Review
"It was a big year for Twitter in 2014. Their first year after going public, people expected them to make the news on the regular—which they did. From a brand new look to being banned in Turkey, Twitter was a regular feature in the headlines.Here is a brief review of the year that was for Twitter." -- Evan LePage, Hootsuite, 12/8/14

New YouTube Tool Tells You If Your Video's Song Is Copyrighted
"Music copyright issues often get YouTube videos muted or even blocked. Now the service launched a new feature that lets video creators check those song rights before uploading, the company announced in a blog post on Monday." -- Stephanie Chan, ReadWrite, 12/9/14

Acing the Interview
"Job market candidates can spend months preparing written materials such as research statements and teaching philosophies, but invitations to interview usually leave candidates with only weeks or even days to prepare. What are the most important things to do before and during an interview? " -- Melissa Dennihy, Inside HigherEd | Career Advice, 12/3/14

Weekly Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 18:30:00 +0000

The Pain of the Watermelon Joke
"AS a child in South Carolina, I spent summers like so many children — sitting on my grandparents’ back porch with my siblings, spitting watermelon seeds into the garden or, even worse, swallowing them and trembling as my older brother and sister spoke of the vine that was probably already growing in my belly.It was the late ’60s and early ’70s, and even though Jim Crow was supposed to be far behind us, we spent our days in the all-black community called Nicholtown in a still segregated South." - Jacqueline Wilson, New York Times Op Ed, 11/28/14

Is it Time to Get Rid of Grades?
"In the past few years since teachers and their principals have been reduced to numbers on a their yearly evaluations there have been many discussions revolving around the idea that educators are more than numbers. It doesn't feel good to get one number that is supposed to represent all of our hard work throughout a year. It feels disingenuous and arbitrary. Unfortunately, for many years before accountability and mandates, students were reduced to numbers and we did not do a lot about it. That is most likely due to the fact that we were reduced to numbers when we were students in school. Numbers have been a part of schooling for many decades." -- Peter DeWitt, Finding Common Ground | Education Week, 12/2/14

Five Reasons to Allow Digital Devices in Your Classroom
"Amidst reports of Steve Jobs and other Silicon Valley CEOs imposing extremely strict technology rules on their children, the debate around technology use in the classroom has caught fire once again. One of the strongest arguments for banning technology in the classroom came earlier this fall, from media pundit Clay Shirky in a piece titled “Why I Just Asked My Students To Put Their Laptops Away.” -- Natascha Chtena, GradHacker | Inside Higher Ed, 11/30/14

Who Will Log You Out When You're Gone?
"I long ago exceeded my capacity to remember passwords, especially for my institutional accounts which require password changes at regular intervals. As a result, I use a password manager to keep up with all my passwords. As it happens, I use 1Password, which syncs everywhere, generates and keeps track of preposterously complex passwords, and keeps other kinds of information, such as credit card numbers, passport information, and more secure yet available. It’s a neat thing." -- Jason B. Jones, ProfHacker | Chronicle, 12/1/14

Weekly Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 18:38:00 +0000

School Library Journal Best Books 2014
"In 2014, more than 250 titles received an SLJ star; after much passionate discussion, the following titles were selected by the review editors as the very best of the best. These 70 books distinguish themselves with excellence in writing, art, design, storytelling, originality, and appeal. From raucous read-alouds to off-the-wall adventure, there is something for everyone on this list; dig in and happy reading." -- School Library Journal, 11/20/14

"We're Replacing Pedagogy"
"Academic libraries can help promote the adoption of open educational resources, but ultimately the push for open content has to be about more than textbooks, advocates said this week during the Open Ed Conference. The conference, which concludes today, comes on the heels of two reports suggesting that adoption of OER has the potential to grow dramatically in the next three years -- if faculty members are able to discover the resources they need." -- Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed, 11/21/14

What's Missing from the Industrial Internet of Things Conversation? Software
"These days, you can hardly have a technology conversation without talking about the Internet of Things (IoT). And when that conversation shifts its focus to the industrial sector, including energy, Oil & Gas, Power & Utilities, and petrochemicals, among others, the discussion changes to what is being called the “Industrial Internet of Things” (IIoT)." -- Matt Cicciari, Meridium, Wired, 11/20/14

Who's in Charge Here?
"I have often wondered about the way librarians use the word “library.” Sometimes we are referring to a building (“the library will be open until 2 a.m. during finals”), but more often we use it as if it’s a collective being that has agency. The library is offering a new program. The library has to cancel more journals. The library has started a strategic planning process. Actually, librarians and library staff are doing those things." -- Barbara Fister, Inside Higher Ed, 11/20/14

Weekly Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 18:23:00 +0000

24 Examples of Using Hashtags for Teaching and Learning
"So Many Hashtag Ideas and so Little Time! The “hashtag” ( “#”) has become the go-to hot key for trending topics and Twitter discussions. They’re prevalent on Twitter (where they got their start), but they have also seeped into Instagram, Google+, Vine, Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook, Tagboard and even come up in Google searches and Google alerts." -- Stephanie Echeveste, Emerging EdTech, 11/9/14

Six Questions You Need to Ask Before Taking a Job
"After hours spent meticulously fine-tuning your cover letter and resume, you’ve finally scored an elusive interview with the employer of your dreams.At least, that’s what you think. In our eagerness to impress hiring managers and potential future bosses, many of us come fully prepared to sell ourselves in a job interview—but neglect to ask key questions of our own. You know, the kind that can help reveal if it really is a dream to work at a given company."-- Meghan Rabitt of LearnVest, The Muse, 11/6/14

Making Screencasts, The Talking Head
"Here is the second video in the three-part series that I did for the An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching on Coursera. This is one gets under the hood about how I make the videos I call “talking head” videos — where it’s just a voiceover and some lecture slides running. The talking head video is very similar to a traditional lecture or a conference talk, so for those instructors out there who are looking to transition to a flipped learning model, or make additional video content available to students and are looking for the simplest place to start, this would probably be it." -- Robert Talbert, Casting Out the Nines, 11/11/14

Weekly Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 22:00:00 +0000

Why Your Whole Staff Should Be on Twitter
"Twitter in Elementary school started for me five years ago during my time as an Elementary Assistant Principal. Our goal was to bring our school community closer together and open up classroom doors to develop stronger relationships. We had great success and feedback from our school community, and when I became Principal three years ago I knew we could do it bigger and better!" - Adam Welcome, Finding Common Ground, 10/12/14

Not Just Another Notes App: Why You Should Use Google Keep
"When Google Keep launched, it never got the fanfare it deserved. The people that did review it compared it to all the wrong apps, like Evernote or Microsoft OneNote. That's a shame, because a surprisingly good note taking app went under the radar, underrated for coming up short against contenders it wasn't designed to face. It's about time to give Google Keep a fair shake, see where it shines, and how it fits in with the competition." -- Alan Henry, LifeHacker, 5/22/13

Have Some Serious Classroom Fun With the ChatterPix App
"ChatterPix may be a very simple app but I can guarantee it will have you and your students rolling around on the floor in hysterics. The tagline for the app is: Chatterpix can make anything talk — pets, friends, doodles, and more; and it’s desperately amazing just how much fun making things talk can be. By using the app with any picture or photo you have, it’s as simple as drawing a line where you want the mouth and then recording your voice. ChatterPix will do the rest!"-- Nick Grantham, Fractus Learning, 10/23/14

"She Didn't Teach. We Had to Learn it Ourselves"
"Yesterday I got an email from a faculty member who had just received her spring semester student ratings (yes, in August, but that’s a topic for another post). She’d gotten one of those blistering student comments. “This teacher should not be paid. We had to teach ourselves in this course.” I remember another faculty member telling me about similar feedback, which was followed later with a comment about how the course “really made me think.” -- Maryellen Weimer, Teaching Professor Blog, 9/10/14

Weekly Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 22:14:00 +0000

On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're the 'Wrong' Professor
"I—November 29, 2011: At 7:30 on a Tuesday, right after supper, Karen McArthur had just started to wind down for the night. Her three kids were in their pajamas, reading in front of the fireplace, and her husband Jim was cleaning up the kitchen.McArthur, an adjunct professor of art history at Austin Peay State University, flipped open her laptop to see if any students had questions about their class assignments. Instead, she was shocked by an email from Alexandra Blau, a colleague she’d never met." -- Stacey Patton, Chronicle Vitae, 10/2/14

The Relationship Between Participation and Discussion
"My interest in participation and discussion continues. How do we use them so that they more effectively promote engagement and learning? A couple of colleagues and I have been working on a paper that deals with how we define participation and discussion. (Side note: If you want to challenge your thinking about an aspect of teaching and learning, consider focused conversations with colleagues and the purposefulness of a writing project. I have said it before and will likely say it again: We have so much to learn from and with each other.) One of the new insights that has come to me out of this collaboration involves the relationship between participation and discussion. I used to think of them as being related, but I didn’t see them as interrelated." -- MaryEllen Weimer, Teaching Professor Blog, 10/22/14

Incorporating Active Learning into the Online Classroom
"Gary Ackerman, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Mount Wachusett Community College, works with faculty to incorporate active learning into their online and face-to-face courses, and while there are differences in these learning environments, active learning can be implemented just as well online as face-to-face. Ackerman encourages faculty members to use the following active learning approaches in their online (as well as face-to-face) courses." -- Rob Kelly, Faculty Focus | Online Education, 10/21/14

Library Advocacy Done Wrong
"Despite their good intentions, there are some people who maybe shouldn’t advocate for change in libraries. For example, the generally awful Huffington Post is hosting a blog post that grated on my nerves the entire time I was reading it. It’s advocating making a change to the Woodstock Library. I’m assuming that’s Woodstock, NY, although the state is never specified and since the Huffington Post isn’t a local news site a guess based on context clues is all we have. We can’t say for certain that she’s not writing about the Woodstock in Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, or Vermont." -- The Annoyed Librarian, Library Journal, 10/27/14

New Pinterest Layout?

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 17:30:00 +0000

Pinterest has been busy as of late with promoted pins, privacy updates, and custom search options.

A recent 'redesign' adjusted the general layout significantly as well.

Earlier today while updating the #IRCshelfies board on Pinterest, I was surprised by another layout update. This time the profile had been updated to oddly resemble Tumblr.

After making a few adjustments to the display (the word 'library' was no longer visible), I logged out to check my personal site. Why? Often Pinterest changes and updates are done on a trial basis and only one site reflects a pending update. My personal site reflected the same layout update. However, when moving back to the IRC site it returned to the previous profile display.

In the time it took me to log in to @ircaulibrary to grab a link for my pin description and upload the #IRCshelfie pin ...

My instructional technology classes recently completed their Pinterest assignment. Yesterday, I finished project evaluation for both sections. I am oddly relieved by the timing of this site redesign. Changes are to be expected and students are made aware of how using free resources can impact lessons, but it would have been somewhat stressful.

Even more so as the update has once again reverted back to the 'old' design layout.

ALAO 2014: Registration Ends Soon

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 14:23:00 +0000

40th Annual ALAO Conference
November 14, 2014
Pre-conference November 13, 2014
The Kalahari Resorts • 7000 Kalahari Drive
Sandusky, Ohio 44870

Keynote Speaker: Courtney Young, ALA President
Head Librarian and Professor of Women's Studies at Penn State Greater Allegheny
"Diversity, Professional Development & Participation: How Academic Libraries Empower Communities"

Preliminary Program available online.
Conference Website: http://www.alaoweb.org/conference
Register: http://www.alaoweb.org/event-830948

Pre-conference Speaker: Char Booth
Director of Research, Teaching, and Learning Services at the Claremont Colleges Library
"Who Gives? Advocacy & Outreach That Make Things Matter"

Pre-conference Website: http://alaoweb.org/page-1820075
Pre-conference Registration: http://alaoweb.org/page-1820074

Registration Closes: October 22, 2014

No Refunds after October 22, 2014

Questions about conference registration? Please contact Judy Cerqua, Registration Coordinator, cerqua.1 at osu.edu.

For information on lodging, please visit the conference website.

Connect With Us!
Follow the conference with the official Twitter hashtag #ALAO2014

Weekly Reader, Monday edition

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 17:36:00 +0000

Hello? No, Ello
"As if we at Tenured Radical did not spend enough time on Facebook, Twitter, Google Hangouts, Skype and blogging, now there is this Ello thing. Ello? Ello is a new social networking site that advertises itself as “totally ad-free. Ello does not sell data about you to third parties, including advertisers and data brokers,” they promise."-- Claire Potter, Tenured Radical, 9/25/14

What You Need to Know About Yik Yak, an App Causing Trouble on Campuses
"Anonymous posts on a smartphone application called Yik Yak are facilitating conversations on college campuses, but the dialogue is not always fit for the classroom. Discussions on the app sometimes dredge up racist, sexist, and other degrading content, and students at multiple colleges have been arrested for using Yik Yak to post threats to campus safety." -- Rebecca Koenig, Chronicle | Technology, 9/26/14

An Informal Study: Do Book Challenges Suppress Diversity?
"What is the overlap between challenged books and books by diverse authors? Inspired by the recent flurry of challenges to titles with diverse characters or by minorities or LGBTQ writers, young adult author and Diversity in YA co-founder Malinda Lo conducted an informal study to see whether there is a correlation between challenged books and diverse content." -- Shelly Diaz, School Library Journal, 9/25/14

ALAO 2014: Conference Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 12:25:00 +0000

40th Annual ALAO Conference

November 14, 2014
The Kalahari Resorts • 7000 Kalahari Drive
Sandusky, OH 44870

The preliminary conference schedule and session abstracts (new) are now available on the ALAO 2014 Conference web site.

• More about the conference •

Keynote Speaker: Courtney Young, ALA President

Keynote Address: Diversity, Professional Development & Participation: How Academic Libraries Empower Communities

Conference Website: http://www.alaoweb.org/conference
Register: http://www.alaoweb.org/event-830948

Connect With Us!
Follow the conference with the official Twitter hashtag #ALAO2014

ready to #tweetalao

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 17:05:00 +0000

Time is drawing near for the 40th annual ALAO conference. I'm excited to be presenting Engaging Tweets: Twitter as Personal Learning Network with Kaylin @theleastshrew. If you are attending the conference, consider joining us to #tweetalao.

Twitter is a fun, casual, and powerful tool for connecting with the global library community. In this interactive session, we will explore the use of Twitter as a communication resource for library professionals, a back channel tool for collaborating with students and faculty, and demonstrate ways to empower your personal learning network.#TweetALAO

#tweetalao Tweets

We are curating interesting articles and infographics on Pinterest.

Follow Diane's board ALAO 2014: #tweetalao on Pinterest.

And have set up our hash tag with Twubs (though the embed function seems iffy).

#tweetalao

Weekly Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 17:49:00 +0000

Yik Yak is an Anagram for Hot Mess
"When I first heard about Yik Yak, it was being referenced in an article about cyberbullying at Chicago high schools. Recognizing that anonymous posts via the mobile app were hurting students via threats and intimidation, Yik Yak blocked access within defined electronic geo-fences. It was actually a classy maneuver." -- Eric Stoller, Student Affairs & Technology, 9/18/14

What Makes a Good Course?
"I’m teaching a one-credit class this semester in the Preparing Future Faculty program called College Teaching. In it, we are talking about, well, unsurprisingly, college teaching. Last week was our first class and we started by discussing what makes a good professor or teacher. The students had read the first chapter of The Courage to Teach, and they wrote about an experience or person who shaped their attitude towards education. We were in the right mind-space for talking about good teachers." -- Lee Skallerup Bessette, College Ready Writing, 9/18/14

Why Do People Who Love Libraries Love Libraries
"Why do people who love libraries love libraries? This has been on my mind a lot lately. Whenever I find a patron who is passionate about their library I try to decode those tangible and intangible qualities that made the experience so powerful for them." -- Brian Matthews, Ubiquitous Librarian, 9/19/14

Ed Tech's Next Wave Rolls into View
"In my 25-plus years as an early-stage venture capitalist investing in education technology, I have been fortunate to fund several successful and important companies. This experience has given me a unique perch from which to notice emerging patterns in the ed-tech world. While pattern recognition is imprecise at best, I subscribe to the analysis made in the Malcolm Gladwell book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking: You know it when you see it. I think we are about to embark on the third, and probably most transformative, wave of ed-tech companies and new learning technologies." -- Roger Novac, The Chronicle, 9/15/14

Why I Don’t Talk Much about Gender or Race & Why I Support the Ada Initiative
"I rarely talk about gender or race issues. Not because I am not interested but because I am afraid that I may say things that are viewed negatively by a socially acceptable norm. As a person who grew up in one country with one culture (the Confusian culture that is notoriously preferential to men to boot) and then moved to, live, and now work in another country with a completely different culture (just as discriminatory to women and minorities I am afraid) and who often has opinions that are different from those held by the majorities in both societies, I am acutely aware of various disadvantages, backlashes, and penalties that can result as a consequence of a minor slip and the pervasive social norm of inequality applied to women and racial/ethnic/gender minorities reinforced in everyday life." -- Bohyun Kim, Library Hat, 9/10/14

Ready for Banned Books Week?

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 17:07:00 +0000

For some reason, I often 'miss' Banned Books week. Maybe it is because Banned Books week is scheduled for September, this year it is September 21 - 27, and I am focused on getting the term off to a good start and training new student workers. Regardless, I find myself playing catch-up posting relevant information for students. Last year I created a Banned Books Week IRC Pinterest board.

Follow IRC's board Banned Books Week on Pinterest.
I updated last week and moved it to the top row (I routinely rotate boards to the top two rows to keep the page fresh). The free graphics for this year's BBW are clever; they make interesting visual presentation perfect for Pinterest and connect with college students. Who hasn't seen a tear-off sign on campus? With the images in mind, I decided it was time for a Banned Books Week LibGuide.

"Interested in learning more about Banned Books Week? There's a Banned Books Week LibGuide for that! The library guide presents an overview of Banned Books Week history and challenged books, Library Resources and Internet Resources for celebrating Banned Books Week, links to frequently banned and challenged books for the last ten years - and - challenged classics, an interactive timeline highlighting 30 Years of Challenged Literature, and the IRC Pinterest site." -- IRC News Blog

Blog posts are scheduled for late next week (IRC News Blog) and the first day of Banned books week (AU Library blog). I'm considering promotion using the IRC Twitter account and ALA's #bannedbooksweek tag. Time will tell. At least this year, I am ready for Banned Books Week.

Mock Caldecott: Fall Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 17:22:00 +0000

It's that time again! Mock Caldecott panels were held earlier this week with Dr. Mary Rycik's EDEC 323 Tradebooks and Technology with Literature class. I had an opportunity to meet with this class last week to help set up blogs and Pinterest sites used during the term. Their in-depth exploration of children's literature includes classics, poetry, folklore, fantasy, historical fiction, realistic fiction, award books, and a comprehensive author study.

... and their updated course LibGuide v2 is up to the challenge.

Prior to our session, students are introduced to elements of picture book art and illustration covering concepts of layout, design, form and function, balance, use of space, and the importance of art telling the story. Artistic mediums and styles, as well as parts of a picture book, are discussed. We met in the IRC to review and evaluate picture books; titles selected for the panel session meet criteria established by the Association for Library Services for Children, American Library Association Medal committee.

Twenty picture books considered are recent additions to the AU library juvenile collection. The selection included well known and award-winning illustrators as well as those new to picture book art. A variety of artistic mediums were represented such as collage, gauche, painted oils, pencil, watercolors, and mixed media. Students narrowed the field to four and voted for their winner. The Mock Caldecott winner, an overwhelming choice with 17 of 19 votes was Baby Bear, by author and illustrator Kadir Nelson. Honor book distinction was given to Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems, illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Interested in the books we used, check out the IRC Mock Caldecott Pinterest board.

* This post was originally published on the IRC News & Information Blog, 9/2/14

Sharing your Dream

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 18:02:00 +0000

Here's another great video from the people at Soul Pancake. I wonder how this would look standing outside our Library?

"We all have goals and dreams that we want to accomplish in life, but sometimes we’re reluctant to put them out into the world for fear of judgment or failure. So we decided to build a giant megaphone and invite passersby to step up, and shout them out." 9/2/14

ALAO Early Bird Registration

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Schrecker) — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 13:25:00 +0000

40th Annual ALAO Conference

November 14, 2014

The Kalahari Resorts • 7000 Kalahari Drive • Sandusky, Ohio 44870

Keynote address: Diversity, Professional Development & Participation: How Academic Libraries Empower Communities By: Courtney Young, ALA President and Head Librarian and Professor of Women's Studies at Penn State Greater Allegheny.

New! Are you interested in the conference? A preliminary program is now available on the conference web site.

There is still time to take advantage of our early bird rates:

Early Bird Registration ends September 19, 2014
Registration Closes: October 22, 2014 No Refunds after October 22, 2014

Pre-conference November 13, 2014
Pre-conference: Who Gives? Advocacy & Outreach That Make Things Matter By: Char Booth, Director of Research, Teaching, and Learning Services at the Claremont Colleges Library, and is on the faculty of the ACRL Information Literacy Immersion Institute.

Connect With Us!
Follow the conference with the official Twitter hashtag #ALAO2014

Questions about conference registration? Please contact Judy Cerqua, Registration Coordinator, at cerqua.1 at osu.edu or 614-247-2725.

If you have questions about the 40th Annual ALAO Conference, please contact Eboni Johnson at eboni.johnson at oberlin.edu.