ALA Editions Blog

Continuing the Conversation: How to Improve Your Library Instruction

Dan Freeman — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 21:31:28 +0000

We just wrapped up Sarah Steiner’s workshop: How to Improve Your Library Instruction: Assessment in Five Minutes. Below are slides and resources.

How to Improve Library Instruction: Assessment in Five Minutes from ALATechSource

Resources

Survey and Poll Tools

Other Resources

“Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Domain.” http://classweb.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/Resources2/bloomstax.htm
Educational Oasis, “Framework of Learning Outcomes.” http://www.educationoasis.com/instruction/bt/learning_objectives.htm
London Deanery, “Setting Learning Objectives.” http://www.faculty.londondeanery.ac.uk/e-learning/setting-learning-objectives
Penn State, “Writing Effective Questions to Promote Learning.” http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/learningdesign/effective_questions/
Utah State University Library, “Assessment.” http://library.usu.edu/instruct/assessment/index.php
“Virginia Tech Instruction Clearinghouse.” http://www.lib.vt.edu/RIS/clearinghouse/assessments.html

Continuing the Conversation: Libraries, Copyright and the World

Dan Freeman — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:07:01 +0000

We just wrapped up the most recent workshop in our Crews on Copyright series with Kenny Crews. Today’s workshop was Open Access and Your Publications: What's Copyright Got to Do with It?. The slides from the event, which contain some fantastic resources, are posted below.

Archive of American Libraries Live, Episode 1 Now Available!

Dan Freeman — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:38:43 +0000

In case you missed out, the archive of Episode 1, Library 2017, Tech At Warp Speed, the archive is now available. Host Jason Griffey led a fantastic discussion with panelists Rebecca Miller, Marshall Breeding and Nina McHale. We want to extend a special thanks to our live audience, our panel and the staff at the Northwestern University Library. Check out the video below!

Continuing the Conversation: Open Access and Your Publications: What's Copyright Got to Do with It?

Dan Freeman — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:53:54 +0000

Open Access and Your Publications: What's Copyright Got to Do with It? from ALATechSource

Continuing the Conversation: Introducing RDA

Dan Freeman — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:10:14 +0000

We just wrapped up Chris Oliver’s workshop Introducing RDA. Chris’ slides are embedded below. Whether you participated or not, feel free to take a look.

If you’d like to learn more about RDA, a wide variety of products and publications are available at the ALA Store.

Introducing RDA from ALATechSource

Huron Street Press furthers ALA’s mission to the public

Rob Christopher — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:24:28 +0000

Have you heard of the American Library Association's new publishing imprint? Huron Street Press, in line with ALA’s mission to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all, publishes a variety of titles designed to appeal to a broad consumer and library market. Its publications harness the expertise of the ALA, while encouraging library use among the public, joining other initiatives such as @ your library and ILoveLibraries.

Several Huron Street Press titles are now available for order or pre-order through Independent Publishers Group as well as numerous traditional retail outlets in both print and e-book editions:

Read with Me: Best Books for Preschoolers, by Stephanie Zvirin
Build Your Own App for Fun and Profit, by Scott La Counte
The Entrepreneur's Starter Kit: 50 Things to Know Before Starting a Business, by Paul Christopher
Working from Home: Earn a Living Where You Live, by Jane Jerrard
Queue Tips: Discovering Your Next Great Movie, by Rob Christopher
I Don't Want to Go to College: Other Paths to Success, by Heather Hutchins
Silly Books to Read Aloud, by Rob Reid
Remarkable Books About Young People with Special Needs, by Alison Follos
The Work/Life Balance Planner: Resetting Your Goals, by Ann Kepler
Finding Your Roots: Easy-to-Do Genealogy and Family History, by Janice Schultz

Check them out!

Looking for a new thriller to read?

Rob Christopher — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 20:44:23 +0000

Just in time to autumn ... and Halloween: our horror RA specialist Becky Siegel Spratford, author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, Second Edition, has a recommendation for you.

Continuing the Conversation: E-Reserves and Fair Use

Dan Freeman — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 19:15:23 +0000

Untitled Document

We just wrapped up the first workshop in our new series Crews on Copyright with Kenny Crews. Today’s workshop was on E-Reserves and Fair Use. The slides from the event, which contain some fantastic resources, are posted below.

Crews on Copyright: E-Reserves and Fair Use from ALATechSource

If you’d like to attend the next session, Open Access and Your Publications: What's Copyright Got to Do with It?, please visit the ALA Store to register.

Archive of the ALA Editions Free Webinar Introducing Grassroots Library Advocacy

Dan Freeman — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:49:18 +0000

We just wrapped up the ALA Editions Webinar Introducing Grassroots Library Advocacy with Lauren Comito, Aliqae Geraci and Christian Zabriskie.

If you missed the event or want to experience it again, check out the archive here.

Again, the URL for the archive is: https://alapublishing.webex.com/alapublishing/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=5581507&rKey=4d8ce4ad60739a1b

The slides for the webinar are embedded below:

Introducing Grassroots Library Advocacy from ALATechSource.

If you enjoyed the Webinar and want to go more in-depth, two weeks from today, Lauren, Aliqae and Christian will be offering an in-depth workshop, Implementing Grassroots Library Advocacy.

In this first-of-its-kind workshop, you’ll have a chance to interact with the instructors and participate in thinking exercises. Please visit the ALA Store for more information.

New from ALA Editions: Complete Copyright for K–12 Librarians and Educators by Carrie Russell

Chris Rhodes — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 16:11:24 +0000

ALA Editions is proud to publish Complete Copyright for K–12 Librarians and Educators by Carrie Russell of ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy, with illustrations by Jessica Abel. Here Abel offers some comments on her working process and what goes in to illustrating the ins and outs of copyright issues!

I’m a cartoonist and a comics educator. But sometimes, I’m also an illustrator. It was in that capacity that, back in—what was it, 2005? I got a call from a design agency called Design Farm to work on a book about copyright law aimed at librarians (Complete Copyright: An Everyday Guide For Librarians). They wanted to use my skills as a cartoonist to develop a set of characters who would be able to act out various challenging scenarios familiar to librarians in a way that was both fun and clear.

I’d long had dealings with great comics-friendly librarians (especially via my comics intro to the idea of graphic novels “What is a Graphic Novel?”), so I knew it was the right approach to take.

It was a great project! The design director, Jodi Bloom, and especially the writer, Carrie Russell, were fantastic creative partners: always interested in what I had to offer, flexible, and fun. And it was a great bonus for me as a cartoonist, and thus a creator of lots of copyrighted content, to get the chance to understand copyright a bit better myself.

Fast forward to 2008, and I got another call from Carrie, now working on a second volume of this series, aimed at school librarians.

I signed up immediately, and since in this case there is no design firm involved, I was able to have a bit more say in how the illustrations would work. Consistent with my background as a narrative cartoonist, I suggested that the characters not simply appear randomly to illustrate one concept or another, but that the book as a whole have a kind of storyline to it.

Well, it’s loose, but there is a story, and that made the project very satisfying. It’s a silly little tale of Goofus and Gallant-like librarians struggling with copyright issues in their daily routine, but even so, I got to really have a soft spot for that uptight Lindsey Eagan...

And Carrie, if you're reading this, I'm all geared up for volume 3!

Here’s the fronticepiece of the book in development: it’s a bit more complex than most of the drawings, so there is more prep that goes into it, but the basic idea is the same throughout.