Report from the beach... FLA Conference

The 2008 Florida Library Association Annual Conference that I went to last week was really good. Not nearly as much “conference fatigue” as I experience at some of them! Of course, just being at the beach helped :-) The theme for this year’s conference was leadership.

I attended the following sessions and can post more details, if anyone is interested. I also have handouts from most of the presentations and a few presenters provided links to online versions of the PPT. Just let me know…
• The Future of Academic Libraries
• “Pls hury it up thanks!!!” Interpersonal Communication in Virtual Reference
• Dealing with non-productive staff! How to train, transfer or terminate ‘em!
• Beyond the Basics- being a leader in providing customized research services for faculty and students
• Technology is easy, people are hard: leading technology shifts in libraries
• Going the distance, meeting the need: using video teaching and teleconferencing technology to enhance library instruction services

My poster session went well (IMO). Unfortunately, they didn’t advertise where we would be- but we did get quite a bit of traffic for mine on Thursday. I marketed more like a vendor- borrowed a Ras table cover from Admissions, free pens & pencils, and CANDY, in addition to my handouts. A lot of people asked “Where’s Rasmussen College?” which gave me the opportunity to talk about the college, library system, and the CD/faculty collaboration experiment I started (emailing the program-specific lists & the form to try and increase input/documentation). I also had the opportunity to talk to a few library students, which I like always find fun.

The exhibits were alright. Stopped by Polaris for another look at the staff end; didn’t get a chance to get over to TLC but we know we like them :-) I have flyers for Wilson Web’s Current Issues in Health and Ovid’s Nursing FT Plus. The Wilson database looked very user-friendly in terms of the interface and results- particularly for 2 yr students.

MN Librarians - Donating withdrawn books

Emily helped me find this great site http://www.minitex.umn.edu/serex/donating.aspx for donating withdrawn resources. A pickup service is offered through MINITEX for picking up quality items that are no longer needed by your library. I donated a collection of law materials from 2005, and they seemed confident they could find a library that might use them.

If you have materials that are still in good condition and you think other libraries might benefit from them, just give them a call at MINITEX and they'll be happy to help. It was a simple and quick process.

I would like to share what I am doing to advertise the library survey. Please send me, or post on the blog, what you are doing at your campus.

Posters with the survey http address attached - Place on bulletin board in the entryway, student
lounge door, library door, librarian's desk. (Have you ever seen at the grocery store or
laundromat signs that have many copies of the phone number on the bottom so that you
can rip off one of them and take it with you? That is what these posters have.)
Student Announcements - These are put out by our front office and they were happy to include
one of Emily's posters to advertise the survey for us.
Emails on Monday and Wednesday
Personally hounding everyone we see next week.

I think I need to do more. If any brilliant thought comes to me I will pass it along!

Fed 101

Cool site! It came from an Accounting teacher here. I have already put it on Magnolia. There is a free video on the Federal Reserve it is free and only 13 minutes. Once you get to the site look over on the far right and find Fed Today video.

http://www.federalreserveeducation.org/fed101/

Outcomes and Assessments

As Emily was talking about outcomes and assessments yesterday, my mind went to an article I recently read in "College & Research Libraries News" in the January 2008 issue. The article was about a librarian who embedded herself in a Communication course. The professor was the one who came up with the idea. She found that by being in class she was able to address Information Literacy skills as they came up and the results were great. The article is titled,
The "embedded"librarian in a freshman speech class and it is on page 28.

I am not saying that we should imbed ourselves in a course. This took a lot of time and some of it was time she gave but I am thinking that it would be to our benefit to work closely with those who are teaching. For instance in a Success Strategies class (in house) I team teach with another staff member. When she gets to the part on brainstorming she lets me know it is time to come in. This process takes us two weeks. The first week I go in and along with her help we introduce the resources available in the library for students to use. She gives the students an assignment and we tell them to start searching for resources for next week. The next week we meet in a computer lab and we give students time to search for resources. Both of us walk around and help those that need it and question those who think that don't need help. The last 30 minutes I show them how to use Noodlebib. I make sure that all can log in and have them all add one. The assignment then is for the students to create a resource list of 1 website, a book and 3 journals.

By having me go into the classroom, I am able to get to know the students and I have found that students are more comfortable with me and I usually end up with at least 3 to 5 of them coming in for more help. Then I can work on key words with them or walk them through putting more resources in Noodle Bib.

I really enjoy working in the classroom with the teacher and I try to get a chance whenever I can. Sometimes the classroom is the library!

Just recently I had a 300 class in here. The four of them did not know how to access the library resources or use Noodlebib. We did it in two nights and the teacher was following along on his own computer and asked questions.

Yes, I think outcomes and assessments are important to us as librarians and I would like to be apart of this group! With outcomes we will get farther with Information literacy.

National Library Week Poetry Reading

Hello All,
At the Fargo Campus last week we had three poetry reading events for our National Library Week celebration. On Wednesday over the lunch hour myself two faculty and one staff member read. We had Frost, Kipling, Hughes, read along with original poetry from Rob Neuteboom just finishing his M.F.A. in Creative Writing as well as current poetry/slam style from our On-line student services coordinator, John Andrick. John also video recording the event to put on our "Ning" site. It was a fun event with about twenty students attending the three sessions. I haven't been able to get it to upload here. I will send out link when it is on the Ning.

Evaluating the Collection

Has anyone done an evaluation of their collection before using the A,B,C levels of collection development? If so, I am interested in knowing how you went about it. How much time did it take? Did you have a meeting with faculty first? Did you give them the collection development policy in advance, etc. I want to get started on mine, so any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks!

Greenwood- Free Access to Online Resources

Greenwood Publishing Group is pleased to offer free access to our online databases for National Library Week. Take a look at our critically-acclaimed online products: Latino American Experience, African American Experience, Daily Life America, Praeger Security International Online, Daily Life Through History, World Folklore and Folklife, The Reader's Advisor Online, Greenwood Digital Collection, and many more...And enter our daily raffle for $500 worth of ebooks held every day during National Library Week.

http://www.greenwood.com/

Drag de Go in Worldcat..

This is a pretty cool Firefox extension..

What Soldiers Carry for Good Luck

I just thought this was neat (emphasis is mine):

"In these ravaged parts, comfort comes in the form of a grandfather's dog tags, a library card, an ultrasound image of a daughter still in the womb -- any personal good luck charm to keep up motivation and hope of safely returning home."

For the full story see here:

What Soldiers Carry for Good Luck

POPLINE restricts the word ‘Abortion’ from the government funded database

One of our Gen Ed teachers sent this to me. He was upset that this can happen, and at John Hopkins of all places.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/03/popline-restricts-the-word-abortion-from-the-government-funded-database/

I was surprised that the government would take a stand such as this. An average joe would not think of the other terms that could be used. What do you think?

Meebo Best Practices

Here is a list of Best Practices I've compiled to follow for virtual chat reference modeled after RUSA's guidelines. If you have any more suggestions, post them here or e-mail them to me.

I. Introduction

a. Introduce yourself.

b. Include your position/title.

II. Show Interest

a. Ask how you can help.

b. Maintain word contact. In other words, make sure they know you’re paying attention or where you are at all times. For example, say ‘okay’, ‘thank you’, ‘I see’…etc. to show that you’re “listening.”

c. If you know you’re going to be “quiet” for a while, let the person know. Tell them when you’ll be back or let them know what you’re doing so they know why you’re not responding. “I’m going to search this database but I’ll still be here.” “I am going to go look on the shelves.” “I have to take this phone call, I’ll be right back.”

III. Listening/Inquiring

a. Restate provided information using your own words so they can see how you interpreted their information request.

b. Ask clarifying questions.

i. What are the details of your assignment? This is an important question to determine if you could provide them with information they might not know they need right now. APA help, for instance.

ii. What types of information sources are acceptable? (Databases, books, websites…etc.)

iii. What information have you already found?

c. Ask open ended questions.

i. What more can you tell me about your topic?

ii. How much information do you need?

d. Maintain objectivity.

IV. Searching

a. Find out what sources the student has tried.

b. Verify spelling and facts provided.

c. Explain your search process to the student.

i. Identify search terms used.

ii. Let them know which library services you are using to perform the search such as a specific database, the Internet, bookmarks or NetLibrary.

iii. Ensure they know where to find the services on the library’s website for future independent searching.

iv. When showing them how to find information on the website, make sure they open a new browser as to not navigate away from your chat window.

v. Once you have found the information, ask if it meets their needs.

V. Follow-Up

a. Ask patrons if their question has been answered completely.

b. Ask them if they have any more questions.

c. Based on the information you’ve discovered during the reference transaction as to the reason they need the information they’re seeking, suggest other library services they may find helpful in the future.

i. APA help.

ii. Other databases they may want to search for further information.

d. Let them know how to contact you or other librarians.

i. Let them know how long you will be available on Meebo and if another librarian will be at their disposable after your shift is over.

ii. Give them an e-mail address where they can contact you.

iii. Inform them of the “Ask a Librarian” e-mail option on the main library page.

iv. If necessary, provide them with a telephone number.

v. Set up an in person appointment if necessary and possible.

e. Do not end the interview prematurely. Let them end it.

General Tech Tips:

1. Use Firefox. Meebo .

2. Open a separate window for Meebo. Some of the signs of an incoming message won’t appear if more than one tab is open in the same window from which you’re accessing Meebo.

3. If you have to step away from the computer, make sure you leave an away message. To add an away message, click on the “I’m available” link underneath the smiley faces on the Meebo Buddy list window and choose the “Custom” option. A window will appear allowing you to type in a message for students to see. Be specific!

4. Don’t forget to record your shift, number of reference interactions and the nature of those questions in the RCLS Google Docs account.

Sources:

RUSA. (2007) Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Services Professionals. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/protools/referenceguide/guidelinesbehavioral.cfm

~Krista Jacobson

Poster Session.... Collection Development Redux

So- my poster session (although this year they're not really doing "poster-like" displays) at the Florida Library Association Annual Conference is coming up in a few weeks. While this is Florida-specific, I used the fact that we are across 5 states as a "grab" of sorts.

I am highlighting collaborative collection development and incorporating the email lists (CHOICE, RCLweb) w/the form to try and increase faculty input. (This might be helpful to other academic librarians.) To an extent, input has increased on my campus. If anyone else has tried this yet, I would appreciate any info so I can incorporate details, anecdotes, whatever from other campuses, too. Thanks as always!

Chat/IM Reference in Illinois Academic Libraries

One session I attended at the IACRL conference was on Chat/IM reference at Illinois State University. ISU started using virtual reference through Docutec. It didn’t really take off the way they had hoped. When they switched to IM, the stats went up. They talked with focus groups to evaluate their reference services. The groups consisted of undergrads, grads on campus, and grads off campus. They had 45 participants divided into 7 groups of 5-10 students.
They asked students about their approach to research, preferred ways of seeking research assistance, what they value most in reference assistance, and their perceptions of chat or IM reference.

Results:

50% of the students used the library, either physical or virtual
There were too many databases and either too many/not enough results
Role of the professor was crucial

Use of IM:
Didn’t fit stereotype of millennial student
Used IM for social purposes
Unaware of IM and all else that the library had to offer

50% of the students knew they could use phone for reference
Some knew they could schedule an appointment
None had used chat reference
Perception of “chat” was chat room, not IM

Ideal Reference Services:

Personal librarian
Face to face or email
No automated phones
A specific person to email

ISU found that they needed to address all services promoted. Students value library as place. They wanted quiet hours and access to computers. Some students are unable to cross the digital divide. It is necessary to reach all students whatever their comfort level. It is also important to publicize all services to transfer students.

LibQUAL Survey at Western Illinois University Libraries

Since we are going to be conducting the LibQUAL survey, I went to a session on it at IACRL. In October 2006, WIU conducted the survey. They wanted to assess user expectations of library services, benchmark results with peer institutions for best practices, integrate best practices into strategic planning, foster a culture of excellence, and enhance analytical skills.

They decided to include the whole institution instead of a percentage of it. In order to get people to participate in the survey, they had prizes consisting of 5 iPod Shuffles, and several gift cards for the bookstore. To publicize the survey, they put it on the webpage, in the newsletter, and had table top signs in the library, lounge, and success center. They sent emails the day before with instructions. They ran the survey for a two week period and sent a reminder email halfway through. Even with all of this, they had less than 10% respond to the survey.

One of the things they liked about the survey is that they could read the responses live. As the surveys were being filled out they could look at the results and see what the users were thinking. They also liked the comment area. They could view comments about staff. Some of the comments they saw indicated that users wanted study space for both groups and individuals and that they wanted a scanner, color printer, and fax service. They were willing to pay for these services. They felt that the users were on target.

Analysis of the survey:
Quality of services was good.
Users wanted expanded service hours and more hours during break.
There was a “disconnect” between choices on the Webpage and those users needed.
There was a need for better instruction in access/use of resources.
There was a need for better directional cues to services.
There was a need for more recent books in the disciplines.
Library needs to market and promote resources and services.

WIU had focus groups before and after the survey. The attendance for the second focus group was poor and they thought this was possibly because they had already started making positive changes.

To wrap up, they gave out the prizes and publicized the list of winners. This is so that people know that they actually did what they said they were going to do and to get participants for the next survey. The next steps for WIU include instituting more changes, allowing time for the changes to influence users’ perceptions, and beginning the next cycle. WIU plans to do another LibQUAL assessment in 2009 to measure possible changes and improvements in service quality.

View LibQUAL results at WIU.