Clean Off your Google Goggles

I created a new workshop this past quarter called Clean off your Google Goggles.

I thought I'd share some of the concepts and a few of the slides.


I had the students help me make a list of what constitutes a quality website and a poor quality website. The students actually put together a nice list, and it was a great, interactive way to start the workshop.



Next, I showed the students some examples of bad websites and good websites. It's easy to find links for these sites b/c of lists like this provided on the web.



Then, I explained all the other fixings that Google has to offer like Google Scholar, Images, News, Maps, Alerts, etc. The students didn't seem aware of anything beyond the usual, basic google.com search. I think they were pretty intrigued by setting up an Alert to track websites and articles throughout the few weeks that they'd be doing research each quarter.

Also, I think they liked being able to search solely for newspaper articles similar to searching for newspaper articles in the databases.









Next, we went through the alternatives to Google. I took them through google search in each of the different jazzy google options like Scholar, etc, and then I used the same keywords that we selected in the Ebsco databases. Then, I took them to Encyclopedia Britannica.

Turnitin: I'm a plagiarizer?

Today was the first time I've used Turnitin. I submitted a paper I wrote to see how it would fair under Turnitin's scrutiny. In my paper, I cited my sources, paraphrased, and used quotation marks. Yet Turnitin said that 21% of my paper was similar to other works. When I looked at the passages marked as similar and compared them to the originals, I noticed a few things...

I had never used (or even seen) the sources/papers to which my paper had similarities. Many of them were student papers submitted to Turnitin.

If I quoted a passage and a writer in the Turnitin database had also cited the same passage, my passage was flagged even though I had used quotation marks and cited properly. So if another writer and I used the same source and both decided to quote the same section, I get flagged as a possible plagiarizer.

Sections of the citations on my reference list were flagged because other papers in the database contained those same reference citations.

On the similarity report, I can exclude quotations and bibliography. Doing that decreases my paper to 4% similarity.

I can see a lot of value to using Turnitin or a similar service. However, there would need to be substantial (and repeated) training for instructors who use it so that they can accurately interpret the similarity reports. I'd hate to have failed my paper because 21% of it was similar to other works (including reference pages).

Gift Cards: RESOLVED

Librarians,

We can use our purchase account through Amazon to buy gift cards. There is a minimal charge for shipping ($1.95), but the entire cost is charged to our account.

You can buy iTunes, Target, Amazon and more. There are some other specialty items, such as gift baskets, that you can buy through Amazon as well.

This should resolve the "gift card" issue.

-Emily

Meebo Math

We've been recording our Meebo chats for over two months now and I wanted to take a look at our statistics to get a picture of which days and times are more popular. I'll just be straightforward and give you the numbers I crunched.

Disclaimer: The results may be skewed because everyone would record their sessions differently. Some of us would record a request to be added to the buddy list as a transaction and some of us didn't. When a student would navigate away from a chat window and then come back, some of us would record that as multiple sessions while others would count it as one. If a chat session wasn't recorded in the Google Documents session, then naturally it won't influence the results here. Finally, I'll admit to rounding, estimating and even human error on my part. Counting seemed so much simpler in first grade.

April and May Overview:

April: 81 chat sessions over 122 hours for a rate of .67 questions per hour.
May: 143 chat sessions over 133 hours for a rate of 1.08 questions per hour covered.

That's an improvement of 62%!

Morning, Afternoon and Evening Chat Overview:*

I divided up the chat sessions into three time periods. The first period is the morning period and it covers any time before 1 p.m. Central. I didn't second guess the times entered, however. If a librarian was on the east coast and said their session went from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., I counted it as an afternoon session even though it was technically only 1 p.m. Central when the session ended. There were a few times when two librarians would have the same hours covered because of this. The afternoon time period went from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The evening time period covered any time after 5 p.m. That technically makes it the longest time period but most of the evening chat sessions were done before 9 p.m. Central. If a session went from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., I'd split the session up and give one hour to the morning and another to the afternoon. If there were an even number of questions recorded, I'd divide them equally between the two time periods. If there was an even number or an easily dividable number (3 questions over 3 hours), it was random which time period received the extra. Overly scientific, this is not.

Morning: 57 questions over close to 80 hours with a rate of .71 questions per hour.
Afternoon: 99 questions over 111.25 hours covered with a rate of .88 questions per hour.
Evening: 110 questions over 95.75 hours covered with a rate of 1.15 questions per hour.

*These figures include the past week's June sessions so the numbers aren't just April and May.


Days of the Week Overview:*

The most popular days of the week were Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday with averages over one question per covered hour. The least popular were Friday and Saturday with about one question per every two hours.

*Listed by most popular days to least popular days.

Tuesday: 60 questions over 43.75 hours for a ratio of 1.37 questions per hour.
Sunday: 27 questions over 24.5 hours for a ratio of 1.1 questions per hour.
Wednesday: 62 questions over 57.75 hours for a ratio of 1.07 questions per hour.
Thursday: 54 questions over 62.25 hours for a ratio of .87 questions per hour.
Monday: 37 questions over 46.25 hours for a ratio of .8 questions per hour.
Friday: 13 questions over 24.5 hours for a ratio of .53 questions per hour.
Saturday: 13 questions over 25.75 hours for a ratio of .5 questions per hour.

It should be noted that most of Friday and Saturday's chat sessions were done in the morning or early afternoon which could influence how low they are since morning is the least active time period. In the same vein, all of Sunday's sessions were done in the evening which is, according to the time period comparison, the most popular time for chat sessions. The numbers aren't weighed down by inactive morning or afternoon sessions.

*These figures include the past week's June sessions so the numbers aren't just April and May.

There is a rough glance at the numbers. We can perhaps study these to determine which time periods are important to cover as best we can while leaving room for a life. Or maybe just look at them because numbers are cool.

-Krista

ILS: The Final Word

I dislike budget planning. First, it always coincides with my review and I have too much paperwork to do with that. Also, I'm always worried that a bad performance review will equal less resources for the library. Finally, I just have too much data in my head to keep it sorted.

This year is especially trying since we are looking at a new ILS. I've read through and heard your comments through the blog and various conversations.

One thing is crystal clear: what we use now is no longer meeting our needs. As solo librarians at your campus, you need an interface that is efficient for all services. You need clean reports for the purposes of assessment and development. You need a product that will interface with our vendors and with partner software (i.e., CLASS). And you need an OPAC that students will come as close to enjoying as anyone would doing research.

Not many of you rooted for Polaris. I'm not sure that I am surprised: we didn't have very long meetings with the Polaris folks, and the OPAC isn't shiny. For what it's worth, I think that their cataloging and circulation interfaces would work fine for us. My primary concern is their customer service - who are you going to call if you need help?

Most of you seemed to like TLC for one reason or another. While cataloging seemed complex, I don't think that it was much more so than Polaris (he just went into quite a bit of detail). Serials would be nice to have but not crucial to our service. Acquisitions may also be a nice bonus but I don't think it's something we could use this year (or even next). I liked their Authority Control, the high level of support, and the flexibility to work with B&T, CLASS, etc. Of course, it's also the cheaper option, which is not so bad.

So I guess it comes down to WHICH OPAC in TLC you like more - AquaBrowser or Indigo? Indigo is pretty but it isn't finished - and he never directly answered the question if it would integrate with WebFeat. AquaBrowser ALREADY integrates with WebFeat. Indigo has nice tagging features that AquaBrowser will not have. However, I'm not sure we could set our homepages to Indigo - so the book river, while beautiful, may not be functional for us.

I'd like to make a decision for budgeting purposes by Friday. What's your final choice? TLC Aquabrowser, TLC Indigo, or Polaris - and why?

Outlines and Table of Contents

Do you have students ask you how to do an outline or table of contents in APA formatting. I have this happen to me every quarter. There isn't any info in the Wadsworth about APA rules for these items. I have looked online, and I have not found much info. This is pretty great for Outlines, but I find myself wondering if APA really even has rules for outlines or TofCs.

I think that some assignments must say: "your research paper should include a table of contents in APA format," and then students are scrambling to figure out what this means.

I was thinking of emailing the instructors on my campus to tell them that there aren't real concrete rules for APA in regard to TofC and outlines. Thoughts? Advice?

question about how databases are refered to

I am curious to know how many others have questions from students who are frustrated because the instructor will say to 'look in the Ebscohost' and the students cannot find 'Ebscoshost' (just given that instead of a specific database or that it is found on the library page). I'm wondering if we can check with instructors and have them change it in their syllibi to at least say check the databases on the library page (wouldn't necessarily be an Ebsco database used in the search).

Interesting website for instrutors

Found this really cool article on a helpful website developed by Carlton College:

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3036/pedagogy-in-action-online

I already added it to ma.gnolia but it would be something to show faculty.

Books in Print/RCL Web/ CHOICE

Librarians,

Which of the following products do we need to subscribe to next year for purposes of collection development, and WHY?

Books in Print
RCL Web
CHOICE

Thanks, Emily

What did you like better?

I like TLC better because it was a nicer and much better look for our students.

Work vs. Play

I was working so hard...




that I was barely hanging on....



Thank goodness for vacation!

Admission Rep Meeting

On May 9th I did a forty minute presentation for the admission reps for Fargo and Moorhead campuses. We have had a number of new admission staff join in the last month as well as a new director of admissions. We discussed how to present both the physical library itself-their first sentence should not include,"I know this library is really small, but..." I emphasized the volume of resources available through our databases, we did a mini-database searching workshop, a presentation of our presence on the portal, I used the handout Emily prepared a few quarters ago, so they each left with something concrete. I also discussed my role and my service to students as a librarian along with our network of campus libraries and librarians. I received a lot of positive feedback during the talk and after. Tours have noticeablely improved, has anyone else presented for the admission reps?

Stagnant?

Does anyone feel that, despite the days and weeks when you go home exhausted, you just aren't getting anything done? Or, in the big picture, like you are a hamster on a wheel?

How do you combat that stagnant feeling?

So, what's a CMDS?

Thank you all for the congratulations & kind words on my committee appointment!

I thought I would explain a little more about the division- section- committee for clarification. As I'm sure most of you know, the American Library Association has a number of divisions - and round tables (like the Video Round Table that Emily emailed us about a little while ago). I am a member of the division Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS - pronounced "alex" or close to that as I learned at Midwinter). ALCTS provides continuing ed, standards, publications, etc. relating to Collections, Acquisitions, Serials, Cataloging, and Preservation. The section for collections is Collection Management & Development Section, or CMDS, and includes a number of committees. One such committee is Collection Assessment.

More info at- http://www.ala.org/ala/alcts/alcts.cfm

Website For You - CD

Library Journal offers links to Publisher Catalogs that you can flip through electronically. Pretty cool.

On Books & Budget

Should we offer eAudioBooks? NetLibrary offers a Popular Fiction Collection for Academic Libraries. Should we provide this collection for students, faculty & staff?

How should we budget for print books next year? Should I budget a lump sum for each of your campuses for all print books and AV? Or should I make distinctions by program? Should I divide the budget again by Reference & Circ?

What are the core titles that every campus needs to get every year? I'm already thinking:

- ICD-9
- HCPCS
- Almanac
- Statistical Abstract
- Tax Guides/Resources
- CIA Factbook (Yes, I know it's online for free, but I like it in print)
- Chase's Calendar of Events
- Occupational Outlook Handbook (this is every other year - eoy - I don't know where we are in the cycle)
- Health care industry almanac (eoy)

What am I missing?

Besides newspapers, Digital Design magazines/journals, the JAMAA (medical assisting), and general periodicals like Time and Newsweek - what other items do we HAVE to have on campuses in print?

Cataloging TLC v Polaris

Did it seem that the cataloging function in Polaris was simpler and easier to use than the one we saw in TLC today?

However, TLC has the flashy student interface that I believe we need.  The rest we can make work.

 

Polaris and TLC

As I look at both Polaris and TLC, I have a few thoughts and questions. It is a fact that any new system we look at is going to be better than what we have with ALEPH. However, exactly what is it we want in this new system? Have we made a list of priorities? Is simple, quick cataloging our #1 need, or the quality of reports we can pull or is it the usability of the pac from the student end? What would you list as the top five areas/things you want from this new system? Here are a few of my thoughts.
#1 - A flashy, simple interface that our students will be drawn to and feel compelled to use
#2 - Simplify our cataloging
#3 - Ability to interact with CLASS and import student info, pictures, etc.

I can not think of more at this time. I must go and help a student. I would love to know what each of you think is the most important component of a new system!

A Few Updates

Wasn't that blog title original? My evening just sparks of creativity. Anyway...

Thank you for your patience with me this past week and for those who shared condolences. I know that some of your work/productivity was affected by the goings on, and I hope that whatever I didn't finish last week will be quickly resolved early this week.

I also apologize about my miscommunication about the teleconferences/meetings with the OPAC vendors. We had to make a change due to travel restrictions. As soon as I have more information about the TLC webinar, I will let you know. For those of you in the Twin Cities, I do hope that you can take part in person (lunch will be provided). Otherwise, I hope you can all attend via phone. I know that the second webinar is long, but this is a huge purchase for us and it deserves our attention and careful consideration (in my humble opinion).

On a lighter note... thanks to Jan and Hilary for their INCREDIBLE work last week. We FULLY cataloged (I think) nearly 700 items for the Fort Myers collection. We worked nearly nonstop for two days (12 hours per day). We took only a few breaks to complete some interviews and to buy MORE books from Barnes and Noble. We still have about 200 titles left to deal with, one way or another, which will be resolved during a later visit. I'm very proud of their work and pleased that the Fort Myers campus will have a functional library at its opening in July.

Just an FYI on a few other things - I have submitted MOST of your Baker and Taylor orders, and you should be receiving them this week. Additionally, I didn't have anyone ask for me to submit DEMCO orders for them - so if you do need me to do that, let me know.

A few things I plan to resolve this week:

1. I have no idea why the patron profile code is missing from ALEPH. I have a ticket into PALS and I hope to get resolution soon. In the meantime, I did provide some suggestions via e-mail late last week for a temporary fix.

2. I'm working on a recommended journal titles list. To date, it lists over 200 titles. I'm going to divide the list by categories and whether or not I recommend for titles to be in print or online. I hope that you'll find the list useful as you prepare your renewals and new orders for journal titles. (PS, if you have recommendations for me to add for everyone, now is a good time to let me know.)

3. Finishing up LibQUAL stuff. I have to get some numbers for an end-survey, and also get gift cards for our winners (this may have to wait until I have some moola in the bank).

4. Post about some required yearly print titles. I have a few in mind but I would like your help.

I will be doing calls with everyone this week. I look forward to talking with you.

-Emily

May highlights

What are you excited about for the month of May? What display/theme are you doing for May? Do you have any open workshops or faculty development sessions scheduled?

Benefits of grading the collection

I have started the "grading of the library collection" with two faculty members. One was with the HIT instructor and the other was with the Health Sciences instructor. The Health Sciences instructor who teaches mainly Anatomy and Physiology was able to help out with general science, psychology, chemistry, medicine, nursing and human anatomy, physiology, microbiology. What I have found is that we are at about a D through C, C+ level in these areas. The best part is that both faculty members have since sent me lists of resources to add to the collection to bring it up to a C/B level. What I couldn't do through emailing Faculty Recommendation Forms twice a quarter is happening through grading the collection. I hope it continues to work this way.

What are you reading?

I decided to try something fun to get some faculty/staff buy in to the library. I printed out these flyers along with recommendation forms and placed them in everyone's mailbox. I had a 33% response rate. The first two that were returned to me the following day were from the Campus Director and the Dean. I am hoping that when faculty sees that I purchase the books that they recommend that they will then start requesting resources for their areas.

I think it will be a hit with the students when I do faculty/staff picks, to see what their favorite instructor, admissions rep, etc. is reading/recommending. I also hope that it will increase circulation.

A Game For You!!

Who can guess what the following journals have in common? Your answer must be complete to win the prize!

American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education
Booklist
Child Development
Computers in Libraries
Distance Learning
Education & Health
Education & Information Technologies
Exceptional Children
Health Educator
Horn Book Magazine
Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing
Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserves
Journal of Nursing Education
Journal of Pharmacy Teaching
Library Journal
Library Resources & Technical Services
Occupational Outlook Quarterly


... that's as far as I've gotten. Well?

The Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians Annual Conference in Manitowoc, WI

The Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians Annual Conference Manitowoc, WI

This was a great conference to have attended. In addition to talking and getting back in touch with other librarian friends and colleagues, I had a fantastic poster session and went to some useful sessions.


Avoiding the “Librarian Nerd Loop”: Engaging Students & Creating a User-Friendly Library Environment

The librarians at Carroll College are working hard to create student-centered services by making their webpages easier to navigate and use and using chat reference extensively using Meebo in particular. What I took away from this session was that the language library instructors use should be words and phrases the STUDENT would understand. No one is going to understand “bibliographic information”, “ILL”, or potentially even “Information Literacy”.

Ways to achieve a more student-centered library service plan:

• use Meebo for online chat (the RCLS is already doing this);
• create and update usable subject guides;
• utilize RSS feeds for appropriate links.

(See slides)

I LOVE this quote:

“Geek is chic – nerdiness is not!”

Pay attention to the words I use in the library and focus on what the audience will understand. “Information Literacy” is a big concept to get across. How can this be broken up into usable segments so our students can understand them?

Improving Teaching & Learning through Instructional Partnerships: Building Relationships One-on-One

This is a really interesting project that allows instructional librarians to improve their teaching skills with the aid of a partner. The project uses reflection, discussion and observation to achieve the goals of building supportive relationships with colleagues.
(see slides and handouts)

Identify those aspects of my teaching that I’d like to work on and ask for assistance from both the other RCLS team members and from faculty members on the GB campus for suggestions, discussion, etc.

Creating a Library 2.0 Presence Without a Web Programmer
This was an unexpected bonus session as I was going to attend a concurrent one. The NWTC library has created a dynamic web page and subsequent library subject guides within 3 months using a fantastic product called LibGuides. I’ve already shared this with Emily, and the RCLS is looking into this product. It’s beautiful! (see slides)

I’ve already shared this web product with Emily. I am looking at how other libraries use this as well to create the most dynamic and usable website we can

Library Instruction: Using Effective Marketing Strategies to Ensure Successful Outcomes
Library instruction is not understood in general. What we do is not understood by faculty and by staff. Faculty have assumptions as to library resources and its services. This intriguing session was about how librarians market our resources and services and how we promote ourselves in different ways. Some suggestions I and the rest of the RCLS team might be able to use are:

• the elevator speech
• focus primarily on the audience’s needs
• posters – K.I.S.S.
• the lingo changed to something the audience can understand: “Research-ology”, “Information Navigation 101”
• Creating a Marketing Plan for the RCLS!

I am looking at how I market workshops and other items on campus for the short and long term.

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.

IDs

Ugh ... that FUN FUN thing that is creating IDs.
We've been having a heck of a time here with creating them in the first place.

• Pictures disappeared.
• Pictures were too dark.
• Pictures were too light.
• The color printer didn't work.
• The business cards were on back-order, for 3 weeks.
• The laminator breaks down.
• I wasn't able to attend the orientation session and therefore was unable to stay on-top of the project.
  

I understand that there might be some sort of solution in the future that will combine student records, picture and possibly their library record in one fell-swoop that would solve a lot of headaches (wouldn't that be nice) , but for our campus, we needed a better solution.

It was suggested that we use Access to figure out the process, so we've tested a possible solution, and so far, it looks like it'll work.

(select screenshots for a clearer view) This is the process we used:

1. We imported information of ALL of our current students from CLASS into this Access database. The picture is taken at orientation and I use Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition 3.2 (free download) to change the picture's filename to their name, crop, fix red-eye, etc. The picture was added as an attachment, which was easy to fine since I changed the filename.
   I created 2 fields that helps in the output of the student's information - ORDER & PRINT. The order is the order of which the record would print, and the print, well, is to actual print that record.
2. I created Print Query that would print the correct records in the correct order.
3. I created "labels" with the exact parameters of the business cards that we print.
4. I then had the labels using the "print query" as the source.
   
5. Looking at the records, it runs down the page continuously, but in the "print preview", it shows the documents just fine!
   
   
   
   (Figure of the labels in Design View)
   
   
   

(in continuous view)
(in print preview)



















Right now, of course, the laminator is broken and I'm awaiting a fix from Demco, but it WILL work!

Quiet Zone

We've increasingly had some issues about people being disrespectful in the library. I first put up the signs about being respectful (ie. courteous, quiet, etc.) in February. I sent out to the team what happened:

It is getting a bit busier in the library here (YIPPEE!) and we have had many phone calls, loud conversations, etc. as of late. I edited the poster with a different color scheme and put up a few of the posters around the library.

There were 2 students in the library when I put them up, one of whom does all of the above. Both saw me put the posters around, yet the one student continued as per usual. After she hung up her cell phone after about 30 minutes of talking, I highlighted the new poster explaining the new policy. Her response? “Nice colors!”

Oh my stars …. Patience please!

The posters didn't solve the problem. Students started complaining specific occurrences of rude students.

After conversations with both Pam (Academic Dean) and Scott (Campus Director), I got the go-ahead to create a Quiet Zone in the library during finals week. I created a new poster and posted it everywhere, advertised it in the student newsletter, and closed the door (after unlocking it so students could get in).


Despite some reservations from the admissions staff, everyone was supportive and it worked very well. Students were able to study in the library without the "threat" of others taking over the small space.

I thanked the staff profusely for this experiment and will probably create this Quiet Zone every finals week.

Collection Development - Book Daddy

This blog is great for keeping current with new titles.

Orientation for new students

How much is the library mentioned in orientations for new students at other campuses? I got to see the new powerpoint that they will be showing here and the slide for the academic support system lists the faculty, peers (study groups), the Dean and the ESC (mentor center-contacting tutors). I emailed back about the lack of library on the slide--I don't know their script, if we would be mentioned but not being on the slide, I'm guessing a brief nod. (just feeling frustrated; with all the retention, retention, retention, and we get left out as part of the support system(sigh)......

LibQUAL Approved

The purchase and implementation of LibQUAL is approved for our institution during Week 3 of Spring Quarter. We will market participation heavily the previous week (National Library Week).

My current plan is to offer 3-$100 gift cards in a random drawing of students who participate in the survey.

We will provide links (and put the link in multiple locations and e-mails) to encourage participation. Classes will not be scheduled to complete surveys - participation will be voluntary - but I still expect positive results.

This is an exciting step forward for our college and I great assessment tool. WOO HOO!

Overdue/lost Matierals

I'd like to get a general idea of how everyone handles their overdues, esp. for students that have either dropped, graduated, or are on "hold". I've never been sure how to handle these situations; in the past I've brought all of my paperwork to our Student Accounts Manager, but I'm not sure if she knew what to do either. Also, if you do bring the bills, etc. to the SAM, does yours ever follow through and tell you if the student has paid or reimburse the library in any way? Right now we have a new SAM at the EP campus, and I'd really like to get this figured out on the "library end" before handing it over to her. The less confusion the better! Thanks!

Earth Day

Hey, I'm thinking ahead to April 22nd - Earth Day. Have your campuses done anything cool in the past? I'm thinking of doing Earth Day trivia or emailing fun facts about how many trees are saved when people recycle, etc.

To purchase or not to purchase....

Today one of the faculty members on my campus requested the purchase of a massage PowerPoint teaching disc. Evidently she would use it as a teaching tool in her classroom and only she and other massage instructors would have access to it. My question is... would that be a purchase that the library is responsible for, or would it come out of a classroom "teaching aides" budget (if one exists)? I feel that a purchase made solely for teaching in the classroom - that is not available to others - should not be purchased or housed in the library. The instructor wasn't sure either, so now we're going to talk to our dean and to Emily. I checked our collection development policy and didn't see anything that directly mentioned this. Have any of you had a similar request? And if so, how did you handle it? Should we include this in our collection development policy?

Meebo Cling Take 5

Chandra was right.

MEEBO Promo Cling, Take 4

Hopefully this will make mostly everyone happy.

Promo Cling, Take 3

I think the email will be ok for the mousepad, which is of course larger, but I'm not sure I like it for the cling. Your thoughts are welcome.

Promo Cling, Take 2

MEEBO Promo Cling

Good morning,

I've posted an image of my "rendition" of the MEEBO cling. This is a 2" by 4" cling. I am assuming we'll get it in full color. They also have postcards that have the clings on the front (for online students).

What are your thoughts and suggestions for improvement?

Meebo Ideas

Hi Everyone,
I was thinking about an idea for the Meebo promotion and wondered if pens woud be a good idea. So many businesses and educational groups (Webjunction.org) are using free pens with the web address on them that I thought it might be part of a promotional item along with posters, etc. for Meebo.
Most people take free pens as they are useful and with the address on it the student would be able to go to Meebo with questions quite easily. What do you think?
Paula

Paralegals

Two Paralegal instructors and I took the MN metro students on a tour of a law library on Saturday. This idea has been "in the works" for about a month or so. The instructors asked me to participate b/c they knew that I had worked at a law library in the past. So, we met at William Mitchell Library. The paralegal students were all emailed about this event. I think there were 8 or 9 students-- which was perfect for a tour. I led the tour and the instructors had them do exercises of legal research. The students were beaming b/c they were so excited to get their hands on print resources that they'd usually find in Westlaw (online). It helped them understand the Westlaw citations that they use.. For example: They often cite things with NW, and then at the law library they were introduced to the Northwestern Reporters, and they were told that every time they cite an NW source - it's actually that reporter and the volume #.

We were in the library for over 2 hours, and then 1 of the instructors arranged for a lunch (paid for by Ras). It was a great afternoon, and it was a great way to connect with students that take all online paralegal classes. I am not sure which other campuses offer the paralegal program, but I'd highly recommend doing something similar in your respective cities/counties. Please let me know if you have any questions.

collection development, faculty requests

Please share your ideas. I need help!

When faculty members submit recommendation forms, do you always order what they ask for, or do you sometimes decide that a recommended item isn't a good fit for the collection? Do you have a routine in place for letting the instructors know if you will or will not be ordering what they've recommended? What do you do when an instructor will not accept that you have decided not to order what he/she wants, even after you've explained your reasons?

ACRL launches chat series

This could be interesting.

Is online studying cheating?

I found this to be of interest, especially since we have online students:

College Student accused of Cheating Using Facebook

Why would an online study group be 'cheating' but a 'normal' study group be a...study group?

Seems to be similar to our students posting on the portal. Any thoughts?

Sexual harassment DVD

Hello All!
Emily and I were talking about the new Sexual Harassment DVD that I am ordering and she mentioned that it would be a good idea to share what I found. The DVD is from Kantola Productions. It came with a training manual. It is titled, "Sexual harassment: The commonsense approach". I got it on a preview after our Careers teacher told me how bad the old one was and that she would love to get something more updated. She previewed it and gave comment on it as follows: "The DVD focuses on just the workplace, she liked the coverage on body language and it was 25 minutes, perfect for class.". I also had another instructor who teaches Careers take a look at it and her comments were: "The harassment video was excellent. I appreciated how modern it was. I liked it so much I showed it to two different classes and the students agreed with my assessment.".
The representative that I dealt with is Bob Keith. His email is bkeith@kantola.com and a phone number of 415-381-9363.

APA Refresher for Faculty

I don't know about you, but I'm often unable to learn something new after only one explanation or demonstration. Even if I think I've got it, I tend to forget the specific processes if I don't do something frequently. (How do I run that stupid overdue report in Aleph? How do I delete an item? How do I set the clock on my VCR?) I hope you can relate.

Now think about how our instructors feel about using APA for citations and references. Students get the instructions repeatedly, maybe more than once per quarter, and then they get to apply what they've learned. But many instructors hear our APA workshops less frequently, if at all, and they don't have to apply the concepts in multiple papers each quarter. No wonder many instructors feel less than confident when it comes to in-text citations and reference pages.

Based on requests from faculty members during our last GAP scoring session, I decided to offer APA refresher sessions for faculty professional development this quarter. I held two sessions this week, and a total of 10 instructors attended. In the one-hour sessions, we looked at examples of paraphrases, summaries, and quotes, and we examined the in-text citations. Participants built reference citations and corresponding in-text citations. (I used modified versions of some of the activities we made for our standardized Success Strategies APA session way back when.)

For some who attended, this was their first direct instruction in APA citations even though they've taught on campus for several quarters. Even for instructors who have been around a while, this was a valuable time to ask questions and actually write out citations.

As you think about workshops for next quarter, don't forget about your faculty. Even though you've already shown them how to cite a book or how to use a database, they may not have taken the opportunity to use what you've taught them. Perhaps new instructors have joined your team since your last faculty workshop. Consider holding refreshers for your faculty members.

Now... who's going to teach me to set the clock on my VCR?

Another Web 2.0 tool--

Check out the interesting article on Twitter from the Chronicle of Higher Education. This would be kinda cool for a Intro to Communications teacher to use in a class to show the students a modern form of communication that is in use:

Forget E-mail: New Messaging Service Has Students and Professors Atwitter

Happy Leap Year Day!!!!!

Unshelved..

Unshelved is allowing everyone to use their strips for marketing! For FREE.

How generous!

click here to read more.

Blackboard lawsuit

This is really interesting.. I wonder how/if this will affect Angel. I used both Blackboard and Moodle in Graduate School.

Article in Chronicle of Higher Ed News blog.

Collection Development

Has anyone tried using email lists from CHOICE and/or RCLweb with faculty yet? If so, please let me know- and has this feedback increased the number of recommendations received?

Thanks!!

How and When not to answer a reference question

I just finished reading the article Emily sent us. As I was reading it made me think of this week as I was helping a patron and I was feeling rushed I grabbed the mouse and began moving them to the Library Resource page. I caught myself and asked the patron to take over and told her that I wanted to make sure she could get to there by herself when she is at home. She smiled and took over.

I also apoligized to a student because he asked for help and I needed a few questions answered before I could help him. I could see on his face he just wanted an answer but I needed to know what he had already done and what was required of him for the assignment before I could direct him further.

I know that these are not examples of online help but from the training this week and the article I realized that there are many similiarities between the two.

Harvard Faculty Votes to Post Research Online

The Boston Globe recently featured an article (http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/13/harvard_faculty_votes_to_post_research_online/)

discussing how Harvard’s University Library is planning to instantly make professor’s finished papers available via the internet for FREE. Tentatively named “The Office for Scholarly Communication,” this office will serve to publish articles and act as a repository for faculty.

Publishers are very much against this proposal, claiming it would be detrimental to the peer review process. Even though journal editors may not be involved in this new approach, academics generally volunteer to peer-review colleagues’ work at no cost. So Publishers no doubt feel threatened by this move and if other institutions follow suit, this could lead to a radical change in how academic research is made available. This is good news for libraries from a budgeting standpoint.

A Few Meebo Tidbits

I was sent an e-mail with the following questions and I wanted to share the answers with the group as I suspect the librarian who sent the questions is not the only one to have them. I know I had them for a while myself.

Why does it say I am signed in to AIM twice and I have to hit '1' to end the session?

I don't necessarily know the answer for this but I can take a guess. When you exit a session by simply closing the browser, you are automatically signed out of most of the accounts. I suspect the one you are not signed out of is AIM. Therefore, if the person who was covering Meebo prior to you getting on simply closed the browser instead of signing off first, AOL considers AIM still in session. Go ahead and hit '1' to end the session.

Also, I don't believe two people can be signed into the same Meebo account at the same time. Once someone else signs on, another person will get kicked off. I'm not sure if there is a system set in place yet but it might be a good idea to Contact the librarian via Meebo to see if it's okay to sign in so you're not disrupting a session with a student.

Should I talk to the meeboguests that appear in my buddy list?

Not unless you want to scare some random user of the library. :)

Each meeboguest represents an open widget. For instance, every time someone is on the main library page, a unique widget session opens for that user. So if five people are on that main library page, then five widget sessions are available and five meeboguests appear in your buddy list.

I suppose if you really wanted to, you could greet them. Otherwise, unless they're actually sending you a message, they're not expecting any response from you.

Our Challenges

During the call today, you shared several challenges that you've faced this quarter. Please take some time to review them, and then offer comments in the blog with potential solutions for these challenges. We'll discuss them during our next team call.

- Getting students to attend open workshops (even when workshops are heavily marketed and students show interest)

- Completing Binders & System tasks

- Managing quantity of workshops

- Finding time to make photocopies for workshops, handouts, etc.

- Not many students visiting or working in the library

- Time/Finding Time/Time Management - everything takes longer than expected

- Communication with faculty/ scheduling test proctoring

- Excel 2007

- Keeping up with Cataloging


EDO

23 Things on a Stick

I'm wondering if anyone else is participating in the 23 Things on a Stick program. If so, it would be fun to see what our teammates have created.

Please share links to your 23 Things blogs.

I can't get the links to show up, so I'll type them in the old-fashioned way. General site: www.23thingsonastick.blogspot.com

Chandra's blog: www.stuckon23things.blogspot.com

Collaboration in Success Strategies

Hello All,
Emily asked me to post about my "team teaching" in Success Strategies. The instructor is our Fargo instructor of the year and the Harlan Employee of the Quarter, Lael Richards. I have been going in the second half of the class to both present-database searching, NoodleBib, etc. and also aid students individually in course assignments as it is a rather large class. In the process, I have had the opportunity to observe Lael's teaching methods and interactions with her students. She is very warm and approachable, her lecture style is quite conversational, and she always asks for feedback and checks for understanding throughout the class time. Her class is very responsive to both she and I and the classroom environment is relaxed yet on task. I am very much enjoying this experience. Has anyone else experienced a "team teaching" approach?

Allied Health Certification Materials -Rotating Rack

I thought I would share the websites I used to print off certification materials for each allied health program. These were the primary sites I found, but there may be others out there as well.

Medical Transcription - www.ahdionline.org
Medical Coding - www.ahima.org
Medical Assisting - www.aama-ntl.org
Surg. Tech. - www.nbstsa.org
Pharm. Tech. - www.ptcb.org
HIT - www.ahima.org
Massage Therapy - www.ncbtmb.com

My packets are fairly long; it was hard to decide what to include. Generally speaking I included a job overview, a description of the importance of certification, the certification process, exam info., and other random bits of information. I think it would be nice to have Brad Moore look these over to verify that the information provided is accurate. On a side note... I included a title page for each field along with a "disclaimer" that reads...

Description: This packet was developed by your campus Librarian as a helpful tool for obtaining certification in your profession. Read the packet carefully and decide if certification is right for you (it is not required for some allied health fields). Every attempt has been made to locate and supply up-to-date information for your field. If you have further questions please consult your organization’s certification website or one of your instructors.

"Librarian" Is One Of The Best Careers Of 2008 Says U.S. News & World Reports

Here is a link to the article listing the top 31 careers of 2008.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/best-careers/2007/12/19/the-components-of-31-top-careers.html

An executive summary of the "Librarian" profession can be found here;

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/best-careers/2007/12/19/librarian-executive-summary.html

1 million books scanned!!!

The U of Michigan is on it's way!

A Million Books Scanned at the University of Michigan--and counting

Plagiarism among professors

Check out the article from The Chronicle of Higher Education---a Harvard prof. got caught by a journal!!!

Journal Retracts Harvard Professor's Paper Flagged by Copycat Search Tool

student interest in IM

Dave Lungren and Randall Smith met with Bismarck students today to discuss students' perceptions of online learning. When asked what features they'd like to see added to their online courses, someone mentioned IM as a way to get instant answers to questions. The suggestion was met with enthusiasm from other students.

Even though they were talking about IM as a way to improve communication with instructors, I was encouraged that students would use and appreciate an instant chat service. Once again, our library team is on the cutting edge when it comes to improved customer service.

ID cards for online students

I'm wondering what the rest of you do for ID cards for online students who live too far from campus. I know I can simply assign a library patron barcode to distance students, but I'm sure they would like the discounts that come with having a student ID.

I told a patron today that I'd check with the rest of my team and would get back to her this week. I'd appreciate your input.

February's display

We've decided that February will be Black History Month. I have been playing around with some ideas for a while - something that our students can really be engaged in/with, and the idea didn't come to me until Friday of last week. I'm pretty excited about it!

Here's a snapshot of the poster I created.

So, what is YOUR February display going to be?

Collection Development - Faculty Collaboration

Hi everybody!

I had an idea today and was wondering if any of you do this and if so, has it worked out...

In CHOICE (cro2.org), you can of course look for titles on a given subject/program area. You can then 'select all' and email yourself the list. I did this today for business titles I wanted to come back to w/o having to re-do the search. So, what I was thinking was we could send these program-specific lists to the advocates and/or faculty on our campuses to (hopefully) get more feedback. Maybe this will work better than just saying 'I need recommendations' or filling their mailboxes with catalogs that sometimes get lost. Don't get me wrong, I still like publisher catalogs! I also thought it might streamline the process to send a copy of the Recommendation Form with the list of titles/reviews. Not that it is that difficult to get a form off of CHIPSnet... :-) And of course, there are the lists from RCL and B&T we could send out as well.

So, what do you think? I'm thinking of starting this on my campus.

And while I'm picking your brains... would this maybe be a good poster session topic??

Thanks!