It's Academic

Reminder: CRD Spring Workshop Call for Proposals

March 12, 2024

Theme: Artificial Intelligence in Academic Librarianship

Date & Location: Wednesday, May 1^st, 2024 – Zoom

Description: Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and large language models are hot topics within academic librarianship. These new tools will likely have a transformative impact on our profession. In light of this, the CRD Spring Workshop focuses on how AI can support and enhance our jobs. Practical applications that share novel methods and/or new tools are welcomed. This workshop is a chance to explore the positive intersection of librarianship and generative AI. Proposals should broadly fit the theme of AI within academic librarianship and may relate to instruction, programming, collection development, library processes, or any other area your library supports.

Proposal Requirements: Proposals for 40-minute virtual sessions must include a title, an abstract of no more than 250 words, and 2-3 learning objectives. Please refrain from including identifiable information in your abstract and other materials to help ensure a blind evaluation. PaLA CRD members will be given preference in session evaluation and selection.

Submissions are due by Friday, March 15, 2024.

Submit your proposal here: https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_80bX1yItGIIqIWG

Did Love Data Week Pass You By?

February 26, 2024

tags: ai, data, news, science, Technology

by Darren G. Poley

Love Data Week is a week dedicated to celebrating data. It is an international event to help spread awareness and appreciation of all things data related. This event week originated in 2016 as the Love Your Data event started by Heather Coates and over the years it has expanded and changed a bit, until it has become the weeklong international event it is today. Currently this event is hosted by ICPSR, a data archive, with participating institutions joining from around the world.

History of International Love Data Week

The theme this year is “My Kind of Data.” Data is personal. Love Data Week 2024 is about highlighting the various representations of “my data,” such as showcasing the work that goes into making data, recognizing data equity and inclusion factors for the people participating in or affected by data, and documenting the data standards from (inter)disciplinary communities. This year we’re focused on helping new and seasoned data users find data training and other resources that can help them work with their kind of data.

International Love Data Week 2024 – List of Events

The theme last year was “Data: Agent of Change.” Love Data Week 2023 was about inspiring communities to use data to bring about changes that matter. Policy change, environmental change, social change… we can move mountains with the right data guiding our decisions. Last year was focused on helping new and seasoned data users find data training and other resources that can help move the needle on the issues they care about.

Falvey Library, Villanova University has participated in a variety of ways, with a collection of workshops and tabling. Our virtual workshops had attendees from all over the world!

Falvey Forum – Love Data Week 2024 Events

Copy above by social sciences librarian Nicole Daly, coordinator of Love Data Week activities at Falvey Library.

Library Work & Public Perception

February 22, 2024

by Kayla Van Osten

When I tell people I’m a librarian, 9 times out of 10 they exclaim, “Oh you must read all day!” I’m sure I’m not the only one to hear this, or other similar misconceptions, about librarianship. There is a pervasive idea of vocational awe within the library profession and misunderstanding of what library professionals do day-to-day. I’ve also experienced an almost belittling comment of, “aw, good for you!” As if my profession is somehow silly or cute and not at all difficult or important.

This is of course contradictory to how labor intensive our positions are. I mean that both physically (those book carts won’t push themselves) and emotionally. As a service industry, interacting with patrons, students, faculty is a large part of our job and like other service industries, it can be draining and exhausting. Additionally, “librarian stress is partially caused by the discrepancy between the public’s perception of what a librarian does and a librarians actual work. The general public sees a librarian’s job as being unstressful, and the library environment as one that cannot create stress” (Simon, 2020). This is so interesting to me and validates some of my own experiences. Like any other job, ours can be just as stressful. Being historically under-compensated while also dealing with job creep is the norm for library workers, but why does the public not know this? Maybe it’s jarring to learn a perceived awe of the industry is misplaced? Whatever the reason, it’s a perfect storm for stress and burnout and I do hope you take care of yourself.

Simon, K. (2020). Emotional labor, stressors, and librarians who work with the public. School of Information Student Research Journal, 10(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.31979/2575-2499.100106  

Additional Reading

Ettarh, F. (2018, January 10). Vocational awe and librarianship: The lies we tell ourselves. In The Library With The Lead Pipe. http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/

Farkas, M. (2020). Not beyond critique: The need for critical conversations about our libraries and profession. American Libraries, 51, 54. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2020/09/01/not-beyond-critique/

Pennsylvania Libraries: Research & Practice – Call for Submissions

February 19, 2024

by Alex K.

Pennsylvania Libraries: Research & Practice (PaLRaP.org) is accepting submissions for research, practice, feature, and commentary articles as well as news items for the Spring 2024 issue (vol. 12, no. 1).

Research, practice, feature, and commentary manuscripts are welcomed at any time; however, for full consideration for the spring issue, please submit your manuscripts by February 28, 2024.

News item submissions (staff changes, awards/recognitions, events, initiatives, etc. happening in PA libraries that may be of interest to other libraries) are also welcome at any time. However, for full consideration for the spring issue, please submit your news items here by April 1, 2024.

For more information about PaLRaP, including submission guidelines and section policies, visit http://www.palrap.org.

PaLRaP is a peer-reviewed, online, open access publication of the Pennsylvania Library Association’s College & Research Division. This journal provides an opportunity for librarians in Pennsylvania to share their knowledge and experience with practicing librarians across the Commonwealth and beyond. It includes articles from all areas of librarianship, with a special focus on activities at or of interest to Pennsylvania’s academic libraries.

Published biannually: May and November

Co-Editors: Kate Cummings & Roseanne Perkins

Peer reviewers: Members of the Pennsylvania library community

#palrap

Building My Scholarship Through Teaching

February 13, 2024

by mabogino1

Building my scholarship through teaching.

I have been on the tenure track for my position for the past two years. Within this time, I have learned there are many aspects of my role that are helping me to grow to the point at which I will be ready to apply for my full tenure ship . One of these aspects is the role I play as a teacher, which was an ancillary role previously but has now become a primary role in my current experience. With no formal educational preparation other than my librarianship courses, I am an advocate of including educational teaching principles and pedagogical frameworks into the basic librarianship preparatory courses. That being said, my experiences have led me to adapt my current philosophy that teaching is sharing and learning is a continual process. With this in mind, I have come up with three quick thoughts that I include in a self-reflective moment that I try to have prior to meeting with either one- on -one sessions or group trainings ,that I have found helpful when I have to “teach” (share learning).

1.Concepts can be difficult, so consider your audience – change how you present foundational concepts and ideas

2.Vocalize support and show empathy and understanding. Learning environments should be safe spaces to grow within.

3.Reinforcing concepts and gauge how the audience is feeling . I ask myself, am I making any sense in conveying the main points?

Happy Teaching!