Information Professionals at SXSW
A few weeks ago, Austin Texas hosted South by Southwest (SXSW) http://sxsw.com/, the largest music, film, and interactive festival in the world. Beginning in 1987 with a focus on music, it has now become a place for cutting edge artists, film makers and technologists. Like bees to honey, librarians have been attending and participating in the festival in recent years. Many find it an opportunity to forge new relationships and work with leaders outside the library to create a new vision of what we do and what we can provide.
For the past couple of years, sxswLAM (SXSW + Librarians + Archivists + Museums) has been one of the boots on the ground at the festival. Primarily attending and presenting at the Interactive festival (SXSWI), their intention is to find opportunities to put information specialists on the map and explore new ways to do our work. The mission of sxswLAM is to forge “connections outside our traditional workspaces to bring greater awareness to our work and testing the boundaries of how a “traditional” LAMmer looks, acts, and thinks.” LAMmers attend the festival because they believe that:
1. Library and museum professionals must pull ideas from other industries so they continue to innovate, remain relevant and move our industry forward; explore the arena of interactive technologies – where science, technology, art, commerce and the public good converge to help build our current and future experiences.
2. This is great positioning for libraries to be seen as the creative innovators and community connectors that they are. We help people connect with ideas every day, so it’s important for us to be a part of this conversation on a national stage. SXSWi is all about connections – and LAM is about ensuring libraries, archives and museums are connected.
Read more about sxswLAM at http://sxswlam.org/
The impact of librarians at the festival has been recognized. Innovative Interfaces hosted a booth in the Exhibit Hall exclusively for librarians and their partners. The space wasn’t to just pitch Innovative products, according the Joe Murphy, Director of Library Futures at Innovative, rather “The goal of the Innovative Booth for Libraries is to amplify the visibility of librarianship and expand access for librarians into the technology fields and conversations at SXSW.”
Read more about the Innovative booth and Joe Murphy at: http://libraryfuture.com/sxsw-for-libraries/
Bonnie Tijerina, Head of Electronic Resources and Serials, Harvard University and founder of Electronic Resources and Libraries Conference (ER&L) discusses the importance of attending the festival at http://www.electroniclibrarian.com/ideadrop/why-im-attending-sxsw.
Her organization co-sponsored with ProQuest the #ideadrop house. Its goal was to support “bringing the value of libraries to the world and learning from the best and brightest in tech, public policy, social media and creative communities to libraryland.”
Other organizations that participated and attended this year include: American Library Association, the Association of Rural and Small Libraries, the Digital Library Federation, EveryLibrary, the Freedom to Read Foundation, Urban Libraries Council, Urban Librarians Unite, among others.
Reflecting on the experience at SXSW, the “collaborative impact” was the biggest takeaway according to sxswLAM blogger sallymags. “Our most effective tool was the conversation – one-on-one advocacy with tech leaders, students, entrepreneurs, innovators, fellow librarians and even celebrities.”
Have you ever attended or presented at SXSW? Tell us about your experience. What do you think are the benefits of librarians and information professionals attending SXSW?
Get involved with PA Forward!
Debbie Malone, PaLA Past President (2012) and Library Director at DeSales University in Center Valley, PA, encourages academic librarians to promote the PaLA “PA Forward Speak Up! Authors and Illustrators Speak Up for PA Libraries” initiative which involves authors volunteering to speak about their work at libraries across the state on or around November 6, 2014. This is an initiative of the PA Forward Basic Literacy Partners Committee.
Authors are asked to complete a survey describing their work, and they are then placed on a speaker list from which libraries can select authors and topics that will interest their communities. Authors would be asked to speak only at libraries within their home counties.
On my own campus I asked three faculty members who I know publish a good bit to participate, and they were eager to do so. Each library presentation will involve an opportunity for book sales and signings. Faculty members could talk about the research publications – it’s not all about fiction writers.
Thank you for promoting this initiative!
Deb Malone
Opportunity! Are you looking for a centrally located, one-day Pennsylvania program about using games for library learning? PaLA’s Teaching, Learning & Technology Roundtable has just the workshop that not only offers speakers and presenters, but also provides the attendees practical, hands-on activities to work with various types of library games. Register online by March 19th! Please read below for more details and also see the program brochure, 2014 TL&T “Games in Libraries” Brochure
REGISTER NOW: Play to Learn: Gaming in Libraries
The Teaching, Learning and Technology Roundtable of the Pennsylvania Library Association presents the spring workshop, “Play to Learn: Gaming in Libraries” on Friday, March 28, 2014 at the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg, PA. This event will be highly engaging and interesting for academic, public, and school librarians.
Register now at : http://www.palibraries.org/events/Sessions.aspx?id=409627 Space is limited!
COST: $30 for PaLA members, $50 for nonmembers. Includes morning refreshments and lunch. NOTE: PaLA MEMBERS, be sure to log in to the system to receive the discount!
DEADLINE: Register by March 19, 2014. We’re sorry, refunds cannot be granted–please send a substitute if you cannot attend.
The keynote speaker will be Brian Mayer, a noted library gamer and author, who will deliver a keynote presentation, “The Transformative Power of Games.” Mayer is a gaming & technology specialist for the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership and an independent library consultant. He is the designer of a cooperative historical game, Freedom: The Underground Railroad, and co-author of the book, Libraries Got Game: Aligned Learning Through Modern Board Games. Mayer’s work is centered on captivating student interest and promoting active learning through the use of modern board games.
The workshop will also include sessions on designing games for specific audiences and a “game petting zoo.”
Gaming is such a hot topic and so applicable to academic, school, and public library settings. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this highly anticipated event!
Questions? Contact Christine Iannicelli, Reference Librarian, Immaculata University, ciannicelli@immaculata.edu
“This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, through the College and Research Division (https://crdpala.org/) of PaLA. Show your appreciation by becoming a member of PaLA! And if you are a member – thank you!”
Getty Images now Available for Use Online
Getty images has updated its copyright and use policy. Getty Images will now allow individuals to legally and freely use selected images on websites, blogs and social media as long as the user embeds the image with the code provided by the Getty website. This greatly expands the availability of free quality images available legally to the general public to use on various online media platforms.
Libraries should , however, be aware of the fine print to determine if they wish to use these images on official library websites and social media platforms. In exchange for using the embedded viewer, the terms of service state that “Getty Images (or third parties acting on its behalf) may collect data related to use of the Embedded Viewer and embedded Getty Images Content, and reserves the right to place advertisements in the Embedded Viewer or otherwise monetize its use without any compensation to you.”
ACRL/DVC is planning a program on libraries and online learning. With the changing nature of higher education, the focus on MOOCs, expanding online programs, as well as hybrid courses, libraries have continued to work towards enhancing the library experience, both in-person and online.
Have you provided research support to students in online courses? Worked with faculty who teach online? How has your library tried to integrate more library resources into courses using online components? Have you developed online programs to support information literacy or lifelong learning? How has your library expanded services by leveraging online technologies? Have you developed any assessment or user experience strategies to determine effectiveness of online learning as it relates to library services?
If you were or are involved in any online, library-related services, consider sharing your experience and thoughts with other academic librarians. We invite you to submit proposals on any aspect of online learning and librarianship. A committee of ACRL/DVC board members will select the final presentations; this is an opportunity to add a peer-reviewed presentation to your CV!
The program will be on Wednesday, April 30 at the Penn State Great Valley campus in Malvern. All presentation slots will be 20 minutes long followed by a short period for questions and answers. To submit a proposal, simply send an email with a presentation title and description (300 words maximum) to Tina Hertel [tina.hertel@muhlenberg.edu] by March 25 at 5:00 pm. Please contact Tina if you need further information.
