It's Academic

LSTA funding no longer available

April 23, 2013

Due to the slate of wonderful programs that organizations around the state have requested funding for, the LSTA funds are currently all designated for this funding cycle. Organizations can still request funding for the next year (events taking place after Oct. 1, 2013). Thank you to everyone who requested and a special thanks for the folks that worked with us to make the new funding rubric a success.

Communities Matter @ Your Library

April 17, 2013

tags: national library week, outreach

by Christina J. Steffy

It’s National Library Week, and this year’s theme is Communities Matter @ Your Library. While at first glance this may seem like something geared more toward public libraries, it is just as important to academic libraries because people from diverse communities to come together to form our blended campus community. It is also important to remember that many academic libraries exist within a geographical community and we should not be isolating ourselves from the public outside our campus, especially if we are a campus that provides resources for the general public or if we are a campus that hosts various summer camps. As someone who has spent the bulk of my career in academic libraries, I have to admit that it’s easy to forget the community outside of the campus because our primary responsibilities are to the campus community. However academic libraries are in a great position to form partnerships with school and public libraries; I’ve always thought this, but I’ve recently been viewing webinars to learn more about the Common Core and I now believe more than ever that academic libraries should be forming partnerships to help patrons develop necessary critical thinking and information literacy skills. The Common Core essentially places the critical thinking and information skills librarians have always taught at the forefront of the English Language Arts and Literacy (ELA) Standards, and all types of libraries should be working together to help patrons develop these skills from childhood through adulthood. Thus I think this year’s theme makes National Library Week the perfect time to reflect on how we as academic libraries serve various communities both on and off-campus and how we can team with off-campus communities and public and school libraries to benefit communities.

What are your thoughts? Please share your examples of National Library Week activities or your examples of partnerships.

An Update on Pennsylvania Libraries: Research & Practice

April 15, 2013

tags: journal, palrap

by Christina J. Steffy

The inaugural issue of Pennsylvania Libraries: Research & Practice (PaLRaP), the peer-reviewed, open access journal sponsored by CRD, will soon be available. Although the original goal was to have the first issue published in March, we encountered a steeper learning curve than expected when it came to using the online publication software. We now expect to publish the first issue within the next few weeks. We are very happy to have had such enthusiasm for and interested in this journal, and the first issue will have research and practice articles as well as commentary and news articles; overall there are 11 articles slated for our first issue of PaLRaP. Once the journal is published, we will be sure to let you know. Thank you all for your patience and your support.

Library Juice Academy: Online Professional Development for Librarians

March 13, 2013

by leslieawc

Call for Presenters: Webinar Series on Creative Solutions in Academic Libraries

Library Juice Academy is starting a webinar series on “Creative Solutions in Academic Libraries,” and this is a call for presenters.

There is no shortage of discussion about “problems faced by academic libraries” at the big scale, regarding trends in higher education and technology, where the approach to these problems is mainly a question of strategic planning. There is less attention to the small scale problems that academic librarians solve in the process of adapting services and processes to a changing environment or to new plans. These solutions to small scale problems can be in the realm of technological kludges or hacks, organizational adjustments, creative ideas in outreach, procedural changes, questioning and revision of “the way we do things,” recognition of areas where “what didn’t work before” can work now, time management strategies, and others.

We are looking for presenters for a series of monthly webinars where academic librarians will share a creative solution that may be helpful to librarians in other institutions. These hour-long webinars will likely include two 20-minute presentations and a period for discussion, with presentations grouped by theme. Presentations may be by individuals or groups. There will be monetary compensation for presenters based on the number of paying attendees.

If you have an idea for a presentation that would fit this webinar series, contact Rory Litwin at rory@libraryjuiceacademy.com.

Assessment in Practice: March 22nd Workshop

March 13, 2013

by mlpatrick

When it comes to assessment, I would venture to say that many a librarian eye tends to glaze over with either a feeling of overwhelming or dryness. So often, the critical area of assessment is approached as a theoretical endeavor or in such a complicated manner that the librarian feels defeated before beginning or expanding assessment activities in the library.

Well, if you are looking for an opportunity to hear and learn more about assessment in practical terms, don’t miss attending the upcoming March 22nd workshop, Assess to Impress: Demonstrating Your Library’s Value (brochure link). The workshop will be held at the conveniently located Dixon University Center in Harrisburg, PA, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is being presented by the PaLA Teaching, Learning and Technology Roundtable. (The workshop is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the PA Department of Education and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, through the College and Research Division.)

The Assess to Impress Workshop will offer attendees a variety of speakers and formats as well as provide the opportunity to discuss assessment with peers in a comfortable setting.

Keynote speaker Catherine Alloway, past PaLA President and current Schlow Centre Region Library Director, will present the “Downton Abbey Guide to Library Assessment & Benchmarking.”

Corrine Syster, Harrisburg Area Community College, in her “Data Without Dollars” session will show how to create a simple web-based form to collect data and how to use that data to demonstrate a library’s value.

Nancy Adams, Penn State Hershey, will facilitate an “Unconference” discussion among the attendees. It’s attendees’ choice…anything they want to discuss!

ALSO

A number of lightning round-presenters will give 15-minute presentations on a particular assessment activity in which the librarians have been involved. Topics will include: “What Students Think About E-books” and “Reference is Dead? Demonstrating Vitality with Detailed Usage Statistics.”

PLUS

A delicious lunch is included as part of the registration fee.

So…hopefully, this little blog has piqued your interest in the workshop. News about it has been sent to various listservs, but just in case you’ve overlooked the mailing, you can still register online for the workshop at PaLA — register as a PaLA member or as a guest.