It's Academic

Barbara Fister is CRD Luncheon Speaker

June 15, 2012

As CRD Chair, I’m thrilled that Barbara Fister has agreed to be the CRD Luncheon Speaker at this year’s PaLA Annual Conference. Barbara is a working librarian, coordinating library instruction at Gustavus Adolphus College in MN, with the chops to write and speak on vital topics for higher ed and libraries, including open access, publishing, reading, and learning.

I’m a big fan of Barbara’s writing and regularly read her Inside Higher Ed blog Library Babel Fish, as well as her posts on the LJ Academic Newswire and ACRLog. I’ve shared her webpage written for Gustavus Adolphus faculty with other librarians so many times I’ve lost count, “Seeing the Library from a Student Perspective“, because it’s so spot on. Her writing is thought-provoking and fun to read. And I should also mention that she writes crime fiction (in her spare time), having published three novels: Through the Cracks, In the Wind, and On the Edge. (Makes you wish you could be a student in one of her courses!)

I asked Barbara to talk about what was on her mind at the time of the conference, sort of an “unluncheon” luncheon talk if possible, about those vital topics for higher ed and libraries and to also have fun with her talk. What she came up with hits the mark exactly: “…a mashup of information literacy/student learning things that are on my mind and open access/publishing/technology/copyright and how those things intersect. ”

The title of her talk is “Playing for Keeps: Lifelong Learning in the Ludic Library” (look it up!), which she describes thus:

We take information literacy seriously, yet in a sense, the best researchers are playful. How might concepts of play inform our practice in libraries made for learning? What if we reconceptualized research from the systematic acquisition and use of intellectual property to a more creative and open approach to engaging with ideas in motion? What does it mean to be information literate in a world in which “publish” is a button?

I want to think about what we teach when we say “the truth has lots of footnotes and big words” but really mean “the kind of truth I’m used to working with has lots of footnotes and big words, and it’s not really truth, but it’s the way people like me present it to the world. There’s some good stuff in there, but some of it’s really pretty rubbishy. Let’s think about what makes it good, and how else you might go looking for the truth.” And then not “go to the library and shop for some truth; check the ‘peer-reviewed’ so you get the right ingredients” but “check out the library. A lot of people are making neat stuff in there, and you can too.”

Make a note of Barbara Fister’s CRD Luncheon appearance on your calendar now: Tuesday, October 2, 2012. And be prepared to think while having fun!

Local, State, National: Finding Your Professional Home

May 30, 2012

tags: conferences, library organizations, local, national, regional, state

by Amy Deuink

by: Tom Reinsfelder, Christina Steffy, and Amy Deuink

Professional development is an important part of the library profession. It’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day tasks, especially at a time when many librarians and libraries are overworked and understaffed. Budget constraints may also limit what it’s possible to do. But making time to communicate and network with our peers can be educational and invigorating.

Attending Local Events

As academic librarians we are a part of larger institutions committed to learning and the exploration of new ideas. It is true that many local events or conferences may not be specifically directed at librarians, but the content is often relevant to our work. Local events provide some of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to take advantage of professional development opportunities and create meaningful partnerships with others. Take a look around and see what is available.

Attend on-campus events focused on topics such as student development, improving teaching methods, uses of new technology or software, or assessment of student learning. Then find ways to use your new knowledge to improve your library and build connections with others.
Look beyond your campus, introduce yourself to individuals working at other local libraries (don’t limit yourself to only academic libraries). Attend their events. We can all learn a lot from each other and there is often a significant overlap in the audiences we serve.

State / Regional Events

In addition to local events, it’s also important to attend state and regional events. Joining a local chapter of an organization allows you to meet people outside of your immediate local network. Attending state and regional events allows you to see trends that are occurring outside of your immediate local area, while the information is still targeted to what is happening around you in terms of the economy, budget, and even in terms of local resource sharing opportunities.
Read more…

New Ithaka S+R Research Website/Blog

May 21, 2012

by laralu510

Ithaka S+R has a new website and blog!

For those of you who have not heard of Ithaka S+R, they are a research and consulting service that helps academic, cultural, and publishing communities in making the transition to the digital environment.

If you have a regular rotation of professional development resources that you read through, you may want to add Ithaka S+R to your list. For example, their most recent post discusses barriers to online learning, a topic relevant to any distance librarian! Furthermore, while this consulting service does not focus exclusively on Libraries and Librarians, we are identified asone of their major constituents. As result many of their reports respond directly to issues of relevance to Academic Librarians.

Read more at: Ithaka S+R Reports for Libraries

CRD Workshop Speakers, Registration until tomorrow (May 18)!

May 17, 2012

by Erin B.

Register at http://bit.ly/diglit12 by May 18th. See our Upcoming Events page for more information about the program at Bucks County Community College.

“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!”

CRD Board Candidates for 2013

May 15, 2012

tags: CRD Board, elections

by Bonnie Oldham

Following are the PaLA-CRD members running for the CRD Board for 2013.

VICE-CHAIR/CHAIR ELECT:

Valerie Ann Lynn, Head Librarian, Penn State Hazleton

Serving as a member of the CRD Board for the last several years has been a pleasure and has allowed me to participate in a number of activities including evaluating course proposals for the annual PaLA meeting and writing blog posts. As a member of the Connect & Communicate sub-committee of the CRD Board I recognize the importance of offering relevant timely programming. I am very interested in service and leadership and have experience as a member of the Medical Library Association Continuing Education Committee and Liaison to the National Program Committee 2012. In my current position as Head Librarian at the Penn State Hazleton campus I am pursuing the development of a Knowledge Commons. I have an MLS from the University of Pittsburgh and an MSIT from Bloomsburg University. It would be an honor to serve as the CRD Vice-Chair/Chair Elect.

SECRETARY:

Jennifer V. Luksa, Head of Collection Resource Management, Bevevino Library, Misericordia University

I am the Head of Collection Resources Management at Misericordia University, where I have been employed for more than 18 years. I received my bachelor’s degree in American studies from Penn State University and my master’s degree in library and information science from Drexel University. I am also a 2009 graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy for Leadership Studies (PALS). I have served on the PaLA Scholarship Committee and the Nominating Committee for the Northeast Chapter of PaLA. Currently, I am serving as the Membership Liaison for the CRD Board, and I am involved with the planning committee for 2012 PALS. As an academic librarian, I see the importance of being involved with PaLA, and I appreciate the opportunity that I have to serve on the CRD Board. CRD provides academic librarians from across the state the opportunity to collaborate on issues and challenges that face our libraries today. If elected secretary, it would be an honor to continue serving PaLA and CRD.

James Maccaferri, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Library Science, Clarion University of Pennsylvania

I have been a member of PaLA since 1998, and have served as treasurer (2002-2003), Technical Services Roundtable chair (2003-2004), and Preservation Roundtable chair (2004-2005). I am also active in the ACRL Western Pennsylvania/West Virginia Chapter, currently serving on the nominations committee. I believe that CRD makes an extremely positive contribution to continuing education opportunities for academic librarians and would like to be part of that process. My MLS and PhD (Modern Middle East History) are both from UCLA, and I have been on the library science faculty of Clarion University of Pennsylvania since 1991, where I teach in the areas of cataloging and classification, preservation, and technical services. I have also taught at UCLA and at San Jose State.

Allyson Valentine, Adjunct Reference & Instruction Librarian, HACC Lancaster, Brossman Library

I am an adjunct Reference and Instruction Librarian at HACC Lancaster and I also teach Information Literacy courses at York College. I received my MLS in 2009 from Clarion University and I have my BA in English. I am a 2010 PALS graduate and I have been on the PALS planning committee for the last two years. Currently, I am the Academic Chair for the South Central Chapter of PaLA. I would love the opportunity to further be involved in PaLA and serve the CRD as Secretary.