(also see the below radial chart showing roles as seen in 2010 and 2016, embedded in the link article)
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Emerging Futures of Subject Librarians
Emerging Futures of Subject Librarians
(also see the below radial chart showing roles as seen in 2010 and 2016, embedded in the link article)
(also see the below radial chart showing roles as seen in 2010 and 2016, embedded in the link article)
LibGuides (Subject Guides) - best practices
For all those involved in editing/designing subject guides: Do have a look at this
Core competencies for librarians
Core competencies for information professionals of Thai academic libraries in the next decade (A.D. 2010-2019
International Information and Library Review
Volume 43, Issue 3, September 2011, Pages 122-129.
Clearly outlines competencies and definitions
International Information and Library Review
Volume 43, Issue 3, September 2011, Pages 122-129.
Clearly outlines competencies and definitions
Men of the stacks - 2012 calendar
I've often come across people who respond by rudely saying 'shame' after I have told them that I am a librarian. Considering the complete inaccurate view of librarians, it is not surprising that some initiatives aim to change how we as librarians are perceived and that it can (and is) a very fulfilling career 'even for a man'!
I am happy to share the following initiative:
The Men of the stacks - a 2012 calender
I am happy to share the following initiative:
The Men of the stacks - a 2012 calender
If I was to be the Queen ...
(I originally posted this on the RLC Blog in April of 2010.)
If I was to be the Queen ...
I would knight librarians for aren’t we the keepers and protectors of the truth. Are we not on an endless errand to find the holiest of grails (knowledge), bringing it into the open for the world to see (cataloguing, exposing, digitising ...)? Are we not always out there looking to save ‘maidens in distress’ (researchers and students) in a world filled with dragons (irrelevant and incorrect information) whose sole aim is to ensnare and devour the feeble minded? We are knights in shining libraries sworn to do the bidding of those that we serve. We are the 'illuminators' of the true path to wisdom.
Sir Librarian – what a wonderful world this can be! I am proud to be a librarian! I am proud to part of a small group of chosen people who though battle-scarred keeps on fighting the good fight for an informed world.
If I was to be the Queen ...
I would knight librarians for aren’t we the keepers and protectors of the truth. Are we not on an endless errand to find the holiest of grails (knowledge), bringing it into the open for the world to see (cataloguing, exposing, digitising ...)? Are we not always out there looking to save ‘maidens in distress’ (researchers and students) in a world filled with dragons (irrelevant and incorrect information) whose sole aim is to ensnare and devour the feeble minded? We are knights in shining libraries sworn to do the bidding of those that we serve. We are the 'illuminators' of the true path to wisdom.
Sir Librarian – what a wonderful world this can be! I am proud to be a librarian! I am proud to part of a small group of chosen people who though battle-scarred keeps on fighting the good fight for an informed world.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Understanding the changing role of academic librarians
Understanding the changing role of academic librarians from a psychological perspective: A literature review
Ellen I. Shupe, , Stephanie K. Pung
The Journal of Academic Librarianship
Volume 37, Issue 5, September 2011, Pages 409-415
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2011.06.005
AbstractAlthough issues related to the role of librarians have long been discussed in the literature on academic librarianship, there has been little attempt to incorporate the extensive psychological theory and research on role-related issues. In the current article we review the empirical literature on the role of librarians, with a particular focus on the link between role-related issues and job stress, recruitment and selection, and training and development. We then discuss relevant psychological theory and research in these areas, and we conclude with a recommendation for more collaborative efforts between research psychologists and scholars in the field of librarianship.
Article Outline
Role-related stress experienced by academic librarians
The recruitment and selection of academic librarians
The training and development of academic librarians
Research on Training
Professional Development of Librarians: Research on Mentoring
Conclusion
References
Ellen I. Shupe, , Stephanie K. Pung
The Journal of Academic Librarianship
Volume 37, Issue 5, September 2011, Pages 409-415
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2011.06.005
AbstractAlthough issues related to the role of librarians have long been discussed in the literature on academic librarianship, there has been little attempt to incorporate the extensive psychological theory and research on role-related issues. In the current article we review the empirical literature on the role of librarians, with a particular focus on the link between role-related issues and job stress, recruitment and selection, and training and development. We then discuss relevant psychological theory and research in these areas, and we conclude with a recommendation for more collaborative efforts between research psychologists and scholars in the field of librarianship.
Article Outline
Role-related stress experienced by academic librarians
The recruitment and selection of academic librarians
The training and development of academic librarians
Research on Training
Professional Development of Librarians: Research on Mentoring
Conclusion
References
Monday, September 26, 2011
Social media use in the library
The Journal of Academic Librarianship
Volume 37, Issue 5, September 2011, Pages 373-375
Guest editorial: Social Media, Academic Research and the Role of University Libraries
from the conclusion: "...the real value of social media for libraries lies in its marketing potential, and marketing is something that libraries are not very good at. Thus one of the biggest university users of social media in the UK (not represented in the focus groups) uses Facebook and Twitter quite successfully for this purpose. Social media add powerful (‘cool’) communication channels to the marketing mix and appeal to the strategic student group. Whether it would appeal to researchers is of course another thing. So the real issue isn't that libraries are failing to understanding social media per se but failing to understand its effectiveness in their marketing strategy overall, and this is why many of them are not really connecting with social media. .."
Volume 37, Issue 5, September 2011, Pages 373-375
Guest editorial: Social Media, Academic Research and the Role of University Libraries
from the conclusion: "...the real value of social media for libraries lies in its marketing potential, and marketing is something that libraries are not very good at. Thus one of the biggest university users of social media in the UK (not represented in the focus groups) uses Facebook and Twitter quite successfully for this purpose. Social media add powerful (‘cool’) communication channels to the marketing mix and appeal to the strategic student group. Whether it would appeal to researchers is of course another thing. So the real issue isn't that libraries are failing to understanding social media per se but failing to understand its effectiveness in their marketing strategy overall, and this is why many of them are not really connecting with social media. .."
More on copyright
Very important - I discovered only this week that 2 lecturers in the Geography Dept were putting the pdfs of journal articles and scanned book chapters on their RUConnected course resources. This is breaking copyright and I had to alert them to this.
We all need to check this sort of thing. I have asked CHERTL to send out a message to teachers on RUConnected.
We all need to check this sort of thing. I have asked CHERTL to send out a message to teachers on RUConnected.
· Some time back DALRO queried the low amount that RU was paying for copyright and so they are watching us! I have a feeling that many departments are not compliant.
·
Copyright matters
Take the time to check DALRO's website:
http://www.dalro.co.za/
It's really important for us, as Librarians, to be aware of copyright issues!
http://www.dalro.co.za/
It's really important for us, as Librarians, to be aware of copyright issues!
New Open Access Library Journal in 2011
Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings
An annual collection of papers based upon presentations given at the Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Conference.
Vol 1 (2011): Theme Issue: Originate, Create, Renovate, and Innovate: Leading Revolution in the Academic Library
Table of Contents
Introduction
| How Did We Get Here? Innovation in Practice | |
| Cynthia Akers | 1 |
Articles
| Where Is the Love? Using the Black Eyed Peas to Reach Expository Writing Students | |
| Heidi Blackburn, Jennifer Molidor | 2-10 |
| Subject Guides: Two Different Libraries, Two Different Approaches | |
| Gemma Blackburn, Judy Bastin | 11-15 |
| QR Codes: What Are They and Why Should You Care? | |
| Jason Coleman | 16-23 |
| Building New Interfaces for Shocker Open Access Repository | |
| Sai Deng | 24-31 |
| The Wireless Library: An Assessment of a Library Laptop Program | |
| Arthur Gutierrez, Terri Summey | 32-40 |
| Going Mobile: the In’s and Out’s of an Academic Library Mobile Site | |
| Ronda Holt, Mary Walker | 41-47 |
| Archival Internships: Creating Real World Learning Beyond the Classroom | |
| Lorraine Madway | 48-56 |
| Where Did My Time Go? Time Management in Libraries | |
| Morgan McCune | 57-65 |
| Gifts Nobody Wants: The State of the Art in Dealing with Unwanted Donations | |
| Sheila O'Hare, Andrew Smith | 66-86 |
| Copyright Renovation: Creating Informational Web Pages and a Consulting Service for Academic Users | |
| Jenny Oleen, Beth Turtle | 87-90 |
| Re-Branding Academic Libraries in an Experience Culture | |
| Rajesh Singh | 91-95 |
| Following the Evidence: Approaches to Assessment in Academic Libraries | |
| Gregory A. Smith | 96-108 |
| Instructor Development: A Model for Growth and Success | |
| John Stratton, Erin Ellis | 109-113 |
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Friday, September 3, 2010
Opening of the Research Commons at Rhodes Library
3rd September 2010
The Research Commons was officially opened today at the Rhodes University Library! The Vice- Chancellor Dr Saleem Badat cut the purple ribbon, and heralded a new era for the library in the promotion of research. A new season with Spring in the air, the start of the 4th term, and with doors opening to postgraduate students and staff at 8.30am on the 6th of September.
The Research Commons was officially opened today at the Rhodes University Library! The Vice- Chancellor Dr Saleem Badat cut the purple ribbon, and heralded a new era for the library in the promotion of research. A new season with Spring in the air, the start of the 4th term, and with doors opening to postgraduate students and staff at 8.30am on the 6th of September.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Academic Portfolios for Librarians
Looking Like Everyone Else: Academic Portfolios for Librarians
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 36, Issue 2, March 2010, Pages 166-172
Wyoma vanDuinkerken, Catherine Coker, Margaret Anderson
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2010.01.008Abstract
The academic librarian faces a unique range of changing duties and responsibilities that are often inappropriately documented. The development of an academic portfolio that creates a record of librarianship, scholarship, and service can solve this issue for librarians on the tenure-track or on a job hunt. This paper describes how academic librarians can develop a working academic portfolio for themselves.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
How Google Book Search Affects Academe
Podcast: How Google Book Search Affects Academe
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/?id=3828&utm_source=at&utm
_medium=en
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/?id=3828&utm_source=at&utm
_medium=en
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Nothing new to us in this article from the TIMES, but I like the way it is written!
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/article6154172.ece
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/article6154172.ece
Shh, this is a digital library
Once upon a time a love of books and reading was considered a key requirement for an aspiring librarian. Today, with the advent of digitalisation and moves towards the virtual library, such an interest is no longer enough. Librarians must master sophisticated IT and information management skills as well as the traditional techniques.Bookishness has gone - along with the old stereotype of stern shushes from a bluestocking in a tweed skirt and spectacles with her hair in a tightly twisted bun.
Even Oxford University's venerable Bodleian Library is moving into the 21st century with plans to allow more online access to materials and electronic document delivery. And a significant proportion of Oxford's 19th-century out-of-copyright holdings, including Jane Austen's Emma and the first edition of Charles Darwin's On The Origin Of Species, have been digitalised to allow online access.
So what does it take to be a librarian in the digital age? Well, you can start work in a library with GCSEs, A levels or a first degree in information sciences. However, a postgraduate qualification - an MA or MSc - is necessary in certain sectors where there is a bar to promotion for anyone without a professional qualification. This is the case in schools, colleges and universities, and government and local authorities.
Every year some 2,000 students study for a masters level qualification in library and information studies in the UK. These students, who may have a first degree in virtually any subject, spend a year before their postgraduate course as a trainee in a library or information service. Oxford University, for example, has a graduate library training scheme offering up to 20 placements a year.
Trainees can choose from as many as 90 UK postgraduate librarianship or information science degrees, although only 58 of these are recognised by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (Cilip). This body accredits trainees' professional experience and training for them to attain chartered professional status.
Cilip-recognised courses are run in 18 institutions and have a variety of names reflecting different emphases in content. For example there is health infomatics for those wishing to work in the healthcare sector or legal information management for those aiming to join law firms.
Among the postgraduate course market leaders are University College London and Sheffield, Loughborough and City universities. Aberystwyth University has the most librarian students in the UK - some 800, most of them studying by distance learning.
What kind of qualities does a librarian need? Vanda Broughton, MA programme director for library and information studies at University College London, cites an interest in information, curiosity and, for those going into the technical areas of IT or cataloguing, an interest in detail and a methodical approach.
For librarians dealing with readers, people skills are important in helping users to find information, use databases and negotiate online resources.
Traditional librarianship skills of managing information, compiling collections, selecting and organising material and making it available to readers are still important but they are exercised in an increasingly digital context.
Bibliographic databases have replaced print-based services. Scholarly journals are now delivered electronically. E-text books are increasingly prevalent and rare texts such as the Gutenberg Bible and the Beowulf manuscript have been digitalised to allow public access.
Dr Gayner Eyre, head of Aberystwyth University's department of information studies, says: “We used to deal in tangibles, now we deal in virtuals. Librarians are becoming IT specialists. We now teach about the importance of social networking, skills in Web 2.0 and 3.0, electronic preservation and migrating information to new formats.
“We teach people how to organise information virtually and electronically and about the manipulation of data in a web environment. This is creating a new breed of librarians as online facilitators.”
Technological change is now so fast that it is hard to predict what the next development will be but Broughton insists: “The professional who is trained in the principles of managing information will not be fazed by this change. The medium is not the message - you respond as the medium changes.
“Do not go into library work if you do not like IT. If you really prefer books, think about the book trade or publishing, not librarianship.”
www.cilip.org.uk
Monday, May 18, 2009
Future of academic libraries
Exploring the future of academic libraries: A definitional approach
From the Journal of academic librarianship, May 2009, Pages 252-259
Abstract
The central argument of the article is that while the building, the collection and the staff were inseparably linked, in a digital environment these facets of the library are diverging. This divergence clouds the process of envisioning a future for the library, but, if properly defined, it is a source of clarity, which sheds light on strategic opportunities.
Google book deal - scholarly concerns
SCHOLARS ARE WARY OF DEAL ON GOOGLE'S BOOK SEARCH:
Some scholars say the proposed settlement of litigation over
Google's Book Search may make their jobs harder.
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i36/36a01201.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
user name: rulibrary
password: ru2007
Some scholars say the proposed settlement of litigation over
Google's Book Search may make their jobs harder.
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i36/36a01201.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
user name: rulibrary
password: ru2007
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
e-textbooks
HOW A STUDENT-FRIENDLY KINDLE COULD CHANGE THE TEXTBOOK
MARKET: The expected introduction of Amazon's wide-format
Kindle could revolutionize the delivery of textbooks, or the
new product could get as lukewarm a reception as previous
e-book readers.
http://chronicle.com/free/2009/05/17550n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medi
um=en
MARKET: The expected introduction of Amazon's wide-format
Kindle could revolutionize the delivery of textbooks, or the
new product could get as lukewarm a reception as previous
e-book readers.
http://chronicle.com/free/2009/05/17550n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medi
um=en
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