Weekly Reader

Tips for Personal Branding in the Digital Era 
"It doesn’t matter if you have the perfect job and have no plans of leaving — consistent networking and personal branding efforts ensure you’ll stay on the top of your network’s members’ minds and be viewed as an authority in your field. Womenonbusiness.com suggests focusing on building a brand instead of a career. That starts with your interaction with others — even in the space of digital. Crafting a beneficial digital brand involves everything from visual development, to content strategy, to digital public relations. Think of yourself as a brand, and start reaping the rewards of your networking efforts." -- Mike Frey, Social Media Today, 5/17/13

Tips from Mentor Scouts Mentor of the Year
"Mentoring can be a difficult relationship to navigate for both mentors and mentees, but there are several steps that participants can take to ensure that they get the most out of the relationship. Finalists for Mentor Scout’s Mentor of the Year award recently talked with Nobscot CEO Beth Carvin about some things to keep in mind when working on establishing a good mentoring relationship."-- Julia Russell, Smart Blog on Leadership, 5/16/13

Five Great Tools for Creating Your Own Educational Infographics
"These fun, mostly free tools can help educators easily create their own Infographics, and bring a very modern twist to instruction. 'A picture is worth thousand words.' That is what infographics do. They convey a wealth of information in a largely graphical format. They can help communicate visually even the most complex concepts in a simple and lucid way. They can be a great educational resource. Have you ever considered creating one for a course you teach?" -- Kathryn Smith, Emerging EdTech, 5/15/13

It's the Small Things That Make a Leader Great
"How unfortunate that our popular ideas of what a good leader should be are so often grandiose. Through current media, television and movies, we expect perfection; a leader is strong, fearless and flawless. If we believe that myth, they should be superheroes, royalty and saviors all rolled into one." -- Mary Jo Asmus, Smart Blog on Leadership, 5/15/13

Simple Steps to Successful Presentations
"Picture this: You’re at a conference, waiting to hear a speaker whose talk you’ve been looking forward to for months. As you sit down, you realize that he appears rattled and is gripping onto the lectern for dear life. He begins to talk, ever so slowly." -- Shannon Alter, Smart Blog on Leadership, 5/10/13

The Ultimate Google+ Cheat Sheet
"Social Media Marketers need to squeeze the most value out of every social media update. Google Plus has some of the most robust posting & sharing capabilities of any social network. From rich snippets to photo editing to individual circles, there are so many features that can make your post stand out from the pack. Here are some highlights from a cheat sheet that I built (Download and print here) to get the most out of Google Plus posts." -- Tatiana Aders, Social Media Today, 5/16/13

The simple things: images in forms

I was excited to see the following tweet from Richard Byrne earlier this week:

Video - How to Insert Images Into Google Forms ow.ly/kZTys
— Richard Byrne (@rmbyrne) May 14, 2013

I immediately re-tweeted ...

RT yes! can hardly wait to try it myself “@rmbyrne: New post: Video - How to Insert Images Into Google Forms goo.gl/fb/pNm7U”
— Diane L. Schrecker (@dschrecker) May 13, 2013

[Note: I gathered embed codes a day after the original tweet; as a result it looks like I re-tweeted a tweet before it was originally posted.]

Why? When Google moved Forms away from Google Docs into Google Drive a number of useful features, such as simple html for text display, heading tags, and ordered and unordered lists were eliminated. Luckily existing forms did not lose set formatting and functionality remained intact, but project /form presentation options were limited including a diminished  number of themes.

That said, I have to mention the updated form menu is easier to use.

I use Google Forms - and spreadsheets - with Flubaroo in an instructional technology course; students create self-grading quizzes. The assignment remained, but it will be necessary to recreate supporting video tutorials moving forward.  Access to drive is different and steps for connecting the form to a spreadsheet need to be addressed.

A member of the ALAO 2013 conference planning committee,  I was excited to have the opportunity implement Google Forms for conference proposal submissions. Proposals are submitted online and compiled in the accompanying spreadsheet, a quick form script allows for immediate email response for each submission, and each submission form 'type' was branded a different color. What was lacking was opportunity to brand the form with the conference logo for immediate visual impact and recognition.

At least, it was lacking until yesterday ... ALAO 2013 Presentation Proposals

Adding images is quick and easy; the only problem is they are added using the same process as headers and section breaks; text and questions are placed above or below, not with the image.  Inserting images into existing questions or the form description is not optioned.  Therefore, in order to add the ALAO Conference logo it was necessary to insert the image, create a new section header directly below to incorporate a form title and description, and then delete narrative in the default title and description fields. The empty space created does not display in the live form. Overall, I'm thrilled with the image option and hope Google continues to add more functions in the near future.

ALAO 2013: Conference App

The ALAO 2013 conference planning committee invites you to stay connected with ALAO 2013 using our new app! Developed for the ALAO conference using Yapp, a free mobile app, users are able to access the conference website, submit a proposal, view information about ALAO presenter grant opportunities, and follow ALAOorg and the conference hashtag #ALAO2013.

Interested? 

Here's how it works:

1. Download YappBox to your mobile device (phone or tablet), it's free from the iTunes Store and Google Play.
2. Install the ALAO Conference app by visiting this page, http://my.yapp.us/3CCFY9 via your device.
3. OR - use the "Add a Yapp" function in YappBox and enter the code: 3CCFY9
4. OR - follow this link to send the link to your mobile device.
5. OR - Scan the QR Code

Pinterest: notifications & analytics

Pinterest has been rolling out layout 'tweaks' over the last few weeks; Improvements to the New Look highlighted updates and the return of some favorite features. (An aside: I really need to get my Google Reader feeds moved and organized.) I did not opt-in immediately, so the arrival of the new 'Notifications' drop down menu on the IRC blog this morning was a surprise.  Instead of notifications - pin activity - being displayed with pins from people I follow, it is now a drop down menu feature with the account navigation menu (see below).

I liked the notifications panel in its previous location, it helped provide immediate visual feedback for the area.  However, since I get email updates for IRC Pinterest activities changing the location of notifications information is not problematic. That said the menu area is getting a bit crowded at the top of the page, especially since I verified the IRC blog to view analytics.

About those analytics ...

It has been three weeks since I verified the IRC Blog to use the analytics function.  I have seen interesting site metrics for reach (people seeing pins), impressions (my pins in main feed), clicks (from Pinterest), and visitors.  Analytics for most recent show pins from prior to ACRL; most repinned and most clicked only display "we don't have any data for this date" regardless of the date range selected. Email notifications tell me pins are being liked and repinned, so it is odd this has yet to translate to analytics presented.

It may be that I need to exercise patience since these same metrics are not yet visible on my personal Pinterest site either. Time will tell; keep calm and Pinterest on.

ALAO 2013: Proposal Help Page

"Make this the year you present at ALAO! Whether you are a first time presenter, or an ALAO presentation veteran, crafting and submitting a proposal to present is sometimes a daunting challenge." - ALAO 2013: Proposal's: Need Help?

The ALAO 2013 conference planning committee encourages first time and seasoned presenters to submit a proposal for the 39th Annual ALAO Conference. Visit the conference web site for proposal writing resources such as links to abstracts from previous conferences, submission tips from ALA and ACRL, and ALAO proposal FAQs.

Submit your session proposal online:  http://goo.gl/CgrBm

ALAO 2013: Call for Proposals

ALAO 39th Annual Conference 

October 25, 2013 

University Center Kent State University at Stark 

North Canton, Ohio 

The ALAO Conference Planning Committee invites you to submit proposals for presentations for the 2013 Annual Conference. Applicants are encouraged to develop creative proposals that show thoughtful exploration of this year’s conference theme: “The Changing Faces of Academic Libraries: Transforming, Reorganizing, Re‐imagining.”

Share your experiences, solutions, expertise, and innovative practices with colleagues from all types of academic libraries. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: 

Transforming: 

• Collaboration – departments, community, groups 
• Collections – print vs. electronic 
• Outside the box – new initiatives 
• Services – areas of student experience 

Reorganizing: 

• Library spaces – physical and virtual, active learning
• Staffing – new roles, new positions, new responsibilities
• Budget (electronic vs. print) 
• Collections – maintenance 
• Services 

Re‐imagining: 

• Library instruction – first year, second year groups, international, special groups (veterans), online 
• Library reference – online, in person, new methods, assessment, tools used 
• Library services 
• Collaboration 
• Budget – expertise needed?, IT 
• Collections – digital initiatives, data 
• Assessment 
• Library as information portal 

Proposal Guidelines: 

You are welcome to submit multiple proposals, however, please know that no more than 2 will be included in the final program.  All proposals will be blind‐reviewed for content, relevance to the conference theme, and overall appeal. A concise, clearly written description and abstract will help the reviewers evaluate your offering more clearly.

Presentations may take the form of contributed papers, demonstrations, workshops, research, or panel discussions.

• Exclude the name of your institution, department and any personal names in the abstract to expedite the blind review process. You do not need to exclude this information in the brief description. 
• You will be contacted regarding your AV/technology requirements when your proposal is accepted. 
• All presenters will be responsible for their own registration and travel costs. 

Please print a copy of the completed form for your records before submitting. You will receive an email confirmation upon successful proposal submission. If you do not receive this confirmation email, please contact: Diane Schrecker, Ashland University Library using the ALAO 2013 Conference Planning Committee email: alao.cpc at gmail.com 

Deadline for proposals is June 7, 2013.

Proposals should be submitted via the online submission form:  ALAO 2013 Presentation Proposal

Visit the conference web site @ http://goo.gl/ryXMa

Pinterest Web Analytics

Pinterest introduced Web Analytics in March and offered it to users with several caveats in place.

Why don’t I have the option to use Pinterest Web Analytics?

You’ll only have access to Pinterest Web Analytics if you've verified your website and are using Pinterest's new look.

If you just verified your website, you won't see your data for a few days.

If you’re unable to verify your website, then you won’t be able to use Pinterest Web Analytics at this time.

I switched to Pinterest's new look prior to ACRL and explored ways to verify the IRC web site and/or IRC blog. For the IRC blog (Blogger platform), meta tags placed in the header <head> seemed to be the best option and I placed the tag in the IRC blog header without success. This morning, a blinding flash of the obvious; place the meta tag in the blog template source code.  I removed the IRC web site, added the IRC blog URL, selected the meta tag option, placed the meta tag into the blog header (edit html), saved, continued the verification process ... and ... now I have a verified web site/blog for the IRC Pinterest site and can access the analytics menu.

There is little available, after all I only verified this morning, but I'm looking forward to seeing additional information regarding the traffic flow and usage statistics for the IRC Pinterest page. I'm considering the same process for my personal Pinterest site and this blog (and should have done so prior to ACRL!).  Regardless, since I am not ready to commit the IRC Pinterest as a business site this is a nice option for using Pinterest web analytics.

Pinterest "News" section

	I have been actively collecting and 'curating' Pinterest internet resources for my ACRL workshop and recently read an article on Business 2 Community about a "News" section being tested by a few users. In her blog post, Pinterest Testing New News Section, author Sue Reynolds notes "the test began January 16 and Pinterest is asking for feedback from users via an online form" (Reynolds). As these test are generally conducted with high traffic sites, I was surprised morning to see the "News" feature on the IRC Pinterest site after login earlier this afternoon.
	The news feature appears in upper left portion of the followers area (top image, highlighted in blue), where a list of activity and suggestions of pinners to follow usually reside.  In its place actual boards where the images were re-pinned are presented. At this point, only two boards are listed and pins from boards followed surround them.  A red "see all news"  button is located below the bottom board helping to indicate where boards stop and pins start. I found the news display area, a mixture of pin boards and individual pins, visually confusing. That said, there are two other ways to view news that are definitely more appealing.
	If you select the "see all news" button, it links to a new tab in the profile area (middle image); if users return to their Pinterest home page, the same news tab is visible next to followers (bottom image) and it links to the news area as well. While I do not particularly care for the news in the feed area, I do like the opportunity to view a collection of boards from other followers indicating where my image was pinned.  It provides an interesting look at similar pins and collections making it simpler for me to find more resources.

More information is available on Pinterest's Help Center using the What is News? link: "We're currently testing a new feature with a small group of pinners called News. If the Recent Activity on your home feed and the Activity tab on your profile are missing, you are part of this test." Included was a link to a Google form asking how often I use Pinterest (1-2 times per week), if I liked the news feature better than the recent activity feature (not really), and if I found the news feature useful (yes, but not located on the recent activity area). It will be interesting to see when this feature becomes available to all Pinterest accounts.

Weekly Reader: Holiday Break

Here are a few items "fed" to my overflowing Google Reader during the holiday break (December 15 - January 8, 2013).

The Education Revolution Opens Up the Path Less Taken
"The Chronicle this week published a news analysis questioning whether the current nonstop talk over innovation in higher ed is creating a system for those who can least afford a traditional education but need it the most." -- Jeff Selingo, Next, 12/19/12

Mobile Connections to Libraries
"Some 13% of those ages 16 and older have visited library websites or otherwise accessed library services by mobile device. This is the first reading in a national survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project on this subject" -- Lee Rainie, Kathryn Zickuhr and Maeve Duggan, Pew Internet, 12/31/12

10 Hottest Ed Tech Stories of 2012
"Articles about how free online courses, or MOOCs, could disrupt higher education dominated the headlines last year here at the Wired Campus blog, and they were the most popular with readers as well. Several articles about e-textbooks also topped our list of most-read articles of 2012, highlighting what has been a time of change, and anxiety, for colleges and universities." - Jeffrey R. Young, The Wired Campus, 1/3/13

Thoughts on Weeding
"As much as I enjoy the technology-focused projects I work on as an emerging technologies librarian, I also don’t spend as much time as I might like with our print collection. Since I am also a our psychology liaison, I do have collection development responsibilities which require a better familiarity with relevant areas of the collection. I see the books quite a bit while roaming around the library or helping students locate materials during reference and instruction interactions, but I don’t always have regular occasions to just browse our stacks. This means it was a rare treat for me to spend about an hour of quality time in my liaison area’s reference section this morning." - Kim (no last name posted), ACRLog, 12/20/12

The Simple Power of Finding Stuff Out
"Like many academic librarians, a major piece of my job is helping students find their way around information they might use for course assignments. This fall I met a few times with a class full of smart, curious first year students who were quick to grasp their course content, quick to pick up on ways of finding out more, quick to follow leads into odd corners of the library, and wonderfully articulate when asked to reflect on what they observed. But when asked to write a modest paper using at least one primary and one secondary source, they seemed suddenly insecure and anxious. All of their common sense, inquisitiveness, and confidence fled when asked to practice things they’d learned already. Something failed to connect, and I’ve been wondering about it ever since."-- Barbara Fister, Library Babel Fish, 12/17/12

Tech Trends to Watch Out for in 2013
"With the New Year comes a fresh set of technology imperatives, challenges and opportunities for organizations to consider. The increased innovation in the technology sector means that companies are finally in a position to be smart about the IT decisions they make and truly leverage next-generation tools and strategies to mitigate risk and shape strategies for the future." -- Jeremy Sherwood, IT Leadership, 1/8/13

Pinterest: New Home Page

I noticed a new Pinterest start page this morning while updating boards on the IRC Pinterest site. Selecting "or preview the site" links to the previous Pinterest start page providing users, or potential users, opportunity to peruse resources before signing up for an account.  Choosing "Join Pinterest" leads to the account registration page that now features a link specifically for businesses. I generally login directly via the page I'm working with, so this may not be new, per say. Regardless, I like the new look. It's very clean and inviting.



As the IRC Pinterest page gains popularity and followers, there has been an increase in requests to join boards and work collaboratively with other Pinterest accounts. Unfortunately, I have also had to use the option to block followers more frequently as well. There are pages that should not be associated with a library and Instructional Resource Center page created for education students. It is becoming rather Twitter-spam-esque with quick creation of strange pages seemingly with the simple goal of increasing followers. As Pinterest continues to gain popularity, maintenance of followers for the IRC may need to be monitored with more regularity.

ACRL 2013: Workshop

I'm thrilled to be presenting a workshop at ACRL 2013 this spring titled, A Picture is Worth ... Innovative Uses for Pinterest, on Thursday, April 23rd, 8:30 am to 11:30 am. While the IRC @ Ashland University Library Pinterest site will be featured, I have been preparing my personal Pinterest site with resources to support the session.  The first two boards highlight Academic and Public Libraries using Pinterest. Here's a sneak peak at the work in progress. 

ACRL 2013: Academic

 

Source: Uploaded by user via Diane on Pinterest

 

ACRL 2013: Public

 

Source: Uploaded by user via Diane on Pinterest

If I included your library Pinterest site and you would like to have me remove it, please feel free to contact me via library.cloud at gmail.com. If you have suggestions for inclusion, I would be happy to hear them as well. Add your library Pinterest site to blog comments.