Summertime in the IRC

This post is a loose adaptation of borrowed idea; one of the blogs on my feed reader has begun sharing a picture or image “of the week.” While unsure if this will be a weekly occurrence, I’m pleased to present today's photo, my updated literature rack with freshly developed LibGuide QR codes - in color!

The first literature rack slot introduces QR codes and suggests three popular (and free) smart phone barcode apps RedLaser, Kaywa, and ScanLife. Subsequent signs invite users to "Take us with you!" and present simple instructions for QR code use. LibGuide titles are detailed and QR code color matches or compliments the header. Color adds visual appeal to the rack, located on the wall next to the second floor printer station.

Literature rack text deliberately echoes QR code slides developed for the library’s digital sign on the main floor. Color and presentation are great, but the purpose remains providing quick and easy access to online information for our users.

Weekly Reader

How the Recession Re-Sorted Freshmen
"A new study largely confirms what anecdotal reports had anticipated about national college enrollment patterns during the economic downturn: that enrollments of high school students swelled, that larger numbers of students chose community colleges, but that private colleges did not suffer the losses that many had predicted. But the study -- though its data are limited in scope -- also shows that the extent of the shifts, and how different institutions were affected, varied by region." -- Allie Grasgreen, Inside Higher Ed News, 7/14/11

5 Marketing Lessons from the World's Largest Book Club
"Imagine a book club bigger than Oprah’s – where people around the world all read together. That’s what Jeff Howe built on Twitter in partnership with The Atlantic – 1Book140. Each month, the book club nominates and votes on books to be read for the next month. A set of finalists is narrowed down and, with a chosen book selected, the entire Twitter user-base starts reading the book. Each week, Howe sets a chapter to be discussed and the discussion online begins. This month, they are reading Kafka on the Shore. Creating and attaching your brand to a movement like 1Book140 can be a powerful brand-building exercise. But what about starting your own movement? We’ve identified five things you can learn from 1Book140." -- Drew Davis, TippingPoint Labs Blog, 7/12/11

10 Major Mobile Learning Trends to Watch For
"Teachers and administrators have been bringing technology into the classroom for decades now, but with the advent of cloud computing and the proliferation of smaller, more portable computers and Internet-capable devices, it's now possible to bring the classroom into the technology instead. Mobile learning, sometimes abbreviated to M-Learning, focuses on learning through mobile devices, allowing learners to move about in a classroom or remotely learn from any location of their choice. It's a movement that's gained a lot of steam in recent years, and despite some criticisms, isn't like to fade fast – especially as new technologies that make mobile learning more practical continue to emerge and the popularity of remote learning opportunities like online colleges continue to grow." -- Online College Blog, 7/5/11

Professors Consider Classroom Uses for Google+
"Google Plus, the social-networking platform, is so new that most Internet users are not yet able to see it—an invitation is required while the service is in its test phase. But some professors who have tried it say they already see possible uses for teaching and research if the service catches on." -- Jeff Young, Wired Campus, 7/8/11

Teaching to the New Generation
"It is the beginning of the summer period again when I am no longer teaching and when I take some time to assess how the year went. After my experiences in the classroom this year, I am convinced more than ever that teaching with the traditional methods of lecturing does not work anymore on the students of the new generation. I am afraid that the failure to realize this is likely to create a gap between professors and the students, and thus stand as an obstacle to success in our classrooms." -- Itir Toksöz, University of Venus, 7/10/11

Weekly Reader

Class and Summer Classes
"The kids who most need summer classes are the least likely to get them.The folks who study student success in the K-12 system routinely report that much of the learning gap between lower-income and higher-income students is a function of summers. The upper-income students have culturally enriched home environments and activities, so the academic backsliding over the summers is minimal. The lower-income kids, on average, get much less enrichment at home, so they backslide over the summers. I’ve never seen a reason to suspect that the dynamic stops at twelfth grade." -- Dean Dad, Confessions of a Community College Dean, 7/7/11

Microsoft Will Pay for U. of Nebraska's Switch to It's New Cloud-Based Service
"Microsoft has nabbed a new client for Office 365, its cloud-based suite, but it will cost the software giant $250,000. The University of Nebraska has agreed to make the move from IBM’s Lotus Notes to the new Office 365 platform in exchange for $250,000 in business-incentive money to cover the cost of migrating its e-mail and calendar systems for staff and faculty. Officials would not disclose how much the university will spend for the e-mail service." -- Jie Jenny Zou, Wired Campus, 7/8/11


Top 10 YouTube Videos Posted by Colleges and What They Mean
"More than 400 colleges and universities have set up channels on YouTube as part of the YouTube EDU section of the popular video site, but university officials admit they are still experimenting with the service and learning what types of videos resonate with off-campus audiences.." -- Rachel Wiseman, Wired Campus, 7/5/11

To Friend, Follow, or Connect?
Does your institution regulate your contact with students on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn? I've read several conversations about whether or not we should connect with students in online social spaces. Scores of professionals seem to insist on grouping every single social media site into an "all or nothing" / "yes or no" scenario. My opinion is that social media are far too nuanced for one "policy" that covers every site. Here is my take on the top three social media sites. Agree, disagree, that's okay with me, but at least note that not every social media site is the same." -- Eric Stoller, Student Affairs and Technology, 7/5/11

Blackboard Gets Bought
"Blackboard, maker of the dominant online learning platform among nonprofit colleges, has been sold to Providence Equity Partners, the company announced on Friday. The announcement prompted hand-wringing from campus technology officials and reassurances from Blackboard that there are no significant changes in the offing." -- Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed News, 7/5/11

Our Non-MLIS Director is Great! Compared to What?
"One of the programs I attended at the ALA Conference in New Orleans was titled “Hiring Non-MLS Librarians: Trends and Training Implications.” The first panelist shared some research findings from a survey in which library directors were asked about the positions in their libraries that they believed did or did not require an MLS. The results were pretty much what you’d expect. Directors expected the MLS for positions related to reference, instruction, and metadata services – the more traditional librarian functions." -- Steven Bell, ACRLog, 7/4/11

Inforgraphic: Do-It-Yourself Guide to Infographics
"I know what you’re thinking… another Infographic? Wait… I know I’ve been on a roll lately publishing every marketing infographic I can find on the Internet, but this one’s really great. If you’re wondering why there’s been explosive growth in Infographics, the folks at Voltier Creative have made… you got it… an Infographic explaining just that! We develop infographics for our clients and think this is a perfect explanation!" -- Douglas Karr, Marketing Tech Blog, 6/30/11

New Blogger in Draft

I routinely use Blogger in Draft when developing Weekly Reader posts for Library Cloud; it allows for article quotes to be easily inserted in compose, line breaks are simpler between titles and blurbs, and the preview option lets me see how it will look within the template (as opposed to a general preview). I use the traditional Blogger interface with library and IRC blogs because the insert image option is a bit clunky, you cannot drag the image for resizing in draft mode (its draft for a reason). The Blogger in Draft Blog post provided information regarding a platform redesign available, Bloggers Updated Interface Now Available for All Draft Users.  I read the article with interest and promptly forgot about the announcement ... until I logged in.

The layout is clean and intuitive, has expanded post editor options, and the post work space has been significantly increased. I was quickly able to locate most everything I needed, but for some reason am unable to find the post link option allowing me to link a post title. Insert images remains awkward in my opinion; in addition to not being able to manually adjust the image size once the image is inserted it's difficult to change page alignment. For instance, the image of a recent Library Cloud weekly reader post inserted above is centered. I should be able to align subsequent paragraph text using the alignment tool.  No such luck, regardless of how many times I changed alignment the post editor continued to automatically generate centered text. I resorted to the post editor html option, removed center command div, and continued. Overall, I like the new design and may soon choose Blogger Draft as my default dashboard.

Weekly Reader

Entitled Students are Ruining Higher Education
"How do you define an entitled student? Let me try. I started out in academic librarianship as a reference librarian at the Lippincott Library at the University of Pennsylvania. That just happens to be the library that serves the students at the Wharton School of Business. The typical Wharton MBA student comes from Wall Street or the corporate office, and is paying a considerable sum for the degree - as they are quick to remind you." -- Steven Bell, Library Journal, 6/29/11

Prepare to Repel Researchers
"An interesting question came up the other day on COLLIB-L, a discussion list for college librarians. A librarian reported that a student who was abroad discovered he couldn't access videos in a library database. An error message appeared saying access would constitute a "copyright violation." Though the library had licensed the material for its patrons, including that student, he was unable to view it because he happened to have traveled to another region. He wondered whether he might have the same problem with articles in databases." -- Barbara Fister, Library Babel Fish, 6/29/11

107 Best Websites on the Web
Here at MakeUseOf, we love websites. It’s our very reason for existing and when new sites pop up, we’re one of the first to get all hot and bothered about it. With an estimated 350 million websites out there on the World Wide Web (and tens of thousands more starting up new every day), how do you know which ones are the best for your individual needs? If this is a problem you frequently encounter then worry no more, as MakeUseOf once again has you covered with the 107 Best Websites On The Web. -- Mark O'Niell, Make Use Of, 6/30/11

Twitter Shows Off the Worldwide Flow of Tweets with Visualizations
"Twitter has posted a couple of very cool visualizations that show off the ‘global pulse’ of Tweets being sent around the world, especially when major events, like the earthquake in Japan, happen." -- Matthew Panzarino, The Next Web, 6/29/11

Penn Students Leave School to Launch CourseKit with Million Dollar Seed Round
"Coursekit is like Facebook or Yammer for courses. Like many other students frustrated with Blackboard, the current online course management standard, the Coursekit founders think they can do a better job. “It is really a Blackboard replacement with a heavy emphasis on social networking,” says CEO Cohen." -- Erick Schonfeld, TechCrunch, 6/27/11

Networking for People Who Hate Networking
"Networking is important for at least two critical reasons: [a] the research suggests that the majority of the jobs in our field are not posted but become known through networking; [b] the research suggests that an emerging competence for leaders is their ability to develop their network, through special projects, temporary assignments and community involvement, among others." -- Ken Haycock, Library Leadership, 6/21/11

The Value of Copying
"Everything is a Remix is a wonderful, wonderful video series, and the third episode is my favorite. It’s all about ideas: Where ideas come from, what’s right about copying them, how improvement comes from blatant copying, and why Hunter S. Thompson re-typed The Great Gatsby. Well worth the 11-minute watch." -- Jason Kottke, Digitizd, 6/21/11

Pew Internet Report: E-Reader Ownership

A new Pew Internet & American Life project, E-Reader Ownership Doubles in Six Months, explores the recent growth spurt of E-Reader ownership as compared to tablet computers.

"The percent of U.S. adults with an e-book reader doubled from 6% to 12% between November 2010 and May 2011. Hispanic adults, adults younger than age 65, college graduates and those living in households with incomes of at least $75,000 are most likely to own e-book readers. Parents are also more likely than non-parents to own these devices." -- Overview, E-Reader Ownership, 6/27/11 

It would be interesting to learn more, such as those who use E-Readers via their local library (academic or public), or what percentage of E-Readers purchased outside of those for personal use were utilized in classrooms or libraries.

Weekly Reader

Discouraging EDU Lessons from Netflix Streaming
"I like Netflix Streaming because I can watch the movie or TV show that I want, and on the device that I want, as long as it is available in the Watch Instantly streaming format. My changes in Netflix viewing habits, I think, tell us something about how our students will approach our course content in the future. We may not like it, but our students are going to behave with our course materials the way I behave with Netflix. If course materials are not available instantly and painlessly on all their mobile platforms, then they will spend less time with these course materials." -- Joshua Kim, Blog U: Technology & Learning, 6/16/11


Syracuse Sends Personalized Video Messages to Admitted Students to Stop "Summer Melt"
"Incoming freshmen at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications received a different kind of message welcoming them to the fall semester—personalized videos from two prominent alumni. On Friday, freshmen received e-mails with links to 30 second-long videos from Dennis Crowley, co-founder of Foursquare, and Contessa Brewer, an MSNBC anchor" -- Jie Jenny Zou, The Wired Campus, 6/16/11

2010 Environmental Scan (ACRL)
"Every two years, the ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee produces an environmental scan of higher education, including developments with the potential for continuing on impact academic libraries. The 2010 environmental scan provides a broad review of the current higher education landscape, with special focus on the state of academic and research libraries. The document builds on earlier ACRL reports, including the Top Ten Trends in Academic Libraries. The 2010 environmental scan is freely available on the ACRL website (PDF)." -- ACRL Insider, 6/16/11

Civil War Project Shows Pros and Cons of Crowdsourcing
"The University of Iowa is the latest to use crowdsourcing to let anyone online help do work once reserved for scholars and archivists—in this case, inviting volunteers to transcribe a trove of Civil War-era diaries. Like other recent attempts to tap the crowd for scholarship, leaders of the Iowa project are learning that free online help isn’t completely free." -- Jie Jenny Zou, The Wired Campus, 6/14/11

QR Code Dress Plays Video When Scanned
"Although QR codes have yet to hit the mainstream, there are some locations where they’re very appropriate: namely, the Webby Awards, which were held Monday night to honor excellence on the web." -- Lauren Indvik, Mashable, 6/14/11

The All-In-One on Engaging Your Audience: 11 Resources for Speakers
"As soon as you realize that speaking isn't just broadcasting with your voice and a microphone, you begin to consider engaging with audiences, from making them think and getting feedback from them to handling hecklers and simple questions. Here's our best advice on engaging audiences for speakers, from the vaults of The Eloquent Woman."  -- Denise Graveline, The Eloquent Woman, 6/13/11

Pottermore? Is there more Harry Potter

The second official movie trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 (now less than one month away!) was released yesterday, the HP7 part 2 web site was updated, and J.K. Rowling made an interesting announcement complete with accompanying web site and YouTube channel ... Pottermore.

The second trailer is, as Harry might say, brilliant; it features a montage of scenes from previous films as well as HP7 part 1 & 2. Luckily, I have time to read and savor Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and watch HP7 part 1 before HP7 part 2 arrives in theaters. As to Pottermore, Ms. Rowling is not saying much at this point. An AP announcement published in the Washington Post yesterday noted:

"Spokeswoman Rebecca Salt confirmed Thursday that www.pottermore.com is a new project for the “Harry Potter” author. She said the site is “not a new book” and “not directly related” to the final Potter movie, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” which comes out next month." -- Washington Post, 6/16/11

We'll find out more in 5 days, 22 hours, 10 minutes, and 14 seconds (give or take).

Pew Internet Report: Social Networking Sites & Our LIves

A recently released Pew Internet & American Life report, Social Networking Sites and Our Lives. It presents information gathered about social networking, social networking sites, and the impact they have on our lives. 

"Questions have been raised about the social impact of widespread use of social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter. Do these technologies isolate people and truncate their relationships? Or are there benefits associated with being connected to others in this way? The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project decided to examine SNS in a survey that explored people's overall social networks and how use of these technologies is related to trust, tolerance, social support, and community and political engagement."

"The findings presented here paint a rich and complex picture of the role that digital technology plays in people's social worlds. Wherever possible, we seek to disentangle whether people's varying social behaviors and attitudes are related to the different ways they use social networking sites, or to other relevant demographic characteristics, such as age, gender and social class."

"The number of those using social networking sites has nearly doubled since 2008 and the population of SNS users has gotten older." -- Lee Rainie, Kristen Purcell, Lauren Sessions Goulet, & Keith N. Hampton - Pew Internet & American Life Project, Summary of Findings, Social Networking Sites and Our Lives, 6/16/11

2-Weekly Reader

LJ 2011 Job Satisfaction Survey - Rocked By Recession, Buoyed By Service
"A recession that has rocked the bottom lines of libraries nationwide has not, despite any expectations to the contrary, managed to unseat the basic satisfaction of the workers who keep them ticking every day. That workforce is just as likely to choose a career in libraries as it was before the recession took hold: a full 86 percent said so, the same resounding number as in LJ’s last job satisfaction survey in 2007 (covered in a three-part series starting with “Great Work, Genuine Problems,” LJ 10/1/07, p. 26–29). When asked directly about job satisfaction, 70 percent of library workers across all library types and at all levels stated they were satisfied or very satisfied, just two percent down from 2007" -- Rebecca Miller, Library Journal, 6/1/11

When Adults are the Bullies
"Across the world, educators are more and more finding themselves involved in bullying and not just through their students, but rather actively bullying others or being a victim of it. What do we, as administrators and adults, do when the bullying taking place is among the adults in the school/district? I remember starting out as a teacher and being quite shocked by the cliques, hierarchies, and power structures within staffs of schools." -- Chris Wejr, Connected Principals, 6/2/11

YouTube and Creative Commons: raising the bar on user creativity
"Have you ever been in the process of creating a video and just needed that one perfect clip to make it pop? Maybe you were creating your own music video and needed an aerial video of Los Angeles at night to spice it up. Unless you had a helicopter, a pretty powerful camera and some fierce editing skills, this would have been a big challenge. Now, look no further than the Creative Commons library accessible through YouTube Video Editor to make this happen. Creative Commons provides a simple way to license and use creative works." -- Stace Peterson, YouTube Blog, 6/2/11

Introducing schema.org: Search engines come together for a richer web
"Today we’re announcing schema.org, a new initiative from Google, Bing and Yahoo! to create and support a common vocabulary for structured data markup on web pages. With schema.org, site owners and developers can learn about structured data and improve how their sites appear in major search engines. The site aims to be a one stop resource for webmasters looking to add markup to their pages." -- Ramanathan Guha, Official Google Blog, 6/2/11

College students eager to learn but need help negotiating information overload
"As another academic year draws to a close, college students are once again getting bad marks.Seems like everywhere you turn — in a stream of new books, blogs, newspaper stories and broadcasts — the same story is being reported: Today's students don't study much. Many are unrepentant slackers, tethered to Facebook and their smart phones on their way to another party. Even worse: Today's college students lack critical-thinking skills, leaving them unprepared for the workplace."-- Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg, Seattle Times Editorial / Opinion, 6/3/11

New Library Dean Has History with University
""Sara Bushong's new position as the dean of Bowling Green State University Libraries is the next step in a line of jobs that began with an interest in music and education. Bushong began her history with BGSU as a student, earning a Bachelor of Music Education degree and performing as a choir teacher, a school librarian, and was originally going to become a band director.She finds her transition from music to libraries fitting in the overall pursuit of teaching. "I just like the variety," Bushong said. "I felt I could continue working as a teacher as well but be able to work with all kinds of subject areas instead of just one or two." Bushong previously served as the associate dean of the libraries as well as two terms as interim dean and is excited about her new job." -- Bobby Waddle, BG Views News, 5/31/11

ALAO Newsletter: June 2011

The ALAO Newsletter, Vol. 29, Number 2, is now available. This issue features:

• ALAO President's Report
• 2011 / 2012 ALAO Election Results
• Membership Announcements
• Diversity Scholarship Award Winner
• Interest Group Updates 

Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) is a Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).

"We are over 600 members, representing more than 100 libraries, organizations, and businesses. We provide support, encouragement, and continuing education opportunities for academic library staff from all over Ohio through our workshops, annual conference and other programs." -- Welcome to ALAO.