ALAO 2014: Save the Date

Early Weekly Reader

15 Tips for Facilitating Online Discussion
"Facilitating discussions between students is one of those things that is infinitely easier when you’re teaching in a physical classroom rather than online. When the students are all in one room, discussions happen more naturally. Facilitating the same type of productive, useful discussion when teaching online is more of a challenge." -- Kati Lepi, Edudemic Online Learning, 3/15/14

U.S. Library Data: IMLS Releases Preview of 24th Annual (FY 2011) Public Library Survey
"The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has released a preview (summary and data) of the FY 2011 Public Library Survey." -- Gary Price, InfoDocket, 3/12/14

The Best Add-Ons for Google Drive
"Yesterday, Google introduced add-ons for Google Docs and Sheets. These add-ons allow you to add all kinds of functionality to your documents, including signing faxes, creating bibliographies, and more. While it's still in its infancy, here are a few of the best add-ons available at launch." -- Thorin Klosowski, Lifehacker, 3/12/14

One Email, Much Outrage
"Rachel Slocum’s problems began with an email she sent at the end of long day. It was Tuesday, October 1, and the federal government had partially shut down as a result of a budget impasse. The U.S. Census Bureau and Education Department websites were out of commission, leaving the students in her introductory geography class without access to data for an assignment." -- Peter Schmidt, Chronicle Faculty, 3/10/14

Six Online Rubric Makers Worth Trying
"I feel as though I’ve come across a lot of discussion about assessments as of late. Where are they most useful? What type of assessment is best for different types of subject matter? Which question type is most appropriate? How can I get the most information out of an assessment? These are some of the big questions I’ve seen thrown around." -- Katie Lepi, Edudemic, 2/15/14

How API's Connect the World
"Almost a year ago, I wrote about a deal in which Intel bought Mashery, a startup ReadWrite has covered closely over the years. Where once we thought of computing as an operation performed by chips in boxes, it now takes place at a higher level: Services connected by APIs, or application programming interfaces, power the Internet. " -- Owen Thomas, ReadWrite, 3/14/14

ALAO 2014: Keynote & Pre-conference Speakers

Empowering Our Communities:
Advocacy, Engagement, Outreach
ALAO 40th Anniversary
November 14, 2014
Kalahari Resort & Convention Center
Sandusky, Ohio


The ALAO conference planning committee is pleased to announce our key note speaker for this year's conference will be Courtney Young, the 2014-15 American Library Association President. Ms. Young's key note address will be "Diversity, Professional Development & Participation: How Academic Libraries Empower Communities."

For more information, visit the ALAO 2014 Conference web site.

A pre-conference workshop is scheduled for Thursday, November 13th, featuring Char Booth, Head of Instruction Services and E-Learning Librarian at the Claremont Colleges Library. Ms. Booth's pre-conference program topic is "Who Gives? Advocacy & Outreach That Make Things Matter."

For more information, visit the ALAO 2014 Pre-Conference web site.

Stay connected with ALAO on Twitter @ALAOorg and follow the conference hashtag #ALAO2014.

Weekly Reader: Academic Libraries

What Matters to Academic Library Directors? Information Literacy
"Whether they work at a big research university, a small four-year college, or something in between, academic-library directors share a “resounding dedication” to teaching information literacy to undergraduates. Beyond that, the priorities they set for their libraries depend on the size and nature of their institutions and how many (or few) resources they have to work with." -- Jennifer Howard, Wired Campus, 3/11/14

Academic Libraries: Ithaka S+ R Releases U.S. Library Survey 2013
"The new report was written by and Roger C. Schonfeld (Program Director, Libraries, Users, and Scholarly Practices) and Matthew P. Long (Project Coordinator at ITHAKA)."-- Gary Price, InfoDocket, 3/11/14

Ithaka S+R Academic Library Survey 2013
"In the Ithaka S+R US Library Survey 2013 report we examine how the leaders of academic libraries are approaching systemic changes in their environment and the opportunities and constraints they face in leading their organizations. While exploring key topics covered in our 2010 survey of library directors, such as strategic planning, collecting practices, and library services, in 2013 we also introduced a new emphasis on organizational dynamics, leadership issues, and undergraduate services." -- Roger C. Schonfeld and Matthew P. Long, Ithaka S+R, 3/11/14

Weekly Reader: Spring Break

Riding High: Brian Flocca on the Remarkable Process Behind His Caldecott Winning 'Locomotive'
"Brian Floca’s commute to his Brooklyn studio might be by bike or on a train, but it’s the F train, not the majestic steam train we see in his 2014 Caldecott Award-winning book. And, when he gets to work, it will not be the grand expanse of prairie he sees from his window, but the Gowanus neighborhood—right next to his very own Superfund site, the Gowanus Canal." -- Robyn Smith, School Library Journal, 3/3/14

Tips for Writing Good Multiple Choice Questions
"I remember with horror and embarrassment the first multiple-choice exam I wrote. I didn’t think the students were taking my course all that seriously, so I decided to use the first exam to show just how substantive the content really was. I wrote long, complicated stems and followed them with multiple answer options and various combinations of them. And it worked. Students did poorly on the exam. I was pleased until I returned the test on what turned out to be one of the longest class periods of my teaching career." - Maryellen Weimer, Teaching Professor Blog, 3/5/14

The Amazing Adventures of the Comic-Book Dissertator
"If a picture is worth a thousand words, Nick Sousanis likes to joke, his dissertation has exceeded the standard length and then some. Sousanis, a sixth-year doctoral candidate in interdisciplinary studies at Columbia University’s Teachers College, gets to deliver that line a lot. He is, after all, doing something pretty gutsy with his academic opus: completing the whole thing in comic-book form." -- Syndi Dunn, Chronicle Vitae News, 2/28/14

ALAO CMCIG Spring Workshop

CMCIG 2014 Spring Workshop
Keeping Pace: Changes & Trends
in Curriculum Materials Centers
April 4, 2014

Spend the day learning about how to keep pace with rapid changes and trends in Curriculum Materials Centers. Three main topics will be covered; edTPA basics and how CMC’s can support the teacher candidate assessment process, how to use Pinterest to market CMC’s and library resources, and a round table discussion featuring connecting CMC programs and events to your community.



A tour of The Works, Newark’s Children Museum and lunch are provided with registration.

Interested?  
This year's CMCIG workshop will be  held at The Ohio State University at the Newark Campus, Warner Library & Student Center Rm. WC #126, 1219 University Drive, Newark, OH 43055

Need more information?
Visit the ALAO web site for details and registration.

Have questions?
Contact Sharon Kerestes (skerestes at cedarville.edu) or Cheryl Ghosh (Cheryl.Ghosh at uc.edu). A workshop flyer is available on the ALAO web site.

(Another) Weekly Reader

Editorial: As Pretty Does
"Back in 1998, the Horn Book Magazine published a special issue devoted to picture books. With articles about picture book history, reviewing and writing picture books, and a baker’s dozen of first-person “Studio Views,” it became a children’s lit classroom staple and is easily the most requested special issue we’ve produced." -- Roger Sutton, The Horn Book, 2/28/14

Three Articles About Making Picture Books
"The additional reading for our first class comes from Horn Book Magazine‘s classic 1998 special issue on picture books. After you’ve read them, please come back to this post to comment. And as always, I hope this discussion will include more than just my students!" -- Lolly Robinson, Lolly's Classroom | The Horn Book Blogs, 2/22/14

8 Ways to Become a Better Boss
"Some get to be boss by luck and others earn their way into the driver's seat. Unfortunately, many people become a boss without getting proper training to manage. There is no sinister conspiracy at work--sometimes entrepreneurs focused on taking a product to market or heirs to family businesses find themselves in charge without knowing how to effectively manage people. Even great performers who rise to leadership positions may not have been trained to manage others." -- Kevin Daum, Inc., 11/15/13

Doing the Math: Managing Academic Libraries with Data in Mind
"This past December, LJ teamed up with Electronic Resources and Libraries (ER&L) to dive deep into the use of data-driven decision-making in academic libraries in a series of three free webcasts. The series, moderated by Bonnie Tijerina, head of e-resources and serials at Harvard Library and ER&L conference coordinator—and made possible thanks to sponsorship by ProQuest, Springer, and Innovative Interfaces—­explored a range of strategies academic libraries are deploying as they use data to serve their customers more ­effectively." -- Ian Chant & Matt Enis, Managing Libraries | Library Journal, 2/5/14

Weekly Reader

ALA and the Reunification of Librarianship
"The American Library Association (ALA)’s burgeoning budget crisis and dip in membership show the group is having a tough time thriving as a multitype library organization. It might be easy to cast a net of blame across the tepid economy, the aging profession, even entrenched leadership in ALA itself. But we think ALA’s membership woes are caused by a lack of unity across librarianship, a problem that is reinforced by ALA’s organizational structure and too narrow publications." -- Daniel O'Connor & Phil Mulvaney, Backtalk | Library Journal, 1/23/14

20 #EdTech Lovers Worth Following on Twitter
"Let’s assume, just for a moment, that you’re relatively normal – in your digital habits at least (no, not those ones, they’re weird). The chances are, therefore, that you have two routes to the things that interest you – either you seek them out (probably on Google) or they find you, usually through social media." -- Jimmy Leach, Edudemic, 2/27/14

"Why Did That Book Win?" A Children's Book Boston Discussion
"One hundred children’s booksellers, publishers, librarians, and students turned out for the second gathering of Children’s Books Boston, a group that encompasses area publishers, authors, booksellers, librarians, and educators. Simmons College was the setting for a panel on literary awards, inspired by the recent selection of the 2014 Newbery and Caldecott winners." -- Donna Spurlock & Karen Boss, Publishers Weekly, 2/25/14

4 Ways Teachers Can Encourage Online Interaction
"The education sector is rapidly changing and adapting to new technologies. Modern days have made educators go above and beyond with their teaching skills and learn to use new tools to innovate their style and create a better learning environment for students." -- Laura Iancu, Edudemic, 2/17/14

Why Leaving Something Behind is the Key to Interview Success
"One of the most common (and most important) pieces of job-searching advice out there is to be memorable. And there are lots of ways to do it — give a firm handshake, look the hiring manager in the eye, ask smart questions about the position or company, and show just how well you’d fit in with the team, to name a few." -- Angela Smith, The Daily Muse |  Business Insider, 2/25/14

Mock Caldecott Award Panel

For the last few year (well, last ten+ years) I have facilitated Mock Caldecott Award panels with Dr. Mary Rycik's EDEC 323 Tradebooks and Technology with Literature students.  Each term we meet in the Instructional Resource Center to evaluate titles eligible for the Caldecott Award and select our winner. Titles selected for review by the student panel are recent additions to the library's juvenile collection; they are subject to terms and criteria established by the Association for Library Services for Children, American Library Association Medal committee.

Listening to the group discussion is always enlightening; they provide an interesting and fresh perspective to the process. I usually have a favorite among the titles selected for the panel; more often than not they are able to persuade me look more closely at a book I may have initially discounted. This group posted interesting questions about the process, including how people are selected to participate - and - if selection is more a matter of 'who you know' opposed to 'what you know.'  I offered School Library Journal's recent article The Givers: What it Takes to Serve on the Newbery, Caldecott Committees, by Shelley Diaz.

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, by Peter Brown, was selected as this year's Mock Caldecott Award winner. The Dark, illustrated by Jon Klassen, was noted as an honor book. If interested, all of the titles considered today are located on the IRC Mock Caldecott Panels Pinterest board.

Follow IRC @ Ashland University Library's board Mock Caldecott Panels on Pinterest.

Weekly Reader

We are Never, Ever Getting Back Together (Probably)
"I was young when I fell in love, and like all those involved in youthful love affairs, I was filled with passion and idealism. I was sure that my love would defy the odds, and last forever. The object of my affection wasn't movie-star handsome or rich, but was intelligent, sophisticated, and noble. I knew when we met that our values were in alignment. In my undying devotion, I worried constantly about whether I was good enough; it never occurred to me to wonder if my love was good enough for me." -- Ingrid Steffensen, Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/15/14

Exactly How Many Students Take Online Courses?
"We know that online education went mainstream years ago. Academic leaders believe it will become even more prevalent in the coming years. But how many American students are taking at least one online course right now?" -- Steve Kolowich, Wired Campus, 1/16/14

Kindness is Possible
"Word association game time. First word: Academic. Chances are, “kindness” wasn’t the first thing that came to mind. (Indeed, much has been said and written about the abundance of just the opposite in academe: pettiness, to put it nicely.) But a new blog aims to change that. The Academic Kindness Tumblr is a place for students and professors to post random and not-so-random acts of kindness they’ve witnessed during their studies or work, to remind themselves and others that colleges and universities may not be so inhospitable after all." - Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, 1/9/14

Weekly Reader

Private Distress
"Some private colleges that managed to weather the recession are finding new troubles.So they are announcing layoffs, cutting programs and more. Almost all of these small to mid-sized privates are tuition-dependent and lack large endowments. National declines in the number of traditional college-age population mean students just aren't showing up to privates, which are facing competition from public colleges that are more stable now than a few years ago and the reality that privates cannot afford to indefinitely lure students by cutting prices with generous financial aid packages. And this could become a huge problem."-- Ry Rivard, Inside Higher Ed News, 12/9/13

Speaking Up for the Creditless MOOC
"Last year I agreed to teach a public-speaking MOOC on the Coursera platform. I wasn’t a MOOC advocate, but I believe that the study of speech and rhetoric benefits individuals and society as a whole. I routinely offer speech workshops for civic and professional groups around Washington State. A MOOC on public speaking would allow me to run a speech workshop on a global scale." --Matt McGarrity, The Conversation | Chronicle of Higher Education, 12/12/13

The Great Stratification
"Imagine a diorama in an American Museum of Occupations showing the evolution of the professor. The exhibit starts in the early 1800s with an austere, black-suited man in a minister's collar, perhaps looking over the shoulder of a student at a rustic desk, with a Greek text open in front of him. In the next scene, from around 1900, he morphs into a pince-nez-wearing gentleman in starched collar and cravat, at a podium delivering a lecture." - Jeffrey J. Williams, The Chronicle Review, 12/2/13

4 Unconventional Ways the Internet Can Help You Land a Job
"With thousands of new people entering the job market daily, you need to tap every available resource to stand out. The internet can help you hack into the minds of potential employers, if you know where to look. While these days it's common knowledge to use sites like Twitter and LinkedIn to connect with potential employers, you can get a giant leg up on the competition if you get a little more creative with your World Wide Web use." -- Tessa Miller, Lifehacker, 12/9/13

The Ultimate Guide to the Invisible Web
"Search engines are, in a sense, the heartbeat of the internet; “googling” has become a part of everyday speech and is even recognized by Merriam-Webster as a grammatically correct verb. It’s a common misconception, however, that googling a search term will reveal every site out there that addresses your search. In fact, typical search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing actually access only a tiny fraction – estimated at 0.03% – of the internet. The sites that traditional searches yield are part of what’s known as the Surface Web, which is comprised of indexed pages that a search engine’s web crawlers are programmed to retrieve." -- Staff Writer, iLibrarian Blog, 11/11/13