Books Changed His Life
"It is with great sadness that we convey to you, this evening, news of the passing of a great friend of the Library of Congress and all people who know the joy of reading – author Walter Dean Myers, winner of two Newbery Honors and five Coretta Scott King awards." -- Jennifer Gavin, Library of Congress Blog, 7/2/14
Creating a Respectful Classroom Environment
"In our class: 1) everyone is allowed to feel they can work and learn in a safe and caring environment; 2) everyone learns about, understands, appreciates, and respects varied races, classes, genders, physical and mental abilities, and sexualities; 3) everyone matters; 4) all individuals are to be respected and treated with dignity and civility; and 5) everyone shares the responsibility for making our class, and the Academy, a positive and better place to live, work, and learn.” -- Maryellen Weimer, Teaching Professor Blog, 7/2/14
In Backlash Over Facebook Research, Scientists Risk Loss of Valuable Resource
"It was a remarkable result: By manipulating the news feeds of thousands of Facebook users, without their knowing consent, researchers working with the goliath of social media found that they could spur a significant, if small, effect on people’s behavior in the world beyond bits."-- Paul Voosen, Chronicle of Higher Ed | Research, 7/1/14
The Facebook Furor
"Tens of thousands of academics and other observers of Internet life who did not know the name Adam Kramer on Sunday night certainly now it now. But on the chance you’ve been “off the grid” for the past 24 hours, Adam Kramer is the Facebook data scientist who served as a the lead author on a research project that manipulated the positive and negative information in the Facebook News Feed to assess the emotional impact positive and negative news on some 690,000 Facebook users." -- Kenneth C. Green, Inside Higher Ed | The Digital Tweed, 6/30/14
Rising Tuition Discounts and Flat Tuition Revenues Squeeze Colleges Even Harder
"By now, the picture painted in a new survey of tuition discounting, net-tuition revenue, and other enrollment trends should be drearily familiar to many in higher education. The annual survey of private, nonprofit, four-year colleges, conducted by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, points to yet another year when discount rates for first-time, full-time freshmen reached a record high: 44.8 percent in 2012-13 and an estimated 46.4 percent for 2013-14." -- Scott Carlson, Chronicle of Higher Ed | Administration, 7/2/14
Friday, July 04, 2014
Tuesday, July 01, 2014
ALAO 2014: Posters, Discussion Tables, Tech Tables
The Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) Conference Planning Committee is now accepting proposals for Poster Sessions, Tech Tables and Discussion Table topics for the 40th Annual ALAO Conference, which will take place on November 13-14, 2014 at the Kalahari Resort & Convention Center in Sandusky, OH.
Applicants are encouraged to develop sessions that show thoughtful consideration of this year’s conference theme, “Engagement, advocacy and outreach: Empowering our communities,” which seeks to explore how academic libraries and librarians empower our communities in all the ways that we do. We would love to learn about your ideas, experiences, solutions, and best practices – even those that yielded results that were different than expected!
For this round of proposals, presentations may take the form of
Submit your poster, discussion table, or tech table proposal online @ http://bit.ly/1oi4zS6
Need help with your submission? Visit the Presentation Guideline Page for proposal resources.
Questions about this final round of proposals can be directed to:
Shelly Miller, ALAO Conference Planning Committee
shellym at ohionet.org
Submission deadline for proposals is August 1, 2014.
Applicants are encouraged to develop sessions that show thoughtful consideration of this year’s conference theme, “Engagement, advocacy and outreach: Empowering our communities,” which seeks to explore how academic libraries and librarians empower our communities in all the ways that we do. We would love to learn about your ideas, experiences, solutions, and best practices – even those that yielded results that were different than expected!
For this round of proposals, presentations may take the form of
- Posters: Graphically represent a topic with text, tables, and images and chat informally with poster session attendees about your material
- Discussion Tables: Lead a small, informal group discussion to facilitate networking and information exchange about a specific issue that librarians face
- Tech Tables: Demonstrate a technology resource being used in your library for cataloging, marketing, instruction, or staff training.
Submit your poster, discussion table, or tech table proposal online @ http://bit.ly/1oi4zS6
Need help with your submission? Visit the Presentation Guideline Page for proposal resources.
Questions about this final round of proposals can be directed to:
Shelly Miller, ALAO Conference Planning Committee
shellym at ohionet.org
Friday, June 20, 2014
Weekly Reader
Let's Banish Busyness
"I work with someone who begins every conversation by telling me how busy she is. I don't mean some conversations, or most conversations; I mean every single conversation. Whenever I am about to talk with her, I ask myself, "I wonder if she will tell me how busy she is?" And every single time, she does. Is she accomplishing a lot? No; less than most. But is she "so busy?" Oh, yeah." -- Allison M. Vaillancourt, Chronicle Vitae, 6/10/14
The Classroom as Arcade
"Telltale fast clicks of laptop arrow keys gave away my distracted student from 30 feet off. So engrossed was he in a 1980s role-playing game that he barely noticed when I leaned in to whisper how entirely inappropriate his behavior was during my digital humanities class at Dartmouth College. As a noted visiting technology and culture speaker held forth on participatory culture and Wikipedia — in which my students had expressed an avid interest — I was shocked as he and many others openly engaged with their Facebook pages." -- Mary Flanagan, Inside Higher Ed, 6/6/14
How Reality Became the Hot New Thing in YA
"In 2010, St. Martin’s editor Sara Goodman grieved when she was outbid for an adult manuscript she adored. A year later, when she got the chance to read a new, contemporary YA novel by the same writer, she acted with deliberate speed. 'I pitched it before anybody in-house had read it, so I’m sure there were people who know my reputation for issues-driven YA who probably thought, ‘Okay, she loves it, but this will be another tough sell,’ Goodman says. Then the manuscript made the rounds and Goodman says the reaction from colleagues was, 'Run, don’t walk, to get this manuscript under contract.'"-- Sue Corbett, Publishers Weekly, 5/2/14
"I work with someone who begins every conversation by telling me how busy she is. I don't mean some conversations, or most conversations; I mean every single conversation. Whenever I am about to talk with her, I ask myself, "I wonder if she will tell me how busy she is?" And every single time, she does. Is she accomplishing a lot? No; less than most. But is she "so busy?" Oh, yeah." -- Allison M. Vaillancourt, Chronicle Vitae, 6/10/14
The Classroom as Arcade
"Telltale fast clicks of laptop arrow keys gave away my distracted student from 30 feet off. So engrossed was he in a 1980s role-playing game that he barely noticed when I leaned in to whisper how entirely inappropriate his behavior was during my digital humanities class at Dartmouth College. As a noted visiting technology and culture speaker held forth on participatory culture and Wikipedia — in which my students had expressed an avid interest — I was shocked as he and many others openly engaged with their Facebook pages." -- Mary Flanagan, Inside Higher Ed, 6/6/14
How Reality Became the Hot New Thing in YA
"In 2010, St. Martin’s editor Sara Goodman grieved when she was outbid for an adult manuscript she adored. A year later, when she got the chance to read a new, contemporary YA novel by the same writer, she acted with deliberate speed. 'I pitched it before anybody in-house had read it, so I’m sure there were people who know my reputation for issues-driven YA who probably thought, ‘Okay, she loves it, but this will be another tough sell,’ Goodman says. Then the manuscript made the rounds and Goodman says the reaction from colleagues was, 'Run, don’t walk, to get this manuscript under contract.'"-- Sue Corbett, Publishers Weekly, 5/2/14
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Weekly Reader: Reading YA
The Adult Lessons of YA Fiction
"'When critics decide its time to pull up the gates and seal us all inside our castle of grown-up things, they cease to be people who deserve being listened to.' So writes author John Warner, in his commentary during website The Morning News’s annual Tournament of Books literary bracket, after judge Natasha Vargas-Cooper classified John Green’s breakaway young-adult novel The Fault in Our Stars and Chris Ware’s graphic novel Building Stories (which is not young adult) as 'juvenilia.'"-- Julie Beck, The Atlantic, 6/9/14
YA and the Shame Game
"Ruth Graham recently sparked a "I'll read what I want!" furor when she wrote a takedown of YA on Slate and titled it "Against YA." Many articles chicken-littleing the inexplicable popularity of vulgar populist genre fiction have come before it and many more will come after it. The world is full of these strange, brittle people who think things are only valuable if they're uncomfortable." -- Elizabeth Vail, HuffPost Books - The Blog, 6/8/14
Should Adults Be Embarrassed to Read Young Adult Books?
"Journalist Ruth Graham thinks adults shouldn't be reading young adult books. She speaks with NPR's Rachel Martin about the criticism she's received for writing that for Slate." -- Rachel Martin (host), NPR Books - Author Interviews, 6/8/14
Grown-Ups Don't Be Ashamed of Your YA Habit
"It's all John Green's fault. I'm not just talking about the strong likelihood that I'll be ugly-crying in public alongside fellow fans of "The Fault In Our Stars" in a theater near me this weekend -- I mean the fact that I'm reading much fiction at all these days. But apparently I'm supposed to be embarrassed about my love of Green's books. Says who?" --Kat Kinsman, CNN Living, 6/8/14
I Write Young Adult Novels, And I Refuse to Apologize for It
"One of my most traumatic experiences involved a high school classroom and a romance novel. I was fifteen and devouring pretty much any book I could get my hands on, especially adult romances—the more torrid, the better. I had one of these books in my backpack when a male friend pulled it out and started to read a particularly lurid passage aloud. The whole class laughed; I was suitably mortified. It was the first time I ever felt that I should be ashamed of what I loved, and the moment has stuck with me my entire life."-- Rachel Carter, New Republic, 6/6/14
This is Why Young Adult Books Are Not Only Acceptable, But Beneficial for Adults
"You might've seen a recent piece published by Slate outlining exactly why readers should be a little more ashamed about their young adult book consumption. If not, here's the gist: novels written for a teenage audience that are intended to represent realistic relationships (think The Fault in Our Stars, not Divergent) do so in a limited and immature way. According to the author, books like Eleanor & Park tend to have neat, happy endings, thereby making them unchallenging and uncomplicated -- they're for pleasure, whereas adult literature is for ... something else, left unspecified." -- Maddie Crum, Huff Post Books, 6/6/14
Ashamed of Reading YA? The Fault Lies Not in Our Stars, But in Our Stores
"Ah, the arbitrary divisions of the bookstore.Now it’s “Young Adult” and “Serious Fiction for Older Adults” and “Romance” and “Science Fiction.” In Dickens’s day, “Books About Winsome Orphans” and “Books About Prostitutes With Hearts of Gold” stood where “Teen Paranormal Romance” and “YA But Specifically YA About Finding Yourself” (a category I actually saw at a Barnes & Noble recently) stand today. I’m sure they evoked about equal measures of sneering. (Dickens was especially gifted and managed to get his book stocked on both shelves, guaranteeing that “Oliver Twist” would be a platinum-level bestseller.)" -- Alexandra Petri, ComPost - The Washington Post (Blogs), 6/6/14
No, You Do Not Have to Be Ashamed of Reading Young Adult Fiction
"Last month, it was William Giraldi, trashing romance novels in the pages of the New Republic, who did the critic’s equivalent of dumping a bucket of piranhas into a crowded pool on the first great swimming day of summer. June brings another provocation, this time from Ruth Graham in Slate, who argues that adults ought to be ashamed of reading young adult literature." -- Alyssa Rosenberg, Act Four - The Washington Post, 6/6/14
Slate’s Condescending “Against YA” Couldn’t Be More Wrong —
Young Adult Fiction Is for Everyone
"With today’s release of the John Green film adaptation The Fault in Our Stars, Slate, a publication that has been ignoring the swell of good, interesting, arguably literary young adult fiction for years has decided to run a piece, “Against YA,” that makes the claim, “Today’s YA, we are constantly reminded, is worldly and adult-worthy. That has kept me bashful about expressing my own fuddy-duddy opinion: Adults should feel embarrassed about reading literature written for children.” It is possibly the most Slate-y piece that ever Slate-d, maintaining a contrarian and snooty tone throughout, telling you the many ways that you are doing it wrong." --Elisabeth Donnelly, Flavorwire Books, 6/6/14
Let's Just All Read More Great Books - YA Or Not
"Today The Fault in Our Stars, based on a bestselling book by John Green, will debut in theatres across America. No cultural phenomenon can go unpunished by the good folks at Slate. So we get a piece with the thesis, "Adults should feel embarrassed about reading literature written for children. Sigh." -- Michelle Dean, Gawker, 6/6/14
Against YA
"As The Fault in Our Stars barrels into theaters this weekend virtually guaranteed to become a blockbuster, it can be hard to remember that once upon a time, an adult might have felt embarrassed to be caught reading the novel that inspired it. Not because it is bad—it isn’t—but because it was written for teenagers."-- Ruth Graham, Slate, 6/5/14
*Information in this Weekly Reader post first published on the IRC News & Information Blog. 6/11/14
"'When critics decide its time to pull up the gates and seal us all inside our castle of grown-up things, they cease to be people who deserve being listened to.' So writes author John Warner, in his commentary during website The Morning News’s annual Tournament of Books literary bracket, after judge Natasha Vargas-Cooper classified John Green’s breakaway young-adult novel The Fault in Our Stars and Chris Ware’s graphic novel Building Stories (which is not young adult) as 'juvenilia.'"-- Julie Beck, The Atlantic, 6/9/14
YA and the Shame Game
"Ruth Graham recently sparked a "I'll read what I want!" furor when she wrote a takedown of YA on Slate and titled it "Against YA." Many articles chicken-littleing the inexplicable popularity of vulgar populist genre fiction have come before it and many more will come after it. The world is full of these strange, brittle people who think things are only valuable if they're uncomfortable." -- Elizabeth Vail, HuffPost Books - The Blog, 6/8/14
Should Adults Be Embarrassed to Read Young Adult Books?
"Journalist Ruth Graham thinks adults shouldn't be reading young adult books. She speaks with NPR's Rachel Martin about the criticism she's received for writing that for Slate." -- Rachel Martin (host), NPR Books - Author Interviews, 6/8/14
Grown-Ups Don't Be Ashamed of Your YA Habit
"It's all John Green's fault. I'm not just talking about the strong likelihood that I'll be ugly-crying in public alongside fellow fans of "The Fault In Our Stars" in a theater near me this weekend -- I mean the fact that I'm reading much fiction at all these days. But apparently I'm supposed to be embarrassed about my love of Green's books. Says who?" --Kat Kinsman, CNN Living, 6/8/14
I Write Young Adult Novels, And I Refuse to Apologize for It
"One of my most traumatic experiences involved a high school classroom and a romance novel. I was fifteen and devouring pretty much any book I could get my hands on, especially adult romances—the more torrid, the better. I had one of these books in my backpack when a male friend pulled it out and started to read a particularly lurid passage aloud. The whole class laughed; I was suitably mortified. It was the first time I ever felt that I should be ashamed of what I loved, and the moment has stuck with me my entire life."-- Rachel Carter, New Republic, 6/6/14
This is Why Young Adult Books Are Not Only Acceptable, But Beneficial for Adults
"You might've seen a recent piece published by Slate outlining exactly why readers should be a little more ashamed about their young adult book consumption. If not, here's the gist: novels written for a teenage audience that are intended to represent realistic relationships (think The Fault in Our Stars, not Divergent) do so in a limited and immature way. According to the author, books like Eleanor & Park tend to have neat, happy endings, thereby making them unchallenging and uncomplicated -- they're for pleasure, whereas adult literature is for ... something else, left unspecified." -- Maddie Crum, Huff Post Books, 6/6/14
Ashamed of Reading YA? The Fault Lies Not in Our Stars, But in Our Stores
"Ah, the arbitrary divisions of the bookstore.Now it’s “Young Adult” and “Serious Fiction for Older Adults” and “Romance” and “Science Fiction.” In Dickens’s day, “Books About Winsome Orphans” and “Books About Prostitutes With Hearts of Gold” stood where “Teen Paranormal Romance” and “YA But Specifically YA About Finding Yourself” (a category I actually saw at a Barnes & Noble recently) stand today. I’m sure they evoked about equal measures of sneering. (Dickens was especially gifted and managed to get his book stocked on both shelves, guaranteeing that “Oliver Twist” would be a platinum-level bestseller.)" -- Alexandra Petri, ComPost - The Washington Post (Blogs), 6/6/14
No, You Do Not Have to Be Ashamed of Reading Young Adult Fiction
"Last month, it was William Giraldi, trashing romance novels in the pages of the New Republic, who did the critic’s equivalent of dumping a bucket of piranhas into a crowded pool on the first great swimming day of summer. June brings another provocation, this time from Ruth Graham in Slate, who argues that adults ought to be ashamed of reading young adult literature." -- Alyssa Rosenberg, Act Four - The Washington Post, 6/6/14
Slate’s Condescending “Against YA” Couldn’t Be More Wrong —
Young Adult Fiction Is for Everyone
"With today’s release of the John Green film adaptation The Fault in Our Stars, Slate, a publication that has been ignoring the swell of good, interesting, arguably literary young adult fiction for years has decided to run a piece, “Against YA,” that makes the claim, “Today’s YA, we are constantly reminded, is worldly and adult-worthy. That has kept me bashful about expressing my own fuddy-duddy opinion: Adults should feel embarrassed about reading literature written for children.” It is possibly the most Slate-y piece that ever Slate-d, maintaining a contrarian and snooty tone throughout, telling you the many ways that you are doing it wrong." --Elisabeth Donnelly, Flavorwire Books, 6/6/14
Let's Just All Read More Great Books - YA Or Not
"Today The Fault in Our Stars, based on a bestselling book by John Green, will debut in theatres across America. No cultural phenomenon can go unpunished by the good folks at Slate. So we get a piece with the thesis, "Adults should feel embarrassed about reading literature written for children. Sigh." -- Michelle Dean, Gawker, 6/6/14
Against YA
"As The Fault in Our Stars barrels into theaters this weekend virtually guaranteed to become a blockbuster, it can be hard to remember that once upon a time, an adult might have felt embarrassed to be caught reading the novel that inspired it. Not because it is bad—it isn’t—but because it was written for teenagers."-- Ruth Graham, Slate, 6/5/14
*Information in this Weekly Reader post first published on the IRC News & Information Blog. 6/11/14
Weekly Reader: Pinterest
Two Frequently Asked Pinterest Questions
"It’s easy to see why businesses love Pinterest. In addition to being one of the fastest growing social networks, Pinterest allows you to use rich visual content to drive traffic to your website, blog, or other social media properties. This is great news if you’re looking for a new way to reach your audience and promote your business, but also comes with certain challenges." -- Azure Collie, Business2Community, 6/9/14
Pinterest Beta Tests Do-It-Yourself Promoted Pins for Business
"Following the lead of other social networks like Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest is ramping up its marketing features. Back in September 2013, Pinterest announced it was beginning to experiment with sponsored pins. Now the company says it is rolling out a do-it-yourself promoted pin feature in beta too." -- Shawn Hessinger, Small Business Trends, 6/10/14
Pinterest Snags Longtime Apple Alums To Head Up Engineering And Design
"Social pinboarding site Pinterest today announced that it has picked up two notable new hires, both longtime Apple alums, to head up its Engineering and Design departments. All that funding is not going to waste, it seems. Michael Lopp, who was previously a director of engineering at Palantir, will head Engineering; Bob Baxley, the former Director of Design for the Apple Online Store, will become the Head of Product Design and Research." -- Sarah Perez, TechCrunch, 6/10/14
Why Pinterest is Driving Social Engagement (and How You Can Take Advantage
"Pinterest is leading the way for social growth. In a recent Forbes article, tool ShareThis said “Pinners,” or Pinterest users, had more share activity than Facebook or Twitter users in 2013." -- Adam Toren, Entrepreneur, 3/13/14
"It’s easy to see why businesses love Pinterest. In addition to being one of the fastest growing social networks, Pinterest allows you to use rich visual content to drive traffic to your website, blog, or other social media properties. This is great news if you’re looking for a new way to reach your audience and promote your business, but also comes with certain challenges." -- Azure Collie, Business2Community, 6/9/14
Pinterest Beta Tests Do-It-Yourself Promoted Pins for Business
"Following the lead of other social networks like Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest is ramping up its marketing features. Back in September 2013, Pinterest announced it was beginning to experiment with sponsored pins. Now the company says it is rolling out a do-it-yourself promoted pin feature in beta too." -- Shawn Hessinger, Small Business Trends, 6/10/14
Pinterest Snags Longtime Apple Alums To Head Up Engineering And Design
"Social pinboarding site Pinterest today announced that it has picked up two notable new hires, both longtime Apple alums, to head up its Engineering and Design departments. All that funding is not going to waste, it seems. Michael Lopp, who was previously a director of engineering at Palantir, will head Engineering; Bob Baxley, the former Director of Design for the Apple Online Store, will become the Head of Product Design and Research." -- Sarah Perez, TechCrunch, 6/10/14
Why Pinterest is Driving Social Engagement (and How You Can Take Advantage
"Pinterest is leading the way for social growth. In a recent Forbes article, tool ShareThis said “Pinners,” or Pinterest users, had more share activity than Facebook or Twitter users in 2013." -- Adam Toren, Entrepreneur, 3/13/14
Friday, June 06, 2014
Weekly Reader
Are You Approachable?
"When I interview the stakeholders on the strengths and gaps of the leaders I work with, it’s not unusual for me to hear that the peers and direct reports may see that leader as “aloof” or unapproachable. The fact that they may be in senior management can compound the issue, as there is always that hierarchical block that may keep employees away." -- Mary Jo Asmus, Smart Blog on Leadership, 6/4/14
The Everything Library
"I’ve had a couple of my buttons pushed recently. (Yes, it is known to happen. I am practically an accordion. Press my buttons and watch me swell with indignation and make noise.) One was a discussion on a library Listserv that I haven’t been participating in regularly, so I missed much of the texture of the conversation but couldn’t resist chiming in."-- Barbara Fister, Library Babel Fish, 6/3/14
Mr. Tiger Love at Last
"Readers of Calling Caldecott — and all my students — will understand my joy at hearing the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards announced Saturday. FINALLY some award love for Mr. Tiger Goes Wild! You can read the press release and reviews of the winning books here. We’ll put up photos from the announcement soon and you can read the tweets here." -- Lolly Robinson, Lolly's Classroom, 6/2/14
Is All this Student Data Changing the Way Teacher's Teach
"With so much access to student data these days, teachers are experimenting with different tactics, and figuring out what’s working and what’s not. As with most scenarios using education technology, it’s a mixed bag. But questions of privacy aside, how it’s used depends on a variety of factors in each school and in each teacher’s classroom. Some teachers are embracing student data to inform their teaching, while others believe there’s a risk of an over-reliance on hard numbers that doesn’t take into account the human factor." -- Francesca Segrè, MindShift, 6/2/14
Open Thread Wednesday: Twitter Tools for Summer
"It’s no secret that many of us at ProfHacker are big fans of Twitter, using it for everything from conferences to classes to bot-making to, yes, posting pictures of our cats. Several ProfHackers have shared their favorite tools and hacks for working with Twitter: Natalie gathered several of them in her recent retrospective post." -- Anastasia Salter, ProfHacker, 5/28/14
What Did You Eat for Breakfast?
"What you eat for breakfast may not merit space on your C.V, but a new website called Academic Breakfast is based on the idea that how professors start their days matters. The website invites academics to post a photograph of their breakfast, and to answer six quick questions: where they live, their institution, their job, their research in five words, their breakfast in five words, and their food philosophy in 10 words." -- Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed News, 6/2/14
"When I interview the stakeholders on the strengths and gaps of the leaders I work with, it’s not unusual for me to hear that the peers and direct reports may see that leader as “aloof” or unapproachable. The fact that they may be in senior management can compound the issue, as there is always that hierarchical block that may keep employees away." -- Mary Jo Asmus, Smart Blog on Leadership, 6/4/14
The Everything Library
"I’ve had a couple of my buttons pushed recently. (Yes, it is known to happen. I am practically an accordion. Press my buttons and watch me swell with indignation and make noise.) One was a discussion on a library Listserv that I haven’t been participating in regularly, so I missed much of the texture of the conversation but couldn’t resist chiming in."-- Barbara Fister, Library Babel Fish, 6/3/14
Mr. Tiger Love at Last
"Readers of Calling Caldecott — and all my students — will understand my joy at hearing the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards announced Saturday. FINALLY some award love for Mr. Tiger Goes Wild! You can read the press release and reviews of the winning books here. We’ll put up photos from the announcement soon and you can read the tweets here." -- Lolly Robinson, Lolly's Classroom, 6/2/14
Is All this Student Data Changing the Way Teacher's Teach
"With so much access to student data these days, teachers are experimenting with different tactics, and figuring out what’s working and what’s not. As with most scenarios using education technology, it’s a mixed bag. But questions of privacy aside, how it’s used depends on a variety of factors in each school and in each teacher’s classroom. Some teachers are embracing student data to inform their teaching, while others believe there’s a risk of an over-reliance on hard numbers that doesn’t take into account the human factor." -- Francesca Segrè, MindShift, 6/2/14
Open Thread Wednesday: Twitter Tools for Summer
"It’s no secret that many of us at ProfHacker are big fans of Twitter, using it for everything from conferences to classes to bot-making to, yes, posting pictures of our cats. Several ProfHackers have shared their favorite tools and hacks for working with Twitter: Natalie gathered several of them in her recent retrospective post." -- Anastasia Salter, ProfHacker, 5/28/14
What Did You Eat for Breakfast?
"What you eat for breakfast may not merit space on your C.V, but a new website called Academic Breakfast is based on the idea that how professors start their days matters. The website invites academics to post a photograph of their breakfast, and to answer six quick questions: where they live, their institution, their job, their research in five words, their breakfast in five words, and their food philosophy in 10 words." -- Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed News, 6/2/14
Monday, June 02, 2014
ALAO 2014: Call for Proposals Extended
The submission deadline for full-length sessions
has been extended to June 9, 2014.
The Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) Conference Planning Committee invites you to submit proposals for the 40th Annual Conference, which will take place on November 13-14, 2014 at the Kalahari Resort & Convention Center in Sandusky, OH.
Presentations may take the form of contributed papers, demonstrations, workshops, research results, panel discussions, etc. Applicants are encouraged to develop sessions that show thoughtful consideration of this year’s conference theme, “Engagement, advocacy and outreach: Empowering our communities,” which seeks to explore how academic libraries and librarians empower our communities in all the ways that we do. We would love to learn about your ideas, experiences, solutions, and best practices – even those that yielded results that were different than expected!
Submit your proposal online @ http://bit.ly/alaocall14
Presenter grants ALAO encourages library support staff and library student growth, career development, and participation in conference activities, and awards two presenter grants, one for support staff and the other for students. These grants (up to $150 each) are intended to assist with the costs incurred in preparing the presentation and modest travel costs associated with the presentation. Visit the conference web site for additional information.
Please note that only presenters of full-length sessions and posters selected for inclusion in the conference will be eligible for final consideration for the grant.
*posted to ALAO List 5/30/14
Friday, May 23, 2014
Weekly Reader
Technology, Learning, and Institutional Mission Statements
"Right now I’m preparing for a talk I’m giving next month, in which I’ll be speaking on using technology to connect students, faculty and institutions to the fundamentally human activities of learning and growth. Of those three groups – students, faculty, and institutions – I’m finding it to be a lot easier to talk about students and faculty and their relationship to technology than it is to talk about institutions. I’m wondering: Why is that?" -- Robert Talbert, Casting Out the Nines | The Chronicle, 5/19/14
Pinterest's New "Question" Feature Might Be the Key to Visual Search
"Pinterest is testing an unnamed Q&A feature, the visual search company confirmed to ReadWrite.The feature came to light after developer Tom Waddington blogged about noticing a blank “Questions” tab on his Pinterest account for Cut Out & Keep, a craft community he helped found in 2007. A quick scroll through the code indicated the feature was almost ready to be rolled out. When I reached out to Pinterest, a spokesperson confirmed that it wasn't a coincidence." -- Lauren Orsini, ReadWrite, 5/15/14
"Right now I’m preparing for a talk I’m giving next month, in which I’ll be speaking on using technology to connect students, faculty and institutions to the fundamentally human activities of learning and growth. Of those three groups – students, faculty, and institutions – I’m finding it to be a lot easier to talk about students and faculty and their relationship to technology than it is to talk about institutions. I’m wondering: Why is that?" -- Robert Talbert, Casting Out the Nines | The Chronicle, 5/19/14
Pinterest's New "Question" Feature Might Be the Key to Visual Search
"Pinterest is testing an unnamed Q&A feature, the visual search company confirmed to ReadWrite.The feature came to light after developer Tom Waddington blogged about noticing a blank “Questions” tab on his Pinterest account for Cut Out & Keep, a craft community he helped found in 2007. A quick scroll through the code indicated the feature was almost ready to be rolled out. When I reached out to Pinterest, a spokesperson confirmed that it wasn't a coincidence." -- Lauren Orsini, ReadWrite, 5/15/14
Monday, May 19, 2014
ALAO 2014: Submit a Proposal
Interested in submitting a proposal for the Academic Library Association of Ohio's (ALAO) annual conference but not sure where to begin? The following information is part of the online submission form; it may help prepare the required proposal descriptions (brief 50, long 150). Additional presenter resources are available on the conference web; included are links for first time presenters and proposal descriptions from previous conference programs.
Presentations may take the form of contributed papers, demonstrations, workshops, research, or panel discussions. You are welcome to submit multiple proposals, however no more than two will be accepted for inclusion in the conference program. All proposals must be submitted using the online form.
If you are interested in poster sessions, a second call for proposal will be available in late June for posters, lightning talks, and round table discussions.
Be prepared to submit your proposal:
Guidelines for submissions:
Guidelines for the online submission form:
If accepted to present at the ALAO 2014 Conference:
Presentations may take the form of contributed papers, demonstrations, workshops, research, or panel discussions. You are welcome to submit multiple proposals, however no more than two will be accepted for inclusion in the conference program. All proposals must be submitted using the online form.
The call for proposals submission deadline is May 30th.
If you are interested in poster sessions, a second call for proposal will be available in late June for posters, lightning talks, and round table discussions.
Be prepared to submit your proposal:
- A title and brief description: 50 words maximum.
- A long description: 150 words maximum.
- DO NOT include identifying information in your proposal submission.
- Consider how your presentation will connect with the audience.
- Sessions will be 50 minutes in length including time for Q & A.
Guidelines for submissions:
- Proposals are blind-reviewed.
- Content, relevance to conference theme, & overall appeal are key.
- Proposals should be concise, descriptive, and clearly written.
- Submissions containing identifying information may be disqualified.
Guidelines for the online submission form:
- Be sure to complete ALL of the required information.
- It is possible to move between sections of the form.
- It is NOT possible to save work in progress.
- EMAIL confirmation from alao.cpc at gmail.com will be sent to the lead presenter for each submission.
If accepted to present at the ALAO 2014 Conference:
- Presenters are responsible for their own conference registration.
- Presenters are responsible for all travel costs.
- Presenters will provide a presentation link or electronic copy.
- Presentations will be archived on the ALAO web site for three years.
- Technology and / AV requirements will be communicated.
- Tech help will be available from the CPC Technology team.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Weekly Reader
Surprise! Your Personal Data is Not So Personal
"You can be forgiven for believing that your personal data is actually yours. After all, it's your email. Your Fitbit. Your GPS device. Or your tractor. The reality of today's data-obsessed world, however, is that the minute your data hits the cloud, it's no longer yours. Not even remotely." -- Matt Asay, ReadWrite, 5/12/14
Lurkers Are the 99.989% of Social Media
"Sam Fiorella, Partner at Sensei Marketing, recently wrote “Community Management: The 90-9-1 Rule is Dead,” about the old concept that 90% of all your followers are just lurking, 9% are engaged, and that only 1% of the community actively produces content. Sam believes this is dead and that it’s closer to 70%/20%/10%, according to some research by Paul Schneider (from back in August of 2011). I don’t know if I agree with this — I think it’s more like 990-9-1 — we’ve attained a culture that is getting further and further from being an actor and more and more comfortable in the audience." -- Chris Abraham, Social Media Today, 5/12/14
2014 Summer Reading Recommendations
"Educationalists will tell you how important it is for children to keep reading throughout the long summer break lest their ever-evolving literacy skills erode. Fine. That does not, however, excuse the frequently dreadful list of recommended or — eep — required reading that schools shoot out as one last salvo of homework just as everybody is looking forward to a nice break." -- The Horn Book, Choosing Books, 5/12/14
Failing Faster: Reflecting on Making a Game a Week
"At the beginning of March, I began an adventure in making a game a week with a cohort of fellow scholars and designers (Mark Danger Chen, Melissa Peterson, Dennis Ramirez, and Greg Koeser) looking to increase their creative practice and experiment. It’s now two months later, and I’ve mostly been faithful to the pledge (sans one week of end-of-term madness, my only full failure)."-- Anastasia Salter, ProfHacker, 5/12/14
Is Rereading the Material a Good Study Strategy?
"Lots of good writing on the science of learning is coming out now and it’s needed. For too long we have known too little about learning—I won’t digress into the reasons why. We need to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about this science." -- Maryellen Weimer, The Teaching Professor Blog, 5/14/14
JOI to the Library
"'This might be too geeky for a column,” said the subject line of a reader's email, “but just in case …” It sounded like a challenge, and I took the bait. The topic in question? A new statistical instrument to quantify the degree of open access for scholarly journals. In other words, exactly geeky enough." -- Scott McLemee, Intellectual Affairs, 5/14/14
"You can be forgiven for believing that your personal data is actually yours. After all, it's your email. Your Fitbit. Your GPS device. Or your tractor. The reality of today's data-obsessed world, however, is that the minute your data hits the cloud, it's no longer yours. Not even remotely." -- Matt Asay, ReadWrite, 5/12/14
Lurkers Are the 99.989% of Social Media
"Sam Fiorella, Partner at Sensei Marketing, recently wrote “Community Management: The 90-9-1 Rule is Dead,” about the old concept that 90% of all your followers are just lurking, 9% are engaged, and that only 1% of the community actively produces content. Sam believes this is dead and that it’s closer to 70%/20%/10%, according to some research by Paul Schneider (from back in August of 2011). I don’t know if I agree with this — I think it’s more like 990-9-1 — we’ve attained a culture that is getting further and further from being an actor and more and more comfortable in the audience." -- Chris Abraham, Social Media Today, 5/12/14
2014 Summer Reading Recommendations
"Educationalists will tell you how important it is for children to keep reading throughout the long summer break lest their ever-evolving literacy skills erode. Fine. That does not, however, excuse the frequently dreadful list of recommended or — eep — required reading that schools shoot out as one last salvo of homework just as everybody is looking forward to a nice break." -- The Horn Book, Choosing Books, 5/12/14
Failing Faster: Reflecting on Making a Game a Week
"At the beginning of March, I began an adventure in making a game a week with a cohort of fellow scholars and designers (Mark Danger Chen, Melissa Peterson, Dennis Ramirez, and Greg Koeser) looking to increase their creative practice and experiment. It’s now two months later, and I’ve mostly been faithful to the pledge (sans one week of end-of-term madness, my only full failure)."-- Anastasia Salter, ProfHacker, 5/12/14
Is Rereading the Material a Good Study Strategy?
"Lots of good writing on the science of learning is coming out now and it’s needed. For too long we have known too little about learning—I won’t digress into the reasons why. We need to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about this science." -- Maryellen Weimer, The Teaching Professor Blog, 5/14/14
JOI to the Library
"'This might be too geeky for a column,” said the subject line of a reader's email, “but just in case …” It sounded like a challenge, and I took the bait. The topic in question? A new statistical instrument to quantify the degree of open access for scholarly journals. In other words, exactly geeky enough." -- Scott McLemee, Intellectual Affairs, 5/14/14
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Meanwhile, on Pinterest
With the notable exception of the Library Memes and Library Book Fun boards, when curating pins for the IRC Pinterest site I commonly upload my own content or pin directly from a site that features 'pin it' buttons for content. If re-pinning, I try to go back to the original site and check before opting to pin. Hence, it was a bit startling to receive an email from Pinterest with the subject line, "Sorry we had to delete one of your pins on Pinterest."
Wait. What?
After the initial shock (and dismay), I admit being pleased to learn Pinterest is taking these steps when images and items pinned are problematic and/or violate copyright. While I do not know particulars such as how long it took for the image to be removed, how long or how often the copyright owner had to complain, or how many sites had pinned the image (it was cute), the end result works. I will be keeping the email and sharing it with students in my online class during our Pinterest module.
We're getting in touch to let you know we received a copyright complaint and have removed one (or more) of your Pins. The complaint wasn't directed against you or your Pin; it was directed against another user's Pin of the same content.
While many copyright owners are happy to have their content on Pinterest, we recognize that some do not want their content to appear on Pinterest, or did not receive attribution for the content. When a copyright owner sends us a complete notice per the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), it’s our policy to remove the Pin(s).
Again, this complaint was not directed at you, or anything you did: we just thought you'd like to know why we removed your Pin.
Happy Pinning and thanks again for using Pinterest.
Wait. What?
After the initial shock (and dismay), I admit being pleased to learn Pinterest is taking these steps when images and items pinned are problematic and/or violate copyright. While I do not know particulars such as how long it took for the image to be removed, how long or how often the copyright owner had to complain, or how many sites had pinned the image (it was cute), the end result works. I will be keeping the email and sharing it with students in my online class during our Pinterest module.
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