Donald Moses from UPEI spoke about their project to digitize Prince Edward Island local histories and create a website where people can browse by surname, the name of the place, a subject or an organization. This is similar to what we are doing in our digitization lab. Just as we've concentrated on the Coady and StFX Extension Department material for the last year because of a grant, UPEI obtained a grant to do local histories and have scanned more than 170. It was very interesting to see how they set up their digitization compared to us.
The UPEI project differs from how we do digitization in several ways. We use ContentDM (from Memorial) to store our documents and provide searching and access. UPEI uses open source software called Fedora (to store the documents); Drupal (to create webpages to access the documents and djatoka (to edit their images). They have developed their own software called Islandora to help Fedora and Druple work together.
UPEI is doing optical character recognition (OCR) on every document and text based files TEI(text encoding initiative) files which means that they can mark every personal or place names in thebooks and use this information to create an index of names. We let ContentDM do most of the OCR on our documents and only do OCR here if we think there will be problems, such as when the text is very faint or there are many pictures.
Brad developed a program for us to track our processes so we know which items need to be scanned, which are ready for OCR and which are ready to be uploaded and to track the quality control of the documents. UPEI developed a spreadsheet in Google Docs to do this tracking.
We both plan to use Google Maps to visually show communities mentioned in the books or documents.
All in all, we took very different routes for our digitization units but we have very similar challenges and goals. I think UPEI will be launching their Island Lives project this fall. You can see a copy of Donald's presentation here http://www.apla2009.ca/images/presentations/moses.pdf
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Greening the Library
Bill Mitchell from York Library Region, Fredericton, NB presented this session on how to make libraries more environmentally friendly. He noted that public libraries are leading the way in green construction. As well as features such as wind and solar energy some of the green features used include using recycled steel & gypsum board, flooring made from recycled tires, carpet made from corn or rice, countertops from recycled aluminum. One green innovation which doesn't always work as planned is re-using greywater - ie. the water that drains down the sinks - to flush the toilets. It turns out that even when there are numerous signs warning people that the toilet water is not supposed to be perfectly clear, patrons flush the three times as much.
He mentioned that one of the most used features on new buildings is green (sedu
m) roofs, such as that of the Cardiff Central Library in Wales, which is a very sustainable building. Langara College Library and North Vancouver Public Library are other examples of recent green buildings.
What can we do? Bill had a number of tips, such as rearranging photocopiers so the ozone from the copiers doesn’t affect the entire library; choosing reusables such as rejuvenated toner cartridges, mechanical pencils, refillable pens and tape dispensers; shred unrecyclable paper for packaging material; try to repair broken items before discarding; turning off computers and printers; setting monitors at most energy efficient setting, taking advantage of sunlight as much as possible; using non-toxic highlighters; using refillable ink cartridges; plus many more.
He expanded the 3 r’s of reduce, reuse and recycle to 6, adding rethink (form a discussion group to reevaluate library practices), repurpose/recover (purchase new or used) and rejoice (your successes). He mentioned the Calgary Public Library has a comprehensive Eco-Action plan worth reading
Two quotes worth repeating:
“Many library buildings can benefit from quick low-cost/no-cost energy-saving solutions, such as turning things off, turning things down and keeping up with cleaning and maintenance”
And remember, “something as simple as using a library helps the planet”.
His presentation is available at Greening our libraries with a list of Internet sites of interest at Greening Libraries links
He mentioned that one of the most used features on new buildings is green (sedu
m) roofs, such as that of the Cardiff Central Library in Wales, which is a very sustainable building. Langara College Library and North Vancouver Public Library are other examples of recent green buildings.What can we do? Bill had a number of tips, such as rearranging photocopiers so the ozone from the copiers doesn’t affect the entire library; choosing reusables such as rejuvenated toner cartridges, mechanical pencils, refillable pens and tape dispensers; shred unrecyclable paper for packaging material; try to repair broken items before discarding; turning off computers and printers; setting monitors at most energy efficient setting, taking advantage of sunlight as much as possible; using non-toxic highlighters; using refillable ink cartridges; plus many more.
He expanded the 3 r’s of reduce, reuse and recycle to 6, adding rethink (form a discussion group to reevaluate library practices), repurpose/recover (purchase new or used) and rejoice (your successes). He mentioned the Calgary Public Library has a comprehensive Eco-Action plan worth reading
Two quotes worth repeating:
“Many library buildings can benefit from quick low-cost/no-cost energy-saving solutions, such as turning things off, turning things down and keeping up with cleaning and maintenance”
And remember, “something as simple as using a library helps the planet”.
His presentation is available at Greening our libraries with a list of Internet sites of interest at Greening Libraries links
Impact of Social Cataloguing Sites on the Public Library Catalogue: Patrons, Social Tagging and the New Face of the Catalogue
Sites like LibraryThing, Junklog, and Bibliophil provide important examples of how comprehensive bibliographic records and library catalogues can be created to not only describe items in the library, but to also provide an important avenue for people to share their reading interests and to create interactive and dynamic communities of interest. [program description].
Despite the title of this session indicating it's relevance for public library catalogues, I found it was quite interesting in relation to any library catalogue.
While many of us are familiar with social networking sites, like Facebook and Flickr, we may be less familiar with social cataloguing sites. Many people like to organize their books and share their interests with others. These social cataloguing (at least 16 popular cataloguing website are currently available) sites can alert us to how people like to interact with books and other readers and may help us explore ways to enhance our library catalogues or discovery tools to make the library catalogue experience more meaningful for our users. In addition, we were reminded of the research which indicates that for most people, discovery is less important than delivery - where is it and how soon can I have it?
I myself have used Library Thing as a catalogue to provide lists of new books to faculty in my subject areas. After listing these books and returning to the site, you can see which books are added frequently to other's catalogues. Following the catalogues of others who added particular books can be a way to explore other books on a particular subject, rather than using subject headings/related terms. Also mentioned in the session was the use of a chat widget inside a library catalogue and how this is another way to enhance interaction with the catalogue - yea LiveHelp! Slides for both presentations (L. Spiteri and L. Tarulli) are available on the conference website.
Despite the title of this session indicating it's relevance for public library catalogues, I found it was quite interesting in relation to any library catalogue.
While many of us are familiar with social networking sites, like Facebook and Flickr, we may be less familiar with social cataloguing sites. Many people like to organize their books and share their interests with others. These social cataloguing (at least 16 popular cataloguing website are currently available) sites can alert us to how people like to interact with books and other readers and may help us explore ways to enhance our library catalogues or discovery tools to make the library catalogue experience more meaningful for our users. In addition, we were reminded of the research which indicates that for most people, discovery is less important than delivery - where is it and how soon can I have it?
I myself have used Library Thing as a catalogue to provide lists of new books to faculty in my subject areas. After listing these books and returning to the site, you can see which books are added frequently to other's catalogues. Following the catalogues of others who added particular books can be a way to explore other books on a particular subject, rather than using subject headings/related terms. Also mentioned in the session was the use of a chat widget inside a library catalogue and how this is another way to enhance interaction with the catalogue - yea LiveHelp! Slides for both presentations (L. Spiteri and L. Tarulli) are available on the conference website.
Friday, June 19, 2009
What the Heck Does Collaborative Management Really Mean?
Several years ago a large library system suddenly found it necessary to hire six senior managers, all at once. Ken participated in their interview process. Nineteen times in a row candidates described their management styles as “collaborative.” Collaborative styles of management are desired and expected both by employers and by staff, but what does it truly mean to be collaborative? Why is it desirable? Ken (who would also describe his own style as collaborative) will speak about the characteristics of a truly collaborative workplace as well as the positive outcomes from using such a management style – both in terms of focused work performance, pride, and job enjoyment.
Roberts, K. (2009). What the heck does collaborative management really mean? Retrieved on June 19, 2009 from http://apla2009.ca/index.php/program/details/16-Ken%20Roberts
Roberts, K. (2009). What the heck does collaborative management really mean? Retrieved on June 19, 2009 from http://apla2009.ca/index.php/program/details/16-Ken%20Roberts
Ken Roberts, former CLA President and CEO of Hamilton Public Library, opens this session with the following quote: "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen". Mr. Roberts explores the evolution of management from its traditional hierarchical beginnings to today's more collaborative team-centered environment. He argues that organizations must be dynamic (willing/able to change) in order to be successful and that collaborative management allows organizations to move forward.
Mr. Roberts highlights the following points as traits of a positive collaborative organizational culture:
- Internal communication processes that work
- Values that are truly understood by everyone
- Decision making processes that are transparent
- Positive staff perceptions of the organization: " A great place to work"
- Supportive work environment where staff are encouraged to take risks and failure is not considered something to be punished.
- Staff who are encouraged to "think outside the box"
- A work environment that incorporates both fun and enjoyment.
In closing, Mr. Roberts asserts that a collaborative approach to management facilitates the following positive outcomes:
- Leadership that encourages staff to make decisions
- Staff who know what authority they possess
- Staff who are willing to take risks and try new things
- A workplace that is characterized by curiousity, and
- Staff interest in the success of the entire organization - rather than personal silos
Library Professionals at Their Core: What Values and Ethos Guide Today's Library Workers?
Session description: From Program
With increasing automation of selection, increased use of client self-service, fewer reference inquiries, lower circulation, and the centralization of policy and procedures - what is the role of the library professional today? Some are characterizing these developments as the deskilling of library work, while others are talking about the reskilling of the library profession. In this interactive session, new roles will be explored against the context of what makes a professional. The session will also examine changes in library client behaviour and needs that are the drivers behind these new roles.
This session was presented by two Librarians, Janine Schmidt, Trenholme Director of Libraries, McGill University and Amber Lannon, Head Librarian, Howard Ross Library of Management, McGill University. Ms. Schmidt brought the perspective of many years in the library field in various libraries, while Ms. Lannon, a newer graduate of the profession, and much younger in years presented her perspective. It seemed to be a deliberate pairing to emphasize the perception that there are may be some subtle and maybe not so subtle differences in outlooks based on judging the librarian by age alone. The two presenters took turns, both doing a few screens at a time and the powerpoint was dynamic as well. One of the fun bits of the session was that it used clickers for audience participation. The audience seemed to really enjoy this aspect and for many of us it was the first time being exposed to using this technology. The questions were multiple choice and the audience would select the answer and then a graph showing the responses would be produced. Ms. Schmidth used something called http://www.wordle.net/ which was fun.
Books are for use.
Every reader his [or her] book.
Every book its reader.
Save the time of the User.
The library is a growing organism.
With increasing automation of selection, increased use of client self-service, fewer reference inquiries, lower circulation, and the centralization of policy and procedures - what is the role of the library professional today? Some are characterizing these developments as the deskilling of library work, while others are talking about the reskilling of the library profession. In this interactive session, new roles will be explored against the context of what makes a professional. The session will also examine changes in library client behaviour and needs that are the drivers behind these new roles.
This session was presented by two Librarians, Janine Schmidt, Trenholme Director of Libraries, McGill University and Amber Lannon, Head Librarian, Howard Ross Library of Management, McGill University. Ms. Schmidt brought the perspective of many years in the library field in various libraries, while Ms. Lannon, a newer graduate of the profession, and much younger in years presented her perspective. It seemed to be a deliberate pairing to emphasize the perception that there are may be some subtle and maybe not so subtle differences in outlooks based on judging the librarian by age alone. The two presenters took turns, both doing a few screens at a time and the powerpoint was dynamic as well. One of the fun bits of the session was that it used clickers for audience participation. The audience seemed to really enjoy this aspect and for many of us it was the first time being exposed to using this technology. The questions were multiple choice and the audience would select the answer and then a graph showing the responses would be produced. Ms. Schmidth used something called http://www.wordle.net/ which was fun.
The questions were of a general nature and the responses showed in my opinion that the core values of librarians really have not changed substantially over time. In fact Ranganathan's Five laws of Library Science,
Books are for use.
Every reader his [or her] book.
Every book its reader.
Save the time of the User.
The library is a growing organism.
were presented with slight alterations.
There were no definitive answers out of this session, but a lively presentation which highlighted the issues we deal with in terms of changing technology, how that affects user expectations and behaviour. It covered the whole gamut from Faculty - Librarian collaboration to building renovations as an answer to changing delivery of services. There was also a lot of promotion of McGill and it's library and library school. All in all while this was an entertaining session, I don't think the questions posed above were answered to any extent.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
International Collaboration in Student Library Instruction
This session which was jointly presented by Jiselle Maria Alleyne, Research & Bibliographic Instruction Librarian, Bermuda College and Denyse Rodrigues, Extended Library Services Librarian, Mount St. Vincent University, looked at the strategies, activities and tools used to deal with some of the challenges of delivering IL services to students at a distance. As with many universities in Canada, MSVU has a robust distance education programme and students enrolled at a small college in Bermuda are among the benificiaries of this programme.
After MSVU entered into the partnering arrangement with Bermuda College, it became apparent that the students at the college needed a great deal of help with understanding what resources and services were available to them through MSVU and on site. To meet this challenge, the two presenters embarked on a collaborative project to develop a library instruction programme which would make it relatively easy for students to learn about services and resources available to them through MSVU in particular. The various modules of the course were jointly delivered using the "Elluminate" distance education platform. Based on the feedback from faculty and students at the partner institutions, this international collaborative effort has been a huge success and Bermuda College which has distance education arrangements with a host of universities around the world is planning to use this model of trans-library cooperation for some of these other programmes.
As of now, only articles are sent from MSVU to the Bermuda location. It is expected that books will eventually be sent, although this is also expected to be a more costly proposition. I thought that it was remarkable that the presenters were able to pull off the course and the presentation successfully given the fact that their interaction up to two days before the presentation had been by phone and the web only.
As far as attendance at the session goes, I guess there were so many other "interesting" sessions going on at the same time and people felt more inclined to go to those sessions. However, based on the vigorous discussion that ensued among the, relatively, few attendees, it is clear that providing library services for the foreign student population whether on site or at a distance, is of crucical importance. As universities entice more and more foreign students to their doors in an effort to make up budgetary shortfalls through "differential" fees which are really very hefty, the need to pay more attention to this cohort, cannot be more pressing.
After MSVU entered into the partnering arrangement with Bermuda College, it became apparent that the students at the college needed a great deal of help with understanding what resources and services were available to them through MSVU and on site. To meet this challenge, the two presenters embarked on a collaborative project to develop a library instruction programme which would make it relatively easy for students to learn about services and resources available to them through MSVU in particular. The various modules of the course were jointly delivered using the "Elluminate" distance education platform. Based on the feedback from faculty and students at the partner institutions, this international collaborative effort has been a huge success and Bermuda College which has distance education arrangements with a host of universities around the world is planning to use this model of trans-library cooperation for some of these other programmes.
As of now, only articles are sent from MSVU to the Bermuda location. It is expected that books will eventually be sent, although this is also expected to be a more costly proposition. I thought that it was remarkable that the presenters were able to pull off the course and the presentation successfully given the fact that their interaction up to two days before the presentation had been by phone and the web only.
As far as attendance at the session goes, I guess there were so many other "interesting" sessions going on at the same time and people felt more inclined to go to those sessions. However, based on the vigorous discussion that ensued among the, relatively, few attendees, it is clear that providing library services for the foreign student population whether on site or at a distance, is of crucical importance. As universities entice more and more foreign students to their doors in an effort to make up budgetary shortfalls through "differential" fees which are really very hefty, the need to pay more attention to this cohort, cannot be more pressing.
"Information Literacy in the Age of You-Tube" by M.J. Delia, Liaison Librarian, University of Guelph
This lively and well attended session focused on the provision of Information Literacy (IL) services to a generation of users for whom "Literacy" is no longer just textual or aural, but increasingly visual. Indeed, many of those presently dubbed "the You-Tube Generation" tend to gravitate more to visual formats such as video, animation and multimedia for their information needs. However, and as the speaker noted, users of these visual resources need as much help with evaluating these resources as they do with textual resources and often have difficulty distinguishing between what is real and what is fictitious and understanding that there are many "manufactured moments" and "manipulated images" in the visual landscape which cannot be simply accepted as Gospel truth. To illustrate the point that what one sees is sometimes not the complete picture or whole truth, he used the example of the Los Angeles Times photographer who had blended (more like doctored) two pictures of British soldiers interacting with Iraqis to come up with a picture that he thought would appeal more to the readership of the LA Times. Some smart observers were able to see through this and he was subsequently fired for providing misleading pictorial information.
Mr. D'Elia argued that Librarians must move away from treating IL as being relevant in textual contexts only and instead embrace a view of IL that takes in all contexts, particularly the visual and the graphic, especially if they want to keep the You-Tube" crowd engaged. He concluded that the best way to help patrons navigate the challenges posed by visual content is to use the same standards used for enhancing information Literacy skills as set out in the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards, which teach patrons how to locate, critically evaluate and use information so that the information they retrieve and process is authentic, valid, and reliable. As should be expected, the presentation was full of visual clips and images.
Mr. D'Elia argued that Librarians must move away from treating IL as being relevant in textual contexts only and instead embrace a view of IL that takes in all contexts, particularly the visual and the graphic, especially if they want to keep the You-Tube" crowd engaged. He concluded that the best way to help patrons navigate the challenges posed by visual content is to use the same standards used for enhancing information Literacy skills as set out in the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards, which teach patrons how to locate, critically evaluate and use information so that the information they retrieve and process is authentic, valid, and reliable. As should be expected, the presentation was full of visual clips and images.
Get Your Game On: Gaming in Public and Academic Libraries
This session was presented by Crystal Rose, Public Services Librarian of Memorial University Libraries. Memorial libraries will be hosting their first gaming event in the fall, partnering with the student orientation group.Gaming can involve a wide variety of games, including video games using consoles (such as Wii), handheld gaming systems such as DS, online games (including games for individual players such as Sudoku, and games for multiple players, such as role playing games), “analog” or traditional games (including board games and cards), scavenger hunts and geocaching.
Crystal suggested several reasons why librarians should consider gaming in the library:
- Gamers are not just a niche group; a recent American study indicated that 53% of adults play video games of some kind
- Gamers are not a homogeneous group; the largest demographic group of online gamers is women over 40, and the average age of online gamers is 35
- Games appeal to everyone from toddlers to seniors; some public libraries purchasing Wii systems for their seniors’ programs
- Video games are outselling DVDs and CDs, both of which are available in libraries
- ALA has held a Gaming, Learning and Libraries Symposium for the past two years
- Games can be used for library orientation
- Gaming can help the students view the library as being current and fun
- Gaming can attract students who might not otherwise come into the library
Monday, June 15, 2009
APLA presents "Games @ the Library" week
We were told on a number of occasions throughout the conference that APLA is encouraging all its member libraries (public and academic) to take part in a week-long event called "Games @ the Library," October 18-24. As part of this endeavour all public libraries in the region are receiving free board games from Hasbro (Scrabble and Pictureka!).
Is anyone interested in organizing some gaming fun here at the Angus L.?
New Tools, New Workflows (Melissa Belvadi, UPEI)
Melissa Belvadi is the Emerging Technologies and Metadata Librarian at UPEI, and as such gets to work in a library committed to rethinking all library processes and systems from the ground up. In this presentation, she described the workflows and tools they ended up with when they gave up a good number of their proprietary tools for OpenSource software: in short, they replaced their (SIRSI) ILS/OPAC with Evergreen, and started working with the knowledgebase CUFTS and the OpenURL resolver Godot for their serials management.
Since Evergreen does not accommodate serials or acquisitions, there were a few notable hiccups. In the end, they are managing their serials in CUFTS (Bib records, you say? Dump 'em, they answer!) and tracking acquisitions in Excel spreadsheets, keeping only the fields that the acquisitions staff felt were really necessary.
One workflow decision that elicited strong reactions form the crowd was the decision to involve liaison librarians in the cataloguing process. (UPEI has a very experienced copy cataloguer, but no dedicated person for original cataloguing.) In the case of locally published items for which no records exist, librarians are responsible for identifying subject headings and a call number. The copy cataloguer then puts together the record in proper MARC format. Currently only a few librarians are participating in this process.
Probably my favourite solution is how they have tied the interlibrary loan request form to their OpenURL resolver. When the student fills out the very simple online form (not the form supplied with ASIN), the Resolver checks to make sure that the article is indeed not available before submitting the request (genius!).
>> Click here to download Melissa's slides.
Since Evergreen does not accommodate serials or acquisitions, there were a few notable hiccups. In the end, they are managing their serials in CUFTS (Bib records, you say? Dump 'em, they answer!) and tracking acquisitions in Excel spreadsheets, keeping only the fields that the acquisitions staff felt were really necessary.
One workflow decision that elicited strong reactions form the crowd was the decision to involve liaison librarians in the cataloguing process. (UPEI has a very experienced copy cataloguer, but no dedicated person for original cataloguing.) In the case of locally published items for which no records exist, librarians are responsible for identifying subject headings and a call number. The copy cataloguer then puts together the record in proper MARC format. Currently only a few librarians are participating in this process.
Probably my favourite solution is how they have tied the interlibrary loan request form to their OpenURL resolver. When the student fills out the very simple online form (not the form supplied with ASIN), the Resolver checks to make sure that the article is indeed not available before submitting the request (genius!).
>> Click here to download Melissa's slides.
Welcome to our new blog!
We wanted to share some of the cool things we heard about at APLA with the rest of you, so we've created this blog. Please comment and let us know what you think!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)