ULS Universe

Are your library’s databases accessible to people with disabilities?  Do they comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act or the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines?  How about your other licensed resources, such as ejournals, ebooks, and metasearch engines?  Catalogs, chat software, wikis and other web 2.0 applications?  There is a wiki page on ASCLA’s new wiki to help librarians find and share the answers to these questions.  From this page http://ascla.ala.org/toolkit/index.php?title=Main_Page , go to the link at the bottom of the page for “Accessibility to Library Databases and Other Online Library Resources for People with Disabilities“.  Googling “Accessibility to Library Databases and Other Online Library Resources for People with Disabilities” works too.  There is also a section of the page for librarians to share practical experiences and advice about evaluating resources for accessibility.  This is geared toward librarians who are not experts about accessibility.  Please consider contributing to the wiki.  More information about accessibility of many types of resources is needed.  If it is easier for you to email information you’d like to contribute, rather than to post directly to the wiki, you are welcome to email Adina:

Adina Mulliken, Reference Librarian, Social Work, CFS, MFT, Aging; Library Disability Services; Interim for East Asia & CSD; Bird Library; Syracuse University

C. Derrik Hiatt is the new Electronic Resources Librarian for the Z. Smith Reynolds Library of Wake Forest University. He will assist in managing the Library’s subscription based electronic resources. He comes to this position after having served for 6 years as the Assistant Serials Librarian at the Harold B. Lee Library of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. A North Carolina native, Hiatt holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Brigham Young University and a Master of Library Science from Southern Connecticut State University.

Judy Jeng, Head of Collection Services at the Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library of New Jersey City University, has been appointed to serve on the IFLA Standing Committee for Acquisition and Collection Development, 2009-2013. The 2009 IFLA conference will be held in Milan, Italy.

Judy also recently published a chapter on usability evaluation in Handbook of Research on Digital Libraries: Design, Development, and Impact, published by IGI Global, in Feb. 2009.

In March I was fortunate enough to attend the E-Learning Guild Annual Gathering in Orlando, FL, with a couple of colleagues. As our library is moving away from one-shot face-to-face sessions and more towards scalable online instruction, this seemed relevant.

We were the three lone librarians in a conference filled with hundreds of instructional designers from the corporate, non-profit, and consulting sectors. These are full-time e-learning professionals, experts in presenting online content, designing for online learners, and assessment through online mechanisms. We can certainly learn a lot from them.

For one, I’m finding that rapid e-learning tools are fantastic, and there are plenty of them out there. You don’t need to learn Flash or XML to create engaging, dynamic online presentations. A lot of libraries are already using screencapturing software such as Captivate and Camtasia, but not too many have started exploring the more broader world of e-learning tools. At my library we already have Articulate, which is a big one, but I learned about other options such as FlyPaper, Raptivity, and Lectora. These products can be on the expensive side, but there are often academic discounts, and you can always get a trial to test them out and see if they’re worth the money.

Second – which should come as no surprise – designing instruction for online learning is far different than designing for face-to-face sessions. Fortunately, there is a lot of research out there on how to design effective online instruction. Check out Empowering Online Learning, Making Sense of Online Learning, the Online Learning Idea Book, and the E-Learning Handbook. It’s worth taking the time to learn about good design; read up on the challenges, opportunities, and best practices for creating quality online learning experiences for our students.

If you are involved in developing online instructional materials, I highly recommend attending a conference geared towards e-learning professionals. In addition to the E-Learning Guild Annual Gathering, both DevCon and DevLearn are taking place this year.

-Rebecca Blakiston

The University of Southern California (USC) Libraries seek an innovative, service oriented librarian to lead the library services and information support requirements for the Rossier School of Education and the School of Social Work. Reporting to the Director, Public Services Division III, the librarian will participate in a full range of library services, including reference, instruction, collection development and outreach. Working collaboratively with other librarians and staff, the librarian will participate in the USC Libraries’ full suite of reference and instruction services. The successful candidate will be a member of the Social Sciences Collaborative that supports collection development. The Head will partner closely with the two Schools, serving residential and distance learners.

Please see a full position description and instructions for applying at:

http://www.usc.edu/libraries/jobs/librarians

Do you have a story to tell?

Come and share it at Library Worklife!

Library Worklife is looking for aspiring and experienced writers – library employees and graduate students who have stories to tell about their careers, jobs, research, and pathways to success.  Stories can be about:

• You or a great project that you want to share with colleagues – Spotlight
• Advice, testimonials, opportunities and research about advancing your career – Career Advancement
• Why it is important to participate in professional development and continuing education, including state and national certification programs – Certification
• Legal issues facing or concerning library personnel – Human Resources Law
• How to manage library staffing issues, such as training, budgeting, performance appraisals, hiring, outsourcing, and motivation – Human Resources Practice
• What you, your library or your state has done to address pay inequities – Salaries and Pay Equity and Statistics
• How do we attract people to the profession? – Recruitment
• Profiles, standards, innovative approaches, conferences or topics of concern for support staff – Support Staff
• How you manage the two (or more) roles you play on a daily basis – Work/life Balance

Write about your ideas or use some of ours on almost any other topic related to working in libraries.

Submission should range from 200 – 1200 words, although longer articles can be accepted by arrangement.  They can be in almost any style from serious academic research to humorous work-life articles.  Further details can be found at the Library Worklife web page, http://www.ala-apa.org/newsletter/newsletter.html or by emailing the editor, Jenifer Grady at jgrady@ala.org.

And the best news is… If you commit to writing three (3), count ‘em THREE, articles in one year, you get a free subscription to Library Worklife, a $35 value (for ALA Regular members.)

So come and share your story, at Library Worklife.

The Journal of Library Innovation is seeking submissions for publication for its inaugural issue in January 2010.

The Journal of Library Innovation, one of the first journals devoted explicitly to innovation and creativity in libraries, is a peer reviewed, electronic journal published by the Western New York Library Resources Council. Its mission is to disseminate research and information on innovative practice in libraries of all types.

Innovation in libraries can include, but is not limited to the following:

• The discovery of unmet user needs.
• The introduction of new services or the retooling of traditional services resulting in a better user experience.
• Creative collaboration between libraries, or between libraries and other types of institutions, resulting in demonstrable improvements in service to users.
• Implementing new technologies to improve and extend library service to meet user needs.
• Explorations of the future of libraries.
• Pilot testing unconventional ideas and services.
• Redefining the roles of library staff to better serve users.
• Developing processes that encourage organizational innovation.
• Reaching out to and engaging library users and non-users in new and creative ways.
• Creative library instruction and patron programming.
• Finding new ways to make library collections or library facilities more useful.

The Journal of Library Innovation publishes original research, literature reviews, commentaries, case studies, reports on innovative practices, and book, conference and product reviews.

The journal also welcomes provocative essays that will stimulate thought on the current and future role of libraries in an Internet Age.

For more information and submission guidelines visit http://www.libraryinnovation.org or contact Pamela Jones, the Managing Editor, at pjones@medaille.edu.

New This Year!  The ACRL Research Program Committee (RPC) is sponsoring Research Writer’s Workshops at the ACRL 14th National Conference in Seattle, March 12-15, 2009.  Aimed at the new or inexperienced writer, the Research Writer’s Workshops will bring together small groups of two to three writers matched with an experienced writer or editor, who will offer guidance and critique.

AUTHORS
Are you an academic librarian working on a research article? Would you like some constructive feedback?  Submit a draft research paper to the Research Program Committee sponsored writing workshops at the ACRL Seattle conference.  ACRL RPC will match new writers with experienced writers, and the groups will meet face-to-face during the Seattle conference.  Draft research papers must be submitted to RPC by February 16, 2009.  Papers will be shared only among members of the designated groups.

REVIEWERS
Are you an experienced, published writer or editor?  Interested in providing guidance to your colleagues who may be writing their first research article?  Submit your name and a description of your areas of expertise by February 9, 2009. Reviewers are expected to review papers submitted for their small group in advance of the Seattle conference, as well as guide their small group sessions onsite during the conference.

MEET DURING ACRL 2009
At the ACRL conference, the groups will meet during one of two scheduled times below to critique the papers, discuss approaches for writing, and share ideas on where to submit articles.

Session One: Friday, March 13, 10:30 a.m. – noon
Session Two: Saturday, March 14, 10:30 – noon
Location: Washington State Trade and Convention Center, Room 211 – Seattle, Washington

HOW TO SUBMIT
New Writers Submission Guidelines: Deadline for submissions:  February 16, 2009
Include on first page: Author’s Name and contact information in upper left; your session time preference (see below); a paragraph describing what you would like others to comment on about your paper. e.g. grammar, writing style, clarity, presentation of the research methodology, etc.

Page limit:  25 double spaced pages, standard 1” margins

Preferred format:  Microsoft Word Number pages.  Footers should include author’s full name and email.  Draft research papers should be in complete enough form for others to read easily.

Submit by February 16 to: Ruth Vondracek at ruth.vondracek@oregonstate.edu

Experienced Writers or Editors Request to Participate: Deadline Feb. 9, 2009
Please send your current contact information, a copy of your current resume or list of publications, your preference for session times (see below) and a brief description of your current research interests.

*Writing Workshop Session Times:  Please indicate your preference. ACRL RPC will try to honor your preference as much as possible; if not possible you will be placed in the alternate session.

Submit by February 9 to: Ruth Vondracek at ruth.vondracek@oregonstate.edu

No trip to Seattle would be complete without partaking of the myriad of the city’s fine and fascinating restaurants.  There is perhaps no more memorable dining experience than one that is shared.  The Local Arrangements Committee for the ACRL National Conference Seattle 2009 invites you to bring these two principles together and volunteer to host a table for the Dinner With Colleagues program on Friday, March 13, 2009, in the 7pm to 9pm window.

The guests at your table could be members of a single committee or members from the same section.  You could combine experienced members with new members and make it an occasion for orienting the newcomers to the association and its work.  How about facilitating a group of student attendees getting together to meet one another, their future professional colleagues?  Maybe organize a group around professional interests (ala Birds of a Feather), geography (state of birth), a particular cuisine, or an interest in wine or custom cocktails.  Make it a group of friends, or be creative and make it a group of strangers who’ll become friends.

Please visit the Dinners With Colleagues page on the conference wiki for more information, including host responsibilities and a list of restaurants. If you would like to host a table, please email Jessica Albano.

Bon appetit!

Reposted from acrleads@ala.org