Erika Linke is Associate Dean of the University Libraries at Carnegie Melon University. Erika has been an ACRL member since 1985, is the incoming ACRL President for 2008-2009, and is your ACRL Member of the Week.

1. Describe yourself in three words: Curious, analytical, thoughtful.

2. What book are you currently reading? Is there a word to describe reading multiple books? Customarily I have my fingers in four to eight books at a time. Right now I am reading Left to Tell by Immaculée Ilibagiza, Transnational Lives by Anne-Meike Fechter, Scholarship in the Digital Age by Christine Borgmann, Women Don’t Ask by Linda Babcock, Indian Summer by Alex Von Tunzelmann, and The Nazi Ancestral Proof by Eric Ehrenreich.
3. Describe ACRL in three words: Collaborative, focused, inspiring.
4. Why did you join ACRL? Two of my mentors were involved in ACRL and their example encouraged me to join.
5. What do you value about academic or research librarianship?What I value about academic librarianship is stickiness – its glue – librarianship connects people (faculty, students, researchers), content and purpose (teaching, learning and research).Academic and research librarians are passionate. We’re fortunate to work in environments that care about learning, about teaching and about research. What I also value is the way academic librarianship has morphed. There are today many more ways that academic and research librarians contribute expertise and knowledge to their libraries, to their institutions of higher education and to professional organizations – read ACRL.

6. In your own words: As a young librarian I was fortunate to be mentored by some outstanding librarians who influenced and shaped me (or at least tried to), and by others who were willing to take a risk on me. What I prize about my life as an academic librarian is that there is always something new – people, ideas, technology, something new to shake out complacency, something that challenges the status quo or conventional thinking. Librarians don’t work in isolation; we learn from one another, from collaboration.

If I publish an article in C&RL News, do I retain copyright? Can I place a copy of my ACRL book chapter in my institutional repository? What are the C&RL preprints I’ve heard about?

Learn the answers to all of your questions about publishing with ACRL in the new ACRL Publications Agreements FAQ. The FAQ provides information on ACRL author agreements for serial publications, book chapter, book editors, and podcasts.

Have questions not addressed in the FAQ? Let us know and we will get you answers. The world of scholarly publishing can be daunting. We want to make you life as an author a little easier.

Note: ACRL Publications is an independent entity and is not affiliated with ALA Publications. The information in the FAQ refers to ACRL Publications only.

Are you a college or research librarian? Do you Facebook? If you answered yes to these questions, then become a fan of ACRL!

The official ACRL Facebook page is now available. Several ACRL sections, chapters, and groups have a Facebook presence as well, including:

ACRL-ASIG (New England Chapter)
ACRL in Second Life
Instruction Section
Law and Political Science Section
Western New York/ Ontario ACRL Chapter
Women’s Studies Section

If you are involved in additional ACRL sections, chapters, groups, or other entities that have a Facebook presence, leave a comment and we’ll add them to the list on the ACRL page.

Ronald Rodriguez is Access Services Unit Head at California State University - Fullerton. Ronald has been an ACRL member since 1990 and is your ACRL Member of the Week.

1. Describe yourself in three words: Thoughtful, organized, Gemini.

2. What book are you currently reading? Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama.

3. Describe ACRL in three words: Leadership, networks, collaborative.

4. Why did you join ACRL? I joined ACRL to stay current and engaged with trends, essential news, and newsmakers regarding academic and research libraries.

5. What do you value about academic or research librarianship? I value the role of academic libraries in fostering student success and how more can be done to assess that effect. I value the thousands of positive interactions between librarians and library staff with students and faculty each day.

6. In your own words: Random thoughts - The only constant in our profession is change. To be a success in our profession one must learn how to positively accept or at least tolerate ambiguity. The relationship between IT and Library has moved from distant cousins, to brother and sister and now a married couple. Younger librarians do not automatically join traditional professional organizations like ALA or even ACRL (like we did after graduation from library school); they are consumers and the value needs to be proven or shown first. An enthusiastic thank you from serving someone at the reference desk can improve the day greatly. Libraries need to keep re-inventing themselves every so often to project vitality, currency and relevance.

Today, ACRL sent a letter to the organizers of SCOAP3, the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics, expressing interest and support of their effort to facilitate open access publishing in High Energy Physics. The letter states that ACRL “welcomes this experiment in new funding models and recognizes its potential to inform scholarly publishing more globally” and “believes that SCOAP3 is a valuable addition to the heterogeneous mix of strategies being undertaken by scholars, publishers, libraries and others to ensure the future of high-quality journals.”

Additionally, the association encourages its members to consider joining the SCOAP3 effort when appropriate, e.g. through an institutional or consortial “expression of interest” providing education and outreach about SCOAP3 to their faculty, library staff and administrators, and finding other ways to analyze and support SCOAP3 where possible.

To learn more about why libraries of all sizes should support SCOAP3, and what they can do to support the effort, listen an interview with John Ober, Director of Policy, Planning & Outreach at California Digital Library, and Kim Douglas, University Librarian at California Institute of Technology. Ober is a current co-chair, and Douglas an incoming co-chair, of ACRL’s Scholarly Communications Committee.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

About the Music:
The music in ACRL Podcasts is “Don’t you,” mixed by stefsax and available on ccMixter. The music is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 license.

Valeria E. Molteni is Multicultural and Outreach Librarian at California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, CA. Valeria has been an ACRL member since 2006 and is your ACRL Member of the Week.

1. Describe yourself in three words: Passionate, energetic, analytic.

2. What are listening to on your iPod? Norah Jones (”Not Too Late”), Michael Bublé (”Call Me Irresponsible”), Maná (”Arde el cielo”), Pepe Romero (”Noches de España”), and “The Best of Ennio Morricone.”

3. Describe ACRL in three words: Help, research, professional support

4. Why did you join ACRL? Because ACRL provides me with research and scholarly support needed to develop my career life within a very strong professional/research framework.

5. What do you value about academic or research librarianship? I value the interdisciplinary vision that it has to support and enhance the academic and/or research process.

6. In your own words: The life as an academic/research librarian is about commitment to the university life, our main goal is to teach and support the research process in order to enhance the acquisition of knowledge.

Registration is now open for the following e-Learning courses.  Reserve your seat today for these exciting new seminars!

Copyright and the Library Part 1: The Basics Including Fair Use

July 14 – August 1, 2008
Register Online

Course Description:
In this course, students will learn to think in terms of U.S. copyright law. Students will focus on building understanding of current copyright law, creating a “copyright palette” for their libraries, and assessing a library’s legal risk with regard to current U.S. copyright law. Additionally, students will build an understanding of the Fair Use clause, as well as how to legally apply fair use in the library, classroom, and broader campus environments.

Instructor:
Tomas A. Lipinski, J.D., LL.M., Ph.D.

Professor Lipinski currently teaches, researches and speaks frequently on various topics within the areas of information law and policy, especially copyright, free speech and privacy issues in schools and libraries. In fall of 2005, Professor Lipinski was placed on the Fulbright Senior Specialist Roster (“The Fulbright Senior Specialists Program differs from the traditional Fulbright Scholar competition in that the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) builds a roster of specialists in a variety of disciplines through an open application process.

Visit the course page for more information, including learning outcomes and registration rates.

Leading Change

Live Webcast: July 15, 2008
11 a.m. Pacific | 12:00 p.m. Mountain | 1:00 p.m. Central | 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Register Online

Webcast Description:
How can we better understand the effects of change on our organizations and on the people in them? During this webcast, Kathryn Deiss will provide several models which can serve as lenses through which to view change. Tools such as the models and techniques for helping people through change will be provided.

Presenter:
Kathryn J. Deiss

Kathryn J. Deiss is the Content Strategist for the Association of College & Research Libraries at the American Library Association in Chicago, USA. In this role she scans the research library world for trends and best practices, acquires content to publish, and provides organizational consulting services to institutions. She designs and provides training and facilitation for libraries, national associations, consortia, and museums in the United States and beyond. Kathryn has written and presented extensively on the subjects of leadership, innovation, coaching and mentoring, planning, organizational learning, and organizational culture. Kathryn received her B.A. in Sociology from Trinity University (San Antonio, TX) and her MLS from the University at Albany.

Visit the course page for more information, including learning outcomes and registration rates.

Creating A Comprehensive Plan for Information Literacy

July 7 – 28, 2008
Register Online

Course Description:
This course will provide you with the information you need to create a comprehensive plan for information literacy for your institution. The course will cover:

• planning;
• setting goals and objectives;
• how to organize and prioritize ideas;
• the writing process;
• and the creation of a draft plan.

You will be guided through the process of developing a comprehensive plan using worksheets developed by the presenter, participating in weekly on-line chats, and comparing examples of completed plans from a variety of institutions. Participants will learn how to establish and convene working groups, consider various means for collecting information and getting “buy-in” across campus, create a strategy for writing the plan, identify and select essential and optional components of a model plan, and put a draft of the plan on paper.

Instructor:
Joanna Burkhardt, head librarian, University of Rhode Island-Providence.

Visit the course page for more information, including learning outcomes and registration rates.

Designing Websites for the Academic Library

July 14 – August 8, 2008
register online

Course Description:
This course focuses on the basics of Web site planning and design and content development with a concentration on academic libraries. The course will also examine Web standards, usability, and accessibility. XHTML and CSS (external) will be introduced. Students will be expected to be able to create a basic HTML Web page before beginning the course. However XHTML/HTML basics tutorials will be provided for those who need more practice. Students will plan and design a representative site during the course.

Instructor:
Diane Kovacs, Kovacs Consulting

The instructor has been teaching Web Design and related topics for more than 14 years including LIS590LWL Designing Web Sites for Organizations for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign GSLIS LEEP program. She is the author of The Kovacs Guide to Electronic Library Collection Development: Essential Core Subject Collections, Selection Criteria, and Guidelines (Neal-Schuman, January 2004) and The Virtual Reference Handbook: Interview and Information Delivery Techniques for the Chat and E-Mail Environments by Kovacs, Diane K. Neal-Schuman Publishers (2007) published concurrently in the United Kingdom by Facet Publishers (2007).

Visit the course page for more information, including learning outcomes and registration rates.

For more information about these and other upcoming learning opportunities, please visit the ACRL eLearning page. Questions?  Contact Jon Stahler via e-mail at jstahler@ala.org or via phone at (312) 280-2511.

Want to learn more about ACRL and how you can get involved? The next ACRL OnPoint chat, ACRL 101, will be held on Wednesday June 18, 2008 (1 p.m. Pacific | 2 p.m. Mountain | 3 p.m. Central | 4 p.m. Eastern - note time change!). ACRL President Julie Todaro, Dean of Libraries Services at Austin Community College, and ACRL Executive Director Mary Ellen Davis will discuss the wide array of opportunities available in your association, including newly approved Interest Groups and ACRL activities at the upcoming ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. Join the chat and find out how ACRL can help you grow, thrive, and remain successful!

Visit the OnPoint website for more information and archives of past chat sessions.

ACRL announces a new occasional monographic series: ACRL Active Guides. Active Guides are practical guides to workplace issues. Each issue presents underlying theories while providing the reader with practical tools for working on the workplace issue at hand. In Active Guides you will find worksheets, templates, guides, brief assessment tools, and tips for thinking through and planning for the specific workplace issue.

These reasonably priced guides are appropriate for bulk purchase by libraries seeking resources for workforce development.

ACRL is also pleased to announce the publication of the first issue in the Active Guide series: Life-Work Balance by Melanie Hawks, Learning and Development Coordinator, University of Utah Marriott Library. Life-Work Balance (ISBN 978-0-8939-8478-9) is now available through the ALA Online Store or through the toll-free number: 866-746-7252.

Forthcoming Active Guides are: Active Guide #2: Influencing without Authority (Fall 2008) and Active Guide #3: Conversations That Work: Conducting Performance Assessments (Winter 2008).

Alanna Aiko Moore is Sociology, Ethnic Studies, and Gender Studies Librarian in the Social Science and Humanities Library at the University of California, San Diego. Alanna has been an ACRL member since 2005 and is your ACRL Member of the Week.

1. Describe yourself in three words: Enthusiastic. Passionate. Activist.

2. What book are you currently reading?I actually just finished Southland by Nina Revoyr. Set in central Los Angeles, a Japanese American lesbian law student who begins exploring her heritage by investigating the 1960’s murder of four African American boys in her grandfather’s store in the during the Watts Riots. I loved the way the author shed light on the often hidden parts of history–in this instance the relationships that were built in the 1960’s between Japanese Americans and African Americans, and how these alliances were forever altered by the riots and also the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Great exploration of history, racial intolerance, sexuality and social justice issues. Loved it!!

3. Describe ACRL in three words: Innovative. Collaborative. Connections.

4. Why did you join ACRL? I joined ACRL through ALA’s Spectrum Scholarship program. The Spectrum Scholarship program is ALA’s national diversity and recruitment effort that addresses the under-representation of ethnic librarians in the profession by awarding scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students. Spectrum Scholars receive a financial scholarship to help defray tuition costs and also receive professional development opportunities. One of these professional development opportunities was a complimentary year-long membership to ACRL.

The complimentary membership allowed me to become familiar with and involved in ACRL while I was still in graduate school. I had not yet determined what career path I would take, but was encouraged by librarians I had met through ACRL to apply for positions at academic libraries. My involvement in ACRL has increased as I have discovered specialized areas of interest. I currently serve on two ACRL committees: the Instruction Section (IS) Teaching Methods Committee and the Instruction and Anthropology and Sociology Section (ANSS) Information Literacy Committee.

As an organization, ACRL addresses timely issues and emerging trends through their conferences, publications and listservs. I have also connected with a network of colleagues and been able to take advantage of professional development opportunities like the ACRL Institute for Information Literacy Immersion Program.

5. What do you value about academic or research librarianship? Academic librarianship is about a commitment to public service, student success, faculty research and life-long learning. As academic librarians, we have the ability to positively impact students, staff and faculty by providing stellar resources and by being responsive to student and faculty needs.

At the University of California, San Diego, many of the academic departments we serve are incredibly interdisciplinary. It is exciting to locate research and scholarship that span many areas of study, and to work with colleagues who value teamwork and are experts in their field. In addition, I enjoy having opportunities to collaborate with both faculty and student services to build programs and community outside of the physical library building.

6. In your own words: Librarians are passionate about and dedicated to their profession. I am passionate about helping our students learn through information literacy initiatives, and ACRL has offered many workshops, books and trainings dedicated to this very topic. I especially enjoy reaching out to under-served populations and first-generation college students. I am also dedicated to working to make the profession more diverse. Census data shows that the population of the United States is changing, which means the student body of our educational institutions will also change. It is imperative that we work to ensure that our staff and collections reflect the communities that we serve. Initiatives like the Minnesota Institute for Early Career Librarians from Traditionally Under-represented Groups and ALA’s Spectrum Scholarship are two cutting-edge programs that have contributed to the success and leadership of many librarians from diverse backgrounds in the profession.