Friends for School Library Improvement

Poser-Brown, Lora

Kaun, T. (2014). Friends of the Oakland Public School Libraries: Building bridges to the local community. CSLA Journal, 38(1), 20-23.

Reflection: Reading about the Oakland, CA, public schools and their diminishing library existence engaged my mind. The district has formed a strong partnership with vested community members, who in turn formed a new Friends of School Libraries group. The article details how the district and Friends have invested in community relationships and bettering their school libraries, some of which have now been completely overhauled. The article contains great step-by-step information on the process of reviving a dying sector of the district’s budget: the school libraries.

Special Academic Libraries and The Millennial Patron.

Peralta, Polly

Girven, W. J. (2016). Special academic libraries and the millennial patron. Journal Of Library Administration, 56(8), 1007-1017.  

Summary:

Wendy Girven takes a look at how Maine Maritime Academy's Nutting Memorial Library, a special academic library, is trying to connect to the Millennial generation. Girven starts the article by discussing the lack of literature on Millennials and their use of special libraries.  Then she discusses how useful special academic libraries are to Millennial students. Also, she explains how these libraries can reach and serve this new generation of researchers. Then she talks about how collection development policy is helpful in keeping track of the needs of the patrons as, each generation has its own way of research.

Evaluation:

 As I work in a special academic library, I was hoping to learn something new.  However, I felt that the information in this article did not teach me anything.  The author mentions that there is a lack of information about Millennials and special academic libraries. To be honest, I think any information about Millennials in concerning any type library is useful to a librarian working in a special academic library. Therefore, I was little disappointed by this article.
 

Collaborative Connection and Collection Development

Loertscher, D. & Koechlin, C. (2016). Collection Development and Collaborative Connection Development: Or, Curation. Teacher Librarian, 43(4), 52-53.

This article by our professor and his colleague resembles our course goals at this time in Spring of 2016.  Collaborative connection development using Open Educational Resources (OER) is presented as the next best practice for collection development. 

The premise of “It’s my job as a teacher librarian to develop the collection” is changed to “It’s OUR job as teacher librarians, classroom teachers, and students to curate the best education resources for the topic at hand.”  Using free resources such as Google Apps, teacher librarians, classroom teachers and students can use and add resources, and completed projects to a topic being studied.  Thus, a Virtual Learning Commons (VLC) is created with collaborative connection input from everyone.

Different levels of participation are presented for implementation:  Within a school, district, region or state, national, and on every level.  This level of participation can compete directly with Google and Wikipedia.  And, regardless of funding restrictions, as all resources are free, everyone can participate to build and use these resources.

G Thormann
Spring 2016

Internet of Things (IoT) and Security

Massis, B. (2016).  The internet of things and its impact on the library. New Library World, 117(3/4), 289-292.

As more and more devices are interconnected into the IoT – Internet of Things – the more at risk we are, as to our privacy and security rights.  However, the library that collects data quickly from interconnected devices can benefit to improve its environment. 

IoT is defined to be comprised of an interconnected system of ‘things’ that also includes people.  These relationships are people-people, people-things and things-things.  As the number of devices and connections increase, so do the vulnerabilities and the possibility that personal data may be taken without consent.  The stunning number presented in 2013 that by 2020 more than 26 billion connected devices will be in use, is supplemented by the forecast that 25 billion devices may be connected to the internet by now – early 2016. 

The article asks what can libraries do in this environment?  Librarians can answer with clear, calm, transparent answers about the networks patrons use in the library.  And, libraries should be posting and updating notices in real-world and digital forms so all are aware of the changes.  Librarians are encouraged to be active participants in this eventual reality, and to search for ‘security,’ as patrons ask questions.

G Thormann
Spring 2016

Connection, Not Collection

Connection, Not Collection By Sydney Eng (Article from American Libraries Magazine)

This was a fascinating article that, in a way, appeared to stray away from what our class has been discussing. But on second thought, it's right on the money. The beginning of the article discussed everything we have said in class so far; libraries exist for the user, library expectations have changed, libraries have to prove themselves worthy, they have to "facilitate the relationship between patrons and resources."

This article was mainly about a new product called the iBeacon. This item is a tool that connects via Bluetooth on a mobile device. When someone entered the library, they would connect to the iBeacon and the beacon would send signals to the patron's smartphone. The signal would send a standard message about where they were in the library and what services they were in proximity to. At the particular library where this product was installed, students were not aware of what the library had to offer. By connecting to patrons using technology, the faculty developed more of a bond than if they were to wait for a student to drop by with a question.

The article concluded with this quote: “Successful libraries look for opportunities to add value for their users by responding to how the patrons find and use information. The beacon system represents a new way for the library to provide and market its resources and services in a way that is consistent with the communications methods being employed by today’s device-enabled users.” What the author of the article is saying is what we have been saying in class all along. Librarians must stay at the edge o new technology and they must know how to use it before the patron comes in with questions. They must learn by observation and come up with solutions to the ever-evolving technology ages. By recognizing the needs of their patrons, they developed a product that speaks in a "language" that this current generation understands.

Bringing them in: Developing library gaming programs

Werner, K. (2013). Bringing Them In: Developing a Gaming Program for the Library. Library Trends, 61(4), 790-801.

This article describes the development of a library card, board, video, and role-play game collection, gaming days and tournaments that fostered connections with young children, teens, and the local community and businesses.

Alongside the advertised gaming days, the library created a book club hour before gaming time for younger children, and a teen advisory board alongside their gaming time.  Creating this program, the library has become a place teens feel welcome in:  the Teen Book Club is made up of many male teens who started going to the library for the gaming events and became dedicated patrons and readers, and the Summer Reading Program doubled within a five year period.  Also, connections with businesses and community were formed as the library advertised in gaming stores and got advice, marketing tips and support.

Recommendations are given of how to start a gaming program.  Games are suggested and ways to research and find the right games are given.  Listed card, board and role-playing games for the most part can be considered ‘current.’  However, given that this article is published in 2013, the video games may be out-of-date.

Challenges are presented:  the right space for gaming time, theft, download issues, ipad and hand-held devices for gaming use is on the horizon as of 2013.  The writer points out other games may still be valuable, and still encourage participation and interest in the library.

Creating Curriculum Connections with Library Collections

 Creating Curriculum Connections with Library Collections

The article, "Creating Curriculum Connections with Library Collections," author and teen librarian Sarah Gowdy discusses how she was able to collaborate with her local jr. high and high schools in order to create a connection with the educators and students to the library and its relevant resources for the students' curriculum and projects. In forming a partnership with Bentonville's literacy specialists and in doing so, she was able to identify that simply introducing teachers to the libraries resources would allow them in turn to let their students know about these in order to utilize them for their assignments.
The positive outcomes from creating the curriculum newsletter are as follows:

"The process of creating the Curriculum Connections revealed strengths and weaknesses in the library’s collections. I continue to correct weaknesses by weeding outdated non-fiction and purchasing new books that are relevant to today’s students. In sharing the newsletters, library

staff have received positive feedback from school faculty, parents, and students who have used our resources to support classwork (Gowdy, 2014)."

 Reference:
Gowdy, S., & Dudley, H. (2014). Creating Curriculum Connections with Library Collections. Arkansas Libraries, 71(3), 4-5.

Open and Editable: Exploring Library Engagement in OER Adoption, Adaptation and Authoring

 In her article, "Open and Editable: Exploring Library Engagement in Open Educational Resource Adoption, Adaptation and Authoring, author Anita Walz talks about the nature of OER's are and how librarians can adopt and use them for low cost opportunities especially in university and research libraries. Libraries are increasingly asked to do more with less. A common misconception about OER is that since they are free-- they must not be quality materials another is the ability to locate relevant OER's by faculty members. There are many universities including San Jose State, that are using OER's to lower the cost for students buying books.

"Locally, the Virginia Community College System has been very active incentivizing development of free and openly licensed materials for nearly 70 courses. A notable example is Tidewater Community College’s “Z Degree,” which replaces textbooks with OER, resulting in a zero textbook cost degree. While project organizers did not initially partner with the library in development of the Z Degree, this author is pleased to see that the library is now involved, per their detailed OER Research Guide (Walz, 2015)."

 Author Walz delves into why individuals would forego future royalties in order to provide a free service to the public. Listed below are a few examples and rationale.

"A faculty member or teacher employed in an educational institution may choose to openly license and disseminate works for original created works via various repositories or websites. Students and teachers benefit by increased access and ease of making derivatives.

Tesla Motors indicated that they would not enforce their patents for electric car technology in order to spur dissemination and development of electric car technology and production.

The Hewlett Foundation funded the 2001 startup of the MIT OpenCourseWare project, a courseware sharing initiative in line with MIT’s mission “to advance knowledge and educate students (Walz, 2015)."

All of these instances really speak to serving the public through expanded opportunities for learning, business growth and affordability. This was a very inspirational article!! It speaks to the forward thinking and educational desires of company owners, librarians and educators.

Reference:
Walz, A. R. (2015). Open and Editable: Exploring Library Engagement in Open Educational Resource Adoption, Adaptation and Authoring. Virginia Libraries, 61(1), 23-31

Development of a Regional Musical Collection

Wanser, J. (2014). Collecting and Collaborating to Build Community: The Evolution of a Local Music Collection at a Small Liberal Arts College Library. Technical Services Quarterly, 31(4), 332-357.

Summary

This article tracks the recent development (from 2005 to 2013) of a regional music collection.  A small college in a small rural area develops and implements plans to create a collection of Northeast Ohio music to provide education and recreation, and to create more ties to the local community.

In 2005, the Hiram College library had a sizeable music collection alongside a music department.  Listed are the goals created by these librarians to build this specialized regional collection. Then, the construction of the program is described.  The decision was made to focus on collecting recordings rather than other ephemera.  An acquisition plan had to be established:  $2,500 a year was allocated which bought 150 titles a year, exchanging t-shirts for recordings brought recordings in, by searching through shops, flea markets, garage sales more recordings were found.  Continuing the project at the library, the librarians have had a task to find and connect with knowledgeable people.  And aside from funding, cataloging has been the other greatest challenge.

During the almost ten years of this projects, alongside other means, the librarians used social media, as it continued to change during this time, to find music and promote the collection.   Analyses of circulation and development is included, as well as tracking numbers of different kinds of musicians, and how their positions and numbers affect costs of works and development.  Doing this work, Hiram has constructed a unique collection that larger institutions around them do not have.  In conclusion after evaluating the original goals the author states further publicity is needed to increase public visibility.

Comments

This project is a great example of collection and connections development.  Even though the author writes of modest success as he evaluates his goals, I view this collection development project as admirable and inspirational.