Morris Miller Library: Renovations Progress

Staff were invited to a tour of the half finished renovations in the Morris Miller Library, they're running slightly behind schedule but progressing well.


This will be the new students area, for computers, and the reference and reserve collections


The entrance to the new staff area


The Morris Miller Librarian's Office


The new eLab 1, a combined teaching and student work space


The view from the Liaison Librarian's part of the new staff work area

Librarianship on iTunesU

I've been downloading a variety of stuff from iTunesU for a while, and it's just incredible what is available. Whole course lecture series from the world's great Universities, guest lecturers that are the top names in their fields and all kinds of other stuff, and all for free.

I only thought to look for librarianship content recently though, and while there's not as much as if you're interested in learning about some other subject areas, there is still enough content to keep you busy for quite a while.

For more on how to access iTunesU and what's available, check out the link below:

http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/whats-on.html

Rethink! Learning styles debunked

Rethink! Learning styles debunked
Latest research now contradicts long held beliefs about different learning styles and utilising them to create the best learning environment. Find out more about learning styles and see where you sit in this debate.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091216162356.htm

In Praise of Librarians

From a professor of English, a nice article for the start of the week.
Selected quotes below (but do read the whole article, it's well considered in its positivity about our work).

"highly professional guides who can lead us through an increasingly tangled bank of information, librarians provide a voice of caution in a period when drastic, irreversible change seems like an easy fix for a concatenation of expensive institutional ailments."

"In my experience, librarians almost always pass the beer test: They are among the most likeable people you'll find at any college. They have the intellectual curiosity of academics without the aloofness and attitude often displayed by professors. If you are a stranger on a strange campus, the one person who will always save you is a librarian. "

"...libraries are becoming "the new village green." Far from being the declining years of these revered institutions, the present offers new opportunities for collaboration and democratization with the library—and librarians—at the center of that experience."

http://chronicle.com/article/Marian-the-Cybrarian/65570/

More on the Google Books Settlement

Publishing executive turned industry consultant Michael Cairns has prepared a useful report which makes some well informed predictions about how the Google books project might play out, particularly interesting from our perspective are the predictions on pricing and how important the product might become for academic and research libraries.

If you're not up to date with what the Google Books settlement is, the the first couple of pages of the report are an excellent synopsis of the background and legal issues at stake.

Summary Findings of the Report:

* Libraries will see tremendous advantages – both immediate and over time - from the GBS, although concerns have been voiced (notably from Robert Darnton of Harvard)
* Google’s annual subscription revenue for licensing to libraries could approach $260mm by year three of launch
* Over time, publishers (and content owners) will recognize the GBS service as an effective way to reach the library community and are likely to add titles to the service
* Google will add services and may open the platform for other application providers to enhance and broaden the user experience
* The manner in which the GBS deals with orphan works will provide a roadmap for other communities of ‘orphans’ in photography, arts, and similar content and intellectual property

http://personanondata.blogspot.com/2010/04/database-of-riches-business-model.html

The iPad

(With optional keyboard)

A lot of talk around the web about the iPad at the moment, especially from librarians interested in technology. Reactions seem to range from desire to disgust, but there's always those who will complain about a new product and how it doesn't fit their lives (and extrapolate that no one else will want one).

NCSU libraries are lending them to students and I can see this becoming a trend, much easier to manage than a laptop, although I am sure they will have their own issues.

I feel pretty confident in forecasting that the iPad will have a similar impact in the eBook reader and portable computing device marketplace that the iPhone has had in the smart phone market, really setting the usability standard and being the most desirable and functional option for most people.

As a device for University students it won't replace a laptop or computer for all uses, but imagine only having to carry an iPad onto campus, with all your text books loaded, basic note taking and document layout programs, email and web browsing (and as many games as you could ever use) this is going to be very attractive for both publishers, students and teachers I think.

So, what about libraries? How can we use this new platform to deliver resources in a better way for students?

Demonstrating value

Stephen Abram has a good post about the value of academic libraries, it's a kind of mini literature review with many useful papers and websites.

It is an important area for us as the idea that "everything can be found on google so why do we need libraries?" becomes more prevalent (even among some librarians).

http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/07/value-of-academic-and-college-libraries/

How do students use Wikipedia?

It's no great surprise that a lot of students use Wikipedia as part of the research process and also not surprising that teachers generally discourage its use. It's easy, has very broad subject coverage and ranks VERY highly in Google searches...but how do students actually use it when researching for an assignment?
Stephen Abram has a post linking to a new paper that is based on research on a group of US college students. The conclusions:

1. Students’ driving need for background context makes Wikipedia one of the predictable workarounds that many students use, especially during the first stages of their research process.
2. Course–related research may begin with Wikipedia, but it rarely ends there. In our study, students employed a complex information problem strategy in their research processes, reliant on a mix of information resources that were from scholarly sources and public Internet sites.
3. In our study, we found the combination of coverage, currency, comprehensibility, and convenience drives Wikipedia use, in a world where credibility is less of a given — or an expectation from students — with each passing day.
4. Overall, college students use Wikipedia. But, they do so knowing its limitation. They use Wikipedia just as most of us do — because it is a quick way to get started and it has some, but not deep, credibility.

There's also some discussion about what the opportunities are here for librarians and educators. The full article:
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2830/2476

Britain: The Disgrace of the Universities

A link to a thought provoking, if pessimistic article by Anthony Grafton on the New York Review of Books Blog about the changes going on in University funding and research priorities in the UK, specifically a systematic underfunding of slow, serious humanities research and teaching. From the comments it sounds like this is something being felt around the world. Interesting to read a couple of comments dismissing what we would call "learning hubs".

"Administrators have responded not by resisting, for the most part, but by trying to show that they can “do more with less.” To explain how they can square this circle, they issue statements in the Orwellian language of “strategic planning.” A typical planning document, from King’s College London, explains that the institution must “create financially viable academic activity by disinvesting from areas that are at sub-critical level with no realistic prospect of extra investment."

http://blogs.nybooks.com/post/437005501/britain-the-disgrace-of-the-universities

Review of a new book about the value of librarians

Review of a new book about the value of librarians.

This book is overdue: how librarians and cybrarians can save us all by Marilyn Johnson.

'Like Henriette Avram, the heroes of “This Book Is Overdue” are resolutely high-tech, engaged in “activist and visionary forms of library work.'

To read the full review, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/books/review/Kennedy-t.html?scp=1&sq=Library%20Science%20&st=cse