ALAO 2012 Preconference Workshops

Participatory Librarianship:
Shaping Conversations to Advocate the Impact of Our Academic Libraries

How can academic libraries use participatory practices to impact their own academic communities? How can we spark, encourage, and sustain conversations for learning, as well as build rich, meaningful community engagement? Together, through small and whole group conversations, we will examine existing effective practices and strategies. We will brainstorm new possibilities for elevating the role of the library to an integral affinity space that cultivates and nurtures the evolving needs of our higher education communities.

The Unquiet Librarian, Buffy Hamilton, a 2011 LJ Mover and Shaker, will lead small groups in interactive conversations about maximizing and communicating value by framing our services and programming through a lens of participatory librarianship. We will follow the World Café model, which promises a fun, visually-rich, stimulating workshop with plenty of energizing take-aways from the shared energy and collective wisdom of our colleagues.

Interested in learning more? View this PDF of the workshop.
Preconference registration: http://www.alaoweb.org/events?eventId=536222


Researcher Revolt:
What Faculty Want from Publishers, Libraries and the Open Access Movement

The issue of open access is changing the landscape of scholarly communication. There is increasing demand for public access to research and an intense debate on the best way to accomplish this goal. Historically, libraries have supported faculty and institutions in their research, but are becoming increasingly involved as the research and publishing communities attempt to navigate in the new world. It is essential, however, that libraries align their efforts to what researchers want and need. This session will convene a panel of faculty from a variety of disciplines and schools to speak to their experiences with open access. Join us as we discuss how academic libraries can best support our institutions in the changing landscape of scholarly communication.

Faculty Panel includes:

• Dominique Belanger, PhD, Director of the Wright State University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program
• Tschera Connell, PhD, Head of Scholarly Resources Integration Department at The Ohio State University Libraries
• Sebastiaan Faber , PhD, Professor of Hispanic Studies and Director, Oberlin Center for Languages and Cultures, Oberlin College
• David Mark Goss , PhD, Professor of Mathematics at The Ohio State University and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Number Theory
• Mason Posner, PhD, Chair of the Department of Biology and Toxicology at Ashland University
• Moderated by Alan Boyd, Associate Director, Oberlin College Libraries

Interested in learning more? View the workshop PDF
Preconference registration is available: http://www.alaoweb.org/events?eventId=536226

Registration is open for the 2012 ALAO Conference, to be held at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, OH on Friday, October 26th.  This year's theme is "Impact Factor: The Value of Academic Libraries".

Looking over the list of programs being offered, there are some very interesting sessions that will make tough choices.  We hope you will pencil in two sessions in particular.  At 1:30, CMCIG will hold a Roundtable discussion on the common Core Standards with the ever-fabulous Kathy Yoder leading the group.  At 2:30, CMCIG is sponsoring "Storytime in the Academic Library"; Jennifer Smith (NKU) will tell the group about how she started a children's storytime at her library and give suggestions on how to bring children's and family programming to your academic library.

Remember, Early Bird Conference Rates run through Sept. 19th!  Here is a link to register:  http://www.alaoweb.org/events?eventId=518633

Hope to see you there!

CMCIG 2012: Managing eBooks for Kids

Kathy Yoder, Education Librarian

William T. Jerome Library, Bowling Green State University

What do Curriculum Materials Centers want in an eBook platform for children? The same thing all libraries want: an easy, logical, and attractive interface for users, unlimited access for unlimited users, a variety of publishers offering both fiction and informational texts, titles that are tablet/smartphone compatible, and MARC records for our catalog. Yes, we want all this and we want the final puzzle piece: affordability. All of this is good and well, but the world isn’t a wish-granting factory (thanks, John Green for reminding us), so what is a Curriculum Materials Center to do?

My quest for answers all started because I simply couldn’t ignore eBooks for kids anymore, although I’ve tried. Early examples of children’s eBooks were often clunky and uninspiring and my strategy was to wait until publishers offered a product I could be excited about. Finally my tipping point arrived based on three things: kids’ eBooks are becoming user friendly and in some cases quite impressive, Education faculty are starting to show a real interest in them, and eBook purchases at our institution are moving past the experimental stage. I wanted to get in on a piece of the eBook pie at the ground level .

At this point I decided to try to get my head around what is available. My experience with eBooks at my public library has been rocky at best. As much as I hate the hassle of being on the reader end of eBook checkouts I knew I didn’t want to be on the other end of that headache. So I came up with my dream list as described in the first paragraph. I considered how children’s eBook might be used by pre-service teachers in the classroom. I took into account the requests by faculty on what they would like to see. The last thing I did was take a whole lot of test drives on various free trials and watched demo after demo.
While checking out the different platforms I kept in mind how I thought the eBooks might be used by our Education students. Since interactive whiteboards are nearly commonplace in classrooms in our area, I want kids’ eBooks that can be projected and used interactively on them. To me, this option is very exciting for student teachers and how they will be sharing books in the future. A web-based eBook format fits this type of use.

Tutoring is another very popular way our students interact with children and I want them to be able to use eBooks for that. Our School of Teaching and Learning recently acquired tablet computers for tutoring use, so children’s books that work on iPads would be ideal. For this use a downloadable format would be required. I determined that I’m primarily looking for picture books of various complexity, both fiction and nonfiction while I am not interested in providing children’s texts that download onto standard eReaders.

The following are some of the products that I’ve looked at. Some are platforms provided by aggregators, while others are platforms from publishing companies. Follow the links and check them out, and please add suggestions for others in the comments.

Mackin VIA
http://www.mackin.com/ESERVICES/MACKIN-VIA.aspx
This one will be demonstrated at our workshop. This platform offers a large selection of children’s eBooks and is particularly strong in informational texts.

Follett Shelf 
http://www.aboutfollettebooks.com
Another platform from an aggregator. Allows you to select titles in bundles or individually.

Epointbooks 
http://www.epointbooks.com/ 
This platform offers books from Rosen, Gareth Stevens, Britannica Education, and Windmill publishers. It suffers from severe unattractiveness.

Freading
http://freading.com/index 
The children’s collection doesn’t have much for pre-service teachers.

Overdrive 
http://overdrive.com/Solutions/Schools/K12/SDL/
Strong in text, and is compatible with many types of devices, but can’t be used with shared devices (everything has to be downloaded).

Axis 360 and Blio 
http://www.baker-taylor.com/axis360/index.htm
Baker and Taylor’s platform. Not clear about the extent of children’s content.

Scholastic BookFlix (grades PreK-3 ) 
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/bookflixfreetrial/index.htm
- and -
TrueFlix (grades 3-5) 
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/trueflix_freetrial/index.htm 
Scholastic publishers offer a small but focused collection, designed with whiteboard use in mind.

TumbleBooks 
http://www.tumblebooks.com 
For younger children. Since they don’t require a log in this can be viewed at library websites such as http://kids.nypl.org/reading/Childrensebooks.cfmInfobase 

Publishing eBooks 
http://www.infobasepublishing.com/GradeLanding.aspx?eBooks=1 
Offers Facts on File, Chelsea House, World Almanac among others.

Disney Digital Books
http://disneydigitalbooks.go.com/ 
Institutional subscriptions not available as a stand alone. In some aggregators.

ebrary for High Schools 
http://www.ebrary.com/corp/schools.jsp
Even the promotional material is boring, but then again I’m more interested in content for younger kids.

Capstone Interactive Library 
http://mycapstonelibrary.com 
This one comes from the publisher.

Sesame Street eBooks 
http://ebooks.sesamestreet.org/ 
Like Disney, this is for home purchase as a stand alone but is available in some aggregators.

Crabtree ebooks
http://www.crabtreebooks.com/Store/SearchByCategory.aspx?CategoryCode=540
Another single publisher offering.

* Submitted by Kathy Yoder

CMCIG Spring 2012 Workshop

CMCIG 2012: 
The Future of Ohio Libraries

State Library of Ohio  
274 East 1st Avenue - Columbus, OH 43201

Friday, May 18, 2012 - 8:30 am to 3:30 pm

Establishing and Maintaining an eReader Collection
Sue Polanka, Head of Reference & Instruction, Wright State University
Approximately 15-17% of academic and school libraries are lending eReaders to their patrons. There are a variety of ways to establish this service in a library. During this session, the nuts and bolts of establishing and maintaining an eReader collection will be discussed and demonstrated. Device selection, collection development, purchasing, policies and procedures,and budgeting will be discussed and debated. 

eReaders for Kids
Kathy Yoder, Education Librarian, Bowling Green State University
As academic libraries grapple with presenting electronic content to their patrons, curriculum materials centers also want to serve pre-service teachers with children’s eBooks from a variety of publishers. In this session we will take a look at what we want and need from an eBook platform: MARC records, unlimited access, affordability and more. Guest Lindsey Newman will demonstrate one such product, Mackin VIA, and Kathy Yoder will share her search for a children’s portal that meets the needs of an academic setting.

Grade School eTextbooks in the CMC
Ann Raney, CMC Director, University of Dayton
With the release of the new “Digital Textbook Playbook” by the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Education to help advance the federal governments initiative to bring digital textbooks to all American students within the next five years, it is imperative that our collections begin the transition from print to digital format. During this session, PreK-12 textbook reps will share their digital textbook options.

State of Ohio's Libraries
Beverly Cain, the State Librarian.
Ohio’s school libraries are at a crossroads. State Librarian Cain will share information that has been gathered about them by the Working Together to Support Ohio’s Libraries Committee.

Event Registration:
Registration is now open! Visit the ALAO Web site and view events for more information.  The $35 registration fee includes a continental breakfast and lunch (options available at time of registration).

Register Now! CMCIG 2012: The Future of Ohio Libraries

Questions? Contact: CMCIG chair Stephanie Bange
Email: stephanie.bange - at - wright.edu

ALAO 2012: Call for Proposals

Impact Factor:  The Value of Academic Libraries
ALAO 38th Annual Conference
Friday, October 26, 2012
Roberts Centre, Wilmington, Ohio

CALL FOR PROPOSALS  --  Deadline:  May 4, 2012

The ALAO Conference Planning Committee invites you to submit proposals for presentations, lightning sessions, round table discussions and poster sessions for the 2012 Annual Conference. Share your experiences, practical solutions, expertise, and innovative practices with colleagues from all types of academic libraries.  Applicants are encouraged to develop creative proposals that show thoughtful exploration of this year’s conference theme: “Impact Factor:  The Value of Academic Libraries.” Join us as we explore the many ways in which academic libraries impact the campus, our communities and our profession. Possible topics include:·      

• Calculating value through assessment
• Identifying the library’s role in student learning and retention
• Reallocating resources to increase return on investment
• Promoting the library through marketing, programming, and public relations
• Showcasing the value of library staff
• Meeting the needs of our diverse user communities
• Serving our community through outreach & service learning
• Curating and publishing unique institutional content
• Adopting new technologies to connect users with information

PROPOSALS WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR THE FOLLOWING:

Presentations may take the form of contributed papers, demonstrations, workshops, research, or panel discussions. 

Lightning Talks are designed to be fast-paced, thought provoking, and energizing.  Presenters will have 7 minutes to deliver their practical or conceptual topics. There will not be scheduled time for Q & A; however, presenters may use part of their 7 minutes for this purpose.

Roundtables are small, informal group discussions designed to facilitate networking and information exchange. Facilitators should identify and develop a topic that will allow participants to discuss how they are dealing with specific issues at their libraries. Please include 2-3 questions to be addressed during the discussion in the proposal.

Posters should graphically represent a topic and include text, tables, images, or other multimedia formats. Handouts are welcome and encouraged. Presenters will share their ideas with attendees during a designated time slot of the conference.


PROPOSAL PROCESS GUIDELINES:·       

You are welcome to submit multiple proposals, however, please know that no more than 2 will be included in the final program.

• All proposals will be blind-reviewed for content, relevance to the conference theme, and overall appeal.  A concise, clearly written description and abstract will help the reviewers evaluate your offering more clearly.
• Exclude the name of your institution, department and any personal names in the abstract to expedite the blind review process. You do not need to exclude this information in the brief description.
• You will be contacted regarding your a-v/technology requirements when your proposal is accepted.
• Please print a copy of the completed form for your records before submitting.
• You will receive an email confirmation upon submission. If you do not receive this confirmation email, please contact:  Aaron Olivera, The Ohio State University, olivera.3 at osu.edu
• Need help? Click here for a PDF document describing the online proposal process.
• All presenters will be responsible for their own registration and travel costs.

PROPOSALS MAY BE SUBMITTED VIA:  http://alaoweb.org/events

GRANTS AVAILABLE
FOR STUDENTS AND SUPPORT STAFF

ALAO seeks to encourage  support staff development and participation in ALAO activities.  ALAO also seeks to provide opportunities for students and new librarians to grow professionally and encourages participation towards a career in academic libraries.  To that end ALAO awards a Support Staff Presenter Grant and a Student Presenter Grant annually.  Grant monies of $150 for each award are intended to assist with the costs incurred in preparing the presentation and modest travel costs associated with the presentation. 

More information, including eligibility requirements is available via the following links.

• Student Presenter Grant:
  http://www.alaoweb.org/procmanual/policies.html#studentpresenter
  
• Support Staff Presenter Grant:   
  http://www.alaoweb.org/procmanual/policies.html#sspresenter

Applications for student and support staff presenter grants are available at http://alaoweb.org/events.