What’s Your Library Doing for Preservation Week?

Preservation Week is just around the corner and if you haven’t made plans to celebrate, there’s still time to pull something together. As the sponsor of Preservation Week, ALA has a toolkit of resources – from handouts, to free webinars (with the bonus that previous years’ webinars are archived here as well), to bibliographies of resources. All of these resources can be used to help promote preservation in your library at any time of the year, and can even be used as an event (or the event) during Preservation Week.

In addition to these resources there is also a preservation expert willing to answer your questions. She also does a monthly raffle to give away a document preservation kit to one lucky individual who asked a question! Ask Donia is a great tool for seeing what some of the current concerns in preservation are. Topics include digitization, preserving fragile types of materials, displaying archival or fragile materials, and performing conservation tasks.

While some libraries are able to make Preservation Week a big event, it by no means needs to be. Start small – send a message to your staff with links to preservation resources (you can even use link to ALA!) or put together a small display to raise awareness with your patrons. And don’t feel like you have to have an event during the week of April 24. Preservation is important year round so events and awareness should always be on your radar!

An Introduction to RDF for Librarians

If you have read anything about BIBFRAME, or Linked Data, or the Semantic Web, you have probably heard about Resource Description Framework (RDF). RDF is an important thing to understand, since it relates to the future of bibliographic data; however, it is often presented in a very complex manner. 

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/amyvdh/5060627580/

I recently came across a blog post by Ruth Kitchin Tillman, the Digital Collections Librarian at the University of Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Libraries, titled “An Introduction to RDF for Librarians (of a Metadata Bent)”. I found this post to be a very accessible introduction to the underlying concepts of RDF. Tillman explains how RDF is used to describe resources, what serialization means, with special focus on serializing RDF using Turtle, how RDF is used to link resources together, and how meaning is encoded. She also offers suggestions for continued reading, should you want to learn more about RDF. Overall, in my opinion, this post lays out some very complex topics in clear, understandable language.

To Weed or Not to Weed…

Much as a good garden may have some weeds, a good library may have some weeds as well. So let’s take a second to chat a little about the ‘anti-acquisition’ – otherwise known as the ‘weed.’ 

Susannah Tredwell wrote today about this very topic, offering readers a host of typical questions asked when weeding a collection, ranging from simpler questions such as “Do we own anything more current on the subject?” to more difficult questions that attempt to determine the value of the older book.  Tredwell reminds readers that even in a law library, “a book can still be valuable even if the information that it contains is no longer current.” The law field is a field where incorrect materials can be fraught with danger to the professionals who depend on them in court, but Tredwell makes some wonderful points about ways older, even incorrect materials can still be of value to patrons.

These points reminded me of an engaging post I had read last week by Jeffrey Meyer, recounting his experience with a particular patron at the public library. This patron was challenging the decision to keep a particular book about climate change, which they claimed was riddled with half-truths and propaganda, in the collection. Meyer reminds us that the library is not the fact police, and that “the Fact Police are as dangerous as the Morality Police. If we start removing materials because they are “factually inaccurate,” we will embark on a twisted Soviet-style purge of our treasured collections. Thanks, Jeffrey. I couldn't have said it better myself.

But before you think I'm an anti-weeding kind of gal, let me point you to one more resource that promises to remind you that hoarding is not the same as collection development. Awfullibrarybooks.net is a site run by Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner, public librarians in Michigan.  They state that their site is “a collection of library holdings that we find amusing and maybe questionable for libraries trying to maintain a current and relevant collection.”  And amusing they are... One of my favorites is My Beautiful Mommy, in which Mommy picks her child up from school to take her along on a trip to the plastic surgeon.  

Want a little more information on weeding or all things acquisitions?  Karen Muller recently offered her list of essential resources for understanding acquisitions in libraries, including Rebecca Vnuk’s The Weeding Handbook: A Shelf-by-Shelf Guide.

Government Publishing Office Announces govinfo

The Government Publishing Office recently announced beta launch of govinfo, a new site designed to replace FDsys in 2017. The site is designed to be user friendly and features modern, responsive design.  According to the Q & A page for the site, key new features include:

• a new modern look and feel,
• the capability to link related content,
• two new ways to browse content: alphabetically and by category,
• a new open-source search engine,
• enhancements to the search filters, and
• more options for sharing pages and content on social media. 

A brief look around the site confirmed that it is easy to use with popular and current content prominently featured. The stripped down, modern look and feel enhance easy navigation.

Don’t Forget to Tell a Story: New Ideas on Presenting Effectively Using Data Visualizations, Infographics and More

Source: flickr - Marius B

Anyone who knows me knows I’m all about that data. With an educational background focused in mathematics and statistics, I find numbers thrilling and graphical and pictorial representations of them nothing short of magic. And yes, contemplating the scope and power of big data makes me a little weak in the knees. But I know that at least half (or more?) of the library profession approaches these topics with a little less ‘starry eyed wonder’ than I, embracing a more practical mentality, maybe even tinged with confusion and/or fear.

No matter what side of the spectrum you land on, it’s undeniable that data visualizations and infographics are powerful tools in your arsenal of ‘storytelling’ that is so essential to proving your value to leadership, stakeholders, administrators, patrons, co-workers and more. This storytelling helps in educating your audience on who you are, what you do, what services you provide, and how these are valuable to them.

So here’s a few links I’ve run across recently that could help you tell your own story in some new ways that are as visually appealing as they are effective.

First up is a post from LAC Group entitled “We Help You Find Information – Now Some Data Visualization Tips to Present It”, which offers a variety of resources and suggestions for data visualization, tailored for all audiences – including those with scarce graphical design resources and those limited to PowerPoint software. Check it out for a few tips and tricks, as well as a collection of curated links to resources offering basic data visualization advice and inspirational ideas and videos.

One of the LAC Group’s tips is to avoid overwhelming your audience with too much information, and instead focus on adding meaning and context to the right information. Jeff Bennion at Above the Law echoes this in his recent post on How to Present Beautiful Evidence, where he offers  litigators ways to more effectively present evidence to their audience. The tips offered resonate just as much to librarians, presenting ‘evidence’ of their services and their value to educate a variety of audiences.  Bennion encourages you to kill the bullet point approach and instead present your data in well-designed graphics.

So how to get these well-designed graphics?  Well, if you’ve got Office 2016, you have access to a set of new charts that could help you with your story telling. Take a closer look at the Office Blog’s recent post on 3 New Ways to Drive Business Decisions Using the New Excel 2016 Charts.  They walk you through a few ways these charts can help you visualize gains and losses, show relationships between your data, and illustrate statistical patterns.

If you’re looking for infographics instead of traditional Excel charts, HubSpot has a current offer for 15 Free Infographic Templates in PowerPoint (+ 5 Bonus Illustrator Templates).  These fully customizable templates will help give you some inspiration, along with a foundation to build upon on your own, directly in PowerPoint or Illustrator. Yes, it is absolutely free (if you are amenable to their privacy policy and fill out their fairly brief form, that is).

And if you don’t have a pile of data on hand but you still want a chance to break your bad habits and introduce a little more pizazz into your presentations, check out Kris Turner’s post on the RIPS Law Librarian Blog, Presenting….five alternatives to PowerPoint.  Tunner lists five solid alternatives to PowerPoint that are definitely not Prezi – see if there’s something new to you.  I’m looking forward to exploring EMaze, myself!

Upcoming ALCTS e-Forum: How Library Technical Services Can Support OER Initiatives

The American Library Association’s technical services division, the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), periodically hosts e-forums, “two-day, moderated, electronic discussion forums that provide an opportunity for librarians to discuss matters of interest on an ALCTS discussion list.” The next e-forum, coming up on January 26 and 27, deals with the topic of technical services and open educational resources (OER) initiatives.

If you are not familiar with the concept of OER, the OER Commons website is a great place to get more information. According to their About page:

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that you may freely use and reuse at no cost. Unlike fixed, copyrighted resources, OER have been authored or created by an individual or organization that chooses to retain few, if any, ownership rights. In some cases, that means you can download a resource and share it with colleagues and students. In other cases, you may be able to download a resource, edit it in some way, and then re-post it as a remixed work. How do you know your options? OER often have a Creative Commons or GNU license to let you know how the material may be used, reused, adapted, and shared.

OER Commons collects resources such as this and makes them freely available to educators. Their resources reflect a number of subjects, including law. 

There are, of course, other legal open educational resources, such as CALI’s Free Law Reporter, and Harvard’s Free the Law initiative. OER initiatives could have a big impact on law librarianship, and the upcoming ALCTS e-forum should provide interesting insight into the role of technical services staff in these initiatives.

To participate in an ALCTS e-forum, you must sign up for their email discussion list. Instructions for subscribing to the list and managing your subscription settings can be found on the ALCTS website.

 

New Year, New Resources for Library Managers

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/librariesrock/11695066003

With 2016 now upon us, it seemed like a great time to scan the blogosphere and see what new posts and resources are out there that might help library managers increase both their own and their team’s effectiveness in the new year!

Training and Professional Development

Tami Schiller offers a few tips on how to make 2016 a year of professional development and highlights some new and different approaches to learning. Incorporate these tips into your new year, not only for your own growth, but for your employees as well.  Her third tip, exploring at least one new training method this year with a pilot group, is a great opportunity for the library as a whole – pick a single topic relevant to their work and get moving.  Tami provides links to additional posts detailing methods such as microlearning, formative assessment and blended learning.

Inspiration

Need some quick and easy daily inspiration?  Click over to Founder Mantras for your daily dose of mantras, quotes and words to live by for founders, by founders.  You can even add your own mantra to the list.  For instance, on January 11th, Alex Blumberg of Gimlet Media reminds us that “The first draft always sucks.”

Written Communication

Speaking of first drafts, how often are you charged with creating “official communication” from the library?  Do you delegate this task or do you take it on yourself? And how do you make sure that communications coming out of your library resonate, bringing the essence of your library to life through text?  Here’s some tips from Ryan LeClaire on writing with your brand’s voice that may help you do just that.  A key piece of this, especially for libraries, is understanding your customers themselves – telling them what they want to hear in a way that reaches them.  Having a relationship with your patron base, and capitalizing on the things you’ve learned about your patrons through this relationship is integral to your success!

Negotiating Contracts

We all know that walking away from a contract negotiation with a vendor is not always a realistic option in the library world, which can often make you feel as though you're powerless to affect the final outcome. However, Susannah Tredwell offers librarians some advice on approaching negotiations you can’t walk away from, while still getting a result you’re happy with.  With tangible questions to ask yourself in preparation, important amendments you may be able to incorporate into your deal, and links to further reading, this is a great resource to start your 2016 negotiations off on the right foot!

Faculty Orientation

Academic law libraries have regular influxes of new students, so year after year, student orientation remains a hot topic. However, in this case, here's some advice on something a little different - new faculty orientation. Tena Long Golding offers a more interactive spin on the traditional talking head presentations by librarians, especially for dry topics such a syllabi and policy statements. Their group created a video of student responses to questions such as “What one word describes a great professor?” and “What advice would you give a new professor.”  After the video, conversation is continued using the natural segue to key elements on a course syllabus. In her own words, “What used to be a session of reading through the requirements is now more of an open discussion on creative ways to communicate expectations and engage with our students.”

Collaboration

Let’s finish things out with a few links devoted to collaboration. We can all sing the praises of collaboration – coming together often leads to new ideas, better ways of doing things, shared workloads and more. But what about the darker side of collaboration?  Nick Milton recently wrote a piece stating that “Not all collaboration is good – some of it is a waste of time or creator of unneeded confusion.”  To support this, he links to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review which points out that usually only a handful of employees carry the full collaborative load and as a result become overloaded and disengaged.  As managers, you have the ability to identify overloaded collaborators and try to shift their burdens and find ways to reward them for their efforts.  Also, when assigning collaborative projects and roles, don’t forget that increased headcount on a project doesn’t necessarily give you greater returns. Need proof? Casey Flaherty makes some great points in his recent post that deserve a closer look. He says it best in his post tagline “Nine women can’t make a baby in one month.”