MLA Conference 2010: Making it Happen, FAST!

Presenters: Brent Husher & Cindy Thompson, UMKC Miller Nichols Library

This presentation is how to incorporate an idea into your library fast.

Beginnings
-How do you make the decisions
-Sometimes if you don't have the authority, you may still need to take the authority

Authority
-If you don't feel comfortable taking the authority by yourself, get others to help
-Understand the culture you work in
-Write a proposal if others initially say no

Buy In
-Politics is a part of most of our work environments
-Negotiate and try to get buy in from those that would be the most involved/interested before throwing it out to everyone
-Think about everyone who will be affected by your proposal and talk to then first
-If you are not the person in charge, make sure you have buy in from your administrator(s)
-Say "I think this is important for our library, I would love to be involved in this, what do you think." Start a discussion, don't just go straight to asking permission. A dialogue should be started which should then lead to permission in the end.

Keep the Ball Rolling
-Need to have frequent follow-up
-Do not necessarily need to have a lot of meetings, but a lot of communication
-Pull a team together thinking who needs to be on the team
-Keep your group focused
-Set deadlines and follow them
-Keep all stakeholders informed as the process is going on

Stumbling Blocks
-Missed deadlines - having a good leader to keep in top of things, and when forming a team if you know they are good at being on top of things can help keep deadlines
-If only one person has the ability to work on a specific area, yet is busy with other things can delay the project. Try to get progress reports and keep communication going with the person.

Finish Line
-With almost any project, there really isn't a finish line. There will always be something that will need to be updated, follow-up, etc.
-Try to have some sort of finish line so that there is some gratification that this process has been completed.

This was a good presentation, with lots of ideas that I can take and use.

MLA Conference 2010: The Role of the Academic Library in the Future

This presentation's full title is - The Role of the Academic Library in the Future: Perspectives from a Sabbatical Visit to the U.K.
Presenter: Genie McKee, Dean of the University Library, Maryville University in Saint Louis

The presenter decided to tour aroung Great Britain looking at modern libraries. She started in Glasgow and finished in London and attended a seminar sponsored by the UNC Library School and UCL Library School: "British Libraries and Librarianship: Past, Present and Future."

The presenter was able to visit with Bodley's Librarian, JISC representatives, SCONUL chair, consultant who focuses on strategic visioning for the future, the author of "Recent Developments in Cambridge College Libraries", and others.

What the libraries do and the services they provide is really tied to the educational purpose of the university.

Libraries use a smart card access. The smart card allows access into the library and also allows the user to self-checkout the book. It also allows for retrieval of statistics.

University of Edinburgh has a HUB Room (Highly Used Book)
-Access to assigned readings
-Secure entrance
-Self check out
-No staff needed

Because they have the self-checkout the circ desk has become a help desk with a combination of library and technology people.

Subject Liaison Librarian
-Paid by the History Dept.
-Office in the Department, not the library
-Does hold a library degree and two degrees in history
-Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

De Montfort University - Combined Service Desk
-Combination of IT and Professional Librarian
-All staff are roving and are expected to have front-facing activity
-Each person has a certain knowldege set

Chartered Librarians
-Librarians apply to be chartered through CILIP: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (formerly Library Association)

Glasgow Caledonian Univeristy
The Saltire Center
Services for our students
Active approaches to
Learning and
Teaching, a 21st centruy way of managing our
Information, the repository of our
Research collections, and
Engaging our students

Librarian's Place in the University
Librarians are considered the bes hybrid managers
-operational mangers (offer a big and complex service)
-acadmic orientation
-have professional and technical expertise
Including a 24/7 opportunity for service

Future of the Academic Library
-Technological Assistance to Students
-Library as the Learning Place with Many Services
-Collaborative Spaces for Learning
-Books will still be an Integral Part of Learning

The presenter stated that after this trip, she has learned that anything that helps student learning she is willing to try in her library.

This presentation was really interesting. There was so much more that I didn't write in the blog the information was great and makes me want to take a trip to England to see these libraries in person.

MLA Conference 2010: Firefox Add-Ons

Presenter: Bob Martin from Morenet

Firefox Add-Ons
Do not turn on more than 2-3 add-ons at a time because it can slow down Firefox the first time you bring it up.

Most of these add-ons are version specific, so if Firefox updates, then the add-on may not work. Will need to reinstall the add-ons so that they will work, after updating Firefox.

To find Add-ons, in Firefox, go to Tools and click on Add-ons. Then choose Get Add-ons. Can also click on Browse all Add-ons and it will take you to the Add-ons page for Firefox. Can also search if you know the name of an add-on.

Zotero - collect bib information in one place as you are doing research. It is going to watch what you do and watch where you go. Will not work with Gale and Ebsco, can still put in the information manually.

Amplify - clip and share excerpts from articles, blogs, tweets, and webpages.

Zoodles - Kid mode for Firefox. A safe place for kids to play online.

Video Download Helper - Instead of streaming video, will download it and store it on your desktop. Can also convert the file if you need to.

Similar Web - searches for sites related to the one that you are looking at. You can rate to see how similar it really is. You are allowed to vote if it is similar or not similar.

Cooliris.com - media browser plug-in. Need to prescreen if showing to kids.

Good presentation. Lots of stuff to play with. Can't wait!

MLA Conference 2010: Top 5 (or more) Online Tools

Presenter: Denise from MLNC

Jog the web is where the presenter's presentation is located. Search for dtksmile and find all of her presentations.

Top 5 (or more) Tools
1. Jogtheweb.com
2. Yolink - will keep searching in the background as it looks through all the results.
Adds some boolean searching, will highlight all the search terms.
3. Next Vista For Learning - an online library of free videos. Lightbulb videos are put there by students and teachers.
4. Creative Commons - A way to license your works to share with others. This is another form of publishing. Can also use without having to ask for permission.
5.International Children's Digital Library - Books available in different languages. Nothing flashy, but good quality children's literature.
6. Google Search Features - able to get weather, conversion charts, etc.
7. Learning Express Library - practice for multiple tests
8. Symbaloo - allows you to organize your bookmarks with a visual organizer. Looks like app icons which are becoming more popular.

Good session, just some technical difficulties. Looking forward to getting home and trying some of these out.

MLA 2010 Conference: Web 2.x Tools to Make You Look Cool: The Internet Strikes Back!

Presenter: Cynthia Dudenhoffer, Director of Information Services, Central Methodist University

Will be discussing all free, web based,.com that require no downloads.

Aviary - image editor, screen capture, audio editor, music creator effect editor, eolor editor, image markup, etc.

Analogue - ondemand, anonymous, multi-user chat interface

Bubbl.US - brainstorming tool, do need to create an account to keep. create flowcharts, etc.

Bounceapp - Let's you comment, share, or post stuff to any website, great for comments for webdesign

Cramberry.net - make your own flash cards, also available as an iPhone and Blackberry app

Crappygraphs.com - can make a graph of whatever you want, really just for fun.

Dragontape.com - lets you stream videos together so you can string them together to watch all at once, instead of watching in sections can watch all at once.

Followupthen.com - Time management system that sends emails and reminders to do your work.

Heapr.com - aggregated search engine that allows you to search social networking as well as search engines

Kwout.com - Can highlight and quote a webpage and email it out to someone

Librivox.org - free audio books, or create your own audiobook and share it with others

Lynda.com - free tutorials on anything you can think of.

MyWeboo.com - manages everything that you do on the internet.

Prettygraph.com - lets you make professional graphs for free, and provides the source code so you can put it anywhere you want.

Paper.li - allows you to read twitter as a daily newspaper.

Redkid.net - a safe, educational website for all ages, for tweens, does have image generators, upload image and make into a sign

Replyz.com - People asking and answering questions in real time. Caution: may not always be appropriate.

Scribblemaps.com - Let's you write and more on top of any google map and then share. Can search any google map or google earth.

Sciencestage.com - Includes science tutorials, demonstration videos, lectures, etc. Starts at middle school and then goes up.

ShareSomeSugar.com - Allows you to borrow items from others within your zip code. Allows you to share items without having to buy something.

Smories.com - Original stories for kids, by kids, and read by kids.

Totspot.com - A safe place for kids that allows you to create a safe website for and about your child to share with those you want to see.

Visualizing.org - A creative commons infographics.

XSketch.com - Online pictionary, realtime virtual.

YourFonts.com - Does require a scanner, but allows you to create a font from your own handwriting.

YTTM.tv - YouTube time machine, goes back all the way to 1880 up to current day. You can choose a year and pick a video from that year. Can filter subjects such as commercials, current events, sports, etc. Great for the assignment of students looking to see what happened the year they were born.

ZamZar.com - convert files from one format to another.

This is a great presentation. Lots of websites I want to go home and play with. I can't wait.

MLA 2010 Conference: Mobile Library: What's Important and What's Practical

The presenter for this session is Ying Z. Lin, Electronic Resources and Information Literacy Librarian from Maryville University.

People use mobile phones, especially iphones to get information, so libraries need to go where the users are. Sometimes all the user has is a mobile phone and it is all they can use where they are. Libraries need to provide that information or they will not be used. Users wil find other resources to use.

Mobile Components - smart phone (a phone that is able to use applications in order to find information)

Web App - what you can find on the web to download. Example: http://m.mit.edu
This is what a lot of Universisties use because of cost and time.

Native App - What is developed initially for the phone. Download and install it and can use it across different phones.

Network 3G and 4G - Allows you to call and access the internet at the same time. Only difference between 3G and 4G is the speed. 4G needs to be at least 4x faster than 3G. At this time really can't tell the difference because of the phone rather than the network. The phones at this time can not handle the amount of information.

Important vs. Practical
-Important: what users care about
-Practical: what can we do to best satisfy them with our limited resources

When speaker went to look at to see what libraries had mobile apps and found that a lot of libraries hide their resources.
12 common library website features on their mobile pages. Research on this done in Nov. 2009
-Catalog
-Database Search
-Subject Guides
-Computer Availability
-IM a Librarian
-Text a Librarian
-Feedback
-News/Features
-Hours
-Contact Us
-Help/How to
-Available Computer

What Maryville Mobile page has: Directions, Databases, Hours of Operation, news and Events, and Ask a Librarian

The hours and the news and events are done within a mobile blog page.

Why did they do it that way? They have 5 out of the 6 highest ranking features except the catalog. They did not include the catalog because they can't really make it mobile. Need extra money in ordder to make an open API.

When repeated the research on mobile library pages a year later, the most rapid growth on what was included was text a librarian, database search, and news & events.

More and more libraries are using blogs for their news & events, which means these blogs can be mobilized very easily.

Took a closer look at the catalog search feature. Out of 29 libraries, 20 had the library catalog feature, but only 14 had a real mobile catalog. On the database search, 22 out of 29 libraries had this feature on their mobile page, but only 20 had a real mobile database search.

Out of the 20 real mobile database searches, 15 of them provide users with a partial list of all their database. These are the databases which come with mobile interfaces.

The Trends
On the interface side more icons ad graphics are friendlier and easier to read than text. Citation tools are going mobile. A lot of universities are making a separate page for medical/health professions.

What Now?
Practical: Implement the hours, locations features and give links to databases tha provide mobile interfaces, which from most vendors is free. The important part is to take a look at the discovery service, and text a librarian would be a good way to promote ourselves.

What about Native Apps?
It can do everything that was talked about, plus you could utilize the camera as a scanner to scan the barcode to do self-checkout or to scan the ISBN of a book to see if your library has it, or request it. You would also be able to use smart phone to locate a book's specific shelf location inside the library.

yzhang@maryville.edu

This was a great presentation. Filled with information about apps in general and also about how libraries are using them. I don't know how this speaker was able to provide all the information she did a the little time provided, but I am so glad that she did!

MLA Conference 2010: How to Get Others to Do What You Want: Leadership in the Library

Presenters: Steven Potter, Laura Rein, and Shirley Baker

Steve Potter, Director of Libraries, Mid-Continent Public Library
Topic: Pulling Together So You Don't Pull Apart

Need to make sure that everyone has the same perception of what "real" work is. This includes desk work, helping patrons in the stacks, and doing outreach. It takes all of this to make the library work. This led to writing a vision for the library. If everyone knows the vision of the library and if everyone can articulate it, everyone can be on the same page. Everything that was done needed to be attached to the goals and vision of the library. Strategic environment matters. There are a couple of keys to this. There needs to be buy-in from the highest level. The plan also needs to be presented to the employees. Communication and connecting everything back is key. There is a distinct difference between managing and leading. Take time to plan and make sure that you are moving in the right direction. Need to think of things as one of four criteria: Urgent and Important, Urgent and not important, Not Urgent and important, and Not urgent and not important.

Laura Rein, Dean of University Library, Webster University
Topic: Bottom-up Strategic Planning and Finding ways to say Yes!

2/3 of the students and faculty do not reside on campus. They are either online or at a different campus across the world. Bottom-up strategic planning is writing the goals and objectives from the staff and then up. One of their library goals is take the library to where users are. Another goal is to integrate the library into university life, by saying yes to the groups that want to use the library outside the normal use of the library. Also do continual assessment, which get a high response by allowing the students to entire a drawing for an iTouch. By doing this they get 1000 responses. Basically this director not only listens to the users, but also responds to the user needs by acting on the requests and doing something about what is being asked for. It is not always possible to say yes. Also there are times where some staff are upset, and also some students are upset by decisions, but in the end there is a reward in seeing the users happy with the library overall.

Shirley Baker, Dean of University Libraries & Vice Chancellor for Scholarly Resources, Washington University.
Topic: Fearless and Fair

It is important to look for the potential in your staff and nurture each one. Even if they do not want to be challenged, or to do more than the basic necessities, but it is important to push them to their full potential.

In a new job, 20% will accept you no matter what, 20% will oppose you no matter what, and the rest will sit on the fence and see who wins. A leaders job is to fix those that aren't doing anything. Hold up pay check and say to get this you have to do what I want, If you don't want it, then you can do anything you want. You won't always succeed when doing something brave and firm, but you will succeed more times than not.

Remember: It is either you or your replacement that will do what it takes to get the job done.

This presentation was good. With three presenters each having only 10 minutes there was more that I would have wanted to hear from each one of them. However what they did say was good food for thought which I can take back to my job and incorporate.

MLA (Missouri Library Association) Conference

I am now attending the 2010 MLA conference at Lodge of the Four Seasons. I am attending my first session since I have been working on the registration desk. Looking forward to a great conference!