The Academic Library's Place in the Information Economy
John Buschman, Associate University Librarian, Scholarly Research and Services
Georgetown University
Washington, DC
Reported by Dan Chibnall

John Buschman spoke to his audience about the academic library’s role in the information economy and the 21^st century. He stressed early on in his talk that higher education has more value than just giving people higher paying jobs. Higher education brings out the democratic values of people and helps to improve our society as a whole. Libraries have an advantage providing this kind of education because we have the resources and we have, more recently, spaces like information commons in our physical buildings. Blending technology and space is important but Buschman noted that anyone can build a commons on campus. He noted that libraries are a purposely designed research spaces that have special educative properties.

He asked the question, “What behaviors do we want our users to emulate when we build our spaces?” In essence he was making the argument that our physical buildings and our resources should help our patrons build the best possible behaviors and habits when it comes to research. We also have to be careful about embracing the concept of return on investment. It is difficult to quantify the positive results of what we do as librarians and as library institutions. We have to dig deeply within an area of our curriculum, such as information literacy, and ask the big questions: are our students showing an understanding of these skills? Can they perform them when asked to?

Libraries have a special role as essential space in our society, especially academic libraries. In our modern economy we have to be careful about how we mimic bookstores and coffee shops. We need to stay true to our mission of being connected to the research spirit of the university and tether ourselves to the curriculum as much as possible. Buschman emphasized this point very strongly saying that if we try to change too much then we will not be fulfilling our long-held mission and traditions of helping students and faculty do great research.

 

---

L2L: Collaborations Between School, Public, and Academic Libraries
Betsy Thompson, Sioux City Public Library
Dan Chibnall, Grand View University
Rebecca Funke, Des Moines Area Community College (Ankeny)
Reported by Mara Egherman

Three enthusiastic librarians shared their collaborative experiences. Betsy Thompson of Sioux City Public Library started us off with an historical overview of the information literacy collaboration between her public library and local school libraries. Many social studies teachers invited public librarians into their classrooms, forming a cooperative in 1986. Why collaborate? First, it sometimes makes good financial sense. It also broadens use of professional expertise, such as in readers’ advisory. Collaboration is great for reaching new audiences. It can take time, and it may be faster to do something yourself. Collaboration also requires consistent communication. But the benefits are worthwhile. You can even have social events!

Dan Chibnall and others of Grand View University Library have been partnering with high school teachers in Des Moines for about two years. Grounded by the active learning model (research based, of course!) and only when invited, GVU librarians went into Advanced Placement (AP) classes, put students in groups, and gave them examples of college assignments. Students used the databases available at their respective high schools to learn how to find scholarly resources. Mention was made of the college writing center and time management. Feedback from high school librarians was positive. They liked the college librarians “coming from the future” to mentor college bound students, and hoped that this kind of reality check might mitigate “senioritis.”

Rebecca Funke of Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC)’s main campus in Ankeny has facilitated collaboration between DMACC’s library, public libraries, and school libraries. Her favorite thing about it is that it raises visibility of libraries! A partnership with Ankeny Public Library consisted of a shared film showing and shared promotion and marketing of the event. Then Colin Beavan’s No Impact Man was the text for a common reading initiative called One Book, One College, One Community. Book discussions were held at the public library. DMACC has also begun partnering with K-12 classes. A teacher requested that Rebecca come and explain why libraries are important at the college level for her English class. Rebecca outlined expectations for college research to the college bound students.

Discussion followed. The first point made was that we should not forget the school librarians and the public library youth specialists in the mix when collaborating. School librarians have so much on their schedules that they may not be able to attend each class the college librarians visit. Still, they should be invited and informed about these happenings in their schools. If public library youth specialists are included in the dialogue, they can tie in their programming as well.

One public librarian mentioned that her library is used as a bridge to other libraries in Illinois. 378 libraries formed a consortium Illinois and Iowa 40 years ago including public, academic, school, and special libraries. They share an electronic catalog and delivery services, and several of the school libraries link to public library catalogs. In such a large group, sometimes there have been problems with communication and she would advise those of us looking into this sort of thing to anticipate that and be proactive.

Other discussion items included the importance of developing trust between cooperating libraries/librarians, the partnership between The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Library, Cedar Falls Public Library and others who collaborate every year to “Bring a Book to Life.” This program was hailed as a good model to follow. A National Library of Medicine exhibit on the science of Harry Potter is this year’s theme.

A few of us tweeted about the conference at #IALIB11 which is no longer archived, but feel free to look up my posts from October 13 and 14 @mmegherman on Twitter.

---

Reading the Garden: Unique Library Collections at Seed Saver Exchange
Bill Musser, billm@seedsavers.org
Robert Becker Memorial Library
Seed Savers Exchange
Decorah, Iowa
Reported by Brett Cloyd

 

Bill is a full-time librarian at the Seed Saver Exchange (SSE) and started his job in 2010. SSE is a non-profit organization founded in 1975 by Kent and Diane Ott Whealy. Kent and Diane wanted to share heirloom seeds and preserve them.  Among early seeds they collected were Grandpa Ott’s Morning Glory, German Pink Tomato, and Moon and Stars Watermelon.  Their efforts eventually led to the formation of the largest non-governmental seed bank in the nation with an international membership of 13,000.  An important part of this work is sharing seed histories. Members of SSE send in seeds and the stories behind them, so it has been important to develop a system for organizing everything.

Among their publications is a Seed Savers Yearbook which lists seeds that are available in a given year. The seeds come from members and from the central office in Decorah.  Diane Ott Whealy also has a new publication entitled Gathering: Memoir of a Seed Saver.

Bill wanted to let us know about SSE current projects. Chief among them is the Global Seed Vault which has generated international cooperation and was funded by the Norwegian government. Located on the island of Spitsbergen, Norway, it duplicates and provides a back-up of other seed saving programs.

SSE has received lots of press including a visit by President Obama and the support of Martha Stewart, Wendell Berry, and Greg Brown.

Bill described the gardens and grounds of Heritage Farm in Decorah as an idyllic setting. The Preservation work is a core activity and takes place in the administrative building and laboratory as well as in the gardens. There are currently about 18,000 varieties of seeds in the preservation collection. The Library is there primarily to support the research work of the preservation lab. 

The annual Seed Saver catalog, seed racks and seed packet sales help to fund SSE’s work. The catalog is a beautiful publication full of vibrant and interesting plant varieties. Bill reports that the seed business is booming as more and more people are gardening.

The Library has transitioned from the private library of Kent and Diane Ott Whealy  (for 36 years) to an organizational library. The Library received a substantial contribution of scholarly horticultural and agricultural materials from Robert Becker who was a professor at Cornell University. Becker loved agricultural history and his family decided to donate his materials to SSE when he died in 1996.

When Bill arrived, books were organized by author’s last name. Now at 4,500 volumes, 1,200 are cataloged so far, using LC classification. He has two community volunteers assisting him. The Library’s primary audience is the staff at SSE. Recently he was able to purchase 1,500 books from an East Coast collector including material which is historical and rare.

Not many libraries collect seed catalogs. The Smithsonian Institution has an online exhibition of seed catalog covers from their large collection. Landreth is the oldest seed company in the U.S., started in 1784. This year it is closing down. DM Ferry used to be the largest seed company in the world, and SSE has its catalogs, too. Some local seed companies included in the collection are Salzers (La Crosse, WI) and Adams Seed Company (Decorah). Perhaps the youngest seedsman in the nation at the time, Billy Hepler, aged 12, started his own seed company in 1947, following the work of his botanist father in New Hampshire.

The Library’s oldest item is a 1586 rare monograph called Agriculture et Maison Rustique by Charles Estienne. William Lawson’s A New Orchard and Garden from 1625 is also worth noting.

There is a substantial collection of almanacs at the SSE Library. It includes an example of one of the earliest by Nathaniel Ames from 1764. A manuscript by Horace Greeley was found in a book in the collection authored by Greeley entitled What I Know About Farming from 1871.

Bill presented several books from the Seed Savers Exchange Library and made them available for audience members to explore.

Photos

Librarian Bill Musser, left, and ILA ACRL President Ryan Gjerde

Diane Whealy’s new book, Gathering

Farm Ballads by Will Carleton from the SSE Library Collection

The ILA/ACRL Nominating committee is pleased to announce the resutls of this Fall's elections.  Thanks to all candidates who so graciously volunteered to serve the Iowa academic library community!

• Amy Paulus, University of Iowa, VP/President-Elect
• Natalie Hutchinson, Central College, Secretary/Treasurer
• Anne Marie Gruber, University of Dubuque, Member-at-Large

This issue of the ILA/ACRL Newsletter features a semi-annual President’s Piece submitted by sitting ILA/ACRL president, Ryan Gjerde, results of the IA/ACRL fall elections,and reports from the fall ILA Conference.

President's Piece

The fall is a busy time of year for many ILA/ACRL committees; making final preparations for the ILA conference, laying the groundwork for the Spring ILA/ACRL conference, and finding willing and able volunteers to lead and work with our committees are just a few examples of the tasks keeping committee members occupied.

Following the ILA conference, we enter a time of transition and reflection, as we on the Executive Board prepare to hand over our duties to the in-coming chairs and officers. This month, I would like to reflect briefly upon the work accomplished by our ad hoc committees. Our bylaws require us to limit ad hoc committees to 2-year terms, and this Fall we had two such committees reaching the end of their term.

The Scholarly Communication committee, led by Kate Hess, has worked to survey membership on issues related to scholarly communication, and reviewed the materials posted on the ILA/ACRL website. The committee recommended, instead of duplicating effort on maintaining resources, to link to the University of Iowa Libraries’ guide on scholarly communication, which is routinely maintained.  

The Mentoring committee, led by Jen Rouse, has continued to work to connect “new” and “experienced” librarians across the state.  ILA/ACRL has sponsored mentoring activities for the past 4 years or so, led by a couple of ad hoc committees.  This July, the executive board reaffirmed the desire to continue our mentoring program, and sought to find a more permanent place for it within our committee structure.  With that in mind, the duties and responsibilities of mentoring have been added to those of the Membership committee, in support of that committee’s charge to encourage Chapter membership and activity.  

The executive board thanks all who have served on these committees over the past two years!

The July executive board meeting also saw the creation of a new ad hoc committee, focusing on collaboration between K-12 and Higher Education.  The new committee’s charge is to partner with IASL to develop and implement a framework and action plan for future collaboration.  This committee arises out of the informal meetings and discussions that began at the 2010 ILA planning day, and have continued throughout 2011.  Pam Rees will chair this committee.  We look forward to continuing this discussion and finding fruitful opportunities to partner with other librarians in the state.

Thanks to all who have participated in ILA/ACRL in the past year!

Ryan Gjerde
President, ILA/ACRL

The Iowa Chapter of ACRL is pleased to announce that Samantha Bouwers has been awarded a scholarship to attend the ILA Fall Conference in Council Bluffs.  Samantha is a current student in the School of Library of Information Science at the University of Iowa.  If you see Samantha at the conference, please introduce yourself and welcome her!

Awards Committee:  Mary Iber, Chair, Kris Stacy-Bates, Jennifer Sterling, Leslie Ross Ferm, and Steven Johns

Vice President/President-Elect

Amy Paulus
Amy Paulus received a B.A. degree from Iowa State University and M.A. in Library and Information Science from the University of Iowa in 1998.  Amy began work as a Library Assistant in the Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery department at the Main Library of the University of Iowa, later taking a librarian position in 2004.  In 2007, she expanded her responsibilities as Head, Access Services and continues in this position.  Amy has been active in ILA/ACRL since 2004, chairing the Newsletter Committee and Fall Conference Program and serving on various committees and as the ACRL Chapters Council Representative.

I am pleased to run for the position of Vice President/President-Elect of ILA/ACRL.    At the University of Iowa, ties are being strengthened with the community colleges in the area and library services may change as a result.  There are great opportunities for the libraries across the state to collaborate on these partnerships and ILA/ACRL is a great mechanism to do so.  ILA/ACRL has also made significant strides in including teacher librarians to further strengthen the ties between school and academic libraries.  Given increasing legislative and financial uncertainties, we need to explore these opportunities for partnership to create richer and sustainable library services across the state of Iowa.  I would honor the opportunity lead ILA/ACRL in supporting our libraries as well as individuals within these libraries who need local and cost-effective opportunities for mentoring, life-long learning, and networking.

Secretary/Treasurer

Natalie Hutchinson
Natalie Hutchinson has been the Library Director of Geisler Library at Central College since February 2008. She holds an MSLIS from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She began her career at Central College in 1994, serving as Reference and Instruction Librarian until 1998, when she moved to Maine to serve as the Information Literacy Coordinator at the University of Southern Maine. Prior to returning to Central, Natalie was the library director at St. Joseph’s College in Standish, Maine for five years.  Since her return to Iowa, Natalie has again become a member of ILA/ACRL, and has served as member-at-large on the ILA/ACRL Executive Board.

In these challenging economic times, it is increasingly important that libraries work together to keep the needs of our users front and center.  One of the best ways that we can do this is through the kind of collaboration that happens through ILA/ACRL.  I have very much enjoyed my work on the ILA/ACRL Executive Board, and would be proud and honored to serve as its Secretary/Treasurer. 

Steven Johns
Steve Johns received his BS (Business) from Iowa State University, and his MLIS from the University of Texas.  Steve has been Public Services Librarian at Des Moines Area Community College for the past three years.  Prior to that he was on the library faculty at Iowa State University where he served as Library Faculty Secretary (2002) and Library Faculty Vice-President (2003).   Steve served as the ISU “correspondent” for the ILA Newsletter Committee from 2004-2006.  He has served on the ALA Poster Session Review Panel since 2004, and on the Editorial Board of Journal of Web Librarianship since 2006. 

“I’m a strong believer in professional service and would be honored to serve as ILA/ACRL Treasurer.”

Member-at-Large

Anne Marie Gruber
Anne Marie Gruber is Assistant Director for Library Instruction and Public Services at Charles C. Myers Library at the University of Dubuque. She received an MLS from the University of Iowa and a BA from the University of Northern Iowa. She has served UD for 6 years, including 3 years as Reference & Instruction Librarian. She currently coordinates an extensive information literacy program integrated into the Core Curriculum at UD and has expanded her library’s creative partnerships with Career Services, Student Activities, and the Bridge Program for at-risk students. She has also supervised 3 undergraduate and 2 library science graduate student internships in public services.

Anne Marie has served as Secretary/Treasurer for ILA/ACRL (2008) and, together with her UD colleagues, received the first ILA/ACRL Advocacy Award (2007) and the ILA/ACRL Research Award (2010). She has presented at ILA/ACRL and LOEX, has published several articles, and recently collaborated with two UD faculty members to co-author a communication textbook.

I am honored to be considered for At-Large Representative for ILA/ACRL. In a time of uncertainty and change, academic librarians in Iowa and across the country are working hard to respond creatively and assert the role of libraries on our campuses. I admire the dedicated librarians who have integrated information literacy into college curricula and have focused on the library’s integral role in student learning. When I was a new librarian, I benefited from the professional sharing and guidance ILA/ACRL provides. I look forward to working with my statewide colleagues to ensure quality professional development opportunities through conferences and other ACRL activities. ACRL is the voice of academic librarians and I would be honored to contribute to our association by serving as At-Large Representative on the board.

Gregory Wool
Gregory Wool is a monographs cataloger at Iowa State University with the rank of Associate Professor.  He holds an M.A. in German from Indiana University and an MLS from Rutgers.  He has been with Iowa State since 1991, and before that served as a serials cataloger at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln.

Greg has served several terms as Chair or Vice-Chair of the ILA Resources and Technical Services Forum, and is the current Chair.  He has also served as chair of ILA GODORT and as Editor of ILA’s ACRL Newsletter.  His activities in ALA include two terms on the Subject Analysis Committee of the Association for Library Resources and Technical Services (ALCTS) and the ALCTS Policy and Research Committee, as well as Secretary of the ALCTS Council of Regional Groups.  Recent service includes the Research and Planning Committee of ALA ACRL’s West European Studies Section and chairing the ALA GODORT Cataloging Committee.

Publications include:  “A Meditation on Metadata”, The Serials Librarian, v. 33, no. 1/2, 1998; “On Pins and Needles: Using Structured Metadata for Collocation and Browsing Capability”, The Serials Librarian, v. 41, no. 3/4, 2002; “Filing and Precoordination: How Subject Headings Are Displayed in Online Catalogs and Why It Matters”, Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, v. 29, no. 1/2, 2000.

“Much like the world as a whole, the library profession is changing fast and becoming harder to recognize.  It remains important to facilitate learning but also keep our eyes on the ball in order to improve and enhance what truly matters.  I am proud of my involvement in ILA.  As an ACRL Member-at-Large I would do my best to help advance the principles and practice of librarianship.”

ILA/ACRL Fall Program Committee:  Kathy Parsons, Iowa State University, Chair; Rebecca Stuhr, formerly of Grinnell College, James O' Gorman, St. Ambrose University, Randy Roeder, The University of Iowa

L2L: Library to Library Collaborations Between School, Public, and Academic Libraries
Thursday, October 13 11:05 am

OMG, L2L is so TTLY rad. Do you know that K12, public, and academic libraries can be BFAW? Come hear three librarians describe their experiences in creating collaborations with other types of libraries in their communities.

Betsy Thompson, Director, Sioux City Public Library, will talk about the Sioux City Library Cooperative, founded in 1986. She will share examples of projects that have built trust among libraries in the Sioux City area and will address the “why and how of cooperation”.

Dan Chibnall, User Services and Instruction Design Librarian, Grand View University, will describe his library’s program visiting local high school AP classes. Librarians present learning techniques, used in colleges, which involve real life activities and then require the students to think about complex ideas in a new light. They also touch on personal responsibility in college, the failures of Google and Wikipedia, and the use of on-campus resources.

Rebecca Funke, Director of Library Resources, Des Moines Area Community College, will speak about her library’s partnership with the Kirkendall Public Library in Ankeny for joint programming activities surrounding the One Book One College One Community project. She will also address collaborations with local high schools regarding information literacy—providing library instruction to dual credit students and sharing the need for and importance of good research skills in college. Discussions between K12 and higher education librarians from across the state, where potential partnerships and initiatives to better meet the needs of our high school students and information literacy as they transition to college, will be investigated.

The audience should come prepared to participate by sharing examples of collaboration and cooperation among their local libraries whether in the same town, county, or region and to inspire colleagues by sharing “aha” insights—something they want to go back and do that was triggered by this program.

 

Reading the Garden: Unique Library Collections at Seed Savers Exchange
Thursday, October 13 3:30 pm

Cicero once wrote to his friend Varro: “If you have a garden and a library, you need nothing more.” At the intersection of reading and gardening, a horticultural library collection can fuel perennial passion, inspire fruitful vision, and share down-to-earth wisdom in wonderful ways. Add to the Venn diagram a circle for the rich human stories behind heirloom seeds, and the result is a unique library and archive among the gardens of Seed Savers Exchange (SSE), located at Heritage Farm on 890 acres of woods, hills, and streams near Decorah, IA.

SSE began in 1975 as a simple exchange of heirloom seeds among passionate gardeners and amateurs who sought to preserve the rich gardening heritage of their ancestors. The organization’s library was initially the personal collection of SSE founders Diane Ott Whealy and Kent Whealy. That library collection grew organically as volumes were donated by members, offered as review copies, or purchased as needed. Now numbering about 4,500 volumes, including nearly 1,500 rare and special collection items, the Robert Becker Memorial Library at Seed Savers Exchange is managed by full time professional librarian, Bill Musser, who serves the research needs of the organization and the visiting public. Bill will share some of Seed Savers’ rare books, seed saver stories, and special collections with the participants in this session.

Musser says, “If you think Jethro Tull was just a British band from the 70s, or that the phrase ‘eat dirt’ is just a nasty expression, your attendance at this session is required.” Seed your mind and see what grows in your future.

 

The Academic Library’s Place in the Information Economy
Friday, October 14 10:20 am

Think you know what the academic library’s place is in the information economy? If so, then you may want to think again. John Buschman, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources and Services at Georgetown University’s Lauinger Library, has written extensively on the changing and threatened role of libraries and of librarians. In numerous articles and books, both authored and edited, Buschman ponders the peril to our profession when we turn patrons into customers, purchase newer and higher speed hardware at the expense of building strong collections, and seek to compete with cappuccinoserving, mall-based bookstores. In his view, our proper role is nothing short of preserving the vital public space where people may learn from diverse writers and engage in the messy work called democracy.

But this public space is comprised of both democratic and economic parts, and the economic portion is ascendant, squeezing and challenging the democratic share. In response to the new economy where so much of our public debate centers on costs, budgets, and the bottom line, Buschman quotes American library historian Wayne Weigand, “… capitalism may not appreciate what it is we do, but democracy does.” Some institutions are too important to be left to market forces.

John Buschman has won numerous awards, including ALA’s Elizabeth Futas Catalyst for Change Award (2004). This award honors a librarian who, according to ALA, “… invests time and talent to make positive changes in the profession of librarianship.” He is also the recipient of the research award from the New Jersey Library Association, College & University Section. With an academic background in history, sociology, American studies, library science, and doctoral work in liberal studies, he has a unique perspective in which to interpret social trends over the last thirty years.

Come ready to be challenged, engaged, and maybe reconnected to the role, purpose, and promise of libraries and of librarians.

Welcome to the Fall 2011 ILA/ACRL newsletter.  You can find information about the ILA/ACRL sponsored sessions being held at the ILA Conference, an award winner, and candidate statements and information.

Iowa State University
On June 30, 2011 Diana Shonrock retired after nearly 42 years of service at the Iowa State University Library.  During her tenure Diana taught thousands of students, mentored colleagues, and experienced the evolution of libraries from print only research tools and catalogs to web accessible databases and federated searching.  In addition to her work at ISU Diana has been an active ALA member serving as chair of several national committees.  She was elected RUSA Vice-Chair/Chair-elect 2005-2006 and served as Chair during 2006-2007.  Aside from these activities, Diana also serves on numerous editorial boards, writes book reviews, and serves as a blind reviewer for manuscripts.  As a librarian, teacher, scholar, and mentor Diana’s contributions to the ISU library and our profession as a whole are numerous and impact the entire campus community.

Although she is officially retired Diana plans to continue working on a few remaining projects, such as the Iowa Cookbook Collection, while juggling time with her grandchildren and participating in American Library Association activities.  If you would like to contact Diana feel free to write her at shonrock@ iastate.edu.

University of Iowa
Iowa City Book Festival
Presented by the University of Iowa Libraries on July 15, 16 and 17. The Book Festival will begin on Friday with an author dinner in the Main Library. Saturday is festival day in Gibson Square with booksellers, music, children's activities, food vendors, book arts demonstrations and readings and panel discussions. Sunday will be "A Day in the City of Literature." Local businesses of all kinds throughout Iowa City will participate with readings, special activities all day.  http://www.iowacitybookfestival.org/

Civil War crowdsourcing project goes viral
Woo, hoo! We’ve been slashdotted.

This is when a popular website (in this case, Reddit.com, an enormous online community where contributors share web content that others may find interesting, enlightening, etc.) links to a smaller site (in this case, our Civil War Diaries transcription project) causing a huge influx of web traffic that overwhelms the site.

Continue to read more at:  http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/news/2011/06/08/civil-war-crowdsourcing-projec...

Bookmark statues
Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature and three Johnson County public libraries unveiled 25 unique BookMark statues in June kicking off what is believed to be the first public art display in the world to celebrate reading and writing.  To learn more about these and the statue sponsored by the UI Libraries, please visit http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/news/2011/06/06/the-forever-war-is-ui-librarie...

University of Northern Iowa
UNI Dean Marilyn Mercado Retires July 1, 2011
UNI Library Dean Marilyn Mercado will retire at the end of June, 2011.  Marilyn came to UNI's Rod Library as head of the cataloging department in 1989. She was named acting Associate Dean of Library Services in 1998, named Associate Dean in 1999, and Dean in 2000.

Katherine Martin has been named Acting Dean of the UNI Rod Library ... effective July 1. 

UNI School Library Studies Awarded  AASL Grant
Karla Kruger and Jean Donham recently received an American Association of School Librarian’s Research Grant for their project  “Influence of School Library Resources on Student Learning in Rural Iowa Schools”.  Their proposed project was featured in an April 26, ALAnews release http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/ala/aasl-funds-two-research-teams-focused-improving-school-library-profession?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=amlibraries.

UNI Youth Collection Awarded a Carver Grant
Librarians Yolanda Hood, Katherine Martin, Sandra Wilkens, and Marilyn Mercado were awarded a $220,981 grant for renovating the UNI Youth Collection from the Roy J. Carver Memorial Trust.

New Cornerstone Program
Twelve University of Northern Iowa librarians will participate in the soon-to-be-launched Cornerstone program for first-year students (see page 3 of the Academic Affairs Report, Summer 2011 - http://www.uni.edu/provost/sites/default/files/summer_2011_academic_affairs_newsletter.pdf).

Briar Cliff University
During the “quiet” days of summer here at Briar Cliff University, there is never a dull moment.  We host the study hall sessions for our summer Upward Bound program so that every hour, on the hour, we have a new group settling in.  This keeps us on our toes greeting them and meeting their AV needs.

Briar Cliff will be one of the schools introducing an iPad program for students in the fall.  With this new program the university has also expanded to develop an Educational Technology department to support faculty and students as they learn to use these devices and incorporate them into the campus curriculum.  Our former Reference and Instruction librarian, Sara Thompson, was selected to develop this new service on campus.  Being a librarian at heart, Sara’s new service will be housed in the library.  We count this as growth in the library as we search for our next Reference and Instruction librarian!

In May, Sara and Deb Robertson traveled to Hennepin County, Minnesota to attend Library Journal’s Design Institute.  This was a great event with many opportunities to learn from peers, architects, and interior designers who have so many wonderful ideas it starts to become overwhelming.  One thing we did come away with is the fact that the trend to make room for people in our buildings has been noticed by the designers and developers working on library building projects. This trend is happening even when it means removing print media to make it happen.  Moving collections to more digital than print is exactly what we have been planning here at BCU in order to create collaborative spaces for library, IT and Educational Technology to work together.  We are working to develop spaces where we can offer blended services that bring in expertise from each of these unique yet overlapping departments.

As we cull our print collection we are utilizing the services of Better World Books to help us with the resale or distribution of our gems to others who will cherish them far more than we ever will again.  This organization is great to work with and we don’t have to host our own book sale events! 

Right now we are looking forward to the “quiet” days of fall, when we can sit out in the new campus coffee shop located in the lobby of the library and sip on a yummy beverage to dream of our next project.

Cornell College

New College Librarian
On July 5, 2011, Cole Library will welcome Paul Waelchli as Cornell College’s new College Librarian. Many of you will remember Paul for his work at the University of Dubuque and his presentation on gaming at the library at the ILA/ACRL Spring Conference.  Here is the write-up that announced his appointment in the Cornell College campus newsletter.

“Paul Waelchli has been appointed as director of the Russell D. Cole Library and college librarian at the rank of assistant professor. He earned a B.A. in economics and political science at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, an M.A.T. at Clarke College, and an M.L.I.S. at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Waelchli currently serves as the information literacy and instruction librarian at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis. He previously served as the assistant director for library instruction and public services at the University of Dubuque. Waelchli will begin his duties in Cole Library on July 5.”

Recent activities
In addition to the traditional methods of promoting Information Literacy among students, hosting monthly Conversations about Teaching with Faculty, and participating in campus activities, Cole Library sponsors many events every year that highlight a variety of fun learning opportunities.

GET YOUR GEEK ON

On May 4, 2011 on the campus ped mall over the lunch hour, Cole Library sponsored the 2^nd annual  Get Your Geek On. Students, staff, and faculty showed off what it is that they are passionate about. From launching a hot air weather balloon, to playing the harmonica ala Bob Dylan, to spinning, to small houses, there was something for everyone, and great weather, too!

The Dr. Who paraphernalia, including an “authentic” full length scarf drew crowds and discussion as Jessie ‘Draya’ Brogden (’13) shares her geek.

Students and maintenance staff came to learn about the ecological advantages of small houses from Ellen Wrede (’13).

Greg Cotton (Systems Librarian & Consulting Librarian for Visual Arts and Social Sciences) demonstrates spinning. A man of many talents, he is also the go-to person for solving knitting challenges.

For more photos of Get Your Geek On, see Cole Library’s facebook page.

Cole Team Trivia
For the 2^nd year, The Center for Teaching and Learning / Cole Library hosted Team Trivia night, a lively evening of musical clues, questions all over the map, physical challenges, sorting book carts, food, prizes for students, staff, & faculty.

Teams working out the answers to a trivia question on the Quiet Study Floor of the library (between class sessions.)

The Library Gallery Space
Displays rotate regularly primarily featuring current student art work. During the last 2 months of school, senior student art shows change regularly as part of their capstone experience.

This year, a special exhibit of the Art of the Book involved a collaboration of several members of the English Department, Jen Rouse (Consulting Librarian for the Humanities) and Mary Iber (in her role as Archivist).

The Art of the Book at Cornell: Yesteryear to Tomorrow
Starting February 28, 2011, the library gallery hosted a display of original publications created by Cornell students throughout the college’s history. From chapbooks as old as 1919 to books created in 2011 English classes, creativity is evident at every stage.

Display of recent students’ books created for a class on Dante’s Inferno coexists with Winifred Van Etten’s (Cornell  faculty 1928-1934, 1937-1968) novel, I Am the Fox, which won the $10,000 Atlantic Montly Press and Little, Brown and Company prize in 1936. The display included Winifred’s purse and gloves, donated to the Archives in 2010 by a Cornell alum.

Jen Rouse (Consulting Librarian for the Humanities and the Performing Arts) and Leslie Hankins (one of the English professors who collaborated on the display) warm themselves by the “fire” in honor of the Dante’s Inferno connection.

Mary Iber (Consulting Librarian for the Sciences, Kinesiology, and College Archivist) shows some unique features of the display to Addison Ault (Chemistry professor).

National Poem in Your Pocket Day (April 14, 2011)
Cole Library joined people across the country to encourage the sharing of poetry. A poster placed near our entrance was filled with poems within hours and enjoyed for weeks afterwards.

Presidents at Cornell
To celebrate the introduction of the 15^th president of Cornell College, Jonathan Brand, to the campus, Brooke Bergantzel (’08)(Reference/Technical Services Librarian) created a display of the history of the Presidents at Cornell, utilizing resources from the Archives. The reception for the president was held in the library. Brooke is re-creating that display in digital form.

Presidents of Cornell College from 1853-2011.

 

Dordt College and Grandview University
Sheryl Talyor (Dordt College) and Pam Reese (Grandview University) were selected to attend the May, 2011 Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) workshop on Work Restructuring that was held in Denver (see http://www.clir.org/activities/leadershipCLIRCIC/WorkRestructuring.html).

Drake University
Carrie Dunham-Lagree, late of the University of Albany - SUNY, joined the faculty of Drake's Cowles Library on June 6 as Drake's first Librarian for Digital Literacy & General Education.  As such, she will be coordinating the Library's work with the University's First Year Seminars, as well as other General Education initiatives.  We welcome Carrie and look forward to her getting to know her colleagues across the state!

Loras College
The Library celebrated National Library Week this year with a wide variety of events including a library art scavenger hunt; a survey; the unveiling of this year’s Loras READ posters; a Faculty Publications Celebration; National Library Worker Day celebration; Learn and Do: Bookbinding lecture and hands-on session; and Game Night with Texas Hold‘em, bowling in the aisles, bean bag toss, and Wii.

Most of the hourly staff started new positions on June 1.  There was a vacancy that allowed for discussion and rearrangement of duties.  The hourly staff were given two directives and then allowed to work things out amongst themselves.  The directives were to have full-time desk coverage for the checkout desk during the day and at night and to cover the tasks the positions are currently responsible for completing.  After a two hour discussion, they had rearranged duties to fit individual talents and wishes.  Given some time to consider their original proposal, the changes went into effect on June 1 and training for their new positions has been underway since then.  We’re looking forward to the changes.

On June 15, the Loras College Library welcomed Julie Greenberg, Instruction Services Librarian to our staff.  She graduated in May from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Wartburg Theological Seminary
At Wartburg Theological Seminary, library staff needs to be creative.  After staffing cutbacks, no paid student help in the summer, and staff vacations, the library realized that it could not do all that it wanted to do during the summer break.  So an email was sent out to students, faculty, and staff and asked for volunteers for specific tasks.  Volunteers included the President’s wife, an adjunct faculty member, and a couple of students who have been coming in to help with inventory.  An alumna who graduated in June and is still around for the summer and a staff member on her own time have been helping with small semi-weekly responsibilities.  In addition, a couple of library students who live in the area have been coming in one morning a week to learn about libraries and help with weekly duties.  The library found that it is important to have specific tasks that can be easily learned.  Helping volunteers feel a sense of accomplishment and know that they are a vital part of the team is also crucial.  The library is very grateful for its volunteers, who are so willing to give of their time.

During the semester, it is a race against time for faculty to teach students everything they will need to know to satisfy course objectives. In order to introduce students to the library resources they will need to complete class assignments, the instruction librarian is often given thirty to fifty minutes to teach students how to access and use these resources. Often, librarians settle for the lecture method of library instruction, provide handouts and perform demonstrations for students. However, due to the technological advances of the twenty-first century, the one shot library orientation is not enough to teach the students the critical thinking skills they will need to be valuable employees and life-long learners.     

In order to meet time limitations and ensure that students will acquire the critical thinking skills, some librarians are incorporating active learning techniques into one shot library instruction sessions.  One of the most successful techniques is problem based learning. Kenny reported that “Problem-based learning (PBL) provides the theoretical framework for a learner-centered, active instructional experience that relies on collaboration, critical thinking and hands-on interaction with resources.” (Kenny, 386)

Problem based learning involves students working together to solve problems that are based on real world issues. Librarian and faculty collaboration is necessary to develop a scenario that will mesh with course content and objectives. During the session, students are divided into groups to analyze what they already know and to identify the information that is still needed in order to solve the problem. The librarian serves as an advisor and helps students devise a research strategy, locate the resources they will use to find the information, and evaluate the information found. 

According to ACRL, problem based learning helps students develop the skills necessary to become information literate: 

Guided by faculty and others in problem-based approaches, students reason about course content at a deeper level than is possible through the exclusive use of lectures and textbooks. To take fullest advantage of problem-based learning, students must often use thinking skills requiring them to become skilled users of information sources in many locations and formats, thereby increasing their responsibility for their own learning.

Consider using problem based activities in your instruction sessions. Students will remember more from active participation than they will from the “one shot” 50 minute lecture. For more information and ideas for activities see the bibliography provided below.

Bibliography

Association of College and Research Libraries. 2000. Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. [Online]. Available:

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm

Duch, B.J., Groh, S.E., and Allen, D.E. 2001. The Power of Problem-based Learning. Stirling, VA: Stylus.

Fogarty, Robin. 1997. Problem-based Learning and Other Curriculum Models for the Multiple Intelligences Classroom. Arlington Heights, Ill.: Skylight.

Gradowski, Gail, Loanne Snavely, and Paula Dempsey (Eds.) 1998. Designs for Active Learning. Chicago, Ill.: ACRL.

Kenney, Barbara Ferrer. "Revitalizing the One-Shot Instruction Session Using Problem-Based Learning." Reference & User Services Quarterly 47.4 (2008): 386-91.

By Linda Nelson, Scott Community College