Iowa Private Academic News
Mt. Mercy College
Vicky Maloy, our access services librarian, is attending one of the ICF (Iowa College Foundation) faculty development and technology integration workshops. There are three venues this summer and she is going to the Summer Technology Workshop at Wartburg College, June 27-29. Vicky intends to do a project using Flash.
We received a CMS Software Grant from Learn.com for a copy of their CourseMaker Studio software. It is used to make stand alone web-delivered interactive tutorials. Learn.com and the U.S. Department of Education have a plan to distribute copies to educational institutions. I applied and we have a copy which may be used to prepare library and course related tutorials. Several faculty intend to try it out this summer, as do we here in the library.
I was co-chair, along with Ellen O'Keefe, asstistant professor of education, of the this year's week-long faculty development workshop we have here at MMC in May. This year's theme was 'Actively Enhancing Learning.' Our presenters and discussion leaders addressed proactive and reactive ways of managing student behavior in classrooms. We also included some information on low threshold applications of technology in the teaching-learning setting. -- Submitted by Linda Scarth.
St. Ambrose University
Director John Pollitz has resigned to accept a position at Oregon State University. Mary Heinzman, Head of Reference, will serve as Interim Director effective July 1st while a national search is done for a new director. A reception for John will be held Friday, July 8th, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. at O'Keefe Library. The library community is invited to attend.
O'Keefe Library received a donation of 1,800 volumes of Irish and Catholic Americana books from Timothy Walch, Director of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, Iowa. The collection includes biographies of Irish figures and books on Irish American culture. The books will join the Lawrence McCaffrey Irish History collection at O'Keefe Library to comprise one of the largest Irish Studies collections in the region.
Mary Heinzman, Head of Reference, gave a presentation titled "A Revolutionary Encounter: How the Academic Library Works with National History Day to Build a Strong Foundation for Prospective Students" at the spring ILA/ACRL conference in Ames. -- Submitted by Mary Heinzman.
Simpson College
The Communications Committee of the College Library Section of ACRL, recently chose Simpson College Dunn Library's website as the outstanding College Library Web Site of the Month in March 2005.
In choosing sites, the ACRL followed a number of guidelines. The pool of potential libraries consists of those schools having Carnegie classifications at the baccalaureate or master's levels with student enrollment less than 5000. The aim is to include as many college and small university libraries as possible.
Second, the ACRL makes every effort to choose libraries from different regions of the country each month, with each of the 50 states, and the District of Columbia, being represented at least once.
According to Philip Swan, chair of the communications committee of the College Library Section-ACRL, as each website was examined, attention was given to the following factors:
1. Ease of access -timely connection with a relatively quick load of graphics
2. Content * useful and relevant, containing breadth and depth, and characterized by accuracy
3. Currency * an indication of the last update of the site
4. Design * an eye-catching and appealing overall look, effective use of graphics related to a page's theme and consistent layout
5. Navigation * features such as a link back to the home page, site search capability and site layout.
Other nominees may be viewed at http://www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/cls/websiteofthemonth/index.htm
-- Submitted by Cynthia M. Dyer.
Iowa Public Academic News
Iowa State University
People in the News
Two library support staff, Leanne Alexander and Scott Marron, were awarded scholarships by Dean Olivia Madison to attend ALAs Conference within a Conference: Empowering Library Support Staff for the 21 st Century. The conference was held in Chicago on June 25 and 26 during the annual ALA conference.
Diana D. Shonrock has been elected Vice-President/President-Elect of the Reference and User Services Division (RUSA) of ALA. Diana’s term begins this July.
Sean Cordes, Instructional Technology Librarian, coordinated the E2: Emerging Educational Technology Event held on May 9, 2005, at Iowa State University. Gerry McKiernan and Jon Haupt participated in a panel discussion entitled “Blogs in Academia” at this event. Jon Haupt presented a talk entitled “Trial by Wiki: The Delight (and Adversity) of Hosting a User-Editable Web Site.” Gerry McKiernan presented “Seize the E: Web Feeds for Extended Educational Information Services.”
Ed Goedeken was appointed to a second three-year term on the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Scholars Advisory Committee.
Rebecca Jackson gave a presentation entitled, “Best Practices for Collaboration: Guidelines from the Institute for Information Literacy” at the 2nd Annual DMACC Information Literacy Forum in Des Moines on June 17, 2005.
Pali Kuruppu presented the findings of her research project on the information needs of biological and agricultural scientists at the ALAs Library Research Round Table research forum in Chicago. The research project was designed to examine the information needs of biological & agricultural scientists at Iowa State University, how they find the information they need, and how the library can help to meet their information needs. Qualitative research methods were used in the study.
Susan Vega Garcia participated in a panel discussion at ALA entitled “Latino Information Literacy 101: How Competent is Your Library?”
Parks Library News
Parks Library has received a generous multi-year grant of $255,000 from the Lennox Foundation to establish the Lennox Endowment for Preservation Education, Training and Outreach. This endowment will fund competitive internship opportunities for graduate students in the field of library and archives preservation and conservation, and will expand the Library’s community-based preservation outreach and education efforts. The first of our eight-week internships is planned for the summer of 2006. With this endowment, the Library’s goal is to develop and foster future preservation leaders, provide assistance and training to other cultural institutions that do not have internal expertise, raise preservation awareness and provide information to the public on caring for their family documents and heirlooms. -- Submitted by Hilary Seo.
The Development Office at Parks Library published the first issue of Bookmarks. This newsletter will be published twice a year and will be distributed to Iowa State University alumni. Bookmarks will include news about library projects, collections, and staff. -- Submitted by Andrea Dinkelman.
University of Iowa
SFX and Interlibrary Loan
Interlibrary Loan patrons at the University of Iowa Libraries have another method of submitting requests that began on April 6th, 2005. Paul Soderdahl and Andrew Forman have completed work on integrating an interlibrary loan request form with SFX! Patrons using databases equipped with the InfoLink button now have an option to request material not owned by the UI Libraries - without re-keying any information! Patrons will log-in with their HawkID and password which will generate a form that is pre-populated with their personal information as well as the bibliographic information. With a click of a button, their request will be emailed to the interlibrary loan department at the Main Library, Hardin Library, or Law Library depending on their department/college at the University of Iowa.
UI Libraries Hosts Economic Census Workshop
UI Libraries is partnering with the State Data Center to provide hands-on training for the Economic Census on August 12 th in the Information Arcade in the Main Library on the University of Iowa campus. Experts from the U.S. Census Bureau will conduct the free workshops in Iowa City.
The three-hour, hands-on workshop will cover uses of economic census data, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), economic census products, working with economic census data on the web, and annual business data from the Census Bureau. There will be time for exercises on the web and ample opportunities for questions and answers. The workshops are being hosted by the State Library of Iowa's State Data Center program and The University of Iowa Libraries.
Small business development centers, planners and economic development professionals, business associations and chambers of commerce, college faculty, government agencies, libraries, and local business media should plan to attend.
Iowa City: 1-4pm (Open Registration), August 12, 2005
The workshops are free and open to the public but seating is limited. You must register in advance by calling Beth Henning, coordinator of the State Data Center program in the State Library of Iowa, at (800) 248-4483 or check online at www.census.gov/econ/census02/guide/ec02conf.htm.
New Professional Staff
Nan Seamans, Director, Research & Instructional Services, Administration, effective March 14, 2005
Amy Paulus, Librarian I, Interlibrary Loan Librarian, changed percentage of time from 60% Interlibrary Loan and 40% Government Publications to 100% Interlibrary Loan, effective May 9, 2005.