We’re well into the third week of the semester, and everyone seems pretty well-situated.
Fortunately, so are we. The long work of the summer is over, and we get to shift our focus to more immediately-pressing matters, which usually involves offering in-depth research help to students, posting electronic readings on Blackboard for faculty, wrapping up the last of our orders for this fiscal year, giving presentations to classes, breaking in new student assistants, and generally just keeping things in good working order.
A few weeks ago, we bought two whiteboards on wheels and parked them around the Library; a big one (known as Whitey) went by the Deaf School Yearbooks, and a smaller one (Whitey, Jr., natch) went to the basement, just under the main stairs. We know groups like to work on our study tables and sometimes struggle to find ways to work together without having to tape a bunch of paper up on one of our walls.
So far, we’ve seen people using them fairly well, in addition to some humor. The sign we put up on Whitey, Jr. to encourage people to use the board resulted in an unidentified someone writing a note to poor little Junior, breaking up with the smaller whiteboard in favor of the larger one. He rebounded fairly well, though, so we have every confidence in his ability to pull through!
We also ordered a pretty cool table that’s basically a circular horizontal whiteboard that you can write on. It should arrive sometime in the next few weeks. If anyone has any suggestions for the best place to put it, we’re all eyes! Right now, we’re thinking the seating area with all the couches next to the stairs on the first floor by the Service Desk.
We’ve also finally installed a bunch of Macs in the first-floor public computer area after years of requests. The last straw was a survey we gave out around a year and a half ago, with plenty of demands for Macs. This year, most of our public computers were up for replacement, so we opted to make the switch, reasoning that since they can run either OS X or Windows 7, it wouldn’t be too much of a burden on anyone who has a preference. I have to admit they’re pretty good for making vlogs!
As I said earlier, summer is fairly disruptive to our routines -- fewer classes and students, but more logistical work behind the scenes -- and it’s pretty nice to see everyone coming back and get into the swing of what’s shaping up to be a terrific fall semester!
Later this week, I plan to post another vlog reviewing a pair of graphic novels that aren’t related but ended up complementing each other in very interesting ways when I read them. It should be fun. See you then!
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
Quick update!
Two weeks later, we’re back!
If you’re a regular reader, I’m going to go ahead and assume that you may also be a regular user of our Web site. The new version has been up and running for a couple of weeks now (and no, the timing is purely coincidental). We figured right now was a good time to put up a survey -- just three questions and a comment area -- and get people’s thoughts.
We got one comment on the site within an hour of it going live, an IM asking in a rather shocked manner what had happened to our site and that “it’s so … boring.”
I was lucky enough to get that chat -- I’m being sincere; I was pretty amused -- but unfortunately, my identity as the anonymous librarian chatter was sniffed out, so our one bored user remains nameless, perhaps permanently. Still, in case he or she isn’t alone, I’m going to admit something that might shock, surprise, disgust, or even appall some readers.
Are you ready? Here it is: The Gallaudet University Library is not a sexy place.
We have sexy things, certainly, once you figure out where to look -- and if you don’t, one of us will be happy to help you find them.
But we’re a library. With stuff that people use. And there’s a lot of it. Most of it sprawls across the Internet, and a lot of it only works if you go through us. We want to make getting to information as easy on our students, staff, and faculty as possible, which is not really served by whiz-bang graphics or walls of text.
I’m inclined to think that we’re getting closer to pulling it off with each new iteration of the Library’s Web site -- this will be the fourth version I’ve seen -- but as a librarian, I’m not the best judge of that.
In case you’re curious, the Wayback Machine has archived the Library’s Web site all the way back to 2000! If you’re looking for nostalgia, a good laugh, or some satisfaction of your curiosity about how far we -- and the Internet -- have managed to come in the past 12 years, I highly recommend it.
In other news, Lee Murphy, our Circulation Specialist, has retired, after just about 35 years of service. She’s seen the Library, Gallaudet University, and Washington, DC, grow and transform beyond all recognition. We’re sorry to see her go, but wish her well!
August still isn’t over, the Fall semester still hasn’t begun, and we’ve still got some changes coming in the next few weeks. Keep your eyes peeled!
If you’re a regular reader, I’m going to go ahead and assume that you may also be a regular user of our Web site. The new version has been up and running for a couple of weeks now (and no, the timing is purely coincidental). We figured right now was a good time to put up a survey -- just three questions and a comment area -- and get people’s thoughts.
We got one comment on the site within an hour of it going live, an IM asking in a rather shocked manner what had happened to our site and that “it’s so … boring.”
I was lucky enough to get that chat -- I’m being sincere; I was pretty amused -- but unfortunately, my identity as the anonymous librarian chatter was sniffed out, so our one bored user remains nameless, perhaps permanently. Still, in case he or she isn’t alone, I’m going to admit something that might shock, surprise, disgust, or even appall some readers.
Are you ready? Here it is: The Gallaudet University Library is not a sexy place.
We have sexy things, certainly, once you figure out where to look -- and if you don’t, one of us will be happy to help you find them.
But we’re a library. With stuff that people use. And there’s a lot of it. Most of it sprawls across the Internet, and a lot of it only works if you go through us. We want to make getting to information as easy on our students, staff, and faculty as possible, which is not really served by whiz-bang graphics or walls of text.
I’m inclined to think that we’re getting closer to pulling it off with each new iteration of the Library’s Web site -- this will be the fourth version I’ve seen -- but as a librarian, I’m not the best judge of that.
In case you’re curious, the Wayback Machine has archived the Library’s Web site all the way back to 2000! If you’re looking for nostalgia, a good laugh, or some satisfaction of your curiosity about how far we -- and the Internet -- have managed to come in the past 12 years, I highly recommend it.
In other news, Lee Murphy, our Circulation Specialist, has retired, after just about 35 years of service. She’s seen the Library, Gallaudet University, and Washington, DC, grow and transform beyond all recognition. We’re sorry to see her go, but wish her well!
August still isn’t over, the Fall semester still hasn’t begun, and we’ve still got some changes coming in the next few weeks. Keep your eyes peeled!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Web site update
Well, this is interesting.
It’s been a while.
There’s a simple reason for it, which will appear later today or tomorrow when you head to our Web site, library.gallaudet.edu. We’ve pretty well overhauled it.
A lot of the content remains more or less the same, but it’s been updated and transferred to LibGuides. More on that in a little while.
First, the look of the site is -- we hope, at least -- simpler and cleaner. Not as many long and ambiguous links, and there are fewer Web pages that function as simple lists leading to more Web pages without any more identifying information that explains exactly what you can find there.
The new drop-down menu on top is intended to help people navigate their way to their specific needs more quickly and efficiently. Down below, electronic content is now front and center; this should make life a little easier for people who aren’t in the Library to find what they need.
We also got rid of the announcements and blog areas. The vast majority of our work takes place on a day-to-day basis, so big new databases and other resources come along only a few times a year. The announcements were getting old! Some of the stuff that used to be there, like our mobile site and Facebook page, have been moved to the new electronic resources area.
And no, blog headlines won’t be updated on the new Web site; it’s down to a simple link you can check quickly for any updates. We’re still figuring out how we might be able to make it easier to see when it’s been updated, so stay tuned!
Now, the content. We’ve moved a lot of it to LibGuides. The main reason for pulling this move is to make it easier for us to keep it up to date. Only a few people on staff have access to the content management system that gallaudet.edu runs on, to say nothing of the technical skills needed to present information clearly on a Web page. This is inconvenient, because we all contribute stuff to the Web site, but only one or two people can actually make the changes, so that’s a big bottleneck.
This way, we all have access to our information pages and can update it as needed. Those pages are also a lot easier to read; under the old system, we had to essentially write very long pages and use some clumsy workarounds to make them more navigable.
LibGuides also make it easier to tag similar types of pages -- Deaf-related FAQs, for example -- so you can see the relationships between our services, policies, and general public information more clearly.
I won’t say we’re excited -- it’s just a Web site, after all, and bound to present its own quirks in the fullness of time -- but it’s a fairly nice change that will make things easier on everyone in the long run. We’re still making changes and editing, as well as moving stuff over to LibGuides, so it’s a work in progress, to say the least!
This ongoing work also means that you need to provide feedback. We’ll post a survey in a couple of weeks that you can use once you’ve gotten used to the new layout, or just e-mail us at library.help@gallaudet.edu. Compliments, complaints, comments, concerns, we want it all! We’re also curious about what more we can add to the site, so please let us know what you’d like to see on there, too!
And no. This is far from the last big change of the summer. Keep an eye out for more details in the coming weeks. I’m out of the office for a week and a half starting tomorrow, so will be silent for at least that long, but never fear! I shall return.
There’s a simple reason for it, which will appear later today or tomorrow when you head to our Web site, library.gallaudet.edu. We’ve pretty well overhauled it.
A lot of the content remains more or less the same, but it’s been updated and transferred to LibGuides. More on that in a little while.
First, the look of the site is -- we hope, at least -- simpler and cleaner. Not as many long and ambiguous links, and there are fewer Web pages that function as simple lists leading to more Web pages without any more identifying information that explains exactly what you can find there.
The new drop-down menu on top is intended to help people navigate their way to their specific needs more quickly and efficiently. Down below, electronic content is now front and center; this should make life a little easier for people who aren’t in the Library to find what they need.
We also got rid of the announcements and blog areas. The vast majority of our work takes place on a day-to-day basis, so big new databases and other resources come along only a few times a year. The announcements were getting old! Some of the stuff that used to be there, like our mobile site and Facebook page, have been moved to the new electronic resources area.
And no, blog headlines won’t be updated on the new Web site; it’s down to a simple link you can check quickly for any updates. We’re still figuring out how we might be able to make it easier to see when it’s been updated, so stay tuned!
Now, the content. We’ve moved a lot of it to LibGuides. The main reason for pulling this move is to make it easier for us to keep it up to date. Only a few people on staff have access to the content management system that gallaudet.edu runs on, to say nothing of the technical skills needed to present information clearly on a Web page. This is inconvenient, because we all contribute stuff to the Web site, but only one or two people can actually make the changes, so that’s a big bottleneck.
This way, we all have access to our information pages and can update it as needed. Those pages are also a lot easier to read; under the old system, we had to essentially write very long pages and use some clumsy workarounds to make them more navigable.
LibGuides also make it easier to tag similar types of pages -- Deaf-related FAQs, for example -- so you can see the relationships between our services, policies, and general public information more clearly.
I won’t say we’re excited -- it’s just a Web site, after all, and bound to present its own quirks in the fullness of time -- but it’s a fairly nice change that will make things easier on everyone in the long run. We’re still making changes and editing, as well as moving stuff over to LibGuides, so it’s a work in progress, to say the least!
This ongoing work also means that you need to provide feedback. We’ll post a survey in a couple of weeks that you can use once you’ve gotten used to the new layout, or just e-mail us at library.help@gallaudet.edu. Compliments, complaints, comments, concerns, we want it all! We’re also curious about what more we can add to the site, so please let us know what you’d like to see on there, too!
And no. This is far from the last big change of the summer. Keep an eye out for more details in the coming weeks. I’m out of the office for a week and a half starting tomorrow, so will be silent for at least that long, but never fear! I shall return.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Back from ALA
Well, I’m back from California. Have been for over a week, actually! Just jumped right into work and haven’t stopped since.
The good news is that I finally finished one of my major projects for the summer, which was basically cleaning out and evaluating most of the 700s in the General Stacks downstairs. That’s mostly performing and fine arts and design, including everything from the philosophy of art to city planning, with quick stops at Oprah and sculpture along the way.
One of the biggest advantages of doing this is that you get to know the collection much better -- what’s there, what needs to be, and what isn’t. So the rest of my purchases for this year and for next year as well are going to fill in some of the gaps that were either always there or opened up by my weeding older materials.
It’s really an ongoing job; this coming academic year will include weeding our literature areas, both English-language (which I did two years ago) and foreign (I did that last year); then next summer is linguistics, which I did three years ago. The schedule is wonky because I often buy more for one area than another in a given year on a rotating basis.
The deeper knowledge of your collection gained by pruning it down to size dovetails pretty well with one program I went to at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim last week, in fact. It was called, appropriately enough, “Transforming Collections,” and focused largely on how e-books are playing merry hob with tradition.
One speaker on this panel talked about a weeding project she’d started at her library, requiring librarians to clean out the collections for more space and to prepare for more e-book use, and the results. Funnily enough, it has been traditionally held that weeding is healthy for collections, both to keep them up to date and to keep librarians intimately acquainted with the information under their charge. And the librarians who worked on this project reported exactly that: a more traditional relationship with their collection while preparing it for the future!
The truth is -- and this probably won't surprise you -- "the future" is a topic of some interest for librarians in general. It was also the focus of two other panels I attended in Anaheim. The more interesting of the two invited librarians from "innovative" libraries to talk about what they'd done that was so neat.
I started taking notes while watching the interpreter (I'm one of those lucky few who can write without looking at the tablet), but after a while, I stopped following the discussion so closely. It turns out that a lot of those innovative institutions are actually doing things that we've been doing here at Gallaudet for a while! We've done "bookmobiles," cell-phone-based scavenger hunts, reference over text messaging and IM, you name it.
So we're at about the right place on the curve when it comes to trying new things. We’re throwing quite a bit of support behind e-books and other electronic resources, like video streaming and open-access journals (which are open to the public), and adjusting the collection to account for the change. Our Web site is undergoing a major adjustment to reflect all of this, which is coming up soon. We’re snapping up interesting ideas that are coming our way, and figuring out how to put them into practice. We’ve been taking on teaching roles and getting out there. Not too bad!
I also went to a bunch of programs about information literacy and library building design. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, information literacy is pretty important to librarians. So is space planning, especially when it requires some creative thinking. I’ll write more about both in future posts, but it’s too hot outside to write much more right now!
Next week, I’ll get one of my colleagues to contribute their own thoughts about ALA, and a vlog may be coming your way!
The good news is that I finally finished one of my major projects for the summer, which was basically cleaning out and evaluating most of the 700s in the General Stacks downstairs. That’s mostly performing and fine arts and design, including everything from the philosophy of art to city planning, with quick stops at Oprah and sculpture along the way.
One of the biggest advantages of doing this is that you get to know the collection much better -- what’s there, what needs to be, and what isn’t. So the rest of my purchases for this year and for next year as well are going to fill in some of the gaps that were either always there or opened up by my weeding older materials.
It’s really an ongoing job; this coming academic year will include weeding our literature areas, both English-language (which I did two years ago) and foreign (I did that last year); then next summer is linguistics, which I did three years ago. The schedule is wonky because I often buy more for one area than another in a given year on a rotating basis.
The deeper knowledge of your collection gained by pruning it down to size dovetails pretty well with one program I went to at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim last week, in fact. It was called, appropriately enough, “Transforming Collections,” and focused largely on how e-books are playing merry hob with tradition.
One speaker on this panel talked about a weeding project she’d started at her library, requiring librarians to clean out the collections for more space and to prepare for more e-book use, and the results. Funnily enough, it has been traditionally held that weeding is healthy for collections, both to keep them up to date and to keep librarians intimately acquainted with the information under their charge. And the librarians who worked on this project reported exactly that: a more traditional relationship with their collection while preparing it for the future!
The truth is -- and this probably won't surprise you -- "the future" is a topic of some interest for librarians in general. It was also the focus of two other panels I attended in Anaheim. The more interesting of the two invited librarians from "innovative" libraries to talk about what they'd done that was so neat.
I started taking notes while watching the interpreter (I'm one of those lucky few who can write without looking at the tablet), but after a while, I stopped following the discussion so closely. It turns out that a lot of those innovative institutions are actually doing things that we've been doing here at Gallaudet for a while! We've done "bookmobiles," cell-phone-based scavenger hunts, reference over text messaging and IM, you name it.
So we're at about the right place on the curve when it comes to trying new things. We’re throwing quite a bit of support behind e-books and other electronic resources, like video streaming and open-access journals (which are open to the public), and adjusting the collection to account for the change. Our Web site is undergoing a major adjustment to reflect all of this, which is coming up soon. We’re snapping up interesting ideas that are coming our way, and figuring out how to put them into practice. We’ve been taking on teaching roles and getting out there. Not too bad!
I also went to a bunch of programs about information literacy and library building design. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, information literacy is pretty important to librarians. So is space planning, especially when it requires some creative thinking. I’ll write more about both in future posts, but it’s too hot outside to write much more right now!
Next week, I’ll get one of my colleagues to contribute their own thoughts about ALA, and a vlog may be coming your way!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Information literacy and coming changes
The last few weeks have gone by pretty quickly. Summer started off with a bang with my conference in Columbus, then upon my return I jumped right into some big projects. Sadly, this may become a bit of a pattern this summer, so blog updates may become more sporadic until late August or early September. Some of my colleagues will write posts as well, but we’re all pretty busy!
So I thought I’d start off with the conference I went to. It’s called LOEX, which stands for something most people have forgotten, but which covers a pretty important aspect of life for academic librarians: Information literacy.
It’s important to us, and it’s important to you, too, even though “information literacy” is one of those terms that will probably put you to sleep. It basically covers how you interact with and use information, both in your daily life and in your schoolwork -- not just knowing where to find it, but also how to decide whether it’s appropriate for your purposes, and working with it.
Anyway, information literacy is tricky. It’s an essential skill to have in both research and daily life -- you may not need to think a whole lot about the weather report unless you’re having a picnic, but this year’s presidential campaigns may require plenty of brainpower, depending on your position on the issues and whether you think we’re doomed as a country if a particular guy parks himself in the Oval Office next January.
But the ubiquity of information -- it’s all around us these days, after all -- is a big part of why it’s tricky, because you’re so used to it that you just kind of figure you’ve got a good handle on it all, which is a justifiable attitude if you need to decide which umbrella to bring to campus or which sign to put on your front lawn. In school, though, the immediate, personal stakes are higher, and the information is much more complex and difficult to sort through.
Another part of why information literacy is tricky is that it’s so hard to teach. LOEX -- a 400-librarian conference that’s been meeting annually for 40 years now -- is proof of this. It’s pretty long-lived for something that seems so simple, because the world’s been changing constantly over those 40 years, and so has our relationship to information.
So I went and learned a lot of stuff that I’m sharing with my colleagues and which we plan to apply over the coming months and years. You’ll get to see some reports on this blog about how we’re putting some of it into practice. And, of course, the conference was just a lot of fun! Everyone who goes to LOEX is pretty committed to teaching students and faculty -- and anyone else who’s willing to listen -- how to play around with our stuff. They’re also a little goofy; my last workshop of the conference played off the popularity of zombies and even included a YouTube video called “Zombie Love Song,” which the interpreter pulled off incredibly well on the fly!
Now that that’s past, what’s next? Well, a lot. I already told you about a few of the projects we’re undertaking this summer, but there’s a lot more going on, specifically relating to the Web site and our catalog. Our site is undergoing a massive redesign and the catalog will be very, very different come Fall semester.
I’m not going into a whole lot of detail about what’s happening to the catalog right now, because that’s worthy of an entire post later on, but I can definitely say it’s a very interesting experience, and we’ll be keeping an eye out for feedback from users. Once it hits -- which should be around August or so -- don’t keep your thoughts to yourself!
Last but not least, I’d like to note that Dr. Cynthia King, the Chief Information Officer who oversees not only Library Public Services, but also Gallaudet Technology Services and the Archives and Deaf Collection, announced yesterday that she plans to step down and return to faculty status next November. She’s seen an awful lot of change happen here at the Library; we wish her well!
That wraps it up for this week. I’ll try to return to a weekly schedule, but who knows?
So I thought I’d start off with the conference I went to. It’s called LOEX, which stands for something most people have forgotten, but which covers a pretty important aspect of life for academic librarians: Information literacy.
It’s important to us, and it’s important to you, too, even though “information literacy” is one of those terms that will probably put you to sleep. It basically covers how you interact with and use information, both in your daily life and in your schoolwork -- not just knowing where to find it, but also how to decide whether it’s appropriate for your purposes, and working with it.
Anyway, information literacy is tricky. It’s an essential skill to have in both research and daily life -- you may not need to think a whole lot about the weather report unless you’re having a picnic, but this year’s presidential campaigns may require plenty of brainpower, depending on your position on the issues and whether you think we’re doomed as a country if a particular guy parks himself in the Oval Office next January.
But the ubiquity of information -- it’s all around us these days, after all -- is a big part of why it’s tricky, because you’re so used to it that you just kind of figure you’ve got a good handle on it all, which is a justifiable attitude if you need to decide which umbrella to bring to campus or which sign to put on your front lawn. In school, though, the immediate, personal stakes are higher, and the information is much more complex and difficult to sort through.
Another part of why information literacy is tricky is that it’s so hard to teach. LOEX -- a 400-librarian conference that’s been meeting annually for 40 years now -- is proof of this. It’s pretty long-lived for something that seems so simple, because the world’s been changing constantly over those 40 years, and so has our relationship to information.
So I went and learned a lot of stuff that I’m sharing with my colleagues and which we plan to apply over the coming months and years. You’ll get to see some reports on this blog about how we’re putting some of it into practice. And, of course, the conference was just a lot of fun! Everyone who goes to LOEX is pretty committed to teaching students and faculty -- and anyone else who’s willing to listen -- how to play around with our stuff. They’re also a little goofy; my last workshop of the conference played off the popularity of zombies and even included a YouTube video called “Zombie Love Song,” which the interpreter pulled off incredibly well on the fly!
Now that that’s past, what’s next? Well, a lot. I already told you about a few of the projects we’re undertaking this summer, but there’s a lot more going on, specifically relating to the Web site and our catalog. Our site is undergoing a massive redesign and the catalog will be very, very different come Fall semester.
I’m not going into a whole lot of detail about what’s happening to the catalog right now, because that’s worthy of an entire post later on, but I can definitely say it’s a very interesting experience, and we’ll be keeping an eye out for feedback from users. Once it hits -- which should be around August or so -- don’t keep your thoughts to yourself!
Last but not least, I’d like to note that Dr. Cynthia King, the Chief Information Officer who oversees not only Library Public Services, but also Gallaudet Technology Services and the Archives and Deaf Collection, announced yesterday that she plans to step down and return to faculty status next November. She’s seen an awful lot of change happen here at the Library; we wish her well!
That wraps it up for this week. I’ll try to return to a weekly schedule, but who knows?
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