Archive for the 'Academic Libraries' Category

Collaborate Like You Mean It – Registration Open

Registration is now open for CALC Summit 2010: Collaborate Like You Mean It!
May 20-21, 2010 – Sheraton Denver West, Lakewood, CO
 
Come to the CALC Summit and find out ways to “Collaborate Like You Mean It!” The 2010 Summit focuses on ways that academic librarians can forge lasting, effective partnerships both within and outside their institutions. Librarians from Colorado and the surrounding region will gather to share successes, failures, research, and innovative ideas related to academic library collaboration. The Summit includes special keynotes by Stephen Abram and regional experts on collaboration’s role in a time of economic crisis.

The Summit will be held Thursday & Friday, May 20-21, 2010. Cost for the Summit is $150 for two days, which includes breakfast and lunch both days. Single-day registration is not available.

More conference and registration information:  http://calcweb.org/
Register here: http://tinyurl.com/calcsummit

Also, don’t forget to register for one of the hands-on preconferences happening May 19:
http://calcweb.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43&Itemid=135

“We’re getting gerbils!”

My son Peter illuminated a Colorado road atlas one day on our way to a pet store. His inscriptions are as gleeful as some of the comments I hear lately around Marmot, where we’re implementing VuFind as a next-gen OPAC.

In this and future posts I’ll tell the story of how we selected VuFind from a list that included AquaBrowser, Encore, Drupal SOPAC, and WorldCat Local. I’ll write about testing and launching open source software originally developed at Villanova University. We might blaze a few interesting trails, taking software currently running in university libraries, and adapting it to our multi-type consortium on the Western Slope.

“We’re getting open source!”

Continue reading ‘“We’re getting gerbils!”’

An Evening with John Adams

The John Adams Unbound exhibit scheduled to appear on the CSU- Pueblo campus March 8- April 15. The University Library will host the exhibit, which will be in the foyer of Hoag Hall. A sneak peek of the Adams exhibit will be held from 6-7 p.m. in the Occhiato University Center Hearthwell Lounge followed by the dinner in the OUC Ballroom at 7 p.m. and the live performance at 8 p.m. The cost is $35 per person or $350 for a table of 10. To purchase tickets or a table, contact Julie Fronmueller at 719-549-2826 or julie.fronmueller@colostate-pueblo.edu. For more information on the event click here.

SWIFT Book-of-the-Month

Welcome to February! A new month for all of us means a new Book of the Month for the SWIFT Book Club. Our pick for February is The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. Hammett’s detective Samuel Spade is the quintessential hard-boiled gumshoe; he drinks, he brawls and he always gets the girl. Of course, once he gets her, he might just turn around and turn her in. This novel is an absolute must read for any fan of detective fiction or anyone who likes to read on the edge of their seat!

Read a full review of The Maltese Falcon here. For a full list of books available from the SWIFT Book Club, look here.

The NEW AskColorado: utility and coolness combined

What do E*Trade, REI, Godiva Chocolatier and AskColorado have in common?

Beginning Feb 1, they will all use the same web-based customer-support and communication technology, InstantService.

In the last few years, libraries have seen an explosion in online communication tools available for reaching and serving patrons. The use of IM, text messaging, online chat and related technologies are becoming embedded in the fabric of libraries’ online service offerings. Given this changing landscape in technology and the evolving need for libraries to flexibly serve their patrons, the AskColorado community and AskColorado Steering Committee have endorsed a migration to this new software platform, InstantService. Continue reading ‘The NEW AskColorado: utility and coolness combined’

Library Support Staff Certification Programs Accepts Candidates

LSSC_logoBeginning January 25th, ALA-APA will accept applications to the first national, voluntary certification program for library support staff.  Candidates who demonstrate achievement in six sets of competencies by completing approved courses or submitting portfolios that demonstrate achievement will be awarded the LSSC.  Applicants do not have to be a member of ALA.  The application fee is $325 for ALA members and $350 for non-ALA members.  Complete information about the LSSC program and the application form are available online at http://www.ala-apa.org/lssc/.

The Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC) is offering financial assistance to library staff enrolling in the certification program.  CLiC will reimburse selected individuals for half the registration cost (up to a $175 value).  The deadline for submitting the financial assistance application  is February 28th.  Contact Judy Van Acker, 719-640-5979, with questions.

Conditions of U.S. Libraries: Trends 1999-2009

Elena Rosenfeld, Colorado Association of Libraries ALA Chapter Counselor, passed this press release on from ALA. Great statistics and information. How would you use this to advocate for libraries in your community?

New ALA report details economic trends in libraries and 2010 outlook
CHICAGO – At every turn, news reports and research indicate fairly dramatic changes in U.S. library funding, services and staffing – most occurring in the last 18 months. According to a new report prepared by the American Library Association (ALA), libraries of all types are feeling the pinch of the economic downturn while managing sky-high use.

Compiled from a broad range of available sources, The Condition of Libraries: 1999-2009 presents U.S. economic trends (2009), and summarizes trends in public, school and academic libraries across several library measures, including expenditures, staffing and services. The report also highlights trends in services provided to libraries by library cooperatives and consortia.
Continue reading ‘Conditions of U.S. Libraries: Trends 1999-2009′

Call for Papers: Collaborate Like You Mean It!

Collaborate Like You Mean It Confernce.  Papers Due date: February 12, 2010

The Colorado Academic Library Consortium Summit planning committee seeks proposals for presentation and poster sessions for the fourth CALC Summit.  The Summit will be held at the Sheraton Denver West Hotel (6th Ave & Union) on May 20-21, 2010. 

Continue reading ‘Call for Papers: Collaborate Like You Mean It!’

Free Web 2.0 Training for Librarians and Staff

Colorado Libraries 2.0 LogoWant to use Web 2.0 to communicate instantly and effectively? What about collaborating in real time, sharing photos, videos, and documents, or using other tools to increase productivity?

We all know that Web 2.0 tools are essential for communicating and creating in today’s fast-paced world. If there are tools that you or your staff want to learn more about, or if you just need to brush up on the basics, please visit the Colorado Libraries 2.0 website.

Colorado Libraries 2.0 is a FREE learning program to help library staff become familiar with Web 2.0 tools. The program is designed in modules associated with categories of tools:

1. Communication
2. Collaboration
3. Visual Communications
4. Personal Learning Environments (PLE)
5. Productivity Tools
6. A capstone project – Your PLE

Additional modules will be available in 2010.

Join with others from your library to get the most from the program !

Colorado Libraries 2.0 was created by Reach – Leading Learning in Libraries – a group of library staff members committed to sharing continuing education opportunities with others.

Visit the State Library’s Booth at the CAL Exhibit Hall!

Libraries. A place of endless possibilities. The heart of many stories.

Two people meet in nonfiction and fall in love. A boy finds salvation in his local library and becomes the first in his family to attend college. A suburban mother of four relies on the library’s expert reference service to start her own business, and later is named “Entrepreneur of the Year.”

Come visit the State Library’s booth at the CAL exhibit hall to share YOUR story! You can write it, type it, or tell it (we will have flip cameras). Read fantastic stories of your colleagues and celebrate the many ways libraries transform lives.

Need more reason? Submit YOUR story and become eligible to win one of these fabulous prizes!

State Library at CAL schedule (PDF)