Author Archives: arl

Library Budgets, Journal Bundles, Reference Staffing – latest issue of ARL’s Research Library Issues

ARL [Association of Research Libraries]  has published Research Library Issues (RLI) no. 282, which features articles on ARL library budgets over the past two years, subscriptions to journal collections from large publishers, and the impact of the changing roles of librarians on reference staffing. A pre-publication version of the article about journal bundles was released earlier this year.

The complete table of contents with links to the articles follows:

Research Library Issues no. 282 is freely available from ARL Digital Publications.
 
Source:  ARL home page

State Library of NSW and Wikipedia unite in Australia’s first GLAM residency

Wikipedia is set to experience a dramatic increase in Australian content with the State Library of NSW becoming the first Australian cultural institution to engage a GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) Wikipedian-in-residence.

According to Alex Byrne, NSW State Librarian & Chief Executive: “There’s limited Australian content on Wikipedia compared to USA and Europe, and we want to provide more. The Wikipedian-in-residence will enable local knowledge to be more easily accessible on one of the world’s most popular websites.”

Over a 14-week residency Wikipedian Gillian White will equip 20 library staff with the skills to create and contribute authoritative content to Wikipedia on the significant people, places and events in NSW and Australia.

“Librarians are a natural fit with Wiki as they are trained professionals with a passion for sharing knowledge, and appreciate the importance of referencing credible sources within their online contributions – it’s not commonly known that Wikipedia articles and edits must be accurately referenced,” says Ms White.

The newly trained library staff will be using the State Library’s extensive collections on Australia and its region to contribute valuable content to Wikipedia articles on the Blue Mountains, the convict era, WWI servicemen, Indigenous sacred sites, and many others.

“The State Library is committed to making content from our significant collections more accessible, more discoverable and re-usable, and the GLAM Wikipedian-in-residence project is an important step to the Library becoming a key global resource,” says Alex Byrne, NSW State Librarian & Chief Executive.

Source:  SLNSW Media Centre

Welcome to our new Standing Committee members!

We would like to extend a warm welcome to the newly elected members of our Standing Committee.  The term for our new members will commence in August at the Singapore Conference. 

Welcome to: Rafael Ball [University Library Regensburg – Germany], Gulcin Cribb [Singapore Management University – Singapore], Kate Cushon [University of Regina Library – Canada], Adelaida Ferrer Torrens [Red de Bibliotecas Universitarias Españolas (REDBIUN) – Spain], Leo F.H. Ma [The Chinese University of Hong Kong – China], Marc Martinez [France], James G Neal [Columbia University – United States], Reggie Raju [Stellenbosch University – South Africa], Oarabile Rakgamanyane [University of Botswana Library – Botswana], and Deena Yanofsky [McGill University – Canada].

The following members have been re-elected for a second term:  Mike Berrington, Luisa Buson, Janet Fletcher, Vicki McDonald, and Xialon Zhang.

We would also to thank our retiring members for their contributions: Melody Burton, Klaus Ceynowa, Allison Dolland, Marie-Dominique Heusse, Carol Ann Hughes, Ane Landoy, Jakobina M Mwiiyale, Jarmo Saarti, Lisbeth Tangen. 

And, of course a big “thank-you” to our retiring Chair Andrew McDonald.  Andrew will be continuing his “IFLA work” on the Governing Body and Professional Committee as Chair of Division 1.

 

Future of research libraries in the 21st century

Dame Lynne Brindley is the former CEO of the British Library and recently elected Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, to succeed Giles Henderson CBE in August 2013. She presents a set of key themes tied to the future of research libraries in the 21st Century, many of which she dealt with during her 12 years heading the British Library and prior career in university research libraries.  These issues include changing media habits, trust in institutions, and core challenges facing libraries in digital archiving, opening legacy collections, open access and copyright, search and navigation, the rise of massive online open courses, and the future of the physical library. Two other experts were invited to respond to her lecture: Sarah Thomas, Bodley’s Librarian and Fellow of Balliol College at the University of Oxford, and Professor Christine Borgman, the Presidential Chair in Information Studies at UCLA and Oliver Smithies Visiting Fellow and Lecturer at Balliol College.

This talk was one of a series on Innovations in Digital Scholarship supported by the Oxford eResearch Centre’s Digital Social Research Programme, supported by the ESRC, and organized by Professors Christine Borgman, William H. Dutton, and Sarah Thomas. 

View the presentation here: http://webcast.oii.ox.ac.uk/?view=Webcast&ID=20130425_495

 

 

 

Social media strategy in academic libraries – Implementation experiences at Nanyang Technological University [NTU] Libraries

You are cordially invited to join us for a half day workshop on “Social media strategy in academic libraries – Implementation experience at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Libraries with the Academic and Research Libraries Section” on 17th August 2013, Saturday from 9:00am – 12:30pm at NTU Libraries.

The workshop will be conducted by the New Media Team at NTU Libraries.  The team will discuss aspects of the Social Media strategy, learning points on winning user acceptance and examples of social media projects. They will then demonstrate how to create a vibrant user community using free or low cost social media tools for the second half of the workshop. Participants can bring along their notebook PCs and try out these tools immediately. The workshop will end with a panel discussion, drawing librarians from different countries, to share how various libraries implement their social media strategies and the challenges faced.

This class will be hands on, fast and definitely intense. You will walk away with a comprehensive understanding of how to come up with your own social media strategic and what are the tools available that you can deployed easily at a low cost and effectively.

To register for this workshop, please visit http://bit.ly/10uXGhe

More details about the workshop can be found here:-

http://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/ifla2013/content-outline/

Getting to NTU Libraries: http://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/ifla2013/getting-to-ntu/

Attendance Grant for IFLA Congress – Announcement of Recipients

The Academic and Research Libraries Section (ARL), with generous sponsorship by ExLibris and Sage, is offering THREE (3) Attendance Grants for the IFLA Congress in Singapore 2013 to an information professional from each of these regions: Africa, Latin America / Caribbean and Asia/Pacific Region.  Following an application process, we are pleased to announce the successful recipients:

Africa – Joseph A. Semugabi, who wrote: “I am currently employed at the Law Development Centre (LDC) as Librarian. LDC is an Academic Institution of Higher Learning involved with Professional Legal Training (Bar Course) for graduate lawyers intending to become advocates and practice law in Uganda. The institution also has a statutory function of conducting legal research as well as production of legal publications”.

Latin America – Sasekea Harris, who wrote:  “I am a young professional (31 years old), a member of IFLA and this will be my first attendance to an IFLA conference. In my capacity as an academic librarian at the University of the West Indies (UWI) I am a user and trainer of a number of ExLibris products namely: Primo, Aleph, SFX and Metalib. In this regard I believe I would be a fitting candidate to take part in the various ARL publicity events organized by ExLibris and Sage during the conference.”

Asia/Pacific – Aditya Nugara, who wrote:  “After several years working as a library assistant, I got a Fulbright scholarship to pursue my Master at the Graduate School Library and Information Science – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  With a Master in LIS, I came back home to Indonesia and work as a librarian at PCU, where I am now the Head of Library.  I started an interesting project named Desa Informasi (Information Village), an institutional repository designed to host the university’s intellectual outputs.”

We look forward to meeting our recipients in Singapore.  They will receive their Certificates at the Academic and Research Libraries Section’s Hot Topics Session in IFLA.  Details of the session will be provided once the Program is confirmed

Social Media Strategy in Academic Libraries – implementation experience at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Libraries

A half-day workshop on Saturday 17 August 2013

Fee : Free for IFLA delegates

Many libraries have created social media sites enthusiastically to reach out to their increasingly sophisticated audience. Within a university, it is not uncommon to see a myriad collection of QR codes, Facebook Pages, Twitter accounts, blogs, Flick photos and YouTube videos set up by students, administrative staff and faculty.

Beyond using these ubiquitous tools for library promotion and information literacy, NTU Libraries decided to embrace social media more systematically and comprehensively to identify new niches for user collaborations and to create opportunities for enhancing or developing new library services. A key component of the strategy is to adopt a whole-of-organisation approach where all librarians understand the potential of these tools and leverage them effectively, turning every librarian into a consummate marketer of library services. A New Media Group was also formed to coordinate and drive the libraries’ social media initiatives.

The half day workshop will be conducted by the New Media team at NTU Libraries. During the first half of the workshop, the team will discuss aspects of the Social Media strategy, learning points on winning user acceptance and examples of social media projects. They will then demonstrate how to create a vibrant user community using free or low cost social media tools for the second half of the workshop. Participants can bring along their notebook PCs and try out these tools immediately. 

The workshop will end with a panel discussion, drawing librarians from different countries, to share how various libraries implement their social media strategies and the challenges faced.

Full details, including how to register, are available at the workshop’s blog

The workshop is being organised by Nanyang Technological University Libraries, in association with the IFLA Academic and Research Libraries Section.

The Standing Committee meeting of the Academic and Research Libraries Section will also be held at Nanyang Technological University.  Details will be provided, once confirmed.