Posts tagged ‘Rutgers’
Reference Renaissance Twofer — New Book & CFP for 2010 Conference
A post by Marie L. Radford
Nothing thrills a writer/editor more than the joy of finally being able to see a finished book that you have had in the works for many months. I am delighted to announce that Reference Renaissance: Current and Future Trends is now available from Neal-Schuman! I had the privilege of working with co-editor Dave Lankes of Syracuse University on the book which captures the latest in the work of researchers and practitioners, updated from their presentations at the first (hugely successful!) Reference Renaissance Conference. Dave is the creative, intellectual, and dynamic force behind the ground-breaking Virtual Reference Desk conferences and books which have provided inspiration and models for the Reference Renaissance events and publications.
Anyone interested in the latest buzz should take a look at this book which features current research in reference, including virtual services like IM and live chat, innovative service models, and philosophical approaches. In addition, numerous “reports from the field” chronicle innovative service models, virtual reference successes, marketing, initiatives in staff development and training, and using search engines and other virtual tools.
I have authored a chapter with Lynn Silipigni Connaway of OCLC called: “Getting Better All the Time: Improving Communication and Accuracy in Virtual Reference” that features results and recommendations from our Seeking Synchronicity IMLS, Rutgers, and OCLC, Inc. grant project. Here’s a sneaky – peek from our chapter… The top tip for boosting accuracy when you are providing live chat VR is the following: when asked for specific information, before you push a Web site or URL, check to make sure it contains the precise information requested by the user, not just a general overview of the topic. We found this simple verification step would have increased accuracy from 78% to90% for ready reference questions.
The book also contains the provocative keynote “Reference in the Age of Wikipedia, or Not…” by David W. Lewis, Dean of the IUPUI University Library, as well as the remarks from the plenary panel on “Theory Meets Practice: Educators and Directors Talk” featuring Dave Lankes and myself (the educators) as well as Jamie LaRue, Director of the Douglas County Libraries, CO and Carla J. Stoffle Dean of the University of Arizona Libraries (the directors).
To heighten our excitement, this book’s publication comes as we are dead smack in the middle of planning for the second Ref Ren conference: Reference Renaissance 2010: Inventing the Future which will be held from August 8-10, 2010 in Denver, CO. I am again honored to be co-chair of the conference program, this time working with co-chair Rivkah Sass of Sacramento Public Library, and Justine Schaffer of BCR, who is the overall conference chair. The Call for Participation is out and we are upping our game, inviting a greater diversity of submissions in innovative as well as traditional formats. We seek papers, panels, reports from the field, workshops, and Pecha Kucha proposals to do with forward-looking initiatives and strategies in all types of reference service and from a variety of library environments.
April 1st is the deadline, and I encourage all LG readers to think about submitting a proposal and planning to join us in Denver!
Virtual Reference Bibliography Website – Now Live
I write today from Harrisburg, PA, site of the REFolution Conference: Reference Service in a Constantly Changing World sponsored by Lyrasis (formed by the recent merger of PALINET/SOLINET). I just love the name and spirit of this conference, and was honored to deliver the keynote speech on the future of reference this afternoon to an audience of about 200 reference enthusiasts.
I am delighted to announce (as a Library Garden scoop, I might add) that a team of faculty and students at Rutgers have just launched the long awaited, highly anticipated Virtual Reference Bibliography designed to be used by librarians, students, scholars, and others who are interested in publications dealing with all aspects of virtual reference.
Hosted by Rutgers University’s SCILS, this site is a continuation of the digital reference services bibliography maintained from 2000 to 2004 by Bernie Sloan. It now contains 700+ entries from Bernie’s original bibliography, plus 200+ new items published from 2004 to the present. The redesigned site and new search interface was created by Ben Bakelaar of Rutgers as part of a final project for Information Design class, taught by Jacek Gwizdka, Ph.D.
I’d like to thank Ben, Jacek, and Bernie for their creative input and design expertise. I would also like to thank SCILS alums Andrea Simzak and Gillian Newton, and current student Jeff Teichmann for their competent and enthusiastic assistance in hours of verification and data input. I am also indebted to Andy Mudrak, IT Systems Administrator and Assistant Dean Jon Oliver for technical support.
This resource is designed to be an ongoing work in progress. We welcome your input to keep it current and accurate. Please leave a comment at the VR Bibliography website if you want to add a citation, to correct a mistake, or wish to make a suggestion.
Do take a look and let us know how you like it!
Topics in Librarianship: Social Software Literacy Course and ‘Top 25 Web 2.0 Search Engines’
Following up on our (Janie Herman and Robert Lackie) “The Latest and the Coolest–Technology Librarians Can Use” presentation and discussions at the Rutgers University MLIS Colloquium last night, I spoke with Assistant Professor Steve Garwood there about his upcoming course, “Topics in Librarianship: Social Software Literacy,” starting this summer.
Steve has graciously allowed us to link to his draft version of the syllabus, giving us an idea of what will be covered and leading us to some interesting reading resources and the required equipment/software.
* Identify and use popular social technologies for information collection, management, dissemination and collaboration.
* Discuss the historical and theoretical understanding of technologies of collaboration. * Demonstrate knowledge of the impact of technology on information services and instruction for diverse audiences.
* Explain what Web 2.0/Library 2.0 is – how it is different from the “regular” WWW, and why that shift is important to libraries & librarians;
* Generate ideas for the use of social software & programs at libraries and information agencies to improve services and to help staff work more effectively.
Also, one of his library school students emailed him very recently about the Web 2.0 topic that Steve and I think Library Garden readers will appreciate, too: The Online Education Databases’ “Top 25 Web 2.0 Search Engines,” published two days ago on their site. I really liked several of the mashup and Rich Internet Application Search Interfaces (RIAs) examples and descriptions, but visual search, social software, and audio/visual search examples are also provided.
Blogging Live from Rutgers SCILS
Robert and I are here at Rutgers SCILS talking about all things 2.o and having a great time!
Marie Radford is here as well so it is a Library Garden reunion. Watch this space for links from the talk!
the
first of several for Course 502 MLIS Colloquium (Spring 2007).We were honored to be asked to speak and even more honored that so many people turned out on a sub-zero night to hear us talk.
As promised, here is a list of links from the talk. We would be interested in your feedback so please leave us comments or feel free to email us.
A Few Flickr’ing Libraries (and examples of what libraries can do with Flickr):
- Alexandrian Public Library (Indiana) — promoting library events.
- San Marino Public Library (California) — documenting a library building project.
- St. Joseph County Public Library (Indiana) — a variety of sets that range from public to staff events, building updates, new services, and more.
- Newark Public Library (New Jersey) — a wonderful tour of the unique art and architectural features of their historic main library building.
- Thomas Ford Memorial Library (Illinois) — lots of interesting sets, but in particular check out their Thommy Ford Abroad set!
Flickr Groups for Librarians (especially those from NJ):
- New Jersey Libraries
- NJ Library Events
- Libraries and Librarians
- Librarian Trading Cards (including mine in a tiara).
- Librarians’ Desks
YouTube Must Sees:
- A Librarian’s 2.0 Manifesto
- Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us
- iACPL (and the equally great follow-up iACPL 3.0)
- Ray of Light (SJCPL)
- Seattle Public Library
We mentioned a lot of blogs and most (if not all) can be found on our blogroll, so take a peek at who we have listed and start reading. In particular, last night we focussed on Tame The Web and blyberg.net as well as the Ann Arbor District Library web site.
Two of the wikis mentioned last night included the Subject Guides at SJCPL and Princeton’s BookLovers wiki as well as the various wikis being put in to place for conferences. I meant to mention, but it slipped my mind, Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. If you want to have a chance to play with a wiki and contribute content, this wiki is a great place to start.
Here also is the link to Robert’s article (in case you need it for future reference) and to the CJRLC Technology Group blog that has the list of links from their January 16th meeting.
I will end this post just as we ended our talk, by linking to the Web Trend Map created by Information Architects [pictured above]. As they say on their site:
The iA Trend Map shows all the big players, the current Internet trends and how they’re connected, using the Tokyo Metro map. It’s totally unscientific and almost useless, but definitely fun to look at.
Also make sure you read the 50 Loudest Web Sites of 2006 report and look at their Internet 2007 Predictions.
Note: I think that is everything that we promised to provide links to for future reference. If I forgot something let me know. Or if we mentioned something and you want more details, drop us a line.
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