Saturday, March 24, 2007

Another faculty candidate presentation

The presentation is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday, March 26 in Crown 310A. GSLIS students are encouraged to attend.

CALL offers 10 membership grants to GSLIS students

Chicago Area Law Librarians, the Chicago chapter of AALL, hosted several GSLIS students from Dominican and UIUC Thursday for its monthly business meeting and lunch. Cornell Winston, law librarian at the Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office, spoke about the importance of being active in the association and in the profession of law librarianship. And CALL is offering GSLIS students a chance to do just that by inviting GSLIS students to apply for grants that will pay for a membership to AALL and CALL for 2007-2008. There are 10 membership grants available and the deadline is May 1. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

A representative from CALL is scheduled to attend LISSA's 2nd annual Association Night at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 28 in Crown 340.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Last-minute reminders

Today at Dominican:

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. - The International English Honors Society is holding a book sale in the Social Hall.


11 a.m. - Diane Velasquez, GSLIS faculty candidate, will present "Technology and its Impact on Organizational Change" in Crown 340. Don't miss it!


All day - Get a free caffeine fix. Dunkin Donuts is offering free iced coffees all day. There's a DD across the street from the Harlem Green Line station.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Blog No. 6 - Final project

Here's my site for my LIS 753 final project. I created it for news interns at no particular paper in Chicago. I've had a blast learning to be Web authors with you. All the best!

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Blog No. 5 - Keeping up with it all

Sometimes I find myself overwhelmed with following all the ever-changing and constantly emerging technology tools. Thankfully the Shifted Librarian posted just an entry to ease my mind. We can be selective in which blogs, journals and papers we read, and still be current and informed in not only our profession but in the disciplines that will make us better able to help our patrons.
What are some of your must-reads in any format?

Wouldn't you rejoice if you could post something in one spot and have it reach all of your various accounts (blogs, MySpace, Netflix, Flickr, etc.)? It looks like that may be possible from what we saw in class Saturday through the RSS group's presentation of NetVibes. I can't wait to try that out.

Back in January we looked at tagging and explored some library catalogs that have incorporated such tools. An article I read from E-content discusses what tools librarians will be using this year. Mary Ellen Bates, the author, talks about the following:
*wikis and blogs -They may reveal companies' hidden experts who don't realize that what they know is valuable or who don't want to seem boastful;
*podcasting - companies may develop podcasting labs so employees may share what they learned at a conference, seminar or meeting. Sometimes people are more comfortable talking about what they learned than writing about it. Plus, an emotional response may be conveyed better in a podcast than in a memo; and
*mashups - organizations will start using and developing mashups, "integrating internal information with open source content to create new discovery tools."

My favorite part of her column is her closing paragraph: "As Stephen Abram of SirsiDynix said at the 2006 Special Libraries Association annual conference, 'Don't tell [clients] how to do things; give them the tools and let them do it their own way.' I might add to that, 'give them the tools and get out of the way. Sit back and watch what they create.' ..."

That's exciting and here's an example: at Michigan State University, the library has a ref blog to serve as an archive for reference tips, tools and sources. How cool is that!

Save the dates

Here are some things going on at Dominican in the next few weeks:

GSLIS
March 21
*Faculty candidate presentation, 11 a.m. in Crown 340

March 26
*Registration for summer sessions begins

LISSA
March 22
*Pre-registration chats, 4 p.m. in the Cyber Cafe or 9:30 p.m. at Bar Louie on Lake Street in Oak Park. May grads: Come share your experiences!

March 28
*Association night, 4:15 p.m. in Crown 340. Find out how joining an association can assist you with career development.
*LISSA board nomination deadline. Get involved, network, plan events! Send nominations to lissa@dom.edu.

Dominican
March 20
*DU Day at the Lake, all day at the Lake Theater in Oak Park. Can't beat a $2 movie.

Blog Post 4 - Update on blog use in corporate setting

So my mentor from the editorial library got back to me some time ago & she said the library still has a blog on one of the company's intranet sites, but they rarely get comments other than "that's neat, thanks". She said they don't post to solicit comments and she's under the impression that it's not read often. The person who was gung-ho about starting the blog has left and no one has picked up the reins. Also, they are down some staff members and providing reference for breaking news always trumps blogging.

She said the intent of the blog is to inform the newsroom on any "news" in the library:
- new resources we have available (new books, new databases we subscribe to, etc.)
- staff updates
- tips on searching
- how to read the information the researchers give the reporters or editors
- what the library has access to.

She directed me to someone associated with The Washington Post and the National Institute of Computer-Assisted Reporting who is is known among news librarians as one of the experts with wikis, blogs, web 2.0, and basically all new technologies. I may contact him to get his take on using these tools in such a setting. If he responds (& agrees to it), I'll post what he has to say.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Networking chances at DU & downtown March 28

GSLIS student have two opportunities to network Wednesday, March 28:

* The Library & Information Science Student Association is presenting Association Night at 4:15 p.m. in Crown 340. Students can meet representatives from a variety of library-related associations (CALL, ILA, ISLMA, SLA), which can help provide professional development opportunities.

* SLA Illinois is presenting "Special Libraries: Leading the Way: Trends and Best Practices in the Information Professional Role" at 5 p.m. at the Union League Club of Chicago, 65 W. Jackson, Chicago.

The session focuses on how information professionals can define and communicate a vision of their role and the value of the information center to stakeholders within their organizations. Patricia Currie, Training and Applications Consultant at Thomson Scientific, will present.

COST:
Members: $35
Non-Members: $40
Students/Seeking Employment/Retired: $20

Please be aware of the SLA Illinois Chapter No-Show and No-Cash policies for meetings.
Please RSVP via Survey Monkey by 9 p.m. March 26. Student registrations are being underwritten by Scott Marriott and Marriott Consulting so students can attend for free.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Faculty candidates on campus at Dominican

Dominican GSLIS is interviewing faculty candidates. During their time on campus they will be giving presentations so be on the lookout for announcements around the third floor of Crown Library and in your dom e-mail. Today's (Thursday, March 1) presentation is from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Crown Library 330. The GSLIS encourages students to participate, which is very cool. Don't miss out on the chance to help the program grow.