The US information literacy conference, LOEX, opens for registration on February 6th. It apparently sells out more or less at once, so you need to be at your keyboard at 1pm EST (I think that is 6pm UK time) and preferably already a LOEX member to have a chance of a place. It is April 30- May 2, 2009 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. http://www.loexconference.org/registration.htmlPhoto by Sheila Webber: Door, Blackheath, Jan 2009 (Source: Information Literacy Weblog)

From the News Release/Report: Online news sites are now second only to recommendations from friends as the nation’s primary trusted source of information, according to new research unveiled today by TNS. Online news is ‘highly trusted’* by two fifths (40%) of those polled – second only to recommendations from friends which is the most trusted with almost half (45%) of respondents in the study stating that they highly trusted this source. Three quarters (75%) of UK respondents stated that they had ‘looked up the news’ when asked what they had done online in the last month – further emphasising the ascendancy of online news sites. The story of online news seems to be globally widespread with an average of two fifths (40%) across all 16 countries in the report trusting online news in this way. Source: TNS (via DocuTicker) (Source: ResourceShelf)

Early bird registration for the LILAC conference is available until 30 January 2009. LILAC is the UK's information literacy conference, this year taking place in Cardiff, Wales, 30 March-1 April. The programme will be announced later this month: it will include a symposium on Second Life & information literacy that I will be doing with colleagues from Sheffield, St Andrews and Edinburgh universities. http://www.lilacconference.com/dw/2009/register/index.phpPhoto by Sheila Webber: tree, Blackheath, Jan 2009 (Source: Information Literacy Weblog)

State: Florida University Rank: Assistant/Associate In (professional but non-tenure accruing) Classification: Faculty, 12-month, 20 hr/wk part-time Non-Tenure-Accruing (with possibility of becoming full-time) Reports to: Director, Health Science Center Library and Assoc. Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, College of Nursing Overview: The Health Science Center Library is situated in the University of Florida Health Science Center complex on the main campus in Gainesville. The library serves 6 colleges (Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Veterinary Medicine, and Public Health and Health Professions). The College of Nursing seeks an organized, well-informed librarian to collaborate with the faculty and staff to enhance the use and awareness of information resources for teaching, research and service of the College of Nursing. This librarian will provide library-related educational activities, instructional resources, and guest lectures to the students, faculty and staff of the College of Nursing. The position will also hold responsibility for providing special assistance to College of Nursing faculty in the areas of course development, research, information acquisition, faculty development, and strategic planning. The CON Librarian will also be expected to provide library services to nursing patrons: instruction, mediated searching, email reference questions, collection management, special projects and on rare occasions, reference desk substitution. The CON Librarian will serve as a member of relevant committees such as Liaison Forum/Curriculum Committee and the Health Science Center Library Advisory Committee. ...

State: New Hampshire Southern New Hampshire University's Shapiro Library seeks an enthusiastic, team-oriented, technology savvy Librarian. This position will provide reference services, conduct information literacy instruction, supervise the Periodicals Department, and be the Library Liaison to the School of Education. Some weekend (September-May) and evening (May-August) hours are required. The Periodicals Department consists of one staff member and six student workers. Responsibilities include collection development for print, electronic and microfilm titles, budgeting, and working with vendors. The Periodicals Department is also responsible for all copiers, printers, microfilm readers, scanners and supplies. This faculty position offers excellent opportunities for professional development, participation in Library and University Committees, and a climate of support for exploring innovative solutions that enhance student learning, faculty research, and community outreach. Minimum Qualifications: Master's degree in Library Science from an ALA-accredited institution, knowledge of general reference works, the ability to work with electronic and traditional information sources, and excellent oral and written communication skills with a demonstrated ability to work collegially. Preferred Qualifications: One year supervisory experience, periodical and reference experience, and experience with teaching in an academic bibliographic instruction program preferred, ideally in an academic library. Knowledge of business reference sources or education resources a plus. Candidates are requested to apply online at www.snhu.edu/jobs. Application materials should include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and a list of three references (names, addresses, and e-mail contact). Review will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Submitted on 2008-12-30 (Source: SLIS Careers Feed)

I am not yet fully recovered from the appendix operation, and am not back at work yet, but I'm starting to feel better - so I will resume information literacy blogging tomorrow! Since I have only been out of the house so far to go to visit the nurse and to walk a few blocks, my photos for the next week or so will be "Xmas wreaths and winter trees in and around Couthurst Road" plus this one of a local cat on a roof. (Source: Information Literacy Weblog)

Appalachian State University (North Carolina) (Source: Chronicle.com - Jobs in Librarians/library administration)

This workshop is scheduled to take place at the WWW Conference this April in Madrid. From the Abstract: As computers and computer networks become more common, a huge amount of information, such as that found in Web documents, has been accumulated and circulated. Such information gives many people a framework for organizing their private and professional lives. However, in general, the quality control of Web content is insufficient due to low publishing barriers. In result there is a lot of mistaken or unreliable information on the Web that can have detrimental effects on users. This situation calls for technology that would facilitate judging the trustworthiness of content and the quality and accuracy of the information that users encounter on the Web. Such technology should be able to handle a wide range of tasks: extracting credible information related to a given topic, organizing this information, detecting its provenance, clarifying background, facts, and other related opinions and the distribution of them, and so on. The problem of Web information reliability and Web data quality has become also apparent in the view of the recent emergence of many popular Web 2.0 applications, the growth of the so-called Deep Web and the ubiquity of Internet advertising. (Source: ResourceShelf)

From a Post by Jimmy Wales: Since July 1, more than 125,000 of you have donated $4 million. In addition, we’ve received major gifts and foundation support totaling $2 million. This combined revenue will cover our operating expenses for the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 2009. Source: WikiMedia Foundation (Source: ResourceShelf)

Anne-Marie Deitering has a great post over at Infofetishist about the historical-hoax-as-pedagogy story that popped up in December. A professor at George Mason taught a course on historical hoaxes and had students create a hoax and spread it virally using social networking. It was so successful it fooled a lot of historians and got written up in USA Today before the spoof was revealed. According to the course website, “The purpose of this hoax was to spend time thinking about how easily information takes on a life of its own online, ethics in the historical profession, and the role of digital media in popular culture.” Some people felt it was a great assignment for these reasons: –It used social media for higher-order educational ends –It involved students in original authorship with an audience beyond one teacher –It asked students to be creative with their research –It taught students to think critically about sources –It was a lot more fun for the students than traditional research –It got a lot of press and demonstrated the power of social networks to spread information Others, including Dietering, were bothered by it. Here are some of those reasons: –Putting false information on Wikipedia is vandalism and vandalism is wrong –Deliberately creating an elaborate hoax violates established trust networks; this project gave the whole idea of trust among historians a big Bronx cheer –It took an easy approach to inculcating skepticism. It’s not that hard to feel superior when looking at a hoax site. It’s harder (but a much more useful skill) to look at serious approaches to issues and analyze their arguments and evidence. ...

Risks of Admissions Marketing on Facebook As admissions officers search for new ways to interact with Facebook and other social networking sites, the results have been slow in coming. Efforts to create popular user “apps” have found few takers. Admissions offices are finding that their stretched employees don’t have the time to monitor the myriad sites and pages – let alone respond to every negative remark that pops up on collegeconfidential.com. And now, the “College Prowler” incident demonstrates the potential misuse of social networking in college admissions. As reported on this Web site, an online college guide called “College Prowler” created authentic-looking “Class of 2013” Facebook pages for over 200 colleges. Accepted applicants seeking to connect with potential classmates turned to those pages, and they (and some savvy admissions officers) noticed that these were designed not by admitted students, but by a higher education business interested in viral marketing. Rather than a one-time scandal, this incident should be seen as a warning of potential pitfalls for admissions officers hoping to use social networking to attract the best prospects, and students who believe that social networks are a space they control. These cyber-squatters were probably interested in (the somewhat benign) goal of marketing specific products and services to targeted students preparing to enter college. However, it doesn’t take a large logical leap to imagine more controversial approaches — including concerted efforts to disseminate negative information about colleges. Despite the overall collegial relationships among admissions officers across institutions, that next step seems possible, if not likely. Source: Inside Higher Ed See also: Did Company Use Fake Facebook Groups to Market to Students? (Wired Campus/Chronicle of Higher Education) (Source: ResourceShelf)

Depuis quelques jours mon compte Twitter est ouvert à tous. En vous y abonnant vous découvrirez la veille quasi-quotidienne que j'effectue sur mes thèmes de prédilection, que ce soit pour : Outils Froids (pas besoin de détailler) Travailleur du Savoir : entreprise 2.0, personal knowledge management (PKM), information literacy, Generation Y, ... IE-Lobbying : il s'agit d'un Digg-like sur les thèmes de l'intelligence économique, de la veille et du lobbying auquel je contribue en envoyant les urls des articles qui m'ont intéressé. Aaaliens : même chose qu'IE-Lobbying dans le cadre plus large du journalisme de liens (pour en savoir plus à ce sujet voir cet excellent article : La stratégie des fous à lier : les enjeux du journalisme de liens.Sans oublier le fait que vous saurez à la minute près ce que je suis en train de faire, passionant... (Source: Outils Froids)

Librarian roles and duties ← Previous revision Revision as of 21:57, 31 December 2008 Line 23: Line 23: *''Electronic Resources Librarians'' manage the databases that libraries license from third-party vendors. *''Electronic Resources Librarians'' manage the databases that libraries license from third-party vendors. *''School Librarians'' work in school libraries and perform duties as teachers, information technology specialists, and advocates for literacy. *''School Librarians'' work in school libraries and perform duties as teachers, information technology specialists, and advocates for literacy. - *''Outreach Librarians'' go out of their way to provide library and information services for underrepresented groups, such as people with disabilities, low income neighborhoods, homebound adults and seniors, incarcerated and ex-offenders, and homeless and rural communities. + *''Outreach Librarians'' go out of their way to provide library and information services for underrepresented groups, such as people with disabilities, low income neighborhoods, homebound adults and seniors, incarcerated and ex-offenders, and homeless and rural communities. In academic libraries, outreach librarians might focus on high school students, transfer students, first-generation college students, and minorities. *''Instruction Librarians'' teach information literacy skills in face-to-face classes and/or through the creation of online learning objects. They instruct library users on how to find, evaluate and use information effectively. They are most common in academic libraries. *''Instruction Librarians'' teach information literacy skills in face-to-face classes and/or through the creation of online learning objects. They instruct library users on how to find, evaluate and use information effectively. They are most common in academic libraries. (Source: Librarian - Revision history)

Librarian roles and duties ← Previous revision Revision as of 21:55, 31 December 2008 Line 24: Line 24: *''School Librarians'' work in school libraries and perform duties as teachers, information technology specialists, and advocates for literacy. *''School Librarians'' work in school libraries and perform duties as teachers, information technology specialists, and advocates for literacy. *''Outreach Librarians'' go out of their way to provide library and information services for underrepresented groups, such as people with disabilities, low income neighborhoods, homebound adults and seniors, incarcerated and ex-offenders, and homeless and rural communities. *''Outreach Librarians'' go out of their way to provide library and information services for underrepresented groups, such as people with disabilities, low income neighborhoods, homebound adults and seniors, incarcerated and ex-offenders, and homeless and rural communities. - *''Instruction Librarians'' teach information literacy skills. They are most common in academic libraries, teaching students how to find, evaluate and use information effectively. + *''Instruction Librarians'' teach information literacy skills in face-to-face classes and/or through the creation of online learning objects. They instruct library users on how to find, evaluate and use information effectively. They are most common in academic libraries. Experienced librarians may take administrative positions such as library or information center director. Similar to the management of any other organization, they are concerned with the long-term planning of the library, and its relationship with its parent organization (the city or county for a public library, the college/university for an academic library, or the organization served by a [[special library]]). ...

Librarian roles and duties ← Previous revision Revision as of 21:53, 31 December 2008 Line 24: Line 24: *''School Librarians'' work in school libraries and perform duties as teachers, information technology specialists, and advocates for literacy. *''School Librarians'' work in school libraries and perform duties as teachers, information technology specialists, and advocates for literacy. *''Outreach Librarians'' go out of their way to provide library and information services for underrepresented groups, such as people with disabilities, low income neighborhoods, homebound adults and seniors, incarcerated and ex-offenders, and homeless and rural communities. *''Outreach Librarians'' go out of their way to provide library and information services for underrepresented groups, such as people with disabilities, low income neighborhoods, homebound adults and seniors, incarcerated and ex-offenders, and homeless and rural communities.   + *''Instruction Librarians'' teach information literacy skills. They are most common in academic libraries, teaching students how to find, evaluate and use information effectively. Experienced librarians may take administrative positions such as library or information center director. Similar to the management of any other organization, they are concerned with the long-term planning of the library, and its relationship with its parent organization (the city or county for a public library, the college/university for an academic library, or the organization served by a [[special library]]). Experienced librarians may take administrative positions such as library or information center director. ...

Happy New Year to All! Although it is otherwise a slow news day, as we all await the start of 2009 and look ahead to a new year unfolding. I am so thrilled that “Academic Library Research: Perspectives and Current Trends,” which I co-edited with Pamela Snelson, Director of Franklin & Marshall College Library has just been released. This book has been in the making for over 5 years, and I haven’t actually held a copy in my hands yet, but I’ve been told that my copies are in the mail! We take a look back at academic library research since 1990, showcasing this time of rapid, revolutionary change. I co-wrote the chapter that summarizes research on reference (face-to-face and virtual reference modes) with Lorri Mon and predicts trends in reference over the next few years. The book is #59 in the ACRL Publications in Librarianship series, edited by Craig Gibson. ACRL/ALA has published the book just in time for it to be showcased at ALA Midwinter in Denver which I’ll be attending. According to the Press Release the book “updates traditional topics that have undergone exceptional, and in some cases unexpected, change since 1990 as well as reaching into new areas. It combines theoretical scholarship with real world research, including case studies and user surveys, designed to inform practice. Part I highlights significant perspectives and trends such as reference service, information literacy, collection management, knowledge organization and leadership. Part II features two chapters on recently developing evaluation methods, including usability testing and measuring library service quality through LibQUAL+. It is always a joy to see a finished product finally published and out there to add to the library literature. Am now already involved in two more book projects, one of which is an edited volume (co-edited by Dave Lankes) of reports from the field and research papers from the Reference Renaissance conference. ...

“I think Ford will fall apart. They have just made too many bets on the wrong things. A bunch of the institutions that we rely on currently will, to some degree, decompose.” — John Elkington of the consulting firm Sustainability,  quoted in “Big Foot,” Michael Specter, The New Yorker, 2/25/2008 This is my short list. I had to work hard not to turn this into a glossary of the downturn (staycation, stagflation, etc.). I’m fortunate that the worst of these terms are happening around me, not to me, but I did feel very uncomfortable when I stopped by a shed store yesterday and walked through a very nice shed that turned out to be a “repo.” That’s my index of hard times: when we start seeing foreclosures on sheds. Oh, and for phrases on the way out? I submit “flat-panel TV.” Try buying one that isn’t! Top Ten Words and Phrases for 2008 Presearch: the informal Google/Wikipedia look-ups students do before digging into better resources  (and yes, they do that! More about that in a future post about Project Information Literacy) Tweet: A post on the microblogging site, Twitter. (Hardly a new term, but when I saw Twitter on the front page of the New York Times, I knew it deserved a mention.) Long photo: A very short video, possibly first defined by Flickr, but moving into general usage through the ease and popularity of creating and uploading short video commentary to sites such as YouTube and Amazon. ...