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A library class for staff? No problem, we've done hundreds of those for students. How different can it be?" was our first reaction to a proposal to develop a library orientation class for university professional and administrative staff.

To register: email Anna Palmer (ahpalmer@wisc.edu) Thursday, February 23, Board Books in Libraries: Helping Librarians and Caregivers Develop Emergent Readers with Allison Kaplan, Ed.D. Friday, March 9, Contemporary Trends and Debates in E-Journal Licensing with Kristin Eschenfelder Wednesday, April 4, Learning from H1N1: Public libraries and public health with Catherine Arnott-Smith

"This site is intended to help library web developers decide how to label key resources and services in such a way that most users can understand them well enough to make productive choices. It serves as a clearinghouse of usability test data evaluating t

For the fifth time since the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was passed in 1998, the Library of Congress is preparing to grant limited rights to crack DRM locks on digital content. Not that it matters much; despite an increased willingness at the Library to grant such permission, the actual tools most people need to bypass DRM remain forbidden.

Objective: This study sought to better understand the research expectations of first-year students upon beginning university study, and how these expectations differed from those of their professors. Most academic librarians observe that the research expectations of these two groups differ considerably and being able to articulate where these differences are greatest may help us provided more focused instruction, and allow us to work more effectively with professors and student support services. Methods: 317 first-year undergraduate students and 75 professors at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, NS were surveyed to determine what they each expected of first-year student research. Students were surveyed on the first day of term so as to best understand their research expectations as they transitioned from high school to university. Results: The gulf between student and professor research expectations was found to be considerable, especially in areas such as time required for reading and research, and the resources necessary to do research. While students rated their preparedness for university as high, they also had high expectations related to their ability to use non-academic sources. Not unexpectedly, the majority of professors believed that students are not prepared to do university-level research, they do not take enough responsibility for their own learning, they should use more academic research sources, and read twice as much as students believe they should. Conclusions: By better understanding differing research expectations, students can be guided very early in their studies about appropriate academic research practices, and librarians and professors can provide students with improved research instruction. Strategies for working with students, professors and the university community are discussed.

In March, Inside Higher Ed released an "inaugural" Survey of College & University Chief Academic Officers.  This report was the fourth in a series of surveys of senior academic leaders with the three other reports conducted in 2011 focusing on admissions officers, chief business officers, and presidents.

On Thursday, May 31, 2012 the Getty Research Institute (GRI) will launch the Getty Research Portal, an unprecedented resource that will provide universal access to digitized texts in the field of art and architectural history.  The Getty Research Portal is a free online search gateway that aggregates descriptive metadata of digitized art history texts, with links to fully digitized copies that are free to download. Art historians, curators, students, or anyone who is culturally curious can unearth these valuable sources of research without traveling from place to place to browse the stacks of the world's art libraries. There will be no restrictions to use the Getty Research Portal; all anyone needs is access to the internet.

The video is a look at some upcoming technology and the potential impact on libraries. Very interesting, but no mention of the sustainability of these things / these directions. Long, but worth watching.

Could be useful if/when we decide to have a copyright policy

A very well-designed resource for freshmen (and others, no doubt) at Harvard

Six Reading Habits to Develop in Your First Year at Harvard

Outcomes, Types of Assessment, Assessment Activities

"North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries and its Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA) are partnering with strategic consultants brightspot strategy and DEGW to design, share, and promote an updated model for institutions to plan and support technology-rich informal learning spaces. This Learning Space Toolkit will include a roadmap to guide the process along with tools and techniques for assessing needs, understanding technology, describing spaces, planning and delivering support services, and assembling space, technology, and services to meet needs, even as they change."

ebrary, a ProQuest business and leading provider of e-books and research technology, today announced that the results of its survey of more than 1,000 librarians regarding e-book mobile and offline access is now publicly available online.  Anyone may register to receive the full results along with a paper authored by Dr. Allen McKiel, Dean of Library Services at Western Oregon University, at http://www.tfaforms.com/222151