BCU Library

When your formative years are spent working your fingers through apps and iPads, smartphones and YouTube, the digital world and its habits can bend and shape not just how you access information, but how you conceptualize it entirely.

"The NCSU Libraries Mobile Scavenger Hunt is an interactive, technology-rich way to introduce students to the library. Developed in response to student and instructor feedback collected in 2010-2011, it leverages the motivating power of situated learning and the fun of team game dynamics to orient students to the Libraries' spaces, promote the use of emerging technologies, and foster confidence in using the Libraries' collections. The activity is run using iPod Touches and several free apps and online tools. Students answer Scavenger Hunt questions using Evernote, a free app for multimedia note-taking, which is installed on the iPod Touches distributed to the Scavenger Hunt teams. Librarians are able to monitor students' answers in real time as they are entered into Evernote, keeping score on a Google Docs spreadsheet."

Videos about using various Library equipment, including iPad projection and other tools

There's a lot less dust and grime in today's Wild West, but enough unknowns to compete in any new frontier. Case in point: A new electronic book project started by the Nebraska Department of Education with the goal of offering free instructional content to teachers across the state.

Presentations on LibGuides, library applications, web analytics

Available today, the new suite is considered by CEO Steve Ballmer "the most ambitious version of Office we've ever done." Microsoft has pulled back the curtains on the latest version of its Office suite. At a press conference today, CEO Steve Ballmer announced the new version, noting that a preview edition of the cloud-based Office 365 edition will be available for people to try out today.

Hugh McGuire: "The distinction between "the Internet" and "books" is arbitrary, and will disappear in 5 years. Start adjusting now."

presentation from Lauren Pressley on AAC&U's value rubrics, including information literacy

In May 2010, Appalachian State University's Hubbard Center for Faculty Development sponsored a weeklong writing retreat designed to help faculty become more productive writers in any academic genre. The retreat began with a two-day workshop conducted by Tara Gray, author of Publish and Flourish: Become a Productive Scholar

Work smarter not harder. Delegate, delegate, delegate. If you want something done, get a busy person to do it. Wise words for the time-strapped librarian. Know what's even smarter? Not spending a dime to do so. The cash-strapped librarian is challenged to "do more with less"* and still be the modern miracle worker that he/she is.

With traditional journals suffering from rising costs and increased disinterest in print subscriptions, online open access is looking more appealing than ever. The team behind recently launched Scholastica is offering a new platform for those interested in joining the movement. Scholastica is designed to make setting up and managing an academic journal about as easy as configuring a Facebook group.

Does the use of library print and digital collections correlate with course pass/fail rates, grades, or GPA? How does use of instructional tools or attendance at instruction sessions or workshops correlate with student success in the classroom? Using circulation data, online resource usage records, workstation login data, workshop registrations, and more, the University of Minnesota Libraries are attempting to answer these questions. To access the full presentation for this session, click on the "Download" button on the right.

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"The following is an alphabetical list of library web pages that list experimental, beta, or trial web tools and services."