“Shhhh? The Reality of New Technologies and their Place in Libraries”

On the 8th of May I attended an event held by the Northern Division of CILIP ARLG held at Teesside University. An interesting start of missing the original train at Central Station due to delayed metros and then getting into a taxi where the driver decided to drive over some moving bollards. All a bit stressful!

I was speaking at the event along with my colleague at Newcastle University, Moira Bent. We were highlighting the range of technology we have within the library; both for our users to use and ourselves. We’d brought along an array of gadgets including our laptops and ebook readers which we loan to students of the University.

After a welcome from event organiser, Leanne Young we started with the programme of day. The Assistant Director for Learning and Research Support from Teesside University, Denise Turner introduced the first speaker, Ned Potter from the University of York.

Ned really puts together a cracking presentation and always manages to cover a lot of content and ground without leaving you feeling overwhelmed. His materials are available online

Ned outlined how new technologies should be used to help people get from A-B. You should be marketing the benefits and not just the features. So instead of highlighting your library has 50 databases, instead say you’ve got access to good quality information that Google can’t find. You need to create a value proposition; what’s the cost curve or price for the students to engage, pay attention or use something. e.g. Is it worth students scanning a QR code just to get to the library homepage?

You might want to think about how you’re going to communicate your library’s personality. It doesn’t have to be informal and stuffy. Humans e.g. library staff add the value so you should be using this as a feature of your marketing.

Also need to consider the use of market segmentation. Different groups of users need different “offers” from their library. Don’t just think about fragmenting by undergraduate, postgraduate etc but maybe social media versus dinosaurs.

We moved on to look at different social media platforms and the types of things you could be using.

QR codes

Advantages – novel way of accessing content and good for taking people deep into the website

Disadvantages – need a smartphone and a QR reader app. Some concern over the fraudulent use of some codes and the level of risk involved.

Possibilities might be to send people direct to an appropriate Google Map, log people into the Wi-Fi network, direct users to an ebook from a physical shelf or to a library/University app.

Snap.vu was recommended as it has usage statistics which track the use of the code. It also indicates to users what will happen when they scan it. You can also add the URL link underneath so it doesn’t exclude anyone.

We quickly covered podcasts, Prezi, live chat services and videos.

I was scrambling to make notes about issuu as I knew this was something I ‘d soon have to master. I’ve recently taken over as Newsletter Editor for the North Eastern Division of the CILIP Career Development Group. I also wanted to make the newsletter available on the issuu platform. This was driven by the fact the national journal, Impact from the Career Development Group is available on there. I also personally think reading through issuu is straight forward and makes the document look professional and slick.

Ned’s main tips for issuu were:

• Use word to make your original document
• Get rid of margins (or at the very less ignore them)
• Don’t use anything less than font size 14
• Save the document as a pdf and upload.
• You can judge my efforts on issuu here.

Other useful resources:

http://www.librarymarketingtoolkit.com/

The next speaker was Martin Morrey from the University of Edinburgh. He outlined a project at Edinburgh which has seen the launch of a cross-platform mobile app for their students. He covered the benefits of creating a dedicated app. These included using it as a platform for new student orientation, optimising access to computers and promoting the Institution.

When developing the initial app, they looked at the various options. Ranging from building their own, using mobile web or a vendor solution e.g. Blackboard Mobile Campus, Ombiel CampusM. Edinburgh opted for the last option and developed U@Ed.

It was primarily aimed at students and featured maps, FriendFinder, PC availability, timetables and course information. So far they’ve had 8000+ app downloads (5680 on an Apple device and 2411 on Google Play)

Martin covered the functionality and bravely showed this live by logging into an ipad and showing the app in practice. He also highlighted what they were working on at the moment to develop the app further. This included Blackberry support, usage tracking and public transport timetables.

Details about the app can found on the University of Edinburgh website.

We then broke for lunch, so Moira and I had a chance to talk to delegates and demo some of the gadgets we brought along. Moira has lots of queries about her LiveScribe Smartpen. Attendees also got a chance to scan our QR codes and experience a self guide tour as if they were a new Newcastle University student.

Our talk after lunch covered our ebook readers, mobile technologies, the use of social media and our Libguides. Presentation is available online.

We next heard from Leanne Young and the work Sunderland University Library Service have been doing around engaging users and their Quality promises. They’ve been using twitter and Facebook to receive feedback from students. Aswell as a physical display in the library asking students “how warm is our welcome?” Students then pick blue or red cards to demonstrated their opinions.

The next speaker was Andrew Walsh from the University of Huddersfield. His talk was called “mobiles for information skills“. He  highlighted the fact that 350+ million active users currently access Facebook through their mobile devices and Twitter has 100 million active users (September 11). So if you’re not thinking about social media in terms of promoting your service and engaging with users you should be.

The main points involved taking charge of your accounts and brand names which are related to your institution or library. If you don’t do this then someone else might and communicate messages you  wouldn’t want them too. Or in the future you might not be able to claim the “name” which you’d like to based on your brand and image. So think about accessing various platforms and creating accounts even if you don’t plan to use them just yet. Highlights of the session included:

Roving Librarian

Getting outside the library and roving in the student union, social study spaces across campus and computer labs. This has involved the investment of an ipad for each liaison librarian where it can be personalised for their own subject needs.

Lemontree

This is a platform which tracks borrowing, returning, coming into the library and accessing electronic resources. It encourages positive behaviour, use and engagement with the library to score points and grow your own tree. There are short and long term goals to keep you motivated. It also has social elements so communicates with Facebook and highlights your main achievements. 600 students have signed up so far.

Andrew glossed over QR codes, Youtube, videos  etc since they had been covered already.

He rounded up his talked by asking us to consider :

How do you think information seeking and use changes with mobile devices?

How do people act differently when they can access the ‘net wherever they are?

Mobile information literacy will require us to consider the where? what? how? time spent issues?

The final session was Claire Donlan from Middlesbrough College who discussed how they’ve used 3D technology in student inductions. With over 3200 students involved in inductions in the library, they wanted an application which would engage them. So they created a 3D interactive model of the library which students watched through 3D glasses. Cool or what!

I was tweeting throughout the day and received some good feedback from the sessions. There was also much hilarity over the choice of hashtag for the event. It certainly got the local event noticed!

LILAC – libguides session

In April I spoke at the LILAC conference along with two other librarians about our experiences of using Libguides. We focused on the functionality of the platform and how we had used it in different ways in our own institutions. Libguides from Springshare is becoming more popular in th UK so I had lots of questions from insititutions who were just starting to investigate the platform. At Newcastle, we started using it in September 2011 and originally started with subject guides. These have now been expanded to include other topics e.g Endnote and referencing.

Our libguide for LILAC is available here

Newcastle University Library Libguides here

My talk about Libguides on Slideshare

I really enjoyed running the session and it was an interesting experience speaking with other professionals who I only met in person on the day. I thought the session gave a good insight into how institutions were using the platform in different ways. Thanks to Susan Gardner from Loyola Marymonth University and Eleonora Dubicki from Monmouth University Library for making the journey and conversing via lengthy emails to get our session sorted!

This is our abstract:

This workshop will focus on the use of LibGuides, a popular Web 2.0 content management and publishing subscription product available from and hosted by Springshare. The platform allows librarians easy access to create tailored and bespoke portals and pages supporting a programme, module, subject, or area of research.

LibGuide’s interactive and user friendly pages take the printed hand-out a step further by providing seamless and continuous access to online tools and resources.  Along with standard box templates that link to library resources, LibGuides also allows you to embed multimedia, create customized search widgets, and facilitate interactivity through user feedback boxes.

Come along to this workshop to find out what LibGuides are and what they can do for you.  We will offer a basic overview on the structure of LibGuides and the different box types available, including RSS feeds, videos, links to library subscription resources, links to catalogued books, and widgets.  Participants can experience LibGuides from a user’s point-of-view through quick interactive exercises such as polling and searching.  We will also offer our perspectives on how LibGuides are used within our own institutions in the USA and the UK, showcasing some favourite Libguide pages.

After our introduction, you’ll have time to look through and comment on example LibGuides and see how they were used for information literacy and the promotion of library services and resources.  Participants will also have the opportunity to talk to and brainstorm with other workshop attendees about current or potential uses for LibGuides at their own institutions.  They can submit feedback onto a LibGuide created especially for the LILAC Conference.

This highly interactive workshop will not only introduce you to LibGuides, but it will get you experiencing it as both a user and a designer!  Come see what LibGuides can do for your information literacy instruction.

Glasgow School of Art

After the LILAC conference, I was invited by Sarah Nicholas who is a subject librarian at Cardiff University on a library visit. We’ve never met in person but have communicated on Twitter and have links since we both support Architecture for our Universities. Anyway she rather nicely arranged a visit to the Glasgow School of Art and kindly asked me along too. After a change of train tickets, I was very excited to be able to go along on the visit. The main reason being able to look at the original Rennie Mackintosh Library in the Glasgow School of Art

On arrival I was a bit shocked to see the big change in the campus, they’ve flattened the Art building! So opposite the Glasgow School of Art is a rather large hole! David Buri, one of the academic liaison librarians met us for the tour and explained about the construction of the new building. The proposed new design has apparently received mixed responses. Details are available online.
We were taken into the original building on Renfrew Street and into the Mackintosh library. My pictures really don’t it justice, the mixture of furniture, Mackintosh symbolism and use of light makes the space look simply amazing.

The library along with the furniture and stock are available to users, but apparently the students feel a bit overwhelmed and tend to use the main library building. After seeing the Mackintosh library we headed out into the sun and across the road to main building. David highlighted how the building is staffed, the collections, the space issues (a common theme across libraries at the minute) aswell as the library presence online. I was particularly impressed by the current awareness areas which featured new journals. I snapped a couple of pictures as we’re looking for inspiration for our library redevelopment project.

David then showed us InfoSmart which is an online information skills package for creatives. His colleague, Duncan Chappell had presented a session at LILAC about the resource but I’d missed it. This is a really good resource which I’ll be recommending to students in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape.

I was so pleased to visit the library especially since I’m a huge fan of Mackintosh. Thanks to David, Sarah, Duncan for the visit. I also resisted buying anything from their booksale!

LILAC conference – Day Three

The beginning of Day Three of LILAC started with a really popular session about mobile technology.

Mobile technology and information literacy instruction: the McGill Library Experience by Maria Savova, Robin Canuel and Chad Crichton

The use of mobile technology is no longer simply an emerging trend. It is essentially a reality which librarians should be addressing at institutions across the world. The access to information on the go means the changing of teaching necessary skills for this in the classroom. This presentation outlined how librarians at McGill Library have incorporated mobile technology into information literacy training through tailored workshops and web guides.

Highlights included:

• Loan of ereaders and ipads
• Teaching mobile technology workshops covering devices, platforms and electronic resources. The next stage is to incorporate information into everyday training
• Library staff also trained to answer these types of queries
• Use of augmented reality, QR codes and image searching technology
• Getting a top tweet from my Twitter account!

The following session was Essential information skills for researchers: A collaborative project to develop an online, open access resource. by Chris Bark and Liz Martin. This presentation covered a project which involved various institutions in the Midlands. Four HE institutions worked collaboratively to develop a repurposable tutorial containing various modules. These are available online.

The final keynote was entitled “Time for a digital detox? Building intellectual fitness” by Professor Tara Brabazon. She received a very warm welcome from the audience as she kicked off by waving at her family who were watching via the video stream. Her main argument revolved around “that in an information age, greater attention is required on information management” At least I think that was the main message, given the whirlwind of topics, observations and email evidence she included in her presentation. One thing you cannot fault is Tara’s presence and style of delivery: engaging from beginning to end. Even offering to marry a member of the audience at one point! Valid points I agreed with included various elements of going through a digital detox, digital dieting through making small changes e.g. students using Google Scholar instead of Google.

Phrases I’ve written down:

“The Library is the spine of a student’s degree”

“Reduce the speed of students searching by placing intellectual obstacles and blocks in their ways” e.g. asking them to create an annotated bibliography.

“Reduce the reliance on textbooks” Get students to read with their thinking hats on.

I was heartened by this as one of the assessments we have within the library is on a Humanities and Social Sciences module for PhD students. We ask students to create an annotated bibliography and ask them to outline their search experience and why they selected the items they did. This reflective assignment highlights the needs for selection, thinking and the use of appropriate materials.

That wrapped the end of the conference and I disappeared with a packed lunch to visit the Glasgow School of Art. I was really impressed with the range of delegates and interesting perspectives of colleagues in America about information literacy and libraries. Thanks to conference organisers

LILAC conference – Day Two

The beginning of Day Two of LILAC started with Lord Puttnam of Queensgate. I (along with many others) was looking forward to hearing him speak. This was the second time for me after I attended a ceremony at Sunderland University for the handover from David Puttnam to Steve Cram as Chancellor of the University.

This keynote covered ways in which literacy can best be developed in the digital age and contribute to a more informed society.

He argued schools and libraries are core to making sure information is current and accessible. They are also important in preparing students for dealing with changes and challenges. Especially in a competitive environment where you need to stand out from the crowd to get the job you want. We need to sort out our brand and identities as librarians and pupils need to talk more and teachers less.

I particularly liked this quote he used “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it’ll spend its whole life believing that it is stupid” – Albert Einstein

Two other morning sessions were:

Supporting the research community by Vicki Cormie, Hilda McNae, Jackie Proven and Janet Aucock.

This session started off with an overview of St Andrews and how the Academic Liaison Team has been restructured. The level of research output by the University has seen the library team develop customisable research intensive support. The main focus being on providing support that the library believes they need; not necessarily what the researchers think they need. The sessions offered to researchers have changed and now includes more information on bibliometrics, how to support the REF and increasing emphasis on managing research data. It was interesting to hear about the journal hosting service for titles such as Ethnographic Encounters.

Online information literacy: creative in-house collaborations by Kelly Travers, Ella Mitchell and Catherine Johnson.

This was one of the workshops I was really looking forward as I love the Information Skills webpages at the University of East London. The info skills site is an online resource which guides undergraduates through researching their first assignment, with emphasis on identifying, finding and evaluating information and referencing.

They ran through the origins of the project, the funding available and the fact they wanted to give students support in “the dark recesses of their bedroom”. We had a chance to look through the guides, the use of colour and the actual videos and other content. I like the way students can choose between guides, videos, talks, demonstrations and tests so the learning experience can be tailored and selected based on their own circumstances.

The package is now available under Creative Commons so I must find the time to go back through it and see what’s available.

Other webpages to look through:

http://www.staffs.ac.uk/ask/

https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/

http://library.leeds.ac.uk/skills

http://www.open.ac.uk/safari/

Teachmeets

A quick break for lunch and then I signed up to attend the Teachmeets. This was well organised with a large timer projected on the wall. It also gave you a chance to hear a range of snippets of stuff other people were doing. Too much moving around and selecting certain tables so I didn’t get a chance to make any notes. Multi task fail!

The afternoon sessions :

Embedding information literacy skills as employability attributes by Serengul Smith and Adam Edwards

Involve, inform, inspire: reaching researchers through targeted training by Penelop Street and Lisa Hawksworth

A bit of a long day but headed back to the hotel to get ready for the gala dinner. This was held at the Glasgow Old Fruit Market.

Some nice food, wine and a visit to the local pub

LILAC conference – Day One

Myself and my colleague, Sara Bird at Newcastle University were lucky enough to both be presenting at the LILAC conference this year. I had a theme accepted by the conference organisers and was encouraged to join with two American librarians about our experience of using LibGuides For those of you who aren’t sure what LILAC is; it is the Librarians’ Information Literacy Annual Conference. This year attended by 335 delegates from over 30 countries. It involved 3 Keynote speakers and 69 parallel sessions to pick from. Along with lots of networking, sharing and gossiping at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland. I was a bit nervous since I hadn’t attended LILAC before, nevermind presenting a workshop!

Just managed to go through my notes (which were a bit crumply after I split some water on my notebook; oops) so these are my thoughts on the sessions and the conference overall.

The first session I attended was technically a “pre-conference” workshop. Not come across these before! Pleased many people had managed to arrive early and there were alot of people in the 11am session. The title was “Acting on PhD student feedback to create new learning resources” by Angela Newton and Dan Pullinger. They gave an overview of  how information literacy is delivered at Leeds and the teaching materials available for PhD students. We were then divided into groups to address concerns from new researchers and asked to design a learning activity that addresses the problems. Our group came up with using a jigsaw as an analogy to the starting with research. See our (and other) designs at:

http://pinterest.com/pin/166703623677152746/

We have a similar module for new researchers at Newcastle. I thought it was interesting to hear how their sessions have changed and evolved over the years. Especially to include many generic skills like skim reading, text mapping strategies and discussion about bibliometrics.

The current online materials are available from : http://library.leeds.ac.uk/researcher

We then had lunch where I bumped into Susan Gardner who I was running my session with. So it was nice to quickly meet in person after weeks of communicating via email.

The afternoon session started with the official opening of the conference then the first keynote speaker, Megan Oakleaf; who is Assistant Professor in the iSchool at Syracuse University.

Megan started out asking us, “do you feel like a power player at your institution?” Her presentation revolved around understanding that through assessing student information literacy outcomes, librarians can provide evidence of library impact on learning. This ticks lots of boxes for achieving strategic institutional goals. Demonstrating value was the core focus of a report Megan was involved with. This is available online on the acrl website

This keynote looked at how do you provide evidence of academic libraries value? Traditionally through numbers of visits to the library, how many times electronic resources are used etc. But now need to find direct ways of how libraries meet the aims and objectives of the wider organisation. This is happening already and Megan mentioned some examples from Huddersfield, Wollongong and Hong Kong Baptist where library “use” can be linked to student grades. Also helps with retention and enrolment into later stages of your programme. The main aspects I took away from this session were:

• What’s your library’s value story?
• How are we meeting our institutional mission?
• Is this clear on our marketing information and website?
• What’s the most important goal or aim at your institution and how did I/we contribute to it last week?

After the keynote I attended two more sessions:

“Giving students a competitive edge: Cass Certification” by Helen Westwood

Helen ran through the loyalty scheme idea which is branded as Cass Certification. Students attend 3 workshops which they book online via eventbrite and then receive a certificate. This increased student participation by 20% and 1-2-1 training fell by 50%. It was felt it appealed to Business students who are competitive and wanted to stand out from the crowd. The course was delivered by library staff as well as corporate trainers from certain products. Helen gave some honest feedback about the success, the time it took it to organise and prepare and the drawbacks. It made me think about types of sessions that Business students might need and how they can demonstrate to future employers they’ve used commercial products to do their own research. e.g. through a CPD type certificate for their portfolio.

“Reading lists – time for a reality check?” by Hannah Rose and Gillian Siddall

This covered experiences at Northampton University Library where there have been efforts to annotate reading lists. This has involved a thorough review of content and items on certain lists in education and health. From sample lists they found only 42% of the information on the lists is correct. On average 23% of books on reading lists were out of date. This has meant a review of the use labels e.g. suggestive and indicative and the use of smiley faces to indicate favourites.

Then it was time for the last session of the day: MINE! Have blogged a separate entry for this.

Evening involved networking and a buffet tea at the Saltire Centre.

Tags: glasgow caledonian university

Walking Hadrians Wall

Details are still being finalised for this year’s walk. Basically I’m walking from the 30th of May from Carlisle to Wallsend. I would be doing Day One if I didn’t have a CIM Marketing exam on the 29th of May. Sponsorship details to follow but we are splitting the money this year between CILIP CDG International Projects and the Lit & Phil in Newcastle. Their appeal supports the work they do as well as increasing access to their lovely library.