White Papers

As promised, the Executive Committee has completed 7 draft white papers with a focus on long term issues and strategies that need to be discussed and considered. The seven papers are:

• Computers and Printers
• CTS-MCL Centralization
• Kentucky Newspaper Project
• King Library Press
• Service to Colleges
• WTYL Hours and Security
• WTYL Service Points
  

They are posted in SharePoint on the Executive Committee site under the White Papers folder. Our next steps are to have a series of discussions and conversations of the papers and determine next steps.

Students Select Margaret I. King Library for Next Historical Marker

The University of Kentucky class of 2009 has chosen the Margaret I. King Library to be the topic for its class gift. The Student Development Council (SDC) distributed ballots last week to determine which significant building or historical figure related to UK would be the topic for the Class of 2009 Historical Marker. Past marker topics have included longtime professor and noted historian Thomas Clark, the Main Building, Maxwell Place and the desegregation of UK. See the UK Press Release for more details – http://news.uky.edu/news/display_article.php?artid=4437

First US Public Access Policy Made Permanent

In mid-March, ARL announces that the NIH Access Policy had been made permanent. Here is information from the press release. “President Obama yesterday signed into law the 2009 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes a provision making the National Institutes’ of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy permanent. The NIH Revised Policy on Enhancing Public Access requires eligible NIH-funded researchers to deposit electronic copies of their peer-reviewed manuscripts into the National Library of Medicine’s online archive, PubMed Central (PMC). Full texts of the articles are made publicly available and searchable online in PMC no later than 12 months after publication in a journal.

The NIH policy was previously implemented with a provision that was subject to annual renewal. Since the implementation of the revised policy the percentage of eligible manuscripts deposited into PMC has increased significantly, with over 3,000 new manuscripts being deposited each month. The PubMed Central database is a part of a valuable set of public database resources at the NIH, which are accessed by more than 2 million users each day.”

Next Dean's Update

The next Dean’s Update will be provided on April 24, 2009.

New Reports from the ARL

Special Collections in ARL Libraries: Working Group Releases Discussion Report – “a discussion report that identifies key issues in the management and exposure of special collections material in the 21st century…. The report includes overviews of and recommendations in three areas:
1. Collecting Carefully, with Regard to Costs, and Ethical and Legal Concerns
2. Ensuring Discovery and Access
3. The Challenge of Born-Digital Collections
It highlights the need for research library leadership to support actions that will increase the visibility and use of special collections and promote both existing and developing best practices in the stewardship of special collections.” The report is freely available on the ARL Web site at http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/scwg-report.pdf.


Research Library Issues, First ARL E-Only Bimonthly Report – ARL “has published its first e-only bimonthly report, Research Library Issues (RLI), which now sports a new look and title. The e-only format enables broad distribution of the articles and the introduction of new features, such as audio excerpts from speaker presentations. The focus of the publication continues to be on the major issues that affect the ability of research libraries to meet the academic and research needs of the diverse communities they serve.” See http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/rli/

Talking to Faculty about Questionable Assignments

From American Libraries Direct

Talking to faculty about questionable assignments

Ellie Collier writes: “Every semester there is at least one student assignment that comes across my reference desk that makes me throw my hands up in exasperation. What do you do after that student walks in with an assignment in hand that you know just isn’t fair to them? Until a few months ago, I never even considered the possibility of talking to faculty about their assignments. I remember both the assignment that opened my eyes to that possibility and the one that was my personal tipping point.”...In the Library with the Lead Pipe, Mar. 18

Legal Research Teach-in Kit

From American Libraries Direct

Legal Research Teach-In Kit

The American Association of Law Libraries has released the 2009 version of its Legal Research Teach-In Kit. The kit includes games, handouts, research guides, exercises, and PowerPoint presentations on a variety of legal research topics. The teach-in is an annual campaign launched in 1993 to encourage U.S. law librarians to share materials and ideas for legal research instruction....American Association of Law Libraries, Mar. 23

Attract Students to Your Academic Library

From American Libraries Direct

Attract students to your academic library

ALA Editions has released Marketing Today’s Academic Library: A Bold New Approach to Communicating with Students by Brian Mathews. Most library marketing intended for undergraduates promotes the collection, reference and instructional services, and occasional events such as guest speakers or exhibits. Mathews’ guiding principle is that marketing should focus on the lifestyle of the user, showcasing how the library fits within the daily life of the student....

Arrived OK?

From American Libraries Direct

Arrived OK?

If you’re tired of picking up the phone and calling half a dozen people every time you land at the ALA Annual Conference city to let them know you arrived OK, you might want to check out a new service called ArrivedOK. What ArrivedOK does is track your information and send out alerts to let people know when you’re safe and sound. You just visit the website, enter your flight information, and add a list of people you want to send email or SMS notifications to....Download Squad, Mar. 25

The New Britannica

From American Libraries Direct

The new Britannica

The venerable Encyclopaedia Britannica is preparing for the most radical overhaul in its 241-year history, and it’s recruiting its readers to do much of the work. It’s a bid by Britannica to remain relevant at a time when the world’s most popular encyclopedia, the eight-year-old Wikipedia, is written entirely by amateur experts. The new version of Britannica Online, set to debut this summer, will emulate the Wikipedia concept by letting subscribers make changes to any article, ranging from minor edits to near-total rewrites....Boston Globe, Mar. 31

Become an RDA Tester

From American Libraries Direct

Become an RDA tester

The three U.S. national libraries—Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, and National Agricultural Library—agreed during the 2009 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver to make a joint decision on whether or not to implement Resource Description and Access, based on the results of a test of both RDA and the web product. The goal is to assure the operational, technical, and economic feasibility of RDA. Individuals and institutions interested in participating in the test should contact Susan Morris using the fill-in PDF form by April 13....Library of Congress