May 13th Anniversary Celebration

This is a just a reminder that we will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the William T. Young Library on Tuesday, May 13th. Tours will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. with a reception starting at 6:00 p.m. Our program will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will feature Gordon Gee, President of The Ohio State University. In addition to celebrating and thanking all those individuals who were responsible for envisioning such a library for the Commonwealth and seeing it through to completion, we will debut our new Libraries brochure that evening. Exhibits have been installed in the Gallery and other areas of the library. Video exhibits will run in the atrium, the Hub, and the Auditorium. The actual program will be held in the atrium. I look forward to seeing you at the event!

Kate Seago Named Parliamentarian for University Senate

I’m pleased to let you know that Kate Seago has been named (and has agreed to serve) as the parliamentarian for the University Senate. Kate served in that role at the Senate’s last meeting of this academic year on Monday, May 5th and will resume that role in the fall. Congratulations, Kate!

Next Dean's Update

There will be no Dean’s Update on May 16th. The next update will be available on May 23rd.

ALA accredited LIS Schools on Google Maps

From American Libraries Direct

Find an ALA-accredited LIS program near you

The Office for Accreditation has created a Google map that shows the locations of all ALA-accredited LIS schools. The map includes main campus locations as well as other locations where the entire degree can be completed, and it offers links to each school’s entry in the office’s directory of accredited programs....

1950s style film with tips on the ALA Annual Conference

From American Libraries Direct

Your Annual Conference and you

Gee willikers! Check out this swell 1950s-style educational film that gives you the A-B-Cs of having a jim-dandy time at ALA Annual Conference. It’s packed with so many super tips that every Billy and Sue out there will exclaim, “Golly! Can we watch it again?” Yes indeedy, you can! (Stick around afterwards for a few bloopers, too.) Hosted by John Chrastka and filmed by AL’s Daniel Kraus....

Scanning rare books for Google Book Search

From American Libraries Direct

Scanning rare books for Google Book Search

In a dimly lit back room on the second level of the University of Michigan library’s book-shelving department, Courtney Mitchel helps a giant desktop machine digest a rare, centuries-old Bible. Mitchel is among hundreds of librarians from Minnesota to England making digital versions of the most fragile of the books to be included in Google Book Search. The manual scanning is much slower than Google’s normal process....Associated Press, Apr. 25

Free web reference questions answered by cellphone

From American Libraries Direct

Free web reference questions answered by cellphone

ChaCha is a free cellphone service that lets you ask any question answerable via a web search, using almost any cellphone, by simply making a voice call. Just dial (800) 224-2242 and state your question. In a few minutes, you’ll get an answer via text message from one of 10,000 hired “guides”—students, stay-at-home parents, retirees, and others—who look up the questions on the Web and reply. They get paid 20 cents per answer. (Perhaps libraries should have thought of this?)...Wall Street Journal, Apr. 24

Making Wikis work for scholars

From American Libraries Direct

Making wikis work for scholars

For all the hand-wringing over whether Wikipedia is a legitimate source for completing college assignments, some professors are quietly incorporating it into their classrooms and even their research. Others, noting features of the website that contribute to inaccuracies and short-change the value of expertise, are building variations on the model that are more amenable to academics and to peer review....Inside Higher Ed, Apr. 28