Regarding: "Build It and They Will Build Another One"

I read this post on the ACRLog yesterday and thought it might make a good discussion topic for our upcoming meeting. With publications like the New York Times, Time magazine, and others making more of their archives freely available online, (while Lexis Nexis makes its interface more difficult to use), how are we "selling" the databases? I share Barbara Fister's "feeling [that] the old 'here’s how' instruction will get harder and harder to provide simply because the map of where it is and how to get there is constantly being redrawn." I think we might all benefit from sharing our thoughts and ideas about how best to approach this.

CJARL Meetings - Fall 2007

I can hardly believe the summer is over and it's time to get back into the swing of a new semester, but here we are. I plan to be blogging some more soon, but for now here are the dates of our fall meetings:

Friday, October 12 from 10:00 am - 12 noon at Brookdale Community College


Friday, December 7 from 10:00 am - 12 noon (location TBA)

Feel free to start collecting discussion items for our October meeting! And if you'd like to be a contributor to this blog, please let me know.

Save Small and Independent Presses...

On the May 18 episode of his new PBS program, Bill Moyers Journal, Moyers made a plea for viewers to save small and independent presses from the proposed postal rate hikes which will unfairly burden these presses. Today, CommonDreams.org posted the transcript of this plea. You can find out more and take action by sending an online letter to your Congressperson at FreePress.net.

The Reference Discussion, Continued

In this week's Chronicle, Todd Gilman writes about "The Four Habits of Highly Effective Librarians." These habits include openess, responsiveness, collaboration and communication. The piece is worth reading, and I'm including it here because the first two habits Gilman elaborates on address two of the issues we discussed at our last meeting: the future of the reference desk and instant message reference. Gilman also cites the Columbia Reference Debate while discussing the future of the reference desk. (The comments following the debate summary are worth reading, too.) Take a look for some food for thought.

"Google, Ken Burns, and Fractal Cognitive Engagement"

Take a look at this video about how the brain works while searching Google. Perhaps at our next meeting we can discuss implications of this for OPACs and other reference-related library services. Posted on behalf of Martin Crabtree.

Mark Your Calendars!

All are welcome at our next meeting on May 18, from 10-12 at the CJRLC Headquarters in Freehold. Directions are available on the CJRLC website. As always, light refreshments will be served.

The agenda is tentative at this point, but a few questions and ideas for discussion include:

Academic Reference Issues: How many hours are librarians spending on the reference desk?
What kinds of questions and challenges are students presenting at the physical desk?
What methods of e-ref are CJARL members using? How are these methods working? Have any best practices been established?

Library-sponsored research awards -- (Is anyone doing this?)

If you have ideas for discussion, or know of any resources related to tentative topics that may be of interest to the group, please respond to this blog post, email me at aclark@brookdalecc.edu, or bring them to the meeting!

Print & Electronics Resources Program Summary

For those who couldn't make it, Paul Schroeder has posted a summary of the March 27 program, Print vs. Electronic Resources, on the NJLA blog.

Link: http://blog.njla.org/