This Week in LIS - 9 October 2009

Headline of the Week: TWILIS Reimagined

Subscribers of TWILIS will recall we’ve conducted a brief survey over the past couple weeks to determine the parts of the newsletter that work particularly well, and areas where we could improve. Thanks to everyone who has offered their thoughts. This week I thought I’d share some of the collective wisdom and some thoughts on changes we’ll make in response now and in the coming weeks.

As of this afternoon, thirty-nine individuals have responded to the survey. Overall, the group reports relatively high marks on effectiveness and usefulness with more than two-thirds scoring it between 8 and 10 on a scale of ten. Here’s the scoring breakdown for the question On a scale of 10 to 1 how would you rate the overall effectiveness and usefulness of This Week in LIS (TWILIS)? (10 being best)

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The second question block asked readers to rank individual sections. Here’s the exact question and answers: Please rate the usefulness of each section to you. (9 being very useful, 1 being not useful)

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The remainder of the survey asked for comment on specific questions. Here’s a summary of responses:

Are there any sections that you think could be improved? If so, how? Answers to this question focused on two specific points: 1) More information to be included in the LIS Council section, and 2) The links each week are voluminous.

Do you think the layout of TWILIS could be improved? If so, how? There were no common answers to this question aside from the general feeling that layout works fine. Management of the links section arose here, as well as comments about segmenting content by audience, and reconsidering the event listing.

Is there any content that you would like to see in TWILIS? The one common thread in these comments was some sort of rotating profile of LIS teams and the work they are currently doing. Similarly, profiling resources/users was also mentioned.

With this data in mind, here are some of the ideas you’re likely to see as TWILIS continues to evolve:

  • We’ll expand the Notes from LIS Council section to include a little more information on the discussions. LIS Council is the leadership team within LIS that meets (mostly) weekly to share information from across the organization. Not long ago, we expanded the description of LIS Council on our organizational website. If you haven’t checked it out, I encourage you to do so. This change will be effective this week.
  • We’ll introduce a QuickList of links at the top of the Links of the Week section that is intended to profile a select few of the most notable items discovered during the week. Those links will still appear in the list below (and will be bolded in that context). This will allow folks to focus on the top headlines if they prefer. The full list will still be available for others. We may play with formatting a bit, so feel free to provide feedback as we iterate. This change will be effective this week.
  • The NITLE Opportunities section will include any timely announcements directly from NITLE. This change will be effective this week.
  • We will introduce a new section profiling LIS users and the tools and services they feel make the biggest impact on their work. This change will be effective next week.
  • We will introduce a new section profiling LIS teams and their ongoing work. This change will be effective in November.

Most of the rest will probably stay about the same. Your comments and feedback are always welcome. Please don’t hesitate to send them along and thanks for reading. Thanks also to LIS student communications and marketing assistant Adam Kobler for assisting with our survey.

LIS Blog Highlights from the Week

The following articles are sampled from those available on the LIS Blog:

Notes from LIS Council

LIS Council is the leadership team within LIS. Among the topics discussed this past week were:

  • Proposed Revisions to the scope of the Academic Technology and Learning Resources Committee — At the faculty division meetings this past week, an initial reading of proposed language for the faculty handbook was discussed. This new language would formally broaden the mission of the committee to be an LIS advisory body (as it has functioned recently). The proposal will be reviewed following feedback and eventually move to the full faculty for consideration.
  • Copyright Policy Proposal — Also at the division meetings this week, LIS presented an overview of the proposed new copyright policy and gathered comment and feedback. Response was generally positive with some good comment which will be incorporated into the proposal.
  • Emergency Response Planning — Council reviewed where to deploy new flashlights in LIS spaces. Additional planning discussions are pending.
  • Network Routing and Google Apps — This past week we saw some timeout troubles connecting to Google Apps. Issues were sporadic and did not seem to affect all users in the same way. We have received some new routing information from Google and hope that service is improved this week.
  • Rare Book Donated — LIS is pleased to receive a rare copy of Anatomical Dialogues from Dave Olsen ’63. This will be incorporated into our 40th Anniversary celebration and will be placed into the Rare Book Room.
  • Service Points Update — Council reviewed costs of the call center (which came in under budget), and the status of planning for the renovated office spaces. The folks involved in the southeast corner of the library have met and conversations are beginning with Facilities. Folks involved in the northwest corner of the library meet today to review options.
  • Preus Library 40th Anniversary — Council acknowledged the fine work of many who planned and hosted a series of excellent events commemorating the 40th anniversary of Preus Library.
  • Project Directory Review — Council reviewed and updated the LIS Project Directory.

NITLE Opportunities

As a member of NITLE (National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education), Luther has the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of developmental and training programs intended for faculty, librarians, and information technologists. Events listed at the link below are currently open for registration by Luther participants. LIS Staff who are interested in participating in an event should speak with Christopher Barth. Faculty who are interested in participating should speak with Lori Stanley. Participation is contingent upon available funding and program acceptance.

A full list of events (sortable by registration deadline) is available at http://www.nitle.org/www/events.

Upcoming LIS Training, Instruction, and Professional Development Opportunities

Click on the event below for specific information and for a link to register. More information on training and development events is available.

CourseFormatDateStart TimeEnd TimeLocation
New Faculty Teaching Group: Academic Support and AdvisingFaculty DevelopmentOct 122:45 pm3:45 pmDahl Centennial Union – Nansen
Using ICPSR Datasets with SPSSSkills TrainingOct 154:00 pm5:00 pmOlin 301 – Round Table Room
Music 131: Honors Music TheoryLibrary InstructionOct 169:30 am10:15 am
Social Networking Basics: Getting Started with Facebook and TwitterSkills TrainingOct 209:00 am10:00 amOlin 301 – Round Table Room
Norse Mail Tips & TricksSkills TrainingOct 2211:00 am12:00 pmOlin 301 – Round Table Room
New Faculty Teaching Group: Research and Technology ResourcesFaculty DevelopmentOct 262:45 pm3:45 pmDahl Centennial Union – Nansen
Teaching Writing: Helping Students ReviseFaculty DevelopmentOct 264:00 pm5:30 pmOlin 101
Current Trends in Student CommunicationFaculty DevelopmentOct 284:00 pm5:00 pmOlin 301 – Round Table Room
Call Pilot Desktop MessagingProduct DemonstrationOct 292:30 pm3:00 pmDahl Centennial Union – Borlaug
MUS 231A: Introduction to Music ResearchLibrary InstructionOct 308:00 am8:00 amJenson-Noble Choir Room
MUS 231B: Introduction to Music ResearchLibrary InstructionOct 3011:00 am12:00 pmJenson-Noble Choir Room
MUS 231C: Introduction to Music ResearchLibrary InstructionOct 301:30 pm2:00 pmJenson-Noble 123
Call Pilot Desktop MessagingProduct DemonstrationNov 211:30 am12:00 pmDahl Centennial Union – Borlaug
New Faculty Teaching GroupFaculty DevelopmentNov 92:45 pm3:45 pmDahl Centennial Union – Nansen
Encouraging Student Participation with ClickersFaculty DevelopmentNov 123:00 pm4:00 pmTBA
Norse FormsSkills TrainingNov 192:45 pm3:45 pmOlin 301 – Round Table Room
New Faculty Teaching GroupFaculty DevelopmentNov 232:45 pm3:45 pmDahl Centennial Union – Nansen
Teaching Writing: Using Rubrics to Evaluate PapersFaculty DevelopmentNov 304:00 pm5:30 pmOlin 101
German 201: Intermediate German ILibrary InstructionDec 212:15 pm12:15 pmRare Book Room – Preus Library
New Faculty Teaching GroupFaculty DevelopmentDec 72:45 pm3:45 pmDahl Centennial Union – Nansen

Internet Resource of the Week: Return My Pants!!

For those who lend or borrow and for whom paper notes or their memories seem fallible, enter Return My Pants!!, a very simple website that helps remind lenders and borrowers what happened when, and when something else needs to happen (e.g. return the pants). The site is so easy there are no instructions other than click on the big arrows, fill out the brief form and be done. You include information on the item(s) lent, who is lending/borrowing and for how long. The system is then configured to email reminders. Creating an account with the site is integrated into the form. Of course no website is perfect; the site does not guarantee your pants will be cleaned when returned.

On the web at http://returnmypants.com/

Quote(s) of the Week:

  • “Education made America great; neglect of education can reverse the process.” – Paul Krugman
  • “If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative.” – Woody Allen
  • “Websites are like buildings: you can’t just abandon them indefinitely and expect them to keep working.” – Ivor Tossell
  • “Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
  • “Simplicity is natures first step, and the last of art.” – Philip James Bailey
  • “The Ofcom report found that 32 per cent of 12- to 15-year-olds believed that search engines like Google measure “truthfulness” and display their results accordingly.” – Ofcom Report

Image of the Week: Needles and Haystacks and Such

Video of the Week: Singularity University Releases First Videos

Singularity University has posted on YouTube the first two videos of lecturers in the recent Graduate Studies Program at NASA Ames. Vint Cerf (“the father of the Internet” and Google Chief Internet Evangelist) gives a comprehensive overview of the state of the Internet today and new issues, including IPv6, the need for cloud computing standards, the growing Asian prominence online, and the interplanetary Internet. Bob Metcalfe, founder of 3Com and co-inventor of the ethernet, lectures on the “Enernet,” applying the Internet model to energy.

Vint Cerf
Bob Metcalfe

Links of the Week

infoneer.pngThe links and media above are selected from material posted to Infoneer.net, which gathers links and comment on the worlds of libraries, technology, higher education, culture, intellectual property, copyright, information, ethics, design, professional identity, leadership, and the future. Subscribe to Infoneer.net RSS

This Week in LIS is published most Fridays by Christopher Barth, Executive Director of Library and Information Services at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa for the Luther College community as well as those interested in information services and higher education.

This issue is Volume 4, Number 6 (#133)

Content is made available under Creative Commons license. Creative Commons License

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