Representing Reference - Making the most of your database subscriptions: a SciFinder Scholar example

Electronic resources present libraries with many challenges. Among them are the challenges that can be viewed as obstacles to use by our patrons, obstacles such as registration before use, complicated search tools, required knowledge of research methods, and more. These obstacles make resources like Google seem even more attractive to the user looking for shortcuts. Ensuring a database’s use is especially important as costs for databases and content escalate and pressures on budgets grow. So how can libraries get the most out of such database investments? Especially costly resources, or resources that support accreditation of vital programs? Join Eric Zino as he hosts the first in our Representing Reference member program series. He will be joined by librarians from Rider University and an organic chemistry faculty member at Rider who have worked together to develop a series of tutorials for one such complex and vital e-resource: SciFinder Scholar. They’ll share with you about their inspiration, plan, and the results of their approach to the issue of getting the most out of a vital and complex e-resource.


Host: Eric Zino
Presenters: Librarians and faculty from Rider University

Date: Thursday April 25th, 2013
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET

Seats available. For more information and to register, click here.

OCLC and LYRASIS Present: The Future of Resource Sharing

The resource sharing environment is constantly shifting.

In recent years, resource sharing practitioners have experienced changes in staffing patterns, trying financial times, and significant changes in technology. Access to digital materials has increased-- in the form of archival collections online and institutional repositories. A trend toward open access publishing increases access to published information.

At the same time, the cost of collections is rising—scholarly journals are increasingly more expensive, and book budgets are slashed, creating a need for us to share resources more creatively and effectively. The “buy vs. borrow” idea has started to enter into our thinking and practice, and the time for more options, more data and more utility from our systems is here.
 

In Person Event:
Join us for this full-day conference at Mercer University in Macon, GA, where we will explore ideas with speakers and resource sharing practitioners from around the community.

Our agenda includes Alisa Whitt and Mike Constentino from OCLC on the transition from WorldCat Resource Sharing to WorldShare ILL, Russell Palmer from LYRASIS on information resources for ILL staff, and resource sharing experts from around the state presenting best practices and great ideas.

Cost: Free

Location:

Mercer University
Jack Tarver Library
Macon, GA

http://libraries.mercer.edu/tarver/about

And as an added bonus, a continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Registration:  To register for this event, click here.

Covering the Collections Spectrum: From Print to Digital and Back Again

LYRASIS and the William B. Meyer Company Invite You to a LYRASIS Community Forum

Electronic journals and databases have replaced print journal collections. eBooks, having made their first appearance as reference materials, are now expanding to represent significant portions of monographic collections, and librarians, archivists, museum and technology staffs are on the move to create, collect and curate digital surrogates of materials as well as born digital content.

Join us for a day of discussion and exploration of the convergences and divergences these trends create for information professionals and their patrons alike. LYRASIS staff will be on hand to discuss the LYRASIS Digital initiative. Also participating are leaders in the field of print collection management, and you, members of LYRASIS, will have the opportunity to network and share ideas, experiences, and expectations on the changing nature of collections.

This free event includes morning refreshments, lunch, and a tour of the William B. Meyer facility.

Seating is limited. Please RSVP by Friday, March 22^nd.

To Register: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VYC6NXQ

For more information, including suggestions for accommodations, email Sherry Sullivan.

Date: Thursday, March 28, 2013

Time: 9:30 AM to 3:00PM
Location: William B. Meyer Facility
175 Great Pond Drive Windsor, CT 06095

Participants include:

Rick Lugg from Sustainable Collection Servicesspeaking on intelligently drawing down print book collections.

Ted Kennedy, Carla Caforio and Frank Shiboski, our hosts from William B. Meyer, speaking about print management project planning, strategies, and technology in depositories today.

Connecticut State Librarian and LYRASIS Board Member Ken Wiggin along with LYRASIS staff members Timothy Cherubini and Sherry Sullivan will present LYRASIS Digital and an overview of collaborative print repository projects.

And you, LYRASIS members, will have the opportunity to share ideas and experiences by networking

throughout the day and an Open Forum and Discussion in the afternoon.

Digital Collection Road Trip : Building a Theological Commons

The Theological Commons at Princeton Theological Seminary Library is a digital library of over 76,000 books on theology and religion. The project is based on the long-standing partnership between Princeton Seminary and the Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and maintaining a free and openly accessible online digital library. This project is unusual in at least two respects: First, while 35% of the volumes in the Theological Commons are from Princeton Theological Seminary Library, the majority are from the collections of other libraries. Second, all of the content in the Theological Commons is already freely accessible online through the Internet Archive, making the Theological Commons a strictly "value added" project. Its value is in the selection, curation, and presentation of the content. Join us to see the end result in action and to hear about the genesis of the project, means of digitization, selection criteria, technological infrastructure, and our software development methodology.

Host: Regan Harper
Guest Presenter: Gregory Murray, Digital Initiatives Librarian - Princeton Theological Seminary

Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm ET

Seats available. For more information and to register, click here.

The LYRASIS Polite Debate Society Presents: Teaching the Tough Stuff: Exploring the Librarian’s Most Difficult Instructional Challenges

No matter what we call it—BI, programming, information literacy/fluency, user education—the instructional role of the librarian is challenging, but rewarding.
Many of us approach instruction with little to no formal training in “how to teach.” We work hard in order to figure it out, we consult our colleagues and friends to discover “what works?” –yet several concepts--the mechanics of searching, plagiarism, scholarly discourse-- remain consistently elusive, and are therefore regularly addressed in professional forums...

While these topics are frequently discussed, they are still challenging to solve. Through our reasoned and polite debate, we will discover great ideas to implement in the classroom, and identify deeper issues to discuss—such as developing a personal pedagogy, the role of teaching partners like faculty, teachers, volunteers and others, and the best tools and resources available to guide us as we work to become better teachers.

Host:
Russell Palmer

Panelists:
Annemarie Roscello, Bergen County College
Jessica Critten, University of West Georgia
Becky Hinton, Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
Diane Fuller, Upper School Library at the Gilman School

Date: Friday April 19^thTime: 1:00-2:30 PM ET

Seats are available. For more information and to register, click here.

LYRASIS Member Showcase - The Engaged Library: Information Literacy Instruction and the First-Year Experience at Washburn University

Washburn University is an open-admissions medium sized public university in Topeka, Kansas, whose University Libraries, by 2007, were increasing irrelevant to the campus community of learning. Indeed, like many other similar sized libraries, the Washburn Libraries had to answer the question of their relevancy in the age of Google. Now, as 2013 begins, the Washburn University Libraries have returned to their historic position at the center of the University community of learning and this presentation will detail how this occurred during a period of fiscal austerity. This discussion will examine a five-year plan that saw the Washburn Libraries engage the campus community in effective and transformative ways through Information Literacy instruction and as a key partner in developing the institution's new First-Year Experience program.

Presenter: Alan Bearman, Dean of Libraries - Washburn University
Cost: $0

Date: Wednesday, March 27 2013
Time: 1:00-2:00 ET

Seats are available. For more information and to register, click here.