Training: EBSCOHost Small Business Reference Center

Just some notes from the webinar: Small Business Reference Center

This database is a unique collection with some overlap of materials collected with other EBSCO databases, but by no means is this database a sub-db of say, Business Source Complete. The trainer pointed out that BSC didn't have the full text of the NOLO small business guides that SBRC contains. Aside from collecting 400 FT periodicals and 500 FT reference books, it also has a graphical interface which makes browsing a bit easier for a person who is not used to using a database.

There are Harvard business videos, which are a great resource. I saw that there was a note on the videos that said that there were supplemental lecture materials available for purchase. I asked whether EBSCO collects those materials or not. The trainer said she would look into it.

The start up kit is actually one of the NOLO books with the chapters broken down. There is also a state-by-state guide to what you need, but the guide is not as thorough as I would have liked. Of course that would have been hard to do b/c regulations are always changing/evolving, so the state-by-state guide tells you of the sorts of things you should look out for, such as licensing in your area of business.

Remember you can do a publication search. There's the usual EBSCO functionality such as email an article, permalinks. Remember patrons need to authenticate first, then they'll be able to access the material.

I did a trial search for "florist" b/c I had a patron who was interested in opening a florist shop. There were a lot of industry specific articles that talked about the status of earnings, where to get floral supplies, etc. Very handy. So long story short, be sure to recommend this resource when someone comes in looking to research starting their own business.

Reading While Getting Paid

When sitting on the desk and not able to work on a project, I can read any of the following from my library's EBSCO database, for free. It's not the same as flipping through the pages of the magazine, but that doesn't look like professional sort of thing anyway, does it? What, you're getting paid to set at the desk and read magazines?!? No, no. I'm getting paid to be current on the latest research in my field. This is just a reminder to me to read.

Acquisitions Librarian
American Libraries
Book Links
Booklist
Canadian Journal of Information & Library Sciences
Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children
Collection Management
Computers in Libraries
EContent
Emergency Librarian
Feliciter
Huntington Library Quarterly
Information Technology & Libraries
Internet Reference Services Quarterly
Journal of Academic Librarianship
Journal of Access Services
Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship
Libraries & the Cultural Record

Library Journal
Library Media Connection
Library Mosaics
Library Quarterly
Library Resources & Technical Services
Library Talk
Library Technology Reports
Library Trends
LJ: Library Journal
Online
Online Classroom
Online Searcher
Orana
Preservation, Digital Technology & Culture
Quarterly Bulletin of the National Library of South Africa
Quarterly Bulletin of the South African Library
Reading Online
Reference & User Services Quarterly
School Libraries in Canada
School Library Journal
School Library Media Activities Monthly
School Library Monthly
South African Journal of Library & Information Science
Teacher Librarian
Technology Connection
Yale University Library Gazette
Young Adult Library Services

Fighting Information Overload

There's a small article in the June 2013 edition of School Library Journal that talks about the current value of librarians not being in providing exhaustive services, but in providing selective information services. The four points the author makes are:

1. Weed the collection and pick the best. Then get to know all about it so you can use it well.
2. "Concretize" [not a real word] the resources. Best is to teach it in the moment, but if the moment if after hours (or whatever), then use products like CamStudio to make quick screen captures to teach it.
3. Categorize large groups of items into smaller, more specific groups. This way the user doesn't have to guess what a database does.
4. Start simple by introducing smaller sets of things and then progress to larger sets. Once the user has a handle on a topic, you can give more information.

As a customer, this is a no brainer. I prefer to shop at Trader Joe's because there aren't a million things to choose from and what they do have is great quality for the price. TJ's has done my work for me.

As a librarian, this is a little harder b/c I want to find everything. I don't know if what I have found will meet the need, so I want to send the user home with everything. I suppose to better serve the user I need to spend more time learning about his/her info need, spend more time in the reference interview.

Reading What My Boss Reads

I remember reading or hearing somewhere that if you want to move up in the (corporate) world, read not what is expected of you (to get your job done), but rather read what your boss reads. This way you are already familiar with the vocabulary and issues your boss faces and if you ever find yourself alone with said boss, you could possibly talk with her/him about something of their interest. And that sort of initiative could translate into tracking up. Hence my association with Library Administrator's Digest.

A few brief columns stood out to me in the April 2013 issue:

• Using LibraryExtension.com to see if your local library has a book that you find on Amazon. Genius! Issues are that it only works on Google Chrome (is that really so bad?) and that not all libraries support browsing their catalog in this third party app. (Sac Public does (and with ebook search!), my current system does not).
• Staff Training Options- one library system is encouraging staff to share what they learn and saw from either reading a professional literature book or from visiting a library. The second option really stands out to me because it supports collaboration by using our library allies in other jurisdictions to glean ideas for programs and services.

TexShare Databases or What We Can Get for Cheap

I'm not quite sure how this works, but in the great state of Texas, the state library has a "cooperative program" that regional library systems, academic libraries, etc can participate in, in order to have access to more resources, such as databases. I have no idea if it is paid for by the state library through state taxes (such as income tax) or paid for by the individual libraries on a subscription basis.

Anyway, it's budget time and there's been a change up in the resources being offered. I'm not going to list here what we had before or what we are keeping, b/c it is outside the purpose of this post. The purpose of this post is simply to note that there were some webinars that came out of the new additions. And I attended two this morning. Below are the notes from the sessions.

• Full text PDFs
• 720 videos
• 1500 resources indexed, 
• including books which don't read like ebooks, but you can click through the chapters
• In Advanced search, you can limit by greater than/ less than <> page numbers to find more detailed artilces
• Sharing articles is difficult b/c the user needs to login w/ username & password; so they would need their home organization's proxy link. (Best would be to log into library account first and then try links?)

AND

• This resource is more for the home owner/ weekend warrior and not so much for contractors, etc. They feature things that the average home handy(wo)man should be able to do.
• Be sure to look through the A to Z topics to have an idea of what there is for people to use. Examples are: Treehouse plans, ideas for small spaces, tiling, etc.

I'm glad I took the webinars b/c the trainer pointed some things out that I wouldn't have noticed or possibly bothered to browse. They look like cool resources and definitely as the trainer said, something to look through that is curated and good quality when the library is closed and at 2 in the morning you just got to peel the wallpaper off the bathroom walls.

All Ebsco products have a link to the support, training and promotional materials at the bottom of the page. I got the above images from there.

PLA Virtual Conference

My system has access to the PLA Virtual Spring Symposium Archive and I'm listening to stuff as part of my professional development and personal curiosity. First up is  

Practical Readers’ Advisory for Children and Teens

which I think is aimed at adult/reference librarians who have no clue how to talk to children. Some of the stuff I already know, such as, treat kids like you would adults by engaging in a reference interview. Some I've learned through experience, such as when you ask kids a question they may not answer or may take a while to answer because they have never been given the opportunity by other adults to voice their thoughts. (I once had an adult answer every question I posed to a child. It was QUITE irritating.)

Three resources the presenters recommend for keeping abreast of new stuff coming out are:

• http://nextreads.com/ - this is a service of NoveList. The interface says they are building something new.
• http://www.indiebound.org/indie-bestsellers  - This looks like a web version of BookPage, but not by Book Page.
• http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/alex - this is a list of adult books that have appeal for teens branching out.

For the section on recommending books that are above the reader's level. The response was to recommend high image materials such as:

• national geographic books or the Guinness record books
• magazines
• graphic novels, especially of classic literature 

Other recommendations were to:

• give them the audio version
• check online "gifted" lists such as:
• Hoagiesgifted.org/reading_lists.htm
• http://vcbconsulting.com/gtworld/
• https://depts.washington.edu/cscy/resources/ - check to see if the state of Texas (or wherever you happen to be) has a similar resource of reading lists for gifted and talented
• Introduce classics like Phantom Tollbooth that have rich vocabulary and introduce things like philosophy but are still within the maturity level of the younger reader. 

---

Then I listened and took extensive notes on 

The Closing Keynote Designing a 21st Century Roadmap for the Future of Public Libraries with Garry Golden of Forward Elements, Inc.

Futurists look at drivers of change:

• trends (continuities)
• events (discontinuity)
• choices (discontinuity)

to make suggestions on emerging issues. In terms of skill set for Librarians - a T shaped asset - the person would have a depth of knowledge in a given domain with the ability to apply that knowledge across various domains. (Like taking my digital libraries knowledge and being able to apply it to collection development, visual design online, providing programming, etc)

The trends Garry sees which are changes in behavior over time.:

• Moving from measuring outputs (size of collection, # of checkouts, # of attendees) to measuring outcomes aka lifelong learning
• "retooling" local (collections, focus on supporting local needs such as supporting successful small business creation), 
• designing the library for place based experiences, (maker spaces, allowing people to come together for their own purposes through study rooms, community spaces)

Lifelong Learning
Libraries evolving from being about access to helping communities master skills. The evolution of learning rose from the apprenticeship model to institutional model (a teacher with many students) to learner model where the individual drives their learning goals, modes and outcomes.

Khan academy- pace of learning is the key b/c individuals learn at different rates; "flipped" classroom is where the learners read the lesson at home and then come to school to do the homework together.

Question- how can libraries anticipate flipped classrooms?
Scaled instruction via MOOCs (massive open online classroom) - can we imagine this in libraries and how?

How: the library as place for instruction
The library could support interacting with instructors as they do with authors. How can libraries offer users more celebrity instructors, even local ones? What about youtube instructors? How about supporting community instructors via Skill Share. How can we help to manage experiences people have with these types of instructors? Can we create a collection of these resources? Yes. But think of the logistics of upkeep. What happens when those files disappear?

From 1998 to 2008, people got very comfortable with managing their profiles (social) online. Now the question of whether instruction is in person or is online is no longer sufficient. The question is whether the instruction is "software guided" or not. Software guided is instruction that moves toward adaptive learning platforms. For example the platform recognizes that the learnrt is better at math in the evening and reading comprehension in the morning. It then suggests or guides the learner to the best times and resources to support their current and future skill set.

Device data = behavior data. Will libraries be willing to use device data in the aggregate to learn about their users? For example, can an "I don't understand" button allow libraries to see where the hangups are in their processes?

How can libraries support users who want to share their story of mastery/ personal growth?

• use of badges
• evolution from resume to (online) portfolio to managing presence (various social media)
• Danny Hills Learning Graphs

Retooling Local
How do libraries provide local communities more information about themselves? Besides collection local information and making it available digitally. Garry gives the following as examples of online services that provide local information.

• Citizen science tools- Project Noah, or similar services
• Peer to Peer sharing via Neighbor Goods, RideShare type stuff

Place Based Relationships

• if users are willing to share their location info, can the library send alerts about new services, programs, resources based on what the user has done/ used before. 
• Can there be updates as to study room use? 
• Finally collaborative spaces (maker), creative aging spaces, craft spaces for "emergent" adults?

How can flexible physical spaces be reflected in the online environment?

learning the RC: Dewey 020 (You mean the dewey has a section on Library Science?!?)

Here's meta for me: Library science includes a category about library science!

I wish I had known about Information Today's Library and Book Trade Almanac (formerly The Bowker Annual): Facts, Figures, and Reports (020.5 LIB 2012 /57th Edition) back when I was in grad school learning about the profession. This book would be what you would read when you don't have time to read all the stuff from the scholarly journals to keep you abreast of the major trends in the field. However, you would be about a year behind. Still, info on legislation, statistics, bibliographies, federal agencies and so forth. This is for the librarian to get a better idea of what s/he's getting in for by working in the field.

Scenario: I'm going to start a library. I need to know what are the informational books I should have in my collection so that it is worthy of my patrons and provides them a starting point for their research needs. I turn to the Public Library Core Collection: Nonfiction tome and it's various supplements (025.2 PUB 2008 13TH ED. and Supplement 2011) to keep me abreast of what I should have. Keep in mind, this is published by EBSCO and non ALA, but whatever. Those good folks have got me started and I'll turn to Publisher's Weekly and Library Journal and all the rest after I have a core collection.

Training!

I've got my degree, but that doesn't mean I can stop learning. Below are some resources for online (and otherwise) learning.

• INFOPEOPLE! (ok, they don't really all caps their name, but I love this resource) Based in CA, but webinars and online classes are open to anyone and they are affordable. Anyone can register.
• WebJunction. A service by OCLC. Webinars, and self-paced courses. Webinars (archived and upcoming) are free, but the actual courses require sponsorship through a library and they only support certain states. Ask your library system for access.
• ALA's eLearning. These you pay for. Sign up at the ALA Store, which also sells books for professional development.
• And then, of course, there are the various resources offered by the (state) library associations, such as their conferences and continuing education. 
• TxLA Continuing Education Corner- swing toward school libraries, but hey.
• and others- CO State Library's webinars come from WebJunction;
• R-Squared (Risk and Reward) Conference- look out for more like this
• My School and other iSchool continuing education classes/ professional development and certificate courses.
• Cool Professional Journals such as Reference & User Services Quarterly and Library Technology Reports.