Open Access: What You Need to Know Now

Crawford, Walt. Open Access: What You Need to Know Now. Chicago: ALA, 2011. 070.57973 Crawf ISBN 978-0-8389-1106-8 Academic libraries routinely struggle to afford access to expensive journals, and patrons may not be able to obtain every scholarly paper they need. Is Open Access (OA) the answer? In this ALA Editions Special Report, Crawford helps readers understand what OA is (and isn t), as he concisely · Analyzes the factors that have brought us to the current state of breakdown, including the skyrocketing costs of science, technology, engineering, and medicine (STEM) journals; consolidation of publishers and diminishing price competition; and shrinking library budgets · Summarizes the benefits and drawbacks of different OA models, such as Green, Gold, Gratis, Libre, and various hybrid forms · Discusses ways to retain peer-review, and methods for managing OA in the library, including making OA scholarly publishing available to the general public Addressing the subject from the library perspective while taking a realistic view of corporate interests, Crawford presents a coherent review of what Open Access is today and what it may become.

Assistive Technologies in the Library

Mates, Barbara T. with contributions by William R. Reed IV. Assistive Technologies in the Library. Chicago: ALA, 2011. 027.663 MatesA ISBN 978-0-8389-1070-2 There are plenty of products out there for making information accessible to all users, but how can administrators and managers determine which are the most practical and economical for their particular library? Mates, former director of the Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled, strips away the technical jargon and introduces dozens of the latest options, including hardware, software, and peripherals. This guide will help readers · Choose the products that are best for their organization, with the help of the evaluative commentary, lists of suppliers, and additional resources included · Set up work stations and train staff on how to use assistive-technology such as screen readers, Braille displays, keyboard options, listening devices, and more · Meet compliance with regulatory agencies while benefiting every member of the community This sensitively written and practical guidebook will be an indispensable resource for ensuring that a library's offerings are accessible to everyone.

Mentoring in the Library: Building for the Future

Lee, Marta K. Mentoring in the Library: Building for the Future. Chicago: ALA, 2011. 020.7155 Lee ISBN 978-0-8389-3593-4 Mentoring isn't just another component of being a good employee. It s essential to the continuing health of an institution: the sharing of knowledge and experience not only helps less senior employees improve their job skills but transforms managers into stronger leaders. Noted reference librarian and researcher Lee offers librarians at all levels both her experience and her ideas about establishing a formal mentoring process at the library. Readers will learn · The kinds of skills the mentor should have, with techniques for successful development, education, and training · How to establish formal and informal mentoring arrangements, with a chapter devoted to mentoring librarians electronically · Keys to working with students, interns, volunteers, and individuals interested in a library science career In this useful book Lee shows librarians how mentoring can be both satisfying and good for career development and personal growth

The School Library Media Specialist's Policy & Procedure Writer

Downs, Elizabeth. The School Library Media Specialist's Policy & Procedure Writer. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2010. ISBN: 978-1-55570-621-0

This book is well organized, is generous with examples, and received positive reviews in School Library Journal, VOYA, Library Media Connection, and other industry journals. The accompanying CD allows you to easily adapt sample policies and procedures to your own situation. -- Jen

Publisher's Description:
In one detailed multimedia source, you'll find everything you need to evaluate your library's current policies and procedures, and suggestions to help you develop new ones in today's more complex digital content environment. Among the many areas covered are:

* Collection Development
* Acquisitions
* Budgeting
* Equipment and Materials Maintenance
* Year-End Reporting
* Scheduling
* Web Publishing and Design
* Reading Incentive Programs
* Serving Students with Special Needs
* Copyright

You'll find more than 300 sample policies, procedures, and forms you can customize and print to help you manage each aspect of your library's operations. The accompanying CD makes it easy to tap the book's text without rekeying so you can create or revise your own library's manuals.

Table of Contents:
To see the table of contents, click the Look Inside link on the publisher's site.

Teams in Library Technical Services

Bazirjian, Rosann and Mugridge, Rebecca, eds. Teams in Library Technical Services. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, 2006. 025.02 Teams ISBN 978-0-8108-5294-5

Team management entered libraries in the mid-1980s in the wake of shrinking budgets, rising costs, and changing technology, among other factors. Here, editors Bazirjian and Mugridge present research and case studies indicating why and how teams apply to technical services, especially in academic libraries. Additionally, the book examines the relationships between professional and support staff and the changing roles of librarians today, including the impact of technology, and the ever-present issues surrounding performance evaluations, hiring, workloads and work flow, and reward and recognition. Sections cover "Theoretical/Historical Perspectives on Teams," "Effectiveness of the Team Structure," "Reevaluation of the Team Structure," and "Special Purpose Teams." Chapter contributors come from various sizes of academic libraries. Written for managers and administrators, this useful title emphasizes the need for an ongoing review of the organization's structure and its effectiveness in improving the performance of technical service units.

Neal-Schuman Guide to Recommended Children's Books and Media for Use with Every Elementary Subject

Matthew, Kathryn I., and Joy L. Lowe. Neal-Schuman Guide to Recommended Children's Books and Media for Use with Every Elementary Subject. 2nd ed. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2010. ISBN: 978-1-55570-6883

From the Publisher:
This invaluable new guide is an exhaustive, one-stop resource for any librarian or teacher seeking to meet current national educational standards and integrate high-quality children’s literature into everyday learning. Authors Kathryn Matthew and Joy Lowe detail over 1,200 books, videos, software, CDs, DVDs and Web sites. Dually effective as a collection-development tool for school libraries and a guide to fostering key librarian-teacher collaboration, this comprehensive, cost-effective and easy-to-use resource presents myriad ways to marry top literature with the latest educational standards, teaching methods and instructional tools.

From classic titles and award-winners to a host of brand new 2010 publications, you’ll find all of the top materials to incorporate across every school subject’s curriculum and spanning Pre-K through Grade 8, including:
• Math
• Science
• Language Arts
• Social Studies
• Health
• Physical Education
• Art
• Music

...There are also strategies for integrating these resources with curricula and teaching English Language Learners and special needs children...

Reviews:
"Over 1,200 books, CDs, websites, and other media are included in this updated guide to materials that emphasizes the integration of youth literature across disciplines...Although this resource primarily targets school librarians, public librarians may find it useful to have on hand..."
-- Bulletin of the Center of Children's Books, November 2010

"The two able authors have selected carefully among a wide range of print and multimedia materials beginning cleverly with math and science and then covering the rest of the non-fiction areas."
-- Teacher Librarian, October 2010

"Listing more than 1,000 books, videos, software, CDs, and Web sites up through early 2010, this book offers elementary (and middle-school) librarians a wonderful collection-development and collaboration tool. Each chapter covers one elementary subject area, from the four “academic” subjects to 'special' subjects such as art, music, and health. The chapters are broken down into narrower topics; each section covers the book and media choices plus ideas for exploring many of the resources listed. Each chapter begins with relevant national standards and ends with teacher resources and references including books, professional organizations, and Web sites. The annotated listings are arranged by grade level from pre–K up through middle school and include full bibliographic information. A detailed appendix and author/illustrator, title, and subject indexes complete the volume. Filled with worthwhile information for both the librarian and teacher, this title will become a valuable addition to any professional collection.
-- Shelley Glantz, Booklist, 2010

Going Beyond Google: The Invisible Web in Learning and Teaching

Devine, Jane, and Francine Egger-Sider. Going Beyond Google: The Invisible Web in Learning and Teaching. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2009. ISBN: 978-1-55570-6333

From the Publisher:
Google isn't up to the task when it comes to serious research, and though your patrons and students have heard of the "invisible," or "deep" Web, they have no idea how to tap into it. You need practical tools and strategies for teaching them about the Web sources and specialized databases they will never find using everyday search engines.

This book will show you in simple, nontechnical terms how to integrate the invisible Web into teaching opportunities wherever they occur: in a one-on-one "teaching moment" at the reference desk, or in a formal course. Estimated at 500 times the size of the visible Web, the invisible Web and the search skills needed to plumb its depths should be a part of every information literacy and research skills course.

With this book you get expert teaching tips and scripts for informal instruction, plus model activities and assignments for the classroom. Statistics and summaries of relevant research will help you combat myths like "Searching is Easy," or "Everything Important is Free." Read this book too, to find out how the best deep Web search tools, including CompletePlanet, Closer Look, and the Librarian's Internet Index, are evolving and what it all means for your library's future electronic collection development plans.

Reviews:
"This creditable text is a stimulating exploration of ways to teach Invisible Web research and is highly recommended for all professionals."
-- School Library Journal, February 2010

"Going Beyond Google stands out in this crowd, as it is directly relevant to those who teach searching skills to others...Going Beyond Google is concise and well written...would be a useful resource to those who teach beginning searchers [and] have broad research needs..."
-- Journal of the Medical Library Association, January 2010

"This is a book that will remain near this reviewer's desk for the next semester or two....it will serve admirably as an introduction to the topic of effective Web searching and as a ready source of ideas to use in improving classroom visits."
-- Reference and User Services Quarterly, Vol. 49, Issue 2

"If you have not had a major professional development experience in this type of searching and use with kids and teens, then this book is for you....If as a professional information specialist you do not have twenty techniques at your finger tips for searching the invisible web or really do not know what that is, then take a course or read this book."
-- Teacher Librarian, December 2009

Using Web 2.0 Tools in the K-12 Classroom

Crane, Beverley E. Using Web 2.0 Tools in the K-12 Classroom. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2009. ISBN: 978-1-55570-6531

From the Publisher:
In this invaluable resource you’ll find a host of Web 2.0 tools available on the Internet today, plus teaching and learning strategies to use them in the K-12 classroom. Language arts, science, and social studies unit lesson plans included in each chapter exemplify topics at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Each chapter focuses on a specific Web 2.0 tool:

• Blogs--high school science study
• Podcasts--immigrant topic for the elementary classroom
• Wikis--learning about novels in high school
• Video/digital storytelling about energy
• Google tools (e.g., Google Earth, Maps, Docs)--current events in social studies
• VoiceThread--language learning for non-native speakers
• Social bookmarking--Earth Day projects

Each chapter incorporates a glossary; a description of the particular tool; examples of its use in the K-12 curriculum; how to get started, and a unit plan focused on learning strategies. Exercises in each chapter reinforce the concepts. Readers get a complete listing of all Web sites mentioned plus access to a Web site for exercises, new URLs, and more. Teachers will want to check this out of your library too!

Companion Website:
http://sites.google.com/site/bevseducationalwebsite/

Reviews:
"Without a doubt, this is a tremendous resource guide for teachers and media specialists who want to successfully integrate Web 2.0 technology throughout the school curriculum...an excellent resource for professional educators who are looking to integrate Web 2.0 skills across grade levels and across the curriculum."
-- Catholic Library World, March 2010

"A wealth of suggestions, ideas, unit plans, and answers to questions ... to how to integrate and use Web 2.0 tools throughout the curriculum. The book will also prove useful to school media specialists for library implementation and to collaborate with teachers on the development and utilization of these exciting tools."
-- School Library Journal, June 2009

"We recommend this book for its usefulness....Highly Recommended."
-- Teacher Librarian, Volume 36, No. 4

"A "how-to" and "why should I?" manual all rolled into one easy-to-understand text....widely appealing to teachers, librarians and school media specialists."
-- VOYA, June 2009

Idea of Order: Transforming Research Collections for 21st Century Scholarship

The Idea of Order: Transforming Research Collections for 21st Century Scholarship. Washington, D.C.: Council on Library and Information Resources, June 2010. 027.7 Idea. ISBN 978-1-932326-35-2

The Idea of Order explores the transition from an analog to a digital environment for knowledge access, preservation, and reconstitution, and the implications of this transition for managing research collections. The volume comprises three reports. The first, "Can a New Research Library be All-Digital?" by Lisa Spiro and Geneva Henry, explores the degree to which a new research library can eschew print. The second, "On the Cost of Keeping a Book," by Paul Courant and Matthew "Buzzy" Nielsen, argues that from the perspective of long-term storage, digital surrogates offer a considerable cost savings over print-based libraries. The final report, "Ghostlier Demarcations," examines how well large text databases being created by Google Books and other mass-digitization efforts meet the needs of scholars, and the larger implications of these projects for research, teaching, and publishing.

The Frugal Librarian: Thriving in Tough Economic Times

Smallwood, Carol, Ed. The Frugal Librarian: Thriving in Tough Economic Times. Chicago: ALA, 2011. 025.110973 Fruga ISBN 978-0-8389-1075-7

Fewer employees, shorter hours, diminished collection budgets, reduced programs and services all at a time of record library usage. In this book, library expert Smallwood persuasively demonstrates that the necessity of doing business differently can be positive. Presenting creative and resourceful solutions to universal concerns from dozens of librarians, representing a wide variety of institutions, this collection helps overtaxed library professionals:* Find supplementary funding sources, including grants* Save money by sharing resources, using tiered staffing for technical services, and implementing green IT* Tap into grassroots movements to save neighborhood libraries* Preserve and enhance important library functions like programming, outreach, and staff development, despite a tight budget Partnering, sharing, innovating these are the watchwords for contemporary librarians in tough economic times, and this book offers plenty of ideas that can be implemented immediately.

Sanchez, Elaine R., ed. Conversations with Catalogers in the 21st Century. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2011. 025.3 Conve ISBN 978-1-59884-702-4

Conversations with Catalogers in the 21st Century contains four chapters addressing broad categories of issues that catalogers and metadata librarians are currently facing. Every important topic is covered, such as changing metadata practices, standards, data record structures, data platforms, and user expectations, providing both theoretical and practical information. Guidelines for dealing with present challenges are based on fundamentals from the past. Recommendations on training staff, building new information platforms of digital library resources, documenting new cataloging and metadata competencies, and establishing new workflows enable a real-world game plan for improvement.

Be a Great Boss: One Year to Success

Hakala-Ausperk, Catherine. Be a Great Boss: One Year to Success. Chicago: ALA, 2011. 023.9 Hakal. ISBN 978-0-8389-1068-9
Moving into a library management position can feel like a daunting and solitary pursuit. Graduate school courses in management are expensive and often hard to find, and even having a mentor at hand is no guarantee of a successful transition. To help library managers improve their skills and acumen, renowned speaker and trainer Hakala-Ausperk presents a handy self-study guide to the dynamic role of being a boss. Organized in 52 modules, designed to cover a year of weekly sessions but easily adaptable for any pace, this workbook :

· Covers major management topics such as success with stakeholders, staffing, customer service, planning, funding, leadership, and more
· Offers an inexpensive alternative to seminars and classroom instruction
· Requires an investment of as little as an hour per week, and is completely self-paced
· Includes challenging questions and exercises, and a Web-based template to record learning progress
Suitable for all levels of management, from first-line supervisors to library directors, this book lays out a clear path to learning the essentials of being a great boss.

How to Stay Afloat in the Academic Library Job Pool

Neely, Teresa Y., Ed. How to Stay Afloat in the Academic Library Job Pool. Chicago: ALA, 2011. 023.2 How ISBN 978-0-8389-1080-1
There's never been a more challenging time to find a position as an academic librarian, especially for those who have recently completed their library education. But whether job-hunters are jumping into the job pool for the very first time, or back in the water after a dry spell, Neely and her crack team of expert contributors have the information needed to stay afloat. Their collective wisdom will act as a lifesaver, providing:

· Practical and specific advice on how the job-search process works, including the how-tos of readingbetween the lines of a job listing and assembling a compelling application packet
· Keys to understanding the mysterious ways of search committees, and what criteria may be used todetermine successful candidates
· The nuts and bolts of undergoing a successful job interview, plus tips for negotiating when an offer is made
Job-hunters at every level of experience will find this volume the definitive resource for moving successfully into an academic career.

Describing Electronic, Digital, and Other Media Using AACR2 and RDA

Weber, Mary Beth and Austin, Fay Angela. Describing Electronic, Digital, and Other Media Using AACR2 and RDA. New York: Neal-Schumann, 2011. 025.34 Weber. ISBN 978-1555706685

Authors Mary Beth Weber and Fay Austin address RDA, the latest hot new trend in cataloging, along with traditional examples of cataloging like MARC, MODS, and Dublin Core. Streaming video, Internet sites, dual-disc DVDs, blogs and listservs are just some of the rapidly emerging, and often complicated, new resources covered in this current, easy-to-follow manual. Weber and Austin dedicate separate chapters to each non-print and e-resource format, and include corresponding examples to help demonstrate practical implementation of these critical new skills. A companion CD-ROM, designed for catalogers to use in creating descriptive records, provides guidance on how to formulate core-level descriptions for the seven media types discussed in the book; live links to online sources for additional information; and templates for creating descriptive records using MARC, MODS, and Dublin Core.Practical and user-friendly, this essential guide to 21st century cataloging will teach you to organize your constantly expanding collection.

Reflective Teaching Reflective Learning

Booth, Char. Reflective Teaching Reflective Learning. Chicago: ALA, 2011. 028.7071 Booth ISBN 978-0-8389-1052-8
Char Booth, an avid library education and technology advocate, introduces a series of concepts that will empower readers at any level of experience to become better designers and presenters, as well as building their confidence and satisfaction as library educators. Laying the foundation for effective teaching, Booth outlines a four-part framework of Instructional Literacy, which includes:

· Reflective Practice: tools for improving learning in the moment and developing a teacher identity, as well as approaches to collaboration and creating communities of practice
· Educational Theory: evidence-based strategies in learning and instructional research
· Teaching Technologies: evaluating and integrating technology in learning using a practical “toolkit” approach
· Instructional Design: a systematic and outcomes-based strategy for developing and assessing learning experiences

This foundation is supplemented by the USER Method, a step-by-step approach to creating learner-focused instruction. Tailored to library contexts, USER walks readers through understanding an instructional scenario, structuring content, engaging learners, and reflecting on outcomes. Also included are templates for instructional planning and technology evaluation, as well as practical advice and scenarios from those working in the field.