Friday, June 8, 2012

1 in 3 have no Internet

Nice video from the Gate's Foundation:

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Of Interest to Academic Librarians

Check out the 2012 Top Ten Trends in Academic Libraries:  A Review of the Trends and Issues Affecting Academic Libraries in Higher Education

Saint Mary's TC Library started doing patron-driven acquisition (PDA) for print materials last year. I must say it has been an awesome success thus far. Students love it--we alert them each time we purchase their book, and (anecdotally) I think it has built more community in and out of the library. We are on the cusp of entering into the eBook foray; in my research all the plans we're considering give the PDA eBook option.

We're certainly working on communicating our value to SMU both internally and externally. Our director is meeting more frequently with program directors, we're being intentional about highlighting services we offer, we're entrenched in the new online programs launched this Spring at Saint Mary's (more so than we've ever been with traditional programs--we're even helping with course design), and we're working with our Marketing Department to brand and share ourselves. First steps included easy stuff like having a wiki where we all add positive feedback we receive. That can be used in promotional materials later.

Anyway, I agree with the trends listed here. For those of you tight on time, highlights of the longer article are available at http://ref-notes.blogspot.com/2012/06/acrl-news-2012-top-ten-trends-in.html