ACRL Oregon/OLA Academic Division Blog » marketing/outreach

Torah scroll dedication service attracts local media attention

Steve Silver (NCU) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 23:50:05 +0000

Early in 2009 the library at Northwest Christian University received a donated 150 year-old Holocaust survivor Torah scroll. The scroll needed some repair work, so we contracted with a local Jewish craftsman to do the repair work and construct a storage/display case for it. On Friday, April 15, during our usual chapel service, we held a service of dedication for the repaired scroll and cabinet, inviting the craftsman and a local rabbi to participate. The event attracted significant media attention, including two local TV news reporters, a reporter from local NPR radio station KLCC, and a photo journalist from the local Register Guard newspaper. Pictures appeared on the front page of the Register Guard the next day. Here is a link to the KVAL news report, which was the most extensive.

The positive press has been wonderful for our small school, and great for the library’s political capital on campus. It has also been a good vehicle for improving interfaith connections between our Christian university and the local Jewish community, which are continuing even after the event.

New Scholarly Communication Interest Group – Orbis Cascade Alliance

gilmani — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 22:35:19 +0000

A new interest group has just been formed for library staff/faculty from Orbis Cascade member institutions. While the group has an initial charge, we are looking for interested participants to help shape our activities – and to let us know what is important to you. If you are interested in joining the group, visit the Alliance email list page for instructions.

The charge of the group is:

The Scholarly Communication Interest Group provides a forum for discussion and development of library-led collaborative opportunities related to open access and new modes of scholarly publishing.

The Scholarly Communication Interest group will foster library leadership in shaping institutional (and consortial) policies and services that support sustainable models of scholarly communication, including, but not limited to, open access policies, library publishing services, repository-based services and advocacy for authors’ rights. Interest group members will also contribute to the development of best practices, educational resources and training opportunities for librarians, administrators, faculty and students in these areas.

If you would like more information, contact Sue Kunda (Oregon State Univ.) or Isaac Gilman (Pacific Univ.).

Library Snapshot Day

diane — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:53:53 +0000

Have you been considering ways that you could be an advocate for Oregon’s libraries? If so, volunteer to help launch Oregon’s first Library Snapshot Day. Hannah Gascho Rempel is looking for people interested in joining an OLA task force to create a pilot version of Library Snapshot Day in Oregon later this spring.

Library Snapshot Day is an effort to gather data and pictures from all types of libraries across the state on a single day to illustrate the importance libraries have in our communities. The data and pictures can be used for advocating to legislators, administrators and community members. States across the country will be holding their own Library Snapshot Day this winter and spring.

For examples of what other states have done for Library Snapshot Day, check out these two resources:

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/statelocalefforts/snapshotday/index.cfm

http://njla.pbworks.com/w/page/12189934/Snapshot

To volunteer to help out with this task force contact Hannah Gascho Rempel at hannah.rempel@oregonstate.edu.

Check In with Location Based Mobile Services: Foursquare and Libraries (E-learning Workshop)

psulibrary — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:35:31 +0000

ACRL-Oregon is very pleased to announce its sponsorship of the second in a series of ACRL National E-learning workshops to meet the continuing education needs of librarians statewide. The second workshop of the 2010 series will be:

Check In with Location Based Mobile Services: Foursquare and Libraries
People everywhere are “checking in” using Foursquare and other location-based social networks from their mobile phones. This interactive webcast will explore this trend of geo-based mobile/social gaming and its impacts on libraries, information engagement, and learning. Learn about the most popular location based social technologies including Foursquare, Gowalla, and MyTown, and become familiar with their uses and features. Discuss how to most effectively use and leverage location based social networks for libraries to enhance library spaces, services, and collections. See demonstrations of the technologies themselves to enhance group engagement and hands-on learning.

LIVE SESSION:

When: Tuesday July 20, 2010 (doors open 10:30am | workshop 11:00am-12:30 pm | discussion/networking time 12:30 – 1:00pm)

Where: Oregon State University, Corvallis the Valley Library Autzen Classroom (2082)·
Directions to OSU Campus: http://oregonstate.edu/visitors/tour/directions.html·
Directions for your mobile phone: http://m.library.oregonstate.edu/directions.html·
Parking: Free parking is available on streets around campus, however on campus parking requires a permit.
Parking map: http://oregonstate.edu/facilities/transit_pkg/TAPS2010.pdf· Visitor permits may be obtained at any one of the ten ‘Pay & Display’ stations located throughout campus. The cost for a daily permit is $7.00 for the day or $1.00 an hour up to a maximum of four hours. Visitors may park in student and visitor lots only for the day the permit is purchased. There is a new visitor brochure Visitor Brochure, which contains pertinent information for visitors.

Who: *Any interested parties are welcome to attend the live event!*

Lunch: Brown-bag!

Questions: Margaret Mellinger (541.737.9642 or margaret.mellinger@oregonstate.edu)

ARCHIVED SESSION:

ACRL-Oregon Members will also receive the archived workshop URL shortly after the live event, so members who are unable to attend the live event can view its content 24/7 from anywhere!

FUTURE WORKSHOP SESSIONS – MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

July 13, 2010 Marketing Ideas That Work in Academic Libraries: Pecha Kucha Presentations
This webcast, offered by ACRL’s Marketing Academic and Research Libraries Committee, will provide basic hands-on marketing strategies for academic librarians. Learn about practical ways to market your library and hear from academic librarians who have won national marketing awards.
Location: PCC-Sylvannia

September 14, 2010 The Not-So-Distant Librarian: Online Library Instruction to Engage Students and Faculty
Learn practical tips and tools for designing, implementing, and assessing online library instruction in this ACRL Webcast.
Location: Southern Oregon University

October 19, 2010 So You Want to Create an Interactive Information Literacy Tutorial?
Learn about the experience creating an interactive information literacy tutorial from beginning to end in collaboration with a multimedia designer in this ACRL Webcast. Evaluate the potential of tutorial as an assessment tool and an opportunity for self-evaluation.
Location: Chemeketa CC

Get your (WorldCat Mobile) APPS on!

psulibrary — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:44:55 +0000

**FYI! Robin Paynter, ACRL-Oregon Communications Coordinator
—————————————————————–
Introducing a pilot service: WorldCat Mobile
* Search for library materials—Enter search terms such as keywords, author or title
* Find a WorldCat library near you—Enter your ZIP, postal code or location in the Libraries Locator
* Call a library—Highlight and click the phone number in a library listing to place a call
* Map a route—Find the fastest way to a WorldCat library using the mapping software already on your device

Type this URL into your phone’s Web browser: www.worldcat.org/m/

Now you can use your mobile phone to find materials in libraries near you —and help us test this pilot service. Available to people in the the U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, France and the Netherlands, the year-long pilot lets you try out mobile search of WorldCat libraries and suggest improvements or additional features.

WorldCat has partnered with mobile-technology leader Boopsie and joined its growing array of search “channels” that let you quickly access popular Web applications including Google, Wikipedia and Facebook; look up retail locations such as Starbucks and FedEx; and check news, weather, traffic reports and much more!

When you download the Boopsie application to your phone, you get library search plus these additional channels, as well as its “smart prefix” feature that allows you to type only the first few letters of search keywords and view results instantly as you type.

Once you’ve used WorldCat.org on your mobile phone, let us know what you liked and what you’d like to see improved. (We are aware of issues regarding how the application interacts with mapping software on various phones.) Please tell us the details of your experience and suggestions for enhancements at worldcatmobilepilot@oclc.org.

Using the Web browser on your mobile phone, navigate to http://www.worldcat.org/m/ to access the WorldCat mobile application. The application is compatible with these phones and mobile operating systems:

* Windows Mobile 5.0 (Video tutorial)
* Blackberry (Video tutorial)
* Palm OS 5.4 or later
* Apple iPhone
* Nokia (Video tutorial)
* MIDP 2.0, CLDC 1.1 Java

**From: http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/content/mobile/

READ poster contest for National Library Week

Steve Silver (NCU) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:45:16 +0000

In celebration of National Library Week at NCU we requested photos from interested faculty and staff to create READ posters, using software purchased from ALA a couple years ago. We ended up with a total of 10 submissions (which is pretty good for our small institution), all very creative and fun. Students are asked to come into the library this week, view the posters, and vote on their favorite. The person(s) in the winning poster gets to choose any book for us to purchase for our Browsing (leisure reading) collection, no questions asked, plus bragging rights on campus .

What are other academic libraries doing to celebrate National Library Week?

Library Haiku Wall

rbridgewater — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:21:59 +0000

During the annual Reed Arts Week this year, Reed Digital Assets Librarian, Joanna Burgess, created a fun and evocative participatory installation in the library. Using old book pockets and cards, Joanna created a beautiful blank slate and encouraged students to fill it with haiku.

And fill it with haiku — and haiku-like missives — they did!

It was fun to see the little cards fill up with tiny poems as the days went on!

Does your library do anything special for students during finals week?

diane — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:00:14 +0000

Does your library do anything special for students when they are in final exam week mode? Do you provide refreshments (Seattle U provided coffee and cookies)? Activites? If yes, what has worked best or been most appreciated?

This semester we put out two library study break puzzles (puzzle 1, puzzle 2) as a mental break for students. They were posted online and paper copies were scattered around library building. There was a small prize incentive for solving the puzzles. Participation was decent considering the last minute nature. We will probably try it again at the end of next semester.

Shooting Turkeys in the Library

Steve Silver (NCU) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:16:48 +0000

Our annual Thanksgiving Turkey Shoot began Nov 18th in the Northwest Christian University library. Staff and student workers create construction paper turkeys (and they get very creative) and tape them to the window behind the circulation desk. Turkey feet are taped to the floor in front of the desk at specified intervals. Anyone coming in to the library has three trys each day to hit any of the turkeys on the window standing at the turkey feet on the floor, using rubber band guns a former student worker’s father graciously made for us. If they hit a turkey, they get a piece of candy and an entry into our drawing for a $30 movie gift card Wed at noon right before Thanksgiving. This event started several years ago as something for student workers to do when our computer system was down for three days shortly before Thanksgiving. Someone added the idea of shooting at the turkeys in a contest as a fun way to encourage students (and others) who might not otherwise visit the library to come in and have a fun and positive experience. It has become an annual tradition that everyone in the library, and many outside the library, look forward to each year.

What do other libraries do to recognize the Thanksgiving holiday?

Oh yeah, as a result of creating this post, our library has a brand new Flickr account to experiment with as well