SJSU SLIS Audio/Video Podcast

At last year's national meeting of the Special Libraries Association, 15 of the world's leading science and technology societies announced the release of scitopia.org, a free web-based federated discovery tool that allows one-stop searching of their collected archives. The stated goal of the 15 societies, "increasing the efficiency and richness of science and technology research," will be discussed. This presentation will also include the development, content, technology and future plans of scitopia.org as well as its reception by the library community.

In 2007, Mengxiong Liu received the Fulbright Senior Specialist Program award and completed her Fulbright trip to Montevideo, Uruguay in November, where she evaluated the library systems and information literacy programs at the British Schools.

In 2007, Mengxiong Liu received the Fulbright Senior Specialist Program award and completed her Fulbright trip to Montevideo, Uruguay in November, where she evaluated the library systems and information literacy programs at the British Schools.

Heather Jospeh, Executive Director of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), discusses the current state and potential advances in open access.

The learning commons has been defined as a learning laboratory where books don't get in the way. In the face of digitalization and the dominance of Google, the question is, "How can librarians get back in the information game?" The idea of a learning commons is now being tried in a number of academic libraries and the idea is being discussed for school libraries. This lecture will go on the offensive to push the library into the center of teaching and learning K-20 in the areas of competing directly with Google, collaboratively building high-level learning experiences with faculty, making the learning commons a one-stop place for expert assistance, developing a 24/7/365 presence, and experimenting to build in the library models of the very best teaching and learning. We will join Andrew Keen in his book The Cult of the Amateur in examining the role of expertise in information but with the realization that we must aggressively push in different ways if we are going to keep this profession relevant.

The learning commons has been defined as a learning laboratory where books don't get in the way. In the face of digitalization and the dominance of Google, the question is, "How can librarians get back in the information game?" The idea of a learning commons is now being tried in a number of academic libraries and the idea is being discussed for school libraries. This lecture will go on the offensive to push the library into the center of teaching and learning K-20 in the areas of competing directly with Google, collaboratively building high-level learning experiences with faculty, making the learning commons a one-stop place for expert assistance, developing a 24/7/365 presence, and experimenting to build in the library models of the very best teaching and learning. We will join Andrew Keen in his book The Cult of the Amateur in examining the role of expertise in information but with the realization that we must aggressively push in different ways if we are going to keep this profession relevant.

Charles Harmon, Vice-President at Neal-Schuman, gives several tips for improving writing in book proposal and article abstracts will be offered.

Charles Harmon, Vice-President at Neal-Schuman, looks at the two major print arenas for publication in the LIS field: scholarly and professional books and journals. The difference between "scholarly" and "professional" media is described, and the various approaches to both venues are discussed. Guidance is given for contacting editors prior to submission and preparing initial e-mails and query letters for optimum response. Both financial consideration (fees for articles and royalties for books) and intellectual property consideration (copyright ownership, right of first publication, etc.) are described.

Query specifications by typical users are notoriously imprecise. And for many searches it is impossible to expect the user to fully and accurately specify what they are interested in. Because they do not know what is available for the asking, users cannot be expected to specify exactly what they want. Reference librarians have been developing a craft that, among other things, deals with this incomplete specification of desired results. What can search engine designers learn from prior art to improve query results? John Dove, CEO of Credo Reference, will contrast Google's vision of the future with one where reference librarians may be called upon to expertly modify online query systems in order to significantly improve query results for their users.

Query specifications by typical users are notoriously imprecise. And for many searches it is impossible to expect the user to fully and accurately specify what they are interested in. Because they do not know what is available for the asking, users cannot be expected to specify exactly what they want. Reference librarians have been developing a craft that, among other things, deals with this incomplete specification of desired results. What can search engine designers learn from prior art to improve query results? John Dove, CEO of Credo Reference, will contrast Google's vision of the future with one where reference librarians may be called upon to expertly modify online query systems in order to significantly improve query results for their users.

Is there such a thing? Are there habits of mind uniquely applied by professional librarians? Are these intuitive or taught? How do they make a difference to the decisions we make, the actions we take, and the organizations we represent? Dr. Ken Haycock and Dr. Brooke Sheldon have just completed a book on the foundations of library and information science, beginning with "how to think like a librarian". Based on our research we perhaps need to add that this is not a humorous after dinner speech, or a defense of the "bunheads" but rather a clear explication of the basic principles of thinking like a professional librarian.

Is there such a thing? Are there habits of mind uniquely applied by professional librarians? Are these intuitive or taught? How do they make a difference to the decisions we make, the actions we take, and the organizations we represent? Dr. Ken Haycock and Dr. Brooke Sheldon have just completed a book on the foundations of library and information science, beginning with "how to think like a librarian". Based on our research we perhaps need to add that this is not a humorous after dinner speech, or a defense of the "bunheads" but rather a clear explication of the basic principles of thinking like a professional librarian.

Dr. Anthony Bernier and SLIS student Paige Fujisue interviewed new students at the Spring 2008 Orientations in San José and Fullerton.

Doug McDavid is the Executive Consultant with IBM’s Global Business Services and Almaden Research Lab. This presentation describes the business and learning to be done in virtual worlds, based on McDavid’s compelling interpersonal interactions including a serious approach to Second Life and its applications for global working collaborations. The presentation includes concepts such as the "presentation of self in everyday life," the surprising degree of the social nature of the experience with colleagues and peers, as well as meeting people outside the IBM community such as in the library, education and arts communities.

Doug McDavid is the Executive Consultant with IBM’s Global Business Services and Almaden Research Lab. This presentation describes the business and learning to be done in virtual worlds, based on McDavid’s compelling interpersonal interactions including a serious approach to Second Life and its applications for global working collaborations. The presentation includes concepts such as the "presentation of self in everyday life," the surprising degree of the social nature of the experience with colleagues and peers, as well as meeting people outside the IBM community such as in the library, education and arts communities.