Library Projects

Providing library resources to the learner, at the point of need, is the focus of the University of Wisconsin Colleges Library Course Page Project. Each course has a dynamically created library course page, which provides learners with these materials. We will present features and implementation information, as well as how the program has been received.

LSU's Information Commons includes assistive technology, Windows and Mac computing, and large-format printing. IT worked with library staff on the renovating the first floor of a 1957 building into a comfortable, inviting place to gather. A reference desk and two IT help desks serve customers' needs.

Over the past year, the McMaster University Library has undertaken a radical transformation to accommodate the changing needs of our users. The transformation included a 12-week “learning 2.0” training program. The results have been significant. Come see how we did it and how we are using Web 2.0 daily.

Librarians and academic technologists traverse similar territory in the digital world, but they may not always travel together. In this session, learn how the librarians and academic technology professionals at Ohio State overcame initial stylistic differences to support teaching and learning collaboratively and to enhance the mission of both organizations.

Only by transforming knowledge contained in print to new and easily accessible digital formats can we guarantee its survival.

Libraries provide access to a wealth of information resources for students to learn outside the classroom. Unfortunately, these resources are not typically organized around student needs. We will describe a project in development to support student learning by providing course-centric views of library resources for all courses taught at North Carolina State University.

The Google Books Project has drawn a great deal of attention, offering the prospect of the library of the future and rendering many other library and digitizing projects apparently superfluous. To grasp the value of Google’s endeavor, we need among other things, to assess its quality. On such a vast and undocumented project, the task is challenging. In this essay, I attempt an initial assessment in two steps. First, I argue that most quality assurance on the Web is provided either through innovation or through “inheritance.” In the later case, Web sites rely heavily on institutional authority and quality assurance techniques that antedate the Web, assuming that they will carry across unproblematically into the digital world. I suggest that quality assurance in the Google’s Book Search and Google Books Library Project primarily comes through inheritance, drawing on the reputation of the libraries, and before them publishers involved. Then I chose one book to sample the Google’s Project, Lawrence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy.

Presentation at the Sixth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, June 11-13, 2007, Boulder, Colorado. This panel discussed the challenges of harnessing the power of digital content to support learning at scale in both institutional settings and in national efforts. They considered the potential roles of digital content as cognitive media and social media, and they used cases and models that highlight best practices and sticky issues.

"For several years now, the talk about libraries as student-oriented buildings has focused on amenities to enhance the visitor’s experience. Students want their coffee and comfy couches on which to chat with their friends during study breaks. Students want to study in groups. And students want to use their laptops, so wireless is key. "