Inside The Alberta Library

 

 

From the desk of Clive Maishment, CEO

This month’s decision by Harper Collins to restrict their licensed school and public library e-book titles to 26 checkouts is a sign of the times, and a sign of things to come.

While Harper Collins’ 26-use limit seems to be an attempt to create artificial scarcity of a product that has a long shelf life, it also appears to be yet another information-driven business struggling to create a business model that works. Over the past few years we’ve watched the music and newspaper industries struggle with mixed results to find their footing in the digital age. Publishers are also struggling to maintain their balance.

But as Canadian Library Association President Keith Walker said, libraries need to be able to set their own circulation use policies. And of course, there is the question of precedent. If we accept the 26-use policy now, will it be 21 next month? And 10 next year?

The Harper Collins decision is clearly the tip of the digital iceberg. We can expect to be dealing with many more of these issues in the coming years.

Interestingly, participants at last October’s NEXT Symposium had things to say about the library community’s relationship with vendors and how we could work together more effectively. In fact, the NEXT Symposium was somewhat unique in that we actually had vendors at the table, talking about the future of libraries.

Participants at the symposium talked about collaborating more actively with vendors to identify solutions, and collaborating more closely with each other on related e-book strategies. They also talked about speaking with one voice to vendors.

We’re looking forward to sharing ideas and insights from the symposium with the Alberta library community in April. As the Harper Collins issue makes clear, we need to collaborate more than ever to turn 21st century challenges into opportunities for innovation.

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TAL Profile: Liz Fulton Lyne, Manager of Library Operations and Services, Yellowhead Tribal College Library

 

 

What drew you to your profession?

I started my career in libraries a little later in the game. I was fortunate to work part-time at the Burlington Public Library in Ontario while raising young children and gradually discovered that it was a good fit for me. I have a graduate degree in Comparative Literature, I enjoy reading and research, I love connecting people to books and information, and I’m a very curious person. I also love how varied the work is; it’s the opposite of boring!

Why do you think libraries are important?

Libraries are havens for all kinds of people, from the strong to the vulnerable. At their best they are spaces of equal opportunity where people are free to meet, relax, read, watch, listen, play and create.

Who had the most influence over your career?

I’ve had so many wonderful mentors along the way! I’m grateful to colleagues like Jane Kops and former supervisor Susan Fitzgerald-Bell from the Burlington Public Library who strongly encouraged me to go to Library School. My professional development has been shaped by former professors such as Toni Samek and Margaret Mackey and by the talented people I volunteer with on various committees. Colleagues, knowledge keepers, and friends at Yellowhead Tribal College have definitely opened my eyes to some of the particularities of aboriginal librarianship.

What major changes have you noticed in your time in the library community?

The rise of social media and e-books has had a significant impact on libraries. The community-led model that many public libraries have adopted has also been a major shift I believe.

What has been the most rewarding part of working with the library community? What have you enjoyed the most?

Aside from getting to rub shoulders with bright and interesting people, what I enjoy most about working with the library community is the constant support. I am the only librarian in my small library so I seek guidance from colleagues outside my library all the time and they are always happy to oblige. A highlight for me has been volunteering with GELA’s Prison Library and Reintegration Committee and seeing the success of the library and our programming at Edmonton Institution for Women continue to grow. Recording women reading storybooks to their children is one of the most amazing experiences a librarian could have.

What is the best/most memorable item you ever borrowed from the library?

The most memorable item I “borrowed” from the library was the Book of Kells. I had seen the actual Book of Kells at Trinity College in Dublin, and a few years later I spent several days with a rare facsimile edition at the University of Alberta’s Bruce Peel library preparing a presentation.

Tell us something about yourself that might surprise others in the library community.

It may surprise people to know that I wrote a master’s thesis about women in science fiction film (Metropolis, the Aliens trilogy, The Terminator, etc.). I’ve always been fascinated by how humans relate to technology.

What is your involvement with The Alberta Library?

I have been a TAL Director since 2009 and currently I am serving on TAL’s Elections and Nominations Committee.

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Library Bill gets unanimous support

Bill C-509, an Act to amend the Canada Post Corporation Act, has passed third reading with unanimous support in the House of Commons. The legislation will help to protect the Library Book Rate, which benefits all Canadians, regardless of where they live.

The Library Book Rate is a Canada Post service that has, since 1939, provided a reduced rate for mailing library books between libraries and from libraries to their users. Canada Post currently reviews its support on an annual basis. Over 2,000 libraries actively use the Library Book Rate and an estimated one million Canadians benefit from it every year.

Bill C-509 would not only protect the Library Book Rate, but expand the program to include non-print materials such as CDs and DVDs.

First introduced in 2007 by Merv Tweed, MP for Brandon—Souris, Manitoba, the Bill now moves to the Senate for review.

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TAL helps members stay up-to-date

Wouldn’t it be nice to log in to one database and find all the latest library-related journals, research and conference proceedings? Well, you can.

As a membership benefit, The Alberta Library provides staff at member libraries access to the Library Literature and Information Science Full Text database. The database is a one-stop-resource for all the latest updates in the library and information science field.

Library Literature and Information Science features full text-articles from over 155 journals as far back as 1997. It also indexes over 400 periodicals, conference proceedings, pamphlets, library school theses, and over 300 books a year, which saves you time searching through multiple databases.

Any library-related topic you can think of is likely covered in this resource - information literacy, space planning, collection development, management practices, emerging technology, copyright, preservation of materials, reference services, public relations, and more.

Contact Yvonne Rezek or Trina Rennie at The Alberta Library to get your user ID and password.

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Survey identifies priorities of post-secondary library members

A recent survey conducted by the Post-Secondary Library Directors Standing Committee (PLDSC) identified key issues of interest to The Alberta Library’s (TAL’s) post-secondary library members.

Formed at the November 2010 TAL board meeting, the PLDSC represents the interests of TAL’s 28 post-secondary library members. Dan Mirau, chair of the PLDSC, says, “The role of the standing committee is to determine what’s important to the larger group of post-secondary library members and work on initiatives that move those priorities forward.”

The standing committee’s first step was to develop a survey to identify areas of shared interest to post-secondary libraries and determine which areas to focus efforts on in the short- and long-term. “The survey results will be used to guide the activities of the PLDSC,” says Dan.

Members of the PLDSC are analyzing the data collected from the survey distributed in December 2010 and have organized a face-to-face meeting of the entire Post-Secondary Library Director group to discuss the results and set a direction that reflects a consensus of the post-secondary library community.

The goal according to Dan is to “develop a shared understanding of what we need to do together.” He adds that the feedback will inform the PLDSC’s mandate and help the committee focus on areas that will have the most significant benefit to the post-secondary library community.

Members of the Post-Secondary Library Directors Standing Committee are: Terry Donovan, Portage College Library; Dan Mirau (Chair), Concordia University College of Alberta Library; Brad Neufeldt, St. Mary’s University College Library; Eve Poirier, NorQuest College Library; Carol Shepstone, Mount Royal University; and Clive Maishment (Ex-Officio) The Alberta Library.

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ORC wiki helps teachers use resources

Digital databases offer a wealth of resources but searching through the information to find appropriate resources can be overwhelming. The Online Reference Centre (ORC) developed a wiki to help users navigate through the vast amount of information in their collection of digital resources.

 

 

The ORC, a collaborative partnership between The Alberta Library and Alberta Education, licenses and provides digital resources in support of Alberta’s K-12 learning community. Teachers and students can access ORC resources through the LearnAlberta.ca portal. The ORC currently contains 18 databases providing thousands of resources providing rich educational content.

With access to that many resources a guide comes in handy. ORC Coordinator Diane GallowaySolowan developed the wiki to help teachers use the ORC collection more effectively and efficiently.

The wiki contains pathfinders on a variety of subjects that help teachers source appropriate resources. The pathfinders give tips for effective search terms, identify relevant resources and provide shortcuts to valuable tools.

Special topic pages on issues such as cyberbullying, freedom to read and plagiarism offer a variety of resources for teachers to build lessons around. The wiki also organizes resources into collections for target groups such as senior high students or French resources and offers tips for teachers on how to create RSS feeds and digital bookcarts.

For Diane, a wiki was the right tool for the job. She chose to use a wiki because it was easy to customize, edit and maintain. She was also impressed with the ability to track the number of visitors to the wiki. Before creating the wiki Diane shared resources via a listserv but she didn't know how many people accessed the information. Now she can not only gather statistics on the number of visitors to the site but also see the number of views per page which helps determine which resources are most useful.

The ORC wiki is also easy for teachers to use. In addition to the topic-based menu, the wiki features a search function and users can sign up for an RSS feed to receive updates when a new resource is added.

Diane couldn’t be more pleased with the success of the ORC wiki. Her goal was to provide a tool that made it easy for teachers to take advantage of the valuable resources available through the ORC. And judging by the number of users (within one month of the launch in October 2010, usage of the wiki jumped from 917 users to 1810 users) she’s achieved what she set out to do.

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Library Q & A: Rotary Club of Slave Lake Public Library

Deborah Kendze, Regional Library Manager at the Rotary Club of Slave Lake Public Library shares what's new.

 

Slave Lake Library staff

What is your library's biggest current challenge?

I don’t think our library is unique, but the challenge we face is getting the local population to think of the library as something other than a place that holds books. A library can be so much more, but it’s up to us to promote the resources and educate the public as to what we have available for them. Many people in the community don’t know that having a library card gives them access to all the databases that we subscribe to, as well as the ability to borrow books from libraries all over the province.

Having the ability and the budget to attract and retain qualified staff is also a major challenge. We have three libraries that fall under the Slave Lake Regional Library Board (Rotary Club of Slave Lake Public Library, Flatbush Community Library and Smith Community Library) so it is a challenge having enough time to get to the smaller libraries on a regular basis. Having staff members that are very dedicated to their communities and with the required training to do a large portion of the work unsupervised is a necessity.

What area is changing fastest in your library?

I think the area that is changing the fastest is the need for more training for the staff. There is such a wealth of information out there and the need for information is constantly changing so staff members need to really work hard to keep up with the member demands. One day it’s how to download e-books and the next day it’s something completely different. All three communities are quite different so the need for training in different subjects is very important.

What idea are you most proud of over the past five years?

I’m relatively new to this position, but the Slave Lake Regional Library Board undertook a massive fundraising project to help build the current new building. It is a beautiful space and everyone in the community has reason to be very proud of what they have accomplished. The new building is a showcase for the community and really shows how very generous and supportive the businesses in Slave Lake are.

Where do you see the most opportunity for innovation over the next decade?

I think that the library has to come up with innovative ways to draw the community together. I would like to see all members of the community using the library for their different needs, regardless of their ages. We, as library professionals, need to learn what the community wants out of the library and then figure out how to attain that.

I think that the whole perception of the library has to change and that we need to promote it as a community gathering space where everybody meets to build community spirit. Working with other community groups to bring them into the library is also a major focus for us.

How does your library stay in touch with clients / library users?

We are really trying to promote the library through the use of the webpage and better marketing. We have added a link to other community groups and have added many helpful reference sites.

Establishing a good rapport with the local media has been very helpful and many of our members comment on the fact that they heard the library being promoted on the local radio and television stations.

A monthly newsletter is available with upcoming programs, events and general information about the library. The book club has a Facebook page and the youth club is in the process of setting up a Facebook page.

How do you stay in touch with political leaders in your community?

We really try to involve the leaders in all aspects of the library. We send them press releases of new programming and events, invite them to all major events and try to keep them informed of everything that is happening in the library community. Having board members and library staff involved in other community groups also helps to promote the library and keep library staff involved with what’s going on in the rest of the community.

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Grand opening of Strathcona County Library

 

Premier Ed Stelmach and other dignitaries officially open the Strathcona County Library

 

Wonderful common area at the Strathcona County Library

 

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