Poster Sessions, Wednesday, April 18
5:30pm - 7:30pm
Grand Ballroom
A drawing with fabulous prizes will take place during the poster session!
Prize boxes, flying fish and more: Appreciating our Student Employees
Leah Smith, Cofrin Library, UW-Green Bay
As an academic library on a state college campus, students are our main focus. As an understaffed Access Services department on a state college campus, students are our lifeline. We depend heavily on student employees to do everything from shelving books to entering patron records, from processing ILL requests to taking fine payments. We could not operate without them. We have thus, made it a priority to show them how much they are appreciated and to make working in our library fun. The focus of my poster session will be on the things we do to help our students grow as employees and reward them for their efforts. We have utilized everything from a prize box to incorporating the FISH! philosophy into our daily work. We have even brought in speakers from Career Services to talk about how to market themselves once they graduate. The student employees have commented on how they can hardly believe they get paid for what they do around here some days, because it hardly feels like work, and yet great things are being done. Students and faculty members alike have noticed the rise in the level of customer service. And the best part is, we have only just begun!
Giving Your Staff a Wiki of Their Own
Kim A. LaPlante, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
Library staff at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College created a wiki "behind the scenes" to take the place of our procedure manual, bulletin board, policy guide, project list, computer lab cheat-sheets, work study training manual, and hundreds of notes scrawled on little pieces of paper throughout the three campus libraries. The results - increased collaboration and communication behind our hopes (plus a lot of informal cross-training). Come see our simple implementation steps, what we learned along the way, and how it is working for us today. Learn how you can set up wiki's for other groups as well (such as library departments, consortia, committees, clubs, or even for your family and friends).
…And We Stayed Open!: The Viterbo University Library Expands to Meet Student Needs
Kim Olson-Kopp, Rita Magno, and Nancy Steinhoff, Todd Wehr Memorial Library, Viterbo University
It’s been fifteen years since the last library expansion at Viterbo University, and during that time, the Viterbo community has changed. Along with rising enrollment numbers, use of library space and materials have also gone up. In response to a 1998 accreditation report that stated the campus library needed to increase in size to meet the changing needs of the student population, the Todd Wehr Memorial Library has undergone an extensive remodeling and expansion project.
In Summer 2006, workers started demolition, tearing up carpeting, painting walls, and generally changing everything. Even through the chaos of remodeling, the library stayed open. We documented this project in pictures, and we’ll display the before, during, and after shots of the more dramatic changes. Some of these include:
The addition of “Franny’s,” the new 24/7 coffee and study room
An extended second floor with extra room for materials
A library classroom
New reference and main desks
We’ll also display ideas generated by our students, a result of surveys that asked for input on what they would like to see in the new and improved library.
GENEALOGY 101 or What to do when the archivist is on vacation in Greece?
Karen Weston, Area Research Center, UW-Whitewater
Most academic librarians have no training in genealogical librarianship. Many academic librarians do not want to know anything about genealogy. However, the genealogist who comes to your reference desk for assistance may be an important local donor, a distinguished alumnus, or an influential faculty member. Being able to help these people can only improve the library’s image.
Recognize common queries that any reference librarian should be able to answer. Identify basic tools your collection should have, such as alumni directories and yearbooks. Learn about the Area Research Center network and the kinds of queries that should be referred there. Link to useful sites on the web.
Staff Development: Creating Opportunities to Enhance Professional and Personal Growth of Library Staff
Jeanne Witte, Steenbock Library and Suzanne Otto, Memorial Library, UW-Madison
In early 2005 the Staff Development Committee of the General Library System at UW-Madison was formed. Since that time the committee has sponsored programs that include brown bag discussions, presentations by professional speakers, social events, staff art shows, speakers from campus departments (including transportation), and staff volunteer opportunities. Thanks to the diverse interests and talents, and willingness to work together, displayed by our seven committee members, we have been able to sponsor over 20 programs on a wide variety of topics appealing to a broad spectrum of library staff. This poster session will highlight our process for choosing sessions to sponsor, and will include information about staff development resources and how we found them.
Connecting Librarians and Film: Identifying Stereotypes
Jennifer Snoek-Brown, Karrmann Library, UW-Platteville
The portrayal of librarians in film has been a popular subject of recent research, both in journals on popular culture and academic publications for librarians. The upcoming documentary, “The Hollywood Librarian,” has spurred even more recent interest in this topic. However, most of the existing research on librarians in film neglects to identify or discuss specific stereotypes—most articles may actually foster the stereotypes by assuming that readers already know the stereotypes and the movies that portray them. My interest lies in outlining specific types for both male and female librarians and discovering how these stereotypes help or inhibit connections between librarians and the general public. I have divided my poster focus into two main areas: “Beyond the Bun: Female Librarian Film Portrayals” and “Beyond the Bowtie: Male Librarian Film Portrayals.” Librarians will have the opportunity to laugh (or groan) at their own profession’s images on film, and discover that recognition of librarian stereotypes can help us make better connections with the public.
Collection Development Performance Indicators Redux
John Jax and Jenifer Holman, Murphy Library, UW-La Crosse
At the 2006 WAAL conference, we presented a session on how we used performance indicators to analyze the use of Murphy Library's monograph collection. We had many excellent questions and suggestions which we would like to address in this follow-up session. In addition, we would like to present users with details of how we have incorporated the results from our study into collection development decisions and acquisitions workflow.
Some key questions we answer through our data analysis: Did books purchased over the past several years circulate? If the books did not circulate, did they browse? Were these books used by other libraries via UB (UW System borrowing) and/or ILL? Of the books that have never circulated, how many other UW libraries own these? Of the books that have never circulated, how much money did we spend on these materials that were also available at other UW campus libraries?
We will present the updated results of our research and share information about the locally developed tools we used to analyze the data.
The Hirsch Index of Scholarly Output: New Measure, Ongoing Debate
Amanda Werhane, Kurt F. Wendt Library, UW-Madison
In August 2005, physicist Jorge E. Hirsch of UC San Diego proposed a new measurement “to quantify an individual's scientific research output.” The Hirsch Index (h-index) has since re-ignited the controversy over quantifying scholarly output and using such measurements in hiring, tenure, funding, membership and award decisions. This presentation will provide a review of bibliometrics; describe the h-index, demonstrate a method of applying the h-index and the findings of such an application; and discuss the limitations, impact thus far, and potential for the h-index in the context of the current state of scholarly communications.
The h-index is a single number, described as “unbiased” by its creator, that is deceptively simple to calculate using an online citation database such as ISI Web of Science. Since its introduction, the h-index has been used to ‘rank’ researchers in several fields. Its limits have been discussed, and improved variations have been proposed. Alternative applications of the h-index have also been suggested, including its use as a journal impact index, and a means by which students might choose a research area. There remain a number of considerations and misconceptions related to the current state of scholarly communications, and the robustness of publication and citation data, that have yet to be explored.
It’s All About Attitude: Marketing Virtual Reference to First-Year Students
Nikki Busch, Memorial Library and Pamela O’Donnell, College Library, UW-Madison
Humor, while not often associated with academic libraries, is a powerful marketing tool. It can also make reference services a little less scary for first-year students who might otherwise be somewhat intimidated by an academic library. Using hip images, irreverent taglines, and new media (including Facebook), Nikki Busch and Pamela O’Donnell created and implemented a successful marketing plan for the new IM/Chat reference service at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Specifically geared toward first-year students, these marketing efforts expanded to include the concept of “ask a librarian” – be it through instant messaging, email, telephone, or in-person. This poster session will showcase many of the graphics used to brand the libraries’ virtual reference service, describe the test-marketing process for visuals and taglines, outline potential pitfalls in creating a marketing plan, and report on the success of the various promotional efforts. In addition, a detailed synopsis of the marketing plan will be provided.
Mining Citation Data from ISI Citation Indexes
Alfred Kraemer, Medical College of Wisconsin Libraries
Information about the sources cited by an institution’s researchers is valuable but gathering the required data has proved to be difficult and time-consuming--a fact underscored by most articles that feature a citation analysis.
When the need for a citation review arose at the Medical College of Wisconsin Libraries a different approach – summarized below- was employed:
1. Create a result set from the ISI using a tested combination of search parameters to retrieve article citations from authors affiliated with the institution. The search was also limited to article citations from a specific year.
2. Export the citation information in successive batches of 500 – the export limit in ISI.
3. Parse the cited references from the combined result set using a very simple, short Perl script.
4. Analyze and report findings using Microsoft Access.
5. Evaluate results and possible conclusions.
The data proved valuable in determining the need to add new journals and in evaluating acquisition options, e.g. full-subscription vs. purchasing individual articles as needed.
The poster will include a ‘live’ demonstration of parsing the data and several sample reports.
Collaboration Toolkit
Ulrike Dieterle, Ebling Library, UW-Madison
Collaboration is a complex mix of clear communication, focused commitment, continued discovery and perpetual recovery. Collaborations are often undertaken with little forethought given to the complexities and human dynamics involved. Some succeed to produce successful outcomes and lasting partnership. Others falter due to insufficient planning, lack of clarity and determination. Based on a series of successful collaborations in diverse environments, this poster will present an overview of the collaborative process, a roadmap for the collaborative journey, tools for successful outcomes, and tips to avoid misadventures along the way.