CCL Vendor Day, Jan. 28 in Ontario

The Community College League Consortium (CCLC), in conjunction with the Council of Chief Librarians (CCL), holds a Vendor Day twice per academic year.  Important information was presented by ProQuest, EBSCO, Credo Reference and Gale, which I'll share by email with interested parties.  It was also a networking opportunity to arrange for visits to more campuses.  American River College has an almost-new library that I'll be visiting in March, for example.

K-12 Volunteering, Jan. 27

As part of my leave, I've committed to more volunteer time at my son's school.  I'm the chair of the Instructional Media Parent-Managed Cohort (fancy name for committee).  This morning, I and another PMC member sorted gift books by whether they're to used in classroom collections or sold to raise funds for BRIDGES.  I also donated and installed an extra PC to be used in a new after-school enrichment program.

Pearson Library @ Calif. Lutheran University, Jan. 11

I visited with Henri Mondschein, Information Specialist at the Pearson Library.  They provide loans of laptop computers to their students.  They also provide Kindle e-book readers:

Depending on what happens with the e-book market, offering Kindles may be something that OC should consider.  Here's another FF& E idea for student spaces:

So, we see chairs similar to those at National University, as well as portable whiteboards.  The "Hugh & Hazel Darling Collaboration Suite" shows a way to let student study groups customize their workspace on an ad hoc basis.

Southern Calif. Instruction Librarians Meeting @ National University in San Diego, Jan. 7

My first sabbatical activity:  attending a SCIL Works session in San Diego.  Henri Mondschein at California Lutheran University presented a workshop entitled Let’s 
be 
Direct 
about 
Assessment: 
Making 
the 
Leap
 from 
Indirect 
Data 
to 
Direct
 Evidence
 of 
Student 
Learning (see link here: http://www.carl-acrl.org/ig/scil/scilworks/2011/conferencematerials.html)  I followed this up with a visit to CLU (next post).

Finally, the last photo shows NU Library's reference desk.  Nothing special here...except that it is called a "Help Desk".  This nomenclature, I suspect, would make a lot more sense to the average student than "reference desk", which is meaningless "libraryspeak" for most people.

Tom's Spring 2011 Sabbatical Leave from Oxnard College Library

Gentle Readers,

My name is Tom Stough and I am the Associate Librarian at Oxnard College in Southern California.  During Spring 2012, I will be visiting college and university libraries around California to learn from their best practices, especially in preparation for the opening of OC's new Library/Learning Resources building, scheduled for Spring 2012 (see this link: http://www.oxnardcollege.edu/services_for_students/library/index.shtml) These best practices may include, but will not be limited to:  architecture/interior design ideas, reference services, instruction, assessment, program review and collection development.  Reference services will definitely mean looking at Web 2.0 technologies and how they can be used effectively in modern academic libraries.

Before posting anything else, I'd like to acknowledge my inspiration for this "excellent library adventure":  Mary Ann Laun, dean at the Shatford Library, Pasadena City College.  PCC will be one of the many campuses I'll be visiting over the next few months.  Although I have a good idea where I'm going, suggestions for visits to academic libraries, learning centers, tutorial centers and related programs are most welcome.  They need to be within California or reasonably close by (Nevada, Arizona, etc.)  Thank you for your assistance.

Regards, Tom