Innovative Learning

I’ve already blogged that our Science and Engineering Library is on our capital campaign and so I will be working on defining what we hope to achieve with the renovation. The project is estimated to be $4m.

Our President, Peter George, has asked me to also lead part of the capital campaign called “Innovative Learning”. I’m particularly pleased to be leading this initiative as I believe it indicates that the university is thinking differently about the role its libraries play in teaching and learning. I’m looking forward to working with the university’s faculties, libraries, museums, archives, and other members of the campus community on this important initiative.

Right now I’m considering programs that include:

• Web 2.0 (wikis, blogs, flickr, del.icio.us)
• Social networks  (myspace, facebook)
• Immersive learning environments (games, virtual worlds, simulations)
• Mobile learning (handhelds, cell phones)
• Multimedia
• Reusable learning objects (MERLOT)
• E-portfolios
• Spatial data/data visualization
• Numeracy
• Information fluency

Watch this space for more.  I’ll be contacting faculty next week to ask them to participate in a brainstorming activity.  From there, we’ll develop the “case statement” for the capital campaign.  That statement will be shared here.

Getting into virtual worlds

McMaster University Library has recently opened a facility in Second Life.  Located in Cybrary City on InfoIsland the building will allow us to explore service and resource offerings in a virtual world setting.   We believe we are the first Canadian university library in Cybrary City.

McMaster University offers academic programs geared towards gaming and multimedia so this evolution of the library is quite logical for us.  One of our librarians has taken an active interest in the potential of Second Life and can be reached at her avatar Danu Dahlstrom.

Getting out of the cataloging business

On Friday I announced to the University Library staff that we are effectively “getting out of the cataloging business”. I know this will not come as a shock to many who have paid attention to the changing library landscape! However, our library has been very traditional! Original catalogers will be moving to “tiered reference”. Copy cataloging will cease. We hope to do this as soon as possible and are offering separation incentives to staff.

At the same time, we are moving forward in several new directions and new librarian positions are being created. These include:

Digital Strategies Librarian: This position will be responsible for developing our digital library program; building our digital infrastructure; assisting with implementation of an institutional repository; and developing strategies to align us with programs at the provincial and national level such as Alouette.

Systems Librarian: We’re still working on the title on this one! It will be responsible for managing systems and emerging technologies in the IT part of “the house”.

E-Resource Librarian: This position will be in Collections and will be responsible for managing our e-resource licenses.

Training and Development Librarian: This position will assist with staff development but will also work with the librarians to develop an understanding of “curriculum development”.

In some cases existing staff are being recognized for work they are doing with title changes. These include:

User Experience Librarian: Amanda Etches-Johnson has been doing web development work and will continue to do this while also exploring new and emerging technologies such as Web 2.0, virtual worlds, etc. Her focus will be on improving the user experience regardless of how they come to us in the electronic environment.

Liaison Coordinator: Barbara McDonald will be responsible for creating and implementing a new liaison program.

Access Services: Donna Millard will be responsible for a newly merged ILL/Circulation/Tiered Reference department. Ultimately we are moving to a single service point model.

A more detailed org chart is forthcoming…This is “phase I”