MLA/DLA Annual Conference, 2015

MLA/DLA Annual Conference, 2015
The Clarion
Ocean City, Maryland
May 6-8, 2015

Mark Cyzyk

My notes:

Wednesday Evening Events: 4:30 - 6:00 PM Keynote - Dr. Jack A. Kaye, NASA
Fascinating!  Remote sensing via satellites.  Data feeds.  FREE access to data.
Amazing animations and video.
Satellites circle Earth 15 times a day each collecting data. Remote sensing of ocean salinity, groundwater, soil moisture
The NASA Hyperwall in the vendor exhibits area is amazing!


Thursday 9:00 - 10:00 AM Programs: Digital Signage
Tom Croft, Frederick County Public Libraries
Started about two years ago.  Had a sign they were paying $150 PER MONTH for!
digitalsignage.com <-- 1="" backup="" br="" easy="" free="" gb="" hosted.="" it.="" like="" nbsp="" no="" pay-per-more.="" really="" storage="" they="" to="" use.=""> 32 Inch screen, minimum
Timelines, time slots, plop content into slots
digitalsignage.com -- sells hardware.  Frederick County is very pleased with it.
Software listed in handout.
Fonts, free stock video sites
Bios power on/off automatically


Thursday 10:30 - 11:30 AM Programs: Teaching to the Stuck Places: The Top 10  Things You Can (and Can't) Do Online with Government Information
Joyce Garczynski and Carl Olson, Towson University
Journalism students, must go to original source, not Find It Fast.  They don't get it.
Frames of information literacy, crossing the threshold to becoming information literate
Teach to the stuck places
Turning stuck places into learning objectives
Journalism students: Why going to the original source matters
Government information as original source.  But not all government information is online
Find Joe Flacco's license plate number.  You have three minutes
Maryland Judiciary Case Search
Lexis/Nexus Accurint
Government historical sources:  National Archives; National Park Service; Library of Congress; Smithsonian
Copyright.  Journalism students must know this.  Must know about Fair Use doctrine
Freedom of Information Act.  Maryland Public Information Act
Baltimore Sun salary database
data.gov
census.gov
Issues in data:  What?  Where?  When?
Estimates and confidence levels/margins of error


Thursday 1:45 - 2:45 PM Programs: Inspired Spaces, or Home Away from Home? Academic Affordances of Peace, Quiet, Comfort, & Technology in the Library
Sarah Fisher, Beth Thomas, Tanner Wray, Montgomery College
Ethnography study
Nancy Foster, Anthropology consultant
Freshman and sophomore students
Participatory design
3 campuses, 3 studies, 3.5 years each
Anthropology course --> Architecture course
Four possible future library designs
Design workshops:  Design/draw your ideal library
Reply cards:  Interrupt them, what where you doing when we interrupted you?  Why at this location?
Spot interviews:  Outside library. 
Structured interviews
Library observations
New furniture types with electrical outlets built in
Expanding group study rooms
Reduce print collection on first floor
Collaborate with Art Gallery, student exhibitions
Laptop loaning project
Charging stations
Expand hours
Increase library instruction
Working toward a single service desk
Expand spaces to afford quiet, comfort


Thursday 3:30 - 4:30 PM Programs: Success of a 21st Century Center for Learning
Charles Rudalavage and Jolin Wang, EwingCole, architects
New library building at Anne Arundel Community College
$17 Million addition to existing building, three floors
Learning commons/Technology support.  Collections around the fringes
Student success services
24 group study rooms
Post-occupancy evaluation process
Greatly increased gate count
Study patterns of usage at general study areas.  Heat maps
High demand for window seats
Staff presence on each floor
Raised flooring, for I.T.
25 security cameras
Plenty of natural light
LEED Gold rating


Thursday 4:45 - 5:45 PM Programs: Library Futures (The Ones to Watch)
Future of library professionals
Re-Envisioning the MLS, John Bertot, Lindsay Sarin, UMD
Core values
Characteristics of the information professional
Competencies of the information professional
The importance of internships
mls.umd.edu
hackmls.umd.edu -- Video archive


Friday 9:30 - 10:30 AM Programs: Bringing it Back to Earth: Using Assessment Data to Drive Change
Stephen "Mike" Kiel, Catherine Johnson, Natalie Burclaff, University of Baltimore
Assessment in Action, ACRL.
Baseline information literacy assessment
300 Level Writing class.
Pre-test, post-test.
BUT you could assess anything, not just info literacy
Establish goals:  What to assess?
Explore info literacy skills and overall success as a student at the University
Characteristics of good program assessment: Used; cost effective; reasonably accurate; valued; organized/systematized/sustained
Use it:  Reconsider resource allocation
Need more seamless integration of resources
BEAM Mode
Need for two-classes devoted to info literacy, first on finding resources, second on discussing the sources they've found and intend to use
20 sections.  Five instructional librarians
Multi-year assessment.  Iterations
Tracking students over the years, from course to course:  Intro writing course --> 300 Writing --> Major writing course