MOOCs, Mobile Technologies - Their Impact on Reference Service

At its core, embedded librarianship means superseding the traditional, standalone, transactional model of library service with information and knowledge services that are integrated into the curriculum and founded on strong relationships with students and instructional staff. The introduction of massively open online courses would seem to threaten our ability to build and sustain these relationships -- or does it? In his presentation, Professor Shumaker offers some ideas on the role of embedded librarians in MOOCs and shares examples that point the way forward.

Several new service initiatives have launched within the UT Libraries at UT Austin, including a new combined service point in the main Perry-Castañeda Library and support of faculty in preparing and facilitating access to resources for newly minted MOOCs, specifically the Jazz Appreciation MOOC slated for Spring 2014. And "Crunch Time," an existing outreach initiative in its sixth year, evolves to include tailored involvement by multiple branch library locations across campus. These initiatives converge to raise awareness of subject specialist expertise and facilitate user access to the research help and resources they need, with less fuss, no muss and no copyright infringement.

Free Library of Philadelphia Hot Spots engage people in technology learning and exploration within four trusted neighborhood organizations (www.freelibrary.org/hotspots), and connects library resources with audiences outside of our traditional walls. Free Library Hot Spots place computers, printers and trained and supportive staff in community settings, and are also part of KEYSPOTS, a city-wide network of community-hosted technology labs. The Free Library Techmobile is our mobile computer lab on wheels that travels the city with 6 workstations, laptops, ipads, wifi and other training resources, and partners with organizations to bring internet, computers and trained staff to even more patrons.

We will discuss the history of Hot Spots, and the Free Library’s role in the KEYSPOTS network and Philadelphia’s city-wide BTOP Freedom Rings Partnership, as well as sustainability, and the successes and challenges of bringing services beyond the traditional library walls, and what that service model looks like.

The attention being paid to MOOCs and the sudden interest in global online education has created remarkable new situations for faculty, administrators and librarians. One area of both uncertainty and opportunity is copyright, especially because traditional copyright exceptions do not seem to apply comfortably in the MOOC environment. In this webinar, we will look at how institutions need to think about copyright compliance for online teaching, what level of guidance for teaching faculty is appropriate, and what kinds of services may be needed to support the MOOC phenomenon.

Blind, low vision and disable readers nationwide are taking advantage of Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) service from The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. BARD is a collection of over 50,000 audio books and magazines and braille materials available for eligible readers to download. The collection is added to yearly and with the recent contracts with commercial audio book producers to be added to the 2,000 titles produced a year by NLS. Additional, local and regional books produced by libraries across the country will soon be added to the collection.

Until the creation of BARD, distribution of NLS reading materials was through the United States Postal Service. With digital transition of the service over the past decade, Internet access is become prevalent. Recent developments to allow apps for Apple and Android mobile devices allow users to read materials with everyday devices freeing them from proprietary NLS players.

This program will give an overview of services provided by NLS and demonstrate the downloading of BARD materials using a variety of accessible mobile devices.

There will be two parts to my talk. The first part will be to explain why it is so important for public services to get involved with the current changes in cataloging. This does not mean that public services staff should deal with the minutiae of the rules, but to help catalogers who are immersed with such minutiae, to stay focused on the overall purpose of what they are doing. Reference staff can do this by relating the day-to-day reality of what they witness in the actions of the patrons; how the patrons use, or avoid, the library's catalog and other information resources. If the library catalog is supposed to be aimed primarily at the patrons, then it is absolutely critical to know what the patrons are doing. It is the public services staff who has the best idea of what the public needs and wants. I shall suggest e methods how this could be achieved.

The second part will be to suggest some new tools that can be built and perhaps even demonstrate a prototype or two.

This presentation will address the traditional role of Reference Librarian and how it applies to the current MOOC and e-learning environment. Reference Librarians have always been thought to be the most well-rounded and knowledgeable, "go-to" resource for their community. This role was in flux for many years considering the change from print to electronic reference sources. Reference Librarians became more like navigators, traversing the online reference tools as opposed to accumulating knowledge, facts and references in their heads. Many reference questions could be answered online. Now, in the MOOC environment, not only reference questions but ways to learn can be had for free by anyone who wishes to teach him/herself. This means the Reference Librarian has a real opportunity -- and some may say an obligation -- to provide those options to patrons. This presentation will share tips for the Reference Librarian who is new to MOOCs and wishes to empower patrons with all the options they have available to teach themselves how to learn online.

Observations from a librarian who enrolls in a MOOC. Our university has opened its first MOOC, on a book of the Bible. Most MOOCs come from subjects such as Technology, Science, or Engineering. As I observe and participate in a MOOC in the Humanities, I plan to highlight and discuss areas of emphasis where a librarian could strategically add value to the course.

Come back from lunch a bit early to hear about Amigos' e-book platform project – where it came from, where it's headed, and how you can help. Ideas, comments, and questions are welcome. (15-minute session)

Change is a great thing... and there is a lot of change impacting libraries now. Here are the technologies that are changing reference now and that will open up opportunities for libraries in the near future. Joe Murphy (Tech Trends spotter for libraries) explores the areas of change and challenge from new communication tech and norms to the cultural shifts behind the MOOC revolution. Learn about the tech areas that will be part of the next stages in library service.

Marin County Free Library is implementing a one-stop service point for patrons to provide a range of quality library service at one centralized customer service desk in each of its 10 libraries. The one-stop desk offers better, faster service to patrons, creates staff efficiencies and expands ability to do outreach in our community and enhances customer service. As part of the new service model the library is piloting the use of iPad minis for staff to have on the floor of the library to assist a patron with locating an item, placing a hold for something in the catalog or on our connection to Link+ . LINK+ is a union catalog of contributed holdings (11,127,321) from participating libraries in California and Nevada. Patrons from member libraries electronically request an item not available in their own library and it is delivered to them for check-out- usually delivered in 2 to 4 days. Additionally Marin County Free Library has deployed a successful e-book Academy to get staff comfortable with the substantial e-book/resource collection and devices.

In mid-March 2013, the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, hosted a two-day conference titled "MOOCs and Libraries: Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge?“. Co-sponsored by OCLC® Research, the event included a session on Copyright, Licensing, Open Access and one on New Opportunities for Librarians: What Happens When You Go Behind the Lines in a MOOC?"

Participants in the former session members discussed "the challenges for licensing and clearing copyright for materials" used in MOOCs, and explored the potential "opportunities for advancing the conversation on open access with faculty," while members of the latter reported and speculated on the roles of libraries and librarians in the MOOC environment. Among those noted were: serving as an advocate for different resource licensing models, identifying and organizing public domain images, as well as encouraging Open Access publishing, and the use of institutional repository content, among other initiatives.

Compared to discussion of copyright and licensing negotiations and fair use of proprietary content, however, consideration of Open Educational Resources and their use in MOOCs was not as extensive and implementation strategies were not discussed in detail.

In this presentation, we will profile select professional development, current awareness, and promotion initiatives and opportunities that can be undertaken by librarians to facilitate knowledge and engagement with Open Educational Resources and Massive Open Online Courses.

MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses, have become all the rage, with numerous institutions joining forces with both commercial and non profit partners: Udacity, Coursera, edX, FutureLearn, and others. This presentation will address how libraries are engaged in MOOC efforts on campus, and how libraries are rethinking services with the prospect of an "inside out" classroom. We’ll report on how libraries are supporting early MOOC implementations by engaging in discussions around copyright, licensing, and open access; how libraries are supporting course production and how librarians are becoming “embedded” in MOOC environments in order to provide evolved research services.

Douglas County Libraries (Colo.) has created a process of community outreach that is systematic, impactful, and part of librarians' everyday jobs. We developed a strategic way to target organizations (show up), gather information from them (pay attention), and track themes and issues that are county-wide (stay in touch).

The Bryant University Library offers innovative reference services to its patrons through the use of online tools to complement its successful face to face operations. Patrons are using online approaches to ask questions, even when they are sitting in our libraries – sometimes right in front of us! Find out how the Bryant University Library is using free web based tools to enhance its instant messaging and other virtual services to reach every user at their point of need.