This spring I participated in LILAC or the Library Instruction Leadership ACademy offered through the Rochester Regional Library Council. We spent the semester attending a series of workshops that walked us through effective instruction techniques including: understanding student learning behaviors, collaboration with students and faculty, uses of technology and learning outcomes. We also observed three […]

My last session at MARAC provided me with a lot of food for thought as I head back to my organization. Alison Langmead a professor at the University of Pittsburg pushed the audience to consider where archivists should insert themselves in the field of data visualization. The most compelling part of her argument for me […]

This morning I went to a session where presenters shared tips and experiences about working with volunteers, interns and students. Rebecca Crago kicked off the session by sharing her experiences as a new professional managing an army of volunteers and interns at the Historical Society of Frederick, Maryland. She has these staff members research references […]

The second session this afternoon concluded with a great discussion about how to leverage the statistics we gather to inform decisions we make related to collection development, processing priorities and storage. Ben Primer from Princeton explained that he used data to determine which collections hadn’t been used in 5 years and then sent those manuscript […]

This afternoon’s session addressed aspects of strategic planning. There were three presenters: Diane Strock- Lynskey, Chana Kotzin and Joe Coen. Each shared their experiences with the process. Key themes that emerged were: Begin by doing an environmental scan to understand how your organization relates to the bigger picture (e.g. an archives department- how does that […]

This morning I went to a great session that included three case studies related to outreach methods. The first, “Master Teachers Seminar at Society of the Cincinnati” was given by Rachel Jirka. She explained that the program began in 2011 and developed into a week long seminar held at the Society. The first program had […]

I’m part of a search committee for a Digital Humanities programmer and during discussions with recent candidates, I’ve been struck by the phrase “scholarly practice.” My colleague builds projects that adhere to certain standards accepted within the DH community, which as a result create a scholarly product. For example, this year we’ve teamed up with […]

Opening up Special Collections In a age of increasing openness in academic libraries, how do Special Collections departments fit in? Often we’re fortunate enough to have instruction space built in to the blue print of our departments. Of course, we strive to fill those spaces as often as we can with teaching students, working with […]