UBC ALA STUDENT CHAPTER REFERENCE LIBRARY
Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins APRIL 14, 2014 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Christensen Appleberry Avon Dawkins
Contents PART ONE: The Motivation ........................................................................................................................... 1 PART TWO: The Resources............................................................................................................................ 5 Almanacs and Handbooks ......................................................................................................................... 5 ALA's Core Competences of Librarianship ............................................................................................ 5 ALA Handbook of Organization ............................................................................................................. 6 Career Services Handbook .................................................................................................................... 7 Non-profit Meetings, Minutes & Records............................................................................................. 8 Bibliographic Reference Sources .............................................................................................................. 9 Current Cites ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Library of Congress ............................................................................................................................... 9 WorldCat ............................................................................................................................................. 10 Biographical Reference Sources.............................................................................................................. 11 UBC iSchool Administration and Student Library Associations .......................................................... 11 Dictionaries ............................................................................................................................................. 12 ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science ............................................................................... 12 ALA Library Acronyms ......................................................................................................................... 13 Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science ...................................................................... 13 Directories ............................................................................................................................................... 14 Financial Assistance for Library and Information Studies ................................................................... 14 Library Conference Planner ................................................................................................................ 15 Encyclopaedias ........................................................................................................................................ 16 Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science............................................................................... 16 Geographical Sources.............................................................................................................................. 17 Google Maps: ALA Accredited LIS Programs ....................................................................................... 17 Government Documents and Statistical Sources ................................................................................... 18 Occupational Outlook Handbook: Librarians ...................................................................................... 18 Indexes and Full Text Databases Sources ............................................................................................... 19 ALA JobLIST ......................................................................................................................................... 19 Scholarships Canada ........................................................................................................................... 19 Websites ................................................................................................................................................. 20 ALA Student Chapters ......................................................................................................................... 20 OCLC Webjunction .............................................................................................................................. 21 i UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Office.com ........................................................................................................................................... 22 UBC Alma Mater Society ..................................................................................................................... 22 UBC Career Resources......................................................................................................................... 23 UKMC Library Resource Guide ............................................................................................................ 23 PART THREE: The Outcome......................................................................................................................... 24 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................. 27 Resource Index............................................................................................................................................ 28
ii UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
PART ONE: The Motivation After careful deliberation, our group decided to target a UBC student association as the recipient of our mini reference library. We chose the UBC chapter of the American Library Association, which is one of only two Canadian student chapters of the ALA, and the only currently active one. We think it is a student association that can offer great value to SLAIS students and we built this collection with the idea of offering it to them as a means to assist them in providing tools to students. This association is composed of current UBC students who have volunteered to be members, an elected legislative officer team, and a faculty advisor. Student chapters are meant to be extensions of ALA at the chapter's campus. According to ALA's website, "the mission of ALA is to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all" (ALA.org). The purpose and aims of the UBC student chapter of ALA, as self-defined in their constitution, are:
To facilitate and encourage participation in the American Library Association. To acquaint members with goals, objectives, and resources of the American Library Association. To encourage professional contacts within the field of librarianship. To provide the members of the student chapter with official representation to the American Library Association and other relevant organizations. To actively promote involvement in professional activities beyond the classroom. To provide a local forum for the exchange of ideas and information about trends, issues, and opportunities in the profession. To develop skills and relationships that will enable students to have a creative impact on the profession. To increase awareness of contemporary issues in library and information science.
1 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Such extensive goals result in extensive information needs. The current ALA student chapter chair, Anna Ferri, confirmed this assessment when interviewed. She expressed that she hopes the student chapter of the ALA is, and will continue becoming, an organization that students consider valuable and beneficial to them. Some of the current pursuits of UBC's ALA include workshops on networking, help for job searches, access to online classes, volunteer opportunities, promotion of scholarships and conferences, event planning and marketing, and more (Ferri, 3/5/2014). Breaking down the pursuits of UBC's ALA, and cross-referencing them with their constitution, as well as with the mission of ALA, we have determined that the information needs of the UBC ALA fall into two broad categories: administration and student services. On the administrative side, the third article of the UBC ALA constitution states that "Membership shall be open to all students at the University of British Columbia...A member in good standing is defined as: Attending meetings and/or reading meeting notes and/or serving on a committee." So that their members can be considered in good standing, the UBC ALA needs to be informed as to the proper procedures for calling and documenting official meetings, the way of electing officers, and the procedures for recognizing committees. They also have information needs related to the pursuit of ALA's mission, such as remaining informed about the cutting edge of library service developments and scholarship in the field, remaining abreast of ALA's activities, and information needs regarding how to disseminate all this information to its members. Finally, they have practical information needs surrounding the logistics of hosting events, such as booking rooms, providing refreshments, promoting events, and assessing their success. 2 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
There are different student service information needs for incoming students and for graduating students. Resources on ALA related scholarships and bursaries, as well as on SLAIS itself and how it fits with ALA, would be helpful to new students. Resources about conferences, publication opportunities, volunteer opportunities, course selection assistance, and workshops for new skills are also information needs that UBC ALA could assist with. This is another way of approaching the mentioned information needs of communication methods for information dissemination, and is also an information need in terms of finding opportunities to disseminate to members. It also creates an information need regarding how to translate the information gathered on developments in the library field into concrete opportunities for student chapter members. Graduating students are focused on translating the skills from their chosen courses and attended workshops into a career. Disseminating job postings and information on resumes, cover letters, and interview skills, are all services offered by ALA, and so it is reasonable to rely on the student chapter of the ALA to provide resources on those topics to student members. Relocation information might also be something they would hope UBC ALA could help provide, given ALA's job postings are most often located in the USA. We concluded that a selection of resources aimed towards assisting with the information needs of student members of UBC's ALA, in addition to resources aimed at assisting with the administrative functioning of UBC's ALA would be the best way to align our resource mini-library with the aims and purpose of this organization, and the best way to serve the information needs of all UBC ALA members.
3 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
In summary, the UBC ALA needs information regarding the following: Administration of a student association. Effective marketing, and communication technologies and strategies. Staying current and up to date regarding developments in the library and information studies field. Career development in the information fields and sharing career advice with members Planning, organizing, and promoting events and conferences. Facilitating extracurricular experience in the library and information studies career field. Financial assistance available to students, both for school and conference attendance. Learning about and attending conferences.
4 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
PART TWO: The Resources Almanacs and Handbooks Name and Citation:
ALA's Core Competences of Librarianship ALA Executive Board (2008). ALA's core competences of librarianship. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/educationcareers/sites/ala.org.educationcareers/files/content/careers/corec omp/corecompetences/finalcorecompstat09.pdf. Accessed on 03/29/2014. This document clearly defines itself as an attempt to define “the basic knowledge to be possessed by all persons graduating from an ALA-accredited master's program in library and information studies (citation).” Though it is not a comprehensive source for analyzing all of the different competencies and skills that would benefit someone wanting to work in the information professions, it covers what graduating students should know about the foundations of the profession, organization of information, technological skills, and other critical aspects of librarianship. The version that is hosted on the ALA website was approved and adopted as policy by the ALA Council in 2009.
Description and Assessment:
The Core Competences is a valuable resource for students who are new to the program and ALA as it provides a snapshot of what they will be expected to know and understand at the point of graduation. It could be a valuable tool to someone who is taking a longview towards planning their course schedule and wants to be sure that all of their bases are covered by the ALA's standards before graduation. The document is less concerned with naming specific software or information resources that students should be familiar with. Instead, it focuses on the larger questions and discussions surrounding librarianship, such as the roles of libraries in “promot[ing] democratic principles and intellectual freedom.” As such, it could be used in conjunction with the ALA student chapter constitution as a foundational document that informs the student chapter when they are planning events, workshops, panels and other activities for members. In part because it is a general, big picture kind of document that is maintained and hosted directly by the ALA, this seems to be an accurate and reliable source. While it may not seem as current, considering it has not been updated for several years, the ideas that it outlines strive, and in my estimation are timeless.
Questions for this Resource:
What am I expected to know by the time I complete my MLIS in order to get a job as an information professional?
Do I have any information gaps in the core competences that I can address before graduation?
Does the workshop we're planning reflect and represent the outlook of the ALA?
5 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Name and Citation:
ALA Handbook of Organization ALA (2007). ALA Handbook of Organization. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/handbook. Accessed on 4/08/2014. The ALA Handbook of Organization “provides information on ALA’s structure, membership groups, and governing bodies. It is updated following the Annual Conference, when our officers are installed.” Since 2009, the American Library Association has made the Handbook available exclusively in an online version.
Description and Assessment:
The Handbook contains a quick reference section with information about ways to get involved, important dates, and a staff directory; a policy section which includes the Charter of 1879, the ALA’s mission and priorities, and the ALA policy manual; a section about the organization includes an overview of the ALA, the officers and executive board, and information about various committees, divisions, chapters, and affiliate groups; the general reference section contains acronyms and abbreviations, and provides scholarship and grant information as well as membership statistics and a list of periodicals published within the American Library Association; finally the historical reference section lists former presidents, treasurers, and executive directors and past conferences and midwinter meetings. As this handbook is published by the ALA about the ALA, it is authoritative and accurate. It is well organized and simple to navigate and browse using hyperlinks. Being updated annually, the ALA Handbook of Organization is very current.
Questions for this Resource:
What are the functions of the Chapter Relations Office?
What is the mission of the ALA?
6 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Name and Citation:
Career Services Handbook Westlund, Julie and Pribyl, Janet (2013). Career services handbook. With assistance of Ellen Hatfield, Sherrill Brodin Yeaton, Sue Holm. 11Th: UMD Career Services. Accessed on 3/20/2014. This was an incredible find. This handbook walks you step by step through career planning. It is meant for undergraduates but its scope is easily much broader than that. It begins by emphasizing the importance of having a plan and it outlines where you should be according to you what semester you are in as well as how many credits you have completed. It provides checklists for developing your plan and gives you tips on how to prepare for job and internship search success. There are guides and strategies throughout for things from resumes to social media. The report also highlights references to other reports that followed up with previous graduates to see how they fared after they left school. It would be useful to know some of the successes of people that used this program.
Description and Assessment:
It is very long and very content rich, but was still very accessible and it seems extremely effective. Using the checklists makes it very easy to know where you stand with regard to any of the categories that you are preparing for. For example: The Job Fair Success category goes through all stages of attending a job fair from preparation for going to what you do when you arrive, to how you approach an employer and even what do if you are not outgoing or are scared to talk with a prospective employer. Even though every section may highlight a different skill set and may or may not have checklists, each one is well researched and presented very clearly. Because this is written by a specific university it does have advertisements for various programs and job sites which is a bit distracting from the overall content. Unlike UBC’s career builder website, the specific authors of the overall work are identified, but only by their titles, and it is difficult to know what their experience is or even which sections they specifically wrote.
Questions for this Resource:
How do I prepare for job interviews?
What can I do now to make myself more marketable and successful when I begin my job search?
7 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Name and Citation:
Non-profit Meetings, Minutes & Records Mancuso, Anthony (2011). Nonprofit meetings, minutes & records: how to run your nonprofit corporation so you don't run into trouble (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: Nolo. Print. Nonprofit Meetings is a beginner's guide from a legal perspective on nonprofit administration. It has simple and accessible language, logical step-by-step presentation of information, and is aimed at self-starting first timers. The scope of the book is quite limited, as it is taking a focused look at how and when to call meetings, how to structure those meetings, how to use those meetings to achieve goals, and how to records those meetings, but in this case that makes it extra valuable. If it were any broader, it would expand into incorporation processes and filing annual income reports, and this would all be irrelevant information to the UBC ALA given that it has to conform to BC non-profit legislation, and Nolo is an American legal book publisher.
Description and Assessment:
The information within the text was last updated in 2011, and from my (Janna) experience as a secretary on the Board of Directors for a non-profit organization, it is quite accurate when it describes general practices, and only unhelpful when directing the reader to American legal resources. In terms of authority, it is also quite strong. It is written by an American attorney who is an expert in corporations and limited liability companies, and published by Nolo, a large American publishing company that has been generating do-it-yourself legal guides for over forty years. Library Journal endorses Nolo publications, stating that their “material is developed by expert attorneys who have a knack for making complicated materials accessible (Mancuso 2011, p ii).” Other useful elements are a full appendix of templates to help generate accurate records of meetings and to help generate accurate records of meetings and help structure meeting minutes, as well as a CD of digital versions of the various templates. The book is also available for consultation and loan from the David Lam Business Library, so it is accessible at any time to all students. It is strongly recommend as a way to follow through on the UBC ALA constitutional description of members in good standing being members that attend meetings and/or read meeting notes (http://blogs.ubc.ca/alaplace/constitution).
Questions for this Resource:
How do I take minutes in a meeting?
What is the difference between a monthly meeting and an annual general meeting?
Who needs to be in attendance at what meetings?
How do we use meetings to achieve goals?
8 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Bibliographic Reference Sources Name and Citation:
Current Cites Tennant, R. (2014). Current Cites. Retrieved from http://www.currentcites.org. Accessed on 3/30/2014. This resource is an annotated bibliography maintained by a team of librarians who monitor current scholarship relating to information technologies and select 5-10 citations each month that reflect some of the strongest and most important articles, books, and digital documents in the field. This resource is completely free to use and has been archived back to August 1990. It is a great option for students who want to know about the major trend and issues being discussed in the profession.
Description and Assessment:
Each citation includes an abstract-length summary from one of the librarians who works on the Current Cites team, so this resource does require the user to do a little legwork if they want to access the resource in full. However, most of the articles cited come from scholarly journals that are easily found on the UBC library website. In the case of full length books or conference papers being referenced, the summaries also highlight particular chapters or sections of interest. Enabling access to all previous editions of Current Cites also makes this a great starting point resource for ALA student chapter members who are working on research projects. Though it does not address one of the specific information needs outlined to us by the UBC ALA student chapter, it is one resource that would help the chapter fulfill its constitutional mandate to be a “local forum for the exchange of ideas and information about trends, issues, and opportunities in the profession...[and] to increase awareness of contemporary issues in library and information science (ALA UBC Student Chapter, 2010).”
Questions for this Resource:
Name and Citation:
Where can I find the best recently published articles related to information sciences?
What were the main scholarly discussions surrounding librarianship in the 1990s and 2000s?
Library of Congress Library of Congress (2014). Library of Congress. Retrieved from http://www.loc.gov. Accessed on 4/10/2014. The Library of Congress Online Catalog is a good general bibliographic resource and can be considered authoritative. There are over 15 million records for materials in various formats, so the scope of this resource is vast. This can also be a drawback as the potential for receiving overwhelming search results is high. The advanced search feature may help alleviate this problem by allowing the user to enter search terms in up to three different fields. Additionally, when results are returned they may be sorted by author, title, or date. Users can also browse the catalog by subject, call number, and author. It would be simple to get a list of materials about careers in libraries or resume and cover letter writing tips which could then be printed, saved, or emailed. The new Library of Congress website is much more attractive and user friendly than the previous version, more intuitive to use, and has an “ask a librarian” button. New records are added continually but Library of Congress holding information may not be available for the latest titles.
Description and Assessment:
Questions for this Resource:
I'm not sure what kind of library I want to work in. Are there any books about what it's like to work in a public library?
What are the titles of some books about digitization methods?
9 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Name and Citation:
WorldCat WorldCat.org (2014). WorldCat.org: the world's largest library catalog. Retrieved from http://www.worldcat.org. Accessed on 3/20/2014. This reference is the largest library catalog in the world and it satisfies many needs for the ALA. Just one search of the term “ALA” with no qualifiers gives you references and links to the ALA Handbook for Organization, the ALA Membership Directory, and the ALA Journals. This would be the place to begin if you wanted to add references and resources for your ALA Student Chapter Library. As with any resource this large, it may be hard to find obscure works and the number of results returned can be overwhelming. Also, there are many different organizations that use the acronym ALA and you will get results for those associations as well. We were presented with results for the African Literature Association among others. Additionally, not all of the tags are created by professionals so things may be out of place or tagged incorrectly.
Description and Assessment:
This resource hits all the most important factors identified by Cassell and Hiremath. It is accurate and authoritative, the scope is enormous and much larger than what would be necessary for the ALA Student Chapter. However, the comprehensive nature of the resource and its ease of use at times make it more effective at finding ALA materials than the ALA website itself. As Robert and Marche noted in their WorldCat resource presentation, it is mostly limited to English language materials but that is a benefit for the people who are in the UBC ALA Student Chapter. The other weakness that they identified was that libraries need to participate to have their materials included in the WorldCat database. The ALA’s resources are available on WorldCat. The UBC ALA Student Chapter will be able to use this resource to find ALA Manuals and Organization tips for its chapter.
Questions for this Resource:
How can I effectively market library events?
Where can I get articles from ALA conferences?
10 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Biographical Reference Sources Name and Citation:
UBC iSchool Administration and Student Library Associations SLAIS: The iSchool @ UBC. UBC student library associations (2014a). Available online at http://www.slais.ubc.ca/people/students.htm, updated on 3/10/2014. Accessed on 3/20/2014. SLAIS: The iSchool @ UBC. UBC iSchool administration (2014b). Available online at http://www.slais.ubc.ca/people/faculty/staff.htm, updated on 3/10/2014. Accessed on 3/20/2014. These two sites work in connection with each other. They are there to give the names and titles of the administrators that work for the UBC iSchool. There is also a site that has links to all of the library associations' blogs. The links to the blogs are only as good as the blogs themselves. The blogs provide the names of the current officers, which would be useful for knowing whom to speak with for collaboration or advice.
Description and Assessment:
When the sites were analyzed using the guidelines for evaluating biographical resources in Cassell and Hiremath, we found that it would be better if each of the officer positions were collected outside of the blogs themselves. It is not particularly easy to get to the names that you want because they are not all in one place. The sites are updated frequently by designated webmasters. There is a high degree of accuracy considering that most of the information is updated by volunteers. It would also be useful to be able to access former members of the ALA student chapter that might be willing to take on roles as mentors to the new members. Currently there is not a way to access these individuals, aside from some of their names, through these two sites. The administration site gives virtually no biographical description of the roles of the administrators. There would certainly be value in expanding descriptions beyond the titles and contact information so that the ALA members would know where to go for their specific needs. Similar information and biographical descriptions would be useful also for the student officeres of ALA. Through these websites, admittedly with a little work, ALA members have access to their key local contacts.
Questions for this Resource:
What types of library student associations are there at UBC and who is involved in them?
Who is the student services coordinator for the iSchool?
11 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Dictionaries Name and Citation:
ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science Levine-Clark, M. and Carter, T. (eds.). (2014). ALA glossary of library and information science (4th ed.). Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. Print. The fourth edition of the ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science was published in 2013 and is an update of the third edition from 1983. This resource was published quite recently and is therefore very current. It remains to be seen how long it will stay that way with things in the information sciences changing so rapidly. The Glossary can be considered authoritative and reliable, having been edited by Michael Levine-Clark, Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication and Collections Services at the University of Denver Libraries and Toni M. Carter, Instruction and Reference Librarian at Auburn University. The update includes major revisions to the definitions of more than 600 terms, updated terms (for example, the term “charging record” has been replaced by “circulation record”), and the removal of obsolete terms like “diskette”.
Description and Assessment:
The scope of this resource has been broadened considerably in the latest edition with entries relating to metadata, licensing, electronic resources, instruction, assessment, readers’ advisory, and electronic workflow have been added; the fourth edition includes about 1,400 new terms. Entries are, of course, listed alphabetically and cross-referenced terms are italicized, making this Glossary very easy to use. Members of the ALA Student Chapter may find this resource useful not only for coursework, but it may also come in handy when searching for a job. For example, if there are unfamiliar terms in a job posting or to make sure the correct terms are being used on resumes and in cover letters.
Questions for this Resource:
What is a proxy server?
What are performance obligations?
12 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Name and Citation:
ALA Library Acronyms ALA (2013). Library-related acronyms. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/tools/library-relatedacronyms. Accessed on 3/30/2014. This resource complements the ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science (listed above) because it focuses on decoding the many acronyms researchers and professionals in the field are using, but which may be unfamiliar to students. The glossary does not define or clarify what the organizations listed do, but in most cases a link is provided to that organization's home website. In some cases, the listed organization has simply ceased operating, so there is no link, but it is still valuable to include them in the glossary in case students came across the acronym in their research and needed clarification.
Description and Assessment:
Another aspect of this resource is its close affiliation with the ALA. While it does cover abbreviations commonly used in library literature – such as FRBR and AACR – the real purpose is to highlight ALA units and committees, ALA publications more commonly known by their acronyms, and ALA affiliated organizations. The glossary is hosted and freely accessible on the ALA website. You do not need to be a member of ALA or have a profile on their website to use the glossary. As it is maintained by the ALA, the information is reliable and accurate with very few dead links. If an association is an ALA affiliate, that designation is clearly noted. Obsolete or outdated acronyms are marked as such and, whenever possible, a relevant link to another section of the glossary is provided. For instance, under “F,” FOLUSA (Friends of Libraries USA) is now obsolete and redirects to United for Libraries.
Questions for this Resource:
Name and Citation:
What does IFLA stand for?
Is ARSL affiliated with the ALA?
Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science Reitz, J. (n.d.). ODLIS – Online dictionary for library and information science. ABC-CLIO. Retrieved from http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_A.aspx. Accessed on 3/20/2014. The Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science (ODLIS) is a comprehensive resource that takes the jargon of librarianship and makes it available all in one place. Words are defined in the context of library and information science as they would be used by professional librarians. An example would be “MAN: See metropolitan area network” (Reitz). The scope of this resource is vast and it functions exactly as any other dictionary would. It is available as an online resource and there are print versions available. You can search for words alphabetically or use the search bar to type in the particular word that you are looking for. You can search for words either as “headword only” or search in the definition. The resource is updated annually. The most important criteria for evaluating a word source such as a dictionary are authority and understandability. Joan Reitz has been an instructional librarian for decades and this reference seems to be definitive when it comes to library and information science dictionaries. The reviews of this resource that have been found have been favorable. Dictionary Net, a blog hosted by wordpress.com that is devoted to “covering online monolingual dictionaries and glossaries” (Ron, n.d.) conducted a review of the ODLIS and said that the ODLIS “is a most remarkable reference resource for library and information science and it aims at professionals, university students, and users of all types of libraries” (Ron, n.d.). Annual updates means that it may lack a bit of currency until the next update is available but that is only a minor mark on an otherwise excellent resource. We were able to find all of the words that we looked up very easily.
Description and Assessment:
Questions for this Resource:
How would you define dictionary in terms of library reference?
Where could I go to look up what all of these library terms mean?
13 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Directories Name and Citation:
Financial Assistance for Library and Information Studies ALA (2012): Financial assistance for library and information studies. With assistance of Committee on Education: ALA Office for Human Resource Development (HRDR, Academic Year 2012-2013). Accessed on 3/20/2014. Considering that this reference library is for the ALA student chapter, this resource is useful because it offers information on national and regional awards for the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico as well as general financial assistance opportunities. These awards are offered by local, state, and national institutions and associations in each of the identified areas of the world. This directory is published each year by the ALA's Office of Human Resources and Development. The directory briefly outlines all sources for financial assistance that are available to graduate students. It is a very comprehensive resource and the scope of the information includes all of North America. It provides information on the state that is offering the assistance, the necessary program level, the type of assistance with amount and number of gifts available, the specific requirements, and the application deadline.
Description and Assessment:
These financial assistance programs are offered at any stage in a library student's education and can be identified by the necessary deadlines and timelines. Unlike most directories this resource doesn't have the names, phone numbers, or addresses of any of the awards governing bodies. This then requires the user to take a significant number of steps in order to follow up on any of the recommended awards. Not having this important information decreases the effectiveness of this resource. The need for abbreviations and a key to explain them makes the document a bit less accessible. The fact that it is organized alphabetically makes it very easy to find the school or state or country you want. Having this available for current and future student association members will be financially valuable, because there are surely awards that go unclaimed each year and this resource shows where to find many of those awards.
Questions for this Resource:
Are there types of financial awards that I can get from the Government of Canada?
I have just finished my first year at SLAIS. What is the application deadline for the Margaret Fergusson Smith Memorial Scholarship?
14 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Name and Citation:
Library Conference Planner Hasty, D. (2014). Library conference planner. Retrieved from http://www.lcp.douglashasty.com/index.htm. Accessed on 3/31/2014. The library conference planner is a very simple but comprehensive directory of all of the major conferences relevant to information professionals and students. Conferences are organized by region, starting with virtual conferences. The North America section has the most listings and is broken down into groups (e.g., Midwest US, Alaska/Hawaii, Canada). There are also international listings for conferences in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, Latin America and the Middle East. Under each section, users will see the name of each conference in that region, the city it takes place in and the scheduled dates for 2014. Clicking the name of a conference will take you to the official website for further information. While one dead link was encountered, the site appears to be well maintained and listings are accurate and up to date. The value of this resource is being able to see virtually every conference an MLIS student might be interested in attending or volunteering for as well as highlighting smaller or lesser known conferences that might suit a student's particular area of interest.
Description and Assessment:
In addition to the conference listings, there are also tips for conference attendees and a virtual travel desk that links users to various airline, hotel, transportation, and discount travel websites that would aid a student in planning their visit. This section also links you to currency converters, weather reports, and health and safety resources. This directory fills an expressed information need for the ALA student chapter at UBC to help their members learn about and encourage attendance at library conferences. Conferences provide a valuable platform for students to network with established professionals and learn about the current major debates and discussions in the information fields. By attending conferences, students will be able to bring back ideas to the student chapter for planning and organizing their own events, panels, and mini-conferences. It also fulfills the student chapter's mandate, as stated in the chapter constitution, “to actively promote involvement in professional activities beyond the classroom.”
Questions for this Resource:
When and where is the ALA conference this year and where can I find more information?
I want to attend the European Conference on Information Systems in Tel Aviv. Where can I find flights, hotels, and travel safety information to help me plan my trip?
15 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Encyclopaedias Name and Citation:
Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science
Description and Assessment:
Wiegand, W. and D. Davis (1994). Encyclopedia of library and information science. New York: Garland Publishing. There are multiple versions of the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science. The version that is available online is more up to date than the print resource. There is also an earlier edition of the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science that was edited by Allen Kent and Harold Lancour, first published in 1968, which was updated regularly until 2003 in print form and has much more content. “Miriam Drake was appointed Editor for the second edition, which appeared in 2003, both online and in paper. The second edition came out in four large-format volumes...with a supplement in 2005 (Drake, 2003-2005)” (Bates, 2007). The supplement is not located with the other four volumes on our shelves in IK Barber. Marcia Bates, the editor of the third edition of the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science said this of the two previous editors: “The first and second editions were very different in coverage. The first edition was strong on both library science and information science. It also contained quite a bit on artificial intelligence and information systems, as well as some computer science. The second edition reflected Drake's strong academic library orientation, and cut back substantially on information science and related fields. Many articles on national library associations and profiles of individual academic libraries were added (Bates, 2007).” Cassell and Hiremath cite the most important aspect of any encyclopedia is its reliability. The second edition is considered a reliable and authoritative source even though its scope is considerably more limited than that of the first edition. The second edition is also suited to the needs of the ALA student chapters as it has large sections on the history and organization of the ALA. Though the second edition will become more and more dated with time, it currently is sufficient for the needs of the UBC ALA student chapter.
Questions for this Resource:
What is the history of libraries in Canada?
Who are the founders of the American Library Association?
16 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Geographical Sources Name and Citation:
Google Maps: ALA Accredited LIS Programs Google Maps (2014). ALA accredited LIS programs. Available online at http://goo.gl/maps/1ICQ. Accessed on 3/20/2014. Google Maps is usually up to date and accurate and we found that to be the case here as well. This, as Cassell and Hiremath state, is the most important feature of a geographical resource. As this is an electronic resource, the map is very readable and presents useful information such as the program information for each school as well as when the program was most recently accredited. There is even an indication of conditional status as in the case of the SLAIS program at UBC verifying that, at the very latest, the information was updated was mid-February of 2014. Another map was found that had specifically marked the locations of Museums and Libraries in Canada, but it was done in the 1950’s and was quite inaccessible because the font was so small that it was difficult to read and the markers took up so much space that often it only indicated that there were many libraries and museum in one location. This geographical resource is extraordinary by comparison.
Description and Assessment:
Questions for this Resource:
Where are the ALA student chapters in Canada?
Who are the other officers in my position that I could perhaps reach out to for ideas and advice?
17 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Government Documents and Statistical Sources Name and Citation:
Occupational Outlook Handbook: Librarians US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012). Occupational outlook handbook: librarians. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Education-Training-and-Library/Librarians.htm. Last updated 1/08/2014. Accessed on 3/20/2014.. So you have found your passion in information services. You have applied for and been admitted to an ALA Accredited MLIS Program, and paid for and completed your degree. What are your chances of getting a job now that you have finished school? What are the salary ranges for librarians? The Occupational Outlook Handbook is a treasure trove of statistics that would help anyone who is looking to enter the library job market. It can help set expectations and offer alternatives. It is very a very accessible site to use but it is only contains information relevant to the United States. It has a “more info” section that takes you to various library associations throughout the US, which would be particularly useful for networking or connecting with specific people in a chosen organization.
Description and Assessment:
This site made finding the desired statistics very easy by clearly labeling them. The search bar function followed the usual format and this source made a simple search for Librarian statistics effortless. Finding the same level of information for Canada using the Statistics Canada website was not as intuitive. We were unable to find statistics on the statcan.gc.ca website that were comparable to those we found though the US Bureau of Labour Occupational Outlook Handbook. The information may well be there but it was not easy to find. Additionally, the Occupational Outlook Handbook has all the same benefits of the Statistics Canada website such as being free to use with high quality information that is easy to use, but without the same downfalls. This site is clear and concise and uses easy to understand language that doesn’t require any background in statistics. We used Ben and Sarah’s resource presentation for strengths and weaknesses of Statistical Sources for help in providing a comparison between the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics Canada.
Questions for this Resource:
What can I expect to make as a librarian when I get out of school?
What are some similar types of occupations that I could go into that perhaps I hadn't thought of?
18 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Indexes and Full Text Databases Sources Name and Citation:
ALA JobLIST ALA (2014). ALA joblist. Retrieved from http://www.joblist.ala.org. Accessed on 4/08/2014. ALA Joblist has postings for library jobs from all over United States and Canada for positions in many different types of libraries, including public, academic, special, and federal libraries as well as in museums, publishing, and with library vendors. Registration is free and mandatory but an ALA membership is not required to use the ALA Joblist. Users can post their resumes and communication with employers, receive tailored job alerts, and subscribe to RSS feeds. Job posters must register and pay a fee in order to post a listing on the ALA Joblist and the list is continually updated as library positions open up in different systems throughout North America. The basic search feature allows the user to search by city, state, and keyword. An advanced search feature allows the user to search by library type, job category, salary, and even by specific institution. A useful feature of the ALA Joblist is the Career Resources page. Here users will find career development resources for interviewing, resume and cover letter writing, career assessment, job hunting, negotiating, and much more. The ALA Joblist has a Facebook page and a twitter account. The ALA Joblist is sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), and the ALA’s Office of Human Resources Development and Recruitment (HRDR).
Description and Assessment:
Questions for this Resource:
Name and Citation:
Are there any library jobs available in Manitoba?
Are there any positions available in a special library?
Scholarships Canada Interactive, Edge. “Find scholarships, student Awards, bursaries & financial aid.” ScholarshipsCanda. Available online at http://scholarshipscanada.com. Accessed on 3/20/2014. Scholarshipscanada.com states that they are one of Canada's largest databases for financial aid and awards. Usually when you have a very large database it can be cumbersome to navigate. However, this one has some search features that make it pretty easy to narrow your search down to the fields you want. The site boasts well over $100 million in awards with nearly 80,000 different awards and scholarships that you can apply for. You do have to sign up, but their privacy policy states that they won't sell your informaiton and they state that signing up helps to customize your recommendations. You can search awards by school, program, scholarship name, or even by who provides the funding. UBC and library programs were very easy to find. There were two reviews found for this website. One was from Webutations (webutations.net, n.d.), a site that verifies the security and reputation of a website and this resource is rated a 100/100 in terms of safety and reputation. All in all, Webutations found this to be an incredibly trustworthy source which is important on any site that requires extensive personal information. In the journal Science, a site review was conducted and they found ScholarshipsCanada to be “an extremely useful source of information on supplementary cash you may be eligible for” (Boulakia, 1999).
Description and Assessment:
ScholarshipsCanda.com also performs favorably when measured against what Cassell and Hiremath cite as determining factors in the value of specific index of database. This is a highly recommended resource for both discovering and acquiring additional financial support for one's higher education. This resource also is more accessible than the ALA's FLAIS directory when it comes to user experience when searching for financial awards in Canada.
Questions for this Resource:
What awards are there for students interested in pursuing careers as medical librarians?
What awards does UBC offer for SLAIS students?
19 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Websites Name and Citation:
ALA Student Chapters ALA (2007). Student chapters. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/groups/affiliates/chapters/student/studentchapters1. Accessed on 4/06/2014. The American Library Association’s Student Chapters page contains answers to many of the questions that a student group might have including: how to start an ALA Student Chapter, how to get in contact with other Student Chapters, finding a mentor, job and scholarship information, and how volunteer at an ALA conference. On the Student Chapters page of the ALA website, visitors will also find a directory of Student Chapters by state with information about each group such as: the date the on which the Student Chapter was founded, the names of the presidents and faculty advisors, and contact information (address, telephone numbers, email addresses).
Description and Assessment:
The Student Chapters Answers page, which is accessible from the Student Chapters page, provides detailed information about starting an ALA Student Chapter, the benefits of doing so, and suggestions about how to get the most out of it. Here, users can learn about opportunities for social networking through the ALA’s own virtual networking spaces (connect and mentor connect), as well as connecting through ALA accounts on various other social media platforms like facebook and twitter. Users will also find contact information for the ALA’s Chapter Relations Office. The ALA Student Chapters page is very well done in terms of organization and usability. There is a search feature that will search the entire ALA website and the navigation tools will take to you to general ALA pages so it is not difficult to navigate away from the Student Chapters pages and back to the general ALA website.
Questions for this Resource:
Will the ALA reimburse my student chapter?
How do I contact other student chapters?
20 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Name and Citation:
OCLC Webjunction OCLC (2014). OCLC webjunction. Retrieved from http://www.webjunction.org. Accessed on 3/31/2014. This is an excellent resource for free webinars relevant to information professionals and students. There are also full courses, but to attend you must be sponsored by a partner library so these courses were not evaluated for this report. The website is well-designed and easy to use. In addition to the webinars, which will be discussed in further detail below, there are stories related to web-based education for librarians and a section to “Share Your Story,” which give librarians a platform to share some of the programs, workshops, and events that have been successful or rewarding in their branches. While not as relevant to the ALA UBC student chapter, this is an interesting way to learn about great libraries all over the United States.
Description and Assessment:
There are two ways to approach searching for webinars on the site. If you select “Find Training,” you will be able to connect to the events calendar to look for upcoming sessions, browse the archives to download previous sessions, find other free training events outside of OCLC, and access training resources including the Competency Index. Alternatively, you can search for webinars both past and future if you select “Explore Topics.” There are a multitude of different avenues to explore, but they are broken down into the main headings Leadership, Library Service, Technology, Staff Training, and Programs. This would be a better approach if you are clear about the topic you'd like to get training in, but are ambivalent about when the webinar is taking place or if it has already passed. The Competency Index referenced above is a great resource in and of itself as it is updated every year and attempts to cover in depth all of the skills a librarian is expected to possess in the current job market. Topics range from the very basic and general (e.g. “Performs basic functions of e-mail applications”) to the complex and specific. It covers both hard technological skills and interpersonal skills as well as skills specific to certain kinds of libraries. It is a great companion piece to ALA's Core Competences of Librarianship.
Questions for this Resource:
Where can I find reputable free webinars for information professionals and students?
What are the skills that will make me a more desirable job candidate in this field?
21 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Name and Citation:
Office.com Office.com. Templates: microsoft. Available online at http://office.microsoft.com/enus/templates/results.aspx?qu=non+profit&ex=1&av=all. Accessed on 3/20/2014 Microsoft Office offers a variety of templates that would make the administration of a student association run more smoothly. These templates save time because any template that might be necessary has already been created for you. With one easy search, you can find non-profit organization templates that highlight volunteering, budgets, agendas, and letters. Knowing this link and downloading the templates is very simple if you have Microsoft Office or a Microsoft account such as outlook.com for email. Alternatively, you can use the templates as inspiration to create your own if you don't have the requisite software or are unable to download the available templates. Even though you many not be able to find every template that you need under one heading, the search feature is able to find any template available. For example, under the non-profit query there wasn't a “minutes” template, but you can find multiple templates just by using the simple search with the term “minutes.”
Description and Assessment:
TopTenReviews.com said of the templates, “one of the most impressive extras included with Microsoft Word is the vast archive of templates available for download directly through Word itself. You can find hundreds of templates for professional grade resumes, cover letters, budget sheets, attendance sheets, and just about any other useful document type imaginable (toptenreviews.com, 2014).” The site also gave Microsoft Office Additional Software a 9/10 rating and the templates were cited as one reason for such a favorable review. There were a few other sites that offer document templates but they are not as attractive or anywhere near as comprehensive. Cassell and Hiremath suggest that for a website resource the URL reveals what the site is about and if the information is current with links to other resources and this resource has all of these features.
Questions for this Resource:
Name and Citation:
How can I keep track of our budget and fundraising dollars in an organized manner?
How do you create an agenda for the monthly student chapter meeting?
UBC Alma Mater Society UBC AMS (2014). UBC alma mater society. Retrieved from http://www.ams.ubc.ca. Accessed on 4/10/2014. The UBC Alma Mater Society has a website which contains information about rental rates for the various rooms that can be reserved in the Student Union Building. The dimensions and capacity of each room are provided. The user can also take a virtual tour of some of the rooms that are available for use. The website is very attractive but somewhat unintuitive to navigate. The drop down navigation menu often goes three levels deep but there are no indicators as to whether or not. The user has to hover over a menu item to find out if a submenu exists. To find information on room rentals, look under “at the sub” for “conferences and catering” and this is where the room rates, virtual tours, and contact information can be found. There are no online tools for reserving a room, nor does the contact page give any information about whom to contact in order to do so. Another way to find booking information would be to use the search feature. For best results, search “room rates”; the first result returned will be the correct web page. Searching for “booking a room” or “reserving a room” will not return the correct page.
Description and Assessment:
Questions for this Resource:
How many people can the Ballroom accommodate?
How much will it cost to rent the Partyroom for 5 hours?
22 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Name and Citation:
UBC Career Resources UBC (2014): Build my career. Retrieved from http://www.students.ubc.ca/career. Last updated on 3/20/2014. Accessed on 3/20/2014. UBC has specific career resources for students. The “build my career” website is attractive and easy to navigate and meant for anyone looking for a career. This website was chosen for evaluation for this reference library specifically for its ability to help the student chapter members with networking. The site discusses why networking is valuable, as well as where to network. The site even encourages you to examine the network you may already have and reconsider the resources that are currently available to you. Often, people are unaware of the networks and resources they could be utilizing. There is advice on how to introduce yourself and 9 tips for success. This site also has a “you might also be interested in” section and the suggestions were on topics such as finding a mentor and community experience. You can also book an appointment to meet with a career counselor right from the page.
Description and Assessment:
The larger “Build My Career” section has videos and a large variety of other tools to help you create a career plan. There are also four highlighted testimonials that go over specific difficulties that UBC alumni encountered during their job searches. There is a lot to be learned from the testimonials and these testimonials can be inspiring to people that are frustrated with their own job search. Cassell and Hiremath suggest that we look at UC Berkeley's website on how to deeply evaluate a website’s usefulness as a reference. There is a lengthy checklist, but for the most part this website hits all of the major features. One missing component that stood out that was that the questions of who was writing for the website and what are their credentials could only be answered implicitly rather than explicitly. The site is written by UBC’s Student Resources but for any individual article it would be nice to know specifically who wrote it or collaborated on it.
Questions for this Resource:
Name and Citation:
Is networking really worth my time?
What are some effective networking strategies?
UKMC Library Resource Guide UMKC School of Information Science & Learning Technologies. (2014). Library Career Guide. Retrieved from http://libguides.library.umkc.edu/libraryjobs. Accessed 4/08/2014. The librarians at the University of Missouri-Kansas City have created a research guide that is specifically for job hunting in the library science field. There are links to different job listings are organized by local, national, and overseas postings and there is also a list for jobs in specialized areas. Another tab has links to several e-books on interview preparation. There are many links to information regarding salary and articles about careers, resumes, and interviews.
Description and Assessment:
The site is not especially attractive but it is well organized, very usable, and seems to be updated regularly (as of this writing, the last update to the site was just a few days ago). There is also an RSS feed available. This research guide could be a helpful starting point for recent graduates just beginning the search for a job as a professional in the library field. While some of the resources are for general job searches, many of them are specific to librarianship. There is also a link to the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Guidelines for the Screening and Appointment of Academic Librarians which could be immensely useful by giving job seekers an overview of a search committee’s hiring process. The website has a search feature which allows the user to search within the research guide.
Questions for this Resource:
How can I find overseas library jobs?
How can I manage my online portfolios and profiles?
23 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
PART THREE: The Outcome Over the course of the curation of this collection, our group members employed various strategies to find suitable texts. The simplest way to describe our overall strategy is that we started with what we knew and followed the threads of connection from there. What we knew best was our own library facilities at UBC, followed by online search engines, the American Library Association, and the iSchool.
In terms of articulating our search strings, we worked backwards from the information needs. Our first drafts of the information needs were very specific, so we all had a very strong sense of what our end resources should look like. Our class experiences this semester had helped us develop our confidence in the existence of the very specific materials we wanted, and we rallied around that confidence to keep pushing our searches. For the most part, we feel we were very successful in our searches thanks to that confidence and the resulting perseverance.
Many of us used UBC Libraries as a starting point, especially the website. We pursued our interests through the Summon string searches, as well as used the subject headings, and the Library, Archival, and Information Science Research Guide. Ask Away was also employed by some group members when they needed some help getting un-stuck in searches. In an effort to include print resources, some of our members employed the tried-andtrue method of browsing the stacks.
We additionally took advantage of well established search engines, such as Google, and dug our way through reference pages on various websites, including SLAIS and other iSchools. This allowed us to funnel from large ideas that were rough approximations of what we wanted, into the specific information we wanted to include in our project.
The biggest challenge we encountered was finding print resources. As our organization has a strong focus on current information, technological advances, and the ever fluid job market, we had a very hard time finding resources in print that could respond effectively to those needs. Once things go into print, they become static. It is very easy for printed materials to become outdated, and therefore irrelevant, as the library and information field of study expands continuously, and career opportunities are constantly changing.
24 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
We also struggled with American Library Association official resources dominating our collection. We really wanted to provide resources in addition to the ALA, which proved difficult as the ALA tends to be the go-to resource for much of what we wanted to help the UBC ALA with.
Another difficulty was that most of our resources were web based. We found evaluation of websites hard to substantiate. A lot of information that we'd find in a printed resource that confirmed the authority and accuracy of a resource were not necessarily included in the web resources, and many of the criteria our text book provided as a means of evaluating resources were not applicable.
Finally, we found that many of the resource categories were not especially relevant or helpful to our information needs, but we decided to take that as a challenge and it helped generate some of our more creative resources. Mark Christensen really lead us to success in this regard.
What we found most effective while selecting resources was putting them to use. By personally going through a resource and trying to use it to answer questions, we were able to determine how effective that resource was at serving our needs, and therefore how useful it would be to the members of the UBC ALA seeking to use it for the same purposes. We also found that the UBC Research Guides were extremely useful and helpful, especially since we trusted them to provide us with reliable recommendations.
In terms of our group project plan, we all agreed that the best way forward would be a division of labour. As Mark is co-chair of the UBC ALA, he spearheaded the articulation of the information needs of the organization, and helped give the rest of us a strong sense of what they wanted from a resource library. The final version of the introductory essay was co-authored by Mark and Janna.
For the resource selection, we initially decided to each try to find one resource in each category, making it a total of ten resources per person. We were then going to narrow it down to the best thirty. In practice, that proved overly ambitious. Mark lead the way in the resource selection, building the backbone of the library and finding one resource for each category. He then suggested we abandon the idea of having four of each type of resource as most resource types were not overly helpful, and our project would be better if Kaja, Appleberry, and Janna focus instead
25 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
on finding the best resources to answer the information needs, rather than focus on getting a specific number or a specific type of resource. We all agreed this was the better strategy.
Kaja, Janna, and Appleberry then split the remaining duties of fleshing out the bibliography, editing and formatting content, and writing the final essay. Appleberry edited the descriptions of assessment, Janna interviewed the other group members and structured their various experiences into the final essay, and Kaja edited both essays and the project as a whole, formatting it and verifying citations and overall style.
In terms of cooperation tactics, we used a combination of face-to-face meetings and email to communicate about the project, and used Google Docs as the platform on which to pool and share our work as it progressed. Our timeline was a little unbalanced as Mark was expecting a baby at any time from early March onwards, and so needed to get his portion finished as soon as possible. This is part of why he worked on the earlier stages of the project, while the rest of us completed the finalization. Kaja, Appleberry, and Janna all think it important to note that Mark's efforts were invaluable and made the project much easier for the rest of us. We deeply value and appreciate his leadership and contributions.
For future classes, we have a few recommendations. We suggest helping groups form as early as the beginning of February, rather than the beginning of March. Retrospectively, we had a lot of time in that part of the semester that we'd have liked to have applied to this project. We also think that breaking it into two submissions, a draft that would be due in early March, and then the final project to be handed in at the end of the semester, would have helped us a lot. We often felt unsure about our approach to the project, and about the texts we wanted to include. Handing in a draft and getting feedback at the midway point of the project would have been a really great way of helping us all feel like we were on the right track, or of correcting us early enough to recover if we are not. This type of project was very foreign to us, and while we feel that a little more guidance would have been helpful, it was so new that it was difficult to articulate what guidance we needed and how best to ask for it. We think a draft round of the project would really help bridge that gap.
26 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Works Cited ALA. American Library Association: About. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aboutala/ ALA UBC Student Chapter (2010) Constitution of the American Library Association Student Chapter, University of British Columbia. Retrieved from http://www.blogs.ubc.ca/alaplace/constitution. Bates, M. (2007). Defining the information disciplines in encyclopedia development. Professor T.D. Wilson. Retrieved from http://www.informationr.net/ir/12-4/colis/colis29.html. Last updated on 3/25/2014. Accessed on 3/26/2014. Boulakia, C. (1999). “Site Review: Scholarships Canada.” Science. Retrieved from http://www.sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/1999_12_24/ nodoi.585 9659529259048601. Accessed on 3/25/2014. Cassell K. and Hiremath, U. (2012). Reference and Information Services: An Introduction. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Ferri, A. (2014). Interview conducted by Mark Christensen on March 5, 2014. UBC SLAIS. Ron, U. (2008). “ODLIS – Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science.” Dictionary Net. Retrieved from https://dictionarynet.wordpress.com/2008/12/25/odlis-dictionarylibrary-and-informationscience. Accessed on 3/25/2014. TopTenReviews.com. (n.d.). “Microsoft Office Review.” TopTenReviews. Retrieved from http://officesoftware- review.toptenreviews.com/home-office/microsoft-office-review.html. Last updated 11/2014. Accessed on 3/25/2014. UBC ALA Student Chapter. (2010). ALA Student Chapter: About. Retrieved from http://blogs.ubc.ca/alaplace/about/. Accessed on 4/02/2014. Webutations.net (n.d.). “Scholarshipscanada.com.” Webutation: Website Reputation Community. Retrieved from: http://www.webutations.net/go/review/scholarshipcanada.com. Accessed on 3/25/2014.
27 UBC ALA Student Chapter Reference Library Mark Christensen, Christina Appleberry, Janna Avon, Kaja Dawkins
Resource Index ALA's Core Competences of Librarianship – pg. 5 ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science – pg. 12 ALA Handbook of Organization – pg. 6 ALA JobLIST – pg. 19 ALA Library Acronyms – pg. 13 ALA Student Chapters – pg. 20 Career Services Handbook – pg. 7 Current Cites – pg. 9 Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science – pg. 16 Financial Assistance for Library and Information Studies – pg. 14 Google Maps: ALA Accredited LIS Programs – pg. 17 Library Conference Planner – pg. 15 Library of Congress – pg. 9 Nonprofit Meetings, Minutes & Records – pg. 5 Occupational Outlook Handbook: Librarians – pg. 18 OCLC Webjunction – pg. 21 Office.com – pg. 22 Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science – pg. 13 Scholarships Canada – pg. 19
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UBC Alma Mater Society – pg. 22 UBC Career Resources – pg. 22 UBC iSchool Administration – pg. 11 UBC iSchool Student Library Associations – pg. 11 UMKC Library Research Guide – pg. 23 WorldCat – pg. 10
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