LIT Program Students... Check Out the Program Blog!

Remember that for MCTC's Library Information Technology program students and alumni, we have a program blog. I post some things here in my personal blog, but many conference notices, job postings, etc. are posted on our program blog. Also, programmatic things like "intent to graduate" notices and the like are posted there as reminders. Be sure to check it out!

http://libinfotech.blogspot.com/

RUSA Stuff at ALA 2009

Did you know that the advance registration deadline for ALA's Annual
Conference is May 22? Less than two weeks away!

The RUSA @ Annual Conference guide is now available for download, and
provides an overview of what RUSA-the Reference and User Services
Association, a division of ALA-has to offer at this year's event in
Chicago.

Download the guide now: http://rusa.ala.org/media/rusa09annual.pdf

Topics covered in this year's programs include:

--Reference, including business reference, historical reference and the
latest research in reference services

--Resource sharing and user privacy

--Collection development, including Spanish-speaking populations and
genre fiction

--Cataloging

--Customer service

--Readers advisory: an interdisciplinary approach

Looking for full-day intensive programming? RUSA preconferences are the
solution, addressing the following topics:

--Illinois-based genealogy resources

--Business knowledge for better business reference

--Collaborating to solve reference services challenges

--The newly-revised "Guidelines on Library and Information Services to
Older Adults"

Don't wait! The best prices on preconferences and conference
registration end next Friday, May 22.

Download the RUSA @ Annual Conference guide now:
http://rusa.ala.org/media/rusa09annual.pdf

Register now at www.ala.org/annual.

Sincerely,

Liz Markel, Marketing Specialist
Reference and User Services Association
a division of the American Library Association

RDA-Related Events at ALA in Chicago

For my Library Information Technology students... If you're going to ALA in Chicago, you may want to look for these sessions if you're interested in cataloging and knowledge management.

The RDA Implementation Task Force has several events coming up at the 2009
ALA Annual Conference that we offer for consideration by those attending:
_________________________________________________________________

Pre-conference, Friday, July 10, 8:30-5:00

Title: RDA, FRBR, FRAD: Making the Connection

Speakers: Barbara Tillett (Library of Congress), Glenn Patton (OCLC),
Robert Maxwell Brigham Young Univ.), and Tom Delsey (JSC)

This pre-conference concentrates on the role of the Functional Requirements
for Bibliographic Records(FRBR) and the Functional Requirements for
Authority Data (FRAD) in Resource Description and Access (RDA). The
necessity of understanding these new conceptual foundations is key to the
transition to the future cataloging environment. Participants will hear from
a panel of experts on FRBR and FRAD attributes and relationships, new
terminology and concepts, and participate in practical hands-on exercises.

Location: Hyatt, Columbus Hall I/J
________________________________________________________________

4-hour program, Saturday, July 11, 1:30-5:30pm

Title: Look Before You Leap: Taking RDA For a Test-Drive

Speakers: Barbara Bushman (National Library of Medicine), John Espley (VTLS,
Inc.), Shawne Miksa (COI, UNT), Nannette Naught (IMT, Inc.)

This program focuses on giving librarians the opportunity to ‘test-drive’
RDA. It will examine the content and organization of RDA (compared with
AACR2). Program speakers will focus on the RDA online product, creating
workflows, RDA in ILS systems, testing of RDA, its affect on the MARC
format, and RDA education.

Location: McCormick Place West, room W-134
__________________________________________________________________

RDA Implementation Task Force, business meeting, Sunday, July 12, 3:30-5:30

Location: Chicago Hilton, Conference Room 4A

Print Books Are Target of Pirates on the Web

Have you used illegally digitized material before? Music? Print books? Movies?

Print Books Are Target of Pirates on the Web

By MOTOKO RICH

Published: May 12, 2009

E-reader technology is making it easier to obtain and distribute copyrighted material on the Web for free.

Even the Publishers Are Duped Sometimes

Or, they're simply corrupt. But, in any case, take a look at this story:

Elsevier confirms 6 fake journals; more comments Bob Grant, Elsevier published 6 fake journals, The Scientist, May 7, 2009.

Scientific publishing giant Elsevier put out a total of six publications between 2000 and 2005 that were sponsored by unnamed pharmaceutical companies and looked like peer reviewed medical journals, but did not disclose sponsorship, the company has admitted.

For more, go to: http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2009/05/elsevier-confirms-6-fake-journals-more.html

Textbook Buy-Backs!

MCTC Bookstore will be buying back textbooks for FALL 09 classes on May 8, and 11-14 (9AM-4PM) .

One suggestion, though, before the desire to recoup some cash for your texts overtakes all good sense. If you have a writing guide/style manual that covers MLA and/or APA citation style from ENGL 1111 or some other course, DO NOT sell it back! Keep it! You will not regret having it, especially if your plans include going on to further schooling, here at MCTC or at another institution. Even if your plans don't include formal schooling, a writing guide/style manual is helpful if you ever have to write formal letters (like to a landlord, or a letter to the editor, or a cover letter for a job application...). My $.02.

Project Homeless Connect

I know some of you end up getting evicted, are couch-hopping, or may otherwise need some housing or other life help. Here's an event that can really help out.

Project Homeless Connect, Monday, May 11th at Minneapolis Convention Center from 9am-4pm.


Project Homeless Connect is a one-stop shop model for delivering services to people experiencing homelessness. Twice each year, Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis partner with service providers, businesses, citizens, and faith communities to bring multiple resources to one location where people can come to find the services they need.

These services include: housing, employment, medical care, mental health care, benefits and legal assistance, eye doctors, haircuts, chiropractic, and dental care.
The first of these events occurred on December 14, 2005, at the Basilica of St. Mary. It was a tremendous success, involving 250 volunteers and service providers and serving over 500 men, women, children, and youth experiencing homelessness. There have been five events since that first event at the Basilica, growing to serve over 2800 individuals seeking services with the help of 1600 volunteers.

If you are outside of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and need assistance, search the web for "project homeless connect" 2009 and the name of your state or city to find nearby resources. You can also go online to http://www.211.org/ for United Way's First Call for Help.

Zombies in Plain English

I don't know about you all, but I'm starting to feel like a zombie at this time in the semester...

Scholarships!

Did you know...

...the MCTC Foundation provides $100,000 or more in scholarship awards each year through its fall and spring scholarship application process?

• Application DEADLINE ‐ Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 4:00 P.M. in the College Advancement Office (K 1100).
• Students must complete an entire scholarship packet for EACH scholarship for which they are applying. Copies of the application, recommendation letters and essay are acceptable.
• Students ineligible for federal financial aid must complete the 2008 income worksheet. The form is available in the College Advancement Office.
• Due to the requirements of F1‐Visas, International Students are not eligible for need‐based MCTC Foundation scholarships.

Summer Books

Summer 2009 textbooks are now for sale in the bookstore and online.

System Downtime

D2L and just about every other MnSCU-supported software, like METNET and the course registration system will be down on Sunday, May 3, from 6 am until 7 pm or maybe longer. In fact, if anything works on Sunday, it will be a miracle. From the MnSCU offices:

This outage is required to repair a recently discovered leak to the cooling system in the data center that houses the servers. The cooling system for the WBOB Data Center has developed a serious leak. To maintain operation of the data center this leak must be repaired. Systems in this building are at a higher risk for total failure should the cooling system fail. This repair will require a complete facility shutdown.

We recognize the importance of these systems at this busy time, and we apologize for any inconvenience that this causes.

Please don't get mad at me; I'm just the messenger.

OCLC Symposium for Publishers and Libraries

As posted recently to the AUTOCAT listserv:

OCLC recently held a "Symposium for Publishers and Libraries" last month to discuss "metadata needs, practices, lifecycle and economics across the communities and to explore opportunities for change." Check it out: OCLC's Symposium for Publishers and Libraries http://www.oclc.org/publisher-symposium/default.htm

When you read "metadata," your head should translate that to cataloging and indexing.