November 6th, 2009 by Alex Chapin
The Curricular Technology team is working on the figuring out how to document technology, no small task… We are all in agreement that it would be good to have some sort of “quick start” documentation that provides people with the basics to get started with a given tool or a given task/objective. Below is a screencast of a “quick start” demo I did for how to capture.
See: Capture > Presentation > How to do it.
This screencast is definitely too long for a quick start, but the idea of using a screencast in conjunction with step-by-step instructions for quick start documentation is appealing. For other examples of screencast quick starts and/or overviews see:
Using audio/video from MiddMedia in WordPress
Segue > Step-by-Step Instructions > Adding Text and Images
Alas these screencasts are a lot of work and am not sure how effective they are or how they can be improved… Though I think generally they should be as short as possible.
November 6th, 2009 by Sue Driscoll
Meeting minutes of CTT 11/03/2009
In attendance: all team members, Sue Driscoll (minutes)
The focus of the meeting was the IA of the CT website and how to build the site.
Decisions we made:
We agreed that we will use Drupal for the quick starts and overviews, which will then link to MediaWiki for more detailed documentation. The existing Ed Tech site was an initial attempt at a curricular technology site, and should only be used for its content.
We agreed that Dan, who volunteered, will be the ‘project manager’ of the CT site. His responsibility is to oversee the building of the site and make sure that others are doing what they said they would do. Others will be involved in finding and writing documentation. He will begin by adding the lists of Tools and Uses to the site.
We decided that each Tool will have its own page and will include an overview, a quick start and a link to more detailed documentation. Alex will write an example ‘quick start’ before the next meeting.
We decided that each Category of Uses will have consistent headings:
1. What is it? (overview)
2. What do you need to do it? (software, hardware)
3. How do you do it? (quick start)
4. Tips and Suggestions
Also, a link to more detail than the average user wants, or to a glossary and/or buzzwords
Alex will create sample text for the Video category of Uses.
Joe commented that it is important to identify who is going to do what. For example, who will curate the stories? What is a story? We agreed that a story is a 3 sentence blurb about an activity using curricular technology that links to a longer story on another department page or blog. There may be photos and links to our tools. Someone on the team should be responsible for finding these stories as they are reported around campus, write a blurb, perhaps add a photo and put them on the CT site.
Where do pdfs live? They should be linked to Midd Files because Drupal is not the place to store large files. Word documents can go into the Wiki and video files can go in MiddMedia. CT should set the example on this.
November 5th, 2009 by Arabella Holzapfel
In an attempt to ‘catch up’ with the other teams (LIS-blog-wise), we are starting out by posting our first few important documents or decisions. Other posts in the near future will describe what we’ve accomplished so far. Then, sometime in the next couple of weeks, we will be regularly posting updates like the other two teams have been doing.
Our charge:
develop and promulgate digitization standards; to create a process for prioritizing digitization efforts; to create workflows to allow for effective scanning, storage, cataloging, and archiving; to provide access to digital collections through various means.
Our priorities:
* Develop a policy for approving and prioritizing new projects – 12/2009
* Review of existing projects (standards and relevance) – 5/2010
* Work with Collection Management to integrate metadata creation for digital projects into CM workflow – 5/2010
* Investigate best practices for digital preservation actions – 5/2010
And our ‘vision’:
* What you want to accomplish and why
The Digital Archives team will recommend strategies that expand the vision of a digital library and develop policies that best utilize staff expertise to deliver relevant digital resources to the scholarly community.
* “What’s in it for me” for those affected
For collection curators:
* collections will be organized, described, managed and made accessible in alignment with LIS standards and priorities
* established work flows will ensure that projects are prioritized, planned for and completed
* there will be ongoing assessment of collection practices and policies
For scholarly researchers:
o you will have access to valuable materials that have been consistently described
For LIS:
* LIS staff and resources will be used judiciously
* consolidation of material and location of material
* collections will be managed and preserved for the long-term
* you will know why you are working on a particular collection
* projects will typically be completed before moving on
* projects will be seen as belonging to LIS rather than to individuals
* decisions will be based on clearly defined policies and priorities
November 5th, 2009 by Mary Backus
Dean proposed a template for any/all blogs that we submit reflecting results of the weekly meetings.
Elin Waagen will perhaps give us a few how-to’s on this.
1)Discussion of reduction in services proposals and ramifications.
With the rollout of new website in early 2010 it was determined that important service level updates be included in this
Scott will be writing draft of Videotaping guidelines with cost analysis and brought up possible charging for services
His DLA team is also looking at needs and guidelines
Stewart has been charged with writing a draft on revised screening policy
Possible training of designated students( by professor) in booth projection spaces.
Dean and Charlie will be writing a draft for equipment loans
Each of these drafts will be due on the 18th of November
2) Charlie will take responsibility for meeting with language school directors during the winter around equipment distribution needs in the past /present and future. Will be working closely with a computer tech who will oversee the distribution of computers and peripherals
3) Room 140 was discussed as an upgrade option and several ideas were discussed;
Using slim-clients and a virtual machine.
Black box?
Eliminating laptops in that space entirely and having students ( if needed) take from circ.
The future of ILC 1, 2, 3, 24 hour lab SDL 202 and possible reductions in computer lab space.
4)Emergency line coverage was discussed with the understanding that we will be down to 3 people
The importance of phone coverage from 8 -5:00 pm was discussed with an increased awareness that this is a priority of Media Services. We, as a group, must be aware that emergency phone coverage is crucial.
5)Discussion of the Arts Technical Support group and its impact on us as a group if this becomes a sanctioned process.
November 5th, 2009 by Linda Knutson
Have you ever deleted or over-written a file stored on a file server and wished you hadn’t? Or realized that your paper had gone in an unintended direction and you really wanted your previous version? Did you know that you can get deleted or previous versions of files back without calling the Helpdesk to request a file recovery?
Find out how at http://www.middlebury.edu/NR/rdonlyres/22D5A1DC-3252-4AFA-8D80-5FE4D4D2EF28/0/RecoverServerFile.pdf.
November 5th, 2009 by Elizabeth Whitaker-Freitas
November 4th, 2009 by Elin Waagen
 LIS will once again be offering 24/7 to our students 11/29 – 12/12.
Here is your opportunity to experience the Main Library at night!
Interested in flexing your schedule and adding a little excitement to your work week? Working nights instead of your usual ho-hum day schedule?
If so, check with your supervisor and be in touch with your availability.
The shifts are 12 midnight – 4 am and 4 am – 8 am. All nighters also welcome.
The deadline for letting me know is Thursday 11/12.
Movies, music, snacks and caffeine will be available.
Questions – please be in touch!
Many thanks.
Elin
November 4th, 2009 by Mary Backus
Petar Mitrevski has added a cool feature to our current website that shows you which computers in public spaces are available. You can find it at go/findapc (this go link was suggested by one of the awesome Helpdesk Student Consultants; get it? Go find a PC), or here:
http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/lis/help/helpdesk/facilities/labs/findapc.htm
November 3rd, 2009 by Alex Chapin
I made a ShadowBox theme introductory screencast during a presentation of the theme to Academic Consulting Services. This screencast describes some of the WordPress UI challenges I was trying to solve with this theme. The first was finding a consistent way to display the log in link and information about a given user’s role on a blog. I also wanted to create a UI for setting theme colors and layout and other options. Finally I wanted to more consistently map some of the blog editing UI onto the blog itself so people could more easily add new posts or edit existing posts.
(click on the  button to view video in full screen mode)
Am working on a new release of ShadowBox that includes the display of category and tag RSS links, custom author pages and more header options. For more information, see ShadowBox Changelog. Contact me know if you would like to see a preview of this new version.
November 3rd, 2009 by Elin Waagen
LIS Web Team Meeting Agenda 11/4 and 11/5
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October 30th, 2009 by Ian McBride
The new website for the Monterey Institute of International Studies went public on September 15th and is a combination of efforts from many areas of both Middlebury and MIIS, as well as brand new designs from White Whale Web Services. During this project, I got asked a lot, “So if you’re not building the new site, what are you up to?” And I thought I’d take this opportunity to answer that question, tell you how we developed the site, and give some previews of how we’re using what we learned to build the Middlebury web site.
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October 30th, 2009 by Joseph Watson
Starting on Monday, November 1st, LIS will begin accepting applications from the general public who require ADA access to the Storrs Ave. doors at the Main Library. We are doing this because experts have determined that our current mode of access may not be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Members of the public who do not have a relationship with the College may ask for an application at the Main Lib Circulation Desk. Applications will be accepted at the Circ Desk and forwarded to LIS Administration for processing. In order to qualify for access, applicants must show proof of having received a Disabled Persons placard or car registration from a state government. Qualified applicants will be issued an access card that will allow them to enter and exit the Storrs Ave. doors when the library is open to the public.
This is only for guests of the college. Students who need such access apply to the ADA office and faculty/staff apply to HR.
Staff will continue to let individuals in or out of the Storrs Ave doors on an as needed basis, but now regular users of the library who qualify will have the option of entering and exiting themselves without assistance from staff.
Doreen, Elin, and Joseph have been working with Facilities Services and Public Safety on the details of the arrangements for several months. While the solution that is being implemented is flawed, it is none-the-less something we must do. We do not expect there to be a significant number of qualified people receiving access cards.
There is a brochure at the Info Desk with general ADA info in it. Anyone who routinely encounters library users should take a minute to review that information.
October 29th, 2009 by Terry Simpkins
I was asked this today, and it seemed like such an innocuous question. So I decided to do some investigating. I was expecting, oh, I don’t know, maybe 5,000 or so. Was I ever wrong!
First, the definition of the question took some untangling. Does this mean current subscriptions? Does it mean individual subscriptions that we choose specifically to receive, or does it count the titles we receive as part of “big deals” from vendors like Elsevier? Does it mean stuff we pay cold hard cash for, or does it include freebies, such as the 4000+ open access journals that are readily accessible on the web (and which are all included in the library catalog)? Or does it mean just the print stuff we receive in hard copy?
After some hemming & hawing, I decided the most interesting questions were: 1) how many journal titles do we have access to altogether, both current & ceased? and 2) how many journal titles do we currently subscribe to, regardless of format, regardless of cost?
With help from the cataloging, acquisitions, and serials departments, I discovered that:
1) we currently have access to an astounding total of approximately 42,443 journal titles; and
2) of these, approximately 38,000 are current.
Furthermore, about 5,100+ are print titles (current & ceased) and we have free web access to about 4,300+ titles from the Directory of Open Access. Catalog records for all of these titles are in MIDCAT.
This is an incredible resource for our students and faculty (and staff!), and many thanks to all the people — acquisitions & collection development folks, catalogers, systems people, infrastructure people, librarian liaisons & selectors, etc.etc. — who have worked hard over the years to make this possible. And this is just one small part of the many many many services LIS provides. Really amazing.
October 29th, 2009 by Hans Raum
Horace Ward Bailey was a native Vermonter who served the state in many capacities, from state Senator and U. S. Marshall to State Railroad Commissioner and member of the Champlain Tercentenary Commission, but he may well be best remembered for his collection of Vermont pamphlets, which “was one of the most complete in the country and included some of the rarest known specimens of the early days of the history of the State,” according to a memorial volume written by his friends.
After Mr. Bailey’s death in 1914, his collection of Vermont pamphlets was purchased from his estate for the library at Middlebury College. For many decades this collection of 130 bound volumes of pamphlets had a paper index, but was otherwise uncataloged and unused. Thanks to a recently completed ten-year project by the Catalog Department, the pamphlets have been cataloged, and the most unique and interesting pamphlets are being digitized as well.
The earliest pamphlet in the collection dates back to 1794 and other pamphlets date from the very early 1800’s to Bailey’s death in 1914 and cover a broad range of topics, from town histories to railroad annual reports and a report on the Dred Scott decision on slavery. As we celebrate the quadricentennial of the discovery of Lake Champlain by Samuel de Champlain in 1609, it is worth noting that there is an extensive collection of materials on the Lake Champlain and Hudson River Tercentenary among the Bailey Pamphlets.
All of the cataloged pamphlets (well over 900) can be found in Midcat by doing a title search on Bailey’s Collection of Vermont Pamphlets. The pamphlets are shelved in the locked portion of the Vermont Collection, which is in Special Collections.
Many thanks go to the staff of the Catalog Department for their hard work and tenacity in completing this ambitious project.
October 28th, 2009 by Carrie Macfarlane
Agenda 10/29/09
Timekeep, notetake, moderate, drive
Announcements
Permissions and workflow for LIS content
11/9 – deliverables on timeline
October 28th, 2009 by Adam Franco
This is the third biweekly update from the Web Programming work-group. We are moving to a cyclical task and project planning work-flow in order to better prioritize our work. We acknowledge that requests will always come to us in a variety of ways and do not wish to burden members of the Middlebury community with overly formalized request processes. At the same time we also need to acknowledge that institutional and departmental priorities often shift over time and therefore we must have a work planning process that allows for flexibility that addresses the needs of the community, and maintains a healthy work environment for our staff.
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Posted in Uncategorized
October 28th, 2009 by Michael Roy
Dear Colleagues,
Months in the making, our annual report is now available on-line at http://blogs.middlebury.edu/lis/files/2009/10/2009-LIS-Annual-Report.pdf for your reading pleasure. Thanks to Doreen for all of her hard work in putting this together, to all who contributed their words to this document, and to all for all the hard work that is documented within. It’s an impressive list of accomplishments!
We are already working on compiling next year’s report, with the hope that by writing throughout the year we won’t have to struggle to pull it all together at the end of the year.
– mike
October 28th, 2009 by Doreen Bernier
LIS has registered for the Educause Live, “The Tower and the Cloud—Higher Education in the Age of Cloud Computing”, web seminar scheduled for November 13 at 1:00 pm. This event will be held in Library 145. For those of you who are interested in this topic, you are welcome to attend.
Description:
Education in the Age of Cloud Computing: Universities have served important functions in society for more than a thousand years. They have done so in part by creating places that promote reflection, discussion, discovery, and learning. For many people, the university-as-place is central to the purposes of the university. The university is also an idea and, increasingly, ideas—in the Internet—have enormous power to stimulate learning and discovery. Indeed, what many now describe as “Web 2.0” is a view that the web is evolving into a social environment that has the potential to extend the influence and reach of institutions and individuals. This talk will address the co-evolution of higher education and the Internet and will explore the roles of place, expertise, and even truth—in a world of abundant information and changing academic expectations.
Explore Related EDUCAUSE Resources: Follow the link(s) below for articles, conference materials, blog postings, and more in the EDUCAUSE Resource Center. Wherever you see the icon in the upper right of a page (make sure you’re logged in to see it), click on it to receive e-mail alerts when related resources are added.
October 28th, 2009 by Barbara Merz
Should we change the blog categories in any way? Should “*The Essentials” remain the default?
Rational – it can be confusing to use the current categories. See what is categorized currently as essential and what is not.
Some suggestions:
1) *The Essentials is not needed. All readers should subscribe to the whole blog and pick what they’re interested in cp. reading sections of newspapers or subscribing to any other blog.
2) or should the default category just be changed to “Areas and Workgroups” i.e. LIS centric with action required to categorize as “*The Essentials”
3) and/or should “*The Essentials” be renamed “*The Essentials (all campus)”
October 28th, 2009 by Elin Waagen
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