Skills for the 21st Century Librarian

This blog entry by Meredith Farkas, the distance learning librarian at Norwich University, addresses what she thinks library schools should be teaching students. These skills are categorized into basic technology and higher level competencies.

After reading this article, reflect on your personal experience at OU SLIS. Do you think it has or has not helped you meet some of this criteria? Leave us a comment and let know how your experience in SLIS compares to this article any perceived strengths or weaknesses you see in the article or your SLIS experience.

Free 1 year subscription to Library journal for SLIS students

Library Journal is offering a free 1 year subscription to current library students. The form is available here. Thanks to Rebecca Howard for bringing this to our attention!

Want a scary story for Halloween?

For Halloween, Google Book Search has made available for download a number of classic “scary” stories. While not all of the books listed are available due to copyright, a number of famous works, such as Brahm Stoker’s Dracula, Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, are in the public domain and are available for download.

Grading preferences

OU is considering a change in the grading system & we would like your feedback. The proposal is to change from the current letter system (A, B, C, D, F) to a plus/minus system (A, B-, C+, etc). Let us know what you think by replying to this email with the completed survey.

Check one:

Preference for the regular grading system ___________

Preference to switch to +/- grading ___________

Please scale the strength of your preference by:

Regular grading                                         Plus/minus grading

Strongly prefer    Prefer    Neutral    Prefer    Stongly prefer

        1                    2             3              4                 5

Perceived advantages of the regular grading system
1.

2.

Perceived advantages of the plus/minus grading system:
1.

2.

Reply to this post with your comments or email them to OLISSA by Tuesday, October 31. Thanks.

OLA publication opportunity

From Janet Brennen Croft, Head of Access Services at Bizzell:

Oklahoma Librarian seeks contributions – Publication Opportunity!

For the Association’s centennial year, I am looking for brief articles on a variety of historical topics:

• History of specific libraries in Oklahoma, particularly buildings that are celebrating their centennials as well
• How different libraries are celebrating the state’s centennial
• Biographical sketches of historical figures in Oklahoma librarianship (see the list of Oklahoma Library Legends for ideas)

I am also interested in:

• Conference and workshop reports
• Announcements of awards, achievements, and publications of librarians in Oklahoma
• Author appearances, celebrations, and special events (including book sales) at Oklahoma libraries
• Annotated bibliographies (not too long!) of useful websites on topics in the news or of use to librarians

Photos to accompany any of the above are encouraged. Electronic submission is preferred. Publication credits and involvement with your state organization look great on your resume!

Resume writing seminar

A resume writing seminar has been scheduled for Thursday, November 2nd from 7:30-9:00 pm. It will be held in Bizzell 104 in Norman and broadcast to Schusterman 3100 in Tulsa. If you are interested in attending this seminar and to help us ascertain a head count, please respond to this post with a comment expressing your interest, comments, or any other questions you may have about this event.

Minutes from OLISSA’s September 7th meeting

Here.

A call for papers for OLA 2007

The Oklahoma Library Association is inviting OU SLIS students to submit a paper or practical application to be presented at the annual OLA Conference on April 1-3, 2007. The submission deadline is December 1, 2006. Winners of the OLA-SLIS Student Paper Competition will have their conference registration fees paid for by the Association of Library Students of Oklahoma (ALSO). Guidelines about submission of a paper or project may be found here, here, and at the OLA University and College Division site.

Are you interested in attending a resume writing seminar?

OLISSA is thinking about holding a resume writing seminar and would like to know if you would be interested in attending. The speakers both have expertise in how to write a strong resume through their experiences as a manager of a library and as a member of numerous hiring committees. The seminar would most likely be held on a weeknight, after classes, and would last 1-1 1/2 hours. The physical session would be held in Norman with a video link broadcasting the seminar to Tulsa.

If you would be interested in attending, please contact OLISSA expressing your interest.

Photos from the OHC trip

You can see some photos from the trip to the Oklahoma History Center using the new Flickr section located on the right side of the blog under the Links section.