Network with fellow Chapters colleagues with this assortment of social networking tools made possible by the ALA Chapter Relations Office and ALA!:

The ALA Chapters Resource Wiki promotes communication and assistance among ALA and the ALA Chapters.

ALA Chapters on Facebook promotes communication and assistance among ALA and the ALA Chapters.

The ALA Chapter Relations Office on Twitter promotes communication and assistance among ALA and the ALA Chapters.

The ALA Student Chapters group on Facebook facilitates communication and assistance among the student chapters and ALA.  See also ALA Student Chapter fan page. If your Chapter is not on here or you need to update some information, contact Don Wood, ALA Chapter Relations Office.

The ALA Student Members Wiki facilitates communication among student members and ALA.

The American Library Association Student to Staff Participants group on Facebook promotes communication and assistance among ALA and the student-to-staff participants. See also ALA Student to Staff fan page.

See also ALA Read Write Connect and ALA Weblog Service.

Brian McManus, a member of the 2009-2010 NMRT Online Discussion Forum, will lead this month’s Online Discussion: Open Access, Web 3.0–How Will Technology Continue to Change the Services of Libraries of the Near and Long Term Future? The discussion runs November 15 through December 14.

See Join the NMRT-L Discussion E-List for instructions on how to join in on this discussion.

For more information about the discussion forum, see 2009-2010 Online Discussion Forum.

Below is a select list of the pros and cons for each specific aspect of the topic and looking at the future:

Open Access

Pros:

1) It “gives scholars and libraries an increased role in the scholarly communication system” (Haschak, 2007).

2) Open Access helps mitigate the financial effects from the “predatory practices of some large commercial publishers” (Haschak, 2007).

3) Publishing with open access, peer reviewed journals makes scholarly communication available to a much larger audience, especially when published in an online journal.

4) As it is sometimes called Grey Literature, it “offers a much more comprehensive picture of the state of knowledge for any topic” (De Castro et al., 2008, P.144).

Cons:

1) Open access will undo the peer review process (Lewis, 2008, P.271).

Future:

One possible, reasonable future is that libraries will continue to pursue open access opportunities in order to mitigate constantly increasing journal subscriptions. Journal subscriptions will consistently decrease with the addition of each open access opportunity a library participates in.

Web 3.0: the next evolution for the Web, the intelligent Web, or a 3^rd decade of the Web’s evolution resulting in a greater maturity . . .

Pros:

1) The use of natural language for searching and indexing

2) Semantic web applications can be used for enterprise date integration and other related functions.

3) Web 3.0 technologies have so far been using Web 2.0 technology

Cons:

1) I am not sure there is truly a downside to this next step for the Web, however I am not an expert.

Future:

The trends now being set in motion by Web 2.0, the personalization of the web, self service, and the added mobility of information, is creating a transforming environment where users are interacting with each other more and directly with information (Holmberg et al., 2009, P.669). This trend will continue and could possibly be creating the foundation of what is to come, Web 3.0.

References Consulted

Haschak, P.G. (2007). “The ‘platinum route’ to open access: a case study of E-JASL: The Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship” Information Research, 12(4) paper 321. [Available at http://InformationR.net/ir/12-4/paper321.html]

De Castro, P., Salinetti, S., & Banks, M. (2008). Awareness and empowerment in document production and distribution as a “must” for open access: Experiences from the “Nancy style” to guarantee quality. Grey Journal (TGJ), 4(3), 143-149. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts database.

Lewis, D. (2008). Library budgets, open access, and the future scholarly communication. College & Research Libraries News, 69(5), 271-273. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts database.

Holmberg, K., Huvila, I., Kronqvist-Berg, M., & Widén-Wulff, G. (2009). What is Library 2.0?. Journal of Documentation, 65(4), 668-681. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts database.

Become a fan of the ALA Chapters on Facebook.

Also visit the ALA Chapter pages to discover what all the Chapters have to offer, from advocacy for libraries to conferences to member benefits and more.

Here is a sample of the Chapters pages you will find on Facebook. If you know of any additional ones, please send the name and URL to dwood@ala.org

CHAPTERS ON FACEBOOK

• Alabama Library Association
• California Library Association
• Colorado Association of Libraries
• Connecticut Library Association
• District of Columbia Library Association
• Florida Library Association
• Georgia Library Association
• Idaho Library Association
• Iowa Library Association
• Kansas Library Association
• Kentucky Library Association
• Louisiana Library Association
• Maine Library Association Members
• Massachusetts Library Association Fans
• Michigan Library Association
• Minnesota Library Association
• Montana Library Association
• Nebraska Library Association
• New Hampshire Library Association
• New Jersey Library Association (fan page)
• New Jersey Library Association (group page)
• New Mexico Library Association
• New York Library Association-NYLA
• Cool members of NCLA: North Carolina Library Association
• North Dakota Library Association
• Oklahoma Library Association
• Ohio Library Council
• Pennsylvania Library Association
• South Carolina Library Association
• Texas Library Association Members
• Vermont Library Association
• Virginia Library Association
• Washington Library Association
• Wisconsin Library Association
• Wyoming Library Association

Also on the ALA Chapters page are links to the regional Chapters on Facebook

• Mountain Plains Library Association
• Pacific Northwest Library Association

What with full schedules during Annual Conference and efforts to go green at the show wouldn’t it be great to be able to find the handouts for some of your favorite speakers and presentations online? Good news, you can! AL Direct’s “Ask the Librarian” column recently dealt with just this question and the answer points you to places to look for resources and tips for searching post-conference…

Q. I’ve just come back from the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago and am trying to pull together my trip report. With efforts at “going green” there seemed to be fewer handouts—or at least fewer copies available. Can you tell me where I can find the speakers’ presentations and handouts? The presenters said they would be “on the web.” But where?

A. Good question! How handouts and other output from the Annual Conference are disseminated varies considerably from division to division, or from one program planner or speaker to another. A couple of years ago, ALA instituted the Conference Materials Archive in order provide a central place to collect the handouts or other conference content—or at least links to that content. But there is great inconsistency as to whether materials are there. The ALA Library will seek out handouts when possible, but here are some of our tricks for when they are not on the wiki.
1. We use the 2009 Annual Conference Program Book (big PDF file—almost 9MB) to identify the sponsor of the program and exact title.
2. Then, we do a search of the ALA website, to see if the unit has posted the content.
3. The next step is a general web search or a check the division’s blogs and podcasts.
4. Finally, we try a search for the specific speaker to see if the material has been posted on the speaker’s personal or institutional webpage or blog.
To complicate matters even more, with the exception of the very few contemporaneous blog posts, there is a time lag between the program presentation and the posting or publication of the content. Also, there is always the possibility that a presentation is not recorded or written and may only be captured when the presenter uses the content in a substantially revised form in a publication a year or more later.
We are looking into ways for using ALA Connect for these materials and would welcome comments.
From the ALA Professional Tips wiki.

Over at the ALA Marginalia blog ALA Librarian Karen Muller writes: “When we launched the current version of the ALA website in September 2008, we stressed that there would be ongoing usability assessment followed by reworkings to the site, both minor and visible, from time to time. One major change is a revamp of our Professional Resources page, which we have consolidated into a Topics A–Z format that serves somewhat as an index to the website.”. Read the rest of Karen’s post for more details on how the ALA website is changing.

If your path is taking you in the direction of collection development, reference, and/or readers’ advisory—or if you just love books and media—you’ll want to become familiar with the resources offered by Booklist Publications, including the free e-newsletters and blogs. Booklist is the book and media review magazine of the ALA, considered an essential collection development and readers advisory tool by thousands of librarians for more than 100 years. Booklist Online includes more than 120,000 (recommended-only) reviews as well as a free Web site offering the latest news and views on books and media.

Here are some of the free resources to get you started.

Booklist Publications has joined the Twitterati.  Daily tweets keep followers informed about the Booklist Online Review of the Day and other noteworthy articles or Booklist happenings.  Sign up today!

Regular free e-newsletters from Booklist include REaD ALERT, featuring quick links to a hand-picked selection of book reviews, features, and special web-only content from Booklist Online. Booklist Online Exclusives e-newsletter complements Booklist’s print coverage, allowing editors both to review some subject areas in greater depth and to weigh in more quickly on titles not released for review in advance of publication. Occasionally, new reviews of older books offer fresh perspective on a familiar work. You can sign up for the free e-newsletters from the homepage of Booklist Online.

Booklist Online’s one-stop resource, the “Book Group Buzz” blog, addresses the growing interest expressed by librarians, book group participants, publishers, authors and general readers in what’s going on in (and around) book groups for adults and youth. Why do we need to talk about books? According to Book Group Buzz blogger Nick DiMartino, “Unfortunately we’re far from divine readers. We have short attention spans. We have limited knowledge. We’re easily distracted. We miss details. And sometimes we miss the whole point. Occasionally half a dozen smart, committed readers banding together into a book group can correct that.” This blog is an online gathering place for anyone involved with, or interested in, book groups. The bloggers offer informative, wise, witty and salutary posts, as well as links to a wide range of free book group-related guides, tips and other resources.

Are you interested in working with young readers and listeners? “Audiobooker,” a blog authored by teacher, school librarian and certified audiobook addict Mary Burkey offers listening notes, teaching resources, classroom examples and what she describes as an “online scrapbook of audiobook minutia, digital literature ramblings, and random ridiculous addendums.” Burkey’s passions include getting the right audiobook into the right hands and championing young people’s right to read with their ears.

“Bookends” is another youth-oriented blog. Its posts, laced with a good dash of humor, offer reviews, best practices, general advice, professional tips, and personal notes. “Middle-school [mega]-librarians Cindy Dobrez and Lynn Rutan prove that two heads are better than one when it comes to discussing YA and children’s books. The Wonder Twins of the library world have moved their blog . . . to the website of Booklist. Hurry! follow them before they get away!” says author David Gill says on Facebook.

And says blogger Dobrez about a more general interest book- and media-related blog, “I’ve been a fan of Booklist Online’s Likely Stories blog since its inception. I’m thrilled to have Bookends join the Booklist family of blogs.”

If you’re looking to get involved with Chapters, or just want to find out what ALA and Chapters are all about, visit Overview of How to Get Involved in ALA Chapters.

Be sure to check out Student Chapters and (Social Networking) Especially for Students.

While you’re at the page, be sure to also check out I Love Libraries. ILL has a new web badge to download so you can link to ILL from your website.

An alphabetical list of the American Library Association periodicals published by divisions and division sections, offices, and round tables is now online!

A brief profile is offered of each title; it includes the name and e-mail address of the editor(s), the ISSN, the publishing frequency per year, the subscription cost per year, and contact information for placing a subscription order. Availability of a website is indicated, as are the titles with advertising opportunities.

Also visit ALA RSS Feeds.

If you’re a Facebook regular you may want to Join/Friend/ or become a Fan of some of ALA’s pages:

American Library Association Members Group

American Library Association Student Chapter Group

National Library Legislative Day Group

2009 Annual Conference Event Page

ALA Island in Second Life Fan Page

Banned Books Week Fan Page

I Love Libraries Fan Page

ALA JobLIST Fan Page