Librarians Participate in Ball State’s Diversity Research Symposium

Brenda Yates Habich and Lisa Jarrell presented a workshop at Ball State’s first Diversity Research Symposium: Exploring Diversity Research and Writing Across Disciplines held on Saturday, November 14, 2009. The session, entitled “Publishing Diversity-Related Research,” described ways to identify journals for submitting manuscripts for publication. The librarians highlighted the many useful resources provided by the University Libraries to support scholars’ diversity-related research.

Habich and Jarrell discussed strategies for identifying journals that publish diversity-related research and described methods for determining the relative importance of a given journal in a discipline. They provided lists of impact scores for journals in a variety of fields, as well as other indicators of journal quality. “We wanted to provide people with a sense of what journals are out there and how to identify the best possible places for publication,” said Lisa Jarrell, Instructional Services Librarian.

The session was repeated twice throughout the day-long conference and attracted a number of participants. The audience members represented various universities, including the University of Louisville and the University of Cincinnati. Many Ball State faculty members also attended, representing various areas of study such as Architecture, English, and Social Work.

Ball State Librarians Present at Indiana Library Federation’s Annual Conference

Diane L. Calvin, Head of Information Services, participated in a panel discussion called Let’s Chat about Chat. She described University Libraries’ success with a live chat reference service as usage continues to grow for this service.

Stacy B. Chaney-Blankenship, Information Services Librarian, presented a session entitled Virtual Pathfinders and LibGuides. She discussed options for updating online library subject guides, including the University Libraries’ use of the LibGuides system.

Maren L. Read, Archivist for Manuscript Collections, and Amanda A. Hurford, Digital Initiatives Multimedia Developer, presented Not Just Old News: Virtual Access to Historic Newspapers through Digitization. They discussed the steps to make the Muncie Post-Democrat Newspaper Collection available to a global audience, including preparing the collection, digitization, Optical Character Recognition, metadata creation, and online display.

Scott R. McFadden, Head of Serials Cataloging, presented The CONSER Standard Record: A New Approach to Serials Cataloging. The session explained the CONSER Standard Record, a minimum standard for cataloging serials, recently introduced by CONSER (Cooperative Online Serials program).

Matthew C. Shaw, Collections Development Librarian, presented Please Visit our Google Branch: Supplementing Traditional Collections with Google Book Search Project to an audience of 70. He discussed practical ways for academic, public, and school libraries to take advantage of the digitization of millions of books by Google Inc.

Ball State Libraries Hold Successful Marketing/Communications Conference for Librarians

Design a Blueprint for Communication: Strategies that Work!, a one-day conference on Tuesday, September 25, 2007, hosted by Ball State University Libraries, provided 24 librarians from around Indiana with a unique opportunity to learn more about the hottest marketing and communication topics libraries are facing.

The conference provided six sessions with information relating to strategic planning, using research data, managing the library’s brand, connecting with customers, programming as a marketing tool, and improving print publications.

“The excellent roster of speakers attracted a wide range of librarians from both academic and public backgrounds,” said Susan G. Akers, Marketing Communications Manager, Ball State University Libraries.

Dr. Melvin L. Sharpe, professor emeritus in Ball State’s Department of Journalism, engaged the audience with a discussion on strategic planning and how to use research to determine the needs of one’s audience. Dr. Becky A. McDonald, assistant professor in public relations at Ball State, discussed the difference between public relations and marketing. Susan G. Akers presented information on creating a library’s brand along with a short session on targeted marketing and writing creative copy.

Maria Blake, Director of Communications and Community Relations at Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library (IMCPL), discussed the practical applications of public relations in her talk cleverly entitled, “If You Build it, They will Come—Not!” Many attendees were interested in hearing about the public relations challenges related to IMCPL’s Central Library expansion and building project which ran more than $50 million over budget and ran two years behind schedule.

Emily Hankley, Adult Program and Product Development Specialist at IMCPL, discussed the importance of creative programming in the library and specifically toward connecting with adult visitors. Paula Balensiefer, Community Relations Assistant and Graphic Designer at Anderson Public Library, teamed up with Becky Brewer, who works in information services and adult programming at Jackson County Public Library, to illustrate design do’s and don’ts. Becky holds the distinction of being named as co-winner of ALA’s “Best in Show Newsletter” award last year.