Academic library news from around the web this week:

Lauren Pressley is working on building a local repository of instructional materials. This is something I’ve advocated for for some time and hope to start working on at MPOW this year:

All we’re talking about is a searchable database of online teaching materials. These might be PDFs, websites, slide decks, or videos. They’d hopefully be to-the-point and relevant to our users. Of course, we’re dreaming up all kinds of features to make this system even more useful in the final version, but to kick it off we’re just looking to make a container to house all of our online instructional content in one place.

Steven Bell helps us to find a more realistic view of the “higher education bubble” and encourages us as academics and librarians to help set the record straight:

Despite the media’s portrayal of higher education as an out-of-control spendthrift that is damaging both the little guy and the nation, prospective students and their parent still believe in its value. The industry and its employees must pay attention to the media’s stories about tuition, student debt, and the bubble hype, and consider how we might, individually and collectively, respond with our own story about the value of higher education.

Jennifer Howard tells us about how libraries are helping academics to look beyond journal impact factors and citation counts to measure the value of their work:

Librarians and administrators say altmetrics can help provide a more nuanced view of how scholarship lives in the wider world.

Springer Science is gearing up for its IPO. Or it might be sold off:

EQT is still accepting takeover offers for Springer Science this month and may scrap the IPO, people familiar with the matter said last week. The buyout firm hasn’t made a final decision whether to do the IPO or sell the German publisher, according to the people. Buyout firms BC Partners Ltd., which is most interested, as well as KKR & Co. and Providence Equity Partners have until about June 10 to hand in takeover offers, the people said at the time.

ACRL has initiated the process of rethinking the Information Literacy Standards that were first developed in 2000. I can’t tell you how excited this makes me:

Though they have served the academic library profession well over the past thirteen years, the current standards are showing their age. It is time for our association to engage in a process to rethink and reimagine them for the next generation of academic librarians, college students and the faculty.

Finally, Bobbi Newman and Emily Lloyd want to change the conversation around libraries. Rather than talking about why libraries need saving, let’s talk about how libraries save communities:

How you frame your discussion matters and if librarians keep talking about how libraries need to be saved is it any wonder that our patrons and society believe we’re dying? We are basically telling them we are! So stop! Stop right now! Instead we need to start framing the conversation like the powerful partners we are! Let’s make this hashtag [#ittakesalibrary] happen! It is much more positive and affirmative than the save libraries rhetoric. I talked about this when I wrote Libraries are Powerful Partners last year.

Have a great weekend!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *