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Besides the keynote address, Aboriginal Success: A Crack in the Door, Mr. Bouchard will facilitate two sessions, Storytelling: Protocols and Boundaries, and Let’s Talk Books!

Read descriptions of the sessions on the poster. Not signed up for WILU yet? Registration is still open.

As Ms. Hart points out, too often “over-engineered” training is given, although a simpler solution may lead to better learning and productivity. Among her 10 steps are developing team collaboration skills, establishing communities of practice (social networking), help people develop their own solutions, and integrating learning into workflow.

I invite you to comment on either how your workplace uses social media to work smarter, or how you use social media in the classroom (or teach it) so learners work smarter.

Examples I have are 1. using a wiki to create a collaborative document with a team spread across the province
2. using Google Sites to create a group project, where team members may live in different communities

Read the report and analysis of the WSL survey.
Download the Excel file of survey results (Scroll down to “Survey Report and Complete Results”).
Survey Monkey account types.

There are other reviews out there, and Library Journal reviewed a few in the January issue.

For a long list of options, free and otherwise, check out the Wikipedia list (yes, that Wikipedia).

It was produced as a contribution to the EDUCAUSE book, The Tower and the Cloud: Higher Education in the Age of Cloud Computing, edited by Richard Katz and available as a free e-Book.

Some library blogs merely re-report the news (like Law Librarian), but those librarians who personally comment on the issue are as divided as all other people in society.

Some (e.g. Head Tale) enthusiastically support Assange. As you may imagine, Conservative Librarian condemns Assange. The Other Librarian, on the other hand, uses philosophy to denounce Assange’s actions (Ryan’s argument is very interesting, and not based solely on political leanings).

Most library blogs, however, report and comment on the actions of the Library of Congress to block WikiLeaks. The Progressive Librarians Guild “condemns” these actions “in the strongest possible terms.” The Nascent Librarian rants against the LoC. Librarian.net, however, is “not totally comfortable,” and “find this to be an odd precedent that makes me a little itchy.”

The official Library of Congress blog explains why they are blocking WikiLeaks: “applicable law obligates federal agencies to protect classified information.” Many librarian bloggers seem to forget that the Library of Congress was created to support the government, and is an agency of the US Government. More disconcerting are rumours that universities are also blocking WikiLeaks. The LoC may be obligated by law, but these other institutions are not the bastions of free speech most believe them to be.

Very interesting results include “(1) an inability to correctly read and understand citations, (2) little or no understanding of cataloging and information organization systems, (3) no organized search strategies beyond ‘Google-style’ any word, anywhere searches, and (4) poor abilities in locating and evaluating resources (of all types).”

Students didn’t consult librarians because students didn’t see librarians as able to help with their projects, or not knowing how to ask: “I always assume librarians are busy doing library stuff, and it’s just not the first thing that pops into my head when I think of a librarian, like helping with papers or paper writing.”

Good news, though: the student who did form relationships with librarians (a minority) reported high satisfaction rates, returned repeatedly, and recommended librarians to their peers.

Further proof of the need to form relationships with instructional staff: “Students view professors as experts, and when the professor specifically recommends a librarian, students highly value this advice. Professors therefore regularly act as gatekeepers who mediate when and how students contact with librarian as they are working on research assignments. In this way, the attitude of professors towards librarians is a key determining factor in developing student/librarian relationships.”

Read a summary by Andrew Asher, Lynda Duke and David Green at www.academiccommons.org/commons/essay/erial-project, or see the project’s website.

Earlier this year, Campus Technology examined e-book readers for academic reading, as much of the discussion has been around reading for pleasure. Three American universities tried either the Sony e-reader or Kindle, and interestingly enough, students preferred either paper or using a laptop version. Although students at one institution loved the long battery life, “many of them said they wouldn’t trade fancier features if it would make the battery life shorter” (reference). Add to that, the Kindle does not work with accessibility devices, it seems that the e-book reader isn’t quite ready for academic prime-time. Read the full report.

It will be interesting, though, to see if students find e-books on smart phones or tablets are preferable to the e-book devices.