Twitter Chats

We are back on Twitter tomorrow for #LITAchat

Are you ready for the next Twitter #LITAchat? Join the discussion on Friday, May 22, from 12-1pm Central Time. We will be asking you to tell us about challenges with working from home. Are there things you can’t do and wish you could? Are there issues with your home setup in general? Anne Pepitone will lead the discussion. We invite you to join us tomorrow to share your experiences and chat with your colleagues. Follow LITA on Twitter Catch up on the last #LITAchat We’re looking forward to hearing from you! -The LITA Membership Development Committee

LITA Jobs

LITA Job Board Analysis Report – Laura Costello (Chair, Assessment & Research) LITA Assessment & Research and Diversity & Inclusion Committees

Background & Data This report comes from a joint analysis conducted by LITA’s Assessment & Research and Diversity & Inclusion committees in Fall 2019. The analysis focused on the new and emerging trends in skills in library technology jobs and the types of positions that are currently in demand. It also touches on trends in diversity and inclusion in job postings and best practices for writing job ads that attract a diverse and talented candidate pool.  The committees were provided with a list of 678 job postings from the LITA job board between 2015-2019. Data included the employer information, the position title, the location (city/state) the posting date. Some postings also included a short description. The Assessment & Research Committee augmented the dataset with job description, responsibilities, qualifications, and salary information for a 25% sample of the postings from each year using archival job posting information. Committee members also assigned…

Awards and Scholarships

Congratulations to Dr. Jian Qin, winner of the 2020 LITA/OCLC Kilgour Research Award

Dr. Jian Qin has been selected as the recipient of the 2020 Frederick G. Kilgour Award for Research in Library and Information Technology, sponsored by OCLC and the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA). She is the Professor and Director at the iSchool, Syracuse University.  The Kilgour Award honors research relevant to the development of information technologies, especially work which shows promise of having a positive and substantive impact on any aspect(s) of the publication, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information, or the processes by which information and data are manipulated and managed. It recognizes a body of work probably spanning years, if not the majority of a career. The winner receives $2,000, and a citation. Dr. Qin’s recent research projects include metadata modeling for gravitational wave research data management and big metadata analytics using GenBank metadata records for DNA sequences, both with funding from NSF. She also collaborated with a colleague to develop a Capability Maturity Model…

Library experiences

LITA/ALA Survey of Library Response to COVID-19

The Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) and its ALA partners are seeking a new round of feedback about the work of libraries as they respond to the COVID-19 crisis, releasing a survey and requesting feedback by 11:59 p.m. CDT, Monday, May 18, 2020. Please complete the survey by clicking on the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/libraries-respond-to-covid-19-may-2020.  LITA and its ALA partners know that libraries across the United States are taking unprecedented steps to answer the needs of their communities, and this survey will help build a better understanding of those efforts. LITA and its ALA partners will use the results to advocate on behalf of libraries at the national level, communicate aggregated results with the public and media, create content and professional development opportunities to address library staff needs, and share some raw, anonymized data elements with state-level staff and library support organizations for their own advocacy needs.  Additional information about…

LITA Forums

#CoreForum2020 is now a Virtual Event!

Join your ALA colleagues from across divisions for the 2020 Forum, which is now a virtual event!  WHERE: In light of the COVID-19 public health crisis, leadership within LITA, ALCTS, and LLAMA made the decision to move the conference online to create a safe, interactive environment accessible for all. WHAT: Call for proposals have been extended to Friday June 12, 2020.  WHEN: Forum is scheduled November 18 and 20, 2020 HOW: Share your ideas and experiences with library projects by submitting a talk for the inaugural event for Core:  https://forum.lita.org/call-for-proposals For more information about the LITA, ALCTS, LLAMA (Core) Forum, please visit https://forum.lita.org 

Education

WFH? Boost your skill set with LITA CE!

Reserve your spot and learn new skills to enhance your career with LITA online continuing education offerings. Buying Strategies 101 for Information TechnologyWednesday, May 27, 2020, 1:00-2:30 pm Central TimePresenter: Michael Rodriguez, Collections Strategist at the University of Connecticut In this 90-minute webinar, you’ll learn best practices, terminology, and concepts for effectively negotiating contracts for the purchase of information technology (IT) products and services. View details and Register here. Using Images from the Internet in a Webpage: How to Find and CiteWednesday, June 3, 2020, 2:00-3:30 pm Central TimePresenter: Lauren Bryant, Priority Associate Librarian of Ray W. Howard Library In this 90-minute webinar, you’ll learn practical ways to quickly find and filter creative commons licensed images online, learn how to hyperlink a citation for a website, and how to use creative commons images for thumbnails in videos and how to cite the image in unconventional situations like this. View details and Register here. Troublesome Technology Trends: Bridging the Learning DivideWednesday, June 17, 2020, 1:00-2:30 pm…

General information

May 5/1 Twitter #LITAchat

Last week, Anne Pepitone kicked off the discussion with Zoom Virtual Backgrounds, shared her favorites, and provided tips on how to use them. The next Twitter #LITAchat will be on Friday, May 1, from 12-1pm Central Time when we’ll talk about apps that help you work from home. What do you use to help with project management, time management, deadlines, or to just stay focused? We invite you to join us tomorrow to share, learn, and chat about it with your colleagues. Follow LITA on Twitter. We’re looking forward to hearing from you! -The LITA Membership Development Committee

Twitter Chats

April 4/24 Twitter #LITAchat

A lot has changed since we had our last Twitter #LITAchat, Core passed and then COVID 19 happened. We are all navigating new territory in our jobs and life overall. So we wanted to bring you a weekly set of LITAChats discussing our shared experiences during these strange times.  The first in this series of LITAchats will start on Friday, April 24 from 12-1pm Central Standard Time. We will be asking you to show us your Zoom Virtual Backgrounds! We know that Zoom conferencing has been popular among many workplaces so we thought what would be better than showcasing some of the creative backgrounds everyone has been using. If you don’t have a background no worries, you can share about the best backgrounds you have seen from colleagues. Don’t know how to turn on Zoom Virtual Backgrounds? We will cover that too! We hope you’ll join us on Twitter for…

Awards and Scholarships

Congratulations to Samantha Grabus, winner of the 2020 LITA/Ex Libris Student Writing Award

Samantha Grabus has been selected as the winner of the 2020 Student Writing Award sponsored by Ex Libris Group and the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) for her paper titled “Evaluating the Impact of the Long S upon 18th-Century Encyclopedia Britannica Automatic Subject Metadata Generation Results.” Grabus is a Research Assistant and PhD student at Drexel University Metadata Research Center. “This valuable work of original research helps to quantify the scope of a problem that is of interest not only in the field of library and information science, but that also, as Grabus notes in her conclusion, could affect research in fields from the digital humanities to the sciences,” said Julia Bauder, the Chair of this year’s selection committee. When notified she had won, Grabus remarked, “I am thrilled and honored to receive the 2020 LITA/Ex Libris Student Writing Award. I would like to extend my gratitude to the award committee…

Education

Latest in LITA eLearning

So much has changed since COVID-19. Online learning is in greater demand and we are working hard to provide you with resources and more professional development opportunities that strengthens the library community. We hope you are well and staying safe. There’s a seat waiting for you. Register today! Digital Inception: Building a digital scholarship/humanities curriculum as a subject librarian Wednesday, April 22, 2020 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Central Time Presenter: Marcela Isuster, Education and Humanities Librarian, McGill University This presentation will guide attendees in building a digital scholarship curriculum from a subject librarian position. It will explore how to identify opportunities, reach out to faculty, and advertise your services. It will also showcase activities, lesson plans, and free tools for digital publication, data mining, text analysis, mapping, a section on finding training opportunities and strategies to support colleagues and create capacity in your institutions. In this 90-minute webinar, you’ll learn:…