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Thank you to everyone who contributed to the discussion Friday about the academic library and the cloud. I learned a ton.
Going forward, I'm hoping to build on this dialogue and find more opportunities for the academic technology and academic librarian worlds to communicate and share information.
In my experience the best way to keep up with the world of academic libraries is to hang out with academic librarians. The academic librarians that I'm privileged to work with are among the most accomplished, dedicated, passionate, and collegial professionals in academe. My librarian colleagues inspire and challenge each day. I'm constantly amazed by their deep knowledge across the range of academic disciplines, their skills in partnering with faculty and students for teaching and research tasks, and the strength of the relationships and degree of trust they have built within our community.
I've consistently found that my librarian colleagues are open to endless questions, receptive towards critiques, generous in sharing their knowledge, and patient with their colleagues (like me) who have more questions than knowledge about their challenges, constraints and goals.
Increasing understanding and dialogue across the academic library and academic technology worlds is critical for all of us as our long-term future is a merged one. This merger may not be along bureaucratic / organization lines (although many institutions are merging library/IT), but in the on-the-ground, day-to-day work that we engage in.
On the teaching and learning side, collaborating closely with subject specialist, media, and other professionals librarians is essential in working with faculty to develop and run a course. Collaboration, understanding and dialogue between the Library and IT are essential at every level, from our local institutions to our professional organizations and conferences.
Below are some sources that I rely on to keep up with academic libraries and the interaction between technology and the library
EDUCAUSE:
Conferences, Seminars and Institutes: Academic librarians are well represented at the national and regional EDUCAUSE conferences and events. I make it a point to go to as many library and joint library/IT sessions as possible.
Publications: EDUCAUSE frequently publishes on issues related to IT and Library integration. EDUCAUSE Review, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, ECAR Studies, and ELI publications are all essential to staying current.
Blogs and Online Sources:
The local academic librarian whose blog is indispensable for my work in learning technology is Bill Garrity's blog. Bill covers a lot of ground, aggregating, synthesizing and commenting on issues, trends, events and technologies related to libraries, technology, academia and learning. Bill is also very active on Twitter.
Steven Bell - Associate University Librarian for Research & Instructional Services at Temple University's Paley Library, is the "blended librarian" that I know best.
Kept-Up Academic Librarian: A news filter for keeping academic librarians aware of what’s going on in higher ed
ACRLog: The premier blog for discussing issues in academic librarianship. The Twitter feed for the ACRL is here.
Lauren's Library Blog: "reading, thinking, and experimenting with the future of libraries, education, and information."
From the Bell Tower: Steven Bell's weekly column for Library Journal where he writes about the intersection of libraries and higher ed.
Library Journal – Peer to Peer Review, a Library Journal column by Barbara Fister.
Library Journal - Digital Libraries Blog by Roy Tennant
Designing Better Libraries: Design thinking and user experience and how it can apply to libraries.
RSS feeds for the Library Journal, including blogs, articles, podcasts and webcast feeds can be found here.
I also have followed-back any of the academic librarians who have followed me These tweets are a great source for academic library and library / technology news.
Looking forward to hearing other ideas for people, blogs, publications and conferences to follow.
