Testing ALA Website Accessibility

From ALA Emerging Leaders Team K:

We are seeking volunteers to take part in a usability study examining the accessibility of the American Library Association (ALA) website for individuals using assistive devices. The ideal participant would be a member of ALA who requires an assistive device to access the Internet. Participants will be able to take the test at their own locations, and on their own devices. The study will run during March, April and May of 2010. The results of the study will contribute to a report that will lead to improvements in accessibility of ALA’s website.

If you are interested in participating in this usability study, or can assist us in recruiting suitable participants, please email us at accessibilitytesting [ at ] ala.org. Feel free to forward this message to any individual or group whose members might be interested in participation.

Thank you,
Chelle Batchelor, University of Washington Libraries
Lisa Chow, Brooklyn Public Library
Cynthia Matthias, Hennepin County Library
Jennifer Rutner, Columbia University Libraries

ALA Emerging Leaders 2010
Team K: Usability-Accessibility Test

ALA '09 Recap

Highlights of ALA 2009 in Chicago


Unconference Program

• Combination of quick presentations and discussions
• Topics ranged from Web 3.0 to information literacy. See schedule for list of topics.
• Participated in a discussion about planning and facilitating unconferences. There's an increased interest in doing library unconferences. Look out for our program on BPL ThinkTank, an unconference staff development event that we did at Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) at the Public Libraries Association (PLA) conference in March 2010.

Emerging Leaders Poster Session

• Over 20 posters were presented by this year's emerging leaders based on their projects.
• Projects included working with the PLA conference planning subcommittee, attracting librarians in the millennial generation to participate in ALA, etc.

Visit to Chicago Public Library

• Visited the new YouMedia space, a space specifically designed for teens with the latest digital media technology

ALA 2009 Poster Session

• My colleague and I presented a poster session "Keeping People at the Center of the Public Library: Analysis of Disruptive Technology and Suggestions for Creating a People-Centered Environment". Check out our project wiki.

Congrats to Libraries and Autism: We're Connected for winning the 2009 Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies Award. Libraries and Autism is a collaborative project among two libraries in New Jersey that produced a customer service training video for library staff to help them better serve individuals with autism.

ALA 2009 Poster Session

Check out my poster session at ALA 2009 in Chicago.

Keeping People at the Center of the Public Library: Analysis of Disruptive Technology and Suggestions for Creating a People-Centered Environment

Monday, July 13, 2009 from 1pm-2:30pm
Table #3
ALA Exhibit Hall

Conferences and Unconferences

It's that time of year again - lots of conferences and unconferences are happening. Just this week, I attended LibCampNYC, an unconference focused on libraries and library technology. There was another NYC unconference, Library Camp NYC, in August 2007. Unconferences are about collective knowledge and ideas and the session topics are determined by the attendees. Unconferences have usually been stand-alone events, but this year, there are unconference sessions throughout the SLA conference and ALA has an unconference day during the ALA conference. Looking forward to the conferences and unconferences in D.C. and Chicago. Also, if you're going to ALA, I will be presenting a poster session "Keeping People at the Center of the Public Library: Analysis of Disruptive Technology and Suggestions for Creating a People-Centered Environment" on Monday, July 13 at 1pm-2:30pm.

Science, Magic, Medicine, and Harry Potter

This is really cool. The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, in cooperation with the National Library of Medicine (NLM) has a traveling exhibition, "Harry Potter's World: Renaissance Science, Magic, and Medicine", which was created to explore the link between Harry Potter and the history of science using materials from the National Library of Medicine. Public, academic and medical libraries may apply to host the banner exhibition. The deadline is May 1. Check out the exhibition site.

Freedom of Information and Open Government

Freedom of Information Day is on March 16, the birthday of James Madison, who is "widely regarded as the Father of the Constitution and as the foremost advocate for openness in government" (ALA).

Each year, the American Library Association (ALA) presents the James Madison Award and the Eileen Cooke State & Local Madison Award to "recognize those individuals or groups that have championed, protected, and promoted public access to government information and the public’s right to know" (ALA).

Freedom of Information Day coincides with Sunshine Week (March 15-21), a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.

Check out related NYC events going on this week.

Library School and LIS Education

Being in my last semester of library school, I've been thinking a bit about my library school experience. The past 2 and 1/2 years has been a good experience, especially being a part of the Public Urban Library Service Education (PULSE) program. PULSE is a collaboration between Brooklyn Public Library and Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science (SILS) and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). As part of the program, I am getting a broad range of hands-on experience that complements and enhances my classes. This semester, I am taking Usability Leadership and doing a practicum/internship at Columbia University.

Courses that I've taken:

• Introduction to Information Professions with Glen Bencivengo (Core/Required)
• Information Services and Resources with Phillip Yockey (Core/Required)
• Knowledge Organization with Rick Block (Core/Required)
• Information Technologies with David Walczyk (Core/Required)
• Urban Public Library Service with Donna Fleming
• Collection Development with Nasser Sharify
• Medical Librarianship with Helen-Ann Brown
• People-Centered Methods and Design with David Walczyk
• Information Architecture/Interaction Design with David Walczyk
• Metadata: Access and Description with Rick Block

There's a lot out there about library school and LIS education - achieving a balance between theory and practice, the popping up of I-schools, and recent news about Rutgers' change in school name - just to name a few. What is library school? What is information school? What is library science vs. library and information science vs. information science? I will be receiving a master's in library and information science (MLIS) in May. Does that mean I got a bit of both library science and information science? I'm not even sure I know what the difference is. This year, Pratt SILS was re-accredited by the American Library Association (ALA). It makes me wonder how LIS programs are evaluated when they can be and are so different from each other, not just with names of schools and degrees but also with requirements for admission and graduation.