Tag Archives: libraries

Collection of Links: MOOCs

Posted on by

Got MOOC?: Massive open online courses are poised to change the face of education | The Digital Shift
Although it’s clear that there’s a flurry of interest in MOOCs among universities, higher-ed students, the tech industry, and pundits, these free online courses are also likely to have a significant impact on K–12 librarians and other educators. 

From the EDUCAUSE Library on MOOCs, the report What Campus Leaders Need to Know About MOOCs and many more additional resources.

California Universities Aggressively Expand Online Courses, Finds Failure Rates Drop | TechCrunch
The largest university system in America is aggressively expanding its experimental foray into Massive Online Open Learning (MOOCs), based on an unusually promising pilot course. 

The iSchool’s First MOOC: Lessons Learned | Information Space
There is much that still needs to be figured out about MOOCs. 

For Libraries, MOOCs Bring Uncertainty and Opportunity | Wired Campus
A lot of the discussion about massive open online courses has revolved around students and professors. What role can academic librarians play in the phenomenon, and what extra responsibilities do MOOCs create for them?

What Do Librarians Need to Know About MOOCs? | Stephen’s Lighthouse
“The following article appears in the March/April 2013 issue of D-Lib Magazine.”

Chronicle of Higher Education Blog Highlights Key Points from MOOCs and Libraries Event  | Stephen’s Lighthouse
“The “MOOCs and Libraries: Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge?” event, hosted by OCLC Research and the University of Pennsylvania on 18-19 March, featured thoughtful and provocative presentations about ways libraries are getting involved with massive open online courses (MOOCs), including the challenges and strategic opportunities they are facing.”

MOOCs and Libraries Event | The OCLC Research Channel (YouTube)
Playlist includes videos of the sessions from the “MOOCs and Libraries: Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge?” event that took place 18-19 March 2013 in which OCLC Research and the University of Pennsylvania Libraries presented thoughtful and provocative presentations about how libraries are already getting involved with MOOCs.  Also see this SlideShare presentation from OCLC: MOOCs & Libraries: Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge.

10,000 Free Courses Listed in a Massive Open Courses Directory | iLibrarian
The OEDb has just launched a massive Free Online Open Courses Directory organizing nearly 10,000 free courses in the liberal arts and sciences. The courses are available in a variety of formats including full courses, video lectures, audio lectures, text articles, and mixed media.

10 Incredibly Interesting Free Online Courses I’d Like to Take for Fun | iLibrarian
It’s amazing just how many colleges and universities are offering free open education courses that people can take from the convenience of their own computers. I’ve been investigating the offerings at many of these including MIT, University of Notre Dame, UC San Diego and others, and there are many classes that I’d enjoy taking just for fun. Here are ten of my choices, but click into the programs for listings of hundreds more!

Dewey-It-Yourself: How to supplement your library school education | Hack Library School
No matter how great a MLS/MLIS program is there just isn’t enough time and courses to learn everything.

Lynda.com, NYPL Explore New Library-wide Access Model | The Digital Shift
Patrons visiting the New York Public Library’s Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) now have free access to the entire catalog of more than 1,500 instructional online training videos offered by Lynda.com.

Emerging Student Patterns in MOOCs: A (Revised) Graphical View | e-Literate
Describes four student patterns emerging from Coursera-style MOOCs.

Massive Open Online Courses: Legal and Policy Issues for Research Libraries | ARL [Brief]
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) raise significant legal and policy questions for research libraries, which are often asked to support the development of MOOC courses.

Every Library Should Come With This Built-In Slide | Gizmodo

Posted on by

Every Library Should Come With This Built-In Slide | Gizmodo

Every Library Should Come With This Built-In Slide

 

Women, Mobility, and Libraries | American Libraries Magazine

Posted on by

“Long before there were such devices as smartphones and tablets—or personal computing, for that matter—women in librarianship were bringing reading material to people beyond the four walls of a physical library” via Women, Mobility, and Libraries | American Libraries Magazine.

Seven Shipping Containers Make Up This Colorful Library | Gizmodo

Posted on by

“These seven colorful shipping containers traveled the world before settling down in Batu, Indonesia as the Amin Library. Home to 6,000 books, it’s a story in and of itself” via Seven Shipping Containers Make Up This Colorful Library | Gizmodo.

Batu Library

Taking an Inquiry Stance on Participatory Culture, Learning, Literacy, and Libraries | The Unquiet Librarian

Posted on by

Taking an Inquiry Stance on Participatory Culture, Learning, Literacy, and Libraries | The Unquiet Librarian

This New Library Of The Future Brings You Your Books Via Robot | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation

Posted on by

This New Library Of The Future Brings You Your Books Via Robot | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation

“In a digital age where many commentators tolled the death knell for the book-bound library, we’ve reported time and time again that the libraries of the future are the ones that react and adapt to new technology, not run from it.”

Banned Books 2013: ‘Captain Underpants’, ‘Fifty Shades’ Make List Of Most Challenged | Huffington Post Books

Posted on by

Banned Books 2013: ‘Captain Underpants’, ‘Fifty Shades’ Make List Of Most Challenged | Huffington Post Books

See article source: ALA’s State of America’s Libraries Report 2013, specifically, the Intellectual Freedom section from the report.

The OIF’s [ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom] Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books in 2012:

  • Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey (offensive language, unsuited for age group)
  • “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie (offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group)
  • “Thirteen Reasons Why,” by Jay Asher (drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group)
  • “Fifty Shades of Grey,” by E. L. James (offensive language, sexually explicit)
  • “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell (homosexuality, unsuited for age group)
  • “The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini (homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit)
  • “Looking for Alaska,” by John Green (offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group)
  • Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz (unsuited for age group, violence)
  • “The Glass Castle,” by Jeannette Walls (offensive language, sexually explicit)
  • “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison (sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence)

Closure of fisheries’ libraries called ‘a ‘disaster’ for science | Canada.com

Posted on by

Closure of fisheries’ libraries called ‘a ‘disaster’ for science | Canada.com

Quotables

“Seven DFO libraries across Canada are to close by the fall, including two that have been amassing books and technical reports on the aquatic realm for more than a century.”

“It is information destruction unworthy of a democracy,” said Peter Wells, an ocean pollution expert at Dalhousie University in Halifax, who describes the closing of the libraries as a “national tragedy.”

“It will likely be a decade or more before all DFO’s technical reports are all digitized and available online, the librarian said.  But most of the reference books and materials in the DFO libraries – like Russia’s fishing monograms – cannot be digitized by the department because of copyright restrictions.”

“Wells see the library closures as more evidence of the way the federal government is “eviscerating” aquatic science by cutting jobs and eliminating programs, labs and services. “Libraries cannot simply be replaced by digitized collections,” he said.”

City of New York settles with Occupy over destruction of the People’s Library » MobyLives

Posted on by

“The City of New York and Brookfield Properties has agreed to pay more than $233,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by Occupy Wall Street over the destruction of the People’s Library during the eviction of Zuccotti Park by the New York Police Department last fall. During the raid to clear the park in the early morning hours of November 15th 2011, the majority of the collection of more than 4,000 books donated by the public and organized by the Library Working Group was destroyed or damaged, an act roundly condemned by the  American Library Association, as did the New York Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild.” via City of New York settles with Occupy over destruction of the People’s Library » MobyLives.

NYPL Releases Digital Collections API to Public | The Digital Shift

Posted on by

“In a move that will allow libraries and independent software developers to write programs accessing over one million digital objects and records, the New York Public Library this week released an application programming interface (API) that facilitates connection to the NYPL Digital Gallery.” via NYPL Releases Digital Collections API to Public | The Digital Shift