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New Core Jobs: January 20, 2021

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Browse new job openings on the Core Jobs Site

Systems Librarian, Williams College, Williamstown, MA Head of Cataloging & Metadata Management, UMKC Miller Nichols Library, Kansas City, MO Systems Engineer, Washington University, St. Louis, MO Cataloging Librarian, Binghamton University Libraries, Binghamton, NY Director of Law Libraries, San Diego County Public Law Library, San Diego, CA Visit the Core Jobs Site for additional job openings and information on submitting your own job posting.

New Core Jobs: January 13, 2021

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Browse new job openings on the Core Jobs Site

Head of Library Systems and Metadata Services, Tarlton Law Library, University of Texas at Austin Head Librarian, Branner Earth Sciences Library & Map Collections, Stanford Libraries (CA) Visit the Core Jobs Site for additional job openings and information on submitting your own job posting.

Privacy and How to Lose It

This article is from our guest blog contributor, Graeme Williams, Online Catalog Analyst. It’s not just your parents that think you’re unique.  The companies that collect your personal data think so, too. There are 55,000 people in my zip code.  The browser I use is Vivaldi, which has a popularity of 0.04% (!) so there are 21 other people in my zip code that also use Vivaldi.  About half the people in Las Vegas have an active library card, so 11 people share those three attributes with me.  Of those 11 people, 2 or 3 share my interest in science fiction. Those four pieces of information are just about enough to uniquely identify me among the 8 billion or so people in the world.  And they’re also what a vendor means when they talk about anonymous or “non-PII” (or non-personally-identifiable information). The Las Vegas library uses Bibliocommons.  Their privacy statement says,…Continue Reading

Announcing the December 2020 Issue of Information Technology and Libraries

The December 2020 issue of Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL) was published on December 21, rounding out a year many of us are glad to see behind us. Contrary to my fears as the year started, library technologists of all stripes continued to do great things and write about them. Our final issue of 2020 has some great material for you. Core President Christopher Cronin writes about the possibilities brought forward by the creation of Core out of the previous ALA divisions in Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures. Our December “Editorial Board Thoughts” column, Public Libraries Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Creating a New Service Model, by board member Jon Goddard, highlights some of the ways COVID-19 has changed the landscape of service for libraries of all kinds, but particularly for public libraries. In our “Public Libraries Leading the Way” column this issue, Jessica Hall at the Fresno Public Library describes an…Continue Reading

New Core Web Course Explores Fundamentals of Digital Library Projects

Core is pleased to announce the release of a new web course on the introduction to fundamental concepts of digital library projects. This course was developed by Jennifer Roper, Director, Digital Strategies and the University of Virginia Library in Charlottesville, Virginia, Gretchen Gueguen, an archivist and librarian specializing in digital libraries and technology and an adjunct professor for the Clarion University, and Ivey Glendon, Manager for Metadata Analysis & Design at the University of Virginia Library.  Jennifer Roper and Gretchen Gueguen will lead the course. The Fundamentals of Digital Library Projects course introduces students to the breadth of considerations, standards and skills needed to successfully launch and manage a digital library program. It provides an opportunity for hands-on activities to develop critical thinking and decision-making skills within the context of a digital library. Upon completion of this six-week course, attendees will: Gain an understanding of the types of expertise and skills needed to successfully manage a digital library: such as digitization and…Continue Reading

New Core Jobs: December 17, 2020

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Browse new job openings on the Core Jobs Site

Dean of Libraries, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS Director, Learning Commons, Tyler Junior College, Tyler, TX University Dean for Libraries and Information Resources, City University of New York, New York, NY Head, Scholarly Communications & Collections Strategy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries, Cambridge, MA Repository Services Manager, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO Visit the Core Jobs Site for additional job openings and information on submitting your own job posting.

Implementing a Contactless Pickup Service Model at LUC Libraries

This article is from our guest blog contributor, Chris Martin, Head of Access Services / University Libraries, Loyola University Chicago Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of conversations within access services circles—notably the LIB-CIRC-PLUS listserv—have centered on establishing “contactless pickup” for the circulation of physical items. Yet for academic libraries, there is a lack of thorough documentation about models of such service, as well as an accounting of how they work. This post outlines how Loyola University Chicago Libraries planned and implemented our contactless pickup service this summer (with ongoing adjustments) and describes the results so far. Systems Choices and Practical Considerations The Libraries’ physical locations closed when Loyola transitioned to a remote learning environment on March 24. For most of the remaining spring and early summer, Libraries administration and staff were hoping to return to on-site work by early August, though limited on-site staffing ultimately did not…Continue Reading

Core Call for Nominations: Core President-Elect

The Nominating Committee for the 2021 Core election is soliciting nominees to run on the Spring 2021 ballot for the office of Core President-Elect. The Core Nominating Committee seeks qualified individuals with strong service and leadership records in ALA, ALCTS, LITA, LLAMA, (or equivalent library associations) who will successfully advance Core’s vision and values in close collaboration with the Core Board and the rest of the Core leaders. Candidates will be expected to describe experience in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the library communities. Participation in the transition activities in launching the Core division and good project management skills will be extremely helpful.   The President-Elect will serve a three-year term: as President-Elect, in 2021-2022, as President in 2022-2023, and as immediate Past-President in 2023-2024. Candidates must be current Core members at the time of the election. The Nominating Committee will select two candidates to be placed on the ballot…Continue Reading

Join the free e-Forum discussion December 8-9, Regarding Database Clean-up

Online Chat Message Connection Talking Concept

The Core e-Forum list has moved to a new discussion list platform called Groups.io. Please take a moment to subscribe to the new list by sending an email to core-eforum+subscribe@groups.io. Your request will be approved within 1-2 business days. You will receive a welcome email from groups.io with instructions on how to create a user account to manage your notification settings. If you have questions or need assistance, please write to core-eforum+help@groups.io. If you are not interested in subscribing, please ignore this email.*****Please consider joining us for this week’s e-Forum! Due to technical difficulties with our old listserv platform, the October e-Forum was cut short and rescheduled for December. To get the conversation started, the moderators posted a recap of the discussion held before the old list shut down.Regarding Database Clean-upDecember 8-9, 2020 Moderated by Julene Jones, Emily Williams and Susan WynnePlease join us for an e-forum discussion. It’s free and open to everyone! Each day, discussion begins and…Continue Reading

Summary, November 10-11 Core e-Forum,“Migration Madness and How to Get Through IT”

Aerial view a woman using a retro typewriter

Core e-Forum (Nov. 10-11, 2020) November Core e-Forum, “Migration madness and how to get through IT.” The e-forum “Migration Madness and How to Get Through It” discussed all aspects of an integrated library system migration from the RFP process to implementation.  The forum, which ran from November 10-12, included 24 participants responding to 10 questions covering varying points of the process. Our e-forum began with introductions and getting background on whether people had been through or were going through a migration, and the types of libraries in which they worked.  We had participation from all types of libraries – academic, public, and special – from across the United States and beyond. Participants exhibited a wide array of experience with migrations, with many having been through more than one in their time in libraries.  Systems commonly being migrated to recently (or currently) were Alma/Primo, FOLIO, and Koha.   Others are just now…Continue Reading