Hi, everyone.  After last night’s first-time orientation, I decided to go out with my wife for a few sight-seeing adventures.  We went to the Space Needle (our third time), and the view was, as always, beyond my ability to describe it.  Rainier stood majestically to the south, behind Seattle’s elegant skyline.  The snow blanketed Olympics were not too shabby, either.  Afterward, we went to the Market and had a small meal at the 100-year-old Athenian Inn, a place I thoroughly recommend.  Even though it’s in the Market, the crowd didn’t seem very touristy, and it had an “authentic” vibe.  The $2.99 fish ‘n’ chips were very good, especially for the price. 

This morning’s activities have been productive and stimulating.  I went to the Beyond the Basics session, which focused on ways to provide customized research services for Faculty and Students.  Although the focus was on grad students, the session had relevance in a community college setting, as it provided new ways of thinking about what faculty (in any institution) might want from the library.  Here are the four main questions they considered and some of the answers.

1) How can librarians learn more about thier faculty and support their research?

• ask them (and really listen)
• socialize with faculty
• create institutional repositories (not really a CC thing, I suppose)
• be active on task forces and committees
• attend departmental meetings in your liaison area, whenever possible
• interview faculty about their needs

2) What types of new/customized services can librarians develop to support student/faculty research?

• IR (again)
• take services out of the library and to other sites on campus
• create course-specific content in CMS
• use blogging as a way to perform outreach (example: the EdLibReport blog by USF librarian, Susan Ariew - one of the presenters)

3) Given the ubiquity of electronic resources, how important is the library as place for faculty members/students?

• comfort with tech doesn’t necessarily equal skil with tech
• space for students and faculty to get what they need
• collaborative work
• physical interaction with library resources and librarians
• a place of their own for their research and projects (Scholar Commons)

4) What new roles can librarians play to bring library collections and services to the table?

• library as publisher
• IR (related to the publishing concept
• partner with admin and others to get the word out about the library
• conduct specialized workshops: e.g., APA, copyright, Impact Factors

Thanks to the librarians from USF and FSU who put together a very informative session!