Poster presentation from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / Seattle University began planning in 2002 for a renovation of and addition to A.A. Lemieux Library. The University wished to transform the current Library (built in 1966) into a dynamic learning resource center, integrating traditional library services with a wide range of collaborative programs. As planning proceeded, the programs to be added were identified as the Learning Assistance Center, the Writing Center, and a new Oral Communication Center. Library administrative staff and our Learning Commons Partners initially met with architects and facilities staff to discuss space needs. As the architectural designs developed, participants recognized a need to create a shared vision of the Learning Commons. Sharing began with a monthly meeting of the Learning Commons Partners. Our poster session will illustrate the activities we are using to create a shared understanding of our Learning Commons and how it will operate. We are in the early stages of a process intended to create a better understanding of our various service areas and challenge us to develop a shared mission, vision, and goals for our Learning Commons which is expected to open in September 2010.

Poster presentation from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / Creating opportunities to share student learning and assessment resources with faculty can be a daunting challenge. At Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff, the leaders representing six different service units and committees united to create a flexible outreach session for academic units on campus. Here we share our collaborative approach to "unite and conquer," combining the human, technical, and financial resources of six service units and institutional committees to produce an informative outreach program for some 1,100 full- and part-time faculty members. Participating units included Cline Library, E-Learning Center, Office of Academic Assessment (OAA), Faculty Development, the University Assessment Committee, and the Liberal Studies Committee. During our "pilot" year, we visited 23 academic units and some 290 faculty members at faculty meetings. We experienced significant improvements overall with our approach and presentations between the fall and spring semesters. Our poster informs viewers of our organizational strategy, followed by an overview of successes, challenges, lessons learned, and future plans. We view this outreach effort as a pilot-project success story, looking forward to reviving the collaborative outreach sessions during 2008-2009.

Poster presentation from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / This session will focus on how strategic directions are established for the University of Arizona Libraries in order to satisfy customers information resource needs in a timely, efficient, and transparent fashion. We will discuss how the Library develops cost-effective solutions meetings customers' needs for access to information.

Poster presentation from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The information landscape is in flux -- customer’s use of traditional reference services are shrinking while libraries are being called upon to take on new responsibilities. This poster shows how the UA Libraries shifted its reference services to meet customer’s needs in the new landscape and allow librarians to have the flexibility to take on new work.

Poster presentation from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The need for reference librarians to assume new roles has been widely discussed, and being more proactive in working with faculty generally plays a large role in these discussions. In many institutions, however, these shifts have not occurred as quickly as hoped. Although there may be a number of reasons for this, one of the most important is that there is no best practice that can be broadly implemented across libraries or even within a single library. Rather, it is critical to identify the needs of faculty and match them with both the skills and knowledge of librarians and the resources of libraries. Identification and exploration of these possibilities is only viable through dialogue and partnership with faculty. This poster will present a number of examples of these partnerships at Purdue University, as well as support resources that need to be in place for success. Examples will include partnerships with academic programs to increase faculty awareness of resources to improve teaching, fostering information literacy in interdisciplinary courses, and collaborating to curate research data.

Conference proceeding from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / Drawing on the personal experiences of the presenters and from discussions held at the UCLA Senior Fellows 2005 program, participants will be provided with an overview of the Kegan and Lahey book, "How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work: Seven Languages for Transformation." Participants will also take part in interactive exercises that will help them create a process for making transformational changes in both their personal and professional lives.

Social capital is the processes between people which establish relationships and social trust facilitating mutual cooperation and collaboration. It is the social fabric or glue that holds a community together. Since the mid 1990s, the concept of social capital has emerged as a key strategic driver underpinning many areas of government and public policy. This trend parallels concerns expressed by politicians, policy makers, academics and social theorists that levels of civic engagement are diminishing and communities are breaking down due to social disconnection, loss of trust and low levels of resilience. Emphasising the capacity of communities to build social capital, therefore, is envisaged as the way towards a social policy climate that prioritises community building and values of social cohesion and social inclusion. / Recent studies suggest that public libraries, in particular, with their commitment to social, equity and inclusiveness, have a crucial role in building communities and connecting people. By providing communities with a free and safe public place, libraries are in a unique position to facilitate the building of trust and relationships within their communities, thereby increasing social capital. However, the reality is that the broader social and community role of the public library is often neglected within general social capital debates, as well as within the library sector. / Against this background, this thesis sets out to articulate and demonstrate the role of public libraries in developing social capital. The contribution of public libraries to building social capital is illustrated through the undertaking and reporting of a social capital audit study of one public library. Through its demonstration of a social capital audit in practice, this thesis offers frameworks and guidelines to other libraries interested in conducting similar research. It therefore opens the way for others to build upon, and refine, the social capital audit tool as a means to measure and evaluate social capital performance in public libraries. / Thesis (MArts(InformationStudies))--University of South Australia, 2004.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, 1993. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 315-329).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Paderborn, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [283]-334) and index.

Thesis (D.L.S.)--Columbia University, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 270-317).