[Sneak Peek] RUSA’s New Website!

RUSA’s modern, simplified, new website will be here on December 1, 2016 – sneak peek image below.  The new RUSA Member Map allows members to pin where in the world they are. But you guys, it’s only going to be cool if you all actually go in and add your location! More on that to come.

Subscribe to be notified when it’s live.

image of RUSA's new homepage including images of news items and a map

RUSA 101: Learn the basics

You’ve heard of RUSA, but what is it? If you’re in user services, we do what you do.

See how you can find your home in ALA and get involved in the Reference and User Services Association by attending our RUSA 101 webinar. Here are the details:

RUSA 101
Thursday, November 10, 2016 at 2 p.m. Eastern (1 CT/12 MT/11 PT)

We will discuss RUSA and its 6 sections (focused on business reference, collection development, emerging technologies, history, reference services, and resource sharing). This webinar will also highlight RUSA’s Reference Services Section, represented by RSS chair Amy Rustic.

If you are unable to make it, we will also make a recording of the session available. Feel free to email me with any questions at amberp@uga.edu!

Amber Prentiss
Chair, Membership Committee, Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)

Be Our Guest: Create Your Own Pixie Dust at the Library

originally posted in Cognotes, Monday,  June 27, 2016 – Orlando
By Meredith Myers,
American Libraries

Rusa President's Program 1966_3

Room W110B in the Orange County Convention Center was packed tighter than Disney’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique on the first day of summer vacation. Instead of magical pixie dust, RUSA chose Dave Cobb to make every-day librarians into user experience designers, all with the click of his mouse.

“We tell stories in physical places,” he said, as photos of colorful museums and libraries splashed across the screen in perfectly timed clicks.  As the vice president for creative development of Thinkwell Group in Los Angeles, Cobb has spent years designing roller coasters and attractions for theme parks.  “People often say that I design roller coasters.  No.  I tell  stories  with roller coasters. Libraries are no different. We need to understand the user. Our audience has an audience.”

He suggested asking,  “What is unique about your location?  Who is your audience, and what are their expectations of your library? How are you inviting your audience to take ownership of their library?”

In telling stories, librarians can create Be Our Guest: Create Your Own Pixie Dust at the Library an emotional resonance with patrons, thus inspiring them to tell their own stories.  To illustrate, Cobb filled the screen with swimming metaphors: “waders” being the largest audience, “swimmers” being most curious, and “divers” being true fans – his message being that one should design library spaces for all three types of users. He added a new category of “mer-people,” speaking of those who have been submerged too long. (Which is probably how most librarians feel after a long day of meetings and toting free books from the Exhibits.)

Panel responders were John Blyberg, assistant director for innovation and UX, Darien Library, Darien, Connecticut, and Steven Bell, associate university librarian, Temple University. Bell spoke of being intentional and creating passionate users, and also asked if the patrons or librarians are emphasized.

“Pay attention to the employees,” Bell suggested. “Fix what is broken. Change can’t just be at the circulation desk. You are all user experience designers.” See? No pixie dust needed. Thanks, RUSA.

Year’s most Outstanding Business Reference Sources announced by RUSA’s Business Reference and Services Section (BRASS)

BOSTON—The annual list of the most Outstanding Business Reference Sources was announced by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) Book and Media Awards Ceremony at the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting.

Each year, the Business Reference Sources Committee of BRASS selects the outstanding business reference sources published since May of the previous year. This year, the committee reviewed 20 entries; of these, two were designated as “Outstanding,” seven were selected as “Notable,” and one was designated as a “Significant New Edition.”

To qualify for the award, the title must meet the conventional definition of reference: a work compiled specifically to supply information on a certain subject or group of subjects in a form that will facilitate its ease of use. With print reference materials being used less heavily in most cases, these works stood out based on their content, quality, and utility. The works are examined for the following: authority and reputation of the publisher, author, or editor; accuracy; appropriate bibliography; organization; comprehensiveness; value of the content; currency; unique addition; ease of use for the intended purpose; quality and accuracy of index; and quality and usefulness of graphics and illustrations. Each year, more electronic reference titles are published. Additional criteria for electronic reference titles are accuracy of links, search features, stability of content and graphic design. Works selected must be suitable for medium to large-size academic and public libraries.

The list includes:

Outstanding

Handbook of Digital Currency: Bitcoin, Innovation, Financial Instruments, and Big Data. Edited by David Lee Kuo Cheun. London: Academic Press, 2015.

 

Dictionary of Corporate Social Responsibility : CSR, Sustainability, Ethics and Governance. Samuel O. Idowu, editor-in-chief ; Nicholas Capaldi, Matthias S. Fifka, Liangrong Zu, René Schmidpeter, co-editors. Springer International Publishing, 2015.

Notable

The Oxford Handbook of Gender in Organizations. Edited by Savita Kumra, Ruth Simpson, and Ronald J. Burke. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2014.

The Encyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution in World History. Edited by Kenneth E. Hendrickson III. Rowan & Littlefield.

Disaster Recovery, Crisis Response, and Business Continuity: A Management Desk Reference. By Jamie Watters. Apress, 2013.

Guide to Reference in Business and Economics.  Edited by Steven W. Sowards and Elisabeth Leonard. Chicago: American Library Association, 2014.

Handbook of Emerging Multinational Corporations.  Edited by Mehmet Demirbag and Attila Yaprak.  Cheltanham, UK and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015.

The Oxford Handbook of Management Theorists. Edited by Morgen Witzel and Malcolm Warner.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

The Investment Assets Handbook: A Definitive Practical Guide to Asset Classes. By Yoram Lustig. Harriman House Ltd., 2014.

Significant New Edition

Gower handbook of project management, 5th ed. Edited by Rodney Turner. Gower Publishing, Inc.

The Outstanding Business Reference Sources is produced by the BRASS Reference Resources Committee. Contributing members include Jordan Nielsen, selections editor; Ed Hahn, chair; Naomi Lederer nominations coordinator; Erin Wachowicz; Anthony Raymond; Glenn McGuigan; Valerie Freeman; and Suzanne Freeman.

The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more about the association at www.ala.org/rusa.