American Library Association, Chicago

AASL Resource Guides Conversion

Code: ALACHI-01

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) currently has on its site a collection of resources on many topics of importance to school library media programs. The Resource Guides for School Library Media Program Development contain working bibliographies on intellectual freedom, student achievement, planning and assessment, curriculum instruction, collection development, and more. The bibliographies include references to books, journal articles, Web sites, and other media. To make it easier to maintain these extensive guides, AASL plans to move them to a wiki to enable non-AASL staff to edit them directly. The project would involve moving the content of the Web pages to wiki pages as well as fixing broken links. The wiki will be set up in MediaWiki software. Skills needed for this project include familiarity with wikis and the ability to create and edit wiki pages using the MediaWiki markup system.

Advocacy Research

Code: ALACHI-02

For a topic in library advocacy (e.g., funding, literacy, young adult library usage, reading, etc.), identify the key issues as they pertain to the library and information studies community. Draft a several page writeup that
1) briefly summarizes the topic for the lay reader;
2) explains why the topic is important to the library and information studies community; and
3) identifies several courses of action or ways to communicate the issue to library advocates. Some issues may be added to ILoveLibraries.org or Advocacy University.

Analysis of Conference Feedback

Code: ALACHI-03

Work with ALA staff to analyze feedback on ALA conferences, as a basis for programmatic and structural decision-making. May include a meeting with the Conference Coordination Committee.

Analysis of Library Organization Characteristics

Code: ALACHI-04

Work with ALA staff in several areas to examine data on library organizations (type, number, level of staff) in comparison with ALA membership/participation, as part of a project to develop possible new group membership/purchasing structures designed to encourage and facilitate participation.

Collection Inventory and Weeding

Code: ALACHI-05

The ALA Library has migrated to a new ILS and needs to conduct an inventory of the collection. This will entail working from the legacy card shelf list, checking inventory in the current system, and adjusting holdings in OCLC WorldCat as necessary. Collection weeding/enhancement suggestions will be welcomed! Good bibliographic skills and comfort with WorldCat essential. The library is looking for as many as three students to assist with this project.

Fact Sheet Development

Code: ALACHI-06

The ALA Library maintains a wiki with short articles and reference lists on key topics in librarianship. The Library also develops fact sheets for the main website providing an overview of the information available on the frequently asked topics. Two to three topics may be selected for revision of existing material or development of a new fact sheet. Work process would include searches of the Web and other published literature and discussion with Library staff about typical questions about the area.. The topic(s) would be determined based on student interests and needs of the Library. Excellent research skills and knowledge of wiki editing necessary. The library is looking for as many as three students to assist with this project.

Guide to Reference (Online Resources, American Library Association Publishing)

Code: ALACHI-07

Guide to Reference is the online successor to Guide to Reference Books, first published in 1902, a selective, annotated bibliography of the best reference books for college and research libararies. Guide to Reference will launch in February 2007. ALA Publishing will be in the early phases of our marketing and selling process. A handful of academic libraries and library and information science schools will be granted pilot access. Free trials will be underway for evaluation of the product. Students will work with ALA Publishing staff in communicating with pilot access sites and collecting information on user experiences. Students will also be invited to share their experiences as users. General Editor Bob Kieft envisions Guide to Reference once again serving as teaching tool for LIS students learning reference. Interns will help editorial team members develop concepts for doing so. Web site or database design/development, user interface design, user testing, interest in reference librarianship. The library is looking for as many as three students to assist with this project.

LibraryCareers.org Usability Testing

Code: ALACHI-08

In keeping with the overall Website revitalization project of the ALA website, we would like to have usability testing by an outside individual to look at the LibraryCareers.org website. It is lacking in some critical areas and does not have content arranged in a manner that is easily searchable from a user's perspective. Many of the critical links are attached to pieces of information on the ALA site. During the re-design, these materials were changed to enhance search ability for users. We would like recommendations to add material to the site that would attract a "younger" audience.

LITA Assessment and Research Project

Code: ALACHI-09

The Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) is seeking a research assistant/intern to conduct research following up on the LITA Assessment and Research Invitational workshop in Philadelphia on Friday, January 11, 2008. Attendance at the workshop is not required. The workshop is being organized by the newly formed LITA Assessment and Research Committee. One result of the workshop will be to establish a research agenda. Based on selected action items from the workshop, the internship will provide a focused project to compile and/or analyze data. Skills include collecting and analyzing data, creating databases in Access, knowledge of iMIS and/or Crystal Reports would be an unexpected bonus.