Take a journey to discover how you can provide quality information to your patrons for free! Explore the world of Open Access Resources! Open Access refers to scholarly information that is free, online, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. This makes it easier for people to find and use reliable information on a myriad of subjects, such as health information, educational materials, or business resources. Knowledge of Open Access is important for all librarians to help us best serve our communities and stretch our dwindling budgets. Your tour guides will give an overview of Open Access, discuss legislative issues, demonstrate how to find open access resources, and explain how librarians can get involved.

Presented at the SDLA/NDLA/MPLA Tri-conference 2013

Increasing library involvement in journal hosting and publishing is an important topic for serialists. This installment of “The Balance Point” column presents articles that offer descriptions and analyses of the current state of ideas and activities related to libraries as publishers. Featured authors discuss the publishing and journal hosting tasks libraries can perform, programs and activities related to journal hosting, titles hosted, challenges, next steps and the benefits or drawbacks foreseen in the current paths of the libraries they represent.

Videos are a useful and popular way to reach an audience — we all know videos that have gone viral online, garnering millions of views. However, the type of video that can compete with Old Spice commercials takes weeks to plan and produce, as well as a significant budget. Arizona State University (ASU) Libraries wanted to find a sustainable way to share videos that would require minimal staff time to create and produce.

With that goal in mind, “The Library Minute” was born. We initially envisioned a weekly newscast, but it has evolved into a successful and fun video series. Episodes have been featured in American Libraries Direct, as part of the ACRL Marketing Minute, received more than 74,000 views on YouTube and the Internet Archive, and have garnered complimentary e-mails from all over the world. Most importantly, they are a valuable marketing and outreach tool for the ASU Libraries and have increased our visibility to our students and other departments in the university.

In this episode EALA is joined by Kathy Hoffman, the Executive Director of Innovation & Special Education Initiatives at Arizona State University, and Co Leader behind Project OASIS. Listen in as we discuss how Project Oasis is ensuring all learners, particularly students with learning differences, have access to the opportunities they need to have lifelong success.