Tuesday, February 18, 2014

SPARK Repository Wins American Library Association Award

Parkland Library, CETL to receive ACRL EBSCO award in June

Saturday, February 15, 2014
 
CHICAGO – An innovative scholarly initiative at Parkland College has earned a national library association award for the college units that developed it.

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association, selected the Parkland College Library and the Parkland College Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning to receive the 2014 Community and Junior College Libraries Section (CJCLS) EBSCO Community College Learning Resources Award, the ALA announced Friday.
 
The Parkland departments won the award for the cooperative project, “Scholarship at PARKland” (SPARK), Parkland’s online institutional repository.

A $500 award and plaque, donated by EBSCO Information Services, will be presented to library Director Anna Maria Watkin and CETL Director Erika Hackman during the CJCLS Awards Dinner June 27 at the 2014 ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas.

“SPARK makes excellent academic work visible, creating a clearer picture and facilitating a deeper understanding of student success,” award co-chairs David Wright of Surry Community College and Beth Lander of Manor College stated in a press release. “SPARK displayed exceptional innovation and offered promise for long-term impact. Their example helps foster the concept of institutional repositories at other community colleges, and in so doing, validates the work of students at two-year colleges as worthy of scholarly consideration.”

Launched in 2010, SPARK was one of the first institutional repositories created at a community college to promote, preserve and showcase scholarly and creative work of the college's students and faculty. It was originally conceived by Hackman and Sherry Cmiel, former information services librarian at Parkland, and funded through the Parkland College Association College Planning Committee’s Innovation Fund.
 
The open-access digital repository makes available to the public the rich body of scholarly and creative work of Parkland students, faculty, administration, and staff. SPARK offers a wide range of materials that anyone in the college or community can examine, from “A with Honors” student projects to Graphic Design Student Exhibition collections to academic publications by faculty. SPARK aims both to foster collaborations between faculty and students as well as between colleagues within and across disciplines and to assist Parkland College in fulfilling its mission to engage the community in learning. The repository is available at spark.parkland.edu.

The Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) is the higher education association for librarians. Representing more than 11,500 academic and research librarians and interested individuals, ACRL (a division of the American Library Association) is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to help academic and research librarians learn, innovate and lead within the academic community. Founded in 1940, ACRL is committed to advancing learning and transforming scholarship. ACRL is on the Web at www.acrl.org/, Facebook at www.facebook.com/ala.acrl and Twitter at @ala_acrl.
 
For more information regarding the ACRL CJCLS EBSCO Community College Learning Resources Award, or a complete list of past recipients, please visit the awards section of the ACRL website.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Special Weather Statement

The college will be closing at 1:00pm today due to rapidly deteriorating weather conditions.  Check the Parkland College Facebook page, local media and/or www.parkland.edu for further updates. 

Please be careful going home this afternoon and stay warm.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

New Technology in the Library

Look who stopped by to get a private tour of our exciting new developments! Dr. Young was able to see our DIY Media Production room and watch a demonstration on 3D printing with our Makerbot Replicator 2.

Derek Dallas modeled a Kenyan Marriage Sculpture to print during Dr. Young's visit and surprised her with a 4 inch model of her very own.


Jane Says: CRAAP Test

Check out the newest "Jane Says" video: CRAAP Test! Learn how to check to see if websites are CRAAP or credible!

 

Friday, February 7, 2014

STAR to open a remote location in the library

The Student Technical Assistance and Resources (STAR) helpdesk will be expanding to the Parkland Library on a trial basis starting on Monday, February 10th. The hours will be from 10-2 on Mondays and Wednesdays. This is in addition to the original M108 location which is open from 10-2, Monday through Friday. Stop by and see us in our new satellite location and get the answers to all of your technical questions! Simply take a left as you enter the library and head towards the circular desk at the far wall.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

2/4/2014 WEATHER CLOSURE

Parkland College, including the library, is closing at 5 pm this afternoon, Tuesday Feb. 4. Information on campus closures can be found on the college web site, parkland.edu. Stay safe out there...better yet, stay home with a good book!