Libraries and information professionals have been adapting to the impact of online resources for some time now. In my own academic library, we have a Mobile Technology Group to monitor developing trends and ensure that staff are equipped to create, access and advise upon anything from Blogs and Instant Messaging; QR codes, Wikis and RFID, to Smart phones and the mobile version of the library website. There is still a physical connection with our users, however, with a campus full of students attending lectures, accessing online resources provided by the library, receiving research advice, making enquiries at service desks, borrowing books and filling every library space when exams and deadlines loom.

What happens, though, when that tangible connection to the student faculty no longer exists? How do information professionals and services fit into an entirely virtual and hugely dispersed learning environment? These are questions that have arisen with the growth of MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses. Developed in the USA since 2008 by companies such as Couresera and Udacity by establishing links with major Universities such as Princeton and Stanford, they are now starting to make an impact in the UK. The Open University launched its Futurelearn platform in conjunction with 17 UK universities at the start of 2013, and Karan Khemka of the Financial Times reported in March that Edinburgh University attracted 300,000 students to their 6 MOOCs courses in the first week.

Distance learning is certainly not a new concept and has successfully exploited new technologies to offer students the kinds of user forums, multimedia and connectivity associated with MOOCs. Distance learning, however, shares the same entry requirements, methods of assessment and support facilities, including library services, as taught higher education courses. They are fee-paying, offered to a limited group at any one time and lead to a recognised qualification. By contrast, MOOCs do not have entry requirements, fees or recognised qualifications. They are offered to a massive and dispersed user-base, rely on peer-led learning and assessment, and do not include traditional support facilities. The focus on social media and online technology as resources appears to have substituted for library services. So is there a place for librarians in the MOOC landscape? I believe it’s not only possible, but essential.

MOOCs at Edinburgh provides a clear contrast between the resources offered to MOOC students vs. those offered to online Postgraduate students. Although the quality of the courses are comparable to that of any standard Edinburgh University course, no University services, including library resources, are available as part of the MOOC courses. This presents a significant danger to the developing worth of open access courses. The absence of skills taught by librarians in a standard academic setting e.g. information literacy, digital literacy, orientation, citation of sources, issues of plagiarism, effective resource searching, study skills etc. could fundamentally undermine the self-directed study required of MOOCs by students whose work is only scrutinised by the peer group of other MOOC students. I’m a big supporter of open access and the implications for expanding education, particularly when a conventional university education is becoming a financial pipedream for many, but librarians must have a part to play in this landscape if students are to develop research, information and digital literacy skills comparable to their undergraduate counterparts. This will be just as crucial if MOOCs ultimately serve to function as tester courses, as part of the admissions assessment process, or as a means for students to prepare themselves for university level study.

Ironically, part of the problem is the absence of fees. Academic librarians are paid by the University to provide services for fee-paying students. Although it is imperative that academic librarians are at the core of developments in open access education such as MOOCs, how can this involvement be subsidised? Similarly, students registered on traditional university courses meet defined criteria that allow them access to e-resources subscribed to by the institution – these resources are not open access. If MOOCs are available to all, what, if any, library resources from the home institution will be available to them? These issues have to be resolved, whether through volunteer library services, a greater involvement of public libraries, licensing negotiations, or the provision of access to the increasing number of quality open access journals and resources. Librarians are best placed to help navigate these complex issues, but they must be a part of the online course development process and professional development must prepare librarians accordingly.

MOOCs may ultimately be a fad, but what is certain is that higher education is increasingly moving towards online learning, even within traditional universities. The issues that MOOCs have raised will remain and hopefully present librarians, not with a threat, but with a valuable opportunity to evolve their skills accordingly, demonstrate their worth and engage with an expanding user community in an entirely new way.

Last Thursday the 10th MmITS AGM took place in the rather plush surroundings of the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow.The meeting kicked off with MmITS Chair, Anne Louise Anglim and treasurer, Paulette Hill updating us on MmITS developments in the last year. It’s been a busy year for MmITS, with highlights including:

• Last year’s post-AGM talk by Stewart Bain of @OrkneyLibrary fame.
• The growth of the MmITS committee with the appointment of four new members: Leigh Bunton, Claire Bell, Shayna Conn and me, Louise Morrison.
• The development of our blog, Twitter and website.
• Our survey of members and non-members, which generated lots of interesting results and is helping us to plan our future activities.

And not forgetting the recruitment of our youngest ever MmITS member with the birth of Shayna’s beautiful daughter Adi!

New committee members

This year, we were delighted to welcome  Lynda Robertson to the MmITS committee and to confirm the appointment of Leigh Bunton to the post of MmITS secretary. We managed to get a photo of the new committee with Anabel Marsh though a couple of members were missing!

Anabel’s talk

Next up was our invited speaker, Anabel Marsh (@AnabelMarsh), founder of the Glasgow Library Tweet-up (#GLTU) scene. Anabel told us how #GLTU first started in January 2012 as a way to bring together library / information people in the Glasgow area and to share expertise between sectors. The first get-together, in a Glasgow pub, generated far more interest than Anabel had expected and the #GLTU movement has grown from there.

So far there have been eight tweet-up events ranging from informal networking gatherings to library visits and specialised talks. Past events have included a subway “library crawl”, a talk on Health Information, visits to Glasgow Women’s Library, the Whittaker Library and the National Piping Centre Library, and various activities to support National Libraries Day.

The success of #GLTU seems to stem from it’s informal and friendly atmosphere. It also offers valuable networking and professional development opportunities. In an age of increasingly restricted training budgets, this is a great way for library / information professionals to broaden their experience. #GLTU has succeeded in bringing together professionals from a range of sectors, in driving the sharing of expertise and ideas and has led to new friendships and collaborations.

If you haven’t already been to a #GLTU event, have a look at the GLTU blog for upcoming activities. The next event, #GLTU9, is a visit to City of Glasgow College Library on the 25th May. Edinburgh-based professionals will be pleased to hear that an Edinburgh Library Tweet-up (#ELTU) movement is getting going, with the first meeting on the 13th June.

In breaking news, Anabel also announced that a Scottish Library Camp will take place in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow on the 26th October. This will be an informal gathering of library / information professionals. If you’d like to attend or have an idea for a session, then keep an eye on #LibCampGla for further developments.

If you’re interested in finding out more about MmITS, you can find follow us on Twitter or get in touch with the committee.

We are delighted to announce that Anabel Marsh (founder of the Glasgow library tweet-ups) will be speaking at the MmITS AGM on Thursday 9^th May in the Royal Faculty of Procurators, Glasgow.

Members and non-members are all welcome to attend the AGM and to hear Anabel’s presentation. This is a free event but places are limited so sign up now!

Anabel’s presentation

The AGM (20 – 30 minutes max.) will be immediately followed by a presentation by Anabel Marsh (1 hour, including Q & A session) on some background on the Glasgow Library Tweetup scene. What made her start it? What role has technology played in getting it started and continuing it? How does she see using technology in the future for the tweetups?

Event details

Venue:  Royal Faculty of Procurators, 12 Nelson Mandela Place, Glasgow
Date / time: Thursday 9^th May 2013, 2pm – 4pm

Refreshments (tea / coffee / biscuits) will be served. The event will be followed by an optional, short tour round the Royal Faculty of Procurators Library. If you’d like to go on this tour please let Paulette know when booking.

Booking

To book your place please contact (Paulette.Hill@scotland.gsi.gov.ukl, MmITS Treasurer: e-mail Paulette.Hill@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or phone 0131 668 8642.

Nominations for Committee

At the AGM the Chairperson will be seeking nominations from those members interested in becoming involved in the work of the Committee.  Also, there is a currently a vacancy for MmITS Secretary.  Please contact Paulette Hill, MmITS Treasurer (Paulette.Hill@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or on 0131 668 8642) and a nomination form will be sent to you.

(Note:  Non-members are welcome to attend the AGM but are not eligible to vote).

Find out about last year’s event featuring @OrkneyLibrary here!

The day-long event takes place on Friday 5th April 2013 at the University of Sheffield.

The full conference programme is available at: www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/special-interest-groups/multimedia/events/pages/mmit-conference-2013.aspx

The day offers a mix of keynotes, workshops and rapid fire sessions.

Keynote speaker Karen Blakeman discusses “searching in the Cloud”.

Other topics include:

•       Being an effective LIS professional using the Cloud

•       Bibliographic data sharing

•       Cloud-based library management systems

•       Cloud(y) law – issues for LIS professionals

•       Developing Cloud-based solutions

•       Ebooks in the Cloud

For more information and to book visit: http://lanyrd.com/2013/mmit2013/

Cost: £120 (incl VAT) for MMIT members; £156 (incl VAT) for non-members. A limited number of reduced price places are available for the unwaged and students.

Remember you can join the MMIT Group through Cilip for £10 pa or as a standalone member for £30 pa. This includes quarterly issues of the high quality MMIT journal.

If you have any enquiries, please contact MMIT on: mmitcommittee@gmail.com

To mark National Libraries Day, I wanted to celebrate the varied, interesting, fun and sometimes unusual things that Scottish librarians and information professionals get up to in their jobs every day! So I asked a few fellow professionals to write about their jobs. The results were as diverse as I had expected, with tasks ranging from directing films to researching chocolate consumption; from promoting exchange between Germany and Scotland to exhibiting 19th century medical instruments!

A big thank you to Eva, Clare, Leigh and Claire for contributing!

Dr Eva Baillie – Librarian, Goethe Institut, Glasgow

As a librarian at the Goethe-Institut, I provide access to German language and culture. The library of the institute aims to be a space for meeting and learning and we are often the first contact for people interested in Germany. We provide information on travel, study and work in Germany, have a self-learning centre with language learning resources on all levels, and hold a wide selection of DVDs (mostly subtitled). Our aim is also to facilitate exchange between Germany and Scotland on subjects related to literature, translation and literacy development.

My job involves the more “traditional” tasks of a librarian such as book acquisition, processing, cataloguing, and information research in German and English, but also requires a creative approach in organising and financing projects and events that help to facilitate an image of contemporary Germany in Scotland. I work with various partners in cultural and academic institutions, we have school visits and organise workshops in the library. Our library is open to the public, but we also offer electronic resources to borrow for those who live outside Glasgow. Like other libraries in Europe, we face the challenges of changes in how people access and use information, and together with Goethe-libraries in other countries, we are working on new concepts and visions for our library.

Louise Morrison – Research Executive, Scottish Enterprise

I work as part of the Scottish Enterprise research service, a free business information service. We answer specialised research enquiries from Scottish firms and source information to help them grow, expand into new markets, target new customers, and develop new products and services. We also work on a range of in-depth projects, researching major companies and industries.

What I like most about my job is that I’m constantly learning new things. Like which country consumes the most chocolate per head (Switzerland) or what “spud” means in the oil industry (to start drilling a new well).

I spend most of my time working on in-depth research projects: retrieving and analysing information, and writing reports on a variety of different industries. I have to be quite creative to find the information I need: I partly rely on subscription databases but also draw on specialised industry sources, news articles, open access publications and even social media. I am constantly thinking of the best way to present the information I find. As reports can be read by a range of busy colleagues and industry professionals it’s essential they are informative, to-the-point and easy to read. It’s also important to keep up with developments in the industries I’m researching and, in the last few months, I’ve attended presentations on changing regulation in the Financial Services industry and issues facing North Sea oil operators.

We are always looking for ways to improve our research service: we regularly seek feedback from users, try to think of new services we could offer and aim to find better ways of working. This week, I’ve been exploring the possibility of providing specialised research services to different types of Scottish companies and assessing the feasibility of doing this. I really like getting involved at this strategic level and having the chance to be creative and come up with new ideas.

Clare Harrison – Modern Resources Officer, Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow (@rcpsglibrary)

I work in the library at the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow. The library supports the information needs of all College members who range from undergraduate medical students right through to retired Fellows.

Generally my job is quite varied and every week is different but there are certain tasks that I would expect to do most days and these include inter-library loans and document supply; information literacy enquiries which mostly involve offering advice on how to search databases and find relevant resources; and IT enquiries. At the moment I am working on two large IT projects, one which involves helping a member to put together a powerpoint presentation and another which involves offering advice on publishing ebooks, the latter of which has also been quite a learning curve for me! I also run a weekly conversations group which consists largely of retired Fellows and Members of the College. Each week one of the group leads the conversation sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm for a topic of their choice – This week’s topic was on Stained Glass Windows (not everything we do here is related to medicine!).

As well as our modern resources, I also get to work with our historical collections and a big part of my job is to make sure our collections are accessible – this week that has involved creating a new exhibition featuring an array of medical instruments some more gruesome than others (there’s a particularly lovely 19^th century enema set on display if anyone’s interested?!).

Leigh Bunton – Library Assistant, Acquisitions, Glasgow University Library

My principal responsibilities are to ensure that books required for students and researchers are available as soon as possible. Demand varies throughout the year in tandem with the university calendar, and essay lists issued at the start of the semester typically generate an influx of urgent requests. Library assistants are also responsible for processing Sotheby’s and Christies auction catalogues and the large volume of donations the library receives on a weekly basis from a range of internal and external sources, some of which can be very rare and interesting. Every aspect of my work in acquisitions features an online element, whether ordering and receiving books on the Sierra library management system, using OCLC FirstSearch to verify book data, or conducting price comparisons using databases such as Coutts, Dawsons and Amazon. It can be particularly challenging to identify sources for foreign language items, particularly Eastern European and Russian, but it’s now often possible to find some kind of online representation for a title in any language.

Significant changes have taken place in library acquisitions due to the introduction of a complete online ordering process and the sharp increase in ebook orders, all of which are now dealt with by supervisors. This has given me the chance to be involved in other departments, and I’ve now gained experience providing support for the Institutional Repository and the Document Delivery Service. Both departments are now using bespoke and evolving technology, so it’s been a very useful to learn new systems and the legal issues involved with electronic resources. I also take leave where possible to attend different CILIPS workshops, conferences and library visits, or spend time doing work for the MmITS committee. I also hope to begin volunteering soon with Macmillan @ Glasgow Libraries, a fantastic project that offers localised information services to anyone in Glasgow affected by cancer.

Claire Bell – Multimedia Librarian, Aberdeen City Libraries

The role of Multimedia Librarian is wonderfully varied and covers a wide spectrum from operational and developmental to public and staff training. The variety allows each aspect to inform the other, thus improving quality and relevance. One day I might lurk at my desk purchasing DVDs and CDs for libraries across the city or looking at potential online resources for the library, such as online magazines. The next day I will be out and about working with staff on stock rotations or service promotion, doing market sounding for the latest project or delivering a PC taster session on image editing. I also get to have fun creating films for library promotion or public training. It is a great job and requires the ability to learn on the hop and keep up to date with the latest technical developments.

i³ is delighted to announce that a full fees paid place at the 2013 conference is available. This includes all conference fees, university accommodation, reasonable travel costs to Aberdeen (up to a maximum of £600 for travel) and access to the social programme. The conference takes place at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland from 25th – 28th June 2013.

For further information on the conference, please go to the i³ 2013 conference website at http://www.i3conference.org.uk.

Applications are open to early career researchers and those in their first professional post who are accepted to submit a full paper for presentation at the 2013 conference. Sponsorship applications will only be considered for those who have been accepted to give a full paper; further submission details on the Call for Papers are available on the conference website.

The successful candidate will be asked to write a short report for the conference website on your reasons for attending, experiences at the conference and the benefits you have taken back to your user community. Part of the report may be used for publicity purposes.

If you would like to be considered for the sponsored place, please send a short statement (max. 500 words) describing how you will benefit from attendance. More details and information on the selection criteria will be available shortly on the Fees and Registration page on the conference website.

Please send your statement as an email attachment to Katie Morrison: k.morrison@rgu.ac.uk. Your statement should be received by 18th January 2013.

The proposed course content would include:

• the legal aspects of managing research data
• ways of future-proofing data against obsolesence
• examples of good practice, e.g. JISC and the Digital Curation Centre
• the digitisation and curation of heritage and cultural collections

The course would have a strong practical base, probably involving a placement element and hands-on project.

If you have any thoughts about the proposed Digital Curation course, please contact Alan MacLennan (a.maclennan@rgu.ac.uk). Any comments you may have would be very welcome but they are particularly keen in finding out:

• What you think the course content should be
• What the market for this course would be
• How viable this course would be

Jenny and Penny both wrote reports about their experiences at the conference. Jenny’s report is now available on the MmITS website. Penny’s report will be published in Information Scotland shortly.

A few months ago we asked MultiMedia IT Scotland (MmITS) members and non-members to complete a brief survey. We wanted to find out more about what our members want from the group, to help us plan our future activities and events. We were also interested in discovering why people had joined MmITS and whether they were aware of our online presence.

The survey was available via SurveyMonkey. We publicised it via e-mail lists, on our blog, website and Twitter and MmITS committee members also asked attendeees at the Chartered Institute of Librarians & Information Professionals in Scotland (CILIPS) Autumn Gathering to complete the survey. The survey ran for a month and, in total, we had 111 responses. A big thanks to everyone who completed it!

Here are our major findings.

The main reason for joining MmITS is to keep up with developments in new technologies / IT

Of the survey respondents who were MmITS members, 75% said the main reason they joined was to keep up with developments in new technologies / IT. This shows we need to make sure we keep on top technological developments in the library / information world and communicate these to members. Our blog, website and Twitter are good ways to keep members informed but we are also hoping to undertake some training events in the new year.

How people heard about MmITS

• The most popular way of finding out about MmITS was via the CILIPS website and publications, with 43% of people hearing about us in this way. This shows how valuable this is as a communication method. CILIPS has always been very supportive of our activities and we need to continue to coordinate with our friends in CILIPS.
• 20% had heard of MmITS via word of mouth and a further 20% had heard via other means including events and personal contacts.
• 13% had heard about us via our blog, website or Twitter account. We have been a lot more active with our web and Social Media activities over the last year (we created our Twitter account and new blog last September) and this is clearly alerting new people to the MmITS group. Although 13% is not a huge number, we expect this to increase as more people access our resources.
• 4% had heard about us through a MmITS event. Although this is quite a small percentage it does show that our events are alerting potential new members to our activities. However, it suggests that there are not many non-members attending our events. Most of our events are open to members and non-members so perhaps we need to publicise this more.

Few respondents read our blog, yet it gets read by thousands of people is general

Posts on our blogs regularly get thousands of views. The most popular posts since the blog launched last September have been:

• 1) 5 reasons why we really need librarians and Information Professionals in the Internet age 
• 2) 5 reasons why I can’t find Open Access publications

However, the majority of survey respondents had never accessed our blog, twitter or website.

Clearly the blog’s audience is not solely MmITS members. This makes sense as by putting content online it opens it up to a very wide geographical audience. In fact, in the last 90 days, 59% of blog views have been from outwith the UK. This is not a bad thing as we do not operate in isolation and want to interact with as broad an audience as possible including other CILIP groups and library & information professionals worldwide. We also see our various web resources as a means of attracting new members. However, we are keen to make sure our members know about our resources, so perhaps we need to market these directly to MmITS members.

A lot of people are not allowed to access Social Media at work

Of those respondents who had never accessed our blog, Twitter or website, many of them said this was because they were not allowed to access Social Media sites at work. This is something to bear in mind when communicating with members as we need to make sure we reach everyone. We have created an e-mail distribution list, please contact Leigh Bunton (Leigh.Bunton@glasgow.ac.uk) if you want to be added to it.

Lots of people don’t know they can join MmITS!

Finally, 45% of respondents were not aware that Scotland-based members of the CILIP special interest group, Multimedia IT (MmIT) are automatically entitled to be part of the Scottish sub-group, Multimedia IT Scotland (MmITS). This shows that we need to be more active about marketing ourselves as many MmIT members living in Scotland might be unaware of our services. It can be confusing for people as not all CILIP special interest groups have a Scottish sub-group so we need to be clearer about what we offer. We should make sure we coordinate our activities with MmIT and CILIP, to help raise awareness of the group.

What we’re going to do..

The survey findings told us a lot about what our members want from MmITS and the best ways to reach new members. Based on the results we plan to:

• Keep up and promote our web and social media activities. We know that MmITS members want us to help them keep up with developments in new technologies / IT and our website, blog and Twitter are ideal ways to do this. We need to make sure our members know about all these resources, perhaps by promoting them more heavily via MmIT and CILIP.
• Look into the possibility of holding online or face-to-face training sessions for MmITS members. We have discussed this idea at recent committee meetings as we think it would be popular with members. We are still in the planning stages but will keep members posted on developments. We are hoping to organise our first training event in 2013.
• Provide more clarity on who can join the MmITS group, where it fits into MmIT and CILIPS and what we can offer our members. We can do this by providing more detailed explanations on our blog, website and any group publications.
• Reinforce our role within CILIPS. We know that lots of people heard about us through CILIPS publications and website so we should take more advantage of these. We will speak to CILIPS colleagues about what more we could do. Maybe we could write about MmITS in ‘Information Scotland’ or cross-post blog pieces on the CILIPS website.
• Coordinate our activities with MmIT. Seeing as it is necessary to join the UK-wide MmIT group to be eligible to join the Scottish sub-group, it would make sense to coordinate promotional activities. We will talk to the MmIT committee about the best way to go about this. Perhaps we could write a piece for the MmIT journal and do more cross-promotion.

If you have any ideas to help us promote MmITS or any other ideas for group activities, please let us know!

The survey will only take a few minutes to complete and will help us to plan future group activities and events.

We are really keen to hear from MmITS members and non-members so please fill in the survey whether you are a MmITS member or not.

MmITS Survey