With apologies for cross-posting, here is a message regarding upcoming ALCTS webinars. ========== ALCTS announces four new webinars on Institutional Repositories Wednesday March 24, 2010 - Making the Most of your Descriptive Metadata: Planning, Tranforming, and Re-using, presented by Marisa Ramirez and Nancy Fallgren* *This webinar was prepared by Nancy Fallgren in her private capacity. The views expressed do not represent the view of or endorsement by the United States Government or the National Library of Medicine. Metadata is essential for organizing, searching, and managing information resources, particularly as libraries expand their efforts in making their collections available on the web. Libraries are populating institutional repositories with a myriad of resources, including digitized special collections materials, finding aids, electronic theses, peer-reviewed faculty work and other research, scholarship and creative outputs. But what are libraries doing about the descriptive metadata that allows users to search, find, and select these resources in their repositories? What redundancies are created when libraries engage in collecting, enhancing, or redistributing metadata in siloed systems? Can redundant metadata generation efforts be streamlined? We will discuss some current descriptive metadata practices in institutional repositories, identify areas where redundant efforts may occur, and discuss strategies to improve management, collection, and re-use of descriptive metadata. The webinar requires a basic understanding of metadata and XML. Wednesday, April 7, 2010 - Selecting an IR Platform: Options, Approaches and Implications, presented by Bob Gerrity This webinar will explore the basics of determining the "right" IR platform for your institution. It will cover issues such as the benefits and drawbacks of open-source vs. commercial platforms and hosted vs. local installations, determining what level of local technical expertise is required for a successful IR implementation, understanding functional requirements, etc. The webinar is not intended to provide detailed information about any specific IR platform, but rather to provide useful context for evaluating and selecting a platform that will work. Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - The consortial-campus view: Reinventing the IR from all directions, presented by Sharon Farb, Bonnie Tijerina, and Catherine Mitchell The California Digital Library supports the 10 University of California campuses' institutional repository and campus publishing efforts through the development and central hosting of eScholarship. This presentation will give an overview of a centralized model and the scholarly publishing initiatives taking place at the University of California. The director of the Publishing Group at the CDL will begin the conversation with an overview of the publishing and dissemination services available through eScholarship and the outreach and marketing campaign recently launched in conjunction with the UC campuses. An eScholarship Liaison from UCLA will discuss the role of campus librarians in this model and highlight successful faculty and graduate student publications which transitioned from print to online journals. The presentation will conclude with a library administrator's perspective on new roles for academic libraries and how this works fits in the mission of the institution. Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - Perpetual Beta: Early Literature about Institutional Repositories and What Assessment Can Tell Us Now, presented by Allison Sivak and Leah Vanderjagt As we develop new technologies for managing, accessing, and preserving information materials, libraries concurrently develop our theories and predictions for how those new technologies will affect our operations, services, and patrons; these predictions create a framework within which we designate our workflows and measures of success. But to what extent do we consider whether these early assumptions are viable or realistic? How do we understand methods of assessment for institutional repositories (IRs) when we are in a state of perpetual beta? Leah and Allison will discuss their findings from a review of the early literature and strategic documents and corresponding/related current statements on IR success, showing the changes between theory and practice, with implications for planning and assessment. +++++++++ ALCTS thanks Berkeley Electronic Press for the generous support of this series of webinars. All webinars begin at 2pm Eastern, 1pm Central, noon Mountain and 11am Pacific time and run approximately one hour. Please note that all webinars are recorded, so if it is not possible to participate in the webinar during the broadcast, all registrants will receive instructions on accessing the recording of the session. For additional details about each webinar, please visit: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webinar/index.cfm To register, complete the online registration form located at: URL: http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=eventsdist&Template=/Conference/ConferenceList.cfm&ConferenceTypeCode=D Webinar Fees for Institutional Repositories Series INDIVIDUALS (one person watching from 1 access point) ALCTS members: $39 each; $99 any 3; $159 any 5; $219 any 7 Nonmembers: $49 each; $129 any 3; $209 any 5; $289 any 7 GROUP RATE (a group of people watching webinar together from 1 access point) Members and nonmembers: $99 each; $269 any 3; $439 any 5; $609 any 7 *The one-time fee includes unlimited access to the webinar recording and materials. Questions For questions about registration, contact Tom Ferren, ALA Senior Registration Coordinator at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4293 or tferren@ala.org. ========== Cindy Hepfer Head, Electronic Periodicals Management & Continuing Resources Cataloging Central Technical Services University at Buffalo (SUNY) 134 Lockwood Library Buffalo, NY 14260-2210 Tel 716-645-8584; Fax: 716-645-5955 HSLcindy@buffalo.edu