December 2020

Letter from the Executive Director

That famous first sentence from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities lodged itself firmly in my brain (so many) years ago.  It has always served to remind me to search for both aspects of a situation.  (And to be thankful that I was not a French aristocrat.) Read more …

Category: 
Outlook Digest

Reports

Academic Senate for California Community Colleges Report
The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) held its Fall Plenary session November 5-7 --- virtually.  The theme of the Session was “Addressing Anti-Blackness & IDEAs (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism) in Academic and Professional Matters” and Read more …
CCL-EAR Committee Chair Report
Just as California’s community college libraries have deftly pivoted to offering electronic resources and support...so too has the EAR Committee been busily fulfilling its charge entirely online. Read more …
Consortium Director's Report
Oh my – what a crazy fall it has been at the Consortium! We’ve done a record-breaking amount of new sales, based mostly on the transition to remote learning and the need for additional electronic resources. Read more …
From The Executive Director

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” That famous first sentence from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities lodged itself firmly in my brain (so many) years ago.  It has always served to remind me to search for both aspects of a situation.  (And to be thankful that I was not a French aristocrat.)

Read more …
LLRPAC - Library & Learning Resources Program Advisory Committee Report
LLRPAC held its first meeting in December. Co-chairs this year are Dan Crump and Ted Blake (Mt San Jacinto College). The committee discussed the ASCCC referred resolution Read more …

Conferences/Events

Upcoming Events
A round-up of upcoming library conferences. Read more …

Access Services

Fullerton College Library Adaptations to the Campus Closure
Under stress and smoky skies, librarians and staff make a concerted effort to provide comparable services for students during the library closure. Read more …
Open During the Pandemic: Considerations for Resuming In-Person Library Services
Feather River College decided to open its campus during the Fall 2020 semester. This article will discuss the strategies the FRC Library employed to successfully reopen, the obstacles encountered along the way and the lessons learned, in hopes that other institutions will be more informed when considering reopening. Read more …

Library Technology

Getting Creative – Connecting on LibChat to Support Students Using Canvas
When the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly changed the way students accessed their learning environments, we had to respond quickly and remotely to support our students. Many students did not know how to find their online courses, and once they did, they were lost looking for assignments, resources, and communicating with their instructor. To respond, we started Canvas Assist, a service where our student staff communicates with other students in a real-time chat using the LibAnswers communication platform. Read more …
Springshare Blog Article about the CCC Library Chat Co-op
The California Community College (CCC) LibChat Co-op was featured in a recent Springshare blog article in November discussing how 24/7 chat has helped serve students during the pandemic. Read more …

Reference & Instruction

Cerro Coso’s Embedded Librarian Program: Scaffolding Research Skills
For over a decade, Cerro Coso librarians have joined online classes as embedded librarians. Due to COVID-19 forcing the majority of courses online, fall 2020 has been the busiest yet: 24 sections Read more …
Pivoting Library Services in a Pandemic: Merced College Library Steps Up to the Challenge
When the Merced College Library faculty and staff suddenly began working remotely on March 21, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we realized we needed to create a more robust online presence to continue providing services and resources to the campus community. Since the spring, we have made a number of changes to help with this endeavor. Read more …

Staffing

New full-time Instructional Design Librarian
Riverside City College is pleased to announce the appointment of a new full-time Instructional Design Librarian, Sally Ellis. Read more …
Ohlone College Welcomes New Public Services Librarian
The Ohlone College Library is very pleased to announce our new full-time Public Services Librarian, Simeon (Sim) Castro. Read more …
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