These headlines were not written during our recent storm, but rather described a devastating and widespread ice storm that wrought havoc at the Academy in November of 1921 as reported in the Phillippian. This earlier storm, which deposited an inch of ice on every exposed surface, reduced almost every tree in the “arch” of elms leading down the Great Lawn from the Addison to the OWHL to bare trunks. Only the thickest, most vertical branches remained. Also documented in the Archive is an autumnal storm that occurred in 1888 and devastated the Elm Arch. Elm trees, which lose their leaves late in the year, can be particularly vulnerable to damage during early ice or snowstorms, as was all too painfully on view this week. If you are interested in seeing historical photographs of the Elm Arch as it was before and after these adverse events, stop by to speak with Tim Sprattler, Academy Archivist.

At a faculty meeting last year Vic Henningsen of the History and Social Science Department explained how his colleagues support the research process and help their students avoid plagiarism. He explained that the teachers assess the process, not just the product. Many history teachers require many products to be turned in, including working bibliography, note cards, outlines, etc. These products are turned in according to a schedule that supports the student in working steadily rather than in working frantically at the last minute. Some teachers require bibliographies to be annotated, to assure that the student has actually used the source. Others require oral reports of written work, so the student is required to demonstrate mastery.

The OWHL has an essential role to play in this process too. From what we have seen over the years, we are convinced that the main reason that kids plagiarize intentionally is that they procrastinate to the point that they become desperate. We have also averted a lot of unintentional plagiarism by helping rookie researchers understand paraphrasing and keep their sources straight. Here are six ways that the instructional librarians routinely help keep kids from plagiarizing.

1. We emphasize the importance of topic selection, so that students choose a topic that really interests them. Most students come to the Help Desk with a “subject” not a topic. We interview them to make sure that they are invested in the subject, and then help them to narrow it to a topic, phrased as a question.

2. We expose them to a universe of possible sources, and help them learn to match their information need to a source type. The web is definitely not the best place to get all of the information that students need for research. We make them aware of alternatives.

3. We make using good resources as easy as using Google, by building assignment-specific OWHLGuides to bring selected resources to them. Here is an example of a guide that Sara Ciaburri built for the History 200 Commodities project.

4. We help them prevent inadvertent plagiarism due to sloppy research by teaching them to use NoodleBib to take notes, make an outline, keep a working bibliography and develop a final bibliography in the selected citation style. NoodleBib is free to all of our students, and despite its name it is a sophisticated and powerful research tool.

5. We show them how to avoid getting caught short at the last minute by planning their time. We offer an online“Planning Assignments”  tool that prompts the user to enter today’s date and the date that the research product is due, and then prescribes the steps of the research process that need to be accomplished each day in order to stay on track. It even sends email reminders!

6. We do endless “Bibliotherapy.” Instruction librarians are available to help kids in “individual Research Consultations” every hour that the OWHL is open. Many students return several times over the course of a research project, getting feedback on what they have accomplished, and help and direction on their next steps.

We never rest on our successes, but subscribe to the principle that we can get better. As the leader of this effort, I work hard at communicating a vision of greatness. Because there are many barriers to continuous improvement, we ask lots of questions and listen to the answers. I remind myself that visionary leadership is impossible without terrific staff, and that they need to be inspired, liberated, and cherished.

The OWHL staff is passionate about our work because we know that what we do matters. We all view our jobs as both interesting and important. We know that many of our students come to us believing that they can find everything they need online, and that this approach won’t support academic success at Andover or in college. We are dedicated to intervening with targeted instruction in order to assure that our students graduate with the information skills they need to support the critical thinking that they will be required to do as lifelong learners.

The OWHL Culture supports innovation and effective teamwork, and avoids complacency, mediocrity, and blame. We strive to “get to the yes” even when it requires flexibility and lots of patience. We try to do more than what is expected, the majority of the time. We have created a Culture of Generosity, which means that we constantly try to identify and meet needs, even before the students, faculty, and staff know that they have them. An example is our recent addition of a BookScan station, which we acquired through an Abbot grant. It is wildly popular with students, event though most had never heard of such a machine before we installed it.

Our efforts to provide first rate customer service have paid off in tremendous “customer loyalty.” The “Senior Exit Survey” that we conducted last spring is full of accolades to the dedicated work of the library staff. Our current students are our best “marketers.” I recently overheard a student who was speaking with a new student emphatically recommend a consultation with one of the Instructional Librarians, on the grounds that “she saved my life in History 300 last year.” One of our happy customers recently (and spontaneously) wrote an Ode to the OWHL, which is currently displayed in our lobby.

We provide lots of opportunities for user feedback and practice Rapid Recovery. While prevention of problems is a great idea, it is not always possible in a creative industry. I’d much rather say that we tried something that didn’t succeed than say that we never made mistakes because we never tried anything new. When we get it wrong, we fix it fast.

If you have a suggestion for how we can keep getting better, we’d love to hear from you.

Yesterday some of the directors of the libraries of the “Eight Schools” gathered for the bittersweet purpose of honoring the retirement of our friend and colleague Walter Demelle. When I arrived at Phillips Academy 10 years ago, Walter was the first colleague who reached out to me, welcoming me to the group. The membership in that group has changed in the last decade. This fall when we gather in Andover I will be the second-longest tenured librarian in the group. Welcome, new colleagues, and have a wonderful, wonderful retirement old friends.

Amazon was the first, and so far the most successful, entrant into the e-reader competition.  Many people use the term “Kindle” generically to mean e-reader.    As a life-long reader, I am pleased with the new opportunities provided by the explosion of devices and content.  But as a library director I am deeply concerned that the direction that we seem to be headed is exacerbating the “digital divide.”

That is because libraries and the needs of library users are not on the radar of the makers of e-readers.  This is most explicitly true of Amazon, whose Kindles use a proprietary format for e-content rather than the more open epub format.  Make no mistake; Amazon developed the Kindle as a way to sell e-books.   They are targeting a Kindle owner who is older, well educated, and relatively affluent, and is more than willing to pay for the convenience of instant delivery of desired content.   The typical library user is not a member of this demographic group.  Many rely upon libraries for free access to content that they could not otherwise afford.  This traditional role of libraries as the preserver of access to information for all individuals is already threatened by municipal funding cuts to library budgets, and now stands to be further eroded by the business plans of producers of e-readers, and publishers of e-content.

Most libraries that “loan” e-content do so by purchasing content through Overdrive. Library users who have their own devices (the device must use the epub format, which disqualifies Kindles) can “borrow” e-books through the Overdrive account of their library, from the comfort of their own home.   In practice, learning how to install and use the required software (both Overdrive and Adobe Digital Editions) often brings these users into libraries for help and instruction.  Further, the restrictions on borrowing are counter-intuitive and onerous.  As is the case with a physical book, only one person may “borrow” each e-book at a time.   But unlike the case with a physical book, when your borrowing period is up, the content literally vanishes.  No renewal is possible, nor can a borrower who is not quite finished elect to pay a late fee for the privilege of finishing the book.   Finally, demand is high and most library Overdrive collections are very limited.  Consequently, there is frequently a long wait for a desired title, and there is always the chance that the book will become available at a time that is inconvenient for the user.   These barriers combine to make the e-books borrowing experience difficult and frustrating.

As if that weren’t enough, Harper Collins has become the first major publisher to impose additional contract restrictions on Overdrive.  Henceforth, Harper Collins titles may only be circulated 26 times before they must be re-purchased.   (This is about 1 year worth of circulations.)   No such restrictions attend to physical books.  Libraries that purchase copies of Harper Collins titles in print may circulate them as long as they last.  To arbitrarily impose a limit of 26 circulations absolutely undercuts the ability of libraries to loan e-books.

All of these barriers point to a troubling trend.  Libraries are struggling to serve individuals who can afford an e-reader, but need to borrow the content.   It is much more difficult to serve individuals who can afford neither the device nor the content.   But the stakes are very high.  If libraries do not band together to negotiate fair terms for all players in the new age of e-books,  a great percentage of library patrons will be left on the wrong side of the digital divide.

As part of our month-long promotion of the Academy’s participation in the Green Cup Challenge, we are sponsoring a series of contests designed to raise awareness of environmental concerns. And also designed to build our Facebook fan base, and increase our traffic. But really, one of the most important results of the initiative is the team-building that comes from total staff participation in the creation and execution of the various activities. The power of collective intelligence is formidable. And the power of fun can’t be overstated.

Cory Doctorow’s Makers was originally published online in 81 installments.

A very addictive electronic tile game was created from the original “book” illustrations.  The the “real” book was published, and we added it to our collection. But we didn’t stop there.  Some people would rather listen to books, so we also provide access to the downloadable audio version.  And then there are those who swear by their Kindles, or nooks, or Sony Readers, and so we also want to be able to meet their needs.  The Kindle edition is only $9.99, less than we paid for the printed book.  But then, the original serial publication was (and is still) free.  And neither the printed book nor the full-text electronic versions have the cool illustrations that accompanied the original publication.  So what does this all mean for libraries?  For the OWHL it means: redundant collection for the foreseeable future.  It means active discovery of electronic alternatives to printed books, and the preparation of finding aids to connect our readers to those materials.  I also opens up the possibility of purchase-on-demand, so that scarce resources can be allocated only to those materials that will definitely be used.

Contests, (prizes!) displays, posters–all will be apart of the upcoming Green Cup Challenge. Stop by the OWHL to learn how you can reduce your resource “footprint.”