EDITOR'S NOTES
Special Projects That Transform Library Services
by Dick Kaser
Every library is different than the next one, and every librarian faces unique challenges. In this issue, we look at several special projects that librarians have undertaken to deal with challenges of their own. Michael Standard and Keani King, librarians at the University of Tennessee–Chattanooga, share their experience in managing the unique formats and special acquisition collection of sheet music—both print and digital.
Elaine Lasda (University at Albany–SUNY) and Nathaniel Heyer (Hudson Valley Community College) consider the challenge of overcoming staff resistance to AI with simple tools that handle tedious tasks and make life simpler for library workers.
Industry observer Cal LaFountain considers the challenge of curating and maintaining a vibrant, living, story-based local history collection, with an emphasis on preservation and access. He encourages you to use your collection to tell captivating stories about your community, including social media posts.
Zach Welhouse and Kelly McElroy, librarians at Oregon State University, share the work they’ve done to encourage schools to teach digital literacy skills by providing a set of teaching modules that can be adopted across school systems. Such work is imperative given the loss of school librarians in recent years.
Finally, I want to point out Chad Mairn’s From the Innovation Lab column. This issue, he interviews a student who—without much experience—used AI apps to develop a fully functional robot, illustrating just how the innovation process works in practice.
No matter what challenges you face on a local level, I hope these case studies will encourage you to innovate.
Dick Kaser, Executive Editor
kaser@infotoday.com
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