nov13_a.indd


November 2013 509 C&RL News

In the

Welcome to the November 2013 issue of 
C&RL News. Massive Open Online Courses, or 
MOOCs, have been a ubiquitous topic of dis-
cussion in higher education circles this year. But 
what is their impact on academic libraries? In 
this month’s Scholarly Communication column, 
Kyle K. Courtney of Harvard University discusses 
ways libraries can assist faculty in avoiding the 
“MOOC syllabus blues” through education on 
open access and accessible course materials.

MOOCs, along with other online learning 
opportunities and communities, have had a great 
impact on computer science education. Carli Spina 
highlights resources for librarians who want to 
“Learn computer programming and Web design” 
in this issue’s Internet Resources column.

In the October issue, we took a look at the in-
creasingly popular social media site Instagram. This 
month, Beth Sanderson and Miriam Rigby discuss 
ways librarians can learn from another massively 
popular online information sharing site in their ACRL 
TechConnect piece “We’ve Reddit, have you?”

Today’s academic and research libraries 
continue to be creative with the use of physical 

space in addition to exploring new uses of online 
spaces. Christy Groves and Amy York share the story 
of how Middle Tennessee State University’s Walker 
Library addressed a campus need for flexible  shared 
work spaces in their article “The Meeting Places.” At 
the University of North Texas, librarians increased the 
efficiency of their services by consolidating service 
points, a common occurrence in today’s libraries. 
Julie Leuzinger discusses their experience in her article 
“Reducing services points in the academic library.”

This issue also features the Call for Participation 
for ACRL 2015, to be held March 25-28, 2015, in 
Portland, Oregon. Share your knowledge, projects, 
and stories with your academic and research librar-
ian community by proposing a session in Portland. 

Make sure to check out the other features and 
departments in this issue, including tips for commu-
nity building among librarians through creating a 
“Liaison connection” and “Boots to book,” Virginia 
Sojdehei’s The Way I See It Essay on providing 
library services to veterans returning to college 
through the GI Bill.

Thanks as always for reading the News!
—David Free, editor-in-chief, dfree@ala.org

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