Gathering Leadership Momentum Across Great Distances: Creating an Online Community of Practice

1. Gathering Leadership Momentum Across Great Distances: Creating an Online Community of Practice

2. Kept group going for 2+ years! ACRL/LAMA Virtual Institute Poster Presentation Article for MPLA Newsletter Conference reunions Italy!!! Some of the cool things we’ve done….

3. MPLA Academic Cooperative Formation

4. “Although we have different areas of expertise, we all work in academia and are benefited by the insight of our peers.” -Heather “We have a great pool of expertise and experience to work with.” -Jen

6. Want to Start Your Own Community of Practice? 1. Find a group of people with a shared interest. 2. Determine how often you want or need to meet. 3. Brainstorm on possible topics, ask for topic leaders and set up a schedule.

7. Want to Start Your Own Community of Practice? • Establish a community leader. • Decide on a technology platform. • Once you get the group up & running, meet several times then EVALUATE the technology and group cohesion.

8. Technology We Use… • We use: • Email • Google Groups • Skype • Doodle

9. Skype • Easy and FREE solution for conference calls • Live discussions = personal connection

10. Getting started is simple.

11. What you Need • Headset • Skype Account • Friends/colleagues names who are on Skype • Webcam (optional)

12. “The monthly conference call keeps our network connected on a personal level. There is a spontaneous and conversational approach to in-person communication that spurs creativity in a way that formal writing simply does not.” -Heather

13. Doodle • An online event scheduling and polling software • Especially helpful for coordinating multiple schedules over different time zones! http://www.doodle.ch/main.html

14. Google Groups

15. Discussion Section Pages Members Files

16. Discussions

17. Pages

18. Files

19. Management Tasks

20. Challenges

21. Challenges • TIME!! • Group Dynamics • Desire to bond • Sense of belonging • Coordinating schedules • Helping others be involved • New Technology • Selecting Topics

22. Areas for Improvement Articles Monthly conference call Technology Group participation Group enhancement of MPLA experience Presentation Collaboration Continued Participation

23. “The size of our group is ideal because of our busy schedules. If it were smaller, those who aren’t as active from time to time would be more noticeable. If it were larger, it would be more difficult to coordinate our calls.” -Karen

24. Successful Collaboration • Set aside TIME 2. You’re exposed to new ideas on a regular basis 3. Implement new ideas & best practices raised through discussion. 4. Poll for best practices on a given topic

25. The possibilities are endless. • Groups can be structured around any imaginable library topic! • Leadership • Assessment • Information literacy • Collection building What are your ideas?

26. Jennie Burroughs, Government Documents & Reference Librarian, The University of Montana jennie.burroughs@umontana.edu Erin Dini-Davis, Reference Librarian, Utah State University, erin.dini@usu.edu JaNae Kinikin, Science Librarian, Weber State University, jkinikin@weber.edu Karen Neurohr, Associate Professor, Oklahoma State University, karen.neurohr@okstate.edu Holly Phillips, Electronic Resources and Access Coordinator, University of New Mexico, hpphillips@salud.unm.edu Robert Russell, Electronic Resources Coordinator and University Archivist, Northern State University, robert.russell@northern.edu Heather Smith-Collins, Curriculum Resources Librarian, Washburn University, heather.collins@washburn.edu DanielleTheiss-White, General Reference Coordinator, Kansas State University, dtheiss@ksu.edu MPLA Academic Cooperative

27. Photos from the Photos provided by: • Jennie Burroughs • Karen Neurohr • Heather Smith-Collins • Ghost Ranch, New Mexico (USA)

28. Questions? Contact me at: Erin Dini Davis Utah State University Logan, Utah, USA Erin.davis@usu.edu