Developing Spanish and Latino Interest Collections Using the Web, Online and Print Sources

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(An Infopeople Online Learning Course)
February 27, 2007 - March 26, 2007

Given current and future population trends, almost all California public, academic, and school libraries serve communities that need and want Spanish, bilingual, and Latino interest collections - and, indeed, an ever increasing number of libraries across the U.S. are building Spanish and Latino interest collections. Whether you have an established collection, are just starting one, or are planning/hoping for one, you are encouraged to take this online course that will give you practical information to help you with subsequent acquisitions.

  • Are you new or recently assigned to develop Spanish and/or Latino interest collections?
  • Are you interested in expanding your existing collection development skills in these areas?
  • Do you want to find out about practical and efficient ways to supplement print resources and off-shelf purchasing for developing your collections?
  • Do you want to survey a variety of sources from Latin America, Spain and the U.S. to include new titles to your collections?

This workshop will present you with up-to-date and innovative ways to develop your collections using various resources. You are invited to participate, to share and ultimately to be able to select the best material for your users.

Workshop Description: This four week online workshop will provide you with techniques and resources that will improve and enhance your collection development practices. These resources will facilitate finding, selecting, evaluating and ordering Spanish and Latino interest material suited to your community. You will learn to incorporate the conventional methods of collection development with new, dynamic resources to optimize your services. In addition, there will be a discussion on the placement of Spanish and Latino Interest collections to make them visible and attractive to users in your library settings.

During this online course we will explore a variety of sources for collection development. In addition to the exercises, your participation in the weekly discussion forums as part of the online learning practice will be essential. The instructor will provide handouts, a glossary of useful Spanish terms, a bibliography and a webliography, as well as practical, useful tips that can be applied immediately. To make this workshop most beneficial it will be vital that you contribute and share ideas and experiences with the rest of the participants.

Preliminary Course Outline: Using your web browser and your Internet connection, you will log in to the Infopeople online learning site and complete the following learning modules:

  • Module One: Overview of Spanish Collection Development
    • Sources of bibliographic information
    • Vendors' and publishers' websites
    • Book review sources
  • Module Two: Selecting Audio-Visual Material and Periodical Publications
    • Availability
    • Pricing and ordering information
    • Publishers and distributors
  • Module Three: Using Additional Online Sources for Title Selection
    • Magazines
    • Newspapers
    • Independent websites
  • Module Four: Developing Latino Interest Collections; Arrangement and Placement of Spanish/Latino Interest Collections
    • Finding review sources
    • Using various websites for selecting and ordering
    • How good location can increase usage

Online Learning Details:
This four-week course will be taught online using the web. When you register, you will receive a registration confirmation that will include the URL to get to the course, as well as a username and password.

Every student proceeds through the online learning modules at his or her own pace. Students should expect to commit to spending a minimum of 2 to 2½ hours per week on this course in order to be successful. You can work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night. However, you will be expected to log in to the course each week to do that week's assignment. We ask that you log in sometime during the first week of the course to begin the course work.

Your instructor will be available for limited consultation support for two weeks after the official end date of a course, and the course material will stay up for an additional two weeks after that, to give those who have fallen behind time to work independently on the course. However, you will be expected to accomplish the majority of the course in synchronization with your peers during the first four weeks.

Who Should Take This Course: This is workshop is intended for anyone in the library community who is responsible for developing adult Spanish or Latino interest collections in public or academic libraries. Spanish is desirable but not required.

Prerequisites:
This course is taught over the web. You must:

To be most successful in this course you should be willing to share information with your colleagues and be willing to spend time reading and participating in the weekly discussion boards.

System Requirements: The online learning product that Infopeople uses is called Angel. The following are minimum system requirements for using Angel. You will need access to a computer that has at least these specifications to participate in an online course:

  • Windows:
    • Internet Explorer 6.0 and above, Netscape 7.1 and above, or Firefox 1.5 and above
  • Macintosh:
    • Mozilla 1.4 and above (which is the same engine as Netscape 7.1), Safari 2.0 and above, or Firefox 1.5 and above
    • OS X and above (OS 9 will NOT work with our online learning product)

If you are not comfortable with any of the above, please consider taking this course with a colleague who does meet these requirements.

Course Start: This 4-week-long online learning course starts on February 27, 2007.

Available for contracting: 
No