OhioLINK

Editor’s note: This column showcases the extraordinary talent and leadership of the librarians and staff at OhioLINK’s member institutions. If you have suggestions for a library staff member who should be featured in this series, please email Meghan Frazer at mfrazer@ohiolink.edu (link sends e-mail).

Editor’s note:  OhioLINK is launching this column to showcase the extraordinary talent and leadership of the librarians and staff at OhioLINK’s member institutions. If you have suggestions for a library staff member who should be featured in this series, please email Meghan Frazer at mfrazer@ohiolink.edu.

A specialty niche among libraries, music librarianship enables people to combine passions for music, information and helping others.

More than 1,600 librarians and support staff work at OhioLINK’s 91 member institutions. While I’m impressed with their dedication every day, I’d like to express my admiration this week in particular, as April 13-19 marks National Library Week.

Librarians and staff at our member institutions teach. They code. They blog. They painstakingly explain over and over again why Wikipedia is good for some things but not for others.

You might wonder, “What is Digital Learning?” According to Ohio Senate Bill 316, “Digital learning, means learning facilitated by technology that gives students some element of control over time, place, path or pace of learning.” Digital learning encompasses the effective use of technology to empower teachers and students. Digital Learning Day (DLD) allows schools a set time to discuss and share ways to provide every child the opportunity to learn in a robust digital environment every day, with the goal of success in college and a career. It is a day to celebrate and empower teachers, showcase innovative usages of technology and share resources.

Today, there are 62 institution systems supporting 90 member libraries. All new or updated metadata from a single library flows to the central system in real time so that the records in the central system are as current as they are at the individual library level. Users rely on this functionality as they search the central system looking for books and other resources to support their research.

Now that I’ve been working at OhioLINK for a full year, I have a much better grasp of the true impact that OhioLINK can provide for students, staff and faculty members of Ohio colleges and universities. I have some facts and figures to share that back up my belief that OhioLINK provides our users with unrivaled value, but one of the very best parts about my job is running into OhioLINK users on a regular basis as I go about my daily routine. 

On behalf of the Policy & Communications team of the Ohio Technology Consortium (OH-TECH) and the executive directors of its member organizations, I am pleased to welcome you to our new blog and daily news aggregation site.