University Librarians See Urgent Need for AI Ethics; Inside Higher Ed, January 17, 2024

   Lauren Coffey, Inside Higher Ed; University Librarians See Urgent Need for AI Ethics

"Nearly three-quarters of university librarians say there’s an urgent need to address artificial intelligence’s ethical and privacy concerns, a survey finds.

Roughly half the librarians surveyed said they had a “moderate” understanding of AI concepts and principles, according to the study released Friday. About one in five said they had a slightly below moderate understanding, and roughly the same amount had a slightly above moderate understanding. Only 3 percent of respondents said they had a “very high” understanding.

The study, conducted in May 2023 by Leo Lo, president-elect of the Association of College and Research Libraries, had 605 respondents who completed the survey. Of those, 45 percent worked in research institutions and 30 percent in institutions with undergraduate and graduate programming."

What 70% of Americans Don’t Understand About Intellectual Property; Stites & Harbison, October 26, 2023

 Mandy Wilson Decker, Stites & Harbison; What 70% of Americans Don’t Understand About Intellectual Property

"The United States Intellectual Property Alliance (USIPA) recently published the results of its US Intellectual Property Awareness & Attitudes Survey. Among its findings, the survey results revealed that 70% of Americans are unable to distinguish between mechanisms – patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets – for protecting Intellectual Property (IP).

Given these results, it's worth exploring the principal mechanisms for protecting IP, which each possess some distinctive features."

Madison Public Library Invites Community Input for Strategic Planning; City of Madison, August 24, 2023

City of Madison; Madison Public Library Invites Community Input for Strategic Planning

"Madison Public Library leadership seeks community input through September 30 to develop a three-year strategic plan for library services. Community members can participate in one of two ways:

• Complete a short, 11-minute survey through September 30, online or at any Madison Public Library.
• Attend a 90-minute virtual feedback session, September 20, 12-1:30pm

Links to both survey and virtual feedback session are at https://madpl.org/strategicplan 

“Public input is so essential to helping us create a plan that ensures library services, collections and programs meet a variety of diverse community needs, now and in the future,” said Greg Mickells, Library Director. “We encourage everyone – from daily library users to those who’ve never set foot in our libraries – to share what’s important to them through this quick survey or by participating with folks across the city through the virtual feedback session.”

Madison Public Library has partnered with The Care Plan to guide the strategic planning process. Survey and virtual feedback session information will be anonymized and summarized, along with staff feedback, library use data, and larger national trends, to create a strategic plan that will guide library service priorities for the next three years. The final strategic plan will be shared with the public in winter of 2023." 

New Livonia library director hired, will oversee strategic planning process; Hometown Life, September 11, 2023

 Shelby Tankersley, Hometown Life; New Livonia library director hired, will oversee strategic planning process

"Kristen Edson took over as Livonia's library director earlier this month, and she's happy to be back in her home state. The Swartz Creek native was drawn back to Michigan from her former job in Louisiana by family. She's looking forward to getting to know Livonia better in the coming months....

One of her first tasks as director will be to oversee a strategic planning process for Livonia's three libraries, one of which has been closed for years due to mold. The first step is a resident survey, which Edson expects to send out next month. The city hired libraryIQ to lead the effort and expects the process to run through March of next year.

"It’s about what the community wants," Edson said. "I’m interested in going through an in-depth strategic planning process. I’m looking forward to really getting into the weeds and really learning about the community more through that process.""

Mid-Columbia Libraries asks for community response; KNDO 23, KNDU 25, May 31, 2022

Karlee Van de Venter,

KNDO 23, KNDU 25; Mid-Columbia Libraries asks for community response

"Mid-Columbia Libraries launched an online survey in Benton, Franklin and Adams counties on May 31 to get community opinions on library services. For the next three weeks, people can take the 18-question survey in English or Spanish and be entered to win an iPad mini. 

Anyone over 18 who lives in a city served by Mid-Columbia Libraries can take the survey, along with people living in certain other areas like unincorporated communities and branch visitors. 

While supplies last, you can pick up a free book bag at your nearest branch for completing the survey. 

“We’re asking our communities to help shape the future of their local libraries,” said Mid-Columbia Libraries advocacy and development manager, Sara Schwan. “Our communities created these libraries. They pay for these libraries. So we need to continue providing not just resources, but the right resources, based on community feedback, in the right venues and with ease of access.” 

The survey looks at demographic characteristics and asks people to rate how important certain influences are to their quality of life, like cultural diversity, educational opportunities, social connections, resource access and others. 

The survey was created after nine focus groups and town halls. It is aimed at gathering an inclusive, balanced representation of voices. 

“We listened to a diverse group of people, who identified some real strengths, such as our early literacy programs,” said Schwan. “But we also heard concern about information availability, particularly for those in unserved, underserved or historically marginalized communities. There also seems to be a desire for more multilingual resources beyond Spanish. These are just a few of the concerns that the survey will help us better understand and plan for.”"

UNM President seeks campus input on 2040 strategic plan; UNM (University of New Mexico), January 24, 2022

UNM (University of New Mexico); UNM President seeks campus input on 2040 strategic plan

"Last May, UNM President Garnett Stokes announced the start of planning for UNM 2040: Opportunity Defined, the multi-year plan for the future of The University of New Mexico. She announced in her weekly message the strategic planning process is now in one of the most important and exciting parts: gathering ideas from the campus community about the future of The University of New Mexico.

Timeline of planning

After UNM 2040: Opportunity Defined was launched virtually on May 7, 2021, multiple virtual focus groups for students, faculty, staff, and supporters were held from May 3-24. These events provided an early chance to share insights about how UNM can be more relevant, more visible, and more competitive for what it distinctly does best.

In October and November of 2021, the 2040 task forces took the emerging vision plan to a new level of detail by suggesting key activities that need to occur over the next five years for UNM to carry out its ambitious goals and realize its loftiest aspirations. A month later, a survey went out asking for feedback from students, faculty, staff, alumni, and donors about the draft vision framework. More than 1,600 Lobos completed the survey and helped better inform decision-making as the process moved forward.

The survey responses and other comments helped to fine-tune the vision framework and led to a revision of the plan, so goals and objectives were more reflective of the feedback."