Please share this message widely!

Dear colleagues,

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS), a division of the American Library Association, is now accepting applications for the Online Course Grant for Library Professionals from Developing Countries to participate in our online Fundamentals courses held between January and August in 2019. One free seat per session is available to librarians and information professionals from developing countries.

For full information about the grant, including eligibility criteria and a link to the application form, please see: http://www.ala.org/alcts/awards/grants/onlinegrant. Applications may be submitted between December 3, 2018 and January 2, 2019.

Fundamentals of Acquisitions (FOA)

Session 1: February 11 – March 22

Session 2: April 22 – May 31

Session 3: July 8 – August 16 

The Fundamentals of Acquisitions (FOA) web course focuses on the basics of acquiring monographs and serials:  goals and methods, financial management of library collections budgets, and relationships among acquisitions librarians, library booksellers, subscription agents, and publishers.  In this course, you will receive a broad overview of the operations involved in acquiring materials after the selection decision is made.  Note that in FOA, we distinguish between collection development, which involves the selection of materials for the library; and acquisitions, which orders, receives, and pays for those materials.

Fundamentals of Electronic Resources Acquisitions (FERA)

Session 1: February 11 – March 8

Session 2: April 15 – May 10

Session 3: July 15 – August 9

The Fundamentals of Electronic Resources Acquisitions (FERA) web course will provide an overview of acquiring, providing access to, administering, supporting, and monitoring access to electronic resources.  It will provide a basic background in electronic resource acquisitions including product trials, licensing, purchasing methods, and pricing models and will provide an overview of the sometimes-complex relationships between vendors, publishers, platform providers, and libraries.

Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management (FCDM)

Session 1: February 25 – March 22

Session 2: April 22 – May 17

Session 3: June 10 – July 5

The Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management web course addresses the basic components of these important areas of responsibility in libraries. Components include complete definition of collection development and collection management; collections policies and budgets as part of library planning; collection development (selecting for and building collections); collection management (e.g., making decisions after materials are selected, including decisions about withdrawal, transfer, preservation); collection analysis—why and how to do it; outreach, liaison, and marketing; trends and suggestions about the future for collection development and management.

Fundamentals of Collection Assessment (FCA)

Session 1: March 4 – April 12

Session 2: May 6 – June 14

The Fundamentals of Collection Assessment course introduces the fundamental aspects of collection assessment in libraries. The course is designed for those who are responsible for or interested in collection assessment in all types and sizes of libraries. The course will introduce key concepts in collection assessment including the definition of collection assessment, techniques and tools, assessment of print and electronic collections, and project design and management.

Fundamentals of Cataloging (FOC)

Session 1:  January 14 – February 22

Session 2: March 25 – May 3

Session 3: May 20 – June 28

Fundamentals of Cataloging (FOC) web course begins with a discussion of how cataloging assists users in finding resources and of the value of standardization of practice. These foundations are then given practical grounding in the work of creating bibliographic descriptions, the process of subject analysis, and summarizing content utilizing classification. Standards such as MARC bibliographic and authority formats, Library of Congress Subject Headings and Library of Congress Classification are discussed. The shift in focus from format-based cataloging to entity-relationship model cataloging is taken from the FRBR foundation to the RDA practical application, with a final look at RDF triples and BIBFRAME. In all areas, the value of standards is illustrated and discussed. There is a heavy reliance on examples from actual practice throughout the course content.

Fundamentals of Preservation (FOP)

Session 1: March 4 – March 29

Session 2: May 6 – May 31

The Fundamentals of Preservation web course introduces participants to the principles, policies and practices of preservation in libraries and archives.  The course is designed to inform all staff, across divisions and departments and at all levels of responsibility. It provides tools to begin extending the useful life of library collections.  Components include preservation as a formal library function and how it reflects and supports the institutional mission; the primary role of preventive care, including good storage conditions, emergency planning and careful handling of collections; the history and manufacture of physical formats and how this impacts preservation options; standard methods of care and repair, as well as reformatting options; and challenges in preserving digital content and what the implications are for the future of scholarship.

Fundamentals of Metadata (FOM)

Session 1: January 14 – February 22

Session 2: March 25 – May 3

Session 3: June 3 – July 12

The Fundamentals of Metadata course will examine similarities and differences between cataloging and metadata; descriptive, technical, and administrative metadata schema; content standards and controlled vocabularies; approaches to metadata creation and transformation; and metadata project design.

Thank you! We look forward to receiving your applications.

Meg Mering

ALCTS International Relations Committee

322.2.A Love Library 
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries 
Lincoln, NE 68588-4100 USA
MMERING1@UNL.EDU 
+1 402-472-4283