91´«Ã½

CHICAGO- The 91´«Ã½- Reference and User Services Division (RUSA), continues to offer an outstanding combination of repeat and new courses/webinars. Check out our list of upcoming programming below:

Artificial Intelligence in the Library: Its Application in Reference and User Services

Six-week course beginning on Monday, October 11, 2021

During this course, participants will learn about artificial intelligence, become familiar with its basic functionality, and identify ways artificial intelligence can be used in reference and user services. The course will end with a discussion of ethical considerations for the use of artificial intelligence in libraries.

The instructor, Lauren Hays PhD MLS, is an Assistant Professor of Educational Technology at the University of Central Missouri.

BRASS Fall Thing

Virtual Event scheduled from October 19-October 21, 2021

This new virtual event will feature a mix of synchronous and asynchronous programming including interactive presentations, lightning talks, and plenty of opportunities for networking. This year’s event focuses on business information literacy. Registrants will also be granted perpetual access to the BRASS Vault, a video collection of recordings from RUSA-BRASS webinars and series.

Virtual Reference: An Expert’s Guide to Refining Your Services

75-minute live webinar on Wednesday, October 20, 2021

In recent years, the approaches to providing research help have changed, and practitioners must learn new methods and refine their skills to keep up. This highly interactive webinar will help participants reflect about current practices and how they can improve reference service, particularly from the user’s perspective.

The instructors are Rebecca Graff, Research Librarian for English, Medieval Studies, and the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at Southern Methodist University; Megan Heuer, Head of Information Literacy and the Communication Arts Librarian at Southern Methodist University; and Sarah Jenkins, Reference & Instruction Services Librarian at Southern Methodist University.

Inside Interlibrary Loan: Basics for a New Millennium

Four-week course beginning on Monday, October 25, 2021

As library shelving and physical collections to vanish, electronic resource collections continue to grow. To keep up with evolution, we need to expand our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services to meet the needs of our library patrons. In this four-week eCourse, you’ll learn to utilize ILL services to do just this.

The instructor, Debra Lucas, has been the Head of Reference and Interlibrary Loan at D’Youville College in Buffalo, NY since 2002. She is the author of Marketing the 21^st Century Library: the Time is Now, published by Chandos, an imprint of Elsevier. She has been an online instructor in Library Studies since 2012.

Don’t see a topic that interest you, check out our full listings here or submit a proposal form .

The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the 91´«Ã½, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more at .