The Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) conference planning committee invites you to submit proposals for the 48thAnnual Conference, The Tipping Point: Initiating Change in Academic Libraries.
As libraries challenge long-standing traditions and question our neutral stance, small changes or incidents often result in greater consequences. Share with your colleagues your programs, stories, and examples of defining, transformational moments in your libraries. Conference Date: November 3-4, 2022 Conference Location: Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center, Lewis Center, Ohio Submission Deadline: April 15, 2022Call for Proposals:https://www.alaoweb.org/conferences/2022/proposalsSubmission Form:https://tinyurl.com/alao2022submissions
We encourage thoughtful, timely proposals from all areas of library work. Adherence to the conference theme is encouraged but not required. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Barriers to accessing information
Censorship Crisis management
DEI in Information Literacy Instruction
Emerging technology solutions
Inclusive cataloging and collections
Libraries as space/third space
Misinformation
Service changes/transitions
One proposal form will be used for all presentation types:
Presentation (or other 50-minute session)
Poster Session
Lightning talk (brief live session)
If you have a unique format idea, not listed above, please submit it under the presentation option (Panel discussions, etc… ) We invite you to contribute your ideas to make 2022 the best ALAO conference yet.
ALAO would like to help develop talented folks who are underrepresented in our profession with a $1500 tuition scholarship. Apply by March 15, 2022 for consideration. The award winner will be notified by April 15, and will be presented with a certificate at the ALAO Annual Conference Nov. 2022 (registration included with scholarship award). Full consideration details are available at https://www.alaoweb.org/Diversity-Scholarship-Award
The ACRL Chapters Council met on January 12, 2022. Emily Knox, Associate Professor at the iSchool@Illinois gave a presentation on “Intellectual Freedom and Social Justice: Core Values of Librarianship.” Brief messages were shared by the candidates for ACRL Vice President/President-Elect, Dr. Beth McNeil and Dr. José Aguiñaga. Additional reminders and updates included:
Registration for the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., opens in February. Currently, the event is scheduled to take place in person, from June 23 to 28.
ACRL recently granted few one-year memberships to 50 BIPOC individuals as part of a renewed focus on DEI initiatives.
The ALA Public Policy & Advocacy Office is working on its agenda for 2022 and will complete it by early spring.
In addition, the most recent Chapter Topics newsletter was published in January. An update on the 2021 ALAO Annual Conference was featured in the Professional Development section and ALAO’s presentation “Developing a Responsible Event Code of Conduct and Reporting Workflow,” by Edith Scarletto and Mandi Goodsett, was featured in the Best Practices section.
—Jane Hammons, Liaison to ACRL, The Ohio State University
The current membership of ALAO includes a total of 264*** members consisting of 239 regular members, 4 retiree members, and 21 student members. We are excited to welcome new members who joined between December 1, 2021 and March 1, 2022.
***Our current membership numbers are inaccurate due to the temporary inability to accept online payments caused by ALAO’s transition to a new fiscal agent. We fully expect to have accurate numbers before the next newsletter.
Margaret Breidenbaugh, Cincinnati State Technical & Community College
Jill Crane, University of Dayton
Kristie Kinzer, Columbus State Community College
Margaret Hoogland, University of Toledo
–Maureen Barry, Membership Chair, Bowling Green State University
ALAO’s interest groups are gearing up to finish the academic year with lots of great events! ALAO has 12 active special interest groups that have formed to discuss concerns, issues, and new trends related to academic librarianship in Ohio. Keep an eye on the ALAO events page for spring and summer events brought to you by our interest groups!
Joining an interest group is a great way to participate in leadership events and network with fellow librarians and library staff. For more information visit the ALAO website https://www.alaoweb.org/igs/index.html.
–-Sara Klink, Interest Group Coordinator, Stark State College
Interest Groups Seek Co-Chairs
Two of our Interest Groups are seeking co-chairs for two-year terms starting July 2022 through June 2024. You are encouraged to reach out to either co-chair regarding IG activities and the opportunities they offer. They can meet with you remotely with any questions you have.
Assessment Interest Group (AIG)
The purpose of the ALAO Assessment Interest Group is to provide a vehicle to discuss and share issues and developments pertinent to assessment in Ohio academic libraries. Topics of interest would include assessment of library impact and value, organizational performance, collections, student learning outcomes, rubrics, user attitudes and behaviors, as well as effective research methodologies, techniques for data analysis, and data visualization. Interests potentially overlapping those of other ALAO interest groups, e.g. information literacy or collection assessment, will be pursued in collaboration with those groups. Please contact Jeanna Purses at jpurses@lec.edu with your questions.
Scholarly Communication Interest Group (SCIG)
Members of this group will work to identify, address, and promote scholarly communications issues that impact libraries and higher education including copyright, licensing, Open Educational Resources, Open Access, digital scholarship, and more. Please contact Cindy Kristof at ckristof@kent.edu with your questions. Cindy would like to extend her gratitude to previous co-chair Drew Balduff for his dedicated service.
–-Cindy Kristof, Scholarly Communications Interest Group Co-Chair, Kent State University
Collection Management Interest Group (CMIG) News
CMIG will have a virtual meeting (probably 90 minutes – 2 hours) in late spring or summer. The focus will be on introducing the topic of “read & publish journal deals” to those that are not familiar with this fairly new model or those that want to learn more. Generally, the publication costs transition from traditional journal subscriptions (read) to publishing costs (OA authoring of articles). In this session, we would include a discussion of the logistics and effects on institutions that do not publish much content but still need access to read the content. Do these deals work for all institutions? If publishers transition to this model as the only option, what does it mean for “read-only” institutions?
–Megan Mamolen, C2YCLIG Co-Chair, Lakeland Community College –Ragan Snead, C2YCLIG Co-Chair, Northeast Ohio Regional Library System
Special Collections and Archives Interest Group (SCAig) News
The Special Collections and Archives Interest Group (SCAig) is currently in the process of planning its spring workshop, tentatively scheduled for May 2022. Miriam Intrator of Ohio University and Rachel Makarowski of Miami University have joined the co-chairs on the planning committee, who would like to thank them for their time and assistance!
In November 2021, SCAig issued a survey to its members on workshop format and topic preferences. Based on the results of that survey, the workshop will be virtual, and revolve around the theme of diversity, equity and inclusion, and digital preservation. The planning committee will be reaching out to potential speakers soon!
–-Henry Handley, Special Collections and Archives IG Co-Chair, University of Dayton –Josh Zeller, Special Collections and Archives IG Co-Chair, Mount St. Joseph University
Sustainability Interest Group (SUSIG) News
SUSig Craft Party
The Sustainability Interest Group has held two events so far this year. In January, we partnered with TEDSIG for a discussion event in which we used design thinking to explore how libraries can respond to climate change.
In February, we held a Craft Party in which we promoted recycling by learning how to make woven art pieces with old CDs (see the picture below!).
Looking forward, for our Earth Day event at the end of April we’ll be hearing a presentation from Ginny Boehme, Science Librarian at Miami University, who will talk about some of the sustainability and environment-related projects she has worked on with faculty and students.
–Kim Hoffman, SUSig Co-Chair, Miami University –Bethany Spieth, SUSig Co-Chair, Ohio Northern University
Since fall semester 2018, the University of Toledo (UToledo) has regularly organized in-person training workshops for graduate students on the responsible conduct of research (RCR). This workshop is designed to complement and reinforce the online CITI training already required of students.
The RCR Players
The initial creation of the RCR workshop program included participation by the university’s Office of Research & Sponsored Programs; the College of Graduate Studies; the university’s Research Integrity Officer (RIO); and various deans, professors, and graduate student volunteers representing the colleges of Natural Sciences & Mathematics; Pharmacy; Health & Human Services; Nursing; and Engineering; as well as the Psychology Department (College of Arts & Letters). Significantly, the University Libraries have also been involved in the planning, design, and delivery of the workshops since the inception of the program. Representing the University Libraries in these workshops are Professor Wade Lee-Smith (Research Engagement Librarian) and Professor Lucy Duhon (Scholarly Communications Librarian).
How we do it and what we cover
This half-day RCR training workshop is now held annually (on a Saturday in spring, mid-semester) and includes topics such as research integrity/good research practices; research misconduct and its consequences; the role of the university’s RIO; the relationships between mentors and their graduate student protégés; awareness of bias and conflict of interest; data management; and the importance of ethical authorship and responsible publication – this last segment is led by the University Libraries. A particular value of this in-person training is the opportunity for students to participate in break-out sessions on research dilemmas and to engage in and react to role-playing situations.
UToledo’s RCR workshops have been attended by up to 150 graduate students at a time. The COVID-19 pandemic suspended the workshop in 2020, but it resumed in spring 2021, when the program moved completely online, hosted on Blackboard’s Collaborate. Spring 2022’s workshop will once again be held in person.
Feedback from the graduate students continues to inform the design of the program. Post-training survey responses and in-session quick polls can indicate ‘fuzzy’ topics needing revision or areas for additional training.
RCR training also gives students a firm grounding in the compliance requirements for conducting U.S. public-funded research, and is required of all researchers, including students, who conduct research funded by the National Institutes of Health.
– Lucy Duhon, Scholarly Communications Librarian, and Wade Lee-Smith, Research Engagement Librarian, University of Toledo
Joseph M. Dudley has been promoted to the role of System Librarian and will be providing reference and technical services for campuses in Ohio, western New York, and Wisconsin.
–-Joseph M. Dudley, Bryant & Stratton College
Case Western Reserve University News
After a conference back in 2019, Andrew Mancuso (Preservation Officer, Scholarly Resources & Special Collections) was approached by a researcher at the Center for Imaging Science at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and asked if the Kelvin Smith Library (KSL) had any interest in participating as a test institution for a grant they were working on. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) indeed awarded their Research Grant proposal to build a low-cost, end-to-end multi-spectral imaging system; and so RIT built it, named it MISHA, and sent it on the road to its first field testing site (KSL). Since then, Naomi Langer (Digitization Technician Digital Learning & Scholarship) and Andrew have been imaging known palimpsests in KSL’s collections, processing the data, and writing feedback for RIT and the NEH about the system and software. Naomi and Andrew just wrapped up a whirlwind tour of collaborating with 8 different institutions across the state of Ohio, imaging collections objects, and providing them the raw data to process and make their own discoveries with.
Results from a test strip of effaced parchment and from a worn manuscript bound volume from visits to The Preservation Lab at the University of Cincinnati and a visit to the Thompson Library at OSU.
CWRU Personnel News
Kelvin Smith Library hired Olivia Hobbs as a Research Services Librarian to support various disciplines in the arts & humanities and the social sciences. Olivia is a recent graduate of the University of Tennessee (Master of Science in Information Science). She recently worked in Delaware for the Dover Public Library and Kent County Public Library.
Ben Gorham (Kelvin Smith Library) was elected to the ILiADS (Institute for Liberal Arts and Digital Scholarship) Steering Committee in the position of Academic Partnerships Coordinator. This is a 2-year term position in which Ben will work with academic institutions and ILiADS to prepare for and run the annual, weeklong digital scholarship event and conference. The annual ILiADS summer institute draws participants from around the country to collaborate on and advance digital scholarship projects and is now in its sixth year of operation.
Josie Cotton was recently awarded a Library Education Scholarship from the FRIENDS of the Heights Libraries Scholarship Committee. She is currently pursuing a Library Science graduate degree at Kent State University.
—Brian C. Gray, Case Western Reserve University
University of Toledo News
The Health Science Campus of The University of Toledo is celebrating its 17th year as host of the Artist Showcase. The show features a variety of creative works from faculty, staff, and students in the health sciences at the university. In the past, shows were physically displayed, and accompanied by an artists’ reception and a speaking event. The COVID-19 pandemic made a traditional show impossible, and so for 2021 the artwork was available to view digitally. This year the show is available to view both in person and online; a decision was made by the show’s committee to exclude the speaker and reception due to the continuing presence of the virus. The 2021 event and current show may be viewed here: https://sites.google.com/view/hscart21/home. Video of two guest lecturers (The Marriage of Art and Science and Create Your Own World) can be viewed at https://libguides.utoledo.edu/hscart/about.
–-Gerald Natal, ALAO President Elect/ Interim President, The University of Toledo
A very successful 2021 conference is now complete. We had a total of 279 registrants, including 71 non-ALAO-members, and 31 students. We got some wonderful feedback from attendees:
“Kudos to the organizers, this was a great conference this year. There was a good variety of topics and many that I came away thinking what can I do to implement something like this at my library. I liked the format because if I could not watch something at the time allotted, I could go back and watch it later.”
“I did like the change this year in that you watched the prepared presentation together and then had plenty of time following for Q&A. It seemed more like an in-person presentation.”
“While I think this conference was awesome and I give *all* the kudos to everyone involved, I miss going in person!”
“I loved the AMA. It was great to hear from librarians from other types of libraries and learn about their job duties and collections. I would love to see this program offered next year with representatives from different library types.”
“Really appreciated having the presentations pre-recorded and available but also showing them at the designated time slot, so that everyone could “attend” in the matter that worked best for them. Also really appreciated breaks between each session. So many virtual conferences neglect to include adequate breaks.”
“I’m always interested in additional support staff and technical services topics, as so often the default presentation is reference and instruction. But I also thought this year was more equally balanced, and am hopeful/optimistic that trend will continue!”
The conference content is now open to all, and it will be available until next year. Please share with colleagues who may not have been able to attend. http://2021.alaoweb.org/
ALAO Membership Meeting
Like last year, we held the membership meeting during the conference instead of a truncated board meeting. It was open to all ALAO members and lasted about 20 minutes. About forty people attended. Please feel free to send any feedback you have about this format for future conferences.
ALAO Award Winners
Congratulations to our 2021 ALAO award winners! The ALAO Awards Ceremony was also open to all ALAO members and had 64 attendees. It was a lovely celebration but we hope to see everyone in person next year.
Award Name
Winner
Research & Publications Committee Research Grant
Dr. Feng-Ru Sheu
Continuing Education Grant
Nathanael Davis, Cedarville University Kristin Cole, Otterbein University Mike Monaco, University of Akron
TEDDY Award
Ken Irwin
Kathryn Venditti Mentoring Award
Mark Eddy
Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award
Derek Zoladz
Another huge thank you to the members of the 2021 Conference Planning Committee for their time, energy, commitment and teamwork. We had our post-conference session Wednesday and have built a great advice document for the 2022 CPC. If you have any additional feedback about the conference and didn’t have a chance to fill out the post-event survey, feel free to reach out to me.
Executive Board Meeting Report
The ALAO Executive Board has been making progress on projects related to two of our strategic priorities. One strategic priority is to improve the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) of ALAO as an organization, while also providing support to our members in this area. To accomplish this goal, the board is working on the following projects:
A DEI taskforce, in collaboration with the Diversity Committee, has been formed. The group has begun to plan and work on initiatives: a state DEI resource toolkit, and a programming roadshow. We look forward to sharing more as things progress, and thanks again to those who’ve volunteered for the taskforce.
Related, the diversity committee with Jerry Natal and Mandi Goodsett, have taken the lead on developing a DEI statement for ALAO as an organization. They’ve been pulling some examples and best practices for development of such a statement. The goal is to put forth an example for the board at the February 18th meeting.
The other strategic priority is increasing ALAO’s program offerings with external organizations and membership outreach. Planning is being done with the Membership and IG coordinators to determine next steps in these efforts. More information will be shared in the spring. This initiative is a continuation from an idea last year to further involve students in the state with ALAO. Membership Chair Maureen Barry is preparing a proposal that will be brought to the board in February as she reaches out to student supervisors over the coming months.
And finally, I’ve accepted a new position and must resign from participation on the board. Gerald Natal, president-elect, and Mandi Goodsett, past-president, will be taking the lead and standing in as interim President in the coming months. I will miss the wonderful professionals that make up this organization. Thank you all for your continued service.
ALAO member input and feedback is always welcome. If you have ideas for how ALAO could improve or would like to volunteer to help with a specific project, please feel free to reach out to a board member.
Another season is winding down, another semester ending. Traditionally, it is a time of the year for reflection and giving thanks, as well as planning for the coming year. I personally have much for which to be grateful—much of the work I have done over the past several months has resulted in rewards both tangible and intangible. The coming year is sure to present me with many new challenges, and while it is not always possible to anticipate what lies ahead, there is comfort in knowing that there are resources available to help me navigate through the trials and tribulations that may surface. Among these resources are the members of the ALAO board and the next committed group of conference planners as we revert back to an in-person conference. Speaking of the board and conference planning committee, I’d like to publicly thank the 2021 conference planning committee for their time, commitment, and expertise in organizing a successful annual conference, with a special heartfelt thank you to Jessica McIntosh for her service and leadership leading up to the conference. As you likely now know, Jessica has resigned her position as President of ALAO due to a conflict of interest with a new job opportunity; I am happy for her and wish her well in her new position with Cengage.
According to ALAO’s bylaws and procedures, as a consequence of the presidential resignation, I will be acting as interim president of ALAO, pending approval of the ALAO Board to assume the duties officially. Past President Mandi Goodsett has graciously offered to support me in my endeavors as I prematurely take the reins of the organization (I would like to think this is more of a co-interim situation), and I find re-assurance in the collective wisdom of the ALAO board. Onward and upward!
Program Committee Report
Being interim president of the organization does not preclude chairing the 2022 annual conference planning committee, and so I give you a brief update on the CPC. An intrepid group is now assembled, comprised of veterans and new faces, which will be meeting in December to begin initial planning. They are:
Don Appleby, University of Akron
Cara Calabrese, Miami University
Paul Campbell, Ohio University
Kristin Cole, Otterbein University
Melissa Cox Norris, University of Cincinnati
Mark Eddy, Case Western Reserve
Kathy Fisher, Ursuline College
Ken Irwin, Miami University
Sara Klink, Stark State College
Katie Maxfield, Wittenberg University
Rob O’Brien Withers, Miami University
Peggy Rector, Denison University
Allen Reichert, Otterbein University
Seth Sisler, Ohio University
Ann Marie Smeraldi, Cleveland State University
Katy Tucker, Xavier University
We have a solid group for now, but I anticipate more volunteers may be needed as the conference date approaches. If anyone is willing to be “on call,” please send me an email.
I have been contemplating ideas for a theme and keynote speaker(s), and hope to have a theme selected at the next CPC meeting; however, I am more than happy to entertain ideas from the membership! A call for proposals will be issued once the theme has been decided.
Before I sign out, there are a few things I’d like to mention. Mandi Goodsett will be directing the efforts of a task force to coordinate interest groups with ALAO’s DEI strategy. Mandi is also leading the effort to develop a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion statement for the organization. Many thanks to Mandi and everyone else involved in this important work.
I’d also like to take this opportunity on behalf of ALAO to thank the SWON library consortium for their years of acting as our organization’s fiscal agent—you were there when we needed you! I would also like to welcome OhioNET, with whom we have had a long relationship, as our new fiscal agent. While I am on about OhioNET, I would like to wish OhioNET’s former deputy director Christine Morris well at her new position as digital resources manager for OPLIN. Christine was a long-time member of ALAO and great supporter of the organization. Finally, I’d like to remind everyone to consider taking advantage of the great opportunities offered to ALAO members, such as the Continuing Education Grant and the Research Grant.
As we head into the remainder of the season and into the new year, I would like to reaffirm my commitment to the organization, and wish you all the best of holidays.
I am pleased to report that the Awards Committee selected winners for the 2021 Kathryn L. Venditti Mentoring and Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Awards.
For his work with MLIS students and his support for colleagues at his institution and around the state, Mark Eddy (Case Western Reserve University) was awarded the Venditti Mentoring Award.
For his tireless work to improve the online image of ALAO and push ALAO members to embrace new ideas and challenges, Derek Zoladz (OhioNET) was awarded the Ladd Distinguished Service Award. Congratulations to both!
We had many excellent nominations this year, so I encourage anyone who submitted a nomination to do so again in the future.
These two ALAO awards, as well as several others, were presented at the ALAO Conference in a virtual ceremony again this year. There were quite a few attendees, many of whom shared congratulations and well-wishes in the chat. Congratulations to all of our award winners!
In early 2022, the Nominating Committee will be putting out a call for ALAO board nominations. We will need nominees for Vice President/President Elect, Secretary, Membership Chair, and three Members at Large. In the meantime, if you are interested in serving on the Nominating Committee (a brief appointment that would begin in January and end in April 2022), let me know by December 16th. Please consider serving the ALAO community in one of these roles!
ALAO Newsletter 