2021 ALAO Elections-Call for Nominations

Posted on December 14, 2020 by anitaslack

Call for Nomination for 2021 Executive Board Elections

Katy Mathuews, Past President

Are you looking for a leadership opportunity? Would you like to get involved in professional service for an ACRL chapter? If so, please consider nominating yourself for the ALAO Board. Elections will take place in spring 2021, and successful candidates will take office at the ALAO Board retreat this summer. Come join a fantastic group of Ohio library workers!

Remember that you must be an ALAO member in order to run for office, so this is a perfect time to join or renew. Additionally, no member of the Executive Board, elected or appointed, may serve in more than one position simultaneously without formal approval from the board.

What does the ALAO Board do?

The Ohio chapter of ACRL has a mission of advancing academic library services in our state and providing opportunities for education and growth for library personnel at all levels and at every career stage. We sponsor an annual conference and spring workshops that focus on innovative topics and showcase Ohio academic librarians; we provide scholarships and awards; and we maintain several active, diverse interest groups and committees. In addition, we have an active mentoring program that pairs up Ohio academic librarians for peer, intergenerational, leadership, or student mentoring relationships.

What is my role as an ALAO Board member?

  1. Perform the duties described for your elected position (see the ALAO Procedures Manual for the specific duties and responsibilities of each position).
  2. Attend the annual Board Retreat (usually third Friday of July).
  3. Attend scheduled Board meetings (announced at Board Retreat).

In 2021, we will be electing the following officers:

  • Vice President/President-Elect
  • Treasurer
  • Public Relations Coordinator
  • Board Member At Large (3 positions)

Submit this online nomination form by Friday, February 19, 2021, to be considered as a candidate.

If you have questions, please contact Katy Mathuews, mathuews@ohio.edu.

Posted in Vol. 38 no. 4 (Dec 2020) | Tagged | Leave a comment

2020 Jay Ladd and Kathryn L. Venditti Award Winners

Posted on December 14, 2020 by anitaslack

Kathryn L. Venditti Mentoring Award

The Kathryn L. Venditti Mentoring Award is given annually to an academic librarian who has demonstrated excellence as a mentor to a librarian, library worker, or library science student.

This year’s recipient is Tammy J. Eschedor Voelker of Kent State University. Tammy has mentored countless practicum students and tenure-track librarian colleagues in formal mentorship programs and as a career-long supporter. She has taken on any challenge in her mentorship work to support students’ growth into the profession. Tammy extends mentorship support beyond the practicum and into the mentees’ career. A nominator recounted how Tammy was a source of support through the job search process, through publication opportunities, and through career triumphs and challenges. The nominator, who has been mentored by the recipient for over a decade attests:

Her mentorship has known absolutely no bounds, and there’s no way I could ever repay her for all that she’s given me so freely and generously…. I would not be the librarian that I am today if by some cruel twist of fate I hadn’t asked her to be my practicum supervisor.

Tammy truly embodies the enthusiastic spirit toward mentorship of this award.

Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award

The Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award recognizes an individual who has been an ALAO member for at least 5 years, and who has promoted academic libraries and librarianship not only on their own campus, but also within the state. The award also recognizes someone who has provided leadership in the promotion of ALAO through service such as committee membership, executive board office, or interest group office. This year’s recipient of the Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award is Katy Kelly of the University of Dayton.

Thoughtful, creative, motivated, trustworthy, loyal, and an advocate for academic libraries are ways in which nominators described Katy. She is widely known for her advocacy, outreach, and dedication to not only ALAO, but to her own academic library and community. At the University of Dayton, she has put the library on the map with her innovative approach to outreach and engagement. A colleague attests that thanks to her hard work and dedication, “the Libraries has really become the heart of our campus community.”

During her time in ALAO, Katy has served in many roles including the Conference Planning Committee,  Member-at-Large, and Vice President/President/Past-President. In her efforts, she supported initiatives to further equity, diversity, inclusion, and access including reducing costs for event attendance and broadening grant awards for conference attendance, among others. As one nominator noted, one example of her lasting impression was developing  “a set of ‘community agreements’ to help ensure the annual conference provided space for respectful dialogue around critical issues, laying the groundwork for the future development of an ALAO code of conduct.” Katy’s service has truly made an impact on ALAO.

–Katy Mathuews, Past President, Ohio University

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Research Grant Recipients Announced and Seeking 2021 Grant Proposals

Posted on December 14, 2020 by anitaslack

2020 Research Grant Recipients

The Research and Publications Committee is pleased to announce that Heidi Gauder and Kayla Harris from the University of Dayton are the 2020 ALAO Research Grant recipients. Through the use of semi-structured interviews, Heidi and Kayla are researching the current state of collaboration between instruction and special collections librarians at several public and private universities throughout Ohio.

ALAO 2021 Research Grant Now Open for Proposals

Do you have a great research idea but need funds to bring it to life? Last year, the ALAO Research Grant helped fund Kayla Harris and Heidi Gauder’s (University of Dayton) research exploring connections between instruction and special collections teams.

Are you the next ALAO Research Grant recipient?

Learn more about the application process here, and submit your application by February 5, 2021 here. You must be a current member of ALAO to be eligible for the award. If you have any questions, please contact Ken Irwin or Katy Tucker. We look forward to reading your applications!

-Ken Irwin, Miami University, Research and Publications Committee Co-Chair
-Katy Tucker, Xavier University, Research and Publications Committee Co-Chair

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Notes from the Trenches

Posted on December 14, 2020 by anitaslack

[Field Notes]: Website Working Group, 2020 Virtual Conference

______________________________________________________________

I.

In some respects, reflecting upon the efforts of the Website Working Group under the rubric of “Notes for the Trenches” simplifies the challenge of identifying an applicable and productive metaphorical frame-of-reference. “In the trenches” feels right. It focuses on the lived experience of designing and operating a virtual conference. The trenches are where you pay your dues, where you are regularly confronted with limits of your knowledge, and where you’re reliant upon the tangible skills of your teammates to solve any and all problems that emerge, in real-time, with everyone watching.

The trenches are transformative. Entering – even naively – acknowledges an implicit agreement to be forever changed. In the trenches is where you’ll find the movers and shakers, getting their hands dirty, building a future world for others to inhabit and make their own.

II.

Members of the 2020 Website Working Group were:

David W. Green (State Library of Ohio)
Melissa Hill (Ohio Wesleyan University)
Ken Irwin (Miami University)
Ryan Scott (Columbus State Community College)
Zach Walton (The Ohio State University)

III.

The fact is, pulling off a virtual conference provides a fresh set of challenges, even for experienced conference planners. While the traditional requirements of sustained coordination and careful planning were ever-present and artfully managed by Mandi Goodsett, other classical guarantees were unavailable. Without the physical impediments of conference center walls to demarcate ‘capacity’, hallways to organize and control directional flows, and a rigorously shared sense of linear time to reserve and sequence our events, delicate solutions needed to be architected that referenced these mental models; otherwise, the proposed design would fail our “understandable, intuitive, and familiar” policy.

IV.

There are many artifacts of the process, of which these brief fields notes are a minor one.

If you’re interested in a much longer read that discusses key technological tools and services used by the Website Working Group to create the ALAO 2020 virtual conference – a deeper dive can be accessed here: https://www.derekzoladz.com/post/2020alao/

Additionally, ALAO now has a GitHub organization –  https://github.com/alaoweb – where you can view the code for the conference site. I encourage ALAO membership to expand the use of GitHub as a resource to share metadata processing scripts and other forms of code to benefit and enrich the work of us all.

______________________________________________________________

–Derek Zoladz, TEDSIG Co-Chair, OhioNET

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Member Spotlight

Posted on December 14, 2020 by anitaslack

Let’s shine the Member Spotlight on Nancy Story from Ohio University Libraries!

What is your role(s) in academic libraries?
My role is to provide a welcoming face and safe space for our campus community to ask “the dumb question” or even the hard question so we can work to figure it out together. I have served in four different departments here at Alden Library—overnight supervisor at the reference desk; support staff in the Center for International Collections; support staff for the Fine Arts Library and support staff for our current two service points in the building. My current position is a mix of public service and finding creative ways to provide collection maintenance and promote our materials in the Fine Arts Library.

What do you like most about academic library work?
What I like most is helping students learn how to navigate the physical space and resources of the library. It is a rewarding aspect of my work to see the sense of accomplishment on someone’s face when they are able to master the maze of call numbers and find the book they needed. Or see the amazement on someone’s face as they discover the wealth of resources available at their fingertips.

What are some interesting projects you’ve been involved with lately?
We are always looking for ways to promote and raise awareness of our print resources in the Fine Arts Library. Recently (when we still had patrons in our physical space) a student and I worked on a rotating display near our print journals. We called it “Trending Topics.” When I found an article on an artist or movement or theme that I wanted to highlight I then: pulled the journal and added a “flag” with some basic information about the topic; searched our catalog for 2 or 3 books related to the topic; set up the display on top of our current periodicals shelves. By staging a connection between our newest print journals and the print monograph collection we hope to improve engagement with both areas.

I was recently invited to participate in the Libraries’ Strategic Planning Coordinating Committee. This experience has given me new insight as I work with team members from a mix of departments and staff.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
My mother created her own puppet troupe, the Voyageur Puppets that ran for almost 40 years. Whenever I was living in the Dayton area I performed in her marionette shows as a member of her troupe.

Why did you join ALAO?
I joined ALAO in 2019 at the encouragement of my supervisor. I was looking for more professional development opportunities and working as support staff felt that I needed to broaden my horizons. Although, this organization seemed most relevant to professional staff, I have benefitted by the content of many of the sessions. It links me to the work of staff in libraries around the state that I might not otherwise encounter.

–Maureen Barry, Membership Chair, Bowling Green State University

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Membership Report

Posted on December 14, 2020 by anitaslack

The current membership of ALAO includes a total of 316 members consisting of 286 regular members, 5 retiree members, and 25 student members. We are excited to welcome new members who joined between September 1, 2020 and November 25, 2020.

Megan Bullard, Kent State University iSchool

Victoria Ceci, Cuyahoga Community College

Brad Cecil, Ohio University

Nicole Dunn, Edison State Community College

Leta Hendricks, The Ohio State University

Sarah Smith, Clarion University

Ryan Spellman, Kent State University iSchool

Jason Wardell, University of Dayton

Elizabeth Westrick, Bowling Green State University (undergraduate student assistant)

–Maureen Barry, Membership Chair, Bowling Green State University

Posted in Vol. 38 no. 4 (Dec 2020) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Interest Group Reports

Posted on December 11, 2020 by anitaslack

Community and Two-Year College Interest Group News

Book Discussion Series 

The Community and Two-Year College Interest Group (C2YCLIG) is hosting a book discussion series this year, focusing on Race in America. We will hold one more discussion on Race in Libraries on Thursday, February 25th at 2:00PM via WebEx. Following completion of the discussion series, we will hold a related workshop. Everyone is welcome to join in the final discussion and workshop. Please email C2YCLIG co-chairs at c2yclig-chairs@alaoweb.org. 

Call for Planning Committee Members 

The planning committee is working virtually on the book discussion series and workshop. We do not require in-person attendance at events. Please consider joining the C2YCLIG planning committee, which you can do via the ALAO Volunteer Form on the ALAO website.  

–Megan Mamolen, C2YCLIG Co-Chair, Lakeland Community College
–Ragan Snead, C2YCLIG Co-Chair, Lakeland Community College

 

Distance Learning Interest Group News 

Who Among Your Colleagues Is a “Distance Learning Visionary”? 

The Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) wishes to recognize and commend visionary librarians in distance learning who promote equitable access to library resources and services.  Who among your colleagues is implementing creative solutions, conducting studies, or coordinating programs in distance library services and learning?  

ALAO’s Distance Learning Interest Group (DLIG) invites nominations for the 2021 “Distance Learning Visionary.”  

To Nominate: 

Nomination applications should include:

(1) a 250-500 word essay that demonstrates the nominee’s contributions to distance learning at an Ohio institution
(2) a brief presentation proposal to suggest what the nominee might share with colleagues at the 2021 DLIG workshop.

Links to relevant supporting materials are encouraged.  Self-nomination or group nominations are permitted. 

Visionary Benefits: 

 Awarded honor of being named the 2021 Distance Learning Visionary.

Recognition at the 2021 ALAO Annual Conference, as well as on the ALAO Website, ALAO Newsletter, and the DLIG Blog. 

Monetary grant of $150.00 to present at the 2021 DLIG workshop. (Please note that the funds are contingent upon the grantee presenting in person, remotely, or via pre-recorded session.) 

For complete details and submission guidelines, please see the Distance Learning Visionary Research/Project and Presentation Grant website at https://www.alaoweb.org/page-1111901 or email the DLIG Co-Chairs, Kayla Hennis and Jessica Long, at  dlig-chairs@alaoweb.org

Applications are due by January 30, 2021. 

–Kayla Hennis, DLIG Co-Chair, Wright State University 
–Jessica Long, DLIG Co-Chair, Miami University Middletown

 

Special Collections and Archives Interest Group News

The Special Collections and Archives Interest Group (SCAIG) met on October 30th at the ALAO Annual Conference for an informal discussion of how our institutions and departments have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and adapted to the new situation.  We are starting to plan the annual workshop, which will be held virtually in 2021. If you are interested in serving on the planning committee, please contact the co-chairs.

Look for a save-the-date early in the new year!

-Rachel Makarowski, Special Collections and Archives IG Co-Chair, Miami University
-Henry Handley, Special Collections and Archives IG Co-Chair, University of Dayton

 

Scholarly Communications Interest Group News

Change in Leadership

The Scholarly Communications Interest Group recently welcomed Drew Balduff as SCIG co-chair for the 2020-2022 term. This position was formerly held by Mark Clemente of Case Western Reserve University. Drew currently serves as Electronic Resources Librarian and interim College Librarian for Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Findlay. He will work with Heather Crozier, fellow SCIG co-chair, to implement professional development opportunities for ALAO community members.

Emerging Trends in Scholarly Communications Series

Beginning in Spring 2021, SCIG plans to host a workshop or panel centered on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) erasure in scholarly communications and what we as information professionals can do to ameliorate white privilege in the field. As noted by Alice Meadows in a September 2020 post to The Scholarly Kitchen, it is absolutely necessary we begin (or continue) to engage scholarly communications with social equity initiatives. The SCIG co-chairs will ensure this event provides participants with action steps for building and sustaining an anti-racist scholarly publishing ecosystem at one’s institution.

Another workshop or panel currently under development will involve academics who currently practice multimodal scholarship and/or composition. This event will explore various aspects of multimodal publishing and discuss how librarians can become active participants in the process.

Stay up to date on SCIG professional development opportunities by subscribing to our listserv. Please send an email to scig+subscribe@alaoweb.org if you are interested. 

Additional Plans for 2021-2022

The SCIG co-chairs hope to build a web-based “scholarly communications toolkit” for ALAO members using Google Sites. Stay tuned for more info!

–Drew Balduff, SCIG Co-Chair, University of Findlay
–Heather Crozier, SCIG Co-Chair, Ohio Northern University

 

STEM Interest Group News

During fall 2020, the STEM Interest Group has focused on providing support to STEM librarians through a variety of activities. Our monthly Open Discussions Forum continued to offer an opportunity to chat with colleagues across Ohio. The Round Table at the Annual Conference provided an opportunity to discuss how the pandemic impacted the collection development, reference, teaching, and outreach activities for STEM librarians and shared strategies to cope and build resilience. Back in October, STEMIG also hosted a webinar on tools and best practices for creating instructional videos.  The webinar featured speakers Nathanael Davis of Cedarville University and Zach Sharrow from the College of Wooster. The video recording of the webinar is available at https://youtu.be/KTyX5ZtLdQw and the slides are available on the STEMIG Events page on ALAO’s website. 

–Daniela Solomon, STEM IG Co-Chair, Case Western Reserve University 
–Zach Sharrow, STEM IG Co-Chair, College of Wooster

Posted in Vol. 38 no. 4 (Dec 2020) | Tagged | Leave a comment

People & Library News

Posted on December 11, 2020 by anitaslack

Bryant & Stratton College News

Joseph Dudley presented EASY RDA FOR COPY CATALOGING at the BSC Librarians’ Annual Meeting on August 27, 2020.

—Joseph Dudley, Bryant & Stratton College

Case Western Reserve University News

The Kelvin Smith Library (Case Western Reserve University) welcomed 2 new people in October:

  • Josie Cotton, Library Assistant Access and Delivery Services.
  • Emily Rich, Library Assistant Access and Delivery Services

–Brian C. Gray, Case Western Reserve University

Posted in Vol. 38 no. 4 (Dec 2020) | Tagged | Leave a comment

President’s Report

Posted on September 15, 2020 by anitaslack

2020 Conference Update

Mandi Goodsett, ALAO President

I’m excited to give an update on the conference planning process for the 2020 ALAO Conference! The Conference Planning Committee has been hard at work putting together a conference that allows for networking, lots of learning opportunities, and time to honor our colleagues for their hard work.

If you haven’t registered yet, the early bird deadline for ALAO members is September 25th! The early bird cost is only $25 for members, and the conference is free for students. We are also offering scholarships, and applications are due on September 15th. All of the registration and scholarship information can be found on the conference website. We would love for you to join us!

Since our last update, we have scheduled a short orientation session for those new to ALAO on Wednesday 10/28 at 7pm, as well as a trivia social event for registrants on Thursday 10/29 at 7pm. There will also be an awards ceremony during the lunch hour on Thursday 10/29. In addition, we chose our conference service project for this year – Dress for Success is an organization that serves women by providing clothes and other tools to seek economic independence. Since we can no longer collect clothing donations in person, we encourage you to give a monetary donation to this important cause on the conference homepage.

I would like to especially thank this year’s Conference Planning Committee for going above and beyond in their hard work and planning for this year’s conference. In these stressful and chaotic times, this year’s conference is a special opportunity for us to connect with our colleagues and share our good ideas. I hope to see you there!

Register to attend the ALAO Annual Conference, October 28-30 

The 2020 conference will take place online and consist of a selection of engaging workshops, live keynote sessions, pre-recorded presentations, and interactive poster sessions. As in years’ past, a pre-conference will kick off the event.

Register by September 25 on the conference website for early-bird pricing – only $25 for members and free for students! Conference registration deadline is October 16.

Pre-Conference (Oct. 28) events include:

  • A session led by Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, ACRL’s 2019 Librarian of the Year, called “Renewal: Promoting Civility and Self-Care in (Academic) Libraries” that will help attendees explore frameworks, outcomes, and emerging countermeasures of low morale in order to promote authentic civility in the workplace (additional cost, limited to 30 attendees).
  • A FREE afternoon workshop on anti-racism in action in the library profession. The workshop will be facilitated by Ione Damasco, Director of Information Acquisition & Organization at the University of Dayton.

Conference (Oct. 29 & 30) events include:

  • Opening keynote address by Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Executive Director of the Mid-Hudson Library System, focusing on the role of libraries in supporting resiliency and sustainability in our communities.
  • Closing keynote address by Nancy Kirkpatrick, Executive Director and CEO of OhioNET, about change management and building healthy organizations.
  • A choice of 20 pre-recorded, informative, and inspirational breakout sessions from your colleagues in Ohio and surrounding states (program available soon).
  • Approximately 20 virtual poster sessions to browse.
  • Opportunities to network and connect with colleagues virtually.

ALAO thanks our conference sponsors for allowing us to keep registration costs low!

Registration Rates:

Pre-Conference: “Renewal: Promoting Civility and Self-Care in (Academic) Libraries

  • $50 ALAO/MiALA Members only (limited to 30 participants)


Pre-Conference: “From Being To Doing: Anti-racism as Action at Work”

  • FREE (but registration required)


Conference Early Bird (until September 25): 

  • $25 ALAO/MiALA Members
  • $30 Non ALAO Members
  • $10 ALAO Retirees
  • FREE Current LIS students


Regular Rates (After September 25):

  • $30 ALAO/MiALA Members
  • $35 Non ALAO Members
  • $15 ALAO Retirees
  • FREE Current LIS students

To register, or for more information, visit: https://2020.alaoweb.org/

We look forward to seeing you in October! #alao2020

 

2020 Executive Board Retreat Report

The 2020 Executive Board held its annual retreat on Friday, July 31st, 2020. Unlike previous retreats, this year’s retreat was completely online, but that didn’t prevent us from having productive conversations, sharing ideas, and training new Board members. Every year, the board retreat is an opportunity for the newly formed Board to conduct strategic planning for the year ahead, and this year we took the chance to re-examine our 2019-2024 ALAO Strategic Focus Areas and Objectives.

Focus 1: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Goal: ALAO will exemplify equity, diversity, and inclusion in daily practices, foster those practices in its membership, and position members to become effective advocates on important issues facing the profession.

Focus 2: Expanding our Horizons

Goal: ALAO will position itself as a regional leader for an array of professional development activities, expanding and innovating upon its well-revered suite of programming.

Focus 3: Efficient and Purposeful

Goal: ALAO will build upon partnerships, management best practices, and sound organizational strategy to refine practices that position ALAO as current, efficient, and valuable.

We will be especially focusing on areas 1 and 2 in the coming year, and the Board identified several projects in these areas to channel our energy. As specific goals in these areas are formulated in the next couple of months, we’ll keep you updated on the projects that we will tackle.

 

Posted in Vol. 38 no. 3 (Sept 2020) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Past President’s Report

Posted on September 15, 2020 by anitaslack

Call for Nominations: Jay Ladd Distinguished Service and Kathryn Venditti Mentoring Awards

The ALAO Awards Committee is now accepting nominations for the 2020 Jay Ladd

Katy Mathuews, Past President

Distinguished Service Award and the Kathryn Venditti Mentoring Award.

The Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award recognizes an individual who has:

  1. been an Academic Library Association of Ohio member for at least 5 years
  2. promoted academic libraries and librarianship on his or her own campus and within the state
  3. provided sustained leadership in the promotion of Academic Library Association of Ohio, e.g., committee service, interest group chair, position on the Executive Board

Additional information about the Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award is available at https://www.alaoweb.org/aboutalao/jay-ladd-award.php.

Please submit nominations for the Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award through the Jay Ladd Online Nomination Form.

The Kathryn Venditti Mentoring Award recognizes an individual who has:

  1. demonstrated excellence as a mentor to a librarian, library worker, or library science student
  2. a sustained record of effective mentorship, as demonstrated by activities that may include but not be limited to advising, developing, coaching, sponsoring, advocating, guiding, and/or supporting librarians, library workers, or library students

Additional information about the Kathryn Venditti Mentoring Award is available at https://www.alaoweb.org/Venditti-Award.

Please submit nominations for the Kathryn Venditti Mentoring Award through the Kathryn Venditti Online Nomination Form.

NOTE: You may nominate more than one person for each award! Your reasons for nominating your candidate(s) will be especially valuable to the Awards Committee so please be as detailed as possible.

Please submit your nominations by Friday, September 25, 2020

Questions? Please contact Katy Mathuews, ALAO Past President and Awards Committee chair at mathuews@ohio.edu

Posted in Vol. 38 no. 3 (Sept 2020) | Tagged , | Leave a comment