AAAS Annual Meeting 2017: report from the ALA Liaison

Posted on March 7, 2017 by anitaslack

The American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting, held February 16-20, 2017 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts, focused on “Serving Society through Science Policy.”  Evidence-based science policy has always been essential for a healthy, prosperous, and just society.  Meeting, as we were, just weeks after the inauguration of President Trump and literally on the day that the Senate confirmed climate-change denier Scott Pruitt as EPA administrator, sparked a new urgency among conferees to “speak up science.”  Nearly every session I attended, as the American Library Association liaison to AAAS, made mention of the critical need to effectively communicate science research to the public.  Working productively with Congress and federal agencies, amid unease and uncertainty regarding anticipated changes in administrative policies, was a repeated theme.

That unease was brought to the open in the Rally to Stand Up for Science held on Saturday, Feb. 18 at Copley Square.  The rally was not sponsored by AAAS, but hundreds of conference goers left the Hynes Center to march a block north, where scientists, advocates and science enthusiasts listened to speeches and voiced their approval.

Plenary lectures and selected other live-streamed events are archived online, open access, for public perusal.  I highly recommend “The Scientist as Sentinel” by Naomi Oreskes, author of Merchants of Doubt: how a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming (co-authored with Erik M. Conway).

Beyond the high-profile plenary lectures and rally, there were dozens of symposia – panel sessions of brilliant people, talking about gene editing, climate science, honey bees, social responsibility, implicit bias in STEM education, the perils of newsfeed algorithms in social media, the ability of “super sharers” in Twitter to perpetuate fake news, teaching critical evaluation skills through editing Wikipedia, and a packed session on using Reddit to communicate science directly to the public, to name just a few.  We heard that Reddit is the 7th most popular website in America, that 60% of its traffic comes from mobile devices, and that the majority of Reddit users rely on it as their primary news source.  Scientists in the audience were given a brief tutorial on hosting an effective AMA (Ask Me Anything) on reddit.com/r/science – a platform with 1400 moderators, with strict posting and commenting rules.

AAAS again paid the meeting registration fee for 30 librarians, and I facilitated the session for sponsored librarians and anyone else interested in attending.  We heard presentations from AAAS staff and lightning talks from colleagues.  The slideshow from that session is posted on Slideshare.

The mood at AAAS regarding likely decreases in federal funding for fundamental science research, potential loss of access to science data on federal websites, and perceived threats to scientific integrity in the Trump administration led me to collaborate with Joseph Straw, ALAO Government Relations Liaison, to write a letter in support of science and evidence-based policy from ALAO members to the White House.  As of March 2, 2017, that letter was co-signed by more than 90 members.  The letter, with its signatures, will be sent to the White House on March 6, 2017.

Related news stories

http://www.journalism.org/2016/05/26/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2016/

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change-denier-scott-pruitt-epa-appointment-unprecedented-assault-environment-protection-a7566946.html

-Alison Ricker, ALAO Procedures Manual Coordinator, Oberlin College

Posted in Vol. 35 no. 1 (March 2017) | Leave a comment

Notes from the Trenches: Anecdotes and Best Practices from the Library World

Posted on March 7, 2017 by anitaslack

Adding Theses and Dissertations from OhioLINK to our bepress Digital Commons IR, CORE Scholar

This past summer, 1,443 Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) were uploaded to CORE Scholar. We had talked about adding the ETDs for nearly a year, and decided Summer 2016 was the time for this massive undertaking. Fears of having to download each paper from the OhioLINK ETD Center permeated our thoughts and drove our workflow toward finding a way for automation. I know several schools are eyeing their ETDs for inclusion in their repository, and I hope this short explanation of our process can help those who can’t quite figure out how to undertake such a giant project. Please note, however, that these instructions are specific to a Digital Commons repository. Below is our process:

Step 1 – Request the Metadata

Request the metadata from OhioLINK. It gets sent to you as a massive spreadsheet. There are probably fields you don’t need, and several fields you’ll have to play with to fit your repository’s schema.

Step 2 – Tests

Bepress provides a demo site/sandbox for all Digital Commons users. We were able to figure out a few things using our Demo Site. First, uploading one record at a time, besides being incredibly laborious, would not allow us to simply import the record from the OhioLINK site. However, we were able to import the ETD via a batch upload spreadsheet. This led to our second breakthrough.

Each ETD has a unique identifier, called the Accession Number, which was included in the metadata given to us by OhioLINK. By adding “https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=” before the Accession number, and “&disposition=inline” after the Accession number, one has created the direct URL to the document. Luckily, as I said, the batch upload tool in Digital Commons allows for the import of the document. By adding a column with the first part before the Accession Number, and one with the last part after the Accession Number, we were able to merge all three cells to create the direct link to the document. Read, we did not have to download each ETD. We simply needed to merge three columns. That’s it.

Step 3 – Metadata cleanup

This past spring, a volunteer came to us seeking experience working with Institutional Repositories. She was a huge help in the metadata cleanup process. Capitalizing titles, merging columns, adding consistent keywords, disciplines, department names, etc. We downloaded ASAP Utilities, a wonderful add-in for Microsoft Excel, which helped her accomplish a large chunk of the cleanup quickly and concisely.

Our volunteer left in April, putting this project on hold until June. In the meantime, we investigated OpenRefine. Using OpenRefine for this project was a lifesaver. It detects duplicates, clusters information to find inconsistencies, has a plethora of faceting and editing tools, and is an all-around powerful software for data cleanup. I’m nowhere near an expert, and have yet to completely implement all of OpenRefine’s tools, but what I did use was incredibly helpful both in speed and consistency of data.

Step 4 – Uploading

It was time to actually push the upload of our ETDs. Early on, we had decided that our ETDs would go into one container, and would then be sorted by department into smaller collections. This made the upload process that much easier.

I ran into two snags during the upload process. First, DON’T TRY TO UPLOAD 1443 RECORDS AT ONCE. That is a terrible idea. After learning my lesson, I uploaded the records in batches of 100. This helped speed up the process, and if I got an error, it was much easier to fix. Second, Digital Commons does not allow HTML entities in the Title or Abstract fields in a batch upload. And we had A LOT of HTML entities. Thankfully, find and replace took care of most of that cleanup.

I am confident that adding our Theses and Dissertations to CORE Scholar has increased the visibility of the ETDs and has highlighted the unique research being performed at Wright State University. To date, the ETDs have been downloaded over 23,000 times.

If you have any questions about our workflow, CORE Scholar, the ETDs, etc., please don’t hesitate to contact me.

-Elisabeth Shook, Second Year Board Member, Wright State University

Posted in Vol. 35 no. 1 (March 2017) | Tagged | 1 Comment

Mentorship Program Call for Participants

Posted on March 7, 2017 by anitaslack

The Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) Professional Development Committee (PDC) is excited to announce this Call for Participation in our Mentorship Program for 2017-18.

We invite people interested in being mentors and mentees to complete the registration form: https://goo.gl/forms/MgAVt7sHiiR6Unf12. Forms are due March 31st, 2017.

Who Can Be a Mentee?

Everyone is welcome to be a mentee, whether you are a student, a newly minted professional, or a more seasoned librarian. This is a great opportunity to connect with someone in the field who will work with you to develop your career.

Who Can Be a Mentor?

We welcome mentors from all levels of professional experience in academic libraries. Mentoring offers a meaningful way to engage with a colleague, be a supportive listener, and help them identify and achieve their professional goals.

Interested in Both?

If you are interested in both mentoring someone and being mentored, simply submit the form twice—once for your preferences as a mentee and once for your preferences as a mentor.

Program Overview

The PDC will pair mentors and mentees in June, 2017. We will host a Meet-n-Greet social event in August at the State Library of Ohio where mentoring pairs can get together in a fun, informal setting. If you can’t make it to Columbus for the event, mentoring pairs will schedule a first meet-up at a time/place convenient for them.

During the 2017-18 year, mentoring pairs are free to arrange times to talk or meet in person as fits their needs. Some pairs might be able to catch up at the ALAO conference in October, 2017. The Mentorship Program runs through April of 2018.

Questions?

Please email:

–Miriam Matteson, Co-Chair Professional Development Committee, Kent State University

–Judy Carey Nevin, Co-Chair Professional Development Committee, Ohio University Lancaster

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2016 Research Grant Recipients

Posted on March 7, 2017 by anitaslack

Studies K12 Libraries – Katy Mathuews

College-readiness is of increasing importance in an environment of outcomes-based higher education funding that emphasizes student retention and graduation rates. The school library environment experienced by students during their K-12 educational years may have a direct impact on the students’ success in their academic library in the higher education environment. Using the 2016 ALAO Grant Award, Mathuews seeks to understand the physical environment, information literacy support, and staffing that students have access to in the K-12 years and how these factors might shape the students’ perception of the value and usefulness of academic libraries in higher education. Exploring these perceptions will help bridge the gap between K-12 schools and colleges and universities in the effort to increase students’ college readiness.

The study will allow for visits to each school district in Appalachian Scioto County, OH including Clay Schools, Sciotoville Community School, Green Local Schools, Minford Local Schools, Northwest School District, Notre Dame School District, Portsmouth City Schools, Bloom Vernon School District, Valley Local School District, West-Nile Local School District, Wheelersburg Local Schools, and the Career Techonology Center. Scioto County was chosen due to the high incidence of poverty in the county. In Scioto County, approximately 60% of children under 6 years old are classified as low-income or in poverty. The study interviewer will take pictures of the physical environment and make general observations about size and condition of the collection, computers available, among others factors. The interviewer will also present basic information-gathering questions to the school media specialist, librarian or other school official noting availability of support staff, types of assignments, and resources offered.

Mathuews was able to use grant money to hire early career librarian Zachary Lewis to complete the site visits and interviews and to help analyze the data. Lewis is the Access Services Librarian at Shawnee State University, located in Scioto County. The grant award covers travel costs and analysis work. To date, Mathuews and Lewis have visited 7 schools with plans to visit the remaining schools by June 2017. The project also allows Lewis to make connections for future collaborations with local K12 librarians to support student success. Early findings highlight several similarities and differences involving freshman library orientation, use of electronic sources, and access to the library space and staff. Mathuews and Lewis look forward to sharing results of the study at future conferences.

Surveying for College of Engineering – Tammy Stitz

A survey for College of Engineering faculty members and another survey for engineering graduate students were developed to explore curricular and advisor support in reviewing the literature and writing the results for student theses or dissertations.  The Research Grant from Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) provided an incentive for survey respondents.  Fifteen faculty members won a $25.00 Amazon gift card, and nine graduate students  won a $20.00 Amazon gift card.

In April 2016, an email containing the hyperlinks to the Qualtrics surveys was sent to the secretaries and administrative assistants in the biomedical, civil, computer and electrical, and mechanical engineering departments.  Twenty percent of the graduate students and 21% of the faculty responded.  Albeit a small sample, the number of respondents was greatly increased from previous survey attempts of this population, and the results indicated a need for targeted library services.

The data revealed that often individual graduate advisors must teach students how to perform and write a literature review.  Nearly all of the faculty respondents perceived that the students needed help in knowing how to synthesize information and in using in-text citations properly.  Twelve percent of graduate students indicated they needed writing assistance.  In addition, 64% of faculty indicated that students did not know where to start in finding literature, and 62% of the student respondents agreed that they need help knowing what to search to find the most literature.  Seventy-three percent of the faculty perceived that students needed assistance in determining if a reference is scholarly.  The students found organizing and formatting their references most important.  Seventy percent of students wanted assistance with reference management.  A small percentage of students and faculty did not think the students needed help.

-Elisabeth Shook, Co-Chair Research and Publications Committee, Wright State University
-Eboni Johnson, Co-Chair Research and Publications Committee, Oberlin College

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Membership Update

Posted on March 7, 2017 by anitaslack

ALAO is proud to report that we are 337 members strong, including 314 regular members, 4 retiree members, and 19 students, as reported at the Executive Board meeting on February 24, 2017. We are excited to welcome our newest members:

  • Carla Myers, Miami University
  • Jennifer Vinopal, Ohio State University
  • Jenna Nolt, Kenyon College
  • Kristina Schulz, University of Dayton
  • Eugene Rutigliano, Ohio Wesleyan University
  • Laurie Willis, Baldwin Wallace University
  • James Layden, Ohio Dominican University
  • Mark Konecny, University of Cincinnati

As we move into spring, ALAO will also be hosting many interest group workshops. The interest group workshops are an affordable way to meet with fellow ALAO members to discuss and learn about focused topics. Our interest group membership is quite robust, as evidenced below:

Interest Group Number of Members
Assessment 155
Collection Management 188
Curriculum Materials Center 109
Distance Learning 161
Instruction 322
Special Collections and Archives 153
Support Staff 87
Technical, Electronic, and Digital Services 234

In addition to access to interest groups, ALAO members are eligible to apply for grants and awards that support research, continuing education, diversity initiatives, and recognize excellence in the profession. Check out www.alaoweb.org or contact Katy Mathuews at  to learn more about the benefits of ALAO membership.

-Katy Mathuews, Membership Chair, Ohio University

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Legislative News

Posted on March 7, 2017 by anitaslack

ALAO has budgeted up to $600 for travel support for a member willing to represent ALAO and academic libraries generally at ALA National Library Legislative Days on May 1-2 2017 in Washington, D.C. Please review this information about the conference from the ALA Washington Office. Please contact Joseph Straw as soon as possible if you are interested in representing ALAO. Please provide a current resume, a brief description of your advocacy activity with ALAO or other civic organizations, and the name and phone number of a reference that is familiar with your advocacy efforts or interest. For more information about the grant please review this description from the ALAO website. Anyone interested in getting more involved in advocacy efforts is urged to apply. The ALAO representatives will be part of the Ohio delegation at the conference that will meet with members of the state congressional delegations and/or staffs.

-Joe Straw, Government Relations Liaison, Marietta College

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Interest Groups News

Posted on March 7, 2017 by anitaslack

Assessment Interest Group Spring Workshop: May 19

AIG’s spring workshop “Using Assessment to Reshape and Rethinking Service Models” will be held at the Miami University Voice of America Center on Friday, May 19.  Registration is now open at: https://www.alaoweb.org/event-2454882

The workshop will focus on how assessment can be used constructively to look at current service models, determine what is working (and what is not), and to think about how to make changes going forward. Featured speakers will be Laurie Willis and Charles Vesei from Baldwin Wallace University who will lead attendees in thinking about revamping the reference desk. Expect to leave this workshop full of ideas about using assessment towards positive and meaningful change!

Schedule

  • 9-10am Registration and Continental Breakfast
  • 10-12pm Keynote on Redesigning Reference
  • 12pm-1pm Lunch (provided)
  • 1pm-3pm Afternoon Workshop on Project Design
  • 3pm: Closing and After-Workshop Networking

Eric Resnis, Co-Chair Assessment Interest Group, Miami University
Melissa Engleman, Co-Chair Assessment Interest Group, Denison University

 

Curriculum Materials Center IG

The CMC Interest Group is seeking members interested in leadership of our interest group. Our current co-chairs are completing their terms of commitment. If you are interested in leading this interest group into the new academic year, please contact Desiree Fuerst, fuerst.25@osu.edu.  We are also in search of workshop or networking opportunity for the CMCIG.

-Desiree Fuerst, Co-Chair Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group, The Ohio State University-Newark
-Deidra Herring, Co-Chair Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group, The Ohio State University

 

Distance Learning IG News

2017 DLIG Visionary Award
The co-chairs of the Distance Learning Interest Group of ALAO are delighted to announce the recipient of this year’s Distance Learning Visionary Award.

Dr. Beate Gersch is the Coordinator of Instruction Services and the Bibliography and Undergraduate Outreach Librarian at the University of Akron Libraries.

She earned her Ph.D. in Media Studies from the University of Oregon in 2003 and later turned librarian, graduating from Kent State University, School of Library and Information Science in 2011.  She brings an interesting perspective of media, power, and culture to librarianship.  She focuses on information literacy instruction, especially in digital environments.  Dr. Gersch has taught face to face courses and online.  She recently joined the Part-time Faculty of KSU School of Library and Information Science in 2016 with a concentration on Information Literacy Initiatives and Instruction.

She has presented internationally at ACRL, LOEX, DLS, and IFLA on topics such as archival research, collaboration, the Framework, library outreach with students and administrators, and assessment of academic libraries’ web pages.  She has published book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers on these same topics.  She recognizes the importance of intercultural communication as it relates to information literacy instruction as well as collaboration within the university and assessing impact.

Dr. Gersch will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming DLIG Workshop on Friday June 9, 2017 at the Voice of America Learning Center of Miami University, West Chester, Ohio.

DLIG Workshop Friday, June 9, 2017, 9:30 – 4:00
VOALC, Miami University, West Chester, OH
Please save the date and plan to register for the DLIG Workshop in Southwest Ohio.  This year’s theme is Bridging the Distance in Distance Librarianship:  Meeting the Needs of Today’s Online Learners.  Our keynote speaker will be Dr. Beate Gersch who will address intercultural aspects in online information literacy instruction.

For questions about the workshop, please contact DLIG co-chairs, Kristin Cole,  or Beth Tumbleson.

-Kristin Cole, Co-Chair Distance Learning Interest Group, Muskingum University
-Beth Tumbleson, Co-Chair Distance Learning Interest Group, Miami University Middleton

 

 Instruction IG

Registration is now open for the Instruction Interest Group’s Spring Workshop “Learning From Experience: Sharing Applied Threshold Concept Methods in Instruction” on April 20th at the State Library of Ohio. IIG’s Spring Workshop offers a variety of differentIIG Spring Workshop sessions on ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Come with your questions about the new Framework and leave with great ideas and tips. Register at the following link: https://www.alaoweb.org/event-2484443

Check out Health Sciences Subject Librarian Hannah Schmillen’s “Library Instruction Nirvana vs. Library Instruction Reality: Balancing & Prioritizing Instruction Strategies, Reflections by a New Librarian” published on the IIG Blog. Visit the IIG Blog to read Hannah’s post and to find out how you can become a guest blogger: https://alaoinstructionig.wordpress.com/.

–Mark Eddy, Co-Chair Instruction Interest Group, Case Western Reserve Universtiy
-Dana Knott, Co-Chair Instruction Interest Group, Columbus State Community College

Special Collections and Archives Interest Group 2017 workshop: Preserving Scrapbooks in the Archives

SCAig is excited to present this year’s workshop, Preserving Scrapbooks in the Archives with Jennifer Hain Teper. The workshop will be held on Friday, June 9, 2017, 9:30 am–4:30 pm at the University of Dayton’s Roesch Library. The day will include tours of UD’s archives and special collections, lunch, and networking.

This workshop has been generously supported by the Midwest Archives Conference Speaker’s Bureau program—we thank them for their support of archival education in the Midwest.

Scrapbooks in the Archives will present the different structures and preservation challenges of historic scrapbooks often found in archival collections. After understanding common challenges, participants will be introduced to different simple methods to assist with handling and long-term storage of these valuable and unique artifacts. Attendees are encouraged to bring scrapbooks that present preservation challenges in their own collections for discussion.

Workshop instructor Jennifer Hain Teper serves as the Velde Preservation Librarian at thescaig presenter University of Illinois Libraries overseeing conservation, collections care, digital preservation, and digitization services throughout the library system. Before her current position began in 2009, she served as the head of conservation at the UL Libraries from 2001–2008. Jennifer graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a MLIS and Certificate of Advanced Study in the Conservation and Preservation of Library and Archival Materials. She teaches several preservation and conservation related courses in the Graduate School of Information Science at Illinois and also serves as an instructor at the International Preservation Studies Center (formerly the Campbell Center).

Look for registration to open in early April. Please visit https://www.alaoweb.org/scaig for more information.  Registration will be $20 for members of ALAO or MAC or students, $25 for nonmembers, and will include lunch and breaks. Registration capped at 30.

An optional equipment fee will pay for supplies.

Option 1: $30 kit (knife, ruler, Teflon “bone” folder, small awl, Mylar sheet and envelope.)
Option 2: $3.50 kit (Mylar sheet and envelope only)
Option 3: $0 (I already have the equipment or will observe the hands-on portion)

Questions? Contact SCAig cochairs Kate Medicus at kmedicus@kent.edu or Janet Carleton at carleton@ohio.edu. Hope to see you there!

-Kate Medicus, Co-Chair Special Collections and Archives Interest Group, Kent State University
-Janet Carleton, Co-Chair Special Collections and Archives Interest Group, Ohio University

 Support Staff IG  2017 Spring Workshop

Registration is now open for the spring 2017 Workshop: “Discover Your Superpower” in March.

The ALAO Spring Support Staff Workshop will offer a variety of presentations to meet the diverse needs of support staff working in Ohio Academic Libraries. Timothy Winland, BBS, AAMN-Men in Nursing representing the University of Cincinnati will be offering the keynote, “Implementation of Leadership: the Physiological Effects of Change.”

Other presenters are Penny McGinnis, Technical Services Manager and Natalie Winland, Public Services Manager of University of Cincinnati-Clermont College Library sharing a session on identifying which superhero you are and discovering your superpower.

Melanie Blau-McDonald, director of SWON Libraries Consortium will proctor a World Café session that fosters collaborative thinking on the topic of organizational planning and development.

New upcoming co-chair for SSIG

Chasity and I are delighted to announce that Jennine Vlach from the Kelvin Smith Library-Case Western Reserve University will be SSIG’s newest co-chair in July. Welcome aboard Jennine!

-Chasity Gragg, Co-Chair Support Staff Interest Group, Ohio University
-Natalie Winland, Co-Chair Support Staff Interest Group, University of Cincinnati-Clermont College

 

Technical, Electronic, & Digital Services IG

TEDSIG will be co-hosting a workshop with the Collection Management (CMIG) Interest Group for Friday, June 16th at the State Library of Ohio. The workshop will focus on how work in technical services can assist and inform collection managers, and vice-versa. For example, how can the statistics kept in acquisitions and electronic resources assist collection managers in retention and cancellation decisions? How can technical services and collection managers assist each other in examining open access materials, streaming video services, and so on? Speakers will be from Case Western Reserve University, the University of Akron, and OhioLINK, with more details to come.

We will be sending out a call for our 2017 TEDDY nominees later this spring. The TEDDY award recognizes Distinguished Service by an ALAO member in the fields of Technical, Electronic, and Digital Services. Contributions may include service, innovative practices, presentations, publications, and leadership in the profession.  The award includes two waivers to a future TEDSIG event and TEDS, the TEDSIG mascot. Nominees must be current ALAO members who have worked in or are currently working in an Ohio academic library in the area of technical, electronic, or digital services.

TEDSIG will also be soliciting a new co-chair later this spring when Rich Wisneski’s term expires. If you already have a nominee in mind, or which to nominate yourself, please contact Cara Calabrese.

-Rich Wisneski, Co-Chair Technical Electronic & Digital Services Interest Group, Cleveland State University
-Cara Calabrese, Co-Chair Technical Electronic & Digital Services Interest Group, Miami University of Ohio

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People & Library News

Posted on March 7, 2017 by anitaslack

Cedarville University News

Kirsten Setzkorn, Digital Services Specialist at the Cedarville University Centennial Library, earned her Master of Library & Information Science degree from Kent State University in December 2016.  She completed her culminating experience during the fall of 2016 at the Ohio State University Thompson Library. Kirsten graduated from Cedarville in 2013 with a degree in History.

-Julie Deardorff, Cedarville University

 OhioNET News

Registration for OhioNET’s Dive into Data 2 conference opens on March 20th

OhioNET pleased to announce that registration for our next day-long, multi-type conference–Dive into Data 2: New Skills, New Depths–is set to open on Monday, March 20th.  Remember to mark your calendars to join us at the event itself on Thursday, July 20th at the Fawcett Center for a day of practical advice and relevant examples to help you create effective research projects.  Our day will feature 3 learning tracks, each focused on a different type of research goal (visioning, decision-making, or evaluating).  Additionally, our schedule will include both a Real-Life Research Case Study Panel, with participants describing different features of their research processes, and Real-Time Research Projects, featuring various data-collection methods that will be conducted on the day of the event. Our wrap-up session will include a presentation of the results and options for visualizing the data collected.

Finally, we’re thrilled to announce the addition of a student registration option for this event.  This offer will be open to anyone currently enrolled in a library/information science degree program. Got questions?  Please don’t hesitate to contact Shelly Miller.

-Shelly Miller, First Year Board Member, OhioNET

University of Toledo News

Artist’s Showcase at the University of Toledo’s Mulford Library

In 2005 the Mulford librarians at the University of Toledo hosted an event to provide a creative outlet for students, faculty and staff of the university’s Health Science Campus (HSC). Now in its 12th year, the HSC Artist’s Showcase has become a popular event. This year’s show will contain nearly 60 works — paintings, drawings, photographs and university of toledo art showmultimedia pieces. The event includes a reception with light refreshments, and in the past has been accompanied by lectures that draw connections between art and medicine. In addition to bringing awareness of the artistic talents of fellow students and colleagues with the show, the hope is that the lectures will stimulate inquiry, dialogue and critical thinking by bringing together individuals from various departments and disciplines. Past topics include the importance of anatomy to art, medical illustration, art and creative wellness, and the impact of eye disease on painters. This year, in lieu of the lecture there will be an art scavenger hunt, and attendees will have a chance to win books on art and medicine.

The Artist’s Showcase has proven to be a successful means of reaching out to the UT community, as well as a way to engage interested individuals from the Toledo community at large. It has been suggested many times that the show be expanded to include the main campus, but the Mulford librarians prefer to keep the event intimate and easily manageable. Outside of the initial outlay for the art panels and accoutrements, the usual costs for refreshments and honoraria or giveaways are minimal, as is the amount of work required of the librarians (typically three or four) who are involved in the planning and set up of the show. Once the artwork was collected, the entire show was assembled in two hours.

Art shows have been around libraries for quite some time, and many have gallery spaces. But these have typically served as vehicles for artists of some repute, often not from the nearby community. If your library is looking for an alternative means of getting in touch with students, faculty, staff, and members of the surrounding community, an amateur art show such as this may be suitable.

-Gerald Natal, First Year Board Member, University of Toledo

Wright State University News

Maureen Barry, First Year Experience Librarian at Wright State University, has recently partnered with a mentoring program for 30 fourth- through seventh-grade girls in Dayton, the On Purpose Girls.  The Program Director for OPG, Kim Jarvis, was seeking Barry Wright Statesomeone to create a small library for the program and Maureen was in the right place at the right time.  She volunteered to create the library, and immediately began seeking age-appropriate fiction books that featured strong female characters and people of color, along with other non-fiction and reference books.  Friends and colleagues from all over the country have donated books for the library based on a wish list that Maureen maintains through Amazon.com.  The On Purpose Girls Community Library celebrated its Grand Opening on January 11, and is located in the Aspire Church in Dayton, where the OPG Mentoring Program meets weekly.  As a result of the partnership, Maureen also started a book club for the girls.

-Maureen Barry, Wright State University

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Annual Conference Report

Posted on December 7, 2016 by anitaslack
O15513 Kristy McDonald

Krista McDonald President

I hope everyone enjoyed the 2016 Annual Conference and Preconference. I would like to extend special thanks to our keynote speaker, Courtney Greene McDonald, and UX workshop leader Ben Woods for joining our conference under difficult circumstances. Both of these speakers stepped into their roles with less than four weeks to prepare for their sessions when our previously scheduled speaker abruptly cancelled. They, along with Jerry Hensley and L. Scott Lissner, who led our preconference workshop on accessibility in academic libraries, anchored an excellent slate of programs on user experience.

Please join me in congratulating the recipients of the following ALAO awards presented at the 2016 conference:

Support Staff Presenter Grant Rosha Hester
Continuing Ed grant Richard Wisneski

Donald Pearson
Research grant Katy Mathuews

Tammy Stitz
Diversity Scholarship Dierric Rogers
DLIG Visionary Sara Klink
TEDdy C. Rockelle Strader
Kathryn Venditti Kathryn Venditti
Jay Ladd Julie Deardorff

Let’s also congratulate Ken Irwin, recipient of the 2016 People’s Choice Poster Award, for his poster, “Citation Tetris: A Library Skills Training Game.”

As has been recent past practice, we are gathering session materials and making them available to the ALAO membership via the members only area of the ALAO website. After logging in, you should see links to the presentation materials from the 2016 conference and several past conferences as well. Materials continue to be added as we receive them from presenters. If you presented and still need to submit your content, please email ALAO webmaster Joe Dudley at jmdudley@bryantstratton.edu.

Krista McDonald, President, Miami University Hamilton

Posted in Vol. 34 no. 4 (Dec 2016) | Tagged , | Leave a comment

2017 ALAO Nomination for Elected Office

Posted on December 7, 2016 by anitaslack

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 March/April, and successful candidates will take office at the ALAO Board Retreat this summer. Come join a fantastic group of Ohio librarians!

What does the ALAO Board do?

As the Ohio chapter of ACRL, we have 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 a mentoring program that pairs up Ohio academic librarians for peer-to-peer, inter-generational, leadership, or student mentoring relationships.

  • Perform the duties described for your elected position – see the Procedures Manual for the specific duties and responsibilities of each position
  • Attend the annual two-day retreat (usually in June/July of each year; 2017 dates and location to be determined)
  • Attend up to 4 Board meetings per year (usually on Fridays, at OhioNET)

This year, we will be electing the following officers:

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

Remember that you must be an ALAO member in order to run for office, so this is a perfect time to join or renew.  Join or renew here.

Submit the online nomination form by Friday, February 17, 2016 to be considered as a candidate!

If you have questions, please contact me or another member of the Nominating Committee.

Brian C. Gray, Case Western Reserve University
Katy Mathuews, Ohio University
Eileen Theodore-Shusta, Ohio University
Mandi Goodsett, Cleveland State University

Posted in Vol. 34 no. 4 (Dec 2016) | Tagged , | Leave a comment