ALAO Diversity Scholarship Applications will be Accepted Beginning January 2017

Posted on December 7, 2016 by anitaslack

ALAO values diversity in its membership, in the profession, and in future library professionals. For that reason, we offer a $1,500 scholarship to a promising student enrolled in an ALA-accredited MLS program who exemplifies the qualities needed to ensure a diverse library workforce. The scholarship will be applied directly to the recipient’s bursar account for tuition at his or her academic institution. The financial aid package for the recipient may be reduced as a consequence of receiving this award. The ALAO Diversity Student Scholarship recipient will be announced at the ALAO annual conference and will receive a complimentary registration for ALAO’s Annual Conference, along with at least one year of mentorship from a selected ALAO Board Member.

Criteria

A qualified candidate will…

  • Be a full time or part time student enrolled in or recently accepted to an ALA-accredited MLS program, either on campus or via distance education, for the fall term following the call for scholarship applications
  • Currently live in Ohio
  • Demonstrate potential in the field of library and/or information science
  • Demonstrate leadership ability
  • Demonstrate diversity in one or more ways, including, but not limited to: race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, life experience, physical ability
  • Demonstrate commitment to these and other diversity issues

Eileen Theordore-Shusta, Diversity Committee Chair, Ohio University

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Fall 2016 Diversity Workshop

Posted on December 7, 2016 by anitaslack

The Diversity Committee held their day-long workshop, “Outreach: Building Collaborations that Support Campus Diversity,” on Thursday, October 6 at the State Library of Ohio. Thirty librarians from across Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky, representing a variety of libraries and exchanged ideas and best practices for campus and community outreach to promote diversity.  The majority of attendees came from universities and community colleges, but we also saw representatives from public and school libraries.

The workshop opened with a panel of speakers from The Ohio State University’s Thompson Library, who discussed a speaker series that they collaborated to develop. Next, Katy Kelly and Ione Damasco of the University of Dayton presented on two grant-funded series of programs in the humanities. Fannie Cox, traveling from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, provided attendees with information on diversity, recruitment, and engagement at the library.

During the lunch break, while participants networked and compared notes about diversity programming and interests at their home institutions, catering was provided by Freedom a la Cart, a small company local to Columbus that employs and supports survivors of human trafficking.

After the break, the workshop continued with three speakers from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, who discussed their Lunch & Learn diversity program series for students, faculty, and staff. To conclude the day, Katy Matthews provided two presentations, the first focusing on outreach to at-risk first-generation students, and the final program focusing on her work describing the move beyond diversity toward social justice.

Comments included statements such as ‘a great session with a lot of useful information’, ‘presenters were straightforward and honest.  I appreciate when presenters talk about what they learned and what they did better afterwards’; and ‘I was most excited about this session as it is very closely related to work that we are doing at my institution’.

Eileen Theodore-Shusta, Diversity Committee Chair, Ohio University

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ALAO Celebrates New Members at Annual Conference

Posted on December 7, 2016 by anitaslack

ALAO welcomed 67 new members at its annual conference on October 28, 2016. The new members, who joined ALAO since the 2015 annual conference, join a thriving community of 332 members, including 4 retiree and 19 student members.

As we reflect on the annual conference, we look with excitement to our spring interest group workshops. The annual conference and workshops, however, are just a portion of the benefits that come with an ALAO membership. As an ALAO member you 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 mathuews@ohio.edu to learn more about the benefits of ALAO membership.

Katy Mathuews, Membership Chair, Ohio University

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Alison Ricker Serves as ALA Liaison to AAAS

Posted on December 7, 2016 by anitaslack

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting will be held February 16-20, 2017 in Boston.  You may know AAAS primarily as the publisher of Science, that venerable and highly regarded journal that ranks among high-impact journals; see rankings at NIH (some thoughts on the failings of the journal impact factor are at the end of this piece).  As the American Library Association liaison to AAAS, let me tell you more.

AAAS is “an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of all people” and the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society.  Participating in the AAAS Annual Meeting is a remarkable experience for the breadth and depth of the content shared in a relatively manageable venue (typically just two hotels, side by side, instead of the relentless complexity of ALA Annual conferences flung throughout a dozen hotels and cavernous convention sites).  Within the space of a few days, you can learn amazing things in a vast array of scientific research and come away blinking from the brilliance of stellar presentations.  You can also witness the public outreach of AAAS to teachers, students and the public in the enormous popularity of Family Science Days, and benefit from opportunities to network with science writers, science librarians, government officials, policy makers, and the inevitable crowd of exhibitors that support science education and research.  View the program online.
It is an exciting experience, and I am honored to serve in the role of ALA liaison to the AAAS.  Part of that role is facilitating participation by librarians in the annual meeting; every year for at least a decade, AAAS publishing division has sponsored 30 librarians by paying the meeting registration fee for each person. Some sponsored librarians have given poster sessions as well as full session presentations.  This year’s gathering will include an evening reception with Bill Moran, Science publisher.  Contact me if you would like more information: aricker@oberlin.edu.

Regarding the journal impact factor (JIF), a report earlier this year delves into the “opaque” process followed by Thomson Reuters for gathering and analyzing data to determine the JIF.  A research team representing eight publishers and universities developed an alternative method for the process.  John Bohannon summarized the report in “Hate journal impact factors? New study gives you one more reason.” DOI: 10.1126/science.aag0643.  The full research paper appears as a preprint in BioRxiv.

Alison Ricker, Procedures Manual Coordinator, Oberlin College

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Book Review Featuring a Chapter by ALAO’S Own Eboni Johnson

Posted on December 7, 2016 by anitaslack

In Crucible Moments: Inspiring Library Leadership, Steven J. Bell (editor) offers a fresh perspective in the popular leadership literature.  In this collection of personal reflections, contributors reflect on the small, transformative moments that spurred them along the leadership path.  Coming from librarians at various stages in their careers, the book explores the meaning of leadership and explores the various lessons, motivations, and inspirations that have quietly supported their leadership development.  The most valuable offering of the book, however, is the inspiration to reflect on one’s own leadership identity, mindful of one’s own crucible moments and the impact they may have on one’s own leadership path.  Indeed, Crucible Moments approaches leadership as personal growth as much as professional growth.

The book also provides many practical lists and themes to guide the reader on his or her own leadership journey. Each chapter begins by listing takeaways and ends with reflections and key lessons. These prompts provide opportunities to build discussion and guide self-reflection. Though the book is comprised of fifteen unique stories, several themes and practices are repeated throughout the book. The contributors acknowledge that the path to leadership is peppered with uncertainty and challenge. However, they encourage the reader to seize opportunities to grow into leadership. Several practical suggestions are encouraged including lifelong learning, mentorships, leadership programs, and participation in institutional and professional organizations and committees. Further, the importance of self-reflection, mindfulness, and ethics are highlighted as essential to inspiring authentic library leadership.

Members of ALAO will be especially interested to read Eboni Johnson’s leadership journey, including service as vice-president/president-elect of ALAO and, later, as president and past-president, among other roles.  Johnson speaks of the validation that comes with the confidence from and teamwork with peers.  Johnson’s leadership roles also encouraged her to pursue her own passion for encouraging diversity in the profession.  Johnson’s takeaways include using failure as a catalyst for success, facing fears, and using your own philosophy to build a professional legacy.

The book also highlights Char Booth and Trevor A. Dawes, both speakers at the pre-conference sessions of the ALAO annual meeting in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Booth emphasizes the need for self-reflection, expanding upon the process she took to identify as a leader while Dawes writes of the merits of developing a guiding mission to support the learning and leadership development of the self and others.
Indeed, the themes shared by Johnson, Booth, and Dawes align well with the value of participation in ALAO.  Crucible Moments is a wonderful companion to take along on your leadership journey.

References
Bell, S.J. (2016). Crucible moments: Inspiring library leadership. Place: Mission Bell Media.

Katy Mathuews, Membership Chair, Ohio University

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Interest Group Reports

Posted on December 7, 2016 by anitaslack

CMCIG Interest Group News
A small group of CMCIG members gathered for a roundtable discussion at the ALAO conference. We had the opportunity to reconnect with each other and greet new members. Our topics of discussion included education technology; use of social media and digital textbooks. We are continuing to seek input for workshop topics.
Desiree Fuerst, CMCIG Co-Chair, Ohio State University-Newark

Distance Learning Interest Group News
DLIG @ ALAO 2016
The Distance Learning Interest Group (DLIG) had a great turnout for our Round Table discussion at the ALAO Annual Conference on October 28. Thank you for your participation!
We are accepting nominations for the 2017 Distance Learning Visionary award. If you or someone you know has published a paper or solved a problem related to distance learning, please consider nominating them. We ask that you submit a 250-500 word essay that demonstrates the nominee’s contributions and include a brief presentation proposal idea. For complete details and submission guidelines, please see the DLIG Blog at http://distancelibrarians.wordpress.com/dlig-visionary/ or email the DLIG Co-Chairs at ohiodlig@gmail.com.
If you have an idea for a blog post or would like to become involved with DLIG, please contact the co-chairs: Beth Tumbleson, tumleb@miamioh.edu or Kristin Cole, kcole@muskingum.edu
Beth Tumbleson, Miami University
Kristin Cole, Muskingum University Distance Learning Interest Group Co-Chairs

Instruction Interest Group News
The ALAO Instruction Interest Group sponsored “Improving Learner Experience through Creative Library Instructional Design,” presented by Mandi Goodsett from Cleveland State University, at ALAO’s Annual Conference. In her presentation Mandi shared fascinating information about how creativity is wired in the brain and ideas on how to add that creative spark to instruction sessions. To read more about Mandi’s presentation, visit the IIG Blog.

For the IIG Blog, we are interested in hearing from new library instruction librarians and what they have learned about teaching information literacy classes. As a new instruction librarian, what are things you wish you knew when you began? Veteran instructors, what advice do you have for librarians new to teaching? We are also interested in blog posts by librarians from different disciplines, such as first-year experience librarians and science librarians, etc. You can submit a blog proposal here.

IIG has also set the date for its Spring Workshop for Thursday, April 20, at the State Library of Ohio. The workshop will center on adapting library instruction activities to ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Have a cool assignment or approach based on the new Framework? Please consider presenting your ideas at our workshop!
Dana Knott, Columbus State Community College
Mark Eddy, Case Western Reserve University, Instruction Interest Group Co-Chairs

Special Collections and Archives Interest Group News
The Special Collections and Archives interest group of the Academic Library Association of Ohio presents its annual workshop on Friday, June 9, at the University of Dayton.

Preserving Scrapbooks in the Archives with Jennifer Hain Teper is a 4-hour workshop with both hands-on activity and lecture.

The day will include tours of UD’s special collections, lunch, and networking.

Workshop presenter Jennifer Hain Teper serves as Bud Velde Professor of Library Preservation and head, Preservation Services, professor, University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She 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. Before her appointment at the University of Illinois she worked at the University of Texas’ Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, the University of Pittsburgh Library, the New York Botanical Gardens Library, and the University of Kentucky Audio-visual archives. She is also a Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.

This workshop is a part of the Midwest Archives Conference Speaker’s Bureau series, and we thank them for their support of archival education in the Midwest.
Janet Carleton, Ohio University
Kate Medicus, Kent State University, SCAIG Co-Chairs

Support Staff Interest Group News
The group has been working on the Spring 2017 Workshop-Discover Your Superpower for March. The topics will focus on which superhero are you? A take-charge leader, friendly enthusiastic socializer, easygoing, people-oriented relater or analytical, independent thinker? Sessions will include how to maintain and activate your superpower while on the job.
The original keynote speaker, Dr. David Fankhauser will be unable to present. The group sent out an email to all SSIG’s listed as members requesting ideas for a new keynote speaker and session topics.
Suggested topics that came from a very fruitful roundtable discussion at the Annual ALAO meeting were:

1) “Superheroes work best in groups” or “Superhero Teams” – how to work with a wide variety of peers who bring different strengths to the table – any speaker who can talk about understanding people different from ourselves and/or how to communicate effectively including keeping our own ‘voice’
2) Cross training- “It is not us versus them, it is we”
3) “Repairing the Spleen-looking at the small stuff”
4) How to survive layoffs, reclassifications and downsizing?
5) Moral
6) Is it disruption or innovation?
By December 19, 2017 the group should have a firm agenda in place for the workshop.
Chasity Gragg, Ohio University
Natalie Winland, University of Cincinnati-Clermont College, SSIG Co-Chairs

Technical, Electronic, and Digital Services IG ALAO Conference Recap
The Technical, Electronic, and Digital Service Interest Group (TEDSIG) was pleased to award this year’s TEDDY Award to Rocki Strader, Associate Professor in The Ohio State University Libraries, working as Authorities Librarian, Catalog Maintenance Coordinator, and Western Languages Cataloging Coordinator. The TEDDY award recognizes an individual’s significant contributions to the technical, electronic or digital services fields. Contributions may include service, innovative practices, presentations, publications, and leadership in the profession. Rocki served as a former co-chair of TEDSIG 2007-2009, and President of ALAO 2010-2011. Her recommender for the award noted her many contributions to ALAO, publication and conference presentation record, and invaluable state-wide contributions to electronic theses and dissertations cataloging, as well as assistance to those working in technical services as a whole. TEDSIG congratulates Rocki Strader.

As a footnote, TEDSIG will be soliciting nominees for next year’s TEDDY award next Spring. The award includes two waivers to a future TEDSIG event and TEDS, the TEDSIG mascot.

TEDSIG sponsored the presentation “How Our Village Raised its Genre/Form Index: Why It Took Three Years and Why We Stuck with It,” at this fall’s ALAO Conference. The presenters, from Kent State University’s main library, were: Kate Medicus, Special Collections Cataloger; Laurence Skirvin, Adjunct Catalog Librarian; Amey Park, Database Maintenance Librarian; and George Leggiero, Lead Applications Analyst. The presenters discussed their work in responding to users’ request for searching by genre and form terms in the catalog. They explained the steps involved in investigating the issue, researching solutions, and implementing the capacity to search by genre and form, with teamwork from all. This new capability has been well received and widely used by their reference staff. The presenters also showed possibilities for other libraries to implement this search capability. The presentation was very well attended and feedback was very enthusiastic.
Rich Wisneski, TEDSIG Co-Chair, Cleveland State University
Cara Calabrese, TEDSIG Co-Chair, Miami University of Ohio

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

Posted on December 7, 2016 by anitaslack

Not a best practice, an okay practice: bend the rules

 Records management is a field all about the rules. Retention schedules dictate exactly how long a record should be retained, in what format, and its disposition after it has reached the end of the life cycle.

Policies and laws such as the Sunshine Laws here in Ohio guide the records, and the people creating these records, through the process. The problem is, while you can neatly make a category for every single record and where it should fit, the people in charge of them do not always conform and adhere to these guidelines.

I previously worked as a Records Manager and Archivist for a small local government. Although there are some differences working in government as opposed to an academic library, the purpose of my job was the same as my current position as an archivist: to make information available and accessible to those who seek it. As the Records Manager I created detailed rules about what was required from the departments when they transferred records to the archives, with an understanding that if the directions were not followed to the letter, the records would be sent back to the sender. Then, what I’m sure is no great surprise, the first box came that was done incorrectly.

I struggled with whether it was better to send the box back and potentially damage the relationship I had been building with the department or to follow the procedures that I had set in place. With my objective to make the information available, I realized that I had to accept the box and accept that rules are “best practice” but sometimes I needed to follow just “okay practice.” A year later the department was completing their annual audit and returned to access their records, preventing potential legal penalties for the entire county. Whether it is a policy within the library or a standard within the profession, in order to make information available sometimes you have to bend the rules.
Kayla Harris, University of Dayton

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People & Library News

Posted on December 7, 2016 by anitaslack

Ashland University News
Anita Slack has been appointed as the new editor of the Reference Sources Column for Reference & User Services Quarterly.  Any librarian interested in reviewing reference materials, please contact Anita at aslack3@ashland.edu for more details.
Anita Slack, Communications Editor, Ashland University

Miami University News
Laura Birkenhauer began an appointment in October as an Academic Resident Librarian with Miami University Libraries.
Laura Bikenhauer, Miami University

OhioNet News
Jill Boggs Brust to Retire from OhioNET

Though all good things come to an end, we are sad to announce the upcoming retirement of our long-time colleague and friend, Jill Boggs Brust.

Jill started her career with OhioNET on January 30, 1986.  After a very full 31 years of service, Jill will be retiring on January 31, 2017.

During the course of those 31 years, Jill has served OhioNET and our members in a variety of positions: starting as a clerical assistant, Jill worked her way through nine different job titles, culminating with her current position as Member Order Specialist.

Jill has seen many transitions in libraries, in our membership, and in OhioNET.  The one constant has been Jill’s outstanding dedication to customer service.  Jill has never rested while a member issue remained unresolved, and her tenacity has been a tremendous example to us all.

Likewise, her quick laugh, warm smile and sunny disposition have given a lift to many a member and colleague over the years.  No one has ever been better at greeting people at conferences or communicating warmth over the phone than Jill.

We will miss her greatly.

We want to recognize her service, congratulate her on a career well-spent, and wish her the best in her new chapter with her husband Larry, her dog Buster, and her cat Callie.

We hope that you will take the opportunity to do the same.  Jill would love to hear from each of you.  You can send a note or give a call through the end of January: jillb@ohionet.org or 800-686-8975, ext. 20.
Christine Morris, OhioNET

Ohio University News
Ohio University Libraries have been awarded a Data Management & Analytics grant in the amount of $46,208 to identify and relocate unique and uncommonly held print monographs housed in the Southeast Ohio Regional Depository as a pilot project toward exploring workflows and workloads required to implement a new storage model for important print collections amongst OhioLINK institutions.
Alison Ricker, Procedures Manual Coordinator, Oberlin College

State Library of Ohio News
Cheryl Lubow retired at the end of November after 13 years with the State Library of Ohio as a reference and collection development librarian. Previously, she held a couple of positions at the Grandview Heights Public Library.
Cheryl Lubow, State Library of Ohio
(Editor’s Note:  Cheryl has indicated that in her new-found free time, she’ll be looking to tour libraries, so perhaps some of us will be lucky enough to see her!)

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Conference & Professional Development Opportunities

Posted on December 7, 2016 by anitaslack

Join the Diversity Committee Mailing List

Would you like to join our mailing list to engage in discussion on diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice issues in Ohio’s academic library community? Share your thoughts, project ideas & outcomes, resources, and information on professional opportunities? If interested please contact Eileen Theodore-Shusta (chair) at theodore@ohio.edu.
Eileen Theodore-Shusta, Diversity Committee Chair, Ohio University

 Review Reference Books for RUSQ

Would you like to review reference materials for publication in Reference & User Services Quarterly?  In exchange for your thorough, well-thought out review, you’ll receive the reference book for your library’s collection.  For more information, please contact Anita Slack, RUSQ Reference Sources Column Editor aslack3@ashland.edu.
Anita Slack, Communications Editor, Ashland University

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President’s Report

Posted on September 15, 2016 by anitaslack
O15513 Kristy McDonald

Krista McDonald, President

Leadership Retreat and Annual Conference Update

Leadership Retreat
The annual leadership retreat took place July 11th and 12th at Deer Creek State Park. The retreat provides an opportunity for people joining the board to:

  • Meet with people leaving those positions and hear about projects in progress;
  • Receive training on the ALAO procedures manual, Google drive, and database software system;
  • Select new chairs for permanent committees and set goals for the coming year;

At this year’s retreat, we tried something new and had a World Café style conversation centered on how ALAO can become a more effective organization.

Conference Update
Early bird registration for the 42nd Annual ALAO conference is open till September 30th. The conference will be held at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, Ohio on Friday, October 28. This year’s theme is user Experience: Exceeding Expectations by Design. Our keynote speaker is LJ “Mover and Shaker” Aaron Schmidt. Aaron will also lead one of two preconference workshops on Thursday, October 27th. Aaron’s presentations will cover various aspects of user experience in academic libraries. The second preconference on Thursday will be presented by L. Scott Lissner from Ohio State and Jerry Hensley from Wright State and will focus on accessibility of libraries’ physical spaces and digital presence.

Register for the conference at: http://www.alaoweb.org/event-2097098

Register for one of the preconference workshops at: http://www.alaoweb.org/event-2267556

Posted in Vol. 34 no. 3 (Sept 2016) | Tagged | Leave a comment