Conference Announcements

Posted on March 11, 2015 by anitaslack

Registration OPEN: Great Lakes Science Boot Camp (June 3-5, 2015)
Edward Eckel, III, Western Michigan University

What? This immersive 2 1/2 day conference offers librarians an opportunity to learn about current research  advancements in science. Three faculty-led sessions on genomics, Great Lakes aquatic ecosystems, and medical chemistry will provide overviews of emerging trends and research methodologies and in-depth descriptions of particular research projects. In addition to these education sessions, the Boot Camp will include lightning
talks from attending librarians, a “Librarian’s Night Out” for fun and networking, tours of research spaces, a Keynote speaker, and an all-conference reception and banquet dinner. Continue reading →

Posted in Vol. 33 no. 1 (March 2015) | Tagged | Leave a comment

People and Library News

Posted on March 10, 2015 by anitaslack

PEOPLE and LIBRARY NEWS

Bluffton University

Musselman Library hosted its second annual Celebrate the Library Week, February 9-13, 2015, with programs to showcase student research and creative work.

For a new Bluffton tradition, the week featured a research fair introducing the newest members of our scholarly community and including students from many other courses and levels, each nominated for participation by faculty.  The student research and scholarly activities program highlighted the range of opportunities that are part of the Bluffton experience.  For a change of pace, the five minutes of fame program gave students a five minute opportunity to share a range of projects and creative work, from research to musical composition. Continue reading →

Posted in Vol. 33 no. 1 (March 2015) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Susan Scott Retires: Congratulations and “Fare Thee Well”

Posted on December 13, 2014 by ascottricker

Katie Blocksidge, The Ohio State University

Susan Scott

Susan Scott

The Ohio State University Newark Campus Director of Library Services Susan Scott retired November 30, 2014.  Susan’s career took her to Kent State University, Denison University, and The Ohio State University at Newark/Central Ohio Technical College. Over the years, Susan’s experience in teaching and journalism, combined with her later years’ experience in library management and information science, provided a solid foundation for her recent leadership role on the Newark campus. She has provided guidance to a staff of five and maintained high quality library resources with an eye on current trends for the benefit of students. In 2009, Susan was the recipient of the Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor awarded by ALAO. Susan’s involvement in ALAO spans more than 15 years and includes serving as president among other leadership roles. She has been an invaluable member of the Ohio academic library community and a dedicated supporter and member of ALAO. Please join us in wishing her a happy retirement.

—–
Editorial note:  Susan was a wonderful colleague on the ALAO Executive Board, providing valuable insight in discussions and maintaining our vital connection with the Association of College and Research Libraries.  She inspired action on the ALAO Government Relations Team and guidance to all of the ALAO Presidents who followed her.  Our very best wishes to Susan!  —Alison Ricker, Oberlin College

Posted in Vol. 32 no. 3 (Dec. 2014) | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Kathryn Venditti is 2014 Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award winner

Posted on December 12, 2014 by ascottricker

Eboni Johnson, Oberlin College; President

Our heartfelt congratulations go to Kathryn Venditti, Reference & Instruction Librarian at Ashland University. She received the 2014 Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award, which is ALAO’s highest honor.

Award winner Kathryn Venditte (on left) with Betsy Blankenship.

Award winner Kathryn Venditti (on left) with Betsy Blankenship.

Past President Betsy Blankenship presented the award to Kathryn at the 40th Annual Conference, held on November 14 at the Kalahari Convention Center in Sandusky. Betsy noted that Kathryn has been involved with ALAO in several capacities, including Interest Group Coordinator, chair of the Instruction Interest group, and member of the program committee. She has made valuable contributions as Interest Group Coordinator, helping incoming chairs to be successful. Through her efforts to establish communication channels, processes, and training, she has prepared the interest group leadership to leverage all of ALAO’s rich resources. The handbook that she prepared for interest group chairs was lauded as being “brilliant for training and preparation of people that come and go from their roles.” One of her nominators stated that Kathryn is “incredibly supportive of her colleagues [and is] willing to lend a hand, an ear, or a shoulder whenever asked” and that in her role as Interest Group Coordinator, she “gracefully demonstrates the 4 Cs: class, coolness, compassion, and concern.”

Way to go, Kathryn. We appreciate all that you do!

Posted in Vol. 32 no. 3 (Dec. 2014) | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

President’s Report

Posted on December 12, 2014 by ascottricker

Eboni Johnson, Oberlin College

President Eboni Johnson

President Eboni Johnson

As someone posted on Facebook recently, “Can’t go wrong with the 3 C’s of ALAO 2014 -Char Booth, ALA Prez Courtney Young and cake!” Thank you, everyone, for a successful 40th anniversary conference and celebration in Sandusky on November 13 & 14. Despite the frigid temperatures and the major snowstorm in northeast Ohio, we had a great turnout for the preconference workshop on Thursday, facilitated by Char Booth, and the full day of conference sessions on Friday, including the keynote address by ALA President Courtney Young. The evaluations are still being analyzed, but the 54 from preconference and the 175 from main conference were very positive on all fronts. This is due to the hard work of the planning committee:

Don Appleby, University of Akron
Judith Cerqua, The Ohio State University
Jessica DeCaro, Case Western Reserve University
Sheryl Gannon, Brown Mackie College Findlay
Beate Gersch, University of Akron
Deidra Herring, The Ohio State University
Elys Kettling Law, College of Wooster
Marsha Miles, Cleveland State University
Shelly Miller, OHIONET
Alisa Mizikar, Wittenberg University
Judy Carey Nevin, Ohio University Lancaster
Lois Rekowski, Eastern Gateway Community College
Diane Schrecker, Ashland University
Kaylin Tristano, Brown Mackie College North Canton
Kathryn Venditti, Ashland University

I appreciate everything you did to help make my vision for this conference a reality … even if that meant we couldn’t have bacon at breakfast. But we did have cake, so there’s that. Continue reading →

Posted in Vol. 32 no. 3 (Dec. 2014) | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Vice President’s Report

Posted on December 12, 2014 by ascottricker

Brian C. Gray, Case Western Reserve University

The ALAO 2015 Conference Planning Committee is excited to announce the location, date, and theme for next’s year annual conference. On Friday, November 20, 2015, we will be meeting at the NorthPointe Hotel and Conference Center in Lewis Center, OH (north of Columbus in the Polaris area). There may be a pre-conference workshop on Thursday – to be determined. The theme will be “Cultivating Leadership: Preparing Academic Libraries for the Future.”

Posted in Vol. 32 no. 3 (Dec. 2014) | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Mentoring Program Launched

Posted on December 12, 2014 by ascottricker

Julia Chance Gustafson, The College of Wooster; Professional Development Committee Chair

After the July 2014 ALAO Board approval of a 2-year pilot ALAO Mentoring Program (www.alaoweb.org/Mentor), the ALAO Professional Development Committee debuted the program with a poster at the ALAO Annual Conference.  mentoringposterRegistrations have been pouring in. Registration closes today, December 12; participants will be matched and notified by mid-January 2015. We are truly excited to see the number of registrants who have signed up and look forward to hearing participants’ responses when we send out our first round of assessment forms to all mentors and mentees. Since this is a 2-year pilot, you can expect to see at least one more official registrations in about a year, so stay tuned!

Posted in Vol. 32 no. 3 (Dec. 2014) | Tagged , | Leave a comment

​#ALAO2014: Session Follow-Up #TweetALAO

Posted on December 12, 2014 by ascottricker

Diane Schrecker, Ashland University
Kaylin Tristano, Brown Mackie College

Want more ALAO conversation during the 12 long months between annual conferences? Session tweets revealed the only thing more popular than our #tweetalao buttons was discussion regarding a monthly Twitter chat. Join us for #TweetALAO, a brand new Twitter chat inspired by Engaging Tweets: Twitter as a Personal Learning Network at #ALAO2014.

Diane Schrecker (@dschrecker) and tweetalaoKaolin Tristano  (@theleastshrew) will moderate monthly discussions on a wide variety of topics of interest to all academic library professionals, with special consideration for Ohio librarians. Our first chat will be Wednesday, January 21 at 8:00 pm. We will be talking about libraries, the New Year / New Term. To participate, just follow the hash-tag #TweetALAO via Twitter or Tubs.

We look forward to chatting with you!

Posted in Vol. 32 no. 3 (Dec. 2014) | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Stephanie Dawson Everett named as ALAO Diversity Scholar

Posted on December 12, 2014 by ascottricker

Eileen Theodore-Shusta, Ohio University; Diversity Committee Chair

Stephanie Dawson Everett

Stephanie Dawson Everett

The Diversity Committee is pleased to announce that Stephanie Dawson Everett was awarded the ALAO Diversity Scholarship for 2014/15 at last month’s annual conference. Ms Dawson Everett is the Manager of Marketing and Communications at the University of Akron, and is pursuing her Master’s degree at Kent State University. She writes in her application: “I work on a campus in an urban setting and thus we have a diverse student population in relation to age, socio-economic status and ethnic background. In addition to our students, we are also within walking distance of a homeless shelter and on a daily basis we have several community patrons that will spend their daylight hours with us. The mix of students and community patrons can be very interesting and sometimes challenging and there are people on campus who disagree with the library’s policy of serving all of our community, specifically those from the homeless shelter. However, we [at the University of Akron] have a commitment to serve all patrons and by doing so benefit not only the community patrons but students as well by exposing them to “real life” and diversity in our community. It’s a small way that we are upholding the Bill of Rights and Diversity Standards.”

New committee members needed

The Diversity Committee has a few vacant seats left for this year. We’re looking for someone willing to commit to a one year appointment, until next summer (which is really only six months!) Please contact Eileen Theodore-Shusta theodore@ohio.edu if you are interested in serving.   More information: www.alaoweb.org/committees/diversity/

Posted in Vol. 32 no. 3 (Dec. 2014) | Tagged , | Leave a comment

2015 Elections Coming Up!

Posted on December 12, 2014 by ascottricker

Information about the 2015 elections will be distributed in the near future, with an official call for nominations. The online Procedures Manual gives information about the election process www.alaoweb.org/procmanual/policies.html#elections and full descriptions of the responsibilities and terms of service for elected officers. Please review the information if you are considering nominating yourself or a colleague. Self-nominations and nominations of others are equally welcome. More information: Betsy Blankenship, Past President and Nominations Committee Chair, blankenship.5@osu.edu

Posted in Vol. 32 no. 3 (Dec. 2014) | Tagged , | Leave a comment