ALAO Newsletter

Eboni Johnson, Oberlin

​Happy June, everyone!

The Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) Conference Planning Committee invites you to submit proposals for the 40th Annual Conference, which will take place on November 13-14, 2014 at the Kalahari Resort & Convention Center in Sandusky, OH.
The submission deadline for full-length sessions has been extended to June 9, 2014.

Proposals for poster sessions, lightning rounds, and round-table discussions will be accepted from ​​​​June 23rd to July 18th​​.​
​For more information or to submit your proposal, go to http://www.alaoweb.org/conference. ​ ​
​Char Booth will present an exciting pre-conference workshop on November 13 called ​​​Who Gives? Advocacy and Outreach that Make Things Matter. ​ ​

Advocacy and outreach are essential and closely related tools for creating and sustaining successful libraries. Advocacy is a process of identifying and shaping messages that matter (and make sense) to your user communities, while outreach helps these messages effectively connect with stakeholders.

This workshop will engage participants in discussions and activities geared toward creating small and large-scale outreach and advocacy initiatives that are authentic, high impact, well designed, and empowering. Facilitator Char Booth will highlight how even small creative efforts can lead to significant gains in these areas, and you’ll come away with best practices and scalable project ideas to apply in your own context​.​

​The conference keynote address, Diversity, Professional Development & Participation: How Academic Libraries Empower Communities,​ will be presented by 2014-14 ALA President Courtney L. Young.

​Conference registration will open in August. We look forward to seeing you in November!

Keep up with news and events related to ALAO and Ohio academic libraries. The new ALAO Discussion List, list@alaoweb.org, is hosted on Google.

To subscribe, send an email to list+subscribe@alaoweb.org. No subject or message is required.

You will receive a confirmation email, which will ask you to reply to the confirmation email in order to activate your subscription.

If you were on the old listserv, you were automatically transferred over to the new list.

To post a message, send to list@alaoweb.org.

For the second year, the ALAO Professional Development Committee will be hosting a spring event that will re-broadcast two ACRL webinars at a central location, OSU-Newark. Join us on Friday, June 13th, to watch these thought-provoking webinars and discuss as a group.

Space is limited to the first 100 registrants so please register early to save your spot.

“Making the Leap to Library Leadership” will play from 10:00 – 11:30 AM and “Data Visualization Strategies for Library Assessment” will play from 1:00 – 2:30 PM. Attendees are welcome to come to either or both sessions. Each session will be followed by a brief opportunity to converse with colleagues on these important topics. Re-broadcasts are only available in-person that day.

Registration for these webcast rebroadcasts is free for ALAO members and $30 for non-members (the cost of a one year membership to ALAO). Attendees can bring their lunch or visit one of the many convenient options close to campus during the break. Coffee, tea and water will be available through out the day. For those that attended last year, we are in a different room this time with comfortable seating.

Descriptions of each webinar are listed below courtesy of the ACRL website:

“Making the Leap to Library Leadership” 90 minutes
Leadership occurs at all levels of an organization and is not limited to those in managerial roles. Committee chairs, working group leaders and well trusted colleagues all hold important leadership roles in an organization. This webcast is designed both for people who have been called upon to serve a leadership role and those who wish to take on more leadership responsibility. The session will outline essential skills for twenty-first century library leaders and help participants to gain a deeper understanding of their own role, as well as that of their department and library, within the larger picture of their umbrella organization.

“Data Visualization Strategies for Library Assessment” 90 minutes
Assessment has become a ubiquitous activity in all areas of librarianship, and a key component of assessment projects is effectively communicating data and outcomes to library administrators and stakeholders. However, many practicing librarians have had little to no formal training in data analysis and presentation. This live, interactive webcast focuses on data visualization strategies and best practices that will ensure clear and accurate communication of quantitative assessment results. The targeted audience includes library professionals who would like to maximize their effectiveness in presenting their assessment findings to library and institutional administrators and stakeholders.

For more information, please contact Katie Blocksidge (Email: blocksidge.3@osu.edu / Phone: 740-366-9308)

Carissa Thatcher, MLIS, Kent State University
Recipient of the 2012-2013 ALAO Diversity Scholarship

I have just completed my course work at Kent State University for the Library and Information Science program, due in large part to the ALAO Diversity Scholarship. This award is not just a financial aid for your education, but a catalyst of self-confidence which provides the recipient with support and encouragement through the process of attaining your degree. After I was honored with this award, I found myself being approached by professionals with vast experience and knowledge in the field of LIS and was happily surprised by the advice and guidance they shared with me. I felt that I had found a cheering section that really and truly wanted to see me succeed in whatever I choose to do, which is very inspiring during a rough semester.

The ALAO conference has continually been a place where I have found excellent professional resources, networking opportunities and information on services offered to libraries directly from the vendors. I look forward to these events every year as a way to enhance the education I have, explore new ideas for my library, and confer with colleagues; and I hope to have the opportunity to attend many, many more.

I’m not sure what the future holds for me and my career, but I do know for certain that ALAO will be there reminding me that I can do anything I make up my mind to do and I will do it well; that there is a group of, not just professionals, but people who are supportive of one another and willing to help where they can.

My advice to future students in an LIS program would be to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to you and to be fearless in your learning. Find a stable and strong support group and don’t be ashamed to use it. Learn from the experiences of others; really listen to what they have to say. Make sure that you belong to a professional organization where you have access to all of this and more.

Thank you so much to Diane Kolosionek and the ALAO Diversity Committee for the doors that have been opened to me through you and the continuous encouragement to become a viable professional in the field of Library and Information Science.

Joseph Straw, Marietta College

As government Relations Liaison, I represented ALAO at National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) in Washington D.C. We we were fortunate this year to have Missy Creed the winner of the ALAO Legislative Day Travel Award attend the conference with the Ohio delegation. I would like to extend a thank you to ALAO for supporting our travel to this important event.

On May 5, myself and Missy attended a useful set of briefings organized by the American Library Association’s (ALA) Washington Office. We attended the briefings as part of the Ohio delegation which was made of nine people made up of academics, public librarians, and lobbyists from library affiliated groups. William Morris of the State Library of Ohio headed the state delegation and did an excellent job in distributing informational packets and arranging meetings with congressional staffers. The attendance of academic librarians was up from last year with close to 20 in attendance. Still, the overwhelming majority of the over 300 attendees came from public and school libraries.

The briefings included presentations by Barbara Stripling, president, ALA; Keith Michael Fields, executive director, ALA; Amanda Wilson, president, District of Columbia Library Association (DCLA); and Senator Angus King (I-ME). Many of the presentations focused on broad issues like access, e-books, telecommunications, net neutrality, and funding for library based literacy initiatives. Some of the specific legislative focus highlighted continued funding for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), open access to federally funded research as provided in the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR), and the USA Freedom Act that amends some of the privacy and phone data collection practices of the Patriot Act. Summaries and talking points for all the issues covered at NLLD can be found at the ALA Washington Office website at: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/nlld .

After the briefing sessions, a reception was held by ALA in the Hart Senate Office Building for Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI-5)honoring them for leadership, support, and legislative advocacy. Senator Leahy was present for the honor, while a staffer accepted the award for Representative Sensenbrenner. During the award presentation, particular emphasis was paid for their recent bi-partisan support for the USA Freedom Act.

May 6 was legislative day proper and was occupied by activities on Capitol Hill. The day began with the Ohio delegation meeting for a strategizing breakfast in the cafeteria of the Longworth House Office Building. During the day, I met with staffers for Representatives Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-2), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9), Tim Ryan (D-OH-13), and Bill Johnson (R-OH-6). The issues that were discussed included LSTA, FASTR, the USA Freedom Act, Net Neutrality, E-Rate, and funding for the Federal Depository Library Program. Later in the afternoon, myself and most of the delegation met with a senior staffer for Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)and talked on many of the same issues. Other advocates from the state went individually and together and hit a large portion of Ohio’s congressional delegation.

Certainly it felt good to join together with other librarians and advocates to make our voices heard through the forum of the NLLD event. I will continue to monitor these issues as they progress through the legislative process. Without question a major thanks needs to be extended to the ALA Washington Office for their great work on putting together the conference and in representing the interests of the library profession on a full-time basis.

Missy Creed, The Ohio State University

The 2014 National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) hosted by the American Library Association was held in Washington, D.C. on May 5th and 6th with a pre-conference on Sunday, May 4th. The days were jammed packed with information and enthusiastic public, special and academic librarians as well as library trustees, other library personnel and supporters from all over the country. All participants came in strong support of all types of libraries.
On Sunday, I attended the pre-conference at the Washington offices of ALA. Their conference room was packed and extra chairs needed to be brought in. Stephanie Vance gave a great four point talk on how we need to present our issues to legislators. The four points were know what you want (be specific), know who you are talking to (what gets them up in the morning and keeps them up at night), know how to talk with them ((SPIT – Specific, Personal, Informative and Trustworthy/Timely) and follow up (invite them to your library or follow them on social media). On Monday, the day was full of briefings, covering topics including E-rate & WIA to Privacy & Surveillance, Net Neutrality & Open Access, School Libraries & Early Learning, and Copyright. All sessions prepared us for our Congressional visits by giving us the necessary information. On Tuesday the Ohio delegation met with our senators and representatives to ask for a continuation of funding for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) at the $180.9 million level. We also spoke about access to digital content. Bill Morris, Governmental Affairs Coordinator, from the State Library of Ohio provided the delegation with packets of information on LSTA Funds in Ohio, Access to Digital Content, Ohio Public Libraries Work, OhioLINK, and INFOhio. The packets were dropped off at offices of the representatives we could not meet with and supplemented our in-person visits. We were well received at all the offices.
Overall, the three days in Washington were very informative and exciting! I would definitely go to National Library Legislative Day again. As ALAO’s 2014 National Library Legislative Day Award recipient I encourage all ALAO members to visit http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/nlld to learn more about NLLD and to sign up for the District Dispatch, The Official ALA Washington Office Blog. Also I would encourage everyone to consider applying for this awesome opportunity in 2015.

Mandy Shannon, Wright State University

The Assessment Interest Group hosted its first spring workshop on April 24 at the OCLC Conference Center in Dublin. Statewide interest in assessment is clearly strong: with 45 attendees, the workshop was sold out. The day-long workshop included plenary speaker Lynn Silipigni Connaway, roundtables on assessment plans at four different universities, breakout sessions on outcomes-based assessment and structured project management, and an opportunity to discuss the challenges of assessment. A wide variety of interests and schools were represented at the workshop. The day was a great start to our interest group’s foray into spring workshops and we look forward to featuring different areas of assessment at future workshops.

Sarah Murphy, Coordinator of Assessment at OSU Libraries will be Chair of the AIG during the 2014-2015 academic year. Mandy Shannon, Social Sciences Librarian at Wright State University will be Vice-Chair. Other Planning Committee members include:
Laura Ponikvar, Image and Instructional Services Librarian, Cleveland Institute of Art
Christine Bonner, Head, Library Reference and Instruction Services, Ohio Dominican University Library
Eric Resnis, Instruction Coordinator, Miami University

Want to contact the members of the Assessment Interest Group? We’ve got a new listserv. The address is aig@alaoweb.org.

Cheryl Ghosh, University of Cincinnati

On April 4, 2014, the 2014 Spring ALAO Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group (CMCIG) workshop was hosted at The Ohio State University – Newark Campus. The workshop theme was “Keeping Pace: Changes & Trends in Curriculum Materials Centers (CMC’s)” and the day’s itinerary included two guest speakers, a round table, lunch, a business meeting and a tour of “The Works: Ohio Center for History, Art & Technology”.

To start off the program, Cindy Gayer, a guest speaker from Cedarville University, presented a very informative presentation entitled, “#whatised TPA?: An Overview of the National Teacher Performance Assessment”, followed by Diane Schrecker’s presentation entitled, “Marketing CMC’s and Library Resources Using Pinterest”, just as equally informative and engaging! Next, Susan Scott, Director of the OSU-Newark Library, led us to the OSU-Newark Instructional Center for a tour, which was followed by a round table discussion entitled, “Remaining Relevant/Reaching out-CMC Programs & Events to Connect you with Your Community”. Lunches were delivered and the business meeting began, during which time Deidra Herring, Education Librarian from OSU, volunteered to serve as the CMCIG Co-Chair, alongside Sharon Kerestes, the current Co-Chair. Then, we were off to The Works: Ohio Center for History, Art & Technology, a “hands-on” museum for all ages!

A total of 23 attendees participated in the workshop coming from four different states, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. From the evaluations, the program was informative, engaging, and “the day went too quickly”, I totally agree!

Diane Kolosionek, Cleveland State University, Diversity Committee Chair

The Diversity Committee’s Spring Workshop was held on Friday, April 25, 2014, at OHIONET in Columbus. This Eracism Workshop was facilitated by Simone G. Polk, Assistant Vice President for Student Services at Wright State University. Ms. Polk engaged workshop attendees with thought-provoking discussion and participative activities about diversity, inclusion, racism, discrimination, and assumptions and stereotypes. She shared valuable tools for tolerance and for building an inclusive workplace. The day ended with a “Closing the Circle” activity in which participants celebrated their similarities and differences. Thank you to Ms. Polk and workshop attendees for an outstanding experience!

Katie Foran-Mulcahy, University of Cincinnati Clermont College

The Instruction Interest Group hosted their sold-out spring workshop at Stark State College in North Canton on Friday, May 30th, 2014. Michelle Millet (Immersion Faculty and Director, John Carroll University Library) delivered the keynote mini-workshop, entitled, “Doing It Backwards and Closing the Loop: Information Literacy, Backwards Design, and Assessment.” Other sessions included Teaching Techniques & Technology Tools Lightning Rounds and Teaching with a Discover Layer Panel Discussion, involving eight librarian-presenters from around the state, including Melissa Bauer, James Castrillo, Joe Fox, Vera Lux, Kristen Peters, Christine Sheetz, Debbie Tenofsky, and Derek Zoladz.

Beyond the workshop, we encourage ALAO members to get involved in IIG by blogging for us. Since February, we’ve published four posts from guest bloggers about diverse topics like library instruction marketing, senior independent study projects, gamifying library orientations, and discovery layers. Think you have what it takes to blog for IIG? Check out our blog information page (http://alaoinstructionig.wordpress.com/blog-for-us/) and use convenient web form to submit a blog proposal.

The 2013-2014 IIG Planning Team is comprised of co-chairs Katie Foran-Mulcahy and Sara Klink, plus Melissa Bauer (also named IIG Co-Chair 2014-2016), Julia Gustafson, Dana Knott, and Kristen Peters.