Technical, Electronic, & Digital Services Interest Group (TEDSIG)

Posted on March 29, 2010 by alaoadmin

Kif Francis, Cleveland State University

The NOTSL/ALAO-TEDSIG spring program, “Getting Ready for RDA:  Making the Transition,” will be held Friday, May 14, 2010 at Shisler Conference Center in Wooster, Ohio.   The challenge of RDA is more than just changing cataloging rules- it’s a new mindset that takes some getting used to, and your library can start today.  Join NOTSL and TEDSIG for a day of learning how to make the move to RDA.

Presenters:
Rick Block, the Head of Special Collections, Metadata, and Cataloging at Columbia University, and Athena Salaba, Assistant Professor of Library and Information Science at Kent State University.

Registration details and program information will be forthcoming.

For more about NOTSL and ALAO-TEDSIG, visit our web pages.

We hope to see you there!

Posted in Vol. 28 no. 1 (Mar 2010) | Tagged | Leave a comment

People and Libraries News

Posted on March 29, 2010 by alaoadmin

Bowling Green State University
Patricia K. Falk, Special Collections Cataloguer and Stefanie Hunker, Digital Resources Librarian, Bowling Green State University, have recently co-authored a book entitled Cataloguing Outside the Box: A Practical Guide to Cataloguing Special Collections Materials.

The book is a practical guide to cataloguing and processing the unique special collections formats in the Browne Popular Culture Library (BPCL) and the Music Library and Sound Recordings Archives (MLSRA) at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) (e.g. fanzines, popular sound recordings, comic books, motion picture scripts and press kits, popular fiction). It also assists professionals and students in Library and Information Science facing the same cataloguing challenges. Additionally, name authority work for these collections will be addressed.

Bryant & Stratton College-Downtown
Joseph M. Dudley (Librarian and Chair, Virtual Library Committee, Bryant & Stratton College, Cleveland Downtown) will present “Library Web Sites Reconsidered: Philosophy and Best Practices” at the 15th Annual TCC Worldwide Online Conference, “Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow: Communication, Collaboration, Communities, Mobility and Best Choices,” April 20-22, 2010.

Case Western Reserve University
“The American Library Association is announcing the Kelvin Smith Library, Case Western Reserve University, as the 2010 recipient of the H.W. Wilson Library Staff Development Grant. The award is presented annually to a library or library organization demonstrating the greatest need for a staff development program furthering the goals and objectives of library services. The award is donated by the H.W. Wilson Company and consists of a citation and $3,500 to assist with the development of a library staff-training program.

The Kelvin Smith Library will use the award to support professional development for the Traveling and Training with Technology (T3): a Tool Kit for Staff Development. The library will develop a flexible traveling training program that builds upon the library’s established CaseLearns training and will bring continuing education directly to staff members located in libraries beyond the walls of the Kelvin Smith Library.” – from an ALA press release

Brian Gray, Engineering Librarian,  presented a virtual poster session with sound at the 8th Annual International Online Conference (IOC) for Teaching and Learning, which took place March 17-19, 2010. It is called “Energy Collaborative Platform, Partnership in Energy Research & Education”.

New Hire:  Suzhen Chen has been hired for the Cataloging Librarian-Quality Control and Maintenance Librarian 1 position.

Cleveland State University
Diane Kolosionek, Education & Urban Affairs Subject Specialist Librarian and Kiffany Francis, Metadata/Communication Librarian, were promoted to the rank of Senior Assistant Librarian, effective July 1, 2010.

Barbara Strauss, Assistant Director for Technical Services and a Master Gardner, together with Carolyn Hufford, a recent Kent State University library school graduate and Michael Schwartz Library Special Collections volunteer, displayed their exhibit, Feeding Cleveland, at the Library in March.  The exhibit, first displayed at the Thomas F. Campbell, Ph.D. Exhibition Gallery in the CSU Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, in May 2009, explores the role urban agriculture played in feeding Cleveland beginning in the early Twentieth Century.  Ms. Strauss and Ms. Hufford carefully crafted this montage on the Cleveland Public Schools Horticulture Program using photographs from the Library’s Cleveland Memory Project.

Their online exhibit, Feeding Cleveland: Urban Agriculture, was created using photographs from the Cleveland Press Collection, The Ohio State University, Extension, Cuyahoga County, New Agrarian Center in Oberlin, and an historic collection of materials from Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

On March 24, Ms. Strauss gave an illustrated talk in the Library on the history of the working men’s farms during the Great Depression, the victory gardens of World War II, the community gardens established during the years of urban renewal, and the present day market gardeners of the local food movement as examples of revivals of urban agriculture as a response to economic difficulties and opportunities. Mark DiDonato, vermiculturist extraordinaire and teacher in Cleveland Public Schools, demonstrated the construction of an indoor worm bin, which is suitable for composting cooking scraps and creating outstanding soil.
For more information, contact Barbara Strauss at 216-687-2362 or b.strauss@csuohio.edu

Five Colleges of Ohio
The Five Colleges of Ohio, Inc. – a consortium consisting of Denison University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University, and The College of Wooster – has been awarded a two-year, $600,000 grant by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to integrate digital resources into the curriculum.

The grant, “Next Steps in the Next-Generation Library: Integrating Digital Collections into the Liberal Arts Curriculum,” recognizes the continuing transformation of academic libraries through digital technologies and the critical importance of ensuring that liberal arts college libraries remain integral to their institutions’ academic programs and to student learning. “We are grateful that the Mellon Foundation has so generously acknowledged the potential of this project to advance collaborative librarianship and the academic use of local digital collections,” said Susan Palmer, executive director of the Five Colleges of Ohio. “Our 15-year partnership with the Mellon Foundation has been invaluable in enriching the liberal arts experience for all members of the five-college community.”

The five objectives of the grant are to (1) help faculty to identify, build, and integrate digital collections into their courses through a partnership with librarians; (2) enhance access to scholarly endeavors of both faculty and students; (3) create a professional development program for library staff to enrich their technological sophistication and implement innovative efforts; (4) establish a digital infrastructure to improve support for new initiatives; and (5) develop a portal that will function as a gateway to digital collections and a site for accessing digitization procedures and training documents.

The emphasis will be on digital collections centered around faculty research interests, materials from the colleges’ special collections and archives, and student publications. “The grant will provide free and open access to digital documents that were once only available on our individual campuses, sometimes to a very limited number of people,” said Mark Christel, project director and director of libraries at The College of Wooster. “Digital publishing is an important next step for college libraries and taking that step collaboratively, with our outstanding Ohio Five partners, seems like the perfect way to proceed.”
Read more here: http://oh5-nlg-digitization-project.blogspot.com/

Marietta College
Douglas Anderson, Director of the Legacy Library at Marietta College, is serving as Chairman of the OhioNet Board of Trustees.

OHIONET
OHIONET Spring Preview for Academic Libraries
OHIONET is pleased to announce the annual Spring Preview of eResources for Academic Libraries, which will begin on April 1, 2010.  Please visit the preview website for free trial access to over 100 eResources, including many new titles.  For more information about the Preview, please contact Mary Conroy at OHIONET.

OHIONET eResources Pavilion – September 10, 2010
Mark your calendars now!  OHIONET is partnering with the Ohio Library Council to offer the first-ever eResources Pavilion at the OLC Expo on September 10 at the Ohio Expo Center’s Lausche Building in Columbus.  The OLC Expo is a long-standing event that draws hundreds of librarians from around the state to meet with vendors of  library equipment, supplies, and services.  This year, OHIONET is coordinating efforts with OLC to bring additional eResource vendors to the event.  The Expo is an excellent opportunity for you to meet with e-resource as well as a wide variety of library vendors without traveling to a costly national conference.  We hope you’ll join us here to start conversations with vendors in anticipation of the ALAO 36th Annual Conference in October.  Please contact Christine Morris at OHIONET for more information.

Recycling and Free-cycling at OHIONET
If you have visited OHIONET lately, you may have noticed that we have new recycling containers and have expanded our recycling efforts.  We are recycling cans, plastics, and paper.  For several months we had an arrangement with SWACO, who lent us bins and picked up our used office-grade paper for quality paper recycling, at no cost to us. During this time, we made extra efforts to clean out our old files and filled the large blue recycle trash bins to overflowing.  However, SWACO’s free program for small businesses ended this month, so staff volunteers are again handling removal.  We are now looking for a replacement service to pick up recyclables — any suggestions?
While cleaning out our closets for paper, our Green Team noticed that we had miscellaneous useable items we no longer needed.   This lead us to the Waste-not-Center in Columbus, which also has counterparts in other cities.  It is a perfect place to “free-cycle” surplus odds and ends. Anyone can donate there, and for a small membership fee,  teachers, artists and non-profit organizations can get free office supplies, art, school, and crafts materials. Among the things we found to donate were cups and binders from companies that no longer exist! Maybe they’ll be turned into cute vases and scrapbooks!  To inspire more free-cycling, we’re planning staff “white elephant” swaps, where one person’s trash can be another’s treasure? We’ll exchange decorative items to celebrate spring in March, and have a book and media swap in honor of National Library Week in April.

Ohio Northern University
In February, Kathleen Baril joined Heterick Memorial Library at Ohio Northern University as the collections and electronic resources librarian.  Kathleen received her bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College and her master’s in library and information science from the University of Iowa.  She also has a master’s in elementary education from Teachers Colleges, Columbia University.  She started her library work life as a library assistant at the Iowa State University library and has worked as a librarian at academic libraries in Minnesota and New York.  A native Ohioan, she is happy to be back in her home state working at a small college.

The Ohio State University at Marion/Marion Technical College
Betsy Blankenship, Director, has been appointed member, ACRL National Conference Workshops Committee, 2009-2011.

Ohio Wesleyan University
Xudong Jin, Associate Director of Libraries and Head of Technical Services at Ohio Wesleyan University, will lead a five-librarians team from other libraries to Chengdu, Chongqing, and Guangzhou in China to conduct a 15-days program in March, 2010. This is a part of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library’s IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services) Grant Project, Think Globally Act Globally. CALA (Chinese American Librarians Association, an ALA affiliate), for which Xudong serves as current President, has participated in the Project since 2009.

Ohio Library Support Staff Institute (OLSSI)
Michael Bradshaw has finished his term as Chair of OLSSI (Ohio Library Support Staff Institute). He is the first person to be elected Chairperson twice and the only person to serve in all 5 Officer positions on the OLSSI Steering Committee.

OLSSI is also announcing scholarships for the upcoming conference:

OLSSI 2010: July 25 – 27, 2010 @ Baldwin-Wallace College ~ Berea, Ohio
Scholarship Contest: March 15 -April 16
Early Bird Registration ($200): April 1 – May 1
Regular Registration ($225): May 2 -July 6

OLSSI also gives a free scholarship/registration to ALAO to give to the winner of their Award of Excellence (Support Staff of the Year Award).

Owens Community College
Owens Community College Library, Toledo Campus, is pleased to announce that we have a new reference librarian, Jane Berger.  Jane is a recent graduate of Wayne State University’s library science program and has worked in various library support staff positions.  Jane is replacing Sharon Stein, who retired in December 2009.

University of Cincinnati – Clermont College
Kathleen H. Epperson was promoted last September from Assistant Librarian to Associate Librarian.

Posted in Vol. 28 no. 1 (Mar 2010) | Tagged | Leave a comment

President’s Report

Posted on January 7, 2010 by alaoadmin

Robert Withers, Miami University

ALAO’s 35th Annual Conference was held on October 30, 2009 at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, Ohio. Despite this year’s economic downturn, attendance was consistent with the previous year’s conference. Keynote speaker, Dr. Rush Miller, from the University of Pittsburgh led off a successful day of programming which received many favorable evaluations.

We have received supporting materials (PowerPoint presentations, handouts, supporting web sites) from over three quarters of our conference presentations and have linked these from the ALAO web site. Supporting materials for many poster sessions have been provided and linked from the web site, as well.

One comment we often receive on conference evaluations is ‘but what about Columbus?’

Past President Karen Wilhoit addresses site selection issues familiar to members of the conference planning committee in her column below.

With the signing of insurance papers, our transition from the Ohio College Association (OCA) to SWON Libraries as our fiscal agent is now complete. We’re fortunate that SWON was able to so ably step in and assume the bulk of the tasks previously performed by the OCA.

Moving forward, I plan to focus on how we can better employ technology to manage membership data, communicate with our membership, and allow our membership to interact with ALAO.

Posted in Vol. 27 no. 4 (Jan 2010) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Past President’s Report

Posted on January 7, 2010 by alaoadmin

Karen Wilhoit, Wright State

Conference Site Selection

ALAO held its annual conference at the end of October at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington.  This was the second consecutive year that the conference was held at this location, and as many of you filled out your conference evaluations, you asked about the choice of the site.  In fact, every year many of the comments on the evaluations center on various aspects of the conference site:  location, convenience, facilities, food, temperature, and many others.  The Board thought that the membership might be interested in having more information about the conference site selection process.

How does ALAO choose the city that the conference is held in?  When I first joined ALAO, the conference was held in Columbus every year.  Columbus has the advantage of being centrally located in the state, so it is not too great an inconvenience for anyone.  However, people in the corners of the state always had to travel, and people lucky enough to be in or close to Columbus (as I am) always had a short drive.  The ALAO board felt that we should try moving the conferences to other locations in the state, so we have had conferences in the Cleveland area, in Ashland, in Akron, and for the past two years in Wilmington.

Our goal is to alternate years – every other year in Columbus with the alternating years in other parts of the state.  So, as announced this year, the 2010 conference will be in Columbus.  The 2011 conference location is not yet determined, but should be somewhere other than Columbus, assuming that we can find an appropriate site.

What does ALAO require in a site?  Our space requirements are:  a room that will seat 350 for the lunch and the general session, 5-7 breakout rooms, as well as space to accommodate registration, vendors, IG tables, and poster sessions.  The biggest challenge in finding appropriate space is identifying a site that can accommodate 350 people for a meal.  For example, when we were looking at sites in Columbus for the 2010 conference, several sites could combine ballrooms to accommodate 350 for the meal, but in order to provide adequate breakout space would have needed to break that space back down for the concurrent sessions.  Since we have a general opening session, followed by breakouts, then lunch, then more breakouts, this would have meant reconfiguring the space three times during the course of the day.  Logistically, we didn’t see how this could possibly work smoothly.

Other things we look for in a site are a little harder to quantify.  The facility needs to be laid out conveniently.  One Columbus site, for example, has large meeting rooms at ground level, and smaller breakout space on an upper (sixth or seventh) floor served by one elevator; again, this just doesn’t work for our group.  We need convenient (and preferably free) parking, internet access at a reasonable cost (preferably both wired and wireless), adequate electrical connections, and appropriate and reasonably priced food choices.

We also need a pricing structure that is clear and reasonable, a sales staff that seems willing to work with us and accommodate our needs, and in the case of hotels, a facility that is willing to commit meeting space in advance without a guarantee of a large room block for overnight stays.

ALAO remains committed to selecting locations that alternate between central Ohio and regions which represent the geographical diversity of our membership. We welcome your help – if you know of a facility that might meet our needs, please pass on contact information to us and we will investigate. Your input may be just what ALAO needs to identify a site for one of our upcoming conferences.

Posted in Vol. 27 no. 4 (Jan 2010) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Continuing Education Grant and Legislative Travel Grant Deadlines

Posted on January 7, 2010 by alaoadmin

Stephena Harmony, University of Cincinnati

The ALAO Continuing Education Grant is awarded once a year to support the cost of participating in professional development opportunities. Current members are eligible to apply for any library related educational opportunity occurring during the 2010 calendar year.

To ensure a fair review, applications are submitted to the Executive Director of ALAO’s fiscal agent, SouthWest and Neighboring Libraries (SWON), who will forward all applications with names removed to the ALAO Professional Development Committee (PDC). The PDC will select the application(s) that best explain how the grant will further the applicant’s professional development. The amount of money available for the 2010 Continuing Grant Program is $2,000 which may be awarded to one individual or divided among two or more top ranked applicants. The PDC will take into consideration the amount of funding the applicant’s employer will provide for the request, as well as what the employer provided during the past fiscal year. The PDC will notify the award recipients and will arrange payment. Within sixty days of the educational event, the recipient must submit a brief report to the PDC confirming proof of attendance.

Please complete the application form and provide the required documentation including a description of how the continuing education opportunity will further your professional development and an itemized list of associated costs. The deadline is January 15th, 2010.

If you have any questions, please contact the PDC Chair, Stephena Harmony at: Stephena.Harmony@uc.edu.

——-

Ann M. Watson, Ohio University Lancaster

Apply NOW for ALAO’s Legislative Travel Grant to Attend Library Advocacy Day – June 29, 2010
(for one year only – held during ALA annual conference)
Award amount $600.00 for travel, lodging and food.

For one year only, Library Advocacy Day will replace National Library Legislative Day (NLLD).  On June 29, 2010, library advocates from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. will meet at Upper Senate Park on the U.S. Capitol grounds.

The event, which will begin at 11 a.m., will feature guest speakers, photo ops, and a chance to cheer on libraries!  After the rally, participants from Ohio will meet with their elected officials and their staffs.
As a member of the official Ohio delegation, the winner of this grant, along with  the ALAO Government Relations Liaison, will meet with the members of the Ohio delegation and attend the rally on Capital Hill.  After the rally, participants will meet with their elected officials and their staffs.

It is easy to apply.  Simply send a letter or email expressing interest to:

Ann M. Watson, Ohio University Lancaster, Hannah V. McCauley Library,
1570 Granville Pike, Lancaster, OH  43130. (watsona2@ohio.edu)

Include in your letter a brief description of any advocacy experience you’ve had and/or political issue involvement through ALAO or other civic organizations. Include also the name and phone number of a reference who is familiar with your advocacy efforts and interest.

Even if you have limited experiences but have the interest in learning more about legislative advocacy, you are encouraged to apply.

The deadline for applying is March 19, 2010.
The winner will be named in plenty of time to make travel plans.
The ALAO is looking forward to hearing from you!

Posted in Vol. 27 no. 4 (Jan 2010) | Leave a comment

Instruction Interest Group/Distance Learning Interest Group

Posted on January 7, 2010 by alaoadmin

Kathryn L. Venditti, Ashland University Library

Save the Date!

The Instruction Interest Group and the Distance Learning Interest Group will be co-sponsoring a Spring Workshop on Friday, March 12, 2010.  The Interest Groups’ planning committees are in the process of firming up a fun, interesting program on the centrally-located campus of Ashland University.  Stay tuned for updates.

Posted in Vol. 27 no. 4 (Jan 2010) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Diversity Committee

Posted on January 7, 2010 by alaoadmin

Kenneth J. Burhanna, Kent State University

The ALAO Diversity Committee would like point out the following opportunity at Kent State University. Please consider sharing this with your student workers and other colleagues pursuing advanced degrees in Library Science.

Kent State University Libraries is offering an Academic Librarian Diversity Internship for a fall 2010 appointment. The program is designed to introduce students from underrepresented backgrounds to careers in academic Librarianship.

The Academic Librarian Diversity Internship is a 12 month appointment with pay to work 20 hours per week within University Libraries at the Kent Campus.

The position will afford the student intern a variety of introductory experiences of a large research library. Mentoring and other professional development experiences will be available.

Follow this link for more information and application guidelines.

 

Posted in Vol. 27 no. 4 (Jan 2010) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Support Staff Interest Group

Posted on January 7, 2010 by alaoadmin

Kathy Burns, Southern State Community College

SSIG sponsored Library Informatics: A New Undergraduate Degree for Support Staff. Leslie Hammann, from Northern Kentucky University was the presenter. Ms. Hammann presented to a well attended audience, eager to learn about the program.

SSIG introduced the new improved SSIG. We are offering more than just workshops. SSIG kicked off our mentor program at the 2009 Conference. If you would like to sign up to be a mentor or want to be mentored please feel free to send an email to SSIG1alao@gmail.com.

SSIG Awards given at the ALAO Conference were the following:
Award of Excellence to Rick Mason, Capital University. Mr. Mason has accomplished many great things for the support staff community. He presented for the support staff at an ALA conference, as well as developed many presentations for support staff.

Award of Appreciation to Mary Ayres, Southern State Community College, she has encouraged her staff to join and participate in various Support Staff activities and groups.

SSIG wants to thank both for all their support and congratulations.

Posted in Vol. 27 no. 4 (Jan 2010) | Tagged | Leave a comment

People and Library News

Posted on January 7, 2010 by alaoadmin

Bowling Green State University
Liz Tousey is the newest University Libraries employee at BGSU.  Liz began as the> Library Associate 2 in the Music Library & Sound Recordings Archives on November 2, 2009. Along with a recent degree from Kent State University’s Library and Information Science program, Liz also brings her work experience from the Jones Music Library at Baldwin-Wallace College.

Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University has been a participant in Amazon’s Kindle DX pilot to explore e-book technology as a textbook platform. The Kelvin Smith Library’s involvement was highlighted in a recent article.

The Text Encoding Initiative Consortium held their 2009 conference on Nov. 9-15 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with the theme: Text Encoding in the Era of Mass Digitization.  Rich Wisneski, Virginia Dressler and Stephanie Church presented a panel discussion on their efforts in a small library to digitize and text-encode books on the history of Cleveland, Ohio.  They included a detailed analysis of their methodology followed by discussions with the audience.

Arlene Sievers-Hill presented a concurrent session at the 29th Charleston Conference – Issues in Book and Serial Acquisitions entitled How and why to write and Acquisitions Procedure Manual. It featured a video embedded in the online manual.  She also participated as a presenter at a half day Preconference: Negotiating with Vendors, the Dos and Don’ts. Participants included an attorney specializing in scholarly publishing issues, the CEO of a Subscription Agency and well-known figures in scholarly publishing and library acquisitions.

Brian Gray presented “Librarians Develop a Second Life to Reach More People” at Kent State University’s Student Chapter of the Special Library Association’s Spring Symposium (February, 2009) entitled “Emerging Digital Technologies and the Special Library”.  More information can be found at the Symposium website.

OHIONET Elects New Board Members using New (Greener) Election Process
The  December 4th OHIONET Board meeting welcomed Ms. Suzette Burlingame (Stark County District Library), Ms. Sheila Campbell (Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Library), and Mr. Douglas Kaylor (Sinclair Community College), who are newly elected to the Board of Trustees, and Mr. Don Barlow (Westerville Public Library), who is a newly re-elected Board Member

With great appreciation OHIONET also acknowledged the service of outgoing trustees Ms. Gayle Patton, Treasurer, (Mansfield-Richland County Public Library) and Ms. Virginia Saha, Board Liaison for Redesign (Case Western Reserve University).

This year’s Board elections marked a new chapter in OHIONET history. Thanks to the services of Votenet, OHIONET was able to achieve a higher rate of participation in Board elections, save costs on postage and mailing, and save paper. As an added bonus, Votenet has made a donation for ten new trees through Sustainable Harvest International in honor of OHIONET’s move to online voting.   It was rewarding to use  “greener” communications, while improving efficacy and cooperative engagement, and have trees planted in our name — all at the same time!  Thank you to our academic members for your votes, support and participation.

University of Toledo

University of Toledo Librarians Alice Crosetto, coordinator for Collection Development and Acquisitions, and Mark Horan, Librarian for the Judith Herb College of Education, paired up with their colleague, Rajinder Garcha professor emerita to publish Disabilities and Disorders in Literature for Youth: A Selective Annotated Bibliography for K-1. This volume is a part of Scarecrow Press’s Literature for Youth Series, and is the twelfth book of the series.
Alice Crosetto notes, “We’re very proud of the book because the importance of educators, parents – anybody – being able to locate books, journals, even websites, on disabilities & disorders (AD/HD, autism, bipolar, visually impaired and many more covered in the book).”

Youngstown State University
Jim Kapoun is the new Associate Director and Head of Information Services at Maag Library, Youngstown State University. He has a BA from Gustavus Adolphus College and a MDIV from Luther Seminary both in Minnesota. He has his MLS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Away from the library Jim enjoys spending time with his family and loves to hike.

Posted in Vol. 27 no. 4 (Jan 2010) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Oct 2009 President's Report

Posted on October 23, 2009 by alaoadmin

Rob Withers, Miami University

It’s hard to believe that October is already here, and that our 35th Annual Conference is coming up on October 30 at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, Ohio. I’m fortunate to have worked with a wonderful Conference Planning Committee, and am excited about the programs we’ve put together for the conference.

This year, we’re experimenting with Spotlight Sessions, which will present two related programs during an hour long programming block, allowing us to maximize the amount of presentations we can provide. You can choose to view both programs or to view one and use the remaining time to visit our vendors and poster sessions.

Our keynote speaker, Dr. Rush Miller, is an ideal speaker for this year’s conference theme: “At the Crossroads: Re-charging, Re-aligning, and Re-defining our Libraries.”

For more detailed information about the program, please visit the conference website.

ALAO has experienced a crossroads over the summer, as our long-time fiscal agent, the Ohio College Association, reorganized and dissolved its staff. We’re grateful to the OCA staff who have worked with us over the years (Kathy Williams Wright and Joyce Wright Harris)—and also fortunate to have identified the Southwest Ohio and Neighboring Libraries (SWON Libraries) as our new fiscal agent this September.

The Conference Planning Committee and I are grateful to SWON Executive Director (Anne Abate, PhD) for quickly taking stepping in to cut and deposit checks associated with our conference – our experience has been fantastic. You can learn more about Anne here.

We hope to see you at the conference on October 30!

Posted in Vol. 27 no. 3 (Oct 2009) | Tagged | Leave a comment