Past President's Report

Posted on December 22, 2008 by alaoadmin

Douglas Morrison

ALAO seeks candidates for its Executive Board elections that are coming up for the 2009-2010 term of office. Please consider putting yourself in the running to become one of the newest members of the ALAO board! The nomination period is open now and will close mid-January, after we have received a sufficient number of candidates to hold the election.

ALAO is seeking:

Three (3) Board Members at Large (2 year term)

One (1) ALAO Treasurer (2 year term)

One (1) ALAO Vice President/President-Elect (3 year total term, 1 year as Vice President, 1 year as President, 1 year as Past President)

The ALAO election period will take place electronically in mid-February 2009 and be open to ALAO members only. You may nominate yourself or someone else ONLY after obtaining their agreement to participate in the election.

Follow this link for the nomination form on the ALAO website: http://www.alaoweb.org/oldsite/manual/c11.pdf

If you are thinking about running for an ALAO position but would like more information on a specific position, duties, time in office, or other details. Please feel free to contact Doug Morrison, Past President via email at sagemor@bright.net or by phone at (330) 234-1009.

You may also find more information about these positions in the ALAO procedures manual.

Posted in Vol. 26 no. 4 (Dec. 2008) | Tagged | Leave a comment

National Library Legislative Day 2009

Posted on December 22, 2008 by alaoadmin

Ann M Watson, Ohio University – Lancaster

SAVE THE DATE!
The 2009 National Library Legislative Day is quickly approaching and will be held on Monday, May 11th and Tuesday, May 12th at the Liaison Hotel in Washington, D.C.  With a new administration and a new political climate in both the House and the Senate, this is a very critical and exciting time for us to get our message out to Congress.

The Monday, May 11th Briefing Day will again be at the Liaison hotel where the American Library Association has reserved a block of rooms at the hotel. The reservations always go quickly and you’ll want to be at the center of the action! Be sure to register early!

Registration dues are $20, and are due to your state coordinator by April 15th, 2009.

If you are interested in participating in this event, please consider applying for ALAO’s Legislative Travel Award (Award amount $600.00 for travel, lodging, food).

As a member of the official Ohio delegation, the winner of this award, along with the ALAO Government Relations Liaison, will meet with the members of the Ohio delegation and attend a briefing by the ALA Washington Office staff, as well as join other Ohio librarians in appointments with legislators and staff members.

To apply: send a letter of interest and include in your letter a brief description of your advocacy activity and 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. Those interested in getting more involved in advocacy efforts are urged to apply, as no prior advocacy experience is required.

The deadline for applying is March 13, 2009.  The winner will be named in plenty of time to make travel plans.
Please send your application information to the ALAO Government Relations Team at grt@alaoweb.org or contact

Ann M Watson
Library Director
Ohio University – Lancaster
1570 Granville Pike
Lancaster, Oh 43130-1097
Phone: 740-654-6711 X236
Email: watsona2@ohio.edu

Posted in Vol. 26 no. 4 (Dec. 2008) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Continuing Education Grant

Posted on December 22, 2008 by alaoadmin

Christine Rigda, The University of Toledo, Professional Development Committee Chair

I would like to encourage members to apply for the Continuing Education Grant. Each year, ALAO’s Professional Development Committee awards this grant to members who are pursing a professional library degree or would like to attend a conference, workshop or other educational event. One award per year is set for up to $2000. The deadline for submitting grant applications is January 15, 2009. The form and details on how to apply are found at  http://staff.lib.muohio.edu/~rwithers/ce-grant09.pdf .

Additional announcements will be sent to the membership through the listserv.

Posted in Vol. 26 no. 4 (Dec. 2008) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Diversity Committee

Posted on December 22, 2008 by alaoadmin

At the 34th annual conference, the Diversity Committee sponsored the session “When an Affirmative Action Officer is Not Enough.” Beverly I. McDonald of Ohio State University provided an in depth look at Ohio State University’s Diversity Residency program, discussing their experiences and what works and doesn’t work. She also provided connections to several helpful resources on diversity, including Ohio State’s own planning documents.

At the 34th annual conference, Ms. Sanjyot Selkirk was awarded with a certificate recognizing her as the 2008 recipient of the ALAO Diversity Scholarship. The diversity committee (as many members as possible) sat together at lunch and visited with Ms. Selkirk. She was also recognized on a poster at the Diversity Committee’s information table.

The committee created a nice poster display for their table to be used at conference events. Care was taken to create pieces that could easily be reused for future conference (no dates are mentioned). The display received several compliments and should serve the committee with slight alterations for several years going forward.

The Diversity Committee continues to search for a facilitator for a spring program on cross-cultural communication. Recently, we’ve made contact with NAFSA: Association of International Educators and have received several contacts that may be able to help with our programming. Besides planning for a spring program, we are gearing up for the next Diversity Scholarship. The application should be available during January 2009.

Posted in Vol. 26 no. 4 (Dec. 2008) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group

Posted on December 22, 2008 by alaoadmin

Ann Raney, University of Dayton and A. Carolyn Sanders, Central State University

During ALAO’s annual conference, the CMCIG sponsored the Peace Resource Center presentation prepared Dr. James Boland, the Center’s Director and given by Lee Bowman and Patti Kinsinger, Wilmington College’s Watson Library. They also shared the 10-minute DVD, Hiroshima Maidens Project: A Triumph for Humanity in the Tragic Aftermath of War, produced by Lauren White, 2007. Lauren used primary source documents from the Peace Resource Center for some of her research. Dr. James Boland was unavailable due to a schedule conflict. Sixteen people attended.

Mary Cummings, Shawnee State University and CMCIG Coordinating Committee member, co-presented with Gayle Geitgey, Urbana City Schools, during the OhioLINK 2010: An Odyssey session. They highlighted the goals and action plan contained in the INFOhio-OhioLINK Task Force’s research and paper, Preparing 21st Century Ohio Learners for Success: The Role of Information Literacy and Libraries.

The IG table display, designed by Ann Raney, included a poster with a CMCIG projects, a timeline and charts summarizing twenty years of CMCIG spring workshops, themes, topics, speakers and locations. Copies of past CMCIG projects — CMC guidelines (1989-1992) and the CMC directory (1993 edition) and a binder of past workshop flyers and agendas were available for browsing.

Diane Schrecker will host the spring CMCIG workshop at Ashland University on Friday, May 15, 2009.

Posted in Vol. 26 no. 4 (Dec. 2008) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Support Staff Interest Group

Posted on December 22, 2008 by alaoadmin

Judith Thompson-Verdi, Washington State Community College

SSIG sponsored ALA-APA Director Jenifer Grady at a highly-rated session during the 2008 ALAO Conference in Wilmington. Ms. Grady shared updates on progress toward the library support staff (LSS) national certification program which is expected to be field tested during 2009-2010. The program addresses the needs of 69% of library employees who work as support staff and will help the profession standardize expectations for LSS including mastery of critical job competencies, guidance for LSS training curriculum and articulation of job requirements. Information about LSS certification, including a list of competencies, can be found at www.ala-apa.org/lsscp.

SSIG was pleased to present its annual awards during the Wilmington conference. Bobbi Bishop of Heidelberg College received the SSIG Award of Excellence to honor the enthusiasm, professionalism and grace that she brings to her position at Beeghly Library. Louis Mays of Southern State Community College was presented with the SSIG Award of Appreciation for his unwavering encouragement in advancing opportunities for growth and professionalism to his staff.

The SSIG Program Group met October 23 at Roberts Centre to evaluate progress on plans for the 2009 Spring Workshop to be held Friday, March 27 at Washington State Community College in Marietta, Ohio. Keynote speaker Dr. Kerry Strayer, Professor of Communications at Otterbein College, will present on “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People.”

Posted in Vol. 26 no. 4 (Dec. 2008) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Technical, Electronic, and Digital Services Interest Group

Posted on December 22, 2008 by alaoadmin

Rocki Strader, Ohio State

During the fall TEDSIG focused on preparing for the ALAO Annual Conference held on October 24 at the Roberts Centre, Wilmington, Ohio. TEDSIG was delighted to sponsor Margaret Maurer’s presentation, “Uncorking the varietals: social tagging, folksonomies, & controlled vocabularies.”

It was also TEDSIG’s pleasure to award its first annual TEDDY Award to Margaret Maurer.

TEDSIG co-chairs called a brief meeting at the conference to solicit ideas for the Spring workshop. It was agreed to concentrate on electronic journal issues and challenges and that the interest group is pursuing a grant to help meet expenses for hosting a nationally recognized speaker.  Regina Reynolds of the Library of Congress is our first choice.  More information will follow after the holidays.

Posted in Vol. 26 no. 4 (Dec. 2008) | Tagged | Leave a comment

People and Library News

Posted on December 22, 2008 by alaoadmin

New Hires
Ann M. Watson has recently joined the library staff at Ohio University Lancaster. Ann is serving as the Library Director of the Hannah V. McCauley Library. Just an FYI – Hannah McCauley was a very early advocate for academic libraries in Ohio and was the second recipient of ALAO’s Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award, accepting the award in 1985.

Cherie Bronkar, Head of User Services Librarian joined the Muskingum College Library staff in June 2008. She completed the A. Library Paraprofessional/IT program at Belmont Technical College and is a graduate of Franklin University where she earned a B.A. in Information Technology. Cherie holds an MLS from Texas Woman’s University. Cherie has over 20 years of library experience. She lives in Zanesville, OH with her husband and young daughter.

Tom Adamich, Head of Metadata Services Librarian, joined the Muskingum College Library staff in September 2008. He holds an A.A. degree from St. Petersburg College and a B.A. from the University of Akron. Tom completed an MLS at Kent State University and has extensive library experience, especially in the areas of cataloging and government documents.

Retirements
Edythe J. Feazel, Associate Professor, and Director of the Library at Mount Vernon Nazarene University is retiring Dec. 31st after 10.5 years as Library Director at MVNU and 28 years in librarianship

Deputy State Librarian Roger Verny is retiring after fifteen years with the State Library of Ohio. Roger oversaw many projects at the State Library of Ohio, including managing LSTA funds for new and innovative programming throughout Ohio’s library community including the creation of a 24/7 virtual reference service and the automation of 1,556 school libraries.

After ten years of service, Board Member Lucille Hastings’s term concludes at the end of 2008. Ms. Hastings’s tenure includes service as President of the State Library Board from 2003 to 2005 and Vice-President from 2001 to 2003 and 2005 to 2006.

In addition to saying goodbye to Roger and Lucille, the board recognized Cheri Wilks . Cheri is retiring after 24 years of service at the State Library of Ohio. She has held several positions in the library’s Research Services and Library Programs and Development departments including Reference Librarian and Library Consultant.

Renovations
Ohio University Lancaster, Hannah V. McCauley Library. The library is currently undergoing a major renovation which began November 17, 2008. The renovation of the two floor library has a completion date of August 6, 2009. The library staff is planning on having the library reassembled by the time classes resume next September 8, 2009.  The renovated library will include four group study rooms, a testing center lab to be used for distance education classes, a public computer lab which the local business community may reserve for workshops and seminars and a learning resources center which will support students in their math and writing.

Exhibits and Presentations

The Ohio State University at Marion/Marion Technical College Library hosted a staff arts and crafts exhibit for the OSU Staff Appreciation Week from August 18 through September 16. The Marion Campus Staff Arts and Crafts Exhibit garnered 28 entries and 4 winners were chosen via “People’s Choice” voting process. Each winner received a certificate, a ribbon and a gift card. The library helped develop the contest, advertised it and displayed the entries in the library and offered a virtual exhibit via the library webpage.

Laura Kinner, Lucy Duhon and Alice Crosetto, The University of Toledo, presented a paper titled, “A Far, Far Better Place: Adapting to Change in Technical Services,” at The Best of Times…the Worst of Times: the 28th Annual Charleston Conference, Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition, Charleston, South Carolina, November 5-8, 2008.

Laura Kinner, The University of Toledo, presented a paper titled, “A Tale of Two Libraries: The Merging of the Integrated Library Systems,” at The Best of Times…the Worst of Times: the 28th Annual Charleston Conference, Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition, Charleston, South Carolina, November 5-8, 2008.

Alice Crosetto, The University of Toledo, Sue Polanka, Wright State University, and Michelle Harper, NetLibrary, presented a lively lunch panel titled, “Tossing Traditional Collection Development Practices for Patron Initiated Purchasing: A Debate,” at The Best of Times…the Worst of Times: the 28th Annual Charleston Conference, Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition, Charleston, South Carolina, November 5-8, 2008.

Alice Crosetto and Mark Horan, The University of Toledo, presented the 2007 Arab American Book Awards to the award-winning authors in both the fiction and nonfiction categories at the Second Annual Arab American Book Award Ceremony, Saturday, November 1, 2008, Dearborn, Michigan. Additional information about this award can be located at www.arabamericanmuseum.org

Wright State University’s Student Technology Assistance Center of the University Libraries hosted a course facilitated by Will Davis and Beth Anderson to Upward Bound students. Upward Bound is a pre-college preparation program targeting students from area high schools who are from first-generation college or low-income families. The library course, “Creating with Multimedia” allowed students to take advantage of the latest multimedia resources while creating and editing their own digital videos and websites.

Students attended class daily in the library for 6 weeks and were given hands-on experience using iMovie, Garageband and Dreamweaver. Upon completion of the course all students had created their own personal websites and digital stories. Students also gained experience in scriptwriting, storyboarding, scanning, media storage and critical thinking concerning the technological tools and the media they created. Success of the class was evidenced by participants’ test score improvements and by their enthusiasm for future classes.

Posted in Vol. 26 no. 4 (Dec. 2008) | Tagged | Leave a comment

President's Report

Posted on September 30, 2008 by alaoadmin

Karen Wilhoit, Wright State University

 

As I begin my term as ALAO President, I am looking forward to the year ahead.  As you might expect, right now I am focused on the Annual Conference which is coming up on October 24 at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, Ohio.  I am excited about the program we’ve put together; there really is something for everyone! 

 

Our keynote speaker, Dr. David Carr, will talk about connections, how we create them, what makes them work and what causes them to fail.  After Dr. Carr’s presentation, individual sessions will address connections in a variety of ways.  Some will focus on how we connect with people: on campus with faculty and students, in the community, and across the state.  Others will focus on how we connect our users with information, and still others will focus on how we connect with each other. 

In addition to formal presentations, poster sessions will showcase the programs and projects that have been successful at libraries across the state.  Finally, we will have vendor exhibits; we are pleased to have several vendors that are new to ALAO exhibiting at this conference.

 

The conference will be preceded on Thursday afternoon, October 23, by an OhioLINK sponsored workshop on the Digital Resource Commons.  Offered by John Davidson, this workshop will provide both an overview of the DRC and an opportunity to get some “hands-on” experience.  Registration for the pre-conference is free, but space is limited.  Please contact Candi Clevenger (candi@ohiolink.edu) for registration and information. 

 

If you are attending the OhioLINK workshop, or if you’re just arriving on Thursday for the conference, please join us at the pre-conference social.  It’s a wonderful chance to relax with friends or to meet new colleagues. 

 

Registration for the conference is now open.  For registration and hotel information, as well as more detailed information about the program, please visit the conference website at http://www.alaoweb.org/conferences/conf2008/index.html.

 

I look forward to seeing you in Wilmington. 

Posted in Vol. 26 no. 3 (Sep. 2008) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Past President's Report

Posted on September 30, 2008 by alaoadmin

Douglas Morrison

 

Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award: 2008 Call for Nominations

The time to nominate someone is now!  The nominating period draws to an end on October 3rd.  If there is someone you know deserving of recognition and working in an academic library.  There is no better way to  honor them then through the Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award.
 
The ALAO Awards Committee seeks nominations for the Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award.  This award recognizes an individual who (1) has been an ALAO member for at least 5 years, and (2) who has promoted academic libraries and librarianship not only on his or her own campus, but also within the state.  

The award also recognizes someone who has provided leadership in the promotion of ALAO through service such as committee membership, executive board office, or acting as an officer on behalf of an interest group.  

The Jay Ladd Distinguished  Service Award honors the memory of Jay Ladd, a founding member of ALAO in the early 1970’s.
 
This opportunity is a wonderful way to recognize a colleague who has provided leadership in ALAO and contributed to the profession.  The recipient of this year’s award will receive an honorary 5-year membership in ALAO and will be recognized at the 34th ALAO Annual Conference at the Roberts Conference Centre on October 24th, 2008.
 
Click here to nominate someone now!

The following information is needed about your nominee:

  • Name of nominee  
  • Nominee’s position  title  
  • Nominee’s college or  university  
  • Nominee’s ALAO  activities  
  • Your reasons for nominating this  person  
  • Your name and contact information,  including phone and email


NOTE: You may nominate more than one person.  Your reasons for nominating your candidate(s) for the Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award will be especially valuable to the awards committee.
 
Please send your nominations via US mail or as an email attachment by October 3rd, 2008 to:

Douglas P. Morrison
P.O. Box #234
Apple Creek, OH. 44606
sagemor@bright.net 

Recent Past Recipients of the Distinguished Service Award
 

  • 2007   Betsy Blankenship  
  • 2006   Lois Szudy  
  • 2005   Ella Copeland  
  • 2004   Ximena Chrisagis  
  • 2003   Rob Withers  
  • 2002   Douglas Morrison  
  • 2001   Alison Ricker  
  • 2000   Pat Walker   

Posted in Vol. 26 no. 3 (Sep. 2008) | Tagged | Leave a comment