Douglas Morrison (University of Akron) President

I think it’s natural for a past president to look over the time that they served their organization in the office of president and to ask themselves, “What did I accomplish?”

Looking back at this past year, here are a few of the things that took place.

The Academic Library Association of Ohio had its annual leadership retreat on June 2^nd-3^rd 2008. During this time we said goodbye to some folks we owe a debt of gratitude to for their service over the last couple years. Mr. Al Zavar – Cuyahoga Community College; Mr. Brian Hickam – University of Toledo; Karen Plummer – University of Akron and Lori Fielding – University of Akron; Sheryl Gannon – Heidelberg College and others for their past years of service. We also welcomed new board members Stephena Harmony – University of Cincinnati/Raymond Walters; Angel Jackson – Columbus State Community College and other members who moved to new executive board positions and continue their service to ALAO in new ways.

The annual dues to ALAO was raised from $20.00 per year to $30.00 per year and the member services task force was formed to identify the electronic tools ALAO would need to enhance its ability to better serve and respond to our membership in the future. Other changes dealt with the restructuring and enhancement of the Professional Development Award in both the fiscal and type of need under which it could be awarded to a recipient. We re-named and re-defined the former Newsletter Editors position into a “Communications Editor” position and this has provided a

basis for ALAO to reach out and communicate with its members in new and different ways. Have you checked out the new ALAO site on Facebook yet?

The 33rd ALAO Annual Conference “Innovation Generation: Tools, Techniques, Transformations” was held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in downtown Columbus Ohio. This was the first 2-day conference that ALAO has attempted in
almost 15 years. The conference had 32 vendors, 51 breakout sessions, 9 invited speakers, 17 Ohio-related authors, and 407 registered conference attendees. The conference was rated “good” or “excellent” by 86% of those evaluating the event There were 21 people who served on the 2007 conference planning committee with great energy and accomplishment.

There were a number of other accomplishments this year with ALAO establishing a new award, re-naming and expanding the areas covered by one of our interest groups, participating with other library-related Ohio organizations in the annual Libraries Career Night events sponsored by the KSU-SLIS. The amount of activity the association covers each year is overwhelming when you think about it! But when you look at the statement on the ALAO website it becomes a little clearer how we get it done, “We are over 600 members …. We provide support, encouragement, and educational opportunities”, we should also point out that we are a volunteer organization that thrives through the work

of our dedicated members service. It is through that kind of service that ALAO can get so much done.

My best wishes go out to new ALAO President Karen Wilhoit and our newly elected Vice President Rob Withers as they carry on the work and move ALAO forward. Thank you for the opportunity over this past year to serve as ALAO President.

Karen H. Wilhoit (Wright State University) President-Elect

If you haven’t done so already, mark your calendars now for the 2008 ALAO Annual Conference to be held on Friday, October 24 at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, Ohio. The Conference will actually kick off on Thursday afternoon with preconference workshops offered by TEDSIG and OhioLINK. Thursday evening, the preconference social will give conference attendees an opportunity to relax and visit with colleagues from across the state. Friday will be feature our keynote speaker, David Carr, as well as a full slate of programs and panel discussions, poster sessions and opportunities to meet with vendors.

Lori Fielding (University of Akron) Membership Chair

As of January 1^st, 2008 the annual ALAO membership dues increased to $30/year (student dues are still only $10 annually). If you are interested in joining ALAO, or would like to renew your membership, you will find the membership form online at: http://www.alaoweb.org/membership/membershipform.php

The ALAO annual membership runs for the calendar year, January through December.

Please welcome the 2008-2010 ALAO Membership Chair, Angel Jackson (Columbus State Community College). Angel assumed the duties of the ALAO Membership Chair at the annual ALAO Board retreat earlier this month.

Sheryl Gannon (Heidelberg College) SSIG Chair

SSIG held their 2008 Spring Workshop on May 16, 2008 at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, OH. Polishing Your Library Gems: Support Staff had a total of 50 attendees. Attendees were greeted by a continental breakfast of fresh fruit and pastries. The keynote speaker, Kristen Lindsay from Heidelberg College started the workshop off with a wonderful presentation, “How to Make Yourself Sparkle: Having a Positive Attitude at Work”. She shared many strategies that will help participants stay positive in their places of work.

SSIG’s incoming Chair, Judy Verdi from Washington State Community College, gave us a whirlwind tour of how to create a quick flyer using Microsoft Word. Two other SSIG program committee members, Mary Ayres from Southern State Community College and Judy Orahood from Ohio Wesleyan University, presented a session on Getting Published. Lindsay Kagy, from Heidelberg College, relaxed the group with a very popular session on Chair Yoga. Many participants responded that we should repeat this type of session at EVERY ALAO event.

Dr. Daryl Close, from Heidelberg College, presented two sessions on Excel, one Introductory and one Intermediate that were very well received. Dr. Dave Bush, also from Heidelberg College, presented a Historical Snapshot on the Johnson’s Island Prison Camp. Of the 50 attendees, 21 were not ALAO members and became members with their paid registrations.

I want to take this opportunity to personally thank all the people who helped plan this workshop. The SSIG Program Planning Committee consists of: Sheryl Gannon, Heidelberg College; Bobbi Bishop, Heidelberg College; Bill Stoddard, Otterbein College; Judy Orahood, Ohio Wesleyan University; Mary Ayres, Southern State Community College; Judy Verdi, Washington State Community College; Kathy Burns, Southern State Community College; ReBecca Griffith, Southern State Community College; Brian Hickam, the University of Toledo; and Gaynelle Predmore, Bowling Green State University. I would also like to thank Deberah England for making sure the table cover arrived at Heidelberg’s Library in time for our workshop and Peggy Rector for providing the promotional items.

It was announced that next year’s SSIG Spring Workshop will be held at the campus of our incoming Chair, Judy Thompson-Verdi, which is Washington State Community College in Marietta, OH.

If you would like to be a part of the Program Planning Committee for the 2009 Workshop, please contact either the outgoing chair, Sheryl Gannon at sgannon@heidelberg.edu or the incoming chair, Judy Thompson-Verdi at jthompsonverdi@wscc.edu .

The Ohio Library Support Staff Institute (OLSSI) is almost here!

The 2008 Ohio Library Support Staff Institute will be July 27 – 29, 2008 at the University of Toledo. OLSSI has planned outstanding programs, interesting lectures, and fun activities for participants. The conference is titled The Hidden Treasures of Libraries: Support Staff.

Grab the opportunity to network with peers, be exposed to new job-related skills and knowledge, and gain a sense of community and support from other library assistants throughout the state and region!

Classes include:

• Audiobooks, eBooks, Music, & Video: Digital Downloads Without Pirating!
• No Need to Draw Yer Cutlass! How Facebook Can Work for Libraries
• Putting the Rrrrrr in PublisheR: Making a Brochure from a Template
• Sail Ho! WorldCat Local and Resource Discovery
• Charting the Frontier of the Internet: Web 2.0

To register & find out more, visit us online at: http://www.olssi.org/

Ann Raney (University of Dayton), Co-chair

On Friday, May 23^rd , OHIONET graciously hosted the 20^th Annual CMCIG Spring Workshop, Virtual Education Collections: Issues and Best Practices. Twenty-six individuals attended, including four K-12 library media specialists.

In her session, “Best Practices for Developing a Digital Collection”, Anne Gilliland, OhioLINK emerita, shared information on and challenges of acquiring, cataloging, circulating, and maintaining electronic resources gleaned from her fifteen years of OhioLINK service. She also offered insights about future OhioLINK acquisitions.

Cynthia DuChane, INFOhio Project Coordinator, discussed the collaborative P-16 transition project between INFOhio and OhioLINK, and Mary Conroy, OHIONET’s Electronic Resources Coordinator, provided a brief history of OHIONET and highlighted some of their continuing education workshops, library and technical support services, and future database acquisitions.

During her very lively “Children’s Literature Online” session, Mary Cummings, Shawnee State University, shared her research on “children’s literature that lives on the web”. Mary demonstrated commercial multimedia resources (TumbleBooks, BookFlix), free multimedia resources (Starfall, Storyline Online, Storybook Web), text only free resources (Children’s Books Online, International Children’s Digital Library, Literature for Children), and free podcasts and other audio files (Light Up Your Brain, iTunes and iTunesU).

Ann Raney, University of Dayton & CMCIG co-chair, asked members to check their CMC’s links on the interest group’s universities’ web page list (http://www.alaoweb.org/igs/cmcig/ohiocmc.php) and send corrections to Ann.Raney@notes.udayton.edu . If you have other CMCIG web page changes and corrections, send them to Ann.

Greg Martin, Cedarville University & CMCIG co-chair, updated members on the CMCIG’s online CMC Directory project (http://cmc.library.uakron.edu/cmc/index.html ). Following a discussion of other available directories, the group voted to revise the current database. Greg will work with the ALAO webmasters to design an updated “Ohio CMC Directory”. When the site becomes available, the CMCIG coordinating committee will contact Ohio CMC staff and encourage them to enter their data. You may send comments about or suggestions for the revised directory to marting@cedarville.edu .

The group chose A. Carolyn Sanders, Central State University, as the 2008-2009 CMCIG co-chair, and Kathy Yoder, Bowling Green State University, as the CMCIG co-chair elect.

To view more CMCIG Spring Workshop photos, click this link

http://cmcig.blogspot.com/2008/06/cmcig-spring-workshop.html

Diane Schrecker of Ashland University, agreed to host the 2009 spring workshop.

Additional information about the CMCIG projects, listserv, and blog is available on the CMCIG web page (http://www.alaoweb.org/igs/cmcig/index.php).