Vol. 25, No. 3 (September 2007)

ALAO News

President's Report

Leadership Retreat Report

The 2007 ALAO Leadership Retreat was held at Atwood Lakes Resort and Conference Center near Sherrodsville Ohio on June 7th & 8th, 2007. ALAO uses the Leadership Retreat for several purposes, such as:

• Orienting new officers, IG Chairs, and Board members to the organization
• Exchange information between outgoing and incoming Board members
• Plan and adopt the associations new annual budget
• Review goals and objectives for the coming year
• Revise the ALAO strategic plan within each three year cycle
• Used to foster and reinforce relationships between board members
• Serves as the associations June Board meeting each year
• Serves as the point where newly elected members take up their new duties

This years Leadership Retreat saw several new Board members joining us for the 2007-2008 term. New members in attendance were:

• Karen Wilhoit, Vice-President/President-Elect (Wright State University)
• Brian Gray, Board Member - 1st year (Case Western Reserve University)
• Rob Withers, Board Member - 1st year (Miami University)
• Diane Schrecker, Secretary (Ashland University)
• Peggy Rector, Public Relations Coordinator (Denison University)
• Rocki Strader, Technical Services IG Co-Chair (Ohio State University)
• Steven Kenneally, Instruction IG Co-Chair (Mount Union College)
• Mary Lee Jensen, Board Member, 1st year (Kent State University)
• Sheryl Gannon, Support Staff IG Chair (Heidelberg College)
• Richard Wisneski, Co-Webmaster/Instruction IG Co-Chair (University of Akron)

Other Board Members in attendance were:

• Ann Watson, Past President (Denison University)
• Douglas Morrison, President (University of Akron)
• Brian Hickam, Board Member - 2nd year (University of Toledo)
• Ione Damasco, Diversity Committee Co-Chair (University of Dayton)
• Alison Ricker, Manual Revision Coordinator (Oberlin College)
• Karen Plummer, Co-Webmaster (University of Akron)
• Doris Ebbert, Collection Management IG Chair (Otterbein University)
• Susan Scott, Liaison to ACRL (Denison University)
• Jo Ann Calzonetti, Treasurer (University of Akron)
• Kathy Dobda, Board Member - 2nd year (Cleveland State University)
• Al Zavar, Board Member - 2nd year (Cuyahoga Community College)
• Lori Fielding, Membership Chair/Diversity Committee Co-Chair (University of Akron)
• Heidi Beke Harrigan, Newsletter Editor (Malone College)
• Kevin Furniss, Interest Group Coordinator (Denison University)
• Frank Bove, Co-Webmaster (University of Akron)
• Greg Martin, Curriculum Materials Center IG Co-Chair (Cedarville University)
• Deberah England, Technical Services IG Co-Chair (Wright State University)
• Kathryn Venditti, Distance Learning IG Co-Chair (Ashland University)
• Kathy Williams Wright, OCA Executive Director (Ohio College Association)
• Judy Orahood, Support Staff IG Past Chair (Ohio Wesleyan University)

At this year’s Leadership Retreat a number of significant actions took place that will have an impact on the future of ALAO. Among these actions that were voted upon and approved by the Executive Board were:

• To increase the annual dues for membership from $20 to $30 and that this would go into effect starting January of 2008.
• Accepted a proposed budget based on new conference and membership revenue projections.
• Received interest group and officer annual reports.
• Installed Lindsay Midkiff Miller (Miami University) to succeed Heidi Beke Harrigan (Malone College) as the new ALAO Newsletter Editor.
• Changed the duties and title of ALAOs "Newsletter Editor" to the title of "Communications Editor" and added responsibilities for the ALAO weblog to the duties of the position.
• Passed a motion to change the name of the Interest Group known as the Technical Services Interest Group (TSIG) to the new title Technical, Electronic, and Digital Services Interest Group (TEDSIG) in order to be more inclusive and open to new members.

Additionally, the Board members at this year’s retreat determined the future Board meeting dates for the upcoming year: September 21st, 2007; November 16th, 2007; February 15th, 2008; and April 18th, 2008. All meetings will be held at OHIONET in Columbus and are open to all ALAO members. If you have any questions regarding these actions please feel free to contact me at the information provided on the ALAO website.

ALAO Membership Dues Increase

ALAO is one of the best options for librarians, staff, and library students within the local Ohio library community. We continue to provide several quality spring Interest Group workshops, programming of current and developing interests in the library field during our annual conferences, several scholarships and awards aiding in continuing education and recognition of contributions to the academic library field. Other activities supported by ALAO include recognition and support for publications by our membership, a quarterly newsletter and a weblog where member news and the latest association information is provided, opportunities for collaboration and cooperation with other library organizations on the local and national level, and we provide six interest groups and specialized committees that serve the special concerns of our members.

In order to continue ALAO’s current opportunities and look at providing new ones, an ongoing discussion has been going on regarding new membership dues rates for some time. At the recent ALAO Leadership Retreat the Executive Board voted to raise the dues from $20 to $30 per year for a general ALAO membership. Driving this decision and the discussion was the desire to compensate for inflation, the steady increase in costs for the annual conference, leadership retreat, workshops, and the need to bring our budget into a balanced state.

ALAO has not raised its rates since June of 1999, at that time the increase was from $12 to the current $20 rate. That is nearly nine years that we have successfully held the line against these increasing costs with only membership dues and any monies that may be made from the annual conference and our workshops. All of this is done while maintaining our status as a non-profit organization and through our successful working relationship with the Ohio College Association. These changes do not take immediate effect, built into the increase is a delayed enactment that allows members to join at the old rate until January of 2008 when the new membership rates come into force. If you would like to avoid paying the new membership rates until 2009 you can renew now at the old rates for 2008 during your registration for the annual conference or by mailing your membership form and check to ALAOs membership chair today!

Change has hit us all, we are familiar with its impact from our day to day work within today’s libraries. It has become a fact of life that we must all adapt and adjust to them and the institution or organization that doesn't or can't becomes a casualty. ALAO has remained vibrant, adaptive, and capable during this time of change and upheaval as the pace of the changes appears to continue to increase. Our organization continues to look for new and updated ways to serve the needs of our members. If we are to be successful in this pursuit, it has become necessary for us to increase the membership dues to this new level to change while maintaining our success and viability. Please join me in supporting our organization in reaching this goal.

2007 ALAO Annual Conference Update

Registration is now open!
Registration deadline: October 5, 2007

ALAO's 33rd Annual Conference will be held this October 25th & 26th at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in the C-Pod area. The hotel selected for this conference is the Hampton Inn and Suites across the street from the Convention Center and rooms can be reserved either for the Wednesday night before the conference or for Thursday night of the conference at a rate of $112 dollars a night. Additional contact information for the hotel can be found at the conference website under the hotel option from the side menu.

Other features of note for this years conference would include the President's Program to be presented on Friday morning and a panel presentation involving some of our invited and featured speakers as a follow up to the President's Program presentation. Other events taking place this year include an Author-Vendor Social with hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar that will be held on Thursday evening in the vendor area.

Additionally we have 8 invited speakers covering topics directly related to this years conference theme of "Innovation Generation: Tools Techniques, Transformations", and we include special tracks that are sponsored by the Technical, Electronic and Digital Services Interest Group; the Support Staff Interest Group; and also by the Diversity Committee of ALAO. The programming is made up of nearly 50 different and individually stimulating presentations!

All of this is available to you at the following conference rates of $40 if coming for Thursday only, $80 if you are coming to Friday only, or for $100 you have access to all conference activities over both days. Registration is now open and if you are looking for more information check out the conference website and check the menu on the left side of your screen for further updates and new additions. We hope to see you there!!!!

Vice President's Report

2008 Conference Planning Begins:

The ALAO 2008 conference will be held at the Roberts Conference Center just off I-71 near Wilmington, Ohio on October 24, 2008. The Conference Planning Committee will begin planning for the conference soon, and we need a few additional members. The Committee is responsible for selecting the keynote speaker, and choosing and scheduling conference programs, as well as for all logistics and local arrangements. In addition, we will be choosing the site for ALAO’s 2009 conference. If you would like to get involved with ALAO, this is a great opportunity! Please contact me at karen.wilhoit@wright.edu if you are interested.

Thoughts on ALAO’s Dues Increase:

ALAO’s upcoming dues increase has already been discussed, but I wanted to add my perspective. Since I recently spent four years as ALAO’s treasurer, I am well aware of how important dues are to the association’s budget. ALAO is committed to keeping its annual conference and the interest group workshops affordable; as a result, these programs do not add much money to the association’s "bottom line." While these programs are a vital part (and the most visible part) of the services ALAO provides to its members, the association does much more. The research grants, the continuing education grants, the minority scholarship, and support of OLSSI are other ways that ALAO supports the professional development of its members, and all of these services are directly supported by your membership dues. Please support the dues increase and renew your membership to ALAO for 2008!

Dates to Remember

2007
September 21, 2007	ALAO Executive Board Meeting (OhioNET)
September 25, 2007	Deadline for Hotel Registration for the ALAO 33rd Annual Conference. See Conference Web Site for More Information
October 5, 2007	Deadline for Registration for ALAO 33rd Annual Conference See Conference Web Site for More Information
October 12, 2007	Deadline for Applications for the Support Staff Presenter Grant, ALAO 33rd Annual Conference See Conference Web Site for More Information
October 25-26, 2007	ALAO 33rd Annual Conference, Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, OH
November 15, 2007	Deadline for December newsletter submissions
November 16, 2007	ALAO Executive Board Meeting (OhioNET)
2008
January 11-16, 2008	ALA 2008 Midwinter Meeting, Philadelphia, PA
Feb. 15, 2008	ALAO Executive Board Meeting (OhioNET)
Feb. 15, 2008	Deadline for March ALAO Newsletter items

Membership News

At the annual ALAO Board retreat in June it was decided that, after nearly a decade, ALAO will increase annual membership dues to $30. This increase of $10 will take effect on January 1st, 2008. Please note: any new memberships or renewals submitted before the end of 2007 will be at the current rate of $20. Annual ALAO membership is for the calendar year, January – December.

Please consider joining or renewing NOW for the annual membership rate of $20, after January 1st 2008 the membership dues will be $30 annually.

Thank you for your support of ALAO!

Government Relations Team

During the late spring, Raimund Goerler, Ohio State University and Gail Marredeth, Cleveland State University agreed to join the Government Relations Team (GRT) as new members, filling two vacancies. They join holdover member Paul Burnam of Ohio Wesleyan University. They had an organizational meeting at Wooster in late June.

During the summer, they agreed to become involved as ACRL Legislative Advocates as described on the ACRL Web site.

They join Trisha Davis of The Ohio State University and Ray English and Alison Ricker of Oberlin College in advocating for academic library issues to both federal and state government officials. Other members of the Ohio academic library community who are interested in becoming involved in this initiative should feel to contact any of the GRT members.

During their organizational meeting in June, the GRT members discussed a proposal raised at the Ohio Library Partnership Summit on May 21, 2007 about academic, public, and school librarians joining together for a Statehouse Connect Day to meet and discuss library issues with Ohio legislative officials. They will seek to learn more what is happening as follow up to the Summit in this regard.

They also talked about the GRT booth for the ALAO annual conference. The booth is geared towards recruiting other librarians to help create an informational network to distribute news about state and federal legislation that will impact academic libraries. The original goal was to identify one librarian to serve in this capacity in each of Ohio's 18 U.S. Congressional districts. In light of the development of the ACRL Legislative Advocates, a discussion about the future of the Ohio legislative network will be a relevant topic for the ALAO Board Meeting on September 21.

Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award: Call for Nominations

The ALAO Awards Committee seeks nominations for the 2007 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 interest group office. The Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award honors the memory of Jay Ladd, a founding member of ALAO in the early 1970s.

This is a wonderful way to recognize a colleague who has provided leadership in ALAO and in the profession. The recipient of this year's award will receive an honorary 5-year membership in ALAO and will be recognized at the 33rd ALAO Annual Conference at the Greater Columbus Convention Center on October 26, 2007.

You may access the nomination form from the ALAO web site at: http://www.alaoweb.org/oldsite/manual/c31.pdf

Please include the following information:

• 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 mail, US Cargo, fax, or as an email attachment by OCTOBER 1, 2007 to:

Ann M. Watson
Head of Instruction & Access Services
Denison University Library
400 West Loop
Granville, OH 43023
watsona@denison.edu
Fax:740-587-6285

Ohio Library Support Staff Institute (OLSSI) News

OLSSI has elected its 2007-2008 Steering Committee Officers. New officers are:

• Chairperson: Connie Brooks, John Carroll University
• Vice Chair of Programs: Karen Merten, Cincinnati State
• Vice Chair of Site Coordination: Michael Bradshaw, Supreme Court of Ohio Law Library
• Secretary/Treasurer: Tanya Ellenburg-Kimmet, Wright State University

Interest Group/Committee News

Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group

At the Spring Workshop (May 18th), Steve Aby, University of Akron, (saby@uakron.edu) described the ambitious and exciting UA library committee grant idea to seek funds for the development of a "Virtual CMC". Steve asked interest group members to send him suggestions for a "core" collection of electronic/digital resources for a state-of-the-art online CMC. They can include access to print and nonprint educational resources. Cost does not matter, so dream big! These resources are in addition to those readily available through OhioLINK/individual library subscriptions-Education Abstracts, ERIC, Mental Measurements Yearbook, Authors4Teens, Horn Book, etc. Please send your questions, ideas, and suggestions to Steve (saby@uakron.edu). Steve will compile this list and share it with the interest group.

Greg Martin, Cedarville University, will coordinate efforts to design an updated online "Ohio CMC Directory". This database will replace the 2000 online directory developed by Steve Aby (University of Akron) and Bill Meloy (Cleveland State University) with the assistance of Aimee deChambeau (University of Akron).

Carolyn Sanders, Central State University, will present during the CMCIG session at ALAO’s Annual Conference, Friday October 26th. The title of her session is “It Takes Two to Get the Job Done: Librarian and Teacher Collaborations”. Carolyn states, “This presentation is a report on the collaboration of an academic librarian and college of education faculty to improve the information literacy skills of teachers-in–training. It also includes segments from collaborations of school library media specialists and classroom teachers who taught information literacy skills for K-12 students in various subject areas.”

Support Staff Interest Group

The Support Staff Interest Group has been a busy group lately. We have been planning our Track of Sessions at this year’s Annual Conference. We will be sponsoring four sessions this year at Conference:

• The ICDL & Libraries: Staff Development Implications for the Learning or Information Commons presented by Louis Mays, Southern State Community College and David Watts, Columbus State Community College
• The Library Degree: Is It For Me? presented by Michael Bradshaw from Supreme Court of Ohio Law Library and Doug Morrison, University of Akron/ALAO President
• Transforming Rocks into Diamonds: How to Cultivate Quality Student Workers presented by Pat Wood from Ohio State University at Marion
• Five Years of Street Walkin’: The Jerome Rollers Book Cart Drill Team presented by Sara Bushong and Christine Plotts from Bowling Green State University.

We have also been busy starting to plan our 2008 Spring Workshop. Save the date and mark your calendars for May 16, 2008 at Heidelberg College.

The SSIG is proud to announce a new slate of officers. Sheryl Gannon is serving as Chair of the interest group. Sheryl is the Acquisitions Coordinator and Assistant Media Center Coordinator at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, OH. Judith Thompson-Verdi is serving as Secretary/Chair Elect. Judith is a Library Technician at Washington State Community College in Marietta, OH where her primary responsibilities are in the cataloging area.

The SSIG would like input from support staff in ALAO. We have a survey that should take no more than 5 minutes to complete. The survey can be found here: http://www.gemini.basicsurvey.net/karen42/2/survey.php

Please take the time to give us feedback. We want to know what you think. The survey will run through September 30, 2007. Please visit now and give us valuable input into your interest group.

If you are interested in being a part of the action and want to attend our next interest group meeting, join the SSIG listserv at: http://www.alaoweb.org/igs/ssig/listserv.php

Announcements are posted regularly as to the dates and times of the planning meetings. We are always looking for energetic people to be a part of the committee.

Diversity Committee

The ALAO Diversity Committee has recently had a change in membership and the current line-up for the committee is:

• Ione Damasco, Committee Co-chair, University of Dayton
• Lori Fielding, Committee Co-chair, University of Akron
• Ken Burhanna, Kent State University
• Cliff Glaviano, Bowling Green State University
• Angel Jackson, Columbus State Community College
• Betsy Salt, Otterbein College
• Ann Watson, Past President of ALAO, Denison University
• Peggy Rector, Public Relations Coordinator, Denison University

Membership on this committee includes: the ALAO Past President; Diversity Committee Chair, the Public Relations Coordinator; and 5 ALAO members appointed by the President for 2 year staggered terms. If you have an interest in serving on this committee for the next term please feel free to contact either Ione (ione.damasco at notes.udayton.edu) or Lori (lott at uakron.edu).

As stated in the ALAO Procedures Manual: the purpose of the Diversity Committee is to address various aspects of human diversity, including ethnic and racial; gender; disability issues; international or cross-cultural issues; gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues; and age. This Committee will serve as an advisory group to ALAO to assist the organization in providing leadership for diversity by serving as a bridge to promote understanding across racial and cultural lines and to help foster and sustain diversity throughout the organization.

The Diversity Committee co-chairs would like to thank the recent former members for all their help during the 2006 annual ALAO Conference & with planning the spring 2006 workshop.

People and Library News

Ashland University

Diane Schrecker, Curriculum Librarian at Ashland University, presented two poster sessions at the 2007 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, DC. Keep Blogging Along: Side by Side Library Blogs detailed original uses for blogs in academic libraries including juvenile book reviews, liaison communication and collection development, course support, and professional development. A Tale of Collaboration: The Art of the Picture Book conference provided an overview of the successful Art of the Picture Book Conference hosted by Ashland University in May 2006.

Bowling Green State University

Linda Rich is the new Reference Services Coordinator for the University Libraries at Bowling Green State University. Linda began her new responsibilities on August 1, 2007.

BGSU has chosen the director of a large medical school library who has significant experience with OhioLINK as its next dean of University Libraries. Thomas Atwood, former director of the Ocasek Medical Library at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEUOCOM), in Rootstown, began his duties at BGSU June 29.

At NEUOCOM, Atwood oversaw a total budget of more than $1.5 million in operating and capital expenses. In addition to the College of Medicine library, he had responsibility for the Northeastern Ohio Cooperative Regional Depository and the library’s Academic Learning Resources. In addition, he was chief medical librarian for the Oliver Ocasek Regional Medical Information Center.

Atwood, who is chair of the OhioLINK Coordinated Depositories Task Force, also served on OhioLINK’s Governing Board and Executive Committee in 2004-05, and has been a member of its Library Advisory Coordinating Committee Council since 2002. He has been on its Advisory Council of Deans and Directors since 1990, serving as chair the council in 2004-05. A member of the Ohio Board of Regents Inter-University Council of Library Deans and Directors since 1999, he was chair of that group from 2001-03. Before his appointment at NEOUCOM, he was executive director of libraries and served at Youngstown State University from 1986-2002.

Bowling Green State University -- Firelands Library

On July 2, 2007, Sharon Britton became the Librarian at Bowling Green State University—Firelands Campus, replacing Will Currie who retired in May. She came to Firelands after 16 years as Director of Public Services at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. There she was a member of the Steering Committee and active participant in the planning and implementation of an Information Commons, which featured a combined Librarian/ITS professional service point, and a multimedia center. Before Hamilton, she had been the Assistant University Librarian, at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire for several years, and the Head of Circulation/Reference Librarian at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY.

Bryant & Stratton College

The Bryant & Stratton College - Cleveland Downtown Campus Library is moving to a new location at the College’s East 13th Street facility. The new location will offer closer proximity to classrooms and labs, enhanced organization of the monograph and periodical collections, and an expanded information commons area. The move and renovation are expected to be completed for the start of the fall 2007 semester.

Capital University

Belen Fernandez joined Capital University’s Blackmore Library as its new director on July 23. Previously, Belen was the library director at Franklin University. Also, Robert Albrecht, stacks supervisor, retired July 26.

Clark State Community College

Sue Weldon left Antioch College at the end of June and is now working as a part-time Reference Librarian at Clark State Community College in Springfield.

Cleveland State University

Kiffany Francis has been hired as a Metadata Librarian at Cleveland State University Library.

Bruce Jeppesen is now the Associate Library Director at Cleveland State University Library.

George Lupone, Associate Director at Cleveland State University, has retired after more than 25 years of service. His areas of expertise included management and renovation of library facilities. He also focused on the assessment of library services, facilities, and instruction. In addition to his leadership assignments at Cleveland State University, he served on various professional committees, including ALA, OhioLINK, and CAMLS. Lupone’s most notable committee assignments for ALA were to serve as chair of the Library Administration and Management Association, Program Committee (2003-2005), and co-chair of the Library Administration and Management Association, Human Resource Section, Union Relations for Managers Discussion Group (2002-2004).

He was also elected member-at-large for the Library Administration and Management Association, Library Organization and Management Section, Executive Committee (1999-2001). George Lupone is active member of the Cleveland community, an avid photographer, a world traveler and is fluent in Spanish, French, and Italian.

Cleveland State Law Library

Amy Burchfield is our Access and Faculty Services Librarian . Amy comes to us from the Georgetown University Law Center Library where she has served as International & Foreign Law Reference Librarian since 2004. Prior to Georgetown she was a Reference Librarian at the OSU Law Library from 2002-2004. Amy holds an MLS from Kent State University, a JD from Ohio State, an MA in German from KentState, and a BA from Juniata College (PA). She is fluent in several foreign languages.

Sue Altmeyer will fill our newly created position of Electronic Services/Reference Librarian. Sue is Reference & Research Librarian at the Cleveland Law Library Association where she has worked since 2001. She also served as a Law Clerk for the Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals (Judges Nahra & Dyke)from 1993-2001, and as a Law Clerk in the Cuyahoga Court of Common Pleas (Judges Strickland Saffold & Cleary) in 1997. She was also an attorney for the firm of Hastings & Kerka in 1992. Sue holds her MLS from Kent State University, her JD Summa Cum Laude from Cleveland Marshall, where she also was a member of the Law Review, and her BS Summa Cum Laude from OSU.

Kevin Garewal becomes our Collection Development/Acquisitions Librarian. He was an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the Cuyahoga County Department of Children & Family Services. He formerly served as an Adult Services Librarian at the Cleveland Hts. Public Library from 1998-2002, as well as a Librarian at the Cuyahoga Co. Public Library from 1998-1999. Kevin holds his JD from Cleveland-Marshall, his MLS from Kent State, and a BA from Baldwin-Wallace.

Columbus State Community College

Shannon Somogye, Linda Roberts, and Joanna Anderson have been hired to fill three newly-created part-time reference librarian positions.

Before moving to Columbus, Shannon worked full-time as Information Services Librarian at Heartland Community College in Illinois. She has also worked at Illinois Central College and Medina County District Library. Shannon holds a B.A. in Journalism from OSU with a minor in Political Science. Her M.L.I.S. is from Kent State. She is also working as Customer Service Specialist at the Hilliard Branch of Columbus Metropolitan Library.

Linda comes to us having recently retired from the Worthington Public Library. She served Worthington in a variety of positions - most recently as Adult Services Librarian. Other positions she held at Worthington include Manager of the Old Worthington Library, Manager of Technical Services, Young Adult Librarian, and Reference Librarian. She holds a B.S. in General Home Economics from College of Mt. St. Joseph, an M.S. in Textiles and Clothing from OSU, and her M.L.S. from Kent State.

Joanna is a May 2007 M.L.I.S. graduate of Kent State University. She holds a B.A. in History and in English Literature from OSU. Joanna also works at OSU as Interim-Coordinator for the Friends of OSU Libraries and Office Assistant for the Administrative Services & Development Dept. of OSU University Libraries.

We are pleased to have all three join our staff.

Denison University

Nicole Robinson, who will be completing both an MLS and an MA in History this December, will be joining the Denison University reference librarians for the Fall 2007 semester. Nicole is from Zanesville, OH. She did her undergraduate work at Wittenberg University, majoring in English and History. In her history masters program at Indiana University, her research focus is 18th and 19th century Scotland. As always, Denison librarians are pleased to be able to support a library school student. Nicole is job hunting this fall so keep her in mind; she has (and soon will have even more) experience with OhioLINK and other Ohio academic library resources.

Kent State University

On July 1, Jamie Seeholzer joined the reference and instruction department at Kent State University as the Resident Business Librarian. Jamie, a 2006 graduate of Kent's School of Library and Information Science, previously worked in the library as a graduate reference assistant and temporary reference librarian. She will be responsible for collection development, instruction, and outreach to the departments of accounting, economics, finance, management & information systems, and marketing.

Several Kent State librarians (Carolyn Radcliff, Mary Lee Jensen, Joe Salem, Ken Burhanna, and Julie Gedeon) recently authored A Practical Guide to Information Literacy Assessment for Academic Librarians (2007). Published by Libraries Unlimited, the book describes various assessment tools and provides guidelines for their use based on available resources. It includes information on analyzing data and presenting results, as well as a general overview of information literacy assessment.

Lorain County Community College

Gabriel Venditti has joined the LCCC Library staff as Library Automation Technician. Gabriel was formerly Technical Services Library Assistant at the Cleveland Institute of Art Gund Library.

Heather Robinson has joined the LCCC Library staff as Library Assistant, Serials. Heather has prior experience with the Wood County District Public Library in Bowling Green.

Lorain County Community College has broken ground for its new Library & Community Resource Center, an 85,000 sq. ft. building which will include a branch of the Elyria Public Library System.

Miami University

Katie Gibson has joined the Miami University Libraries as a Resident Librarian. She is a graduate of Miami University and completed her MLS at Indiana University. At the Miami Libraries she is liaison to the Spanish and Portuguese, French and Italian, German, and Latin American Studies programs.

Elías Tzoc has joined the University Libraries as a Resident Librarian in Digital Initiatives. Originally from western Guatemala, Tzoc earned his B.S. in Information Management from Universidad Galileo and completed his MSIS with a focus on digital libraries from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2007.

Miami University Hamilton

Mark Shores is the new Assistant Director at Miami University at Hamilton. Mark most recently worked as a Reference Librarian at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Before that he was at Ball State University and the University of Arkansas-Monticello.

Mount Carmel

The Mount Carmel Health Sciences Library is pleased to announce the appointment of Stevo Roksandic, Director of Library Services. His strong leadership style, business sense and sensitivity to his staff create a wonderful atmosphere in which to work. We the staff of Mount Carmel Health Sciences Library salute our director.

Oberlin College

Oberlin College Library is looking forward to the dedication of its new Academic Commons on the main level of the Mudd Center. The main library, built in the early 1970s, underwent a major renovation on its entrance level during the summer, and will be formally dedicated on September 28.

Construction is on target for completion in time to welcome the incoming class for orientation tours. The Academic Commons will offer dozens of computer workstations clustered around an information desk staffed by library and Center for Information Technology experts, a multimedia production center, instruction lab with computers and readily reconfigured modular furniture, writing assistance lab, group study rooms, and Azariah's Cafe (named for the renowned Azairah Smith Root, college librarian from 1887-1927), where Lattes with a Librarian could emerge as a new outreach program.

Construction progress was noted during the summer on the library's blog, which also provides links to planning documents.

CALA Summer Workshops in China Successful
Four CALA (Chinese American Librarians Association) teams, led by three Ohio academic librarians, Haipeng Li at Oberlin College, Xudong Jin at Ohio Wesleyan University, and Guoqing Li at Ohio State University, successfully conducted training workshops during the month of July at four institutions in China: Northeast Normal University, Shanxi Agricultural University, Yunnan Normal University, and Yunnan Provincial Library.

Sixteen CALA members including former president of ALA, Barbara Ford, participated in the project as presenters. The project focused on the practical aspect of librarianship. Topics covered included a wide range of areas, from reference services to digital librarianship, library consortia to virtual library services, information literacy to future of academic librarianship, among many others. Over 300 attendees from all over China benefited from these workshops this year.

Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive at all four sites. Particularly noted in the evaluations were the lively presentations, enthusiastic discussions and new ideas and practices in academic librarianship. Participants very much appreciated the efforts of CALA and its members who devoted time to this meaningful and important project. Many other library institutions in China that were present at this year’s workshops expressed interest and requested that more similar workshops be conducted, if possible, at other locations in China. Since the CALA Board has approved this project to be an ongoing CALA event, we expect more projects of this kind to take place every year.

If anyone is interested in getting involved, please contact:

Haipeng Li, Oberlin College: haipeng.li@oberlin.edu
Xudong Jin, Ohio Wesleyan University: xdjin@owu.edu
Guoqing Li, Ohio State University: li.272@osu.edu

Ohio State University - Mansfield

Scott Savage, former Head of Reference and Library Instruction, Mansfield Campus, presented "When Diversity's Ox is Gored: 21st Century Librarians' Acquiescence to Censorship - a Case Study" at the American Library Association Pre-Conference Intellectual Freedom Round Table in Washington, DC on June 21.

Ohio University Libraries

Julia Zimmerman, Dean of Libraries at Ohio University, accepted a position as the Director of Libraries at Florida State University, her alma mater. Those also moving on include Cara Kouse (Center for International Collections), Courtney Cole (Development), Edward Muldoon (Learning Commons), Liren Zheng (Curator, Shao Center), Patricia Smith-Hunt (Head, Preservation), Loyd Mbabu (Africana Bibliographer), Emily Marcus (Graphics & Multimedia), Karen Cain (Circulation), Debora Kroutel (Records Management Associate, Archives), and Kiffany Francis (Media Library).

In the last year Ohio University Libraries also bid farewell to retiring employees Darlene Campbell (Accounting Associate), Marine Dillon (Southeast Ohio Depository), Cheryl Ewing (Head, Health Sciences Library), Paulette Hodges (Assistant to the Dean), Karen Jones (Administrative Associate, Archives), Lars Lutton (Photographer, Graphics & Multimedia), Barry Scott (Special Collections Cataloger), Norma Wagner (Facilities Coordinator), Gary Hunt (Associate Dean), Robert Houdek (Science Librarian), George Bain (Head, Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections).

New employees welcomed by Ohio University Libraries were Samanthi Hewakapuge (Health Sciences Reference Librarian), Ron Young (Facilities Coordinator), Char Booth (Reference & Instruction Librarian), Eun Chin Lee (Non-English Languages Cataloger), Jessica Stith (Learning Commons), Susan Knoer (Librarian/Archivist), Derek Malone (Learning Commons), Ryan Straight (Circulation), Robert Dakin (Records Management Associate, Archives), Mike Wilson (Engineering Librarian), Keng We Koh (Curator, Shao Center).

Owens Community College

Nancy Emrick, Library Manger, Owens Community College, Toledo Campus retired effective June 30, 2007. In Nancy's 35 years at Owens, the library (and campus) grew from shared space with a nearby high school to the beautiful, 32,000 square feet building which opened several years ago. During Nancy's tenure, the Owens evolved from a technical college to comprehensive state community college and Nancy kept the library top notch throughout the changes. Nancy celebrated her new found freedom by taking a Hawaiian cruise with her entire family, and she had a wonderful retirement reception and dinner sponsored by the library staff.

Patricia Breno has been promoted to Library Manager at Owens Community College's Toledo Campus Library. Pat is a graduate of the Kent State University library program and previously served as the Serials Librarian at Owens.

Shawnee State University

Shawnee State welcomes a new acquisitions clerk, Sandy Duduit, and a new circulation clerk, Annette Johnson. We also congratulate circulation clerk Tyler Ferguson who has just completed his M.L.I.S. at Kent State. Tyler began his library career here at Shawnee State as a student reference assistant and participated in the Shawnee State cohort of Kent State’s 12-12-12 Distance Degree Program.

Southern State Community College

Check out the new blog for the Learning Resources Center at Southern State Community College (SSCC). The blog is for library staff, and anyone can contribute to the blog. It was started by staff member Luann Edwards who keeps enhancing the blog with new features. Some of these include links to other library blogs and a counter to keep track of blog visits.

The SSCC library staff blog can be found at http://lrc-staff-news.blogspot.com.

University of Akron

As of May 14, 2007 Susan DiRenzo Ashby, Head of Library Systems assumed additional responsibilities as interim Head of Cataloging for University Libraries and Melanie Smith, Coordinator of Circulation Services assumed additional responsibilities as Interim Head of Circulation for University Libraries.

In July, Mae Schreiber, Associate Professor of Bibliography and Government Documents Librarian, retired after 18 years of service to the University of Akron.

University Libraries welcomes two new part-time, temporary staff: Doug Morrison as Library Research Specialist with primary duties in Reference and Government Documents (August 28) and Shari Thompson as Library Cataloging Specialist with a focus on cataloging special collections (September 17).

University of Cincinnati

Angela M. Gooden, Associate Librarian has achieved tenure at the University of Cincinnati.

Wright State University

Erica Clay recently joined the WSU staff as Humanities Librarian. Erica holds a BA in English and Music and a Master of Humanities from Wright State University. She received her MLS from Indiana University in June of this year. Erica will provide reference, instruction, and collection development in the areas of English, Modern Languages, Classics, Communication, and Theatre.

Several of Wright State staff members were elected or appointed to ALA committees. Piper Martin, Social Sciences Librarian, was elected Secretary of the Women's Studies Section of ACRL. Carol Fang, Business Librarian, was appointed to the BRASS Membership Committee for 2007-09. Sue Polanka, Head of Reference and Instruction, was appointed Chair, Reference Books Bulletin Editorial Board, a Booklist publication. Maureen Barry was reappointed Co-Chair of the NMRT Scholarship, Research and Writing Committee of ALA.

WSU's Student Technology Assistance Center (the STAC) won the President's Award for Excellence, Outstanding Unit in 2006. See their award winning video on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFOcQVLWxv8 This year, they welcomed several new additions including a podcasting room and two new staff - Beth Anderson, a WSU Reference Specialist for 10 years, and Ben Penry, a new hire and graduate of Miami University of Ohio. Catch their first podcast on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl6hIHXAHTM

About the ALAO Newsletter

ALAO Newsletter Publication Information

The ALAO Newsletter is published four times a year by the Academic Library Association of Ohio, in September, December, March, and June. It is made available as a benefit of membership. The purpose of the ALAO Newsletter is to advance the goals of the organization and serve the membership.

Deadlines for Contributors:
August 15, November 15, February 15, May 15.

Submission Guidelines:
We reserve the right to edit for space and clarity. Please send officer reports and feature articles copy to Lindsay Midkiff Miller and membership news (people and library news items) to Lori J. Fieldingin electronic format, preferably as an electronic mail Word document attachment or within the body of an email message. Include your name as you wish it to appear. If you are past deadline, PLEASE call Lindsay Midkiff Miller!

The Academic Library Association of Ohio assumes no responsibility for the statements and opinions of the contributors to this publication. Editorial views do not necessarily represent the official position of ALAO.

Editor:
Lindsay Midkiff Miller
Phone: 513-529-8035
Email: newslettereditor@alaoweb.org