Vol. 26, No. 1 (March 2008)

ALAO News

President's Report

A New Year and a New Start

Here we are three months into the new year and we are facing all of the things that come with this time of year. There is the election and primaries, with ALAO having recently held theirs – congratulations to those who won and to those who submitted their names in candidacy. We also have tax day coming up soon, which many of us like to wait till the last minute to finish our filing or get that deadline extension.

This year is the first of our new membership dues structure, general membership is $30.00 for one year, January through December, and we have kept student dues low at the rate of $10.00 per year. The ALAO executive board has begun to look at new and innovative ways that the organization could provide better service to our members. Task Forces looking at tools to improve member services, to provide membership materials to those who join the association and recent board discussions focused on ways the organization could streamline or alter our procedures in order to respond to members request for feedback in a more timely manner.

If you have input or feedback on issues or concerns regarding ALAO, please feel free to contribute your opinions and ideas to your institutional liaison or the ALAO executive board for consideration.

Library Careers Night @ KSU and the State Library

Join ALAO at Library Careers Night at the State Library of Ohio in Columbus on March 25th, 2008 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. On Tuesday March 11th at the Kent State University Student Center a Library Careers Night sponsored by the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science was held. The March 25th event is free and open to those interested in the field of librarianship. Come and visit the ALAO table and meet with our representatives as they answer any questions you might have about academic librarianship or the Academic Library Association of Ohio in particular.

Other Recent ALAO Activities

Other recent actions of the ALAO Board involved the approval of a new award to be given by the Technical, Electronic, and Digital Services Interest Group. The award will be given to recognize and honor significant contributions by ALAO members to the technical, electronic and digital services fields. Other details of the award and its requirements will be available soon. The ALAO executive board would like to welcome its new member Mr. Don Reams who will complete the term of Instruction Interest Group Co-Chair that recently became open with the departure of Mr. Richard Wisneski as he takes up new duties at Case Western we are sorry to see him go and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Finally, I would encourage our members to check the ALAO website often over the next couple weeks and months as the ALAO Interest Groups prepare to organize and present their Spring Workshop programs. If you are looking for opportunities for personal and professional development, the spring workshops offer some of the best value for your money in the state. Check out what our interest groups have to offer by visiting the ALAO website.

Vice President's Report

2008 Conference Planning:

The 2008 Annual Conference Planning Committee is hard at work on plans for the 2008 Annual Conference to be held on Friday, October 24, at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, Ohio. Our keynote speaker for this year’s conference will be David Carr, professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s School of Library and Information Science. Dr. Carr speaks widely on the relationships between libraries and cultural institutions, and has consulted for libraries, museums, and other cultural organizations across the country. Dr. Carr’s presentation will be followed by a day of programs, panel discussions, and poster sessions. While the Annual Conference is returning to a one-day format for 2008, TEDSIG and OhioLINK will offer pre-conference workshops on Thursday afternoon, and we will have a vendor social on Thursday evening.

The Conference Planning Committee is planning other special events for the conference. More details will be posted to the ALAO website as they become available. The call for proposals has gone out; please support the Annual Conference by proposing a program or poster session. Many thanks to the 2008 Planning Committee members:

• Don Appleby (University of Akron)
• Maureen Barry (Wright State University)
• Joyce Burnett (Brown Mackie College-Findlay)
• Sherab Chen (Ohio State University)
• John Crissinger (OSU-Newark)
• Kevin Deemer (Kent State University – Ashtabula)
• Matthew Farthing (Owens Community College)
• Kevin Furniss (Denison University)
• Sheryl Gannon (Heidelberg College)
• Cliff Glaviano (Bowling Green State University)
• Brian Gray (Case Western Reserve University)
• Stephena Harmony (University of Cincinnati, Raymond Walters College)
• Angel Jackson (Columbus State Community College)
• Krista McDonald (Miami University – Hamilton)
• Louis Mays (Southern State Community College)
• Melanie McGurr (Ohio State University)
• Alysa Mizikar (Wittenberg University)
• Amy Pickenpaugh (Ohio State University)
• Peggy Rector (Denison University)
• Eric Resnis (Miami University)
• Diane Riemenschneider
• Oliva Riley (DeVry University)
• Kathryn Venditti (Ashland University)
• Rob Withers (Miami University)

2009 Conference Planning:

The Conference Planning Committee is also in the process of selecting a site for the 2009 Annual Conference that will be held in Columbus. Watch the June newsletter and the website for an announcement of the exact location.

2008 Leadership Retreat:

The 2008 Leadership Retreat will take place at the Cherry Valley Lodge in Newark, Ohio on June 2 and 3, 2008. I encourage all current and newly elected board members to attend the retreat as we get to know each other and begin planning for another exciting year of ALAO programming. Registration for the retreat will be due by March 31, 2008; registration forms will be distributed via e-mail.

Dates to Remember

Membership News

As of January 1st, 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.

Election Results

Congratulations New Board Members!

Elections have wrapped up and we have five new ALAO Board members. Thank you to all who voted and to everyone who volunteered their service to ALAO, it is much appreciated.

Here are the results:

• Rob Withers, from Miami University will begin a 3-year-term as the new Vice President, President- Elect.
• Alison Ricker from Oberlin College will serve as Secretary.
• Angel Jackson from Columbus State Community College will be ALAO’s new Membership Chair.
• Ione Damasco from University of Dayton will fill one of the Board Member-At-Large positions.
• Stephena Harmony from the University of Cincinnati, Raymond Walters College will also be serving as a Board Member-At-Large.

The new board members will transition into their new 2-year positions at the 2008 Leadership Retreat at Cherry Valley Lodge in Newark, Ohio on June 2 and 3, 2008.

Congratulations everyone and thank you for your service for ALAO and the academic libraries of Ohio.

Government Relations Team

Spots still open for National Library Legislative Days

Please consider participating in National Library Legislative Days (NLLD) which takes place this year on May 13-14 in Washington D.C.

National Library Legislative Days is a two-day event in which people who care about libraries participate in advocacy and issue training sessions, interact with Capitol Hill insiders, and visit congressional member offices to ask Congress to pass legislation that supports libraries.

Paul Burnum, chair of Government Relations Team, shares his experience at the event in 2005:

"I found the two days I was involved at National Legislative Day in 2005 very meaningful. The first day was devoted to educating participants on how to advocate effectively the needs of libraries with their Congresspersons and Senators. The ALA Washington Office staff conducted an illuminating and thought-provoking program in terms of raising the participants' enthusiasm and giving insight to all the pieces of legislation before the Congress at that time.

I found the breakfast with the Ohio delegation on the second very helpful in getting acquainted with the people with whom I would be making the rounds throughout that day to legislators' offices. The group in which I took part was effective mix of academic and public librarians as well as including Ohio State Librarian Jo Budler. I learned much in listening to the interaction between my fellow group members and the congressional staff with whom we met.

I gained meaningful confidence throughout the day in terms of expressing my own concerns about public support for libraries and thinking on my feet to reach understanding with congressional staff about how we librarians valued the legislation, which we discussed.

In sum, it was one of the most positive experiences of my career."

Please consider participating in this important opportunity to support libraries!

For more information, see: http://www.ala.org/nlld or contact Paul Burnam (pdburnam@owu.edu) or Gail E Marredeth (g.marredeth@csuohio.edu). The deadline for registration is Friday, April 4.

Interest Group/Committee News

Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group

The CMCIG Spring Workshop will be Friday, May 23rd at OHIONET. The workshop will explore virtual education collections: issues and best practices. Anne Gilliland (OhioLINK http://www.ohiolink.edu/) will share her knowledge of and experiences with the selection, acquisition, cataloging and maintenance of virtual resources. Cynthia Duchane (INFOhio http://www.infohio.org/default1.html) will showcase INFOhio’s electronic resources and their access and use as well as provide insights from INFOhio’s experience as a virtual library for Ohio’s K-12 schools. Mary Conroy (OHIONET http://www.ohionet.org/) will review electronic databases and highlight the services OHIONET provides for libraries. Mary Cummings (Shawnee State University) will present her research on some free and subscription Children’s Literature sites on the Web. Workshop and registration information is available on the CMCIG webpage. (http://www.alaoweb.org/igs/cmcig/index.php)

Greg Martin, Cedarville University, completed an initial draft for the updated online "Ohio CMC Directory" and distributed it to the CMCIG Coordinating Committee for review and feedback. Greg will post a revised draft version on the listserv, and members will discuss directory changes at the Spring Workshop. Greg plans to send a final copy to Karen Plummer (University of Akron) for review and web publication in June. 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 (formerly of University of Akron). (http://cmc.library.uakron.edu/cmc/index.html)

Ann Raney (University of Dayton) is reviewing the Interest Group’s webpage and will send changes to Karen Plummer (University of Akron). If you find errors, please send corrections to Ann.Raney@notes.udayton.edu.

Just a reminder to send suggestions for a "core" collection of electronic/digital resources for a state-of-the-art virtual CMC to Steve Aby, University of Akron, (saby@uakron.edu). For a summary of this project, see the September ALAO newsletter article http://www.alaoweb.org/communications/newsletter/v25n03-sep2007.php#cmcig

Support Staff Interest Group

SSIG has been busy planning their Spring Workshop.

Polishing Your Library Gems: Support Staff, SSIG’s Spring 2008 Workshop will be held Friday, May 16, 2008 at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, OH from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Our offerings this year are superb:

• Keynote speaker, Kristen Lindsay from Heidelberg College will offer How to Make Yourself Sparkle: Keeping a Positive Attitude at Work. She will provide suggestions on keeping motivated in the workplace and staying positive in supervisory roles.
• Introductory Excel: Getting started in Excel basics.
• Intermediate Excel: Instructing participants in intermediate level Excel techniques (including graphing capabilities).
• Flying Flyers: Creating quick and easy flyers for library events.
• Historical Snapshot featuring Dave Bush giving participants a Civil War Prisoner’s experiences at the Johnson’s Island Prison Site.
• Chair Yoga will show you how to de-stress at work.
• Getting Published will inform participants in ways to get published.

Go to the SSIG website to link to the registration form: http://www.alaoweb.org/igs/ssig/index.php

Registration deadline is May 2, 2008.

Elections for Secretary/Chair Elect for the Support Staff Interest Group will take place at the Spring Workshop. It is not too early to be thinking of serving your interest group by running for the office. If you are interested, please contact Sheryl Gannon at sgannon@heidelberg.edu.

Technical, Electronic and Digital Services Interest Group

TEDSIG Co-Chairs, Deberah England and Rocki Strader, began planning for TEDSIG's Spring Workshop on institutional repositories to be held May 2 at OHIONET. TEDSIG member, Maureen Walsh, of The Ohio State University is assisting with program and speaker ideas. TEDSIG has also committed to sponsoring a pre-conference on acquisitions at the 2008 ALAO Conference this coming October in Wilmington.

A new initiative of TEDSIG, the TEDSIG Award, or "Teddy," was approved by the ALAO Executive Board at the February 15th board meeting. The "Teddy" will be awarded at the fall conference to recognize and honor significant contributions by ALAO members to the fields of technical, electronic, and digital services. Keep an eye out for the Call for Nominations on the listservs this spring!

In March TEDSIG will hold election for a new Co-Chair to replace Deberah England whose term ends in June. If interested in serving as TEDSIG Co-Chair, contact Rocki Strader at: strader.2@osu.edu

People and Library News

Case Western Reserve University

Nora Blackman was hired as the Special Collections Archivist.

Mark Eddy was promoted to Librarian II.

Tom Hayes was promoted to Librarian IV.

Crystal Hester was promoted to Library Assistant IV.

Richard Wisneski was hired as the Head of Bibliographic & Metadata Services.

Thomson Scientific has awarded the 2008 Quantum' InfoStar Award to Brian Gray, Head of Reference and Librarian (Engineering, Math, & Statistics) of Kelvin Smith Library. The announcement was made at a special ceremony at the ALA Midwinter meeting. http://scientific.thomson.com/press/2008/8429914/

The Kelvin Smith Library's Freedman Center has received an award from the 2007 Educational Interiors Showcase Jury, and is featured in the "Outstanding Design" category in the August 2007 issue of American School & University. Cited in the award is Gina Midlik, KSL's Senior Administrative Project Manager, who worked closely with Hasenstab Architects, Inc. to address a number of design challenges associated with housing a variety of computer and multimedia equipment in a public space.

John Carroll University

In April 2008 John Carroll University will receive a generous gift of the Prophets edition of The St. John's Bible. The gift was made possible through a donation by Target in honor of retired Target Executive Vice President John Pellegrene, a member of the John Carroll Class of 1958. A monumental achievement and historic undertaking, The Saint John’s Bible is the only handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned since the advent of printed books more than 500 years ago. Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota, commissioned this extraordinary edition of one of the world’s great religious texts. The Saint John’s Bible is a unique blend of ancient methods, materials and tools with modern themes, images and technology. It is being made entirely by hand in a scriptorium in rural Wales by a team of scribes and artists under the artistic direction of Donald Jackson. Plan a visit to see St. John's Bible in the Grasselli Library and Breen Learning Center, where it will be permanently house this summer.

Muskingum College Library

Muskingum College Library recently hired Nicole Robinson to the position of Reference Librarian. She is a recent graduate of Indiana University where she earned a Master of Library Science degree and a Master of Arts, History degree. Her primary areas of study were in academic reference work (MLS) and British and cultural history, research focus in 18th and 19th century Scotland (MA). Nicole's undergraduate degree is from Wittenberg University where she studied English and History. She is a native of Zanesville, Ohio.

Ohio State Marion/Marion Technical College

Jessica Osborne has been hired as the Evening/Weekend Supervisor. In this position, she will oversee circulation functions, reserves, ILL, mail-check-in and student employee supervision, among other duties.

 
 
 

The Marion Campus Library recently held an open house to highlight new casual furniture and to celebrate the 15th anniversary of OhioLINK. Tours, demos, giveaways and cake and punch were among the activities.

 

Southern State Community College

They’re reading Willa Cather’s My Antonia at Southern State Community College (SSCC). This classic novel, selected by faculty members at both SSCC and Bright Local Schools in Highland County, is being read all over the community as a part of the Big Read grant project. More information about the Big Read can be found at http://neabigread.org. Campus activities include a public showing and moderated discussion of Willa Cather: the Road is All, an American Master’s series production by PBS, various theatre productions at Whiteoak High School in Highland County, events during National Library Week in April, and a public showing of the feature film My Antonia at the college’s Appalachian Gateway Center. Contact Louis Mays at SSCC for more information.

University of Toledo

Alice Crosetto, Coordinator of Collection Development and Acquisitions Librarian for the University Libraries at The University of Toledo, presented a paper titled, "The Vanishing Gypsies," at What Tangled Webs We Weave: the 27th Annual Charleston Conference, Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition, Charleston, South Carolina, November 7 – 10, 2007. This presentation was reported in the December 2007-January 2008 issue of Against the Grain.

Alice Crosetto, Rajinder Garcha, and Mark Horan, The University of Toledo, have been working with the library staff of the Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, Michigan, in order to establish a national book award that honors Arab American writers, illustrators and stories about the Arab American experience. On September 6, 2007, the first awards were announced. Alice Crosetto was given the honor of presenting the book award to the author and illustrator in the children’s literature category. Additional information about this award can be located at www.arabamericanmuseum.org/ (look under the Library & Resources section).

Randa Kayyali (far left) author of the Honorable mention winning book, The Arab Americans, with Mark Horan, Alice Crosetto and Rajinder Garcha.

 
 
 
 

University of Toledo - Health Science Campus Library

Gerald Natal is the new Digital Services Library at the University of Toledo Health Science Campus Library. He began on January 2, 2008 and previously held the position of Visiting Instructor, Information Literacy Librarian at the University of Toledo Carlson Library.

Youngstown State University

Jean A. Romeo, a 21-year veteran of YSU's Maag Library and YSU’s Acquisitions Librarian, will be retiring on February 29th. Also retiring in Collections Services isDonna Turner, a classified staff member who has been at Maag for 30 years. Two classified staff from Access Services are retiring as well, Jan Rice and Bertha Royster. John E. Popadak III has been on board since October working with Jean Romeo to take over as Acquisitions Librarian upon her retirement. John was with the library at Kent State - Trumbull for 16 years before coming to YSU.

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. Fielding in 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