ALAO News Blog

This is information from Candi Clevenger, Chair of the Marketing Taskforce:

The Idea Gallery Contest is back! It’s simple to enter, just send me your promotion and publicity materials by June 6, 2008 and you could win up to $250 worth of promotional items! The more items you submit, the more times your library will be entered to win. Complete details follow below and at http://www.ohiolink.edu/ostaff/marketing/gallery/igcontest 

What items are eligible for submission? Just about anything you’ve created to promote your library, which has not been submitted previously. This includes brochures, bookmarks, posters, blogs, Web sites, pictures of promotional items, videos, marketing/communication plans and market research instruments (including surveys, usability tests, etc.). Market research submissions should include any questions asked/instructions given, a brief description of how you did the research and the results (the raw data or a summary will do). Visit the Idea Gallery to see what’s included for more ideas. Don’t be dismayed if your item does not fit in an existing category; new examples are especially welcome. 

How to enter: E-mail entries to Candi Clevenger by June 6, 2008. Most file formats are acceptable for this contest including PDF, Microsoft Office/Publisher, Adobe and graphic files (JPEG, GIF, TIFF, EPS). If you already have the item posted on your Web site, please just send the URL. Each item that is submitted will be entered in the prize drawing, however items are subject to review by the OhioLINK Marketing Task Force before being added to the Idea Gallery. Please include any helpful information about each submission, such as who created it, how it is used, and the name, title, and e-mail address of who to contact for more information. Candi is also looking for some print promotion pieces to make over and use to illustrate design principles, so if you have a project you’d like to be considered please note that in your entry e-mail. 

Drawing details: The prize drawing will be held on June 9. You’ll earn one drawing entry for each item you submit to the Gallery. First prize is $250 to spend in the OhioLINK store, second prize is $150 and third prize is $100. You can even use your store credit to purchase items customized with your library’s URL as part of this summer’s upcoming group promotional order (order information will be distributed in June; orders will be due in early July). 

Please contact me if you have any questions about the contest. 

Sincerely,
Candi

Follow this link to read the new issue of the ALAO newsletter.

ALA Ohio Councilor Pamela Hickson-Stevenson, Assistant Director at Akron-Summit County Public Library, forwarded the following regarding a call for ALA committee volunteers.  Pamela felt this informaiton may be of interest to ALAO members.

Please note this call was also posted on the ALA MemberBlog on August 11, 2007: Call for ALA Committee Volunteers.

CALL FOR COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS

ALA President-Elect Jim Rettig is seeking applications and nominations for appointments to 2008-2009 ALA and Council committees. He will fill slots on the following committees: Accreditation; American Libraries Advisory; Awards; Budget Analysis and Review; Chapter Relations; Conference; Constitution and Bylaws; Council Orientation; Diversity; Education; Election; Human Resource Development and Recruitment Advisory; Information Technology Policy Advisory; Intellectual Freedom; International Relations; Legislation; Literacy; Literacy and Outreach Services Advisory; Membership; Membership Meetings; Nominating (Deadline for Nominating Committee applications is September 1, 2007); Organization; Orientation, Training, and Leadership Development; Policy Monitoring (current Council members only); Professional Ethics; Public and Cultural Programs Advisory; Public Awareness; Publishing; Research and Statistics; Resolutions; Rural, Native and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds; Scholarships and Study Grants; Status of Women in Librarianship; Website Advisory; ALA-Children’s Book Council (Joint); ALA-Association of American Publishers (Joint);ALA-Society of American Archivists-American Association of Museums (Joint).

Committee charges can be found in the ALA Handbook of Organization, which is available to ALA members on the ALA website. All applicants must complete and submit the electronic 2008-2009 ALA Committee Volunteer Form.

The form is available at: https://cs.ala.org/rettig/volunteer.html.The ALA Committee on Committees and Committee on Appointments will assist ALA President-Elect Jim Rettig in making appointments. Committee appointees will receive appointment letters after the 2008 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. Appointees will begin their committee service after the 2008 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA.

Questions concerning appointments can be directed to ALA President-Elect Jim Rettig at rettig@richmond.edu or Lois Ann Gregory-Wood, Council Secretariat, at lgregory@ala.org.

WHEN: October 25-26, 2007
WHERE: Great Columbus Convention Center, Columbus OH

Have you registered yet? If you haven’t, please consider doing so soon! We have some amazing programming for you.

The President’s Program

Our President’s Program features the return of Mr. Joseph Janes, Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Academics at the Information School of the University of Washington;Founding Director of the Internet Public Library; co-author of eight books on librarianship, technology, and their relationship; and author of the “Internet Librarian” column for American Libraries magazine. As many remember from the 28th Annual Conference November 1, 2002, Joe is an exciting and thought-provoking speaker. For our conference, Joe states: “Hardly a day goes by that a new opportunity or technology or idea comes whizzing past at the speed of light, and most people can be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed and a little guilty for not taking them all on. In this talk, I want to help people to think about what makes the most sense in this fast-paced World of Tomorrow we’re now in.”

Featured Speakers

Other featured speakers include: Kent State’s David Robbins, speaking on web site accessibility and usability; Chad Boeninger from Ohio University speaking on the use of web technologies and social software for outreach; Case Western’s Brian Gray explains “Second Life” and how this virtual environment can be used in libraries today; Glenda Thornton from Cleveland State discusses innovation and how to create a climate where innovation flows naturally; Linda Dobb from Bowling Green continues the innovation discussion be examining innovative collaborations between academic libraries and other partners; Glen Horton from SWON Libraries demonstrates how Web 2.0 tools can be used to enhance your library’s web site; and Diane Kovacs discusses building reference skills and knowledge for virtual reference services.

Interest Groups

ALAO’s Interest Groups have sponsored some fascinating programs to help each of us grow professionally including:

Distance Learning Interest Group

E 4 ME: A Tool for Success for Online Students (FREE!)

Support Staff Interest Group

The Library Degree: Is it For Me?

The ICDL and Libraries: Staff Development Implications for the Learning or Information Commons

Transforming Rocks into Diamonds: How to Cultivate Quality Student Workers

Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group

It Takes Two to Get the Job Done: Librarian and Teacher Collaborations

Technical, Electronic, and Digital Services Interest Group

Evaluating Electronic Resources and Usage Statistics

The Role of Institutional Repositories in Scholarly Communication

Back to the Future! Innovations in E-Resources Initiatives and Standards

A Joint Technical Services Department

Diversity Committee Programs

ALAO’s Diversity Committee has put together some exemplary sessions including: Defining Diversity Strategies for Your Library: A Conversation with Dr. Steve Michael; Open Forum on Library Diversity Issues; Across the Great Divide: Building Generational Bridges in the Technical Services Department; and Collaborating to Preserve the Past and Sustain the Future: Telling Our Story!

The Author-Vendor Social

Thursday, October 25th is the perfect opportunity to network with your colleagues, mingle with old friends, visit our vendors, and meet a number of fascinating authors. Authors from Ohio University Presses, and authors from Ohio or who write about Ohio will be on hand to discuss their writings. Some of the authors will perform poetry readings, short book readings, and story telling during the event. Titles will be available for purchase and signing. Cash, check, or credit card should be accepted by most of the authors. Library vendors will be on hand to discuss and demonstrate recent products and services.

Visit the Conference Web Site!

For more information about the conference and a complete schedule for the 1.5 day conference, visit the conference web site at http://www.alaoweb.org/conferences/conf2007/.

As part of a week of events celebrating Native American theater and culture, Loriene Roy, president-elect of the American Library Association (ALA) and member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, will speak at the Miami University Libraries on February 22 at 7:30pm in 320 King Library.

Her talk, titled “Collaborations to Further Library Services for Indigenous Peoples” will focus on her work and research in bringing information and library services to indigenous students, including the national reading club for Native children she founded in 1999.
Library Journal named Roy a 2005 “Mover & Shaker,” and she has received four Texas Excellence Awards for teaching and student advising. Roy received a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.L.S. from the University of Arizona. She is a Professor in the School of Information and Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, both at the University of Texas at Austin.

In addition to Roy’s talk, multiple Native American theatre productions will be held at Miami as part of “Honoring Spiderwoman Theater/Celebrating Native American Theater” conference events Feb. 19-21.

The Spiderwoman Theater, the longest running women’s theater company in North America, will perform “Persistence of Memory” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, in Hall Auditorium. “Weaving the Rain,” a play by Diane Yeahquo Reyner (Kiowa) will be performed by the Thunderbird Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19, in Hall Auditorium.

The “Honoring Spiderwoman Theatre/Celebrating Native American Theater” conference, which will feature papers and panel discussions, is free and open to the public. Participants must register and pay for their own meals. The conference is sponsored by the Native American Women Playwrights Archive (NAWPA) of Miami University Libraries and the department of theatre, with support from the John Altman Humanities Scholar-in-Residence program and many other campus organizations.

For registration and schedule information, go to http://staff.lib.muohio.edu/nawpa/conf.html. For more information, contact Bill Wortman at wortmawa@muohio.edu or 529-3936.

From the ALA website:

Diversity Counts - A National Study of Diversity in Library Workforce:
In October of 2006, the American Library Association (ALA) released “Diversity Counts,” a comprehensive study of gender, race and age in the library profession. The study was conducted by the ALA Office for Research & Statistics, ALA Office for Diversity and Decision Demographics, a research firm based in Arlington, Va. and confirms the need for continued recruitment of people of color. “This study is a call to action for the profession,” said ALA President-Elect Loriene Roy. “While we have made progress, the findings confirm the need to commit additional time and financial resources to recruit a more diverse workforce. If libraries are to remain relevant to all of our users, our staffs must reflect our country’s demographics.” Review the findings at www.ala.org/diversitycounts.

An FYI to those interested in higher education diversity issues–

From the NCORE website: http://ncore.ou.edu/index.html

“In 1988, The Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies launched the first Annual National Conference for Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) to address the resurgence of racist incidents in higher education. Since its inception, NCORE has evolved into a vital national resource for higher education institutions, providing an annual multicultural forum that attracts Black/African Americans, American Indians, Asian/Pacific Islanders, Latino/as, and European Americans representing campuses across the United States.

The NCORE conference series constitutes the leading and most comprehensive national forum on issues of race and ethnicity in American higher education. The conference focuses on the complex task of creating and sustaining comprehensive institutional change designed to improve racial and ethnic relations on campus and to expand opportunities for educational access and success by culturally diverse, traditionally underrepresented populations.

NCORE is designed to provide a significant forum for discussion, critical dialogue, and exchange of information as institutions search for effective strategies to enhance access, social development, education, positive communication, and cross-cultural understanding in culturally diverse settings.”

NCORE 2007 will be held in San Francisco, California from May 29 to June 2, 2007.

I was saddened to hear of Fred Kilgour’s death on July 31, 2006. Dr. Kilgour addressed ALAO members at the closing session of the 1987 Annual Conference held at the Holiday Inn on the Lane, Columbus. His talk was entitled EIDOS: Electronic Information Delivery On-Line System. Although I no longer recall anything of his presentation, I remember clearly my sense of admiration and excitment over his vision of electronic access to scholarly materials. As a relatively young librarian, fairly new to Ohio, it seemed remarkable to be hearing from the very founder of OCLC. OCLC was a distant, mysterious place when I first learned about it in my cataloging course at the University of Rhode Island. Along with Chemical Abstracts Service, it was the destination of my first working field trip once I moved to Ohio. OCLC and Chemical Abstracts, both on the same day - two amazing places that churned out the stuff I’d been working with for many years, yet had only a glimmer of understanding of how they operated. I remember feeling very fortunate to be a librarian in Ohio, with these internationally known and essential services just two hours down the interstate.

It seems now that Dr. Kilgour’s vision for EIDOS has been realized in many ways by OhioLINK. The groundbreaking work of the Ohio College Library Center helped create an environment that was conducive to OhioLINK’s mission today, and Dr. Kilgour’s efforts were a large part of that continuum. I am honored to have made his acquaintance, and still feel very fortunate to be an Ohio librarian.

Read more, at American Libraries news online.

Issued Tuesday, June 20, 2006 by the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau Inc.

The historic areas and tourism core of New Orleans have enjoyed the reputation for being a safe place to be for residents and visitors alike, and more so in the months following Hurricane Katrina. During this time, the city has seen a major reduction in crime. Visitors have enjoyed a high degree of safety and security while touring America’s most walkable city.

New Orleans is not unlike other major American cities. Drugs and criminal activity plague certain sections of New Orleans, as is the case with other places. The truth is New Orleans is under a microscope in the national and international media. Consequently, when such events as the recent murder of five youths occur, in addition to an escalation in violent criminal activity in parts of the city, the reports are magnified.

Many are confused about the recent news of the Louisiana National Guard’s deployment to New Orleans. They are being brought in to the city to provide assistance to the New Orleans Police Department in desolated areas of the city badly damaged by the hurricane, and where the majority of construction and restoration is now taking place. This request was made by the C. Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans and Police Superintendent Warren Riley weeks ago and was granted by Governor Kathleen Blanco.

This will allow more police officers to patrol the tourism and historic core of the city, enhancing the already very good safety record these areas enjoy. Residents and visitors alike can continue to feel confident in strolling the sidewalks of the French Quarter, Warehouse District, CBD, Garden District and Audubon Park area, enjoying all New Orleans has to offer.

Contrary to reports in the national news, the recent reprehensible murders of five youths in the city occurred at 4:00 a.m. in the sparsely populated Central City neighborhood miles away from the Central Business District, French Quarter, Convention Center and Warehouse Arts District. Unfortunately Central City has historically been the location for criminal behavior prior to Hurricane Katrina, and remains a “hot spot” for unlawful behavior. The murders have no bearing on any crime or safety issues in the areas of the city frequented by tourists.

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Police investigating the situation are following strong leads that indicate vengeance was a clear motive, stemming from an incident that occurred in early May in neighboring Jefferson Parish.

The important point at this time is that city officials, including the Mayor, City Council and police department have taken swift action to address the additional increased patrols in the outlying, desolate areas of the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina. In fact, action was taken weeks prior to this past weekend’s events, but was not reported in the news, when Superintendent Warren Riley requested from the State the added support of the Louisiana National Guard.

The plan calls for 100 National Guard to immediately supplement the NOPD, boosted by an additional 200 in the near future. In addition, 60 state police will be assigned to the city of New Orleans. Other actions are being considered, including a juvenile curfew and improved coordination of various arms of the criminal justice system.

The safety of the residents of New Orleans and visitors to the city is paramount. While the city and the police department work very hard to insure the safety of all its residents and visitors, it is also recommended that individuals be mindful of their own behavior and surroundings at all times.

Recommendations for visitors:

• Enjoy all that New Orleans has to offer, including our delicious food, incomparable music and authentic culture.

• Part of the charm of New Orleans is that it is a very walkable city, with many hotels, restaurants and the Convention Center all within walking distance from each other and the popular French Quarter. As is the case with any other big city, visitors should be mindful of their surroundings at all times.

• Refrain from venturing into areas of the city that are sparsely populated, particularly after dark.

• For those who wish to take a shuttle bus from a hotel to the Convention Center, in most cases transportation has been arranged. Meeting attendees can confirm these arrangements with the hotel concierge or association meeting planners.

• Rely on hotel concierge and front desk associates, restaurant managers and the NOMCVB (566-5011) for any questions you may have.

ALAO’s Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group will hold its annual spring workshop on Friday, May 19, 2006, at Cedarville University, from 8:30 until 3:30. The workshop, “Planting Seeds for Professional Growth,” will feature the following sessions:

• Making Your Life Easier with BWI!: Eileen Armour and Nancy Cheney of BWI will demonstrate how using TitleTales, a free database, to search, select, and order materials online can benefit Curriculum Materials Center librarians.
• Promoting Information Literacy through Webquests: Sara Bushong of Bowling Green State University will lead this discussion of using webquests with K-12 and pre-service teachers.
• EBSS: Curriculum Materials Center Collection Development Policy Manual: Dr. Gary Lare of the University of Cincinnati will share the Collection Development Policy manual his EBSS Commitee has developed and go through the document with workshop attendees.
• NCATE Technology Requirements: Debra Mallonee of Cedarville University, and formerly of the State Department of Education, will explain NCATE’s increased expectations in the area of information technology and discuss how CMCs and library personnel can help meet those expectations.

Tour the Cedarville University Curriculum Materials Center and enjoy lunch.

For more information and to register for the workshop, visit http://www.cedarville.edu/cmcig.

Hope to see you on May 19!