Academic Library Association of Ohio Home Board Membership Join ALAO (or renew) Newsletter ALAO Listserv E-mail ALAO December 1998 Newsletter Highlights (from vol. 16, no. 4, December 1998) MARGY KRAMER HONORED FOR DISTINGUISED SERVICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT: BOARD MEETING HIGHLIGHTS 1998 CONFERENCE SUMMARY FRIDAY THE 13TH MUSINGS VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT: 1999 CONFERENCE PLANNING LEGISLATIVE NEWS & REPORTS MARY DU MONT RECEIVES RESEARCH AWARD R&P COMMITTEE HIGHLIGHTS MEMBERS' WORKS MARGY KRAMER HONORED FOR DISTINGUISED SERVICE Sherri Edwards, Past President, University of Akron The 1998 recipient of the Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award is Margy Kramer, Library Director at Hocking Technical College. Margy received her award at the annual conference on November 13. The Award recognizes an ALAO member who has promoted academic libraries and librarianship not only on their own campus but throughout the state and/or who has provided leadership in ALAO. Last year, the executive board voted to rename the Distinguished Service Award to honor the memory of Jay Ladd, a former Ohio State University librarian who was instrumental in forming ALAO. Nominations are made by the members and evaluated by the Awards Committee, comprised of the Vice President, President, and Past President. This year's award is presented to a long-time ALAO member who has worked diligently through the years to ensure ALAO's continued success. Margy has served ALAO in many roles, first as a member of the Program Committee in 1986. She next served as secretary from 1988-1990, and was then elected vice-president/president elect in 1993. She provided staunch leadership as president. Highlights of her year as president include record attendance at the annual conference, held for the first time at the Fawcett Center, a most successful pre-conference sponsored for the first time by an interest group, implementation of a Meet your legislator project, and sponsorship of ALAO Day in conjunction with National Library Week. Margy was involved in developing ALAO's first strategic plan and in formalizing the budget process for the organization. Currently, she serves as archivist, a position she has held since 1989. Because of her long-time association with ALAO, she often acts as the institutional memory of the association, providing wisdom and input on a wide variety of issues. Equally impressive is her dedication and commitment to two year college libraries throughout the state. Margy helped initiate the Ohio Two Year College LRC conference, which had its first meeting in 1976 and has met once a year since then. She also assisted in writing a grant that funded the Ohio Two Year College Serials Union List, an early and very successful resource sharing project among two year colleges. A dedicated librarian, she has served as library director of Hocking Technical College since 1971. In selecting this years recipient, the selection committee sought to recognize both her personal service to ALAO and her efforts in promoting two year colleges throughout the state. One nominator stated that she could not think of anyone more deserving of the Award. We could not agree more. PRESIDENT'S REPORT NEWS FROM THE SEPTEMBER 15 ALAO BOARD MEETING Mary Konkel, President, University of Akron Our friends at OHIONET graciously hosted the September 15 meeting of the ALAO Board. Here are highlights of the meeting: -Final plans for the 1998 Conference "Today's Actions, Tomorrow's Adventures To Infinity and Beyond!" were shared. Registration flyers went out to ALAO members and conference information is also on the ALAO Web site. -Elys Kettling was formally appointed as ALAO Treasurer. Board deliberations took place via email during August after Sheila Shellabarger announced her resignation. We are glad to have enticed Elys back to the Board after a very brief respite. Elys was our former Manual Revisions Coordinator. -Planning for the 1999 Conference "ALA@25: Celebrating our Past and Claiming our Future" is underway. Vice President and Program Chair Jerome Conley will keep us posted on the particulars as the Committee progresses with its work. It promises to be a grand celebration. -The Board reviewed a draft of an ALAO survey and offered comments and changes. Every three years, the ALAO Board updates its strategic plan for the organization. Each year at our annual leadership retreat, we examine this plan and set the goals and objectives for the organization. We use a survey to ensure that we are adequately representing the needs of our membership. The responses to this survey will greatly assist the Board in preparing the upcoming 1999/2002 ALAO Strategic Plan. Additional comments will be solicited from the Human Diversity Committee with a projected mailing to the membership in December or early January. -The Board discussed posting the Newsletter and Conference reports on the ALAO Web site and we agreed they would be a good addition. Webmasters will use their discretion as to which hyperlinks are appropriate and will coordinate efforts with the Newsletter Editors. 1998 CONFERENCE SUMMARY "Today's Actions, Tomorrow's Adventures-- To Infinity and Beyond!", the 24th Annual Conference of the Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO), was held November 13th at the Fawcett Center on the campus of The Ohio State University. More than 300 conference attendees (over half the ALAO membership) sampled the conference fare, including 11 poster sessions, 16 programs, and 5 Interest Group meetings covering a wide array of topics. Twelve exhibitors were available to demonstrate their latest products and answer questions. Dr. William "Bill" Miller, Director of Libraries at Florida Atlantic University and past president of the Association of College and Research Libraries was the keynote speaker. His address "Let's Fight the Myths, and Embrace the Realities" discussed how academic librarians can help control their own external environment by collective action through ACRL and other avenues. His remarks highlighted the changing paradigms in librarianship and publishing, and offered possible courses of action that might be most fruitful in light of anticipated and accelerated changes. Good company, good food, great programs, willing volunteers, eager participants, and a convenient venue all made the 1998 Conference a rousing success. Please join me in a virtual round of applause for the 1998 Program Planning Committee: Ella Copeland, The Ohio State University-ATI Mary Du Mont, Kent State University Shana Fair, Ohio University-Zanesville Phil Flynn, Wright State University Carol Hudson, Middletown Public Library Erica Lilly, Kent State University Michale Murphy, Ursuline College Phyllis O'Connor, The University of Akron Carolyn Radcliff, Kent State University Elna Saxton, University of Cincinnati Susan Scott, Denison University Louisa Straziuso, Muskingum College Jayne Zetts, Wright State University FRIDAY THE 13TH MUSINGS Well, it wasn't a dark and stormy night and the conference list of attendees did NOT include Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees or a group of troubled teens worrying about who knows what they did last summer. However, things did go bump in the day. A mysterious force was present at the ALAO Business meeting held during the November 13th Annual Conference. Perhaps stirred by the remarks of the Vice President, Jerome Conley, attendees reported hearing tapping noises and voices seeming to come from out of the air. Were the spirits trying to communicate? I guess we'll never know for sure, but spirits, if you can read this, Martha Fleming would be more than happy to accept your ALAO membership!! Reports from last year's October 31st Conference at the Fawcett Center were peculiar as well as many conference attendees were "mugged" when they turned in their conference registrations. This year's reports were similar. Over 200 attendees were reported to have been bagged after handing in their conference evaluations-- some were also "mugged". Is there no end to these serial happenings? We think not. For those of you who were bagged, you have our sincere thanks for completing and returning your evaluations; they will be a very important part of conference planning for the future. A reliable source, who shall be nameless, indicated that if the "spirits" move you, two or three bottles should fit just nicely in your bag. Cheers! VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT: 1999 CONFERENCE Celebrating our Past, Claiming our Future Jerome U. Conley Vice President/President Elect, Miami University Next year marks the 25th anniversary of ALAO. We have tried to select a theme that reflects this heritage, and represents how we have grown as an organization in the field of librarianship. The 1999 ALAO Conference will be held in November 1999. The Fawcett Center will serve as the conference site. ALAO Memorabilia Solicited The committee is putting together a display to celebrate our first 25 years. If you have photos, programs or other information about ALAO during this time, the committee would like to incorporate them in a display. All items will be returned. Please contact Lisa Santucci at Miami University if you have questions, or are willing to lend some items for the display. Members of the 1999 ALAO Program Committee are: Jerome Conley, Chair (Miami University) Aimee de Chambeau (University of Akron) Lynne Downes (University of Toledo) Phil Flynn (Wright State University) Jessica Mize (Otterbein College) Joseph Phillips (Miami University - Middletown) Carolyn Radcliff (Kent State University) Peggy Rector (Denison University) Lisa Santucci (Miami University) Louisa Straziuso (Muskingum College) Janet Stuckey (Miami University) LEGISLATIVE NEWS & REPORTS Summary of End of Session Developments of the 105th Congress, Second Session Patricia O. Walker, Government Relations Team, Wright State University The following items are brief summaries of recent Congressional action of interest to academic librarians. They are taken from the ALA Washington Office Newsline(ALAWON), Volume 7, Number 139. The full report is available at http://www.ala.org/washoff/105sum.html. [1] WIPO COPYRIGHT TREATIES IMPLEMENTATION ACT - PASSED Congress gave final approval to the H.R. 2281, Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The House-Senate conference report (H. Rept. 105-796) was passed by voice vote in the Senate on October 7 and in the House on October 12. This final version includes improvements to several sections of the bill of interest to librarians and users of information. On October 28, the President signed the measure (now P.L. 105-304) which updates the Copyright Act for the digital environment and conforms U.S. law to the requirements of the new World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties negotiated in Geneva in December 1996. [2] DATABASE PROTECTION BILL - DROPPED Conferees agreed to drop the Collections of Information Anti-Piracy Act from H.R. 2281, the WIPO treaties bill. This is a major improvement; the database protection measure would have had drastic negative effects on education and research and would have protected facts for the first time. Key legislators have promised that the issue will be an early agenda item in the new Congress next year. [3] COPYRIGHT TERM EXTENSION ACT - PASSED Both Senate and House passed on October 7 a 20-year extension of the current life-plus-50-year copyright term (S. 505), and the President signed the bill (now P.L. 105-298) on October 27. The measure retains a limited exception for libraries, archives and non-profit educational institutions crafted in intense negotiations last year. [4] HIGHER EDUCATION ACT - PASSED On October 7 President Clinton signed H.R. 6, P.L. 105-244, reauthorizing the Higher Education Act for five years. The new Act lowers interest rates for student loans while increasing grants to needy students, establishes a new teacher training program, continues the college work study program, and updates international education programs related to libraries. [5] GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS REFORM ACT - DROPPED S.2288, the Wendell H. Ford Government Publications Reform Act of 1998, died with congressional adjournment. On September 28 the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration approved a revised version of the bill by voice vote. The Inter-Association Working Group -- representing AALL, ALA and representatives of several of its divisions and round tables, ARL, COSLA, MLA, SLA, and ULC -- worked with congressional staff on this bill to reform Title 44 U.S.C., strengthen the Federal Depository Library Program, and improve public access. [6] NEXT GENERATION INTERNET RESEARCH ACT - PASSED H.R. 3332, the Next Generation Internet Research Act of 1998, was signed by the President on October 28 (now P.L. 105-305). The law amends the High Performance Computing Act to authorize for two years research and development of advanced communication technology that will provide a basis for the Internet of the future. [7] LIBRARY POSTAL RATE - UPDATE On June 30 the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors announced new postal rates effective January 10, 1999. A typical 3-pound library rate package will increase from the current rate of $1.96 to $2.03. This is a 3.6 percent increase, compared with the 26.5 percent increase originally requested by the U.S. Postal Service. USPS published new rates in the Federal Register, (v63, n135, July 15, 1998, pp. 38083-86, Library Rate on p. 38086); see also http://www.usps.gov/clr/. MARY DU MONT RECEIVES RESEARCH AWARD Congratulations to Mary DuMont, Music Librarian at Kent State University, recipient of the 1998 ALAO Research Grant. Committee Chair Patricia Rothermich announced the award during the Annual Business Meeting on November 13. Mary will receive support for her research on an annotated bibliography on three operas that were a collaborative effort of Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte. Greenwood Press anticipates publishing the results of her work. A current application for next year's grant is at http://www.wooster/edu/alao/research_grant.html. The deadline is April 24, 1999. RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE HIGHLIGHTS MEMBERS' WORKS During the conference the Research and Publications Committee displayed books and articles published within the last three years by these ALAO members: Aked, Michael (U. of Toledo) Lee, Wade (U. of Toledo) Auchter, Dorothy (OSU) Mayer, Nevin J. (John Carroll) Baldwin, Julia (U. of Toledo) Meredith, Meri (OSU) Burke, John J. (U. of Cincinnati) Phillips, John (U. of Toledo) Buttlar, Lois (Kent) Preston, Cynthia (OSU) Davis, Trisha. (OSU) Reilly, John J. (OSU) Diedrichs, Carol Pitts. (OSU) Reiman-Sendi, Karen (U. of Toledo) Edwards, Ronald. (Bowling Green) Risner, Kevin R. (U. of Toledo) Fenske, Ruth E. (John Carroll) Schreiber, Mae N (U. of Akron) Garcha, Rajinder (U. of Toledo) Scott, Mary (OSU) Goerler, Raimund E. (OSU) Shemberg, Marian (OSU) Greenberg, Gerald S. (OSU) El-Sherbini, Magda (OSU) Hendricks, Leta (OSU) Voigt, Kathleen (U. of Toledo) Jamison, Martin (OSU) Walden, Graham R. (OSU) Lay, Lynn B. (OSU) Wiggins, Gary (U. of Toledo) Leach, Bruce A. (OSU) Williams, Calvin J. (Bowling Green) Look for a bibliography of recent publications of these and other ALAO members on the ALAO web site. Links to other funding sources are also available at the committee's web page: ../../comsigs/respubcm.html   Web site maintained by ALAO Web Committee. Please send comments to us. Updated 1 March 2000