ALAO News

President's Report

The Pod People

Does your library have a blog? How about you? Do you IM? What about using del.icio.us or Furl? What about podcasting?

Is this as Greek to you as it was to me not long ago? Well I have a resource for you! The inexperienced and experienced IMer, blogger, Furler, and podcaster will benefit from a workshop that the New England chapter of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (NEASIST) put on back on May 5th. Sure, the world moves quickly, and it’s been a month, but I think the information presented still has great value. Take a look at their blog at www.metametadata.net/neasist/ for presentation files and handouts.

Now, here’s the really cool thing: in addition to the handouts, the blog also has audio files of the whole workshop as podcasts! Podcasts are MP3 audio files that individuals place on blogs for distribution. You can listen to the podcast at your computer or you can download the file to an MP3 player (or burn it to a CD) and take it with you. I listened to the four podcasts of the NEASIST workshop in my car during my commute, and it’s a great experience.

I highly recommend that you take a look and a listen to this workshop. It’s free, it’s timely, and the speakers were incredible. Everyone in libraries could use an overview of these new technologies. Something that really struck me was the suggestion that we need to go where our patrons are. I’d like to do that in our library, and these technologies provide new opportunities.

Moving On

In other news, my term as ALAO President is drawing to a close. I look forward to turning over the helm of our association to Susan Scott at the Leadership Retreat (June 13-14). Her ability, enthusiasm, and wisdom will continue to be an asset to the state’s academic libraries in this new role. I would like to thank the ALAO Board for their energy, creativity, and support over the past year. I will continue to serve in my new “past” role.

Never Too Early

Speaking of which, one of my upcoming duties is to recruit officer candidates for next spring’s elections. Something that struck me from the membership survey results is that two-thirds of the respondents had never served on the ALAO Board or on an ALAO committee. Is service a requirement of membership? Certainly not, but it is an opportunity. We are all faced with more requests than we have time for, and in terms of professional service they come from institutional, regional, state, and national sources. If you have never served within ALAO before, let me encourage you to consider it. I also suggest that you read an article on LIScareer.com by Ann Snoeyenbos entitled “How Library Association Committee Work Has Made Me a Better Librarian” (and I would change that to “library staff member”) (at www.liscareer.com/snoeyenbos_committee.htm). I have served in ALAO committees and on the Board for the last seven years, and I am extremely grateful for the impact it has had on me and my career.

Board Retreat Report

The ALAO Board met on April 12 at the OHIONET offices in Columbus. A number of actions were accomplished thanks to the hard work and wisdom of the entire board:

• Procedures manual revisions continue. Under the stewardship of Past President Lois Szudy, a number of updates to the manual were discussed during the meeting.
• Support was provided for three Ohio continuing education events. The Board approved providing ALAO gear and free annual conference and workshop registrations to organizers of the Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians’ Annual Conference (May 11-13 in Newark, OH) and also to the organizers of TechConnections 6 (June 13-14 in Columbus). In addition, ALAO disbursed its regularly budgeted fiscal support to the Ohio Library Support Staff Institute (July 31-August 2 in Berea, OH).
• Rick Rubin, Dean of the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University, gave an overview of activities at the school. He and the Board also discussed ways that ALAO could interact more with KSU-SLIS students. An ALAO task force is being formed to move this forward.
• Paul Burnam of Ohio Wesleyan University was awarded the Legislative Travel Award by the Government Relations Team with Board approval.

If you have questions about these or other board activities, or have suggestions for future board agenda items, please feel free to review the Board minutes at www.alaoweb.org/minutes/ or contact incoming President Susan Scott at president@alaoweb.org.

Membership Survey Suggestions: So Let It Be Written, So Let It Be Done!

ALAO members and non-members alike took the opportunity to provide feedback for our association in our first-ever online membership survey. 214 individuals responded to the survey. The full results of the survey will be reviewed by the ALAO Board during its leadership retreat in mid-June. We hope to make the full results available on our web site as well. For the moment, here are a few of the tallied results from the survey:

• 20% of respondents identified themselves as support staff, 63% as librarians, 14% as library administrators, and 3% as “other.”
• 76% of those responding are ALAO members.
• Respondents have worked in libraries for an average of 15.4 years.
• ALAO members have been members for an average of 9.9 years.
• 2/3 of respondents have never served on an ALAO committee or the ALAO Board.
• 31% of respondents do not know who their ALAO membership liaison is.
• 97% of respondents answered “Yes” or “Maybe” to the question of whether or not they would read an online peer-reviewed journal published by ALAO.
• Respondents listed the top five benefits of ALAO as “networking and collaboration”, “continuing education/professional development”, “annual conference”, “advocacy”, and “awareness of library issues.”
• Respondents did not express strong views on whether ALAO should have a printed newsletter, whether ALAO should change its membership year, or whether ALAO should raise its dues.
• The top six categories of work that respondents perform are “reference”, “collection development”, “instruction”, “acquisitions”, “cataloger”, and “public relations.”
• The top six library organizations that respondents belong to (other than ALAO) are the American Library Association, the Association for College and Research Libraries, the Special Library Association, the Medical Library Association, the Ohio Library Council, and the North American Serials Interest Group.

Support OhioLINK Funding!: An Update

Many thanks are due to ALAO members and Ohio’s academic libraries who worked to get the message about OhioLINK’s funding dilemma to their patrons and their legislators. The page at http://www.ohiolink.edu/supportohiolink/stories.html displays a number of examples of how OhioLINK has made a difference for students, faculty, and librarians. By the time you read this newsletter, Ohio’s budget fate (and that of OhioLINK and our academic libraries) may be a bit clearer.

Libraries Connect Ohio Plus (LCO+)

On June 1, Vice-President/President-elect Susan Scott and I attended the quarterly meeting of LCO+ at the State Library of Ohio. LCO+ is comprised of representatives from the State Library of Ohio, OhioLINK, OPLIN, INFOhio, OELMA, OLC, and ALAO. The first order of business was to discuss the groups’ coordinated approach to ALA Legislative Day in Washington, D.C. this year. There is more on this successful effort elsewhere in this newsletter.

An exciting announcement involved the coming statewide availability of Learning Express Library. This service provides online access to over 350 practice tests and courses to help individuals prepare for licensing and certification exams, as well as various academic tests. Watch for more details on accessing this service and providing it for your patrons.

A very important marketing effort is about to be launched to demonstrate the collaborative funding effort that makes so many electronic resources available to Ohio’s citizens. A web site describing Libraries Connect Ohio is being designed now by representatives of OPLIN, OhioLINK, INFOhio, and the State Library. The end result is to showcase the Ohio Web Library, a single launching point to the collection of resources that are available to Ohioans through their school, public, and academic libraries and the State Library. With only three years of funding left from the LSTA grant that started it all, state funding must be found to continue the effort. As State Librarian Jo Budler says, the hope in this for legislators is to “get this on their radar screens.” Watch for more information on this as ALAO helps promote the Ohio Web Library.

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2005 ALAO Election Results

Thank you to everyone who ran for election this year. I am very appreciative of those who volunteered to place their names in nomination and to the 233 members who voted in the election.

It is my pleasure to announce the winners! Please join me in congratulating our newest board members for ALAO:

Vice-President/President Elect: Ann Watson, Denison University

Treasurer: Jo Ann Calzonetti, University of Akron

Public Relations/Outreach Coordinator: Rob Withers, Miami University

Board Member-at-Large (2-year terms):

Betsy Blankenship, Ohio State University at Marion
Doug Morrison, Ohio State University ATI Library
Robin Sinn, Bowling Green State University

The ALAO membership owes special thanks to these individuals and to Karen Wilhoit, Wright State University; Sheila Shellabarger, Wright State University; Diane Schrecker, Ashland University; Kathy Kobyljanec, John Carroll University; Alisa Mizikar, Wittenberg University; and Sharon Huge, Ohio University at Lancaster, who ran for office this Spring. I also want to thank Nominating Committee (Susan Scott, John Burke, and Megan Kinney) for their assistance with the nominating process and to Joyce Harris, Ohio College Association, for her help with collecting the ballots and making sure I received them all. Thanks also to Susan DiRenzo, University of Akron and Christine Rigda, NEOUCOM for updating the ALAO election web page.

I hope you will consider making part of your professional service the volunteering of your time and efforts to ALAO. I have enjoyed my time on the board, first as a Board Member and then as Vice President, President, and Past President. ALAO is a wonderful way to get to know colleagues from other institutions, to be involved at the state level, and to assist in making ALAO a vibrant organization. I found the experience rewarding, and I know you would too.
The new officers and board members began their service at the ALAO Leadership Retreat, held June 13 and 14, 2005 at the Inn at Honey Run. Over the summer months, incoming President Susan Scott will make appointments to the 2006 Annual Conference program committee and other ALAO committees. Ann Watson will chair the 2006 Program Committee. Please contact Susan or Ann if you are interested in a committee position.

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Dates to Remember

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Membership News

Our numbers have grown in recent months and our current membership stands at 388.

Membership Cards: Instead of sending each current member an email, asking you to verify your information, I realized it would be far easier for me to send out the Membership Cards based on the information contained in the database and then make corrections as needed.

We have welcomed over two dozen new ALAO Liaisons at locations where we didn’t have someone listed. Liaisons are instrumental in assisting the Board with distributing information and promoting events. 26 institutions or regional campuses were identified where we didn’t have a contact listed. This grew the number of liaisons from 68 to 94. Each of these new liaisons has been sent the ALAO Poster about “enhancing ones professional career” and the ALAO Fact Sheet, two promotional items created by Betsy Blankenship.

If you would like to know who the liaison is at any location, or you would like to volunteer to be the contact person at a location where we don’t yet have someone, please contact Brian Hickam, Membership Chair at Brian.Hickam@Utoledo.edu.

Also contact Brian if you wish to send any notices out to ALAO. Some items go to the liaisons; others are sent to all current members.

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2005 Conference Update

Academic Library Association of Ohio
31st Annual Conference, November 4, 2005
Fawcett Center – Columbus, OH

The 31st annual conference: Setting the Stage: New Roles in the Library will be held this year in Columbus at the Fawcett Center (on Olentangy River Road across from OSU’s Schottenstein Center) on November 4, 2005. Maybe a first, although I didn’t actually search the archives, we have 2 major speakers this year! Joe Raiola, from Mad Magazine, will be addressing the group in the morning on censorship. We’re sure to have some laughs mixed in with the serious with Joe! Check out his website at www.joeraiola.com.

At lunch we will be treated to a presentation by Camila Alire, 2005-2006 ACRL president. She will also moderate a panel session on advocacy during the session immediately after lunch.

Registration materials and conference information are available now on the conference web site: www.alaoweb.org/05conf/. Register early by September 1, 2005 for an early-bird rate. The conference registration deadline is October 10, 2005. Fairfield Inn & Suites, 3031 Olentangy River Road is the conference hotel where there is a special rate for Conference attendees. See the conference accommodations page at www.alaoweb.org/05conf/columbus.html for additional information.

The 2005 Program Committee has been working diligently. They have chosen a wonderful group of presentations which will appeal to interests including technical services, collection development, distance learning, instruction, reference and much more. There will be presentations for support staff, librarians and administrators. A broad range of poster sessions will be included. We’ll have awards during the lunch time and the event will be rounded out with an excellent group of vendors! Thanks to the members of the 2005 Program Committee for their continuing hard work!

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Lobbying Congress for Libraries: A Constant Challenge

National Legislation Day

Legislative Advocate Travel Award recipient, Paul Burnam, joined incoming ALAO president, Susan Scott, and Government Relations Team member, Ann Watson, to represent ALAO at ALA’s National Library Legislative Day in Washington, DC on May 3-4.

The 20-member Ohio delegation (representing school, public, and academic libraries) assembled with their peers on May 3 for an all-day briefing. The event kicked off with ALA President, Carol Brey-Casiano, reporting about her meeting with U. S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales. She assured him that the library community did not seek to strip the USA Patriot Act of its law enforcement powers but instead sought to protect the privacy of library users. The ALA Washington Office staff conducted briefing sessions giving real and meaningful insights into what librarian lobbyists could expect to encounter in their visits to congressional offices. Legislation covered included support for funding of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), supporting the Government Printing Office with emphasis on a go-slow approach to the digitization of government publications, adding privacy safeguards to the USA PATRIOT Act, protecting copyright fair use, and urging opening up and expediting the access to government information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Lobbying efforts on May 4 witnessed Watson, Scott, and Burnam with State Librarian Jo Budler first visiting the office the office of Congressman David Hobson. There they enjoyed a productive discussion with Hobson’s legislative assistant for education, Ms. Beth DeBrosse. They visited the office of Congressman Pat Tiberi next. They arrived at the same time as another lobbyist group which necessitated meeting with a Tiberi aid in the entrance to a service elevator across the corridor from the congressman’s office. Burnam completed his round of appointments with a visit to the office of Congressman Paul Gillmor. As Burnam sat down to discuss issues with Gillmor’s legislative aid, the aid received a call from the congressman from the House Chamber requesting the delivery of some papers. They exchanged business cards, and the aid did follow up with Burnam by email so all matters intended for their meeting received coverage.

Burnam came away from the experience with a sense of accomplishment. But the experience proved that lobbying was hard work. To be effective, one must master all relevant legislation as fully and accurately as possible. Next, the library lobbyist must hone her/his message into succinct but attention-getting words for the short time allowed to make the case. Finally, if the library lobbyist can incorporate the legislation into a resonating story that makes connections with the legislator’s personal background and the district’s interests, only then can one start to feel that she/he may have made a difference about the future of America’s libraries.

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2005 ALAO Research Grant Awarded

The 2005 Research Grant was awarded to Linda Brown, Collections Coordinator, University Libraries, Bowling Green State University, for her proposal titled “Duplication of Monographs in the OhioLINK Central Catalog.” This project grows out of Linda’s interest in cooperative collection development. She will investigate the purchasing patterns that lead to excessive and inadequate duplication of books in the Central Catalog. Both approval plans and firm orders will figure in her work, so Linda plans to use the $500 ALAO Research Grant to support her travel to New Hampshire to consult with YBP librarians on this project.

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ALAO Minority Scholarship Awarded

The ALAO Minority Scholarship was awarded to Kent State SLIS student Tocarra Porter. Tocarra majored in history and received a Bachelors of Arts degree from Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. She has been enrolled in the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University since the fall semester 2004. She also works as a page for the Upper Arlington Public Library in Columbus, Ohio. Upon completion of her Master's in librarianship she plans to pursue a position in a special or academic library setting.

The award was presented at the annual SLIS alumni dinner in April. Congratulations to Tocarra!

This will be the last time that the Professional Development Committee will award the ALAO Scholarship. The Board voted on two significant changes to the Scholarship during its April 12th meeting. The Scholarship name will be change from Minority Scholarship to Diversity Scholarship. The Board also voted to shift oversight of the Scholarship to the ALAO Diversity Committee. The guidelines for the Scholarship will be reviewed and revised to reflect these changes at the ALAO Board Leadership Retreat to be held in June. Look for the revised guidelines in the fall newletter.

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ALAO Continuing Education Grants Awarded

The Professional Development Committee awarded five continuing education grants this spring. Awards were made to the following people: Betsy Blankenship, OSU at Marion, to attend ACRL in Minneapolis; Xudong Jin, Ohio Wesleyan University, to attend the China Society for Library Science Conference; Justin Noggle, Southern State Community College, Carrie Phillips, Bluffton University, and Martha Powers, Ohio Wesleyan University, to defray expenses for master’s coursework.

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Diversity Committee News

The Diversity Committee had a conference call on Thursday, April 14, 2005. Three of us were in attendance and we reviewed two motions from the April 12 Board Meeting that will impact the Diversity Committee. Namely, that the ALAO Minority Scholarship has been renamed the Diversity Scholarship. JoAnn Calzonetti moved that the Diversity Committee assume the responsibility of awarding the scholarship instead of the Professional Development Committee and Ann Watson seconded the motion. This motion was approved by the board. Megan filled in the committee on this change and they thought it made sense.

The main focus of our phone meeting was to plan for a workshop in late summer or fall of this year. We bounced around various ideas (from social class to multicultural perspectives to diversity in collection development) and arrived at a highly recommended program on ageism in the workplace called, "AGE Matters: Generational Differences in the Workplace" (presented by Mary Merrill & Jane Federer). Megan will work with committee members to get this event planned and advertised.

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Interest Group News

Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group

Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group's Spring workshop, "Putting the Pieces Together: The Many Facets of CMC's," was held Friday, April 29th, at Kent State University's Instructional Resource Center. Our hosts for this event were Mary Tipton (Director, KSU) and Sharon Edwards (Assistant Director, KSU). Highlights from this workshop include the following invited speakers:

Understanding Electronic Portfolios [photo right]
Deanna Romano, Technology Instructor at Ashland University, presented information on the topic of student created electronic portfolios. Participating AU students Keri Schowengerdt, Erin Poppaw, and Lauren Macejko, showcased their completed technology portfolios.

Weblogs in the Library [photo left]
Candi Clevenger, OhioLINK Communications Manager, discussed Weblogs, or Blogs, and their various uses in the library for educational and marketing purposes.

Greg Martin (Cedarville University) will be joining current chair, Diane Schrecker (Ashland University) as co-chair of the Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group. Greg has been a member of the CMCIG coordinating committee and is a welcome addition to the ALAO board. Interested in learning more about the CMCIG spring workshop? A photo montage is available in windows movie format at www.ashland.edu/~dschreck/CMCIG2005.wmv . (Windows media player required for viewing).

CMCIG will be sponsoring a program session at the 31st Annual ALAO conference at the Fawcett Center in November. Our presentation, Blogging: Current Practices and Applications for the Education Community, will be a panel session exploring the usage of blogs in pre-service and Pre K-12 education. A four member panel will focus on juvenile literature, K-12 education, information literacy, and the professional community. Panel members are Jennifer Barth (Miami University of Ohio), Mary Cummings (Shawnee State University), Debi Stears (Mount Union College), and Jp Brennan (Capital University). This session is a precursor to a proposed weblog project for CMCIG during 2005.

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Distance Learning Interest Group

Twenty-five registrants attended the inaugural workshop of the Distance Learning Interest Group (DLIG) on Wednesday May 25, 2005 at Ashland University. The workshop captured the interest of ALAO members from a wide variety of Ohio institutions, from Ohio's smaller institutions such as Belmont Technical College and United Theological Seminary, to the largest, The Ohio State University.

Speaker Dr. Jason Holmes (Kent State University School of Library and Information Science) discussed the benefits and drawbacks of professional education in a distance learning environment. Drawbacks mentioned include the lack of face-to-face communication with fellow students and instructors and the large class sizes typical of distance learning courses. Dr. Holmes enumerated the many advantages of teaching distance courses in OhioLINK, such as availability of online borrowing and electronic journals, along with advantages of the distance format such as the ability to reach students who would not otherwise be able to obtain a library degree. Please see the full text of Dr. Holmes' presentation at faculty-l.slis.kent.edu/~jholmes/presents/alao_workshop.pdf.

After an Italian buffet lunch, Dr. Mary K. Biagini and Dr. Susan Alman, both of University of Pittsburgh School of Information Science, presented "Where's the Book? How to Develop Library Policies for Distance Learners" on the design and development of distance learning policies for academic libraries. Elizabeth Mahoney, Head of the Information Sciences Library at University of Pittsburgh, via conference call, outlined the evolution of the Library's policy for Pitt's "FastTrack" MLIS program and addressed attendee questions. For more information about the FastTrack program as well as library services provided to students, see fasttrack.sis.pitt.edu/ and www.library.pitt.edu/.

Alman and Biagini wrapped up the day by dividing attendees into four small discussion groups to exchange ideas for policies on resources and services such as electronic reserves, authentication, copyright, document delivery, and instructional services.

Workshop attendees were enthusiast about the opportunity to network, share ideas and, in the words of one participant, “to commiserate.” Many expressed an interest in participating in future programs and asked that we address the topics of e-reserve copyright issues, course design, collaboration with distance learning faculty, video tutorials, and instruction for distance learners. If there are other ideas for programs or topics that you would like to see addressed, please let us know!

The DLIG is also looking for volunteers who would like to serve on the DLIG coordinating committee. Members of the coordinating committee will help plan and facilitate future DLIG programs and workshops! If interested, please contact Kathryn Venditti at kvenditt@ashland.edu.

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Instruction Interest Group

The Instruction Interest Group spring workshop, first announced in the March newsletter, was cancelled due to time constraints. We hope to hold a workshop in the fall, with a tentative date of September 15. The 2005/06 co-chairs need your input!

Please contact either one of us if you are willing to help plan the workshop, or have specific suggestions for workshop leaders. Thank you.

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Support Staff Interest Group

The Support Staff Interest Group held it’s Spring Workshop entitled “Enlighten, Enhance, and Invigorate: A Day of Discovery” on May 13, 2005 at the JC Myers Convocation Center on the Ashland University Campus. The 60 participants enjoyed an educational day starting with a choice from 3 breakout sessions in the morning, followed by lunch, and finishing with a keynote address. The breakouts were very diverse including one in which each person was able to discover his/her personality type, a session focusing on the Quakers and Amish in Ohio, and one designed to help provide it’s participants with new and exciting ideas for library displays. After a wonderful Italian Buffet for lunch, the group actively participated with the keynote speaker, Ed Klee who joined us all the way from Kentucky. Ed discussed “Staying Positive Regardless of Life’s Road Rage,” which provided us with numerous ways to deal with the stresses of our work environments and personal lives. Overall, it was an enlightening, enhancing, and invigorating day for Ohio’s academic library support staff.

The SSIG will reconvene in the fall to start planning exciting events for academic year 2005 – 2006 under the direction of the new chair, Erin Peters from the Kettering College of Medical Arts. Best of luck to Erin and as she assumes her new responsibilities.

Technical Services Interest Group

On nearly all counts it seems that the TSIG Spring Workshop, "Working Today -- Preparing for Tomorrow" held at KSU/SLIS on March 4th was a tremendous success. We had a terrific turnout, 59 in all. It appeared as though we ended the day with as many as we started - very unusual for a day long event! Susan DiRenzo prepared a web page for the presentations. The URL is www.alaoweb.org/comsigs/tsig/spring05/. Thank you Susan! We are grateful to all the fine presenters for making the workshop such a tremendous success. Special thanks goes to Dr. Rubin and KSU SLIS for their warm hospitality and for providing such a wonderful space for our event.

Margaret Maurer, Head of Cataloging and Metadata for Kent State University Libraries and Media Services, has accepted the position of incoming co-chair to replace Julie at the end of this term. Margaret brings a wealth of experience, enthusiasm and commitment to the job. She also teaches courses for KSU/SLIS and is a member of the DMSC at OhioLINK. She has been tireless in her service to a variety of professional organizations including NOTSL, OLC and OVGTSL I'm sure she'll do the same for ALAO.

The board has approved scholarships for two KSU/SLIS students to cover membership dues, conference and workshop attendance for one year. Preference will be given to candidates interested in technical services and academic libraries. A few minor details have yet to be worked out. It's anticipated that a formal announcement will be released sometime this fall.

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People and Library News

Ashland University

(from OhioLINK): Ashland University has approved its first dissertation for publication in the OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center: "An Examination of Lesson Study as a Teaching Tool in U.S. Public Schools" by Ruth E. Friedman is freely available online at: www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?ashland1116871771. Ashland University is the 15th institution to join OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Baldwin-Wallace College

Baldwin-Wallace will host the 4th Annual OLSSI Institute (Ohio Library Support Staff Institute) July 31 to August 2, 2005. It’s an event for library support staff from every type of library. Participant’s will will be able to strengthen technical and functional skills, enhance personal and professional development, and network with colleagues. For event schedule, registration, or to join the listserv, visit the OLSSI website at: www.olssi.lib.oh.us.

Bowling Green State University

Dr. Kate Dailey, a faculty member at Bowling Green State University- Firelands College, has recently received a grant from the Zisovich fund at the Jewish Family and Children's Services in San Francisco in order to develop a Holocaust teaching collection. The collection, housed in the Firelands College Library, currently consists of nearly fifty items in a variety of formats-- pamphlets, books, maps, videotapes.

These items are available not only to the College community (and to OhioLINK borrowers), but to teachers in area school districts who may wish to develop lesson plans about the Holocaust. The collection has already caught the eye of others at the College: two additional gifts of books (mostly juvenile and young adult works related to the Holocaust) have been received; one came from a student and another from an early childhood studies faculty member.

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Case Western Reserve University

Brian Gray is the new Engineering, Mathematics, & Statistics Librarian at Kelvin Smith Library.

Cleveland State University

Pam Eyerdam, head of Reference at Cleveland State for 19 years (and the recent ALAO Liaison at CSU), has left CSU to to become Head of Special Collections at Cleveland Public Library. Billie Reinhart (Science/Engineering Librarian & Coordinator of Library Instruction) retired after 30 years of wonderful service. CSU will miss both librarians immensely.

Janet Mongan (Sciences Librarian) will be the new ALAO Liaison at CSU. Lauren Felder is CSU Library's new Webmaster.

Defiance College

For thirty years the Pilgrim Library at Defiance College has been in possession of a candy-pink and beaded ball gown once worn by First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. It was given to the college by former President Eisenhower in 1963, when the College dedicated an Eisenhower display room in the old library building. The room honored the friendship between Eisenhower and then Defiance College President Kevin McCann, as well as the two visits Eisenhower made to DC during McCann's tenure, in 1953 and 1963.

Recent research revealed that the dress was designed for and worn at a State Dinner hosted by President and Mrs. Eisenhower at the White House in 1960 for President and Madame de Gaulle of France. It was designed by Arnold Scaasi, who has since designed for every American First Lady up to the present.

Because of this important history, the College decided to donate the gown to the National First Ladies Library in Canton, OH. On May 8, 2005, as part of the College's Commencement activities, a formal presentation of the gown was made to Mrs. Mary Regula, wife of Congressman Ralph Regula and founding Chair and President of the First Ladies' Library.

Kevin L. Smith (Director, Pilgrim Library) has received a law degree (J.D.) from Capital University Law School. In recent months, he has given two presentations on copyright law- one for the faculty of Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and the other for the Ohio Theological Library Association.

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Kent State University

Please see the entry under Miami University for news on Margaret Maurer’s presentation.

Lakeland Community College

Lakeland Community College Library announces two new appointments:
Thomas Hyland has filled a full-time tenure track position as a Reference/Instruction Librarian at Lakeland Community College. He holds a Master of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing from Miami University and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Kent State University. Tom has worked at Lakeland for the last year in a one-year temporary reference position.

Katherine Kendall has filled the second full-time tenure track position of Reference/Instruction Librarian. She comes to Lakeland with 15 years of experience in public libraries and 8 years as a part-time librarian at Lakeland. Effective use of technology, especially using the Internet for information, is her passion. She developed the Mentor Public Library and Lakeland Community College Library websites among others. Most recently she has served as Deputy Director and Manager of the Information and Technology departments for the Mentor Public Library.

Other information:
Lakeland librarians have received an Excellence in Teaching grant to provide workshops to faculty on designing assignments to meet the College's new Information Literacy general education outcome. Faculty will be paid a stipend to participate. Two workshops are scheduled for fall semester.

Miami University

John Burke is acting as the Interim Director of the Gardner Harvey Library at Miami University Middletown. There is currently a search for an Acting Assistant Director.

Jody Perkins (Metadata Librarian) has published "Metadata: What's All the Fuss About?" in TechKNOW vol. 11, no. 1, March 2005: www.olc.org/pdf/TSMarch05NewsLtr.pdf.

Jody also has a recent presentation and completed project:

"The OhioLINK Digital Media Center Application Profile, a New Tool for Ohio Digital Collections" was presented at the Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians Annual Conference May 12, 2005 with Margaret Maurer (Cataloging Manager, Kent State University Libraries and Media Services) and Emily Hicks (Head of Bibliographic Mgmt., Roesch Library, University of Dayton): www.denison.edu/collaborations/ovgtsl2005/schedule/schedule_index.html.

"Frank R. Snyder Photograph Collection", a Digital Libraries project, chronicles buildings, organizations, students, and events at Miami University, Oxford College (which merged with Miami in 1928), and Western College (which merged with Miami in 1973). The Collection spans the years 1897 to 1955, with the bulk dating from between 1900 and 1930: http://digital.lib.muohio.edu/snyder/

It is with sadness that Miami University sends the following news: Susan E. Hocker (Age 58 and Head Science Librarian at Miami University), died Friday, May 20, 2005 in Murray, Kentucky. Susan was born on February 11, 1947 to Russell and Barbara Hocker in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Indiana University in 1970 and a Master of Librarianship from the University of Washington in 1975. Susan joined the library faculty at Miami University in 1991. During her tenure at Miami, she served as Head Science Librarian, Library Liaison to the Miami University Dolobois European Center and International Documents Librarian. She enjoyed reading, traveling and conducting patent research specifically on women inventors. She is survived by her sons, Creighton (Ginger), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Gavin, of Seattle, Washington; her ex-husband, Creighton, of Murray, Kentucky; and by her sisters Mary Jane McGirr, of Sandy Hook, Connecticut, and Barbara Hocker, of Hartford, Connecticut. The family will celebrate Susan's life in a private service to be held later this summer in Seattle, Washington. Memorial donations to the American Library Association or the American Cancer Society would be especially appreciated.

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Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan and Wright State Join to Present at LOEX

Alison Ricker (Oberlin College), Mary Lou Baker Jones (Wright State), and Deb Carter Peoples (Ohio Wesleyan University) gave a panel presentation at LOEX 2005 in Louisville, Kentucky, titled Librarian-Faculty Team Teaching: Three Approaches for Subject-Specific Information Literacy Instruction. They presented three models for providing chemistry majors at their three respective OhioLINK institutions with library instruction and invited audience comments and questions. They presented to a standing-room-only crowd and were provided with lots of audience participation. (Mary Lou Baker Jones notes: "It was a small room!")

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Oberlin College

Members of CALA (Chinese American Librarians Association) from Ohio gathered in Columbus on Saturday, April 16. The meeting was coordinated by CALA Ohio contact Shuh-Jiuan Chen (from OCLC) and CALA Midwest Chapter President, Xudong Jin (Associate Director & Head of Technical Services, Ohio Wesleyan University).

A similar event was held two years ago. The purpose of the gathering was to build a network of Chinese American librarians in Ohio and to share experience on work-related and other professional issues. Attendees included Mingyu Chen and Shuh-Jiuan Chen from OCLC, Xudong Jin from Ohio Wesleyan University, Guoqing Li from Ohio State University, Haipeng Li (Reference Librarian/Outreach Coordinator, Oberlin College), Xiaoya Li from Yunnan University, China, Zhiyuan Tian, Wei Yan, and Liren Zheng from Ohio University, and Hairong Zhu from Kent State University.

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Ohio Northern University

Alice Essinger, our newly-appointed ALAO Liaison, sends the following news:

Sharon Herr retired from Ohio Northern University January 31, 2005. She completed more than 30 years service to the Heterick Memorial Library, which included positions as Science Librarian, Cataloger, and Serials Librarian.

Traci Welch Moritz began serving as Public Services Librarian, with rank of Instructor, during the 2004-2005 academic year. Having been raised in Ada, she is thrilled to return to her hometown and to Ohio Northern University. Traci received her BA from Bluffton College in 1985 and worked at Heterick as a circulation supervisor. She then left to attend Indiana University and earned her Master’s degree in Library and Information Science in 1991. She’s spent the last 18 years working as a youth services coordinator for various public libraries in Indiana and Ohio. In her current position, Traci manages all aspects of the circulation department and mans the reference desk daily.

Alice Essinger became the new Catalog / Serials Librarian at Ohio Northern University in February of 2005. Alice received her undergraduate degree from Miami University in 1999, and her Master’s in Library and Information Science from Kent State University in 2003. Alice will be serving as the ALAO representative for Ohio Northern. She currently lives in Bluffton, Ohio, with her husband, a happy dog and two frisky cats.

Ohio State University

David Lincove (History, Political Science & Philosophy Librarian at Main Library) has published "Radical Publishing to 'Reach the Million Masses’: Alexander L. Trachtenberg and International Publishers, 1906-1966", Left History vol. 10, issue 1 (Fall/Winter 2004), p. 85-124. Trachtenberg, a participant in the Russian Revolution of 1905, fled to the U.S. in 1906, attended Trinity College (Ct.) and Yale, worked in the Socialist Party, and eventually became one of the founders of the Communist Party of the U.S. (Worker's Party) in late 1921. In 1924 he co-founded International Publishers, Inc., a Marxist Leninist publishing house that has played a central role in left wing publishing every since.

Karen R. Diaz (Reference & Instruction) and Fred Roecker (Head of Instruction) have published “Evolution of a Large Library Instruction Program: New Technologies, New Demands, and New Goals,” in Library Instruction: Restating the Need, Refocusing the Response, Papers and Session Materials Presented at the 32nd National LOEX Library Instruction Conference, Ypsilanti, MI, May 6-8, 2004. Presentation materials available at: gateway.lib.ohio-state.edu/training/loex/.

Shinichi Monoi, Nancy O’ Hanlon and Karen R. Diaz have published “Online Searching Skills: Development of a Self-Efficacy Inventory” in the Journal of Academic Librarianship vol. 31 no. 2: p. 98-105, 2005. Preprint is available at:
hdl.handle.net/1811/295.

Rocki Strader has accepted a position as Catalog Librarian at Ohio State University. On May 20 & 21, 2005, she co-presented "A Collaborative Checklist for E-Journal Access" at the 20th Annual Conference of the North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) in Minneapolis, MN.

Bill Opperman is the new Physics/Astronomy Librarian at the Science and Engineering Library at Ohio State University.

Celeste Feather has accepted a position as Electronic Resources Librarian at Ohio State University.

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Ohio State University at Mansfield/North Central State College

The Bromfield Library at The Ohio State University at Mansfield/North Central State College has received a grant for $18,334 from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), awarded by the State Library of Ohio. The grant, plus institutional funds, will be used to develop an active learning library classroom.

Bromfield Library instructional pedagogy incorporates participatory exercises that include problem-based learning, evidence-based learning, and inquiry, all of which emphasize critical thinking as a needed component of information literacy. The project will provide the classroom technology and physical layout to expand these “active learning” methods to all library instruction classes. The project will also create opportunities to model active learning teaching methods and technology for North Central State College and OSU-Mansfield faculty.

“We will be setting up the classroom this summer,” said Scott Savage, head of reference and library instruction coordinator. “I’m trying to get students out of the ‘computer lab’ environment. Workstations around the periphery of the room will permit them to do case scenario research, while a central area of flexible seating will lend itself to group activities.”

The grant is one of only two to be awarded to Ohio higher education institutions this year.

Ohio Wesleyan University

Xudong Jin (Associate Director of Libraries and Head of Technical Services at Ohio Wesleyan University) has submitted a paper about library consortia to the 2005 China Society for Library Science (CSLS) Conference. The paper has been selected as one of the Best Papers by the Best Papers Contest Evaluation Committee of CSLS. He has been invited to present the paper at the forthcoming CSLS Annual Conference in Guiling, China in July. For additional news on Xudong Jin please see the entry under Oberlin College.

Lisa Hoops is OWU’s new Serials Librarian. She received a bachelor of art in history from the University of Dayton in 2002 and a master of library and information science degree from the University of Kentucky in 2003. Lisa has worked at Endeavor Information Systems, the University of Kentucky, the University of Dayton Zimmerman Law Library, and the University of Dayton Bookstore.

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Shawnee State University

Connie Salyers Stoner (Associate Director for Public Services at Clark Memorial library) is submitting a promotional for ACRL LPSS program in Chicago in late June. Connie is co-chair of the LPSS conference program planning committee and Vice-Chair/Chair Elect of the LPSS section.

Sinclair Community College

Sinclair Community College Library is undergoing an 8 million dollar renovation to improve use of space, accommodate new technologies, and create a learning environment with popular appeal for students. During construction, the Library has moved to a temporary location on campus with approximately 10% of its usual space. The project will take about one year to complete.

Library staff selected and moved 15% of the library's print collection to the temporary location. They also moved the media collection, current year's periodical subscriptions, and back files of selected journals used in class assignments. The rest of the collection, with a selected number of titles, will be stored and unavailable for the duration of the project.

Because the available print collection is so small, interlibrary lending and filling OhioLINK requests have been suspended for the duration of the project. The library remains open to the public and OhioLINK students who visit the library can still borrow books.

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University of Akron

The Science and Technology Library at the University of Akron is pleased to welcome Ms. Nashieli Marcano as the newest member of the tenure-track faculty. She will work at the general science reference desk and as the liaison to the mechanical engineering, computer science, electrical & computer engineering, and geology departments. Nashielei has a BA in Engineering Technology from the University of Central Florida and an MS in Library and Information Studies from the Florida State University. Nashieli has experience in industry having worked at Dayron, Inc and for the United Space Alliance.

The University of Akron has a new Dean of Libraries who starts in August. Cheryl Kern-Simirenko arrives at Akron from Purdue University.

Also, the University of Akron’s Jo Ann Calzonetti (Assoc Prof, Bibliography), Christopher Laursen (Science & Technology Librarian) and Cathy Parker (Science & Technology Librarian) will present a contributed paper at the SLA Conference in Toronto in June entitled "Academic/Corporate Collaboration: Responding to Change".

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University of Dayton

Please see the entry under Miami University for news on Emily Hicks presentation.

University of Toledo

Corey Seeman (Asst. Dean for Resource & Systems Management at Carlson Library) was elected Vice-Chair/Chair Elect for the Innovative Users Group in Spring 2005. He will be the program chair for the 2006 IUG Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado from May 19th through the 22nd. The Innovative Users Group is "an international organization of member libraries which use the Innovative Interfaces, Inc. integrated library software, INNOPAC. It is independent from Innovative Interfaces, Inc."

The Eastern Great Lakes Innovative Users Group will have their second annual meeting on September 16, 2005 at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Over 180 people attended the first meeting on September 24, 2004 in Parma, Ohio. For more information, contact Leigh French (Wright State University, leigh.french@wright.edu), Kelly Shook (KentLINK Coordinator/Systems Specialist, Kent State University), Karen Perone (Rodman Public Library) or Corey Seeman or visit the group's home page at: www.rodmanlibrary.com/iug/.

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Wright State University

Wright State University welcomes Maureen Barry to their library staff. Maureen was appointed the new Social Sciences Librarian at the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library in June. She earned her MLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2005 and her B.S. in Sports Management and Journalism from the College of Education at Bowling Green State University in 1999. Her previous work experience includes two years with Duke University Athletics and internships in reference and instruction at both Duke and UNC.

Charlotte Droll (Humanities Librarian) and Mary Lou Baker Jones (Science and Humanities Librarian) [see photo left] presented a poster session at the ACRL conference in April entitled "Reference on the Road: In-Class Reference Assistance for Composition Students".

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University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College

Congratulations are due to the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College’s J.A. Davis Library for its successful grant application to host “The World War I Years: America Becomes a World Power.” The film and discussion project, sponsored by National Video Resources, consists of six weekly video programs that bring the campus and its local community together for scholarly discussions and sharing on the topics presented at each screening.

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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 text copy and photos to Carol Wittig in electronic format. Include your name as you wish it to appear. If you are past deadline, PLEASE email Carol Wittig!

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.

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