RUSA News/Announcements

RUSA INSTITUTES

Reference Interview Institute – Ticket Purchase Required
Friday, January 8, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
BCEC 101

This live and in-person all day workshop will provide you with some techniques that will enable you to better assist your users-and help you figure out what it is that they really need when they ask a question. Two expert reference librarians (one public librarian and one academic librarian) will give you tips that will make you more approachable, a better communicator and help make your users more willing to return. Register here.

Ticket Prices:

Category Early Bird –

11:59 a.m. (CST)

November 11, 2015

Advance –

11:59 a.m. (CST)

January 4, 2016

Division Member $199 $199
ALA Member $219 $219
Other Member

(Retired, Student, Trustee,

Non-Salaried, Support, and Staff)

$149 $149
Non-ALAMember $259 $259

 

History Genealogy Institute – FREE, But Registration is Required
Friday, January 8, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
BCEC 151B

This free workshop will help librarians of all types learn techniques. This can include better understanding of genealogy research methods and sources. It can also include how libraries can leverage their unique holdings to become more relevant to genealogists, who tend to be passionate in their support of libraries that have useful materials. Lunch provided and sponsored by ProQuest. Must register here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QWZP6WG.

BRAND NEW! Deep Dive Session
We are all user experience librarians: Creating change from the trenches
Saturday, January 9, 1:00 p.m.- 4:15 p.m.

This Deep Dive workshop will focus on user testing and understanding your users’ experience through a mix of discussion, presentations, and interactive experiences. Our five presenters will offer design strategies and tools from throughout the lifecycle of a user experience design project, and they will also join together as a panel to provide a spirited, entertaining look at pitfalls to avoid and lessons learned. Unlike other sessions about user experience design, the proposed workshop will focus on providing attendees with concrete skills and techniques they can apply at their home institutions with relatively little expense or pre-planning. “Deep Dive” half-day education sessions for active, participatory learning in a workshop-style setting, CEUs will be available, with registration for each session capped at 25. More information here.

Location: TBD
Cost: TBD

RUSA Meetings

Executive Committee Meeting
Friday, January 8, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
BCEC 203

Meeting of the Executive Committee where discussions will consist of current and planned activities of the RUSA Division. This is an open meeting and all registered attendees are welcome. Come meet some of RUSA’s key players; President; Anne Houston, President-Elect/Vice-President; Alesia M. McManus, Past President; Joseph A. Thompson, Secretary; Kathryn J. Oberg, Councilor; Sarah Hammill and RUSA Executive Director; Susan Hornung.

Board of Directors Meeting I and II:

  • Board I – Saturday, January 9, 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., BCEC 205B
  • Board II – Monday, January 11, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., BCEC 153C
    RUSA Board of Director meetings are open and any individual registered for the Midwinter Meeting may sit in on the meetings. The meeting’s topics are set aside for visitors and board members to use as an ‘open forum’ where anyone can share information, ask questions, etc. The agenda and documents are completed prior to the conference. Anyone interested in viewing the agenda for the meeting, as well as the documents that accompany the agenda items, may view or download them from ALA Connect. If you or your constituency develops a document for board consideration, please give it to the RUSA staff at least two hours before a board meeting. RUSA Board of Directors’ Meetings are open and all registered attendees are welcome!

Budget and Finance Meeting
Sunday, January 10, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Westin, Faneuil

Meeting to review, recommend and plan goals, objectives, and priorities for the division as they relate to the RUSA’s budgetary matters.

Network, Socialize & Celebrate

RUSA Speed Mentoring Session
Saturday, January 9, 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Park Plaza, Arlington, Berkeley

Join a group of experienced RUSA leaders to engage in a fun, interactive “speed mentoring” session. Similar in format to “speed dating”, MLS students, new librarians, and mid-career librarians are invited to participate in this session where they will have the opportunity to gain leadership advice from a number of senior librarians and RUSA leaders.

Membership Social
Saturday, January 9, 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Hyatt, Grand Ballroom B

Join members of RUSA for an opportunity to eat, drink, network, win door prizes and learn more about our division and its sections. The social is open to past, current and those interested in becoming members. All attendees are welcome!  

Book & Media Awards Ceremony and Reception
Sunday, January 10, 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Park Plaza, Grand Ballroom A

For the first time, the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction will be announced during this Midwinter Meeting event, reflecting the new calendar for these awards. As always, RUSA will also unveil the winners of the Reading List, Notable Books and Listen List selections, the Dartmouth Medal, the Sophie Brody Medal for Jewish literature, the Zora Neale Hurston Award for achievement in promoting African-American literature and the Louis Shores Award for book reviewing. All Midwinter attendees are invited to this event. Light refreshments provided. The event is sponsored in part by NoveList.