STARS

Kerry Keegan, Editor

Message from the Chair

Dear STARS,

I hope everyone is having a wonderful fall — can you believe that the Midwinter Meeting is already less than two months away? If you are coming to Boston this January and are currently serving on a STARS committee, don’t forget to attend the All Committee Meeting on Saturday (January 9th) morning from 8:30-10 am in Room 158 of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. This is an open meeting, so if you are interested in serving on a committee for the 2016-2018 term, feel free to join us and see what it’s all about!

We have two exciting discussions planned as well:

Discussion Forum I – At 10:30 am on Saturday (January 9th) the ILL Discussion Group will revisit the Task Force on Qualifications for Interlibrary Loan Operations Management, which was convened in 2005 and presented its guidelines at the 2008 Midwinter Meeting. Should an ILL librarian be a professional position? How important is the MLS to the business and practice of resource sharing? Is it time for us to come up with a new set of qualifications and guidelines? Let’s discuss what the Task Force had to say back then and whether or not the same holds true for today.

Discussion Forum II – At 4:30 on Saturday (January 9th) the Hot Topics Discussion Group will kick off a new format where we will feature discussions at both our Midwinter and Annual conferences around a new theme, which will be selected every fall. This discussion theme for 2015-2016 will shared collections- we hope you can join us and “share” your own library’s experiences and best practices in collaborating strategically with other libraries.

Both Discussion Forums will take place in Room 205A of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

Safe travels to all of you who will be attending the Midwinter Meeting, and all the best during the upcoming holiday season. As always, thank you for the contribution of your time, effort, and enthusiasm in making STARS the wonderful community that it is!

Best,

Tom Bruno
Chair 2015-2016

Codes, Guidelines, and Technical Standards Committee
The Codes, Guidelines, and Technical Standards Committee has submitted drafts of changes for the Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States, its Explanatory Supplement, and the ALA ILL Request Form to the resource sharing community for review and comment via anonymous survey or email response. The public comment period ends on November 15, 2015 and the committee will then review feedback in December to see if additional changes to the documents are warranted.

Brian Miller, Chair

Outreach and Promotion Committee
The Outreach and Promotion Committee (formerly known as Membership) is currently working with our next STARGazer and plan on promoting this before Midwinter! We’re also continuing to work on the STARS Digital Timeline and will be putting a callout for people to share pictures and documents from past conferences since the birth of STARS. We’ve completed our annual review of the “Five Things” document this year and will be sharing it with STARS Members, asking for feedback and input on the future of this document and type of information sharing.

Micquel Little, Chair

STARS Nominations Committee
The STARS Nominations Committee has wrapped up our work for the year. The STARS slate for ALA elections includes excellent candidates for Vice Chair, Secretary, and Member at Large. They are:

For Vice Chair:
Charla Gilbert
Krista Higham
Micquel Little

For Secretary:
Ken Carriveau
Naomi Chow
Carol Kochan

For Member at Large:
Peter Bae
Leila Smith

Nora Dethloff, Chair

STARS Legislation and Licensing Committee
The Legislation and Licensing Committee has revised the charge for the committee. The revised charge will be presented to the STARS Executive Board at the Midwinter meeting. Once the revised charge is accepted, the committee will be developing a strategic plan.

Ryan Buller, Chair

Atlas Systems Mentoring Award Committee
The RUSA STARS Atlas Systems Mentoring Award Committee has promoted this scholarship and 2 applications have been received, with several other inquiries made. We expect to do another round of publicity before the December 4th deadline. Please share this award with potential nominees. More information is available at http://www.ala.org/rusa/awards/mentoring.

Amy Paulus, Chair

STARS Update on the RUSA Professional Development Committee
The RUSA Professional Development Committee has reviewed the online course and webinar proposals for the next year. The committee is still waiting on some revisions before we will have an exact count of accepted proposals. Once I have the exact count, that information will be communicated to the STARS Board.

Ryan Buller, STARS Representative

STARS Update on the RUSA Conference Program Coordinating Committee
The RUSA Conference Program Coordinating Committee has just begun their work. We have been asked to look over the documents from the previous year and report any problems no later than November 30, 2015. In particular, the committee is to review last year’s proposal submission form and provide suggested changes. The goal of this review is to revise the form, ensure clarity, and confirm that responses will give the committee enough information to make an informed decision.

Martha Yancey, STARS Representative