RUSA News/Announcements

“IAmRUSA” Podcast
RUSA’s very first “IAmRUSA” podcast!
This podcast was created by Patty Valdovinos, our 2016 RUSA Spectrum Intern. Patty will be creating more podcasts profiling RUSA members as part of her Spectrum project for RUSA, continuing the “IAmRUSA” conversations created by our previous Spectrum Intern, Kirk MacLeod, last year (see the past conversations here).  We hope these podcasts will help us all learn more about each other as RUSA members. Thanks to Patty for this great initiative and a special acknowledgment to her for conducting the interview. Listen to it here.

2016 Election Results
Congratulations to the winners of the 2016 RUSA elections!
Thank you to those who stood in for election and to all the RUSA members who voted. Your votes help guide the leadership of RUSA and contribute to the success of the organization and its mission. The election results can be found here.

Town Hall Meeting

Make your voice count! The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) is hosting a virtual Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 1 p.m. (PST) / 2 p.m. (MDT) / 3 p.m. (CDT) / 4 p.m. (EDT) to give all RUSA members (and prospective members!) a chance to ask questions about the organization and give input on our current and future directions.  We invite you to submit questions and suggestions ahead of time or ask them during the Town Hall.
You can submit your question here up until June 10:  http://goo.gl/forms/7pHP8S4Yy3.

RUSA President Anne Houston and RUSA Vice-President Alesia McManus will be present at the Town Hall to answer questions. To attend the meeting, you can either call 1-866-717-7547 with participant code: 72620830# or click on this link on June 15.

New Vendor Relations Liaison
Celia Ross appointed as new vendor relations liaison

headshot of Celia Ross
Celia Ross


RUSA President, Anne Houston, has appointed Celia Ross, Associate Librarian at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan as RUSA’s newest position, Vendor Relations Liaison.

The Vendor Relations Liaison’s role is to facilitate communication between RUSA, including its staff, members, committees, sections and Executive Board, and database providers, publishers and other research resource vendors in order to ensure the continued support of RUSA’s awards, events, learning opportunities and strategic plan. The Liaison will also work to highlight the value and impact produced by this collaboration.

“Celia has had a direct impact on the professional development of many librarians, drawing them into business reference services and research. Celia is the ideal candidate for this position in that she has been one of RUSA’s greatest assets in advocating for our profession, creating and maintaining relationships with industry vendors and securing sponsorships for many of RUSA’s awards and events. Her rapport within and without the library community goes unmatched and we are beyond excited to have her as the face of our vendor relations liaison,” said RUSA President, Anne Houston.

In collaboration with RUSA, vendors gain unique access to a targeted audience of RUSA members, including reference and acquisitions librarians, collection development specialists, and other information professionals, resulting in a mutually beneficial partnership.

Annual Conference events:

RUSA’s President’s Program
“Be Our Guest”: Creating Immersive Guest Experiences in Libraries
Saturday, June 25
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Orange County Convention Center, Room W110B

Join us for RUSA’s President’s Program, a thoughtful discussion on how to create an effective “guest experience” in your library that teaches and inspires your users. Keynote speaker Dave Cobb, Vice President for Creative Development of Thinkwell Group, is an expert on designing immersive educational experiences for museums and theme parks. He’ll talk about how libraries can tell stories with space and create emotional resonance with their users–drawing on examples from the library world as well as theme parks. Responders are: John Blyberg, Assistant Director for Innovation and UX, Darien Library; and Stephen Bell, Associate University Librarian, Temple University. Add it to your schedule!

photo of Dave Cobb
Dave Cobb

Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction Celebration
Saturday, June 25
8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
HILTON Orlando, Room Florida Ballroom 1-4

The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction are co-sponsored by Booklist and RUSA and supported by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. This year’s program, sponsored in part by NoveList, will include featured speaker Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate of the U.S., as well as remarks from fiction medalist Viet Thanh Nguyen (The Sympathizer) and nonfiction medalist Sally Mann (Hold Still). The speakers will mingle with attendees and publishers at a drinks and dessert reception following the award presentation on Saturday, June 25, 8-10p.m. Our Gold sponsors include Grove Atlantic and Little, Brown and Company, Hachette Book Group. Individual tickets and tables are available for purchase.  Add it to your schedule!

Carnegie winners with sponsor logos

Literary Tastes: Celebrating the Best Reading of the Year
Sunday, June 26
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Rosen Centre, Room Grand A

Listen to some of the year’s best authors discuss their work and the craft of writing, while enjoying the company of other book lovers. All Annual Conference registrants are invited to participate in this free event. Light refreshments will be served. Book signings to follow. Add it to your schedule!

Featured speakers include:
Naomi Novik, author of Uprooted. Published by Del Rey. Winner of the 2016 Fantasy category of RUSA’s Reading List.
Jim Shepard, author of The Book of Aron. Published by A.A.Knopf. Winner of the 2016 Sophie Brody Medal and finalist for the 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.
James Hannaham, author of Delicious Foods. Published by Little, Brown and Company. 2016 RUSA Notable Book for Fiction.
Karin Slaughter, author of Pretty Girls. Published by William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins. Winner of the 2016 Adrenaline category of RUSA’s Reading List.
Joy Harjo, author of Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems. Published by W.W. Norton and Company. 2016 RUSA Notable Book for Poetry.

LiteraryTastes_Annual Poster

RUSA 101
Friday, June 24
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
HILTON Orlando, Room Florida Ballroom 1-2

If you’re a first time conference attendee, new to RUSA or a longtime member looking for an opportunity to connect and ways to get involved, make sure to put RUSA 101 on your calendar! Spend an hour with us on Friday from 3-4p.m. before heading off to the opening of the exhibit floor for a chance to win some fantastic door prizes! Sponsored by Springshare. Add it to your schedule!

Springshare logo

Achievement Awards Ceremony and Reception
Sunday, June 26
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Rosen Centre, Room Grand A

Join RUSA colleagues and celebrate this year’s award winners for their outstanding accomplishments in reference and user services! Add it to your schedule!

BRASS Preconference: Business Data for Librarians
Friday, June 24
8:30 AM – 4:00 PM
Orange County Convention Center, Room W303 A/B

As the business world embraces data and analytics, so do business librarians. The focus of this interactive full-day pre conference program will include: conducting a data reference interview; delving into the issues of data validity and data information literacy; and, working with data tools and datasets. We will look in-depth at locating and manipulating financial and marketing data in particular. Designed for academic, public, and special librarians and all interested in this topic. Tickets available here.

RUSA meetings can be found here.

RUSA programs can be found here.

RUSA discussion and interest groups can be found here.

Online Learning
Courses

Please scroll down for pricing

Readers’ Advisory
101
(Live chats on Thursdays at 3 p.m. CST)
July 5 – August 12, 2016

Through practice sessions, participants will learn from instructor and RA expert Joyce Saricks how to use RA tools, craft annotations, read in genres, articulate appeal, and experiment with methods to offer RA services. The topics covered are introductory in nature. Read more here. Register here.

Learner-Centered Reference and Instruction: Science, Psychology, and Inclusive Pedagogy
July 18 – August 28, 2016

This course will introduce library practitioners to empirically sound approaches to learner-centered teaching that can be applied to creating effective reference and instruction services that maximally facilitate student learning. Read more here. Register here.

Introduction to Instructional Design for Librarians
(Live chats on Mondays at 5 p.m.CST)
September 12 – October 23, 2016

Learn to use the Instructional Design Process and apply it effectively to library instruction. Read more here. Register here.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) 101
(Recorded Live Sessions on M/W, Time 1-2 p.m. CST)
October 3 – 30, 2016

The course will be separated into four separate modules that cover the ILL process from both the borrowing and lending perspectives, copyright law and licensing impacts on ILL, and ILL resources and systems. This course will cover both policies and procedures. Read more here. Register here.

Business Reference 101
October 3 – 30, 2016 or October 31 – December 4, 2016

This four-week, Web-based professional development course is designed for academic, special or public librarians and other researchers and library staff who have a basic understanding of some business resources but who do not work with them often enough to build expertise. Read more here. Register here.

Genealogy 101
October 31 – December 4

This course is designed for reference staff with little to no experience in genealogy. Using a case study to frame the coursework, participants will learn about tools and techniques they can use to confidently assist patrons with family history research. Read more here. Register here.

Pricing for the listed courses:
$130 for RUSA members
$175 for ALA members
$210 for non-ALA members
$100 for student members and retired members

Webinars
Stay tuned for future webinars with RUSA and get the most out of your membership!

Do you have an idea for a course or webinar that we are not currently offering?
Learn more about submitting proposals for RUSA online learning.