Carol Schuetz, Editor
Plans are underway for the BRASS 25th Anniversary Party to be held on Monday, July 1st at ALA Annual 2013 in Chicago. Keep your calendars open for this fabulous event. Stay tuned for details to come over the next year.
Louise Feldmann, 2011-2012 Chair
The Collection Development Education Committee recently posted a toolkit of resources to the RUSA web pages at: http://www.ala.org/rusa/contact/rosters/codes/rus–coded. The committee is open to recommendations to add to the toolkit. Please contact one of the co-chairs if have suggestions for additional collection development resources.
After some discussion, the CODES Executive Committee decided that the Reference Book Review Checklist falls under education and therefore will now be revised by the Collection Development Education Committee.
Lesley Brown, Co-chair
The Genealogy Committee and GODORT will sponsor the RUSA History Section’s program at Anaheim this summer: “Mining Gold from the 1940 Census.”
Images of the 1940 U.S. Population Census were released in April, 2012 following a 72 year embargo for privacy concerns. These images are of great interest to genealogists and other social historians. This program will be presented on Sunday, June 24 at 1:30 P.M. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Joel Weintraub who collaborates with Steve Morse on the many1-Step indexes. His presentation will be followed by a panel who represent organizations which began to provide access to images of the 1940 US Census on April 2, 2012:
● Kerry Bartels, US Archives
● Bill Forsyth, Proquest (Ancestry.com Library edition and Heritage Quest)
● Michael Hall, FamilySearch
● Amy Johnson Crow, Archives.com
Dave Dowell, Chair
The MARS Chair’s Program Planning Committee has been steadfastly working towards organizing a program that will be presented at the Annual ALA Conference. The program, which has been selected to serve as the 2012 RUSA President’s Program, is entitled “Library in Your Hand: Mobile Technologies for Exchanging Information with Patrons.” This program will explore the importance of libraries supporting mobile technologies for the dissemination and acquisition of information. Joan Lippincott, Associate Executive Director of the Coalition for Networked Information, will speak about why libraries should embrace communicating with patrons through mobile devices. Kristin Antelman, Associate Director for the Digital Library at North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries, will speak about mobile initiatives at NCSU including WolfWalk, a photographic guide to the history of NCSU optimized for mobile devices. David Lee King, Digital Branch & Services Manager at the Topeka Public Library, will discuss the library app and social media used to communicate with patrons at the Topeka Public Library.
Dianna McKellar, MARS Chair
Conference report for 2012 ALA Midwinter Meeting, Dallas, TX
Discussion topic: “UX + VR FTW”
Courtney Greene, Head of Digital User Experience at Indiana University Libraries-Bloomington, opened the Virtual Reference Discussion Forum by describing general principles of designing for user experience and examining how those might apply to virtual reference. She emphasized the need to go beyond supposition and assumptions by gathering information from patrons through a variety of means including usability testing, focus groups, and web analytics. Greene also illustrated how her library used UX principles to create multiple IM widget access points for users and corresponding queues for library operators. Her presentation slides are available on Slideshare at http://www.slideshare.net/xocg/ux–vr–ftw–mars–vrdg–alamw12. Following Courtney’s presentation, there was a lengthy question and answer session that involved sharing of ideas and best practices.
A total of fifty-two people attended the session. Twenty-three of the attendees completed an evaluation form. The feedback was extremely positive, with many respondents expressing appreciation for Courtney’s enthusiasm and expertise. They expressed a strong desire to continue learning more about UX and its implications for VR.
The Virtual Reference Discussion Group Planning Committee is currently discussing topic ideas for its Discussion Forum at ALA Annual. After the committee finalizes a topic and identifies a kick-off speaker, it will begin work on the following two projects:
● Update the committee’s public page on the ALA website. The page will include lists of past members as well as lists of past topics for the Discussion Fora at MidWinter and Annual. When possible, the list of topics will include links to notes and presentation materials.
● Establish and promote a public page on ALA connect for soliciting suggestions for future topics for Discussion Fora.
Jason Coleman, Chair
The MARS Happy Hour at ALA Annual will be held on Saturday, June 23, 5:00-7:00 pm. This is our chance to relax, network and welcome new and potential members and others interested in the work of MARS. Location and other details to be announced soon!
Arlie Sims, Chair
How do we know if our library community is using the programs or services that our library offers? How do we know if our time is well spent in staffing these services? What products are put there that can help us record and use all of this information to help improve or develop new resources or services to engage our library patrons? RUSA MARS’ Products & Services Committee has put together reviews of different options for libraries to track all sorts of stats. Find them on the MARS blog: http://etmars.wordpress.com.
If there are questions about a specific product/service, please contact the reviewer directly. If there are suggestions for other products to review, please contact the Chair of the Products & Services committee, Ngoc-Yen Tran at nttran[at]callutheran.edu.
Ngoc-Yen Tran, Chair
The new MARS Professional Development Committee is off and running! The newly formed committee, consisting of both the Education, Support and Training (ETS) and Professional Development (PD) Committee members, has been meeting virtually on a monthly basis since last fall. The purpose in joining the two committees is to eliminate duplicative efforts, strengthen the potential for more activity, and launch new initiatives for MARS members. In addition, the work of the joint preconference planning committee (MARS/RSS) now belongs to a subcommittee of MARS PD. The chair of this new subcommittee is Stephanie Alexander. The focus of the committee’s work so far has been the deployment of webinars. Two webinars, “Introduction to Screencasting for Online Tutorials and Reference,” were organized and sponsored by MARS PD and presented in August and December 2011. Both webinars had approximately sixty attendees and received very positive feedback. In the upcoming months, the committee will again launch a repeat of “Introduction to Screencasting” and develop a robust FAQ list to help all MARS members present and deploy professional development webinars with the support and assistance of the committee. Look forward to new and exciting professional development and training webinars from MARS PD!
Nancy A. Cunningham, Chair
The MARS/RSS Virtual Reference Services Committee held its virtual midwinter meeting on Friday, December 16, 2011. Minutes of the meeting are available at http://connect.ala.org/node/150606 and a recording at http://connect.ala.org/node/161596.
The Committee is hosting a program at ALA Annual 2012 entitled “Are virtual reference services worth the effort? What ROI Analysis and User Evaluations Tell Us.” Panelists are confirmed and a high profile moderator has given tentative confirmation to serve as moderator. Stay tuned to ALA Connect for more details.
The committee will be discussing ideas for the 2013 ALA Annual via email and other means. The focus currently under consideration is to do something with gadgets or technology since the last several Annual programs have focused on other “soft” aspects of virtual reference service.
In keeping with its goals, the Committee has created the “RUSA MARS/RSS VR Committee Survey Ad Hoc Group.” Jason Coleman, an active member of the Virtual Reference Tutorial Subcommittee as well as Undergraduate & Community Services Librarian at Kansas State University, has volunteered to lead the new group. They are charged with conducting an online survey to assess the distribution and logistics of virtual reference services in libraries. Jason has asked individuals interested in working on the project to contact him at coleman@k-state.edu as soon as possible.
The Committee members are also exploring ways to update existing virtual reference content in online venues like Wikipedia, LISWiki, LibSuccess, etc. Options under consideration include sponsoring a Wikipedia “Edit-a-thon” at Annual Conference, creating a Twitter hashtag, inaugurating a Google Group, etc.
Donald Boozer, Chair
dboozer@cpl.org
The Catalog Use Committee has been working out the details of our meeting for ALA Annual. The committee is planning a roundtable discussion covering key catalog issues. The meeting is titled “Rethinking the OPAC: Changing User, Changing Needs.” Specifically, we want to facilitate an engaging discussion of emerging resource discovery and management issues. We will host five small-group discussions with time for sharing the highlights from each discussion with the whole audience during the second half of the meeting. We will be releasing more details as Annual approaches. Hope to see many of you there.
Peter Collins, Chair 2011-2012
In cooperation with the RSS Cooperative Reference Services Committee, member Arlene Weismantel and her colleague Christine Tobias, Michigan State University, have created a video providing an overview of cooperative reference. In this seven-minute video, Arlene and Christine explore the benefits of participating in a cooperative, as well as some of the challenges. Our intended audiences are new librarians interested in learning about cooperative reference, library school students, and libraries considering joining a reference cooperative.
The video will be linked from numerous RUSA RSS pages, but you can watch it now: http://youtu.be/rrdbOe2du10
Nancy Huling, Chair 2011-2012
The Discussion Forums Coordinating Committee sponsored two very well-attended forums at Midwinter. The Sunday forum, “For Whom the Catalog Serves,” saw a lively discussion and presenters, Anne Larrivee and Ava Iuliano, kept things going with their questions and observations about discovery systems and next-gen catalogs.
Attendees at the Monday forum, “Managing the Different Types of Reference,” represented a rich variety of library types and reference configuration/situations. Discussion in this forum was also quite lively as attendees talked about virtual reference management issues and solutions. Bonnie Fong, the presenter, did a great job leading the discussion.
The Committee will put out a Call for Proposals for ALA Annual 2012 this Spring.
Emilie Smart, Chair 2011-2012
The Education and Professional Development for Reference Committee (EPDRC) is working with the MARS Professional Development Committee to create an in-person workshop for ALA Midwinter 2013 for library staff, along with investigating topics for online training to be made available through ALA. The group also publicly archived the Reference New Employee Orientation Bibliography on ALA Connect:
In addition, the group is gathering websites and online resources related to reference training through social bookmarking, available at: http://www.diigo.com/user/rssepdr. Additions to the list are welcomed by e-mailing one of the committee members.
Kristen Mastel, Chair 2011-2012
The Evaluation of Reference and User Services Committee is planning a discussion forum for Annual 2012: “The How, What, and Why of Reference Evaluation and Assessment”
As the number of reference statistics decline, librarians look to measure the value of reference interactions more qualitatively. The Wisconsin-Ohio Reference Evaluation Program (WOREP, retired at the end of 2011), the READ Scale (Reference Effort Assessment Data), and LibQual are among the tools that have been used. This discussion forum will address the how, why, and what of evaluation and assessment of reference. Participants will discuss how evaluation and assessment are being done and funded; we’ll talk about the why—what’s behind both librarians’ and administrators’ reasons for collecting this information; and finally the what—what is being collected, what is the workload, and what decisions are being made with this data.
Discussion conveners are members of the Evaluation of Reference and User Services committee. Join us for a lively conversation on evaluation and assessment of reference.
Look for us to further publicize when we get a date and a location!
Ellen Keith, Chair 2011-2012
At the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, the Library Services to an Aging Population hosted a free-flowing discussion about programs and services to Baby Boomers. Topics ranging from ebooks, computer classes, financial literacy, urban farming, veterans’ issues, history, and employment programs were examined in the context of the needs and wants of the Baby Boom generation. The discussion at Midwinter was also profiled in Cognotes.
The committee is also sponsoring a program at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim: “How Libraries Are Meeting the Evolving Needs of Baby Boomers and Older Adults.” Panelists will include: Susan Hildreth (IMLS); Jane Salisbury (Multnomah County Public Library); Tony Sarmiento (Senior Services America); and Suzanne Flint (California State Library).
Jeff Kempe, Chair 2011-2012
The Library Services to the Spanish Speaking Committee held its 2012 Midwinter virtual meeting on January 19. Upcoming activities include a discussion forum at the 2012 Annual Conference titled “¿Que pasa? What’s Happening in U.S. Library Services for Spanish Speakers?” and a revision of the Guidelines for Library Services to Spanish-Speaking Library Users. Last December the committee published the results of a nation-wide survey on library services for Spanish speaking patrons in the Fall/Winter issue of the REFORMA National Newsletter.
Gabriel J. Duque, Chair 2011-2012
The Management of Reference Committee held a Discussion Forum on Management of Reference on Saturday, January 21, at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Dallas. Two topics were discussed: 1) the draft revision of the Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers, and 2) the upcoming revision of Professional Competencies for Reference and User Services Librarians. About 20 people attended the discussion.
William Weare, Chair 2010-2012
The RSS Marketing and PR Committee was honored with co-sponsoring a discussion on Young Adults and Reference Service at ALA Midwinter in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday, January 22, 2012 from 4:00-5:30 p.m.. Dr. Marie Radford helped lead the discussion. Thanks to Joe Thompson for initiating this exciting opportunity.
Also during Midwinter, the committee met virtually on January 18 to revisit our group’s focus on marketing and public relations and what we can provide, as well as to reconnect as a committee. We will soon conduct a survey of our committee’s members to:
1. Define marketing and public relations for your library.
2. Ask “What kinds of marketing materials does your library use?” (print and online, web, social media)
3. Ask “What is your favorite library website, resource or product that you would recommend (for marketing our libraries)?”
The committee is working on two ALA Annual events. We will continue co-sponsoring with YALSA as was done at Midwinter. We will also provide a workshop called “Let’s Work Together: Integrating Social Media, Online Marketing, and Outreach” with panelists/presenters David Lee King, Marshall Breeding, and Jennifer Robinson. It is scheduled to be on Monday, June 25, 8:30-10:00 A.M.
The Marketing and PR Committee will meet virtually during ALA Annual (date/time TBD).
Cathay Crosby, Chair 2011-2012
O&P members organized one face-to-face event in Dallas during ALA Midwinter 2012. Approximately twenty people turned out for RSS’s second annual Midwinter Pancake Breakfast, which served as a fun opportunity for new and veteran members to gather informally. Also while in Dallas, Sarah Hammill and Joe Thompson represented RSS at the RUSA Budget and Finance meeting. Thompson attended the RUSA Board meetings as a visitor.
RSS O&P continues to meet in coordination with RSS Executive Committee. Since we didn’t meet in-person in Dallas, we held our official “Midwinter 2012” meeting online on January 26 via a web conference. Of significance, RSS has approved the creation of four new committees that we expect to provide vital support for frontline reference librarians, especially in public and academic libraries. Note that the specific name and charge for each committee is still being formalized:
● Young Adult Reference Services Committee (in partnership with YALSA)
● Frontline Reference Training and Communication Committee
● Health and Medical Reference Committee
● Job and Career Reference Committee
If you are interested in becoming a member of any of these committees please contact Sarah Hammill, RSS incoming chair, at hammills@fiu.edu. Hammill will be appointing members to these and all standing RSS committees over the months of February to April with terms to officially begin as of July 1, 2012. The O&P members will meet again via web conference on Monday, February 27 to finalize decisions made during the January meeting.
Making plans for Annual? O&P will hold its once-a-year in-person meeting on Saturday, June 23 during the 8:00-10:00 A.M. RSS Open House/All Committee Meeting at ALA Annual 2012 in Anaheim.
Joe Thompson, Chair 2011-2012
Join the RSS Honor Roll!
When you hear Honor Roll do you have flash backs to high school? Maybe you have happy memories of the honor roll or maybe you think could of, would of, should of…
Regardless of your experience in high school, you may be eligible for the RSS Honor Roll. The RSS has an Honor Roll that gives recognition to active RSS members who have served the section in three different capacities since its inception. If you have been a member of three or more committees or discussion groups since RSS was established in 2004 and have not previously been added to the honor roll, please send your name and a list of the three ways you have served RSS to Susan Ware at saw4@psu.edu.
Not only will you become a member of this esteemed group, you will also be recognized at ALA Annual in Anaheim!
If you want to find out which honored colleagues you will be joining, go to the RSSHonorRollpage for the list of RSS Honor Roll Members.
Susan Ware
Lori Thornton, Chair 2010-2012
After receiving a number of proposals, the Research and Statistics Committee met to choose the presentations for the 18th Annual Reference Research Forum. The committee had a lively discussion regarding the choice and now looks forward to an exciting Forum. Selected presentations will be notified in the next week.
Qiana Johnson, Chair 2010-2012
The RSS/MARS Virtual Reference Services Committee held its virtual Midwinter meeting on Friday, December 16, 2011. Minutes and a recording of the meeting are available in ALA Connect.
The Committee is hosting a program at ALA Annual 2012 entitled “Are virtual reference services worth the effort? What ROI Analysis and User Evaluations Tell Us.” Panelists are confirmed and a high profile person has given tentative confirmation to serve as moderator. Stay tuned to ALA Connect for more details.
The committee will be discussing ideas for the 2013 ALA Annual via email and other means. The focus currently under consideration is to do something with gadgets or technology since the last several Annual programs have focused on other “soft” aspects of virtual reference service.
In keeping with its goals, the Committee has created the “RUSA MARS/RSS VR Committee Survey Ad Hoc Group”. Jason Coleman, an active member of the Virtual Reference Tutorial Subcommittee as well as Undergraduate & Community Services Librarian at Kansas State University, has volunteered to lead the new group. They are charged with conducting an online survey to assess the distribution and logistics of virtual reference services in libraries. Jason has asked individuals interested in working on the project to contact him at coleman@k-state.edu as soon as possible.
The Committee members are also exploring ways to update existing virtual reference content in online venues like Wikipedia, LISWiki, LibSuccess, etc. Options under consideration include sponsoring a Wikipedia “Edit-a-thon” at Annual Conference, creating a Twitter hashtag, inaugurating a Google Group, etc.
Don Boozer, Chair 2011-2012
The planned activities of the VR Tutorial Subcommittee include revision of the VR tutorial modules using Drupal and performing user testing. As of December 2011, module revisions are in process. These include the Policies and Training modules. The team meets monthly and shares reports periodically with the Virtual Reference committee, and with RSS and MARS.
The Subcommittee would like your input!
We need you, your library and colleagues input …
● Share current tips, best practices, best/worst cases on VR use in your library;
● We need top tips from libraries who were/are new to VR as well as the experienced libraries;
● We welcome your best practices – from planning, policies to training and marketing;
● We would love to hear about your worst cases as well as best successes – all are valuable ‘lessons learned’;
● Share a colleague to be a module reviewer or tester, please;
● The VR team is already asking that the splash page is removed from the Tutorial site.
Please contact the subcommittee co-chairs with your suggestions, tips and testing input at Valli Hoski (VHoski@libraryref.org) or Jennifer Lau-Bond (jllaubond@gmail.com).
Valli Hoski, Chair 2010-2011
The Web Advisory Board Committee had the 2012 mid-winter virtual meeting on January 30. The migration to Drupal has happened last year. Members have started to take trainings on using Drupal as the new web content management tool. For our RSS website, we will continue working closely with all the other committees in order to keep the content as current as possible and make it more accessible.
Shu Qian, RSS Webmaster
The Education and Training Committee held its 5th annual “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about ILL” workshop in Dallas. Approximately 85 people attended and the workshop was once again well-received. We are grateful to our sponsors, OCLC, Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS), and the Dallas Public Library for their support for this workshop. The committee is currently discussing holding the workshop again in Seattle to coincide with ALA Midwinter 2013.
We also are pleased to share the first three videos in our series “Exploring Library Careers in Interlibrary Loan & Resource Sharing.” Please check out the videos on YouTube:
● Exploring Library Careers in Interlibrary Loan and Resource Sharing: Project Management
● Exploring Library Careers in Interlibrary Loan and Resource Sharing: Budget and Management
● Exploring Library Careers in Interlibrary Loan & Resource Sharing: Building on Previous Experience
Feedback on these videos is welcome; you can contact either Lars Leon (lleon@ku.edu) or Megan Gaffney (gaffneym@udel.edu). Please feel free to distribute them to anyone who might be interested in a career in ILL/resource sharing!
Our Committee continues to discuss more ways we might provide education and training to the resource sharing community. Stay tuned for more updates on that effort, and feel free to contact any Committee member if you have good training ideas.
Megan Gaffney, Chair
gaffneym@udel.edu
The International Interlibrary Loan Committee is currently working on a report of its 2011 survey of international ILL practices. This report will be submitted to the Executive Committee for approval and be posted on the STARS website. The Committee hopes to write one or two articles further analyzing the survey results in terms of U.S. and non-U.S. responses. The Committee is also planning a program for the 2012 ALA Annual Conference titled “International ILL: A Global Perspective on Resource Sharing.”
Tina Baich, Chair
cbaich@iupui.edu
The Nominating Committee turned in a fantastic slate of candidates for the next election. Polls will open at 9:00 A.M. CDT on March 19, 2012 for the American Library Association’s annual election, so don’t forget to vote!
Denise Forro, Chair
forro@mail.lib.msu.edu
At Midwinter in Dallas, the Vendor Relations Committee members were joined by Katie Birch, Portfolio Director, Delivery Services at OCLC; Clare MacKeigan, COO of Relais International; and John Reese, COO of Backstage Library Works. One of the goals of the committee this year was to invite vendors to participate, and we were pleased to have them involved in the discussion. The group reviewed the activities over the past year and talked about the focus for this year. It was determined that we would choose one area to concentrate on over the next six months. E-delivery was chosen for the area of interest and we are going to be exploring different approaches to this topic. We will work with the chairs of the Hot Topics and ILL Discussion Groups to see if there might be time during one of their meetings to have a presentation on e-delivery options. Our thought was to ask individuals who are using a particular product to explain their usage and what they think are advantages/disadvantages of the product. We hope to include speakers who use OCLC’s Article Exchange, Odyssey, Ariel, Relais and Relais Express, and DLSG’s B-SCAN ILL. We also plan to have a written document to distribute that explains the various options. We decided to extend invitations to other vendors as we are focusing on a topic that is pertinent to their products and will issue invitations to e-delivery vendors to attend the annual meeting of this committee in Anaheim.
Becky Ringwelski, Chair
e-ring@umn.edu
Approximately twenty-five attendees met for an hour of open discussion. Here are some brief highlights:
○ OCLC Article Exchange
○ Email PDF
○ Rapid X
○ Local File Drop Servers
○ Several libraries send books from their own collection to distance ed students, including reference items (almost anything that a “local” student can borrow on campus is sent for distance ed students—some exceptions for AV materials)
○ Some work on building relationships with public/local libraries near the distance education user (outreach, send materials, offer support)
○ Acquisitions Manager will be released January 31
○ A couple of libraries reported on using the new CCC service:
■Specifically for “Rush” requests (due to fast turnaround time)
■For the “6th” title request after CONTU 5 has already been done via traditional ILL
■To supplement major journal bundle cancellations as a way to provide users with fast turnaround time yet fairly cost effective service
○ It is more expensive than traditional ILL, but may provide advantages depending upon the individual library’s situation
■Can streamline staff time/efforts
● One place to go to rather than multiple publisher sites
● One invoice payment/single contract to access multiple publishers (up to 11 publishers currently)
● The upcoming March ILLiad Conference will include a talk on this topic by Heather Weltin
○ A couple of libraries reported working on entering data into their Knowledge Base accounts
■Time consuming to set up (slow, tedious), but anticipate great benefit once up and running (with less time on ongoing maintenance)
● Suggestion to see if a library can create and then import a spreadsheet with information (versus individual title by title or package by package input)
● PubGet feature works well for identifying holdings and titles, but not licensing information
● Suggestion to use SFX/Serials Solution Addon in ILLiad to find out if ILL is allowable (title by title search)
○ Scholar commons for university users (undergraduate; faculty; graduate) – how to fit ILL/DD into public arena to take advantage of synergy of opportunity?
■Staff on public desk (combined service desk such as “Ask Here” desk); staff concentrates on public outreach with automated/processing behind the scenes (back office)
■Integrate delivering service to where user is (physical location or virtual service); effort of digitizing team process (document center staff, acquisitions, cataloging/metadata staff) to make items deliverable, discoverable, available
■Chat reference
● Some have reference staff refer questions/issues forward
■Dedicated email address that is checked frequently, quick response to queries/issues
○ Briefly touched upon how to share e-books
○ Very limited, cumbersome ability currently (chapters only, captured by individual PDF, copied to cds), dependent upon license agreement
○ Some consortia turning to consortial purchasing agreements (CARLI / Illinois in discussion with five e-book vendors)—broaden to group access
Naomi Chow, 2012 Chair
nchow@hawaii.edu
David Atkins convened the meeting and introduced the two topics and speakers.
Bethany Sewell, University of Denver, presented “100% Document Delivery: What to do when your collections are all off-site?” She discussed how the University of Denver’s Penrose Library provides ILL and Document Delivery services from their materials which are stored ten miles away in the Hampden Center Annex. Bethany described many practical issues like delivering items to patrons and accepting requests from other libraries and special borrowers.
Tina Baich, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, discussed “Opening Interlibrary Loan to Open Access: Locating and Managing Borrowing Requests for Open Access Materials.” Even though open access materials are freely available on the internet, library users still request them through interlibrary loan. In 2009, IUPUI University Library began tracking borrowing requests for open access materials. As the number of requests filled with open access documents continues to grow, IUPUI University Library is able to provide a service to users and cost savings for the Library by utilizing this material. Tina discussed the data regarding IUPUI University Library open access borrowing requests and demonstrated some of the most commonly used online resources for locating this type of material.
Copies of the presentations have been posted to the ALA Connect.
David P. Atkins, Chair
datkins@utk.edu
The committee is presenting the BRASS Forum at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California, on Saturday, June 23, at 1:30 PM in the Palm West Room of the Sheraton Park Hotel. The forum will address Using Social Media to Promote Business Librarians and Resources. Learn how to increase your contact with patrons by using social media to harvest the “Long Tail” of questions—those detailed or niche questions that together total more than general instruction. Businesses have used the theory of the long tail to increase sales and improve customer satisfaction by catering to specific preferences. Social media allows you to address these needs through its flexibility and accessibility. Make sure you are using social media with the long tail in mind.
The panelists for the forum are:
Come join us for an interesting look at leveraging social media to enhance your business reference service.
Lydia LaFaro, 2009-2012 Chair
Save the date for the BRASS Program at ALA Anaheim 2012, “Adventures in Dataland: Business Data Sources!” on Monday, June 25, from 8:00 AM-12:00 PM at the Anaheim Convention Center, Room 204C.
We are pleased to present the following fantastic speakers:
A continental breakfast will be provided by our sponsor S&P Capital IQ.
Anthony Lin, 2011-2012 Chair
The 2012 Publishers’ Open Forum scheduled for ALA Annual, “How Private Is Private: Is It Really Possible to Find Information on Private Companies?,” will be on Sunday June 24, 1:30-3:30 PM in Room 207B in the Anaheim Convention Center. We will have speakers from three vendors at this event: PrivCo, Mergent, and Bureau Van Dijk.
The BRASS Business Reference Sources Committee has finished nominating titles for the 2012 best business reference sources column and is in the process of narrowing down the nominated titles to a final list for consideration at ALA Annual.
Nathan Rupp, 2011-2012 Chair
Business Reference: Does it intimidate you? Does the mere suggestion of a question about finance make you break out into a cold sweat? Are marketing and management complete mysteries? When faced with an accounting question, do you flee from the reference desk?
Fear No More!
The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) has an upcoming preconference, “Mastering Business Acumen (MBA) in a Day: Business Concepts for Library Reference”, that will arm you with basic knowledge of business topics, and will prepare you to answer business reference questions with clarity and confidence!
This workshop, which will be held from 8:30 AM-4:00 PM, Friday, June 22 in conjunction with the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif., is presented by the Education Committee of RUSA’s Business Reference and Services Section (BRASS). The preconference will be in held Room 206A in the Anaheim Convention Center.
Who Should Attend: New business librarians; generalists with new business librarianship responsibilities; and anybody interested in business reference and instruction from public, academic and special libraries.
Register now at www.alaannual.org (event code RUS1).
We have some excellent speakers on hand for this event who happen to be not only librarians, but subject matter experts:
Conference registration information is available here at the ALA Annual Conference website, www.alaannual.org. Conference registration is not required in order to register for this preconference. RUSA will also offer a multitude of programs, discussion groups, and the RUSA Achievement Awards Reception in Anaheim—learn more at the RUSA website.
Advance registration rates (May 14-June 14) are: RUSA member, $219; ALA member, $239; ALA Retired and Student Members, $189; Non-members, $259.
Leticia Camacho, 2011-2012 Chair
http://connect.ala.org/node/65121
http://brass.libguides.com/index.php
The BRASS Discussion group will meet Sunday, June 24 from 10:30 AM-12:00 PM in Room 303C in the Anaheim Convention Center. The title of the forum is “How free web resources can complement fee based online resources.” In our day-to-day jobs, we often rely on using subscription based online resources to help our patrons. However, what about other resources which are free to use? Join us as we discuss the value of well known and not so well known free reference sources.
Edward Hahn, 2011-2012 chair
The BRASS Publications and Communications Committee is currently conducting its quarterly review and update of BRASS web pages. We want them to be spiffy and timely for the upcoming ALA conference! If you identify any web information that requires update or correction, please let us know.
The BRASS Master Schedule that our committee put together for last year’s Annual Conference proved extremely popular, so we’re developing one again for Anaheim. Watch for it in advance of conference via the BRASS-L listserv. We’ll also post it on the main BRASS webpage. It’s your ultimate guide to all things BRASSY at ALA Annual.
Carol Smith, 2010-2012 chair
Plans continue for BRASS’ Silver Anniversary Party to be held at ALA Annual in Chicago 2013 on the evening of Monday, July 1st. Keep your calendars open for this fabulous event. Please check our event website at http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/brass/brass-25th-anniversary for updates and details. Many thanks to our Grand Sponsor, Gale Cengage Learning and their new Business Insights: Global product (http://www.gale.cengage.com/bigpreview/).
Stay tuned for more details to come over the next few months.
Louise Feldmann, 2011-2012 Chair
Congratulations to Ilana Barnes, this year’s recipient of BRASS Gale Cengage Student Travel Award. Barnes is enrolled in the Master’s program at the University of Michigan School of Information, and is pursuing a specialization in both library and information services and preservation of information. She is currently serving as president of the University of Michigan’s ALA student chapter. Barnes earned a B.A. in history, with honors, from the University of Washington. In addition to her current coursework and position at the Kresge Business Administration Library, she is also a reference assistant-spatial and numeric data services at the University’s Clark Library.
Ilana Barnes’ enthusiasm and dedication to business librarianship is shown through her personal statement submitted to the awards jury: “Business reference is my greatest passion as a librarian. I love navigating the ins and outs of 10-k filings, the thrill of finding a student the exact market research report, and hearing about all the incredibly creative and innovative work students do. The best thing about business libraries (and why I am interested in them as a career) is that they are strongly application-based. The people studying in business school are not typical academics. They are interested in applying what they are learning in class to the greater business community at large. Things that are taught in business schools have real applications on our economic lives. If business school curricula have the ability to change the way that the business community is led and managed, then business libraries have the ability to change how the business community finds, analyzes and uses information. I feel like Business Librarians have an impact on the lives of real people every day.” Ms. Barnes is president of the University of Michigan’s ALA student chapter and is the BRASS representative to the ALA RUSA “Just Ask!” marketing initiative. Her extensive business librarian skills are praised in her letters of support.
Barnes will be honored at the RUSA Awards Reception, scheduled for 5 – 6:30 p.m. Sunday, June 24 as a part of RUSA’s events at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif. The exact location of this event will be announced in late spring. For more information, visit RUSA’s website or the Annual Conference website.
Carol Anderson, 2011-2012 chair
Rita W. Moss is the 2012 recipient of the Gale Cengage Learning Award for Excellence in Business Librarianship. Moss is the Business/Economics Librarian and Head, Social Sciences Team, at the University of North Carolina. She is the author of the second edition of Strauss’s Handbook of Business Information. A third edition was published in February 2012. She is active in professional associations, and she also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of North Carolina’s School of Information and Library Science. One of her colleagues summed it up best—“she leads by example”.
Congratulations, Rita!
Patricia Kenly, 2011-2012 chair
Planning for Annual 2013
A program is being developed for ALA Annual 2013 which will explore the opportunities and challenges that arise from merging interlibrary loan and acquisitions departments, as well as the administrative aspects of such a partnership. Through examining successful and unsuccessful cases, attendees will gain an understanding of how to move forward with a merger at their own institution.
Submitted by Rebecca Malinowski, Co-Chair
RUSA History Section; Government Documents Round Table
Mining Gold from the 1940 U.S. Census Sunday
Sunday, June 24, 1:30-3:30 PM, Anaheim Convention Center, Room 204B
Census records are invaluable for many kinds of research–especially family history. The seventy-two-year privacy embargo expired in April, 2012 for the 1940 U.S. Census. Librarians and researchers are eager to know what these records contain and what indexes and other finding aids will help mine this vast treasure trove of information.
Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT)
Community Voices: Preserving the History and Culture of Our Communities
Saturday, June 23, 10:3012:00 PM, Anaheim Convention Center, Room 201A
Step Back into the Future – New Technology Brings History to Your Smartphone: Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science developed “GeoStoryteller” for the Goethe-Institut’s project German Traces. Geodata is used to guide you via a mobile website along NYC’s German Traces recapturing the early days of immigration in New York City. Podcasts, slideshows and augmented reality make this a rich and entertaining learning experience.
Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations
Historical Fiction @ your library
Saturday, June 23, 10:30 AM-12:00 PM, Anaheim Convention Center, Room 202A
Historical fiction is popular in libraries of all types. Come listen to best-selling authors Jeri Westerson, Regina O’Melveny, James Carlos Blake, and Beatriz Williams talk about their latest books. A book signing follows with most books given away free. Barbara Hoffert, editor of Library Journal’s Prepub Alert, will moderate the panel.
Library History Round Table: Edward G. Holley Memorial Lecture: Thinking Globally about Carnegie Libraries
Saturday, June 23, 4:00-5:30 PM, Anaheim Convention Center, Room 206A
In the early years of the twentieth century, Andrew Carnegie financed the construction of public library buildings throughout the English-speaking world. His efforts were one prong of a campaign to forge what he called a “Race Alliance” among people of British ancestry in North America, Great Britain, Australasia, and throughout the Pacific. In this year’s Holley lecture, architectural historian Abigail Van Slyck looks closely at the Carnegie libraries in New Zealand with this global context in mind, asking how libraries—their physical spaces as well as their collections—helped sustain an imagined community called the Anglo-Saxon race.
Abigail A. Van Slyck is an architectural historian with expertise in library architecture. In addition to a number of articles on ladies’ reading rooms, delivery desks as feminized work spaces, and othertopics, she is the author of Free to All: Carnegie Libraries and American Culture, 1890-1920 (Chicago, 1995; translated into Japanese in 2005).
LHRT Library History Round Table: Invited Speakers Program
Panel Title: Public Libraries and Civil Rights: African Americans and American Library History
Sunday, June 24, 10:30 AM-12:00 PM, Hilton Anaheim, Laguna B
Library History Round Table: Research Forum
Intellectual Freedom and Libraries in America and Abroad : Historical Perspectives
Sunday, June 24, 1:30-3:30 PM, Hilton Anaheim, Laguna B
ALA-PPO-PCPAC Public and Cultural Programs Advisory Committee
Making Sense of the Civil War: Reading and Discussion Program Opportunities
Saturday, June 23, 10:30 AM-12:00 PM, Anaheim Convention Center, Room 202B
In collaboration with ALA and thirty-seven state humanities councils, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has supported development of a discussion program for libraries that probes the meanings of the American Civil War during its sesquicentennial. Following the popular “Let’s Talk About It” model, the program engages participants in discussion of related texts selected by Civil War historian Edward Ayers. Attend this session for instruction on hosting the series, including an overview of the discussion model and state-level funding opportunities.
APALA – Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA)
So You Think You Can Write: Librarians Gather & Preserve Our Community History
Sunday, June 24, 2012, 1:30-3:30 PM, Anaheim Convention Center 208B
A workshop / roundtable panel of local ethnic community-focused books published under Arcadia Publishing by the authors who are also librarians, archivists, and historians. They will be exposing and sharing their challenges as well as their joys in researching families, organizations, and individuals in order to document and preserve the collective memories of their local communities. Their goal is to promote and encourage more community history books to be written, especially from diverse communities. Speakers: Elnora Kelly Tayag, "Filipinos in Ventura County"; Lessa Pelayo-Lozada "Hawaiians in Los Angeles"; Florante Peter Ibanez, "Filipinos in Carson and the South Bay"; and Jenny Cho, "Chinatown in Los Angeles" and "Chinatown and China City in Los Angeles- Postcard History."
An exciting new system, Blackboard Collaborate, has been put into place by RUSA for RUSA members to deliver online meetings, training sessions, and webinars. Recently, the MARS Professional Development (PD) committee has been charged with assisting in the process of identifying and developing relevant training materials for this new system. Blackboard Collaborate will replace GoToMeeting. Already, MARS PD committee members have attended one training session to become familiar with the system and there are plans to identify appropriate and helpful online tutorials as well as develop a set of best practices for using this new tool in our virtual meetings and webinar presentations.
The other major committee effort is the transformation of the joint RSS/MARS Preconference into a new workshop format which will be free to all registrants at the 2013 Midwinter Conference in Seattle. A location has been selected and content ideas are being considered based on the general theme, "New Technology for Reference from the Reference Interview to Roving Reference." Some specific content ideas include using Twitter and Facebook for the reference interview, portable devices like the iPad for roving reference, and reflections on how well "web 2.0" is delivering on promises for improving reference services. For further information, please contact Stephanie Alexander (stephanie.alexander@usc.edu) who is leading this subcommittee.
MARS PD continued to support professional development opportunities by sponsoring the RUSA webinar on "Introduction to Screencasting for Online Tutorials and Reference" on Dec. 16 and March 13. Our role has involved both moderating and co-presenting this webinar.
MARS PD welcomes and encourages MARS members in the submission of ideas for webinars. A form with guidelines is currently being developed. Until then, please send any webinar ideas to Nancy Cunningham (nancy@usf.edu), Chair of MARS Professional Development.
Nancy Cunningham, Chair
nancy@usf.edu
4:00-5:30 PM, Saturday, June 23, 2012; Anaheim Convention Center, Room 201B
Discussion topic: "A Glimpse into the Near Future: What’s Next for Virtual Reference"
Passionate about virtual reference? Virtual Reference is now an integral part of library services—and it is constantly changing with new and emerging technologies. Come to VRDG with your dilemmas, victories, stalemates, puzzles, and experiments. Find out what is working, what’s not working and what we are all waiting on—novice or expert, all are welcome. Become part of the conversation online at ALA Connect and in-person at ALA Annual.
Committee News for VRDG
Meetings: Given the difficulty of finding times for synchronous online meetings that the majority of the committee’s members can attend, the committee has switched to e-mail for conducting its business.
Planning for ALA Annual 2012: In early February, the committee brainstormed topic ideas for the Virtual Reference Discussion Forum at ALA Annual 2012. The suggestions included what’s next for virtual reference, apps for virtual reference, and augmented reality for virtual reference. The committee selected augmented reality for virtual reference, received MARS’ Executive Committee approval for the topic, recruited Nate Hill to serve as kick-off speaker, and submitted a customized description for inclusion in ALA’s online conference schedule. Unfortunately, Nate subsequently had a conflict requiring him to cancel his trip to ALA Annual. The committee decided to switch its topic to what’s next for virtual reference and received MARS’ Executive Committee approval to do so. The committee is currently deciding on whom to invite to serve as a kick-off speaker for the forum. Once we have identified a speaker, we will develop a promotional strategy and begin advertising the forum.
Membership update: Officers for July 2012-June 2013 will be: Chair, Henry Bankhead; Vice-Chair, Julie Piacentine; Secretary, Jessica Sender. Returning members will be: Robert Metrick and Amanda Powers.
Jason Coleman, Chair, Virtual Reference Discussion Planning Committee
coleman@k-state.edu
To subscribe to MARS-L, see http://lists.ala.org/wws/info/mars-l
The Catalog Use Committee will be hosting a Round Table Discussion at Annual. The meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 23 from 4:00-5:30 PM at the Anaheim Convention Center Room 205B. The group has identified five discussion topics which will be facilitated by members of the group and other specialists in the area.
The meeting will be split into two parts: small group discussion and group sharing. The small group discussion will delve deeply into each topic and directly engage all participants at the table. The group sharing will be a time when each table reports out to all participants on the key points of their discussion.
Round Table Discussion Topics:
Peter Collins, Chair 2011-2012
The RUSA/RSS Discussion Forums Coordinating Committee is soliciting topic proposals for discussion at ALA’s 2012 Annual Conference in Anaheim, California, June 22-26. The purpose of the discussion forum is to provide a venue for reference practitioners to discuss reference related topics of current importance and to exchange ideas.
The Call for Proposals is posted on the Discussion Forums Coordinating Committee home page: http://connect.ala.org/node/98429
All are welcome to submit.
Emilie Smart, Chair 2011-2012
The Education and Professional Development for Reference Committee (EPDRC) is working with the MARS Professional Development Committee to create an in-person workshop for ALA Midwinter 2013 for library staff, along with investigating topics for online training to be made available through ALA. EPDRC gathered websites and online resources related to reference training through social bookmarking, available at: http://www.diigo.com/user/rssepdr.
Additions to the list are welcomed by e-mailing one of the committee members. In addition, the group is investigating options for collaboration on a webinar around the Statistical Abstracts and what’s next.
Kristen Mastel, Chair 2011-2012
Join the Evaluation of Reference and User Services Committee at Annual for a discussion of assessment on Saturday, June 24, from 4:00-5:30 PM, in the Anaheim Convention Center, Room 203B . Our discussion topic is “The How, What, and Why of Reference Evaluation and Assessment.” Its description is as follows: As the number of reference statistics decline, librarians look to measure the value of reference interactions more qualitatively. The Wisconsin-Ohio Reference Evaluation Program (WOREP), the READ Scale (Reference Effort Assessment Data), and LibQual are among the tools that have been used. This discussion forum will address the how, why, and what of evaluation and assessment of reference. Participants will discuss how evaluation and assessment are being done and funded; why—what’s behind both librarians’ and administrators’ reasons for collecting this information; and the what—what is being collected, the workload, and the decisions being made with this data.
Ellen Keith, Chair 2011-2012
The RSS Library Services to an Aging Population Committee is sponsoring a program at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, “How Libraries Are Meeting the Evolving Needs of Baby Boomers and Older Adults.” The program will take place on Sunday, June 24, 2012, from 4:00-5:30 PM at the Anaheim Convention Center 201A. Panelists include: Susan Hildreth (IMLS), Jane Salisbury (Multnomah County Public Library), Tony Sarmiento (Senior Services America), and Suzanne Flint (California State Library). Baby Boomers and Older Americans today comprise the most diverse community of aging adults in history. Come explore how libraries can best respond to the needs of Boomers and older adults through programs, collections, and services, including responses to the current economic downturn.
Are you interested in learning more about the work of the committee? Join us on Saturday, June 23 during the 8:00-10:00 AM RSS Open House/All Committee Meeting in the Anaheim Convention Center 201A.
Jeff Kempe, Chair 2011-2012
The Library Services to the Spanish Speaking Committee will hold an in-person meeting during the RSS All Committee meeting at the 2012 ALA Annual Conference on Saturday June 23 from 8:00-10:00 AM. We will also hold an informal discussion forum titled “¿Que pasa? What’s happening in U.S. library services for Spanish speakers?” Presenters and attendees will participate in a discussion of challenges and successes in serving Spanish speakers. The discussion forum will be held on Sunday June 24 from 10:30 AM-12:00 PM at the Hyatt Regency Orange County Salon VI.
Committee members are currently working on a poster presentation to be presented at the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color 2012 in September and a possible chapter publication, both on a recent survey conducted by the committee.
Gabriel J. Duque, Chair 2011-2012