Entries from October 2009
Rosanne Humes
The ACRL/NY Executive Board and the Symposium Committee have been very busy the past few months.
The Symposium Committee, led by Susanne Markgren, Vice President/President Elect and Symposium Committee Chair, is putting the finishing touches on the December 4, 2009 event. The Symposium, entitled “Emerging Leadership in Academic Libraries” will be held at Baruch College, Vertical Campus Conference Center, 55 Lexington Ave, in New York. Our speakers will be: Mary Carmen Chimato, Head of Access and Delivery Services, North Carolina State University; Amanda Etches-Johnson, User Experience Librarian, McMaster University; Damon Jaggars, Associate University Librarian for Collections and Services, Columbia University; and Brian Mathews, Assistant Librarian, Outreach and Academic Services, University of California, Santa Barbara.
The Executive Board has been evaluating and reorganizing the discussion groups. We have combined the Technical Services, Collection Development and Electronic Resources discussion groups and renamed them the Resource Sharing Group. We have eliminated Access Services, Cultural Diversity and Education/CMC, and added User Experience and Distance Learning.
To promote the groups and encourage new members, ACRL/NY has arranged for a different discussion group to meet at Mercy College Manhattan Campus each month. The discussion groups meet from 9:00 to 10:45, before the Symposium Committee that meets from 11:00 to 12:30, and then the Executive Board has its meeting from 1:00 to 3:30.
For more information on the Symposium, the Discussion Groups and all ACRL/NY business, please visit our website.
Categories: Uncategorized
Leaders inspire and motivate us. Leaders create vision and purpose. But what does it take to be a leader in today’s academic library? How do we mentor and sustain leaders within our organizations? How do we take charge of our own career paths and move into leadership roles? This symposium will address these questions while opening up a discussion of leadership across the different stages of librarianship.
The symposium will be held at the Baruch College, Vertical Campus Conference Center, 14th floor, Friday, December 4, 2009 from 9 am to 3:30 pm. For more information, and registration, please visit the 2009 symposium website: http://acrlnysymp09.wordpress.com/
Categories: Uncategorized
The first organizational meeting of the ACRL/NY User Experience Discussion Group, led by discussion chair Carrie Netzer Wajda, was held on Friday, September 11th at Mercy College. The topic brought 14 attendees from diverse backgrounds and academic institutions. After a brief networking and meeting period from 9-9:30, the meeting opened at 9:30 with an introduction to the User Experience Discussion Group by ACRL/NY board members. This was followed by a roundtable discussion of attendees’ knowledge of and interest in usabilty issues.
During a lively discussion, participants expressed curiosity and concerns about how to do usabilty research using surveys, interviews, and web analytic software. Generally, the discussion focused on the idea that making libraries more usable for our patrons shouldn’t be difficult – indeed, the best way to achieve better usability is to make the research process less burdensome on librarians.
Based upon participant feedback, it was proposed that the group meet twice or three times per year, perhaps with an event component. The next meeting’s discussion, to be held in early December, will consider survey design, administration, and working with institutional research boards. The December meeting’s location and date t.b.d. Meeting minutes are posted on the discussion group website at http://acrlnyux.wordpress.com/.
The group can also be found online on Facebook Groups.
Categories: Discussion Groups · Uncategorized
Carrie Eastman, chair of the New Librarian’s Discussion Group, recently led the first open meeting for the New Librarians Discussion Group. The group met Friday, October 2, 2009 for an open meeting from 9-10:45 AM. This meeting was a chance for new, or aspiring, librarians to learn about the discussion group, discuss future events, and further involvement with ACRL/NY. We also had a guest librarian there to talk about her first year as a librarian. Executive Board members were on hand to meet and greet participants. Students and librarians in new positions attended and refreshments were be served. Membership to ACRL/NY was not required for this meeting but will be necessary for future participation. Find out more about the New Librarians Discussion Group by visiting the website. This site has been created as a place for members, and those interested in joining, to get information, ask questions and share news.
Categories: Discussion Groups
ACRLNY offers many opportunities to foster growth and professional development in academic librarianship. One way we achieve this is to offer discussion groups that allow members to create programs, share ideas and network with other librarians from the New York metropolitan area. To reflect changing trends in the field, some of these groups have been newly modified. The current groups are: Information Literacy/Instruction, New Librarians, Resource Sharing, User Experience , and Special Collections /Archives. If you would like to join one of these groups for the coming year, check off the appropriate box on the membership form when you renew. http://www.acrlny.org/membership.htm
We thank you for your past support and depend on your membership to provide outstanding events of interest to all academic librarians.
Bellinda Wise
Membership Secretary
Categories: Uncategorized
Newly minted Executive Board member and User Experience Discussion Group chair Carrie Netzer Wajda has left Sarah Lawrence College to take a Reference/Instruction position with Berkeley College in Manhattan.
Susanne Markgren, ACRL/NY Vice-President and Symposium Chair, recently led a successful workhsop in conjunction with METRO library association. This workshop, titled “Creating an Online Portfolio : Improve Your Skills of Self-Promotion,” was held Wednesday, October 7, 2009 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at METRO, 57 E. 11 Street, New York, NY 10003. From the promotional materials: “Your online portfolio is an extension of your resume. It serves as both a display space and repository for your professional documents, and allows you to share information with others quickly and fluently. Every librarian, regardless of job stability, should maintain some kind of professional portfolio. And, most librarians need to improve their skills of self-promotion. There are several free tools available that can host online portfolios; tools that have plenty of storage space, backups, easy customization, and social networking capabilities. An online portfolio will give you an edge when it comes to job hunting, promotion and tenure; and will help give your online identity a boost of professionalism.”
Categories: Member News
