SLA Blog

SLA First Five Years Council Offers Four Practical Online Programs

The SLA First Five Years Advisory Council is pleased to announce the launch of free-of-charge networking programs and tutorials.  These programs are especially valuable to SLA members who are coming right out of school, looking for a career change or trying to get a job in the current market.  

Now available are four online programs:

• Salary Negotiation recorded by Jack Chapman
• What is a Special Library? Recorded by Lorette Weldon
• Locating Open Positions recorded by Anne Caputo
• Networking recording by Cindy Hill

Visit the "First Five Years" Web page to listen to these seasoned professionals and the sound advice contained in the programs . Check back often for new programs throughout the year!

SLA 2010 Attendees Help New Orleans and Haiti with Haiti Reads Book Drive

French-Creole Children’s Books Purchased in New Orleans for New Library in Port-au-Prince

Attendees at SLA 2010, held June 12-16 in New Orleans, supported the Haiti Reads library project with a book and fund-raising drive. More than 3,400 special librarians, knowledge professionals and information industry representatives attended the conference in New Orleans. Attendees purchased children’s classics in New Orleans area bookstores that carry French and Creole titles to send to Haiti Reads and its new library. 

In Fall 2009, Haiti Reads established a community library in the Delmas 24 neighborhood in Port-au-Prince. While the building remains standing after the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010, it has been declared “unsafe,” and the Haiti Reads library needs to relocate. The books collected during SLA 2010 in New Orleans will be delivered once Haiti Reads is able to secure new facilities.

Jeanette Alfred (formerly Attisso), founder of Haiti Reads, was one of two featured speakers at the SLA International Information Exchange Caucus breakfast on Wednesday June 16. Alfred told those assembled of the philosophy of the project: Haiti Reads can change the literacy rate in the communities it serves by teaching free basic literacy classes to children and their parents. “It is our belief that those who have the chance to take advantage of these free classes will be able to teach what they have learned to others in their community,” said Alfred.

Alfred shared with those present a brief history of Haiti Reads; some of the pictures she showcased during that meeting can be viewed at online. In addition to the books donated by individual members, two SLA chapters donated funds to the organization. Leigh Hallingby, president of SLA’s New York Chapter, and Claudia J. Dold, treasurer of SLA’s Florida and Caribbean Chapter, were recognized for their chapters’ donations to the organization.

The second speaker featured at the International Information Exchange Caucus was Dr. Sohair Wastawy, the new dean of libraries at Illinois State University. Until last month, Dr. Wastawy was executive director of the Bibliotheca Alexandria (http://bibalex.org). Dr. Wastawy spoke of her six years at the library in Egypt, giving a brief history of what libraries meant in ancient times, and now, and regaling meeting attendees with her experiences working with librarians throughout the Middle East. 

Top Ten List and Why YOU Need to Get Involved with the First Five Years Council

The first five years of anyone's career is an exciting, challenging, fun and sometimes difficult period. For new professionals, SLA created the First Five Years Council in order to address the needs of librarians and information professionals who are just starting out in this field, and who could use a special set of tools and resources geared directly toward their needs.   

Even if you are have more than five years of experience, are in the middle of your career, or if you are retired, it is still important for a variety of SLA members to interact with this group. Consider getting involved to help these "First 5" members start out on a great foot professionally and help them get the most out of their SLA membership.

Two ways to get involved:

1.  Work with the Board of your chapter or division to create a position for an Advisory Board member dedicated to the needs of "First 5" professionals.  If your unit already has a position that addresses the interests of  "First 5-ers" please get in touch with any First 5 Advisory Council Member and let them know about what you are doing in your unit.

2.  Join the Facebook and LinkedIn Groups

On our Facebook page:

• You'll find recommended resources related to the webinars under the "Notes" tab 
• Become a fan and get updates when the committee or other members share good resources 
• Contribute your own comments and recommendations to help everyone 
• Post your chapter/division events on the wall to spread the word about SLA services for new professionals 

Use the LinkedIn Group:

• Post questions to get career and professional advice from experienced members and fellow new professionals 
• Develop your network of SLA colleagues
• Discuss issues facing new information professionals

If you're a more experienced professional, you can help to support new information professionals in SLA by joining the LinkedIn group and answering questions or providing advice.

If you are not sure if you are new or experienced we have created a Top Ten list to help you decide. But, we think you should join the First 5 groups regardless of where you are in your professional life!

Top Ten Signs That You're a New Info Pro

10) You graduated from iSchool instead of GSLIS –  the name of your school sounds like it was inspired by Apple rather than a sneeze.

9)  You're suddenly very protective of ALA accreditation when you're job hunting even though you barely thought about it when you were doing your degree.

8) You are still recovering from the shock of the rise in membership dues of the associations you joined while in school.

7) You live in initials and when your school changes its name you check out the initials first - SLIS, SLAIS, FLS, FLIS, FI, DLIS, FIMS, iSchool, etc. and make up your mind on that. 

6) You know what and where people are talking about when they say U of Tee, Pitt, Chapel Hill, U Dub, Uber Champagne, iSchool, LIS, U of I, Cuse, etc.

5) You struggle with the equality of librarians, archivists, records managers, teacher-librarians, etc. - not that there's anything wrong with that!

4) You belong to at least four associations and see the same people at each meeting and can barely tell them apart but can't possibly drop one.

3) You are more comfortable building a website than a taxonomy.

2) You are struggling with the competing demands of building a wardrobe, buying furniture and maintaining a social life.

And, finally, the number one sign that you are a new info pro…

1) You graduated within the last 5 years.

Look Who Won Prizes @ SLA 2010!

Each year, SLA holds a number of give-aways and prize drawings surrounding the INFO-EXPO at our Annual Conference. We are so pleased to announce the winners from our drawings at SLA 2010, held June 13-16, in New Orleans. Congratulations to....

Winner of the INFO-EXPO Grand Opening Drawing - Apple iPad

Jane Kuhar

Map Services Center, Washington, D.C.

AND

Winner of the InterAction Passport Game - $2,000

Alba Scott

US Bureau of Reclamation, Sacramento, CA

Thanks to all the attendees for coming to SLA 2010 and visiting with the exhibitors in our INFO-EXPO!  The SLA Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO was rated one of America's highest ranking trade shows by Exhibit Surveys Inc.'s 2009 Trade Show Trends report.  SLA's INFO-EXPO is the largest trade show for information professionals, special librarians and knowledge workers in North America.

We'll see you again next year in Philly! 

What I heard at the Info Booth

SLA 2010 is almost over, and I am finally finished with my 27 hours working the Information Booth!!! It was nice meeting tons of SLA members rushing off to sessions.  I thought I would share some of the highlights from the info booth.

• Lots of members were having trouble deciding which session to go to . . . because there were so many great sessions.  Kudos to the planners!  Keep up the good work.
• We were able to reconnect three people with their very nice phones, and even one lady with a lost earring.
• I met one very nice person who was a last-minute substitute presenter and was quite nervous about it.  I tried to offer some tips on how to stay calm during a presentation.  She came back the next day to thank me and said that the tips really worked.  Made my day!
• It was fun to listen to the different reactions to our opening session speakers.  Some swore that Mary Matalin was superior and substantive; others found James Carville far more entertaining and praised his presentation skills.  Can't wait to hear Nicholas Carr at the closing session.

Attend SLA 2010…Without Leaving Your Home or Office

There are still a few days left to sign up for the SLA 2010 Virtual Conference Component.

If you are not able to physically attend SLA 2010 in New Orleans, attend the conference through the SLA 2010 Virtual Conference Component. As a virtual component attendee, you will have the opportunity to view and participate in the Opening and Closing General Sessions, where you will hear from the husband and wife political team of James Carville and Mary Matalin and author Nicholas Carr, who recently penned and op-ed piece about Google in The Washington Post. You will also have access to ten dynamic Spotlight Sessions ranging in topics from competitive intelligence and knowledge management to social media and emerging technologies.

The registration fee for the virtual conference component is only $200. You can participate in real time or access the recorded sessions for 30 days.

Registration for the SLA 2010 Virtual Conference Component ends Friday, 11 June at 3:00 PM ET. So sign up today and join us (virtually) for SLA 2010!

Finding Middle Ground on Licensing E-Resources?

In real estate, the three most important things are location, location and location. In the world of electronic resources, the three most important things are licensing, licensing and licensing.

That's the conclusion of Michael Newman, head librarian at the Falconer Biology Library at Stanford University. In "Collections Strategies for Electronic Books," published in the June issue of Information Outlook (now available online at sla.org), he writes:

When e-journals were new, licensing terms were not standardized and licensing was a complex and time-consuming process. E-books are more popular now, but until e-book licensing becomes more streamlined, content will remain secondary to licensing considerations in driving collection development decisions in the selection of digital monographs. E-book selection and acquisition must become as easy as they are for printed monographs, and this requires simplifying licenses and licensing.

Can librarians and vendors find common ground on licensing? George Scotti of Springer, in his article about the impact of e-resources on proving value and return on investment, says vendors are beginning to accommodate librarians' needs, at least in the areas of pricing and content:

I think our industry is going to see more and more ... flexible arrangements that address specific cases. I'm not sure the amount of money librarians pay will be different, but the way they buy will be different--for example, instead of a package option, they may have a pick-and-choose option, and they may use tokens and deposit accounts. The business model will change, but at the end of the day, librarians will still get access to everything they need.

Although Scotti doesn't specifically address licensing, his comments suggest that there's some movement toward resolving the e-issues dividing librarians and vendors. Let's hope this movement continues.

Nerida Hart - Candidate for Director - Question #1 Imagine you have just finished your term on the SLA Board of Directors, what did you accomplish?

At the end of my term I will have effectively demonstrated and communicated the value of librarians/information professionals outside the traditional roles we usually have in organisations. We need to reposition ourselves as knowledge brokers not just information providers.

I have not worked in a 'library or information centre' for over 4 years now but my information and knowledge management skills are used daily.  Sometimes I even surprise myself with my skill sets and knowledge.  However, through all these new roles I have taken on my clients invariably are relieved when I tell them I am a library or information professional.  My stakeholders and clients range from landholders to politicians and without fail I have a positive response to my skills. 

The world is changing so rapidly we need to have a whole new mindset about where and how we work.  I expect this message will reach our SLA members and also pass on the new skills needed to take on new roles.

If you want to hear more about my vision for special librarians you can listen to this podcast or go to my blog site at HartKnowledge.