Wednesday, December 14, 2011

St. Kate's MLIS Program: Congratulations to Sara Zettervall!

St. Kate's MLIS Program: Congratulations to Sara Zettervall!: Sara Zettervall was nominated by Dr. Sarah Park to participate in the ALA Student-to-Staff program in 2012. She is a current MLIS student and the St. Catherine University ALA Student Chapter chair. ALA selects 40 students who are members of their ALA Student Chapters to trade volunteer hours for free registration, hotel and food at the ALA annual conference. It's a huge honor to have a Katie be selected and participate!

Friday, November 11, 2011

EBSCO offers seven scholarships to librarians attending 2012 ALA Annual Conference

CHICAGO - The American Library Association (ALA) and EBSCO are partnering to offer seven scholarships for librarians to attend the 2012 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif. The meeting takes place June 21 - 26, 2012 and offers an opportunity for continuing education, meetings and interaction with colleagues.
Each EBSCO scholarship will be in the amount of $1,000. The scholarship money is to be used for conference registration, travel and expenses.
Deadline for entry is Dec. 1, 2011; scholarship recipients will be notified no later than March 1, 2012.  To apply, candidates must complete the application and submit an essay that addresses the following topic: “How will attending this ALA Conference contribute to my professional development?” Essays and applications will be judged by a jury designated by ALA.

About EBSCO
Established in 1944, EBSCO is the world’s leading information agent providing consultative services and cutting-edge technology for managing and accessing quality content, including print and e-journals, e-packages, research databases, eBooks and more.  Now more than ever libraries and research organizations are looking for new ways to manage their collections more efficiently. EBSCO has developed the most comprehensive “e” discovery and management solutions, offering unparalleled integration to help librarians save time and money while empowering their users.

EBSCO serves clients in more than 200 countries through our 30 offices worldwide with more than 140 librarians on staff. To learn more about EBSCO’s products and services, visit www.ebsco.com.

Contacts:
Cheryl Malden
Program Officer
(312) 280-3247
cmalden@ala.org

Rossi Morris
Media Relations Coordinator
EBSCO Corporate Communications
www.twitter.com/EBSCOInfoSvcs
rmorris@ebsco.com
205-980-3885

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Friday, October 28, 2011

Weekly News Wrap-up

The temporary autonomous library at Occupy Boston, an interview with Kristin Parker
http://www.librarian.net/stax/3698/the-temporary-autonomous-library-at-occupy-boston-an-interview-with-kristin-parker/

Digital Public Library of America and Europeana Announce Collaboration
http://dp.la/2011/10/21/digital-public-library-of-america-and-europeana-announce-collaboration/

Be sure to check out the interactive version of this super cool readers' advisory flow chart!
Navigating NPR’s Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books
http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/10/25/navigating-nprs-top-100-science-fiction-and-fantasy-books/

Social Networking On-The-Go: U.S. Mobile Social Media Audience Grows 37 Percent in the Past Year
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/10/Social_Networking_On-The-Go_U.S._Mobile_Social_Media_Audience_Grows_37_Percent_in_the_Past_Year

And in other social networking news:

Nearly One-Fourth of Companies Now Provide Customer Service via Facebook
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nearly-one-fourth-of-companies-now-provide-customer-service-via-facebook-132522103.html

Twitter quietly testing expandable timeline
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-20125563-2/twitter-quietly-testing-expandable-timeline/

Quite a few of the stories I post here (especially this week) are found via the Resource Shelf Blog. If you're going to follow a blog, I would highly recommend that one. As always, email me (naeierman@stkate.edu) with any stories you'd like to see in the wrap-up!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Call for Applications: American Library Association Student to Staff Scholarship Program for St. Kate's

What is Student to Staff?
The Student to Staff program is an opportunity for 40 ALA student chapter members from across the country to attend the ALA annual conference for free. St. Kate's ALA student chapter, via our faculty advisor, can nominate one person for the program. In exchange for working four hours a day (or a total of 20 hours), students in the program receive free conference registration, housing, and a per diem for meal expenses (students are responsible for transportation to/from the conference). During free time, they may attend programs and participate in other conference activities. The focus of the program is networking and mentorship for students who are up and coming leaders in the profession.

 
Who is eligible?
Any student who applies for the nomination from St. Kate's should be:
  • An active member of the St. Kate's ALA student chapter;
  • A student member of ALA nationally (you can sign up online);
  • Available to secure transportation to and attend the full conference, June 21-26, 2012 in Anaheim, CA; and
  • Willing to write up your experience on the ALA student chapter blog and make a presentation to the St. Kate's LIS program after your return (at a Monday night event or similar).

How do I apply?
Application is made by short essay, emailed to the ALA student chapter faculty advisor, Sarah Park (spark@stkate.edu). The essay should be approximately 250 words (one page) and address the following:
  • Your active participation in the ALA student chapter at St. Kate's;
  • Your demonstrated leadership skills;
  • A clear picture of what you hope to achieve by attending the conference, particularly in the volunteer activities; and
  • How you will use your participation to promote and improve St. Kate's MLIS program.
Deadline to apply: midnight on Sunday, November 20, 2011. The nominee will be announced in early December.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Contact Your Legislator re Legacy Funds!

From Elaine Keefe, lobbyist for MLA/MEMO:
As you may have seen in media reports, legislators are considering raiding the Legacy Amendment's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund to pay for a new stadium for the Vikings. 
This is certainly not what the voters were told this money would be used for when they passed the Legacy Amendment in 2008.  
Raiding the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund for a stadium will reduce the funding available for arts and cultural programs throughout Minnesota, including those offered by libraries. 
Please call or e-mail your legislators and tell them that you oppose using Arts Fund money for a stadium. 
Minnesota Citizens for the Arts has an excellent tool on their website for constructing a letter to your legislator using your choice of talking points.  The link is below:
 

Sunday, October 23, 2011

We need your questions! Monday night panel on 11/14

The ALA Student Chapter is sponsoring a panel discussion of librarians from more "traditional" careers--since we know there are still many of us out there who hope to work in a public, school, or academic library. We want your help coming up with questions for the panel!

Imagine: you're facing down librarians who have the jobs you'd love to have some day (soon). Since you're not going to hit them with a shovel, what do you want to know about how they built their careers? Please use the comments section below to brainstorm questions we can give to the panel.

We'd like to get these done in early November so the panelists can see them in advance of the event (Monday, November 14) and have time to think about them.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Weekly News Wrap-up

Sorry for the interruption in service! The wrap-up is back, (with a name change so as not to be confused with the MLA newsletter) and ready for a strong finish this semester!

A case of a library looking for ebook alternatives to Overdrive
Kansas Leading the Fight for Fair Ebook Access in Libraries
http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/Kansas-Leading-the-Fight-for-Fair-Ebook-Access-in-Libraries-78302.asp

The Global eBook Market: Current Conditions & Future Projections
http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920022954.do

Warner Video Restricting DVD Sales to Libraries
http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/10/18/warner-video-restricting-dvd-sales-to-libraries/

Internet Librarian 2011 happened this week. Along with other bloggers, Librarian in Black posted about some of the sessions.
http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/?s=internet+librarian+2011

More databases and collections added to WorldCat Local
http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/2011/201160.htm

The Census Bureau has updated their quick facts tables with information from the most recent census.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html

As always, email me with library stories at naeierman@stkate.edu

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Write for Public Libraries magazine!

Public Libraries (PL) is seeking to fill two columnist vacancies:
  • "Passing Notes" - explores young adult service
  • "The Wired Library" - explores Web topics relevant to public librarians
These volunteer positions are wonderful opportunities to shine in your profession! You must be a member of PLA and able to turn in six columns a year of approximately 1,200 to 1,500 words in length, either by writing the column or finding an alternate author (i.e., a guest columnist on a specific subject). If interested, please send a note to PL Editor, Kathleen Hughes at khughes@ala.org. Please include some information about your library experience and writing samples or links to writing samples. The PL Advisory Committee will review applications and select the new columnists. Deadline Is November 21, 2011.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Creating Your Own Student Networking Card

You're a student. You want to build connections with other librarians. You want a job! One thing you can do is create your own personal networking card. It looks like a business card but conveys who you are and your contact info. Thanks to ALASC member Joan, we have some tips for creating and printing your card. Your card may include:
  • At a minimum, your name, email address, and that you're a library student at St. Kate's. Use your school email address.
  • Brief information on the type of librarianship that interests you.
  • An easy-to-read font.
  • White space in the design, for notes and a professional appearance.
  • If you have them: blog address, efolio address, and/or LinkedIn address (you may want to pick just one, so your info is clean and not overwhelming).
Some sites Joan found that have free printing offers include:
If you have your own tips & tricks, please feel free to include them in the comments. We recommend you make some before our panel on Monday, 11/14, to network and enter a drawing.

Monday, September 26, 2011

New! Meeting Agendas Page on the Wiki

Our wiki now has a page of agendas for upcoming meetings. Please visit it to see what's up and offer your feedback. ALASC members can edit the wiki, and anyone can provide feedback in the comments.

Pre-Holidays Children's Book Drive: Your Suggestions Needed!

The St. Kate's ALA Student Chapter, Progressive Librarians Guild student group, and Special Libraries Association student group are joining forces to collect children's books during the first two weeks of December, and we need your input! We know we would like to focus on children's books for an underserved group (kids in poverty, in foster care, from immigrant families, those who have been adopted, anything else you can think of) but need to pick a group or groups to donate to ASAP in order to define our audience. That's where you come in! If you know of a deserving group with a structure in place to receive book donations, please email your suggestion to ala-students@stkate.edu. Suggestions from any and all students, staff, and faculty members are welcome. Thank you!

Friday, September 23, 2011

Weekly News Roundup

Internet Ruffles Pricey Scholarly Journals
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/world/europe/19iht-educLede19.html

Peace Corps volunteer from Dedham building a library in Togo
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/dedham/2011/09/peace_corp_volunteer_from_dedh.html

Here are a few articles about borrowing Kindle books through the library:

Kindle Books Now Available at over 11,000 Local Libraries
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1608874&highlight=

Amazon Lifts Edge of Curtain on Kindle Library Lending; Beta Testing Under Way
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/892109-264/amazon_lifts_edge_of_curtain.html.csp

OverDrive and Amazon launch Kindle® compatibility with Library eBooks
http://www.overdrive.com/News/OverDrive-and-Amazon-launch-Kindle-compatibility-with-Library-eBooks

And in further e-Book news:
One in 6 Americans Own an eReader
http://www.mediabistro.com/ebooknewser/one-in-6-americans-own-ereader_b15839

As always, please email me at naeierman@stkate.edu with any stories you would like included in next week's roundup!

Friday, September 16, 2011

The Snacktacular Snackluck is almost upon us!

New and returning members, please join us for our first official meeting of the semester:

Snacktackular Snackluck Snackstravaganza!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
5:00-5:45pm
CDC 361

Papre plates, etc., will be provided, so bring a snack to share if you can, or just bring yourself. We will do some introductions and then get down to business.

Weekly News Roundup

Is Amazon about to move into the book rental business?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/sep/12/amazon-book-rental-ebook

YouTube Founders Revamping a Site for Link Sharing
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/12/technology/youtube-founders-aim-to-revamp-delicious.html?_r=4&hpw

A video interview with:
ALA President-Elect Maureen Sullivan

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Weekly News Roundup

The Weekly News Roundup is back for the new school year. Welcome back everyone!

Michael S. Hart, the founder of Project Gutenberg, died Tuesday. His obituary can be found below.
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Michael_S._Hart

Unavoidable Disasters and Unfathomable Disconnects
http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/inside-scoop/unavoidable-disasters-and-unfathomable-disconnects

Early Journal Content on JSTOR, Free to Anyone in World
http://about.jstor.org/participate-jstor/individuals/early-journal-content

28% of U.S. Adults Use Mobile and Social Location-Based Services
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2096/mobile-social-location-based-services-geosocial-social-media-location-tagging

Librarian in Black has been doing a gadget showcase; below is the link to her most recent post about reading gadgets.
http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2011/09/readinggadgets.html

Ask.com Launches Human-Powered Q&A to All 63 Million Users
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/askcom-launches-human-powered-qa-to-all-63-million-users-128897798.html

And finally, here's a cute library story from my home
Little Free Libraries spread joy of reading, meeting others town
http://www.leadertelegram.com/blogs/julian_emerson/article_75811a30-d8e0-11e0-b9f1-001cc4c002e0.html

As always, please email me with any stories you'd like included in next week's post! My email is naeierman@stkate.edu

Monday, September 5, 2011

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Legislative Action Item

From ALA:
Librarians are on the front lines, helping the American people find the government information they need to find jobs, work effectively, and participate in our democracy. The programs of the Government Printing Office (GPO) are integral in keeping the American people informed.  Unfortunately, funding for the GPO is under attack.

The GPO is the only agency with the mission of ensuring that the American public has access to Congressional, Judicial and Executive branch information in all formats – physical and digital. An unintended consequence of severe cuts to GPO’s budget may be the demise of its access programs.

Please contact your Congressional representatives and ask them to fund the GPO at the President’s Fiscal Year 2012 recommendation. For background information, talking points and contact information for your Congressional representatives please visit: http://capwiz.com/ala/home/

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Welcome, New Students!

Welcome, new MLIS students! You don't have to be an ALA member to join our group. Please come and find out more about us at either or both of these events:

Monday, September 19, 2011
6:30-8:00pm
Student Group Info Night
CDC Ground Floor

Wednesday, September 21, 2011
5:00-5:45pm
ALASC New Member Meeting and Potluck!
CDC 361
Also, please like us on Facebook and consider joining the ALA and/or MLA. Student memberships are only $33 and $25, respectively, and with your ALA membership, you get American Libraries magazine and a weekly e-newsletter.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

MLA 2011: Dinner with Colleagues

Check out the Local Arrangements blog of the Minnesota Library Association annual conference for a great networking opportunity: Dinner with Colleagues. You can sign up to have dinner on Thursday night (October 13) during the conference in Duluth and meet working librarians in a field of your choosing.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Minnesota Library Association Conference Cresting the Horizon!

  • Pricing--They haven't started taking registrations yet, but you can see they don't have a student registration rate, so exchanging volunteer hours for free registration is a great bargain (not to mention networking opportunity, etc.). Volunteer info is below.
  • Agenda with "At a Glance" or complete session info options. Note that I've been told the Wednesday night "Killer Cocktails" Readers Advisory Round Table happy hour would be a great place for us to gather as a student group.
  • Conference hotels--Note that these are not required, just options, and there are a million choices in Canal Park or downtown that would be appropriate. Our student group can help match you with a roommate if you want to save some money that way. Similarly, I'm happy to help arrange carpooling.
Why should you attend this conference? If you want to work at a library in Minnesota, this is your chance to meet librarians from throughout the state who work in all different kinds of institutions and positions. If you're open to working at different types of libraries (or just want to know more about what's out there), this is the place that brings together librarians from across the spectrum. Volunteering takes you even deeper into the conference experience. Here's the scoop:
  1. For a single day of free registration, the following volunteer requirement must be met:  Wednesday (2 hours), Thursday (3 hours), and Friday (2 hours). Volunteer opportunities include: introducing session speakers, staffing registration table, and more.
  2. In order to receive the entire conference registration free (all three days), students must volunteer for seven hours, broken down as above.
  3. Students wanting free conference registration must be members of MLA. This is still a bargain because a student membership is only $25.
For questions or to sign up, please contact Stephanie Hall (halls -at- pas.k12.mn.us). Stephanie and I have been in touch, and while she's trying to set her volunteer schedule now, if you're not ready to commit yet, you can contact her later to see what might be available for you. She seems very flexible and happy to have student volunteers.

As always, let me know if you have questions about anything, and I'll do what I can!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Weekly News Roundup

Apple has changed the way that ebooks are accessed on its devices
Publishing is living in a world not of its own making
http://www.idealog.com/blog/publishing-is-living-in-a-world-not-of-its-own-making

A Google a Day has been around for a few months now but here's an article about how it relates to libraries.
Teaching Search Engine Literacy with A Google A Day
http://dltj.org/article/introducing-agad4lib/

New York scheme for 143,000 kids to work off library fines: Read
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/25/us-library-fines-newyork-idUSTRE76O52520110725

Lots and lots of librarians are chronicling their week over at:
http://librarydayinthelife.pbworks.com/

And finally, this is a survey that the ALA is asking members of student chapters to take.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Weekly News Roundup

OCLC releases new membership research report: Seeking Synchronicity: Revelations and Recommendations for Virtual Reference
http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/2011/201144.htm

Library closures challenged in court
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/8647491/Library-closures-challenged-in-court.html

Open-Access Advocate Is Arrested for Huge Download
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/us/20compute.html?_r=1&ref=us

Textbook Rentals Come to the Kindle: Probably Not a Money-Saver
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/textbook_rentals_come_to_the_kindle_probably_not_a.php

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Weekly News Roundup

An overview of a report about how the Internet affects our brains.
Is the Internet Bad for Our Brains? The Answer Is Subtle and Complex, But Quite Reassuring
http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2011/07/06/is-the-internet-bad-for-our-brains-the-answer-is-subtle-and-complex-but-quite-reassuring/

Free As in Libraries, But Libraries Are Not Free
http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/07/07/free-as-in-libraries-but-libraries-are-not-free/

New e-book option!
Open Library offers libraries a third choice for eBooks
http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2011/07/open-library-offers-libraries-a-third-choice-for-ebooks.html

This could be a really great professional resource, once it gets going! We should all commit!
http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/07/02/reference-question-of-the-week-62611/

Here’s a nifty image ‘milkshake’ put together by a librarian. Lots of pretty books!
http://mlkshk.com/librarian

Friday, July 1, 2011

Weekly News Roundup

This was a quiet news week (maybe everyone is recovering from the conference?) but here are a couple stories.

A man in Florida thinks the librarians in his county should be fired, which obviously got librarians riled up. There are comments at this link and Annoyed Librarian also wrote a response.

Since this week is so short, here is a collection of awesome librarian blogs for further reading, put together by Salem Press.
http://salempress.com/Store/blogs/blog_home.htm

Have a great Fourth of July!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Weekly News Roundup

Summer stole me away for a week, but I'm (almost) back on schedule!

Librarians in the U.S. from 1880-2009
Click through to see the whole study!
http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/06/21/librarians-in-the-u-s-from-1880-2009/

A local example of innovative librarianship.
Meet Meg, our new coworking librarian
http://cocomsp.com/2011/06/meet-meg-our-new-coworking-librarian/
Check out her blog too:
http://workwithmeg.com/

More social networking statistics:
Social Networking Sites and Our Lives
http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/64511

I’m interested in this because I use Goodreads. Do you?
Reader Ratings and Book Reviews from Goodreads Being Added to NoveList Products
http://www.prweb.com/releases/NoveList/Goodreads/prweb8586334.htm

And for something a little less serious:
5 Reasons Why Lady Gaga is NOT a Librarian
http://www.mandikaye.com/2011/05/18/5-reasons-why-lady-gaga-is-not-a-librarian/

Finally, this isn’t really library related but I know quite a few of us like Neil Gaiman and Public Radio. Here’s a link to a recent show involving both!
http://www.livestream.com/minnesotapublicradio/video?clipId=pla_cb848b78-e077-416b-83bb-c8aeabaf368e

As always, please let me know if you find any interesting library news articles. Also, if you have any feedback about these posts, or if you have a certain area of library news you would like me to include more, email me at naeierman@stkate.edu

Thursday, June 16, 2011

MLA/MEMO Library Legislative Forum

Free for MLA/MEMO members including food! $25 for anyone else (but I think the student MLA annual fee is $25, so you might as well join).

I'm already registered and would be happy to give anyone else a ride.

Library Legislative Forum
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
9:30am-3:00pm
St. Cloud, MN
"A forum to discuss what happened in 2011 and what should happen in 2012"

Friday, June 10, 2011

Weekly News Roundup

The Merger of the Century: EBSCO Acquires H. W. Wilson
http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/06032011/merger-century-ebsco-publishing-acquires-h-w-wilson

Digital Textbooks slow to catch on
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/business/media/06iht-EDUCSIDE06.html?_r=2&ref=technology

Learning to Read on Zero Dollars a Day
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/opinion/05doerr.html?ref=librariesandlibrarians
(This isn’t news to us librarians but it is libraries in the new)

Epub really IS a Container

As always, email me with any exciting stories you find at naeierman@stkate.edu

Friday, June 3, 2011

Weekly News Roundup

Hello everyone and welcome to the first weekly news roundup!
Just a few stories for your perusal this week. Please drop me a line at naeierman@stkate.edu if you have any articles or events you think should be included.

Patriot Act Renewal Renews Reformers’ Determination

Keeping Our Message Simple
By James LaRue
Here's the fundamentally different approach to advocacy we need to adopt—yesterday.

Amazon e-books now outselling print books

Enjoy, and I'll see you next week!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Weekly news roundup

Did you spot librarianship in the news?

Is there a local activity (talk, training, bookfest) you think we should know about?

Want to share a job opportunity?

Email Natalie and she'll compile them into a weekly blog post of awesomeness.

Agenda for June 2 meeting

Please add comments as you see fit!
  • Summer meeting dates (see list to the right): how/which do we want to use? Let's plan when/how we're making our swag.
  • Updates on things we were looking into during the break: caves, MLA, speakers, etc.
  • Have Mondays been set for the fall?
See you soon!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Got work?

Check out the new tab at the top of the page, "Employment Links."

Your contributions and/or corrections are welcome!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Submit your work to LSJ

Note from Sara Z: I'm on the Editorial Review Board for LSJ; reviews are blind, so I wouldn't know if any of you offered a submission, but I can tell you that some of the work you're already doing for your classes could qualify. It's worth a try!

Library Student Journal (LSJ) seeks to publish the best papers from Library and Information Science (LIS) students worldwide, and to serve as a forum for discussion of LIS education, training, career paths, and future trends. Submissions may cover a wide range of topics, including information science and social science alike, but should always relate to and advance the discussion of LIS topics. We accept and publish submissions on a rolling basis. All papers should follow APA (6th ed.) guidelines. Because LSJ is a peer-reviewed journal that caters to students, even submissions that are not accepted for publication will receive detailed feedback and commentary. In many cases, the editors will work closely with authors to revise articles for publication.

LSJ publishes papers in four different categories:

Articles
Articles are peer-reviewed scholarly papers based on original research or literature surveys that advance the topic with original ideas. Articles explore the topic in greater depth than essays (described below) and should advance the existing literature with original ideas or original research.

Essays
Essays are papers of an informational or personal nature. Essays are reviewed by the editors alone. An essay is less formal in tone than an article and may, among other things, share personal experience in the LIS field, give an overview of an LIS issue of interest, be a work of fiction, and/or be lighthearted or humorous.

Opinion
Opinion pieces address a topic of current concern to the LIS field and can be of any length. These submissions are reviewed by the editor.

Reviews
Reviews of books currently being used in an LIS course, recently published (within the last 2 years) LIS books, or websites of interest to LIS students (including blogs) will be considered for publication. These submissions are reviewed by the editor.

To submit your work for LSJ publication, create a user account at www.librarystudentjournal.org/index.php/lsj/user/register, then go to your user home page and click the "New Submission" link to enter your submission into our review system.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Tweet Your US Senator to Support Teen Services

May 10th is National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) and it only takes a minute of your time to make a difference! All you need is Internet access and a Twitter account.
  1. Make sure you’re logged into your Twitter account
  2. Visit YALSA's Google map of US Senators at http://tinyurl.com/NLLDmap
  3. Click on the push pin in your state
  4. Click on the “Tweet Me” link
  5. Click on the “Tweet” button (the text of the message has already been created & appears in the text box)
  6. Encourage others to do this by forwarding the link of the map to them, adding the link to your Facebook page, blog or web site, etc.
To learn more about NLLD, please visit www.ala.org/nlld.  To learn more about other ways can advocate for library services to teens specifically, visit http://tinyurl.com/YAadvocate.  Thank you for all that you do to ensure teens have access to great library services and resources and thank you to YALSA’s Legislation Committee for creating this advocacy tool!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

This week's agenda

Here are the updates from last week's meeting which continue to be items for this week's meeting. LMK if you have questions, or add your comments below. I hope to see you tomorrow!

Items in progress
  • New! Natalie Eierman will be the editor for a "weekly news update" on our blog. You'll be updated when she has access and is ready to go. (Also, I've been maintaining an email list of people who are interested in info-only and will continue to solicit for that.)
  • New! Arts and crafts this summer: On a day when it's nice outside, we'd like to go and spraypaint some t-shirts for ourselves. We can make buttons, too! All the cool kids wear their ALA gear.
  • Speakers: Joan found out that Deb Torres would love for us to schedule a Monday night gathering, but the plans for fall won't be made until later in the summer. We're seeking ideas for St. Kate's alumni for the panel (preferring at least some who have traditional library jobs).
  • Speakers, part 2: We are still pending re: informal author meetings. Erin will ask a local YA writer she knows, and Sara will ask Patrick Jones (one fall, one spring).
  • Archives tour: Megan found out we can go to the "caves" at the U of M pretty much any time this summer, so she is going to check on some dates and report back so we can set one.
  • MN Center for Book Arts: Helena is finding out whether their student rate ($30) applies to us (vs. $80 for adults, yikes!). Might want to see if we can get a group discount to make some books?
  • Book drive: Fall semester for Christmas. Erin had a good organization in mind, and we're waiting for more info on that. We decided that if we partner with a bookstore, it would be a local, independent one (such as the Wild Rumpus). The PLG's book drive right now seems to be really successful, so hopefully that's a sign for us!
Items resolved
  • End of year happy hour: Confirmed for Sunday, May 15 at 5:30-7:30pm (or thereabouts) in the wine bar room at Sweeney's (http://www.sweeneyssaloon.com/). It's now an event on Facebook, so invite your classmates! It's also on the MLIS official blog with flyers, etc. coming soon.
  • SGO funding: Helena updated us that the SGO does not have additional funding for student groups. But, we should all plan to make use of the $200 per year (per semester?) we can each get for conference reimbursements.
Tabled for now but still on the horizon...
  • Additional funding may be available from St. Kate's as a chartered student club. Helena is in touch with Bridgette Marty, a staff person who is in charge of such things, and will update us when there's more to know.
  • MLA conference October 12-14, 2011 in Duluth ($200 student funds!)
  • Winter 2012 events (speaker, field trip, advocacy, elections)

Monday, April 25, 2011

Legislative Update

From Elaine Keefe, lobbyist for MLA and MEMO:

Tomorrow legislators return from their Passover/Easter break.  The May 23 adjournment deadline is just 4 weeks from today, and much work is left to be done.  Hearing schedules are jam packed this week because the first deadline for policy bills to pass out of committee is this Friday, April 29. 

Legacy:  The House Legacy Funding Division will meet on both Tuesday and Wednesday this week to consider amendments to the Arts and Cultural Heritage article of the omnibus Legacy bill.  A final vote on the bill will be held on Wednesday.

The Senate Environment Committee will hear SF 1040, our bill requesting $5 million per year over the next two years from the Arts and Cultural Heritage fund for regional public libraries, on Tuesday afternoon.  There are 34 bills on the agenda, so our testimony will necessarily be brief.

Maintenance of Effort (MOE):  On Wednesday the House Governmental Operations Committee will hear two mandate relief bills authored by Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R - Mazeppa).  Both HF 7 and HF 519 repeal library MOE and the minmum level of local support as well as many other requirements on local governments, including pay equity.   HF 519 also repeals the requirement that law library fees paid by plaintiffs and defendents be used to support the county law library.  I plan to testify against both bills. 

Governor's Workforce Development Council (GWDC):  HF 844, our bill requiring the Governor to appoint a public library advisor to the GWDC, will be heard in the House Jobs and Economic Development Finance Committee on Thursday, April 28.  Kit Hadley of the St. Paul Public Library will testify. 

Monday, April 18, 2011

Agenda for this week and notes from last week

We meet this Wednesday, 4/20, in the library because our usual room is unavailable. We'll meet in the lobby and find ourselves a study room. Here are the agenda items--please add any thoughts or additional items in the comments section.
  1. Update on event planning for the spring and summer--going through the items listed in the notes from last time to see what progress folks have made.
  2. Conversation about maintaining our online presence: I would like to propose that this could be more of a group effort and would like to hear your thoughts on that.
Notes from the 4/13 meeting. Please add comments if I missed something important:
  • End of year happy hour: tentative for Sunday, 5/15 at 5pm (i.e., when class ends that day). Sara is checking the availability of Sweeney's in St. Paul (they have a small, free private room as well as a patio).
  • SGO funding: Helena has an email in to the group and will let us know when she has more info.
  • Speakers: The recent Monday night panel of nontraditional library jobs was a huge hit, so we would like to plan a panel of St. Kate's grads but including traditional jobs. Step one is to find out possible Monday nights in the fall (Joan? I think was looking into this).
  • Speakers, part 2: We would like to have a couple of informal author meetings. Erin will ask a local YA writer she knows, and Sara will ask Patrick Jones (one fall, one spring).
  • Field trips: Megan will find out about visiting the archive caves at the U of M (a possible break from the summer heat). Helena (was there someone else, too?) will find out about the MN Center for Book Arts offerings.
  • Book drive: Christmastime suggested. Erin had a good organization in mind and was going to check on that. SLA is interested in partnering with us, and Helena is checking with someone she knows in community relations at Barnes & Noble for ideas.
  • Summer meetings: on Thursdays at 5pm (Sara to secure locations).

Thursday, April 14, 2011

ARLD Day reminder: Digital libraries are "everywhere libraries"

If you have $30 to spare for the student registration, the MN Library Association's ARLD Day, "The Everywhere Library," looks like a great networking opportunity on Friday, April 29. Registration includes lunch! It's all about digital libraries and includes a "technology petting zoo."

I would go, but unfortunately I have my own work event that day...

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Storyelling Festival on Monday, 4/18/11

At our last meeting, we decided to have a strong presence at the upcoming Storytelling Festival both to show support for our fellow students and potentially drum up some more business for ourselves. Please come--three of our own will be performing! (It's required for our storytelling class, but that doesn't mean we won't rock it.)

Storytelling Festival
Featuring ALA faculty advisor Sarah Park, ALA student members Sara Z and Deni Buendorf, and the rest of our fabulous LIS storytelling class
Monday, April 18, 2011
6:30-8:00pm with snacks!
Recital Hall, Music Building @ St. Kate's

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Agenda for 4/13--Please contribute

After the meeting last week, it was brought to my attention (happily) that sharing the agenda and giving you guys the opportunity to add/comment can really help make this more productive. So, here are my thoughts for tomorrow--please add/revise in the comments. Sorry for the brief timeline--one week between meetings is taking me by surprise in its shortness!
  1. Update from Helena: Facebook and SGO (if info)
  2. Spring/Summer: set date and location for happy hour and/or potluck (I suggest the back room at Sweeney's, but that's up for discussion)
  3. Possible summer field trip?
  4. Fall: begin to set dates for speaker and field trip. Who do we want to invite? Who will spearhead the reservation and invitation effort? We could commandeer a Monday night but would need to coordinate with the main office.

Notes from 4/6 meeting

Here's what we decided at the meeting on 4/6:
  • Come to the Storytelling Festival on Monday, April 18, where we will show support for our student storytellers (including yours truly and ALA student member Deni Buendorf) and collect names/promote our group. Complete info to follow.
  • We will continue to meet weekly until the end of the semester (which means we're meeting tomorrow--post forthcoming).
  • We will continue to meet on a different schedule TBD during summer term.
  • Helena is checking with the SGO on possible funding sources.
  • The general outline of activities for the next year is below, and it's important that we now nail down some dates and deets.
Spring/Summer 2011
  • End of the year Happy Hour
  • Storytelling Festival on Monday, 4/18
  • This wasn't discussed, but I'm going to suggest we could do at least a library tour or visit the MN Center for Book Arts in the summer
Fall 2011
  • August 27th is Fall Orientation--take out the "new kids" afterwards
  • Group attendance at MLA conference in Duluth, Oct 12-14, 2011
  • Speaker--possibly professional storyteller
  • Field trip--caves at UMN? (where they store old archives)
  • Book drive for xmas
Winter 2011
  • MLA Library Advocacy Day at the Legislature in early March--schedule a training in Feb
  • Some other field trip
  • Another speaker (author? possibly do a "beer & books" where we read a book and meet with the author informally?)

Monday, April 11, 2011

Facebook--click like!

We're on Facebook! I wish I could link it here, but we can't make our own link until we have 25 "likes." We're currently at 23! Please search for "St. Kate's ALA Student Chapter" in Facebook and like us. The link will be posted permanently here when we're able to make it.

(In case you're curious, this is because Helena set us up as an organization and not a group, so that people will be able to see our page even if they're not FB members. This decision was ratified at our last meeting.)

"Let Your State Officials Know How Important Libraries Are to You!"

A message from the ALA:
April 10–16 is “National Library Week.” This year’s theme is “Create your own story @ your library.” It’s a perfect opportunity for you to let your legislators know how important libraries are to you, telling your story about how important your library is to you, and the difference your library makes in your community. Libraries need your voice!
Libraries continue to be busier than ever helping families survive during these tough economic times, yet public libraries, school libraries, and academic libraries are facing closures and elimination of librarians and library workers—the people who help those with a job application, teach 21st-century skills, and nurture the love of reading in kids that will serve them the rest of their lives.
State governments provide much needed funding for libraries to provide public access to the Internet to everyone, critical databases for individuals and small businesses, and homework help.
Please send an e-mail to your governor and your representatives today, and pass this message on to your friends and colleagues.
Thank you for advocating for libraries and library staff.
Sincerely,
Michael Dowling
Director, Chapter Relations Office
American Library Association

Monday, April 4, 2011

Reminder: Meeting on Wednesday 4/6

Just a reminder we are meeting this week, on Wednesday, 4/6/11, at 5pm in CDC 362. We will discuss:
  • Scheduling activities for the upcoming year, using this list of ideas we came up with last month.
  • Assigning folks to plan/lead activities that interest them.
  • Scheduling meetings for the rest of the semester and summer.
Please attend if you can!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

What's so great about Patrick Jones?

This may help you understand.

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Election results

Since we only had one nominee for each position, this year's elections have been very easy. Here are the results:

Chair: Sara Zettervall
Co-Chair: Helena Kilbride

These positions will last through the end of the winter term in 2012, with our next elections also taking place in winter 2012 for the following academic year.

Now that elections are complete and the constitution has been ratified, we can become an official ALA student chapter. I (Sara) will send these off to the ALA and await our goodies from them!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Elections update

  • The nomination deadline has been extended until Monday, just in case folks aren't checking email during the break.
  • I don't know if I'm breaching some kind of etiquette by telling you all this, but right now I'm the only person in the running (Sara Z for Chair!). My feelings will not be hurt if someone else wants to run against me, but...
  • It would be super awesome if at least one person wants to be Co-Chair! Step right up and email your nom to ala-students@stkate.edu.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Election nominations!

I just sent an email with this information to all members. If you didn't get the email, please let me know ASAP because that means you also won't get the link to vote later on.

It's time to hold our first elections. Per our newly ratified constitution, we will have 2 positions, Chair and Co-Chair. The descriptions of those positions from the constitution are listed below. The term of these positions is through the end of the winter 2012 semester; in winter 2012 we will hold the next round of elections for the following year.

To nominate yourself for a position, please email ala-students@stkate.edu with your name, whether you are running for Chair or Co-Chair, and 2-3 sentences on what you hope to accomplish in the position. If you'd like to nominate someone else, please send their name and which position, and cc them on the email so they can accept or deny the nomination. Please send the nominations by Friday, March 25, 2011 Monday, March 28, 2011.


Our faculty advisor, Sarah Park, will oversee the nomination and election process. Once all the nominations are received, I will create (and she will verify the fairness of) a survey monkey so we can vote online. Each of you will receive an email with your own individual link to vote anonymously, and the link will only work once.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions. We're almost to the point of being an official group!

Section 3.1
There shall be two elected officers of ALA Student Chapter: Chair and Co-Chair sharing treasurer and secretarial duties between them.  A Secretary may be assigned at the discretion of the Chair depending on the needs of the organization. This structure will constitute the Executive Committee.
Section 3.2
The Chair shall specifically be responsible for presiding at all meetings, for serving as official ALA representative and liaison with ALA headquarters and for representing ALA in the orientation program for new students, for acting as an ex-officio member of all committees, and for overseeing the functions of the other members of the Executive Committee.
Section 3.3
The Co-Chair shall specifically be responsible for assuming the duties of the Chair in case of emergency, for publicizing all meetings, and for coordinating the reports of the ALA representatives to the SGO and advising the SGO of any business affecting ALA Student Chapter.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

ARLD Day 2011

ARLD Day 2011: The Everywhere Library

"Last year, Academic and Research Libraries (ARLD) Day was all about getting users into the library building. This year, we’ll look at serving our patrons where they are. We know they work from their computers at home and in their offices, but they’re also increasingly accessing our services and information via mobile devices. What do libraries need to be thinking about? What services are successful? What technologies and metadata are required to make access easy and understandable? Join us on April 29 at ARLD Day 2011: The Everywhere Library to find out."

We have a constitution!

St. Kate's ALA Student Chapter Constitution

Many thanks to everyone who attended the meeting yesterday and helped revise and ratify it.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Activities for our student chapter

These are some ideas we came up with at last week's meeting for activities our student chapter can do over the next year. We will start the planning process at the April 6th meeting, so please plan to be there!
  • Speakers: more interest in bringing in presenters who would talk to a small group, likely as part of the Monday night workshops. Possible presenters: Patrick Jones (YA), Sanford Berman???, professional storytellers.
  • Field trips! Tour the "caves" at the U of M, visit the MN History Center, learn about bookbinding at the MN Center for Book Arts.
  • MN Library Association: annual conference (volunteer opps, carpool), library advocacy day.
  • Happy hour! End of this semester, after new student orientation in the fall, book & beer.
  • Book drives (although the PLG has that covered for this term)
  • Engage with library fundraising
  • Speed networking
 If you have additional ideas, or if I missed anything, please add comments.

PLA Online Seminar on Library Advocacy

The Public Library Association (division of ALA) is offering "Turning the Page 2.0," a free 6-week online course supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The description from the website:
In this six-week, facilitated online course, library staff and supporters will learn how to create and tell their library's story, deliver effective presentations, develop a compelling case for support, and build and sustain partnerships along the way.
 Anyone can participate; one of the sessions mostly takes place in August, when we don't have classes. I might actually try to register for it--but even if you don't want to let your overachiever freak flag fly and do the same, this is a great example of the kind of professional development opportunities you have to look forward to after graduation!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Chapter constitution

Reminder: we will be working on (and maybe even ratifying!) the chapter constitution at our meeting tomorrow, 5pm, in CDC 362.

Some good reads:
  • St. Kate's ALA Student Chapter Constitution: Google Doc
  • Examples of a generic student group constitution and the constitutions of other chapters on the ALA website

Minnesota Book Awards

Register through TwinCities.com to vote for your favorite local authors in the Minnesota Book Awards Readers Choice category.

You may also want to check out the Minnesota Book Awards website. The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, host of the event, is one of the most active and successful library friends organizations in the nation.

Monday, March 14, 2011

"Restrictions on library e-book lending threaten access to information"

This has caused quite an uproar in the library community: "The recent decision by publisher HarperCollins to restrict the lending of e-books to a limited number of circulations per copy threatens libraries’ ability to provide their users with access to information."

Click here to read the rest of the ALA press release...

ALA email lists

Even if you're not a member of the ALA, you can subscribe for free to their email lists.

I especially encourage your subscription to the new ALA JobLIST newsletter, which is full of good info for us at this point in our careers:
http://ala.informz.net/ala/profile.asp?fid=1494

Here's information on the ALA wiki about subscribing--there are more lists than you would care to see here:
http://wikis.ala.org/readwriteconnect/index.php/ALA_mailing_lists

There's probably a lot more to be said about this--please feel free to use the comments to add.

Welcome to our blog!

Hi everyone! Our online communication format may change in the future, but right now, there's just too much good stuff out there that needs to be shared. So, here's a blog for our ALA student chapter. Stay tuned while I start posting stuff...