NMRT Notes

Start planning for Washington, D.C. using the Pre-Conference Cognotes.

The NMRT Annual Program committee invites members to submit any and all materials (blog posts, videos, Web pages, presentations on Slide share, Wikis, etc.) for contribution to the round table’s 2010 Annual Program, The Members’ Program.

Ideas for submissions include but are not limited to:  posts about a program you are interested in attending, a brief presentation that you are interested in giving, a topic you feel needs to be covered as part of an ALA conference, perhaps some information about Washington, D.C, and more.

All content will be accessible electronically during the Annual ALA conference. Members are invited to contribute submissions starting May 1, 2010. Submissions will be submitted until the end of the Annual Conference on June 29 for those that may wish to add content to the NMRT Members’ Program while attending the conference in DC.

Please limit video submissions to ten minutes. Blog posts of any length are welcome. Your content should be accessible on the internet, NMRT cannot host your submission.

Submissions will be aggregated and posted to ALA Connect and the NMRT web page.

Please submit materials to nmrtannual2010@gmail.com.

The New Members Round Table (NMRT) and the American Library Association (ALA) Membership Committee wish to congratulate the American Library Association Student Chapter at San Jose State University as the winner of the 2010 ALA Student Chapter of the Year Award. This is the second year in a row San Jose State’s student chapter has won this award. The runner-up of this year’s award is the ALA Student Chapter at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The Student Chapter of the Year Award is presented in recognition of a chapter’s outstanding contributions to ALA, its school and the profession. The purpose of the award is to increase student involvement in ALA through student chapters and to recognize its leaders. Official ALA Student Chapters are organizations formed by students at schools offering accredited programs of library and information studies. The winning student chapter receives a $1,000 travel grant to help with the cost of ALA conference attendance.

This year’s Student Chapter of the Year Award Committee praises ALASC’s accomplishments in each of the seven categories related to the Student Chapter of the Year Award. In light of SJSU’s School of Library and Information Science transitioning to an entirely online degree program, ALASC has not only adjusted and adapted but flourished in the move. The committee was impressed with ALASC’s excellent use of social networks including Elluminate and Second Life to inform and involve members, and the variety of both in-person and “virtual” social, professional and service programs. Chapter leadership demonstrated strong continuing involvement with state and national organizations. As one committee member commented, “This chapter exemplifies what an outstanding student chapter should be doing.”

Debbie Faires, assistant director for distance learning and advisor to the San Jose State University ALA student chapter, stated: “Our chapter has expanded the number of sponsored events and has drawn a higher number of participants than in the previous (very successful) year. Even our officer group has grown as positions were restructured and filled via a mid-year election…One of the new programs was an innovative pre-ALA Conference event to help students learn how to navigate conferences and network effectively. This was held via Web conference so that students could participate regardless of geographic location…The chapter has been flexible in its attention to programming this year in response to the School’s move to a completely online format for coursework. The officers have added local events in a variety of locations to provide opportunities for personal networking…The Banned Books Week events were a particularly well organized outreach effort that included multiple location-based events as well as online venues via web conference and Second Life.”

The runner-up of this year’s award, the ALA Student Chapter of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, is recognized for its use of social networks, programming including professional lectures, technical workshops and community volunteer opportunities, as well as the peer mentoring program. We also applaud the numerous awards received by chapter members and the chapter overall.

The members of the SCOTYA Committee, NMRT and the ALA Membership Committee appreciate all the time and effort put in by all of the nominated ALA student chapters this year, and encourage all to keep up the great work!

Interested in sources of conference funding? Check out this useful list of resources from LISjobs.com.

The New Members Round Table (NMRT) and the American Library Association (ALA) Membership Committee wish to congratulate the American Library Association Student Chapter at San Jose State University as the winner of the 2010 ALA Student Chapter of the Year Award. This is the second year in a row San Jose State’s student chapter has won this award. The runner-up of this year’s award is the ALA Student Chapter at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Both chapters will be recognized at the NMRT Awards Reception during the Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

The Student Chapter of the Year Award is presented in recognition of a chapter’s outstanding contributions to ALA, its school, and the profession. The purpose of the award is to increase student involvement in ALA through student chapters and to recognize its leaders. Official ALA Student Chapters are organizations formed by students at schools offering accredited programs of library and information studies. The winning student chapter receives a $1,000 travel grant to help with the cost of ALA conference attendance.

The members of the Award Committee, NMRT and the ALA Membership Committee appreciate all the time and effort put in by all of the nominated ALA student chapters this year, and encourage all to keep up the great work!

NMRT Members, voting is for the NMRT Election is now open! Please take this opportunity to review the NMRT slate of candidates running for leadership positions starting in 2010-2011. By now, you should have received voting instructions from ALA via e-mail and after logging into the ALA Ballot you should see individual ballots for each of your member units. NMRT has five candidates running for leadership positions and though they are uncontested, there is also a place available to write in a candidate on the ballot.

Each candidate has submitted a biographical statement and short list of qualifications that is available by clicking a link on your online ballot. This biographical information is re-posted here on the NMRT blog for your review and comment. You are encouraged to leave questions for the candidates in the comments section and the candidates will be asked to respond. Completed ballots must be received by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, April 23.  Results will be announced on Friday, April 30. Thank you for your participation in the NMRT election!

Candidate: Linda C. Crook
Running For: Vice President/President-Elect
Current Job Title: Science Librarian, Washington State University Libraries, 2006-present

Statement: “I am passionate about recruitment and retention of new librarians. As president of NMRT, I will continue the initiatives put in place by my predecessors, and extend them when possible. I am excited about the variety of ALA initiatives related to new and young librarians, but I want to bring them together under the umbrella of NMRT so we can ensure there is no duplication of effort or division of resources. I want to build a stronger relationship with NMRT and JMRT alumni to, among other things, improve the network of support in place to assist NMRT members as they leave the nest. I want to see more alumni and established ALA members at NMRT functions, extending professional networking across generations and interest areas. As librarianship continues to change in fundamental ways, we will need our new members, working together and with established members, to help change ALA, too.”

Candidate: Janel White
Running For:  Secretary
Current Job Title: Broadcast Librarian, National Public Radio, 2006-present

Statement: “Being selected as an Emerging Leader this year was a great honor. In accepting that selection, I made a personal decision to give back to ALA & NMRT via a leadership position. As NMRT Secretary not only will I accurately capture decisions made by the board and guide the Archives & Handbook Committees through their charges, but also provide my own insight and experience over projects and decisions that the NMRT board reviews in the future.”

 Candidate: Veronica Stevenson-Moudamane
Running For : Treasurer-Elect
Current Job Title : President & CEO, VLCS Consulting, LLC, 2007-present

Statement: “In light of our current economic climate, I want to do all that is possible to ensure that NMRT stays solvent and that lack of funding is not an issue in the organization’s ability to meet longstanding traditions, while embracing new opportunities moving forward. As the 2010-2011 Treasurer-Elect, I will follow the philosophy of servant leadership towards the improvement of the organization, through fiscal accountability and collaboration within the association.”

 Candidate: Julie Kane
Running For: Networking Director
Current Job Title: Head of Technical Services, Sweet Briar College, 2007-present

Statement: “In my two years as Chair of the NMRT Booth Committee, my interaction with my Networking Director has been a lifeline and an invaluable resource. While my chairing background has provided me a depth of experience and a challenge that has expanded my involvement with ALA, nothing could have succeeded without the help and guidance of my ever-present and always-helpful Networking Director. I’d like to take the next step in my involvement with NMRT and return the favor to other chairs; to be as helpful as I can be and to guide others’ involvement with NMRT and ALA. I still have much to understand about the other committees’ activities within NMRT but I’m eager to learn. Within two short years, I have found NMRT to be an exciting and extremely valuable place to start an ALA career, and I would very much enjoy the chance to share that excitement.”

Candidate: Cory Lampert
Running For: Outreach Director
Current Job Title: Digitization Projects Librarian, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2006-present

Statement: “The New Members Roundtable within the American Library Association offers a unique forum for some of the freshest minds in librarianship to develop into leaders and innovators in our profession. As Outreach Director, I believe my experience facilitating groups and managing large scale projects will position me well to provide vision and direction for the integral role of promoting the NMRT message and engaging new librarians through outreach. I bring strong communication skills, enthusiasm, and dedication to the position and welcome this opportunity to serve NMRT in a new role.”

NMRT Nominating Committee:
Cory Lampert, Chair
Fiona Bradley
Elizabeth Downey
Patrick Tomlin
Tyler Williams