First Meeting of the New LIBRAS SIG: Emerging Technologies

When: Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 10:00am
Where: Dominican University Library, 7900 W Division, River Forest
Directions and Parking: http://www.dom.edu/about/locations-directions.html
Treats: Yes

Think:

•IM
•Blogs
•Wikis
•RSS
•text messaging
•Facebook
•Tagging
•Gaming
•Flickr
•Library Thing
•Zotero
•podcasting
•YouTube
•Google features
•institutional repositories
•digital collections
•any and all open source and free Web-based tools


Please join fellow LIBRAS member at this inaugural meeting to discuss the mission and future plans of the SIG and the following questions:
• What emerging technologies are we using in our libraries?
• How have those technologies provided greater service to students and faculty? How have they made our jobs easier and more fun? How we can get all library staff comfortable with and enthusiastic about using them?
• How do we teach our students and faculty about these technologies?
• How can we teach each other about those technologies? How can we help each other implement them in our libraries?
• How do we stay up to date on the latest technologies?

We’ll also talk about a possible second meeting at which we can demonstrate some of those emerging technologies, and about how we can help with the LIBRAS Web site and blog.


Please RSVP and direct any questions to:
Caroline Sietmann, Dominican University Library
Email: csietmann@dom.edu
Phone: 708-524-6884

Windows, Yahoo and Google IM: carolinesietmann

Subscribe to a listserv today!

Did you know that as a LIBRAS member you are able to engage in one of several special interest listservs? These listservs bring people together who work at similar schools, in similar libraries and experience some of the same joys and challenges. The listservs can be a great opportunity to bring us all together and improve our libraries with our shared knowledge.

This year we have simplified the number of LIBRAS SIG's (Special Interest Groups) and we have reorganized the corresponding listservs.

Please take a couple of minutes to visit the LIBRAS web site at: http://www.libras.org/listserv.html to sign up for the listserv that most interests you. Because the listservs were outdated, new ones were created. Please resubscribe if you haven't already.

• ArchiveSig-L: Archives SIG List
• CircSig-L: Circulation / ILL SIG List
• EmergTechSig-L: Emerging Technologies SIG List
• RefSig-L: Reference SIG List
• TechSig-L: Technical Services / Serials SIG List

Free LIBRAS Database Workshop!

Elmhurst College and the Libras Reference & Collection Management SIG are co-hosting a Database Workshop on December 17th at 9:30 at Elmhurst College. The agenda includes presentations on Lexis-Nexis, PubMed, and Gale databases. Lunch and parking will be provided free of charge. For more information, please RSVP to Katie Maier-O’Shea at kmaier@northpark.edu.

Position Available: Dominican University

Dominican University has an Instruction Coordinator position available in the Rebecca Crown Library. To view the description of this position, please visit the Libras web site.

New staff appointment, Columbia College Chicago

The staff of the Columbia College Chicago Library welcomes Kerri Willette as Web Services Coordinator and Reference Instruction Librarian. Prior to joining Columbia, Kerri served as Digital Resources Librarian at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and as Digital Projects Coordinator and Image Collection Supervisor at DePaul University Libraries. Kerri has served on numerous library committees and has presented for various professional organizations on library technologies since 2003. She is a 2005 graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science LEEP program. Welcome Kerri!

Annual Meeting, Directors Meeting Scheduled

The Annual Membership Meeting and Spring Program will take place from 1-4pm on May 22, 2008, at Judson University. Tours of the new library will follow. The Spring Program will be about Scholarly Communication.

The Spring Director's Meeting and Lunch will be held at at Kendall College on April 22, 2008, beginning at 9:30am. Lunch will be at 12:00pm.

Fall Directors Meeting: September 27

LIBRAS Fall Director's Meeting

on September 27, 2007
9:30am - 10:00pm Continental Breakfast
10:00am - 12pm Meeting

at Trinity International University
H.G. Rodine Building
Room 127

Please RSVP to Jennifer Paliatka, jenniferp@elmhurst.edu or (630) 617-3158


Directions to Trinity International University

Map of the campus

When you come in the entrance, turn left at the first stop sign (by the bookstore) and follow the road around until you come to the Rodine building.You can park there. Or if that lot is full, continue on to the Sports Complex parking.

The 2007/2008 LIBRAS Elections will be held between Monday, April 30, 2007 at 9:00 am and Monday, May 7, 2007 at 5:00 pm.

The elections will be conducted online. All full and part-time staff (excluding student workers) of LIBRAS libraries are eligible and urged to vote in this election. All eligible staff at LIBRAS libraries will receive an email notice of the election, in which a secure, anonymous link to the election website will be included.

For the slate of candidates, please see the Elections page.

LIBRAS Annual Meeting to be held May 9 at Aurora University

Set your calendars for the final LIBRAS meeting of the year at Aurora University (Banquet Hall). All staff are invited. You can stop by their library to see their recently renovated first floor. In addition to hearing election results and a brief annual report we'll get to hear David Malone's report on the research he conducted last year on electronic resource management for small to mid-size private academic libraries. It's a topic that touches us all, regardless of what department we're in. Hope to see many of you there; it should be a great meeting and another opportunity to get to know one another.

LIBRAS Annual Meeting 07 flyer


Directions to Aurora University


Campus map

LIBRAS Serials SIG Spring 2007 Meeting

Join us for an open discussion of any and all serials topics, including your questions, ideas, problem and interests.

Saint Xavier University, Chicago
Tuesday, April 17th
9:30 am to 11:30 am
RSVP to jljohnson@noctrl.edu by April 12, 2007

Refreshments will be served.

Directions at http://www.sxu.edu/chicago/directions.asp

Questions? Contact mhay@tiu.edu or jljohnson@noctrl.edu.

Fond Farewell to Ted Schwitzner

A fond farewell and best wishes to Ted Schwitzner, who's leaving North Central College after 13 years for Bloomington/Normal where he will be head of the Bibliographic Services Department at Illinois State University. LIBRAS is losing a valued member and friend, and ISU is gaining an extraordinary librarian. Ted received the Melvin R. George Award in 2006 in recognition for his years of service and leadership in LIBRAS. Since 2000 he has served LIBRAS in various capacities including President, Past-President/continuing Education Coordinator; Vice President/President-Elect and Program Coordinator; and Secretary. He also chaired Special Interest Groups for Web and Technology, and Technical Services. He was the Strategic Planning Committee Chairperson in 2003-2004. His interest in library advocacy brought him to Springfield and Washington D.C. on numerous occasions, and he represented the academic library community well. So good luck, Ted--we'll miss you but look forward to seeing you at CARLI functions --Illinois is a closely knit library community!

Sally Anderson,
President of LIBRAS, 2006-2007

"Innovative uses of New Technology": Reference/Instruction SIG Meeting to be held March 7

The LIBRAS Reference/Instruction SIG will hold a meeting on the topic of "Innovative uses of New Technology" at the University of St. Francis Library on March 7, 2007 from 9:00 to noon. Please come share your knowledge and experience with using new technologies and integrating them into reference and instruction.

For more information, see this flyer.

Collection Development Program Materials Available on LIBRAS website

On February 14, the Collection Development SIG sponsored a Meeting of the Membership at Concordia College Chicago with the theme of "Honey, I Shrunk the Collection."

At this event, Dave Kohut of Saint Xavier University gave a presentation entitled, "Criteria for Managing Print Reference in the Digital Age." LIBRAS members interested in more information on this topic can see Saint Xavier University' Library's "Criteria for Managing the Print Reference Collection in the Digital Age" by following this link (PDF).

In addition, the following article provides further information on Saint Xavier's off-site storage program:

Mark A. Vargas, "Using a Third-Party Vendor for Off-Site Storage of Library Materials: A Case Study of the Byrne Memorial Library, Saint Xavier University," Library Administration & Management 19 (Winter 2005): 26-30.

Time Change: Feb. 14 Collection Development Program Rescheduled for 10:00 a.m.

Due to the weather, tomorrow's program will
begin at 10am.

Honey, I shrunk the collections

Wednesday, February 14, 2007
9:00 am - 12:00 p.m.
Concordia University Chicago (in River Forest)
Koehneke Community Center, River Forest Room, 2nd floor
Park in parking garage adjacent to Koehneke

Collection Development program to be held February 14

"Honey, I shrunk the collections"

Wednesday, February 14, 2007
9:00 am - 12:00 p.m.
Concordia University Chicago (in River Forest)
Koehneke Community Center, River Forest Room, 2nd floor
Park in parking garage adjacent to Koehneke
Campus map

All LIBRAS staff are invited to hear our colleagues David Kohut from St. Xavier and John Fawcett from Wheaton discuss major weeding projects they coordinated at their libraries in their periodicals and reference collections.

There will be time to share your own questions and ideas about weeding throughout the collections.

RSVP by February 12 Katie Maier O'Shea 773-244-5582 or kmaier@northpark.edu

See attached flier for more information.

Reference/Instruction SIG Meeting to be held January 31

The LIBRAS Reference/Instruction SIG will hold a meeting on the topic of "Connecting with (Adjunct) Faculty" at the University of St. Francis Library on January 31, 2007 from 9:00 to noon.

For more information, please see this flier.

Disaster Planning program to be held November 30

"Snakes in the Library: Preparing for the Unexpected"

Thursday, November 30th
1:00-4:00 p.m.
North Central College, Naperville

All LIBRAS staff are invited to a program on Disaster Planning, where participants will:
• learn about “dPlan,” an online tool for preparing a disaster plan
• look at disaster planning from an Archivist’s perspective
• get advice from folks who have “been there”

RSVP by November 27
Belinda Cheek 630 637-5703 or blcheek@noctrl.edu

Please see attached announcement for this event.

October 15 Deadline for Continuing Education and Conference Funding

At the September 20 Directors Meeting, LIBRAS established a deadline of October 1 (October 15 for this year) for all applications for continuing education and conferences. For the following five conferences (ALA in Chicago, ACRL, IACRL and LOEX) LIBRAS will initially fund one individual per institution if they apply by the deadline. Additional applications will be considered as money is available. The directors should prioritize the applications when submitting them.

So, please take note of that early deadline, and if you are signing off on several staff members' applications to attend ACRL, for example, please prioritize them so that Larry doesn't have to toss a coin. If you have any further questions regarding this motion, contact Larry Wild (lwild@judsoncollege.edu).

Sally Anderson
LIBRAS President

LIBRAS SIGS 2006-2007

From Sally Anderson, LIBRAS President:

I'm happy to announce the SIG leadership roster for the upcoming year. After a lively meeting exchanging ideas on Aug. 11, it looks like we’ll have some interesting programs and opportunities to share information among our members this year. We also realized that so many of our “special interests” cross various job areas, and we want to emphasize that all are welcome at any of these meetings, regardless of your formal job description. You can contact the SIG chair directly, and/or sign up for SIG listservs by going to the LIBRAS website and clicking on "About LIBRAS." There's a link to Listservs with instructions on subscribing. Also, check the website for announcements of upcoming meetings.

Access Services SIG: Belinda Cheek, North Central College, and Carol Warner, Judson College, 847-628-2034


Collection Management SIG: Katie Maier O'Shea, North Park University

Electronic Resources/Automation SIG: Laura Burt, North Park University

Reference SIG Lucia Testin, University of St. Francis, and Julie Dahl, University of St. Francis

Serials SIG: Marie Hay, Trinity International University, (847) 317-4006, and Jennie Johnson, North Central College

Technical Services SIG, Anne McKearn, Aurora University, and Reggie Kirkwood, Columbia University

2006/2007 Research Grant Program

From Larry Wild:

As Continuing Education Coordinator for 2006/2007, it is my pleasure to announce the availability of the LIRBAS Research Grant Program for 2006/2007. The LIBRAS Research Grant program provides an opportunity for LIBRAS library members to perform research or publication efforts that might otherwise be difficult to fund. Each year, LIBRAS will grant up to $750.00 to one applicant who meets the criteria for the grant. Note that the application deadline for the Research Grant is August 15th.

Guidelines for the Research Grant may be found here on the LIBRAS Website:
http://www.libras.org/pdfs/LIBRAS_Research_Grant.pdf

The application form for the Research Grant can be found on the LIBRAS Website under Continuing Education and Professional Development, Application Forms.

Please note that in the spirit of providing opportunities to all staff levels at LIBRAS libraries, there is no limitation on the type of position held. However, the research being proposed must be performed in the field of library and information science.

If you have any questions about this program, please contact me.

Larry C. Wild

Continuing Education Coordinator, 2006/2007

2006-2007 LIBRAS Officers Elected

The results are in, and your 2006-2007 LIBRAS officers will be:

Secretary: Rebecca Miller, Lake Forest College
Treasurer: David Malone, Wheaton College
Vice-President/President-Elect: Mark Vargas, St. Xavier University.

Sally Anderson of North Park Univeristy, the current Vice President/President-Elect, will assume the presidency of LIBRAS for 2006-2007.

Ted Schwitzner Receives Mel George Award

At the LIBRAS Annual Meeting on May 24, LIBRAS President Larry Wild announced that Ted Schwitzner of North Central College has been chosen as the 2006 recipient of the Melvin R. George Award. This is the first time the award has been given since 2003.

The award is given to a LIBRAS library, librarian, or other individual currently or previously affiliated with LIBRAS who has made a significant contribution within LIBRAS to library service with special emphasis on library cooperation. A recipient can only receive the award once. The Award honors Melvin R. George, second president of LIBRAS. He along with the other LIBRAS founding directors, by their example, have made a significant contribution to the development of interlibrary cooperation.

Ted Schwitzner's involvement in LIBRAS has been outstanding. He has always been motivated by a keen desire to help the organization accomplish its mission. He has served LIBRAS in the following capacities:

2005-present Past-President/Continuing Education Coordinator
2004-2005 President
2005 Strategic Planning Committee Chairperson
2004-2005 National Library Legislative Day Delegate
2003-2004 Vice President/President-Elect and Program Coordinator
2002-2003 Communications Director (worked with a web host company to design and launch a consortial web site, and implemented an online election process)
2002-2003 Web and Technology Special Interest Group Chairperson
2000-2002 Secretary
1998-2000 Technical Services Special Interest Group Chairperson
1995-1998 Technical Services Special Interest Group Participant

POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO INTERLIBRARY COOPERATION:

Ted has been an enthusiastic supporter of and made many positive contributions to interlibrary cooperation. In addition to his activities in LIBRAS, he has been involved in the Illinois Library Computer Systems Organization (ILCSO). He served as Secretary (2002-2003) and Technical Services Representative (2000-2003) of the ILCSO Users’ Advisory Group, and has been chairperson of the Voyager Implementation Steering Committee Acquisitions/Serials Task Force (2002) and Technical Services Forum Planning Committee (1997-2000). Ted also participated in the IUAG OPAC Customization Task Force (2002-2004) and the DRA Serials Pattern Record Task Force (1999-2002) and was a Voyager Trainer (2003-2004).

POSITIVE INFLUENCE ON LIBRARY COLLEAGUES, SUPPORT STAFF AND THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY:

Ted’s positive influence on library colleagues, support staff, and the academic community has been recognized in a variety of ways. In 2005, Dominican University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science honored him as one of “Seventy-five Notable Alumni”. The Illinois State Library selected him as a participant in Synergy: The Illinois Library Leadership Initiative” for 2003-2004.

NOTABLE LEADERSHIP, BOTH IN LIBRAS AND THE LIBRARY COMMUNITY AT LARGE:

Ted has displayed outstanding advocacy leadership. He has participated numerous times as a delegate to the Illinois Library Advocacy Day in Springfield, Illinois, and in National Library Legislative Day in Washington, D.C. He was chairperson of the Brookfield Public Library’s Referendum Committee and coordinated a successful campaign. Currently, he is serving on both the Illinois Library Association’s Public Policy Committee and the DuPage Library System’s Advocacy Committee.

SUPPORTIVE CONCERN FOR NEW MEMBERS OF THE PROFESSION:

Ted is extremely service oriented and very supportive of new members of the profession. Not only has he mentored new Technical Services support staff at North Central College, he has also actively encouraged new members of the profession to participate in LIBRAS, ILCSO, and Synergy. Moreover, he has been instrumental in promoting greater involvement of support staff in LIBRAS.

Congratulations, Ted, on this well-deserved recognition.

2006/2007 LIBRAS Elections

The 2006/2007 LIBRAS Elections will be held between Monday, May 15, 2006 at 9:00 am and Monday, May 22, 2006 at 5:00 pm.

The elections will be conducted online. All full and part-time staff (excluding student workers) of LIBRAS libraries are eligible and urged to vote in this election. All eligible staff at LIBRAS libraries will receive an email notice of the election, in which a secure, anonymous link to the election website will be included.

For the slate of candidates, please see the Elections page.

LIBRAS 40th Anniversary Celebration to Be Held May 24

Come celebrate the 40th Anniversary of LIBRAS!

The LIBRAS 40th Anniversary Celebration will be held on Wednesday, May 24, 2006 at St. Xavier University.

The event will take place in St. Xavier's Warde Academic Center, in the Butler Reception Room. The 40th Anniversary program will begin at 11:00, and will be followed by a luncheon at noon.

For more information, please see the PDF of the announcement flier here.

Nominating Committee Seeks Candidates

The nominating committee for 2006-2007 election of LIBRAS officers is looking for candidates for the following positions:

Vice President/President Elect

Secretary

The duties of these positions as listed in the LIBRAS by-laws follow.

Vice-President/President Elect

"The Vice-President /President Elect shall serve as chair of program planning, and, in the President's absence, serve as President pro tem. Within 30 days prior to the Annual Meeting, the Vice-President shall submit a written report of activities for the year to the President."

Secretary

"The Secretary shall record, prepare, and distribute the minutes of meetings to all member libraries. The Secretary shall also prepare any correspondence, handbook, directory, public relations (including press releases), or other documents required by the assembly or by the Executive Committee which does not fall into the domain of any existing committee, office, or appointed position. The Secretary shall keep and maintain a complete file of committee reports and working documents. Within 30 days prior to the Annual Meeting, the Secretary shall submit a written report of activities for the year to the president."

Eligibility Requirements

All directors and librarians of LIBRAS member libraries are eligible to run for office. To run for the Vice-President/President-Elect position, one must also have served for one year as LIBRAS Secretary or Treasurer.

If you are interested in serving LIBRAS in one of these capacities, please contact a member of the nominating committee:

Kim Hale (Columbia College) khale@colum.edu 312-344-7355

Dale Zelenka (North Park University) hzelenka@northpark.edu
773-244-6240

Kay Culhane (Aurora University) kculhane@aurora.edu 630-844-5437

Position Announcement: Trinity Christian College

Trinity Christian College is now seeking applicants for the position of Director of the Library.

For more information, see the position description on the LIBRAS website.

40th Anniversary Committee seeks contact information for former LIBRAS staff

On behalf of the LIBRAS 40th anniversary committee, we are looking for addresses and contact information for former LIBRAS directors and/or library staff who were long-time members of LIBRAS.

If you have addresses for any former LIBRAS directors or other people from LIBRAS history, please forward that information to Elaine Fetkyo Page at elainep@elmhurst.edu.

We're looking forward to a wonderful event on May 24 at St. Xavier University, and would love to have good representation from LIBRAS's past, present and future.

Thank you for your assistance!

Elaine Fetyko Page, Elmhurst College

Report from the Reference/Instruction SIG Meeting, with links to science resources

The Reference/Instruction SIG met on February 23, 2006 at Benedictine University to learn more about science research and resources.

Read the report from the recent Reference/Instruction SIG meeting here.

The report includes links to science resources discussed by the presenters.

LIBRAS Continuing Education Funding and IACRL

LIBRAS will cover the registration cost for any LIBRAS staff member who wishes to attend the IACRL Conference. Applicants should submit a Continuing Education form to Ted Schwitzneralong with a copy of registration information--receipt, email confirmation, etc.

Come to Springfield for Illinois Library Day, Wednesday, March 1

We all benefit enormously from what the State of Illinois offers us in the way of library services: databases, interlibrary loan, collection development grants, digitization projects, and so on. One way of showing our enthusiasm for state support of academic libraries is to come to Springfield for Illinois Library Day, Wednesday, March 1. Look for other LIBRAS faces at the start of the March (from Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum at 11:00), and we can try to have lunch together. If you’re planning on going, contact me and I can try to keep track of who’s going. For bus transportation information, see your system’s website (MLS, DLS, or NSLS (where Larry Wild has a very nice letter on “Why Illinois Library Day is important for Academic Librarians”).

--Sally Anderson (773-244-5584) or saanderson@northpark.edu.

Circulation/ILL SIG meeting on Diversity

The Circulation/ILL SIG will hold a meeting on Monday, February 27, 2006 on the theme, "Bridging the Gap: Diversity within the Workplace--How to Bridge the Gap in Your Workplace."

The meeting will be held between 10:00-12:00 at Trinity Christian College.

For more information, contact Tippi Price, or see
meeting announcement.

Reference/Instruction SIG to be held February 23

The LIBRAS Reference/Instruction SIG will meet on Thursday, February 23rd from 9:30am-12:00pm at Benedictine University. Nestor Osorio and one of his colleagues from Northern Illinois University will be our special speakers, leading our discussion about how to do research in the sciences.

Directions to Benedictine University can be found at
http://www.ben.edu/about/directions.asp and a campus map at
http://www.ben.edu/about/campus_map.asp. We will meet in the library and proceed to the computer lab.

Please RSVP at the phone number or e-mail below.

Charlene Thompson
Reference/Instruction Librarian
Judson College
1151 North State Street
Elgin, IL 60123-1498
(847) 628-2033
cthompson@judsoncollege.edu

Circulation/ILL SIG meeting on Diversity

The LIBRAS Circulation/ILL SIG will be holding a meeting, "Diversity & Libraries: Providing Information to Empower Multicultural Communities," on December 7, 2005 from 1:00-3:30 at Trinity Christian College. The meeting is open to all staff at LIBRAS libraries.

For more information, see the announcement about the meeting here (PDF).

Shared Leadership: Deiss Paper Available Online

On Nov. 1, about 30 LIBRAS members met at Wheaton College for a stimulating presentation and discussion led by Kathryn J. Deiss, Director of the Strategic Learning Center at the Metropolitan Library System, on the role of "effective followers" in creating an energetic and effective organization. Some of the ideas presented are flushed out more fully in a paper Kathryn wrote, entitled "The Shared Leadership Principle: Creating Leaders throughout the Organization." It's available here via the Association of Research Libraries website.

Subscribe to LIBRAS Lines updates via XML or e-mail

Because LIBRAS Lines is now in Weblog ("blog") format, you now have two ways to receive automatic notification of new articles added to LIBRAS Lines -- via XML (more popularly called "RSS") through a news reader, or via e-mail. Instructions for both methods, as well as some background information on RSS, are now available on the LIBRAS Web site at http://www.libras-inc.org/Libraslines_subscribe_instructions.html.

If you encounter any problems with the instructions, please send e-mail to the LIBRAS Webmaster at librasweb@libras-inc.org.

Sally Anderson Named New Director of Brandel Library

The new Director of the Brandel Library at North Park University effective July 1, 2005 is Sally Anderson, currently Associate Professor of Bibliography/Head Reference Librarian at North Park. Sally is also this year's new Vice-President/President-Elect of LIBRAS, so she is sure to have a busy and exciting year ahead.

A search has been opened at North Park for a Reference Librarian. Details are available from the link on the Positions Available page on the LIBRAS Web site.

Technical Services SIG meeting May 20

The Technical Services SIG will hold their Spring meeting at Benedictine University on Friday May 20 from 10:00-11:30 a.m. Unfortunately, no one is available to do a presentation on Connexion but perhaps those of you who have been using Connexion could come prepared to discuss your experiences with it. We can also discuss any other cataloging issues of current interest.

Directions to Benedictine are available at the following link: http://www.ben.edu/about/directions.asp

Please e-mail your rsvp to Mary Sue Preisler by Wed., May 18 so that we can plan the refreshments. For more information, contact Mary Sue Preisler Mary.S.Preisler@wheaton.edu or Debbie Sarna dsarna@ben.edu.

Congratulations to our 2005-2006 Officers!

The winners of the LIBRAS Officer Elections were announced at yesterday's Annual Meeting. The officers for 2005-2006 will be:

• Vice-President/President Elect: Sally Anderson, North Park University
• Secretary: Jennifer Paliatka, Elmhurst College
• Treasurer: David Malone, Wheaton College

Congratulations and best wishes for a successful year ahead!

Reference/Instruction SIG Meeting May 25

From Rosemary Henders, Reference/Instruction SIG Co-Chair:

You asked for it! Now here is your opportunity to see some of our bravest and most generous colleagues demonstrating the best of their instruction repertoire. In evaluating our fall Information Literacy 101 workshop, several people commented that while it's fine to hear discussions of great teaching techniques, it would be so much more helpful to actually see someone demonstrate those techniques.

In response to those comments, four of our own members have volunteered to demonstrate some of their most effective instruction techniques. Lake Forest College has generously agreed to host our final RIS meeting of the year in one of their wired classrooms.

We will meet on Wednesday, May 25 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Box lunches will be available for purchase at $8.50, but must be preordered. This will give us a chance for a leisurely chat over lunch. Please come prepared to pay for the lunch you order. If you find that you will not be able to attend after you have registered, please let me know as early as possible so that we can cancel your lunch order.

Our "instructors" will be: Susan Augustine of Columbia College, Ayanna Gaines of Elmurst College, Ingrid Boyer of Trinity Christian College, and Rebecca Miller of Lake Forest College. I will share a brief video of our Personal Response System in use, since it would be too complicated to disconnect it and bring it along.

I know this is a busy time of year for many of us, but I hope that you will be able to find the time to join us for a day of sharing instruction ideas. This will be a great way to close out the year and gather new ideas to add to our teaching repertoires for the coming school year.

Please RSVP to me by Friday, May 20 stating whether or not you will be attending, and if you are, indicate your lunch choice. See the LIBRAS Web Site for complete details of the meeting and the menu.

On another note, if there is anyone out there who would like to take over as SIG Chair, I am willing to relinquish my crown and sceptor. Just say the word!

Looking forward to seeing you in two weeks, Rosemary

Rosemary Henders
Instructional Services Librarian
Oesterle Library - North Central College
(630)637-5707
rahenders@noctrl.edu

Not at ACRL? Catch up with LIBRAS reports

If you weren't able to attend ACRL in Minneapolis this year, you can get a taste of the goings-on by reading through LIBRAS attendees' reports of the conference on the Continuing Education page of the LIBRAS Web site. Over a dozen reports are now posted, with the remaining few to follow within the next few days.

UPDATED AGENDA: LIBRAS Annual Meeting set for May 11

The LIBRAS Annual Meeting will be held May 11 at Lake Forest College. The Annual Meeting is open to ALL staff from LIBRAS libraries: directors, librarians, and staff. LIBRAS is your organization, and everyone's involvement is needed to keep LIBRAS vital and relevant!

The meeting will run from 9 a.m. until noon, followed by a buffet lunch. The agenda includes announcements of the election results, discussion of the membership survey, and recognition of retiring LIBRAS members. An updated full agenda and additional information is available on the LIBRAS Web site at http://www.libras-inc.org/pdfs/ANNUAL_MEETING_2005.pdf. For driving directions, please see http://www.lakeforest.edu/about/community/driving.asp (a link to the campus map is at the bottom of the page). Park in any available lot and parking space. Signs will direct you to Room 221 in Donnelly Library.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP by May 7 to Larry Wild at Judson College (e-mail lwild@judsoncollege.edu, phone 847-628-2036) and indicate if you are attending the meeting only, or the meeting and lunch.

LIBRAS Officer Elections 2005

The elections for LIBRAS officers (Secretary, Treasurer and Vice-President/President Elect) will be held online starting Thursday, April 28 and concluding Thursday, May 5 at midnight. Statements of the candidates for each office can be viewed on the LIBRAS Web Site at http://www.libras-inc.org/election_2005_cs.html. Candidates' statements will also be reprinted within the ballot itself.

Each LIBRAS library staff member will receive a personal e-mail with a link to the ballot. Please do not delete this e-mail, as it will be your only link to the ballot. If you do not receive an e-mail by the close of business on Thursday, april 28, please contact Sharon Nelson, LIBRAS Communications Director, at snelson@ben.edu.

LIBRAS Membership Survey underway

All LIBRAS library staff members are encouraged to complete the Membership Survey which is being conducted from Tuesday, April 27 until Wednesday, May 4. Each library staff member should have received a personalized e-mail containing a link to the survey. If you have not received an e-mail, or if you accidentally deleted your copy, please contact Sharon Nelson, LIBRAS Communications Director at snelson@ben.edu.

Jennifer Paliatka Selected as 2005 Synergist

LIBRAS is pleased to announce the inclusion of one of its members, Jennifer Paliatka of Elmhurst College, in the latest class of Synergy. The selection of Jennifer as a Synergist marks the third straight year for LIBRAS membership inclusion in the program.

Jennifer completed her MLIS at Dominican University in 2001. That summer she completed a practicum at Elmhurst College and was hired as a Reference and Instruction Librarian there that fall. In June of 2003, Jennifer participated in the College Libraries Section program entitled “Casting our Nets or Ice Fishing?: Recruiting Future College Librarians.” Jennifer currently works with the Associated Colleges of Illinois Teaching and Learning Mentor program and the Illinois Creative Collection Management Program. This January, with her fellow librarians, she taught an Elmhurst College Honors Program course entitled “Chicago’s Great Libraries” which introduced undergraduates to libraries, librarianship and the fantastic resources in the city of Chicago.

Synergy: The Illinois Library Leadership Initiative, a joint project of the Illinois State Library and the Illinois Library Association, promotes the growth and development of the next generation of Illinois library leaders. The Leadership Planning Committee selects Synergy participants from all types of libraries and from every part of the state. Participants, along with mentors from varying library types, will meet three times over the course of a year. While the workings of each class of Synergy will be unique for each group, the institute results in developing a network of library leaders. More information about Synergy may be found on the Illinois State Library web site at: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/library.

Registration Funding Available for ALA Conference

LIBRAS will pay the registration for any member librarian who wishes to attend the ALA Conference in June 2005. LIBRAS will pay the early bird registration rate. Early bird registration ends on March 4, 2005. You may still take advantage of LIBRAS' offer to fund registration after that date; however, it will only be at the early bird rate. You will be responsible for additional expenses.

To apply for registration send a completed Continuing Education Application to Luann DeGreve, Continuing Education Coordinator along with proof of registration. At the end of the conference, each member is required to submit a 1-2 page written report on the content of his experience.

In addition, "Empowering Library Support Staff for the 21st Century" is a two-day conference being held on June 25-26, 2005 in Chicago. More information and registration details are available at http://www.ala.org/ala/eventsandconferencesb/annual/2005a/librarysupport.htm.

LIBRAS continuing education funds are available for this conference within a conference. Fill out the Continuing Education Application on the LIBRAS Web Site. If you have any questions, please contact Luann DeGreve at ldegreve@ben.edu.

Luann DeGreve Past President/Continuing Education Coordinator

Information Literacy Resources Now Online

PowerPoint presentations, table reports, and additional documents from the LIBRAS "Information Literacy 101" workshop held Wednesday, November 10, 2004, at St. Xavier University are now available on a new Information Literacy page on the LIBRAS Web site at http://www.libras-inc.org/Infolit.html. The Web page also contains many other useful links to information about Information Literacy guidelines, programs and resources.