President's Letter
By Dee Magnoni, dianna.magnoni@olin.edu

As our region turns toward spring, we are getting some of our coldest temperatures of the winter. While I have been thankful for the small amount of shoveling I’ve done this year, I’m still looking forward to spring blooms. Snowbells have appeared in my yard, so we must be close!

I’d like to remind the chapter of our wiki space in this column. There are a few points of interest that are worth some time on the site. First, here is the address: http://silversmith.olin.edu/slawiki/FrontPage. The login is <sla> and the password is <boston>. For those attending SLA’s annual conference in Baltimore, there is an attendee list space on the wiki, as well as space for people to form carpools and find roommates. We are also collecting our critical mass to get a new technologies group up and running, and the wiki has space to list your interest, as well as to suggest topics and names.

The chapter is also putting momentary mentors into place. We are still recruiting mentors. Please see my column from the last newsletter for a description of the program. This spring I would like to begin matching mentees with mentors/coaches as needed. If you are interested in mentoring, please add your name to the wiki. If you’d like to help with the details of the program, please contact me directly. 

Moving away from the wiki, headquarters has entered into a new partnership with an international aid organization, World Computer Exchange. Please read the following for details.

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We are happy to announce that SLA has entered into a partnership with World Computer Exchange (WCE).

You may not have heard of WCE.  It is an international, educational nonprofit “helping the world’s poorest youth to bridge the global divides in information technology and understanding.”  Through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in developing nations, WCE donates computers, mainly to schools, libraries, and academic institutions.  WCE’s network of volunteers provide online support to maintain the computers, train teachers, and encourage the development of local content and resources.

WCE has volunteer groups in cities around the world.  They collect donated computers and prepare them for shipment to project sites in the developing nations.  Many of WCE’s volunteer groups are in places where there are strong SLA groups.  We urge Chapter and Division leaders to work with your memberships to explore ways that SLA and WCE might collaborate and work together at the local level.  Possibilities include: 

• Inviting WCE volunteers to SLA Chapter events (programs or networking meetings);
• Soliciting computer donations for WCE;
• Readying computers for shipment (i.e., testing and packing).

SLA members and WCE volunteers have proven their ingenuity.  With our complementary skill sets, we believe that combining efforts will help people and improve information literacy and further information access and professionalism in developing nations.

What else can you and other SLA members do?

• Help WCE identify worthy special libraries, projects, and sites in developing nations that are in need of computers and are willing to create a plan for networking the computers;
• When traveling abroad, SLA members can visit projects and report on their progress and/or arrange on-site training during your visits;
• Identify or develop resource materials to be sent with the computers to help people running the projects (many of whom are not information professionals and have little computer experience themselves or familiarity with “best practices” in using and teaching Internet skills).

We urge you to review the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SLA and WCE (www.sla.org/wce).  Also, please visit the WCE Web site (www.worldcomputerexchange.org) and look for ways that your Chapter or Division could work with WCE.

To identify the WCE contact in your area, send an email to Timothy Anderson, president of WCE, at tanderson@worldcomputerexchange.org.  Simply introduce yourself as an SLA member and ask how to contact a WCE volunteer in your area.

We would like to track these joint ventures, so once you establish a project or joint program, please let us know.  The DC Chapter’s International Relations Committee will maintain a log of these joint activities to report to the SLA Board and share with other SLA Chapters and Divisions. 

We wish you well with your efforts and look forward to hearing about your experiences!

Barbie Keiser
DC/SLA International Relations Committee
barbieelene@att.net 

Linda Broussard
Associate Executive Director, Leadership and Member Services
SLA
lbroussard@sla.org

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I have contacted Timothy Anderson to discover our local contact. Stay tuned for a possible local information session on this program.

Finally, I’d like to thank all the members in our chapter who have been volunteering their time for various chapter activities and ventures. We have had some great programming, with more to come. The New Professionals continue to get together for meals as well as to plan programs. We’ll be holding our Day-on-the-Job program once again. The chapter has started some strategic planning, as well as made needed changes in our governing documents. All of these initiatives involve many hands. So please, raise your hands, applaud the efforts of your fellow members, and volunteer your own time. You’ll enjoy the rewarding experience!

Happy Spring!

Dee Magnoni
President, SLA Boston
Library Director
Olin College of Engineering
Phone: 781-292-2389
Fax: 781-292-2388
E-mail: dianna.magnoni@olin.edu
AOL IM: dmlibrarian

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