*Note: The following is from our archived collection of older documents, and may not reflect the most current information.
Welcome to SLA Connections, your source for news and information from the information profession and industry.
By Janice R. Lachance
Bylaws Votes
On June 7 in Toronto, SLA members will gather at our Annual Business Meeting to consider two sets of amendments to our bylaws.
As you know from the previous Special Edition of SLA Connections and the telephone forums on May 18 and 25, the first would provide for online voting by members. Today’s technology makes e-voting easy, and it’s the future of association democracy. It allows for greater membership participation, recognizing and accommodating the reality that many active, valuable members sometimes cannot travel to our business meetings.
The second proposed change would simplify SLA’s financial, operational, and leadership transition by aligning our association year with our fiscal year. Currently, the association’s governance year begins in June, but our fiscal year begins in January. Adjusting this nonalignment would result in more transparent financial and operational management for the long-term good of the association.
I hope that you are attending this year’s annual conference in Toronto and can participate in the Annual Business Meeting to cast your vote on these important decisions. The meeting is set for Tuesday, June 7, 5:15 – 6:15 p.m. in Convention Center rooms 105-107.
Till then, for more information, visit the SLA Bylaws Information Center on our Web site or www.sla.org/bylaws the members-only Bylaws Amendments Community of Practice (COP), where you also can post comments. http://cop.sla.org. You can email questions or comments to bylaws@sla.org.
Alternatively, you can call +1.888.411.2856 (U.S. and Canada) or +1.732.935.6547 (all other countries) and request fax document number 1400. To receive information by mail, call the Bylaws Information Center Hotline at +1.703.647.4900 extension 4998.
New Staff
It gives me great pleasure to announce the addition of some great new people to your SLA staff.
First, we’ve hired Nancy A. Gaffney Sansalone as deputy executive director and chief financial officer (CFO). Nancy will manage the day-to-day operations of the association, as well as assume responsibility for financial management and accountability. We are fortunate to have recruited someone of Nancy’s caliber and experience. She is a 20-year veteran of associations and higher education. Just prior to joining SLA, she served as vice president and CFO of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE). We believe Nancy’s knowledge and background will serve SLA well and help to accomplish our long-term goals.
To read more about Nancy, visit the “Press Room” section of our Web site.
I’m also delighted to announce that Jill Calabria has joined our staff as membership director. Jill brings 12 years of association and hospitality management experience. Most recently, she served as business development director for the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association.
We also have a fresh new face in our front office. Connie Brown has joined our staff as my executive assistant and board liaison. Prior to SLA, Connie served as the district secretary and service coordinator for McQuay International of Ashland, Virginia, and assistant area operations manager for Branch Banking & Trust (BB&T).
Also new to the staff is Karen Santos Freeman, our communications director. Karen is a 25-year veteran of journalism and public relations. Prior to joining SLA, she served as communications director for the Office of Federal Student Aid at the U.S. Education Department.
I am proud that SLA attracts such experienced and talented professionals. When you interact with Nancy, Jill, Connie, and Karen, please welcome them to the SLA community.
Eat at Joe’s
We apparently have some budding restaurant reviewers in our ranks. In response to my request for recommendations in Toronto, Paula Noyes offers:
For breakfast, lunch or supper:
Marche Movenpick, 42 Yonge St. (in BCE Place)
An inventive market-style restaurant. Take a tray (or basket if you're planning to take out) and load up with freshly squeezed juices, huge freshly made fruit crepes, egg station, fresh baked pastries and desserts, rosti potatoes, salads, homemade soups, pastas, chicken, steak, seafood. Bring a good appetite.
For supper:
Reds, 77 Adelaide St. W.
A seven-page menu consists of three pages of wines (77 reds) and four other pages filled with appetizers, salads, etc., each with suggested wines and bin numbers. Bistro-driven red-wine country recipes from around the world. Featuring a stylish large marble bar replete with hard-boiled eggs, olives, and pickled garlic. Second-level dining is cozy yet elegant, including a chef's table.
Rosewater Supper Club, 19 Toronto St.
French-inspired menu. It has 22' ceilings adorned with hand-painted cornice moldings in a landmark building that dates back to 1854.
Mildred Pierce Restaurant, 99 Sudbury
High ceilings, miles of draped chiffon, and huge Romanesque murals set the scene for this dramatic restaurant, named after the film noir classic. The menu changes according to the season and dishes show Thai, Italian, and Mediterranean influences. Desserts are made in-house. Since it's located a short distance off the main drag, the restaurant is able to offer good food at competitive prices.
My recommendation:
Pastis Express, 1158 Yonge Street(Janice’s own recommendation)
If you’d like to leave downtown for an evening, this is the ticket. The menu is only one page, but offers bistro fare like fish and chips and ravioli with snails and garlic herb butter. There are some things that never change, like the Pastis’ fish soup. The saffron-flavor broth of fish and crustaceans comes with rouille, croutons, and grated cheese. A tasting plate of three mini-French desserts is quite tasty! The food is great, but this place could run on the Gallic charm of owner Georges Gurnon alone.
Burning Questions
Are there particular courses or learning opportunities that you would like SLA to offer? Email me at Janice@sla.org.
Consider This
“Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”
Abigail Adams, former American “First Lady,” wife of the second U.S. President
NCLIS Health Award Launched
The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) is launching an award for libraries with exemplary consumer health information programs. Over the next year, the initiative will identify libraries in each state with outstanding health information programs. In May 2006 a top winning library will be announced and representatives from that library will travel to Washington, D.C., to receive a $20,000 cash prize.
“Broadcast Flag” Victory
SLA and a coalition of like-minded organizations succeeded in challenging a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule commonly called “broadcast flag.” The ruling would have required that all digital electronic devices, such as personal computers and televisions, made after July 2005 be equipped to prevent any redistribution of digital television. The rule would have stopped the flow of digital information to people who have the right to use and share it and would have prohibited librarians, archivists, and educators from legally sharing digital works. SLA’s co-plaintiffs in the case were the American Association of Law Libraries, the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, the Consumer Federation of America, the Consumers Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Medical Library Association.
Cool Site: InformationWeek.com
This site has all the latest news on the information management industry.
Online Learning Opportunities Greatly Expanded
SLA’s much-anticipated online learning system for our global community will be unveiled at a launch celebration at annual conference. The system greatly expands learning opportunities for our members, adding to the Virtual Learning and Career Development Seminars already available online.
In Toronto, join the launch party Monday, June 6 at 3:00 p.m. in the INFO-EXPO “Marketplace.” And get ready to Click.
Blog with SLA
If you’re going to the conference in Toronto, blog with us. Share your comments on conference activities at www.sla.org/conferenceblog.
Even if you aren’t going to Toronto, you can keep current by dropping in on the blog – and your comments also are welcome.
Giveaways!
Those of you participating in SLA 2005 will have the opportunity to win $2,000! Conference attendees will get an INFO-EXPO game sheet, which looks much like a passport, in their tote bags. Those who visit at least 15 booths and get the companies’ names and stamps on their game sheets can enter to win. The prizewinner will be announced on Tuesday, June 7 at 4:45 p.m. in the INFO-EXPO. Entrants must be present to win.
Conference participants also can enter to win an HP Photosmart camera and printer. All attendees are entered but must be present to win. The prizewinner will be drawn at the INFO-EXPO Opening Ceremony on Sunday, June 5 at 11:45 a.m. in the Metro Toronto Convention Center’s Registration area.
Inclusion Caucus Forming
A group of members is pursuing the formation of a new SLA caucus to be called the “Inclusion Caucus.” Procedure requires that a petition be initiated, signatures obtained, and the petition forwarded to the board for consideration and approval. The group hopes to earn approval at the Board of Directors meeting in Toronto.
Caucus supporters write: “SLA is an organization made up of members from a multitude of ethnic, geographic, political, religious, and age backgrounds. This diversity is a strength and a challenge. SLA faces many of the same issues that other organizations and businesses do who operate across boundaries. The Inclusion Caucus will offer coordination of and partnering for the initiatives of various SLA units addressing these challenges as well as the collection and dissemination of information and best practices from our membership. Where the activities of other units are aligned with the scope of the Inclusion Caucus, the caucus will link to and promote the efforts of the other unit.”
You can support the formation of the Inclusion Caucus by clicking Electronic Petition and completing the survey.
Annual Salary Survey
We hope you completed the 2005 Annual Salary Survey sent to all members in mid-May. A supplemental survey for completion by your organization’s Human Resources department was also distributed. The survey covers trends, competencies, and hiring, among other topics. Please check to make sure your Human Resources department completed and returned the survey by May 31. Respondents received the report at the SLA member discounted rate when the salary survey is published in the Fall.
Upcoming SLA Virtual Learning Seminars
July 2005
Digital Collaboration Projects for Information Professionals
Part I: July 6, 2005
The Digital Collaboration Landscape
Part II: July 20, 2005
Launching a Digital Collaboration Project
Speaker: K. Matthew Dames, Founder, Seso Group, LLC
Write for Information Outlook!
Do you have an idea for an article in our member magazine? Write for IO. Check out our writers guidelines at SLA.org or contact John Adams at SLA.
Do you have news? Share it!
To submit your organization’s news or announcements for SLA Connections or Information Outlook, email them to communications@sla.org.
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