*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
International Meeting in Norway
Things have slowed down for the summer, following the flurry of activity leading up to and immediately following the annual conference. The biggest thing happening now, before the Board of Directors meeting in October, is the IFLA conference in Oslo.
The World Library and Information Congress: 71st IFLA General Conference and Council is meeting in Oslo, Norway, from August 14 to 18. IFLA is the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, headquartered in the Netherlands. I will be attending the meeting, as will SLA’s Public Policy Director Doug Newcomb.
A number of events take place the evening before the conference begins. I’ll be meeting with many of my international colleagues and look forward to both the U.S. Caucus’s reception, with my North American colleagues, and the reception hosted by the Norwegian Library Association. It will be nice to catch up with my friend Alex Byrne, IFLA’s president, who I met in Australia when visiting the new Australian and New Zealand chapters of SLA. Alex attended the SLA 2005 Annual Conference in Toronto.
Welcoming all of us to Norway as the conference convenes on Sunday morning will be none other than His Majesty the King of Norway, Harald V. Aside from the meeting, I also look forward to the presentation of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Access to Learning Award, which takes place on Tuesday evening.
e-Voting Tool Selection
While I’m in Oslo, the staff back in Virginia is working to get a secure online voting system into place.
SLA members vote at the June 7, 2005, business meeting.
At the business meeting in Toronto in early June, members overwhelmingly voted to amend the bylaws to allow the electronic casting of ballots. So far, we have solicited for and entertained bids, and we’ve met with potential vendors and participated in system demonstrations.
We are nearing the selection of a system and a vendor and, after negotiations, a contract will be signed soon. We hope to have SLA’s new e-voting system in place by the end of October.
Members who don’t have online access or who request a paper ballot still can participate in any votes. If you have any questions about all of this, please feel free to email Linda Broussard.
Janice’s List
Normally I recommend business or career-oriented books, but recently I had one of those wonderful experiences of reading purely for pleasure and learning something! Here’s a recommendation for some summer reading: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. This delightfully-written book helps the reader look at the world from a completely different perspective. The astute observations are painful while also refreshing.
Burning Question
What is the best book you’ve read this summer? Email me at janice@sla.org.
Consider This
“I like coincidences. They make me wonder about destiny, and whether free will is an illusion or just a matter of perspective. They make me speculate on the idea of some master plan that, from time to time, we’re allowed to see out of the corner of our eye.”
Chuck, host of The World According to Chuck Weblog
U.S. Congress Reveals Government Privacy Violation
Investigators have discovered that the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been secretly collecting personal information on at least 250,000 individuals, in violation of U.S. privacy laws. The information was collected as TSA was testing “Secure Flight,” a program designed to conduct checks of airline passengers against terrorist watch lists. Read more from Information Week.
Google Innovation Watch: Google Earth
Ever wanted to see your house from 30,000 feet? Or how about taking a virtual drive from New York to Chicago? MSN, Google, and Yahoo! are all developing new services that allow you to view satellite mapping imagery quickly and easily. Google Earth was recently launched and offers the technology in conjunction with its local search and mapping features. Pretty cool stuff, but one has to wonder what Google has up its sleeve with this new tool.
U.S. Creates New Post to Fight Piracy
President Bush has named Chris Israel, currently deputy chief of staff to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, to a new senior-level post that will work to fight the global piracy and counterfeiting of American products like motion pictures or even auto parts. Read more from Reuters.
Seeking Data / Risk Management Survey Participants
During recent years, few areas of operations have attracted as much interest as reference data and risk management. But how successful have financial institutions actually been in improving automation levels within their companies? What are the driving forces for reference data automation? How mature are back office systems in those areas?
To find answers to these questions, AIM Software and the Vienna University of Economics are regularly undertaking research in the area of back-office automation within financial institutions in more than 80 countries. Read more.
Gartner: IT Staffing Will Rise Moderately
Twenty-two percent of survey respondents said they plan to bump up IT staffs by more than 10 percent. Read more from CRN.com.
Sprint Enters Mobile Communications Consulting Market
During four- to eight-week engagements, Sprint consultants will collect data about mobile use, analyze the way mobile data is used and work with clients to develop strategies for boosting mobile productivity. Read more from eCommerce Times.
NLM / AAHSL Leadership Fellows Program Announced
The U.S. National Library of Medicine and the American Association of Health Sciences Libraries has announced the third year of its joint Leadership Fellows Program. Read more.
Making the Most of Your Professional Image
Managing your own image in the workplace is critical so that others don’t do it for you. Read more from Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge.
Cool Site: The Artist’s Toolkit
At SLA 2005, author Dan Pink told a capacity crowd at the “President’s Showcase” that the workforce of the future must adopt more right brain thinking, with more focus on design, story, empathy, and other conceptual skills. With this trend in mind, we give you The Artist’s Toolkit, a site created by the Minneapolis Institute for the Arts and the Walker Art Center, both located in Minnesota USA. It’s a great introduction to basic concepts in art. You can watch animated demonstrations of visual elements and principles artists use to create art, see examples of elements and principles in works of art, and create your own composition online. You’ll need the free Flash player.
President Rollo Wants You!
SLA President Pam Rollo, who took office in June, is continuing two task forces and establishing six new ones. Task force chairs are needed.
SLA presidents often ask members to become involved in ad hoc investigations into certain subject matter and topics highly relevant to the profession and its needs. Typically, these task forces are created to address the strategic implications of challenges and opportunities facing the association, its members, and the information profession at large.
In June 2005, Rollo called for the continuation of two task forces created by Past-President Ethel Salonen. Additionally, Rollo called for six new task forces to address a range of needs, challenges, and opportunities.
Why the task forces?
- To explore creation of selected research projects to promote the value of the profession and to provide members with useful data
- To develop new avenues for career growth
- To identify new partners that can drive new value for SLA
- To analyze the chapter experience and options for enhancement
- To evaluate the best methods for recognizing the best of the profession
- To improve recruitment efforts to the profession and to SLA
We need and want to tap your interest. Review the task force descriptions. If you are willing to serve, please contact SLA President Pam Rollo by phone at +1.212.592.7220 or email.
SLA Weblog Memorializes Frank Spaulding
Former SLA President Frank H. Spaulding died July 24 in Fort Myers, Florida. We have created a blog to provide his many friends and fellow members an opportunity to come together, virtually, to honor his memory and contributions to SLA and the profession.
Friends and colleagues are invited to post remembrances, personal stories, and tributes. After the blog has been open for a few weeks, staff will compile the posts into a remembrance for the Spaulding family.
The blog “Remembering Frank Spaulding” is available at www.sla.org/spaulding. You may email photographs to John Adams. Include your full name for credit. We also can scan printed photos. Send them to “Information Outlook,” c/o “Remembering Frank Spaulding,” SLA, 331 S. Patrick St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3501. If you want hardcopy photos returned, please include a mailing address.
Prize Winners Announced
Who won those prizes at SLA 2005? In the Attendee/Exhibitor “Card Stamping” game, attendee Jane McMahon of Thelen Reid & Priest in Los Angeles and exhibit company ProQuest each won $2,000. For the drawing at the INFO-EXPO Opening Ceremony, Susan Kaufman of the Fortune Magazine Group in New York won an HP Camera/Printer. Complimentary four-night stays during SLA 2006 in Baltimore went to attendee Richard Wallace of Tate & Lyle in Decatur, Illinois, and exhibitor Rick Streu of GLTaC.com in Midland, Michigan. Photograph: Director of Exhibits DeVonne Henry and prize winner Jane McMahon.
What Do You Most Want From This e-Newsletter?
We want to hear from you! What kind of information do you find most valuable about your monthly SLA Connections? Email communications@sla.org.
SLA Conference Presentations
Speakers presentations from SLA 2005 are posted on the Web. Can’t find a particular presentation? Email events@sla.org.
Conference Photos
The conference photos are still available online too at www.thephotogroup.com. Click "online proofing." The password is “sla05” (lower case, no quotation marks). You may reprint photos in publications or on the Web with proper photo credit—“Mark Reinertson, SLA.” Questions? Please email communications@sla.org.
Upcoming SLA Meetings
Board of Directors, October 20-21, SLA International HQ, Alexandria, Virginia
Leadership Summit, January 18–21, Houston, Texas
Want info about upcoming industry events? Click here Industry Events Calendar.
Write for Information Outlook
Want to write for our member magazine? Check out our writers guidelines at SLA.org or email John Adams.
Got News? Share it!
To submit your unit’s news or announcements for SLA Connections or Information Outlook, email communications@sla.org.
Gifts to the Professional Development Campaign
We would like to acknowledge these recent gifts and say Thank You:
- The Military Librarians Division, during the Annual Business Meeting in Toronto on June 7, announced its members were contributing $3,500 to the campaign.
- Also at the business meeting, Past-President Ethel Salonen announced she would, for the second year in a row, contribute $500 to the campaign, and she encouraged others to join her.
- The U.S. Defense Technical Information Center won a $2,000 cash prize for its Innovations in Technology Award, sponsored by LexisNexis. The team from Fort Belvoir, Virginia, contributed the prize money to the campaign.
For more info on the Campaign for Professional Development, click here or email Lashawn Sagers.
Click University Update
As we continue to develop SLA’s Click University, your global online learning system, we want to hear from you. Currently, Click works only with two Web browsers—Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. Please tell us what browser you use.
Please email us at learning@sla.org. We also welcom any further comments, questions or ideas.
To Innovate, Let Your Customers “Break” Your Product
When SLA’s Click University was launched in early June, we said you would play a role in its development, and you are. Several members attempting to log in inadvertently caught a flaw and got stuck in “login limbo.”
As soon as this came to our attention, the entire SLA staff pulled together to rectify the problem. First, we fixed the flaw. Then, we identified the people stuck in the login queue, looked up their login information, and contacted each person individually to help them get into Click University.
We apologize for the delay a few of you experienced. We are committed to providing innovative learning opportunities for your career development and to delivering great customer service.
Have you visited Click University yet? It’s an exclusive member benefit. Click through the site and tell us what you think and how you would like Click to grow. Send your feedback to learning@sla.org.
Call for Courses Deadline Nears
The deadline to submit proposals for a CE (Continuing Education) course at the SLA 2006 Annual Conference is August 26, 2005. The conference will be in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 11-14, 2006. The theme is “Baltimore—Where Tradition and Transformation Converge.” For more info, click Call for Courses.
SLA Virtual Learning Series
August 2005
Information Ethics
Part I: August 9
Introduction to Information Ethics, Libraries, and Professional Ethics
Part II: August 23
Issues in Information Ethics
Speaker: Elizabeth Buchanan, Ph.D., Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Information Studies
September 2005
Seminar: September 15
Structuring and Delivering Content: Maximizing End-User Satisfaction
Speakers: Roger Beharry Lall, Research in Motion (RIM), Joyce Ward, Executive Consultant for LexisNexis
Seminar: September 28
Shrink-wrap and Click-wrap Licenses: Why Should Information Professionals Care?
Speaker: Jonathan Franklin, Associate Law Librarian, Gallagher Law Library, University of Washington
2005 Career Development Series
Seminar: September 21
Your Career: A Straight Shot or a Shot in the Dark?
Speakers: Heather Bradley, CPCC, specializes in human resource integration, Miriam Bamberger, CPCC, has more than 15 years experience working with companies of all sizes
For more Professional Development news, always turn to SLA’s monthly Learning Connections e-newsletter.
Access Innovations Awarded Patent for Technology
Factiva, LexisNexis Now Available through Yahoo! Subscription Searches
Over 400,000 UK Companies Now Searchable on Factiva
INPUT Releases Report on Government Funding of Health IT Initiatives
Mexican Trademarks Now Available from Dialog
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