Welcome the ACRL 14th National Conference Community. Take a moment and say hello to your colleagues using the comments field below. Some things to include:
Name
University
Library
From where you received your MLIS.
A work project of interest.
A good book you’d like to share.
Favorite phrase.
Don’t feel limited to these topics. These are just suggestions. It could be just a simple hello… Enjoy the conference.
Hello, I am Valencia Mitchell, a librarian at Cerritos College. Cerritos is a community college located in Southern California. I received my M.S. in Library Science at the University of Southern California in 1971. In addition to my work as Coordinator of Periodicals & Online Resources, I am also a violinist and still actively performing in local orchestras and chamber ensembles.
Hello, everyone!
I’m Zola Mumford, a current MLIS degree student at the University of Washington Information School. I’m interested in academic libraries, research libraries and institutions, and corporate libraries. I have also done some film and photographic archival preservation and cataloging work as a student (campus job and internship). As a contractor in non-academic settings, I have used archives for research about historic buildings.
I’m a longtime Seattle resident. Not Twittering at this conference, unfortunately, but I hope to meet some of you in person!
Hi, I am Lisa Wallis, Web Services Librarian at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, IL. I received my MS in LIS from Urbana-Champaign in 2001. I’m excited to be a conference blogger this year in Seattle. Do you tweet? Follow me at http://twitter.com/imnewhere
Lisa, How did you upload your photo so that it shows in your comments? So far it looks like you are one of the only ones to figure this out : )
Hi Jennifer, I tried a couple of tests, which failed, but then I discovered (by viewing the page source of this site) how Lisa got her photo up there. Just go to http://en.gravatar.com/ and create your personal avatar. As the site says, “A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things.” It’s free. I think I’ll get one, but for this occasion, we bought the 3-pack, so I won’t use mine–we may have to post a group photo! Have fun with it! –Ramona Islam
Wow, Thanks for the tips, Ramona! I would be lying if I said technology was my strength. I love it, but I don’t always “get it” : ) I never would’ve thought to look at the page source of the site as you did. I’m going to check it out, but may not get to it tonight…too busy exploring Seattle!!!
Yes! Thanks, Ramona. Gravatar saves time since Gravatar-enabled blogs automatically pull in my pic. Makes it handy.
Hi there, I’m Josh Hogan, and I will also be a blogger for the conference. I recently finished my M.S. in Information Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I’m now a librarian at Spokane Falls Community College in Spokane, WA. Like Lisa, I am on Twitter (though I just joined last week). If you want to connect there, here’s url: http://twitter.com/joshhogan_sfcc .
Hi! I’m attending the ACRL conference virtually this year, doing more than ever online for many reasons. See you at the live and Second Life events! Aloha, Diane
My colleagues and I are also attending the conference virtually this year. Hello to all from the exurbs of Washington DC!
Aloha, Diane!
Hello, my name is Kisha Sawyers. I am the Librarian at the Caribbean Child Development Centre which is a department of The University of the West Indies, Open campus, Consortium for Social Development and Research. I am pursuing the M.A. in Library and Information Studies at the Univerity of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica W.I.
Greetings all. My name is Robert Perret and I too will be blogging for the conference. I earned an MLS from the University of Denver. I am a reference/instruction librarian at the University of Idaho. This will be my first ACRL conference and my first time visiting Seattle. I am also a new Twitterati so please feel free to follow me. (But not too closely as I may stop for railroad crossings and bridges.) http://twitter.com/robertperret
Hi folks! My name is Margot Hanson. I’m a librarian at the University of Hawaii – West Oahu. I’ve been working here for almost two years, after I graduated with my MLIS at UH in 2007. I twitter at http://twitter.com/muumuulibrarian and blog at http://muumuulibrarian.wordpress.com. I’ll be a blogger for the conference from a first time attendee perspective. See you soon!
Hey Margot! It’s Ramona, your Facebook buddy and LOEX of the West pal. Great to see you’re attending the V-conference, too.
Good day. I am Rodney Vliet, Dean of Library and Media Services for Biola University Library. I received my M.L.S. from UCLA. My joy is Directing services in a fine library I helped plan and see built to help all our scholars succeed in their work. The task is rather easy given the quality of the staff and the commitment of the University. I am most interested in collection development, resource sharing, and consortial collaboration.
Hello. I am George Fowler, currently the Head of Systems at the University of Arkansas. I earned my MLS from the University of North Texas in 1998. This is my first time attending ACRL and second time attending a virtual conference. I haven’t jumped on all of the social networking sites, but am working on it. I am currently coordinating a Collaboration UnConference and am readjusting after a 13-month deployment to Iraq.
Name: Arianne Hartsell-Gundy
University: Miami University
Library: King Library
From where you received your MLIS: Indiana University
A work project of interest: A colleague and I are using Drupal to create an in-house database of primary source resources that we either have subscriptions for or that are free. It’s been a fun process.
A good book you’d like to share: Right now I’m reading The Ballad of West Tenth Street by Marjorie Kernan. I’m really enjoying it!
I’m going to be participating only in the virtual conference this year. I haven’t done a virtual conference like this before, and I’m looking forward to it.
Hi. I’m Judy Thomas and I’m a Learning & Teaching Librarian Team Leader at the Open University in the UK and I’m attending the conference virtually. We have about 200,000 students registered with us at any one time all studying at a distance. I’ve attended a number of conferences in the US before including ALA in Chicago and MLA in San Diego. I’m keen to evaluate the virtual experience as compared to the real thing! Still trying to work out the time differences so I don’t miss any of the ‘live’ events. I’m currently leading on developing a quality enhancement framework in the LIbrary with the aim of improving the user experience.
Greetings! My name is jenny (i heart e.e. cummings) and I am currently a Librarian/Instructor at Minneapolis Community and Technical College in, you guessed it, Minneapolis, MN. My MLIS is officially from Dominican University, though all my coursework was completed at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul.
Although I don’t work on it personally, one of my favorite unique features of our library is our 3000+ zine collection. One of my favorite work projects is my course blog, which is geared toward students enrolled in my 2-credit required information literacy course. http://www.infs1000.blogspot.com/ (you can see a picture of me there too as i haven’t figured out how to upload a picture to my ACRL blog profile).
Between teaching, reference, committees, and planning my own wedding (May 24!) I haven’t had time to finish an entire book lately, kinda sad I know…
I have lots of favorite phrases and quotes, but the one that I’m currently using in my formal e-mail signature is:
“In a world where there is so much to be done,
I felt strongly impressed that there must be something for me to do.” –Dorothea Dix
I’m excited to be blogging for this conference and even more excited to be attending my first national conference EVER in Seattle. Yay!!!
I would love to have a zine collection at my library. I used to put one out back in the day and still peruse everything I come across. The interwebs just isn’t the same as a truly bizarre zine. If nothing else, every copy is an association copy. You are always holding something that was physically handled by the very same crazy person who authored it.
Hello,
My name is Brian McManus and I am a MLIS student at San Jose State University, in my first semester with their online program and I have to say it is really exciting to be getting started with the program, meeting like-minded professionals. I am a paraprofessional at Washington State University in the Libraries’ Access Services unit, where I work with media and reserves and consortia borrowing.
I’ll be attending the conference on Friday only and plan to attend the virtual conference as well.
I am interested in the Web 2.0 implications for libraries, I find it fascinating what these technologies can do for librarianship. I have an educational and professional background in Accounting and Criminal Justice.
Unfortunately, between my family, working full time, and going to school I have not had a chance to read any good books lately.
test
Image test!
Hey ya’ll! This is Ramona Islam, one of my group of 3 librarians from Harvard College Library who registered for this virtual conference together. We’ll be logging in on Friday. Check out my two failed attempts, above, to post an image. I finally figured out that it can be done by getting yourself a free avatar at http://en.gravatar.com/. Check it out if you’re interested.
Ramona, Thanks for the tip. I tried it; so does that mean my posts will now be accompanied by my image? Let’s see…
Well, there it is! It worked; thanks for the tip.
Hi all, I’m a reference and instruction librarian at Boise State University with my degree from the University of Arizona (’06).
Let’s see, an interesting work project? I’m currently teaching a library research course that’s linked to one of our English composition course sections, which has been a great new model for us. The students, all first-years, get their writing and research skills all in one shot!
I’ve never been to an ACRL Conference and this year I was planning on it but lost all my travel funding, sniff. Anyway, I’m happy to join in as a virtual attendee! See y’all around the site.
Hi everyone, I’m Nikki Dettmar and while I work at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Washington here in Seattle, I do outreach and (mostly online) education/assessment work for the federal contract we have with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region. I received my MSIS from the University of North Texas health informatics program in Dec 2007.
This is my first ACRL conference and I’m excited but overwhelmed at the amount of information & opportunities but looking to make the most of it!
Hello everyone! I’m Tammy Salman, and I am a librarian at City University of Seattle (which is actually located across Lake Washington in the city of Bellevue). I graduated from the University of Washington with an MLIS degree in 2007. At CityU, as we call ourselves, the three faculty liaison librarians serve individual programs rather than schools, so I work with programs in Arts & Sciences, School of Education and School of Management. Our school is a small, private university, which has given me the opportunity to know faculty really well. CityU has sites across WA, in Canada, Mexico and other places in the world such as Slovakia and Greece. One book that I recently read and could not put down was “Gentlemen and Players” by Joanne Harris. It’s great to read about all of the virtual conference-goers.
Hello again,
I forget to mention my name, university, etc. — just the unimportant stuff! I’m Lisa Allen, and like Ramona, I am part of a group of 3 librarians who will be attending virtually. I work at a satellite graduate campus of George Washington University, in Loudoun County, VA, where I do reference and instruction, primarily for education doctoral students, as well as collection development in education and psychology.
I got my MSLIS from Drexel in 2003. I attended ACRL virtually in 2005 and on-site in Baltimore in 2007.
An interesting project at our library is our second annual Homecoming event for alumni and ABD students at our campus, which is coming up in May.
I also forgot to answer the questions – though I suppose no one’s keeping score
. Project: We are currently transitioning to LibGuides as a way to deliver our subject guides and integrate library services with online courses. Book: The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen – one word, riveting. Phrase: “Serenity Now!” – okay, not really.
Hello, I am Catrina Whited from Eastern Virginia Medical School, Edward E. Brickell Medical Sciences Library, in Norfolk, VA. I graduated from Indiana University ’99 with a MLS. Right now I am working on adding to my list of 4×6 information quickcards (PubMed, Ovid Medline, Point of Care, Evidence Based, Lit searching for Protocols…)that fit in the white coats of the medical professions as well as other quick tutorials.
A good book you’d like to share–yikes, too many.
Favorite phrase–I have had this since high school which is many moons ago. “Life is not a meaning but an opportunity for meaningful experiences –anonymous”
Hello – I’m Alison Miller, Researcher in Distance Education for the Internet Public Library, Florida State University. I received my MS LIS from Drexel University. Rock on Virtual ACRL!!
Hello! My name is Linda Beninghove and I’m the head of reference and research services at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. I received my MLS at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. A few projects we’re working on: formalizing an information literacy plan, incorporating LibGuides for subject-specific research help, and transitioning from VPN to EZproxy for off-campus access to online resources.
I’ve never attended a virtual conference before, and I’m looking forward to it!
Hello Everyone! I’m Carrie Gits from the Alvin Sherman Library @ Nova Southeastern University in sunny South Florida. I received my MLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in ’99. We’ve got a group of us attending the virtually from NSU this year.
I have a strong interest in staff development, reference services and technology. One project of interest personally is establishing core competencies in areas of customer service and technology for all library staff. A much larger project in the works, one that many of our staff are involved in, is the redesign of our website. We are a joint-use library. This means, we are a private university who partners with the county. We offer both traditional academic library services and resources as well as public library programs and resources for children up to adults. Our users are both our students (on campus and distance), other schools’ students, and our community users of all ages. Trying to provide an online presence that speaks to all of our users, is easy to use, and incorporates the appropriate next generation web services is a huge task!
Hi, I am Julie Poole with Mercer University in Georgia. As the Coordinator of Center Library Services I work with undergraduate and graduate working adult non-traditional students. I am very glad to have the opportunity to participate in the conference from afar!
Name: Naomi Bishop
University: University of Washington
Library: Engineering Library Student Reference Assistant
Where you received your MLIS?
University of Washington MILS candidate 2010
A work project of interest- Tribal libraries
A good book you’d like to share- A Pima Remembers by George Webb
Pima Indian Legends by Anna Moore Shaw
Favorite phrase- Shap-ki-itch (O’odham phrase for what did you say?)
Guten Tag! Ich bin Naomi. Ich komme aus Arizona, aber ich studiere jetzt in Seattle an der Uni Washington. Ich habe 8 Jahren Deutsch gelernt, 1 Jahr Spanisch gelernt, und 1 Jahr O’odham gelernt.
Hi!I’m Naomi. I am from Arizona, but I study here in Seattle at the Univesity of Washington. I have studied German for eight years, Spanish for one year, and O’odham for one year.
Hi, I am Paola Bongiovani from the Virtual Campus Library at Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina. I received my MLIS from the University of South Carolina. I am currently working in de development of our institutional repository. I am so happy to participate in the conference from Argentina!
Hello! My name is Keith, and I am from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. I completed my library science degree at The University of Arizona. I am the Information Literacy Librarian at Washburn. I currently teach three classes with 78 total students…
I am extremely interested in requiring an information literacy (one credit/unit) to all of our freshmen. I think it will happen this fall…A good book: The Secret Book. My favorite saying is: I love life!
Hello! My name is Thomas Heverin and I am a science librarian at Temple University. I received my MLIS from Syracuse and a B.S. in Meteorology from Penn State. We are working on integrating scientific information literacy throughout the curriculum of select majors. I am also a former Navy officer.
Hi, I’m Sue Searing, the Library & Information Science Librarian at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. AMLS from the University of Michigan ’76. Currently involved in many work projects, but the biggest one is shutting down the LIS Library here. My favorite phrase at the moment is, “Change is Good.” Some days I actually believe it!
There are several of us at the UI who registered virtually as a group.
Hello,
My name is Gloria Creed-Dikeogu and this is my first ACRL Virtual Conference. I am the library director at Ottawa University’s Myers Library, in Ottawa KS. My professional interests are business reference and university archives. I am looking forward to this new experience with participating in ACRL online.
Hi! I am Mary Popp and I have been at Indiana University Bloomington more a l-o-n-g time. I have done the Virtual Conference for ACRL in the past and have attended several in person as well. I am looking forward to participating. I am not sure about the Second Life activities, because most of the young folks I know think Second Life is creepy. But I am willing to be convinced.
Hi. I am Sally Willson Weimer, a Sociology & Global & International
Studies Librarian at Univ of Calif, Santa Barbara. This is an exciting time to explore the virtual conference. I have attended
a previous ACRL virtual conference and some previous in-person
conferences a while ago.
I am excited to be trying new approaches. Have a good conference.
Name: Nora Quinlan
University: Nova Southeastern University
Library: Alvin Sherman Library
From where you received your MLIS.: Columbia University 1976
A work project of interest: Exhibits
A good book you’d like to share: Just read — Little Heathens — about growing up in Iowa in the Great Depression — http://www.little-heathens.com/
Another great book is Lily Koppel’s The Red Leather Diary — growing up in NYC in the 1930′s.
Am I on a theme here? Maybe becasue I am working on programming for the ALA/NEH Soul Of a People grant.
Favorite phrase:youth is a state of mind!
Attending my first Virtual ACRL National — went to the two sessions today. Both interesting to listen to but both has some technology challenges — so what else is news?
Hi, My name is Rita Mitchell. I am the Information Literacy Librarian at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wi. I am attending virtually though I was planning on flying to Seattle. For medical reasons I can’t fly – I am so happy there is a virtual option! I am excited to be in a role at our university that invloves teaching – my job description just changed, before I was the Distance Learning librarian. I am interested in new technologies and how they are being used in education. My educational background is in music (undergrad and graduate degree). I have been an academic librarian for 4 years. Looking forward to a great conference experience.
Hello, All. This is Amy Chapman, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Westfield State College in Massachusetts. I received my MS from Simmons College GSLIS.
Are there any librarians from Europe at the conference? (I haven’t looked through all the posts yet.)
Thanks!
I’m Carolyn Carpan. I’m Director of Public Services at Hamilton College. I received my MLIS at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This is my first time attending ACRL, but I like the virtual option, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the conference material showing up here later this week.
Hi, this is Ramona Islam, again. It’s too bad that Naomi Klein couldn’t make it.
Hi there! I’m Lucy Bellamy, Collection Librarian at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in sunny Los Angeles, California. I received my MLIS from San Jose State University in May 2007. While my title suggests that my primary responsibility is for the collections here at our library, I am also the committee chair for our developing Information Literacy team, as well as an invited participant in the newly formed Research Task Force for the school.
My mantra: Be your user! Because without them, we would just be a repository of under-utlized resources and services.
Greetings! I’m Charles Forrest, Director of Library Facilities Management and Planning at the Emory University Libraries in Atlanta, GA. I graduated in 1979 from the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Library and Information Studies.
I’ve been at Emory more than twenty years; may favorite project was the renovation of the old main library on the quadrangle, built in 1926. We restored the two-story reading room and lobby, and added a 10KSF addition clad in marble quarried from the same vein in Tate, Georgia, as the original building cladding some seventy five years before–a perfect match!
_Moby Dick_ is my favorite “re-read again” book. Let me also mention Pine & Gilmore’s _The Experience Economy_ for the next evolution in customer service.
Let me finish by sharing a quote and an insight from the conference:
On Disraeli’s “lies, damned lies, and statistics”, quote: “Benchmark to your advantage!”
On the difference between the Information and the Learning Commons, insight: The Information Commons supports student productivity, the Learning Commons promotes student success (also, the Learning Commons has an Information Commons embedded within it).
Hello! I’m Deb Ludwig, Assistant Dean of Collections and Scholar Services at the University of Kansas. Wasn’t Seattle a great conference? Lots of new ideas, good sessions, good food, and snow to boot!
I am currently most interested in how libraries are evolving and how our roles as librarians are evolving. What kind of work will be doing in 5 years … 10 years? I come to this position after having worked in campus IT for 4 years. There is considerable change happening in both organizations, but it is different. I almost feel that our paths are diverging rather than merging as many (me included) believe they might in the 21st century.
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
To learn more about flexible work teams, please see:
Three Years (and Counting) of being Flexible in a Rigid World
ACRL 2009
Gediman, Housewright, Kong and Rodriguez
For slides, videos, and position description, please see:
http://users.library.fullerton.edu/ehousewright/ACRL2009/ACRL_2009.htm
Hello Everyone!
My name is Candice Galindo and I’m a MS student at the University of North Texas. I am concentrating on health informatics and live in the Rio Grande Valley (Edinburg, TX).
I’m currently preparing a grant for the hurricane preparedness project I did for RGV residents. I love community outreach projects especially in areas of health. I work at the University of Texas- Pan American academic library in reference.
I’m due to graduate in August ’09 and am looking for a job!
I am Lucy Smith from Triton College which is a community college just west of Chicago, IL. I have been at Triton for 18 years.
I had a great time in Seattle and learned some cool stuff. Now I have the post-conference let down. When will I find time to implement some of the new things I want to try?
I am Charlotte Henderson from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I received my library degree from Louisiana State University. Currently, I am electronic resources administrator and head of government documents and periodicals at Southern University in Baton Rouge. I’ve been to Seattle a number of times, and love it there, however this was my very first ACRL conference. I loved it!! It was definitely energizing. I am looking forward to Philadelphia, my home town. Smile.
Hello! I am Elizabeth Bowman, finishing up third year at Faculty Outreach and Collection Development Librarian and Information Literacy Instructor (Online College) at Santa Barbara City College, in California. I work in reference, collection development, instruction, consultation, and am a (brand new) subject bibliographer for Resources for College Libraries.
Loved the Seattle conference and still chipping away at my notes, and using the Virtual Conference materials to fill in the gaps and share with colleagues.
I’m also a literacy volunteer, an avid quilter and overly eager amateur knitter.
Hi Ricardo, this is my first VC for ACRL as well and I think its great! I was wondering what kind of projects you are or have been a part of regarding diversity. There is actually a DuPage teleconference this friday 4/3/09 called “diversity beyond the obvious” you should look into.