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SLA Illinois Chapter Membership Survey

mmayes — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:34:20 -0400

Calling all SLA IL Chapter members:

On behalf of the Membership Committee, I am happy to launch the 2010 Membership Survey.

The SLA IL Membership Committee is responsible for developing and retaining membership. In order to better educate ourselves about the current chapter’s needs, we created this survey. The results of the survey will be shared with the Illinois Chapter, our state leadership, and leadership at the SLA headquarters level.

Your thoughtful responses are appreciated. We can’t hope to address / change what is needed unless our members communicate candidly with us. You may identify yourself or choose to remain anonymous. This survey should take between 10 and 20 minutes to complete. All questions are optional, however your name, email or phone number is required to be entered into the drawing.

All current and active members of SLA IL are encouraged to complete the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PN9P5CN. The deadline to complete is August 20, 2010.

A random drawing for $25 Barnes & Noble gift cards will be conducted at the completion of the survey to 4 lucky winners. The results of the survey will be shared with the Illinois Chapter, our state leadership, and leadership at the SLA headquarters level.

If you are unable to complete surveys online, a pdf copy is available by emailing Christina Stoll at cstoll0307@sbcglobal.net. To use this method, please print the file, complet it and fax it to (630) 420-3697, Attn: Nancy Maloney. For questions or other assistance contact Christina Stoll at cstoll0307@sbcglobal.net.

Thank you for your help with this important work.

Illinois library systems are on life support, with little hope of survival

jfedeczko — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:57:23 -0400

Dear SLA IL Colleagues:

Our library systems are on life support, with little hope of survival. At least thatâ€™s how it feels right now considering the finances of the state of Illinois.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/2277174,CST-EDT-edit16.article

The state has only sent about 50% of the appropriated grant funds for FY2010 to the library systems so the state library systems have been using reserves and have sought lines of credit where appropriate. They have drastically reduced services, and large numbers of staff, or will be doing so shortly. Some systems, like the North Suburban Library System (NSLS) have already alerted their members that they will mostly be closing down in order to just keep going access to their multi-library online catalog and to keep delivery to their system libraries available for as long as possible. Other library systems are exploring similar options. The individual member libraries will have to accommodate in their budgets the costs previously carried by the systems, i.e., we will all pay more directly for the services we use most. â€œEventually all libraries, impelled by the need for local accountability, will be forced to limit access, materials and service.â€ http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=382505

FY2011 appropriations and payments are uncertain due to the ongoing fiscal crisis in the state. http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/05192010/no-check-mail-illinois-cooperatives-lay-dozens

The impacts to special libraries are many. Continuing education at affordable rates is an early casualty. Systems negotiate contracts for resources, so perhaps some databases accessible at your local public library could disappear at contract end. The FirstSearch databases from the State Library and the OCLC contract could also disappear, along with frequent delivery of interlibrary loan items. The systems have been the backbone to efficient and effective library sharing in Illinois. Illinois has been a library leader for our nation. Where are the bright spots right now for libraries in Illinois and in the nation? There is constant bad news about libraries and local control and support is fading fast on all fronts, even though we have over 16,000 libraries in the USA. http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/ola/quotablefacts/quotablefacts.cfm

Your ideas for next steps -- there must be many ways how we each can help -- please share them with the rest of SLA IL, thank you.

http://www.facebook.com/SaveLibraries?ref=ts&v=wall#!/ILoveLibraries?ref=ts

Joyce Fedeczko

Illinois Chapter Offers Stipend to attend 2010 SLA Leadership Summit

Katrina Perez — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:08:43 -0400

The IllinoisÂ Chapter offers an excellent opportunity for one member to attend the January 27-30, 2010, SLA Leadership Summit in St. Louis, Missouri.

We offer one eligible Illinois Chapter member a stipend of up to $1000 toward registration, airfare, and hotel expenses.Â In return, the stipend recipient will submit an essay to the Informant about participating in the Summit and present a conference summary during a Chapter meeting in early 2010.$500 will be awarded in advance, at the Holiday Party. Â The balance, up to $500, will be reimbursed to the recipient dependent upon actual documented expenses and the Informant essay beingÂ submitted.

Eligible candidates will have:
â€¢Â Â Â Â Â Â At least three years working experience as an information professional, and
â€¢Â Â Â Â Â Â A keen interest in developing leadership skills.

Each candidate must submit a business case (300-500 words) demonstrating how participation in the Summit will further his/her professional development. Forward the business case to katrina.perez@dbr.com by Noon on Monday, November 30.Â The Chapter Board will review the submissions and announce the decision at the Holiday Party on December 2.Â

We look forward to hearing from candidates for this exciting opportunity!

Recharging the Corporate Library with Public Library Ideas

mmayes — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:00:51 -0400

Nancy Maloney, Special Libraries Subject Curator for WebJunction IllinoisÂ recently wrote an article titled "Recharging the Corporate Library with Public Library Ideas."Â

Nancy Maloney, the Electronic Resources Librarian at BP in Naperville is also a long-time member of SLA Illinois. In addition, she isÂ a part ofÂ Synergy, the Illinois Library Leadership Initiative and mentions this experience directlyÂ in her article. While the applications for 2009 are already closed, one hopes there will be a 2010 class as well.

After you've read the article, be sure to visit the rest of the site she has set up at WebJunction Illinois.

SLA Leadership Summit, Align in 2009: Leadership Tips and Tricks

Katrina Perez — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:32:17 -0500

By Paty Schintgen, Research Supervisor and Industrial Goods Team Lead, Bain & Company, Inc.

The announcement that the SLA Illinois was awarding a stipend to a Chapter member to attend the Leadership Summit came at a fortuitous time in my career. I had just stepped into a temporary management position with little training and was just beginning to lead a regional team of industry researchers. After receiving the stipend, I was both nervous and excited to attend and learn not only about leadership skills, but also more about inner workings of SLA Chapters and Divisions.

Leadership Sessions

Two leadership sessions, "Leadership and Communication in the Time of Change" and "Developing YOUR role in Communicating Change", were led by consultant Stephen McGarvey. A key theme in his presentation was that the ability to influence people was vital to developing strong leadership qualities.

In order to illustrate this point, McGarvey focused on a video created by Will.i.am for the Obama campaign (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY). While the video never explicitly said to viewers "Vote for me," it did feature celebrities speaking or singing Obamaâ€™s words on hope and change demonstrating the way the Obama campaign was able to invoke emotion to lead and influence.

McGarveyâ€™s use of concrete examples of his ideas was quite engaging and made his presentations more clear and precise. When discussing how words influence people he showed the group a picture of himself behind a rail with a sign stating, "Dangerous Conditions, Do not climb on or over Railing. Donâ€™t even think about it." He then climbed over the railing to illustrate that words that are often meant to keep us from doing things make us WANT to do them. Another example of saying what you want rather than what you donâ€™t was a sign McGarvey came across at a museum that said, "Only touch me with your eyes, if you want me to survive please just look at me." In a fun and enlightening session, McGarvey continued to show examples where you could tell people what it is you want them to rather then what you donâ€™t want.

Alignment Session and Working Lunch

A major part of the Summit was the overview of the SLA Alignment Project which was described in one of the early sessions. Using consulting firm Fleishman-Hillard and both primary and secondary research SLA sought to bring cohesiveness, express identity through core purpose and to create a framework for communications. The session ended by showing the working Vision and Mission statements that were the result of the research and interviews.

The next day at lunch we took the work-in-progress Vision and Mission statements and had brainstorming sessions with the colleagues at our tables. Each table had a facilitator that took notes as we discussed how we would reword or add additional phrases to the statements that will position our profession going forward.

Chapter Meetings

The main Chapter meeting was very brief and mostly was used to vote on current directives. However, the second day of the Summit was packed with Chapters and Divisions outlining their upcoming programs many of which were designed to celebrate SLAâ€™s Centennial. One Chapter used LibraryThing to keep track of their book club and the DC Chapter was celebrating the Census by having a government worker come in and do a presentation. After formal presentations on upcoming programs, one by one Chapter and Division heads came forward to share what they had planned. I could see how the sharing of ideas could be helpful for anyone trying to put together programs, dinners and events in their own Chapters.

Networking

Networking at the SLA Summit was the reason why I was nervous about attending. Mingling in a room of people has never been my strong suit and going in with so few contacts, I worried that I would quickly be overwhelmed. Of course my flight out of Oâ€™Hare to Savannah was delayed so I arrived at the Summit just in time to check in and rush down to the opening cocktail session which was already in progress. I quickly grabbed a drink and some food and joined a table of academic librarians who were working on an ice-breaker bingo game about the history of SLA.

Because we all have common careers it was much easier than I expected to start conversations, and after about 20 minutes I forgot I was uncomfortable at all. After about 45 minutes, I joined the last Dine Around group and we walked across the street to a haunted bar. The group was split into three small dining groups which enabled the attendees to meet on a smaller scale. I didnâ€™t see any ghosts at the haunted bar, but I did have great conversations with colleagues from Boston, Toronto and North Carolina. By day two, I was so comfortable I actually survived a game of 2 minute "speed networking" at 7 AM before I even had a chance to have coffee!

Although most Summit attendees do hold a leadership position in a Chapter or Division, I think that any member of the association can grow professionally by attending. In a few short days I met information professionals from science libraries, NASA, Harvard Business School and even Australia. The ability to dine, interact and learn with so many other colleagues with common interests from around the country on a small scale was one of the most valuable experiences of my career thus far.

SLA IL Chapter Awards 2008

mmayes — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:35:58 -0400

Nominate a Colleague or Yourself
Deadline is September 30, 2008
Send nominations to Bobbie Goering

Up and Coming Award: presented to a relatively new Illinois Chapter member who through work and professional involvement shows promise of becoming an outstanding member of the profession.

Author Award: awarded to the Illinois Chapter member who has published noteworthy work within the â€œInformantâ€, other professional literature, a trade journal, popular press, or in-house publication. Work published since January of the previous Chapter year will be considered.

Library Partner Award: will be awarded to the vendor chosen by the Vendor Relations and Advertising Committee as the vendor whose partnership with the Illinois Chapter was noteworthy this year.

Web 2.0 Award: will be awarded to an individual chapter member or their Information Center who has used Web 2.0 technology (for example, but not limited to: blogs, wikis, flicker, Second Life, presence software, and other collaboration tools) for either the marketing, promotion, communication, knowledge management, or training efforts of their own organization or for the Illinois Chapter of SLA. Nominators should submit two copies of examples and related materials to the Awards Committee by the award deadline.

Library Champion Award: presented to the parent organization, individual or other entity that has shown support to special libraries/information centers through speaking, writing, or advocacy.

Outstanding Achievement Award: awarded to an Illinois Chapter member or Committee who has exhibited outstanding, unique or beyond-the-call-of-duty service to the Chapter.

SLA-IL Green Initiative Award: In an effort to align our chapter with national SLAâ€™s Green Initiative and its goal of creating environmentally sustainable organizations, the Illinois Chapter of SLA is instituting a Green Initiative Award. Similar to national SLAâ€™s â€œKnowledge to Go Greenâ€ citations, this award will be bestowed upon an Illinois Chapter member who has demonstrated efforts to â€œgo greenâ€ within their individual library or organization. These efforts may include but are not limited to: the institution of environmentally friendly practices such as recycling, replacement of paper and plastic dishware, double sided-printing, etc.; policy changes such as switching to high-efficiency fluorescent lighting, installing overhead light sensors, automatically shutting down idle pcs; and educational efforts such as encouraging biking or car-pooling to work, using teleconferencing instead of traveling for meetings, and purchasing office supplies and furniture made from recycled materials.