GSLIS eUpdate
Volume 6, Number 2: December 2006
IN THIS ISSUE
- News Summary
- Continuing Professional Development
- Alumni Highlights
- Calendar of Events
- Unsubscribe and/or contact us
1. NEWS SUMMARY
2006 Downs Intellectual Freedom Award Presented to Library Director Michele
Reutty
Library director Michele Reutty never realized that following the rules could
get her in so much trouble. But when she found herself following library protocol
in response to a request for information from the police, she landed in the
midst of a controversy. Now, her commitment to upholding privacy laws has earned
her the 2006 Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award given by the GSLIS
faculty.
In May 2006, area police asked Reutty, then library director at the Hasbrouck
Heights Public Library in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, to supply library
circulation records to aid in an investigation. Complying with state statutes,
Reutty told police she couldn't supply the records without a subpoena. After
they returned with one, she provided the information as requested.
Soon after, however, local officials expressed their shock and disappointment,
accusing Reutty of putting the library's interests ahead of a police investigation.
Reutty faced disciplinary action from the library's board, in part because
she consulted a lawyer who was familiar with the statutes regarding state libraries
and not the borough lawyer as is required by borough law. After months of disagreement,
Reutty resigned on October 2, 2006.
On December 4, 2006, Reutty became library director of the Free Public Library
in Oakland, New Jersey. She is currently the vice-president of the New Jersey
Library Association.
A reception to honor Reutty will take place during the midwinter meeting of
the American Library Association at the Westin Seattle Hotel on Saturday, January
20, 2007, from 5:30-7:00 p.m.
More information about the Downs Award is available at:
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/about/awards/downs-award.html
Guide Book to Gift Books Now Available for Free
This holiday season, you're likely to walk into most bookstores and see the
same few children's titles splashed all over posters, stacked high on tables,
overflowing on end caps. 'Tis the season of the holiday bestseller. But what
about all the other books for kids published in the last few years? When you
want to choose a gift from a deeper selection than what you'll find on the
front table, The Guide Book to Gift Books can help.
Just published by the experts at the Bulletin of the Center for Children's
Books and available exclusively online at http://bccb.lis.uiuc.edu/gb2/, this
free, downloadable guide features over 300 titles suitable for gift giving
this holiday season--or any time of the year. Download it, print it out, and
take the experts with you to the bookstore.
Categorized by age group, it includes picture books, books for young readers,
middle readers, and older readers. Each annotated listing includes bibliographic
information and is verified to be in print--which means if your local bookstore
doesn't have it, they will be able to order it.
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books has published children's book
reviews since 1945 and is one of the most highly respected review journals
of children's literature.
LEEP: The Next Generation
Over ten years ago, when LEEP was first launched, it was a pioneer in the
world of online learning: not only did LEEP break ground in online course delivery,
but GSLIS staff also developed all the various technologies used in our highly
successful program.
Now, GSLIS is excited to announce an evolution in the LEEP program. As a leader
in online learning, we are pleased to be partnering with the open source community
to improve the infrastructure for our program while maintaining the quality
our students have come to expect. Beginning with the Spring 2007 semester,
existing LEEP hardware and software will be migrated to a suite of new tools,
which will include the Moodle course management system (http://www.moodle.org),
the Confluence wiki software, and new, more robust web servers to host course
materials, personal materials, web boards, and more.
Alumni need to know that after the migration, we will be retiring LEEP logins
and the LEEP server. Alumni who have logged in within the past year will automatically
have accounts created on the GSLIS domain, which will be the single point login
for all of the above resources. Personal files stored on LEEP (WebFTP) will
be migrated to a new directory associated with the home drive (H: drive) of
each user and redirects will be put in place to point from LEEP to the new
space. The LEEP login page and GSLIS intranet will be replaced by a new login
page in Moodle that points to the other resources. From this space, you'll
have continued access to School-wide bulletin boards and events as well as
archived course materials. With these new accounts, general login access can
continue indefinitely for those interested but access to files on one's H:
drive will expire two years after graduation. We look forward to welcoming
you to these new resources and helping with the transition in the coming months.
If you have questions about this migration, please e-mail the User Services
Help Desk: -help, at support.lis.uiuc.edu-
WISE Consortium Honored for Excellence in Online Teaching and Learning
The Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C), an association of more than 1,000 institutions
and organizations of higher education engaged in online learning, has named
the Web-Based Information Science Education (WISE) consortium a winner of its
2006 Effective Practice Award. Founded in 2004 by GSLIS and Syracuse University's
School of Information Studies, WISE offers unique distance education courses
to students at its 12 member schools. Students have the ability to select from
an extensive list of online courses, regardless of their location, and take
courses with faculty who are highly regarded in their area of expertise.
WISE has reached a total of 198 students through 133 courses in the past two
years, and works continuously to increase the quality, access, and diversity
of online education opportunities in library and information science.
Additionally, WISE+, supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services,
has expanded the resources of the consortium to include 17 library association
partners. It also provides pedagogical training for faculty, and is supporting
the creation of a digital learning repository for WISE courses. "The WISE
consortium has benefited the participating institutions in multiple ways," says
Linda C. Smith, co-founder of WISE and GSLIS professor and associate dean. "Students
have access to a wider variety of courses, faculty can offer courses in special
areas of expertise, and program administrators can collaboratively develop
best practices in online education for library and information science."
Details about the award are available at:
http://www.sloan-c.org/aboutus/awards.asp
ASIS&T Awards Honor Students, Alum
The American Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T)
has honored GSLIS with the 2006 Student Chapter of the Year Award. The award
announcement cites, among other reasons, the phenomenal growth of the chapter,
the chapter's active inclusion of LEEP students, and the fact that many members
are also active at the local and national levels in ASIS&T activities as
reasons for giving the award to the GSLIS chapter.
Alum Steve Hardin (MS '89) was one of two winners of the ASIS&T Watson
Davis Award, "the highest honor for recognition of lifetime service." Hardin
is a reference/instruction librarian at Indiana State University's Cunningham
Memorial Library.
Four New Staff Members Join GSLIS, Spelke Takes On New Role
Penny Ames is new to the GSLIS front office staff, and will have primary responsibility
for event planning and clerical support for our associate and assistant deans.
Amani Ayad has been hired to the new position of LIS Access Midwest program
coordinator (see LAMP: http://www.lisaccess.org/). Melissa Cragin is now the
visiting project coordinator for the IMLS "Centuries of Knowledge" grant,
which will develop a new concentration in data curation for our master's program.
Candy Edwards comes to GSLIS from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications,
where she managed human resources functions for NCSA; Edwards will have similar
duties at GSLIS.
Ken Spelke, associate dean for information technology and research at GSLIS,
has been named interim assistant chief information officer for educational
technologies for the University of Illinois, Urbana campus. His responsibilities
will include coordinating the campus-wide IT strategic plan and, according
to interim chief information officer Paula Kaufman, to "provide leadership
continuity for CITES Educational Technologies and Classroom Technologies." Spelke
will continue to serve as associate dean for GSLIS and will maintain two offices,
one at GSLIS and one at CITES.
GSLIS Polo Shirts Now Available!
Just in time for the holidays: give yourself, or a new grad, the gift of GSLIS.
Polo shirts, in orange or navy and in women's and men's styles, are now available
for $20 plus $5 for shipping.
Photos and an order form are available at:
http://leep.lis.uiuc.edu/publish/oncampus/GSLISpoloshirt.html
Annual Funds Campaign Under Way
GSLIS is participating in the centralized annual funds campaign supported
by the campus, "Making Memories One Student, One Alum, One Gift At A Time." When
you receive a letter it may not look like those we have sent in the past, but
if you see a block I and Annual Fund in the return address please do not throw
it away! Annual Fund Gifts to GSLIS were down last year, so we need your help
to increase the number this year. If you have already given your annual fund
gift we thank you, if you have not, remember you can go to our Web site and
give your gift online before the end of the year.
Read other current news at:
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/news/current.html
2. CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
GSLIS Approved to Provide Another Course for CPLA Program
The ALA Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) recently approved a new
course for the Certified Public Library Administrator (CPLA) certification
program. This program is a voluntary post-MLS certification program for public
librarians with three or more years experience in a supervisory position. Fundraising
and Grantwriting will be offered February 1–March 14, 2007. This is a
completely online course with synchronous sessions on Thursdays, 2-4 p.m. CST.
Instructors are Dr. Jonathan Carroll and Jason Kovac, Assistant Deans for Academic
Affairs at Morton College. While this course is endorsed by ALA-APA for CPLA
certification, it is open to anyone interested in this topic.
For additional information and to register, visit http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/cpd/CPLA/
New Special Collections Course
GSLIS will be offering LIS 590PM: The Manufacture, Description, Uses, and
Preservation of Paper in the Scholarly World, May 21-June 1, 2007, taught by
Dr. Sidney Burger. This two week course may be applied to the academic certificate
in Special Collections.
For additional information, visit http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/mbms/certificate.html
3. ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS
Call for Alumni Awards Nominations
The Library School Alumni Association is seeking nominations for three awards
it gives annually at the GSLIS alumni reception held at the American Library
Association Annual Conference. Visit http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/people/alumni/lsaa/awards.html
for information and nomination forms for the Distinguished Alumnus/a Award,
the Leadership Award and the Distinguished Service Award. Deadline for submitting
nominations is April 2, 2007.
Mary Dempsey Named 'Public Official of the Year'
Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey (MS '76) is one of nine recipients
of the 2006 Public Official of the Year award given by Governing Magazine.
Dempsey was honored both for her work with the Chicago Public Library and
for her successful term as the City of Chicago's interim chief procurement
officer, where she spent six months cleaning up the city's purchasing department,
working through the backlog of contracts, and exposing firms working under
fraudulent terms. She was appointed to both positions by Mayor Richard M. Daley.
"I am so very fortunate to be engaged in meaningful public service work
that benefits the people of the City of Chicago. To be recognized by Governing
Magazine for that work is a great honor.
"I am especially proud that the award recognizes the important work of
urban librarians and our contributions to the vitality and the quality of life
in our cities. As I learned in the graduate library program at Illinois many
years ago, the public library is a community anchor, an information link and
a source of inspiration. I'm delighted to say that we continue to play those
roles today," Dempsey said.
Dempsey and the other 8 winners are profiled in the November issue of the
magazine. All the winners were honored at a dinner held November 15, 2006 in
Washington, D.C.
Governing is a national magazine covering local and state governments. To
read Dempsey's profile visit Governing's Web site:
http://www.governing.com/poy/2006/dempsey.htm
Class Notes
Sarah Morris (MS '06) is the serials/indexing librarian at the Illinois College
of Optometry. Sarah writes: "I just finished 6 months at my first professional
position, happily applying all that knowledge I gained from teachers and classmates
at GSLIS. I also got my first cat, so am now feeling like a real librarian.
Work at a small library really doesn't stop, and we are busy implementing SFX,
updating the website, weeding, learning to do screencasts, and try to stay
on top of all the regular work."
Alison Scott (MS '02, CAS '05) is the health services librarian at Ferris
State University in Big Rapids, Michigan.
Susan Shoemaker (MS '99) is now an associate professor of LIS at the College
of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota. Previously, she was an assistant professor
of LIS at Simmons College in Boston.
Cindy (Infantino) Serikaku (MS '74) retired from the Lake Forest Library staff
on November 1, 2006. Cindy has served as adult services/special projects librarian
at LFL for more than 20 years; she has worked in Lake County public libraries
since graduation.
Julia Schult (MS '88) is the library director at the Groton (New York) Public
Library.
Read other class notes, and submit your own, at:
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/people/alumni/classnotes.html
4. CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Downs Intellectual Freedom Award Reception
Saturday, January 20, 2007
5:30-7:00 p.m.
ALA Midwinter Meeting
Cascade Ball Room I
Westin Seattle Hotel
Seattle, WA
Center for Children's Books Sixth Annual Book Sale
Pre-Sale (limited admission by advance reservation only: cost is $20)
Sunday, February 18, 2007
1:00-4:00 p.m.
GSLIS East Foyer
Book Sale
Monday-Wednesday, February 19-21, 2007
10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
The Center for Children's Books (GSLIS Room 24)
BRAND NEW CHILDREN'S BOOKS most in perfect condition, the majority published
in 2006. Choose from hundreds of fiction and non-fiction titles!
Call 244-9331 or e-mail ccb@uiuc.edu to purchase your pre-sale ticket or for
additional information.
Phineas L. Windsor Lecture
Lorcan Dempsey, Vice President and Chief Strategist, OCLC Online Computer Library
Center
Friday, February 23, 2007
Time TBD
GSLIS Room 126
2007 Gryphon Lecture
Roger Sutton, Editor-in-chief of Horn Book
Friday, March 2, 2007
6:30-9:00 p.m.
GSLIS Room 126
Alumni Reception at ACRL
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Time and location TBD
Baltimore, MD
Phineas L. Windsor Lecture
Betty Sue Flowers, Director of the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Time TBD
GSLIS Room 126
Watch our online Calendar of Events for more happenings:
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/oc/news/events/
5. UNSUBSCRIBE AND/OR CONTACT US
This eUpdate is being sent to all GSLIS alumni with e-mail addresses on record with the University of Illinois Alumni Association. If you do not wish to receive further issues of the eUpdate, send a message to -lis-dev, at uiuc.edu- and ask to be removed from the mailing list. GSLIS will not release your e-mail address or any other personal identifying information.
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We're always interested in your career and life accomplishments. Please share
your information with us by sending us the information listed at http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/people/alumni/mail.html
Make a Gift at http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/development/funds.html
Have a comment about one of the stories you've read here? Have news that you think should be included in an upcoming issue? Send e-mail to -welshons, at uiuc.edu-.
Copyright © 2006, University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Permission is granted to reuse this information provided the source is cited.
