SLA PAM Division Blog

We're Moving...

2012-02-02T22:53:00.000-08:00

With the migration of PAMweb to the new Wordpress-driven SLA web services, we now have blog capabilities there. That means that this site may go away. If this is still where you go for All News PAM, please comment and let us know! Thanks.

International Membership Award: Nominations Open!

2011-11-15T10:08:00.001-08:00

Nominations for the International Membership Award (IMA) are now being accepted by the Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics (PAM) Division of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). The SLA-PAM Division will present this award to a librarian from the developing world.

The award provides a two-year SLA membership for the years 2012 and 2013; a virtual (online) access to the 2012 Annual Conference; and $500 USD worth of SLA professional-development materials in the form of Click U webinars and online courses and/or e-books. For more information about SLA professional development training, please visit the following web page:
http://www.sla.org/content/learn/index.cfm

Please submit nominations to the chair of PAM International Relations Committee (IRC) (address below) by December 5, 2011. The award will be announced in January 2012. More information about the PAM Division and the award can be found at: http://pam.sla.org/projects/irc/

Objective:
The purpose of the award is to provide an opportunity for librarians from the developing world to be an active member of SLA and of SLA-PAM.

Components:

The award will provide SLA membership, including PAM Division affiliation, for a period of two years.
PAM will provide the IMA winner a virtual pass to the 2012 SLA Annual Conference.
PAM also provides the equivalence of $500 USD in professional development through Click U online courses, webinars, and/or books.
The award recipient will send the IMA Chair a short report on the state of scientific information/libraries in his/her country so that the report can be posted on the PAM IRC webpage.
The award recipient will also prepare a final report reflecting on his/her experience with PAM and providing recommendations for future improvements to the award program; this report is to be sent before the end of the second year of the award to the PAM Executive Board and PAM IRC.
The award recipient will serve as a member of PAM’s International Relations Committee (IRC) during the term of the award.

Qualifications:

The nominee must reside and work in a developing country and have basic English skills.
The nominee must be working currently in a library, information center, library school or other information-related capacity, in one of the subject areas related to science and technology. Priority will be given to applicants working in Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics areas.
The nominee should not have had any previous opportunity of active involvement in SLA such as attending the SLA annual conference or any other professional library association meetings in the U.S.

Nomination Process:
Self nominations are encouraged. Nomination documentation should include the following:

A letter highlighting the candidate’s professional career and qualification and explaining why this person should be granted the award.
The candidate’s current professional resume.
Contact information for the nominee: name, position, business address, and (if possible) email address.

Nominations are to be submitted by December 5, 2011, to the PAM IRC chair. Electronic submission by e-mail is preferred. The award recipient will be announced in January 2012. Selection will be made by the PAM Executive Board in consultation with the PAM IRC Chair/Co-Chair.

Please submit nominations to:

Khue Duong
Chair, SLA-PAM International Relations Committee
California State University, Long Beach
University Library
1250 Bellflower Boulevard

Long Beach, California 90840-1901
Phone: (562) 985-2641 | Fax: (562) 985-1703 |
Email: kduong@csulb.edu

2011 Call for Award Nominations

2011-04-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

The PAM Awards Committee cordially invites you to submit, by May 1, your nominations for the 2011 PAM Division Award and/or for the 2011 PAM Achievement Award. Previous recipients of the Division Award include the Jahrbuch Project, the American Physical Society, and John Gardner for developing assistive technologies. Previous honorees of the Achievement Award include Martha Tucker, Bob Michaelson, Kris Fowler, and Molly White. There are many more deserving colleagues and worthwhile endeavors to honor. Please send nominations for individuals or groups to any of the committee members via the e-mail addresses listed below. If you're thinking of someone but aren't quite sure if you can make the May 1 deadline, then please send a message to any of the committee members.

The PAM Division Award is given for significant contribution to the literature of physics , mathematics, or astronomy, or to honor work that demonstrably improves the exchange of information within these three disciplines. The contribution also should benefit libraries or enhance the ability of librarians to better serve their patrons. The contribution should be special - above and beyond the normal job requirements of the individual(s) or group concerned. The honoree(s) may be a member(s) of SLA/PAM, but need not be.

The PAM Achievement Award is reserved for recipients whose professional work is marked by distinction and dedication to librarianship in astronomy, mathematics, and/or physics. The award recognizes those members of SLA/PAM who have made outstanding contributions to the Division.

More details, guidelines for nominations, and a list of previous winners can be found on the PAM Division web site at http://www.sla.org/division/dpam/manual/awards/index.html (PLEASE NOTE THAT WE HAVE EXTENDED THE DEADLINE TO MAY 1 for this year!)

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Your PAM Awards Committee:

Donna Thompson (Chair) dthompson@cfa.harvard.edu (617)496-7660
Michael Fosmire fosmire@purdue.edu (765)494-2859
Danny Dotson dotson.77@osu.edu (614)688-0053

Beyond the Bell(s)

2011-03-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check out (and bookmark!) the great new blog from the Philadelphia Hospitality Committee, Beyond the Bell(s)! "Every week we will update readers on some of the best local restaurants, cafes, museums and destinations in the Philadelphia region. We have tasked ourselves to think beyond the typical tourist destinations. You all know about the historic Liberty Bell and the wonderful Franklin Institute. Here you will learn about where to get the best Philly Cheesesteak (and how to order!), where to catch a baseball game (besides Citizens Bank Park), and how to get around like a local."

Thanks so much to Peggy, Lauren, Louise and Sharice - what a great way to share the skinny on Philly!

Congratulations to the 2011 PAM Travel Stipend Winners!

2011-03-11T15:00:00.000-08:00

IOP Publishing, a generous and long-time supporter of libraries and librarians, has provided PAM with funding for four $1,000 stipends to help defray the costs of traveling to the 2011 SLA Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA. Qualifying applicants had to be recent graduates of a library science graduate program, in their first three years of professional librarianship, employed by a physical sciences library or as a subject specialist for one or more of the PAM disciplines, and first-time attendees of the SLA Annual Conference as a professional librarian. For more information, please visit click here.

We would like to thank all of the new librarians who applied for this stipend. We appreciate the time and effort you put into your application letters and we look forward to welcoming you into the PAM Division. Below are listed the stipend winners.

Margaret Lam is the physical sciences liaison librarian at Fenwick Library, George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. She received an MLS degree from Queens College, CUNY in Flushing, NY and graduated with a MA degree in Chemistry from the same college.

Kathleen Lehman is the head of the Physics Library at University of Arkansas. Her MLIS from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee followed an MAT in multidisciplinary education from Webster University in St. Louis and a BA in physics and astronomy from the University of Iowa.

Andrea Miller-Nesbitt graduated from McGill University’s MLIS program. She began working at McGill’s Schulich Library of Science and Engineering shortly thereafter as a liaison librarian for the School of Computer Science and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Catherine Vu is the science librarian at California State University, Fullerton and is responsible for providing reference and bibliographic instruction. She received an MLIS degree from San Jose State University and graduated summa cum laude with a BS degree in Chemistry from University of San Francisco.

If you have the opportunity, please introduce yourself to Margaret, Kathleen, Andrea, and Catherine at the June conference. Help them feel at home in our division, which as we all know is a very special part of SLA.

The PAM Division is deeply grateful to IOP Publishing for their continued involvement with and support of librarians at the SLA conference, and most especially for their generous commitment to the professional development of young science librarians. Three cheers for IOP Publishing!

Selection Committee Members:

Sharice Collins, Vice President, Marketing, IOP Publishing, Inc.
Ruth Kneale, PAM Chair
Nedelina Tchangalova, PAM Professional Development Chair

One Division, One Book

2011-02-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

Join us Monday in the late afternoon to discuss our Book Group selection for this year, "Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void" by Mary Roach. If you'd like to join in the Book Group discussion, let Julie Arendt know; the details of where and when we're meeting are forthcoming!

PAM Travel Stipend Award - Deadline Extended

2011-01-26T14:43:00.000-08:00

Are you planning to attend the Annual SLA conference in Philadelphia, PA in June? Do you have less than 3 years of professional library experience? Do you work in a library focusing on one or more of the PAM disciplines (physics, astronomy, mathematics, or computer science) or act as a library's subject specialist for one or more of these disciplines?

Don't hesitate and apply yourself or encourage your new librarian to apply for one of the four travel stipends of $1,000 each sponsored by IOP Publishing! The deadline has been extended to February 10, 2011.

For more information see the SLA Blog posting - thanks and hope to hear from you!

All Sciences Poster Session: Call for Posters

2011-01-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

SLA 2001 All Sciences Poster Session

Call for Posters
Deadline: February 1st, 2011

The Biomedical & Life Sciences, Chemistry, Food Agriculture Nutrition, Physics Astronomy Mathematics, Science & Technology and Engineering Divisions of SLA invite proposals for a poster session to be held during the divisions' All Sciences Poster Session and Reception at SLA 2011 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Poster Session and Open House will be held on Tuesday June 14th from 5:30-7:00pm.

Submit your proposal to slaposter2011@gmail.com

SLA Awards: All Nominations Are Officially Open

2010-11-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

Do you know a colleague that deserves recognition for their contributions to the information profession, to their organization, to SLA, or maybe to all three?

SLA is pleased to announce that all awards and honors nominations are officially open. SLA Fellows and Rising Stars nominations formally opened on September 1st, and will remain live until December 15th of this year. Multiple recipients can be recognized for these honors, so if you know an "up and comer" or a colleague that has made considerable achievements within their profession, don't hesitate to let us know!

On November 1st, all other SLA award nominations officially opened, and will remain live until January 15th. These awards include the Dow Jones Leadership Award, the Rose Vormelker Award, the John Cotton Dana Award, and others. For a full list and descriptions of the SLA awards, click here.

Not sure where to start? View a list of tips for submitting a winning nomination and fill out nomination forms here.

If you have any other questions about nominating, or want to know what award your colleague/friend might be eligible for, contact John Walsh at SLA headquarters. We look forward to receiving your nominations, and bestowing these honors on those most deserving.

Call for 2011 IMA Nominations

2010-10-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

Nominations for the International Membership Award are now being accepted by the Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics (PAM) Division of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). The SLA-PAM Division will present this award to a librarian from the developing world; it provides a two-year SLA membership, for the years 2011 and 2012. For complete information, please visit the following web page:

http://units.sla.org/division/dpam/manual/awards/pamimadetails.html

Please submit nominations to the chair of the International Relations Committee (IRC) of the PAM Division (address below) by November 1, 2010. The award will be announced in December 2010. Thank you.

Objective:
The purpose of the award is to provide an opportunity for librarians from the developing world to be an active member of SLA and of SLA-PAM.

Components:

The award will provide SLA membership, including PAM Division affiliation, for a period of two years.
The award recipient will serve as a member of PAM's International Relations Committee (IRC) during the term of the award.
SLA-PAM will fund the award recipient's attendance at SLA's annual conference during the first year of the award, including travel costs, lodging, conference registration, and related expenses. Please note: travel to the conference is contingent on several factors including procurement of a visa to travel to the United States: This is the award recipient's responsibility.
The award recipient will prepare a short report on the state of scientific information/libraries in his/her country, to be presented to the membership at the annual SLA conference either in person or in writing.
The award recipient will also prepare a final report reflecting on his/her experience with PAM and providing recommendations for future improvements to the award program; this report is to be sent before the end of the second year of the award to the PAM Executive Board and PAM IRC.

Qualifications:

The nominee must reside and work in a developing country and have basic English skills.
The nominee must be working currently in a library, information center, library school or other information-related capacity, in one of the subject areas related to science and technology. Priority will be given to applicants working in Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics areas.
The nominee will not have had a previous opportunity to become actively involved in SLA, such as by attending an SLA conference or other professional library association meetings in the U.S.

Nomination Process:
Self nominations are encouraged. Nomination documentation should include the following:

A letter highlighting the candidate's professional career and qualification and explaining why this person should be granted the award.
The candidate's current professional resume.
Contact information for the nominee: name, position, business address, and (if possible) email address.

Nominations are to be submitted by 1 November, 2010, to the PAM IRC chair, and the award recipient will be announced in December. Selection will be made by the PAM Executive Board in consultation with the PAM IRC Chair/Co-Chair.

Please submit nominations to:

Kiem-Dung Ta
Chair, SLA-PAM International Relations Committee
Oklahoma State University
Edmon Low Library, #306
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: (405) 744-9743 | Fax: (405) 744-7579 |
Email: kiem.ta@okstate.edu

Seeking Next PAM Chair-Elect and Secretary!

2010-09-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

Seeking Next PAM Chair-Elect and Secretary!
Deadline: 30th September 2010

We are currently seeking nominations for two PAM offices:

• Secretary, with a 2-year term (January 2011 through December 2012). The Secretary participates in all Board decision-making and has specific responsibility for documenting Division business.

• Chair-Elect, with a 1-year term (January-December 2011), followed by 2 years as Chair/Past Chair. The Chair-Elect’s first role is to attend the 2011 Leadership Summit in Washington, DC, 19-22 January 2011, to begin planning—along with those from other SLA Divisions—the program for the Annual Meeting to be held 15-18 July 2012 in Chicago, IL.

Further information on the duties of these offices is available in the PAM Practices Manual.

Please send nominations for either office to any of the committee members listed below by 30th September 2010; self-nominations are welcome. Feel free to e-mail us if you have any questions.

PAM Nominations and Elections Committee:
Jane Holmquist (chair) jane@princeton.edu
Alison Verbeck alison@wustl.edu
Liz Bryson bryson@cfht.hawaii.edu

Thoughts from IATUL

2010-07-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

Guest Post by Willow Dressel

E-Science and science data seemed to be hot topics at SLA this year. We heard everything from presentations on what some of our colleagues are doing in the area, buzz about the NSF Data Management Plan grant proposals requirements, and some questions from our colleagues of whether or not librarians can or should be trying to get involved in this new area.

After the SLA conference in New Orleans, several PAM members (myself included) continued on to Purdue for the 31st Annual IATUL conference - The Evolving World of e-Science: Impact and Implications for Science and Technology Libraries. During the Astronomy Roundtable at SLA, one of our colleagues asked if I might be willing to share my thoughts on IATUL with the rest of the PAM division after the conference. I asked some of the other dual conference attendees to share their thoughts as well. Margaret Dominy from Drexel University and Michael Peper from Duke University both had something to add. You will find all of our thoughts below.

You can find the conference program at http://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/iatul2010/program/ and the conference papers are available at http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/iatul2010/

Willow Dressel - Princeton University
The conference was very well put together, with presentations from people all along the science data spectrum, including individual projects, collaborations within and across research fields, and even nationwide initiatives. Presenters included librarians, researchers, a Microsoft VP, and more. I’m still reading through the papers of the sessions I didn’t get a chance to attend.

One of my big realizations was that researchers want librarians to be involved. Some even seem to think of working with science data as a natural extension of a librarian’s current roles. To me, the strongest example of this is that of Richard Kron, the project director of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, asking the library at his home institution the University of Chicago for help with coming up with a long term storage solution for the data from the project to map a quarter of the sky.1

Additionally, I identified three things people are doing at other institutions that I think would be a good place for my institution to start getting involved in the e-science conversation.

Create a working group or advisory group to survey the literature and look for ways for the library to get involved.
Collaborate with IT to perform a user needs assessment for researchers.
Develop a Data Management workshop for faculty and graduate students.

Margaret Dominy – Drexel University
Although, instinctively, I am aware that different disciplines will have different data collecting practices, habits and needs, I was totally impressed by the “lightning round” of scientists presenting their data practices. In this session three scientists from agriculture, engineering and nutrition discussed some of their research processes and data collection with varying degrees of data management. I rarely involved myself (hardly more than curiosity) in this aspect of the research process, since I believed one of my key roles was to be sure my researchers had access to information to perform their research and publish. This “lightning round” session sparked in me the resolution to approach my researchers to assess their data habits and how I might be able to give support. All this is just one part of the whole data curation discussion which I found to be enlightening in all the IATUL sessions.

Besides this, the opportunity to meet librarians from all over the world in the “working” conference and the evening social events was for me, who is quite socially awkward, a wonderful experience. My “library” world expanded. Also, the Purdue librarians were fantastic hosts!

Michael Peper – Duke University
My overall take-away from the conference was that there is clearly a role for libraries to collect, describe and provide services for research data. However, this doesn’t mean that libraries need to play every role in the data life cycle and each institution should try to find the role that makes sense locally.

------------------

1. B. Kern et al., “The SDSS and e-science archiving at the University of Chicago Library,” in International Association of Scientific and Technological University Libraries, 31st Annual Conference, 2010, 9. http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=iatul2010

2010 Award Winners

2010-07-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the 2010 division award winners!

Pavlinka Kovatcheva, International Member Award Winner
Donna Coletti, Division Award Winner
Michael Fosmire, Achievement Award Winner
Lance Utley, Khue Dong, Stacey Kuzcewski and Cynthia Hudson, Travel Stipend Winners

Cheers to you all!

SLA 2010 Roundup

2010-07-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

Apologies, everyone - we were tracking the conference this year in so many other ways we seem to have neglected updating our division blog! Here are some blog posts from division members:

I went to New Orleans and all I got was... by Ruth Kneale
A Brief Observation of SLA's Money Troubles by Christina Pikas
Notes from SLA-PAM Physics Roundtable 2010 by Sara Tompson
Shirley Zhao, a new member, shares her thoughts in Conference Day 1, Conference Day 2
2010 Conference Report by Joe Kraus

If you blogged the conference elsewhere, drop one of us a line and we'll add it to the list!

Don't forget to follow @SLA_PAM on Twitter, and join PAM's Facebook group - LinkedIn coming soon!

Call for Nominations: PAM IMA

2009-10-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

The Special Libraries Association (SLA) Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics (PAM) Division is now calling for nominations for the International Membership Award. The SLA-PAM Division will present this award to a librarian from the developing world; it provides a two-year SLA membership, for the years 2010 and 2011. For complete information, please visit the following web page: http://units.sla.org/division/dpam/manual/awards/pamimadetails.html

Please submit nominations to the co-chair/s of the International Relations Committee (IRC) of the PAM Division (address below) by ~~November 1, 2009~~ November 30, 2009 (revised). The award will be announced in December 2009. Thank you.

Objective:

The purpose of the award is to provide an opportunity for librarians from the developing world to be an active member of SLA and of SLA-PAM.

Components:

The award will provide SLA membership, including PAM Division affiliation, for a period of two years.
The award recipient will serve as a member of PAM's International Relations Committee (IRC) during the term of the award.
SLA-PAM will fully fund the award recipient's attendance at SLA's annual conference during the first year of the award, including travel costs, lodging, conference registration, and related expenses. Please note: travel to the conference is contingent on several factors including procurement of a visa to travel to the United States. This is the award recipient's responsibility.
The award recipient will prepare a short report on the state of scientific information/libraries in his/her country, to be presented to the membership at the annual SLA conference either in person or in writing.
The award recipient will also prepare a final report reflecting on his/her experience with PAM and providing recommendations for future improvements to the award program; this report is to be sent before the end of the second year of the award to the PAM Executive Board and PAM IRC.

Qualifications:

The nominee must reside and work in a developing country and have basic English skills.
The nominee must be working currently in a library, information center, library school or other information-related capacity, in one of the subject areas related to science and technology. Priority will be given to applicants working in Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics areas.
The nominee will not have had a previous opportunity to become actively involved in SLA, such as by attending an SLA conference or other professional library association meetings in the U.S.

Nomination Process: Self nominations are encouraged. Nomination documentation should include the following:

A letter highlighting the candidate's professional career and qualification and explaining why this person should be granted the award.
The candidate's current professional resume.
Contact information for the nominee: name, position, business address, and (if possible) email address.

Nominations are to be submitted by 1 November, 2009, to the PAM IRC chair, and the award recipient will be announced in December. Selection will be made by the PAM Executive Board in consultation with the PAM IRC Chair/Co-Chair.

Please submit nominations to:

Mangala Krishnamurthy
Chair, SLA-PAM International Relations Committee
Rodgers Library for Science & Engineering
University of Alabama Libraries
The University of Alabama
P.O.Box 870266
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
Phone: (205) 348-2109 | Fax: (205) 348-2113 | Email: mkrishna@ua.edu

Or

Kiem-Dung Ta
Co-Chair, SLA-PAM International Relations Committee
Oklahoma State University
Edmon Low Library
Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078
(405) 744-9743 | Email: kiem.ta@okstate.edu

PAM Sessions at SLA

2009-07-13T10:30:00.001-07:00

Cross-posted to my blog, here are my writeups of SLA PAM events (sorry they're late!)

SLA Days One and Two. Includes the Newcomer's Lunch and my thoughts on the opening session.
Day Three. PAMwide Roundtable, Book Group, and the USNO Tour.
Day Four. Business Meeting, History of PAM session (look for a big writeup in the next Bulletin!)
Day Five. Astronomy Roundtable and the closing session.

Hoping to see writeups from others!

Conference Photos

2009-06-24T13:48:00.001-07:00

Collections of photos from the recent conference! Also check the Facebook page for more.

The Photo Group: http://www.thephotogroup.com
Click on Online Images, enter access code: sla09

Joe Kraus': http://picasaweb.google.com/jokrausdu/SLA2009#

Jeff Bond's: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24397090@N00/sets/72157619860326453/

Ruth Kneale's: http://www.flickr.com/photos/desertlibrarian/sets/72157619596380629/

Have a set to share? Add in the comments!

Social networking stuff at the conference

2009-06-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

If you are using Twitter at the conference

The general Twitter hashtag for the SLA conference is #sla2009 (case sensitive), the hashtag for the PAM Division is #slapam.
Twitter accounts to follow, http://twitter.com/sla2009 for general conference postings, also follow Joe Murphy (libraryfuture on Twitter) and other PAM members for updates about the conference, such as Joe Kraus, Ruth Kneale, Christina Pikas, Carol Hutchins, Catherine Lavallée-Welch, Randy Reichardt, Sara Tompson, SLA Headquarters, others?

SLA PAM on Facebook

The SLA PAM Division Facebook Group is a great place to share or check events info and discussions and to post photos.

Joe Murphy will be available to assist in social networking at the conference and beyond.
joseph.murphy@yale.edu, http://twitter.com/libraryfuture

Schedule of PAM events

2009-06-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the schedule of PAM events for the 2009 SLA Conference in Washington, DC.

Data Curation and Special Libraries: Education, Trends, and Developments

2009-05-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

While you're finalizing your DC schedule please don't forget about the Computer Science Roundtable (and complimentary lunch), Tuesday, June 16th, 11:30am-1pm. Co-hosted by PAM and Sci-Tech. The complimentary lunch comes as a result of our wonderful co-sponsors ACM and IEEE.

Agenda:
Data curation panel presentations and discussion with:
>>> Richard Huffine, National Library Coordinator, US Geological Survey
>>> Jane Greenberg, Associate Professor and Director, SILS Metadata Research Center, School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina
>>> P. Bryan Heidorn, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Open forum and discussion regarding CS being incorporated into SciTech
Note: IEEE and ACM plan to have representatives available to answer questions during the open forum.

Do not miss the chance to talk to experts in the field of data curation.
Some of the questions that they will be addressing:
What is data curation? What are the current trends in the field?
What can people do to train their organizations and self-educate?
What are the community standards?
What resources are needed (e.g. funding, staff expertise and technological infrastructure)?
What policies and processes need to be in place?
What are some of the challenges (e.g. technological change, sustainability)?

If you have any questions please contact me!

Jeanine Scaramozzino
College of Science and Mathematics Librarian
California Polytechnic State University
jscaramo@calpoly.edu

LISA VI Call for Papers

2009-04-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

Library and Information Services in Astronomy VI
"21st Century Astronomy Librarianship: from new ideas to action"

hosted by the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and
Astrophysics (IUCAA) Library and the National Centre for
Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) Library

Pune, Maharashtra, India, February 14-17, 2010

The LISA VI Scientific Organizing Committee cordially invites you to submit contributed talks and poster presentations. Papers are solicited in particular, but not exclusively, on the following topics:

* Future of Librarianship
* Web 2.0/3.0
* Use, Access and Metrics
* Resource Management & Intellectual Property
* Preservation, Archiving and the Virtual Observatory

The conference Keynote Speaker will be Professor Jayant V. Narlikar, Founder-Director, IUCAA, internationally known for his work in cosmology. He is also well known as an author and populariser of science.

If you are interested in giving an oral and/or poster presentation, please submit an abstract in English using the proposal submission mechanism at the conference website. The full Call for Papers can also be seen there. Submission deadline will be May 30, 2009.

Information about previous LISA conferences is also available.

PAM-wide Round Table Proposal

2009-03-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here is what I propose for the PAM-wide RT.

See http://wiki.sla.org/display/SLAPAM/PAM-wide+Round+Table+2009
(If you don't feel like signing up for this wiki, just give me [jokraus at du dot edu] your text, and I will slap it onto the wiki for you.)

I would like to propose that we take a good amount of time to introduce ourselves at the beginning of the session. In past years, the names of people and institutions would just "fly by".

As librarians, we are affiliated with our institutions, but the institution and the job does not define who we are.

For each person, we would like to hear:

Your name
Where you happen to work
A hobby of yours
Something that is on your mind (maybe something you are worried about, thinking about, or something you would like to learn at this session/conference.)

Once the introductions are done, then we can start to discuss the challenges of the day. Please keep your "presentations" to 5 minutes or less. In order to keep the presentations short, I would like to recommend oral presentations of topics. I would like the session to be "conversational" instead of "presentational".

If you need to present some slides (3 slides or less) for visual enhancement of your topic, please post them to a website or to the SlideShare event page ahead of time. This way, the "computer jockey" (volunteers?) can display the slides or provide the URL.

Here are some proposed agenda items for the second half of the meeting.

E-Science
Institutional Repositories that are worth their expense
Science Library Services through Mobile Applications for iPhones and other smart phones.
Budget issues
Academic librarians reaching out to K-12 teachers
Put your topic here...
Etc., etc., etc.

How does all this sound?

Please let me know what other agenda items you think might be hot topics.

Joe

2009 Innovation in Technology Award: Call for Nominations

2009-02-23T08:35:00.000-08:00

We're looking for you!

The SLA Innovation in Technology Award Committee, sponsored by J.J. Keller, is looking for nominations for the 2009 award. This award is "granted to an SLA member in good standing for innovative use and application of technology in a special library/information center setting." This award includes a $1,000 cash prize!!

We are looking for people that meet the following criteria:

* Must be an innovative project (Innovation definition: "a creation (a new device or process) resulting from study and experimentation").

* Must be led by or heavily involving a SLA member.

* Should be an exemplar of how librarians/information professionals effectively and efficiently serve as the human connection between technology, the information, and the user experience.

* Should be a model of applying Section D "Applying Information Tools & Technologies" to Sections B "Managing Information Resources" and/or Section C "Managing Information Services" of the SLA Professional Competencies [http://www.sla.org/content/learn/members/competencies/index.cfm].

To self-nominate or submit your nomination for an outstanding candidate, please submit your nominations online at: http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/awardsrecognition/awardnomfrm2007.cfm, or e-mail the form with supporting materials directly to cara@sla.org.

All nominations must be received by midnight (Eastern Time) on March 31, 2009.

Computer Science Roundtable Speakers

2009-01-30T11:29:00.000-08:00

I will be moderating the Computer Science Roundtable at SLA this year.

Previous calls for CSRT topics resulted in this draft agenda:
- Data curation presentations (no more than two)
- Discussion regarding CS being incorporated into SciTech
- Open forum
Note: I will ask for IEEE and ACM reps to be available to answer questions

I have contacted a number of individuals that are versed on the current trends and challenges regarding data curation and about how library and non-library organizations can support stewardship programs, etc. I have not yet been successful in securing speakers.

I am looking for people that are equipped to discuss data curation trends AND are attending SLA. Any suggestions or volunteers?

Special Librarians Reaching Out

2009-01-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

I am preparing to give a talk at the joint AAAS/AAPT meeting in Chicago next month on the topic Social Networking for New and Cross-over Physics Teachers. At Cornell our Vice Provost for Outreach has made it a priority to reach out to the wider education community. I have several projects designed for use by science teachers at all levels.

My first step in preparing a talk was a literature review. I came across the TappedIn system. The more I learn, the better I like it. I wondered if anyone out there has had experience with it.

Pat