SLA PAM Division Blog

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. 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

IOP Stipend for New Librarians

2008-12-04T08:35:00.000-08:00

The Institute of Physics generously continues its commitment to libraries by providing financial support for new physical sciences librarians to attend their first SLA annual conference. IOP will give a stipend of $750 to each of four candidates who meet the following criteria:

Is a recent graduate of a library science graduate program;
Is in her/his first year of professional librarianship;
Works in a physics, astronomy, mathematics, or computer science library or is a library's subject specialist for one or more of these disciplines;
Has never before attended the SLA Annual Conference.

Applicants should submit a brief letter outlining how they meet the criteria, and include a copy of their resume or curriculum vita. Stipends will be awarded to the first four applicants who meet all of the criteria.

Applications can be submitted via email to Jane Kinkus, PAM professional development chair, at jkinkus@purdue.edu or Michiko Tanaka, PAM mentorship chair, at mtanaka@bnl.gov. Applications will be accepted until all of the stipends have been awarded.

If you do not meet these criteria, please pass this information along to somebody who does.

--Jane, on behalf of the Professional Development and Mentoring Committees

Stephen Abram struts his stuff

2008-11-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

The Prez of SLA is singing (kinda) at Internet Librarian. Note, this has some rated R language in the verbiage.

Centennial Video Contest

2008-11-04T08:48:00.000-08:00

Go to the SLA Wiki page for more information on the video contest.

The founders of SLA had a vision for how to fill the networking and educational needs of special librarians. With the forming of SLA in 1909, these fabled past leaders created an amazing professional association. For 100 years SLA has grown and transformed itself, and the association that started as one idea, by one person, now serves a global market of over 11,000 information professionals, librarians, and their partners.

In 2009 SLA celebrates its 100th birthday and as we look toward a second century of service, we are asking the questions:

What will the next 100 years of connecting people and information look like?
Can you peer into the future and see SLA's leaders of tomorrow?
Do you have an inspired vision of how SLA's members will change in 25, 50, or even 100 years?

Celebrate SLA's Centennial with your video representation of SLA's information professional of the future.

Promotion

Rules and Guidelines

IMA Nominations Now Open

2008-10-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

The 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 2009 and 2010.

Please submit nominations to the chair of the International Relations Committee (IRC) of the PAM Division by October 31st, 2008. The award will be announced in November 2008. Submit 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
mkrishna@ua.edu

YouTube of candidate speeches

2008-09-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

Here are the videos.

2009 SLA Board of Directors Election is now open

2008-09-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

Evoting for the 2009 SLA Board of Directors Election is now open. You will be able to cast your online ballot through 5:00 p.m. EDT on 1 October 2008.

Please click on www.sla.org/eVote to vote. Use Your SLA UserID and Password.

If you have any questions regarding the election, or would like to request a print ballot, contact the eVote Information Center at evote@sla.org or call 1.703.647.4950.

We welcome your participation!

INSTRUCTIONS FOR VOTING

Go to the SLA eVote System at http://www.sla.org/evote
Log in to the system using your SLA UserID and Password
Click on the ballot name -- "2009 SLA Board of Directors Election"
Review the board candidates and positions up for election
At the bottom center of the ballot, click on the "Click to Continue" button
Review the choices for each position, then check the box for the candidate of your choice
Click the "Click to Continue" button
Review your selections, then click the "Vote" button
You have now completed the voting process. Congratulations!
You can view and print your receipt or exit the eVote System

Centennial stamps from SLA

2008-07-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Sending out any paper mail? Use the SLA centennial celebration stamp. Thanks to Mary Ellen Bates for finding this.

Podcasts from SLA 2008

2008-07-30T13:07:00.000-07:00

Here are the podcasts of a few sessions from the SLA 2008 Annual Conference. Speakers and facilitators volunteered to have their remarks recorded. While questions were not included in the recording, you will hear the answers to queries from the audience.

Please note: These podcasts are MP3 files; you must have an MP3 player program installed on your machince to hear the recordings. The sound quality varies from one recording to another. In some cases, sound quality varies within a recording.

SLA Photos from the Photo Group

2008-07-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

1. Go to the site, www.thephotogroup.com
2. Select Online Proofing
3. Your password is sla08

Thanks to SLA Connections for the note...

Joe

Photos, photos and a video, too...

2008-06-27T11:41:00.001-07:00

Here are where a bunch of the photos are located.

Jeff Bond
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24397090@N00/sets/72157605705882369/

Flora Grabowska
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036950&l=f71c4&id=8404917

Ruth Kneale
http://www.flickr.com/photos/desertlibrarian/sets/72157605760630002/

Sara T.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=2250953&id=3432565 (Sign into Facebook.)

PodBay (You know who you are...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD83JPwSLU8

Judy Matthews
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2499804&id=2366246

Sharice Collins from IOP Publishing
http://www.iop.org/EJ/news/-topic=1327

Christina Pikas
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cpikas/tags/seattle/

Joe Kraus
These are not really of SLA, but they were taken in Seattle during the trip.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28012082@N03/sets/72157605926208128/

Various photos on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=SLA2008&m=tags

I know of some other pictures, but I am not sure the owners want to the pics to be publicly available.

Joe

Book Group 2008

2008-06-27T11:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all 22 members who participated in this year's Book Group discussion! The book chosen this year, "The Bookman's Wake" by John Dunning, veered off into the world of fiction, and was enjoyed by everyone. Dinner at Von's Grand City Cafe was also darned tasty!

I hope to see even more of you join me next year in Washington DC. The book has already been chosen... but you'll have to wait until next spring to find out what it is! :-D

Astronomy Roundtable

2008-06-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

(Thanks once more to everyone who showed up bright and early Wednesday morning for the Astronomy Roundtable after partying the night before at the IT/PAM/LMD dance party!)

The AstroRT this year was, unexpectedly, standing room only. Apologies to folks who had to stand or sit on the floor; we thought seating for 48 would be enough and will plan better next year! Also thanks to my co-moderator Michael Blake; ya did good for first time outta the slot, dude!

Our speakers this year shared a lot of information with us, and I'd like to thank them all again for coming!

Kerry Kroffe, from IOP Publishing, reviewed the publishing contract for the AAS journals and outlined what IOP had to do in a short amount of time to get the Astronomical Journal switched over and ready to go by January 2008. The Astrophysical Journal transition is currently in process, and many exciting things are planned for the future (VO tables, 30-day turnaround between acceptance and web publishing, and Object/Feature linking).
Chris Biemesderfer, from the American Astronomical Society, picked up from where Kerry left off and shared some information about other things to come from AAS (data cubes, digital printing, and print on demand options, along with print bundling and regional delivery options).
Karrie Berglund, representing the International Planetarium Society, shared a brief history of the IPS and discussed collaboration options between IPS and SLA/PAM. If you have any ideas or are interested in collaborating, please let her know.
Donna Thompson gave us the latest information from the Astrophysics Data System (which I kept referring to as "service", eek!), including information about the CrossRef collaboration and the rescanning project for older journals.

We had a few brief announcements, then a round-the-room introduction; then the roundtable closed and became a networking and discussion opportunity. Thanks again to everyone who attended!

External Reviews of the SLA Conference

2008-06-25T11:12:00.001-07:00

Information Today blogged much of the conference. Here is their most recent blog entry. This posting provides some of the "numbers" from the conference.Here are the official numbers from SLA’s 2008 annual conference in Seattle: There were 5,011 total registrants, 845 first time attendees, 1,681 exhibitor registrants, 464 booths, 283 companies, and 50 new exhibitors. This compares with last year’s numbers of 5,047 total registrants, 801 first timers, 1,702 exhibitors, 445 booths, 275 companies, and 38 new exhibitors.

my notes from the cs rt

2008-06-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

are on my blog - and apparently missing at least one line break, which leads to confusion.... :)