Tag Archives: ALA

Seen at ALA Annual 2017: Two ALA presidents and the Nittany Lion

two African-American professional women holding vertical poster composed of hundreds of digitzed images from Penn State University Libraires' special collections, forming a composite image of Penn State's Nittany Lion Shrine stone sculpture. Poster is signed in silver ink by many Penn State Libraries employees.

Courtney Young, head librarian at Penn State University Libraries’ Kelly Library and professor of women’s studies at Penn State Greater Allegheny, as well as the 2014-2015 president of the American Library Association (ALA), presented a Penn State Libraries-employee-signed Nittany Lion Shrine composite-image poster to the current Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, at the 2017 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago (June 22-27). Hayden also was ALA president, during the 2003-2004 year.

On Sunday, June 25, Hayden received ALA’s 2017 Melvil Dewey Medal, in recognition of “creative leadership of high order, particularly in those fields in which Melvil Dewey was actively interested: library management, library training, cataloging and classification, and the tools and techniques of librarianship.” 

The Nittany Lion Shrine poster is composed of more than 750 digitized images representing several artifacts from among the University Libraries’ Special Collections. According to Young, Hayden loves it!

Four libraries honored for offering cutting-edge services

(from the ALA)

Today, the American Library Association (ALA) recognized four libraries for offering cutting-edge technologies in library services, honoring programs in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Bridgewater, New Jersey; Raleigh, North Carolina; and University Park, Pennsylvania.

The recognition, which is presented by the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy and the Library & Information Technology Association (LITA), showcases libraries that are serving their communities using novel and innovative methods. Libraries or library service areas selected will be highlighted through various ALA publications and featured in a program at the ALA Annual Conference 2014 in Las Vegas, June 26-July 1, 2014.

“This was a very competitive year for cutting-edge applicants. Those recognized today stood out in the ways they creatively solved problems, engaged library patrons, and strengthened library services and visibility,” said Marc Gartler of Madison Public Library (WI), who chaired the selection subcommittee. “We are excited to recognize these four projects, several of which already have proven their potential to be successfully replicated by libraries around the globe.”

  • “Me Card,” Edmonton Public Library, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
    Edmonton Public Library’s Me Card technology allows customers with a library card from one library to create an account with and access collections at another library with no staff intervention or additional library cards. The Me Card can work with any integrated library system (ILS) and does not require a shared ILS among participating libraries. More than 1,500 customers accessed the web-based service and registered for membership in the first two months of operation.
  • My #HuntLibrary, North Carolina State University (NCSU), Raleigh, NC.
    NCSU ensured that the story of their new library’s opening would be told through the words and images of the people that use it every day. The NCSU Libraries used Instagram’s API to develop an app that captured photos tagged with #HuntLibrary and displayed them online and in the library. Both a user engagement tool and digital preservation effort, the library received more than 3,200 images from more than 1,300 different users and recorded more than 235,000 page views.
  • One Button Studio, Penn State University Libraries, University Park, PA
    Penn State University Libraries, in partnership with Information Technology Services, enabled easy video creation for faculty and students across Penn State campuses. With only a flash drive and the push of a single button, users can activate a video camera, microphone and lights to begin recording. In its first year of use, 4,200 people created more than 270 hours of video. The app also reduces production costs due to changes in the type of equipment, as well as the number of staff needed.

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Dean’s News

By Barbara I. Dewey, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications

I recently returned from the American Library Association Mid-Winter Meeting in Philadelphia. Many Penn Staters were active participants in the meetings, boards, and committee work. I chaired the ACRL New Publications Committee. This committee is actively seeking book proposals of interest to ACRL constituents. Lisa German and I also attended the ARL January 23 regional design meeting hosted by Temple University. The regional design meetings are part of ARL’s strategic planning process and are being held to create a collaborative space for discussion about the future of the academic library and its place in higher education. This was a timely meeting given Penn State’s active engagement in strategic planning. I also attended the ARL Diversity and Leadership Program lunch and reception. Participants in the 2014 ARL Leadership Symposium included the Diversity Scholars, fellows from the 2014 Career Enhancement Program, and the ARL/SAA Mosaic Program. Mark Puente, director of ARL’s Diversity and Leadership Programs was the event host. Mark will be our Dean’s Diversity Forum speaker on February 24, at 1:30 p.m., in Foster Auditorium and on Media Site. I hope you can attend!

I also wanted you to know that Michael Adewumi, vice president for Penn State Global Programs and I have invited Barbara Ford, director of the Mortenson Center for International Librarianship and professor, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, to Penn State to help us develop strategies to support Penn State’s Global Engagement Network and global initiatives in general. Professor Ford will be meeting on February 3rd with Penn State Global Programs staff and a number of our faculty.

All invited to LFO forensic presented by Young

All faculty and staff are invited to participate in the LFO Forensic which will be held in Foster Auditorium on Wed. 12/11, at 1:00 p.m. It will also be broadcast via Media Site Live.

courtney young

Young

Courtney L. Young, head librarian at Penn State Greater Allegheny, was recently elected as President-elect of the American Library Association, the first librarian from the Penn State University Libraries to be elected to this high-profile position. The Library Faculty Organization has asked Courtney to present a forensic on December 11, 2013, to discuss her presidential initiatives for ALA and how they relate to the work and mission of the University Libraries. Please join Courtney as she covers the themes of diversity, professional development, and engagement/outreach and how these reflect the mission of the Penn State University Libraries and will inform and shape her presidential year.

Penn State Librarian Elected ALA President

Courtney Louise Young, head librarian at the J. Clarence Kelly Library, Penn State Greater Allegheny, has been elected the 2014-2015 president of the American Library Association (ALA). Young will become the president elect at the close of the 2013 ALA Annual Conference this July and will assume the ALA presidency a year latter at the 2014 conference.

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Penn State Librarians Elected to ALA Positions

Several Penn State librarians have been elected to positions within the American Library Association (ALA), for 2013-2014. Founded in 1876 and headquartered in Chicago, the ALA provides leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.

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Sheehy Receives Award from ALA Government Documents Roundtable

Submitted by Stephen Woods

The University Libraries is pleased to announce that Helen Sheehy has recently been awarded the Bernadine Abbott Hoduski Founders Award from the Government Documents Roundtable, an organization within the American Libraries Association. Sheehy has been an active member of GODORT for almost 25 years. She represents an important microcosm of government information specialists that is quickly becoming a rarity within the profession. Namely, librarians who are knowledgeable advocates that empower others in the use of international government information.

For eight years, Helen has been a chief contributor to the work of the Government Information and Official Publications Section (GIOPS) of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). As Chair of GIOPS, the organization sponsored a three day seminar at the Russian State Library in Moscow in May of 1999. This outreach effort to government information specialist in the former Soviet Republics was duplicated by GIOPS four years later at Sudak, Crimea, Ukraine, and attended by around 1700 participants. Locally, Helen is equal to the task.

For the last four years, she has been an active member of the United Nations Association of Centre County. This is a non-profit organization dedicated to building understanding of and support for the ideals and vital work of the United Nations. As an executive board member, she actively helps sponsor programs through UNACC that inform the citizens of issues important to the United Nations. Her mastery of information resources from the United Nations and standing with UNACC has provided her opportunities to work with the local High Schools Model UN program. For more information about UNACC go to: http://www.unacentrecountypa.org/

In 2010, Helen spearheaded efforts for the University Libraries to acquire the original Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Rural Development (CIKARD) collection of more than 2,000 items from Iowa State. This collection is part of 20 global networks of indigenous knowledge resources centers and the only one located in the United States. Indigenous knowledge is an emerging area of study that focuses on the ways of knowing, seeing, and thinking that are passed down orally from generation to generation. Helen’s understanding of international government information and ability to promote internationally focused collections provide some interesting opportunities.

Recently, she was invited to speak with librarians in Ethiopia about the relationship of indigenous knowledge and international government resources. This has fascinating ramifications for our understanding of government information in a paper-based society. She has also been able to make valuable connections with the study of indigenous knowledge and her work with the United Nations. This is demonstrated in the UNACC’s promotion of “International Day of the World’s Indigenous People”. For more information about the Inter-institutional Consortium for Indigenous Knowledge (ICIK) go to: http://icik.psu.edu/psul/icik.html

There is so much more that I could say about Helen’s contributions to our community. Please join me in celebrating Helen’s accomplishments and recognition of her commitment to the library profession.