SLA Social Science Division Blog

New DSOC Members for Jan/Feb 2009

New member update

Welcome to our newest members who joined DSOC in January and February 2009! We are very glad to have you and look forward to hearing from you during the year.

Ms. Christie Peters, Greensboro, North Carolina

Mr. Raja Aashiq Hussain Khan, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan

Mr. Fozia Anjum, Chahian, Pakistan

Ms. Deaidre Chambers, Detroit, Michigan

Ms. Patricia Larson, Davis, Californi

Ms. Amanda Eggers, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Ms. Daphne Kouretas, Los Angeles, California

Mr. Steven Melavas, Clarion, Pennsylvania

Ms. Jennifer DeLett-Snyder, Sparks, Nevada

Ms. Muzammil Tahira, Lahore, Pakistan

Ms. Leia Dickerson, Windsor Mill, Maryland

Mr. Zachary Ott, La Valle, Wisconsin

Ms. Leah Thomas, Richmond, Virginia

Ms. Cathey Dugan, Arlington, Virginia

Ms. Erin Krasniewicz, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

SLA Twitter Directory

Looking for SLA members and units on Twitter? SLA's Innovation Laboratory now includes a directory of SLA Twitter users. (Note you will need to log in, or create a free account if you don't already have one, to view pages on SLA's Wiki Spaces.)

Twitter, if you're not familiar with it, is a micro-blogging platform. The Social Science Division started tweeting using the #dsoc tag at the SLA Leadership Summit in January. You can follow our division tweets on our web site - or sign up for your own free Twitter account and follow us there!

According to the SLA directory, which was based on a survey conducted earlier this month, there are several DSOC members using Twitter, including myself and our chair-elect Marilyn Bromley. If you are a division member using Twitter, log on to the wiki page and add your name to the directory!

The Truth About Libraries and the Economy

I don't work in a public library, but my 3 closest friends from grad school do.  From what they've told me, they are busier at work than they've ever been.  People are flocking to the library for help with anything and everything that can help them through these tough economic times: resume help, job searching, grant applications, government aid, and on and on.  

One friend said that last week was the first time she'd ever had to pick up the phone and say "Reference, can you hold please?" because there was a line of people waiting for her help. 

With cutbacks everywhere, public libraries in hiring freezes, and more people heading to the library for free help, librarians are swamped with work.  And now, they are facing the possibility that they won't "meet the minimum standards for library spending and operating hours needed for recertification"! 

Author Anne Herbert spoke the truth when she said Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.

Only in doing cursory research for this post did I discover that this statement was derived from Gilbert Shelton's remark that Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope.

But hey, Anne was still right, no matter where the sentiment came from!

"too old to rock and roll?" "too old to blog?"

Does anyone read these blogs?

Elana Broch

Chair

Public Policy Section

Another Way to Keep Up With Blogs

I don't know about you, but sometimes I find that I don't end up going to my feed aggregator because, even though I've really whittled down what I keep up with, there are still so many things to read I know I'll get caught there for quite a while!

For the feeds I'm especially interested in keeping up with (like the DSOC blog, of course!), I have chosen to use an RSS to Email service called FeedMyInbox.  What I like best about it is that there is no account to sign up for that would force me to make up yet another combination of one of my 3 email addresses and 5 typical passwords. 

Rather, you just enter the address of the website you want to get the feed from, enter the email address you want the feed sent to, and confirm by clicking on a link they send you.  After that, any time the blog is updated, it shows up in your inbox! 

-Brandy, DSOC webmaster

Deadline Extended for DSOC Poster Session Proposals

Don't miss out on your chance to present a poster at SLA 2009, and an opportunity to win a one-year SLA membership.

The deadline to submit a proposal for our poster session during the SLA 2009 conference has been extended to March 20, 2009.

See the call for posters for submission guidelines. The author of the poster judged the best by session attendees will receive a one-year SLA membership.

We had a great range of poster styles and topics at our poster session last year, and the presenters said they enjoyed sharing their work with colleagues. Take a look at the photos for some inspiration. Here is a picture of Jacie Spoon and her winning poster last year:

 

 

 

 

Contact any member of the poster committee with questions:

Tara Murray, Social Science Division

Chris Miller, Social Science Division

Ann Shea, Museum, Arts, and Humanities Division

 

<em>Blog post submitted by Tara Murray</em>

Report on the SLA Leadership Summit, Part 4 (Thursday)

Steve McGarvey, a noted authority on unconscious communication, persuasion, and influence, was Thursday’s keynote speaker.  His topic was “Leadership & Communication in a Time of Change,” with a goal of helping attendees learn ways to communicate our value more effectively.  One of the points he made that still resonates with me is that it’s important to figure out what you want others to do/think/act on, and come up with a plan to accomplish your desired outcome.

 

As an example, he showed a photo of a cliff on the edge of the sea, with a sign that said something like “danger, do not climb over the fence,” and a young man about to climb over.  In other words, as soon as you tell someone not to do something, or tell them “don’t think about me this way” – they will!  It’s much better to figure out what you want them to do or how you want to be perceived and “guide their brains there.”

 

Interesting quotes from his talk included:

“Our ability to lead is directly proportionate to our ability to influence.”

“No communication is successful unless it answers the [listener’s] question – what does this mean for me?”

“Offer a compelling why.”

“Tell a story; connect on an emotional level with those you wish to influence.”

Decide how you want people to think about you, and “say it the way you want it.”

Mr. McGarvey’s Powerpoint presentation can be found on the Leadership Summitpage.

 

Marilyn Bromley

DSOC Chair-Elect

Library Director, BNA Library

Arlington VA

mbromley@bna.com

703-341-3307