SLA Social Science Division Blog

Whither SLA?

2011 DSOC Secretary/Treasurer Kadri Kalikorm-Rhodes offers her thoughts on the role of SLA, DSOC and special libraries...feel free to leave a response in the comments!

The libraries and information centers we work at are becoming increasingly less like each other, molding themselves more and more to the exact needs and requirements of our host institutions. That also means that the kinds of services we provide varies immensely. In fact, we may end up linked to our fellow professionals by a graduate degree (for most of us) and a little more than the passion for managing information and exemplary customer service, as many of SLA members are becoming high-level subject matter experts in specific research or policy areas, while others end up spending most of our time wrangling KM projects, metatagging or curating electronic publications. Is this inevitable? Pretty much, I think. Look at it one way, it is a question of professional survival. On the other hand, it is also an opportunity to reinvent ourselves and our libraries or information, making both (more) central, more essential, to the core business of the institution we are serving.

So where would that leave SLA, and Social Science Division in particular? Is there a role for them? I believe so. In fact, I think that in this era of increased accountability and demands on our time and resources, SLA (and the annual conference in particular) could be crucial for special librarians (for lack of better common term – you know who you are..) by doing two things: providing an opportunity to network and learn from the experience of others in the same shoes, and by giving members a chance to get quick overviews of new technological developments, catch up with vendors, and learn things not immediately related to any urgent issues burning a hole our inboxes (if you’re anything like me, you spend most of your days on fireman-duty during the rest of the year..).  So I am optimistic. But enough about me - what do YOU think?

Resource of Interest: Hunger Report

DSOC Member Christine Matthews notes that her organization, the Bread for the World Institute has published a new report of interest:

Bread’s 2011 Hunger Report: Our Common Interest: Ending Hunger and Malnutrition is now available online  and for purchase ($20).  This year’s report examines the food crisis that led to the establishment of USAID’s Feed the Future and “1,000 days” initiatives.  It emphasizes maternal and infant health and foreign aid effectiveness, and includes interactive data, a video and a study guide.

Christine also notes that Bread has moved and because of the move, orders may be a little slow.

Resources of Interest

DSOC Division Chair Marilyn Bromley brings to our attention two noteworthy tools from SAGE Publications

1. SAGE Research Methods Online which consists of a
repository of SAGE's book and reference material on research
methods, a visual Methods Map to enable researchers to
search for methods, theories and terms using a search engine
or taxonomy, and a list function to create and share reading
lists in their discipline.

2. Methodspace, a networking site for social scientists
which has over 7700 members in all academic disciplines.
The site offers a discussion space, lists of conferences and
events, and a place to review new social science resources
and access free content.

[Hat tip to Outsell Insights, a weekly email newsletter]

Marilyn Bromley

John Sessions Memorial Award

For those of you involved in both ALA and SLA, Labor Issues Section Chair Larry Guthrie passes on this information:

Deadline is December 15.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2011 John Sessions Memorial Award offered by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA).

Established in 1980, the award is named in honor of John Sessions, former American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) co-chair of the AFL-CIO/ALA Joint Committee on Library Service to Labor Groups.  The John Sessions Memorial Award recognizes a library or library system which has made a significant effort to work with the labor community and by doing so has brought recognition to the history and contribution of the labor movement to the development of the United States. Such efforts may include outreach projects to local labor unions; establishment of, or significant expansion of, special labor collections; initiation of programs of special interest to the labor community; or other library activities that serve the labor community.

The Murray-Green Library at Roosevelt University, Chicago, was the 2010 recipient of the award. Through its development of resources such as the “Oral History Project in Labor History,” the Murray-Green Library has made an ongoing commitment to preserving and increasing the public’s accessibility to labor history.  In particular, the “Oral History Project” contains a multitude of interviews and transcripts with Chicago-area labor movement participants conducted by Elizabeth Balanoff in the 1970s. The interview transcripts were recently digitized by Roosevelt University Librarians Michael Gabriel and David Green thanks to a grant from the Illinois State Library. William Green, former leader of the American Federation of Labor (ALF), and Philip Murray, leader of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, are both namesakes of the library and served on the university’s original Board of Advisers.

The 2011 award will presented at the RUSA Awards Reception during the ALA Annual Conference, June 23–28, 2011, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

To nominate a library or library system, download and complete the nomination form (PDF format), and follow the submission instructions therein. Questions should be directed to the committee chair.