SLA Maryland Chapter Blog

See your Maryland Conference Connections whether in Philly or not!

Do you plan to attend the Annual Conference?  If not, check out the Virtual Component below.  If so, read on!

Mid-Atlantic Chapters Reception
Don’t miss the Mid-Atlantic Chapters Reception!  It will be held on Monday, June 13th from 7:30 to 10pm in Salon C of the Marriott.  Tickets are available via the Conference Registration form.  For detailed instructions on updating the form see our site.  Don’t miss the ice cream bar and great raffle prizes from the Maryland Chapter!

Conference Contacts
Are there other Chapter Members you have not seen for a while and would like to catch up with, while you’re in the City of Brotherly Love?  Share your contact information while in Philly with other Maryland Chapters Members so you can stay in touch. This is a completely free and voluntary service to Maryland members and only participants will receive shared contact information.  If you are interested in participating register for the Maryland Conference Contacts service by Thursday,  June 9th.

Conference Buddies
Is this one of the first times you are attending the Annual Conference?  If so, you may be interested in meeting more experienced members of the Chapter while at the conference.

Are you an experienced member who would like to meet new members with fresh perspectives about SLA and the information profession?  If so, then register to be a Conference Buddy while you are in Philadelphia.

Register here to be a Conference Buddy!

Not going to the Conference this year?

Virtual Component
Don’t miss out just because you’re not in Philadelphia.  Join our Past-President, Sean Henry, in the Virtual Component.  Registration is half the cost of the Conference and you will be able to view and participate in the Opening and Closing Sessions and the Virtual INFO-EXPO.  See the Virtual Component for details.

I hope to see you in Philly!

Cindy Sheffield
Maryland Chapter, President-Elect

Award Winners

Congratulations to the MD SLA members who recently won the Federal Library and Information Center Committee(FLICC)/Library of Congress Awards!:

Eleanor G. Frierson, Deputy Director of the National Agricultural Library (NAL), Beltsville, MD received the 2010 Federal Librarian of the Year award for her leadership and direction of NAL and her service as co-chair of the Science.gov Alliance. She has continually nurtured partnerships across government and has advocated tirelessly for federal libraries and the value of open access to information. She has demonstrated excellence in her abilities to manage the full lifecycle of information, build dynamic collections, critically evaluate, select and filter resources from a broad array of quality sources, negotiate information acquisition and develop organizational information policies. Frierson is also known for her success in strategically mobilizing information organizations to achieve a shared vision of excellence. In fiscal year 2010, she oversaw the launch of major enhancements and content additions to Science.gov 5.0, including a new search tool for science scholarships and fellowships, search for both the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations, and a "Science in the News" feed from U.S. science agencies. Internationally, she chairs the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) Government Information and Official Publications Section, and serves as the U.S. representative to the WorldwideScience.org Alliance.

The library staff  (Denise Lupp, Lori Beaudoin, Jenny Novacesu) of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Ft. Detrick, MD won the 2010 FLICC Small Library of the Year Award in recognition for their efforts in providing an array of educational and informational opportunities to engage its patrons and increase its value to other agencies at Ft. Detrick and to the Department of Homeland Security's National Biodefense and Countermeasures Center. In addition to designing an innovative combination of support and outreach efforts, the library digitized and preserved laboratory notebooks and developed a collection of published research papers from junior scientists. By providing searchable electronic access to these digitized resources and by maintaining its broader collection of e-resource, database, document and traditional materials, the library served more than 850 institute employees and sister-agency staff members throughout the command. Included in its Fiscal Year 2010 support to its local community was the library's participation in the committees on Military Family Readiness, Deployed Soldier Support and Institutional Animal Care and Use. Through its internal and external outreach efforts, the library established itself as the prime source of information and innovative programming and thoroughly underscored its value to the institute and its neighboring community.

                                                                                                                    ~ Denise Lupp

In Search of a New Chapter Discussion List Manager

Would you like to hold a chapter position that carries a lot of respect but only requires a little work? If so, consider volunteering to become our new Chapter Discussion List Manager!  We need someone to administer the SLA Maryland Chapter email discussion list via a user-friendly Web interface.  As Discussion List Manager, among other light duties, you would get to approve new members who join the list and be able to customize automated welcome messages. The SLA Headquarters has put together an online toolkit of resources and useful tips for discussion list "owners"  here (SLA member login required), where you can learn more about this intriguing volunteer opportunity.

Another New Volunteer Opportunity ...

Volunteer Committee: I would welcome a couple of people to work with me on the Chapter Volunteer Committee! Tasks would include advertising volunteer positions here on the blog, or the discussion list. Help contacting potential volunteers (I keep a list) would be helpful too. Additionally, I need fresh perspectives for developing a volunteer "welcome aboard" kit.

Check out these and other opportunites to volunteer and give back to our profession at our 2011 Volunteer Needs List. You can sign up there, or contact me at shenry@frostburg.edu if you are interested or have any questions.

Sean Henry
2011 Chapter Past-President

President's Message: May 2011

Hello!

Just a little over a month until the annual conference!  I’ll be there and I’m looking forward to it.  I hope you fellow Maryland Chapter members will be joining me in the city of brotherly love for this opportunity to become “future ready”.

If you are at the conference, please join us at the Mid-Atlantic Chapters Reception on Monday June 13th at 7:30pm.  The Maryland, District of Columbia, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Princeton-Trenton, and Virginia Chapters are planning a party you won’t want to miss!  You can purchase your ticket through the conference registration, or you can purchase on-site at the registration booth.  Tickets are $5 for members.  We hope to see you there - it’s sure to be a great time!  This reception is sponsored by Leadership Directories and Thomson Reuters.

Also, in case you haven’t heard, they’re doing something a little different this year at the conference - and you can help spread the word!  The conference planners have a developed the Need to Know Forum, which is a unique opportunity for non-SLA members to learn about the value of access to authoritative information by attending selected conference sessions and a networking lunch on Tuesday, June 14th.  So…invite your boss, a colleague, a friend, or anyone that should be briefed on the importance of authoritative information.  There’s still time to register!  Find out more at http://sla2011.tornado1.com/general-information/n2k/. 

In addition to prepping for the conference, the Maryland Chapter Board has been busy.  A few highlights include:
• A very successful Job Search Workshop that was held on April 16th!  Read more about it at http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/maryland/2011/04/job-search-career-workshop.html.
• Developing an upcoming membership survey.  We want to hear from you!  How are we doing?  Could the board improve upon anything to increase the value of your membership?
• Investigating and working on migrating our website and blog to the association’s new Wordpress platform.

And don’t forget to stop by our summer happy hours!
• Thursday, July 21st, Brewer's Art, Baltimore
• Thursday, August 25th,  Clyde's in Columbia

With all of the stuff we’re working on, we can always welcome more volunteers!  If you’d like to volunteer for the Chapter, we have several volunteer opportunities available.  Take a look at the committees and sign-up here or contact our Volunteers Coordinator, Sean Henry.  Volunteering is a great opportunity to explore and gain new skills.

Keep an eye out for more news and events, via our blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or listerv.  I’m looking forward to seeing you all at upcoming Chapter programs!

Best regards,
Ashley Conaway
Chapter President 2011