SLA Military Libraries Blog

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MLW 2013 is Scheduled for Dec 9-11in Huntsville, AL

Save the date!

The Military Libraries Division of the Special Libraries Association will hold the 2013 Military Libraries Workshop in Huntsville, AL, 9-11 December 2013. You do not need to be a member of MLD, or work in a military library, to attend.

 We plan to focus on resiliency and adapting to change in the library environment. The meetings will take place in downtown Huntsville's Von Braun Center, adjacent to the Embassy Suites Hotel. All attendees are eligible for the hotel's contract rate, currently $87 a night. The hotel also offers a free shuttle from the airport. More information will be posted on the Division website, http://military.sla.org/, as the program progresses.

FEDLINK Announces FY12 Award Winners

The Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK) has announced the winners of its national awards for federal librarianship, which recognize the many innovative ways that federal libraries, librarians and library technicians fulfill the information demands of government, business and scholarly communities and the American public.

 

FEDLINK honored the award winners at the 2013 FEDLINK Spring Exposition on May 22, 2013, at the Library of Congress in Washington, where the winners received their awards from the Library’s Associate Librarian for Library Services, Roberta I. Shaffer. The names of the winners will remain on permanent display in the FEDLINK offices at the Library of Congress. Federal libraries and staff throughout the United States and abroad competed in three award categories.

 The winners are listed below.

2012 Federal Library/Information Center of the Year Large Library/Information Center (with a staff of 11 or more federal and/or contract employees): Research Library, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, is recognized for its leadership role in initiating new data services (including sophisticated data-discovery tools) and its rapidly growing data-reference service. The library improved data discovery by releasing an enhanced library catalog, which includes metadata for datasets as well as traditional library materials. Staff also began offering data-reference assistance in addition to traditional reference services. This included locating specific data points in the datasets to match customer research needs. The library also initiated and launched an end-user intellectual property education campaign focused on data and information best practices, using the library’s catalog to detail permitted and prohibited uses and citation requirements. The library also developed innovative tools in response to community needs and created a mobile site for staff access to research databases, e-journals, news and working papers on Internet-enabled devices including tablets and smartphones.

Small Library/Information Center (with a staff of 10 or fewer federal and/or contract employees): RAF Alconbury Base Library, 423d Force Support Squadron, U.S. Air Force, Huntingdon, England, is recognized for providing outstanding library services, collection development, space design, and innovative programming and budgeting. In support of the 38 education degrees offered by five accredited schools, the library vigorously promoted its electronic resources, College Level Exam Program (CLEP) testing materials, and Tutor.com program. The expansion of the graphic novel collection encouraged reluctant readers of all ages, while a vibrant collection of bestselling books, just-out-of-the-theater films, and the latest video games attracted patrons of all ages. Recognizing the importance of people far from home having a safe and welcoming place, the library creatively improved the design of its facilities. Not only were staff members able to rework the layout ergonomically, the redesign led to measurable increase in customer satisfaction for its 6,600-person base population. By pursuing alternative lease and purchase programs, the library reduced its acquisition costs to free up funds for both traditional services and community-building events.

2012 Federal Librarian of the Year Joyce C. Greene, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, is recognized for promoting the full value of the resources of the Marshall Center Research Library and the capabilities of its professional staff while working behind the scenes to preserve the facility’s valuable resources. Through her visionary leadership and innovative solutions, Greene demonstrated her awareness of recent and emerging trends across the information profession, applying change-management principles to prepare the library for the future by creating foundational support for those changes today. Greene championed the development of a new Content Management Office, which has increased the center’s momentum toward organizational change, and developed a digital library and repository with six unique collections. To respond to the multilingual nature of the library and its bibliographic records requiring data in several languages, Greene spearheaded work on a future library delivery system. Through her work on this initiative in fiscal year 2012, she designed an evaluation process for library products, services, and systems, while overseeing testing of indexing and records processing, including those in Cyrillic. Her combined

efforts have helped ensure that the library remains a capable and valued part of the Marshall Center. 2012 Federal Library Technician of the Year Tiffany Hughey, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern Library, Landstuhl, Germany, is recognized for improving the quality of life for her military community by supporting educational advancement, military reference and research, and leisure-needs activities. Hughey combines her efforts to provide high-quality customer service with expert technical competency to develop programming and training opportunities in an environment of reduced budget and staff. Hughey created an in-house sponsor program for new overseas staff and developed a series of trainings and guides for adult and teen library volunteers. Her enthusiastic reader-advisory services raised reserve requests by 40 percent and her work at a one of the branch libraries led to a demonstrable increase in circulation efforts. She also created a number of workflow processes to streamline resource and supply systems. She has seamlessly combined her professional technician skills with a thorough knowledge of Army policies and procedures, allowing her to improve programming and services in the garrison and in Army Europe Libraries.

MLD Celebrates Begins Year Long 60th Anniversary at SLA Leadership Summit

The Military Libraries Division (MLD) was the talk of the SLA Leadership Summit, held February 6-8, 2013 in Dallas, TX. MLD had several members and past members attending the SLA Leadership Summit, including Michael F. Moore (Division Chair), Christine Marshall (Director – Conference Planner 2014), Betty Edwards (Director – Conference Planner 2015, also representing the Engineering Division), Marie Kaddell (representing the Washington DC Chapter), and Deborah Keller (past MLD Secretary, representing the Knowledge Management Division).

On Thursday, MLD celebrated their Division’s 60th anniversary with cake and cupcakes at the afternoon break. . The cake was rich vanilla with blue and gold cream frosting and a hint of strawberry between the layers, and the cupcakes were vanilla and chocolate cake with frosting and sprinkles. The Summit attendees were delighted by the additional treats during their break. Among the many congratulations were several people who predicted the attendees would have a sugar crash an hour after the break, and Chapter Cabinet Chair Debbie Schachter told the crowd that more SLA Units should celebrate their anniversaries at the Leadership Summit.

On Friday, MLD was recognized with a Unit Ingenuity & Innovation Award “for its exemplary support of membership recruitment via its student program.” In 2011, the Military Libraries Division decided to encourage more students to join their division by sponsoring the “100 Students Project.” 100 students could add the Military Libraries Division as an additional Division at no extra cost, and five students would be selected through an essay contest to receive one year paid membership to SLA and MLD. Through this program, the MLD added 20 student members in 2012. Division Chair Michael F. Moore accepted the award from Division Cabinet Past Chair Richard Huffine, and gave credit to MLD Student Liaison Tammy Lowery, who took the Board’s proposal and made it happen.

 At the Division Cabinet Meeting on Friday afternoon, Division Cabinet Chair Ann Koopman’s report included mention of the cancellation of the Military Libraries Workshop, and in the same breath reminded people of the recent award and the 60th anniversary celebration.

Michael F. Moore, MLD Chair 2013

FEDLINK to Manage Information Acquisitions Across Federal Agencies

Service Will Provide Cost Savings to Executive, Legislative, Judicial Branches

The Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK), a unit of the Library of Congress, will manage the acquisition of information products and services – such as subscriptions, books, maps and newspapers – on behalf of federal agencies that opt into the program. The service could potentially save hundreds of millions of dollars and increase access to information resources for the benefit of the American people.

Currently, more than 20 federal agencies, both military and civilian – including FEDLINK – participate in the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI). FSSI was created in 2005 by the Department of the Treasury, the Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration to identify products and services that could be purchased more efficiently through strategic sourcing. FSSI agencies also provide centralized acquisition for a variety of products to streamline efficiency and reduce costs to the federal government and taxpayers.

FEDLINK already serves as a centralized manager of information products and services acquisitions on behalf of more than 90 federal agencies and bureaus throughout all branches of government. Expanding that service to other federal agencies could potentially save between $140 million and $555 million over the next four years across federal government agencies depending on participation, according to a report by the Federal Research Division at the Library of Congress.

"We are pleased to leverage the work FEDLINK has done on behalf of federal libraries for nearly 40 years to expand federal savings across other agencies," said Blane K. Dessy, FEDLINK executive director. "Our experience in information products acquisitions makes FEDLINK uniquely positioned to offer this service, and we are eager to do our part to reduce costs while ensuring federal agencies have the information they need," Dessy said.

The initial effort will target legal information and science, technology, engineering and medical content. FEDLINK has been offering a diverse array of resources for federal libraries since 1974, including web-based subscriptions, books, maps, newspapers and periodicals.

 Strategic sourcing is the collaborative process of critically analyzing an organization’s spending, then using the information to make decisions about acquiring commodities and services more effectively. Its primary goals are to strategically source across federal agencies; find ways to increase total cost savings, value, and socioeconomic participation; collaborate with industry to develop optimal solutions; share best practices; and create a strategic sourcing community.

The Federal Library and Information Network is an organization of federal agencies working together to achieve optimum use of the resources and facilities of federal libraries and information centers by promoting common services, coordinating and sharing available resources, and providing continuing professional education for federal library and information staff. FEDLINK serves as a forum for discussion of the policies, programs, procedures and technologies that affect federal libraries and the information services they provide to their agencies, to the Congress, the federal courts and the American people.

Originally established by the Librarian of Congress in 1963 as the Federal Library Committee (later the Federal Library and Information Center Committee or "FLICC"), FEDLINK continues in recognition of the need for cooperation and concerted action within the community of federal libraries and information centers in the 21st century. In 2001, the Congress established a statutory revolving fund under 2 U.S.C. §182c to support FEDLINK interagency procurement and library support efforts.

 For more information, please send an email to%20fliccfpe@loc.gov. 

Greta's LInks-- White House plan - gun violence

The White House has release its plan for reducing gun violence today. The plan " Now is the Time: The President's plan to protect our children and our communities by reducing gun violence" can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_time_full.pdf%20

The report and other related information can be found on the main website http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/preventing-gun-violence

Greta Marlatt wins I Love My Librarian Award

http://atyourlibrary.org/sites/default/files/greta-marlatt-nomination.pdfFrom the @Your Library websiite the winners of 2012 Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award! have been announced. They include our own Greta Marlatt.   Greta Marlatt, from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA is one of twelve winners.  Her inscription says, "“The impact of her assistance and reputation are literally felt worldwide.”

 Read her nomination. http://atyourlibrary.org/sites/default/files/greta-marlatt-nomination.pdf

Winter Virtual Conference Recordings

Colleagues, The special Winter Virtual Conference (WVC)is (mostly) available at the URL below.

This virtual training opportunity was put together from a variety of SLA Chapters and Divisions' online webinars. The Pharmaceutical & Health Technology (PHT) Division had the lead and organized the Conference, and as a whole the WVC has a health-based slant. For some of you it may be just what you wanted/needed. For others, well, you have to think how you can apply the ideas and information to suit your particular situation. So open your mind and checkout the variety of sessions.

Of special interest to info pros in the military community are:

1. Marketing for the Information Professional (Remember, you can't do too much marketing!)

2. Framework Fight Club (Important to consider the source here - the Competitive Intelligence Division)

 3. Converse with People and Gain Real-Time Intelligence (From the Rocky Mountain Division - Great ideas)

4. Career Agility: Transforming Knowledge and Expertise into Strategic Value (Excellent advice from Incoming SLA President)

 If you missed the Winter Virtual Conference 2012 or would like to review a session, recordings and slides are now available at: http://pht.sla.org/2012/12/07/winter-virtual-conference-slides-audio-recordings/%20Many thanks to the SLA Divisions and Chapter that provided this outstanding program. Thank you for sharing!

2012 MLD Distinguished Service Award Winners Announced

I would like to announce our 2012 MLD Distinguished Service Award winners: Gail Nicula Connie Wiley This Award annually recognizes MLD members for outstanding and sustained service to the Military Libraries Division.

 Dr Janet Gail Nicula National Defense University, US Joint Forces Staff College Library In 2003, Gail worked on the Military Libraries Workshop 2003 as the Program Planner. She and her staff contributed greatly to the success of the National Defense University hosting of that MLW. Some innovative ideas included a marketing model for static display on the History of Military Libraries that was built at the site. Gail served as the Membership Chair for the Division in 2004-2010 and recruited additional members to support this very important activity. MLW 2011 in Norfolk, VA, was a team effort led by a vibrant and enthusiastic leader. The success for all the planning brought many attendees and sponsors to the meeting. Innovations at MLW 2011 included Meet and Greet First Timers, a sit down Networking Breakfast and numerous free time tours and events. Of particular interest for the MLD Distinguished Services Award is the manner in which Gail was able to involve the staff at the Joint Staff College as well as Librarians representing all services in the Norfolk ar ea. For the collaboration among the Tidewater librarians, the successful inclusion of Joint Forces Library Staff and the leadership show throughout the two year process, Gail Nicula is well deserving of the Division's Distinguished Service Award.

Connie J. Wiley Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity Library, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Connie Wiley has been an active member of MLD for over 10 years. During that time, she has served as the DoD Director (2001-2002), the Membership Chair (2001-2002) and the Director at Large (2011-2012). In 2004, MLW was to be held in Columbia, SC and hosted by the Chaplains' School with the assistance of the Defense Polygraph Institute and the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC). Due to unforeseen circumstances, DTIC's role in the planning of this event became much larger, and Connie assumed a leadership role. She was involved with hotel arrangements, menu planning, program planning, logistics, and more. She did all of this with good humor, grace, and calm. The success of MLW 2004 was due in no small part to Connie's efforts. The Division continued to benefit from Connie's planning expertise over the last 2 years when she served as Director at Large, planning the Division's programs for the 2012 SLA Annual Conference in Chicago, IL. She arranged for the Divisi on's program sessions, business meeting and luncheon, as well as social activities. For her continued service in a leadership capacity over an extended period of time, Connie Wiley is well deserving of the Division's Distinguished Service Award.

Thank you both for many years work!

2012 Military Libraries Workshop Cancelled

It is with great regret that we announce to you the cancellation of the Military Libraries Workshop (MLW) scheduled for December 3-7 2012 in Albuquerque, NM. Please see the attached letter for further details

.Download MLW 2012 Members and Registrants Cancellation Letter

Program Now Available for DMIL 2012

DMIL 2012 program is now posted on the DMIL webpage 

http://military.sla.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/MLW-Schedule-13JUL12-mm.pdf

The theme is Military Libraries:  Modern Trailblazers.