Dear Colleagues and Friends,
In the ancient Roman mythology and religion the god Janus symbolizes beginnings and transitions. Janus, the two-faced god looks back to the past and looks toward the future. With the passing of 2012, our chapter has written another successful six months to the pages of its history. Here are a few highlights of the accomplishments of 2012.
Starting on June 1st we transitioned from the 2011/2012-service year to 2012/2013 year, by having the previous elected officers and committees members pass the torch to the newly elected officers and committee members.
During that business meeting we formed five committees: an Outreach Committee, a Bylaws/Nominating/Election Committee, a Communications Committee a Membership Committee and the Professional Development Committee. Although the number of the committees is fewer our commitment to them is strong.
In this message I would like to share with you some major accomplishments of our committees.
Communications Committee
Website
In our fast paced, digital age all of us are aware that the first impression of an organization can be its website.
Via the website we represent ourselves to those unfamiliar with our organization, those who may wish to join, new members, interested library professionals, as well as those looking for inspiration or a chance serve on a committee or as a officer.
Thus the first action was to be rebuild the chapter’s website. If you have not seen the current website I strongly encourage you to take a look at it. It is fresh, savvy, with a great user interface.
The acknowledgement goes to Chezire Aclimandos, who is the Communications Committee’s Chairperson, Webmaster and Blog Editor. Through her hard work today, we are proud to invite new or seasoned members to check us out. The new website went live in September.
Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook
Communications Committee members: Sandra Brekke and Shannon Meaney put NCNMLG on the social media map. Through their hard work and marketing, our chapter members are actively linked and could discuss professional events and other items of mutual interest as well as are connected to other MLA chapters.
Blog
With Bijan Esfahani joining as Blog Editor and working with Chezire we have seen an increased number of articles and events posted on our blog. Go check out some of the interesting pieces on our members’ careers or professional development.
Membership Committee
Under the leadership of Raquel Abad, this committee has asked our existing members to make a commitment (like renewing vows) and decide if they wish continue to be a part of NCNMLG. This meant to reaffirm their memberships and pay the annual fees.
Raquel gave a deadline for each of the members to respond. Those who wanted to stay with NCNMLG were included in the new membership directory and remained connected through the listserv. The new membership directory containing our active members’ contact information was sent out in October.
Not everyone has to pay for the privilege of membership and you don’t have to be an MLA member in order to join our chapter. Currently we have 140 active members. Applications to join the NCNMLG membership are ongoing and steadily increasing.
Professional Development Committee
Great progress has been made in the Professional Development Committee under the leadership of Claire Sharifi. Last year our chapter did not give out any awards. This past year we had two active scholarships members could apply for: The Ysabel Bertolucci Award for Professional Excellence and the NCNMLG Professional Development Award. After evaluation of all applications, the P. D. Committee selected Beverly McLeod and Hella Bluhm-Stieber for the NCNMLG Professional Development Award.
Also, after the passing of Ysabel Bertolucci, one of the library vendors, Wendy Basham, Executive Director of Rittenhouse approached me and offered to contribute to the scholarship fund that was created to honor Ysabel. In November our chapter has received the $500 grant from Rittenhouse.
I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce a new member of the PD Committee, Kristine Macalalad, who will be focusing on mentoring.
Outreach Committee
Under the leadership of Xan Goodman the Outreach Committee has spearheaded several projects. Among them was a presentation in Las Vegas at the Lifelong Dreams open house in August.
She also arranged for virtual presenters to interact with students in professor Charlie Greenberg’s Medical Librarianship class on Nov. 6 where Raquel Abad from UC Davis, Mike Liddicoat from the El Camino Hospital and Claire Shariffi from the University of San Francisco discussed their library careers. If you are interested in viewing this event, check it out at: http://tinyurl.com/cycbyx8 Lastly, thinking ahead, in 2013 two chapter members will participate at the SJSU Spring Career Colloquium.
Continuous Education
Our chapter takes continuous education seriously and makes sure to provide Cont. Ed. opportunities for its members. On September 19, 2012 Shannon Meaney and Sandra Brekke gave a very informative presentation titled, “Facebook and Social Media” given for the National Libraries of Medicine Midday at the Oasis. http://middaysocialmedia.weebly.com/index.html
On November 30, Connie Schardt provided a workshop on EBM at UCSF titled, “Information Treasure Hunt: Supporting Evidence-Based Practice@ Your Institution”. This event was brought to us by the cooperation of NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region and Peggy Tahir, PRS NLM Representative who hosted the event.
Another educational opportunity we got involved with was the recent Internet Library Conference from October 20-24, 2012 in Monterey, CA. I have attended this conference in the past and was always convinced of its value. So this year I inquired from Infotoday, the conference organizers if our chapter members could receive a discount if they attended it. The cost we received as $329, instead of $499 a $170 savings. We had members who took advantage of this good savings and attended the conference. Chezire and Suzanne attended the conference.
Jane Blumenthal, MLA President’s Visit
During the November business meeting our chapter hosted Jane Blumenthal, MLA President. Jane and our members discussed how the library profession has changed in the last decade and how the role of the MLA in keeping its membership viable in today’s work environment.
Treasury
In December the Executive Board approved the 2012/2013 budget. Lively discussion addressed one of our main issues, how to increase the chapter’s revenue. Many of us are committed to develop the chapter’s funds, so watch for future announcements.
NCNMLG and MLGSCA Joint Meeting
With Beverley McLeod’s contribution, our chapter is represented in the marketing of the upcoming Joint Meeting. The Joint Meeting entitled ”Waves of Change, Oceans of Opportunity” will take place in San Diego from July 23-27, 2013. This event will offer plenty of continuous education courses and lots of opportunities to network with our colleagues.
MLA Nominating Committee Member: Julia Kochi
In December MLA certified and announced the winners of the 2013/2014 Election Results. Julia E. Kochi was elected as one of the members of the Nominating Committee. She will assume her new role during the MLA’s Annual Meeting in May 2013 in Boston. We are excited that our chapter will be represented by Julia on the national platform.
Holiday Party
On December 11, 2012 many of our members joined together to celebrate the end of the year. We met at the California Café and enjoyed a hearty lunch with some good conversation and holiday cheers.
Looking ahead 2013
More educational opportunities will be given to our chapter members in January. There is still time to register for Lauren Maggio’s PSR MLA presentation on January 25, 2013 entitled: “Supporting Open Access: Librarians as advocates, researchers and educators and role models” http://lane.stanford.edu/classes-consult/laneclass.html?class-id=272
As you can see with all our members’ help and enthusiasm we have accomplished a lot during the last 6 months and there is plenty more to do. If your New Year’s resolution is become active in the chapter’s business please let one of our Executive Board Members know, or just show up at the next business meeting on February 19. It is a rewarding and fun way to connect to our colleagues and represent our profession.
Happy New Year!
Judith
Judith Weiner Mills, AHIP, MLIS, MS
Knowledge Manager Librarian
NCNMLG President