SLIS Well Represented at Prime Time Family Reading Time Grant Training Session

The USF School of Library and Information Science was represented by USF alums Lucia Gonzalez, Aneatra King, Freda Mosquera, and faculty member Dr. Henrietta M. Smith at the Louisiana Educational Humanities Prime Time Family Reading Time Training Workshop in New Orleans, LA, July 23-25th. Aneatra King learned of the program while attending the 2010 Florida Library Association Annual Conference. Returning to Broward County, she wrote a grant which was accepted. Personnel needed to carry out the program in one's home area included a storyteller, a scholar and a translator. Among those selected for King's grant include Lucia Gonzalez, and Freda Mosquera, coordinator Aneatra King, and Scholar ( their title) Dr. Henrietta M. Smith.



Aneatra King, Lucia Gonzalez, Dr. Smith, and Freda Mosquera The two year program includes storytelling, with an approach that encourages open-ended discussion, participation incentives and a format that will include continuation of the library experience in the family's home. Materials for this two- year program are supplied by the grantors. Full details of the program are available on PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME : www.leh.org/html/primetime.html


The very limited free time gave the Broward County group a chance to share Beignets and coffee at the historical Cafe Au Monde and to take pictures with the living statues on Decatur Street. Watch for news of the PRIME TIME READING PROGRAM as it takes off in January 2011 in one of the six selected Broward County libraries.

Congratulations to Aneatra for writing a grant that the LEH found worthy of acceptance.
-HMS

USF SLIS Student Organizations Now on iTunes U!

The Student Organizations Brown Bag podcasts are now on iTunesU. You can view them by clicking on our new Web site at http://slisstudentorgs.usf.edu. You will find the iTunes logo on the top right of the page. You must have iTunes installed on your computer before you can view these podcasts. These Brown Bag podcasts are a great way to hear from local librarians throughout the state about their careers. They also give pointers for a student's future career as a librarian. The next scheduled Brown Bag meeting is on August 25th at 1pm in CIS 2020. Everyone is welcome to join!

SLIS Alumna Inducted into International Chapter of the Beta Phi Mu Honor Society

I attended the American Library Association's Annual Conference held in Washington, D.C. recently. In addition to attending many professional training sessions, I had the opportunity to hear some great speakers including authors Tony Morrison, Marlow Thomas and John Grisham. However, it was my distinct honor and privilege to be invited for inducted into the International Chapter of the Beta Phi Mu Honor Society.


Beta Phi Mu, the library and information studies honor society, was founded at the University of Illinois in August, 1948 by a group of leading library and information professionals and educators to recognize and encourage scholastic achievement among library and information studies students.

In 1969, Beta Phi Mu was formally admitted to membership in the Association of College Honor Societies. In 1998, Beta Phi Mu became affiliated with the American Library Association.

Their motto, Aliis inserviendo consumor, meaning "Consumed in the service of others" was selected by the founders based on the concept of dedication of librarians and other information professionals to the service of others. I am greatful for the USF Library School's recommendation of me for inclusion and for the opportunity to be a part of a profession committed to the service of others.
~Carrie Hurst

SLIS at SEFLIN 2010 Regional Conference

Over 270 library employees from the southeast Florida region attended the July 22nd annual regional SEFLIN (Southeast Florida Library Information Network) Conference. This year's theme was "LibTech 2010: Services on a Shoestring."

The attendees gathered at the Kovens Conference Center on the Florida International University Biscayne Bay Campus to hear keynote speaker Sarah Houghton-Jan, San Jose Public Library, speak on the effects of technology increases and budgets cuts on libraries and how these will shape the library of the future. Several USF/SLIS alumni made presentations on topics ranging from using Facebook to reach users, sharpening search skills using popular search engines, free Internet resources in place of databases, and serving distance learners. These included Meagan Albright (Nova Southeastern University), Daniel Tan (Broward College), Lauri Rebar (Florida Atlantic University), Bebe Chang (Broward County Library), and Sunem Beaton-Garcia (Broward College).

SLIS was one of 17 exhibitors at the conference. Representing SLIS was Maria Almaguer Treadwell, coordinator of the East Coast Program.

SLIS Alumna Julie Moore Wins National Recognition

Julie Moore, a USF SLIS Alumna and a librarian in the Technical Services Department of the Henry Madden Library at California State University, Fresno, is the 2010 winner of the Nancy B. Olson Award presented by the Online Audiovisual Catalogers Inc., an affiliate of the American Library Association.


Julie Moore with the plaque she received for this award.

Moore was selected for significant and diverse contributions to audiovisual cataloging and catalogers at the local, state, and national levels over more than twenty years. The award has special significance for Moore, who studied under Olson, the first chair of the catalogers' association.

To read more about this click here.

Push for The Robert W. Saunders Public Library

Dr. Cora P. Dunkley attended the Hillsborough County Public Budget Hearings sponsored by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) July 14, 2010 at the Federal County Center downtown, Tampa, Florida. She was among supporters of the Robert W. Saunders Public Library Foundation, Inc., a group encouraging the BOCC to begin the planning process for the new Robert W. Saunders Public Library now, rather than 2012. Since the BOCC previously voted to spend $7.845 million dollars on the facility, the new start date would mean the facility would have an opening date of 2012, rather than the initial date of 2014. The Robert W. Saunders Sr. Public Library is named after the civil rights leader who was Florida NAACP Field Secretary from 1952-1966 and author of Bridging the Gap: Continuing the Florida NAACP Legacy of Harry T. Moore, 1952-1966.

SLIS Alumna Part of Pulitzer Prize Winning Team

Angie Drobnic Holan is a contributor to PolitiFact, the St. Petersburg Times politics fact-checking Web site. Holan received her master's of library and information science degree from USF and also has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.

In 2009, Holan's PolitiFact team won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting its coverage of the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. Holan covers health care, taxes, government transparency and the federal budget for the St. Petersburg Times, Florida's largest newspaper.

SLIS Alumn Angie Drobnic Holan

Assessing Information Needs: Managing Transformative Library Services by Robert J. Grover, former SLIS Director

Assessing Information Needs: Managing Transformative Library Services by Robert J. Grover, Roger C. Greer, and John Agada offers a guide to the management of client-centered, transformative information services, based on a tested model for community analysis that can be used in any type of library or information agency.

Robert J. Grover was SLIS director from 1987-1990.

SLIS Student Victoria Schwartz Gets Published

SLIS Student Victoria Schwartz's article, "Understanding Parallel Cultures Promotes a Successful Media Program," was published in the 2010 summer Issue of Florida Media Quarterly, the official publication of the Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME), Inc. Victoria is a student in the SLIS program where her concentration is school media.
~JV

Ardis Hanson is President of ACURIL

Ardis Hanson (SLIS, 1990) director of USF's Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute Library, has been installed as the 2010-2011 president of the Association of Caribbean University, Research, and Institutional Libraries (ACURIL).

Ardis also received an ACURILEAN Star Award for excellence in research. She was one of six recipients of the award. Congratulations, Ardis!

The next ACURIL Conference will be held in Tampa, from 30 May to 3 June 2011, at the Renaissance Tampa International Plaza Hotel. The theme of the conference is "The Role of Libraries and Archives in Disaster Planning, Preparedness, and Response."

USF SLIS' Dr. Yoon Published in Professional Journal

Dr. JungWon Yoon's article "Utilizing Quantitative Users' Reactions to Represent Affective Meanings of an Image" has just been published in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology's July issue.

Dr. Yoon has been part of USF SLIS faculty since 2006, where she teaches Organization of Information, Indexing and Abstracting, Digital Libraries, and Visualization of Information. Her research interests concentrate in the areas of image representation and retrieval, user behaviors with image documents, and information visualization, among others.

The Journal, commonly referred to as JASIST, is the main publication of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) and it is published online in the Wiley InterScience site.

SLIS Shines Bright at ALA Conference

The USF School of Library and Information Science was well represented in a variety of areas by a diverse group of faculty and students during the June 24-29 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Throughout the week, SLIS faculty and students had lots of great things to say about their experiences.


Early in the conference, Dr. Debra Slone attended workshops and the second annual Town Hall Meeting on Diversity. The Town Hall allows the ALA Diversity Committee to connect with the ALA membership, hearing their concerns and sharing ideas. Debra Slone was quoted in the Saturday, June 26 edition of the, ALA Cognotes page 21, regarding teaching, diversity issues, and intellectual freedom.

Dr. Vicki Gregory, SLIS Professor and current Chair of the ALA COA (Committee on Accreditation) spent much of her time at ALA in accreditation related meetings and activities. She and Karen O'Brien, ALA COA Director, moderated a panel of directors from other accrediting associations to better understand accreditation standards and competencies. Presenters were Crystal Calarusse , Academic Director of the National Association of Public Affairs and Administration and Laura Rasar King, Executive Director . Dr. Gregory said that it was "very interesting to hear how two other professional program accreditors view accreditation practices and procedures. Although in many ways they were very similar to COA's, the panel members provided a number of new ideas to consider during the ongoing COA Standards Review." To learn more about ALA Accreditation, go to http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/accreditation/

On Saturday, Dr. Henrietta Smith participated in a panel discussion entitled "Trailblazers: What We Can Learn from our ALSC Leaders. She and Carole Fiore, consultant and past ALSC President , Anita Silvey, Author & Children's Literature expert, and others reflected on the past, present, and future of the field.

One of the highlights of the conference was when Dr. Kathleen de la Pena McCook, USF-SLIS Distinguished University Professor, presented the 2010 Dr. Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecture on Monday, June 28th. The lecture honors the first director of the ALA Office of Literacy and Outreach Services (OLAS). Her topic, "Librarians and Human Rights" looked at the "historical and cultural analysis of the librarian's role in human rights" (ALA Cognotes, 06/27/10). The lecture explored the philosophical basis of librarian's commitment to human rights and human development as exemplified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Millennium Development Goals. She and co-author Katherine J. Phenix, read excerpts from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and dedicated select passages to colleagues in the audience representing the essence of those declarations with in the field. For more info go to http://www.ala.org/olos.


Dr. McCook is featured under OLOS news and in the ALA conference news, ALA Cognotes, Sunday June 27 , edition on page 11 .

Dr. Cora Dunkley and Dr. Henrietta Smith, editor of the Coretta Scott King Book, were part of the working committees and attended the Coretta Scott King Book awards breakfast on Tuesday, June 29. The 2010 award winners are announced at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/emiert/cskbookawards/recipients.cfm .

Also in attendance from SLIS were SLIS Assistant Director Diane Austin, current SLIS student and ALA student chapter president Bill Harris, and SLIS alumni Josh Newhouse ('05), a media specialist in Tampa. Bill commented, "ALA is a marathon but is a great learning experience that I recommend to others who have the opportunity to attend". After the breakfast, the faculty participated in photo ops with authors and other CSK affiliates (see http://www.facebook.com/usfslis#!/album.php?aid=183164&id=347754542878&ref=mf). Dr. Dunkley also interviewed noted children's author Eloise Greenfield.

In addition to the honor of being Coleman lecturer, Dr. McCook moderated the program discussing the National Women's History Museum Project. Joan Wages, President and CEO of the National Women's History Museum addressed the audience about the need for grassroots support and the legislative issues of the project. She presented some of the online exhibits currently at the NWHM site. More information about the project and online exhibits can be viewed at http://www.nwhm.org/

Alicia Long and Shalu Gilliam represented 2009-2010 Spectrum Scholars at the conference. Shalu, who will be graduating from the SLIS program summer 2010 semester said, "Attending the ALA conference was a motivational experience for me. It was amazing to be around thousands of librarians excited about their profession." Alicia, who helped staff the REFORMA booth for the Diversity and Outreach Fair, and attended several of their programs (Pura Belpre Awards and President's Program) added that "having the opportunity of meeting so many people who want to make a difference in the profession was inspiring and it compensates for the bad news we hear about budget cuts, closings, and lack of opportunities. I came back with a notebook full of notes, a pocket full of business cards, and a new perspective that made me appreciate the big picture of librarianship in a way that could have never happened in my little corner of the world." Along with representing the USF SLIS program at various functions and meetings, Diane Austin, SLIS Assistant Director and instructor of media, technology, and web design courses, attended several technology based presentations sponsored by the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA). ALA member organizations presented current practices and the exchange of ideas to meet future technology demands of libraries and information centers. She also hosted the ALA/ALISE Joint LIS School Reunion, table for SLIS alumni, interacting with current and previous students and colleagues from other library schools throughout the country, including USF SLIS alum Sam Hastings, Director of the University of South Carolina LIS program , faculty from Florida State University FSU School of Library & Information Studies, and Elaine Yontz, former SLIS faculty member, now Chair of East Carolina University's SLIS program, along with husband Jack R. Fisher, SLIS alum. Seeing the conference not only as a great networking opportunity to meet and collaborate with others in the profession and learn about the issues facing the field, Diane saw the conference as a testament to librarians and their contributions to society, lifelong learning, and the quality of life. Next year's annual conference is June 23-28, 2011 in New Orleans. DA

Dr. Dunkley elected to FAME Board of Directors

A member of the USF SLIS faculty, Dr. Cora Dunkley, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the state's professional organization for school librarians, Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME). Her term will begin November 5, 2010 and will last until 2013. She has been appointed to the Professional Development Committee for the 2010-2011 year.

FAME is an organization dedicated to promote excellence in media services for Florida's students, by serving as a network for all Florida library media professionals. FAME's annual conferences are valuable opportunities for novice and experienced media professionals, and the association also publishes Florida Media Quarterly.

Dr. Dunkley's primary research interests are: multicultural literature for children and young adults, special collection preservation and development in children's literature, and the role of media specialists in literature-based reading programs. At USF SLIS Dr. Dunkley teaches several courses, among them: Materials for Children, Storytelling, Organization and Administration of the School Media Center, and Multicultural Materials for Children and Young Adults. Dr. Dunkley also served on several committees for the American Library Association, such as the Coretta Scott King Award Selection committee.

Dr. Dunkley's leadership is an asset to USF SLIS, and we are sure that all media library professionals in Florida will benefit from having talented people like Dr. Dunkley in their professional organization. Congratulations, Dr. Dunkley!
~AKL and JV

Dr. Smith and Dr. Dunkley with Charles R. Smith, Jr.-2010 CSK Winner

Dr. Henrietta M. Smith and Dr. Cora P.Dunkley with Charles R. Smith, Jr., 2010 Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. My People is Mr. Smith's' picture book adaptation of Langston Hughes' famous 1923 poem of the same name:

The night is beautiful,
So the faces of my people,
The stars are beautiful,
So the eyes of my people,
Beautiful also is the sun,
Beautiful also are the souls of my people.

Free Fundamentals of Rare Book Cataloging Class

SLIS Student's Work Selected as Digital Library of the Week by ALA

University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries's Digital Military Newspaper Library was recently selected as the American Library Association's Digital Library of the Week. The grant funded project is being worked on by USF SLIS graduate student Kaitlin Wilson, who recently commented how the readings and ideas learned in the library administration class have been useful while working on this project with the UF Library Development Office.


UF's Digital Military Newspaper Library, a grant funded pilot project, intends to house, organize, and preserve 16 contemporary and historic military newspapers. These newspapers represent Naval and Air Force bases from many geographical regions around the state of Florida and will include Kennedy Space Center, a submarine base at King's Bay Georgia, the Panama Canal Zone, and two newspapers in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This undertaking will seek to build on the success of other projects including the Florida Digital Newspaper Library and the Caribbean Newspaper Digital Library. Other related digital collections include the Korean War Oral History Collection, Vietnam War Veterans Oral History Collection, and World War II Oral History Collection from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program.

Digital Library of the Week is available at ILoveLibraries.org, ALA's website for the public, and was designed to keep America informed about what's happening in today's libraries. The website is produced by the ALA Office for Library Advocacy, and it's brought to you by ALA staff from all corners of the association, who come together to volunteer their time and brilliance.

A graduate of USF's Bachelor's in Religious Studies, Kaitlin Wilson began her formal library experience as an intern with the Digital Library Center (DLC), just as she was beginning her first semester in the LIS program. She chose to intern with DLC because she knew that digitization and preservation are increasingly important elements of librarianship. The internship taught her so much about scanning, copyright blurring for digitized newspapers, Photoshop, and quality control.

In December 2009, she was hired by DLC to work on a new grant-funded project, the Digital Military Newspaper Library (DMNL), a sub-collection of the Florida Digital Newspaper Library at UF. While working to promote DMNL, Wilson has worked with the Development Office in UF Libraries in the creation of brochures, contacting people, and military librarianship. Currently, Kaitlin is working on putting together an online exhibit in honor of Veterans Day 2010 that highlights the collection. She's really happy to work on this project because it has so much to offer the military community and their families, and researchers and students.

She submitted DMNL for ALA's Digital Library of the Week because she thought it would be a great way to raise awareness for the project, and is very happy that they recognized its importance. She is currently working on a written announcement about the project for the Special Library Association's Military Library Division's newsletter in July. She is scheduled to graduate December 2010, the same month she is getting married.
-VTZ