NASIG Newsletter

[Ed. note: Highlights from the January committee report to the Executive Board.]

AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Clint Chamberlain, Co-Chair

One of the goals set last year for A&R was to explore ways to encourage applications for the Tuttle Award. That has been one of the primary focuses of A&R this fall. Committee member Carol Ficken conducted an informal survey of the past Tuttle Award winners (Karen Darling, Jean Hirons, Taemin Park, and Regina Reynolds), with questions regarding how they learned of the award, what factors about the award encouraged them to apply, what other factors might discourage potential applicants, and what their suggestions might be for attracting future applicants for the award. What emerged from their responses was that although part of what is needed is interest on the part of potential applicants, A&R can facilitate the generation of ideas for eligible projects by suggesting possibilities for projects in the documentation for the award; the idea here is that mention of types of eligible projects could engender interest amongst potential applicants. Although some suggestions were already present in the award documentation, A&R took the initial step of slightly changing the wording of the suggestions in hopes that simplified wording would make clear that delivering a presentation at international conferences is a type of project that would render one eligible for the award.

Other suggestions that emerged from the survey include: Continue reading 23:1 (2008:03) Committee Update: A&R…

PROFILES

AWARDS & RECOGNITION COMMITTEE
Susan Davis, Profiles Editor

The Awards & Recognition Committee began life as the Student Grant Committee in 1987, when we only offered conference grants to library school students. The name changed in 1996 when NASIG added the Horizon Award and began investigating additional awards.  The committee was also given responsibility for the recognition gifts presented at each conference starting in 1997.  A&R was last profiled as this transition was taking place, so it seemed like an update was quite overdue!

I asked current co-chairs Clint Chamberlain and Patrick Carr to share some insights about the committee’s activities. Continue reading 23:1 (2008:03) Profiles: Awards & Recognition…

2008 AWARDS ANNOUNCEMENTS
Patrick Carr and Clint Chamberlain, Co-Chairs

The Awards & Recognition Committee is pleased to announce the beginning of its application cycle for NASIG’s 2008 grants, awards, and scholarships. Every year, NASIG awards student travel grants, awards for promising serialists, scholarships for library school students, and an international award to aid in serials research. Since 1988, NASIG has granted over 130 student grant awards—including 6 grants for Mexican students, 5 Marcia Tuttle Awards for international serials research, 9 Fritz Schwartz educational scholarships, 22 Horizon Awards to recognize up-and-coming members of the profession, and, beginning in 2006, the Serials Specialist award to an outstanding serials paraprofessional.

Expanding awards promotion has been a priority on A&R’s agenda for the year. For 2008, our focus is on reaching wider audience for NASIG awards and attracting a larger pool of applicants. In particular, the committee has slightly modified the requirements for the Marcia Tuttle Award for International Serials Research. Plans are also in place for increased marketing of all of the awards. For more awards information, please visit the NASIG Awards Web page at http://www.nasig.org/awards/. All awards will be presented at the 23d Annual Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, in June 2008.

REPORT FROM THE 2007 AWARD WINNERS
Sarah Sutton, Awards & Recognition Committee

For 2007 NASIG awards, grants, and scholarships, the Awards & Recognition Committee received numerous applications from worthy candidates.   We received seven applications for the Fritz Schwartz Scholarship, four applications for the Horizon Award, eleven applications for the Serials Specialist Award, and nine applications for the Student Grant Award.  We did not receive any applications for the Marcia Tuttle International Award. 

The review process was again blind for all awards. The identities of the winners were not revealed to the committee members until the scores were tallied and the winners were selected according to established criteria. For 2007, the committee awarded one Fritz Schwartz Serials Education Scholarship, six Student Grants, one Mexico Student Grant, one Horizon Award, and one Serials Specialist Award. The awards covered the cost of travel; room, board, and registration fees for the 22nd NASIG Conference held in Louisville, Kentucky; and a one-year NASIG membership. In addition, the Fritz Schwartz Scholarship winner received $3,000 to help defray the costs of library school tuition. The 2007 award winners are as follows:

NASIG CONFERENCE STUDENT GRANT AWARD RECIPIENTS
Barbara Shipman, Wayne State University
Erin Sharwell, University of Washington
Jessica Ireland, University of South Florida
Joann Palermo, Louisiana State University
Sanjeet Singh-Mann, UCLA
Toni Fortini, Southern Connecticut State University

MEXICO STUDENT GRANT AWARD RECIPIENT
Jorge Alberto Mendoza-Torres
Escuela Nacional de Biblioteconomia y Archivonomia, ENBA

FRITZ SCHWARTZ SERIALS EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT
Angela Slaughter, Indiana University

HORIZON AWARD RECIPIENT
Chandra Jackson, University of Georgia Libraries

SERIALS SPECIALIST AWARD RECIPIENT
Rita Johnson, Wright State University Libraries

As in past years, the Awards & Recognition Committee asked all of our award recipients to provide feedback about their conference experience. Below are their responses to the committee’s questionnaire.

Why do you feel it is worthwhile for students and newcomers to attend a NASIG conference?

The NASIG conference is great for newcomers because of both its size (not too big) and the variety of serials topics represented. It provides a good overview of all of the different types of work that serialists are doing in their institutions.

NASIG bridges the unnecessary divide between libraries, publishers, and vendors; it would be worthwhile for students to experience this productive partnership as they enter the serials field.

It’s worthwhile for students to attend a NASIG conference because it introduces them to a field that isn’t taught in library school.  Also, the NASIG conference is also a networking environment where students can create friendship with serial specialists located all over North America.

As a paraprofessional and new to the area of serials, the conference served to strengthen my desire to continue to learn and grow in the field.  The sessions I attended were both interesting and applicable to the position I hold.

How did attending the conference benefit you personally?

I was introduced to many people working on the same kinds of issues that I am, so I’m beginning to create a network of colleagues that can be called upon for advice (or commiseration!)

I made a lot of connections with colleagues across North America and learned about ideas and initiatives in the world of serials. I felt reassured by learning that my library is not alone in the problems and issues we face with the switch to primarily electronic resources.

Attending the NASIG conference benefited me personally in many ways.  I’ve gained the experience of attending my first professional conference. I’ve also met a lot of people and developed new friendships from the award winners as well as fellow NASIG members.

NASIG was truly an enriching experience.  It was very beneficial in providing basic information as well as new and thought provoking ideas. The conference gave me new contacts, new friends, useful knowledge and fun educational experiences.  I look forward to attendance at NASIG conferences in the future.

Did attending the conference influence your career plans? If so, how?

Not directly, but it was interesting to see the variety in serialists positions.

Yes. I am more interested in participating in professional organizations and conferences, and I am more seriously considering working in the corporate world (e.g. for a vendor) at some point in my library career.

Attending the NASIG conference influenced my career plans greatly. The many sessions that I’ve attended opened my eyes to different tasks, responsibilities and challenges that face serials librarians presently.    I also got a glimpse at what the future holds for serials librarians. I’ll have a better understanding of what serials librarians do and this will help me tremendously when I interview for a job as a serials librarian.

Since I was new to the position I am in, attendance at NASIG served to focus my interest in increasing my skills in order to better perform in my current position.

What can NASIG and/or the Awards & Recognition Committee do to improve their award programs?

I thought the committee and NASIG as a whole did a fantastic job with the Horizon Award program. The application process was very simple, and after receiving the award, the committee made sure to communicate often with me about everything.

I was very pleased with my experience, and I can only suggest that an official wrap-up meeting at the end of the conference (scheduled to accommodate departures) to better connect with other award recipients. I feel I made more connections with NASIG members than with my fellow grant recipients, and it would have been nice to meet up with the group to talk about our experiences.

The most important thing that NASIG and the Awards & Recognition Committee do to improve the grant and scholarship program is to market the programs throughout North America.  I think that a lot of students would be interested in attending such a wonderful conference. Also, I think that there should be an informal luncheon the day before the conference where all the grant and scholarship winners can get together to talk and learn more about one another.

The program is excellent.  How can you improve on what is already a wonderful program?

What could NASIG and/or the Awards & Recognition Committee do to improve your conference experience?

Everything they did was great, in particular the mentor/mentee get-together.

My conference experience was great.  Everything went smoothly for me thanks to the wonderful job done by everyone on the committee.  I can’t image what else could be done to make it better.

I had a wonderful experience at NASIG.  The one thing that I would improve on is to have some type of social activity for the award and grant winners, just to break the ice.

Do you have any other suggestions or comments? Please tell us about them here.

Everyone involved was fantastic (almost as good as winning the award itself!). Keep up the good work!

The speakers were very informative and the sessions I attended were interesting and encouraged discussion.  Louisville was a wonderful location.  What fun and interesting things there were to see.

I would just like to say that I had such a wonderful experience at the conference.  Students can benefit so much by attending the annual NASIG conference.

How/where did you learn about NASIG’s awards?

My supervisor at work is a NASIG member.

NASIG website and suggestion by my department head.

A co-worker told me about NASIG and encouraged me to think about attending the conference.  I leaned about the awards while visiting the website.

I learned about NASIG’s award from a librarian that I work with.

Where should NASIG be promoting awards?

In the graduate schools: there are a lot of listservs that could be used to announce the awards competition. Contacting administrative assistants at each graduate program’s department office would be a great place to start. Some programs may not have serials faculty contacts, so it’s best to spread the word to the whole graduate program.

I think it would be great to use the listserve to remind those who do the nominating to consider their staff for nominations. The website is a good place for actual application info.

Members should be encouraged to promote the organization and the awards in the serials world.

NASIG should be promoting awards to student organizations, or on the student listserv.

The Awards & Recognition Committee would like to thank all of the NASIG members who helped to make the 2007 award recipients’ experience at the 2007 conference such a success.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Sarah Sutton and Clint Chamberlain, Co-chairs

Date of Report: April 24, 2007

Committee members: Chris Brady (Baylor University), Evelyn Brass (University of Houston), Patrick Carr (Mississippi State University), Clint Chamberlain (Trinity University) Co-chair, Susan Chinoransky ) George Washington University), Alan Diehlman (ACS Publications), Carole Ficken (Bierce Library, University of Akron), Marcella Lesher (St. Mary’s University), Smita Parkhe (George Washington University Law Library), Sarah Sutton  (Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi), Chair

Board Liaison:  Rick Anderson (University of Nevada – Reno)

NARRATIVE OF ACTIVITIES SINCE LAST REPORT
In February the committee reviewed and scored award applications.  The breakdown of applications received is as follows:

• 9 Student Grant Award applications
• 7 Fritz Schwartz Scholarship applications
• 4 Horizon Award applications
• 11 Serials Specialist Award applications
• 0 Marcia Tuttle International Grant applications

The committee of Mexican library school deans selected the recipient of the Mexico Student Grant Award and notified us of his name. 

The complete list of 2007 award recipients is as follows:

NASIG CONFERENCE STUDENT GRANT AWARD WINNERS
Toni Fortini, Southern Connecticut State University; Jessica Ireland, University of South Florida; Joann Palermo, Louisiana State University; Erin Sharwell, University of Washington; Barbara Shipman, Wayne State University; Sanjeet-Singh Mann, UCLA.

MEXICO STUDENT GRANT AWARD WINNER
Jorge Alberto Mendoza-Torres, Escuela Nacional Biblioteconomia y Archivonomia (National School of Library and Archive Sciences in Mexico City)

FRITZ SCHWARTZ SERIALS ECUCATION SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
Angela Slaughter, Indiana University

HORIZON AWARD WINNER
Chandra Jackson, University of Georgia Libraries

SERIALS SPECIALIST AWARD WINNER
 Rita Johnson, Wright State University

Award recipients were contacted and committee member Carol Ficken is currently making their travel arrangements to attend the 2007 annual conference.  Their NASIG memberships were arranged by the Database & Directory Committee to facilitate their conference registration. Their names were announced on NASIG-L and at the committee’s request, a section of the NASIG forum (nasig.org/conference/bbs/forum/default.asp) was arranged to further their communication with the committee, prior award recipients, and the general NASIG community.  Each award recipient will be paired with a mentor for the conference. Committee members who volunteer as mentor will be assigned to award recipients when possible.

Committee co-chair Clint Chamberlain is working with our supplier to purchase plaques and gifts and have them shipped to the conference site for distribution at conference events. 

Committee members Chris Brady and Patrick Carr took part in a virtual conversation with members of the Membership Development Committee regarding descriptions of NASIG’s scope and purpose used in award announcements (among other places).

Shortly we will be requesting that the treasurer send conference stipend checks to each award recipient.

Additional highlights of our year’s work include:

• Collecting feedback from the 2006 award recipients which we reported on in the September 2006 NASIG Newsletter.
• Conducting a series of email conversations among committee members on the following topics: increasing awareness of awards and alternative funding sources for awards, which resulted in a suggestion that the board consider seeking corporate sponsorship of awards.
• Alan Diehlmann joined the committee to administer the Mexico Student Award.
• Committee member Chris Brady compiled some interesting statistics about number award recipients which are summarized below:

Top 13 Library schools at which Student Grant recipients have been enrolled:
University of Illinois (11), Catholic University (7), Emporia State (7), University of Maryland (7), Kent State (6), Simmons (6), University of Texas (5), British Columbia (4), Louisiana State (4), UNC – Greensboro (4), UNC – Chapel Hill (4), University of North Texas (4), CUNY Queens (3).

Ratio of applicants to recipients:

Student Grant Award – ranged from 10% (1992) to 52% (1999), 25% in 2006
Horizon Award - ranged from 7% (2004) to 30% (1998), 14% in 2006
(Number of recipients dropped from 3 in the late ‘90s to 1 for the past four years except 2005 when the Horizon Award wasn’t given)
Fritz Schwartz Scholarship  - the ratio is fairly meaningless for this award since it’s a $3,000 scholarship, we can only afford to give one each year, but it is interesting to note that the number of applicants has dropped steadily from 14 in 2003 to 3 in 2006.
Mexico Student Grant Award – unfortunately, since the applications are reviewed by the team of library school directors in Mexico, we have no data from which to calculate a ratio for this award.
Marcia Tuttle Grant – very little data available for this grant, during the past four years we’ve had only two applicants (one in 2003 and one in 2004) and awarded only one grant (in 2004).
Serials Specialist Award – since this was “born” last year (five applicants), there’s not much data to report.
Champion Award – since this award is given every five years and was “born” in 2005, there’s not much data to report.

ANY CHANGES OR EXCEPTIONS TO BUDGET
With the Executive Board’s approval, the committee gave two more student grant awards than had been budgeted for using funds originally budgeted for the Marcia Tuttle International Grant (for which we received no applications this year).

STATISTICAL INFORMATION
None

ACTIONS REQUIRED BY BOARD
None

QUESTIONS FOR BOARD
None

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BOARD
None

NAME OF PERSON SUBMITTING REPORT
Sarah Sutton

PLACE YOUR BET IN KENTUCKY:  THE SERIALS GAMBLE
Chandra Jackson, 2007 NASIG Horizon Award Winner
Serials Librarian, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia
 
As we gather in Louisville, birthplace of the Kentucky Derby, we will be discussing with our colleagues the unpredictable nature of current initiatives populating the serials field.  Some seem to have started strong out of the gate, leading the pack, only to falter in mid-stride, as other practices have overtaken through sheer staying power and the ongoing progress of technology.  The “horses” in our serials race are backed by an array of stakeholders, including commercial publishers, learned societies, researchers, faculty members, librarians, and institutional governing bodies.  Unlike a traditional horse race, however, the finish line will never arrive; there will be no blanket of roses draped ceremoniously over the winner.  When we as librarians survey the field, we must make decisions every day as to which horses we’d like to chance our budgets and our staff hours on in order to provide the best service.  Like seasoned gamblers, we weigh the odds of success or failure given past performance and current competition.  We try to ensure that we’re placing our bets on the “sure things,” all the while knowing that the “sure thing” more often than not will change with any new technological development.  After all, it wasn’t too long ago that electronic data in the form of CD-ROMs was an exciting new technology to assist our users!  We have since seen this technology eclipsed by developments in Web-based systems that allow information to be disseminated electronically to our users in ways that we could only dream of twenty years ago.

Horse racing has often been referred to as the “Sport of Kings” because of the costs involved.  No matter how large or small our materials budgets are, chances are good that the percentage spent on serials is larger than for any other format, and that that percentage is likely to grow. While none of us have riches untold at our disposal like the kings of old, (would that we did!) what we do have is precious and we are beholden to use these resources to our greatest advantage.  What are some of the gambles we have been taking, and will continue to take, with our betting stakes?

OPEN ACCESS JOURNALS
In the last fifteen years, we have seen the implementation of various open access initiatives, proposed by a variety of stakeholders, including traditional commercial publishers, learned societies, government bodies, and academic institutions.  There are many questions still awaiting answers concerning the staying power of these initiatives; currently, most of us seem to be steering a middle path, unwilling to commit wholly to a philosophical ideal while still attempting to reap budgetary benefits from available open access options. What will be our best bets that ultimately benefit our researchers, our users, and our institutional shareholders?

It seems likely (although by no means certain) that a modified open access model based on institutional subscriptions to entities such as the Public Library of Science, will continue to be the option that serves our institutions well.  As with all gambles, however, the outcome is uncertain. The commercial publishers’ forays into limited open access should be seen as a welcome new addition to the field.

CONSORTIAL AGREEMENTS
As the cost of journals continues to rise, we’re sure to see more, and larger, consortial agreements being negotiated, particularly with regard to the large STM publishers. However, there is a legitimate fear, particularly among smaller institutions involved in consortial deals with very large institutions, that the loss of local control over serials collections will prove to be a mistake. This loss of local control, of course, is offset by the fact that smaller consortial  partners will usually gain access to hundreds of titles, through Big Deal packages, than they could ever hope to be able to acquire on their own. It is a gamble for those institutions, but one in which the outcome seems, so far, to be a positive.

Of course, the consortial agreement gamble is but a small part of the largest bet of all; that is, that our customers will continue to prefer, in the main, electronic journals to traditional print journals. At my institution, the faculty, researchers, and students have made it clear that having access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on- or off-campus, to the research tools they need is of primary importance.  Our role as serials librarians and electronic resource professionals is to ensure that the bets that our stakeholders have placed on us will continue to pay off. They rely on the knowledge and experience that we gain by networking with our peers and colleagues through organizations such as NASIG to provide them with the services they desire.

SERIALS: A PERSONAL GAMBLE
I have been fortunate in my career to have worked with serials as a classified staff person long before I decided to go to library school. That certainly made my gamble to specialize in serials and electronic resources in library school much less of a long shot than it could have been, given that I had already been initiated into the fascinating and ever-changing serials world. I believe exciting things are happening, and will continue to happen, in the field of serials librarianship, and I’m excited to see what new “horses” will enter the field. Learning how and when to place my bets on future trends in serials and serials librarianship is experience that I will continue to gain from those that came before; in the same fashion, I hope I will provide that same counsel to those that follow me in the profession. With the evolving nature of technology and its impact on serials librarianship, I’d say it’s a safe bet that serials librarians and their partners in NASIG will stand at the forefront, betting tickets in hand, ready to back their winners.

2007 AWARD WINNERS
Clint Chamberlain and Sarah Sutton, Co-chairs, Awards & Recognition Committee

After a long process of reviewing many qualified applicants, the 2007 Awards & Recognition Committee would like to announce the 2007 NASIG grant and award winners.  Please extend a warm NASIG welcome to these award winners when you see them in Louisville!

NASIG CONFERENCE STUDENT GRANT AWARD WINNERS
• Toni Fortini, Southern Connecticut State University
• Jessica Ireland, University of South Florida
• Joann Palermo, Louisiana State University
• Erin Sharwell, University of Washington
• Barbara Shipman, Wayne State University
• Sanjeet-Singh Mann, UCLA

MEXICO STUDENT GRANT AWARD WINNER
Jorge Alberto Mendoza-Torres, Escuela Nacional Biblioteconomia y Archivonomia (National School of Library and Archive Sciences in Mexico City)

FRITZ SCHWARTZ SERIALS EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
Angela Slaughter, Indiana University

HORIZON AWARD WINNER
Chandra Jackson, University of Georgia Libraries

SERIALS SPECIALIST AWARD WINNER
Rita Johnson, Wright State University

AWARDS ANNOUNCEMENTS
Clint Chamberlain and Sarah Sutton, Co-Chairs 

The Awards & Recognition Committee is pleased to announce the beginning of its application cycle for NASIG’s 2007 grants, awards, and scholarships. Every year, NASIG awards student travel grants, awards for promising serialists, scholarships for library school students, and an international award to aid in serials research. Since 1988, NASIG has granted over 130 student grant awards—including 6 grants for Mexican students, 5 Marcia Tuttle Awards for international serials research, 9 Fritz Schwartz educational scholarships, 22 Horizon Awards to recognize up-and-coming members of the profession, and, in 2006, the first ever Serials Specialist award to an outstanding serials paraprofessional.   

Expanding awards promotion has been a priority on A&R’s agenda for the year. For 2007, we are excited to have the opportunity to work with the Library School Outreach Task Force’s Library School Ambassadors Pilot Project, to be conducted over the next seven months. Based on a recommendation from A&R last year, the Library School Ambassadors Pilot Project consists of NASIG members serving as liaisons to select library schools for the purpose of promoting serials work in general and NASIG in particular.  For more awards information, please visit the NASIG Awards Web page at http://www.nasig.org/awards/.  All awards will be presented at the 22nd Annual Conference in Louisville, KY.

2006 HORIZON AWARD RECIPIENT ESSAY
JENNIFER ARNOLD 

Mile High Views: Surveying the Serials Vista
The 2006 NASIG Conference Theme 

What does it mean to survey the serials vista?  From my perspective, the 2006 NASIG conference theme, “Mile High Views: Surveying the Serials Vista,” serves as a reminder of the value of pausing to consider the big picture.  In my own role as Technical Services and Serials/Electronic Database Management Librarian at Central Piedmont Community College, I often find myself caught up in the day-to-day chaos of serials (prediction patterns, title changes, lions, tigers, faculty, and bears…you get the picture).  The conference and its theme provide us the opportunity to reflect on the issues that define our work and our roles in the serials information chain.  After all, a vista is more than just a broad, pleasant view – it’s an understanding of a range of time, events and subjects – a broad, deep, thoughtful picture of the place of serials in the 21^st Century.      

In Denver, the mile high views will allow conference attendees to look towards the future of serials management to see what opportunities and developments are upon the horizon.  While it is a somewhat daunting challenge to consider just what the primary points on the serials horizon might be, here are the most intriguing issues I believe that the information community, serials librarians, and I will be facing in the future. 

ACCESS MODELS: INNOVATIONS IN CONTENT DELIVERY

Serials librarians have already begun to see the proliferation of new and different types of access models, as well as innovation and change in the arena of scholarly publishing.  For instance, the recent explosion of various open access journal and institutional repository initiatives represent a new wave of models for accessing serial content electronically.  Clearly, it remains to be seen if such initiatives are sustainable in the long term, but it still behooves us to consider how we will incorporate open access journals into our libraries’ current slate of electronic journal offerings.  We should also consider how the growth of open access initiatives will impact licensing agreements.  Speaking of electronic journals, the seemingly age-old tension between print and electronic journal holdings will continue to challenge both libraries’ budgets and services to their patrons.  Central Piedmont Community College offers classes on six campuses and, with limited space at each campus library, we rely heavily on electronic access to journals to meet student needs.   At the same time, students need access to print journals, particularly for programs accredited by national agencies.  In short, then, we will be continuing to strive for a balance between the competing demands of print and electronic journals.  We will have to find innovative ways to continue to deliver content to our users in formats that address competing requirements.  

INTEGRATION: FINDING MADE EASIER

In many ways, too, electronic journals are a beast that has yet to be tamed, though, admittedly, we have come a long way in simplifying access to electronic journal collections.  The advent of “A-Z” services and open-URL link resolvers has made our content much more accessible to our patrons, and has begun to break down the barriers between print and electronic journals. For example, the A-Z product we use at CPCC allows users to simultaneously see both the print and electronic journal holdings, and link directly to both the databases and the library catalog.    I think, however, that the future holds greater opportunities for deeper integration of serials into library services.  Federated search engines, for example, offer great promise for providing patrons with a single, integrated search interface through which to access a wide variety of library resources.  Such search engines and interfaces take content out the information silos of individual databases/collections, and give users a bird’s eye view of the richness of the library’s collection.  I believe that federated searching has the ability to further break down the barriers between serials and other types of library resources, regardless of format.  Providing our patrons with successful search experiences will, I think, only increase the usage of valuable journal content in both print and electronic forms.   

CHANGE: THE ONLY SURE THING

They say that death and taxes are the only certainties, but I would add a third item to the list: change.  As we survey the serials vista, perhaps the one thing we can be sure to see on the horizon is change.  The ability to manage change effectively, then, becomes a critical skill for serials librarians.  Just thinking about all the elements of the serials information chain and how they are likely to evolve in the future is enough to make one’s head spin.  I would argue, however, that while the rate of change seems to be increasing, the possibilities and opportunities to deliver needed information in new and user-friendly ways represent a remarkable opportunity to make a difference in the lives of library patrons.  Imagine a world where patrons seamlessly authenticate and move from resource to resource, finding and using information in all its formats.  In Denver, the views won’t be just mile-high, they’ll be breathtaking! 

THE SERIALS VISTA: A PERSONAL VIEW

The issues I have described are certain to provide both challenges and opportunities to the larger information community and to individual serials librarians.  As a new serials librarian, I look forward to building a long-term career finding innovative methods for managing the change that is sure to come. I believe that this is an exciting time to be in the serials field, full of opportunities to connect patrons with journal content.  As I take a moment to survey the vista of my own serials career, I will also remember to look back, both to remember those whose work has come before me and to bring forward the new serials librarians who come after me.  Participation in NASIG and the conference will be a welcome opportunity to work towards both of those goals. Not only is it an exciting time for NASIG in Denver, then, it’s an exciting time to define our roles in the changing world of the serials information chain.          

REPORT FROM THE 2006 AWARD WINNERS

Sarah Sutton, Awards & Recognition Committee 

For the 2006 NASIG awards, grants, and scholarships, the Awards & Recognition Committee received numerous applications from worthy candidates.  The review process was again blind for all awards.  The identities of the winners were not revealed to the committee members until the scores were tallied and the winners were selected according to established criteria.  For 2006, the committee awarded one Fritz Schwartz Serials Education Scholarship, four Student Grants, one Mexico Student Grant, one Horizon Award, and the first ever NASIG Serials Specialist Award.  The awards covered the cost of travel; room, board, and registration fees for the 21^st NASIG Conference held in Denver, CO; and a one-year NASIG membership.  In addition, the Fritz Schwartz Scholarship winner received $3,000 to help defray the costs of library school tuition.  The 2006 award winners are as follows: 

NASIG CONFERENCE STUDENT GRANT AWARD RECIPIENTS
Gregory Schmidt, University of Alabama
Sarah Morris, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Lisa Harrington, Simmons College
Laura Baker,Simmons College 

MEXICO STUDENT GRANT AWARD RECIPIENT
Martha Alejandra Alatorre Betancourt, Universidad Autonoma De San Luis Potosi Escuela De Bibliotecologia E nformacion 

FRITZ SCHWARTZ SERIALS EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT
Claire Rasmussen, University of Wisconsin at Madison 

HORIZON AWARD RECIPIENT
Jennifer Arnold, Central Piedmont Community College

SERIALS SPECIALIST AWARD RECIPIENT
Wendy Lichte, Arizona State University 

The Awards & Recognition Committee traditionally asks all of our award recipients to provide feedback about their conference experience.  Below are their responses to the Committee’s questionnaire. 

Why do you feel it is worthwhile for students/newcomers to attend a NASIG conference? 

–NASIG is an informative, as well as fun, opportunity for students to explore the evolving world of serials. Students are introduced to the major currents of discussion pursued by serials librarians, vendors and publishers. The formal information sessions and informal conversations among colleagues provide extremely current and practical insights into the challenges and rewards of working with serials in today’s electronic world. 

–Learn about topical issues affecting serials. Networking with people that have similar jobs from all over North America. 

–Networking, exposure to practices and an introduction to what’s going on in the world of serials. 

–On the surface, the NASIG conference serves as an introduction to the wide range of topics that fall under the subject of scholarly communications. The sessions themselves were informative and challenging, and even the act of registration for the NASIG conference could be considered educational for a library student. The sessions sometimes felt overwhelming, but I came away from the conference with a desire to incorporate some of the topics into future research papers. This way, I will be able to build upon the foundation of knowledge I received at the NASIG conference. Beyond the valuable content of the sessions, the act of participation in a NASIG conference is valuable for networking among leaders in the field of scholarly communication. The diversity of career paths available to librarians as seen at NASIG was encouraging. The conference was large enough to give a wide view of the serials landscape, but small enough that I felt I was able to make some personal connections that will last my whole career. On a lighter note, the conference was great fun. The opportunities for going out and enjoying a spectacular locale were plenty. At a conference of this size, there was never a dull moment. 

–The NASIG conference is a great opportunity to meet serials librarians who are already working in the field and who therefore have a lot of practical knowledge and advice to share. The conference sessions are also very informative and give students a real-world perspective on serials work. 

–Because Mexican students have an opportunity to introduce themselves into a larger world of information, people working in the same line, and also get more horizons and chances to work. 

–It is definitely worthwhile for newcomers to the field of serials to attend a NASIG conference! Not only do the conference sessions provide a wonderful opportunity to learn about all the elements of serials - publishing, cataloging, providing access, etc. - but the casual and friendly environment is perfect in helping newcomers become active in the field and hopefully in the organization. 

--Having the opportunity to hear professionals in the serials industry, including librarians and vendors and publishers, is invaluable to a prospective librarian. Nothing replaces having the experience of speaking with others about what they do and learning from both the sessions as well as the informal conversations you have at NASIG. 

How did attending the conference benefit you personally? 

–NASIG was truly a wonderful and rewarding experience both personally and professionally. I approached the conference with some trepidation as a first time professional conference attendee. My NASIG welcome left no room for further anxiety; my first evening I shared dinner with a group of women who come to NASIG every year not only for professional development, but to see long-standing friends. I found myself imagining my own future returns to NASIG to share learning and laughter with a group of friends. Indeed, I am still in contact with several NASIG attendees and I look forward to NASIG reunions in the years to come. 

–The topics discussed were interesting and I met a variety of people interested in and working on the same serial issues I work with. I also have some new friends. 

–Having a chance to hear from vendors and publishers what they do and the constraints they operate under was invaluable. My previous encounters with them were limited to ALA booths (yuck) and customer-type issues (also not fun). This added a much needed counterweight to my academic library perspective (one not expressed during school). 

–While the content of the sessions served to enlighten me as to the current research and activities in the field of scholarly communications, I feel that as a student, the most valuable aspect of the conference was getting to know the people involved with and careers available in the field. I feel that I made not only friends, but also colleagues at the NASIG conference. As a library student, developing an understanding of the profession and a feeling that I am a part of the profession has been invaluable. 

–I gained a lot of knowledge at the conference, especially about the particular aspect of serials in which I’m most interested: cataloging. But, more importantly, I met so many great librarians! My supervisor had told me before I left for Denver that the NASIG conference is the best library conference for a newcomer to attend because of the friendly atmosphere, and she was definitely right. Everyone I met in Denver was welcoming and outgoing, which made for a very fun experience. Overall, the NASIG conference gave me great new contacts, useful knowledge, and fun memories.  –It benefits me a lot, because I think it’s very important to meet librarians from other countries and learn about how they are doing their jobs. –The conference was a great benefit to me personally. I came back to my library energized, with new ideas on how to improve serials management and access for the students, faculty, and staff my library serves. 

–Connecting with other attendees, the networking and hearing their experiences as well as talking about various topics with others, was incredibly valuable. I felt that I made a lot of good connections professionally, but the whole experience was just a lot of fun. 

Did attending the conference influence your career plans?  If so, how, and if not, why not? 

–Having attended NASIG, I am more aware of the breadth of professional opportunities in the serials world; this knowledge will help me to make more informed decisions about my career. As one example, prior to the conference, I had not considered the opportunities to be found in working for library vendors or publishers. The conference affirmed my interest in serials, while also leading me to understand that I have many skills to develop before the realization of that goal becomes realistic. 

–No. I am a paraprofessional and have no interest in obtaining my MLS. I don’t plan to ever leave serials, though. I love the work. 

–More than anything, attending the conference confirmed my career choice and left me psyched to jump in and get started. Made me want to make sure that NASIG is incorporated into that career! 

–As I am relatively green in terms of my academic work, NASIG has served to expand my notions of what is possible for a librarian career. Does that mean that I have now chosen to work toward a career path that will be solely in the realm of scholarly communications? Probably not. There is still a big draw for me toward reference and preservation careers in academic libraries. I do, however, feel that I will always seek avenues for staying involved with and assisting developments in scholarly communications. I’d like to someday be a presenter at NASIG. 

–The conference would have made me more likely to apply for serials positions if I had not just recently accepted a job offer as a cataloger. But I have already impressed my new supervisor with the things that I learned at the conference, and I feel more comfortable now with requesting to work with serials more often in my current job. 

–Sure it does!!! Now I know I have to continue studying for a master’s degree, a doctoral degree, and it gave me the opportunity to feel how important is to be a librarian. Also, I am thinking that it must be possible to work in another country. 

–Attending the conference solidified my plans to continue focusing my career development in serials and technical services as a whole. I was already really interested in working with serials but I would say it certainly strengthened my desire to be a serials librarian. 

What can NASIG and/or the Awards & Recognition Committee do to improve the awards programs? 

–I am very happy with my experience. 

–Can’t think of any improvements at this time. 

–Nothing; the committee members were wonderful and every NASIG member I met was nice, friendly, and helpful! So much better than ALA! 

–Publicize! I heard about the NASIG awards at the last moment. Making sure to send out announcements to LIS listservs would increase student awareness and participation. I felt that the award was comprehensive and fully met my conference needs. No improvements necessary! 

–Everything went smoothly for me, so I can’t imagine anything else that the committee could do for the student winners.  

–I think it can be interesting to help Mexican students with a kind of translator at the conferences, especially with library science terms. When I arrived at SLP, I told my dean that it’s very important to prepare librarians in Mexico, especially with automation, attitude and English specialized language. 

–I had such a great experience that it is hard to think how to improve the program! One thing that might be helpful is a more formal meeting of the award winners and their mentors…meeting at the reception was a bit of a whirlwind since there was only a half-hour before the opening session. 

–It’s hard to say, since it went pretty smoothly I felt. Perhaps marketing more toward library schools so more people know about it. 

What could NASIG and/or the Awards & Recognition Committee do to improve your conference experience? 

–I think the experience was great. The topics for the lectures were interesting and there were many avenues for socializing. My only suggestion might be to have the lectures start a bit later in the morning, around 9:00a.m. 

–Nothing; it was great! I had a blast! 

–Try not to schedule it so close to finals week. That was the only obstacle to greater participation I faced. Having final exams and big papers due the days right after the conference forced me to occasionally hole up in my hotel room when I could/should have been socializing. 

–My conference experience was really great. The only thing that could have made the experience better would have been if the NASIG website had listed the cost of a cab ride from the airport to the hotel. I ended up sharing a cab with some other librarians, and it was not very much more expensive than the Super Shuttle, and *definitely* a much shorter wait at the airport for transportation. 

–Give a written recognition, as a Mexican winner award, signed by the president of NASIG. Also write a similar letter to our school and/or dean. 

–Again, my conference experiences were great, so this is a tough question. One suggestion would be to create listserv or blog that the award winners could use to communicate with each other before and after the conference. 

–It’s hard to say because they honestly did such a fantastic job. Susan, Jeff, Sarah, Jessica, etc., really made us feel welcome from the time we arrived. Plans seemed to go smoothly from start to finish. 

Do you have any other suggestions or comments? Please tell us about them here. 

–Denver was a fantastic location. The speakers and sessions I attended were very informative and encouraged some interesting and important discussion. I will definitely be going to NASIG next year! 

–I would just like to thank the committee for the opportunity to attend this conference and to become involved in NASIG. 

–It will be interesting to [hold] future NASIG Conference and/or the Award Recognition Committee at Mexico (Specially San Luis Potosi). I believe it could be great!! 

–Thank you so much for the opportunity to attend a conference free of cost. Now that I know what conferences are like, I’ll be much more excited about attending them in the future. 

–I recommend using a conference/hotel that gives free internet access to attendees. 

–Considering the logistics of running such a large convention, the committees did very well.