Where: Uptown Joe’s (611 S Jefferson Street Roanoke, VA 24011)

When: Saturday, February 18th 2012, 10:30am – Noon

Stay tuned for upcoming events:

March– OUT OF THE STACKS, INTO THE LANES!  Bowling Night!

April– OUT OF THE STACKS, INTO THE WOODS!  Afternoon Hike!

Have some great ideas about things you’d like the VLA NMRT Forum do? #makeithappen by nominating yourself or someone you know for the following positions!:

• Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect (1.5 years, spring 2012- fall 2013)
• Secretary/Treasurer (6 months, spring-fall 2012)
• Communications & Outreach Director (6 months, spring-fall 2012)
• Programming Director (6 months, spring-fall 2012)
• Conference Director (6 months, spring-fall 2012)
• Student Representative (6 months, spring-fall 2012)

Elections will take place at the end of February. Please note the shortened terms of office due to the mid-year election; future terms of office will be in whole-year increments.

Nominations and self-nominations are encouraged! Nominees must be current VLA members. For more information on each position, view the position descriptions and responsibilities on the Leadership page of this site.

Send your nominations by February 15 to:

Megan Hodge <mlhodge@gmail.com>, VLA NMRT Chair

Rebecca Miller <rebeccakate.miller@gmail.com>, VLA Membership Chair

After we close nominations on February 15, all candidates will prepare statements for this blog during the week of February 22-27 (we’ll send more information about this later), and elections will be held online February 28-29.  By this time next month, VLA NMRT Forum will have its first executive board!

Our first post, on the Technical Services and Technology Forum, is courtesy of the Forum Chair, Lynda Wright.

The VLA Technical Services and Technology Forum is a venue for sharing ideas on topics surrounding traditional library technical services as well as emerging technologies.   The forum provides opportunities for librarians or library staff interested in acquisitions, cataloging, collection development, systems, and public services  to learn from one another in a rapidly-changing environment.    The Technical Services and Technology Forum is open to all VLA members.

The forum sponsors programs at VLA’s annual conference and offers continuing education workshops for VLA members.  This year, the forum sponsored programs on ebooks, library policy and mobile apps for libraries,  and will be sponsoring the upcoming “Understanding XML” workshop presented by Matthew Gibson.  The forum’s workshops and sessions attract speakers representing both public and academic library perspectives.   At this year’s VLA conference, Juanita Munro of Chesapeake Public Library won the forum-sponsored QR Code scavenger hunt, receiving a Nook Simple Touch donated by Elsevier!
The Technical Services and Technology Forum depends on its members for program and continuing education ideas.  If you have an idea for a program or workshop, or any questions, please contact the Forum Chair, Lynda Wright (lwwright at rmc dot edu).
Joining the Technical Services and Technology Forum is easy; simply check the box next to the forum name on your VLA membership application or renewal.   The forum is looking for someone to post announcements and news on the blog space on the VLA site.    Please join us today!

I looked at getting involved with VLA while I was still in library school, but didn’t see much that seemed relevant to me as a paraprofessional/library school student/soon-to-be librarian. Rebecca also thought there was a need for a group specifically for new association members and new/soon-to-be-minted librarians, so we joined forces to start the NMRT Forum, and we are both so thrilled that it has taken off the way it has! We currently have groups working on three main projects: the VLA NMRT blog (what you’re reading right now), the VLA NMRT Twitter feed (follow us at @vlanm), and socials/networking opportunities. These projects were voted on by our membership as being most important, the ones they wanted to see get priority as our fledgling forum started deciding what projects we should focus on first.

The fantastic thing about both VLA and the VLA NMRT Forum is that, unlike ALA, it is so small that you really can make your own opportunities and make things happen if you see a need for something that doesn’t exist. There was very little red tape to get this forum started; we just needed 25 signatures on a petition, and then the VLA Executive Committee voted to legitimize the group. It was as easy as that! The most important thing to us in the VLA NMRT is making sure the needs of our members are being met. The socials group, which has set up happy hours or networking dinners in every region of the state, has been wildly popular; obviously there was an unmet desire to meet socially with other librarians after hours.

We encourage you to make VLA NMRT what you want of it. Let me know (mlhodge at gmail dot com) if you have any suggestions for things the VLA NMRT could be doing–and, even better, if you’re willing to help work on such a project!

 
Rebecca Miller
I began my career in libraries in high school, when I worked as a library page for Colonial Heights Public Library in Colonial Heights, VA. I continued to work in different types of libraries throughout my college career, serving as a student associate at the College of William & Mary’s Swem Library and as an intern at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library. After graduating from William & Mary with a degrees in English and Religion in 2004, I started graduate school and my career as a science librarian in Chapel Hill, NC. While a student at UNC’s School of Information and Library Science, I worked full-time as an e-reserves manager for UNC’s Health Sciences Library, and started to become very involved in professional service and research. After a two-year stint in Baton Rouge, LA as Louisiana State University’s first Digital Technologies Librarian, I moved back to Virginia in 2010 to serve as a College Librarian for Virginia Tech. My research and professional interests revolve heavily around information literacy and instructional design, and I am currently working on a second master’s degree in Instructional Design & Technology from Virginia Tech. I am involved with ALA, ACRL, VLA, and lots of other exciting initiatives described on my website: http://www.rebeccakatemiller.com/.

Saturday, January 21

• 8:00-10:00 am:  NMRT Conference Orientation, DCC – D173
• 10:30 am-12:00 pm:  NMRT Executive Board Meeting, DCC – D163
• 1:30-3:30 pm:  NMRT Membership, Networking, and Committee Interest Meeting, DCC – D226
• 5:30-7:30 pm:  NMRT Midwinter Social, City Tavern (1402 Main St.)

Sunday, January 22

• 10:30 am-12:00 pm:  NMRT/LLAMA Discussion Group, DCC-A307

See you in Dallas!

I’ve been the outreach and arts liaison librarian at Wyndham Robertson Library since December of 2008. I love my job because it is so varied. Over the course of a day I might design a flyer for a library event, read through some publisher catalogs, teach a research class to theatre history majors and attend a meeting of our student advisory committee. My two-part title is pretty common in smaller libraries: shrinking budgets have shrunk our staff as well, and we all have multiple jobs. Liaison to the university’s arts departments means collection development, reference and instruction ; outreach means both programming and PR.

The latter two are easily my most deadline-driven, demanding responsibilities: there are always new programs people want to try, and new ways to get the word out about what the library is doing. It’s not easy to balance the demand and the potential with what is actually doable. As I write this, I am also getting close to the deadline for a newsletter, a few marketing pieces for an E-book program which we have organized together with our local public library, and a larger series of publications to get the word out about our annual research award. Then I need to figure out what our staff/faculty book club will read next. So I am rarely not busy, but I have not been bored in my job since, let me think: I was processing govdocs microfiche, sometime in 2003. That was boring – raise your hand if you’ve done it, you know what I mean! – and only listening to the Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me archive could get me through it.

I love my job because they gave me a budget to buy books about art, film, music, and theatre. That still leaves me somewhat slack-jawed. (Granted, I don’t get to keep them, but considering the size of my own collection that may be a good thing in any case.) Collection development is great when the topic is one that interests you and for me, selecting materials is an opportunity to learn more about dance, about photography, about performance art. Now, when I attend plays and concerts on campus, I strengthen connections with the same faculty and students I will work with in classes and at reference. They’re a good bunch, the faculty and students, plenty of whom are smart, engaged people with a broad range of experiences and interests. At a university library, you don’t just learn from the books – if you ask the right questions you learn plenty from the community as well.

Speaking of reference – I love that too. I get to enjoy the hunt nine hours per week. When someone brings me a good question we dive in and see what we can find, and when no one needs me I satisfy my need for ordering life’s chaos by cataloging some movies. That’s a part of my job I should have given up some time ago, but I enjoy having part of my week be about the challenge and focus of cataloging; there’s also something about knowing how things go into the catalog that I don’t want to relinquish. Reference librarians who also catalog, you know what I mean: you use subheadings in searches as a matter of course, and you’re as addicted as I am to that moment when coming up with “social life and customs” gets a patron exactly what they’re looking for.

I love my job because despite everything my friends and fellow students told me about how academic libraries only hire from the outside, I got to stay. I worked my way through graduate school with the support from a great bunch of coworkers, and I still work with them today. I have the good fortune to work under a director who believes in nurturing the strengths that staff bring to the table. Now I get to continue to learn more about how to make this place work, and work better, while continuing to renew my knowledge and my methods as a professional.

Of course there are times I don’t love my job. There are frustrations: too many requests and not enough time to respond to them all, students who ask questions but don’t allow enough time for an answer, professors who drop classes off for instruction when really they mean babysitting. There are days when I can’t believe that I worked all day, yet my to-do list is actually longer than it was when I started. But in the final tally love my job a lot more than I hate it, and I have never been sorry that I chose this profession. And that’s what feeds the soul.

@mkclarkinva Monique Clark tweeted about her day as a library specialist at Northern Virginia Community College:
Since it’s one of our non-instruction days, it is pretty quiet in the library.

I’m at the circ desk with a cup of coffee that’s nearly finished. We opened at 8:30 a.m. today instead of 7:45 a.m.

Now comes the never-ending drilling and pounding sounds on the second floor. Yay for construction </sarcasm>.

Now it’s #ILL time. I’ve got 9 requests, including the two I couldn’t get to yesterday because of the service training.

I’ll have to turn down at least one request since we don’t lend out new textbooks published within three years (2011, 2010, 2009).

Now I’m responding to ILL requests.

Going to package the UPS shipments first, then the USPS ones.

It’s always interesting trying to figure out which packaging to use to ship ILL materials.

We’re having a faculty/staff potluck today so I’m going with a co-worker to pick up some items. I forgot to bring a dish.Ooops!

UPS shipments are all done now. Now just have to send out the USPS package once I’m back.

Back from the trip! Picnic in less than half an hour.

Completed all the outgoing ILLs, now I just need to process the returns. Also, my desk space is pretty cluttered.

And now I’m just waiting to go down to the picnic; will process ILLs afterwards since I won’t be on the desk for the rest of the day.

Woohoo! Finally done with #ILL for today!

Read as many professional development blogs as possible. May as well weed books for an hour or so.

While weeding, I found a book on the shelf from another #nova campus; it had been sitting on our shelves since 2008.

We’re returning it to the rightful owners.

Just remembered a project I need to do for the circ supervisor, so will work on that instead of weeding.

@portercarole Carole Porter tweeted about her day as a medical librarian at an osteopathic college of medicine in Southwest Virginia:
Head librarian is at MAC/MLA so I’ve got the early shift. A bit sleepy but enjoyed my 45min commute with no construction and traffic

So far a quiet morning as our med students are on break. Filled ILL requests in Docline. I guess now’s a good time to clean my desk

Oh my! Amazed at the number of notes on tiny slips of paper I found in a drawer. I’m not the only one who keeps notes like this, am I?

Finally, a handful of students here to study. I was getting awfully lonely. Desk is clean, time to work on fac dev session for Thurs

oh boy! faculty member needs help with lit search. guess it takes awhile for folks to get rolling on a break week.

We don’t have access to all the articles the faculty needs. Time to fill out Docline requests.

I must not forget to check PubMed Central’s holdings for full text access. There’s lots available there! ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/

Now back to prep for fac dev session on 2.0 tools that enhance learning and collaboration in the classroom. Do you have a favorite?

Time for lunch! Yum!

Back from lunch just in time to unjam both copiers and a stapler.

Finished prep for fac dev session. I’m rather pleased w/ it. I hope it will be of some benefit to faculty who attend

An hour of work left. How to spend it? Let’s see if any online subject guides need updating.

Another copier jam. Geez. But then the counter reports over 6million pieces of paper have moved through the machine.

Done for the day. I’ll be glad when the students come back from break. It’s terribly lonely without them.

In today’s economy it pays to be a presenter. Many libraries can’t afford the full registration fee for a conference so I’m always on the lookout for presentation opportunities. I enjoy going to conferences for the interaction that I get with other people who geek out about the same stuff I do! To be honest, that’s what VLA has been for me pretty much every year I’ve been: an opportunity to talk to and with other librarians. Presenting is just a more formal way of acheiving this goal.

I presented three times at the 2011 conference, all on Friday. This gave me a whole day to spend as a conference-goer instead of a presenter. The events that stood out the most to me were presentations from unexpected people. In some cases, these people were just in the audience. The Reinventing Reference (Revisited) panel started a bit dry, but some great audience participation made the panel a success. The best presentations are ones that start a conversation, and this one definitely accomplished this task.

While I love talking to other librarians, sometimes it’s nice to hear about library issues from an outside perspective. Advocating for Public Libraries: Online Tools and Tactics featured a library patron talking about a campaign she was involved in to save libraries in her home county from closure. In addition to being a fascinating story it was well worth hearing about library advocacy from a person outside of the system. While we often hear from patrons we don’t often get to hear from them in a formal context and I was happy I was able to do so.

One of the biggest obstacles I see with libraries is their lack of collaboration. Why reinvent the wheel when so many other libraries may be doing similar things? Conferences give us a chance to meet and spread ideas. I’ll gladly trade some time presenting for all of the new ideas and energy I got at this year’s conference. I’m already looking forward to the next!

Nathan Flinchum is the Community Technology Librarian at the Roanoke Public Libraries in Roanoke, VA. He is also the co-founder of Add Design & Stir, a company that creates technology and design solutions for community organizations and small businesses in the Roanoke Valley and beyond. For more information, visit www.justnathan.info.

As a VLA member, you will be connected with the strongest network of information professionals within the Commonwealth of Virginia. In addition to receiving the Association’s quarterly journal, Virginia Libraries, VLA members also gain access to the VLA listserv, support for library advocacy and professional development, and opportunities to serve as VLA committee or Council members. Furthermore, if you join VLA by November 14, 2011, you will be entered into a drawing to win a Kindle Fire, the new Amazon tablet that won’t even be released until November 15, 2011! You will be entered into this drawing if you attended VLA 2011, are currently not a member of VLA, and join VLA by November 14, 2011. This is a one-time offer and will not be offered again, so take advantage of it now!

When you join VLA, please consider joining the VLA New Members Round Table (NMRT) Forum. This group’s mission is to help new and emerging information professionals become actively involved in the Virginia Library Association and surrounding community, and the NMRT Forum is a great place to start your involvement with VLA. Check out our blog (http://vlanmrt.wordpress.com), and our Twitter stream (http://twitter.com/#!/vlanm) to keep up with the exciting events and opportunities sponsored by VLA NMRT Forum.

Finally, if you haven’t already, please fill out the overall conference evaluation for VLA 2011. With your help, we can make VLA 2012 even BETTER (if that’s possible).

If you have any questions about joining VLA or what VLA can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask. You can contact VLA’s Executive Director, Lisa Varga (vla.lisav@cox.net), VLA NMRT Forum Chair Megan Hodge (mlhodge@gmail.com) or VLA Membership Chair Rebecca Miller (rebeccakate.miller@gmail.com) with questions, comments, or suggestions.

We look forward to seeing you again soon!

Megan Hodge, Rebecca Miller, and Lisa Varga

I attended the VLA Annual Conference for the third time this year.  The Conference is a somewhat unique professional development opportunity that blends library and information science theory with its practical application.  It provides a time and space for reflecting on the issues in our profession in a setting that is removed from our day-to-day work and also gives us an outlet to discuss practical concerns and share ideas.  As I am in the midst of completing my M.S.L.S. degree, I especially appreciated the opportunity to hear the perspectives of my fellow professionals in the field who are in practice confronting the issues that I study academically.

I also had the opportunity to present my research at the Conference this year.  In a session entitled “From Public Library History to Fantasy Heroes: A Cross-Section of Research from an M.L.S. Program,” I and two of my colleagues shared our experiences in our graduate program and the research we have been conducting.  In library school we do not always have the opportunity to talk about the research we do–to share it with others and articulate its practical application.  In the field, librarians are often too busy with their demanding workload to devote much time to reviewing or conducting LIS research.  Yet librarianship is a truly collaborative profession which places value on the sharing of ideas and information.  The Conference provided a wonderful opportunity for me to discuss my research with others, share what I have learned, and solicit feedback and new ideas from my colleagues.

And besides, the Conference was fun!  Trust the librarians to bring all of their enthusiasm and love of their work to this large professional gathering.  I had the chance to catch up with former coworkers, meet new people, and even do a bit of karaoke.  I must confess, I returned home exhausted.  But I am already looking forward to October 2012!