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| Technical Services Special Interest Section |
From the Chair |
The Technical Services SIS is pleased to report that we will sponsor seven educational programs and one workshop at the Annual Meeting in Minneapolis next summer. They are:
The last four programs and the Workshop are co-sponsored with the OBS-SIS. Many, many thanks are due to Pat Sayre-McCoy and other members of the TS Education Committee who worked hard on these program proposals, and gave serious consideration to every idea that was submitted by our members! (We could use some more ideas from acquisitions and serials librarians—I hope you will write down these ideas when you fill out your Annual Membership Survey this year.)
Other exciting news: The first-ever "Managing Technical Services Institute" will be held for 2 1/2 days just prior to the Annual Meeting in Minneapolis. The Institute, which is being coordinated by Mike Petit, will address the needs of heads of technical services as well as "solo" technical services law librarians. The AALL Grants Committee will also be making a grant available to an AALL member to attend this institute! Look for the forthcoming information on applying for AALL grants, follow the instructions and meet the deadline, and perhaps you will be the fortunate recipient of a free registration. We have also been told that a "Basic Cataloging Institute" and an "Acquisitions & Collection Development Institute" will be offered, probably in Fall 2001 in major urban centers such as Chicago or Washington, DC. More details will be disseminated later. These are excellent opportunities for structured continuing education or professional development.
Many TS members have found that they’ve learned a great deal through the informal discussions and networking that occurs between individuals, perhaps someone else they’ve met at an AALL or a chapter meeting. Are you a "newbie" acquisitions librarian, cataloger, serials librarian, head of technical services, or ‘solo’ tech-services librarian, with no one to turn to for advice or a second opinion? Or, perhaps you have worked in another type of library (public, general academic) but you just can’t figure out how to handle the differences in these LAW materials and LAW publishers. Hmm ..? If so, have we got a deal for you!! We are starting an informal Mentoring Program by which we will match newbies like you with more experienced TS-SIS members who can offer that advice or second opinion. Mentors and mentees may communicate with each other by telephone, by e-mail, FAX or whatever works best for the two of you. The application form for becoming a mentee or a mentor can be found in this newsletter. Mentors are needed too, of course. It can be very satisfying, professionally, to share your expertise with another person. It helps the more experienced librarian feel invigorated and offers variety to her workload. Usually the amount of consulting does not take too much time away from regular duties. Even better, the professional ties (networking) that develop often turn out to benefit both mentor and mentee alike. The director for the TS-SIS Mentoring Program is Mary Burgos. Please contact her at 212-854-8413 (e-mail: mburgos@law.columbia.edu) if you have any questions.
I hope that each and every one of you has a productive, healthy and happy new year!
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