Government Info Pro

Answering the Call

Thanks to Sabah Eltareb, Division Chair 2010, SLA Government Information Division; Assistant Director, California Research Bureau, California State Library, for the this article:  Answering the Call.   This article was originally published in the 2010 Best Practices for Government Librarians: The New Face of Value.  Best Practices is a collaborative document that is put out annually on a specific topic of interest to government librarians. The 2010 edition includes over 70 articles and other submissions provided by more than 60 contributors from librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, LexisNexis Consultants, and more.

Read on...

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do."
--- Goethe

It is funny how we end up in situations that we sometimes didn’t purposefully plan to, through the combination of our own individual personality, circumstances, and timing, and end up being rewarded in ways not anticipated.

In 2008, I had just wrapped up participating as one of the first cohorts of the Eureka! Leadership Institute which mandated each attendee work with his/her library management on a mission-critical issue. In addition to the internal benefit being worked on, there was a strong encouragement that attendees should look for opportunities to give back to the larger library/professional community.

At that time, I was working at the California State Library (CSL), in charge of two formerly separate sections that had just merged - General Information & Reference and Government Publications. The state of California was experiencing a fiscal crisis resulting in state department budget cuts and hiring freezes. There was not enough staff to maintain and operate two separate public services desks so Library administration determined this merger was the best option to pursue. Handling the merger, by the way, was my project for the Eureka! Leadership Institute.

I did not plan on taking on a leadership role in any of the professional library associations that I belonged to. I was quite content being a member, receiving the affiliated membership benefits such as journals or discounts to trainings and conferences and subscribing to listservs. I had enough on my plate with my job, family and other community activities.

Shortly after the Eureka! Leadership Institute wrap-up, a couple of messages were posted to the Special Library Association (SLA) Government Information Division (DGI) listserv requesting members to run for division leadership positions...

 READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN PDF starting on page 69.

DC/SLA 2009 Board of Directors

Congratulations to the newly elected 2009 DC/SLA Board of Directors. It's exciting to see so many government librarians in leadership positions within DC/SLA.

• First Vice-President, President-Elect: James King
• Second Vice President: Jessica Beauchamp
• Director: Kimberly Ferguson
• Communications Secretary: Bill Tuceling
• Recording Secretary: Eileen Deegan
• Assistant Treasurer/Elect: Gulnar Nagashybayeva

You can read more about the board here.

SLA DGI Leadership Positions in 2009

The SLA Government Information Division (DGI) Blog reminds us that the Division is looking for volunteers to take leadership roles in 2009.  Candidate nominations must be submitted by August 29, 2008 for:

• Chair-Elect, 3-year position progressing to Chair and Past Chair
• Secretary, 1-year
• Director of Membership, 1-year

For more information read the full SLA DGI Blog post: We Want You in 2009!

SLA Division of Government Information Announces New Board

Congratulations to the 2008 SLA DGI Board Members.

CASLIS Announces The Creation of the Government IP Section

Thanks to the Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services Executive Council member: Secretary, Cabot Yu, for giving me a heads up about a brand new  division of the Canadian Library Association (CLA) so that I could share the information here on the Government Info Pro.

The Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services (CASLIS) announced the creation of the Government Information Professionals Section on October 31, 2007. CASLIS is a division of the Canadian Library Association (CLA). See the CLA press release here or read the post: CASLIS announces the creation of the Government Information Professionals Section in the The Special Info & Musings for Ottawa IM Professionals.

The Special Info & Musings for Ottawa IM Professionals is the blog for the members of the Canadian Library Association (CLA) with chapter membership in CASLIS Ottawa. The Special Info & Musings for Ottawa IM Professionals outlines its coverage and role on its masthead as the following:

The Special Info & Musings for Ottawa IM Professionals:  The informal notes for the CASLIS Ottawa chapter. News, views, opinions, happenings in our world of information management, librarians and libraries. Feel free to add your views and opinions. A communication vehicle for you. Your OFFICIAL Source for CASLIS Ottawa Information. [Masthead, The Special Info & Musings for Ottawa IM Professionals].

Welcome to the Government Information Professionals Section of CASLIS.

SLA Recognizes Military Librarians

In case you missed it...

During its Annual Conference in Denver, the Special Libraries Association (SLA) honored a group of professionals who work tirelessly to be sure that the men and women serving to protect their countries in the Armed Forces have the information services and resources they need both abroad and at home. The 300-plus members of the SLA Military Librarians Division were awarded the 2007 SLA Professional Award, which recognizes a special event, major achievement, or specific significant contribution to the field of librarianship or information science. [SLA Press Release, August 23, 2007]

Congrats to our military librarians! To learn more at the Military Librarians Division of SLA visit: http://units.sla.org/division/dmil/AboutMLD.htm.

Professional Development and the Power of Peers

Adriana Younskevicius, Special Assistant to the Director, U.S. Department of Justice Libraries, shares information about the AALL Federal Law Librarians Caucus.

Professional development is not just about taking classes and attending conferences. While these are important aspects of it, professional development can--and, I believe, should--involve working with the federal law library community beyond our respective agencies.

To that end, in July 2006, I invited my fellow Federal Law Library colleagues to an informal meet and greet at the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Annual Conference. I am pleased to say that approximately 40 librarians took me up on my invitation! As a result, an AALL Federal Law Librarians Caucus has been formed! You can see our listing at: http://www.aallnet.org/caucus/.

When you click on the Caucus link, you will see that the Caucus web page is an attempt to create a multi-agency network of federal law libraries and to develop joint collection development policies, research services, disaster recovery plans, training programs, etc. The idea is to help us learn more from each other and perhaps actually save some money and effort in the process. It is so important for us to look proactive in these days of declining resources rather than waiting until the "Closed" signs appear on our doors.

In addition to the Caucus web page, a listserv was formed to address issues, ideas, and projects for us to undertake as Federal Law Librarians. I believe that this listserv has the potential to be a great communication vehicle for librarians scattered around the country and I would encourage everyone to join! This is an opportunity to share ideas and exchange opinions with your colleagues in what are certainly challenging times. To sign up for the listserv you can either go to http://share.aallnet.org/read/ and subscribe via the web or you can send an email to the list manager at owner-fllc@aallnet.org. Once you are a member you can post to the listserv by sending an email to fllc@aallnet.org. Please know that you do not have to be a member of AALL to join the caucus or the listserv.

A number of interesting topics have already been introduced on the listserv. The concept of the embedded librarian generated a great deal of discussion. The subject of federal law library closures is naturally a concern to us all and postings with updates have appeared on the listserv. Perhaps the most provocative thread dealt with developing collaborative relationships for the purposes of research services, collection development, and training. Other ideas that have been put forward are a bibliographic project such as a shared online catalog and a collaborative electronic reference service.

There is still a great deal that we could discuss, however. Marketing methods used by various libraries, training for staff transitioning from LexisNexis and Westlaw software to the .com versions, inter-agency ILL possibilities, resource sharing, and creating a federal law library directory are all issues worth exploring.

Right now at the Department of Justice, we have several things that we are beginning to put our thoughts together about. We are spending time talking about the next couple of decades in our library and what the future may hold long term. We have also been addressing the issue of the future of our online catalog and how to make it even more robust and useful to our clients. Also, we are beginning to look at our need to prepare our younger staff for assuming leadership positions.

The issues above are suitable for a consortium of federal law libraries to explore. It is clear that strategic planning needs to become a priority if we are to continue to flourish in these times of downsizing. How can we use each other's expertise to supplement our own research services? How can we better acquire and share materials? How can we collaborate to develop and expand our training services to other federal law libraries?

We can use vehicles such as the AALL Federal Law Librarians Caucus to start to find the answers to these issues, get to know our fellow federal law librarians better, and gain valuable professional development experiences!

AALL Federal Law Librarians Listserv Notice

Adriana Younskevicius, Special Assistant to the Director, U.S. Department of Justice Libraries, noted that some members were recently un-subscribed from the AALL Federal Law Librarians Caucus listserv. If you are one of those subscribers, you will want to re-subscribe. See Adriana's note:

I recently discovered that a number of us were un-subscribed from the AALL Federal Law Librarians Caucus listserv. You will know that you have been un-subscribed if you did not receive my post of last week. To subscribe again, please contact Chris Tighe.

If you are not currently a member, I encourage you to join! The Caucus' webpage can be found at http://www.aallnet.org/caucus/fllc/ and information concerning subscribing to the listserv can be found in the "Discussion Forum" section. We have already had a number of interesting and thought-provoking discussions--join the fun!

For Government Info Pro's in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota

Peggy Garvin Chair, SLA Government Information Division, shares this message especially for government information professionals in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

To celebrate the Rocky Mountain location of the 2007 SLA Annual Conference, the SLA Government Information Division announces the following opportunity for librarians and info pro's in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota:

Be a registered member of SLA and the SLA Government Information Division by April 4, and you will be eligible for a drawing to receive one full conference registration for the 2007 SLA Annual Conference to be held in Denver, CO, this June 3-6.

How? Go to the Join Us web page on the SLA Government Information Division (DGI) website. This page links to the proper SLA web pages for 1) joining SLA if you are not a member (at which time you would select Government Information Division as your division), or 2) adding the Government Information Division to the list of divisions you may already belong to, if you are already an SLA member.

Why join? SLA and its Government Information Division have plenty of education and networking benefits for those involved in managing or using government information, at all levels of government. Attendance at the annual conference in Denver will be a great way to get acquainted with your peers!

What exactly do I get? If you are a new or existing member of SLA and the Government Information Division on April 4, 2007-and registered as a resident of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, or South Dakota-you will be eligible to win one full registration for the SLA 2007 conference in Denver. A name will be drawn from the pool of eligible members. The full registration does *NOT* include transportation, lodging, meals, continuing education course, or ticketed events.

What else do I need to know?

• As a member of SLA, you can join one division at no cost; additional divisions can be added for $18 (additional caucuses for $12).
• For questions about membership in SLA, contact SLA headquarters at membership@sla.org --The winner of the drawing will be contacted directly, and the winner's name will be announced on the SLA-DGI and SLA Rocky Mountain Chapter email lists.
• The drawing will be held the week of April 16, but all who wish to be eligible for the drawing must be a member by April 4, 2007.
• The prize is *not* transferable; it must be used by the winner for attendance at the SLA annual conference in Denver in June 2007. If the winner is not able to attend, the registration will be given to the second name drawn.

JOIN NOW!

Federal Law Librarians Discussion Group AALL Summary

Adriana Younskevicius, Special Assistant to the Director, U.S. Department of Justice Libraries, shares this summary of the Federal Law Librarians Discussion Group at AALL 2006 in St. Louis and the progress this group is making to connect federal law librarians.

Good Day,

As many of you may recall, I invited my fellow federal law librarians to the first-ever Federal Law Librarians Discussion Group at AALL in St. Louis. I was so pleased to see that nearly forty individuals took me up on that invitation!

We had an excellent cross-section of attendees as librarians from various geographic locations and many different branches of government participated. The group was very enthusiastic about exploring ideas for the future and discussed marketing methods used by various libraries, federal law library closures, training for staff transitioning from LexisNexis and Westlaw software to the .com versions, inter-agency ILL possibilities, resource sharing, and creating a federal law library directory.

Everyone agreed that it is important to keep the momentum going for the group, and in the time since the meeting at AALL a caucus has been established (see AALL Caucuses) and we are in the process of creating a web page and listserv for the caucus. If you would like to work on this project or any other projects mentioned, we would love to hear your ideas and/or have your participation!

We will hold the second Federal Law Librarians Discussion Group at AALL in New Orleans and I hope to see you there!

Best,

Adriana