The Official News of the ALA's Reference and User Services Association
Please don’t forget to cast your vote for a new RUSA vice-president/president-elect by Tuesday, September 8, 2015, 6:00pm CT.
To vote, login to the RUSA Division Group in Connect (http://connect.ala.org/rusa) and go to the poll here: http://connect.ala.org/node/243828 to vote.
If you have any problems logging in, please call the ALA Member and Customer Service Center at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5.
If you have any questions, please email rusa@ala.org.
Beginning Sept. 1, 2015 the RUSA is seeking nominations for its annual series of awards and grants. Nominations and supporting materials for most awards must be submitted by Dec. 4, 2015.
RUSA encourages members to nominate their colleagues whose work has influenced their thinking and performance and whose contributions merit recognition by the profession. With over $30,000 generously donated annually by industry sponsors, RUSA has, and will continue to, nominate, select and honor the very best in the field of reference and user services.
Achievement awards for individuals and groups:
Isadore Gilbert Mudge Award, RUSA’s highest honor, recognizes an individual who has made a distinguished contribution to the field of reference librarianship. $5,000* and a citation.
Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Library Services is given to a library or library system for developing an imaginative and unique resource to meet patrons’ reference needs. $3,000* and a citation.
NoveList’s Margaret E. Monroe Library Adult Services Award recognizes a librarian who has made significant contributions to library adult services. Sponsored by NoveList; $1,250* and a citation.
John Sessions Memorial Award recognizes a library or library system that has made a significant effort to work with the labor community and by doing so has brought recognition to the history and contribution of the labor movement to the development of the United States. Sponsored by the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, the winner receives a plaque.
Reference Service Press Award recognizes the most outstanding article published in Reference and User Services Quarterly (RUSQ), RUSA’s research journal, during the preceding two-volume year. Sponsored by Reference Service Press; $2,500* and a plaque.
BRASS Award for Excellence in Business Librarianship is presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution to business librarianship. $3,000* and a citation.
Louis Shores Award recognizes an individual reviewer, group, editor, review medium or organization for excellence in book reviewing and other media for libraries. The winner receives a citation.
Zora Neale Hurston Award honors an individual ALA member who has demonstrated leadership in promoting African-American literature. Sponsored by HarperCollins Publishers; the winner receives $1,250* supporting travel to the ALA Annual Conference, a beautiful plaque, two tickets to the United for Libraries author events: The Gala Author Tea and The Laugh’s On Us, and two complete sets of Zora Neale Hurston’s books and audiobooks.
ETS My Favorite Martian Award is a citation presented annually in recognition of excellence in service to the Emerging Technologies Section of RUSA. The winner receives a citation.
Genealogy / History Achievement Award Sponsored by ProQuest, is presented to a librarian, library or publisher, and recognizes professional achievement in historical reference and research librarianship. $1,500* and a citation.
RSS Service Achievement Award is presented annually to a member of the Reference Services Section (RSS) of RUSA in recognition of exceptional contributions to the section. The winner receives a citation.
Virginia Boucher/OCLC Distinguished ILL Librarian Award is given to an individual for his or her outstanding professional achievement, leadership, and contributions to interlibrary loan and document delivery. Sponsored by OCLC; $2,000* and a citation.
Travel awards to the ALA Annual Conference:
BRASS Student Travel Award presents funds to a student enrolled in an ALA accredited master’s degree program to fund travel the ALA Annual Conference. $1,250* and a citation. This award’s nomination deadline is Jan. 15, 2016.
BRASS Global Financial Data Academic Business Librarianship Travel Award is presented to a new librarian in the field of academic business librarianship in order to support attendance to the ALA Annual Conference. Sponsored by Global Financial Data; $1,250* and a citation.
Morningstar Public Librarian Support Award offers funds to a public librarian who has performed outstanding business reference service and who requires financial assistance to attend the ALA Annual Conference. Sponsored by Morningstar, Inc.; $1,250* and a citation.
STARS Atlas Systems Mentoring Award offers ALA Annual Conference travel assistance funds to a library practitioner who is new to the field of interlibrary loan/document delivery or electronic reserves, and who has involvement in the areas of borrowing, lending, document delivery, electronic reserves, material delivery or resource sharing. Sponsored by Atlas Systems; $1,250* and a citation.
Research grants:
Gale Cengage Learning History Research and Innovation Award is granted to an MLS degreed librarian from an ALA accredited school to facilitate and further research relating to history and history librarianship. Sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning; $2,500* and a citation.
BRASS Emerald Research Grant Award, is presented to an individual or group seeking support to conduct research in business librarianship. Sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing; $5,000* and a citation.
*Monetary award amounts are subject to change without notice and are contingent upon donor funding supplied at the time the award is presented.
Questions about these awards should be directed to the committee chairperson—access committee contact information by logging in at www.ala.org, then accessing the RUSA roster webpage—or to the RUSA headquarters staff.
More information about these awards, including nominating instructions, can be found on RUSA’s awards webpage.
RUSA
VICE-PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT-ELECT
– Anne Houston
Director of Teaching, Learning & Research, Smith College Libraries, Northampton, MA
SECRETARY
– Kate Oberg
College & Career Librarian, Arlington Public Library, Arlington, VA
DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE
– Ed Garcia
Library Director, Cranston Public Library, Cranston, Rhode Island
– Mary Mintz
Associate Director for Outreach, American University Library, Washington, DC
DIVISION COUNCILOR
– Sarah J. Hammill
Distance Learning Librarian, Florida International University, Miami, FL
BRASS
VICE-CHAIR/CHAIR-ELECT
– Louise Mort Feldmann
Business Librarian, Colorado State University Libraries, Fort Collins, Colorado
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
– Penny Scott
Reference Librarian/Business Liaison, 2003-Present, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
CODES
VICE-CHAIR/CHAIR-ELECT
– Daniel C. Mack
Associate Dean, Collection Strategies and Services, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
– Emily Hamstra
Learning Librarian, Kinesiology Librarian, University of Michigan Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan
– Matthew J. Wayman
Head Librarian, 2008-Present, Ciletti Memorial Library, Penn State Schuylkill, Schuylkill Haven, PA
HISTORY
VICE-CHAIR/CHAIR-ELECT
– Christina Thompson Shutt
Public Services Librarian & College Archivist, Hendrix College, Conway, AR
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
– Melissa Finley Gonzalez
Head of Reference, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL
SECRETARY
– Jennifer Eileen McElroy
Reference Specialist (2013 – present), Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota.
MARS: EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN REFERENCE SECTION
VICE-CHAIR/CHAIR-ELECT
– McDonald, Courtney Greene
Head, Discovery & Research Services, Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington, IN
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
– Coleman, Jason
Undergraduate and Community Services Librarian, Kansas State University Libraries, Manhattan, Kansas
RSS
VICE-CHAIR/CHAIR-ELECT
– Amy Elizabeth Rustic
Associate Librarian/Reference and Instruction Librarian, Penn State University, New Kensington, PA
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
– Ellen Keith
Director of Research and Access/Chief Librarian, Chicago History Museum, Chicago, IL
STARS
VICE-CHAIR/CHAIR-ELECT
– Heidi Nance
Head, Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Services and Collection Management Services Strategic Projects Librarian, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle, WA
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
– Kerry Keegan
Customer Service Agent, Atlas Systems, Virginia Beach, Virginia
The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) is now accepting institute, preconference and program proposals for the 2016 Midwinter Meeting in Boston and the 2016 ALA Annual Conference in Orlando.
Proposals will be accepted online through 11:59 p.m. Central on May 11, 2015. Faxed, e-mailed or mailed proposals will not be accepted.
Proposals must be submitted to the appropriate section for approval before being entered in the proposal system online (see instructions below for entering approved section proposals). For more information about how to submit a proposal to a RUSA section, please contact the section chair. Section chair contact information can be found in the Section Executive Committee rosters here.
Session topics should showcase emerging trends and examples of driving change in the areas of reference services including but not limited to: marketing library services, advocacy, special populations, collection development, evaluation, readers’ advisory, instruction, business reference, emerging technologies, interlibrary loan and resource sharing, genealogy and historical research and more!
The RUSA Conference Program Coordinating Committee will review, organize and recommend for final approval to the RUSA Board all submitted section-approved proposals and select sessions based on their relevance to the profession and general interest to conference attendees who work in reference services at the 2015 annual conference.
Instructions for approved section proposal submission: Once your proposal is approved by the section, it should be entered here. Once you’ve logged in, click on “Click here to begin a new Proposal.” Note that there is an option to propose a tour; all tours must be proposed in this system.
Since this is our first year using it, we’d appreciate any constructive feedback from users about the new program proposal system set up by ALA.
For more information, contact the RUSA office at rusa@ala.org or (800) 545-2433, ext. 4395.