SAVE THE DATE! Join us for RUSA’s Midwinter membership social in Philly!

Kick off the 2014 ALA Midwinter Meeting in style with RUSA’s Membership Social—an opportunity to eat, drink, network, win prizes and learn more about RUSA.

The event will be held Saturday, January 25, 5:30pm to 7:00pm at the Sheraton hotel.

The social open to all current RUSA members, friends of RUSA and those meeting attendees interested in learning more about the association and networking with peers. All attendees are invited to play trivia for a chance to win fantastic door prizes!

Hope to see you there!

Published! New issue of Reference and User Services Quarterly, Volume 53, Issue 2

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Dear RUSA Members,

I am delighted to announce the publication of RUSQ, 53:2. This issue offers interesting feature pieces and columns covering a wide range of topics, including developing a virtual collection in an academic library to promote extracurricular reading, the dangers of self-censorship in collection building, consumer health literacy, professional development, adult learners, and librarian perspectives on Wikipedia among others. And, as always, there are excellent reviews of professional and reference sources. Of special note is the report from the RUSA President’s Program along with commentary. I hope that librarians in all different types of libraries will find something useful and provocative here. Please let me know your thoughts.

Read on and stay current with these emerging trends in reference services!

Barry Trott
Editor, RUSQ
btrott@wrl.org

Read the new issue now!

Need to activate your subscription to RUSQ? Access information is at the RUSA website.

In this issue…

Columns

For Your Enrichment, Barry Trott (col. ed.)
       A “Novel” Approach to Recreational Reading: Creating a Virtual Collection on a Shoestring” by Sarah Dahlen and Sean Watkins
From the President of RUSA, Kathleen Kern
      The spirit of giving and receiving: librarianship and the volunteer tradition
Taking Issues, eds Karen Antell and Molly Strothmann (col. eds.)
       Self-Censorship in Selection of LGBT-Themed Materials by Jennifer Downey
Accidental Technologist, ed. Eric Phetteplace (col. ed.)
       Less like a lesson, and more like an adventure”: Learning, libraries, and the zombie apocalypse by Dr. Matt Finch
Readers’ Advisory, ed. Laurel Tarulli (col. ed.)
       Social media and readers’ advisory: New Zealand experiences (part 2) by Rebecca Anwyll and Brenda Chawner
The Alert Collector Kelly Polacek (col. ed.)
      Reference and research resources for medical sociology, medical anthropology, and health psychology by Spencer Acadia
Management Marianne Ryan (col. ed.)
Over the Counter Help: User Perspective as an Active Ingredient in Marketing the Library by Andrea M. Bartelstein

Features

Exemplary Practice for Learning 2.0: Based on a Cumulative Analysis of the Value and Effect of “23 Things” Programs in Libraries by Michael Stephens

The Development and Performance Measurements of Educational Programs to Improve Consumer Health Information (CHI) Literacy by Younghee Noh

Wikipedia: Librarians’ Perspectives on Its Use as a Reference Source by Johnny Snyder

Closing the Gap: Library Help-seeking Preferences of Graduate Adult Learners by Lizah Ismail

From the Committees of RUSA

The Myth and the Reality of the Evolving Patron: A Report and Reactions to the 2013 RUSA President’s Program with Lee Rainie RUSA President’s Program Committee

Investment Success: Building and Managing Your Retirement Portfolio BRASS Program Planning Committee

Outstanding Business Reference Sources 2013 BRASS Business Reference Sources Committee

Best of the Best Business Websites, the 2013 Winners BRASS Education Committee

Reviews

Professional Materials, Karen Antell (ed.)
Book Reviews, Tammy Eschedor Voelker (ed.)

Meet Reference Librarian, Latanya Jenkins, this week’s IAmRUSA interviewee

Starting today, RUSA’s week-long interview series, IAmRUSA, is featuring Reference Librarian, Latanya Jenkins from Temple University!

Ever wonder exactly what kind of work members of RUSA do, or maybe which courses they would recommend for students looking for a career in reference or user services? Read on and ask away!

My name is Latanya and I received my Bachelor’s degree in anthropology and English at F&M. I received my Master’s in Information Science and Library Science at Drexel University in 2006 in Philly, while working full-time at Temple University’s Health Sciences library as a clerk.

Currently, I am working as a Reference Librarian at Temple University’s Paley Library on the Main campus, a position which I just started in January. I am the Reference Librarian for Government Information and African American Studies.

I am also working on collecting books in the area of African American Studies and the faculty are also keeping me busy with Instruction. I am also responsible for Government documents at Temple University managing that collection. Academic libraries is where I have all of my professional experience. I have a lot of experience with the associations as well.

I became active in RUSA through the Emerging Leaders program, which helped me understand more about committee work and how to volunteer in projects that could use my talents, which would help the association.

Latanya N. Jenkins
Reference Librarian for Government Information
Liaison to the African American History Department

Hosted on ALA Connect in the IAmRUSA Community –http://connect.ala.org/node/211629 ALA members have the opportunity to ask questions of participating RUSA members about their professional careers, their passions, and anything else that may come up involving librarianship.

Be sure to join in the community and if you are interested in participating as an interviewee, contact Kirk MacLeod at kgmcleod@ualberta.ca or Sarah Hammill at hammills@fiu.edu for more information.

Confessions of a reference librarian

Ever wonder exactly what kind of work members of RUSA do, or maybe which courses they would recommend for students looking for a career in reference or user services? On October 28, RUSA will begin to run a series of week-long interviews with a different member each week.

Hosted on ALA Connect at the IAmRUSA Community – http://connect.ala.org/node/211629 ALA members will be given the opportunity to ask questions of participating RUSA members about their professional careers, their passions, and anything else that may come up involving librarianship.

Be sure to join in the community and if you are interested in participating as an interviewee, contact Kirk MacLeod at kgmcleod@ualberta.ca or Sarah Hammill at hammills@fiu.edu for more information.