fsu ala student chapter newsletter june 2012
DESCRIPTION
Newslettler for June 2012 by Kellee FrancisTRANSCRIPT
It’s Summer, which means it’s Conference Season!Welcome new members and old: It’s the Summer
2012 edition of YOUR newsletter and there’s a lot
going on for the month of June! I hope your summer
is off to a good start so far. We are currently in our
4th week of class already! Can you believe it? Hope
you like the pace because it doesn’t slow down from
here! Don’t forget to utilize your local library for
study groups, keeping cool or just a place to escape!
“Attendance Dwindles, but Conferences will always attract
librarians of all stripes.”
This edition of the FSU-SC American Library
Association newsletter aims to stress the importance
of attending conferences and summer reading. While
they are different topics, both highlight the need...
page 1 your Student Newsletter
EVERYTHING CONFERENCE:
CHECK OUT: The Embedded Library Grad
Student for some great conference tips. Also,
very recently, Hack Library School, released a
very interesting article about conference
preparation. HLS is run by our very own
Micah Vandegriff who, last semester, accepted
the role of Scholarly Communications
Librarian here at FSU. This week, HLS had
one of their lovely writers, SLIS student
Joanne June, write about conference
etiquette. Check it out: Professional
Preparations
fsuALAN e w s l e t t e rEverything Information and Everything Library Science
Summer IssueYOUR Student ChapterNo. 1/612
Is this going to be your FIRST conference? Make it worth every penny.
Everyone goes
to conferences
to learn best
practices, spot
vendor
innovations or
network.
...Continued from Page 1...
...for good programming and a greater
emphasis on libraries as places of
education. However, let’s focus on
conference preparation for right now.
Multiple registrations. Booking travel.
Finding decent hotels. Name
badges. Informational packets.
L e a r n i n g s e s s i o n s. Ve n d o r
booths. Vendor goodies and
SWAG. Meals and camaraderie
with your peers across the
spectrum.
Sound familiar? For some of us,
maybe, but for the rest of you out
there who have yet to attend a
professional library association
conference: I implore you.
There are usually major reasons
why you don’t attend: (1) Not
enough money, (2) Can’t get the
vacation time, or (3) You may not
see the benefit.
In the last five years, I’ve been to almost a
dozen professional conferences
spanning three different fields of study
(Oops, I’ve been collecting degrees).
Fortunately (and unfortunately), given this
experience, I have a few bennies to share...
At a Conference, you are able to:
Network like crazy and learn from others in
the profession (perhaps you can even
investigate your speciality by talking to
exper ienced people ) ; Share your
thoughts, experiences and ideas with those
around you and gain some practical,
professional development skills; Take a
break from the daily grind and refocus on
your goals in the profession in order to
invigorate your love of everything
information (it works); and, lastly, step back
and reflect on your job, where you are in
school and look at the bigger picture. P.S.
Don’t forget to update your résumé!
page 2 your Student Newsletter
NO BETTER PLACE TO
ADVOCATE YOUR
LIBRARY PROGRAM
At a library conference, there
is no better place to learn
about the benefits of your
program and advocating for it.
We’ll need future information
specialists, right?
The Importance of Your Degree
Recently, Forbes released a list of the
10 best and the 10 worst master's
degrees on-line. Unfortunately, they
made the mistake of rating a Master
Degree in Library Science as the
worst. Yes, I know many of you will
take issue with Forbes on this. I, too,
was quite surprised by their decision
t o r e l e a s e s u c h i n f o r m a t i o n .
Obviously, I myself, take issue with
their selection for biased reasons.
However, rather than just highlight/
touch upon the state of libraries and
feeding our state of awesomeness, I'm
going to focus my offense on the
writer-lackey at Forbes for obvious
poor reporting.
Per Jacquelyn Smith, a staff
member at Forbes:
“Library and information science degree-
holders bring in $57,600 mid-career, on
average. Common jobs for them are school
librarian, library director and reference
librarian, and there are expected to be
just 8.5% more of them by 2020. The low
pay rank and estimated growth rank
make library and information science the
worst master’s degree for jobs right now.”
What Ms. Smith fails to mention is
that there are many specializations,
similar to those in
I n f o r m a t i o n
Systems, in the field
of Library and Information Studies.
Not only that, but there seems to be a
lot of stereotyping going on: MLIS
graduates are not only reference or
academic librarians or directors. In
fact, it is downright inaccurate to even
c o n s i d e r s u c h a s t a t e m e n t .
Unfortunately, Ms. Smith lacked the
researching skills (something I
would like to purport that all
graduate MLIS students have) to
support her information. She
also failed to mention librarians
in the roles of information
s p e c i a l i s t s , w h o w o r k i n
digitization or in building
information systems. Heck;
librarians ARE Information
Systems Specialists. What about
Metadata specialists? I could go
on but that would make for
a really long newsletter.
Point being people:
There is a lot of
value in a Masters
i n L i b r a r y a n d
Information Science; don’t
you forget that!
--����������� ������������������ Kellee����������� ������������������ F.����������� ������������������ --
page 3 your Student Newsletter
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CHECK
OUT WILD BOOK CHASE’S
BLOGI first stumbled upon this
article through a fellow
Librarian blog linked through
Facebook. I hope this
encourages more students,
bloggers and alums
to speak out.
page 4 your Student Newsletter
WHAT ARE YOU READING FOR THE SUMMER?WE WANT IDEAS! Let us know what we should or could be reading on our ALA FSU Student Chapter
Facebook Page. And, it better not be Shades of Grey; been there, got the hand-cuffs (ha-ha)...!
More on Summer Reading15 Tempting
Titles for you
to check out
that are all
being adapted
into movies...
Summer is just about here, and there’s
no better time or reason than to dive
head-first into a great book. The
research is clear: children who don't read
during the summer can lose up to three
months of reading progress and that loss
has a cumulative, long-term effect. So,
those of us who are focusing on Youth
Services, start your engines! Here are
some summer reading goals that I focused
on as kid, young adult and even now:
Advance literacy and academic
performance by engaging children and
teens in reading and reading-related
activities during the summer months;
Foster a love of reading through public
library programs and services; Increase
the number of successful reading
experiences through librarian-supported,
self-selected, voluntary reading; Involve
parents and all family members in the
library summer reading experience;
Improve children’s access to library
materials and activities, which will
encourage them to become lifelong library
users; and, lastly, Encourage children and
teens to participate in public library
summer reading programs. And, don’t
forget to HAVE FUN!
page 5 your Student Newsletter
SUMMER READING
PROGRAMSIn both Public and
Academic libraries,
summer reading programs
usually encourage
readers, especially those
who are struggling, to use
alternate formats such as
magazines, audiobooks,
graphic novels, e-books
and materials on the web.
Don’t Forget to OFFICIALLY Join the FSU’s SLIS ALA Student Chapter!Our Next Meeting:
Please set aside some time on Friday, June 15th at 5:30 PM to
attend our monthly, ALA Student Chapter meeting. This time,
we will have Stephanie Race, the Continuing Education
Coordinator for the Florida Division of Library Services, have
a chat with us about conferences. She will be sharing the story
of her career and will offer some key tips in successfully
attending the ALA Conference in Anaheim next week! Can’t
wait to see you all there :-)
Our After-Meeting Event:
Please join us, after our meeting, as we enjoy some
awesome summer time food at the best place for some
custom stirfry: GENGHIS GRILL! Just head over to their
North Tallahassee location on 1400 Village Square Blvd.
Located off of Thomasville Road, Genghis is less than 1/2 a
mile past Cap. Circle NE & I-10. It is located in the plaza
where Fresh Market is located. This is a vegetarian-friendly
location as well so don’t let the name fool you. Definitely
check out their website: http://www.genghisgrill.com.
page 6 your Student Newsletter
How to Join:To join the Student Chapter, you must be a current member of the American Library Association.
Afterwards:
1.Sign into Blackboard
2.Click the Organizations tab
3.In the Organization Catalog, click Student Organization/Other
4.In Name-Contents field, enter ALA Student Chapter
5.Click ENROLL!!
CI ALA Student Chapter
http://ala.ci.fsu.edu
ALA SC FSU
Your ALA Student Chapter 2011-2012 OfficersGOALS: Facilitate and encourage
participation in the American Library
Association; Increase awareness and
use of the resources of the American
Library Association, including
publications, promotional materials,
scholarships, and conferences;
Increase awareness of national issues
in library and information studies;
Provide a forum for the exchange of
ideas and information about issues,
trends, and opportunities in the
profession; Develop skills and
relationships that will enable students
to have a creative impact on the
profession; Promote involvement in
professional activities beyond the
classroom; and Encourage
professional and social networking for
students in the LIS program at FSU
Remember that we’re
here for you when you need us!
page 7 your Student Newsletter
FSU SLIS ALA STUDENT CHAPTER MISSION...As one of 49 active Student Chapter groups, The FSU College of Communication and Information ALA Student Chapter seeks to promote the growth of its members in accordance with ALA standards, and is
supported by the College of Communication and Information.
President: John [email protected]
Vice President: Allison George [email protected]
Treasurer: Laura [email protected]
Secretary: Halley Earwood [email protected]
Event Coordinator: Sally [email protected]
Newsletter Editor: Kellee Francis [email protected] Webmaster: Kelly [email protected]
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Christie [email protected]