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2021 Core Candidate Town Hall Recording Now Available

If you’ve missed yesterday’s 2021 President-Elect candidate town hall with Margaret Heller and Maurini Strub, the Zoom recording is now available for you to watch and catch up on the discussion. During the live Q&A, the candidates shared their thoughts on the division’s top priorities, plans to promote member engagement, and new opportunities to advance the profession. Special thanks to Miranda Bennett for moderating the discussion. There’s still time to participate in this election and cast your vote by April 7. The results of the election will be announced on April 14. For more information about the candidates or the ALA/Core election, please visit the Core elections page.

New Core Jobs: March 24, 2021

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Browse new job openings on the Core Jobs Site

Access Services Librarian, PASCAL,  Columbia, SC  Continuing Resources and Government Information Management Librarian, Clemson University, Clemson, SC Acquisitions and Metadata Librarian, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ Director of Preservation, Texas A&M University Libraries, College Station, TX Head of Research and Data Management, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, GA Visit the Core Jobs Site for additional job openings and information on submitting your own job posting.

March 2021 Issue of Information Technology and Libraries is Published

The March 2021 issue of Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL) was published on March 15. Two journals published by ALA’s Core division, Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL) and Library Leadership and Management (LL&M), invite applications for peer reviewers. Serving as a reviewer is a great opportunity for individuals from all types of libraries and with a wide variety of experience to contribute to scholarship within our chosen profession. See “Reviewers Wanted,” the Letter from the Editor for this issue. Editorial Board Member Brady Lund asks and answers a particularly intriguing question facing libraries in this quarter’s Editorial Board Thoughts column, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Does It Pose an Existential Threat to Libraries?”  We have two “Public Libraries Leading the Way” columns this issue, both focused on technological adaptations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first one, We Can Do It for Free! Using Freeware for Online Patron…Continue Reading

2021 Core Candidates Interview

The Core election is well underway, and our staff asked the 2021 President-Elect candidates, Margaret Heller and Maurini Strub to share their perspectives with us in this brief three-question interview. We asked Margaret Heller: How can Core work to amplify and include diverse voices within the division and the wider profession? First, let the people who have those diverse voices lead the way in describing what inclusion looks like to them. That might mean supporting communities that exist outside of Core rather than trying to replicate what they have and partnering for programming and cross-pollination of resources and expertise. Building Core into an organization with an inclusive culture allowing people who are new or unsure of their welcome to find and/or build a supportive space. The danger in an organizational structure that is less hierarchical, and more fluid is that it becomes unwelcoming to people who don’t have a clear…Continue Reading

New Core Jobs: March 12, 2021

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Browse new job openings on the Core Jobs Site

Electronic Resources Librarian, Ginicoe Corporation (A Private Corporation – Not a School), New York City, NY Director of College Library, Rust College, Holly Springs, MS Metadata Strategist, New York University, Division of Libraries, New York, NY Visit the Core Jobs Site for additional job openings and information on submitting your own job posting.

Check out the Latest Resources on Handling Library Materials and Collections During a Pandemic

Core’s Preservation Outreach Committee has updated its resource page on Handling Library Materials and Collections During a Pandemic, with an emphasis on including resources that will be regularly updated and speak directly to COVID-19 research and guidance as it impacts handling library collections. Initially published in March 2020, this resource page was created early in the pandemic when most available resources were based on general flu and pandemic research. It also included articles published by library and cultural heritage organizations as well as initial CDC recommendations. Now, more than a year after the start of the pandemic, a great deal of research has been conducted on SARS-CoV-2 and its impact on safely handling collections, and the Preservation Outreach Committee’s guidance has changed to reflect this. The new guidance highlights the essential research of the REALM Project (Reopening Archives Libraries and Museums), a joint project from the Institute of Museum and…Continue Reading

Summary, March 2021 Core e-Forum, “Changes in Library Organization”

The two day e-forum “Changes in Library Organization” which took place on March 2-3, 2021 had 80 posts from 13 participants, representing a range of institutions: public, academic, and vendor. Our discussions included reasons why libraries needed to change their organizational structure, barriers to change and how to overcome them, communication techniques, as well as discussing specific organizational structure models and positions. The resources shared by the two co-hosts and participants can be found at the end of this summary. We explored some of the primary reasons organizations needed to change, such as retirements, new leadership, new systems, and new priorities.  There were a variety of responses with a couple of common themes emerging with organizational change being driven by COVID-19 changes and by library staff changes (retirements, new leadership/administration). Additional reasons were system migrations and other library work changes. One library that reorganized ~3 years ago expressed a desire…Continue Reading

ALA/Core Elections are Now Open!

We’re pleased to announce that the 2021-2022 ALA Core election is now open and will continue through April 7. All Core members in good standing as of March 8, 2021, are eligible to participate and vote in this election. The candidates for Core President-Elect running for the 2021-2022 term are: Margaret HellerDigital Services LibrarianLoyola University Maurini StrubDirector of Performance & User EngagementUniversity of Rochester (NY) Learn more about the candidates and cast your ballot by April 7, 2021. Members will receive an email from ALA with information about how to vote online. The election results will be announced on April 14, 2021. ALA Election Candidates for ALA President-Elect Ed Garcia Lessa Pelayo-Lozada Core Members Running for ALA Council Cindy Bhatti Kimberley Bugg Angela Craig Sara Dallas Kim DeNero-Ackroyd Kelsey Flynn Linda Marie Golian-Lui Mario M. Gonzalez Rhonda K. Gould Nicole Holifield Sonnet Ireland Rodney Lippard Sherry Machones Mike L. Marlin Susan J. Martin Jill…Continue Reading

New Core Jobs: March 4, 2021

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Browse new job openings on the Core Jobs Site

Systems Librarian, Georgia Gwinnett College, Lawrenceville, GA Integrated Library Systems (ILS) Administrator, OC Public Libraries, Santa Ana, CA Metadata and Catalog Librarian, Galladuet University, Washington DC Manager of Library Space and User Experience, Colorado State University Libraries, Fort Collins, CO Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion & Organizational Development, Librarian II or III, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI Head, Veterinary Medical Library, Auburn University Libraries, Auburn, AL Visit the Core Jobs Site for additional job openings and information on submitting your own job posting.

Call For Reviewers For ITAL & LL&M Journals

The Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL) and Library Leadership and Management (LL&M) journals invite applications for peer reviewers. This is an exciting opportunity for individuals from all types of libraries and with a wide variety of experience to contribute to scholarship within the profession. We are seeking the broadest pool of reviewers possible. Reviewer responsibilities for both journals are to have an interest/experience with the journal’s topics, as described below. Reviewers should expect to review 2-4 articles a year and should provide thoughtful and actionable comments to authors and the editor. Reviewers will work with the editor, associate editor, and/or editorial board of the corresponding journal. See the job description for ITAL reviewers for more details about that role.  We welcome applications from individuals at libraries of all types, levels of experience, locations, perspectives, and voices, especially those from underrepresented groups. Reviewers will be selected to maximize the diversity of…Continue Reading