LIRT Spring 2010 Newsletter
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January 25, 2010
Your Slate of LIRT Officer Candidates for 2010-2011
Congratulations to Paula Gannaway, winner of the L.R. Sr. and Ruth Wilson Award
Nominations Wanted for TLA LIRT Awards
The 2009-2010 academic year is well underway for all of us and I think it’s been a great year so far for LIRT and we still have more ahead of us! I’d like to begin with a big thank you to those of you who traveled to and presented at the first annual LIRT Summit in Austin, Texas last October. I would also like to extend extra big thanks to past-chair Anna Stewart for coordinating with her campus, St. Edward’s University, to host the event for LIRT free of charge! We hope to make this an annual event and I’m hoping to be able to let everyone in LIRT know more about the fall 2010 event, with dates and location, by the TLA annual conference in April.
Speaking of annual conference, I’m hoping to see you all there April 14-17! It’s, of course, in my amazing adopted hometown of San Antonio. As an added bonus, this year’s conference happens to coincide with Fiesta, our very own citywide celebration. There will be lots of extra food and fun near the Riverwalk that week. Our LIRT program, co-sponsored with the CULD community college group, will feature Dr. Megan Oakleaf, the nationally known expert on information literacy assessment. Her program, “How Do We Stack Up? Outcomes-Based Assessment for Library Instruction,” will be on Thursday, April 15, 2:00-3:50 pm.” It promises to be a packed house and will give us all a lot to think about. As a member of this year’s program committee, I can promise you a lot of other great sessions, dynamic speakers, and stimulating conversation. Of course, our LIRT business meeting will take place after Dr. Oakleaf’s presentation. I will send out some more information about instruction-related programming at TLA closer to conference.
Don’t forget to check out the information in this newsletter on this year’s LIRT awards! Have a great spring semester everyone!
Michelle Millet, Trinity University
LIRT Chair, 2009-2010
Your Slate of LIRT Officer Candidates for 2010-2011
Chair Elect:
Donell Callender, Humanities Librarian (English and Foreign Languages), Texas Tech University – In the past decade I have been a contributing member of TLA through participation in varying committees and elected offices. I began as an ILL librarian and was invited to be on a guest panel discussing ILL Best Practices at the 2004 TLA conference. I moved into the Reference arena in 2005 and found, to my surprise, that I love teaching! I teach a one hour credit course titled LIBR 1100 Introduction to Library Research. I also teach a class that is under our PASS program called XL 0201 Strategies for Learning. As a result of this move to Reference and Outreach, I naturally migrated to LIRT, and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know fellow instructors in TLA. I have a passion for teaching and am always looking for new and innovative ways to teach User instruction. As Chair-Elect, I will strive to learn as much as I can from my Chair about officer duties and will firmly support LIRT’s mission to “provide a forum for discussion of activities, programs, and problems of instruction in the use of libraries or information literacy; to contribute to the education and training of librarians for library instruction; to promote instruction in the use of libraries as an essential library service; and to serve as a channel of communication on instruction in the use of libraries.”
Secretary-Treasurer:
Liz Barksdale – I am director of library services at Western Texas College, a two-year school. My job includes teaching, and I’ve always found LIRT a helpful resource. In the spring, I will be serving as Secretary/Treasurer for District I so I will have some familiarity with the duties of this position. LIRT provides valuable information and learning opportunities to instruction librarians across the state. I’m interested in serving as an officer to help the round table continue this work.
Theresa Storey Hefner-Babb – I am the Instruction Coordinator and Government Documents Librarian at Lamar University in Beaumont. As a librarian I have been teaching library instruction sessions, including our library research course, for nearly ten years. I have been involved in TLA during that same time in the areas of reference, instruction and government documents. I am a member of the Tall Texans class of 2002 and have held a number of committee positions and served as an officer and program planner for GODORT.
Councilor
Carol J. Scamman, Research Librarian, Stephen F. Austin State University - I’m currently the Alternate Councilor for LIRT, so I am familiar with the Councilor’s duties. I served as the Secretary/Treasurer of LIRT in 2005-2006. I have been active in TLA since 1982, including chairing NMRT. Last spring I became a Certified Online Instructor at SFASU, and I have published and presented on information literacy. I am a past coordinator for the Research Education (IL) program at Steen Library. I attended the teaching track of the ACRL Institute for Information Literacy Immersion ’05 in St. Petersburg, Florida. My concerns for LIRT include: with the growth of related interest groups and round tables, such as Distributed/E-Learning, LIRT needs to maintain a strong identity and voice within the newly reorganized TLA. Due to the recession and shrinking travel budgets, our offering of conference stipends is vital. We should continue to co-sponsor programs with groups of similar interests, while providing LIRT members with unique opportunities for networking and professional growth.
Steven Wise, Associate Professor and Head of Reference and Instruction, Our Lady of the Lake University.
Please note that voting for TLA LIRT Officers will be electronic this year. Watch for announcements in February regarding dates and venue!
Congratulations to Paula Gannaway, winner of the L. R. Sr. & Ruth Wilson Award
Paula Gannaway, Associate Librarian at Lubbock Christian University Library, was awarded the L. R. Sr. & Ruth Wilson Award for Excellence in Teaching at graduation, May 2009. Every year, Lubbock Christian University presents this award to two faculty members. Faculty are nominated and recommended for the award by letters from their peers. The Faculty Senate reviews the portfolios of the top five nominees and determines the recipients. The President’s office presents the award. L. R. Sr. and Ruth Wilson established an endowment for the award, which includes a monetary gift of $1,000 for each recipient. Congratulations, Paula!
Nominations Wanted for TLA LIRT Awards
Nominations are needed for the following awards for 2010-2011:
Library Instruction Project of the Year
This award recognizes an innovative or creative library instruction project or initiative in Texas.
Outstanding Service in Library Instruction Award
This award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions related to the advancement of library instruction in Texas. Self-nominations for either award are encouraged.
Please send nominations for either award by February 26, 2010.
Please send questions and nominations to Ashlynn Wicke, wickea@uncl.edu, and Kristin Johnson, kjohnson@careerpointcollege.edu