BRASS Notes
by
Elizabeth Malafi, Editor
Message from the BRASS Chair
Dear members of BRASS,
It is my honor to serve as your chair for 2017-2018. Thanks to all the members who make BRASS the great resource that it is for business librarians everywhere.
Midwinter is approaching and while BRASS does not have formal programming, we do hold a discussion group. The time and place are still to be determined, so check the scheduler when it’s available. Our discussion group is always a great opportunity to meet fellow business librarians and learn about the latest happenings.
Read on for more on what BRASS members are up to.
Greg Fleming
BRASS Chair, 2017-2018
BRASS Committee Reports
Business Reference in Public Libraries
The committee for Business Reference in Public Libraries has two new co-chairs, Amilcar Perez (Forest Park Public Library, Illinois) and Ray Cruitt (Northrop Grumman, Maryland). Despite a delay in the onboarding process, both Amilcar and I have met on a number of occasions to draft a statement of goals and to discuss a strategy for the committee going forth through 2018 and into 2019. We have identified as a top priority bringing in more members to the committee, especially for 2019—which shows a potential steep drop-off in membership. Amilcar was able to pitch the benefits of membership to a group of 35 business librarians in November and we are discussing strategies on building the membership.
We discussed the possibility of networking with the Public Library Association (PLA) in order to build membership or collaborate on shared interests in supporting business librarians in public libraries. We are in the process of setting up an all-committee teleconference for late November, early December as a brainstorming session and to introduce the new chairs; we are particularly interested in getting a number of new publications for the Briefcase, since there were none published in 2016. We are also planning on updating our section of the BRASS Handbook and evaluating what is already published in the Briefcase for relevancy.
Finally, we discussed the possibility of arranging an in-person meeting at the ALA for current members of the committee. The main agenda for the meeting will be to discuss increasing membership.
Ray Cruitt, Co-Chair 2017-2018
Amilcar Perez, Co-Chair 2017-2018
Discussion Group
The BRASS Reference Services Discussion Group held three virtual discussions (September 15th, October 20th, December 1st) this fall. Attendance was open to all BRASS members and lively discussions were had at each. There will be an in-person discussion during ALA Midwinter to which we invite all BRASS members to attend. Virtual discussions resume in spring. We look forward to discussing topics of interest with BRASS members throughout the next year.
Lisa Martin, Chair 2017-2018
Business Reference Sources Committee
The Business Reference Sources Committee had a productive fall. Committee members selected and reviewed several business reference sources, including two outstanding titles, six notable titles, and one notable new addition. These reviews will be published in the Winter, 2017 issue of Reference and User Services Quarterly.
Committee members also wrote and published the article “The ABCs of private equity and venture capital data and information,” included in the Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship (Volume 22, Issue 3-4). The article provides an overview of the Publisher’s Forum, discusses private equity and venture capital, and includes a discussion of each of the publishers who presented at the Publisher’s Forum.
Felipe Castillo, Chair 2017-2018
Nominating Committee
The BRASS Nominating Committee would like to report that we have assembled a great slate of candidates for next year’s BRASS election. The positions and candidates are:
BRASS Vice-Chair/Chair-elect
- Jason Dewland
- Jared Hoppenfeld
- Ilana Stonebraker
BRASS Secretary
- Ashley Faulkner
- Lauren Reiter
BRASS Member-at-Large
- Charles Allen
- Adele Barsh
- Monica Hagan
Thanks goes to all of these candidates for being willing to accept nominations and run for these positions. Thanks, also, goes to my excellent committee members, Peter McKay and Diane Zabel.
Paul Brothers, Chair 2017-2018