BRASS Notes
by
Elizabeth Malafi, Editor
Message from the BRASS Chair
Dear members of BRASS,
I wanted to share some updates from Midwinter and RUSA Board meetings
Annual Conference Changes
As you may have heard, ALA is making major changes to scheduling at Annual. There will be more programs, but less section programming. As a result of this, the Publishers Forum and the Academic/Public forums will no longer take place. The program submission process was changed to allow more submissions and the BRASS program was not selected in the jury process.
The ALA remodel also emphasizes fewer committee meeting times. Therefore, there will be a BRASS All-committee meeting, where individual committees will have space to meet face-to-face. Likewise, there will be a RUSA All-committee meeting, which is where the BRASS Executive Committee will meet. The times and dates have not been announced yet.
We still plan to have some excellent opportunities to meet and network with your fellow BRASS members in New Orleans, so watch BRASS-L for details.
RUSA Updates
RUSA has been running budget deficits for several years and is exploring other ways to generate revenue. The RUSA Office is particularly interested in running more online learning and welcomes proposals for new webinars or short classes. Contact RUSA Executive Director Jessica Hughes (jhughes@ala.org) if you have an idea you might be interested in presenting.
Greg Fleming
BRASS Chair, 2017-2018
gdf@uchicago.edu
BRASS Committee Reports
Business Reference Sources Committee
The Outstanding Business Reference Sources 2017 column was published in the Winter, 2017 issue of Reference and User Services Quarterly (volume 57, number 2). It includes reviews for two outstanding titles, six notable titles, and one notable new addition. The committee has begun the process of nominating sources to be selected and reviewed for this year’s issue.
Unfortunately, the Publishers Forum was not selected to be a part of the ALA Annual schedule. The committee is currently brainstorming alternative avenues for hosting the Forum.
Felipe Anaya, Chair 2017-2018
Discussion Group
The BRASS Reference Services Discussion Group will hold three virtual discussions (March 9th, April 13th, May 11th) this spring. Attendance at these discussions is open to all BRASS members and lively discussions are typical. BRASS members are always welcome to email the chair of the committee with specific discussion topics of interest or to simply bring up a topic during the discussion itself. There will also be an in-person discussion during ALA Annual to which we invite all BRASS members to attend. We look forward to seeing people at Annual and to hearing from them through the virtual discussions!
Lisa Martin, Chair 2017-2018
Education Committee
2018 ALA Preconference – “The Education of Business: 21st Century Strategies for Success” – was not approved. We are hoping to resubmit for the 2019 Preconference after getting approval from ACRL, and/or reimagining the segment on matching up business education metrics with the ACRL Framework.
The 3 webinars that we sponsored with RUSA in the last year on “Data in Libraries” were repeated this past fall. Thanks to Jennifer Boettcher, Bobray Bordelon, and Ryan Womack for agreeing to present again! Per Leighann Wood: RUSA Webinar Series: 68 Registered; Data in Libraries: Data Basics – Individual Webinar – 12 Registered; Data in Libraries: Open Data: Individual Webinar – 20 Registered; Data In Libraries: Data Processing and Visualization – 14 Registered
New Business Citation LibGuide was published! Thank you to Teresa Williams for creating the guide! The next topic covered will be financial literacy.
Robbi De Peri, Chair 2017-2018
Emerald Research Award Committee
The winner of the Emerald Research Award was chosen from a strong pool of 6 applications. RUSA will be making the announcement shortly.
Kelly Jansouek, Chair 2017-2018
Membership Committee
The Membership Committee is working with InfoGroup on finalizing the details of the Membership Reception at ALA annual. This year’s reception will celebrate the 30th anniversary of BRASS. More information and invitations will be sent soon!
Erin Wachowicz, Chair 2017-2018
Morningstar Public Librarian Support Award
The Morningstar Public Librarian Support Award had three well qualified candidates. A winner will be officially be announced by ALA soon.
Ed Rossman, Chair 2017-2018
Nominating Committee
The BRASS Nominating Committee would like to thank these individuals for being willing to offer their time and service to our wonderful section:
Vice Chair/Chair-Elect:
- Ilana Stonebraker
- Jared Hoppenfeld
- Jason Dewland
Secretary:
- Lauren Reiter
- Ashley Faulkner
Member at Large:
- Monica Hagan
- Charles Allen
- Adele Barsh
Paul Brothers, Chair 2017-2018