Emerging Technologies Section (ETS)

Geoffrey Morse, Editor

Note from the ETS Chair

It’s hard to believe this will be the fourth and final note I address to you all as chair of the section – time has flown by! It’s been a rewarding year of working with ETS officers, committee chairs, and committee members to develop and present programming and professional development materials, and to accomplish our section goals.

Section Goals

I want to give you a brief update on our progress on the goals.

• Investigate new models for managing the work of the section including reviewing roles and duties of elected members
  The ETS Executive Committee, which includes the elected officers and all committee chairs, has been meeting monthly to discuss this and other topics. One outcome of our regular meetings was the ETS Member Survey conducted earlier this year. We’ll be hosting a virtual town hall to share with you the results of the survey and also get your thoughts on some proposed changes to elected positions. Read more on that later in this Update.
• Explore opportunities for increasing existing collaboration with the Reference Services Section and other RUSA sections and interest groups
  Many changes are happening at the RUSA division level, with the recent ballot motions to change the composition of the RUSA Board, and to establish division-wide interest groups and dissolve division-wide discussion groups. Other changes are coming to division-level committees that I believe will enable ETS to work more closely with RUSA colleagues from all areas. Also, the RSS and ETS Executive groups meet regularly to discuss items of mutual interest. One outcome of our discussions this year is the transition of the Virtual Reference Committee from being a co-sponsored committee to being solely sponsored by RSS, effective July 1 2017.
• Establish online documentation to clearly outline and support the work of Section leadership, committee chairs, and committee members
  Progress has been made on this effort – an ETS Wiki has been created and the harder, more involved work of populating it with information to support each committee and group in their work will be ongoing. Many thanks to Vice Chair Beth Boatright for initiating this project, and thanks to VR Committee co-chair Hilary Kraus for her contributions!
• Implement new section branding to reflect name change
  Alas, not yet! But my term is not yet quite over.

Congratulations Newly Elected ETS Officers (and RUSA Officers)

Warmest congratulations to our newly elected ETS officers: Vice-Chair/Chair Elect: Lily Todorinova; and Member at Large: Jessica Cerny. Lily and Jessica bring with them excellent experience chairing ETS committees; we look forward to having their expertise and energy as elected officers. Also, congratulations to ETS members Stephanie Graves and Jason Coleman who were elected RUSA Directors-at-large.

Many thanks to the candidates who ran, the nomination committee, those who submitted nominations, and to all the members who voted. You are all part of making ETS such a wonderful community.

2017 ETS Achievement Award Winner

Congratulations to Stephanie Graves, our 2017 ETS Achievement Award Winner. Stephanie has a long record of dedicated service to the section and I am delighted to see it recognized. Read more about the award in the RUSA Update article (http://www.rusaupdate.org/2017/03/stephanie-graves-wins-ets-achievement-award/) , and plan to join us to celebrate Stephanie and other RUSA award winners at the RUSA Achievement Awards Ceremony and Reception (https://www.eventscribe.com/2017/ALA-Annual/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presInfo&PresentationID=265952) at ALA Annual on Sunday June 25 from 5 – 6:30p. We will also recognize Stephanie at the ETS Chair’s program, The Intentional Library: Creating a Better User Experience with Service Design & Design Thinking on Saturday June 24 from 8:30-10a.

And with that, we have a natural transition to ALA Annual – ETS has wonderful programming and discussion groups planned for you! We look forward to seeing you in Chicago. We’ll be having our second annual joint social with RSS, so plan now to attend! The Plunkett Research RUSA ETS/RSS Happy Hour (http://www.rusaupdate.org/2017/04/plunkett-research-rusa-etsrss-happy-hour/) will be held on Saturday June 24 from 6 – 7:30p at Bar Louie, 333 N. Dearborn St. (in the River North neighborhood). We will have tasty snacks, great conversation and a cash bar. I’ll look forward to seeing you all there.

As always, please contact me at any time with questions, suggestions or comments at crgreene @ indiana.edu.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve the section! It has been an honor and a pleasure.

Courtney McDonald, ETS Chair, 2016-2017

Upcoming ETS events at Annual

ETS will be sponsoring a number of events focusing on emerging trends in library and public services. Please check the RUSA calendar (http://www.rusaupdate.org/events/2017-06/) for more information on the following events:

• Friday June 23: “We Are All User Experience Librarians” Preconference at ALA Annual
• Saturday June 24: The Intentional Library: creating a better user experience with service design and design thinking
• Saturday June 24: Technologies That Enhance the First Year Experience
• Saturday June 24: Plunkett Research RUSA ETS/RSS Happy Hour
• Sunday June 25: Fake News, Alternative Facts, and Clickbait: Fighting For Truth in a World of Misinformation (Hot Topics Discussion Group)

Other News

ETS Website Update
ETS’ Website Update Task Force has completed an extensive inventory and review of the current site. During this review they identified numerous pages and documents that have outdated content and a host of broken links. The task force is in the process of archiving several of those
documents at ALA’s Institutional Repository. They have also saved an offline snapshot of all of the entire site.

In addition to trimming the site, they are developing a spreadsheet of past ETS programs and events, designing a sitemap, and creating a maintenance plan. They plan to be finished with these tasks by the end of May.

You’re Invited!
ETS Virtual Town Hall
Thursday, June 15 3-4 PM EDT (2-3 PM CDT; 1-2 PM MDT; 12-1PM PST)

It’s been a busy year in RUSA and ETS, and we’re eager to start planning for the year ahead! Join us for a virtual Town Hall meeting on June 15. We will:

• Review this year’s accomplishments
• Share and discuss the results from the ETS Member Survey this spring
• Discuss alignment with RUSA’s new structure, including potential bylaws changes
• Brainstorm new and innovative topics and initiatives to tackle
• Get excited about ALA Annual and make plans for the coming year

All ETS members are welcome! Connection information will be distributed via the ETS listserv in early June. See you there!

Volunteer for ETS!
Are you ready to get more involved in RUSA’s Emerging Technologies Section? ETS is currently recruiting volunteers for the 2017-2018 program year. We’re looking for individuals interested in:

• Planning programs, discussion groups, and conversations
• Discovery services
• User Experience design
• Awarding the best free websites for reference
• Helping our section stay connected through email, online conversations, and in-person social events

Through membership in our virtual and/or in-person committees, you’ll have the opportunity to actively contribute to your own and others’ professional development through:

• Planning and implementing programs, webinars, and discussion sessions
• Developing leadership skills
• Working on special project
• Building service experience for your resume
• Extending your professional network

If any of these pique your interest, it’s time to volunteer! Email ETS Vice-Chair Beth Boatright (beth.boatright@ipfw.edu) to express your curiosity, delight, and/or enthusiasm.