RSS Review

Denise Wetzel, Editor

Message from the Chair:

Happy Fall!
It’s hard to believe we’re getting ready for Midwinter already!
It’s been a busy fall. With the update of RUSA pages, RSS hopes to continue working to update our section and committee webpages. RSS recently created a new committee: RSS Communication Committee. As Chair, I hope to work with all committee chairs, the Communication Committee, and our webmaster, Jason Dupree, to update our content.
A taskforce worked quickly and efficiently this fall to update the RSS Bylaws. The changes will be voted on during the spring election period of ALA. Look for more information about this in the next issue of the RSS Review, post-Midwinter.
As per RSS tradition, we’re looking forward to the RSS Pancake Breakfast. If you’re not familiar, the RSS Pancake Breakfast is a casual way for RSS members to meet up and have breakfast together during Midwinter at a restaurant. Typically we meet Saturday morning around 8:30 a.m. (so we can all get to our meetings!). We’ll share all of the details via the RSS listserv and the RSS Facebook page as we get closer to Midwinter.
Look for updates on other RUSA and RSS events at Midwinter, like committee discussion forums, as we get closer!
Best,

Amy E. Rustic
RSS Chair 2016-2017
aer123@psu.edu

RSS Honor Roll

It’s that time of year! We want to recognize you and your contributions to RSS!
The RSS Honor Roll gives recognition to active RSS members who have served the section in three different capacities since its inception.
If you have been a member of three or more committees or discussion groups since RSS was established in 2004 and have not previously been added to the honor roll, please send your name and a list of the three ways you have served RSS to Ellen Keith at keith@chicagohistory.org
Not only will you become a member of this esteemed group, you will also be recognized at ALA Annual in Orlando!

Join the RSS Honor Roll today!

RSS Committee Reports

Communications Committee

The Communication Committee met virtually on October 18th, discussed our goals for this year, and decided how to distribute the work among our five members. One of the committee members will be contacting each RSS committee chair(s) soon to get an idea of their thoughts on how their committees’ web pages need updating, how we can make better use of the RSS Facebook page, and other publicity/marketing issues they would like to share. One member of our committee, Jason Dupree, is the webmaster for RSS.

We have designated a Facebook point person to begin with, but we will be looking into the possibility of giving all chairs administrative rights on the RSS Facebook page. This will make it easier for all committees to get information out in a timely fashion. Using the History Section’s Communication Committee as a model, we hope to be posting to Facebook an average of once a week, minimum.

We will also be writing an “elevator speech,” a short (approximately thirty seconds), in-a-nutshell description of RSS that we will distribute to all RSS members (and require them to memorize!?). It will be a way of spreading the word about the good work RSS does and help with recruiting new members. In addition, we will look into finding additional sponsors for RSS signature events, and finding more ways to market these events.

Laura Friesen, Chair 2016-2017
lflynn@umflint.edu

Communication and Teaching at the Point of Need Committee

The Communication and Teaching at the Point of Need Committee held a well-attended Discussion Forum during ALA Annual: Please Throw Me a Vine! Assisting Patrons at the Point of Need through Social Media.

Cindy Craig, University of Florida, presented on the use of Vine to create bite-sized tutorials and Lauren Wallis, University of Delaware, presented on the use of Instagram to gauge real time user needs and garnering patron perspectives on library use. Forty-four people attended and between the two presenters, we had at least 30 questions or comments from attendees. All in all, we had a successful small discussion forum.

One of our goals this year is to determine if we will continue to host a forum for ALA Annual 2017, and several of our Annual comments indicated a continuation on Social Media themes. The committee will hopefully be meeting soon to discuss this.

Patricia Greenstein, southward@gwu.edu
Shannon Richie, sgr1@psu.edu
Co-Chairs 2016-2017

Discovery Services Committee

The recent RSS Section Review proposed that the Discovery Services Committee join with another group doing similar work in discovery services and catalogs. The Discovery Services Committee is moving forward with that idea by discussing a possible merger with the Services for Systems & Discovery Committee from RUSA’s Emerging Technologies Section. The chairs of the two committees agree that some of the positives in joining forces would be:

• More people within a committee to help accomplish the Committee’s goals.
• Reducing competing programming at conferences.
• Redrafting and combining the committee charges would allow us to think about concrete ways in which we can recruit and retain new members, as well as energize current members.
• Building in incentives for people to participate in the new committee that have to do with building their CVs (organizing a program, maintaining a community of practice/discussion lists, editing or blogging, etc).

The Discovery Services Committee will discuss the pros and cons of merging in November 2016. We will also hold a virtual Midwinter meeting in January 2017 to talk about the Committee’s catalog/discovery services bibliography and plans for a Discussion Forum at ALA Annual.

Cynthia A. Johnson, cynthiaj@uci.edu
Jeremiah Paschke-Wood, jeremiahpaschkewood@gmail.com
Co-Chairs 2016-2017

Health and Medical Reference Committee

At our recent meeting, the Health and Medical Reference Committee talked in an initial way about publicizing both the Health and Medical Reference Guidelines and the MedRef list-serv. We will discuss these more at our Midwinter meeting. Carolyn Martin, of the NNLM/PNR, has offered to moderate the list-serv. We need to explore how to get that up and running.

Our former chair, Laura Haines, presented a poster at the North Atlantic Health Sciences Librarians meeting on October 24th on both the guidelines and a training she and the current chair, Ann Glusker, developed. The former/current chair duo has also submitted to present a poster at MLA in May 2017.

Staff training materials for medical reference have been placed on the Health and Medical Reference committee page.

The current chair submitted, via the RSS board, a proposal to do a RUSA webinar on the guidelines and staff training this coming spring.

Also, our committee will discuss collaboration possibilities at our Midwinter meeting.

Ann Glusker, Chair 2016-2017
Ann.Glusker@spl.org

Research and Statistics Committee

The Research and Statistics committee is currently seeking proposals for reference research studies to be presented at the 2017 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. Projects for this popular event are selected through a blind review process, and will be presented at New Discoveries in Reference: The 23rd Annual Reference Research Forum. Additional information, along with the online submission form, may be found in ALA Connect.

David Ward, dh-ward@illinois.edu
Cindy Levine, crlevine@ncsu.edu
Co-Chairs 2016-2017

RSS RUSA Award Committee

The deadline approaches for the RSS Service Achievement Award! Nominate a colleague who’s made a great contribution to RSS by December 9, 2016.

Ellen Keith, Chair 2016-2017
keith@chicagohistory.org

RSS RUSA Nominating Committee

The RSS Nominating Committee has completed its work for 2016-2017. A slate of candidates for Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and Member-at-Large has been submitted to the RUSA Office and members will see it on the ballot during the election. Thank you to the committee members for their ideas and for contacting potential candidates.

Crystal Lentz, Chair 2016-2017
crystal.lentz@sos.wa.gov

RSS Review is the newsletter of the Reference Services Section of Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) of the American Library Association. Please send suggestions for future issues to Denise A. Wetzel (dwetzel@library.msstate.edu).