STARS

Kerry Keegan, Editor

Letter from the Chair

Greetings!

The end of my term as your Chair is quickly approaching and I can hardly believe how fast time
goes by us! I am delighted to share some progress our section has made together, as well as
some excited things to come!

ALA Midwinter in Denver provided the first opportunity for RUSA’s new Executive Director,
Jessica Hughes, to meet many RUSA STARS members face to face for the first time. With
Jessica now filling this important position, a lot of work that had been waiting for RUSA level
guidance has been able to slowly resume for STARS.

If you remember from my onboarding letter, we were excited to begin reviewing the STARS
Section Committees to better align with the RUSA organization changes that were implemented
at ALA Annual 2017, as well as continuing to work on some exciting committee initiatives. This
work has slowly started to move forward and will continue throughout the next year under ViceChair,
Megan Gaffney’s, stellar leadership!

Our new Atlas Systems Publication Award was approved! Well done to the hard-working Ad
Hoc Committee charged with this wonderful, new award implementation.

RUSA finalized their new branding, which STARS has since continued to implement across our
own work.

STARS continues to explore online learning opportunities and partnerships to deliver our
popular ILL 101: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about ILL course. More information
about this event will be available, later this year.

Our Outreach and Promotion Committee continues to recognize STARS members through our
STARGazer interviews and I’m pleased to congratulate Kurt Munson as our most recent
STARGazer. Stay tuned for details on the Committee’s next announcement at ALA Annual
2018!

ALA Annual will also mark the first time STARS awards will be presented at our annual STARS
Social – a recent change, due to the cancellation of the RUSA Awards Ceremony.

As I look back on this year, I am honored and awed at the resilience, flexibility, and continued
passion of my wonderful colleagues. ALA, RUSA, and STARS continue to go through many
changes, yet I am constantly encouraged and motivated by the connections I have with all of
you, as well as the knowledge that you are out there – in your own libraries, doing fantastic work
for your patrons. What we do is important. It is valued, and it is essential to the support and
education of the larger society in which we live. Each and every one of you “STARS” is making
a difference and I am so grateful to be part of your constellations.

Thank you, STARS!

Micquel Little
STARS Chair 2017-2018

Rethinking Resource Sharing Policies Committee

The RUSA STARS Rethinking Resource Sharing Policies Committee was proud to award 17
libraries with STAR certificates this academic year. The committee has also been working on a
blog series that unpacks the Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative Checklist questions and
addresses areas of confusion. Additional goals for the blog include encouraging discussion on
the Manifesto, revising the RRSI website, and discussing the possibility of checklist translations.
Please take a moment to visit and review the first post in this series, available at:
http://rethinkingresourcesharing.org/thoughts-on-the-rrsi-star-checklist/.
Amanda Musacchio will be taking over as Chair of the RRS Policies Committee, after ALA
Annual.

LeEtta Schmidt, Chair

Research and Assessment Committee

The Research and Assessment Committee has been working on the distribution and collection
of surveys from Midwinter STARS-sponsored events. The latest set of results have been
uploaded into SurveyMonkey. A new assessment form has also been created, in response to
changes in SurveyMonkey’s options for free accounts.

Current Chair, David Ketchum, will be ending his term as chair and is being replaced by Lars
Leon, in FY ’19.

David Ketchum, Chair

International ILL Committee

The International ILL Committee has continued to explore mechanisms for electronic IFLA
vouchers and has been working to revise the international ILL survey in preparation for
translation into the official IFLA languages. These surveys aim to broaden our collaboration with
IFLA and peer institutions abroad, enhancing our understanding of international services and
their support of local researchers.

Kurt Munson, Chair

Legislation & Licensing Committee

The Legislation & Licensing Committee has finalized the Model ILL License Clause and
submitted their work to the STARS Board for review. This document was created using research
and public polling by committee members on various listservs, where they sought information on
the “Library Public Domain” and Section 108(h) of the US Copyright Law, which allows libraries
to digitize and provide access to works in the last 20 years of their copyright term.
This research has been published in RUSA Update by Naomi Chow and Cen Cheng and may
be found here: http://www.rusaupdate.org/2018/04/what-you-need-to-know-about-librarypublic-domain/.

Jennifer DeVito, Chair

Atlas Systems Mentoring Award Committee

The Atlas Systems Mentoring Award Committee is pleased to announce Pearl Adzei-Stonnes
and Guerda Baucicaut as the two recipients of the STARS Mentoring Award, sponsored by
Atlas Systems and administered by the Sharing and Transforming Resources Section (STARS)
of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA). The award offers $1,250 to fund travel
expenses associated with attending ALA’s annual conference and is awarded to a library
practitioner who is new to the field of interlibrary loan/document delivery or electronic reserves,
and who has daily, hands-on involvement in the areas of borrowing, lending, document delivery,
electronic reserves, material delivery, or resource sharing.

Amy Paulus, Chair