Nominations Open for WLA/WEMTA Intellectual Freedom Award

Do you know of someone actively promoting intellectual freedom?  Someone who exemplifies the spirit of intellectual freedom?  If you do, you know someone that should be nominated for the WLA/WEMTA Intellectual Freedom Award.

Anyone who has actively promoted intellectual freedom in Wisconsin is eligible.  Activities within the past five years are eligible for consideration.  A personal member of either WLA or WEMTA must submit the award nomination. Individuals and groups may nominate themselves for the award.

This award is sponsored by: TeachingBooks.net and the Center for Information Policy Research and the School of Information Studies at UWM.

Additional information on the award criteria and nomination process can be found at  http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/ifrt/IFaward.html

Nomination Deadline: January 15, 2012

UW-Milwaukee SOIS Student Receives Theodore Calvin Pease Award from SAA

Lora J. Davis, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Information Studies, is the recipient of the Theodore Calvin Pease Award, presented by the Society of American Archivists (SAA) on August 26, 2011, at ARCHIVES 360°, SAA’s 75th Annual Meeting in Chicago. 

The award recognizes superior writing achievements by students of archival studies. Amy Cooper Cary, director of the Archival Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, nominated Davis’ paper “Providing Virtual Services to All: A Mixed-Method Analysis of the Web Site Accessibility of Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) Member Repositories.” Davis wrote the paper for the "Seminar in Modern Archives Administration" in the spring 2011 term.  The paper explores the ability of the websites of repositories in the PACSCL to meet the needs of archives users with disabilities.

“After an excellent review of the literature from the library and accessibility fields, the student uses both automated accessibility checkers and content analysis to assess the accessibility of these repository websites,” said one Awards Committee member. “From choice of topic, methodology, and presentation the paper demonstrates a high level of scholarship, creativity, and originality.”

Accessibility for disabled users is relevant to all repositories making their holdings available online, and this paper provides a model for repositories to apply to their own websites.  “In the most recent 10 years, over half of the winning essays have addressed topics that discuss the use of technology in archives,” said Cooper Cary. “There have been no submissions, as yet, that have addressed the important subject of serving our users with disabilities. Lora Davis fills this gap and serves the profession by opening a significant area for exploration in the professional literature.”

Established in 1987, the Theodore Calvin Pease Award is named for the first editor of the American Archivist.

Founded in 1936, the Society of American Archivists is North America’s oldest and largest national archives professional association. SAA’s mission is to serve the educational and informational needs of more than 6,000 individual and institutional members and to provide leadership to ensure the identification, preservation, and use of records of historical value.
--UW Milwaukee SOIS

Support Staff Make Libraries Strong: Registration Now Open!

WLA's Support Staff Section will host its annual One-day Conference for support staff from all types of libraries on Wednesday, May 25, at the UW-Milwaukee Student Union. At just $45 for members ($60 for non-members and $25 for students), this conference is a great value!

Breakout session topics include implementing RFID, support staff certification, degree completion, how to find free multimedia software, and more! Joyce Latham, Ph.D., UW-Milwaukee School of Information Studies, will provide a keynote address on "This is What Democracy Looks Like: Supporting the Right to Know."

Take a look at the complete schedule and register online today!

SOIS and SLIS Team Up for WI Distinguished Lecture Series

Dr. Birger Hjørland, internationally renowned expert in knowledge organization was the keynote speaker at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Information Studies (SOIS) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Library and Information Science (SLIS)’ co-sponsored event on Friday, November 19, 2010.

The presentation will be the first in the Wisconsin Distinguished Lecture Series in Library and Information Science, a joint effort between SOIS and SLIS. The two library and information science programs will alternate sites every year with the first lecture being held this year at UWM’s Golda Meir Library. In 2011, the lecture will move to Madison.

This year’s presenter, Birger Hjørland is a professor in knowledge organization at the Royal School of Library and Information Science in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is currently a member of the editorial boards of Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology and Journal of Documentation. He is chair of the International Society for Knowledge Organization's Scientific Advisory Council and consulting editor of Knowledge Organization.  

His presentation will address the current state of library classification, including threats and challenges to the Dewey decimal classification (DDC) system and the Library of Congress. Hjørland feels that in order for these systems to survive, librarians will need to band together.

“Many researchers, managers and users believe that classification systems are not worth the effort, rather search engines can be improved without the heavy costs of providing metadata” he said. “This presentation will argue that classification is necessary at both the practical and the theoretical level, and it should not be seen in isolation from other challenges facing libraries.”

SOIS Interim Dean Hope A. Olson is very excited for Hjørland’s presentation and for the burgeoning partnership with the school’s sister institution in Madison. “We’re very happy to be working with SLIS on this prestigious lecture series,” she said. “Bringing in important names like Birger will only be an added benefit for students and alumni associated with both schools.”

The program is from 5 – 6:30 PM in the 4th Floor Conference Center at UWM’s Golda Meir Library. All events in the series are open to the public. For more information or to RSVP, please visit http://www4.uwm.edu/sois/news/events/wdl_2010.cfm.