Another Midwinter program for your consideration. --Paul Burley, Northwestern University Libraries ___ ALCTS Role of the Professional Librarian in Technical Services Interest Group at ALA Midwinter 2016 ALCTS Role of the Professional Librarian in Technical Services (RPLTS) Interest Group Saturday, January 9, 2016, 10:30 am – 11:30 am Location: Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Room 103 Add this event to your 2016 Midwinter schedule: http://www.eventscribe.com/2016/ALA-MidWinter/
Please join the RPLTS Interest Group for the following two presentations: Solution Creators: Enabling Innovation in Technical Services Departments Sally Gibson, Head of Cataloging, Acquisitions, and Processing, Illinois State University As technical services departments shift from a transactional to a transformational approach, the role of solution creator has emerged. Solution creators recognize patterns, anticipate needs, and focus on skill sets and ability. It is a holistic approach that emphasizes creativity and innovation rather than an emphasis on transactional problem solving. The professional librarian is tasked with creating a learning environment which encourages individuals to question established practice and seek alternative solutions. Focus has shifted to asking “why and “how” rather than a concentration on rules and procedures. Innovation should not be hindered by policies or workflow limitations. Individuals are encouraged and empowered to create solutions. Technical Services Librarian as Factotum: The Reality in a Small Academic Library Denise Garofalo, Associate Librarian, Systems and Catalog Services, Kaplan Family Library and Learning Center, Mount Saint Mary College Downsizing and outsourcing aside, more and more technical services librarians find themselves covering a variety of duties that fall outside of the traditional “cataloging and classification” arena, and learning to make do with a shrinking staff. How can you do all that you need to do for tenure and promotion while keeping materials readily available to users? Come hear how one smaller academic library changed the view of what tech services librarians do, while creating a collaboration between Technical Services and Access Services that successfully provided the manpower to tackle one-time projects such as inventories and ongoing staffing needs such as processing new materials. Jennifer M. Eustis and Jessica Lee, RPLTS-IG 2016 Co-Chairs Paul Robert Burley and Mingyan Li, RPLTS-IG 2016 Co-Vice-Chairs
