Highlights

"Spring Getaway"
Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians
Annual Conference
April 17-19, 2002
Heidel House Resort
Green Lake, WI

Looking for a Spring Getaway where you can renew yourself amidst colleagues and beautiful surroundings? Then, the 2002 WAAL conference at the Heidel House Resort and Conference Center in Green Lake is just the place for you!

The WAAL Conference Planning Committee has been hard at work planning a program of highly relevant and timely sessions dealing with issues and concerns to academic libraries and librarians.

Nationally known speakers, Diane Nester Kresh and Greg Notess will provide plenary sessions at the conference. And, as you all know, Wisconsin academic libraries are well known for innovative projects and services. Many librarians from various Wisconsin academic libraries will be there to share their expertise, experience and knowledge.

Here is a short synopsis of the various sessions that will be presented at the WAAL conference:

Curious as to how the Universal Borrowing Program is working out?
A panel of librarians from three participating UW libraries will share their experiences and the realities of this new method of resource sharing.

UW-Madison librarians will share their experiences regarding the planning and implementation of the libraries' "Live Help" project - a program in which librarians deliver live reference service over the Internet using 2-way chat, voiceover IP and screen-sharing capabilities.

There's been much news recently about E-books. What is in store for their future in Wisconsin? Kathy Schneider, WiLS Director, and David Weinberg-Kinsey, Director of Cardinal Stritch University's Library will provide cutting edge updates and possible scenarios for the future.

If you are looking for ways to promote your library, come hear a panel of librarians from the Medical College of Wisconsin Library. You will get plenty of new ideas as this panel shares information about their creative, award-winning Public Relations campaign.

Liz Miller of UW-Milwaukee, Golda Meir Library will present "Moon Rats, the Bosnian Toothache Demon and Other Tales of the AGSC Recataloging Project" - a sure-to-be fascinating look at re-cataloging the pre-1980 holdings of the American Geographical Society. Miller will provide a progress report on this now 2 1/2-year-old project and will talk about the challenges the team has faced.

Are you mystified by OCLC's Electronic Collections Online (ECO)?
WiLS and OCLC representatives will provide a demonstration of this multi-faceted product and will be on hand to answer your questions.

Big changes are in store for WISCAT in 2002--such as the ability to search local automated systems. Sally Drew, Director of Reference & Loan Library, will discuss and demonstrate the new features. In another program, Sally will discuss DPI's involvement with the Library of Congress' Collaborative Digital Reference Service project.

Access to government information is an issue much in the news these days, especially in the aftermath of Sept. 11. Government Documents Librarians will discuss issues and concerns and what changes are taking place in access to the information compiled by the government.

Luncheon speakers include the extremely witty James Gollata, Director, UW-Richland, Miller Memorial Library. On Wednesday, James will share his observations about the role of the academic librarian in the 21st century. Thursday's luncheon will feature UW-Stevens Point's Dr. Patti Clayton Becker who will discuss American libraries in times of war.
Patti's multimedia-enhanced presentation reveals a fascinating chapter in American history and is based on the research that she had conducted for her dissertation from UW-Madison.

Programs dealing with instruction include "Emerging from Immersion" - a panel of Wisconsin librarians who attended the WAAL Literacy Immersion program this past June will discuss what impact the program has had on their instruction and information literacy programs. Milwaukee Area Technical College librarians will provide a session on implementing a campus-wide library instruction program for faculty. Paula Ganyard from UW-Green Bay will discuss how instruction librarians there are using the course software, WebCT, to deliver library instruction.

Other sessions include: promoting diversity in academic libraries, university library policies regarding Internet use for community users, information seeking in the biological sciences, book discussion group focusing on travel literature, charging or not charging for libraries and archives' digitized electronic collections, benefits of relevance ranking systems as opposed to systems using Boolean searching, purchase and use of electronic reserve systems, and the latest information regarding accessibility of electronic information for users with disabilities. Poster sessions include "Innovations in Rush Order Processing", "Improving Patron Service in Interlibrary Loan", and "University of Wisconsin-Learning Innovations."

Thursday night's dinner program includes Dr. David Ward, UW System Vice President Emeritus and President of NorthStar Economics, Inc.
Dr. Ward will speak about Wisconsin and the New Economy - a global economy which places a high value on knowledge, information and the ability to effectively organize and communicate. Dr. Ward will discuss how Wisconsin fits into this New Economy and what the economical future may hold for our state.

Don't worry - it won't all be work - there will be some time for fun and relaxation. On Wednesday night, WAAL will have its own Weakest Link trivia program. Eight WAAL members will vie against each other; seven of the eight contestants will take that "walk of shame" and only one contestant will emerge the winner. On Thursday night, the ever popular improvisational group, ComedySportz, will lead us into a hilarious evening of fun.

This is bound to be a great conference! So, please join us at the Heidel House in Green Lake. The 2002 WAAL conference committee consists of: Julie Fricke (co-chair), Lois O'Brien (co-chair), Marc Boucher, Karen Dunn, Mary Rieder, Joan Robb, Rose Trupiano and Andi Van Groll. The call-to-conference booklets will be sent out in February and a copy is currently available via the WAAL website.

See you in Green Lake!

Rose Trupiano,
WAAL Conference Planning Committee Member
2002 WAAL Conference

Diane Nester Kresh is Director for Public Service Collections and Director of the Collective Digital Reference Service (CDRS) of the Library of Congress. Over 100 libraries (academic, public, special and national) are participating in the CDRS pilot project. This project, launched by Ms. Kresh, provides Web-based professional reference service to researchers through an international digital network of libraries.

The CDRS project has been widely written about with articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Library Journal, American Libraries, Information Technology & Libraries, etc. This digital service is available free to anyone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and allows for libraries to collaborate in helping researchers worldwide with informational needs. Ms. Kresh will speak regarding the CDRS program: its planning and implementation, how the program works, successes, challenges, coordination among the various participating libraries and librarians, and what lies in store for the future.

Ms. Kresh is a frequent keynote speaker and has spoken at various national conferences: ALA, ACRL, Society of American Archivists, etc.
Ms. Kresh will present her keynote talk at the WAAL conference on Wednesday afternoon, April 17. Later that afternoon, she will join Sally Drew, Director of Wisconsin's Reference and Loan and Mary Struckmeyer, Chief of Reference & ILL of Reference and Loan as they share a session speaking about Wisconsin's Reference and Loan's participation in the CDRS program.

Ms. Kresh recently won a Federal 100 Award given by Federal Computer Week for her innovative work with CDRS. In addition to managing the CDRS project, Ms. Kresh manages the staff for 15 of the Library's 21 reading rooms, including the Main Reading Room, and is responsible for the more than 113 million items in the Library of Congress' general and special collections.

Greg Notess is an internationally known figure. Many librarians recognize his name from reading his columns in the journals: Online and E-Content (previously known as Database.) Mr. Notess has been writing and speaking about Internet and electronic resources for over a decade. He is also the author of Government Information on the Net, a directory of thousands of federal, state, local and international government Web sites.

Mr. Notess is a Reference Librarian and Associate Professor at Montana State University. In addition, he is the founder of the web site: Search Engine Showdown (http://www.searchengineshowdown.com) in which he reviews and analyzes Internet search engines and provides information vital to researchers who wish to use the web search engines efficiently. Search Engine Showdown is a constant source of updated information regarding the highly changing search engines. Mr. Notess has presented at many national conferences such as Internet Librarian, Special Libraries Association, Online World, Computers in Libraries, etc. He has also served as a consultant for several major and minor search engine companies.

On Thursday, April 18, 2002, Mr. Notess will present "The Incredible Internet Search Engines: Academic Librarians' Friend or Foe?" Every day over 100 million searches are performed with Internet search engines and most searchers are satisfied with the results. In this session, Mr. Notess will discuss the impact of available information on the Internet on both students and librarians as well as compare the various search engines in terms of advantages and disadvantages. Mr. Notess will reflect on the pitfalls of Internet searching and their impact on academic librarians.

Join us at the WAAL Conference to meet and hear these two phenomenal librarians!

-Rose Trupiano,
WAAL Conference Planning Committee