Back to newsletter list Newsletter June 2005Contents
Message from the ChairWelcometo our fall issue of the NMRT Newsletter. Our goal is to keep you in the loop with information about NMRT and its plans and activities. We will be electing officers prior to the Annual Conference, and Jeanette Hatcher, our Vice-Chair/Chair Elect is heading the Nominating Committee. She is accepting nominations for our two elected offices: Vice-Chair/Chair Elect, and Secretary/Treasurer. She will also be looking for members to chair and serve on NMRT Committees. If you are interested in serving as an officer or committee chair/member, please contact Jeanette. You can find more information on the responsibilities for officer positions and for committees here on our website.You can also contact Jeanette at jhatcher@tamiu.edu, or me at sally.bickley@tamucc.edu. We’ll be glad to tell you what you can expect when you volunteer. Another note about elections! If you have not renewed your TLA membership in time for our elections, you will not be able to vote. We will be sending out election ballots in February, but if you have not renewed, you will not receive the Spring newsletter or the ballot. Just a gentle reminder to renew your membership in TLA and NMRT before the end of January to be eligible to vote in our election. See you at the conference in Houston. Volunteer OpportunitiesOpportunity for NMRT membersFor the first time ever, the Texas Library Association will hold a competition to crown the Texas State Champion Book Cart Precision Drill Team. Book cart drill teams are being used to promote libraries in parades and community events. So that you can get an idea of what we are planning, view some images of ALA's world championship drill team competition. The Local Arrangements Entertainment Committee needs help planning this competition. Help might include planning, publicity, creating application forms, getting the participants on and off stage, etc. If you are interested in being on the Drill Team Competition committee, please contact Karen Vargas, at kvargas@library.tmc.edu or phone her at 713-799-7198. Bag Booth ReportNMRT sponsored the program "Beyond Boolean: Advanced Internet Searching Techniques". Dr. Hal Erickson taught on overflow crowd how to use new advances in search engines to perform very precise searches. He also showed how to exploit html tags to approximate subject searches and look for specific types of information, like images or government documents. Thank you Dr. Erickson, for such an interesting program. Bag BoothThe Bag Booth made $1,165.25 from the booth at the 2005 Annual Conference. The Bag Booth Co-Chair from last year, Shirley Martyn, reported at the NMRT business meeting at Annual Assembly, that they had scheduled a maximum of 6 people per shift, and a minimum of 3 people per shift. They would have liked to have a few more volunteers. She said they began organizing the bags by the last digit on the ticket, and that make it much easier to retrieve the items. If you’re planning to attend Annual Conference, please plan to volunteer a couple of hours at the Bag Booth. It’s fun, you make friends, and you help with NMRT’s main fund-raiser. WelcomeWelcome to the first newsletter from the 2005-2006 New Members Round Table of the Texas Library Association. You should have received a plain-text email summarizing the important points of the newsletter, with links to this complete version. Enjoy, and please share any questions, comments or concerns. Executive BoardMembers of NMRT elected a new slate of officers at the TLA annual convention. These folks are here to help you make the most of your NMRT experience.
Officer GreetingsFrom the NMRT ChairGreetings to all new and returning NMRT members. The New Members Round Table of TLA is a great place to begin to learn about TLA's structure and functions, and discover ways to further your career, network with other librarians and library workers, learn new technologies and methods to work more efficiently, and to make new friends and have some fun in the Library World of Texas. As Chair of NMRT for 2005-2006, I was asked to create goals for NMRT to achieve over the year. I want NMRT to have more of a presence in members' lives and to provide a means for members to become involved in NMRT and TLA. Goal 1: Sponsor the Orientation Session at TLA's Annual Conference. This "orientation" session has developed from a "how to survive the Annual Conference" to an informative overview of TLA and its many Divisions, Committees, Round Tables and other groups. We always include a talk from TLA's Past President, and a short talk from one of the vendors who supports TLA. We also present two awards: the Outstanding New Librarian Award, and the TLA NMRT/Quality Books Professional Development Grant to new librarians in the state. Goal 2: Ensure greater communication with NMRT members by sending 3 electronic and one print newsletter per year. The past few years, NMRT has not been able to send newsletters, but I'd like to change that. I'd like to keep members informed as to what the work of NMRT is, and who is doing it. We'll use the newsletters to keep you informed about what happened at Annual Conference (in April), what takes place at the meeting at Annual Assembly (in July), and who is on the committees and what the committees do. We'll publicize our award process, so we reach deserving librarians across the state, and our nominating process, so that anyone who wants to serve as an officer or committee member may do so. I'd also like to hear from members about what they'd like to read about in our newsletter. Goal 3: Provide opportunities for members to get to know NMRT officers, committee members and functions of NMRT. We'll use our newsletter and our web page on the TLA website to promote our committees and who drives them. By becoming more familiar with our committees, newer members will be able to decide how they'd like to participate in NMRT. Goal 4: Increase outreach efforts to recruit more active members. This was driven by some of our newer members. They are interested in finding new librarians to become involved in NMRT and TLA. If you have some ideas about how NMRT can achieve these goals, please contact me. If you have ideas about what NMRT can do to help its members, I'd like to know about those also. NMRT is a great place to learn how a professional organization works, and I'd like to know your thoughts on how we can do that for new librarians. Sally Bickley
From the NMRT Chair-ElectMy name is Jeanette Hatcher and I have been elected to as Chair-Elect/Vice-Chair of the NMRT. I am a Texan by birth but have lived in many places (Virginia, Maine, and California just to name a few). My formal education is as follows: BA from UT Austin (double major * History & Government); MAPAFF from UT Austin, LBJ School of Public Affairs and an MLS from Texas Woman's University. Currently I am a Reference Librarian and the Special Collections Librarian at Texas A&M International University in Laredo, Texas. Because I wear two hats I have a myriad of duties including liaison activities in the departments of Social Sciences and Language & Literature, collection development activities (in reference and special collections), desk time, scheduling & management of a public service point, maintenance & organization of collection materials, and so on. As a result of my diverse activities I work closely with every area in the library; thus, I understa nd the need for friendly cooperation and timely coordination when it comes to management of group projects. My interest in TLA evolved out of a personal need to support the profession and my observation of many colleagues' activities with this organization. I am grateful for the opportunity to make my contribution to TLA through involvement with NMRT. From the Secretary/TreasurerMy name is Christine Freeman. I just graduated from Texas Woman's University with my Master of Library Science in May. I have worked for the past 5 years at Texas A&M University * Corpus Christi as the Serials Assistant in the Periodicals Department. I got involved in TLA through a co-worker, Sally Bickley. She encouraged me to run for an office in the New Members Round Table. I did, and am now the secretary/treasurer. In addition to Sally's encouragement to join TLA, I joined because I felt I was ready to give back to the profession. I figured that being a librarian about to graduate, TLA would offer many experiences that will help me shape my future as a librarian, in addition to making wonderful contacts and new friends. From the Newsletter EditorHello! My name is Linda Chenoweth, and it's my responsibility to put together the newsletters that Sally mentioned as Goal 2 for her time in office. I'm a Reference Librarian at West Texas A&M University, which means I also do a substantial amount of information literacy instruction. I am also liaison for both the Behavioral Sciences Department and the Math, Physical Sciences, and Engineering Department. For 2004 I have also been the relief webmaster for the library, as our regular Web Services librarian has been on assignment in College Station. I used to do some free-lance writing, and I'm very excited about the opportunity to get my hand back in, and in the process contribute to the activities of the New Members Round Table. Any questions or comments about the newsletter itself can be addressed to me at lchenoweth@mail.wtamu.edu or (806)651-2214. Enjoy! Mentor ProgramThe New Members Round Table Mentor Program is designed especially to help newer members of the Texas Library Association (TLA) learn more about the organization and how TLA can be beneficial. The Mentor Program provides an opportunity for new members to begin creating a professional network by being matched with experienced professionals who share their professional interests and/or areas of specialization Ways the mentor program can benefit you:
Would you like to be in the mentor program? There is more information, or you can go straight to the application form. Committee DescriptionsThe best way to get the most from your membership in the New Member Round Table is to participate actively. There are several committees to chose from, one of which is sure to fit your skills. Contact the committee chairs indicated for additional information.
Discussion ListIf you are interested in getting all the most current news and discussion from NMRT, be sure to sign up for our members only discussion list. This is a great way to get announcements to your email address of choice. Use these instructions to get your name on the list. CommentsPlease send any suggestions for newsletter content to Linda Chenoweth and questions about NMRT generally to Sally Bickley. |
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