Before the seminar began, chapter members gathered to mingle, network and enjoy a light dinner. Ms. Kmetyk began her presentation by asking the attendees why we felt overwhelmed at work. Common answers included “not enough librarians, new responsibilities, too much email and last minute projects. She then asserted that one reason why we feel overwhelmed is that there seems to be too many urgent things on our to-do list, and when this happens, we lose the ability to determine what is truly urgent.

Chapter members were then asked to think about when they could fit in a new project that would require four hours of time. Answers varied, but many indicated the project would need to wait a little while. This discussion allowed Ms. Kmetyk to introduce the concept of urgency zones, which are a technique for prioritizing our tasks. She recommended using three zones: Critical Now, which are tasks that must be completed by the close of business today; Opportunity Now, which are tasks that need to be accomplished in the next week and a half, and Over the Horizon, which are tasks with a deadline more than two weeks away, or no deadline.

A method Ms. Kmetyk proposed to help implement the urgency zones idea was to develop a Workday Mastery List, which documents all our tasks and projects in one place. This list can be in hard or soft copy and there are a number of common software tools that could assist us in making this kind of list, although Ms Kmetyk focused on Outlook. Once this list is compiled, each task can be assigned to one of the zones.
To determine which zone a task belongs to, two rules should be followed. The first is called the going home test. Only tasks that you would work late into the night to complete pass this test. These items belong in your Critical Now zone and there should never be more than 3-5 items in this zone at any point in time. The second rule is to keep the Opportunity Now zone small, less than 20 items. If the number of tasks in this zone becomes too large, move the lowest priority items to the Over the Horizon zone. If the number of tasks in the Over the Horizon zone becomes too large, they can be effectively managed by setting up extended review cycles that allow you to assess the importance of these tasks at definite, specific intervals.

The other major topic Ms. Kmetyk covered was mastering email. She first suggested converting e-mail to tasks in Outlook, by dragging it to the task bar or calendar. Emails that we send to others can also be turned into tasks, so that appropriate follow-up occurs. In addition to this strategy, she also suggested that we set aside a few times during the day to read and respond to email and ignore it the rest of the day. If email is the primary way that your patrons contact you, let them know you are implementing a new policy in order to enhance your efficiency and will only be checking your email at specific times. If an urgent message is received, she suggested responding only if you could do so in two minutes or less, or to mark the message as something needing further attention before the end of the day. In addition, Ms. Kmetyk suggested developing an email filing system using Outlook’s categories or G-mail’s labels. One category in either system should be a processed mail folder where all mail that has been read is placed. If such a filing system is implemented, it should be possible for you to clean out your inbox before leaving every day since the mail will have been responded to, filed, put in your task list or deleted.

Written By: Susan Wright, Chapter Member

A few current highlights include:

• Sponsor Relations Committee – If you’re interested in expanding your network of industry vendors, this is your chance to do that while helping the committee Chair solicit sponsorships for Chapter programs. The Chair is also interested in an assistant to groom into taking over as Chair in 2013, so this may be the opportunity to build your leadership and negotiation skills.
• Program Photographer – Have a camera and a knack for photography? Snap a few shots at the next Chapter program you attend and help make them available on the Chapter Flickr page.
• Nominations committee – In collaboration with the Nominations Chair, help identify and contact potential officers for the 2013 Chapter board. This is a great way to learn more about Chapter business while also meeting new people.

These and other opportunities are listed on our volunteers form: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MDSLAvolunteer. Take a few moments to tell us what you’re interested in, and I will contact you with more information.

Thank you!
Ashley Conaway
Maryland Chapter Volunteers Coordinator

First off, let’s tackle item number two on the list of 23 Things. This “week” is dedicated to blogging. The 23 Things website explains what a blog is in simple terms but also provides interesting perspective about the appeal of blogs and the practice of blogging. Despite the fact that it was written in 2006 I found this excerpt from Digging Deeper: Your Guide to Blogging (via the 23 Things site) to be particularly insightful:

“…blogs have become a cultural phenomenon because they offer a simple, cheap way for anyone with an Internet connection to start their own global publication. The result is that the spheres of journalism, politics and business — to name a few — have been changed inexorably by the rise of expert bloggers who offer alternative voices that hadn’t been heard previously.”

Take a look at the 23 Things blogging page. Set up your own blog if you don’t already have one and review a couple other blogs. Use your blog to document what you learn as you progress through the 23 Things or write about whatever topic interests you.

2009 webinar replay – from the Managing Digital Information series
Promoting Effective Use of e-Resources Using e-Tools: Barbie Keiser outlines how to position your library strategically within your community, institution, or organization. She also focuses on raising awareness of new products and services while reminding customers about existing ones and reinforcing your message. Click here to start this course

As always, don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or you’d like the Spotlight to focus on a specific idea or concept. I would love to hear from you!

Until next time,
Mallory Olguin
mkolguin@yahoo.com
SLA Maryland Chapter – Membership Committee

Volunteering is a great way to meet and work with new people, learn new skills that you can include on your resume, and give back to your profession. With a variety of opportunities, there is sure to be something that interests you.

A few current highlights include:

• Chapter ‘Chatter’ – If you have 2-5 or 6-10 years of experience in science, technology, and/or medical libraries, why not take a few hours to meet with library school students and other local librarians to share your experiences and chat about librarianship.
• Archives committee – Currently the Chapter is seeking someone with archiving experience to spend roughly 120 hours to arrange, describe, and prepare a finding aid to the collection. This is a great opportunity for a retiree or someone between jobs to keep their hand in practice, while maintaining an interesting collection and learning more about the Chapter’s history. The Maryland Chapter archives are stored at the University of Baltimore, convenient to MARC and Light Rail stops.
• Sponsor Relations Committee – Here is your chance to work with industry vendors to help solicit sponsorships for Chapter programs that help recover/reduce the cost of the programs.

These and other opportunities are listed on our volunteers site: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MDSLAvolunteer. Take a few moments to tell us what you’re interested in, and I will contact you with more information. You can also contact me directly.

Thank you!
Ashley Conaway
Volunteers Coordinator

I just returned from the Leadership Summit, a conference for SLA chapter and division leaders, with Annette Haldeman and Diane White.  Some of the highlights from the conference as well as upcoming events and important people to know in our chapter, are listed below.

Maryland Member and Past President Chris Olson wins SLA Fellow Award!

Chris Olson, Maryland Chapter Past President (2009), was named a 2012 SLA Fellow at the SLA Leadership Summit!  The Fellow of SLA award is presented to an SLA member to recognize leadership in their career as an information professional. Fellowship is bestowed on mid-career SLA members in recognition of past, present and future service to the association and the profession.

Congratulations Chris!  This is well deserved.

SLA ends 2011 with a Balanced Budget!

These are two words not heard together in recent years, but SLA finished 2011 with a slight surplus (~$100,000).  Headquarters and SLA Elected officials are confident that they can meet projections for 2012 despite an anticipate decline in revenue.  More details on this budget will be provided in a future update.

SLA Goals for the 2012

·   Improvements to infrastructure: Building, IT Hardware & Software, Staff development

·   Sharpen focus: Eliminate some committees, leverage volunteerism and online event     opportunities

·   Individual donations: Recognize consistency of individual donations through time.

More on these goals in a future update.

The Loyalty Project

The Maryland Chapter and the DC Chapter delivered preliminary findings and results from our section of the Loyalty Project, which focuses on Sponsorship Relations.  Several good recommendations and “best practice” tips and templates were provided during this presentation. Our own Diane White represented the Chapter during this presentation. 

Many of you may be wondering what the Loyalty Project is, if you did not attend last year’s Closing Session at the Annual Conference.  Here is a brief overview/update on the project:

The Loyalty Project measures where an organization’s members are in terms of their relationship with the organization.  There are basically four levels: Loyal, Predisposed (to be loyal); Transactional (‘I get what I pay for’); Antagonistic (‘They’ve got it all wrong’).  SLA has 6% Loyal and 6% Antagonistic members.  The rest of the membership is split almost equally between Predisposed and Transactional.

Consultant James Kane is working with 5 groups (7 Chapters) to focus on specific aspects of organization loyalty and to develop toolkits that every chapter and division can use to increase each members relationship with the organization.   These projects or facets of membership will be studied by the assigned Chapter/group and descriptions, case scenarios, best practices, etc. will be developed around each aspect of organizational loyalty.  It is hoped that other chapters and divisions will continue to contribute to this body of knowledge with their own solutions.  The areas being covered are:

Rocky Mountain Chapter – Membership Relationship

Minnesota Chapter – Leadership Relationships

Florida/Caribbean Chapter – Remote Relationships

Washington DC/Maryland Chapters – Sponsorship Relations

Southern California Chapter – Community Relations

Each of these areas was outlined and progress to date was reported during the Summit. 

Maryland Chapter 2012 Events – Mark your calendar!

Our new President-Elect, Annette Haldeman has been busy planning the 2012 Events.  Mark your calendars now, they are as follows:

Thursday, March, 29th, “Over Coming Overwhelmed” – Mary Ann Kmetyk

Saturday, April 21st, Job Search Workshop – Universities at Shady Grove  Campus

Monday, May 14th, “Taxonomies and Thesauri” – Gail Rayburn

October – Speed Mentoring, Date & Local to be determined

Wednesday, December 5th, Holiday Cheers & Celebrations at the Baltimore Museum of Industry

There will be several upcoming Coffee Hours and Happy Hours this year!  We hope to have one a month, starting in February.   If you are interested in hosting one of these please contact Annette Haldeman.

If you are interested in volunteering please contact Ashley Conaway.

If you have questions related to membership please contact Donna Goda. 

Best regards,

Cindy Sheffield

President, Maryland Chapter 2012

Happy New Year to everyone and welcome to 2012! I find it bittersweet to watch a new year start. I’m often sad to let the last year go but happy to welcome new beginnings and experiences.

On that note I would like to introduce a new feature to the Professional Development Spotlight. At the last few SLA conferences I heard many references to “23 Things“. After hearing people talk about how useful it was and how much they learned from 23 Things I decided to check it out for myself. 23 Things is described as a “self-discovery program” to learn and experience Web 2.0 tools over a 10 week period, guiding users through learning how to blog, use photo-sharing sites, create wikis, podcasts and much more.

In each week of 23 Things the creators provide resources to learn a new skill or tool and assignments to immediately apply what you’re learning. They also pose thought provoking questions and provide a forum to discuss your thoughts about Web 2.0 with other SLA members through the wiki and 23 Things blog. Users can pick and choose the elements they want to learn or go through the whole program. You may need to create a profile to use certain parts of the 23 Things wiki but you can access the learning plan for each week without registering or creating any accounts.

I will be highlighting the content of each week as part of the monthly Spotlight. Since this is a monthly feature we’ll be moving slower than the program intends but that shouldn’t be a problem. This month we’ll start with “Week 1/Introduction – Learn to learn this way” (http://wiki.sla.org/display/23Things/Week+1+Introduction+-+Learn+to+learn+this+way). This section provides an overview of the program, a short discussion of the principles of lifelong learning and encourages you to become familiar with navigating the 23 Things wiki.

If anyone wants to talk about what they’re learning through 23 Things, don’t hesitate to contact me since I’ll be learning 23 Things too!

Up next month – Week 2: Blogging! (plus another regularly scheduled Professional Development Spotlight item)

Until next time,
Mallory Olguin
mkolguin@yahoo.com
SLA Maryland Chapter – Membership Committee

As 2012 approaches, my term as the Maryland Chapter President comes to an end.  I truly enjoyed it, and am very proud of everything the Chapter has accomplished in 2011.  We could not have experienced so many successes without the support of our wonderful board of volunteers, our members, our sponsors, and our friends and colleagues.  I wish the best for the incoming President and President-Elect, Cindy Sheffield and Annette Haldeman, and look forward to seeing continued growth of our very successful Chapter.

What end-of-year post would be complete without a recap of the year?  I hope as you read the following summary of the year that you take pride in everything your Chapter has accomplished.  And maybe it will inspire you to volunteer to help get even more done in 2012!

Programs & Events:

Cindy Sheffield, the incoming President and 2011 Programming Committee chair, provided our Chapter with a slate of interesting and diverse programs and events to attend.  Joyce Garczynski, the Chapter Publicity Committee chair, did an excellent job advertising these events so that you knew where to be!

• March 15^th – Effective Portal Branding Strategies.  Chris Olson provided insights into and lessons learned about portal branding, and we learned about the Sandy Spring Museum.
• April 16^th – Job Search Workshop II.
• June 13^th – Mid-Atlantic Chapters Reception at the SLA Annual Conference.  The Maryland, District of Columbia, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Princeton-Trenton, and Virginia Chapters threw a terrific party – we even had an ice cream bar!
• July 21^st and August 18^th – Happy Hours!
• October 20^th -  Impact and Productivity Measurements in a Changing Research Environment: Potential Roles for Information Professionals.  James King and Ann Kushmerick explored the possibilities, tools, and metrics available for this type of service.
• November 5^th – Job Search Workshop III.  This event is so popular, we made it into a full day event!
• December 1^st – Holiday Cheers and Celebrations.  We toured the NAL archives, had a brief business meeting and announced the elected 2012 Board members and the Maryland Chapter Champion Award winners, AND enjoyed a presentation about ‘Advocating for Your Special Library’ by featured speaker, Richard Huffine!
• Student chats – Along with co-coordinating the two Job Search Workshops this year, Judy Tapiero, Chapter Student Liaison, organized several student chats at the UMD and CUA.  These are a great opportunity for students to chat with and learn from local information professionals.

Honors & Awards:

In 2011, our Chapter represented some of the best and brightest SLA has to offer!

• At the Annual Conference, Chapter Student Liaison Judy Tapiero, Chapter Members James King and Mary Talley, and I received SLA awards!  Cheer on Judy and Mary received The Rose L. Vormelker Award, James became an SLA Fellow, and I received the SLA Rising Star Award.
• In October, the Maryland Chapter’s Hospitality, Awards, and Recognition Committee, led by Edna Paulson, collected nominations for our annual Chapter Champion awards.  This award recognizes a Chapter member’s outstanding contributions to the chapter, SLA, and the profession.  This year’s winners, presented at our holiday cheers and celebrations program, are Judy Tapiero, Sean Henry, and Edna Paulson (surprise!).  Well-deserved and congratulations!

Sponsorship:

Sponsor Relations Chair, Pat Sproehnle, and Cindy Sheffield did an excellent job finding sponsor support this year to help make our programs affordable to members.  The Maryland Chapter greatly appreciates the support of our sponsors, and this year we were very fortunate for the level of support we received.  A BIG THANK YOU to Basch Subscriptions, Thomson Reuters, Leadership Directories, LAC, and First Street, and the DC Chapter.

Membership:

Donna Goda came on board this year as Membership Committee chair, and she has been busy!  She developed a welcome letter for new members and has coordinated with Mallory Olguin, a Chapter membership committee volunteer, emails on the Maryland Chapter listserv spotlighting professional development opportunities from SLA’s Click U.

Tami Smith, former Membership Committee Chair, helped the board develop and distribute a membership and communications survey.  We’ve analyzed the information you provided and are working towards making changes to better meet the needs of our members.  Thank you for your input!

Website & blog:

This year, we proudly announced our new website and blog at http://maryland.sla.org.  Our Chapter web administrator, Greg Horvitz, did a fantastic job and continues to keep up with website updates in support of our Chapter programs and activities.

SLA Loyalty Study:

We have teamed up with the DC Chapter for the SLA Chapter Loyalty Study (and several other Chapters are also participating).  Diane White is leading the charge for our Chapter, and we expect to be able to share more information about our involvement and what we’ve learned in 2012.

Chapter Archives:

Rene Stein, Chapter Archives Chair, visited the Chapter archives and has coordinated a student internship opportunity to review and reorganize the archives.  A student may become involved in 2012.

2012 Board position nominations:

Sean Henry, Chapter Nominations Chair, announced the new 2012 Chapter Board members at the annual business meeting.  Congratulations to Annette Haldeman (President-Elect), Nevenka Zdravkovska (Treasurer), Donna Goda (Director), and Lea Wade (Director)!

Volunteers:

Seán Henry, Chapter Volunteers Chair, welcomed many new volunteers to the Chapter this year.  If you’d like to help out take a look at the volunteer opportunities and sign-up here.  Volunteering is a great way to explore new interests and gain additional skills, and volunteers are vital to the Chapter’s success!

Finances:

Ed Metz, Chapter Treasurer, helped keep spending on target this year.  The Chapter is in a good financial state to continue to support programs, professional development, leadership development, and more in 2012.

I hope everyone has a terrific new year, and I look forward to what 2012 will bring for the Maryland Chapter.  Keep an eye out for more news and events, via our website, Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or listerv.  I’m looking forward to seeing you at an upcoming Chapter program!

Best regards,
Ashley Conaway
Chapter President 2011

This month’s Professional Development Spotlight focuses on a resource that provides the opportunity to learn a variety of marketable skills. SLA offers its members a subscription to Atomic Learning, a website that provides online training for almost any piece of software you can think of, from Microsoft Word to Moodle. The training videos are divided into short segments that can be watched individually to develop very specific skills or as a set to round out your understanding of a specific software application.

If you’re not sure which program you want to learn Atomic Learning allows you to search their workshops and tutorials by keyword. So if you’re looking for a program to spice up a video-based presentation, for example, you can type “video presentation” into the search box and the results will contain all the different different software applications that can help you with links to the corresponding video tutorials. You can also filter by platform (Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, iPod) or by type of software (social networking, database, image editing, etc.).

The SLA license provides members access to the Atomic Learning site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you need to learn a new piece of software for work or simply want to add skills to your resume consider using this tremendous resource that comes to you as part of your SLA membership.

For information about accessing the Atomic Learning website via the SLA license visit http://www.sla.org/innovate/atomic.cfm

Until next time,
Mallory Olguin
mkolguin@yahoo.com
SLA Maryland Chapter – Membership Committee

The SLA Maryland Chapter is proud to welcome the following four dynamic leaders in our profession to positions on the 2012 Chapter Executive Board!

• Annette Haldeman – President-Elect:
  Actually, Annette is already on the Chapter Board as our current 2011 Secretary. She is a Legislative Librarian at the Department of Legislative Services, a non-partisan staff agency for the Maryland General Assembly, located in Annapolis, Maryland.
• Nevenka Zdravkovska – Treasurer:
  Nevenka is the Head of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Library of the University of Maryland, College Park; She is also the current Treasurer of the SLA  Science-Technology Division.
• Donna Goda – Director:
  Donna is the Librarian for the International Studies/Languages and Cultures Department at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis; She is also currently Chair of our Chapter Membership Committee.
• Lea Wade – Director:
  Lea is the Senior Librarian and Program Manager for the Department of Homeland Security; She is active in both the Maryland and Washington, DC SLA Chapters:  Within the DC-SLA Chapter, she has been the 2nd Vice-President, Newsletter Editor, Listserv Administrator, Elections Chair, and Dine-Around Coordinator.

Although election results by acclamation were announced on November 2, our  new Chapter Executive Board members were officially and warmly introduced at our recent Holiday Cheers Event and Annual Business Meeting on December 1 at the National Agricultural Library.

Please join me in congratulating Annette, Nevenka, Donna, and Lea and wishing them a successful first year in office in 2012! I encourage all of you to participate and nominate in the election process next year!

All the best for the Holiday season,

Seán Henry
2011 SLA Maryland Chapter Past-President,
Nominations Committee Chair

Thank you to all of the enthusiastic and dynamic volunteers that have helped in some way on our various committees, initiatives, and activities.  Every little bit helps, and your involvement is critical to our success.

Thank you to our very generous sponsors in 2011, including Basch Subscriptions, Thomson Reuters, Leadership Directories, LAC, First Street, and the SLA DC Chapter.  Your support helps us offer diverse and affordable programs for our members and colleagues.

Thank you all!

The Board of the Maryland Chapter of SLA

Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, and practice existing or learn new skills, abilities and talents.  Find out more at http://maryland.sla.org/connections/volunteer/.