Family Man Librarian » Arizona

The course so far…

Steve — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:41:25 +0000

Last weekend I was glad to meet my students in the course I’m teaching for UIUC GSLIS in the summer session. They are a great group of people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. One person is originally from Argentina and was a professional chess player. Another is — I think — originally from South Africa and is choosing a new career after working in finance/accounting for many years. Someone else joins the class from Alaska; others from Colorado and Oregon. Another person happens to be someone who used to work for the same company I work for. Someone else in the class is a grad student in the Latin American and Caribbean library services unit at UIUC; the exact same position I held when I was in grad. school!

Aside from the panic I felt in needing to be in two places at nearly the same time (NASIG in Phoenix, AZ and Urbana-Champaign for the on campus class session), everything went smoothly. I’ll write a bit more about my NASIG experience in a separate post. Fantastic location and great conference.

I love teaching. These people are really smart, ask challenging questions, think broadly about the role of technical services within the library organization. It is heartening to hear them tell me that they feel a course like this should be required, not optional in the library school curriculum. I’m biased but I completely agree, because I believe that what we call technical services is the very backbone of library service.

This year’s crop of award winners from NASIG

Steve — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 18:50:56 +0000

I was pleased to get an email today announcing the winners of various annual awards from NASIG. NASIG generously gives out several different awards, but the highlight for me has always been the award for current Master’s level library and information science students. NASIG gives out several of these each year, and I was fortunate enough to be selected for one of them way back in 1991. Another highlight for me is the Mexico Student Grant Award, which I helped establish. This year’s crop of award winners includes a woman in the LEEP curriculum at my alma mater, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Congratulations to all the winners!

NASIG Conference Student Grant Award

Gregory Schmidt – University of Alabama
Sarah Morris – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Lisa Harrington – Simmons College
Laura Baker – Simmons College

Mexico Student Grant

Martha Alejandra Alatorre Betancourt – Universidad Autonoma De San Luis Potosi Escuela De Bibliotecologia E Informacion

Fritz Schwartz Serials Education Scholarship

Claire Rasmussen – University of Wisconsin at Madison

Horizon Award

Jennifer Arnold – Central Piedmont Community College

Serials Specialist Award Winner

Wendy Lichte – Arizona State University

Illini make Final Four

Steve — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 02:27:47 +0000

SI.com – 2005 NCAA Basketball Tournament – Late rally sends Illini past Arizona into Final Four – Saturday March 26, 2005 11:48PM

Having been ill all weekend, I missed some really exciting moments in the NCAA Tournament. I am especially happy that the Illini got into the Final Four. It was simply icing on the cake that Michigan State got there, too. I’m not a fan of Michigan State but it’s great that two out of the four teams are from the Big Ten. I think that should silence, at least for a while, the many critics of the Big Ten. Here’s hoping that MSU and Illinois make it to the title game.