Like others, I've enjoyed the community feeling of ALCTS and the emphasis on professional development, but I see the merger as giving me more opportunities since LITA and LLAMA often have programs/webinars that interest me.
The ALCTS section structure contributes a great deal to my sense of community. My primary involvement has been in the CollDev section, but I've also been active in the Acq and Continuing Resource sections. I've enjoyed getting to know colleagues in the Cataloging and Preservation sections when working at the division level. As we merge divisions, I hope we'll keep a section structure, even though we may eventually want to combine or re-arrange some of the sections.
ALCTS has a strong professional development component, as do LITA and LLAMA. I want to keep that in the new division. The ALCTS e-forum discussions are a particular favorite, both for the chance to discuss a common issue with colleagues via email, but also because I can learn about current issues that aren't directly relevant to my job by reading the discussion threads about cataloging and preservation issues. Expanding e-forums to LITA and LLAMA topics would be fantastic!
ALCTS has supported my career by providing opportunities for service, presenting, and publishing. I'd like to continue activities that are designed to foster careers such as: "speed dating" events to introduce new members to volunteer opportunities, how-to-publish forums, research forums for presenting work-in-progress which not only allow researchers to gather feedback but also give audience members a chance to ask questions about research process, to interest groups which allow for discussion and for short informal presentations. All of these things have added to my sense of community, too. I'm curious about the activities LITA and LLAMA offer to help grow professionally in ways that aren't directly related to my day-to-day work.
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Ginger Williams
Head of Acquisitions
Texas State University Alkek Library
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Original Message:
Sent: Oct 08, 2018 03:46 PM
From: Lynn Hoffman
Subject: What features or strengths in your current division do you want to bring with us to a proposed new division?
We're starting up a discussion series about the proposed new division. Join us here or on Twitter (#alanewdivision) to talk about it and share your feedback.
Question 1: What features or strengths in your current division do you want to bring with us to a proposed new division?
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Lynn Hoffman
President, Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA)
Director of Operations, Somerset County Library System of NJ
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