GENERAL NEWS: Michelle Obama, Ron Brown, 5 Things to Do

Dear friends and colleagues!

I hope your new year is as exciting as it is here at Davis! We are off to a roaring start at SLIS and expect all things great in 08. Many of us went to the ALISE (Association of Library and Information Science Educators) and ALA conferences in Philadelphia, January 7 - 16. We interviewed new faculty candidates at ALISE and are very encouraged at the caliber and expertise represented. We will bring several candidates to campus for interviews in the next couple months so watch for the schedules. You are always welcome to join us at anytime during the interview process.

Last week Michelle Obama joined us for a Cocky’s Reading Express event at the Child Development and Research Center here at USC Columbia. She read to the children and helped Cocky read to an enthusiastic group of 4 year olds. Then Ms. Obama joined a round table discussion group of parents and educators to talk about the importance of early child care issues and literacy. Videos of the events are at http://www.sc.edu/cmcis/news/archive/0708/ReadingExpress/index.html and be sure to catch the Photo of the Week that shows Ms. Obama and Cocky in a wonderful moment http://www.libsci.sc.edu/picweek/2008/jan28/128.htm

Our faculty and staff spent the day on Friday, January 25 in retreat at the USC Inn discussing our programs, research and ways to deal with large enrollment classes. It was a lively and important day for SLIS with good results and plans to keep our excellent ratings. We ended the day with a welcome reception for Dr. Ron Brown, his wife Charlene and their beautiful daughter, Sarah. You can read more about Dr. Brown at http://www.libsci.sc.edu/fsd/Brown/rb.htm and please stop by to meet him when you are on campus.

We have begun preparations for our accreditation review so please respond when you received questionnaires and requests from information from us. We want to make sure your voices, ideas and suggestions are included in this important process.

Spring must be on its way because our event calendar is filling rapidly. Book Festival, ICOMM week, Spring Break ;-}and many other exciting events are coming your way so keep checking the SLIS website http://www.libsci.sc.edu/ for details and dates.

I hear from many of you that you miss your five things to do or read or act upon so here are your hand selected things to get the year started:

1. 15 Trends to Watch in 2008 [Publishers Weekly]
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6516743.html

2. Libraries need to step up to help “not very web literate” young generation:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6525984.html

3. Generation Y biggest user of libraries: survey
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071230/us_nm/internet_libraries_dc

4. The Looming Infrastructure Plateau? Space, Funding, Connection Speed, and the Ability of Public Libraries to meet the Demand for Free Internet Access [First Monday]

http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2017/1907

5. Library of Congress taps Web 2.0 to gain user expertise on photos
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9057679

So have fun and let me know if there is anything we can do for you!

sam