GENERAL NEWS: Summer is here! Cohorts, SAC assessment, and Five Things!

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Summer is definitely here. My dehumidifier bucket fills with water faster that I can pour it out! I’m not complaining. . .it wouldn’t be this green and beautiful without the moisture – at least that is what I tell myself.

The more fun sign of summer is our orientation for new students and it was this past Saturday in Davis 209 from 10 - 4!

Nonie Price, Fred Roper and I had a lovely time in New England, recruiting new students and getting all things ready for our New England Cohort. First students will matriculate this fall and we will do an orientation for them on August 8 in Portland, ME. We are so happy to be able to offer another opportunity for our northern friends to join us.

Our Virginia, West Virginia cohort is bubbling along and we continue to admit students. We will be celebrating the graduates of this new batch on August 22. This will include the December 08, May 09, August 09 and a few December 09 graduates. We will be in Waynesboro and you are welcome to join us in acknowledging and congratulating this great group of new librarians and information professionals.

We are working on our SACs assessment reports and plans and finalizing a draft of our COA presentation for our ALA accreditation. Our advisory committee members will give it a first read and response before we shine it up. Our external review panel will visit in October 2009 so we are planning a reception in Davis on the 25^th. We will be celebrating the 100^th birthday of Davis College and welcoming our reviewers. Please plan to join us!

This has been a welcome break and I always look forward to hearing from you yet I must get back to the COA report. . .so much fun, so little time ;-}

Here are five things to do, read or think about:

1. The Next Age of Discovery [The Wall Street Journal]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124173896716198603.html

2. Books Born Digital [Library Journal]

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6657392.html

3. Newspapers' Woes Worsening [CBS News]
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/28/earlyshow/main4835656.shtml

4. Some Thoughts on the Lost Art of Reading Aloud [The New York Times]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/opinion/16sat4.html

5. New Search Tool Aims at Answering Tough Queries, but Not at Taking on Google [The New York Times] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/technology/internet/11search.html

Let us know if there is anything we can do for you and try to stay cool!

sam