Follow Us On Twitter

Do you tweet? NETSL is now on Twitter. Our handle is #netsl_assoc. From time to time we’ll tweet. We’ll also use this handle for our sponsored programs at NELA Annual and our Annual Spring Conference.

Stay tuned!

Deadline Extended for NETSL 2013/14 Ballot

We have a new nomination for the position of NETSL Treasurer for the 2013/14 Board.

Take a moment and go to our ballot and cast your vote for our new nomination if you’ve already voted or cast your vote for the entire board of 2013/14. Your participation is important and it only takes about 5 minutes to complete the ballot.

The ballot is open to NETSL members who should have received an email message with the ballot url.

Not a member? It’s easy to join NETSL and NELA online at http://nelib.org.

Join Us In Portland, ME for NETSL Programs At NELA Annual 2013

NETSL is excited to offer 3 programs at the NELA Annual Conference, “Connect, Engage, Collaborate: Libraries as Community Partners,” on October 20-22, 2013, in Portland, Maine.

Monday, 8:30am-9:45am
United we stand: A collaborative approach to legacy print collections with Deborah Rollins, Head of the Collection Services Department at the University of Maine (Co-presented with the Academic Libraries Section)

Tuesday, 9:00am-10:15am
How to Effectively Communicate with Techies with Helen Linda, Library Systems and Technical Services Librarian at Goddard College

Tuesday, 11:15am-12:30pm
Getting Started with MarcEdit with Ben Abrahamse, Cataloging Coordinator at the MIT Libraries

Visit our website for program descriptions https://netsl.wordpress.com/nelaannual/nela2013/ and for complete conference information visit the conference website at http://www.nelib.org/conference.

2013 NETSL Conference Survey Results

Averages for responses to the following questions on a scale of 1 to 5 [5 highest to 1 lowest]:

Please rate the conference overall: 5

Please rate the site arrangements: 4

Please rate the food: 5

Keynote speeches

Content of Susan Gibbons‘ “Disruptive Library Landscape” keynote: 4

Relevance of Susan Gibbons’ keynote: 5

Comments on Susan Gibbons’ keynote:

  • Very good speaker and presentation.
  • Excellent speaker with mastery of the topic.  Not quite so relevant to public libraries, but still very interesting and provoking.  Enjoyable!
  • I *LOVED* Susan Gibbons’ presentation.  So many librarians forget that our profession’s responsibility is not just to the library members of today, but that we also have a universal responsibility to collect, organize, preserve and make available informational resources for all future generations.  Susan gets this.
  • Excellent overview. What we need to hear about the perceptions and thinking of Directors and Admins about libraries.

Content of Jessamyn West‘s “Encouraging a Culture of Openness in Libraries”: 5

Relevance of Jessamyn West’s keynote: 4

Comments on Jessamyn West’s keynote:

  • Enthusiastic. Good speaker for the afternoon-before-going-home slot.
  • Very good speaker and presentation heard other librarians were very happy they stayed for her presentation.
  • Very enjoyable and entertaining. A good ending to the conference.
  • I loved her enthusiasm and found her presentation inspiring.

Morning breakout sessions

Content of Basic RDA: 5

Relevance of Basic RDA: 5

Comments on Basic RDA:

  • Excellent. Cataloging instructions with humor.
  • OUTSTANDING!! I am no longer afraid to look into RDA or to jump in and try it out. Thank you for explaining it in a concise, understandable manner!

Content of The Accidental Systems Librarian: 5

Relevance of The Accidental Systems Librarian: 5

Comments on The Accidental Systems Librarian:

  • Great speaker.  Very helpful, useful information. Very well organized.
  • Really good!

Content of Digital Preservation: 5

Relevance of Digital Preservation: 5

Comments on Digital Preservation:

  • This is possibly the best and most useful conference session I have ever attended. Presenters were concise and showed an awareness of what libraries are really facing.
  • This session was very helpful to see what tools we can use and very relevant to libraries today!

Content of Why E-books Suck (Unless Your Name is Amazon): 5

Relevance of Why E-books Suck: 5

Comments on Why E-books Suck:

  • It’s great to have non-librarians bring a perspective and razor sharp analysis to a much tread topic.
  • Alan communicated really well what is at stake as the media moves from the owner model to the leaser model.  Very good presentation.

Afternoon breakout session

Content of Advanced RDA: 4

Relevance of Advanced RDA: 5

Comments on Advanced RDA:

  • THE expert. Necessary to hear.
  • I learned a lot of new things about RDA.  Great presentation.

Content of Implementing RDA: 5

Relevance of Implementing RDA: 5

Comments on Implementing RDA:

  • Extremely helpful for those of us trying to figure out how to handle RDA in our own setting.
  • Another great session, basic message was jump in and start using RDA!
  • Phenomenal.  Erin knew her stuff and spoke about her experience implementing RDA at two different institutions and the challenges/successes she encountered.

Content of Lightning Talks: 4

Relevance of Lightning Talks: 5

Comments on Lightning Talks:

  • Wonderfully engaging, as evidenced by the mountain of questions after.
  • Very well organized and a wide variety of topics.

Additional comments on the conference:

  • This was a great first conference for me.  Thank you for making it worth the drive.
  • NETSL always has excellent conferences. keep up the good work!
  • This was the best NETSL conference I’ve attended in the last 15 years. Great job!
  • This year’s conference was one of the best I have attended in the many years I have been coming to it.  Thank you for informative and relevant topics.  As always I love coming to Holy Cross for the conference.
  • I enjoyed the Conference tremendously.  The location at Holy Cross Hogan Center is convenient and having the conference in April or early May is a good time to get away from my home library.  The lunch buffet is lovely and the refreshments before the program begins and at the first break are much appreciated. The Speakers and breakout sessions provided valuable information and were well presented.
  • I am a first time attendee and I enjoyed the conference tremendously and found it to be time well spent.
  • The 2011 NETSL conference I attended seemed to reflect a fear of the future, and a lack of confidence on the part of Tech Services librarians.  This conference seemed to reflect and intense interest in what is actually happening now, and in what will happen next.  Much more positive, more substantial, than 2011.  Makes me want to come back next year.
  • This conference made my colleagues and me feel good about the work we are doing. It was a refreshing change.

Cast your vote for the 2013-2014 NETSL Executive Board

The online ballot is now out. When you receive the email message, cut and paste the URL into your browser instead of clicking on the link. This will take you to our online ballot. If you didn’t receive that message or have questions, contact Jennifer Eustis at Jennifer.eustis@lib.uconn.edu.

Thank you for voting and your support of NETSL and NELA.

Call for Candidates for NETSL Board

The New England Technical Services Librarians (NETSL) Executive Board is seeking nominations for Vice President/President Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, and Outreach Officer.

If you are enthusiastic about innovations in technical services and interested in running for a NETSL Board office, please contact Jennifer Eustis, the NETSL President at Jennifer.Eustis@lib.uconn.edu by June 21, 2013. Candidates must be NETSL members (via membership in NELA) to serve on the board.

For details about the duties and terms of the offices, please see NETSL Bylaws at https://netsl.wordpress.com/about/bylaws/ and the job descriptions at https://netsl.wordpress.com/about/board/boardjobs/.

Election ballots will go out to the membership in early July, 2013.

Thank You NETSL Attendees

NETSL just had its 2013 NETSL Annual Spring Conference entitled, “The Many Hats of Technical Services”. It was a great conference with many wonderful presenters and lots of innovative material that is still inspiring discussions. Throughout the day, we heard stories about RDA, advocating for your library, time management, openness in libraries and so much more! Presentations and links to some of our speakers websites are already being posted on our conference website (https://netsl.wordpress.com/netslconference/2013con/).

If you attended the conference, please take a moment to fill out our conference evaluation (http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1218541/2013-NETSL-Spring-Conference-Evaluation). It is through your participation and input that NETSL provides such programming to our members and beyond. The survey will only take about 10 minutes of your time and help us for our programming next year. The survey will close May 17, 2013.

Our Annual Spring Conference and our programs at the NELA Annual Conference are made possible through the hard work of volunteers who sit on the NETSL Board. Every year we look for members-at-large, volunteers, and those interested in serving on the board. If you are interested, email our general email, netslinfo@gmail.com and we’ll get back to you with more information.

Are you interested in the New England Library Leadership Symposium or NELLS? This NELA program fosters the mentoring and development of leaders for library associations both state and regional. The deadline for applications has been extended. For more details, go to the NELLS website at http://nelib.org/nells.

Hope to see you in October for our programs at the NELA Annual Conference and next year!

Registration Has Closed!

Registration for our 2013 Annual Spring Conference has just closed! Stay tuned for the conference schedule. We’ll also be posting presentations after the conference.

If you signed up and are joining us this year, watch your inbox for more information and the attendee list.

If you didn’t sign up, join us this coming Oct. at the NELA Annual Conference in Portland, ME.