IAMSLIC 2012

Monday, August 27, 2012

The day began with a welcome from the UAA Chancellor, Tom Case.  Opening comments by Amy Butros who is running in reverse, she began her presidency in Zanzibar and is ending in Anchorage.  Maria Kalentsis then gave us a few tips on organizing a fabulous conference and officially convened us all.

Had a quick break as we were already ahead of schedule.  Then Dr. Gunnar Knapp gave us an overview of Alaska fisheries and current policy issues.  He discussed the 3 types of fisheries (sport, commercial & subsistence) as well as the types of fish that are sought (salmon, herring, halibut, shellfish & groundfish).  The different policies used to keep those fisheries sustainable such as limited entry and individual fishing quotas. No system will be liked by the various parties managing the fisheries, but these policies are working so far for Alaska.

Another quick break and the 1st business meeting was called to order. Well, the membership did behave for the most part, I’m not sure we are ever an orderly bunch.  You’ll have to check the minutes when they are posted as I was busy setting up the Guin Auction. Had to print more auction bidding slips as I ran out and I thought I was going to have extra.  Ah, the generosity of librarians to help support their own.  I’ll post a full range of pictures.  Perhaps we should start a betting pool as well on which of the items will go for the highest bid.  Of course, we could also post a private auction or arrange for bidding for off-site folks in future auctions. Seriously, if you’re not here, there is some fabulous stuff up for grabs this year.  Folks have outdone themselves.

Bidding was opened on the Guin Auction as lunch was served. After a lunch consisting of a baked potato bar, soup & chili (awesome chili), we moved back to our spots to listen to exciting innovations in patron instruction.  Michelle Leonard worked on an NSF grant to develop a computer game to teach researchers (students & faculty) about ethical research.  She also showed us some of the other tools for conducting ethical research and teaching scientists about various tasks that some faculty forget students don’t already know.  Sorry, I wasn’t born with the knowledge of how to keep a notebook. Not that I know now as I was never taught.

Anyway, we moved on to Elizabeth Connor talking about QR codes: 1. why the are useful 2. how to create them.  They are fun.  You could have a lot of fun with plain text ones in your library as well as posting contact information, hours, or other useful information in various places around the library.  You can post maps that students or others can download to their smartphones.  Would be interesting to see if we could add QR codes to catalog records that geolocate books like geocaches in the library.  I think I might most a few around the library as plain text links with jokes about why the salmon crossed the road.  No, of course, I don’t know why the salmon crossed the road. I don’t think they know. Salmon brains are really quite small and they don’t think much.

Another break with veggies & dip.  THey are sooo helping me stick to a better diet. Thank you very much.

We returned to presentations on the importance of staying relevant and how this problem really is global for libraries all over the world.  Perhaps folks should chime in on the email list when they have a bright idea for sharing information or new services the library can pursue in order to draw attention to our other services.  Don’t wait for the Green Flash or conference, get the word out.  Save a colleague!

Our afternoon invited speaker was AWESOME.  Environmental justice with worldwide case studies and contaminants in Alaska. Dr Frank von Hippel is an ecotoxicologist at the university.  His presentation was riveting. Absolutely riveting.  The damage we have done as humans in places where our fellow humans are affected. The social injustices, the economic costs. Wow.  But there is hope.  We can figure out where things are going wrong, train and use citizen scientists to monitor conditions, invest in clean up of toxics and make the world a better place.

And, we were free for the day.  A large group took off for The Bridge Restaurant with Kristen C. of the vendor variety serving as host to the party.  THANK YOU!!!    Not sure I can give more detail than that, but they are a well-known publisher (T.R.)

Should thank all of our conference sponsors, Ebsco, Proquest, Inter-Research, Thomson-Reuters, IODE, UAA, Harrassowitz, cruiseabout, Discovery Car Hire Australia, Dejan Seo, iSelect, Centrepoint Finance, OzForex & ninfold Cloud Computing. Without their generous support, we wouldn’t really be able to afford to put on such great conferences.  Donations by local companies for the Guin Auction were from: Arctic Office Products, Humpy’s Great Alaskan Ale House, Kobuk Coffee Company, Moose’s Tooth Pub & Pizzeria & the UAA bookstore.

Lenora
StreamNet Regional Librarian
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
http://www.streamnetlibrary.org

PS Many of us are disappointed that we have not seen any wildlife beyond ducks in the lake behind the hotel. But we’re still on the lookout for the charismatic megafauna we were practically promised by the Alaska advertising.

Share to...

Facebook

Google

Twitter

Linkedin

IAMSLIC 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

The day began a bit early as we all rose for breakfast and then congregated at the door of the Magic Bus to begin our field trip to the Alaska Native Heritage Center.  Not a very long drive, but enough time to admire the snow-sprinkled mountains and the sun peeking through the clouds to highlight the alpine meadows climbing up the sides of the mountains.  Green is an abundant color, though we did notice that the leaves are already starting to turn to fall here in the last frontier.

We arrived at the Center to be greeted by our guides and begin our private guided tours through the center.   The elders of the natives from the Anchorage area were asked for permission and blessings to build this center which seeks to educate the world about the rich cultural heritage of these tribes. Not much to the main building, we hustled outside to walk through the largest part of the center which features small, replica villages from each of the 5 language groups that the Alaska Natives are grouped into.  We were split into two groups, and Casey led us away.   Walking the trail through the villages, Casey told us stories, answered questions and shared his vast knowledge of all the cultures.  The rhythm & cadence combine with the pitch of his voice provided a fabulous.  Casey is from the Cupik tribe and regaled us with stories of how he grew up and even how he still goes home to hunt.  We learned history & traditions as well as how the people currently live in the most remote areas of Alaska.

We returned to the main building which houses the Hall of Cultures, theatre & gift shop.  A craft fair was being held in the Hall of Cultures with vendors selling handmade items.  The theatre is a stage to show off cultural traditions including games/sports, singing & dancing.  There was a demonstration of boys kicking a ball high in the air and then Haida people came out to showcase songs and dances.  Their regalia includes the famous button blankets. The end of our tour came at the end of the singing & dancing, so we all sashayed out to the bus to the beat of the drum.  So sad that the bus back to the hotel was not the Magic Bus.  Oh well.

From the hotel, we all took off for various destinations for lunch with downtown being the most popular.  We split as some had stomachs eating through their abdominal walls, so they found a restaurant right away.  Others decided to wait a bit and took the one hour Historic Anchorage Trolley tour.  The downtown Anchorage Visitors’ Center has a shuttle pick up and drop off.  Most of the tourist attractions provide free shuttles to their sites for tourists.  Very convenient.

After a tasty caribou/reindeer cheeseburger with salad (oh, I’m being good), my group walked around downtown to various cheap & tacky (some not-so-tacky but out of my price range) tourist shops to gather souvenirs.  Our adventure took longer than we thought as we arrived back at the hotel with just enough time to change and make our way over to the Welcome Reception at the Carr Gottstein Lobby at the Alaska Pacific University campus.  And again, the food was most excellent.  Sort of an open bar, but the group must be slowing down as there were still some full bottles when I left at 730.  

So, there were lots of hugging and excitement as we all greeted those who visit with us sporadically as well as those who we get to see annually.  During the dinner, the local hosts had door prizes.  Thanx for the chocolate covered espresso beans.  I do love them so.

I fell into the comfy bed with a sigh and lost myself to dreams of seeing wild moose & bears & other wildlife.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/97187258540/  Join the IAMSLIC group on Facebook for all the pictures.  I’m disillusioned with Flickr so will be searching for another photo-sharing service. Suggestions are welcome.  la.oftedahl@comcast.net

Lenora
StreamNet Regional Librarian
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
http://www.streamnetlibrary.org

Share to...

Facebook

Google

Twitter

Linkedin

Dear IAMSLIC Members – All of you-not just conference attendees!

Please take some time to take the Training Survey – we would like to know your needs, opinions and of course if you would like to volunteer to instruct , we would like that information as well!

As you know, an agreement was signed between IOC/IODE and IAMSLIC to promote cooperations between the two organizations.  IODE has been successfully running a training programme for many years and has involved some really eminent librarians and information specialists as lecturers….ILMS creators, ASFA people etc.  At a time when the need for and role of librarians is put into question, we need to make sure that our professional community has the best possible and most up to date know-how.  Additionally, we should demonstrate that we have much to offer, not only in terms of information management as we know and love it, but also as perhaps data managers, embedded librarians and ?  In cooperation with IODE and other partners, we can provide training for these emerging roles in our community.

I am pleased to report also that, IODE would sponsor training, not only  to developing countries, but would set aside some funding for participants from developed countries (perhaps limited to IAMSLIC members).

In order to identify the necessary training topics IAMSLIC and IODE posted an online survey in July.  Unfortunately (probably due to Summer holidays) we did not receive many responses.  This training can be an important benefit to you and the IAMSLIC community.  Please take some time – less that 10 minutes- to answer this survey- so that IAMSLIC and IODE can jointly work out a training program for 2012-2014 – that will benefit all of us.

The survey can be found at:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/iamslic_iode2012

We will leave the survey open through September 15th.

The results will be openly posted.

(please note that this survey will not expose an individual’s answers)

Thank you!    Linda Pikula

Share to...

Facebook

Google

Twitter

Linkedin

Dear colleagues,

Please join us for the 38th IAMSLIC Conference and the 24th CYAMUS Meeting, August 24-30, 2012.
“Exploring New Frontiers in Aquatic Sciences Information Management”

Do not miss the early bird deadline – Tuesday, July 31, 2012, after this date the rate will be higher.

For registration:  http://www.iamslic.org/conf2012/registration/

For program information (including abstracts for papers, panels and posters which we have added to the website a few days ago): http://www.iamslic.org/conf2012/program/

For lodging information, please visit: http://www.iamslic.org/conf2012/lodging/ Please note: Deadline for hotel booking at conference rates is July 23, 2012.

A list of registered participants will soon be available online.

We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the conference,

Warm regards,

Maria Kalentsits

Conference Convener / Chair of the Conference Committee

Share to...

Facebook

Google

Twitter

Linkedin

I am not sure if you have to be a “Nature” subscriber to view the news blog entry below. The gist of it is, the Wellcome Trust is putting some teeth into its requirement that articles published based on research it funds must be open access within 6 months of publication. If not, they will withhold their grant money. This will apply to articles published from 1 October 2009 onward.

Joe Wible

Hopkins Marine Station

http://blogs.nature.com/news/2012/06/wellcome-trust-hardens-open-access-stance.html#wpn-more-20541

Share to...

Facebook

Google

Twitter

Linkedin

Dear Colleague,

We kindly invite you to fill in the IMASLIC/IODE training needs survey  available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YLPNF8W  until 31 July 2012.

This survey is organized jointly by IAMSLIC and IODE. All information will be used to develop training programs for IAMSLIC and IODE to be offered at times and places to be determined by the results of this survey. 

All interested IAMSLIC members and colleagues are encouraged to respond to this survey to assess the training needs, topics, instructors, and locations of this training amongst other questions. Your feedback is very important to us. It would be especially interesting to see your individual suggestions in the boxes provided for this information.

If you think you would like to help instruct one of these courses, please provide your name and contact information.

The IAMSLIC and IODE IODE Secretariats thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this survey. This survey should take no longer than 15 minutes of your time. The survey will be open until 31 July 2012.

If you have any questions, please contact Claudia Delgado (claudia.delgado@iode.org) or Linda Pikula (linda.pikula@noaa.gov).

 Thank you for your participation!

 Maria Kalentsits

IAMSLIC President-Elect

Share to...

Facebook

Google

Twitter

Linkedin

I received the following email from the editor of Ciencias Marinas alerting its users of a change in the journal’s URL.

Joe Wible

Hopkins Marine Station

}<(((*> ~ }<(((*> ~ }<(((*> ~ }<(((*> ~ }<(((*> ~ }<(((*> ~ }<(((*> ~ }<(((*> ~ }<(((*>

Dear readers and valued customers,

Share to...

Facebook

Google

Twitter

Linkedin

Registration is now open for the 38th IAMSLIC Conference “Exploring New Frontiers in Aquatic Sciences Information Management” and Cyamus 24th Annual Meeting to be held in Anchorage, Alaska, USA.

Full early registration fee is $ 425 US

For more information and to register please visit: https://www.regonline.com/1093731AK 

The conference program is now being finalized and should be available in coming days. In the meantime, we have added a general schedule to the Program Section.

Maria Kalentsits, Conference convenor

Share to...

Facebook

Google

Twitter

Linkedin

I was curious about the recent news of federal library closures in Canada and did some Googling last week to see if anything had been reported about the Department of Fisheries and Oceans libraries in particular, many of which are run by IAMSLIC members. I was shocked to run across these news releases, among many others:

CBC News story: CBC News Posted: May 18, 2012 1:03 PM AT
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is planning to close two of its five regional offices, seven of its 11 libraries and some Coast Guard stations.
***
The library at the St. Andrews Biological Station will close and library services will be consolidated on the west coast, in Halifax and in Ottawa.
*****
CBC News Posted: May 22, 2012 2:46 PM ET
Conservative MPs argue DFO cuts won’t hurt research – About 16 scientists and librarians at the St. Andrews Biological Station received layoff notices last week
*****

Concerned about these stories, I inquired of our IAMSLIC colleagues at DFO libraries and this is what they were able to tell me:

Here is the information as we have been told. Thanks for asking, Steve, et al.

DFO is planning on closing libraries.
Libraries that will remain will be 2 primary libraries:

Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney BC – Vancouver Island, BC
Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

There will be 2 other libraries for Coast Guard:

Ottawa, Ontario – Coast Guard Technical Library (1 staff)
Sydney, Nova Scotia – Coast Guard College Library

–Steve Watkins

Share to...

Facebook

Google

Twitter

Linkedin