At the TLA Booth~~Guest Blog

For the first time ever, GLISA representatives were at the TWU SLIS booth during TLA Annual. If you’ve never been to TLA, the exhibit hall is a city long block of vendors and authors, all hawking their wares. It is an amazing, busy place. At the SLIS booth, future students are stopping by for information on the school and program. Former students are stopping by to visit with professors. Current students are also visiting, but it is with these folks that I wanted to chat.

Web Administrator Allison Renner designed a terrific banner for us to hang in the booth. I had it printed at Staples and we placed it right next to the SLIS banner. It was a great piece of marketing that will be used again next year, I hope.

Our first day, officers Tracy Jolivette, Paloma Lenz, and I all took over the booth during lunch hour. And what a busy lunch hour it was! Between the three of us, we could barely keep up engaging all the visitors. That hour, we met several current SLIS students and invited them to become GLISA members. With the enticement of a free tumbler, a few did. Former GLISA President Elizabeth Hollenbeck also stopped by and supported us by purchasing a heavy canvas bag. There were a few transfer and not-yet-students whom I tried to convince, that when they were ready, GLISA would be waiting for them.

@GLISAatTWU officers manning the @twuslis booth at @TXLA #txla16 pic.twitter.com/YHzIujIR0z

— la paloma (@pL0La) April 20, 2016

The following day, there were some scheduling conflicts, read: I screwed up. For some strange reason, I never bothered to check Paloma and my schedules against the exhibit hall schedule. Anyway, it worked out that I stayed at the booth during lunch again. This time. I had Drs. Vardell, Jeng, Hoffman, and Richey, the GLISA advisor, to visit with. Despite having had almost daily interaction with Dr. Richey, this was the first time I had met her in person. I don’t know what she thought about me, but she was much like I expected, friendly and cordial and utterly professional.

I spent almost no time in the exhibit hall this year; freebies just weren’t doing it for me. The two hours I did spend there were about forging relationships and making new friends. I hope to see y’all there next year!


Christine De Angelis is conference junkie who is also a one-woman fan club of Clayton Genealogy Library’s director, Sue Kaufman.

The Tao of TLA 2016: Guest Post

It was my good fortune to receive the GLISA scholarship to attend the Texas Library Association (TLA) 2016 Conference in Houston. It was Disneyland, complete with my favorite characters. Throughout the week I dined with old friends, made new TWU friends, finally met one of my favorite TWU professors, sang along with other Opening Ceremony attendees the Reading Rainbow theme song, and heard LeVar Burton, Jeff Kinney, and Dav Pilkey speak. And I gave Dan Salmieri, the illustrator of Dragons Love Tacos, a huge hug after the Illustrators Sketch-Off. But wait, you ask. Aren’t you studying academic librarianship?

 Early in the MLS program we were asked to define the path of our studies. Although academic librarianship is my primary interest, my passion is divided. My young children are in primary school. Our family is breathing the Texas 2x2 and Bluebonnet books. So between fascinating sessions on censorship, the application of ACRL competences to academic curricula, the nature of embedded librarianship, and the pros and cons of open source vs. closed source LIS software, there were Bluebonnet awards luncheons and Speed Dating sessions with the authors. GLISA gave me four perfect days where my diverse library interests came together. Heaven.

 If you’re not a member of GLISA yet, you’re missing out. If you are a member, thank you. I am a better librarian for having attended TLA. And better fed. There were waffles and wings, y’all, at the TWU Breakfast Klub Meet Up. See you there in 2017.


Guest post by Rebecca Cannon, winner of the GLISA TLA scholarship! Rebecca is a GLISA member from Tyler, TX, who will graduate Fall 2016.

TLA Session Reviews: Guest Post

Hello from Houston! The conference has been great. There are so many sessions to attend and with the little free time I have had, I have been frantically trying to complete one of my last papers due before graduation. I attended both the Speed Mentoring and the Getting More Out of Networking Events as I felt both of those were areas I needed to work on.

Mentoring is such an important part of our profession and we should all do as much as possible to encourage each other to grow and share our knowledge. The Speed Mentoring session was a fun way to get career advice. It worked like speed dating, in that us "mentees" had 8 minutes with each mentor to ask career advice before they rang the bell to move on. Each of the mentors were experienced librarians from public, school, or academic libraries and were all Tall Texans so they had plenty of tips and advice to share. One of the most important idea I came away with was how important it is to create a brain trust. What is a brain trust? It's finding a group of like minded librarians who are doing the same thing you are. Email librarians who work at the same position you do and ask to meet over coffee and then share experiences and tips. Having a support network is very important. What else? Get involved at the district and state level. Volunteering helps to get you noticed, builds your brain trust, and helps to grow your network.

The second session, Getting More Out of Networking Events led by Maureen Sullivan, was also an interactive session. Networking events mean you have to actually talk to people. As an academic librarian, I will be attending faculty events and will always need to be a champion for the library. This may take a lot of us out of our comfort zone and this session gave us tips and practice developing our skills. We learned how to break the ice and also how to gracefully exit the conversation. It's important at these events to not hug the sidelines are just talk to the one person you recognize. Get out and mingle, that's what networking events are. So how to break the ice? Talk about what book they are reading or what was their favorite childhood book. Pets are always a safe topic. Most everyone likes animals and talking about pets is a great icebreaker. What do you do if they say they're allergic? Commiserate and ask if they have ever had an aquarium. What do you like to do in your spare time? You get the picture, don't you? After we discussed these ice breaking strategies, we were given a handout and had to practice what we learned. Maureen knew we were all apprehensive but said we had 15 minutes to meet 8 new people, get their names and contact information, and learn something about them before moving on. When she said time's up, to our surprise 30 minutes had passed and we all were talking and moving without any problem. Surprisingly, I found I had a lot more in common than I thought. I found people who had lived in my home state, liked bassets (who doesn't), and loved baseball. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. If this is something you feel is out of your comfort zone, try it out at your next gathering and I think you too will be surprised at how easy it actually is to talk to strangers.

Guest post by Deborah Hathaway, a GLISA member who will be graduating in August (whoohoo!). Check out more library posts on her blog, Musing from Within the Stacks.

What's going on with GLISA?

Happy Monday, GLISA members! Here are a few noteworthy things to kick your week off right.

- TLA is April 19-22 -- are you going? Chime in on the comments of this post, Blackboard, or Facebook. Several members are getting together, and some need roommates to save on hotel costs.

- Threads and discussion questions will be posted this week for The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten on GLISA's Blackboard forum, Facebook page, and Twitter account (using the hashtag #GLISAreads). Chime in if you're reading the book, and if not, check out the posts to see if the book is something you'd be interested in reading.

- Guest posts for the blog are now being accepted! Sound off on you experience being a distance student at TWU, or the stress (and relief!) of the final exam portfolio, or graduation. Guest bloggers can be current students or alumni, so spread the word! You can do a one time gig or be a continuing guest.  Please contact Allison Renner, Web Administrator, for further details at arenner@twu.edu.

- Don't forget to check out the new volunteer opportunities that are available in the Library Research Data and Assessment Office. There are positions available for both distance and local students, so don't miss out on this great experience to learn, network, and build your resume!

- Another great volunteer opportunity is, of course, to become a GLISA officer! Check out the positions available and the duties required, then send an email to glisaattwu@gmail.com with your information - or the name of an outstanding classmate you'd like to nominate!

SXSW Interactive

South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conference of film, interactive media, and music festivals held in Austin, TX. SXSW Interactive kicks off today, March 11th, at 2:30p with President Barack Obama as the keynote speaker!

Librarians attend SXSW Interactive to participate in conversations about technology, to develop partnerships, to find new ideas to implement in their home libraries, and more. This is a chance for librarians to connect with people in other industries and be inspired by technology, inventions, and promotions to create new services and programs.

There will be librarian meet-ups and after-hours, and a booth sponsored by the American Library Association. Check out more details and schedules on the lib*interactive website. Find more information about speakers and events at SXSW Interactive.

If you can’t be there in person, follow along on Twitter at @lib_interactive and #liblove.

What's Going On with GLISA?

Happy Monday, everyone! Here's a round-up of what's going on with GLISA to get your week kicked off right.

- The GLISA scholarship contest ends in ONE WEEK - that's plenty of time to get your elevator pitch videos recorded and submitted. This contest is ONLY open to GLISA members, so you have a great chance of winning! One winner will get $200 to attend TLA in Houston in April, and one winner will get $300 to attend ALA in Orlando in June. See more details on the original post, and on GLISA's Blackboard. Good luck!

- This month we're reading The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten for the GLISA book club. Go ahead and pick up your copy and start reading! We'll post discussion questions and jumping off points for you to share your thoughts on Blackboard, Facebook, Twitter (#GLISAreads), and the blog.

- Service projects are on-going, so check in the newsletter and on Blackboard to see how you can volunteer and get involved.

- We will be opening the blog to guest posts after Spring Break, so start thinking about what you'd like to write about to get your name out there. You can write about the stress of the final exam, how your practicum went, what classes have helped you the most on-the-job, and more. We're open to anything school- and library-related.

- It's Teen Tech Week! How is your library getting involved?

TLA/ALA Scholarship Contest

GLISA is hosting a members only scholarship contest!  One member will receive $200 to attend TLA in Houston in April.  One member will receive $300 to attend ALA in Orlando in June.  

Participants will submit a short video... think 'elevator speech.' 

The contest runs from 22 February through 14 March 2016.  See the GLISA Blackboard for details, contest instructions, and rubric.  Good luck!

Not a GLISA member yet?  Join here: http://goo.gl/forms/kGPLd3un2Q