May / June 2011 VOLUME 36 NUMBER 3
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER

Everyone at the Western Chapters SLA reception has been looking forward to reading the SCC newsletter -- and here it is!

Link to full newsletter

Celebrating with Rising Star Norah Xiao

SoCal Chapter President, Teresa Bailey and SoCal member/Chair of the Biomedical & Life Sciences Division, Jean Crampon celebrated with SoCal member and Rising Star recipient, Norah Xiao at the Centennial Awards and Leadership Reception held at the Library of Congress.

(L-R) Norah with Jean Crampon

The event was spectacular!

At the reception Norah said she became a Rising Star because of her amazing SLA mentors. When Norah was asked to tell more about her SLA mentors she said the following:

“As a new professional, I am extremely fortunate to work with excellent librarians closely, who love the profession, and contribute to the profession wholeheartedly. There are many of them I have been learning from, and to name a few, Sara Tompson, Jean Crampon and Dana Roth.

(L-R) Norah with Teresa Bailey and Jean Crampon

Norah with Dana Roth

I have been working with Sara and Jean since May 2007, when we three were in the Science & Engineering Library at USC. Sara was my director supervisor at that time, she always encouraged me to experience every field in librarianship and helped me balance my professional growth. Jean, on the other hand, helped me transition my book knowledge to practical knowledge and experience, and inspired confidence in me. I knew Dana's name from the ACS-CINF discussion list when I attended library school in Canada. He is my (and everyone's) encyclopedia to any question, and more importantly, he tirelessly contributes to our profession with his knowledge in many ways, and shares his experience with everyone without reservation. I always look up to Dana, and it is my great honor to be his colleague in the chemistry information field.

I regard them as my SLA mentors, and they truly are. They inspire me to be a good librarian and more importantly be part of our professional association. Thank you!”

Our SoCal chapter is so fortunate to have Norah and so many incredible new, as well as seasoned, information professionals – news is forthcoming about another award presented at the Centennial conference, the Innovations in Technology Award presented to the Boeing Services team – info coming soon.

West Coast Chapters' Reception

Plan on meeting up with friends at the 2009 West Coast Chapter's Reception at the SLA Centennial Conference in Washington, D.C. To be held at the National Press Club (529 14th St. NW), 5:30-7:30pm - Flyer

President's Letter, June 2008

Seattle, the Emerald City, welcomed more than 5,000 attendees to the SLA Annual Conference, June 15-18, 2008. More than 440 of those attendees came from California and I believe that nearly all of them came to the West Coast Chapters’ Reception at the conference based on the circuitous path that led to the reception’s refreshments. My thanks go out to the Pacific Northwest Chapter for hosting this year’s reception.

The conference for me was a mix of programs, meetings, and visits to the INFO-EXPO (the exhibit halls), where nearly 300 companies and organizations were represented to display their products and discuss their newest initiatives and resources. For me, the exhibits are a good way of thanking the many vendors who provide our students at UCLA with often complimentary access to their resources. The exhibit hall also included an area where SLA chapters and divisions could proudly showcase their own activities and programs, and SLA Southern California was well-represented by an exhibit compiled by Chapter President-elect, Teresa Bailey.
Prior to the official start of the conference, I attended SLA’s Leadership Development Institute with Teresa Bailey where we heard from the association’s leaders about how to best utilize SLA resources to empower our members such as the “23 Things” project to provide an easy training program for members to become familiar with interactive web tools. I strongly suggest signing up for “23 Things” which you can learn at your own pace.

SLA President Stephen Abram launched the conference by honoring the association’s awards recipients and strongly promoting SLA’s new Innovation Laboratory, a new member benefit that allows all of us to learn about Web 2.0 technologies in a risk-free environment. Following Stephen’s talk the opening keynote presentation featured Google’s Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Dr. Vint Cerf interviewed by broadcast journalist Charlie Rose. Rose had Dr. Cerf recount the early beginnings of the Internet since he was pretty much there at its origins, and Dr. Cerf discussed his view of access to the Internet being as ubiquitous as the power grid is for most of us. He also expressed the opinion that the growth of social networking has placed the world’s knowledge at our fingertips, because we are so interconnected with one another and with each other’s network of professional colleagues.

Some of the sessions that I attended while at conference included:

• Leadership: Building on Your Natural Abilities and Strengths, which focused on a new approach to influencing others , from understanding those you want to influence, to creating linkages between them and you, to delivering value through your influence.
• Gaming and Libraries, which looked at “productive play” and how individuals are very much engaged to learn tasks if the process is enjoyable and if they are able to have a sense of accomplishment at the end of their learning exercise.
• A very enjoyable session, moderated by Southern California’s own Cameron Trowbridge, was entitled What’s Cooking? Food Traditions, Culinary History, and the Role of Special Librarians, and included a panelist who discussed Seattle’s Pike Place Market and its place in the city’s history, past and present.
• To Teach So They Can Learn provided a fascinating overview of the key concepts about adult learning and development. Ilda Carreiro King understood how many of us in the information profession often find ourselves in the role of trainer or educator, and she compared they ways in which children and adults learn and how we may have misconceptions about adult learning characteristics.

The closing keynote was given by author and entrepreneur Seth Godin who implored the audience to use marketing and storytelling to change how information professionals are viewed by their employers and in general. He argued that we need to “(E)ither keep pushing against the wind or change what you’re doing and have the wind at your back.” It was a very inspirational talk.

If you were able to attend the annual conference I hope that you came away with some worthwhile knowledge. If you were not able to join us, keep checking the SLA web site for presentations.

Hope to see you at an upcoming chapter program!

Sincerely,

David Cappoli
dcappoli@ucla.edu