feb09b.indd Hinchliffe and Janousek share plans for ACRL Cast an informed vote in the election this spring Ed. note: C&RL News offered candidates for ACRL vice­president/president­elect, Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe and Kelly S. Janousek, this opportunity to share their views with the mem­ bership. Although many of the issues facing ACRL are discussed informally at meetings, we want to use this venue to provide a national forum to all members. We hope this will assist you in making an informed choice when you vote in the election this spring. LISA JANICKE HINCHLIFFE I am honored to be nominated as a candidate for vice­president/president­elect of ACRL. ACRL has been my associational home since the start of my career. I am excited about the opportunity to have a leadership role in help­ ing ACRL continue to develop and fl ourish as an organization. Why ACRL? ACRL is the leading organization for academic and research librarians and, as such, is unique­ ly situated to influence higher education and advance our professional interests. Proven to be innovative, future­focused, and inclusive, the association offers opportunities for mem­ bers to pursue their interests in meaningful ways. The division and its chapters, sections, committees, task forces, and working groups provide programming, publications, and other resources; just as importantly, ACRL offers ways for us to work collectively for greater impact. Thousands strong, ACRL is the vehicle through which we work with each other, learn from each other, and help each other to pursue ACRL’s goal of “positioning academic and research librarians and libraries as indispensable in advancing learning and Lisa Janicke Hinchliff e Kelly S. Janousek scholarship.” ACRL has a distinguished history of accomplishments, and the dedication of its members and staff ensure that its future will only surpass its past. Why me? Engagement in ACRL has been an invaluable aspect of my professional growth and career. I have contributed to important projects and documents, pursued solutions to critical issues and challenges, and contributed my time and talent to our collective enterprise of support­ ing and improving student learning, faculty research, and public engagement in higher education. And, I have developed lasting friendships. ACRL has been a venue for me to express my commitment to and passion for librarianship and the positive effects that librarians and libraries have in the lives of our users. My activities in ACRL have primarily revolved and evolved around the areas of information literacy and library instruction. In helping advance this ACRL agenda, I have worked on committees, task forces, working groups, and advisory boards at both section and division levels and have also served as chair of the Instruction Section. I am currently a faculty member in the Immersion Program February 2009 119 C&RL News of the Institute for Information Literacy and a member of the ACRL/ALISE Joint Working Group on Curriculum for information literacy instruction. Information literacy has been an area of great growth and success for ACRL. It has been a joy to work with hundreds of colleagues in developing programs and docu­ ments that serve our individual, institutional, and professional needs. I can state with con­ fidence that we have made a difference in higher education and the lives of our students through our efforts. My passion for academic librarianship has not been limited to information literacy. As­ sessment and evaluation, the future of librar­ ies, professional leadership development, educational technology, first­year college experience, conference and program plan­ ning, service guidelines, reference sources, and integrated library systems are some of the issues that I worked on. I have been an active member of many groups within and outside of ACRL, including the Community and Junior College Libraries Section, Distance Learning Section, Reference and User Services Associa­ tion, Library Administration and Management Association, Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries, Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois, and Associa­ tion of Research Libraries. My concerns and interests in academic librarianship are broad as well as deep. The relationships that I have developed in all areas of librarianship help me see the broad spectrum of issues librarians face in their work. What to expect? The role of ACRL vice­president/president­ elect is to lead the association in continuing to achieve the goals and objectives of its strategic plan. I look forward to providing ongoing support to the initiatives begun by the ACRL presidents that I would follow. Julie Todaro, Erika Linke, and Lori Goetsch are the most recent of ACRL’s excellent leaders who have laid the foundation of the work I would continue in advocacy, continuing professional learning, and organizational agility. Advocacy will serve as the primary framework for my activities as ACRL president as I articulate the role of librarians in scholarship, learning, and information technology to audiences internal and external to ACRL and ALA. Advocacy takes many forms. In addition to bringing a clear voice to articulating our role, I will work with the leaders of other divisions in ALA and the ALA president­elect in advocating for the profession as a whole. I feel well­pre­ pared by my experiences in the various sectors of higher education and their complexities to navigate the policies and practices of our orga­ nizations in order to tenaciously pursue ACRL’s goals and activities through the involvement of members and leaders. It will be my goal to not only advance ACRL, but also to advocate for engaging ALA in issues most important to academic libraries and librarians. Continuous professional learning oppor­ tunities are a signature hallmark of ACRL. A recent membership survey revealed that interacting with colleagues and access to professional development programming are highly valued features of ACRL membership. As ACRL president I will encourage continued development of minimum­cost/high­quality professional development for members as part of ACRL’s strategic goal of providing “continu­ ous learning opportunities enabling members to strengthen their effectiveness and achieve recognition.” I will also support exploration of technology­enabled innovations in delivery and access to programs and participation in association work, especially in these economi­ cally challenging times. Our goal will be to enable every ACRL member to benefi t from their connection with the association. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, as ACRL president my goal will be to provide leadership for a more transparent organization. So many times, particularly in talking with newer members, I realize that what an indi­ vidual is “wishing for” in ACRL actually exists. In those instances I am reminded that percep­ tion is reality and all that ACRL does and offers is not always as evident as it needs to be. ACRL offers more ways to be involved—whether in­person or virtual —than some may realize. As ACRL president I hope to demystify ACRL C&RL News February 2009 120 processes, procedures, and policies. I want all ACRL members to know that this is their organization, and that they can help create its future. As ACRL president, it will be my goal to create in­person and virtual opportunities for meaningful engagement. We are no longer limited by technologies from past centuries and their limited affordances for participation. ACRL’s use of 21st­century technologies can be a model for academic societies and associa­ tions in leveraging member volunteerism and generosity in accomplishing our goals. In closing, let me thank the ACRL nominat­ ing committee for inviting me to stand as a can­ didate in this election and my own institution for supporting me in accepting the invitation. It would be a privilege to serve ACRL and lead this great organization through which I have gained so much. KELLY S. JANOUSEK Thank you for the nomination of vice­presi­ dent/president­elect of ACRL. Contrary to what many of you who know me might think, I did not immediately say yes. I stopped and really thought about this nomination. I consulted my colleagues about running for this position, since it has the potential to impact everyone’s workload as my day­to­day duties get redi­ rected. Then I asked myself what would I bring to this position that would take ACRL to the next level? ACRL is a strong professional organization with many great leaders, and I believe I can be a hard working member of this team in ACRL. My professional experiences in both RUSA and ACRL have defined my com­ mitment, and I truly believe ACRL does help us in our careers. To follow in ACRL’s strong leadership footsteps, my primary goal as your ACRL presi­ dent will be to continue strong professional development and empowerment in the areas of reference, instruction, collection manage­ ment, scholarly activities, and management. I believe the ACRL Strategic Plan, Charting our Future: ACRL Strategic Plan 2020, still defi nes the ACRL commitment; hence I will pursue initiatives drawn from the strategic plan. I will focus on these themes: continuous learning opportunities, information technology, higher education and scholarship, and lifelong learn­ ing skills. Continuous learning opportunities My start within ACRL was in the state chapter with programming and service on the board. I volunteered for Law and Political Science Section (LPSS) committees and was elected to their board as a member­at­large and then vice­chair/chair elect. The programming I participated in has enhanced my skills and made me a better librarian; while the energy from workshops or sharing information with colleagues continually improves my outlook and focus. A key issue over the next few years will be smaller budgets and lack of funds for training and/or professional development. The cost of travel will continue to be a problem as budgets become constrained while travel becomes more expensive for everyone. Yet, the greatest need during hard economic times is to connect and learn in order to stay invigorated. My fi rst initiative would be to offer programming from ACRL to the chapters allowing learning and/or professional development opportunities closer to home. ACRL has revamped programming options within the organization. This would be the time to assess programming and make sure it is working for the membership as planned. ACRL has worked to encourage members to find or create a place for their professional development. The work to create interest groups for hot topic programming is a strong step in professional development and continu­ ous learning. A second initiative is to increase the accessibility to professional development allowing members to meet their needs. Con­ tinuous learning comes in many forms, and technology can offer easy access for those who cannot get away from the office. Hence ACRL needs to explore this more thoroughly . Information technology by the association This is not really a goal but a strategic objective within the goal of sustainability of member­ February 2009 121 C&RL News ship of the association. It states, “increase and improve ACRL’s organizational use of informa­ tion technology.” The initiative on continuous learning opportunities above and information technology are obviously linked, especially for members who cannot leave their librar­ ies. We need to find ways to enhance their opportunities to learn and technology could answer this. Beyond learning, the work of ACRL and connecting ACRL members can also be ad­ dressed by technology. The virtual members on committees have increased, and ACRL has helped sections provide this option to allow more member involvement. ACRL can set the standard within ALA on the use of technology to empower committees and their work in the association. Technology changes constantly and who knows what great widget will be available to make ACRL programs and activi­ ties accessible and appealing to more mem­ bers. An initiative is to continue to explore, encourage, and find Web 2.0 tools that allow members to actively participate in ACRL and connect professionally. Higher education and scholarship ACRL has been working on scholarly publi­ cation and communication for several years. The 2007 white paper “Establishing a research agenda for scholarly communication: A call for community engagement” demonstrates the knowledge this association can provide. Theme 4, Authorship and Scholarly Publishing, leads to the question that has been facing our campus: how to set and evaluate criteria for tenure and promotion by these new forms of scholarly communications. The usefulness of “scholarship of engage­ ment” in our profession has as much value as the quantitative and qualitative research that takes place. A third initiative is to develop either a white paper or guidelines on ways to assess the new forms of scholarly commu­ nication or scholarly engagement. This will help ACRL members during tenure/promo­ tion provide evidence of the value of their research/scholarship via these new avenues. ACRL can provide guidance on how this type of scholarship is equal to traditional peer­ review scholarship on campus. Lifelong learning skills ACRL is a leader in setting standards ensuring that students graduate with lifelong learning skills. ACRL has facilitated our knowledge and work to create, improve, and understand techniques for assessing learning outcomes demanded by accrediting agency in higher education. ACRL has been the leader in dis­ seminating ideas on using physical or virtual spaces and services for educational discovery. Hence the final initiative would be to continue to advance ACRL’s work in discipline­based information literacy projects at the section level. LPSS worked for five years with focus groups from the American Political Science Association and ACRL to create the “Political Science Research Competency Guidelines.” The discussion and knowledge to create this research guideline is impressive and overall pro­ duced thoughtful collaboration and introduced outstanding working practices. I believe I have the background and experience to take ACRL to the next level. ACRL has empowered me with continuous learning opportunities that have helped my career. I have worked with LPSS, which has looked to technology as one of the answers for our members to connect and get what they need from professional development. I have been part of discussions on our campus in the area of scholarly communication on new scholarship venues and the need for evalua­ tion processes outside traditional scholarship. I look forward to a national discussion of how this type of publication venue has long­term value to research and overall scholarship. As an instruction and reference librarian, lifelong learning skills are embedded in my teaching and outreach. I am passionate about being a librarian, and thank you for the chance to help make our national association what you need as a professional. I am determined to provide my best effort to make ACRL shine or take it to the next level. C&RL News February 2009 122