Against the Grain V34#5

Thank goodness for the cooler fall weather in South Carolina.  At press time, we’re enjoying a crisp change in temperatures and low(er) humidity that’s a welcome change from the dog days of summer!  We have lots of news items to discuss, so let’s get started!

Charleston Conference News and Updates

We’re taking a new approach to “hybrid” this year with a parallel event — the in-person conference will be held November 1 – 4, followed by a virtual conference November 14 – 18.  There’s still time to register for the virtual conference!  Be sure to join us online for all of the same great content from the in-person week plus exclusive, virtual-only sessions and networking events.  Visit https://chsconf.cadmore.media/ to see our agenda and to register!  We’re pleased to be working with Cadmore Media to bring the agenda and virtual event platform to life — thanks to their team for all their support and for sponsoring the conference!

A big thank you and shout out to Don Hawkins, Conference Blogger, for his expert and in-depth coverage of conference sessions again this year.  Don has been writing conference reports for many years now and we’re glad to have him on board.  Visit http://www.charleston-hub.com/category/blogs/chsconfnotes/ to stay up to date on all the happenings in real time!

Ramune Kubilius, Collection Development / Special Projects Librarian at Galter Health Sciences Library & Learning Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, will once again be organizing the 2022 “And They Were There” conference reports.  Ramune tirelessly manages a group of volunteer reporters to ensure even and accurate coverage of sessions in addition to the blog reports.  These articles will be included in future issues of ATG so keep your eyes open!

Something fun and new for the in-person conference this year is a Scavenger Hunt at the Vendor Showcase on Tuesday, November 1, from 10:00 am – 5:30 pm.  We have trivia questions that you can find answers to by visiting our exhibitors, plus a bonus “brain teaser” for extra points.  We’ll send prizes to our winners after the conference, so be sure to participate!  We’ll have “ballot style” collection boxes set up around the showcase floor to collect your entries.

The Poster Sessions also have something new — we’re hosting the posters and video presentations online at https://chsconf.cadmore.media/page/posters, but poster presenters also have options to participate in a Q&A session either in-person or online.  If you’re attending in person, stop by the Wednesday afternoon refreshment break at the Gaillard Center to talk to the poster presenters and view the posters at an iPad kiosk.  Presenters will be wearing an “Ask Me About My Poster!” button.  If you’re attending online, you can join the Poster Presenter Q&A on Monday, November 14, at 12:00 pm Eastern.

Job and Company Updates

We have some “rumors” from De Gruyter, straight from the horse’s mouth!  Steve Fallon (Vice President, Americas and Strategic Partnerships) sent us these updates: “Michael Zeoli is now the Director of the Partner Program and oversees our University Press Library at De Gruyter.  And Whitney Jordan, Director of Acquisitions and Content Management at UT Chattanooga is leaving her post and joining De Gruyter on October 24th as our Senior Library Liaison bridging the communication channels between academic libraries and publishers (De Gruyter and our twenty University Press Partners).  We are thrilled to have her onboard!” Thanks for keeping us updated, Steve! 

Christopher Warnock, Tish Wagner, and Marty Mularkey (all formerly of Ebrary, remember them?) got the band back together again with a new company called Helper Systems.  They’re premiering their startup company and their new Krisolys product at the Charleston Conference with a big splash at the Vendor Showcase on Tuesday.  Krisolys “dramatically improves how researchers use PDFs and how publishers manage them.”  Be sure to check it out!  They’ll be in the prefunction B area outside the Grand Ballroom of the Gaillard Center and are sponsoring the Welcome Reception from 4:00 to 5:30 pm.  Rumor has it they’ll have specialty cocktails available to celebrate their launch!  

HARRASSOWITZ is celebrating 150 years of quality service!  Otto Harrasssowitz founded his company in 1872: https://www.harrassowitz.de/history.html.  Here is a just married picture of Knut and Renata Dorn, taken from a book celebrating the company milestone!  We did an interview with Knut about his retirement in 2011: http://www.charleston-hub.com/2012/02/v23-6-atg-interviews-knut-dorn/ 

Did you know we have a Job Bank on the Charleston Hub?  If you’re in the market for a new job, check out http://www.charleston-hub.com/category/jobs/.  If you’re hiring, send us your job openings at editors@against-the-grain.com! 

The Library of Congress recently announced the implementation of FOLIO, an open-source library services solution, to transform the library’s collections management and access.  From the press release:  “This is a milestone in our journey to implement a user-centered approach to connecting more people to the Library’s collections,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.  “We are grateful for Congress’ generous investment in this next-generation system that is essential to the Library’s digital-forward strategy, which harnesses technology to bridge geographical divides, expand our reach and enhance our services.”  See the full press release for more details.  ATG has reached out to Kate Zwaard, Associate Librarian for Discovery and Preservation Services at the Library of Congress, and to Christopher Spalding and Harry Kaplanian, both on the EBSCO/FOLIO team, for an interview that will be included in a future issue of ATG as well as online.  We look forward to hearing more from them about this initiative!

Scholarships and Awards

The Charleston Conference would like to acknowledge generous donations from Gale Cengage, Bloomsbury, AAAS/Science and and Taylor & Francis to our General Conference Scholarship Fund to allow librarians and/or library staff with limited travel funds to attend the conference.  Thank you so much for your support!

Other scholarships provided by generous donations included:

• Springer Nature continued to honor the legacy of Cynthia Graham Hurd by sponsoring the annual $1,500 travel award for library employees to attend the Charleston Library Conference.

• Bloomsbury Digital Resources 2022 Charleston Conference Grant for Librarians — Bloomsbury Digital Resources selected one applicant to receive a conference grant of $1000.

• HARRASSOWITZ Charleston Scholarship — HARRASSOWITZ, international booksellers and subscription agents, is pleased to offer once again a $1,000 scholarship to attend the Annual Charleston Conference.

• SAGE Publishing’s 2022 Photo Contest — The grand prize winner will receive complimentary registration to the conference, as well as a $500 travel stipend.  An additional five winners will receive $50 Amazon gift cards.  All winners’ images will be featured in the Charleston Conference’s 2023 photo desk calendar provided to all registrants.

• IGI Global’s Academic Librarian Sponsorship Program: Charleston Conference — As an exhibitor of the Charleston Conference for many years, IGI Global is proud to continue the Academic Librarian Sponsorship Program.  IGI Global will select one librarian to receive a $500 stipend for in-person attendance at the 2022 Charleston Conference.

• Karen Hunter Memorial Scholarship Award — Elsevier sponsored this award that will grant $2,500 each to two librarians to support their travel costs to the 2022 Charleston Conference.

Thank you to each and every one of our 2022 conference sponsors! 

Well, that’s it for now.  Thanks for reading!  Be sure to send us your Rumors at editors@against-the-grain.com for inclusion in a future issue or online.