Association for Library Collections and Technical Services Annual Report 2009–10

Abstract

This year's primary goal of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) has been Creating Our Future as we have continued our focus on reshaping the organization to meet the needs of those working in the rap icily changing fields of technical services, collections, and preservation. At both the division and section levels, we have sought to decrease the barriers to performance and increase the opportunities for participation. Our effort is all the more urgent in the face of economic challenges that demand we provide products and services of significant value to attract and retain members. While this is an ongoing task, we have made significant strides in a number of areas this year. Reshaping Our Organization Member input gathered over the last several years through surveys, focus groups, and discussions led the ALCTS executive committee to conclude we need to reshape our organization. Our members expressed the following concerns: * ALCTS no longer reflects the diversity of job functions performed by those employed in collections and technical services. * Members are frustrated by competing and overlapping programming. * Processes are slow and not always clear in part because of redundancy in governance. The executive committee, with input from the board, worked this year to construct alternative organizational scenarios that we have now shared with the entire membership for comment. In developing the scenarios, we were looking at options to achieve the following goals: * Members must be able to find a community of colleagues doing the same work or with similar interests. * The structure and processes must be transparent. * The structure must be flexible enough to respond quickly to emerging trends. * The organization must provide opportunities for service and leadership. We look forward to reviewing the feedback from the member survey and from the animated discussions at the 2010 ALA Annual Conference and plan to present a refined plan for a member vote sometime next year. Bylaws Changes In the meantime, the division undertook a process to revise its bylaws so future changes resulting from reorganization would not be slowed by outdated and ambiguous documentation. While the Organization and Bylaws Committee accomplished most of its work in 2008-9 under the leadership of Dale Swensen, the bylaws were put to a membership vote in fall 2009. The new bylaws passed with an overwhelmingly positive vote. Expanding Continuing Education While working toward a reorganization of the division, the executive committee recognized a need and an opportunity to address continuing-education issues. In-person workshops were no longer drawing an audience unless attached to a conference, members were expressing concerns about travel support from their institutions, and the multilayered education committee structure of the division and sections slowed the move of new ideas and products to market. We decided that a change to the education committee structure could move forward before changing the entire organization and might serve as a model for streamlining other product-driven committees, such as the publication committees. To this end, the ALCTS board approved the dissolution of the ALCTS Education Committee and the creation of a new Continuing Education (CE) Committee that began work in summer 2009. Chaired by Pamela Bluh, this committee has quickly coordinated a robust program of Web courses and webinars that complement programming at conferences. Web courses, offered by ALCTS for several years now, continue to be popular. These four-week modules cover acquisitions, electronic resource acquisitions, collection development and management, and new this year, preservation. Under development are courses in collections assessment, cataloging, and serials. With the energetic shepherding of CE members, sixteen webinars were offered this year, almost tripling the number presented last year. …