Chapter Notes July/August 2000
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Vol. 59, No. 9 July/August 2000 Contents President's Corner The Official DC/SLA Guide to Humor on the Web A Message to DC/SLA Officers, Committee & Group Chairs: WETA SENDS THANKS TO DC/SLA VOLUNTEERS DC/SLA Discussion List Ask the Experts Convince Me Otherwise (article by Suzanne Pilsk) Education Practice and Change: Skills and Training for 21st Century Information Professionals DC/SLA 2000 Election Results President's Corner Washington DC Chapter, Special Libraries Association By Nancy Minter, DC/SLA 1999-2000 President, nminter@ui.urban.org DC/SLA ANNUAL REPORT Every year, just before Thanksgiving, my mother would wonder aloud how it came to be that the holidays were approaching so quickly. With the impatience of youth, my sisters and I would carefully point out that it had been nearly a year and that it was time for turkey, shopping and new party dresses. I must confess that in many ways it seems like just yesterday that we were gathered at the Childe Harold restaurant, and I was nervously waiting for the ceremonial gavel to be passed to me. And now, I'm about to officially place it into the able hands of Dave Shumaker, our President-Elect. I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you a little about all we've accomplished this year. Yes, I said WE -- for there's no way all our accomplishments could possibly have come to pass without the help of everyone. First, our work on Global 2000 fundraising is about to come to a close. To date, we actually have, in hand, nearly $51,000 for fellowships for the Global 2000 Conference!! That figure is comprised of just over $18,000 sent from other Chapters and more than $16,000 sent from SLA Divisions, combined with the monies we have raised ourselves. What a great job! Second, our work to update our Strategic Plan is well underway. Our newly configured committee, under the excellent leadership of Ellie Briscoe, has developed a survey instrument to gather YOUR input. Have you responded? If so, then your completed survey is one of more than the 200 we received, and is now being tabulated by committee members. Along with the committee's evaluations and ideas, these ideas from you will form the basis for determining how to improve and strengthen our Chapter. They will also direct how we strategically position our Chapter and ourselves to maximize our opportunities to learn and grow. We expect this report to be completed in the next few months. The third area that I mentioned in last year's plan of action was to help foster professional development and caring. I said we planned to reach out through networking and through mentoring to help each other and, thereby, help ourselves and our profession be stronger and more visible. This year, for the first time, we had a Mentoring Coordinator on our Advisory Committee. Well, I should say co-chairs -- Barbara Folensbee and Rhea Austin. We have identified some individuals who are willing to be mentors and some that sought mentors, and we are working to strengthen and formalize this program. Through this increased involvement, we will grow our Chapter, not just in the number of members, but in the quality of the knowledge leaders we count among our members. We are also exploring ways to reach out to paraprofessionals -- many of whom are potential professional librarians and thus new Chapter members -- in a partnership to further strengthen the library community here in DC.
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12/21/2011