December News & Musings, 2005

BLOG IT OTTAWA CASLIS!!
So says Chapter President, Terri Tomchyshyn.
Welcome CASLIS Ottawa members to our latest method of getting information and chapter news to you. Our members have been asking for a vehicle for news on a regular basis and this will be our version of a newsletter with the added value of immediate letters to the editor if you choose to do so. It will also give me the opportunity to offer up my personal opinion on any thing library and information related. These are *personal views only* and not the views of our employers, the Canadian Library Association or CASLIS!

Send us ideas, email your comments, let us know what you're interested in seeing from your chapter leaders. We know we have a few members who prefer the hard copies - and well see how transferable to paper this format might be. There are a few of our retired members who don't use computers much. We count on their support and need it. So know we'll figure this out!

Let me introduce you....
The Chapter is in growth and learning mode this year. The executive are all new to CASLIS Ottawa leadership with the exception of returning Secretary, Normand Caron. http://www.caslisottawa.on.ca/executive.html

Jennifer Gavin and Nancy Brydges are two recent graduates of University of Western Ontario. Cabot Yu is also a Western Grad. Normand graduated from Universite de Montreal. Normand and Nancy work as reference librarians while Jen and Cabot are two non-traditionalists who have the MLIS and work in new IM fields. Their skills are seen as a requirement in this government information economy. They are the hybrids with a foot in both worlds of IM! Then there is your president! I've worked in every type of library except the school milieu and seem to have found my niche in the special library environment. I am a proud Dalhousie grad who will be celebrating her 25th reunion next spring. Being married to a school librarian does give me a bit of an "in" on that front.

CASLIS OTTAWA Needs YOUR Help!

I am pesonally interested in having as many of our new librarians join the Chapter as possible and taking on some of the leadership opportunitie. The five of us can't do it alone.

At our kick off session in September I said that it didn't matter why you chose to get involved at the committee, chapter, interest group or division level. It is an opportunity to grow. While we all hope each member is interested in making a contribution to our profession through the activities of the association, there's nothing wrong with using the association as a vehicle for getting what you need to move ahead in your own career.

Want to be a web designer and don't have any experience? Volunteer with your CASLIS chapter... we'll give you experience. Looking for that job in the special library but don't have any knowledge of how budgets work? Voluneer to learn about budgets with your division by taking on a role in the finance committee or treasurer role. There are many creative ways to get *valid* experience through your association and use it in a job interview.
Step up to the plate people, we need you, we'll put you to work, and we expect to have fun doing it, we want to learn a few things and best of all, we'll network and maybe make some new good friends as a bonus.

IN THE NEWS

CBC news reported on how the general public is abusing 911 calls.

http://www.cbc.ca/ottawa/story/ott-emergencycalls051207.html

I see a real opportunity here for a HUGE marketing campaign with public libraries, fire fighters and police services everywhere. Need urgent information? No no not 911 emergency information? Need a street address? Need to know how to find road conditions? Don't know if you can find the distance between two towns... DO NOT ... we repeat DO NOT call 911... DO call your local public library for all your non emergency questions. There's gotta be a good marketing angle here for us!
Do I see a partnership for a firefighter - librarian calendar?