(via Merinda Kaye Hensley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Beginning with the 2018 American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans, the Instruction Section (IS) will no longer hold in-person events at the ALA Annual Conference. This will complete the section’s transition to working virtually, as for some years IS has not held official meetings at Midwinter. The IS Building Virtual Community (BVC) Task Force is working to address the challenges posed by this transition and looking for new opportunities to grow our professional community.
- How will our virtual section be welcoming and inclusive to all members?
- How will we expand opportunities for members’ professional development?
- How will our committee and leadership structure adapt to this new model?
- What tools will we use to facilitate digital collaboration, and in what new regional or national venues will we meet each other in person?
The IS BVC Task Force needs your input on these and other questions as we craft recommendations for the section’s virtual communication and work in 2018 and 2019. Please see our task force charge at http://www.ala.org/acrl/is/acr-instfbvc, then offer your feedback and ideas https://goo.gl/forms/r5o5fYa58zEoYgD53. We also invite you to contact the committee co-chairs if you have any additional questions or comments regarding the transition to a virtual section:
Liz Barksdale: embarksdale@gmail.com
Joe Goetz: goetzje@gmail.com
Thank you for sharing your ideas and perspectives during this exciting transition!