Profiles: Bylaws Committee

This November marks the 36th anniversary of NASIG’s Bylaws! To commemorate, we’re highlighting the history of the committee as well as how members can get involved.

History of the Committee

NASIG’s original Bylaws were approved in November 1986 during the organization’s first round of elections, held just a few months after the first annual conference at Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. The Bylaws Committee was formed two years later with original members Tina Feick, Elaine Rast, Sylvia Martin, and Marty Gordon, with the goal of keeping the Bylaws up to date to reflect NASIG’s organizational activities.

The current members of the Bylaws Committee are Maria Aghazarian, Christian Lear, Emma Heet, Elisa Nascimento, and Kristy White. In addition to their work in receiving and notifying members about proposed amendments, the Committee reviews the Bylaws annually to keep them up to date in our changing times. Recent revisions include incorporating language about virtual meetings (2021) and clarifying that the annual business meeting is not required to take place at the annual conference, as long as one is held annually (2022). 

Revisions and Amendments

Minor revisions to the Bylaws may be made by the Committee during review or as requested by the Board. These may include typographical and grammatical corrections, reflecting current organizational practices, and committee name changes.

Any changes that are more substantial should be drafted as an amendment to be voted on by membership. Any NASIG member in good standing may submit an amendment to the Bylaws. Amendments should be submitted in writing to any Bylaws Committee member or presented during the annual business meeting. Members may also present amendments during the biannual open sessions hosted by the Bylaws Committee; all members are invited to attend these meetings.

Amendments should include the proposed change(s), the rationale for the change(s), and any implementation that would be necessary should the amendment be approved by voting. Amendments do not need to be in a particular format, as long as all of these requirements are met. 

Get in touch!

Have questions or interest in serving on the Committee? Members can contact the Bylaws Committee any time by emailing bylaws@nasig.org. We are happy to address any questions about the Bylaws and hear your ideas for revisions or amendments. The Committee also holds an open session once every semester that is open to all NASIG members. Be on the lookout for our open session in Spring 2023, and drop by if you are interested or have any questions.

Call for Proposals for NASIG 2023 Annual Conference

NASIG is soliciting proposals for its 38th Annual Conference, to be held May 22-25, 2023 in Pittsburgh, PA at the historic and elegant Omni William Penn Hotel. We are currently seeking in-person presentations. NASIG conference presenters and attendees will be expected to follow hotel Covid safety protocols. This is an in-person conference, but NASIG will also be offering a virtual conference at a later date in 2023. An announcement with more information about the virtual conference is expected soon.

All presentations will be delivered in person. Proposals are for one-hour conference sessions on topics related the areas defined in NASIG’s Core Competencies, including:

• Electronic resource life cycle and management
• Collection analysis, assessment, and development
• Licensing and legal framework of library content
• Ethical Issues in technical services
• Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in relation to libraries
• Standards and systems of cataloging and classification, metadata, linked data, and indexing
• Standards, initiatives, and best practices for library content
• Scholarly communication, including copyright, data management, and assessment and impact metrics
• Institutional repositories, publishing, digital preservation, open educational resources, and open access
• Life cycle and workflow of print continuing resources
• Relationship building between libraries, vendors, publishers, standards bodies, and others involved in the information community
• Supervision and management of staff working in areas relevant to NASIG
• Management of projects related to electronic and/or print resources or scholarly communication
• Initiatives and best practices in areas included in the core competencies and awareness of trends and ongoing developments in those areas

Each session should include approximately 30-45 minutes of content, with remaining time for discussion.  

Co-presenters are welcomed, but we ask that you limit submissions to no more than three presenters. Presenters may be asked to combine sessions with other presenters on similar topics. 

Information about submitting a proposal and access to FAQs and a submission rubric are available at the Proposal Resources page.

All presenters will be asked to publish a conference report in the NASIG Proceedings. Additional information for speakers can be found on the NASIG speaker resources page. Presenters are also expected to register and attend the in-person conference.

Proposals are selected by the Program Planning Committee based on their relevance to NASIG member interests. Accepted presenters will be offered a $100 discount on the cost of Early Bird registration for the conference.

Please submit all proposals using the online form at https://proposalspace.com/calls/d/1467. The submission deadline is Friday December 2, 2022.

Calls for Spotlights Sessions and Great Ideas poster sessions will be forthcoming. Presenters at these sessions do not qualify for discounted registration. 

If you have any questions, please contact the Program Planning Committee (PPC) Co-Chairs, Sarah Dennis and Jennifer Zuccaro, at prog-plan@nasig.org.

NASIG Member’s Forum Recording & Call for Volunteers

Thanks to everyone who attended our Member’s Forum on September 23. For those who couldn’t attend, or for those who did attend and want to experience the magic again, the Zoom recording is available with the passcode N+#pz1dT.  

Looking to be more involved? This is also a call for volunteers for the following important roles:

1.      Additional members for the Marketing Committee

2.      A Chair for the Equity & Inclusion committee

Please contact the Communications Committee (communications@nasig.org) with interest or questions.

Interview with Kayla Valdivieso, winner of the Fritz Schwartz Award

The Fritz Schwartz Award consists of a scholarship and conference stipend. The award is granted to an aspiring library school student with experience in managing information resources.  

1. Please start by describing your current position and how you came to be involved with information management (i.e., serials, e-resources, collection development, etc.)

My current position is the Resource Acquisition Specialist at Wellesley College. I’m still relatively new to this position.  My role is analyzing current acquisition processes and figuring out more efficient workflows and new ways of doing things. We just got a new ILS, so I have been figuring out how to use it for acquisitions and the best way to make the most use of it. I also am involved with interlibrary loan, so I get to integrate acquisitions and ILL to make data driven decisions about acquisitions and collections.I have been working in academic libraries for over four years now, and that started with working at Pepperdine University Library. And at first it was just a job that I needed to have. I always loved the library, so it kind of fit. But there I learned more about what it means to work in a library, what the values of libraries are, and they really resonated with my personal values. In that position I was also doing acquisitions along with a few collection development projects. I managed the serials in that position. I got a lot of exposure to a lot of different things and found that I was really interested in collection development, scholarly communications, open access, and making resources more accessible.

2. What initially led you to NASIG, and why do you continue to stay involved?

NASIG was something I had heard about in that first position, just by being surrounded by librarians. And then when I started applying for library school, I started looking at scholarships to see how I could fund my education and came across NASIG again. Also, I can appreciate an organization that is specific to my areas of interest, because I often think things like collection development or scholarly communication can be forgotten sometimes. A lot of people think it just happens without any other work. But it was really cool to have an organization that does focus on those things that I am interested in.

3. What prompted you to apply for the Fritz Schwartz award?

It was something that I came across when I was looking for funding for my master’s in library science. The description of it really resonated with my interest in collection management. I thought I should apply, because it was really in line with my interests in a way that few other scholarships are. 

4. How did you react when you found out that you were the award recipient?

I was pretty surprised, and I wasn’t expecting it. When I got the email, I was really excited, and I had to tell my partner and my family. Library school is just so expensive, and the award made it possible. 

5. Which NASIG session(s) did you enjoy the most? Why?

 It was a session about engaging student groups in libraries for collection development.I thought it brought up good discussions about how we can involve students but not treat them as unpaid labor. How can we involve students in the community while still compensating them appropriately for their time and their knowledge? How do we find diverse titles for our collections and get input from the community? I thought that was a good discussion that I continue to think about today in my work. 

6. How might the sessions you attended at the NASIG conference influence your daily work?

 Something that I think about is how I can engage my student workers. How can I use their knowledge, especially in collection development, because the collection belongs to the community and the students and the faculty? How can I bring their voices into the conversation in a way that is ethical and compensate them for their time? 

7. What advice would you give to anyone interested in applying for the Fritz Schwartz award?

Lead with your passions because when you’re passionate and excited about something that really comes through in your writing. I think that connects to other people and communicates a lot. 

8. Do you have any suggestions on how NASIG can connect with more students and early career professionals?

I like attending webinars because it is something I can do at work and change the pace of my day. They offer practical knowledge that I can then apply to my position and education. This tends to resonate with me more than if there was an event going on at my school. 

First Quarterly Library Accessibility Alliance Newsletter Released

Check out the October Library Accessibility Alliance Newsletter.

The Library Accessibility Alliance (LAA) newsletter is intended to share activities, celebrate accomplishments, and include reminders of upcoming events and projects.

NASIG Model Digital Preservation Policy featured in NISO Plus 2022 program

We would like to draw your attention to a recent online presentation featuring the new NASIG Model Digital Preservation Policy announced a few months ago. Alicia Wise, Executive Director of CLOCKSS, gave a well-received overview of the new model policy at NISO Plus 2022 as part of a group of other presenters. If interested in the full session, including all speakers, click here.

It is great to see the ongoing level of interest in this collaborative effort involving input from strategic partners including the Library Publishing Coalition and the Society for Scholarly Publishing. And it is fitting that this presentation was hosted by NISO, which NASIG joined several years ago to support development of standards that are so important to our community.

Bylaws Committee Open Session, Friday Oct 7

On Friday, October 7, the Bylaws Committee will be hosting an open session from 12-1 PM ET.
Have questions about writing an amendment to the Bylaws, or want to learn more about the committee? We’ll be here to answer your questions!

Join via Zoom: https://bit.ly/bylaws-fall2022

Can’t make the meeting but still have questions? Let us know: bylaws@nasig.org

Call for Nominations

The Nominations & Elections Committee invites nominations for Vice-President/President-Elect, Treasurer, and two Member-at-Large Board positions. Information on each office is found at: https://nasig.org/Executive-Board

To nominate someone for a NASIG office, please complete the nomination form: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NJFBS5G

You may submit multiple nominations for one office by submitting separate forms. If you have trouble with the online form, please send nominations to Danielle Williams (N&E Chair) daniellenasig@gmail.com.

All active NASIG members are eligible for nomination except current members of the Nominations & Elections Committee: https://nasig.org/Nominations-Elections-Committee

For more than 30 years, NASIG has been dedicated to creating community among diverse individuals within the information ecosystem. We welcome participation from all scholarly communication perspectives, striving for a shared understanding of our challenges and goals. Furthermore, NASIG is committed to promoting involvement, maximizing engagement, and expanding access to leadership opportunities across identity groups and professional levels. We encourage the nomination of individuals with diverse experiences, from underrepresented backgrounds, from all career stages, and from all sizes and types of libraries.

**** The deadline for nominations is Friday, November 11th, 2022 ****

Please contact the Nominations & Elections Committee chair if you have any questions: Danielle Williams daniellenasig@gmail.com

Many thanks for your participation!

Free CRediT Workshops Available Through NISO

NISO is offering a FREE CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) workshop on the Zoom platform this month. The 1.5 hour exploratory sessions are open to anyone interested in CRediT and will explore the 14 contributor roles that represent the range of contributors to scientific scholarly outputs.

Workshop 1

Thursday, September 29, 9.00-10.30am ET / 2.00-3.30pm BST

Roles Explored: Funding acquisition, Investigation, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Writing – Original draft and Writing – Review & editing

Workshop 2

Friday, September 30, 11.30am-1.00pm ET / 4.30-6.00pm BST

Roles Explored: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Project administration, Software, and Visualization

For more information about the workshop, and to register, see: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/credit-persona-workshops-tickets-412366548447

For more information about CRediT: https://credit.niso.org/

Call for NASIG Vision Speaker and Workshop Ideas

Have you heard an outstanding speaker who you think would be perfect for a NASIG vision session?  Have you had an idea for or been to an innovative workshop that would be great for NASIG?  If so, the Program Planning Committee (PPC) wants to hear from you.  Please submit your ideas here for the 2023 annual conference by Friday, September 16th, 2022.  We look forward to hearing from you.  Thank you for helping us make next year’s conference excellent!

Sarah Dennis and Jennifer Zuccaro, PPC co-chairs