MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass.

AAMG-L Highlights

Frequently asked questions, sustaining discussion, and pools of wisdom.
- Sherry Maurer, News and Views Editor

Announcements

Kent State's School of Library and Information Science Receives National Accreditation, Celebrates 50 Years of Accreditation

The School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Kent State University has received continued accreditation from the American Library Association (ALA), the oldest and largest library association in the world. The announcement came from the ALA's Committee on Accreditation (COA) after the organization's midwinter meeting in Dallas.

The ALA COA has evaluated educational programs to prepare librarians since 1924. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) recognizes ALA COA as the authority for assessing the quality of education offered by graduate programs in the field of library and information studies. Currently there are 63 ALA-accredited master's programs across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico and three programs seeking initial accreditation. Most employers in libraries and other information professions require an ALA-accredited master's degree for professional-level positions, and some states require an ALA-accredited degree to work as a professional librarian in public or school libraries.

Stanley Wearden, Ph.D., dean of the College of Communication and Information of which SLIS is a part, said, "I am very pleased that SLIS has been reaccredited. This is a tribute to the excellent faculty in the school. I want to acknowledge the hard work of Athena Salaba, Ph.D., associate professor, who chaired the self-study committee, and Don Wicks, Ph.D., interim director of the school. Without their leadership, this could not have happened. Finally, it's important that we express our gratitude to the ALA Committee on Accreditation, a dedicated group that invests many hours in the accreditation process. Their guidance is invaluable in our pursuit of excellence.

SLIS at Kent State began offering graduate courses for a Master of Arts in library science in 1949, and then received its first ALA accreditation in 1961-62. With that, it became the 33rd school in the nation and the second in Ohio (after Case Western Reserve University) to offer an accredited graduate degree in library science. In 2000, SLIS received university approval to change the name of the master's degree from Master of Library Science (M.L.S.) to Master of Library and Information Science (M.L.I.S.), reflecting the increasing influence of technology and information science on the profession.

Today, SLIS at Kent State has the only ALA-accredited M.L.I.S. program in Ohio. (CWRU closed its library school program in 1986.) Courses are offered in Kent, Ohio; at the State Library of Ohio in Columbus, Ohio; and in a fully online M.L.I.S. option. With more than 650 graduate students, SLIS has one of the largest programs in the country. The school ranks among the top 20 library schools in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report, and its children's librarianship program ranks 13th. For more information about the school, visit www.kent.edu/slis.

ALA accreditation indicates that the program has undergone a self-evaluation process, has been externally reviewed and meets the Standards for Accreditation of Master's Programs in Library and Information Studies, established by the ALA's Committee on Accreditation (COA) and adopted by ALA Council. COA evaluates each program for conformity to the Standards, which address mission, goals and objectives; curriculum; faculty; students; administration and financial support; and physical resources and facilities. The Standards can be found at http://bit.ly/ALA-standards.

The accreditation process occurs every seven years, unless evidence persuades COA that the review should be conducted at an earlier or later date. The COA requires accredited schools to submit annual statistical reports and biennial narrative reports.

Media contact:
Flo Cunningham
330-672-0003
fcunning@kent.edu

On behalf of President Jill Hartz and the officers and board of AAMG, I am pleased to announce that the IRS has recently granted our Association 501c3 status as a tax-exempt organization, allowing us to apply for and receive foundation, corporate and government grants, as well as individual donations in support of our educational efforts. Congratulations goes wholly to Michiko Okaya, AAMG Treasurer and Director of the Williams Center Gallery at Lafayette College, with heartfelt thanks to Philadelphia Volunteers for the Arts (PVLA) attorneys Mims Zabriskie and Marc D Leone of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP for accomplishing this Herculean task.

Additionally, I am happy to report that, among those joining the AAMG during our Fall Membership Drive are a number of university and college Museum Studies Programs from across the country. Since we began our Fall Membership Drive, museum studies and arts departments from Columbia University, University of Oregon, and Case Western Reserve University have joined as supporting members. Welcome! Additionally, since Thanksgiving, Stephen Weiner, Provost, Galluadet University; The Richard M. Ross Museum of Art, Ohio Wesleyan University; and Judith Fox, Curator & Principal, c2-curatorsquared, have also joined as new members. We're happy and honored to have you among our ranks.

If you are already a supporting individual, institutional, corporate or student member, thank you for your commitment to the AAMG and for putting up with me weekly appeals. If you haven't joined us yet, please take two minutes and become a member on-line at http://aamg-us.org/member_app.php

David Alan Robertson
d-robertson@aamg-us.org

Kent State faculty receive federal grant for $219,000+ to improve access to digital resources

Two faculty members in the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Kent State University, Professor Marcia Lei Zeng, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor Karen Gracy, Ph.D., have received a National Leadership Grant in the amount of $219,386 from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The funds will be used to help improve access to digital resources within and beyond the library world through what is known as "Linked Open Data (LOD)." "With Linked Data technologies, libraries can efficiently reach a much wider range and more diverse data universe, and more effectively provide services to their users. Libraries can enhance their existing digital collections and services with linked data technologies and LOD resources without significantly increasing the library's workload or requiring them to reengineer their existing bibliographic databases and websites," Zeng said.

Zeng and Gracy's project will develop effective strategies and prototype tools to help libraries and museums connect to the unfamiliar data and metadata resources in the LOD world. In particular, their research will address the question of how libraries can benefit from resources that have been made available in the Linked Open Data (LOD) universe.

"In this project, Dr. Zeng and I will be aligning metadata terms from different and diverse namespaces, which means that we will be analyzing semantic relationships among many different metadata schemas to identify areas of overlap and degrees of similarity," Gracy explained. "Our primary goal for this study will be the development and testing of a tool, the Metadata Vocabulary Junction, that will help librarians and archivists understand unfamiliar metadata schemas and discover new data sources. These librarians will then be able to help users discover and use the rich information found in the Linked Open Data universe by following the paths that we will be creating through the M-V Junction."

Flo Cunningham, M.A.
Marketing Communications and Public Relations Director
330-672-0003
fcunning@kent.edu

Lynchburg College to partner with Historic Sandusky

A partnership between Lynchburg College and Historic Sandusky will be announced at a news conference at 2 p.m. Dec. 12 at Historic Sandusky at 757 Sandusky Drive.

The development of the non-profit partnership originated with an inquiry from the Strategic Planning Committee of the Historic Sandusky Foundation Board (HS) about the possibility of a formal relationship with Lynchburg College (LC).

"Education has always been at the forefront of our efforts and what better way to strengthen our commitment to education than to align ourselves with LC," said Sandusky Board President Bland Massie Jr. "This partnership will blend the education of young people with the preservation of Lynchburg history as it facilitates a progressive shift of HS operations to LC." "I am very happy to see this College continue to expand its impact on Central Virginia and to combine its quality academic programs with the community resources of Historic Sandusky," said LC President Kenneth Garren. "The winners will not only be our students but those generous patrons whose vision created Historic Sandusky as a house museum."

An advisory committee composed of select history, education, museum studies and art history faculty and staff members will guide LC's efforts -- aimed at both preserving one of Lynchburg's historical treasures and providing hands-on learning experiences for students. Initial discussions have focused on, for example, potential for integration into LC's Museum Studies program, undergraduate history, education, and other programs, and M.A. in history program.

"This partnership will enable LC to enhance its educational mission by incorporating the unique aspects of Historic Sandusky into the curriculum and programs of the College," said Dr. Ed Polloway, vice president of community advancement at LC.

The College will also hold special events at Sandusky, including, for example, events for alumni and trustees, collaborative programs with regional schools, community education, and faculty retreats.

LC will honor the mission of the Historic Sandusky Foundation, which is to preserve and interpret the Sandusky site as a public museum and to collect, preserve and disseminate information about the history of Sandusky, its inhabitants, and the role of Lynchburg in the Civil War. Gregory Starbuck will continue his role as executive director of Historic Sandusky while Barbara Rothermel, director of LC's Daura Gallery, will serve on the Foundation Board of HS.

Barbara Rothermel
Director of the Daura Gallery
Assistant Professor of Museum Studies
Lynchburg College
Board of Directors, Association of Academic Museum & Galleries
University & College Representative, Council of the Virginia Association of Museums

Contact:
1501 Lakeside Drive
Lynchburg, VA 24501-3199
434-544-8343
434-544-8277 FAX
Rothermel@lynchburg.edu