Gary Byrd, Director, Health Sciences Library, University at Buffalo, has announced that Ophelia Morey has been promoted to the rank of Associate Librarian with continuing appointment.  As a member of tenured library faculty, Ophelia will be taking on new responsibilities as Coordinator of Communtiy Outreach Services at Health Sciences Library and will continue to provide fee-based reference services for law firms and healthcare organizations without libraries.  She will also be involved in community health information outreach projects such as the New York "Go Local" project which will link information about Western New York healthcare resources to the National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus consumer health resources website.

Andrew Bailey, a reference librarian at Niagara University, was a recipient of the Canadian Association of Journalists Computer-Assisted Reporting award for his work on the series, "Give and Take", published in the Toronto Star in 2007.  Andrew works part-time at Niagara University and full-time at the Toronto Star as a Computer-Assisted Reporting Analyst.

Dave Schoen 

Being a member of WNYLA is a fun experience. The committee members are warm and welcoming. Meetings are held a few times a year in a variety of locations and they offer library assistants the chance to socialize and network with other library assistants. I encourage any assistants interested in participating to take the plunge and join us!!!! 

WNYLA was created in 1991, as a discussion group of the
Western New York Library Resource Council (WNYLRC), to meet the training needs of library support staff in the Western New York region. In the years since, the planning/discussion group has presented numerous professional development opportunities, often collaborating with WNYLRC in planning and hosting events. In 2007, WNYLA became a subcommittee to WNYLRC’s Continuing Education standing committee.

WNYLA Purpose Statement:
• To professionally recognize library assistants employed in the Western New York area whatever their job title.
• To further professional growth and to promote both personal and job enrichment.
• To promote communication and access to development opportunities among library assistants in the six county Western New York area and serve as a clearinghouse for relevant information.
• To work with the Continuing Education Committee in meeting their charge.
• To correspond with other library assistants’ groups on state (New York State Library Assistants, NYSLAA) and national (ALA’s Library Support Staff Interests Round Table, LSSIRT) levels to advance the group’s goals.

 Mary Taylor

The Institute of Museum and Library Services posted their summary of their recent study, “Interconnections:  The IMLS National Study on the Use of Libraries, Museums and the Internet.”  For complete documentation visit the website http://interconnectionsreport.org. Conducted by two professors from the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Jose-Marie Griffiths and Donald W. King, the study surveyed individuals 18 and over on their information needs with the primary focus on museums, public libraries, and the Internet as sources.  The following is a synopsis of the survey results:

• Libraries and museums are the most trusted sources of information – more than other sources of information including government, commercial and private individual websites
• The Internet does not eliminate in-person visits to museums and libraries
• Adults who use the Internet are more likely to visit libraries and museums and those who use the Internet visit libraries and museums more often
• Amount of Internet use positively correlates with the number of in-person visits to museums

The question of whether digitized collections impact the number of in-person visits to see the same exhibits or materials has been a consistent concern for historical repositories for a number of years. This study seems to lay those concerns to rest. According to this study, in 2006 Internet access increased adult visits to museums by 75% and to public libraries by 73%. 

The study also concludes that museums and public libraries providing services both in-person and online serve important and complementary roles in supporting a wide variety of information needs.  Providing learning experiences in a variety of ways strengthens the visibility of the museum. For public libraries, different modes of access to resources and services impact both formal education and entertainment needs.  According to the statistical information provided in the study, virtual visits to the public library via the library’s website seem to meet the formal educational or work related needs at a greater percentage while the in-person visits seem to meet the recreational or entertainment needs more often. 
 

Sheryl Knab

WNYLRC is happy to welcome Jaclyn McKewan, our new Special Projects Librarian.  Jaclyn previously worked at D’Youville College as a reference librarian. She will be working with Laura Osterhout in managing the Ask Us 24/7 virtual reference program, including scheduling, training, promotion, and updating the website.