by Leigh Schaffer and Sukena Taibjee
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| Photo taken by Mitsu (Eric) Kimura |
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Visionary planning, empowerment of Chinese students with information literacy skills, Resource Description and Access (RDA) and e-libraries were some of the topics presented at the recent CALA-SCA Annual Conference.
The conference was held February 4, 2011 at the Ikeda Library at Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo, California. Presenters came from institutions across Southern California: California State University San Bernardino, California State University Los Angeles, Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library, University of Southern California, University of California Riverside, University of California San Diego, and California State University Fullerton. The conference was organized and moderated by CALA-SCA President Joy Wang, Cataloging Librarian at Ikeda Library.
The conference began with breakfast, followed by a keynote speech by Cesar Caballero, Dean of Libraries at CSU San Bernardino. Caballero stated that in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century, libraries must have a clear vision from which to construct a plan of action. He explained that this is done through strategic planning exercises such as SWOT analyses. He also emphasized the importance of good leadership, arguing that a leader should involve all members of their organization. The speech concluded with a visualization exercise in which he asked the attendees to envision the future of their libraries.
Following the keynote speech, the first set of presenters discussed issues and ideas related to reference and instruction services. A common theme among these presentations was providing outreach and information services to Chinese patrons. Ying Xu, Humanities Librarian at CSU Los Angeles, discussed challenges for international students, such as language barriers, culture, the difference in library systems in the United States and China, classroom culture, and social isolation. This was followed by presentations on bridging the digital divide among recent Asian immigrants to Monterey Park’s Little Taipei neighborhood by Maggie Wang and Darren Braden, Reference Librarians at Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library; teaching information literacy skills to Chinese exchange students by Xiwen Zhang, Reference Librarian at CSU San Bernardino; and a summary of a survey on the Internet and library use of college students by Jiaxun Wu, East Asian Specialist at the East Asian Library at USC.
The next set of presenters discussed issues and ideas related to technical services, digital information, and technology. This session began with a presentation by Manuel Urrizola, Head of Technical and Metadata Services at UC Riverside. He reviewed RDA, the new cataloging content standard that is meant to replace the Anglo American Cataloging Rules, 2nd edition. This was followed by presentations on the historical changes of library data by Yongyi Song, Technical Services Librarian at CSU Los Angeles; management of library technology in times of budget constraints by Win Shih, Director of Integrated Library Systems at USC; and e-library development, maintenance, and staffing by Su Hui Ho, Digital Services Librarian at UC San Diego.
Following a short coffee break, we viewed photographic presentations on libraries in China and Korea from Kuei Chiu, Head of Collection Development at UC Riverside, and Sally Tseng, CALA Honorary Executive Director. Jie Tian, Instruction and Reference Librarian at CSU Fullerton, concluded the conference with a reading of two of her poems, Riding the Comet’s Tail and Chinese New Year in Illinois, in celebration of Chinese New Year. After the final presentation, we took a brief tour of the Soka campus, including visits to their athletic facilities, fountain, and Founder’s Hall.
The conference was a great way to meet fellow students and professionals and learn about new ideas and issues related to our profession. Many thanks to Joy Wang, Hiroko Tomono, Cesar Caballero, Ying Xu, Maggie Wang, Darren Braden, Xiwen Zhang, Jiaxun Wu, Manuel Urrizola, Yongyi Song, Win Shih, Su Hui Ho, Kuei Chiu, Sally Tseng, and Jie Tian for sharing their experiences and insights with us and the other SJSU SLIS students in attendance.
Leigh Schaffer is in her final semester in the SJSU SLIS program. She lives in Tustin, California, interns in the reference department at Langson Library at UC Irvine, and tweets at @leighspeas.
Sukena F. Taibjee plans to graduate from the SLIS program at the end of 2011. She lives in Chino Hills, California and works at the local public library.
The group photo above was taken at the conference by Mitsu (Eric) Kimura, University Archivist & Photographer and Senior Advisor to Development at Soka University of America.
