GODORT Elects New Chair

The Government Documents Round Table has elected Amy West, Data Services Librarian at the University of Minnesota as its next Chair for 2009/2010.

Amy, who has a B.A in Philosophy and an MLIS from the University of Washington, has served on many ALA and GODORT Committees, including stints on ALA's Committee on Legislation Subcommittee on Privacy, the LITA Technology and Access Committee and GODORT's International Documents Task Force. She is an author of "The Impact of Technology on Managing Access to Electronic Government Information in Libraries" a Chapter in the GODORT's forthcoming Managing Electronic Government Information in Libraries: Issues and Practices (from ALA Editions).

As a Metadata Production Manager she has worked on the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS). The NHGIS project makes available U.S. Census statistics from 1790-present available for free on the web. I managed the metadata creation. Amy considers this to be one of her career's "primary accomplishments so far because NHGIS embodies the principle of "documents to the people" by significantly expanding access to key government information."

As Chair-elect Amy hopes continue the trend towards using technology to assist in GODORT activities during and between conferences and to help manage the implementation of any changes identified as part of GODORT's ongoing strategic planning initiative.

Website: http://www.lib.umn.edu/data/

Public Printer Names New Members to Depository Library Council

You can read the full press release here.

Public Printer Robert C. Tapella is pleased to announce the appointment of five new members to the Depository Library Council.

The Council, composed of 15 members each of whom serve three year terms, advises the Public Printer on policy matters relating to the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The FDLP, which traces its roots to 1813, provides access across America to the published information of all three Branches of the United States Government through partnerships with more than 1,250 libraries ranging from public libraries to research universities.

The five new DLC members for the October 1, 2008 - September 30, 2011 term are:

• David Cismowski, Regional Depository Librarian at California State Library, Sacramento
• Carlene Engstrom, Library Director for D'Arcy McNickle Library, Salish Kootenai College, Pablo, Montana
• Sarah (Sally) G. Holterhoff, Associate Professor of Law Librarianship and Government Information/Reference Librarian at Valparaiso University Law Library, Valparaiso, Indiana
• Justin Otto, Social Sciences and Government Documents Reference Librarian at Eastern Washington University, John F. Kennedy Library, Cheney, Washington
• Suzanne Sears, Head of the Government Documents Department, University of North Texas Willis Library, Denton, Texas

Editor for DttP (Documents to the People)

This position is appointed for a three year term, and is eligible for one renewal, beginning with the Fall 2009 (volume 37:3) issue of DttP and concluding with the Summer 2012 (volume 40:2) issue. The Lead Editor receives an annual stipend of $750. To find out more about this position, view the full description here.

GODORT Pre-Conferences & Programs, Anaheim 2008

We are fortunate to boast two pre-conferences and one program at this year's Annual Conference in Anaheim, California (June 26-July 1). Join us Thursday, June 26 to become better informed on election data, from every possible perspective, at Got Elections? Informing the Public (GODORT members $125). Impress your colleagues with your up-to-the-minute web skills by attending on Friday, June 27 Docs 2.0: Emerging Web Technologies for the Government Documents Community (GODORT members $100). And don't lose your mind in the process of Going Local, the theme of our Monday morning program (free with registration), where you will learn to find business and demographic information at county and municipal levels.