 |
 |
It's funny; I work in medical libraries, although I've been considering attempting a move to regular academic libraries for a while now. In the Medical Library Association we don't really have a LITA. We may have some kind of technology interest group in there somewhere, but I find tech interest on this side of the discipline to be very spotty. I approached the responsible party at MLA about creating a technology section and couldn't even get them to return my emails. I turned away from my AHIP (MLA's Academy) membership a while back in disgust at some of their policies, although before I did I noticed with some interest that you could (and I did) get points for developing some apps or digital tutorials and the like; nevertheless it felt very tacked on. The one case study I submitted to JMLA (the association's main journal), on an XML/XSLT based staff list tool I created for the website of the University of New Mexico's medical library, was flatly rejected as being too technical for the journal. Best regards, *Jason Bengtson, MLIS, MA* Head of Library Computing and Information Systems Assistant Professor, Graduate College Department of Health Sciences Library and Information Management University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center 405-271-2285, opt. 5 405-271-3297 (fax) [log in to unmask] http://library.ouhsc.edu www.jasonbengtson.com NOTICE: This e-mail is intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise exempt from disclosure. If the reader of this e-mail is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify us by replying to the original message at the listed email address. Thank You. <[log in to unmask]> On Mon, Jan 5, 2015 at 2:51 PM, KLINGLER, THOMAS <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > ...and maybe a little influence by the current ALA membership payment > options. Used to have to pay your base membership and a division (or > two?) Recently, you can go cheap and pay ONLY the base membership cost! > No forced division membership. > > TK > > > Tom Klingler > Assistant Dean for Technical Services > University Libraries, Rm 300 > 1125 Risman Drive > Kent State University > Kent, Ohio 44242-0001 > 330-672-1646 office > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of > Roy Tennant > Sent: Monday, January 05, 2015 11:42 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] lita > > Also, I would point out that libraries increasingly hire non-librarians in > technology positions. That likely means that even if said persons might > eventually find Code4Lib, their allegiance to a profession as epitomized by > ALA is unlikely. > Roy > > On Mon, Jan 5, 2015 at 8:37 AM, Debra Shapiro <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > LITA is now the smallest ALA division. > > > > Personally, as someone who’s been involved with LITA for 20 years, I > > think the decrease is due to all the reasons Kevin cites below, and > > also because of something of an identity crisis - related to the > > advent of the Internet, as Eric says. > > > > LITA is the technology division of the ALA. *Everything* in libraries > > is done with technology now, so ALA members who once might’ve chosen > > to join the technology division choose instead to join other > > divisions, related to their other interests. Look at the list of ALCTS > > (the cataloging division) programs for any given ALA conference, or > > ALCTS list of CE webinars, and it’s all topics that might’ve once been > more the purview of LITA. > > > > Of course I ran for LITA prez on that platform 6 years ago and lost so > > what do I know … > > > > deb > > > > > > On Jan 5, 2015, at 10:28 AM, Kevin Ford <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > > > > I think this just goes to show, with the advent of the Internet, > > > > centralized authorities are not as necessary/useful as they once > > > > used to be. —ELM > > > > > > > > > > -- Maybe. I think it it recession-related. The high water mark for > > nearly all of the groups on that list is 2007 (2006 for one or two). The > > overall stats for ALA show the same membership pattern (increasing until > > 2007, decreasing thereafter): > > http://www.ala.org/membership/membershipstats_files/annual_memb_stats > > > > > > I'd be interested to know if LITA's membership decrease is greater (as > a > > percentage) than the others. Perhaps that would suggest forums such as > > code4lib peeled off some of those would-be LITA members. Otherwise, it > > just looks like a broader decline in ALA membership, probably for a few > > reasons: fewer librarians in the workforce, fewer institutions willing to > > pay professional membership fees, less willingness to pay those fees out > of > > pocket, etc. > > > > > > Yours, > > > Kevin > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On 1/5/15 10:12 AM, Eric Lease Morgan wrote: > > >>>> I’m curious, how large is LITA (Library and Information Technology > > >>>> Association)? [0] How many members does it have? > > >>> > > >>> Apparently it has around 3000 members this year. I found this on the > > ALA > > >>> membership statistics page: > > >>> > > >>> > http://www.ala.org/membership/membershipstats_files/divisionstats#lita > > >> > > >> > > >> Interesting and thank you. Code4Lib only needs fifty more subscribers > > to equal LITA’s size. I think this just goes to show, with the advent of > > the Internet, centralized authorities are not as necessary/useful as they > > once used to be. —ELM > > >> > > > > [log in to unmask] > > Debra Shapiro > > SLIS, the iSchool at UW-Madison > > Helen C. White Hall, Rm. 4282 > > 600 N. Park St. > > Madison WI 53706 > > 608 262 9195 > > mobile 608 712 6368 > > FAX 608 263 4849 > > >