Report on CATLA Spring Conference

Many thanks to the staff at the James White Library for hosting our spring meeting at Andrews University! Besides having an opportunity to tour the library, as well as the Center for Adventist Research, Eric Lease Morgan gave an update on CRRA's Catholic Portal and the potential for text mining in digitized libraries. CATLA members also elected officers for the following positions:


Vice President/President Elect - Sallie Alger (Andrews University)
Treasurer - Adam Bohanan (Meadville Lombard Theological School)
Secretary - Matt Ostercamp (North Park University)

For a more extensive report on a fun and interesting day, check out Eric's blog post on the conference. Thanks again to everyone who participated!

ATLA Early Bird Deadline Extended

The Early Bird registration and housing block deadlines for the ATLA 2011 Conference have been extended. You now have until Monday, May 23, 2011 at midnight to register for the conference without incurring the $50 late registration fee. ATLA's discounted hotel rates are available until Tuesday, May 17, 2011.

CATLA Scholarship Awarded for ATLA 2011

We are pleased to announce that the CATLA scholarship for ATLA 2011 has been awarded to Mark Schrauth. Mark is the Assistant Librarian at the Salzmann Library at St. Francis de Sales Seminary, and is an MLIS student at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Congratulations, Mark!

Spring Conference is Almost Here!

We hope many CATLA members will be able to be in Michigan on Friday, April 15th! As a reminder, our morning presenter will be Eric Lease Morgan. Eric is a Digital Projects Librarian at the Hesburgh Libraries at the University of Notre Dame. His primary responsibilities surround work on the "Catholic Portal" and data curation. A librarian first and a computer user second, his professional goal is to discover new ways to use computers to provide better library service. An advocate of open source software and open access publishing since before the phrases where coined, just about all of his writings can be found on the Web.

Eric's presentation will focus on the Catholic Research Resources Alliance, which brings together rare, uncommon, and infrequently held materials into a thing colloquially called the "Catholic Portal". The content for the Portal comes from a variety of metadata formats (MARC, EAD, and Dublin Core) harvested from participating member institutions. Besides supporting the Web 2.0 features we have all come to expect, it also provides item level indexing of finding aids, direct access to digitized materials, and various concordancing services. This makes the Portal more than the usual "discovery system". The presentation will demonstrate the functionality outlined above as well as describe how these things could be applied in the larger library environment.

As you make your travel plans, you can can check out lunch options at Andrews, as well as parking and travel directions on Andrews website. An additional note on parking; visitor parking permits can be picked up in the library at registration. We are looking forward to seeing you all there!

Why Not Sign Up to Give a Lightning Talk April 15th?

We are still in need of people willing to share their stories with other CATLA members during the lightning talk session at the spring CATLA conference. What is new in your library? What are major challenges or opportunities you face? How are you addressing these?

If you can bring photos or other visuals or prepare a few Powerpoint slides, great! But that is not required. If you have an idea of something you would like to share, please email us. We look forward to hearing what's new at your library!

Schedule for Spring 2011 CATLA Conference

The theme for the spring conference is "Taking the Pulse: Implications for Libraries."
The schedule for the conference on Friday, April 15th, 2011 at the James White Library at Andrews University is as follows:

(Please note, the start time for the conference is 10:30am EST/9:30am CST)
10:30 – 11:00 Registration and refreshments
11:00 – 11:10 Provost’s welcome
11:10 – 11:30 Business meeting, including election
11:30 – 12:45 - Eric Lease Morgan: Harvesting and Using Content for the "Catholic Portal"
12:45 - 2:00 Lunch
2:00 – 3:00 Lightning talks
3:00 – 3:30 Tour of the James White Library

Directions to the library are available from the Andrews University website or from the library website.

Please register with Lisa Gonzalez on or before Friday, March 18, 2011.

Deadline for CATLA Scholarship is February 28th

As a reminder, the deadline for the CATLA scholarship to the ATLA Conference is approaching. CATLA offers a scholarship for the ATLA annual conference to a CATLA member who has not previously attended the annual conference. A link to the application form is available on the sidebar of this blog, and includes details on who qualifies as a CATLA member, as well as how to submit the application. The scholarship covers the cost of the registration as well as other legitimate conference related expenses up to $1000. The deadline for submitting the application is February 28th.