The 2019 Access Conference Program Committee invites proposals for participation in the upcoming Access Conference, which will be held September 30 to October 2, 2019 in Edmonton, Alberta at the Matrix Hotel, hosted by University of Alberta.

Access is Canada’s premier annual library technology conference bringing librarians, technicians, developers, programmers, and managers from all library sectors together to discuss unique and interesting library processes and technologies. There will be plenty of opportunities to share ideas and learn from each other!

This single stream conference features exciting keynotes, presentations, lightning talks, a hackathon, and lots of time for networking and social events.

We are seeking proposals for:

• 20 min presentations (15 min + 5 min for questions)
  • could be demos, theory or practice, case studies, original research, etc.
  • will be peer-reviewed
• 60 min multi-speaker sessions (45 min + 15 min for questions)
  • should be self-organized and we encourage presentations demonstrating perspectives from multiple organizations
  • will be peer-reviewed
• 5 min lightning talks
  • any subject that is conference related.
  • will not be peer-reviewed

Ready to submit?

Visit our conference proposal site to create an account and submit your proposal: https://accessproceedings.ca

Submission deadline is 11:59PM EST on May 10, 2019

Need some ideas? Check out the 2018 conference program and past conference websites! Please note that we will also be offering a Diversity Scholarship Program (details coming soon).

Speakers will be notified of their acceptance decision in mid-June.

Questions? Contact us at accesslibcon@gmail.com

Access 2019 is making every effort to be as inclusive and as safe an environment as possible – please review our Code of Conduct.

Greetings AAAL members,

Library staff from all member institutions are invited to join us at Olds College on Friday, May 10th for the Alberta Association of Academic Libraries’ Spring 2019 Meeting. We are very excited to be offering a workshop on using design thinking to enhance user experience with University of Alberta librarian, Céline Gareau-Brennan. Following the workshop, the afternoon is filled with interesting lightning talks on a wide variety of topics. The full meeting package with agenda and session descriptions can be found on the AAAL website.

Please register by 12 pm on Wednesday, May 1. We recommend you register early as space is limited and the meetings always reach capacity.

We hope to see you there!

Nicolle Lemay, AAAL Chair

The AAAL is seeking nominations for the AAAL Executive Chair-elect position, in preparation for elections taking place at the Spring Annual General Meeting on Friday, May 10, 2019 at Olds College. To nominate an AAAL member or put your own name forward for this position, please email the Chair of the Nominations Committee at cj.dejong@ualberta.ca with a brief statement of interest. The Nominations Committee consists of CJ de Jong (Chair), Geoff Owens, and Shannon D’Agnone.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, April 5, 2019.

Chair-elect (2 year term: first year as AAAL Chair-elect, and second year as AAAL Chair)

Responsibilities include:

• Maintain liaison with other library associations and external organizations, and ensure news and updates of interest to the association are reported at the Fall Meeting, Annual General Meeting, and via the AAAL blog and social media;
• Call for standing committee members as needed and ensure standing committee positions are filled;
• Conduct general meetings in Chair’s absence;
• Perform other duties as designated by the Chair;
• Submit written bi-annual reports to the Chair for inclusion in meeting packages three weeks prior to Fall and Annual General Meetings
• Attend Executive Meetings.

With only one week to the March 25 deadline, we encourage staff from Alberta Association of Academic Libraries (AAAL) to submit a proposal to be a part of our program of professional learning and development at the May 10 Spring meeting hosted by Olds College Library. Learn more about our Featured Workshop on Design Thinking here.

Out of the Box: Tell us about a new service/program design and delivery at your library. If not something new, have you redesigned or reconceptualized an existing service? How did you get from idea to operation? Submit a proposal to share your experiences, research, and lessons learned.

We are seeking different types of sessions including:

• 5-7 minute lightning talk that is a quick overview of your ideas, experience, and programs/services.

• 30 minute session that can include ideas, experiences, original research, engaging discussion questions or activities

We challenge you to think outside the box. Never been to a AAAL meeting before? Now’s your chance to connect with AAAL colleagues from across the province. And in Olds, Alberta. Let’s do this!

• Submit a proposal by Monday, March 25. Successful presenters will be contacted by Friday, March 29.

• Seeking financial support to attend and present at the meeting? We encourage you to apply for a AAAL Professional Development Award.