The Law and Political Science Section (LPSS) was formed in 1975 and is a section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, which is a division of the American Library Association. The purpose of LPSS is to serve as an educational forum and information exchange for librarians with an interest or subject expertise in law or political science. Our activities include producing literature guides and resource reviews as well as sponsoring conference programs, discussion groups, a newsletter, and listserv. We welcome interested librarians to join our efforts.
2010 ALA Midwinter Preliminary Schedule
This is the schedule as of Oct 1. All times are Eastern Time Zone
General Membership meeting (held concurrently in Boston and virtually)
Saturday, January 16, 4:00 - 5:30 PM
Contact: Erik Estep, estepe@ecu.edu
Committee meetings (virtual)
Section committees will hold virtual meetings shortly before ALA Midwinter. Committee meetings are open to all comers; only the Marta Lange Award deliberations are closed. Contact com-mittee chairs/conveners and watch LPSS-L for details about connection protocols and updates to dates, times, and agendas.
- Executive Committee - Concurrent with physical meeting in Boston.
Contact: Erik Estep, estepe@ecu.edu - Conference Program Planning - Friday, January 8, 12:00 - 1:00 PM.
Contact: Evan Rusch, evan.rusch@mnsu.edu - Instruction - Wednesday, January 13, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM.
Contact: Rebecca Ohm, Rebecca.Ohm@williams.edu. - Marta Lange/CQ Press Award. Closed meeting - Wednesday, January 6, 10:00 - 11:00 AM.
Contact: Barbara Morgan, bmorgan@library.umass.edu - Nominating. No meeting.
Contact: Bruce Pencek, bpencek@vt.edu - Publications - Monday, January 11, 2:00 -3:00 PM.
Contact: Chad Kahl, cmkahl@ilstu.edu - Review & Planning
Contact, Kelly Janousek, janousek@csulb.edu - Vendor/Publisher Review
Contact: David M. Oldenkamp, dmoldenk@ gmail.com
Accepting nominations for the Marta Lange/CQ Press Award
We know you know the next Marta Lange/CQ Press Award winner!!
The ACRL Law and Political Science Section Marta Lange Award Committee invites nominations and self nominations for the 2009 Marta Lange/CQ Press Award.
This annual award recognizes an academic or law librarian who, through research, service to the profession, or other creative activity, makes distinguished contributions to bibliography and information service in law or political science.
The winner will receive $1,000 cash and a plaque donated by CQ Press.
A complete description of the award, selection criteria and submission requirements, as well as past recipients is available at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/awards/martalangecq.cfm
Please email your nominations (due by December 4, 2009) and all inquiries to the Marta Lange/CQ Press Award Committee Chair, Barbara Morgan, bmorgan@library.umass.edu
LPSS News
The Fall 2009 edition is available at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/about/sections/lpss/LPSS2501.pdf
2009 ALA Annual Conference
Draft minutes from the Executive Committee meeting and the General Membership meeting are now available.
Political Engagement: Facilitating Greater Participation in Civil Society
2009 ALA Annual Conference Program
Democracy requires a well-informed citizenry willing to participate in political activities such as voting, campaign work, contacting officials and community work. Recognizing dropping rates of participation in civic life, higher education organizations have begun programs to encourage greater political engagement by today’s students. Find out more about these efforts and discover how libraries can facilitate development of lifelong critical thinking and research skills needed for citizenship.
Speakers:
- Elizabeth Hollander, Senior Fellow, Tufts University's Tisch College, and former Executive Director of Campus Compact
- Nancy Kranich, Lecturer, Rutger's School of Communication, Information and Library Sciences, and former President of the American Library Association
- Joanne Griffin, Business Reference Librarian, and Holly Sorensen, Assistant Director, work at Des Plaines Public Library – the site of the FY 2006 LSTA-funded Building Community through Creative Conversations program.
A podcast of the presentation is now available as an MP3 file! You can listen to all three speakers and the question and answer period thanks to the efforts of Amalia Monroe, LPSS member, and David Free, a Marketing and Communication Specialist for the Association of College & Research Libraries.
The program presentations by Nancy Kranich and Des Plaines Public Library's Joanne Griffin and Holly Sorensen are now available for viewing, as is the updated pathfinder/bibliography with speaker biographies and recommended sources on civic engagement.
Political Science Databases and Publishers Roundup: EBSCO, ProQuest and Sage
Vendor/Publisher Review Committee Discussion Group
For a number of years, political science subject specialists primarily utilized three major databases: Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, International Political Science Abstracts and PAIS. Then, a couple of years ago, Political Science: SAGE Full-Text Collection appeared on the scene. In the last six months Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index and most recently ProQuest Political Science have been released.
How do these new databases relate to, supplement and/or expand upon the older ones? Which one/s should you choose for your students and faculty? What are the publishers’ plans for the new, as well as the older databases? Join us and representatives from EBSCO, ProQuest and SAGE for a brief demo and in-depth discussion of these issues along with your questions, comments and critiques.
Participants and Products
Craig Brandt, Director, Humanities and Social Sciences, EBSCO Publishing
Jill Blaemers, Senior Product Manager, Social Sciences, ProQuest David Horwitz, Vice President of Sales, Sage Publications
Lynne M. Rudasill named 2009 Marta Lange/CQ Press Award Winner
Leslie Homzie, chair of the Marta Lange Award Committee said, “As the first and only global studies librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Lynne has made a number of contributions to the library profession through articles published in books, peer reviewed and general academic library journals and through a host of presentations both at home and abroad....Through her Web site created for the Global Studies Library at UIUC she continues to engage users in international studies.
Political Science Research Competency Guidelines
The ACRL Board approved the Political Science Research Competency Guidelines on Sunday, June 29, 2008!
Kathi Fountain noted that "this document has been five years in the making, and this is a huge accomplishment for our section. We have created a tailored, discipline-specific set of standards and interpreted them in a very practical manner.
Many thanks go to the Education Task Force members: Barbara Norelli, Lorena O'English, Bruce Pencek, John Hernandez, Rebecca Ohm, Chris Palazzolo, and Connie Stoner. Thanks is also due to non-task force members who contributed to examples, attended focus groups (in the form of ALA Discussion Groups), and met with faculty on their campuses and at APSA conferences. The approval of this document is a testament to your collaboration. Thank you very, very much.
In the next couple of weeks, I will be blending the approved text with our "repository of examples" into one document within the LPSS wiki. This will allow our members to add examples independently and ensure that the guidelines remain relevant and current. It will truly keep it a 'living document.'"