EBSS: Education and Behavioral Sciences Section

The Education and Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (a division of the American Library Association) exists to serve the common interests of education and behavioral sciences librarians. Formed in 1968, EBSS now boasts about 1,000 members who are concerned with a host of issues in the areas of information literacy, applications of technology, collection development, library management, and communication of research findings in education and behavioral sciences librarianship.

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Read the Fall 2024 EBSS Newsletter (PDF) and access previous issues.

Chair's Report from the Fall 2024 EBSS Newsletter

By Ashlynn Kogut, EBSS Chair 2024-2025, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

Greetings, EBSS colleagues!

It’s officially fall – classes are in session, pumpkin spice items abound, and maybe some are enjoying slightly cooler outdoor temperatures.

I’m excited to reach out to you in this issue of our EBSS newsletter. EBSS members and committees have been working on exciting projects and bringing forward new ideas to best support EBSS members and the wider library community.

To start, I would like to highlight some work that has been accomplished since the spring:

• The 2024 ALA conference program “Developing Data Literacy Champions: Building a Culture of Critical Engagement with Data” was a huge success. Thank you to the 2024 Conference Program Planning Committee for coordinating with the Digital Scholarship Section to plan a wonderful learning opportunity!
• The 2025 Conference Program Planning Committee submitted an ALA conference proposal titled, “Read and Publish Agreements: Functions and Impacts for the Social Sciences.” If accepted, this program would be an educational program at the 2025 ALA Annual Conference in Philadelphia.
• The Nominating Committee has submitted an outstanding slate of candidates for EBSS officer positions in the spring 2025 election. EBSS will be in excellent hands!

As a section, we aim to be organized in a way that best supports our members, and we can adjust our committee structure to do this. To better meet the needs of librarians working with the communications discipline, on July 1, 2024, the Electronic Resources in Communication Studies Committee became part of the Communication Studies Committee. Additionally, many EBSS members are engaged in evidence synthesis work, and the idea of creating an EBSS committee related to evidence synthesis was discussed at the September 2024 EBSS Advisory Council meeting.

The goal for this committee would be to support those working on evidence synthesis projects and services specifically in EBSS disciplines. With the support of the Advisory Council, which is composed of the chairs of the EBSS committees and members of the Executive Committee, the EBSS Executive Committee is drafting a charge for a potential EBSS committee on evidence synthesis in education and behavioral sciences.

In this newsletter, you will find more information about the work of our committees and discussion groups. If you are interested in contributing to this work, keep in mind that on December 1, 2024, the ACRL volunteer form used for section level committee appointments will open. All committee appointments will be made by EBSS Vice Chair, Robin Ewing. If you have questions about volunteering, please reach out to Robin at rlewing@stcloudstate.edu.

Wishing you all the best!

Ashlynn Kogut