Tyckoson elected RUSA president for 2007-2008

Contact: Cathleen Bourdon

RUSA

312-280-4395

For Immediate Release

May 9, 2006

Tyckoson elected RUSA president for 2007-2008

CHICAGO - David A. Tyckoson, head of public services, California State University, Fresno, has been elected president of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, for the 2007-2008 term.

Tyckoson will become RUSA president-elect in July 2006 and will assume the RUSA presidency in July 2007. Neal Wyatt, collection development assistant administrator, Chesterfield County Public Library, ran against Tyckoson.

"Having been a reference librarian for over 25 years, I realize the value of RUSA to the profession," said Tyckoson. "My goal as RUSA president will be to continue the good work of my predecessors, to make RUSA even more responsive to its members, and to find ways to involve and recruit those who are not yet members."

Tyckoson has a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in library science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He previously served as head of reference at the California State University, Fresno, and at SUNY - Albany. He also served as a reference librarian at Iowa State University and as science librarian at Miami University (Ohio).

An active RUSA member, Tyckoson has served as chair of the Reference Services Section, and as a director-at-large on the RUSA Board of Directors. He taught the first-ever RUSA online continuing education course and also served as chair of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Behavioral Guidelines for Reference and Information Services Librarians.

Some of his recent publications include "Reference Classics Ahead of Their Time,"
Against the Grain, September 2005; "On the Desirableness of Personal Relations Between Librarians and Readers: The Past and Future of Reference Service,"
Reference Services Review, 2003; and "Facts Go Online: Are Print Reference Collections Still Relevant?,"
Against the Grain, September 2004.

Tyckoson received the Isadore Gilbert Mudge - R.R. Bowker Award from RUSA in 2005.

The Reference and User Services Association is responsible for stimulating and supporting excellence in the delivery of general library services and materials to adults, and the provision of reference and information services, collection development, and resource sharing for all ages, in every type of library.