Transcript MW Incoming Chair Orientation 2013FINAL.pptx

2013 Award and Notable
Chairs Orientation
January 25, 2013
7:00-9:00 PM
Sheraton Seattle, Cedar A
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1. Introductions
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2. Discussion: What makes an effective
committee chair?
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3. Roles of the Chair/PGC/ALSC Staff/Executive
Committee
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Chair sets the calendar and meeting agendas, runs the meetings, compiles
suggestion/nomination lists, communicates with publishers, and maintains
regular communication with committee members.
– The Chair should be familiar with all committee policies and procedures,
and should communicate with the previous chair(s) to learn from their
experience. Try to make your initial contact with the previous chair as
soon as possible.
Priority Group Consultants serve as liaisons between Chairs and ALSC
Staff.
ALSC Awards Coordinator manages conference arrangements and
administrative issues.
ALSC Marketing Specialist (Dan Rude) can assist with ALA Connect.
ALSC Executive Committee may be called upon to make final eligibility
determinations in ambiguous cases.
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Contacts for Chairs
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Priority Consultant Group II:
Evaluation of Media
Julie Roach
[email protected]
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ALSC Awards Coordinator:
– Caroline Jewell [email protected] or 312-280-5839
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Executive Committee:
– Executive Director Aimee Strittmatter
– Past President Mary Fellows
– President Carolyn Brodie
– President Elect Starr LaTronica
Priority Consultant Group V :
Awards
Judy Zuckerman
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
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Email Communications Between Chair and
PGC/ALSC
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Keep all relevant persons in the loop.
All conference reports and related documents should be sent to Caroline,
with a cc to the Priority Group Consultant, the Executive Director, the Past
President, the President and the President-Elect.
All eligibility issues related to interpretation of terms and criteria that cannot
be decided by the committee should be sent to the Priority Group
Consultant. The Chair and PGC will confer, and in some cases may decide
to refer the question to the Executive Committee for final eligibility
determination.
Suggestions and nominations are sent to Caroline beginning in September.
If you anticipate that the committee will want to suggest future changes to
the terms and criteria for the award, please cc the PGC and Caroline on
relevant discussions.
Questions from the chairs to the publishers regarding eligibility and material
requests should be copied to the PGC and Caroline. Committee members
should not contact publishers.
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4. Meetings
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Annual Conference Meeting
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ALSC works under the auspices of ALA Conference Services for
Annual and Midwinter. They schedule over 2,000 meetings and
programs at each conference.
– ALSC must adhere to their deadlines and room availability.
– The ALSC office sent you a spreadsheet in mid November with the
dates and times of your meetings at Annual 2013 and Midwinter 2014.
Room assignments will be made a few weeks before each conference.
– The ALSC office requests that your meetings be set in conference table
style with theater seating for any guests in attendance. You may be
placed in a room that is larger than your needs.
– You do not have a locked room at Annual but Conference Services tries
to accommodate the use of the same room on the same day. Your
meeting may be scheduled in a separate location the following day.
– The office does not send books to Annual. The chair arranges for copies
of the practice discussion titles to be brought by different committee
members. However, the office will send all discussion titles to your
Midwinter meeting.
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Chairs will meet with PGCs at Annual for an orientation meeting to
prepare for Midwinter.
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Internet Access During Committee Meetings
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Due to the high cost (several hundred dollars per day), ALSC is unable to
provide computers and Internet access in your committee meeting room.
Do not ask the hotel if you can obtain Internet access. They will do it, but
then charge ALA’s account and we do not have the funds to cover this
expense.
If you need to use the Internet for your committee work, you may use part of
your committee budget ($400 total) to pay for Internet access in your hotel
sleeping room if you have a laptop to use. This is usually only $10-$12 per
day or free in some hotels.
If you choose to access the Internet, you will need to submit your original
hotel receipt to ALSC for reimbursement using Form A from the Division
Leadership Manual (tip: ask for two receipts when you checkout so that you
still have a receipt for yourself).
You may be able to freely access the Internet through your personal mobile
device (smartphone/tablet with 3G or 4G, tethering, etc.) You are welcome
to take advantage of this if you are able.
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Agendas and Reports
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A Meeting Agenda and a Pre-Midwinter or Annual Conference Agenda Cover
Sheet (Form D.1) should be submitted one month prior to the Midwinter
Meeting and Annual Conference.
– Send to Awards Coordinator Caroline Jewell.
– Cc Priority Group Consultant, Executive Director, ALSC President, VicePresident/President Elect, Past President.
– Chair should post the Agenda on ALA Connect.
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A Post-Midwinter Meeting/Annual Conference Committee Report Form D.2
must be submitted no later than 21 days after the end of the Meeting or
Conference.
– Nothing confidential should appear in the body of your report, but
recommendations relating to the committee’s charge and procedures can
be included.
– Chair should also post Form D.2 on ALA Connect.
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“Open” vs. “Closed” Meetings and Visiting Experts
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For award committees, the first Midwinter Meeting of the year under
consideration is open to non-committee members and visitors.
For award committees, the committee meetings at the Annual Conference
of the year under consideration are closed, and the Midwinter Selection
Meeting of next year is closed.
Notables discussion meetings are open to non-committee members and
visitors. However, portions of the voting process may be closed, as outlined
in committee manuals.
Chairs are welcome to invite a guest “expert” to address the committee.
Former Chairs make great visiting experts. However, all visiting experts
must be in compliance with the Policy for Service on Award Committees.
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5. Suggestions and Nominations
Not all committees utilize suggestions and
nominations. Specifics for your committee
will be discussed in the breakout groups.
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Committee Chair’s Responsibilities
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Chair creates a calendar with deadlines for suggestions and nominations,
following the guidelines in the manual for dates.
Chair compiles a cumulative suggestions list with newly added titles
highlighted. Chair turns around the list in a week or less.
Suggestions are anonymous.
Titles may be removed from the Suggestions List at the Annual Meeting, but
only on request of the person or persons who suggested them.
Follow procedures for nominations as outlined in the committee manual.
Beginning in September, Chair begins forwarding the cumulative
suggestions/nominations lists to Caroline.
Chair calls for final suggestions of titles received after the December
nominations are submitted.
At the Midwinter Meeting only nominated titles and late suggestions are
discussed by Caldecott, Newbery, Sibert, and the Notables committees.
Odyssey discusses nominated titles only. Batchelder, Belpré, and Geisel
discuss suggested and nominated titles.
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Participation of the ALSC Membership
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Suggestions from the ALSC membership-at-large are an important source
of titles.
The Chair will place a notice on the ALSC-L electronic list and on the ALSC
blog; the ALSC Program Officer will post a notice on the ALSC website, in
the newsletter ALSConnect, and in Children and Libraries: The Journal of
the Association for Library Service to Children.
The Chair may place a notice directly on ALSC-L; the notice for the ALSC
Blog should be submitted to the ALSC Blog Manager at
[email protected].
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Sample Membership Suggestions Notice
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ALSC Personal Members are invited to suggest titles for the 2013 Robert F.
Sibert Informational Book Award given to the most distinguished
informational book for children published in the United States during 2012.
Please remember that only books from this publishing year are under
consideration for the 2013 award.
You may send recommendations with full bibliographic information to
(Chair) at (email).
The award will be announced at the press conference during the ALA
Midwinter Meeting in January 2013.
For more information about the award, visit the ALSC website at
http://www.ala.org/alsc/. Click on “Awards and Grants” in the left-hand
navigation bar; then click on “ALSC Book & Media Awards.” Next, scroll
down to the “Sibert Medal Home Page” to learn more specifics about the
award.
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6. Committee Budget
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$400.00
Covers photocopying, supplies (post-its, notebooks, dividers, etc.),
telephone (including conference calls), postage, and hotel Internet
access (in sleeping room only) for Chairs during conferences.
Submit original receipts and completed Form A: Request for
Reimbursement (found in the DLM) to Caroline in the ALSC office.
If committee members are sharing books and media, they can submit
original receipts from postage to the Chair for reimbursement. Chair
will then fill out Form A for their reimbursement so she or he can track
expenses.
Tip: Request duplicate receipts from hotel so you can submit an
original and keep one.
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7. Committee Members
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Attendance at Meetings and Resignations
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Committee members must commit to attendance at the Annual and
Midwinter meetings, must be up-to-date on their division dues, and must be
registered for the conference.
A resignation to the ALSC President must be tendered in the event a
committee member is unable to attend a required meeting.
The President shall then appoint a new committee member to fill the
vacancy.
If a suitable replacement cannot be found in time for the Midwinter Selection
Meeting, the committee will operate one member down and will have to
reformulate the voting process to vote one member down. Refer to the
award manual for guidelines.
The timing of the resignation may determine the course of action.
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Concerns About Committee Members
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These are most often related to a lack of communication and failure to meet
deadlines.
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If possible, talk to the member on the phone about concerns.
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If the situation doesn’t improve, contact the PGC.
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Unforeseen personal and professional circumstances arise that may
interfere with a committee member’s service; there is no shame in stepping
down.
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Rosters
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The list of committee members on the ALA website includes names only.
The information shared with publishers will be taken from the ALA membership
records. Please have your members double-check that their ALA member record is
up-to-date ASAP.
A member may update his/her record online at www.ala.org. After logging in, and
click “update your profile.” S/he may also call the Member & Customer Service
Department at 1-800-545-2433, ext.5 or email [email protected]. Be sure it is an
address where you can receive numerous shipments of review material.
Provide an address that is usable for the length of the entire term. It takes several
weeks for publishers to update their inventory systems, with changes resulting in lost
shipments.
Chairs will be sent a draft roster for verification before addresses are sent to
publishers.
The Chair verifies addresses with their committee preferably before Midwinter, but no
later than the end of the Midwinter Meeting. If any changes are needed, the Chair
has the member update their record immediately.
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Change of Address
• If a member should need to change his/her address, the member
updates his/her member record with ALA as previously mentioned.
• The member contacts the chair one month prior with details of
address change. Chair then notifies ALSC Awards Coordinator
Caroline Jewell.
• Caroline will send an e-mail to publishers and notify them of the
change.
• Member should routinely check the old address for any missed
shipments.
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Conflict of Interest
• Review the conflict of interest policy included in the manual with
committee members at the first optional Midwinter meeting and/or at
the required Annual meeting.
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Email Within the Committee
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As a practical matter, email is not used for substantive discussion. It is not
a substitute for face-to-face book discussion. During the year, committee
members may wish to discuss matters of concern having to do with
eligibility or factual errors in a book. Questions on such matters are directed
to the Chair who decides whether or not to bring a particular question to the
full committee.
Since the committee’s electronic communication is generally confidential,
take measures to insure confidentiality. For email, include the word
“confidential” on the subject line or as part of the transmission options.
Some committees select a “code phrase” that does not include the
committee name.
Alert committee members who work on public or shared computers that
they must find a way to maintain confidentiality.
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Confidentiality
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Feel free to express your personal opinions about books/media.
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However, ALL committee discussions, in person AND online, are
confidential. This requirement for confidentiality does not expire; there is no
time when committee confidentiality may be breached.
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Reviewing and Blogging
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Committee members who review for professional journals may continue to
do so, as long as they do not review books in the context of the awards.
ALSC leaders advise that committee members avoid reviewing eligible
books during their term of service. Since we understand that this is not
practical for those who review full time, we leave this to the judgment of
individual committee members.
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Committee members who blog or participate in other forms of social
networking are asked to observe the same standards for confidentiality that
they would for any other kind of written or oral communication related to the
awards. Committee members cannot discuss award committee work and
cannot discuss eligible books in the context of the awards.
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Committee members on social networking sites or other similar sites should
avoid posting hints such as a photograph of their bookshelves filling up with
materials under consideration.
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8. Receiving Materials
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Relationship With Publishers
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Feel free to accept invitations from publishers for meals, etc., as long as
they do not interfere with committee meetings. However, do not solicit
invitations.
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Let publishers know that eligibility issues are decided in committee and are
confidential. Refer publishers to the award manual and Priority Group
Consultant. As chair, publishers may ask you if a particular item is eligible,
and the standard response is that eligibility issues are decided in committee
and remain confidential, and all materials published within the award time
frame are considered. You will not be able to reveal whether or not an item
was determined to be eligible.
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Requesting Materials From Publishers
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Publishers submit books as a courtesy.
A condition of committee service is that committee members have access to
eligible materials.
The PGC and the committee chair can make requests; committee members
CANNOT.
Make requests after materials have been published. You should start to receive
review copies in the spring. However, committee members should not wait for
publisher submissions. They can begin by reading reviews, looking at publisher
catalogs, Amazon.com, and can utilize their library, ILL, or visits to the bookstore
to obtain or look at books.
Use diplomatic language (“We want to make sure we haven’t missed anything.”)
Request two copies: one for the ALSC office, the other for the chair to share
with committee members and if possible, books for each committee member.
Copy requests to your PGC and Caroline to keep them in the loop.
Many of the larger publishers will send copies to all members but smaller
publishers may not.
The ALSC Office has a listing of book publishers and audio/video producers’
marketing contacts that they will send to Chairs in the spring.
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Author, Illustrator, and Publisher Eligibility
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Refer to your committee manual for the current terms, criteria, and definitions,
including the Appendix: EXPANDED DEFINITIONS & EXAMPLES, rather than to
precedent or past winners to determine eligibility.
It is important for committee members to check on the eligibility of both the publisher
and author/illustrator of the work--the year of publication, the citizenship and/or
residency of the author, and the locale of the publisher (or in the case of Carnegie,
producer).
Chairs and committee members are empowered to do their own research and make
eligibility decisions within the committee. In some cases there may be a need to
request additional information from the publisher. Please remember that all eligibility
decisions are confidential.
In ambiguous cases, committee members notify the Chair who consults with the
Priority Group Consultant on eligibility questions. Occasionally the PGC and Chair
will refer questions to the ALSC Executive Committee for a final eligibility
determination.
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Book Eligibility: Original Work and New Formats
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The intent is to insure that a book is a NEW creation, and not a re-creation from
some other work.
This does not mean that some minor portion of the work cannot have appeared
elsewhere. It does mean, however, that no significant part of the book under
consideration was originally part of another work.
Not all cases are clear-cut, and each committee must make its own judgments
about originality.
New formats (e.g., books that first appeared on a blog or website) can make
eligibility issues particularly tricky.
Where consensus is not easily reached or is especially contentious, the Chair
should discuss the issue with the Priority Group Consultant.
The Priority Group Consultant may also consult with the President, the
Executive Director, the Board or previous chairs.
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Self-Published Books
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Self-published authors and illustrators can be extremely persistent.
Since rosters are no longer published online, individuals interested in
submitting works (books/recordings/videos) for consideration must contact
the ALSC office. They will be given details on sending their works to the
committee Chair and the ALSC Office, not to the entire committee.
You may be contacted repeatedly for feedback. It is best to refer the
individuals to the award terms and criteria on the website.
If you are asked for confirmation that their works have been received, it is
fine to say, “Due to the volume of mail, receipt of submissions cannot be
acknowledged. All books received are read and evaluated by committee
members.”
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Questions?
You and your committee members will undoubtedly have more
questions as you progress with your work. Where can you go for
answers?
- This presentation – please save it for future reference
- Your committee manual
- Previous committee chairs
- Your Priority Group Consultant
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