Conference Reports
ALA Midwinter Conference 1999

STS Continuing Education Committee

The committee is beginning to plan for the Year 2000 Continuing Education Survey, which will be disseminated in a web version as well as via the STS-L listserv.  Committee members hope to share the results more widely than in past years.  It is hoped a committee member will be able to attend the ACRL Professional Development Committee meetings regularly.  Another project of this committee is the Collegial Counsel mentoring program.  The program needs to be marketed, and committee members plan to expand web access to program activities and to create an index by subject expertise. The committee hopes to distribute flyers at STS events to increase its visibility.  A web page is also being planned to provide links to science and technology continuing education opportunities outside of STS.

Submitted by Mary Markland, Acting Chair

STS Forum on Science and Technology Library Research

Decisions were made to emphasize the research aspects of papers by explicit statements in the "call for abstracts" and by requesting that speakers focus on defining terms, explaining methodology, and elaborating on implications of research projects.  Also, an editor from a prominent academic library journal will be in the audience to enhance the energy of the discussion period.

Submitted by JoAnn DeVries (j-devr@maroon.tc.umn.edu) 
STS Research Forum, Co-chair

STS Publications Committee Meeting Highlights

Edward Lener and Heather Moberly agreed to become co-chairs, Ed for 1 year, and Heather for 2 years. Both will continue to serve as editors of the STS Signal newsletter.

Teresa Berry, who has volunteered to join the committee, is willing to serve as listserv co-moderator. Gayle Baker will continue in her role as co-moderator.

Katherine Whitley has agreed to become web editor. The Section's website Updates on ISTL, STS-L, and the STS Signal indicate that aside from a delay in mailing of the last issue of Signal, all seem to be working fine. ISTL had good response to the Albert Henderson article. Committee members discussed ACRL policy which prohibits publishing newsletters on the web prior to publishing the newsletters in print.

Ideas were briefly reviewed regarding improving the web page and the status of ACRL allowing us to put real audio excerpts of programs on the web. Both will be addressed later.

Respectfully submitted,
Janet Hughes
STS Publications Co-Chair

STS 1999 Program Planning Committee

In an effort to encourage more discussion and less of the "talking heads" Format, the committee spent considerable time planning for ways to make the program session interactive.. Two discussion initiators were identified in addition to the three speakers; they are Rick Case, Enterprise Director for SPARC, and Dr. Susan Starr, Associate University Librarian, Sciences & Director, Biomedical Library, UCSD. The Discussion Initiators will open the discussion period by asking a probing question to which panel members and the audience may respond.  Questions from the audience will be directed to the panel with the help of the discussion initiators.  Questions can also be sent in advance of the program by way of the STS listserv (for information see the STS web page {http://aztec.lib.utk.edu/sts/programs/}). Roving floor moderators will facilitate questions from the floor.

Submitted by Dawn Talbot, Committee Co-Chair

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