Would you like to go to ALA 2007 in Washington, D.C.?

The School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Oklahoma, as an official ALA Student Chapter, is eligible to designate one student to the roster of the ALA Student-Staff Project during the 2007 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. To qualify for this project, the student must be a personal member of ALA. Students who have already participated in the program are not eligible.

ALA will provide housing and a per diem in exchange for a total of 20 hours of work (typically four hours per day) during the conference. The student should be available to work on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, June 22-26, 2007. Students will receive a short questionnaire to help match them with appropriate ALA staff. Please keep in mind that students can be expected to perform a range of duties, from the merely clerical, to sales, to use of computers.

If you would like to be considered as the student-staff designee from the O.U. SLIS, please write a short (1-2 page) essay stating why you are interested in participating in this program, what you expect to gain, and why you should be the student from O.U. designated for this project. Please return your essay (as an e-mail attachment) to Maggie Ryan at the SLIS office in Norman by Friday, January 19, 2007 at 5:00 p.m.

Essays will be read by SLIS faculty, whose vote will determine the ALA student-staff designee. The essays will be judged on the overall quality of the essay, the logic of the reasons given for your interest in participating in the program, the provision of realistic and reasonable expectations about what you expect to gain from participating in the program, and the merit of the rationale given as to why you should be the student from O.U. SLIS designated for the project.

Please note that to qualify for this award, you must be enrolled in the program in the summer of 2007. Students completing in Fall 2006 or in May 2007 are not eligible. Students planning to complete the program in the summer of 2007 and who will be enrolled in the summer may apply.

BE ADVISED THAT THE COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION IS SCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2007.

The School will pay the awardee’s airfare, provided the awardee searches for a reasonable rate. Jenifer Fryar in the SLIS office can assist the awardee in finding a flight with an acceptable fare.

NASIG grants & scholarships for library students

The North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) is pleased to announce the beginning of its application cycle for NASIG’s 2007 grants, awards, and scholarships. Every year, NASIG awards student travel grants, awards for promising serialists, scholarships for library school students, and an international award to aid in serials research. Since 1988, NASIG has granted over 130 student grant awards- including 6 grants for Mexican students, 5 Marcia Tuttle Awards for international serials research, 9 Fritz Schwartz educational scholarships, 22 Horizon Awards to recognize up-and-coming members of the profession, and, in 2006, the first ever Serials Specialist award to an outstanding serials paraprofessional.

For more awards information, please visit the NASIG Awards Web page at http://www.nasig.org/awards/. All awards will be presented at the 22nd Annual Conference in Louisville, KY.

NASIG Student Grant Award: This award is open to qualified students in any NASIG member country (defined for this purpose as the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Greenland). Students who are currently enrolled at the graduate level at an ALA-accredited library school now and/or at the time of enrollment, who do not already have an ALA-accredited degree, and who have expressed an interest in some aspect of serials work, are eligible. Through the granting of these awards, NASIG desires to encourage participation in the serials information chain by students who are interested in pursuing some aspect of serials work upon completion of their professional degrees. Expenses for travel within North America, registration, and three nights lodging will be paid by NASIG. Conference registration includes most meals, and a stipend of $75 is intended to offset the cost of meals not included and transportation between the airport and the conference hotel. Each recipient will also receive a year’s free membership in NASIG.

NASIG Horizon Award: The purpose of the NASIG Horizon Award is to advance the profession by providing promising new information professionals with the opportunity to accelerate their knowledge and understanding of serials by networking and interacting with a wide range of dedicated professionals working in all segments of the serials information chain, including vendors, publishers, and all non-traditional serialists. The award provides the recipient with a firsthand introduction to NASIG by sponsoring attendance at the NASIG annual conference. NASIG will pay for all conference registration, three nights lodging, and travel costs within North America. Conference registration includes most meals, and a stipend of $75 is intended to offset the cost of meals not included and transportation between the airport and the conference hotel. In addition, to encourage active participation in NASIG, the recipient will receive a year’s free membership in NASIG and will be invited to serve on a NASIG committee the year following the award. At least one award will be given in 2007.

NASIG Serials Specialist Award: The purpose of the NASIG Serials Specialist Award is to provide a promising paraprofessional with the opportunity to advance his/her knowledge and understanding of serials by networking and interacting with a wide range of dedicated professionals working in all segments of the serials information chain. The award provides the recipient with a firsthand introduction to NASIG by sponsoring attendance at the NASIG annual conference. NASIG will pay for conference registration, three nights housing, and travel costs within North America. Conference registration includes most meals, and a stipend of $75 is intended to offset the cost of meals not included and transportation between the airport and the conference hotel. In addition, to encourage active participation in NASIG, the recipient will receive a year’s free membership.

NASIG Marcia Tuttle International Grant: The grant will provide funding for an individual working in any area of the serials information chain to foster international communication and education through activities involving some aspect of serials such as, but not limited to: research, collaborative projects, job exchanges, and presentation of papers at conferences. Applicants may be either serialists practicing in North American countries seeking funding for appropriate activities involving some aspect of serials taking place outside North American countries, or serialists practicing outside North American countries seeking funding for appropriate activities involving some aspect of serials in North American countries. The grant is named in honor of Marcia Tuttle.

NASIG Fritz Schwartz Scholarship Grant: NASIG awards a $3,000 scholarship to a library/information science graduate student who demonstrates excellence in scholarship and the potential for accomplishment in a serials career. The purpose of the scholarship is to advance the serials profession by providing an aspiring library student who has prior serials experience with enhanced educational opportunities. In addition to the scholarship, the recipient will receive a NASIG Conference Student Grant Award to attend the NASIG conference for the year in which the scholarship is given. Expenses for travel within North America, registration, and three nights lodging will be paid by NASIG. Conference registration includes most meals, and a stipend of $75 is intended to offset the cost of meals not included and transportation between the airport and the conference hotel. The 2007 Annual Conference will be held at the Galt House Hotel and Suites in Louisville, Kentucky, May 31-June 3, 2007. The recipient will also receive a year’s free membership in NASIG.

Funding for Tulsa students

Thanks to Dr. Martens for bringing this to our attention:

Tulsa students have funds available to them (up to $250 per student) for professional development opportunities like attending workshops and conferences. The requirements to obtain this funding are:

• a Tulsa SLIS student representative needs to be appointed to attend the OU-Tulsa Student Affairs (OUTSA) meetings in order to help decide the group’s disbursement of funding [Meetings are held at Schusterman on the first Tuesday of every month at 7:00 pm. The next meeting is December 5th].
• Forms must be submitted with signatures from 1 SLIS faculty member and 2 fellow students. The forms may be found here and here.

These funds are a perfect opportunity for SLIS students interested in attending OLA in April or any library or KM conferences or workshops in between now and then. More information about this process may be found on the OU Tulsa Student Affairs page.

SLA Sternheim Scholarship

From Emi Bevacqua, Chair of the Karen Sternheim Memorial Scholarship:

The Southern California Chapter of the Special Libraries Association is
pleased to accept applications for the 2007 Karen Sternheim Memorial
Scholarship. This annual scholarship is designed to assist a master’s
degree student in an ALA accredited library and information studies
program planning for a career in special librarianship. The scholarship
recipient must be a permanent resident of California or Nevada. However,
there is no geographic restriction on the school in which the student is
enrolled. The amount of the scholarship this year is $3000. The
application deadline is March 16, 2007.

As Chair of the Scholarship Committee, I would appreciate your
assistance in forwarding this email to students and appropriate staff in
your program. Scholarship guidelines along with forms for application
and references, are available online at the following URL:
http://units.sla.org/chapter/csca/sternheim/sternheim.html.
For any questions about the scholarship, please don’t hesitate to
contact me. Thank you, in advance, for your cooperation in widely
publicizing this opportunity to your students.

Scholarships and fellowships to study abroad

From Lisa Portwood in the Center for Student Advancement:

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi recognizes and encourages academic achievement in all disciplines. As part of its mission, Phi Kappa Phi announces a study abroad grant program. Thirty-eight grants of $1,000 each are awarded to deserving students annually. The application deadline is February 15, 2007.

The application and more information about the program can be found at:

http://www.phikappaphi.org/Web/Scholarships/studyabroad.html

We hope that you will suggest this program to deserving students who want to study abroad. For this program students do not have to be members of Phi Kappa Phi.

If you do know juniors or seniors who are members of the society and who are planning to attend graduate school, please suggest they look into the fellowship program. Information about these $5,000 or $2,000 scholarships can be found at:

http://www.phikappaphi.org/Web/Scholarships/graduatefellowship.html

The deadline for this application is February 1, 2007.

Funding opportunity deadlines

Friday, November 17, 2006: Gerd Muehsam Award for art librarianship.

Friday, December 1, 2006: Homson Financial Student Travel Award for business librarianship.

Friday, December 1, 2006: Call for papers for OLA 2007 for anyone interested in presenting a paper or practical application at the annual OLA conference on April 1-3, 2007.

Student travel award to attend ALA 2007 annual conference

The Thomson Financial Student Travel Award is for students interested in a career in business librarianship. The award will provide a student $1000 toward travel expenses to the ALA annual conference in Washington D.C. on June 21-27, 2007. It will also provide a year of student membership in BRASS/RUSA/ALA. See this pdf for more details. Applications are due by December 1, 2006.

A call for papers for OLA 2007

The Oklahoma Library Association is inviting OU SLIS students to submit a paper or practical application to be presented at the annual OLA Conference on April 1-3, 2007. The submission deadline is December 1, 2006. Winners of the OLA-SLIS Student Paper Competition will have their conference registration fees paid for by the Association of Library Students of Oklahoma (ALSO). Guidelines about submission of a paper or project may be found here, here, and at the OLA University and College Division site.

Grants for grad students

From Cordell Cunningham, UOSA:

“Graduate Student Senate (GSS) grants are available for research, creativity projects, conferences, and creative exhibitions taking place from 07/01/2006 through 06/30/2007.The completed application is due no later than 12:00 PM on Friday, October 20th 2006 in the Graduate Student Senate Office, Room 187, Conoco Student Leadership Center (on the first floor of the Conoco Student Leadership Center in the Oklahoma Memorial Union).”

Visit the GSS website for more information.

Gerd Muehsam Award

The Gerd Muehsam Award is annually awarded to a graduate student who has written a paper or created a class project relating to art librarianship. Winners of the award will receive:

• $500
• Up to $300 for travel expenses for attending the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) Annual Conference in Atlanta, April 26-27, 2007
• A waiver for the conference registration fee
• A one year membership to ARLIS/NA

Entries must be postmarked by November 17, 2006. More information about the award may be found here.