March 03, 2025

In This Issue:

• Save the Date: 2025 WRLC Annual Meeting
• Stay Connected: Join the New WRLC Events Listserv!
• Reparative Cataloging Updates
• Instruction Interest Group Meeting
• WRLC Job Listings

We are excited to announce that the WRLC Annual Meeting will take place on May 20-22nd, 2025.

This three-day event is an opportunity for us to come together as a community and celebrate our achievements, share our experiences, and plan for the future.

We are planning a packed agenda filled with engaging discussions and opportunities for networking. Whether you are a new member or a long-time supporter, you won't want to miss this chance to connect with your colleagues and peers.

In next month’s newsletter, we will be sharing more information about the program, and how to sign up to be a presenter. In the meantime, we encourage you to mark your calendars and plan to join us for this exciting event.

We look forward to seeing you in May!

- WRLC Sharing Expertise Committee

We’re excited to announce a new communication tool designed specifically for our library community: the WRLC Events Google Group listserv. This platform is your go-to source for sharing and receiving timely updates on events relevant to our consortium.

Why Join?

While our monthly newsletter keeps you informed, events and opportunities can pop up at any time. The WRLC Events listserv ensures you are always in the loop. Whether it’s a hands-on workshop, an insightful webinar, or a collaborative networking event, you’ll be the first to know.

How It Works:

• Timely Updates: Receive email notifications about events as they are announced.

• Community Engagement: Easily share your own events and insights with fellow library staff across the consortium.

• Easy to Join: Simply visit https://groups.google.com/a/wrlc.org/g/events/about and sign up: it’s quick and straightforward! If your organization is not on the Google Workspace platform, email Joel Shields at shields@wrlc.org to request to be added.

Your Participation Matters

Your active involvement directly impacts our community. By joining and contributing to the listserv, you help create the opportunity to share your expertise, ask questions, and learn about new initiatives from colleagues across the consortium.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to connect and collaborate. Join the WRLC Events listserv today and be a part of our engaged, dynamic library community.

Each month, members of the Reparative Cataloging Subgroup take turns sharing news related to reparative cataloging and recent updates to the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSHs). Here is what’s been happening in the last few months:

Recent LCSH Changes:

• Tentative LCSH changes:

  • LCSH is updating any headings or language that has transgender or transsexual to trans people.

    • NOTE: If you’re looking at the tentative or approved lists sometimes you’ll see multiple ones in a month. They are changing how they are handling projects so anything that has multiple headings would be addressed (in this case 70 headings that would be updated to trans people).

  • They have updated classification numbers for Family special classes of gender non-conforming people.  

  • Changes references for Adiwasi Oriya/Odia language (Adiwasi Oriya language > Adivasi Odia language)

• Approved LCSH changes:

  • Updating Hermaphroditism to Intersexuality

    • Changing subject cutter from BM496.9.H47 to BM496.9.I58

• Approved Genre/Form terms (LCGFT):

  • 155 Seinen manga    [gp2024026089]

    • 555 BT Manga

  • 155 Bio-bibliographies    [gp2024026090]

    • 455 UF Biobibliographies

    • 555 BT Bibliographies

    • 555 BT Biographies

• The subgroup is aware and actively working on addressing how the recent name changes for the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Denali back to Mt. McKinley affects our records as a consortium. More information about this matter will be addressed at a later time.

NZ (Network Zone) Preferred Term Corrections:

Numbers in () indicate how many bibliographic records in our NZ were updated with this change.

• Paraplegics changed to People with Paraplegia (40 bibs)

• Paralytics changed to People with Paralysis (22 bibs)

• Quadriplegics changed to People with Quadriplegia (38 bibs)

• Racially mixed changed to Multiracial (1,231 bibs)

• Elgin marbles changed to Parthenon sculptures (29 bibs)

WRLC SACO Funnel:

Steps to develop a SACO Funnel at WRLC are underway!

On February 13th, a virtual Lunch & Learn event on SACO was held, going over the basics of what SACO is and what to expect being a part of a SACO Funnel.

Video records and slides will be available on Basecamp at a later time.

Plans to have the first funnel meeting this Spring are underday. If you’re interested in joining, please fill out the following Poll to attend.

For more information about this program, visit the Library of Congress’ SACO Funnels website.

What to know more about the world of Reparative Cataloging?:

Here are some helpful resources related to our line of work!

• ALA Core Interest Group Week March 3-7, 2025 (Free!)

  • Cataloging and Classification Research Interest Group (3/4 at 1 pm) Registration Link

  • Cataloging Norms (3/6 at 2 pm) Registration Link

• Repairing and Restoring Cultural Memory: The Library of Congress’s Ancestral Voices Initiative a Decade Later. (3/4 at 10 am) Registration link

• LACUNY Cataloging Roundtable: Panel discussions on “Metadata and Inclusion” (2/7/25)

  • Recording

  • Passcode: X*432fu?

See Something, Say Something:

WRLC Reparative Cataloging Subgroup is committed to repairing any problematic headings in our shared catalog by evaluating and suggesting replacement or alternative headings.

If you see headings or descriptions that you feel should be updated or changed, please submit the Reparative description heading reporting form created by the subgroup or join us at our next meeting in May!

April 22, 2025

Do you currently provide library instruction or have an interest in library instruction? Consider joining the WRLC Instruction Interest Group. If you are like us, you’ve probably had a fair share of successes and challenges teaching students and interacting with faculty members. We’d love to discuss them.

The goal of the Instruction Interest Group is to share teaching techniques and strategies between WRLC librarians. The group meets every 2-3 months with an overall topic determined before each meeting. A reading related to the meeting's topic is provided beforehand. Our next meeting will be April 22nd at 10am via Zoom. The meeting's topic is instruction assessment.

If you are interested, please fill out the interest form below or contact either Charles Gallagher (Gallaghercha@cua.edu) or Ben Cushing (cushingb@cua.edu).  

• Collections Strategist – The George Washington University

• Research Services Librarian for Business and Data – The George Washington University

• Data Services Librarian – The George Washington University

• Library Systems Supervisor – WRLC

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February 03, 2025

In This Issue:

• Aaron Krebeck Named as Deputy Director
• Sunsetting Islandora
• Alma Sandbox Refresh
• Register for webinar featuring UDC's Meghan Kowlaski
• How the Gallaudet Archives Assisted the Deaf President Now! Documentary
• WRLC Job Listings

Effective Feb 1, 2025, Aaron Krebeck will take on a new role as WRLC's Deputy Director.

In this position, Aaron will be responsible for integrating Information Technology and User Services staffing and operations into a single unit. Aaron will apportion resources to support the new WRLC Strategic Plan, library partner needs, and WRLC committees.

As part of the WRLC Leadership Team, Aaron will work closely with the Executive Director and Director of Finance and Administration to ensure that WRLC provides sustainable and cost-effective services.

Aaron came to WRLC in 2014 as Digital Services Librarian. In 2019, he stepped into a new position as Director of Library and User Services. Upon the retirement of Mark Jacobs in 2022, Aaron served as WRLC's Interim Executive Director through May 2023.

Congratulations Aaron!

On January 6th of this year, WRLC shut down the public interface of our shared Islandora environment. Home to more than 65 terabytes (TB) of shared digital books, documents, photos, audio, and video objects, this platform served the WRLC community for nearly ten years! Going live in the summer of 2015 with just 4 TB of content, the platform benefited from active and engaged collaboration between 5 WRLC partners. As the storage volumes increased to include institutional repository content, oral histories, and video, the number of partners also increased. During its life, WRLC Islandora was home to collections from DC Public Library, National Security Archive, and the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI). The end of life date for Islandora's Drupal 7 backbone meant all tenants would need to move to a new digital collections platform. While the I-5 (as they were collectively known) decided to go their separate ways, Islandora stands as an important consortial achievement and a testament to collaboration. Aaron Krebeck would like to thank Don Gourley (WRLC), Leslie Nellis (AU), Shanyun Zhang (CUA), Christopher Shea (GAL), Mason Yang (MU), and Michael Fitzgerald (UDC) among many others for their contributions to the success of this service over its lifetime.

Twice per year, Ex Libris refreshes all Sandbox environments. A refresh means that all data and configurations are copied from the corresponding production environment to the sandbox; these replace any data and configurations already existing in the sandbox.

Our first refresh of the new year is scheduled for Sunday, February 9th, 2025.

WRLC will do its best to recreate all consortial user accounts created in the past six months (login information will be emailed to all applicable users), but if you find that you do not have access to the sandbox after Tuesday, February 11th, you can fill out the WRLC Sandbox Access Request Form to request a new sandbox user account.

Libraries thrive because of the amazing people behind them. However, library professionals often focus on their organizations without promoting themselves, which can hinder individual growth and limit organizational potential. In this session, Kowalski will explore how to amplify your team by identifying their strengths, promoting their work, and helping them overcome challenges like self-doubt and imposter syndrome. She will also discuss the mutual benefits of promoting others for both individuals and organizations. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to highlight their team’s skills and projects, fostering growth and collaboration within and beyond the library community.

Panelist:

Meghan Kowalski is the Outreach and Reference Librarian at the University of the District of Columbia. Previously, she worked at The Catholic University of America's Mullen Library where she held positions in both public and technical services. She is the author of the newsletters “Content Prompt” (https://contentprompt.substack.com) “The Weekly Wrap” (https://meghankowalski.substack.com/). You can also visit her website (www.meghankowalski.com) to see a portfolio of her work and read her blog.

When Gallaudet alum Nyle DiMarco, ’13, began developing his new documentary, Deaf President Now!, he contacted the Gallaudet University Archives to ask if they had any historical items to share.

Archives Director Jim McCarthy laughed.

“Of course, we had plenty,” Jim recalls. “After talking with Nyle, there was no question whether or not Archives would be involved. It worked out quickly, and we started sharing materials.”

Deaf President Now! will premiere on January 28 at the Sundance Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. The film captures the Deaf President Now (DPN) protests in 1988 through interviews and archival footage. It was made possible with the help of the Gallaudet Archives, a rich library of over 2,000 historical items. The Archives library captures not only Gallaudet history, but also the history of the Deaf community.

Jim loves seeing new Gallaudet students experience the Archives for the first time. “My favorite part of this job is connecting with the community,” he says. “Gallaudet has an important role in American Deaf history. It’s not just Gallaudet history. It’s my history. My daughter’s history. Your history, too.”

After the Gallaudet Archives staff agreed to support the film, executive producers from award-winning Concordia Studios flew to Washington, D.C. The Archives team brought out all the DPN materials they had. Together, archivists and producers spent a week going through old memorabilia, photos, and hundreds of hours of video footage.

The footage included captures of the DPN protests in action, as well as some negotiations that happened behind closed doors between the protest leaders and Gallaudet administration. While it was fascinating, the sheer amount of footage was too much for even a dedicated historian like Jim. “I didn’t watch all of it. I have a full-time job!”

After Concordia Studios identified the materials they wanted to use in the film, the Archives team carefully packed it up and shipped it across the country to Los Angeles, where the film was produced. In Los Angeles, a dedicated archivist scanned photos and converted old footage into digital files, then shipped everything back to Washington, D.C. The back-and-forth continued for over a year.

“We really cherish our collection,” Jim says. “Sending so much of it cross-country required a lot of trust. We had to weigh the risks and benefits to the community. It was a hard decision to make. I’m proud of what we did.”

Jim felt relieved when he realized the level of detail Nyle and the producers were seeking. “They asked us lots of questions, like, ‘What type of TTY was used in 1988? What brand? What did it look like?’” The Archives team scoured old DPN photos and found some that showed a TTY in detail. “The producers wanted that specific TTY, and we had it in our collection,” Jim says. It was shipped to Los Angeles for display in the film. “When you watch the film, the items in it are the real deal.”

It wasn’t easy, but thanks to the Gallaudet Archives staff, the entire world will soon see the trailblazing impact of Deaf President Now. How does Jim feel now?

“One and a half years of work! I’m looking forward to watching the movie!”

• Library Systems Supervisor - WRLC

• Library Associate I: Evening Circulation & Stacks Maintenance - Marymount University

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Job Announcement:

Library Systems Supervisor

Available: March 1, 2025

WRLC is seeking a Library Systems Supervisor to be responsible for management of  IT systems in support of our mission to facilitate responsive solutions for nine libraries in the Washington, DC metro area. The Supervisor will collaborate with WRLC staff and contractors to ensure that the cloud and on-premises systems and networks are secure, cost effective, and meet the evolving priorities of the WRLC. The individual selected will participate in the administration of our virtual servers and Library Services Platform, and will provide support to WRLC staff and partner libraries. The Supervisor is responsible for two FTE staff as well as contractor staff.  This is a full time position (M-F) in a hybrid work environment.

We seek candidates who are excited by the opportunity to generate collaboration and engagement among colleagues across the Washington, DC area. The ideal candidate brings strong organizational skills, builds strong relationships, has exceptional communication skills, has the ability to synthesize information, and see the big picture.

WRLC strives to provide competitive and cost-effective benefits for its employees, as we recognize that benefits greatly impact the economic and personal welfare of employees.  Please see the WRLC Benefits Summary page for details.

The Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) was established as a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization in 1987 to support and enhance the library and information services of universities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It aims to do this through expanding coordination of a cooperative network between research libraries in and around Washington. Major services provided include information technology supporting library operations and resource sharing, access to online resources, shared collection management, and an offsite storage facility that supports access and preservation of materials. The WRLC staff work from a facility located around Bowie, MD.

The WRLC is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

• Salary range: $120,000 - $135,000

• Please email your resume, a cover letter outlining your relevant experience, and contact information for at least three professional references to: personnel@wrlc.org

For best consideration submit materials by February 14, 2025

For the full position description:

https://wrlc.org/jobs/library-systems-supervisor

January 13, 2025

In This Issue:

• Retirement Announcement
• Shared Print Partnership: Announcing Vision, Mission, and Strategic Directions
• Happy Public Domain Day 2025!
• ELUNA learns 2024 - Resource Management Presentations
• WRLC Job Listings

After two successful runs as our Director of Information Technology, Don Gourley has announced his plans to retire from WRLC at the end of February 2025.

Don's arrival at WRLC in 1998 was well-timed as it coincided with the consortial Voyager implementation. Don brought expertise that was critical in solving significant systems and network problems, while working strategically with WRLC staff, library staff and Endeavor staff to launch the system successfully. Don departed WRLC in 2008, but returned in 2015, again in time to provide leadership for the transition to Ex Libris and implementation of Alma and Primo.

Over the years, Don has amassed an impressive record for leading technological innovation at WRLC to benefit libraries and their users.  Most recently, Don led the migration of the WRLC data center operations to the cloud. Don's colleagues say that they have valued, " his understanding of the full range of IT operations", "his openness to creative solutions", and "his ability to teach and discuss IT issues with non-technical staff".  Thank you and all the best Don!

The Shared Print Partnership Bridge-Year Executive Committee (BYEC) is delighted to announce the successful completion of the organization’s Vision, Mission, and Values. This marks a milestone in advancing the organization’s foundational principles and strategic goals.

Advancing the Merger Plan

Charged with implementing the Merger Plan, the BYEC has been working to establish strategic priorities for the Shared Print Partnership (SPP). The development of the Vision, Mission, and Values was informed by key contributions, including the outputs of the Merger Summit hosted by CRL in Summer 2023 and insights from the Merger Implementation Task Force.

Strategic Directions to Guide the Future

Building on the SPP Vision, Mission, and Values, the BYEC is pleased to unveil the Strategic Directions for the organization. These directions reflect the core priorities of SPP and will serve as a framework for resource allocation and mission fulfillment. As external factors and internal capabilities evolve, so too will these strategic directions, ensuring they remain relevant and impactful.

We Value Your Feedback

Your input is vital to shaping the future of the Shared Print Partnership. We invite all stakeholders to review and comment on the Strategic Directions via our Google form. The form will remain open through Friday, February 7.

Stay Connected

For updates on the SPP BYEC’s work, including access to public meeting notes, visit our Committee page. Additionally, if you have questions or need further information, please reach out via the Contact Us form on our website.

Sincerely,

The Shared Print Partnership Bridge-year Executive Committee

• Joseph Hafner (co-chair), Dean of Libraries at York University

• Scott Warren (co-chair), Senior Associate Dean for Research Excellence at Syracuse University Libraries

• Amy Wood, Director of Discovery & Technology at Center for Research Libraries

• Cathy Austin, Interim Director for Collection Management & Strategy at Mississippi State University Libraries

• Heather Weltin, Content & Data Management Lead and Shared Print Program Officer at HathiTrust

• Alison Wohlers, Assistant Director for Shared Print at California Digital Library

After Mickey Mouse’s long-awaited appearance in 2024, Public Domain Day has become an important event on the library calendar. This year is no exception. In addition to more films featuring Mickey and his friends, many new properties are now copyright free. Works from 1929 including All Quiet on the Western Front, The Sound and the Fury, and A Room of One’s Own are now open to all in the United States. Also sound recordings from 1924 (recordings being subject to a slightly different law/timeline) like Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and early songs from Marian Anderson can be freely shared and re-used without permission. These works now provide what Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain describes as a “wellspring for creativity.” Copyright law protects the rights of the original authors, but allowing copyright to expire ensures that “future authors can legally build on the past—reimagining the books, making them into films, adapting the songs and movies.”

Last year, Aaron Krebeck of WRLC created a short film to celebrate the end of the silent film era and to reimagine the artistic work of Agatha Christie and WC Handy. For 2025, Aaron has combined two of his favorite works from this year’s public domain offerings. Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon popularized the hardboiled detective genre. Since its original 1929 publication in Black Mask magazine, the story has been adapted dozens of times for film, radio, and other formats. This year, in place of Sam Spade, you’ll find the private-eye role played by E.C. Segar’s Popeye. The spinach-chomping sailor originally began as a sidekick in Segar’s Thimble Theatre comic strip, but eventually became popular enough for his own comic, cartoons, and other media. Enjoy!

It is important to note that the work of Hammett and Segar are readily available for re-use because they have been widely preserved as part of our shared cultural heritage. Countless other less-famous works from 1929 and earlier only exist for that same purpose because of the hard work of librarians like all of you and shared print organizations like WRLC, the Shared Print Partnership, HathiTrust, and others.

Reparative Cataloging in the Washington Research Library Consortium.

Presented by Jen Froetschel, Metadata Services Librarian, George Washington University; Jacqueline Saavedra, Consortial Network Zone Manager, Washington Research Library Consortium

Librarians across the profession are actively practicing and implementing reparative description in order to mitigate the biases found within our metadata and help highlight work going on around the profession. This session describes the specific reparative cataloging efforts within the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC), and how these initiatives translate to various Alma workflows (authority definitions, normalization rules, local metadata extensions, and local display fields in Primo), as well as initiatives outside of Alma and Primo to communicate ongoing reparative cataloging work across the profession.

Enhancing Your Spreadsheet Reports With "Excel Alma Lookup"

Thomas Ventimiglia, Computing Support Analyst, Princeton University East Asian Library

The "Excel Alma Lookup" tool (https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/appcenter/excel-alma-lookup/) is a free Excel plugin developed by Princeton University Library. It allows users to take a list of identifiers from a spreadsheet (such as MMS IDs, ISBNs, OCLC Numbers, etc.), search for them in the catalog, and output the results in the same spreadsheet. It can be used to extract any bibliographic field from the retrieved records, including those not available by default in Analytics or other reporting methods. This presentation will explain how to set up and use the tool, some common use cases, and new features in development for future versions.

Creating DEIA Activities in Alma for the Cataloging Team at University of Tennessee Libraries

Anchalee Panigabutra-Roberts, Associate Professor and Head of Cataloging, University of Tennessee Libraries; David Scott, Cataloger, University of Tennessee Libraries

At the University of Tennessee Libraries, we created DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility) projects for our catalogers based on their individual interests and expertise. This presentation will highlight individual catalogers’ DEIA projects to enhance access in our local Alma and WorldCat catalogs. Their projects range from enhancing catalog records for a local collection for Black and Latinx music composers, ensuring access to books receiving literary awards from National Associations of Librarians of Color (NALCo), adding DEI-related subject and genre terms from the Library of Congress vocabularies and other vocabularies, such as Homosaurus, to general books', comic books' and streaming videos’ catalog records; to adding and assessing accessibility metadata in videos' catalog records. We will conclude the presentation by linking our projects with the national and international DEIA-related efforts.

Location, Location, Location: Revamping the Request for New Location Process

Margaret Alexander, Core Systems Librarian, University of Oregon

Updated presentation from ELUNA 2024: Are you tired of the same old, boring policy reviews? Do you struggle to find the time to update your processes and procedures? This session will give you an overview of our work to revise and update our "Request for New Location" processes and procedures. We realized our old written process had not been thoroughly revamped since before we moved to Alma and Primo, and our software and policy ecosystem has unsurprisingly expanded and changed since then. Attendees will not only potentially laugh and cry at our trials and tribulations, but may leave with a plethora of ideas that can be applied to your own institutional processes.

• Library Associate I: Evening Circulation & Stacks Maintenance - Marymount University

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January 06, 2025

Happy New Year from the WRLC!

As we step into the new year, the Washington Research Library Consortium would like to extend our wishes for a joyful and prosperous year ahead.

2024 was a year of collaboration, innovation, and shared success across our partner institutions. Together, we continued to advance access to knowledge and resources, supporting academic excellence and research that impacts our communities and beyond.

As we embrace the opportunities and challenges of 2025, WRLC remains committed to fostering collaboration, streamlining access to resources, and empowering our members to serve their academic communities. We look forward to deepening our partnerships and continuing to support your scholarly endeavors.

Warm wishes,

The WRLC Team

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November 18, 2024

Thursday, November 21, 2024, at 1:00 PM

Mark your calendars for this year’s WRLC Fall Forum: Generation Z and the Changing Landscape of News Media Consumption by Kevin Click, Lecturer from the Psychology Department at California State University, Chico. This year’s forum, scheduled for Thursday, November 21, 2024, at 1:00 PM, will focus on how Generation Z - comprising undergraduate students and other emerging adults - approaches news and public information differently from previous generations.

As Generation Z pursues both higher education and civic engagement, it brings a distinct shift in media consumption habits, particularly the increased reliance on social media platforms for news. Unlike older adults, who often turn to traditional news sources, Gen-Z’s preference for digital and social channels creates new dynamics in how information is shared, perceived, and understood. This evolving landscape, coupled with rapid technological advancements, introduces unique challenges to maintaining the integrity and accuracy of available information.

The forum will explore these trends and offer strategies for fostering thoughtful consumption of news in an age of rapid information spread and misinformation.

About the Speaker

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November 04, 2024

In This Issue:

• WRLC Fall Forum: Generation Z and the Changing Landscape of News Media Consumption
• Retirement Announcement
• WRLC's Membership in the Library Accessibility Alliance
• WRLC Job Listings

Thursday, November 21, 2024, at 1:00 PM

Mark your calendars for this year’s WRLC Fall Forum: Generation Z and the Changing Landscape of News Media Consumption by Kevin Click, Lecturer from the Psychology Department at California State University, Chico. This year’s forum, scheduled for Thursday, November 21, 2024, at 1:00 PM, will focus on how Generation Z - comprising undergraduate students and other emerging adults - approaches news and public information differently from previous generations.

As Generation Z pursues both higher education and civic engagement, it brings a distinct shift in media consumption habits, particularly the increased reliance on social media platforms for news. Unlike older adults, who often turn to traditional news sources, Gen-Z’s preference for digital and social channels creates new dynamics in how information is shared, perceived, and understood. This evolving landscape, coupled with rapid technological advancements, introduces unique challenges to maintaining the integrity and accuracy of available information.

The forum will explore these trends and offer strategies for fostering thoughtful consumption of news in an age of rapid information spread and misinformation.

About the Speaker

We're both delighted and a touch sad to announce that Katherine Kilduff, Sr. Software Engineer at the WRLC central office, is retiring effective November 12.

Kathy has been a key part of the WRLC information technology team since she started as a Programmer/Analyst 23½ years ago. She was instrumental in developing and maintaining the Consortium Loan Service (CLS) system that provided so much added value to the Voyager ILS for the consortium.

With the transition from Voyager to the Alma platform, Kathy applied her experience with consortial resource sharing and knowledge of computer systems to lead the configuration of one of the first – if not the first – Alma automated fulfillment networks in production, ensuring that many of the important functions she had implemented in CLS were available in the new system. She has also been supporting a remote storage application that is key to the new Alma SCF institution zone architecture that we implemented with Ex Libris.

Many in the WRLC community know how helpful Kathy has been working through Alma fulfillment issues, developing pull slips and other notices from the system, and resolving hundreds of tickets in our Service Desk system. We all also appreciate the courteous and friendly attitude she has with her colleagues.

Thank you, Kathy, for your incredible contributions to the WRLC. We will certainly miss you, and know you will enjoy your time traveling, gardening, and just relaxing by the pool during your retirement.

Current members include:

• Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA)

• Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL)

• Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA)

• Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC)

• Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation (IPLC)

• Florida Virtual Campus (FLVC)

• University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI)

Together, these groups form a network that strives to make library resources accessible for all users.

Vision, Mission, and Values

The LAA’s vision is to shift library culture and practices toward equality for people with disabilities. With a mission centered on collective empowerment and knowledge-sharing, the LAA’s core values include accountability, cross-disability solidarity, accessible-first design, and a commitment to fostering genuine belonging beyond basic compliance.

The LAA pursues its mission through various key activities, including:

• Independent Accessibility Evaluations: To assess e-resource accessibility, the LAA contracts with third-party accessibility consulting companies. These evaluations are based on WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines and follow a time-limited, high-level review format. While not exhaustive, these assessments identify key accessibility barriers and provide vendors with guidance on improvement. Full reports are published on the LAA’s E-resources testing page, alongside a summary and rating of compliance.

  
  

• Vendor Response: All evaluations are provided to vendors at no charge, and the LAA encourages vendors to submit responses to be included with the completed reports, promoting transparency and accountability in accessibility efforts.

Available Resources

• Training Opportunities: LAA members collaborate to develop open, freely available webinars on accessibility topics relevant to academic libraries. Information on past and upcoming webinars can be found on the LAA’s events page. We encourage you to participate!

  
  

• Toolkits: The Library Accessibility Toolkit is a living document containing resources and tools to support libraries in their accessibility initiatives.

  
  

• Licensing Language: Developed by the BTAA, this model language provides libraries with a framework to address accessibility issues in vendor contracts.

Through these initiatives, the Library Accessibility Alliance is advancing library accessibility by working toward a future where libraries not only meet compliance standards but foster a culture of belonging and inclusion. Visit the LAA’s website for contact information and more on their ongoing work to provide resources that support accessibility in your library.

• Library Assistant - Howard University

• Cataloger - Howard University

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