May 23, 2024

Apply by June 6 for an Amigos Sponsored Scholarship to the 2024 NWILL Conference!
Amigos is sponsoring registration fees for four staff from Amigos member libraries to attend the hybrid 2024 Northwest Interlibrary Loan (NWILL) & Resource Sharing Conference. 

NWILL's Conference Committee is awarding eleven scholarships for ILL practitioners who would have difficulty participating otherwise, and waiving the virtual registration fees for attendees belonging to a federally recognized tribe.

Apply by June 6, 2024 to be considered for a scholarship.

Call for proposals now open for NISO Plus 2024 Global/Online
What are the top priorities and concerns facing your organization? What are the biggest opportunities or risks, and how should the information community address them?
 
Those with ideas to share are encouraged to submit a proposal by May 29 for the 2024 NISO Plus Global/Online conference. To be held virtually September 17–18, the conference is a great opportunity to meet and collaborate with professionals from across the information community and around the world to address the most pressing issues in scholarly communications.

Amigos Board Announces Election Results, Selects Officers for 2024 – 2025

Amigos Library Services is pleased to announce the following individuals have been elected to three-year (2024-2027) terms on the Amigos Board of Directors: Ms. Jennifer Eldridge, Library Director, Longview Public Library (Texas); Dr. Brent Mai, Dean of Libraries, Wichita State University (Kan.); Mr. Brent Schondelmeyer, Deputy Director (retired), Local Investment Commission (Mo.); and Ms. Paula Settoon, Dean of Libraries and Knowledge Management, Tulsa Community College (Okla.). View article for more details.

A Note on Captioning at the Member Conference
Amigos staff apologize for the lack of captioning at the recent Amigos Member Conference (May 15, 2024).

For the past several years, staff have contracted for captioning services at all online conferences. This is an important part of making these events accessible to all learners and it is something that Amigos is committed to providing. For the recent Amigos Member Conference, staff contracted for captioning services through our regular provider. Unfortunately, on the day of the conference, the assigned captioners did not join the day's sessions.

Amigos staff have worked to communicate the issue to the provider and will work to ensure that this does not happen at future online conferences. Conference session recordings - a benefit available to all Amigos member libraries - include a session transcript to support accessibility. 

Missed "Leading. Partnering. Connecting. The Amigos Member Conference 2024"? Register for the recording!
If you missed the May 15, 2024, "Creative Solutions in Cataloging, Acquisitions, and Resources Management", there's still a chance to view the sessions by registering for the recording. Registration is free for Amigos members.

Continuing Education News

Last Chance to register for Cataloging & Classification Basics Course

Registration is closing soon for this five-part course designed for staff new to cataloging or those needing a refresher. This course prepares participants to begin copy cataloging by demonstrating how to interpret bibliographic records and match them to items in hand. Live instruction with hands-on exercises provides ample practice using new skills and an extensive resource list provides access to ongoing reading and reference materials. 

Amigos Online Learning - Discounted for Members

Review the Continuing Education Schedule for the latest additions and updates:

• Metadata Principles and Practices: Metadata Basics
• Cataloging & Classification Basics
• Strategic Communication Planning for Libraries
• Metadata Principles and Practices: Metadata Standards and Types
• Metadata Principles and Practices: Customization and Exchange, Transformation and Migration
• Metadata Principles and Practices: Metadata Relationships
• Metadata Principles and Practices: Micro-Credentialing & Capstone Project
• Metadata Management Tools: Introduction to MarcEdit
• Metadata Management Tools: Introduction to OpenRefine
• Metadata Management Tools: Programming with Python and PyMARC
• Metadata Management Tools: Micro-Credentialing & Capstone Project