Staying in Touch: Activating your group subscriptions in ALA Connect

Have you activated subscriptions for your various communities, groups and committees in ALA Connect?

Activating subscriptions is a way to keep in touch with the dialogue taking place in your groups without having to log into Connect and dig through each group for new posts. This is especially important for interest group memberships–you are not automatically subscribed to a group when you join, so you must manually subscribe.

Below is a step-by-step overview of how to make these changes, and some helpful screenshots from Connect to illustrate the process.

Continue reading “Staying in Touch: Activating your group subscriptions in ALA Connect”

Signatures Needed: Petition for new interest group “Serving Those with Alzheimer’s & Related Dementias”

This post is on behalf of Karen Maki, deputy director at Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, Ill. and Mary Beth Riedner, university librarian (retired), Roosevelt University, Chicago, Ill. If you have questions about this new interest group petition, please contact Karen (kmaki@gailborden.info) or Mary Beth (mbried@comcast.net).

Please consider signing the e-petition for a new ASCLA Interest Group: “Serving Those with Alzheimer’s & Related
Dementias”. Signers must be current ASCLA members who agree to participate in the group. The e-petition can be found at
http://www.ala.org/CFApps/epetition/index.cfm (ALA login required).

This Interest Group would focus on creating, disseminating and implementing guidelines for library services to people with Alzheimer’s and related
dementias. The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) has already established such guidelines and they can readily be adapted for use in the United States.

Every library is currently being affected by this growing population in their communities.  Already one in eight Americans aged 65 and over has Alzheimer’s according to the Alzheimer’s Association and this number will grow as the Baby Boomer generation ages.  There are many related dementias in addition to Alzheimer’s and those often affect people in their 40’s and 50’s. American librarians need to recognize and prepare for the growing number of people with dementia who can still greatly benefit from library resources, especially in the early and mid stages of their disease.

During the first year, this interest group would meet virtually to review and revise the IFLA Guidelines for Library Services to Persons with Dementia.  Interested libraries could begin pilot projects to reach out to this community of users who should not be forgotten.  Proposals can be developed for upcoming ALA conferences.

Thank you for seriously considering participating in this Interest Group and signing the e-petition.