Issue 85 (Summer 2009)

APLIC Communicator
Summer 2009, Issue #85

The APLIC Communicator is generally published two times yearly, in January and June, by APLIC.
Editors:
Laurie Calhoun, International Center for Research on Women, 1120 20th St., NW, Ste. 500 North, Washington, DC 20036. Phone: 202-742-1226; Fax: 202-797-0020; E-mail: lcalhoun@icrw.org
Tara E. Murray, Penn State, Population Research Institute, 601 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802. Phone: 814-863-7547; Fax: 814-863-8342; E-mail: murray@pop.psu.edu

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President’s Message

by Kiet Bang, Penn State

APLIC attendees tour the Survey Research Center and ICPSR. Courtesy Mary Panke.

APLIC attendees tour the Survey Research Center and ICPSR. Courtesy Mary Panke.

Another year, another conference, and it went great. This year, APLIC held its annual conference at Ann Arbor, Michigan instead of following PAA to Detroit. Holding the conference in Ann Arbor allowed APLIC to draw upon a rich pool of resources including the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), which is one of the world’s largest collection of secondary social science data, and the Ann Arbor District Library which is known for its innovative use of web 2.0. With the immeasurable help from local planners, Yan Fu and Lee Ridley, and the members of the APLIC board, the conference program included a tour of ICPSR, keynote by Myron Gutmann about the risks and rewards of using spatial data in research, and a presentation on online collaborations by Thomas Finholt. You can read more about individual sessions from conferences reporters within this issue of the Communicator as well as on the new APLIC blog where you can join in the discussion as well.

Speaking of the APLIC blog, it was unveiled at the conference. The blog is the place to go for up to date information about what is happening within APLIC and within the world of libraries, information science, public health, and other topics of interest to APLIC members. There are already some great posts to the blog so I hope everyone will go check it out and join the discussion.

Dallas skyline, courtesy Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau

Dallas skyline, courtesy Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau

Along with the APLIC blog, a new logo for APLIC was also unveiled at the conference. Thanks to the hard work of Joann Donatiello and Kay Willson with in put from the APLIC board and APLIC members, APLIC now has a new logo that better illustrates who we are as a community and what we do. You can see it displayed in Joann’s article in this newsletter and in a blog post on the APLIC blog. Please leave a comment and let us know what you think of APLIC’s new logo.

Next year, APLIC will join PAA in Dallas, Texas for its annual conference. APLIC’s vice president, Claire Twose, will be organizing the conference. If you have any suggestions for topics, possible tours, or a good restaurant in downtown Dallas, please send them to Claire. I am sure she will do a great job and I hope to see you all in Dallas next Spring.

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Reports from the APLIC Annual Conference

Several members reported on their conference experiences on the APLIC Blog:

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APLIC Has a New Look!

by Joann Donatiello, Princeton University

APLIC logo

APLIC’s new logo was unveiled at the April 2009 Business Meeting in Ann Arbor, concluding a year-long process of developing an updated identity for the organization.

Following up on the findings of the “APLIC: The Way Forward” focus group meeting at the 2006 Annual Conference, the APLIC Board decided to keep the acronym APLIC and move ahead with developing a new tagline and logo.

A Brand Identity Committee (Joann Donatiello and Kay Willson) was formed and charged with presenting recommendations for the new look. Various options were presented to the Board and a decision was made to have the membership vote on the final choice. During the Fall of 2008, APLIC members chose “A global network of population information professionals” as the new tagline.

After soliciting bids from three professional design companies, the Board subsequently selected Three Bears Company of Princeton to work with the Brand Identity Committee to design a new logo to accompany the tagline. The firm presented a number of designs, four of which were forwarded to the Board. Of them, the Board chose two, with some modifications, and sent a survey to the membership to make the final choice (shown here).

Look forward to seeing the new logo and tagline on all of our communications in the near future.

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SLA 2009 Conference Preview

by Tara Murray, Penn State

The Capital Dome, Washington, DC. Photo by Jake McGuire.

The Capital Dome, Washington, DC. Photo by Jake McGuire.

The Capital Dome, Washington, DC. Photo by Jake McGuire.SLA will hold its annual conference in Washington, DC June 14-17. The SLA program can be overwhelming – here are a few sessions that may be of interest to APLIC members. Don’t miss the APLIC get-together on Tuesday evening – whether you’re attending SLA or located in the DC area.

Open Access Mandates: From the Front Lines
Monday, June 15, 9-10:30 a.m.
National and institutional open access mandates will be discussed by Neil M. Thakur, PhD, Special Assistant to the Deputy Director for Extramural Research at the National Institutes of Health, and Amy Brand, Program Manager, Harvard University.

Census 2010: Not Your Grandmother’s Census
Monday, June 15, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
A general discussion of the 2010 and the differences between it, past censuses, and the new American Community Survey. What will these changes mean for people who use Census products?

What’s New at the National Library of Medicine
Monday, June 15, 1:45-3:15 p.m.
INFO-EXPO Hall
Staff from the National Library of Medicine will highlight developments in online resources, including updates to Medline/PubMed.

International Reception
Monday, June 15, 6-7:30 p.m.
Embassy of the Republic of Zambia, 2419 Massachusetts Avenue, NW (Free, continuous shuttle provided by Dow Jones from 5:30-7:45 pm., Conv.Ctr., South Building, L Street Entrance)
Meet and greet conference attendees from around the globe and enjoy refreshments.

Implementing Federated Databases
Tuesday, June 16, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Come hear how two libraries have launched a federated search product, from implementation procedures to user feedback.

Interdisciplinary Science and Impact on Information Professionals
Tuesday, June 16, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
As both the soft and the hard sciences become ever more interdisciplinary, how does this affect information professionals who work with and provide services to scientists? Featuring Carol Tenopir, Center for Information and Communication Studies, University of Tennessee, and a panel of librarians.

APLIC Meet-Up
Tuesday, June 16, 5:30 p.m.
Meet other APLIC members in an informal gathering at Co Co Sala (929 F Street NW). Organized by Erin Barker.

Tour: National Library of Medicine & National Institutes of Health Library
Thursday, June 18, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Located on the campus of the National Institutes of Health right outside of Washington D.C., the National Library of Medicine is the largest medical library in the world. This tour will visit both the NLM and the NIH library as well as taking a general tour of the NIH campus. Advanced RSVP required. For directions and to RSVP, please contact Tom Harrod no later than June 17. Please bring $10-15 for a metro train ticket to the venue and for lunch.

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