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December 2019
ASERL Launches Shared Exhibit

This past November, ASERL launched its first-ever shared online exhibit to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans sold into bondage in the English Colonies. The exhibit, which was curated by a team of nine archivists, contains more than 100 items surrounding the topic of slavery in the US and its lasting ripple effects.

Entitled, "
Enslaved People in the Southeast," the collaborative exhibit received contributions from 33 ASERL member libraries and 3 HBCU Library Alliance members. Together, these materials take viewers on a journey through the atrocities of slavery and perils of Jim Crow to show just how far we have progressed as a society. 

“It is fitting that there have been many recognitions of the 1619 anniversary,” noted Anne Prestamo, ASERL’s Board President and Dean of Libraries at Florida International University.  “Much of the slave trade happened in the states where ASERL libraries are now located.  As an alliance of research institutions in the region, it’s within ASERL’s mission to share our members’ collections as part of this nationwide effort to commemorate this somber anniversary.”

 

View the exhibit here

ASERL Hires Elaina Norlin as Program Coordinator

ASERL has selected Elaina Norlin, MLIS, to take on the
role of Program Coordinator for Professional Development.


W
ell-known as a speaker and consultant for libraries and other cultural heritage organizations, Ms. Norlin served as Executive Director of the African American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale for 10 years, where she oversaw significant programmatic
growth and community outreach activities. Prior to her work in Fort Lauderdale, Ms. Norlin notably worked with the OCLC, the US Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and the University of Arizona.

In this new role, Ms. Norlin will lead the expansion of ASERL’s highly acclaimed Professional Development programming, including the development of new activities to advance ASERL’s goals for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). A fitting role given that she is c
urrently authoring a book on DEI strategies for the American Library Association.

“I’m looking forward to meeting and working closely with everyone in the ASERL family,” commented Ms. Norlin, who will work from Fort Lauderdale, FL.

ASERL Publishes 2019 Annual Report

 
The 2019 ASERL Annual Report is now available online. 
ASERL publishes statement in support of open science and transparency in scholarly communication & publisher agreements
 
“The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) supports principles of open science and scholarly communication, transparency in contracting, and sustainability in pricing. We believe the MIT Framework for Publisher Contracts, with its six core principles for library contracts with publishers, reflects a global movement of research library leadership to transform scholarly communication as a means of making scholarly content more openly available. ASERL welcomes new partnerships with the research and learning community to develop new and innovative tools in support of these goals.”
 
For more information, please contact Anne Prestamo, President of ASERL’s Board of Directors, or John Burger, ASERL’s Executive Director.
BTAA and ASERL Launch
Library Accessibility Partnership

The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) and he Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) have entered into a two-year partnership to advance accessibility for library electronic resources, with the goal of providing equal access to information for all library users. Since 2016, the BTAA has been conducting third-party evaluations of electronic resource platforms and collections, publicly posting the evaluations for review by vendors and libraries.  As part of the partnership, ASERL and BTAA librarians will work together to increase the accessibility testing work, and to conduct an analysis on the effectiveness and impact of the testing on vendor electronic resources.  The partnership will also explore other accessibility initiatives where they can partner effectively.

Upcoming Webinars

Developing gender-affirming library spaces, systems, services and staff
December 11, 2019 @ 2pm ET | 1pm Central Time 
Nurturing Donor Relations in Support of Special Collections
December 13, 2019 @ 2pm ET | 1pm Central Time 
"By the People" -  An Overview of Library of Congress' crowd-sourced transcription program
January 16, 2019 @ 3pm ET | 2pm Central Time 

ASERL on the Road

ASERL Exec John Burger continues his mission to build rapport across ASERL libraries, with a focus on newly-appointed deans and directors. Image highlights from August and October visits below.
University of Memphis
August 13th
Wake Forest University
August 28th
University of Mississippi
August 14th
University of Louisville 
October 2nd
Mississippi State University 
August 14th
University of Kentucky
October 3rd
accompanied by Bob Fox, Dean of Libraries at University of Louisville and longtime ASERL Board member.

SAVE THE DATE(S)

 
 
ASERL e-Update for Deans & Directors – February 20, 2020, 2pm Eastern Time

ASERL Spring Membership Meeting – May 27 – 28, 2020 – Atlanta Georgia
 
Southeastern Resource Sharing & Scholarly Communications ConferenceSeptember 17-18, 2020 – Nashville, TN
Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL)
Robert W. Woodruff Library
540 Asbury Circle, Suite 316
Atlanta, GA 30322-1006
Telephone: 404-727-0137


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