Posterscomrptannual14

IRRT Committee Report Form

Name of person submitting this report: Jennifer Snoek-Brown

Email of person submitting this report: jennifer.snoek-brown@mhcc.edu

Report submission date: __midwinter __X__annual Name of committee: IRRT International Poster Sessions Committee

Name of committee chair (indicate if acting chair): Jennifer Snoek-Brown, co-chair (2013-2014) and Deana Groves, co-chair (2013-2015)

Committee chair e-mail address: jennifer.snoek-brown@mhcc.edu and deana.groves@wku.edu

Date of meeting(s): ALA Annual all-committee meeting June 29

Members present: Jennifer Snoek-Brown, Deana Groves, Valeria Molteni, Sara Rizzo, and Loida Garcia-Febo (who was mostly at other subcommittees, as she is on several!) Virtual members: n/a

Members absent: Jamie Johnston, Mary Kathryn Oberlies

Visitors: John Hickok, who stopped by to let us know that his poster, with his Asian colleagues, was selected as one of the top 20 posters! It was a blind peer review, so we didn’t know it was his poster, but we were pleased to receive this positive feedback!

1. Summary of discussion and action; please indicate activities planned for the next 5 months: (Please note: if planning to raise an issue at the Executive Board Meeting at this conference please talk with the Chair prior to the meeting.) Our committee discussed several items, including: • Logistics and duties regarding the international poster sessions scheduled for the following day, June 29. We divided duties of getting permission and photographing the posters; checking in with Delin Guerra about certificates for the international presenters; and possibly going out and encouraging people to visit the international poster sessions, as we were not in an ideal location in the Exhibits Hall this year. • Follow-up and feedback about how the peer review process went for reviewing the poster session abstracts. The turn-around time for review – which was barely a week this year to review, and narrow down, over 60 abstracts! – was quite tight this year, in part due to the poster session proposal deadline extension, and dealing with a new electronic system. • We were unanimous in continuing to take photographs of the different posters, for inclusion in an album on the IRRT Facebook page, as well as on our subcommittee page on the ALA website.

• We also discussed goals for the next year (or beyond), including: o Gathering samples of well-written proposals to aid international librarians in preparing or writing a poster session abstract. Possible inclusion of “tips and tricks” for international poster sessions on the main poster sessions website/page. o Continuing to seek inclusion of the International Poster Sessions Committee on the ALA Poster Sessions booklet. The names of the reviewers who are part of the main Poster Sessions committee are included, but not the names of the International Poster Sessions committee members, or even a mention of the International Poster Sessions committee’s involvement with one of the main sections of the overall poster sessions. For transparency and openness, it is recommended that we continue to seek inclusion. This would also aid committee members who need documents of their committee activities for processes of promotion, tenure, evaluations, etc.

2. Midwinter Meeting Only: Review current committee roster and list all continuing members and any members whose term will end this year and who wish to be reappointed for a second two-year term. Include yourself if applicable: N/A

3. List names and e-mails of potential new members. Incoming IRRT chair Robin Kear shared the names of three new incoming members.

4. List any members who have indicated interest in serving on another IRRT committee or running for an IRRT office. Include yourself, if applicable. N/A

5. Who would you recommend to serve as chair next year? Indicate if you are interested in serving as chair again. N/A – we have a strong field of chairs and co-chairs for the next two cycles, as Valeria Molteni is incoming co-chair for 2014-2015, and Sara Rizzo will be co-chair for the following cycle.

6. Please write any other comments about the committee's membership here. Follow-up from the international poster sessions on June 29: It was a great success! All of the top 20 international posters were there and set up by the time the session began – most were there early! – and there was a lot of foot traffic in and out throughout the 1.5 hour session time. The student volunteers were very helpful, finding the boxes of extra poster session booklets, and we presented booklets along with the certificates to each presenter. I also noticed several audience members who were seeking out specific posters that they were interested in. We were also able to get photos of each poster, and will send on the photos for inclusion in the IRRT Facebook page and committee page on the ALA website.