Dear IAMSLIC Members,

In an abundance of caution surrounding the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic and in keeping the safety of our membership and organization in mind, the IAMSLIC Executive Board has decided to transition the 2020 in person conference scheduled for 11-15 October 2020 in Wellington, NZ to an online virtual conference.  In addition to the concerns for the safety of our membership, at this time there are international travel restrictions in place for New Zealand that will not allow us to facilitate the travel visas and arrangements needed in the coming months.  While we know that this is a disappointment that we will not be able to convene and meet in person in Wellington, NZ as planned, the IAMSLIC Executive Board feels that this is the most prudent and responsible decision for our membership. 

On behalf of both Hannah Russell (local Wellington, NZ host) and myself (2020 IAMSLIC Conference Program Committee Chair), we appreciate your understanding and support during this time.  We hope that we can circle back to New Zealand in the future once international travel is safe and feasible again.  In the meantime, please stay tuned for a call for proposals and an invitation to IAMSLIC’s first ever virtual conference!

If you are interested in volunteering for the 2020 IAMSLIC Virtual Conference Planning Committee, please reply directly to me at hjaime@nova.edu.

Thank you,

Jaime Goldman

IAMSLIC President-Elect & 2020 IAMSLIC Conference Program Committee Chair

Reopening: Not “When?” But “How?”Libraries consider the realities of a post-pandemic world

https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/covid-19-reopening-libraries-not-when-but-how/  

By Cass Balzer | April 17, 2020

We are pleased to announce that IAMSLIC has recently migrated all of its membership management functions to a new, more fully-featured platform and will no longer be reliant on the old custom scripts that previously supported the membership database. In addition, nearly all of the IAMSLIC website content has been migrated to the same Wild Apricot system. While you can still connect to the website via the old URL and navigate to the new site, you should consider updating any shortcuts to use the new URL: https://iamslic.wildapricot.org.

Among the advantages for members are the ability to log in and update one's own contact information and the ability to pay membership dues by credit card using the same system. Access to the Members Area will now also be available when one logs in to one's personal account on Wild Apricot; the generic member password will no longer be needed for access to member-only content.

The IAMSLIC Discussion List and other regional lists will continue to reside on their current platforms. The Resource Sharing system will also remain on the old hosting service for the foreseeable future. When a member wishes to submit an interlibrary loan request via the Z Catalog or Union List of Marine and Aquatic Serials, the generic member password will still be necessary for access to the ILL forms.

This transition has been made possible through the efforts of a migration work group that was convened by the Executive Board and has been busily working behind the scenes for the past several months.