The Butler Librarians spent Tuesday (March 10th) of Spring Break
on retreat with their librarian colleagues from Valparaiso
University. Both schools are members of the "Affinity
Group," a group of thirty-three private academic
libraries chosen because of the similiarities among their schools in terms
of size, student population, and curricula. The two-fold purpose of
the Affinity Group is to encourage its members to share annual statistical
data and to provide a forum for the deans/directors of the libraries to meet
each year to discuss various topics of interest relating to academic
libraries. The idea for the Butler-Valpo retreat grew out of
conversations held between Butler's Dean Lewis Miller and
Valparaiso's Dean Richard AmRhein at the Affinity Group Conferences. To
minimize travel time, the retreat took place at Ivy Tech Community College
in Lafayette.
The Butler and Valparaiso librarians shared their
knowledge, experiences, and ideas relating to a variety of topics,
including the changing face of reference interactions and services, information
literacy instruction, digital imaging programs (including "Content
DM" and "Berkeley Electronic Press"), and faculty status for
librarians. Retreat participants found the sessions both enjoyable
and informative!