Category: Chair’s Message

Dear PAMily,

I hope you are having a nice Fall! This summer flew by, with the conference and the engaging roundtables and workshops we got to attend. Thank you to everyone for organizing, presenting, and attending. We now have two things coming up:

Firstly, the call for proposals for the 2025 Annual SLA is open, with a deadline of December 6, 2024. More details about the CFP are available at https://sla.org/page/25CFP. We hope to continue the tradition of Physics, Astronomy, Mathematics and Industry Partners roundtables and need volunteers to moderate them! If you are available, please email both Kayleigh (2025 PAM President) and I at your earliest convenience.

Next, with the year coming to an end, we also need volunteers for the PAM committees. Below is the list of current committees. Please email Kayleigh if you are interested in joining or continuing in any of them:

• Awards
• Bulletin Editors
• Hospitality
• Industry Partners
• Mentoring
• Networking
• Professional Development
• Membership

Thank you and take care,

Sarah

Dear PAMily,

I hope you are well and having a nice summer! The annual conference is getting close, and I hope you are able to join us in Rhode Island. The full schedule is available at https://sla.org/page/Program2024_Program. Thank you to all our moderators and speakers for organizing the Physics, Astronomy, Mathematics and Industry Partners RT round tables! Our Hospitality Committee is also working on organizing a PAM dinner — might be slightly different this year ­­— more details are forthcoming. Also, thank you to our wonderful sponsors for their continuing support of PAM.

In addition to the conference, there is a slew of events this summer to keep us engaged with all things PAM. To maximize attendance, the PAM Annual Business Meeting will be held virtually soon after the conference on Monday, July 22^nd at 1 pm EST. the Zoom link will be shared over PAMnet. Please save the date on your calendars. We also have the PAMinars and continuation of the subject roundtables organized by the Professional Development Committee, so I hope to see you often over Zoom.

Warm Regards,

Sarah Siddiqui (2024 PAM President)

Dear PAM Colleagues (i.e. PAMily),

I am very excited about being the PAM President this year and learning more with you all. I wanted to take this opportunity to share updates about the PAM Committees for this year and ask for your participation. The current committee members are listed at the end of this message and also at the PAM Committees website. Thank you all so much for your time and energy; it truly benefits the PAM Community, myself included! I would especially like to thank Lance Utley for being our President over the past two years and his continuing work as past-President and archivist and guide for all things PAM.

We are now starting to plan the 2024 SLA Annual Conference, which will be in-person from July 13-16 at the University of Rhode Island. Early Bird registration ends on April 30^th. You need a code to register for the member discount, available on SLA Connect (which will be replaced with a new platform in March, so perhaps just save it in advance in case of delays with access). There is no online component this year, so it will be very helpful if you could share your plans to attend. This would also help with finalizing dates for the Annual Business Meeting, the SLA conference planners are considering having general business meetings during or outside of the conference dates.

For the PAM sessions at the conference, we can submit proposals for Education Sessions as a community. We would love your participation in planning the topics. The proposals for the Education Sessions are due March 22^nd. We also need moderators for the sessions. If you are available, please email me at ssiddiqui@library.rochester.edu, and take a few minutes to fill out this quick survey to share your plans and ideas: https://universityrochester.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3OYTnImLY82PGnk. 

Finally, you might have heard that Information Outlook has made a comeback. The editorial team is now working on the April edition and has invited PAM members to submit a feature article about the eclipse. The article could be about the science behind the eclipse, interesting facts about the eclipse, the theory of relativity and studies conducted using solar eclipses, or another relevant topic concerning the eclipse. The deadline for the article is April 1^st. Featured articles are 2000-2500 words. There is some wiggle room in the deadline (April 8 if you would like to share experiences instead) and in the word count (can be shortened). Articles should be submitted to Leslie Steele. Do reach out if you would like to contribute, individually or as a group.

Thank you again!

PAM Committee Members for 2024:

Archives

• Archivist: Lance Utley

Awards Committee

• Chair: Nancy Curtis
• Member: Zach Lannes  
• Member: NuRee Lee  

Bulletin Editors

• Editor: Emma Moore  
• Assistant Editor: Jerrel Horn  

Hospitality Committee

• Chair: Lance Utley  
• Member: Jenny Mueller-Alexander  

Membership Committee

• Chair: Brian Quigley
• Member: Anya Bartelmann
• Member: Kira Wyld

Mentoring Committee

• Chair: Jenny Hart
• Member: Mark Chalmers
• Member: Khue Duong

Networking Committee

• Chair and Webmaster: Chris Doty  
• PAMnet Listserv Manager: Lance Utley  

Professional Development Committee

• Chair: Jeffra Bussmann
• Member: Danny Dotson  

Industry Partner Relations Committee

• Chair: John Kromer  
• Member: Emma Moore  

Best wishes,

Sarah Siddiqui (2024 PAM President)

Hello PAMily,

It has been my privilege to serve PAM as president these past two years. And it has been an adventure I shall never forget. I want to begin my final presidential message by acknowledging the people who have helped keep PAM vibrant and active during my term.

First, my thanks to Chris Doty for also taking on the extra year of service, and being an indispensable advisor during my presidency. I appreciate all that you have done, and most certainly would have gone nuts at some point without your counsel and voice of reason. Most significantly, thank you for taking up the reins in my place when I had to miss Charlotte due to that pesky heart attack I had.

During that same episode, Donna Thompson stepped in to also shepherd the Charlotte conference in my absence. Not only that, Donna has been a constant advisor and willing volunteer whenever I have called on her for aid and the PAM 50^th Anniversary Task Force was a success in large part thanks to her turn leading that group. Thank you!

My sincere thanks to everyone who accepted a role on the Board, in committees, moderating, or on our working groups, during my term. I am not going to call everyone out for the sake of brevity, but did want to specifically mention Emma Moore who has agreed to serve an extra year as Bulletin editor. All you volunteers, please know that you have my endless gratitude. You are the REAL reason PAM is awesome!

And thank you to Sarah Siddiqui for jumping in to be president after me! PAM is in great hands for 2024, and I look forward to working with you as advisor in the year ahead. Anyone interested in volunteering this next term should reach out to Sarah at ssiddiqui@library.rochester.edu .

As we look to 2024, I can share a couple updates. A new sponsorship program has been rolled out by Association Headquarters (AH), the new management company of SLA. Communities will need to outline their plans for the year in January, and submit them to AH to register sponsorship opportunities. AH has a form that we are to send to industry partners when we reach out with sponsorship requests, and our vendors will need to send that form back to AH to initiate invoicing. The process is quite different than we are accustomed to, but I think once we work through it, we will find it is more efficient than past methods.

There is still some uncertainty around plans for SLA Annual in 2024, but the tea leaves seem to strongly indicate that we will be at the University of Rhode Island in mid-July. I know the fiscal timing is not IDEAL for everyone (see what I did there?). But I am encouraged by the fact that our association finally seems to recognize we need to be hosting annual conference at smaller, more affordable venues. I do think it is possible we may see some limitations on how many sessions we can have, as a result of a smaller venue- but this truly is a necessity if the association is to survive.

And that does it for me, folks. You all are fantabulous and my life is enriched by each and every one of you, my PAMily!

Love, Lance Utley

Date: July 15th, 2022

Hi Everyone,

At yesterday’s PAM Executive Board Advisory Council Meeting, two items were raised that the Board opted to table until our next Executive Board meeting in the September timeframe after conference. This email is your invitation to comment on the two items before the next meeting.

International Relations Committee

-This Committee has not been formed since the pandemic began. It is our hope that in 2023 the committee’s charge can resume.

-To that end the suggestion was made to reset the Committee’s term of appointment from the September 1 to August 31^st current interval to a January 1 to December 31^st interval.

Awards Committee

-The PAM Awards Committee is charged with administering the PAM awards including the Division and Achievement Awards.

-The suggestion was made to expand the Committee’s charge to include taking an active role in nominating members for SLA level awards.

-The Committee would also monitor eligibility periods for new members to make sure no deserving member misses the early career window for the Rising Star award.

-This effort would not preclude any individual actions to nominate members for SLA awards.

Please email me or any member of the board by September 1, 2022 to share any comments you have on these matters. You can also email the entire Board with the address, pam-board@listmgr.nrao.edu . The board members are listed below.

Sincerely,

Lance Utley

PAM Chair/President

Pronouns: he, him, his

Board Members

Chair: Lance Utley

Past Chair: Chris Doty

Secretary: Ruth Kneale

Member-at-Large/Finances: Rebecca Hutchinson

Director: Alison Verbeck

PAM’s plans for annual conference 2022 Charlotte are finalized. Our four round tables are set, and we have a great slate of speakers prepared for the Community. We hope you will find them all enriching. We also have the traditional slate of social events at which we hope to see you!

Your Hospitality Committee has arranged a First Night Dinner and Last Night Dinner. The First Night Dinner, sponsored by Optica, is at 6 pm on Saturday, July 30^th at Aria Tuscan Grill. The Last Night Dinner, sponsored by SPIE Digital Library, is at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, August 2^nd at Mimosa Grill. Please see the details Chris Doty sent to PAMnet June 16^th. We are incredibly grateful to Optica and SPIE for their generous sponsorship of our fellowship and networking events. Thank you!

The PAM Open House is scheduled for Monday, August 1^st at 6:30 pm. This event is generously sponsored by AIP Publishing. Please plan to come mix and mingle at the Open House and show AIP how much they mean to PAM. We will be cutting a cake in celebration of the PAM 50^th Anniversary. Many thanks to AIP for their support of this favorite event!

No conference would be complete without the IOP Publishing PAM Suite Daily Retreat. IOPP is once again providing a Suite for us to gather in, mingle, unwind, and enjoy each other’s company. Did you know IOPP has been supporting the Suite for well over 20 years!?!? Please plan to stop by repeatedly, join your PAMily on the couch, and catch up. IOPP sent each PAM member personal invites to attend the Suite including all the details, so please be sure to RSVP. This year the Suite will also include a Virtual Suite time for our distant PAMily to gather with us, too. Thank you so much to IOPP for once again providing PAM the beloved Suite for us where the true essence of what it means to be PAMily can be found.

For those staying until Wednesday after conference, there is a PAM group outing at the NASCAR Hall of Fame organized by the Hospitality Committee. Purchase your tickets online in advance and meet at the Hall of Fame at 10 am on August 3^rd. Please see the details Chris Doty sent to PAMnet June 16^th.

All indications from SLA are that sessions and events are now populated to the conference schedule. PAM will also provide Dance Cards to highlight all our events.

Speaking of things you’ll receive… Each PAM member attending conference will receive a 50^th Anniversary lanyard sponsored by American Mathematical Society. You’ll receive a chocolate bar with a special surprise inside sponsored by American Association for the Advancement of Science. The coveted IOP Publishing mugs will be handed out in the Suite and everyone is dying to know what this year’s design is. And to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary, we also have commemorative pins and shiny gold PAM stickers. Finally, those who attend the First and Last Night Dinners will receive Golden Tickets for the end of year raffle. Thank you so much to AMS, AAAS, and IOPP for the swag and your support of PAM!

-Lance Utley, 2022 PAM Chair

Hello PAMily,

I hope everyone is doing well, as spring seems to finally be taking hold in most areas. I wanted to share a few updates before I get into information about Charlotte 2022.

PAM Board

At the most recent PAM Executive Board meeting, February 23^rd, the Board addressed the vacancy created by the resignation of PAM Secretary, Debal Kar. Board governance provides for the opportunity to have a volunteer fill the remainder of an elected member of the Board’s term, should they leave before that term ends. Ruth Kneale volunteered to take on the remaining months of Debal’s term, and the Board passed a motion to accept her into the role of PAM Secretary. Welcome back to the PAM Board, Ruth! Thank you for jumping in.

History Project

The Board also discussed the 50^th Anniversary Task Force’s suggestion to form a task force to begin a PAM history project. After brief discussion, the Board voted to form said task force, and charged it with gathering oral and written history, stories of PAM members past and present throughout PAM’s 50 year history. Please consider volunteering to join to PAM History Task Force. If you are interested in being a part of this interesting project, please email me at lutley@nrao.edu today.

50^th Anniversary

The 50^th Anniversary Task Force continues to plan monthly events in celebration of our anniversary. So far they’ve hosted a trivia and puzzle game night, a Pecha Kucha contest, and a Wikipedia edit-a-thon. For April, the TF is co-sponsoring a Professional Development Committee training session, on making the most of LibGuides. At the 2022 annual conference, PAM attendees can look forward to anniversary commemorative items including a new anniversary pin, special decorations in the IOP PAM Suite, a super celebration at the PAM Open House, and more. After conference, the monthly activities will continue until December when those Golden Tickets you’ve been collecting turn into raffle tickets for prizes.

SLA 2022 Charlotte, Source Forward

Now for a conference update! PAM submitted four educational session proposals to the Annual Conference Advisory Council and all four proposals were accepted. PAM also submitted requests for five events: a First Night Dinner, the PAM Open House, the PAM Business Meeting, a Last Night Dinner, and a group tour. The ACAC is working now to iron out final details of those sessions and events and assemble a final conference schedule. In the meantime, they have offered an At-A-Glance schedule (https://www.sla.org/sla-2022-schedule-at-a-glance/) to give us an idea what the conference will generally look like. The early bird registration rate is available until June 1 and the ACAC has promised a final schedule in early May.

If you attended the recent Town Hall, you heard mention of the contingency plans being drawn up, in the event that local COVID considerations require adjustments to the conference plan. These contingencies consist of: changing an appropriate amount of in-person sessions to on demand; pre-recorded sessions; and possibly needing to restrict the schedule to limit the number of attendees in sessions, the number of sessions one person can attend, and the extent to which one can move about in the conference center. This is just contingency planning.

SLA has every intention of our conference being an in-person experience, with some changes from what we normally expect already in place. Namely, there will be no pre-conference Continuing Education courses, no meetings before conference, and all poster sessions will be virtual only. If you plan to attend virtually, SLA will be hosting one live stream of an in-person session during each time slot of the conference schedule. Virtual attendees will also have access to all on demand sessions, and your in-person registration will include all virtual components.

There is still much to be settled about 2022 Charlotte- as more details emerge, you can expect to hear about them in messages from SLA, and I will continue to provide updates through PAMnet.

Sincerely,

Lance Utley

2022 PAM Chair/President