ALA American Library Association RUSA Home Page Search Contact ALA Login
	Go to Section news directly: BRASS CODES History MARS RSS STARS

Spring 2004

BRASS Notes

Gary White, Editor

The ALA Midwinter conference in San Diego provided many exciting opportunities to interact with fellow business librarians and to learn new things. BRASS continues to offer a broad array of activities and events at each conference. Below are just a few of the highlights from some of the BRASS committees. Those interested in attending BRASS events, or joining a BRASS committee, are encouraged to visit the BRASS Web site (http://www.ala.org/rusa/brass) and to contact me or Michael Oppenheim, BRASS Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect. I look forward to seeing current and new BRASS members in Orlando!
Gary White, BRASS Chair

BRASS Workshop

BRASS sponsored an all-day workshop entitled "Business Librarianship 101: Core Competencies for Business Librarians" on Friday, January 9, 2004 that drew 54 attendees. This is the second time that BRASS has offered this successful workshop. Speakers included Irwin Faye, Diane Zabel, Rebecca Albitz, and David Flynn. Gary White served as moderator. The BRASS Education committee is working on sponsoring this workshop at future conferences.

Business Reference in Academic Libraries

The Business Reference in Academic Libraries continues its work on "Academic BRASS," a quarterly web newsletter targeting current and aspiring academic business librarians around the globe. Committee members are working on the next issue which is scheduled to include articles on U.S. accounting standards, the status of the GPO in relation to business sources, and the topic of becoming a business reference librarian. Academic BRASS is available on the RUSA/BRASS Web site. The committee also planned for a forum to be held at the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando on business information literacy.
Lisa O'Connor, Chair

Business Reference in Public Libraries

The Business Reference in Public Libraries committee has been working on new bibliographies for the Public Libraries Briefcase, a quarterly column on resources and issues important for public business librarians. The upcoming issue will focus on Web sites for small business and entrepreneurship. The Public Libraries Briefcase is available on the RUSA/BRASS Web site. The committee is also working on a tour for the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando and a forum for the 2005 Annual Conference in Chicago.
Jennifer Mahnken, Chair

BRASS Education Committee

The committee continues its work on the "Core Compentencies for Business Reference" and "Best of the Best Business Web Sites" projects. Both of these projects are posted on the BRASS Web site. The committee is assuming responsibility for planning and organizing future "Business Librarianship 101: Core Competencies for Business Librarians" workshops.
Ann Fiegen, Chair

BRASS Publications Committee

The BRASS Publications Committee approved a proposal from the BRASS 2004 Program Planning Committee to publish a RUSA Occasional Paper. The topic is "Success by the Numbers: Statistics for Business Development." BRASS brochures are now available in PDF on the BRASS Web site, and have been updated to include new items. The committee also reviewed the status of the BRASS Member Publication List, which is posted on the BRASS Web site; a report from the BRASS Webmaster, Karen Chapman; BRASS-L; and the Membership Directory.
Priscilla Geahigan, Chair

Business Reference Services Discussion Group

The BRASS Discussion Group, led by David Bickford and Chris LeBeau, began a lively interaction with the topic "The relationship between business reference and education/training for librarianship. New BRASS members were welcomed at an informal meeting after the discussion group. The Discussion Group meets Sunday mornings 9:30-11:00 at each conference. Attendees can meet to discuss current issues, reference sources, and trends in business librarianship, as well as to visit with friends old and new.
David Bickford, Chair

Business Reference Sources Committee

Another great year for the Business Reference Sources Committee (BRSC). Several new members from both public and academic libraries jumped right to work in San Diego at their first official meeting of the new term. David Flynn continues as chair and column editor of the newest endeavor to publish a column on the most recent outstanding business reference sources. The inaugural column is scheduled for the next issue of RUSQ and work is ongoing for this year's round of nominations, deliberations, voting and writing.

The BRSC also planned, coordinated and hosted another successful Publishers Open Forum. The 2004 Forum focused on product developments for industry information resources and was very well attended in a beautiful setting. The publisher representatives from the International Trade Administration, Mergent, Standard & Poor's, and the U.S. Business Reporter did a fantastic job of working with the guidelines set by the BRSC and speaking candidly about their product plans. Their presentations, as well as notes from the open Q&A, will be available soon on the BRASS web site.

The committee is also busy interacting with publishers about concerns for existing products and ideas for new resources. If you have ideas or concerns, please visit the BRASS web site and fill out the web-based suggestion form. We look forward to your input and to another great year.
David Flynn, Chair

Program Planning Committee 2004

The 2004 BRASS Program for the Annual Conference in Orlando is entitled "Success by the Numbers" Statistics for Business Development." It will focus on International, National, and State statistical sources and feature the following speakers:

Dr. Thomas Hult, Director of the Michigan State University Center for International Business Education and Research (MSU-CIBER). Dr. Hult will talk about international statistics for business, with particular reference to MSU-CIBER's international information portal, Global Edge (http://globaledge.msu.edu/)

Paul Zeisset, from the Economic Planning & Coordination Division of the Census Bureau. Mr. Zeisset has written and presented extensively on the Economic Census. Mr. Zeisset will address federal statistics, with a particular emphasis on the Economic Census and related programs.

Susan Floyd, Program Director for Information and Publication Services with the University of Florida-Gainesville's Bureau of Business and Economic Research. Ms. Floyd will discuss statistics at the state level.

Please join us at the program Monday morning, June 28, 2004. Breakfast is provided by Thomson Financial.
Ryan Womack, Chair

Program Planning Committee 2005

The committee met for the first time to begin planning for the BRASS annual program in Chicago. The topic will be on futures and options. Please check the BRASS Web site for further details as the program is developed.
Kaiping Zhang, Chair

Click on RUSA Update logo to return to RUSA Update Home page.
Click here to return to RUSA Home page.

RUSA Update is compiled and edited by Suzanne Sweeney, Texas Woman's University Library, E-mail: ssweeney @ twu.edu

For questions concerning this site, contact Donavan Vicha,
RUSA Web Program Officer: dvicha @ ala.org

The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) is a division of the American Library Association.