Connect / Network

American Library Association       

The American Library Association offers a variety of ways to get involved with the library community.

• RUSA STARS (aka Sharing and Transforming Access to Resources Section)
  • STARS hosts a variety of professional development events where you can learn more about the activities of STARS and resource sharing, as well as network with colleagues.
  • A recently published paper in the Journal of Access Services, “Celebrating a milestone: 20 years of sharing and transforming access to resources“, authored by Charles William Gee & Hilary H. Thompson, provides a comprehensive history of STARS.
  • ALA Connect is an online forum for ALA members. While you cannot view ALA Connect without being an active ALA member, this video overview shows a preview of what you could expect.

Conferences       

Below is a list of conferences that are relevant to those in the resource sharing community.

• Access Services Conference:
  • Sign up for mailing list here
  • Information about previous Access Services conferences here
• BLC’s Digital Lender’s Forum:
  • Sign up for mailing list here
• Colorado Resource Sharing Conference:
  • Information about previous conferences here
• Ex Libris Northeast User Group (ENUG):
  • Prior conference archives here
• IDS Network Conference:
  • Prior conference information found here
• IFLA Interlending & Document Supply (ILDS) Conference:
  • Most recent conference information here
  • A video overview of the 2024 Conference can be found here
• Northwest Interlibrary Loan & Resource Sharing (NWILL) Conference:
  • Prior conference sessions found here
• OCLC Resource Sharing Conference (RSC) [please note, only accessible to OCLC members]:
  • 2025 Archives here
  • 2024 Archives here
• Southeastern Resource Sharing Conference:
  • Prior conference sessions here

International Federation of Libraries & Associations       

IFLA offers many opportunities to get involved with the global resource sharing community.

• IFLA’s Document Delivery & Resource Sharing section (DDRS) often hosts online webinars and networking events to bring together the international resource sharing community.
  • DDRS hosts a “get involved” page with suggestions on how to begin working with IFLA colleagues.
  • DDRS also sponsors the Resource Sharing & Collaborative Document Delivery (RSCVD) initiative, which is a fee-free global consortium of volunteer libraries interested in sharing their library resources around the world. 

Listservs       

Below is a list of listservs that are relevant to those in the resource sharing community.

• DOCLINE-L:
  • DOCLINE-L is an email discussion list available from the National Library of Medicine (NLM). it is restricted to registered DOCLINE® users.
• ILL-L:
  • Information on how to sign up for the listserv in the link above.
• OCLC-ILL-C-CALC-USER-L:
  • Information on how to sign up for the listserv in the link above.
• RapidILL Listserv:
  • For RapidILL users, must sign up using RapidILL account.

Durable/Soft Skills       

Below is a list of resources about honing durable and soft skills – an essential component of such an interdependent field!

• Journal Articles:
  • “Soft Skills”: A Phrase in Search of Meaning, by Miriam L. Matteson, Lorien Anderson, & Cynthia Boyden, portal: Libraries and the Academy, v. 16, issue 1, pp. 71 – 88, 10.1353/pla.2016.0009 
  • The X-factor in academic libraries: the demand for soft skills in library employees, by Emy Nelson Decker, College & Undergraduate Libraries, v. 27, issue 1, pp. 17 – 31 https://doi.org/10.1080/10691316.2020.1781725 
• Videos:
  • Career Pathway Talk Series: How to Network Effectively, by the Illinois Library Association
  • NCompass Live: Deploying Soft Skills in the Library Setting, presented by Lacey Rogers, sponsored by the Nebraska Library Commission
  • Relations, Not Just Technologies: Why Connections Matter for Global Resource Sharing, by Peter Bae, Ibrahim Farah, and Sara Arnold-Garza, sponsored by IFLA DDRS