Member A-LIRT:  Alison Armstrong, Our New Vice-President/President Elect

Preparing for LIRT Presidency in the year 2000 is Alison Armstrong, active and involved in LIRT since 1993.  Alison grew up in Manhasset on the North Shore of Long Island and later moved to Madison, WI, where she received both her B.A. (in English) and her Masters Degree in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin.  She has served as Head of Library Instruction and Co-Chair of the Teaching, Learning Reference Team at the University of Nevada in Los Vegas, and is currently Head of the Training and Educational Services (TES) Department at the University of Cincinnati, where she supervises four tenure-track librarians, a K-12 outreach librarian, and two staff members.  She says, "It's the responsibility of TES to help students, staff and faculty use the libraries and associated technologies.  It's a great job--we're involved with students' learning, we help staff upgrade their technological skills and we work with faculty in the classroom and with their research needs."  The K-12 outreach efforts at the University of Cincinnati are of particular interest.  Funded by grants (i.e., soft money), the program brings teachers into UC to work in partnership with the College of Education and the Library on Information Competency.

Alison decided to point her career in the direction of library instruction because she likes working with people, individually as well as in groups.  She got her start in LIRT through Steve Fitt, an active LIRT member who invited her to a meeting; she felt very much at home and found LIRT a pleasant group of people--so she joined the Organization and Bylaws Committee.  Later she migrated to the Long Range Planning Committee, which she has chaired since 1998.

Her record of presentations is impressive, and covers such topics as "Continuing Students' Web Education: Creating Web Pages in the Classroom" (UC Santa Barbara, 1997), "Creating Classroom Support Material (ACRL, 1992), "Critical Thinking and Information Retrieval" (University of Nevada, 1994), "LCD Panels for Interactive Classes" (University of Nevada, 1993) "The Role of the Library in Providing User Support for Technology on Campus" (ACRL 1999).  Equally impressive is her publication record: articles on "The Flexible Instruction Program: How Demographics Drive the Design", and "Crime in Academic Libraries" are examples.

I asked Alison to tell me about a memorable library instruction moment in her career, and she told me this story--indeed memorable!  As a brand-new librarian at the University of Nevada, she entered a classroom with an equally brand-new portable laptop to give a demo.  Uncertain of the technology, she plugged it in wrong and it blew up!  Literally, with a loud "bang" followed by smoke seeping out the side.  Alison managed to get through the class, then went to her supervisor feeling awful.  Her supervisor asked immediately, "Are you OK?"  He went on to assure her, "It's only a piece of equipment.  It's the people, not the technology that count."  Turned out the damage was minimal--the problem was a 5-cent fuse.

Alison lives with her 14-year-old daughter Drew, and loves reading "trashy" mystery novels in her spare time.  She has a real sweet tooth, but keeps slim by jogging regularly.

So we know that sweets are the way to Alison's heart!  We wish her all the best as she ascends to the LIRT Presidency, and look forward to many years of her valuable contributions to LIRT and to the profession!

Judy Clarence is Music Librarian, and Instructional and Interpretive Services Librarian at California State University Hayward.