How to use this Page

In February, I posted about changes that were made to YALSA’s website that required a login to reach the selected lists and awards. I explained the rationale and indicated that there would be refinements in the process.

There have been refinements, but we haven’t done a very good job of sharing that information with you, so I want to apologize for that lack of timely communication and try to remedy it now.

First of all, I do apologize for the early glitches and for the unfriendliness of ALA’s web interface. It can be very discouraging to click on a link that says “login” and immediately get an “access denied” message. However, if you just click on the ALA login link in the upper right corner of the screen, all will be well.

Second, the award and list content other than the lists themselves is now outside the login area. If you click on “Book Awards and Book/Media Lists” on the homepage, you get a drop-down menu. This menu includes links to selection and award list contacts. If you click on an individual award, like the Michael L. Printz Award or the Odyssey Award, you are taken to a page that includes policies and procedures and a link to the form for submitting suggested titles.

Third, the form for nonmembers to fill out has been streamlined. When anyone fills out the form (which now requires only name, email address, and two questions) they receive an automated email response that gives them links to bookmark so that they don’t need to fill out the form more than once. We have contacted the developer of the form module we use and requested that it be updated so that if you fill out the form once, you are automatically directed to the content, but we don’t have that functionality yet.

Members who want to access the lists on reference desk computers or other non-personal computers and don’t want to login with personal information can also bookmark the links for the lists and awards. These URLs are now posted in the “Members Only” section of the website.

Fourth, several people have raised the question about whether it is worth it to ask for this information. The answer is we’re not sure yet, but we think it might be. We have collected more than 16,000 email addresses since mid-February. We have used these addresses to encourage people to participate in the Tweet Your Senator campaign and virtual library legislative day (1,600 people requested more info on advocacy), for member recruitment, and to advertise subscriptions to YALS (4,000 asked for information on buying YALSA publications), deriving lists from areas of interest that people marked.

Keep in mind that addresses are not shared outside of YALSA, and anyone who doesn’t want to receive any further email from YALSA need only say so.

Fifth, some members have indicated that they are against this change because they feel that YALSA is restricting or putting up barriers to information. In fact, YALSA is doing the same thing that most of you do every day in your own libraries. If I want to access my local library’s databases from home, I have to put in my library card number and PIN. I don’t regard that as the library putting up barriers to my access. I recognize that the library needs to collect statistics about database use and they use those statistics to help justify the work they do and the cost of the databases.  YALSA, like libraries, is in the business of sharing information, but, as with libraries, that information is not really free. (See Fiscal Officer Penny Johnson’s blog post for more details about the costs of YALSA’s “free” resources.) In fact, for most libraries, I can’t use the databases at all if I don’t have a library card; YALSA is offering its resources free for simply signing in with an email address.

I hope these comments help members understand better the rationale

Even though Midwinter Meeting ended over a week ago, the YALSA Board continues to actively work on Association decision-making and projects. Some of what the Board has worked on in the past week includes:

• Discussing the 2015 ALA Strategic Plan. These discussions are taking place on the YALSA Board’s ALA Connect space and Board members are conversing about questions they have about the plan, how the new plan supports the work of YALSA, and how YALSA can support the work of the ALA plan. ALA is asking for Division feedback on the draft plan by February 15, YALSA will submit their comments to ALA by that deadline.
• Answering questions about YALSA’s selected lists. Last week Frequently Asked Questions related to these lists were posted on the YALSA web site. Over the past several days YALSA Board members have continued to answer questions about the lists. The FAQs have now been updated to reflect the conversations Board members are having. To read an updated version of the FAQs visit the YALSA web site.
• Considering a proposal (via ALA Connect) submitted to the Board from the YA Literature Symposium Task Force. This proposal suggests ways in which to integrate virtual components into the Symposium which takes place in November 2010. The Board is discussing the suggestions made by the Task Force with an eye to serving members effectively and making good strategic financial decisions. The Task Force proposal is available on the YALSA web site.

There is also news about YAttitudes. In order to better meet member needs, at their Midwinter meetings the YALSA Board voted to revise the publishing schedule for YAttitudes. Starting in the spring, the e-newsletter will be published on a monthly basis (instead of the current quarterly schedule) and will include up-to-date information about the Association, members, and services to teens. Over the next several weeks more details about the change will be made available.

As the Board continues their work I will continue to post updates on the blog.