Excited about AMICAL 2015? So are we! Each year, we take a step further towards sharing the AMICAL "juice" with people who are not attending the conference, as well as making sure that those who do attend get the maximum out of the AMICAL experience! Apart from opening up some sessions via live-stream, we are using social media to reach as many people as possible and spark meaningful discussions among conference attendees. The AMICAL 2105 website has links to all our social media channels. Follow us and join the action! The hashtag is #amicalconf. This is the frequency we'll be tuning in to throughout the conference. Make sure you use #amicalconf so that we can pick up your signals whenever you post about AMICAL 2015 to Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Facebook, Google+ or elsewhere. We'll be aggregating our posts on our Social Media Hub and we'll be happy to feature some of your posts as well. You don't need to wait until you arrive in Blagoevgrad in order to start posting on social media. Share a picture from that early morning flight or that new sticker on your luggage! Tell us how excited you are about AMICAL 2015! The best moment to share is now. Once you arrive at AUBG, make sure you check in to the AMICAL 2015 conference venue on Foursquare/Swarm. You might find some very useful tips from our AMICAL page. We've also compiled a list of places related to the conference which we'll be updating. AMICAL 2015 is more than a conference. It is an invitation to connect, discuss and collaborate. Image credit: Jason A. Howie | CC BY

Conference attendees: In recent weeks we've sent out a number of announcements by email from contact@amicalnet.org. I know that you've read the complete text of each with unwavering attention, but just in case you missed something, here are the subjects and dates for those messages: Arrival, ground transportation & emergency contact info (sent May 23 to all attendees) Travel support recipients: Instructions for reimbursement (sent May 20 to travel support recipients) Sign up for a workshop to guarantee your seat (sent May 19 to all attendees) Unconference within the Conference (sent May 15 to all attendees) Speakers: Technology available + Request for slides & permissions (sent May 14 to speakers) Connect with other attendees (sent May 7 to all attendees) Volunteer as a Convener or Reporter (sent Apr 30 to all attendees) If you're a registered attendee and you haven't been receiving the messages we've sent you, contact us at contact@amicalnet.org. Image credit: Bogdan Suditu | CC BY

We'll be using this space during and after the event to share news, reports, and timely information related to the AMICAL Conference. In particular, we'll be giving space to reports on conference sessions written by attendees: at the end of each conference day, we'll take any reports we've received from session reporters and post them here, along with photos to highlight moments from the program. (And by "we" I mean Dimitris Tzouris, our social media coordinator czar.) Feel free to share the posts widely on social media, in any spaces you feel relevant to AMICAL or the content of the posts, using the hashtag #amicalconf. Image credit: Jonathan Cohen | CC BY-NC

The schedule for AMICAL 2015 is now online, along with full descriptions of all sessions and speakers. Note that minor changes may occur to the schedule between now and the event, and full information on keynotes and certain workshops will be added shortly. In addition to sessions formally proposed, there will be numerous opportunities for less formal discussion around shared interests that percolate up during the event: Unconference: ideas can be pitched on Thursday afternoon and throughout the event, and sessions on Friday and Saturday will allow attendees to lead and participate in informal presentations/discussions/workshops on topics they choose. Breaks and social events: generous break time has been scheduled, as well as evening social events, to give time for informal discussions and meetings.

Registration is now open for AMICAL 2015 - "Clearing thresholds: information literacy & faculty–librarian–technologist collaboration." Important dates: 8 March: Deadline to apply for travel support (for full & affiliate AMICAL members only). 15 April: Deadline to register for the conference. Also: be sure to check out the additional venue information just added to the conference site on: AUBG Travel & transport Visa info Accommodation Things to do Practical info

All librarians, faculty & technologists interested in the digital humanities at AMICAL institutions are encouraged to join us 17 February for the next webinar in our AMICAL Currents series: "Setting up playgrounds for the digital humanities." Overview In this webinar we will look at the general landscape of digital humanities around the world. We will explore digital humanities at the intersections between computational approaches to culture, knowledge design and curation, and scholarly networks. In particular, we will focus on the process of learning how to build projects and work collaboratively across university roles. Paradoxically, the best we can do at the beginning of an institutional engagement with digital humanities is to play in a spirit of ephemerality, while thinking the long term of the humanities and human technology. Speaker Alex Gil Digital Scholarship Coordinator for the Humanities and History, Columbia University Libraries Affiliate Faculty, English and Comparative Literature Department, Columbia University Co-Chair, Global Outlook::Digital Humanities Alex Gil is Digital Scholarship Coordinator for the Humanities and History at Columbia. He serves as a consultant to faculty, students and the library on the impact of technology on humanities research, pedagogy and scholarly communications. Current projects include an open repository of syllabi for curricular research, an aggregator for digital humanities projects worldwide and other initiatives at the intersection of technology and the humanities. He is currently vice-chair of global-outlook::digital-humanities (GO::DH) and the organizer of the THATCamp Caribe series. His scholarly heart remains betrothed to Caribbean Literature in the 20th Century. To attend When: Tuesday, 17 February 2015, 9:00-10:00am US Eastern time (see local time conversion) Where: Online (Instructions for attending the webinar will be sent by email to members with AMICALconnect accounts and posted to AMICALconnect Events. Questions about the event may be sent to contact@amicalnet.org.)

AMICAL members: help us build the program for AMICAL 2015! Present an interesting local initiative, organize a group discussion around a shared problem, teach a workshop, or lead a session on anything that might be of broad interest to librarians, technologists and faculty at AMICAL member institutions. See the call for proposals for targeted topics and other guidance, and submit your proposal no later than 11 February.

Clearing thresholds: information literacy & faculty–librarian–technologist collaboration The AMICAL Consortium, together with the American University in Bulgaria, are pleased to launch the AMICAL 2015 conference website, which includes information about the schedule, speakers, venue, sponsors and program proposals. This year’s AMICAL Conference will give special focus to information literacy, and in particular to new conceptual frameworks for information literacy in the context of international American universities. The program will also cover a broad range of other topics related to libraries, technology and learning, with sessions ranging from conceptual talks to hands-on workshops to unconference sessions created during the event. Staff and faculty from AMICAL member institutions are invited to propose program sessions for AMICAL 2015, with proposals particularly encouraged from the following areas: Information literacy, learning models and pedagogy Students as creators & collaborators Digital humanities Marketing and communication of library and information services Assessment of library and information services See Proposals for complete guidelines and the form for submitting proposals.

AMICAL Currents 2014-2015 | November 6 webinar Threshold Concepts and the ACRL Information Literacy Framework: An Introduction The new ACRL Framework for Information Literacy has been inspired by threshold concepts, an emerging theory that urges instructors to engage students in the Big Ideas that guide their discipline. Threshold concepts represent a strikingly different approach to information literacy than has previously been widely implemented by most librarians. This webinar will provide an introduction to the theory, with a focus on how threshold concepts can shape information literacy instruction. We will discuss the form and function of the ACRL Framework as well as offer some examples of what teaching with Threshold Concepts looks like in the library classroom. For more information, publications, and past presentations, please visit ilthresholdconcepts.com Invited Speakers Lori Townsend is an Assistant Professor and the Learning Services Coordinator for the University Libraries at the University of New Mexico. She holds a BA in History from the University of New Mexico and a MLIS from San Jose State University. Silvia Lu is a Reference and Social Media Librarian and Assistant Professor at LaGuardia Community College, a CUNY institution. Silvia holds a BA in Literature and Government from Claremont McKenna College, a MLIS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a MA in English Literature from the University of New Mexico. When Thursday, 6 November 2014, 6:30-8:00am US Mountain time (see local time conversion) Where Online - Adobe Connect (link and instructions will be posted to the AMICALconnect event page the week before the event; AMICAL members not on AMICALconnect can create an account)

The AMICAL Consortium, together with the American University in Bulgaria, are pleased to announce that AMICAL 2015, our 12th Annual Meeting & Conference, will be held 27–30 May on the AUBG campus in Blagoevgrad. See the AMICAL 2015 Conference site for more information.