The 2013 AMICAL Conference saw greater participation by faculty than ever before, the result of a conscious effort by the consortium to engage faculty together with librarians and technologists in improving information services and curricular resources. In addition to recruiting our first faculty member to the Program Committee, we structured the daily program to put the bulk of faculty-focused sessions on the last two days of the event, thereby shortening the time commitment necessary for interested, but busy, faculty to participate. We also invited, in addition to a widely-published and award-winning librarian, several exceptional keynote speakers that we thought would speak directly to faculty members’ interests. These efforts bore fruit, and we were happy to welcome to this year’s AMICAL Conference our largest-ever contingent of faculty members, including many faculty members serving in academic administration. The 113 registered attendees at this year’s conference included 88 from AMICAL institutions, of which: 50% librarians 21% faculty 19% IT manager/staff and instructional technologists 8% academic administrators 2% other roles

Judging from attendee comments, the AUB-AMICAL RDA Workshop was a glowing success! AMICAL thanks organizer Kaoukab Chebaro, AUB Libraries Director Lokman Meho, Fatmeh Charafeddine, and all those that helped bring the workshop together. Photos from the event have been posted on: Flickr AMICALconnect (AMICAL Members only)

From AUB Libraries News: The AUB Libraries and the American International Consortium of Academic Libraries (AMICAL) are jointly organizing a week-long (May 27-31st, 2013) workshop on RDA, the Resource Description and Access new cataloging standard which is currently being implemented across libraries in the world. Led by Ms. Lori Robare (University of Oregon), and Ms. Iman Dagher (UCLA), the workshop offers a general overview of cataloging rules in RDA, highlights changes and differences with the previous cataloging rules (AACR2), and offers hands-on exercises and modules. Participants include AMICAL members from various countries (Bulgaria, Egypt, Morocco, Kuwait, Lebanon), as well as invited guests from the Lebanese National Library and the Lebanese University, in addition to AUB Library staff. The workshop is generously supported by AUB, AMICAL and sponsors (Elsevier, ProQuest and Levant). Photos from the workshop on Facebook

The Guidelines for AMICAL Small Grant Awards have just been updated to reflect the renewed grant support for AMICAL from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, running through July 2015, and decisions by the AMICAL Coordinating Committee on the allowed scope and maximum amount for requests. AMICAL members seeking support for any of the following activities are invited to follow the guidelines attentively when appying for Small Grants: high-impact professional development opportunities for library and information service professionals faculty development related to information literacy instruction or collaboration with librarians or instructional technologists small but potentially transformative developments in local library and information services

The official public site has now been launched for the 10th Annual AMICAL Conference: New media, new literacies, new models: Library-IT-Faculty collaboration in a learning intensive world Note that the Conference Hub on AMICALconnect, which has the latest and most complete information about the Conference, remains the site of reference for AMICAL members.

Thanks to our grant from the Mellon Foundation, AMICAL is again able to provide a significant amount of support to help AMICAL members attend our Annual Conference. Because of the conference location, however, the cost of supporting attendance is particularly high this year. At the same time, we have had a record number of travel sponsorship requests from AMICAL presenters, whom we try to prioritize for support. AMICAL is therefore unable to support as many non-presenters this year, but we are offering at least some form of support to all AMICAL members. Detailed information on the types of support available has now been posted on the Conference Hub in AMICALconnect.

Registration is now open for the 10th Annual AMICAL Conference (John Cabot University, 12-15 June 2013)! AMICAL members are invited to visit the Conference Hub for further details about the event, including the registration link and draft program.

Hasmik Galstyan (Head of Reference and Circulation Department, AGBU Papazian Library, American University of Armenia) leads EIFL-sponsored project to review Armenia's Law on Copyright and Related Rights "to ensure that the new law meets the real needs of libraries and library users" in the digital environment: Key achievements (from the case study report) ✓ A major accomplishment was the fostering of a professional relationship with the Armenian copyright office. For the first time, copyright officials were brought to meet librarians around the country to hear their views. As a result, libraries have a new standing as a credible stakeholder with policy-makers. ✓ The library community has been strengthened with new knowledge, and through collaboration with cultural heritage institutions. For the first time, libraries, archives and museums came together to discuss common legal issues and solutions - a rewarding experience that reinforced the role of library leadership for the benefit of all. ✓ Gained confidence to present the library perspective at national events on an equal basis with other stakeholders. ✓ The first resource on library copyright issues adapted for Armenian law was published.

Info Lit at AMICAL Institutions - An Online Conversation about Visions and Realities When: 3 April 2013, 11:30-13:00 Athens time (see event time converted for your location) Where: Online, using Collaborate Who should attend? All AMICAL members - in particular faculty, librarians and instructional technologists that teach information literacy - are welcome to join us for this conversation. About the webinar: Elissa Raffa (Collaborative Technologies and Distance Learning Advisor) and Vicky Tseroni (Assistant Dean of Libraries) of American College of Greece, along with Meggan Houlihan (Coordinator of Instruction/Reference, American University in Cairo), will be hosting an online discussion about information literacy programs at our institutions. We'll be talking about how we're currently working on information literacy at our institutions, as well as plans for the future evolution or transformation of information literacy programs. More information about the event and its agenda will be posted soon to the webinar's event page on AMICALconnect.

The list of Digital collections and repositories at AMICAL institutions has just been updated. AMICAL institutions whose digital collections don't appear here should send us the names, descriptions and links for any additional collections we can include.