ALA elections are here and this year NMRT is electing a Leadership Development Director, Vice-President/President-Elect, and Secretary. Below, our candidates answer a few questions about their plans for the position.
Why are you interested in this position?
Melanie Kowalski: For the past five years, I have served on and chaired several NMRT Committees. While serving as chair of the Resume Review Service Committee, the Professional Development Grant Committee, and the Communications Committee (formerly the Footnotes Committee), I had the opportunity to directly engage with NMRT Board members, including the NMRT Secretary, and to develop a stronger understanding of the structure of NMRT and the work of the Board in leading the NMRT community. As NMRT Secretary, I would continue the tradition of leadership and engagement with the NMRT community. Additionally, I would focus on developing a communication strategy that fosters deeper engagement for members, both within NMRT and the wider ALA community.
Christina Rodrigues: I would like to be secretary of NMRT because I want to be involved in this round table on a more in depth level. I want to help guide its future. I believe in the goals of this group and feel very passionate about connecting new members to ALA and to the resources they need. From my own experience I understand how valuable NMRT is.
What skills and experiences do you bring to the position?
Melanie Kowalski: My previous professional service experience makes me uniquely suited to the NMRT Secretary role. As the current Communications Committee Chair, I have a strong understanding of the role of the NMRT Blog, NMRT Notes, as a crucial element of member outreach and engagement. Also, I previously served as the Social Media & Education Chair for the Atlanta Emerging Librarians (AEL) Planning Committee, a position that allowed me to engage with the AEL community through social media.
As the Copyright and Scholarly Communications Librarian at Emory University, I am responsible for creating and maintaining web resources for my department. For this role, I cultivated skills in content development, content strategy, and content management. I have experience working with a variety of content management systems, including WordPress, Drupal, and Cascade.
Christina Rodrigues: I am currently managing many communications and engagement strategies in my current role in OCLC Member Relations. I am highly organized and used to working with many individuals with different working styles. My responsibilities include meeting planning, programming and agendas, logistics, budgets, and social media and outreach. I am also the founder and chair of a new professionals group at OCLC and feel this experience will significantly help me in this role.
As Secretary (more information) your responsibilities include coordinating NMRT social networking presence on the appropriate tools. What do you feel is the best method to get information to the NMRT membership, and why? What is your plan for coordinating NMRT’s social networking presence?
Melanie Kowalski: I believe the most appropriate communication strategy for NMRT is a multi-tool approach. Each member has his/her own preference for how to receive professional communication. I believe that a successful communication plan must address the unique preferences of the membership by distributing content via multiple communications platforms. By utilizing email, blogs, and social media strategically, we have an opportunity to reach our membership in their preferred environment, leading to deeper engagement and discussion.
To that end, if elected NMRT Secretary, I would implement a comprehensive social media management (SSM) tool, like Hootsuite or Buffer, to strategically schedule posts across social media platforms. However, social media is not the only way to communicate with our members. I would also coordinate blog posts and emails to the NMRT listserv to run in coordination with these social media posts. Finally, I would develop a schedule for social media engagement, posting discussion questions to NMRT social media accounts consistently and actively engaging with membership in these discussions.
Christina Rodrigues: I believe that more is less. I have learned through experience not to spread your communications or the staff in charge of them too thin. You lose quality in the messaging and you end up duplicating your efforts. I think the best method to get information out can change just as often as technology does and should always be evaluated. I trust the list-serv is still a very popular option as most people use it for their current jobs. LinkedIn and Facebook groups are great for communicating information and events and facilitating connections and dialog among members. Instagram is also a great medium for showing fun and unique photos of a group. I also feel strongly about having a central place to point people when they want to learn more about a group or organization. I believe ALA has some structure to their site but what I often see is out of date information or none at all. I think this could be improved as well.
What do you hope to learn if elected?
Melanie Kowalski: If elected NMRT Secretary, I am primarily interested in learning more about the NMRT membership’s needs and how the Executive Board can meet those needs. What are they seeking from NMRT? What is the best method for us to deliver their desired programming or resources? What kind of connections can we make for our members with other organizations in ALA? Or with other library organizations? Where does collaboration make the most sense? As Secretary, I would utilize our communication platforms to highlight the successes and achievements of our individual members and committees and foster new relationships with ALA at large for our members.
Christina Rodrigues: I hope to learn how groups within ALA conduct business and help further the mission of ALA. I want to learn how successful meetings are conducted and how to help new members to ALA and NMRT make connections and grow in their careers.
If elected, what time management skills will you employ to ensure that your NMRT duties remain a priority?
Melanie Kowalski: For time management, I am a big believer in using the tools and methods that make the most sense for you. As a result, I have developed a personal strategy, employing tools like Trello and Toggl, to prioritize competing interests and ensure work is completed in a timely and efficient manner. I maintain a master to-do list, in which tasks are prioritized and given a due date. To prioritize tasks, I consider both urgency and importance. For important tasks that are not urgent, I dedicate time each week to completing them so that they do not escape my attention. This strategy will allow me to address my duties on the NMRT Board in a timely manner.
Christina Rodrigues: I am very organized and a hard worker. I am passionate about the goals and mission of NMRT. I believe in setting deadlines and sticking to them and that working as team is so important to being successful in any endeavor.