Candidate for President Elect:
Candidate's Statement: During a time of unprecedented upheaval – a global pandemic, disinformation campaigns, and environmental disasters, to name just a few – a comprehensive LIS education is critical for preparing new information professionals to meet global challenges. Educating these new professionals now occurs largely online and therefore the importance of effective online learning continues to grow. Many LIS programs were already delivering high-quality and innovative online courses pre-pandemic, but I believe there is always room for growth as technology and pedagogical approaches evolve, as I have learned from my almost 20 years teaching online. I have been impressed with Laura Saunders’ and Melissa Wong’s LIS Pedagogy Chat series, which is one of many wonderful initiatives by ALISE members that help us meet ALISE Strategic Direction #1 – “ALISE promotes innovative pedagogy, teaching, and creative content delivery, informed by evidence-based research.” Especially for ALISE members who may not have access to quality pedagogical professional development at their institution, ALISE helps its members fill the gap and should take on an even more active role in providing that training. My vision for ALISE also aligns with other ALISE strategic directions related to membership growth. With so many service and association options available for LIS educators and doctoral students to choose from, how can we best communicate ALISE’s “value-add” and encourage more involvement? I applaud ALISE’s push to increase international membership and work with other associations, which I would like to continue, but more engagement with doctoral students is also key. I have served as Ph.D. program director at Dominican for the last 7 years, so I am keenly aware of the challenges doctoral students are experiencing. In addition to providing job placement services, I believe we need more incentives to attract doctoral students and programming tailored to their needs as they are the future of ALISE. I have served in leadership positions in a variety of institutions and organizations and therefore feel confident I can effectively lead ALISE in partnership with other members of the Board. I believe strongly that successful collaborations – on the Board, with the ALISE membership, with external partners – begin with transparency, trust, active listening, and a commitment to social justice, equity, and inclusion. I would be honored to earn your confidence and vote so we can work together to further strengthen ALISE and ensure many more LIS faculty, staff, and students can benefit like I have from being an ALISE member. Biography: Dr. Karen Snow is a Professor and Ph.D. program director in the School of Information Studies (SOIS) at Dominican University, River Forest, Illinois. Her teaching and research focus is library cataloging, specifically in the areas of education, quality, and ethics. Dr. Snow recently received the ALISE Award for Professional Contribution to Library and Information Science for her leadership in LIS education and practice, including co-authoring the Core Competencies for Cataloging & Metadata Professional Librarians and co-chairing the international group who wrote the Cataloguing Code of Ethics (2021). She has written numerous books and articles on cataloging topics, as well as conducted professional development workshops and webinars. A member of ALISE since she was a doctoral student at the University of North Texas in 2009, Dr. Snow has proudly served as a convener for the Technical Services Education special interest group, as well as on the Juried Panels Committee, the Nominating Committee, and is currently chairing the ALISE/Connie Van Fleet Award for Research Excellence in Public Library Services to Adults Award Committee. She is also active in the American Library Association (ALA), serving on the Committee on Accreditation (COA), the ALA Core Values Task Force, and various committees in Core/ALCTS. In 2017, Dr. Snow was elected to serve as a Trustee on the Board of the LaGrange Park Public Library in LaGrange Park, Illinois. In addition to serving in external leadership roles, Dr. Snow has served in many Dominican University leadership roles, including as Ph.D. program director, SOIS Faculty Senator, chair of the Program Review Committee, and chair of the University Curriculum Committee. She is a proud recipient of the Follett Excellence in Teaching Award in 2016 for her teaching in-person and online.
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Dr. Karen Snow