SCOPA is the Yale University Library’s Standing Committee on Professional Awareness. SCOPA serves as the library’s main body for exploring avenues for professional growth and for generating awareness among all members of library staff of changes and trends in all library and information professions. The committee was formed in 1985 and charged with increasing professional activity, awareness, and growth among Yale librarians. The scope of the Standing Committee on Professional Awareness has broadened over time; currently, SCOPA strives to encourage the growth and professional awareness of all library staff members and to promote the development of librarianship as a dynamic profession.

SCOPA endeavors to serve all library staff through a variety of programs, including a regular series of forums devoted to a wide range of topics concerning developments, changes, and initiatives in Yale libraries and academic libraries in general. Forum subjects broadly include (but are not limited to): the roles of libraries in scholarly communities and in the broader social landscape; recent developments and new initiatives in information technologies, library processes, library education, and legal and political matters concerning free access to information; library history and culture and printing history; issues of preservation and conservation; use of Yale library collections. A list of recent SCOPA forums can be viewed on line at: http://www.library.yale.edu/scopa/forums/pastprog.html. SCOPA welcomes suggestions from all staff concerning possible future forums.

Other SCOPA initiatives include SCOPA mentoring programs, a yearly grant program to fund projects within the library, a public bibliography of recent contributions of Yale Library staff to professional, scholarly literature, and frequent orientations for new librarians. The committee consists of eight regular members, chosen by the University Librarian to serve two-year terms beginning in January. Terms are overlapped so that half of the members are new to the committee each January. SCOPA's chair is appointed by the University Librarian to serve a one-year term. The Associate University Librarian for Library Human Resources serves as an ex-officio member.

SCOPA holds meetings every other week during the regular school term. These business meetings are not open for general attendance, but anyone may ask to attend in order to bring up a special order of business or to have ideas or comments heard. The records of the organization have been kept and are deposited at intervals in the Manuscripts and Archives of the Sterling Memorial Library. For a calendar of SCOPA's annual activities, please consult our Administrative Schedule.

Annual Report 2007

© 2007 Yale University Library
This file last modified 03/03/08

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