By PamB | January 3, 2011
After our annual conferences, members often want to continue conversations with IASSIST colleagues on topics of professional interest. Your Administrative Committee has responded by creating the Interest Group Development Action Group. Its charge is to identify and help form interest groups so members can continue those conversations.
An interest group is a great way to share information on a topic of mutual interest, learn more about it, and share that knowledge with the larger IASSIST membership. Interest groups also help you stay connected to other members if you can’t attend the annual conferences very often. There are currently interest groups devoted to data citation to support research discovery and data reuse, and issues related to human subject protections. We know there’s a range of potential interest group topics that reflect the broad professional interests of IASSIST members.
The Interest Group Development Action Group has developed a web page with more information about the role of interest groups and a checklist to help members form them. The action group is chaired by Libbie Stephenson (UCLA), and its members are Pam Baxter (Cornell University), Paula Lackie (Carleton College/Minnesota), and Robin Rice (EDINA/University of Edinburgh). We want to hear your ideas and the ways we can help you develop interest groups that meet your needs!