January 2000
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Vol. 59, No. 4 January 2000 |
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DC/SLA's Annual Professional Development Workshop
All Systems Are Not Created Equal -- Navigating the World of Integrated Online Library Systems
Leading this year's workshop are Mary Dzurinko, Principal of MK Dzurinko Associates, an information management firm, and Nina Platt, co-editor of the Web newsletter Integrated Library System Reports and the ILSR Vendor Survey 1999. Join Mary and Nina for a review of what's hot in Integrated Online Library Systems (IOLS), and discover how you can make an IOLS a key tool in your organization's information services. Session topics will include:
During the workshop, participants will be actively involved in developing an IOLS requirements plan for a model library.
WHEN:
Friday, January 28, 8:30 a.m. -- 12:00 noon
(Registration and continental breakfast 8:30-9:00; Program 9:00-noon)
WHERE:
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC
(Near the Dupont Circle Metro)
PRICE:
$30.00 Members, $15.00 Students, $45.00 Non-Members
REGISTRATION FORM:
Name:____________________________Phone:________________
Organization:__________________________________________
Email Address:_________________________________________
__ This is my first DC/SLA event
__ Student __ SLA Member __ DCLA Member __ LLSDC Member __ ASIS Member
Send your completed form and check to: Mandy Baldridge, TeleSec/CORESTAFF,
11160 Veirs Mill Road, Suite 414, Wheaton, MD 20902; Fax 301-949-8729; email:
mbaldridge@telesec.com
Washington DC Chapter, Special Libraries Association
By Nancy Minter, DC/SLA 1999-2000 President, nminter@ui.urban.org
Resolved: A Happy Year 2000!
Happy 2000! Whether you think this is a new millennium or a new decade or not, it is clearly a new year, and a traditional time to make resolutions. So, what's it going to be for 2000? Drop a few pounds? Stop smoking? Take more time for your pet? Start saving to supplement your retirement fund or for the childrens' college funds? Pay off the credit cards? Eat more healthy foods?
Why not resolve to spend more quality time on our profession? No, I don't mean work more hours - many of us put in long hours already. It's a perfect time to take stock of where you are, where you're hoping to go, and the path you will take to get there. Here are a few thoughts:
1. Resolve to attend the SLA Annual Conference. Set for Philadelphia in June, this annual meeting offers great opportunities to experience what's happening in the profession, to visit vendors, to network with colleagues, to catch up with friends old and new, to participate in the decision making of the association, and to return to work energized and excited again about your profession and your position.
2. Resolve to attend at least two DC/SLA programs this year. In the next few months some dynamic speakers will share their expertise on a wide range of topics, including how to select a new online system. The March Technology Day 2000 (co-sponsored with the Maryland Chapter) promises to bring us the very latest information and a chance to visit with those who are developing these exciting new products. There will also be networking opportunities -- our February new members' reception and our May annual banquet among others. Many other program events will be forthcoming - watch Chapter Notes for more details.
3. Resolve to help support a fellow librarian. Perhaps you wish to make an individual contribution to the Global 2000 fellowship fund, or channel still-good reference materials to another library in need, or maybe even go out of your way to mentor a colleague or student. Possibly your help would be best channeled by writing an article for Chapter Notes or Information Outlook, telling about a "best practice" that you have developed or perfected to make all our work lives better or more productive. If this is your resolution, resolve to put it on your list more than once.
4. Resolve to help yourself. Take an SLA Distance Learning class, learn a new language, spend an extra hour per week on professional reading (at least until your personal backlog is gone!), make a point of drawing out that reserved new boss, develop a new product from your information center to help market the services you provide to your constituency group. Or, do all the above.
5. Resolve to help your community. Use your knowledge skills to tutor a child, to teach an adult how to use a computer or to speak English, read to a tiny tot or a senior citizen, do some research or develop a web site for a nonprofit organization, or speak up for someone who cannot speak for him/herself. Perform some act of random kindness for a stranger or a loved one, or someone who needs a lift in their life.
6. Finally, resolve to curl up with a good book at least once in a while - after all, you deserve it!
-- Nancy Minter
"We cannot thank you enough for the packages you sent us . . ."
DC/SLA Chapter members donate books to libraries in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
Many thanks to DC/SLA members for sending books and journals in response to Chapter Notes' plea for reading material (see Nov. 1999 issue http://www.sla.org/chapter/cdc/notes/archives/nov99.html).
Two Vietnamese nationals, Mr. Thanh Phan and Ms. Kim Anh Ngo, sent the packages out via the World Bank's volunteer program. Organizations receiving the materials were the Institute of World Economy in Hanoi, the World Bank Country Office Library for Laos, and the Cambodian Government Ministry of Finance's Institute of Training. Both popular and scholarly books and journals were sent.
Dr. Sam Ghanty of the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, relayed his gratitude: "We are extremely pleased and thankful to receive those extremely interesting and valuable publications. The librarians have begun to catalog them and users have already asked for them. We would like to continue to receive more of them in the future."
If you have any books or magazines that you think might be suitable for these organizations, please phone Sue O'Neill Johnson, 202-458-2833, for more information.
Welcome new members, greet your colleagues, and sample delectable hors d'oeuvres, desserts, and libations at the Chapter's annual New Members' Reception on Thursday, February 24, 2000, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Association Headquarters.
If you're a new member, come and learn more about our Chapter! All members, new and old, are welcome to meet and mingle. Oh, and by the way, we always invite the candidates for Association offices and usually have a good response, so it might be your best chance all year to meet the leaders of our Association as well!
WHEN:
Thursday, February 24, 6:00 -- 8:00 p.m.
WHERE:
Special Libraries Association International
Headquarters 1700 18th Street NW, Washington, DC
(Near the Dupont Circle Metro)
PRICE:
NEW Members FREE!
$15.00 Members
$ 7.50 Students
$22.50 Non-Members
REGISTRATION FORM:
Name:____________________________Phone:________________
Organization:__________________________________________
Email Address:_________________________________________
__ This is my first DC/SLA event
__ Student __ SLA Member __ DCLA Member __ LLSDC Member __ ASIS Member
Send your completed form and check to: Mandy Baldridge, TeleSec/CORESTAFF,
11160 Veirs Mill Road, Suite 414, Wheaton, MD 20902; Fax 301-949-8729; email:
mbaldridge@telesec.com
All registrations must be received by February 18.
As announced in the September/October Chapter Notes, we are starting a new feature called "Ask the Experts." We will ask you, our readers (the experts!) a question about various information issues and will publish your responses in an upcoming issue.
This month's question is:
Which three web sites are your favorites and what makes them particularly
useful for your work?
Please include the web site's URL with your response. Please send your responses to the editors at cneditors@yahoo.com by January 14th. We look forward to hearing from you!
Subscribe to the Chapter Discussion List!
A great way to keep up with Chapter news and events is to join the DC/SLA Chapter
Discussion List! This list was created to provide SLA DC Chapter members a means of
quick & easy communication. To subscribe to the list, send an e-mail to:
lists@lists.sla.org with the following in the body of the message:
subscribe sla-cdc Firstname Lastname
You will receive an automatic confirmation message once subscribed.
For additional information, click here http://www.sla.org/chapter/cdc/list.html, or contact Greta Ober, 202-623-6413, e-mail: greta@worldbank.org
By Marilyn M. Bromley
Library Manager
The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
As one whose job it is to keep up with the information world explosion, it's amazing to me how quickly the Internet and the World Wide Web have become an essential part of our lives. But, like anything that is growing and constantly changing, "keeping up" is a continual challenge. The following selected web sites, created by government agencies, universities, non-profit groups, and accounting firms provide a wealth of information about accounting and taxes. Even if they're familiar to you, take a second look - the best web sites evolve and grow like the successful organisms they are!
JUMPING-OFF SPOTS
AuditNet.org
http://www.auditnet.org/karlhome.htm
AuditNet is a web resource for audit professionals, developed by Jim Kaplan,
CIA, CFE, CSM and sponsored by the Institute of Internal Auditors. It contains
job postings, ASAP (Auditors Sharing Audit Programs), KARL (Kaplan's AuditNet
Resource List) and other useful links. KARL is a collection of links to audit
resources, reports, software, audit manuals, journals and ezines.
ANet
http://www.csu.edu.au/anet/index.html
ANet is part of the International Accounting Network, and is maintained by the
School of Financial Studies at Charles Sturt University in New South Wales,
Australia. Among its resources are an accounting bibliography organized by
topic, a business encyclopedia (small but growing), and a list of worldwide
accounting journals with subscription addresses.
Tax and Accounting Sites Directory
http://taxsites.com
A masterful list of web links, covering tax sites, accounting sites, and more.
Subgroupings include federal and state tax law, associations, discussion groups,
sites for downloading tax forms, professional software, CPA societies, links to
the leading accounting firms, associations of firms, and a bookstore. This site
is neat and clean, no muss no fuss - just the facts. Dennis Schmidt of Schmidt
Enterprises LLC is also a professor of accounting at University of Northern Iowa.
Will Yancey's Home Page
http://www.willyancey.com
Another beautifully organized site, with the standard resources (tax law,
associations, firms, publishers, academic institutions) and others not-so-common:
finance and economics sites, forensic economics, employment and benefit law
links. Will Yancey, CPA, is National Director, Audit Sampling Practice,
Ryan & Company in Dallas, Texas.
ACADEMIA AND GOVERNMENT
Tax-Related Primary Sources on the Internet
http://www.bus.utexas.edu/~josephr/384/itaxsrcs.htm
Links to the U.S. Constitution, the Internal Revenue Code, treaties, legislation,
the Congressional Record, federal court opinions, Tax Court Rules,
IRS regulations, IRS Revenue Rulings and Procedures, IRS notices, the Internal
Revenue Manual, state laws and forms, etc.
Home Page of the Tax Group at Emory University School of Law
http://tax.law.emory.edu
Professors Abrams, Doernberg and Pennell have created an interesting web site
of personal resources, listing the courses they teach, conferences attended and
summer reading. Also included are links to the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 and
the IRS Reform Act of 1998, with text of each bill and committee reports,
summary by the Joint Committee on Taxation, and commentary by such firms as
KPMG, Deloitte & Touche and Ernst & Young. Under "Current Tax Events" are links
to tax news from both BNA subsidiary Tax Management and Tax Analysts, and the
business search page at Excite.
Louisiana State University Department of Accounting
http://www.bus.lsu.edu/accounting/
For all you Sherlocks out there, visit Professor Nicholas Apostolou's web site.
Available are "Forensic Investing: Red Flags" (also yellow flags and green flags),
links to articles "Forensic Accountants Appearing in the Literature" and
"Sherlock Holmes and Forensic Accounting," and the web site "Misleading
Accounting Exposed." [From the above web address, click on Faculty, then
Nicholas G. Apostolou, then Nicholas G. Apostolou again, then Forensic Investing.]
Rutgers Accounting Web (RAW)
http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/RAW
Notable resources on RAW are links to the Big 5 accounting firms organized in
table-format, and the On-line Accounting Faculty or Hasselback Directory,
a searchable database of accounting faculty throughout the United States.
FedWorld
http://www.fedworld.gov
FedWorld provides centralized access to federal government web sites. It is run
by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), an agency of the U.S.
Department of Commerce. FedWorld provides "access to thousands of U.S.
Government web sites and more than a half a million documents, databases and
other information products." Available for purchase through the site is the 1999
Tax Products CD-ROM (IRS tax forms, publications and instructions) for the
discounted price of $21. To search for forms, publications and instructions
which you can download in four different formats, go to
http://www.fedworld.gov/taxsear.htm.
There is also a box for searching the IRS web site.
NON-PROFITS
The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
http://www.actec.org
This site is designed for trust and estate attorneys, but there are useful
resources for accountants, too. It has links to IRA and Roth IRA comparisons
and calculators, community property states information, 57 top estate planning
web sites, the National Fiduciary Accounting Standards, and much more.
Note: some of the links on this site are available only to ACTEC members,
but it's certainly worth a look. From the home page, click on What's New.
Institute of Internal Auditors
http://www.itaudit.org
The web site of the IIA and its 60,000 members, the focus is on internal
auditing, governance and internal control, and information technology (IT)
auditing. The site "is designed to enhance the auditor's knowledge of
information technology." The reference library with links to resources is
available only to subscribers, but signing up is free.
AARP Tax-Aide
http://www.aarp.org/taxaide
For your free time (!) or pro-bono work, Tax-Aide is a community-based program,
run by the AARP Foundation, which provides free tax preparation for elders and
middle-to-low income persons. Outside of tax season, Tax-Aide offers tax
counseling and training of Tax-Aide volunteers. This program has "operated
since 1968 under a cooperative agreement with the IRS as part of its
Tax Counseling for the Elderly program." Click on Program Structure to see how
it works.
DIRECTORIES
Two searchable databases of CPA firms and accounting professionals are at http://www.cpafirms.com and http://cpawebsite.com/directory/acctdir.htm.
COMMERCIAL SITES
Faulkner & Gray's Electronic Accountant
http://www.electronicaccountant.com
On the EA site you can read the latest news stories (Newswire) or search an
archive of news back to 1996 (News Archive). Also, you can check out the
competition by reviewing the Top 100 Firms (in the Special Reports section),
see pictures and profiles of movers and shakers (Industry Leaders), get
information on products and software (Exhibit Halls), participate in discussion
groups (Discussions) and take advantage of links on financial planning, tax,
technology consulting and Y2K (Niche Sites). This web site combines the clear
organization of a magazine with the flexibility of the web - the best of both worlds.
Northwestern Mutual Life Advanced Planning Library
http://www.nml.com/aplibrary
After free registration with a Northwestern Mutual Life agent, you'll find
information on taxes, estate planning, discounting/leveraging techniques,
employee benefit planning, annuities and life insurance, trusts, special
planning situations, and more.
Born in 1999, Business Information Finders Charts Its Future Growth
By Jennifer Boettcher
When I moved to DC, I was excited about finding other information specialists who share the jargon of "business librarianese." When casting about for peers, I learned of an inactive group of business professionals. Instead of saying "shucks-darn, I missed the glory days for Business Librarians in DC," I asked if anyone was interested in forming a new group of information professionals with a business focus. I talked with the former leaders of the old business group, and asked the Northern Virginia Information Specialist group whether they thought that forming another group would result in too much cross-over and would dilute the existing information professional base. The leaders' advice was -- become a leader. Conception accomplished!
The next step was to turn the concept into action. I posted the following message to targeted listservs in January, 1999:. "Hello Enterprising Librarians (SLA, ALA, DCLA, & Interested Parties): I am starting an informal group of business information specialists in the Washington, D.C. area. You can be in marketing, finance, management, real estate, accounting, insurance, or other fields. The proposed activities will be a listserv, informal dining once a month, training approximately once a month, and optional networking. The resources we have so far are an agreement with DC-SLA to be an informal affiliation, meeting facilities at Georgetown University, and a need to know more. Come join other business librarians. Contact Jennifer Boettcher at boettcher@gunet.georgetown.edu to be added to the group." The response was grand - more than 35 local professionals replied!
As with all conceptions, events moved quickly. The founders met at Arlington's China Garden restaurant, and decided to give birth to a new group. By the end of January, Business Information Finders (BIF) was named, thanks to Eva Holtsmark, and we decided to raise BIF as an unaffiliated or informally affiliated group within DC/SLA. In early February, the BIF-L@listproc.georgetown.edu listproc was created as the home base for discussing BIF activities.
Our unaffiliated status means a member of BIF does not have to belong to SLA, a minimum of three programs must take place each year, meetings must be announced in Chapter publications, and events must be open to Chapter members. Our organization, which includes anyone interested in business, is informal and does not have to conform to the requirements governing SLA Divisions. Any member can plan an activity as long as he or she announces it to everyone. This past year's events have included presentations on "Introduction to Marketing Sources" by Jennifer Boettcher, "Web-Enabled Databases" by Eva Holtsmark, and "Fund Raising Resources" by Elizabeth Farley.
Raising the infant BIF will require good fostering. We live and work in the DC area - "Information Central"-- the home of decisions that affect the world. And we play a role in it all by sharing our expertise and insights with our organizations, customers and patrons. The people attending professional events like ours learn and grow, and the people organizing the events are enhanced, too.
BIF is growing and its future looks hopeful. You can help by volunteering your expertise in speaking or hosting an event. Some of the topics coming this year include understanding international trade, financial sources and real estate sense, as well as discussions on implementing information technology and ways of marketing to our clients. We will continue to have use of the exceptional meeting facilities at Georgetown University and will have lively exchanges on the listproc. One of the lessons learned this past Spring is that announcing BIF events only on the DC/SLA listserv and the BIF listproc is inadequate. BIF also hopes to publish its schedule of events in Chapter Notes and the DC/SLA Homepage.
To keep current on BIF developments, we invite you to join the listproc by sending an e-mail to listproc@listproc.georgetown.edu. Do not put anything in the subject field. In the message field type: subscribe BIF-L [your name]. Then wait for a response. If you have questions, please call Jennifer Boettcher at (202) 687-7495 or any proud member of BIF.
Save the date! Technology Day, your annual one-stop opportunity to catch up on the technologies you need to know about to drive your organization forward, is coming on Monday, March 20, 2000.
This year's annual update features the theme "Agents and Portals." It will take place at the The Inn and Conference Center at the University of Maryland University College, near the College Park Metro stop. The all-day program, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., includes keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and exhibitors.
Technology Day is organized by the Special Libraries Association's Maryland and Washington DC Chapters and the Association of Independent Information Professionals.
Watch for more details on the Chapter discussion list and the February issue of Chapter Notes!
Do you have news to share? Use this column to tell the Chapter
about your career change, your new job, promotion or retirement; the
award you recently received; the presentation you delivered at a
conference; or the article you just published. Send us your news!
E-mail the editors at
cneditors@yahoo.com.
Ruth Leonard, 1998-1999 Chair of the DC Chapter News Group and a researcher at The Washington Post until May 1999, became a foreign service officer in the Department of State's Bureau of Public Affairs (formerly the U.S. Information Agency) in June. She is currently an Information Resource Officer in Nairobi, Kenya, with responsibility for developing Information Resource Centers to support American Embassy mission program plans in ten East African countries.