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DC/SLA Annual Meeting and Banquet Featuring Newsweek Contributing Editor Eleanor Clift
Please send your completed registration form along with a check made payable to DC/SLA to:
Morgan Lewis & Bockius 1800 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 202-467-7131 bfolensbee-moore@morganlewis.com
Name: ______________________________________________
President’s Corner At the SLA Winter Meeting, President Donna Scheeder gave a briefing on the strategic changes taking place in the Association. I wish all of you could have been there to hear her. Someday in the not too distant future, events like this will be accessible to every member. Desktop videoconferencing is coming -- I have no doubt! But in the meantime, there are two ways for you to catch up on Donna's message. You can view her briefing slides on the Association website at http://www.sla.org/presentations/2001wintermtg.ppt. And you can read the rest of this column, in which I'll share my understanding of the key points that Donna made. SLA starts with an enormous asset: our tradition of change. It was founded almost a century ago on a platform of continuous change, and recent presidents have carried this theme forward with a series of initiatives. These initiatives, designed to adapt the Association to meet the needs of our rapidly changing profession include documenting the information professional's value, identifying competencies for the 21st century, creating the virtual association, and forming today's strategic task forces. Donna's theme, "Guarantee the Future," continues these initiatives. The Association's strength is its people. Networking is the most important benefit -- the opportunity to learn from and share with other information professionals. To build SLA for the future, we must concentrate on people. There are five big reasons for this:
2. As all aspects of society go global, we need to develop global strategies to build membership and deliver services. 3. Demands for services are changing. These changes affect our continuing education programs, conferences, website, publications, and more. 4. The pace of change is accelerating. To succeed, we need a simpler, nimbler and quicker Association. 5. We have too much volunteer burnout. Simplifying the Association and getting more value from our investments in virtualization will ease the load on our most active members. The way we will "architect" SLA for the future is by a strategic focus on five areas: branding, partnerships, membership, conferences, and simplification. There are task forces working on each of these areas. For details, visit the Task Force area of the SLA website at http://www.sla.org. The Task Forces are well along in their work. The Partnership and Branding task forces have both completed phase one of their work. The Membership, Conferences and Simplification task forces will report to the Board at the Annual Conference in June. It's anticipated that these task forces will recommend major changes. As always, their recommendations must be approved by the Board in order to take effect. Some recommendations may require changes to the bylaws. In that case, the proposals must be communicated and voted on by the membership in order to take effect. Throughout the process, there will be an emphasis on communication. So if you have comments or questions, be sure to contact the appropriate Task Force, the Board or Donna! It's clear from Donna's briefing that developments in the Task Force initiatives and the selection of a new SLA Executive Director will help make the San Antonio Conference an exciting event. For all the usual great reasons -- programs, exhibits, and most of all, networking -- as well as for the news of significant changes that will strengthen the Association -- I urge you to attend. See you there! ~ Next month: Change and Continuity, Part 2: The Chapter ~
The Cataloger's Art: The New LC Rules Landscape (Warning: Artistic Puns Included!) The new art and fine-art heading rules that we have been waiting for are finally here! These rules are on exhibit in Library of Congress memos H1250 (Art and Fine Art) and H1148 (Pattern Headings: Art) at http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/artcat.html. Let me paint a picture of the new rules, to put you at your "easel." Although I welcome the new rules, I'm finding that the old styles are harder to stop than I thought -- even when I knew the old styles were tacky. What follows is a sketch of some of these rule changes. Please note that the words in bold refer to subject headings. Hello, new heading: Painting, Canadian - 20th century. Goodbye, old heading: Painting, Modern - 20th century - Canada. What did that old "modern" qualifier mean anyway? What did the rule makers expect would happen next? Maybe "late modern"? And then "post-late modern"? Here are the new artistically correct rules: Add qualifier to art form if the artists have a national, ethnic or religious affiliation, then these can be subdivided geographically. Okay, lets try this together: Painting, Canadian - Ontario - 20th century. This indicates the place of origin is Ontario -- more specific than just Canada. Now we're painting!
H1250 1.a. provides a nice little paint-by-numbers cheat sheet (though I wish it were chalk full with examples!): H1250 1.d. discusses the use of the historical period. Because the modern period is everything after 1500, they are no longer using that term. This makes sense. It doesn't make retrospective conversion of these headings easy -- but it makes sense. What throws me into an abstract kind of mindset is this line: "For works on the modern period in general (1500 to present) assign the national, regional, or ethnic heading without period subdivision" (my emphasis). This implies my users will know that the work is about post 1500 -- which might not be the case. The "modernity" of the art is lost. You can add the qualifier "Modern" when the form of the art is not qualified. However, my users will not know if the general art form described is modern or not.
For example, consider the fictitious title "Art of Canada from 1690-2001." The subject headings would be: My perspective on the rules means that I will now have to use separate headings -- Painting, Canadian $y 17th century; Painting, Canadian $y 18th century; Painting, Canadian $y 19th century; Painting, Canadian $y 20th century; and Painting, Canadian $y 21st century. I have the impression that these LC memos have a few flaws that I hope will be fixed. One such problem is the way they have coded In art as a "$v" when it should be "$x." In memo H1148, the "Types of headings covered by the pattern" contradicts itself with Drawings and Sculpture, Modern. Another problem is that architecture terms are not built into the memos, although these headings are also being remodeled. Architecture headings can be viewed in the Library of Congress Subject Headings Weekly List at http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/cpso. (Scroll to the bottom of this page for the LC Subject Headings Weekly List.) All in all, I am happy that the new style of art headings is here. However, I suspect we will be seeing pentimentos* of old headings for years to come. The "clean up" of the database files might be saved for the next generation of art catalogers!! *Pentimento -- An underlying image in a painting, as an earlier painting, a part of a painting, or original drawing, that shows through, usually when the top layer of paint has been worn or becomes transparent with age. (Definition courtesy of http://www.artlex.com.)
Mini-Minutes of the February DC/SLA Board Meeting
Career Day is taking place on March 24, 2001 at Catholic University. Pre-registration is required for the boxed lunch. The nominations for Chapter offices were accepted. The ballots will be mailed in Chapter Notes and are due by March 30th. The Student Affiliation Committee has been working on awarding two student scholarships. The Committee is also working on recruiting librarians for the Spend a Day with a Special Librarian program. For the full minutes, please see the Chapter website at www.sla.org/chapter/cdc.
Bethesda Group Cooks Up Plans for May 15 Dinner By Donna Kanin The ten information professionals who gathered at Thyme Square Restaurant on February 20 for the DC/SLA Neighborhood Dinner decided that meeting once a year just isn't enough. Our group had such a great time getting acquainted with new diners and catching up with those who attended last year's dinner at La Madeleine, that we agreed to try meeting at least three times a year. The group's next dinner date is scheduled for Tuesday, May 15, 6:30 p.m., at the Moongate Restaurant, 4611 Willow Lane in Bethesda. Any DC/SLA members are welcome to join us. Please RSVP to Donna Kanin at donna.kanin@neg.pge.com or Beth Purell at purellb@plural.com. The Moongate is located within walking distance of the Bethesda Metro stop, which is on the Red Line. Free parking is available across from the restaurant.
TO: DC/SLA Members DC/SLA is assembling a new editorial team to produce Chapter Notes starting in Summer 2001. Published ten times each year, the newsletter is distributed in print to the Chapter's 1000-plus members and selected SLA officers nationwide. An electronic version is also posted on the Chapter's web page. The DC/SLA 2000 Strategic Planning Committee Report said that Chapter Notes is the most highly valued service the Chapter provides. One of our new editors has already been selected, Marie Kaddell of Lexis-Nexis. Here is your chance to join Marie and play a major role in our Chapter's prominent newsletter. Volunteers with copy editing and/or electronic layout and formatting skills are needed to fill the editor positions. The editors' duties include coordinating with DC/SLA officers to publish timely Chapter program announcements, working with Chapter Notes' contributing authors, and designing and preparing each issue for printing. Working as a Chapter Notes editor is a very satisfying way to both utilize and develop your editorial skills, and make a major, visible contribution to the Chapter. It also provides a great opportunity to meet members involved in our Chapter's many projects and committee activities, and to stay on top of the news. To find out more about becoming a Chapter Notes editor, please contact DC/SLA President-Elect Sue O'Neill Johnson at Sjohnson3@worldbank.org and the current editors Amy Pass and Eileen Deegan at cneditors@yahoo.com.
Subscribe to the Chapter Discussion List! A great way to keep up with Chapter news and events is to join the DC/SLA Discussion List! This List provides DC/SLA members a means of quick and easy communication. To subscribe, please send an e-mail to lists@lists.sla.org Type the following words in the body of the message:
For additional information, go to http://www.sla.org/chapter/cdc/list.html, or contact Greta Ober at (202)-623-6413 or greta@worldbank.org.
Register Now for the DC/SLA, LLSDC, DCLA Joint Spring Workshop
Complete and mail the registration form to:
Covington & Burling Library 1201 Penn. Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20004-7566 Name: ______________________________________________
DC/SLA Congratulates the 2001 InfoCurrent and Chapter Award Scholarship Winners
Winner of the InfoCurrent (Telesec) Award for $2000:
Winner of the DC/SLA Chapter Award for $1500:
Infocurrent and Chapter Scholarships are granted for graduate study in librarianship/information |
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