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April 2003 Volume 62, No. 4 |
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Special points of interest:
EBSCO
View Chapter Notes in
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President’s Corner: Thoughts on International Special Librarians' Day Right now I am sitting in London on the evening of March 17th looking out my
office window at a spectacular view of the Tower of London and London Bridge. I
leave London tomorrow to attend the European Business Information Conference in
Paris. As I type these words I feel anxious and sad. At 8 o'clock tonight in
Washington (1 o'clock in the morning
over here) President Bush will address the nation. By the time I return, and
certainly by the time you read this message, we will very likely have been at
war. These are big events that we as ordinary citizens feel powerless to
control. There are, however, many small events where we can have control and
many small actions where we can make a difference. Let me name one or two.
International Special Librarians' Day (ISLD) occurs on April 10th this year and
DC/SLA will join in the international focus by hosting a program on Library
and Literacy Issues in Africa - Learn How to be Part of the Solution. This
program will feature three speakers who know what they are talking about and
part of the evening will focus on how we can work toward being part of the
solution in one African and one Cuban library school who are desperate for our
professional magazines. This event will be held at the Kiplinger facility at
1729 H Street NW beginning at 6:00pm and will cost the very affordable price of
only $5.00. Speakers will talk about literacy and library programs in Africa and
offer practical ways in which we can help library education efforts. Each of us
reads and discards professional publications each month. Why don't we save them
and put them in a drop box at this meeting. The magazines will be sent to a
library school in Zimbabwe and another in Cuba. Something so simple can make a
difference. For more information and a registration form, go to
http://www.sla.org/chapter/cdc/yp/events/ We have already made a difference by creating and supporting the Twinning Project which matches librarians in developing countries with SLA Chapters or Divisions. Read more about it at http://www.sla.org/chapter/cdc/twinning.html. This linking provides financial support for the librarian via payment of 90% of the cost of dues for two years and by simply being available to support, counsel, share and partner with the librarian. The cost is very little and the potential for reward is great. The International Projects Committee of our chapter is responsible for the project and the list of candidates. They would love additional volunteers to work in this area. Contact Barbie Keiser at barbieelene@att.net for more information. I don't know how the next few days or weeks will turn out, but I do know that individuals and small organizations can make a difference. The world can benefit from these random acts of kindness and caring. Be part of that effort. |
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Student Scholarships Available DC/SLA promotes two
student scholarships each year in the spring -- one offered by DC/SLA for
$1,500 and one offered by InfoCurrent for $2,000. Please encourage students
enrolled in a graduate program in librarianship/information science to
participate.
Information Wirelessly: Beaming it to the Users The Military Librarians Group will sponsor a program on wireless technology, 6:00-8:00 p.m., April 30th, 2003. The program includes three dynamic speakers. We will start with a review of the technology and what future trends we can expect, then an overview of Department of Defense policy regarding use of wireless devices for communication will be next; followed by a short talk about how wireless technology can be practically applied in content delivery. This program will be held at the McNamara Building at Ft. Belvoir, VA. A registration fee of $12.00 includes a light meal and beverages. For more information, contact Connie Wiley (703-767-9112, or cwiley@dtic.mil) or Diane Schnurrpusch (703-767-8180, or dschnurr@dtic.mil).
BIF Events This Spring The Business Information Finders (BIF) invites the DC/SLA community to join us in a free field trip Wednesday, April 30, at 2:00 p.m. to the Foundation Center (1627 K Street, NW, 3rd Fl) to learn about their sources and services. Jennifer Boettcher is teaching Business Information at the Library School at Catholic University of American (Marist Hall, Room 208) every Tuesday until April 29th, 6:50-9:20 p.m. We welcome other information professionals to visit this free class. Review the Semester Schedule and visit us when we cover a subject of interest (http://faculty.cua.edu/boettcher/). RSVP to boettcher@georgetown.edu for both events. To learn more about BIF check out details on our newly re-designed website (http://www.sla.org/chapter/cdc/bif.html). Thanks to Kristina Lively for her design help. |
Special Libraries Association assumes no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by the contributors to SLA's publications. Editorial views do not necessarily represent the official views of SLA. Acceptance of advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product by SLA.
Subscriptions: Advertising: EDITOR’S NOTE: Materials for Chapter Notes should be sent to the Editor: Cynthia Holt Event announcements should also be submitted electronically to the: Listserv Moderator: DC/SLA Web Committee: Send address changes for Chapter Notes to: SLA Headquarters |
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The New Knowledge Worker Submitted by Alexa Keefe, akeefe@usnews.com On March 6, Special Librarians Susan Fifer-Canby
and Barbara Folensbee-Moore hosted a luncheon lecture at the Renaissance
Hotel featuring Guy St. Clair, President/Consulting Specialist, Knowledge
Management and Learning, at SMR International and author of the new book,
Beyond Degrees. Knowledge Services is described as a holistic, collaborative, enterprise-wide management methodology in which the special library, or information center, becomes the Knowledge Services Center. Using the cornerstones of Knowledge Development and Knowledge Sharing (KD/KS), a team of Certified Knowledge Services Professionals would play the crucial role in achieving organizational success and helping meet the organization's bottom line by being the bridge between learning and job performance. Several of the issues raised in the ensuing question and answer period dealt with the practicality of implementing Knowledge Services in the workplace, especially in those where traditional hierarchies are more deeply embedded. One comment suggested the importance of a top-level sponsor to help get other areas of the organization on board, with which St. Clair vigorously agreed. Another asked how to navigate the turf wars that might ensue should this type of collaboration be seen as a threat to those outside of the Knowledge Services Center. To this, Mr. St. Clair's answered "One step at a time", underscoring another important quality Special Librarians possess -- patience. |
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Smithsonian Libraries Takes Parisian Design Online:
Unique Challenges of Digitizing a Library Collection Submitted by Kitty Scott, 202-554-3928 Date/Time: Tuesday, June
10, 2003, 1:30 - 3 p.m. Location: TBA Moderator(s): Ann Shea, Librarian, California African American Museum Library; Mary McNierney Grant, Retired Members Caucus; and Catherine "Kitty" Scott, Smithsonian Institution Libraries (Retired). Speaker(s): Stephen Van Dyk, Librarian, Cooper-Hewitt Museum; Martin Kalfatovic, Head, New Media Office, Smithsonian Institution. |
Local Student Chapter Exhibits Leadership and Dedication
Submitted by Karen Huffman, khuffman@ngs.org The University of Maryland's SLA Student Chapter's 10-year Anniversary Celebration on March 8, 2003, was a success thanks to the sponsorship of groups like the DC/SLA Chapter! The event planners consisted of past and present SLA Student Chapter Officers who volunteered their time over the last year to develop not a story just about what we have done, but that the Chapter will continue to build on its solid foundation as new student leaders emerge and new ideas evolve. Approximately sixty people attended the celebration that included on-campus tours of three special collections - Hornbake Library's Special Collections, McKeldin Library's Government Documents & Maps, and The Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library - and an afternoon reception at the Rossborough Inn. Guests included CLIS faculty, students, and alumni as well as students from both Catholic and Drexel Universities and librarians/information professionals from the Library of Congress, World Bank, National Geographic Society, Covington & Burling law firm, and other special libraries in the area. Even if you were not able to attend, we have put together a photo log of the day's happenings at http://www.clis.umd.edu/ students/organizations/sla/events/2003/10year_event_1.html |
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Research Tip of the Month:
Updating Your Search Skills Submitted by Mary Ellen Bates, mbates@BatesInfo.com You may be a long-time online searcher, who remembers the good old days when 1200-baud modems were cutting edge and nobody had ever heard of email (or spam). Or you may be someone who just started using the web for more than sports scores or the weather report. In either case, taking a refresher course in both basic and advanced online research techniques can be a useful reminder of the wide range of tools available. I recently found some online tutorials that Dialog and Factiva.com, two of the heavy-hitters in the professional online world, have made available. You don't need to be a subscriber to take the courses and, while they focus on the tools and commands specific to their service, some of the material "translates" well to any research. Dialog's Distance Learning Program is at http://training.dialog.com/gep/distance. Most of the modules are available in either PDF or HTML (with audio narration) format. You can also find a collection of quick tutorials and subject-specific "online courses" at http://training.dialog.com/tours/. Dialog even provides free passwords so you can practice what you've learned in the courses in some of the ONTAP (ONline Training And Practice) databases. The free passwords for the ONTAP files are listed at http://training.dialog.com/sem_info/ontap_pw.html. Factiva.com has Short Learning Topics at http://www.factiva.com/learning/shortsubjects.asp?node=learning5, which cover the various "modules" of Factiva.com. Each Learning Topic consists of a PowerPoint presentation and an audio narration. Factiva also has a series of scheduled interactive web-based training sessions, called Online Learning, on both introductory and advanced searching. You can register for either the introductory or advanced course at http://www.factiva.com/learning/schedule/online.asp?node=learning1. There are also innumerable web-based tutorials on how to find information online. One that I find particularly useful is the Virtual Training Suite, at http://www.vts.rdn.ac.uk/. This site, part of the Resource Discover Network (http://www.rdn.ac.uk/), is maintained by the staff at the Institute for Learning and Research Technology, University of Bristol, UK. It does have a UK bias in terms of sources, and a bit of an academic flavor, but the techniques described translate to any country or research setting. The tutorials are remarkably targeted -- how to find information on the hairdressing and beauty industry, for example, or resources for earth scientists. A couple of my other favorites include:
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Information Resources and Technology:
Share an Experience Licensing Resources on the World Wide Web Submitted by Barbie Keiser A few months ago, a call went out for articles sharing experiences in deploying products. While I've got no secret formula, I have collected a number of favorite references when it comes to crafting and reviewing licensing agreements. With the editor's permission, I thought I'd share them with you. As with most issues, you can depend on professional associations to provide you with assistance and, since academic institutions have had to deal with licensing in a major way, their libraries have been most helpful in providing guidance as to what to do/mistakes to avoid. Finally, don't ignore commercial resources: database vendors, published articles concerning the subject, and Web sites. While it would be natural to think that library associations would be a good resource for information concerning licensing, both the American Library Association and our own SLA have focused more on copyright issues than providing advice concerning the negotiation of licensing agreements. The Licensing Principles (2001) prepared by IFLA's Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters (http://www.ifla.org/V/ebpb/copy.htm) is precisely what it purports to be-a statement of principles, rather than a hands-on, "how to do it" document. In fact, if you are indeed seeking a statement of principles, I'd go back to Principles for Licensing Electronic Resources (http://www.arl.org/scomm/licensing/principles.html). Written in 1997 and partially funded by SLA, the document contains an appendix rich with resources on licensing-a bibliography with active hyperlinks. However, the better Association of Research Libraries document is the booklet Strategic and Practical Considerations for Signing Electronic Information Delivery Agreements (http://arl.cni.org/scomm/licensing/licbooklet.html). This most practical of how-to documents provides links to additional resources, some of which are highlighted below. Scholarly societies have been thinking about the publication and distribution of academic papers for several years. One particularly good resource comes from the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (http://www.alpsp.org/htp_licens.htm). In addition to providing model license agreements, the site links to useful articles, seminars, organizations, and an e-resource bibliography. Don’t limit yourself in terms of geography. Licensing issues may differ as you go from continent to continent, but there's always an opportunity to adapt. EBLIDA’s European Copyright User Platform (E©UP) maintains a series of pages concerning licensing issues (principles, terminologies, software, sample licenses (sic) and clauses favorable for libraries, consortia initiatives and fora, experiences, legal issues, and links to resources and archives (http://www.eblida.org/ecup/licensing/lic.htm). Its documents concerning licensing digital resources, created for the Central and Eastern European Licensing Information Platform, provide clause-by-clause analysis from which we can all learn (http://www.eblida.org/ecup/docs/licensing.htm). Another excellent resource comes from the Digital Library Federation, Digital Library Standards and Practices (http://www.diglib.org/standards), with links to white papers and model license agreements. While the site focuses on the creation of archives of electronic journals, there is no doubt that this will become an integral part of any licensing agreement in the future. The Digital Library Federation site's Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s e-Journal archiving program page maintains links to a number of institutions who have had projects underway to build repositories, including Yale, Harvard, Pennsylvania, MIT, Cornell, Stanford, and the New York Public Library (http://www.diglib.org/preserve/ejp.htm). LIBLICENSE: Licensing Digital Information - A Resource for Librarians (http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/index.shtml) provides extensive information concerning licensing (model licenses, publishers’ licenses, authors’ licenses, national site license initiatives, software, and resource links), permitting users to search the site and/or the Liblicense-L Discussion List archives. Of particular interest to me as Chair of the International Relations Committee is the Developing Nations Initiative that publicizes programs designated to bring high quality, peer-reviewed sciences journals for free or very cheaply to developing nations (http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/develop.shtml). Yale's library will also lead you to the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) Statement of Current Perspective and Preferred Practices for the Selection and Purchase of Electronic Information (http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/statement.html). It sets out the issues that libraries face when having to select electronic journal providers, including "increasing expectations and stable budgets," fair use and archiving, and the changing "needs of teaching, learning, and research." Consortia can play a constructive role in negotiating contracts, controlling pricing options and increases, and technical assistance for access, archiving, content, management data, and authenticated use. Cornell's library provides the user access to A Web Hub for Developing Administrative Metadata for Electronic Resource Management (http://www.library.cornell.edu/cts/elicensestudy/home.html). The library survey (commonly referred to as the Jewell survey after the lead investigator), plus the various PowerPoint presentations on licensing that are available, make this a must view site for anyone interested in the ins-and-outs of electronic journal/database license negotiations. The library at UC - Davis provides electronic resource licensing information under its Scholarly Electronic Publishing Initiative (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/healthsci/webpub.html#licensing). This includes the UC Model License Agreement of the California Digital Library; a Checklist of Points to be Addressed in a California Digital Library License Agreement; and Principles for Acquiring and Licensing Information in Digital Formats. For a Software and Database License Agreement Checklist, there is no better place to turn than the University of Texas (http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/dbckfrm1.htm). Part of a larger, crash course on copyright, the materials available on the site guides you through the process of contract analysis. Joan Conger, Database Performance and Assessment Librarian at the University of Georgia Libraries has created a series of interesting analyses from which we may all benefit, including Electronic Resources Management System Documentation, Measuring Service Quality, and Where to Go for Questions on Electronic Resources (http://www.arches.uga.edu/~jconger). While not dealing in particular with licensing agreements, the library of the University of Wisconsin has provided extensive analysis of the high costs of journal subscriptions, the relationship among print publishers and electronic journal distributors, and the responsibilities of the entire academic community in managing the process, the ultimate goal of which is to provide as much access to as wide a variety of resources as finances permit (http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/journalcuts.htm). Again, don't limit yourself to American academic institutions. Resources abound on European campuses. The JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) Model License for Journals is available at http://www.nesli.ac.uk/modellicence_info.html. The model license can be downloaded from the site in MS Word (.doc and .rtf) or Acrobat (.pdf) format. I've collected a number of "standard" licensing agreements over the years, though I warn you, there is nothing "standard" about them. One site produced by a group of vendors -some no longer with us-makes a number of different agreements available for academic and corporate libraries (single institutions and multiple sites) on http://www.licensingmodels.com. One of the best articles on licensing I've seen what published in the December 2001 issue of Managing Information ("A Licensing Primer for Information Managers"). In one page, the author runs through a definition of licensing, what a license should include, grant of rights, obligation of the parties, payment for the use of content, permitted uses and authorized users, and "what to consider before entering a license agreement." For an interesting approach to "copyleft," take a look at the Editor’s comment on NewScientist.com (http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/copyleft). It sets out terms and conditions for copying, redistribution, and even reworking of the article provided that you follow the conditions found at http://dsl.org/copiyleft. In case you missed the February 2003 issue of College and Research Libraries News, Peter Suber's "Removing the Barriers to Research: An Introduction to Open Access for Librarians" is available as a preprint on his college's Web site (http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/acrl.htm). In it, Mr. Suber posits how open access can solve libraries’ crises in terms of high journal prices, managing digital rights, permissions and technology involved in user authentication. If you object to annual renegotiations for licensing terms-or can’t remember which restrictions apply to which services-this is a "must read" article. |
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Newsletter Workshop Sponsored by ITE Division at SLA
Annual Submitted by Chris Olson, chris@chrisolson.com Plan to spend Sunday morning with chapter member, Chris Olson in a lively, informative workshop devoted to newsletter production. Crammed with information, examples, tips, insights, and pointers, the workshop will be presented in an informal environment where questions and comments are invited. A behind-the-scenes peek at the material Chris is preparing for the workshop reveals topics covering....
This workshop promises to be a great combination of fun and information. Sign up for CE 230, Newsletter Production: Getting the Word Out., Sunday, June 8th, 8 a.m. - Noon. |
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Member News Long-time Washington, D.C. law librarian, website publisher, editor and author Sabrina I. Pacifici launched a free current awareness monitoring service on law and technology news, beSpacific, at http://www.bespacific.com, on January 4th. Her site, updated daily, focuses on issues that include libraries and the Patriot Act, privacy, freedom of information, copyright, federal and state tech-related legislation, e-government and ID theft. A daily HTML e-mail is also available. Susan Fifer Canby has been promoted to Vice President, Libraries and Information Services at the National Geographic Society. Susan has worked for the Society for 28 years. |
Please welcome the following new members to the SLA/DC Chapter: Marilyn Hawkett
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