http://www.sla.org/chapter/cky
Volume 27, Number 2
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| kysla@lsv.uky.edu http://www.sla.org/chapter/cky |
July 2002 Volume 27, Number 2 |
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Officers and Committee Chairs President Larry Besant President-Elect Past-President Archivist Treasurer Secretary SLA/KY List Owner Director Director Membership Chair Public Relations/Diversity Leadership Development Committee Bulletin Editor KY Chapter Student Group Liaison KY Chapter Student Group President |
Table of Contents
President's Message
--Larry Besant
Presidential Letter? "We don't need no stinking Presidential Letter!" These were my exact same thoughts the last time I had a hyperactive newsletter editor reminding me of my responsibilities as President of the Kentucky SLA Chapter. That was then and the editor was Joe Miller. But this is now and we have a brand new second-time-around President; and we have Stacey Greenwell, our brand new Bulletin Editor, doing her first issue. But so what? Is anything much different now from then, Association and Chapter-wise?
Funny you should ask.
Since 9/11 it seems that almost everything has become, as EJ, my 10 year-old granddaughter might say, "so yesterday." I saw last week where ALA was getting big-time PR out of a newspaper editorial that suggested that the government might get the jump on terrorism if they would just hire more librarians to rake through the leaves of intelligence information. That thought was trumped by the suggestion that there are plenty of special librarians in the FBI, CIA, DOD, etc. Why not just feature them in some PR releases. This would make the point that librarians are contributing value in the fight for Democracy and The Good Life.
Are librarians "so yesterday" that we need to jump on the flag-wrapping bandwagon to reinforce our worth in the public mind? I think not. I like to think that we, of all professionals, know who we are and don't underestimate the good we do. Collectively, that is, in Association, we do need to assert ourselves more firmly as important to the good of the cause. On the Chapter level I have asked Susan Brown, Associate Director of the Kentucky Virtual Library, to be the Chair of our combined Public Relations/ Affirmative Action Committee. I expect she will be asking for help from some of you. Please volunteer for Susan's PR Committee and all our Committees. In a Chapter our size everybody needs to be working on something!
Alexis de Tocqueville was a twenty five year old Frenchman who visited the USA to look at our prisons, but ended up seeing some the things that made DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (the title of his book about the visit) work so well yet with so many contradictions.
One of his conclusions was: "Better use has been made of association and this powerful instrument of action has been applied to more varied aims in America than anywhere else in the world." And, "There is no end which the human will despair of attaining by the free action of the collective power of individuals." In the coming year, I am looking forward to working with each of you and helping realize the Kentucky Chapter's potential as a powerful instrument of action.
Larry Besant
Louisville Cohort Dinner Social
--Submitted by Elizabeth Smigielski, Director at Large
The Louisville-area members of the Chapter spent a leisurely April evening together dining al fresco at Azalea Restaurant in Louisville. There was no agenda-this was simply a gathering of long-time members, new members, members who often can't get away during the day, and even a potential member. Indeed, a good time was had by all.
Among those attending were Wenda Webster-Fischer, Judy Wulff, Glenda Neely, Sharon Bidwell, Elizabeth Smigielski, David Shobe, Kim Hartz, Jill Sherman, Catherine Lavallée-Welch and Maggie Steptoe. For David, Kim and Sharon this was a chance to get together with other Chapter members outside the usual confines of their workday. David is the sole librarian at Sud Chimie chemical company located in Old Louisville. Kim Hartz is the librarian for Mercer Human Resources, and the only librarian of the kind in the United States. Talk about a special librarian! Catherine Lavallée-Welch is a new member to KY SLA and has graciously offered to serve as our webmaster. Another new face to the group was Jill Sherman, who has just graduated with her MSLS from UK. If anyone has job tips, please pass those morsels Jill's way. With her degree under her belt, she can surely cut the mustard in any position.
We even had a proto-librarian in
the bunch: Maggie Steptoe currently works at UofL as a researchcoordinator,
but this fall she is beginning courses at UK towards her MSLS. As Maggie says,
"As a wannabe librarian, I was thrilled to be included and in my enthusiasm
was very prompt-the first to arrive. The guessing game of does-an-SLA-member-have-a-certain-aura
was played with great abandon and not always successfully! Not only was the
food delicious, but also the tidbits of advice about the profession enlightening.
My take-away wisdom is that if I can survive the commute, the library profession
is vibrant and populated with interesting and engaged professionals. I start
my first course this fall. Thanks again for inviting me!" Who'd have thought,
that as we ate Azalea's model rolls, we'd be role models?
University of Kentucky
Student Group Update
--Submitted by Stephanie Ballard, UK Student Group President
The UK SLA student group is off to a running start this school year. On July 16, ten people enjoyed dinner followed by a planning meeting at UK's student-run restaurant. Besides myself, those present were: Joe Miller, student group advisor; Leoma Dunn, our new secretary/treasurer; Timothy Sineath, SLIS director; Mykie Howard, past president; students Bonita Voss, Yubao Li, and Barbara Pace; and guests Kathleen and Bill Richardson, both special librarians.
Much was accomplished at the meeting. We reviewed the UK-SLA bylaws and activities of the past year and heard suggestions from Mykie for maintaining the momentum that she has created. We brainstormed ideas for the coming year with the intention of finalizing program plans at the next meeting. Our first activity will be to serve as guides at the SLIS orientation in August, using this opportunity to promote SLA to new students. We are also planning a general membership meeting in September, possibly a pizza party in conjunction with the ALA student group.
Several UK SLA student group members expressed interest in networking with special librarians and were encouraged to attend SLA KY Chapter meetings. So don't be surprised if you start to see library students at your events! On a personal note, I attended the Spring Fling this May in Covington and found it to be a valuable experience. It was great to meet SLA members from both Kentucky and Cincinnati and to hear about your exciting jobs. During the coming year, I hope to meet more of you and to help facilitate strong connections between our two groups.
Congratulations to the University of Kentucky Student Group for winning the 2002 Student & Academic Relations Committee Merit Award.
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Kristiana
Burke and Mykie Howard have accepted the award on behalf of the Group
during the
Annual Conference in Los Angeles. |
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SLA Conference
Papers Now Online
--Submitted by Stacey Greenwell
SLA has published all contributed papers online for the 2002 Conference at: http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/2002annual/confpap2002/papers2002conf.cfm. This is the first time that these papers are free.
One of our Chapter members, Valerie
Perry, has a paper (as well as presentation slides) included in the 2002 Conference
Papers:
http://www.sla.org/documents/conf/Putting_knowledge_to.doc
The Eyes Have It: A Summertime Story
--Submitted by Jo Staggs-Neel, Treasurer
We were all (about ten of us) lying in the dark, down on the boat dock that night, slightly rocking with the movement of the water, while we watched the stars and drank our recreational beverages. It was the first night of the annual Cave Run Lake camping trip, and the first time I'd ventured along on the trip. I felt so lucky to be there on that boat dock; it was a lovely, magical night, and the shooting stars were putting on quite a show.
Climbing back up the hill to the camp site, I was trying to make my way in the dark without getting too close to the drop-off and was doing pretty well, all things considered. To me this was fairly entertaining and fortunately occupied my full attention. On the way my friend and fellow camper, Deborah, began telling me about an interesting natural phenomenon, visible only in the dark.
So following her directions, I put
on her headlamp and stared out at the woods we were hiking through. Eventually
I saw what she was talking about-little jewel-like sparkles of iridescent green
shining in the grasses and bushes (getting my eyes to see this at first was
a bit like trying to find the figure in a magic puzzle). Focusing on a beautiful
green glint and approaching it slowly and carefully, I saw what it was-the eyes
of a spider. Big scary spiders, little baby-like spiders…they all have
beautiful eyes at night.
Member News
--Compiled by Stacey Greenwell
Laura Whayne, Kentucky Transportation Center Library at the University of Kentucky, will be working 3/4 time with the National Transportation Library (NTL) for six months to evaluate their reference service and make recommendations. The work will probably begin late in August. She will be based in Kentucky but will make visits to the NTL in Washington, DC and other libraries as needed.
Pat Wilson received the FAN
Distinguished Member Award at the SLA Annual Conference in June in Los Angeles,
CA. The award is presented annually to recognize leadership, initiative, and
major contributions to the field of library science demonstrated by members
of the FAN Division. She is Chair of the SLA Public Policy Issues Committee
and was recently appointed to the Program Advisory Committee for the Eleventh
Off-Campus Library Services Conference to be held in 2003. Ms. Wilson is currently
the Distance Learning Librarian, William T. Young Library, University of Kentucky,
Lexington, KY 40506-0456.
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About the Bulletin Publication Deadlines Send e-mail to Stacey Greenwell at staceyg@email.uky.edu,
or mail your diskette to: Newsletters are posted one month after article submission date. Editors |
SLA
Kentucky Chapter Treasurer's Report (04/11/02-05/03/02)
--Submitted by Jo Staggs-Neel,
Treasurer
| Grand Total (Available for Expenditures) | $4,853.20 |
| Operating Budget (Ledger) - (Includes student sub-account of $232.00) | $3,066.10 |
| Savings Account Balance | $1,787.10 |
| Deposits | |
| Westlaw (Spring Fling) | $ 100.00 |
| Total |
$ 100.00
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| Expenses | |
| Jack Quinn's (Spring Fling) | $ 482.15 |
| Student Scholarship (Spring Conference) | $ 91.00 |
| Awards | $ 76.00 |
| Postage for KYSLA Survey | $ 16.32 |
| Total |
$ 665.47
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