of the Texas Chapter,
Special Libraries Association
ISSN 0739-4950
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Volume 51 : 4 |
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A quarterly publication of the Texas Chapter, Special Libraries Association ISSN 0739-4950 |
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Regarding the chapter discussion list, a review indicates that 178 members subscribe out of 520, per the number of chapter members generated by SLA's Who's Who Online, or about a third of the chapter. Messages range from LPG event announcements to job listings to information about annual conference. The discussion list is a fast and easy way to keep up with issues that concern you as a Texas Chapter member, or to ask questions of your fellow chapter members. Subscribe today by sending an e-mail message to lists@lists.sla.org with the message subscribe sla-ctx your name (replace "your name" with your actual name). To read more about the discussion list, check the Texas Chapter Web site. Please note that SLA headquarters recently announced it would be replacing all references to the word listserv™ at their Web site, effective June 1, 1999.
What would you like to see on the chapter Web site? If you have ideas for additional useful resources that we can incorporate into the site, please share them by sending an e-mail message to the Webmaster at bloechle@mindspring.com. |
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Remember to visit the site often as it changes weekly (sometimes even daily) and subscribe to the chapter's discussion list to keep abreast of all the events taking place across this great state of ours - Texas!
Marie Bloechle is a 13-year member of the SLA Texas Chapter and the Texas Chapter Webmaster for the last 8 months. With a MLS from Texas Woman's University, she has worked in a variety of D/FW special libraries (government, corporate and not-for-profit), mainly as a solo librarian. She recently opened her own business, Argiope - The Web Spinner, and offers her services to libraries as a freelance Webmaster. She can be reached via e-mail at webmaster@argiope.com, or through her Web site at www.argiope.com, or by phone at 1-817-491-3658. µµµ
By Mike Zimmerman, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
At this writing, I am just one week away from turning over the reins of the President to Blaise Turney and I wanted to take a few minutes to say thanks. My thanksgo out to the Executive Board and Advisory Council I have had the privilege to serve and to serve with. In particular, I wish to thank Margaret Carroll for her enthusiasm and the passion she continued to exhibit from her position as Past President. I also want to thank Dell Johnson and Blaise Turney for working so hard to put together very good programs for the Fall and Spring meetings in Houston and Austin for our 50th anniversary. Julie Patrick cannot go unnoticed for her ever vigilant, ever present role as vendor liaison. Because of her efforts we continue to have a strong vendor turnout. She was able to please both the membership AND the vendors, not always an easy task, but she made it look effortless with her easygoing laid-back style. Marie Bloechle, our Networking Chair has worked hard and the result is a Chapter Web site that is being featured at a session in Minneapolis. Our regional outreach through the LPGs were successful, and to Chris Dobson in Dallas, Tracy Williams in Houston, and Mary Wolcott in Austin, I thank you for your hard work in putting together programs of interest and depth. To those other Board and Council members I have not named, please know that your efforts are appreciated. Because of your dedication and sacrifice, once again we have had a busy and prosperous year.
To the membership, I simply ask you continue, continue to sacrifice, continue to give your talents to the Chapter whenever possible, and finally, continue to serve. Through your service, our Chapter will continue to grow and will continue to be looked at as one of the top Chapters in the Country. I have learned a great deal during this year and I look forward to being of service in the coming years.
Michael Zimmerman
Texas Chapter President
June 1, 1999
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April 11, 1999 - Austin, Texas. The Chapter Board meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m. and each person in attendance introduced himself/herself. Susan Elam, Secretary, was unable to attend and minutes of the last meeting were not available. Susan will e-mail them to the Board. Mike Zimmerman asked for a volunteer to take minutes. Chris Dobson agreed to do so.
President's report - Mike Zimmerman
Mike was unable to attend mid-winter because of travel restrictions at the Federal Reserve. Mike reported that he worked closely with Nominations Chair, Peggy Shaw, on the recent elections. A big challenge facing the Chapter is getting qualified candidates to run for office. The nominations chair contacted 70 people to fill the slate this year. Reasons given for not being able to run for office were: too busy at work, too busy with other activities, or too new to be able to contribute.
1st Vice-President's Report - Dell Johnson
Dell has been working hard on the upcoming reception and chapter meeting. She is very disappointed with the turnout. There are 50 paid attendees. The summer planning meeting may be held at the Menger Hotel in San Antonio. Dell assisted the Procedures chair by submitting several electronic position descriptions.
2nd Vice-President's Report - Ann Griffith
Ann reported that expenses for The Lone Star Librarian were running considerably below budget. The new postal regulations did not create a significant impact in the cost of mailing. A new postal permit will be purchased. The service being used to assist with mailing has been very satisfactory. We have been having good revenues from advertisements. So far this year the ads have generated more than $1300. Julie Patrick's efforts to obtain ads have been very successful and appreciated. New enhancements in the newsletter are inclusion in each issue of the ad rates and an index of the advertisers.
Treasurer's Report - Blaise Turney
Blaise has transferred all records to the new version of Quicken. Because all reports were submitted to SLA on time, the chapter received $12/member (total of $6660) for its yearly allocation. After expenses for this meeting are paid, Blaise expects the treasury will have $2-3,000 at the beginning of the fiscal year (July 1).
Procedures Committee - Ernestine Chipman
Ernestine suggested that all the procedures manuals should be distributed in electronic rather than paper format. She has been trying to get current manual into a usable electronic version. Scanning may be one option. Margaret Carroll may have the manual in a Word 97 version. In order to get the manual updated in a timely period, it was recommended that the Procedures Committee write any parts not recently reviewed and distribute to the relevant positions for approval or modifications.
Networking Committee - Marie Bloechle
Marie assumed this position in November. By January she had redesigned the Web site to standardize the look and feel of various pages and in response to suggestions by visitors to the site. The new Webmaster at SLA has been able to provide statistics on the use of the site. There were over 2,000 visits to the site in March.
Marie contacted the SLA Webmaster about the use of the term Listserv ™. Since it is a trademark, all references to it will be removed from our pages, even though SLA has no official policy on the use on chapter or organization sites. Marie announced the Texas Chapter Web site has been selected for use as an example in the CE course Strategically Planning Your Internet Presence, which will be offered in Minneapolis.
Marie asked what the Board would like to see on the Web site. There was consensus that a Texas Chapter membership directory should be investigated. In addition to standard contact data, information that would indicate subject expertise would be particularly helpful to members. Dell suggested that versions of the Web site be archived. Mike strongly recommended that Marie find an assistant who could act as her backup should the need arise.
Government Relations Committee - Erika Mittag
Erika arranged for SLA to have a booth at the Texas Legislative Day. She was assisted by Kay Schlueter, Texas Law Library, and Renee Daulong, Information Resource Services. She provided information from the Competencies document to legislators in an effort to increase pay scales for state librarians.
Bylaws Discussion
When questions about the elections corresponding to the new Bylaws were raised, Mike Zimmerman contacted SLA Headquarters. He then discovered that the revised Texas Chapter Bylaws, submitted to Headquarters in September 1998, had never been signed. The new Bylaws are not in force until signatures have been obtained. Therefore, a director-at-large position will be on the next ballot.
Recruitment Discussion
Getting members to run for office is becoming an increasing challenge. Mike asked for suggestions on how to get more people involved. Chris Dobson suggested that the advisory council use more people on the committees. Instead of the chair doing all the work, using a committee would involve people and get them interested in the chapter. Mary Forman noted that a new person has trouble finding names of people who can help. A chapter directory is needed. The Web site and discussion list help. It would be helpful to add the chapter structure with pictures of incumbents to the Web site. Marie and Ann agreed to investigate a Chapter directory. Susan DiMattia said the problem of involving new people is common to all chapters. She suggested that we need to think about, and tell others, how association involvement has helped us professionally. Also think about how to convince management to support our professional involvement. Susan further suggested mentoring of new officers. Leadership training provided to new SLA Board members proved to be very impressive to corporate management. She recommended an ad hoc committee to investigate what members need and how they can get it. Denise Chochrek recommended that we provide additional opportunities at state meetings to network and that we employ some formalized methods to create dialog (icebreakers). Tracy Williams noted that the Houston LPG is just starting to use networking opportunities. The Membership Chair regularly receives a list of new members. Chris suggested that the Membership Committee make a welcoming telephone call to each new member in addition to the printed material that is mailed.
Fall Meeting Discussion
Dell inquired about using the Bush Presidential Library for the fall meeting, but there are no meeting rooms in the facility. The fall meeting will be held in the Dallas area. Dell is checking on the possibility of using one of the AMIGOS workshops as the focus. Chris suggested a joint meeting with the Association of Independent Information Professionals. A similar meeting with the Maryland Chapter was very successful for both organizations. A number of AIIP members are popular writers and speakers on the information industry. Chris will contact them at the upcoming AIIP Annual Conference and report back to Dell on their availability. Chris recommended that the meeting be publicized to a large number of organizations including the law librarians, medical librarians, and TLA.
Southwest Regional meeting - April 2000
The Texas Chapter and the San Diego Chapter are responsible for the programming for this meeting. Mike would like to have some help. It will provide a convergence of education and entertainment.
SLA Annual Conference in San Antonio - 2001
Denise reported that she is chairing the local arrangements. There are eight committees and she has chairs for all except the hospitality booth staffing committee and the booth planning/design committee. She hopes to fill these soon. Recruiting for committee members will take place in the Fall.
There was no Old Business.
New Business
The summer planning meeting is tentatively scheduled for July 31 at the Menger Hotel in San Antonio.
Mike extended his thanks to Susan DiMattia for attending the meeting and for her input.
Carolyn Ernst moved that the meeting be adjourned and Tracy seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 5 p.m.
April 11, 1999 - Austin, Texas. The chapter business meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by President Mike Zimmerman. Mike introduced the SLA President Elect, Susan DiMattia. Susan stated that we need to partner - to find collaborative partners inside and outside our organizations. She is looking at the governance structure of SLA to see what works and what doesn't. Some committees which are no longer useful will be eliminated. The Tellers Committee has already been disbanded. The association will be developing succinct arguments to answer questions such as "Why do I need a library?"
Julie Glick of the University of North Texas was announced as the winner of the student stipend to defray costs of the SLA annual conference.
Mike explained the difficulty in obtaining nominees for the chapter offices this year. Officers and committee chairs will be soliciting assistance from the membership in order to let more members participate in leadership positions. This will also be an excellent way to prepare for higher offices.
Blaise Turney reported that the balance in the chapter accounts as of March 31, 1999, totaled $25,756.44 ($14,873.10 in the checking account and $10,883.34 in the SLA Pooled Money Market Account).
Mike recognized Marie Bloechle for the excellent job she has done as the new Webmaster.
The newly elected officers were introduced: President, Blaise Turney; 1st Vice President/President Elect, Dell Johnson; 2nd Vice President Elect, Ernestine Chipman; Secretary, Damon Camille; and Treasurer, Carolyn Ernst. Mike Zimmerman, who will become Past President, and Ann Griffith, moving from 2nd Vice President Elect to 2nd Vice President, will complete the new Executive Board.
Mike solicited a volunteer for Chapter parliamentarian and then expressed thanks to the Chapter past presidents for their work during the first 50 years. Mike also thanked the vendors who helped make the meeting possible.
Cheryl Farley, of the University of Texas, announced that Val Magno is enjoying motherhood, so a new SLA Liaison will be needed for UT.
Carolyn Grimes reported that the Gale Group has an opening for a Texas representative.
The summer planning meeting will be held in San Antonio on July 31.
Mary Forman moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded and passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Dobson
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By Dell Johnson, SEMATECH
The SLA Texas Chapter celebrated its 50th anniversary with a reception honoring all past presidents on April 11 at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Research Center. Approximately 50 members and guests attended the event, held in conjunction with the Spring 99 meeting in Austin.
Refreshments of sandwiches, fresh vegetables and dips and fruit along with the famous dessert treats from Sweetish Hill Bakery provided a festive atmosphere. The Center's Library provided an appropriate setting, with its extensive non-circulating collection of botany titles, its beautiful architecture overlooking wildflower meadows in full bloom, and plenty of room for visiting with old friends and recalling old times. The Chapter Archives lent several scrapbooks with mementos of our history and many attendees enjoyed looking through those.
After a brief welcome by Wildflower Center staff, SLA President Elect Susan DiMattia and Chapter President Mike C. Zimmerman offered congratulations to the eleven past president in attendance. Recipients are Lou Parris (president 72-73), Jean Martin (74-75), Prof. Julie Hallmark (75-76), Ann M. Robertson (74-77), Carolyn Meanley (77-78), Claudia Bird (84-85), Peggy Shaw (87-88), Janice Anderson (90-91), Denise Chochrek (93-94), Marilyn Redmond (94-95), Gail Wilson (95-96). Each of these was presented with a plaque containing a certificate of appreciation for their service and contributions to the Chapter. Those unable to attend will receive their certificates in the mail. µµµ
By Chris Dobson and Carolyn Ernst, F1 Services
This year's Conference Awards Ceremony was held on Wednesday at 2:38 p.m. Unfortunately, most attendees left Tuesday when the Exhibits closed. Those who remained were spread pretty thin amongst the 17 concurrent sessions held at that time. Your diligent reporters, however, bypassed several potentially riveting sessions in order to bring you this report.
Artist formerly known as Prince Award to: Wavo Corporation for a gratuitous name change - well OK it's shorter than WavePhore. Runners Up: Financial Information Services (Moody's) and Primark (Disclosure) - cut this out and save it for future reference.
Carmen Sandiego Award to: American Airlines for including stops in both Dakotas between Dallas and Minneapolis.
Crimewatch Award to: Minneapolis for not having any to watch.
Defensive Driving Award to: the Minneapolis drivers who consistently managed to avoid people who cross streets with total disregard for crosswalks or traffic signals.
General George Custer Award to: the Board of Special Libraries Association for deciding to make the Consulting Section a division without consulting them.
Improv Award to: Harry Beckwith, author of Selling the Invisible, for his creative and energetic response to the ringing of a cell phone during his presentation - "Tell them you don't want to switch long distance carriers."
Jesse Ventura Award to: Laurence Prusak for his "open and frank" discussion of the library profession.
Julia Child Award to: Dialog for an amazing variety of exotic foods topped off by fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries with whipped cream. Runners Up: Dow Jones, Ernst & Young (the Business & Finance Div. open house), and LEXIS-NEXIS.
Lenscrafter Award to: Texas' own Richard Fletcher for his transparencies that were indecipherable beyond the 3rd row.
MADD Award to: the vendors who bused attendees home from receptions featuring free-flowing, and FREE, wine and champagne.
Masterpiece Theater Award to: Peregrine Rowse of ILI Infodisk for his oh-so-British intonation as he lucidly explained the relationship between ISO and ANSI.
Miracle-Ear Award to: Wavo for the irresponsible decibel level of the "Jeopardy Game" at their booth.
National Weather Service Award to: the Hyatt Hotel for not bothering its guests with announcements of a tornado WARNING.
Paperwork Elimination Act Award to: SLA for its online preconference program and its conference message center with 4 terminals serving 6500 attendees.
Starbucks Award to: the Hyatt for NOT putting coffee in the rooms.
Titanic Award to: Express USA, the "official" conference shuttle service, for thinking they could get 5,000 people from the airport to downtown in 3 vans.
Walt Disney Award to: Primark for the showmanship of their haunted cave reception. Honorable Mention: Dow Jones for the Norwegian costumes and cloggers at their reception.
Wizard of Oz Award to: Westminster Presbyterian Church for their anatomically correct sculpture facing Nicollet Mall - you're not in Texas anymore, Dorothy!
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By Denise Chochrek, Taylor & Co.
Chair of Local Arrangements, 2001
What do we normally think of when we hear the Year 2001? I know I think of a Space Odyssey and the distant future. Well 2001 is now around the corner and the Texas Chapter will be entering into an information odyssey. In June of 2001, Texas will host the SLA annual conference in San Antonio. If you attended the 1991 conference in our home state, you will remember what a great time we had. What made that such a wonderful experience was the many Texans who kept things running smoothly behind the scenes. I have heard people all across the country speak highly of San Antonio, Texas, and its 1991 conference.
Let's do it again!
We now have the opportunity to show how creative and industrious Texans really are. If we all pull together, members of SLA will fondly look back at the 2001 conference as one of the very best. I know what you are thinking. You have a demanding job, family commitments, and an uncertain industry...you just don't have the time. Don't let that excuse stop you from being a part of this great event. There are many levels of commitment, from helping design a booth to manning it for an hour during the conference. Some committees only need your input, others may require more time. There is an activity for everyone.
The following is a list of committees. Read over the following information and think about it. If one grabs you, contact the Committee Chair or myself and we will get you involved. We will also have sign-up sheets at both the Summer and Fall State meetings. I will be at both meetings, and will gladly field questions, or you can contact me at dchochrek@barbnet.com.
Here is a brief look at the available committees:
Hospitality Booth Design & Planning
This committee will come up with a design for the booth and put together the decorations. They will set up the booth the Saturday before the conferences. A booth will be needed in Philadelphia and San Antonio.
Committee Chair: Erin Ferguson, eferguson@barbnet.com
Hospitality Booth Staffing
This committee will recruit volunteers to man the booth from Saturday until Wednesday. Schedules will be kept for each day and someone will check the tables to make sure everything is running smoothly. This will be for both Philadelphia and San Antonio.
Committee Chair: Carolyn Korkmas, ckorkmas@shellus.com
Dinner Buddies Program
This committee will escort groups of Information Specialists to dinner. Everyone will take a group of around 6-10 people to a restaurant. Sign up sheets will be at the conference and meeting times must be set. This program is Dutch Treat. This is only for San Antonio.
Committee Co-Chairs: Susan Yancey, syancey@infoscope.com, Peggy Shaw, pshaw@rice.edu
Restaurant/City Guide
This committee will create a simple guide based on reviews available and anyone they might know in the San Antonio area. This committee will create a list of businesses that are near the conference hotels that may be of use to attendees. An example: drug store, copy services, medical facilities, etc. You do not have to be from San Antonio.
Committee Chair: Julie Patrick, jpatrick@barbnet.com
Public Relations
This committee will write short articles for the SLA Outlook encouraging people to attend the conference in San Antonio. They may also be called upon to write other promotional materials. This committee will also collect San Antonio brochures, reference material, etc.
Committee Chair: Mike Zimmerman, mike.c.zimmerman@dal.frb.org
Giveaways/Promotional Items
This committee will gather fun giveaways and promotional items for the conference in Philadelphia to encourage attendance at San Antonio. Additional items may be needed for San Antonio.
Committee Chair: Gail Wilson, gwilson@dttus.com
Web Page and Discussion List
This committee will create the Local San Antonio Conference Page and monitor/run the discussion list. Committee members will help answer questions of out-of-towners.
Committee Chair: Tracy Williams, tracy.williams@lexis-nexis.com
Vendor Relations
This committee will raise funds to cover all the varied events hosted by the Texas Chapter, including the Chapter reception, the booth and the guides.
Committee Chair: Becky Smith, smithb@gwsmtp.nim.nih.gov
As you can see there are committees for everyone's talents. I hope you will join me in making this an experience worth remembering. µµµ
Nancy Reynolds, Library Director at the Texas Medical Association in Austin, announced that the Texas Medical Association Library has created the "TMA Internet Gateway to Health Resource Links" to help health professionals and the public locate appropriate and authoritative health information. From TMA's home page at www.texmed.org, you can find the gateway by selecting "TMA Library & Resources" and locating the reference information section of TMA Library's main Web page or go directly to http://www.texmed.org/resource_center/tma_library/rc_internet_gateway.htm.
Texas Chapter member Naomi C. Broering, Executive Director of the Houston Academy of Medicine - Texas Medical Center Library, has been chosen for the Biomedical and Life Sciences Division's 1999 Winifred Sewell Prize for Innovation in Information Technologies in Biomedical and Life Sciences Librarianship. This is the first year in which this new prize, consisting of a plaque and $250, has been awarded.
Alan Powell recently started a new position as Manager of Internet Services for the M.D. Anderson Center Center in Houston.
JJ Whitaker, Researcher at Ericsson in Dallas, married Wayne LeBlanc, also at Ericsson, on April 10.
Arthur Liu and Rebekah Lee recently accepted Information Specialist positions at Nortel Networks' Information Resource Network in Richardson.
Mel Boggins, University of Texas at Austin GSLIS Director of Placement Services, retired effective May 31, 1999. A replacement has not yet been selected.
A URL with librarian humor: http://www.msu.edu/~olseneri/library.html
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Houston LPG report, submitted by Susan Yancey, Infoscope:
On April 15th, the Houston LPG celebrated International Special Librarians Day as special guests of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and its Hirsch Library. Jeannette Dixon, MFAH Hirsch Librarian, organized tours of her library for 35 Houston area special librarians. Jeannette is responsible for the library, which receives 7,000 requests a year from the museum's staff - primarily its curators - and the public. Her additional responsibilities include the museum's Web site.
A museum docent led the group on a tour of the museum highlighting the Nationsbank corporate collection. A dutch treat dinner at the River Café followed the tours. During dinner, individual introductions provided everyone the opportunity to announce job changes, special projects in progress and their plans for attending the Minneapolis annual meeting.
The Houston LPG gathers for networking meetings on a monthly basis with the exception of June. Meeting places and times are posted on the chapter Web site.
DFW LPG report, submitted by Chris Dobson, F1 Services:
Mark your calendars for November 12, 1999, date of the Texas Information Professionals Conference in Dallas, sponsored by the Texas Chapter of Special Libraries Association and the Association of Independent Information Professionals. "Taming Technology" will include presentations by Reva Basch, author of Secrets of the Super Searchers; Sue Feldman, expert on internets and intranets; Marydee Ojala, editor of Database Magazine; and Carole Lane, author of Naked In Cyberspace. Don't miss this exciting and informative event. Watch for details in early September.
The Dallas/Fort Worth LPG has selected this year's recipient of the Comet Award for the member who keeps coming through. The honoree is Lynn Wegley of Tandy Corporation, pictured above. Despite being located at least 30 miles from all the meeting sites, Lynn attended EVERY MEETING THIS YEAR. Lynn not only came to the Christmas party, but also attended program meetings and participated as a volunteer in our public television pledge night. Congratulations to Lynn and we'll see you in September!
Austin LPG report, submitted by Bob Loftin, SEMATECH:
On Saturday, May 8, 1999, fourteen members of the Austin SLA group enjoyed a fun filled afternoon at the home of Gary Hoover, founder of Bookstop, Hoover's Online, and Travelfest. Mr. Hoover was kind enough to open his home to us, which proved to be an interesting experience!
Gary, as one might expect from the founder of a bookstore chain, loves books. In fact, Gary has a fairly gigantic personal library, and was kind enough to give us a tour of not just his library, but his collection of exotic musical instruments from all around the world. The library collection includes an amazing diversity of material. Gary seemed most proud of his collection dealing with transportation (one of his interests -- he has an encyclopedic knowledge of the field) and world atlases. The rest of the collection was just as impressive, with sections on business history, science, economics, plus almost everything else. According the Gary, the only problem is that he is running out of room!
In addition to books and musical instruments, Gary has a very large collection of music on CD, videotapes, and N-gauge model trains. When he's not collecting stuff, travelling, or starting successful businesses, Gary experiments with video production, specializing in stop-motion videography.
After giving us a quick tour of the place, Gary set us free to play instruments, snack, talk, play pinball or just enjoy the view (he lives on the edge of a cliff that overlooks the Colorado river, and has an observation deck built atop the 2 story house. The view is quite beautiful).
SLA members in attendance were: Olga Wise (with David, her husband), Erika Mittag, Val Magno, Bob Loftin, Toni Loftin, Renee Daulong, Dell Johnson, Kathy Fowler, Mary Wolcott, and Carolyn Grimes. Student members Oleta Lane, Rhys Sevier, and Anne Leonard were also there. Thanks to everyone for coming out !
Special thanks to Gary Hoover for hosting a wonderful event. µµµ
By Denise Chochrek, Taylor & Co.
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Please help me welcome the following new members to the Texas Chapter. If you are having local meetings, give them a call, invite them to come along to a luncheon, or just let them know what is happening in your area. We want to make sure all our new members know that they are welcome additions to the Lone Star State Chapter.
« « « « « « « « « « « « « « «
Rebecca Andrews, Baton Rouge, LA
Cathryn Bowie, University of Houston, Houston
Rebecca Brumley, Fort Worth Star Telegram, Fort Worth
Nancy Burford, Texas A&M University, College Station
Damon Camille, Rice University, Houston
Shannon Canard, Fort Worth Star Telegram, Fort Worth
Michelle Desilets, student, Austin
Catherine Dikcis, San Antonio
Jill Duffy, student, Austin
Charlotte Fowles, student, Austin
Sharon French, SBC Communications, San Antonio
Rachel Galan, student, Austin
Susan Ginter, Bajer & Botts LLP, Austin
Judy Glick, Allen
Michael Golden, Texas Tech University, Lubbock
Kathleen Hanna, Indianapolis, IN
Kathy Harden, Georgetown
James Harrington, Fujitsu Network Comm., Richardson
Susan Jacobson, Bedford
Shari Johnson, student, Austin
Suzanne Levitas, Intermerc Corp., Dallas
Brooke Lippy, student, Denton
Sue Lollis, Arnold White & Durkee, Houston
Helen McCourt, NPC Lindley Veterinary Clinic, Dallas
Cathlin McCullough, student, Austin
Nancy Novotny, Daniel Measurement Services, Houston
Peggy Odom, Waco McLennan City Library, Waco
Jimmi Rushing, Stephen F. Austin State Univ., Nacogdoches
Elizabeth Segar, Dell Computer Corp., Austin
Steven Schwengel, student, Houston
Shelly Shanks, University of Houston, Houston
Stacy Uzick, Lucent Technologies, Mesquite
Kimberley Vassiliadis, student, Austin
Rachel Warner, Dallas
Valeria Werner, student, Austin
Catherine Whitney, Mayor Day Caldwell & Keeton, Houston
Kathleen Whitsitt, University of Houston, Houston
Kathleen Whitt, Batelle, Columbus, OH
Allen Williams, Austin
Adam Wright, BMC Software Inc., Houston
By Dell Johnson, SEMATECH
Intranet development and improvement was the topic of the spring Chapter workshop when McQueen Associates presented Second Generation Intranets on April 12, 1999 in Austin. The workshop included case studies of the involvement of information professionals in excellent intranets developed by Monsanto, Hewlett Packard, MCI, Holland & Hart and others.
Once an organization has its Intranet in place, content management becomes a primary focus. One key to managing the information contained on an internal web site is to implement a metadata initiative. Consistent use of metatdata labels yields more efficient browsing, keyword searching and proactive pushing of information. McQueen recommends that Intranet content managers or content management teams consider using the Dublin core list of metadata (see http://purl.oclc.org/metadata/dublin_core) as a starting point for the required pieces of information which will describe or label each web page that is linked to the Intranet site. These include content descriptions: title, subject, description, source, language, relation, coverage; intellectual property descriptions: creator, publisher, contributor, rights; and instantiation descriptions: date, type, format, identifier.
Weyerhaeuser Technical Library initiated a successful content management project. Part of this project is a "metadata generator" -- a form filled out by each web page creator -- which includes information to describe the content of his page, such as subject terms, keywords and controlled vocabulary. The metadata information is then automatically coded into HTML, which the web page creator cuts and pastes onto his web page before it can be published on the Intranet. In more advanced web sites the metadata tags can be stored in an external SQL database to facilitate additional flexibility.
McQueen then describes the more advanced concepts involved in site categorization of the Intranet site. This involves having a structured database (such as SQL) which can generate dynamic browse-by-category lists of the intranet pages for Yahoo-like browsing.
The content management approach to Intranet development offers many benefits to the Intranet team as well as the end users. Pages and links will be current, browseable, quality-controlled, searchable and can even allow proactive push or alerts. Benefits also include the ease of metadata creation, the clarity of ownership and responsibility, quicker fixes for broken links and ease of adding new terms via user suggestions. Site maps are another useful method of coping with the complexity of larger Intranets. The Digital Equipment site is used as the case study for this short segment of the workshop.
End-users are often attracted to various web sites where they may create their own "personalized" entry to the site, reflecting their own interests and eliminating sections that are irrelevant to their needs. Intranets can be managed to allow the same user friendliness. Telecom New Zealand's Intranet allows employees to personalize their "In Trays" according to their current topics of interest. The Intranet can even be used as a Portal through which to access other web sites external to the end-user's company. The portal feature is an Extranet application, which can enhance the Intranet's usefulness.
Moving outside the strict confines of web pages, the Intranet can also be the enabling application for an organization-wide document management system. McQueen discussed several DMS vendors whose products will integrate efficiently with most existing Intranets. Additionally many companies could benefit from a feature allowing full text searching of a large number of undefined documents. Search engines employ relevance ranking techniques. Searchers must provide relevant terms to achieve useful retrieval. McQueen discussed various search methods which are often used for Intranet applications, such as Verity, Excalibur, Thunderstone, Microsoft Index Server, Semiomap, Pattern (by Magnify). Companies to watch for future text mining applications are Textwise "Knowit" and Claritech "Clarit."
Workshop attendees also received an overview of how push technologies can be incorporated into Intranet sites, how the intranet can be structured to allow access to databases and to cd-rom networks. Middleware applications for these functions include "Cold fusion" for ODBC (Open Database Connectivity)/SQL databases on NT, "Active server Pages" for accessing ODBC and calls to Microsoft Index Server, "Sapphire/Web" for Windows 95/NT, Unix, IBM, DEC etc, and "Amazon" for DB2, Oracle, Sybase SQL Server databases. Groupware or collaboration systems were then described, such as mail lists, chat rooms, forums and conferencing. Software described in this section includes "Allaire Forums," "Webboard," "Web Crossing" and "Netscape Collabra Server." Also "Lotus Domino," "CU-See-Me," Oracle's Groupware, Microsoft Exchange, "NetMeeting" "Rooms" from ichat.
In conclusion, US West library's Web Based Research Request System was profiled as the "Killer App" among the case studies presented. End-users register for personal web pages on the library's Intranet. Through these they initiate information requests and collaborate with the researchers, who are able to post progress reports, send search results and create billable charge backs. End-users are asked to complete evaluations on each completed request online. Request forms are then archived to a searchable knowledge base.
The workshop textbook contains 212 pages, complete descriptions, and screen shots of the case study examples. For anyone who is interested in finding out more information about the content of this workshop, I might be persuaded to lend my personal copy to members. Contact Dell Johnson, SEMATECH, Austin 512-356-7626 dell.johnson@sematech.org. µµµ
Texas Chapter - SLA Executive Board & Advisory Council 1999/2000
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Executive Board 1st Vice Pres/Pres-Elect 2nd Vice President 2nd Vice President-Elect Secretary Treasurer Past-President/Operations Advisory Council Ad Mgr./Vendor Liaison |
Affirmative Action Liaison Bylaws Chair Archivist Consultation Chair Employment Chair Government Relations Chair International Relations Chair Local Planning Groups Austin Dallas/Ft. Worth Houston |
San Antonio Membership Chair Networking Chair Nominations Committee, Chair Parliamentarian Procedures Chair Public Relations Chair Strategic Planning Chair Student Liaisons Denton Austin Houston |
µ µ µ Upcoming Events µ µ µ
July 31, 1999 — SLA Texas Chapter Summer Meeting, San Antonio — check the chapter Web site for registration and detailed information.
November 12, 1999 — Texas Information Professionals Conference, Dallas
April 2000 — Southwest Regional Meeting, San Diego
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Address inquiries to: Texas Chapter, Special Libraries Association, c/o 5200 Meadowcreek Ste. 1134, Dallas, TX 75248-4024. Address manuscripts, comments, notices, etc. to the Publications Committee. Inquiries for advertising rates and advertising orders should be addressed to the Advertising Manager or Editor. Texas Chapter SLA members automatically receive subscriptions to the Lone Star Librarian. Subscriptions cost $15 per year/four issues. Portions of the Lone Star Librarian are on the web at URL http://www.sla.org/chapter/ctx.
Address other subscription inquiries and non-member changes of address to the Editor. Members should send all changes of address to the Special Libraries Association, Membership Dept., 1700 18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009. µµµ
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