Message from the Chair
by Martha McPhailGreetings in 2004 to MAHD members!
I hope all enjoyed wonderful, safe holidays and now are back fully engaged at work. In these difficult economic and political times, we do need to be thankful for our positions, our salaries, and our well-being. For those among us who may have recently been downsized or just graduated and are job seeking, I invite you to stay connected with SLA, our Division, and your local chapter. One of the premier benefits of membership in SLA is our network of colleagues, our collaboration with each other, and our ability to communicate across boundaries. Take advantage of all SLA offers and network and communicate! That goes for all of us still working, as one never knows what may befall us. (That goes especially for those of us in the golden state of California, waiting for the other budgetary shoe to drop.)
All librarians are connected and we need to support each other's careers and associations. ALA held its Midwinter Meeting in San Diego in January, and several local SLA members took advantage of the opportunity to browse the exhibits. I remain an ALA member although I rarely attend the conferences. As I mentioned to the editor of American Libraries, a friend made through attending IFLA as an SLA delegate, the cost of ALA membership is worth it just to receive that monthly magazine. I learn of news, events, personnel changes, funding opportunities, innovative programs, political legislation, and so much more through reading American Libraries. What happens with the Patriot Act affects us, how state or city budgets allocate for school and public libraries affects us, how the demographic composition of the U.S. is changing affects us. We special and academic librarians must support our public and school librarian colleagues. We are all in this library world together, though our functions, specialties, and patrons may differ.
The SLA winter meeting, now called its Leadership Summit, took place in Albuquerque in late January. There we heard of potential changes and challenges for our association, as well as plans for our upcoming conference in Nashville. A report on the Summit appears in this issue.
I do encourage all of our members to try to attend the Annual Conference in Nashville. Remember this is our best opportunity for networking, collaboration, and communication. Let's support each other's professional development by convening and sharing our ideas in Nashville. I hope to see you there!
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The SLA Leadership Summit
by Sylvia Frank, MAHD Chair-Elect
I had the good fortune to attend the SLA Leadership Summit in Albuquerque this January. As Chair-Elect one of my duties is planning programs for the 2005 SLA Conference in Toronto, where I live.
The Summit gave me the opportunity to meet the Chair, Martha McPhail, who quickly brought me up to speed and introduced me to many of the people I will be e-mailing in the next 18-month period.
I attended the planning session for Toronto and met the Past Chair, Ann Shea, who is on the Toronto Planning Committee. I was impressed overall by the amount of work that has already taken place, for example, the design of the conference logo, the sessions that individuals are already considering, and all the tips from former planners. Having never planned a conference I was concerned that I did not have the experience required but I realized during my two days in Albuquerque that there are so many people to turn to for assistance. Everyone was so helpful and friendly, and I met others who were taking the plunge for the first time as well.
One of the highlights of the Summit was the keynote address by Ann Rhoades from the low-fare airline, JetBlue. She had a lot to share about customer service and finding employees with the right behavioral fit. Staff are trained to try to say “yes” even if it means breaking some rules, as long as safety and operations are not threatened. In fact, JetBlue has tried to minimize the number of rules so staff have the flexibility to respond to customers.
I took fellow SLA member Janice Cooper Weiss up on her offer to join her and anyone interested on a balloon ride. I got up at five thirty on a very cold morning with second thoughts and was worried I would chicken out, but I am so glad that I didn’t. A total of five of us decided to take the ride and we all absolutely fell in love with the experience. Lifting off in the balloon on a clear morning and gently moving upwards with the sun is so calming. All the dogs in Albuquerque barked as we soared over the city. If you ever get the chance, ballooning is a great way to get close to your SLA comrades; the basket is much smaller than it looks!
I don’t know if I can top balloon riding for activities in Toronto but I think we have some good ideas in the works. I am planning a session on the public art program in Toronto, which I hope will be complemented by a walking tour. Please e-mail me at SylFrank@torfilmfest.ca if you want to share some program ideas or if you have any questions about Toronto.
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Digitizing Appalachia: The Digital Library of Appalachia—MAHD Program at Nashville
by Martha McPhail
Please join us at this exciting program our Division is offering at the Nashville Conference. Three librarians working with the Appalachian College Association (ACA) to digitize their special collections will demonstrate the technology, selection of materials, and user benefits.
Libraries in the Appalachian College Association have collaborated to create the Digital Library of Appalachia, an online multimedia collection of Appalachian materials drawn from ACA members’ special collections. This effort not only supports teaching and learning at member institutions, but also fosters a greater understanding of Appalachian culture for any interested researcher. The Digital Library of Appalachia aids in the maintenance of cultural identity, breaking barriers and opening new opportunities to offer an accurate perception of the region – the heritage, characteristics, and values of the place we call “Appalachia.” This presentation will describe a process for a collaborative digitization project using OCLC’s ContentDM software, and the benefits of such a project for teaching, scholarship, and regional cultural identity.
This illustrated presentation will be on Wednesday, June 9, 2004, at 3:00 PM. The presenters are:
- Alice Anderson, Public Services/Systems Librarian, Tennessee Wesleyan College;
- Kathy Parker, Librarian, West Virginia Wesleyan College; and
- Dianne Schaeffer, Systems Librarian, Appalachian College Association.
There will be a quick tour through the Web site, followed by a three-part discussion:
- Why you want to do this (benefits, including cultural maintenance, efficiencies, user expectations, teaching)
- How to do this (technical aspects of digitization, including critical review of ContentDM)
- What you can do with this (using it for teaching, online displays, advocacy)
As more museum, arts and humanities libraries are looking to digitize their own collections, this presentation should be especially helpful in the decision-making process. Please put this program on your conference schedule. I'll see you there!
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Report to Members on MAHD Survey
by JoAn Segal
During the spring of 2002, I completed a survey of the MAHD membership to provide the leadership with information important to member satisfaction and planning for new services.
At the Annual Conference in Los Angeles, several attendees reported they had not received their questionnaires and I was instructed to redo the survey. After ascertaining that fewer surveys were distributed than the total number of members, I sought help from Karen Reczek, Division Chair on the SLA Board. She and headquerters staff were extremely helpful. We put the survey on the Survey Monkey site, with a cover letter asking people to respond only if they had not previously done so.
We received a total of 95 responses, and we trust that people did not respond twice. This totalincludes the original responses, plus those from Survey Monkey and from several surveys I received at conference last year.
We still see quite a few references to the need for more electronic activity, but we must remember that about half the responses antedate our wonderful new Web page. The survey has already had an impact on the Division, and that is important.
In the area of general information, members see The Bulletin and annual conference programming as our most basic services and rank how well we do both of these highly (32 of 49 "very well’s" for programs, 25 of 40 "very well's" for The Bulletin). Suggestions for improvement in programming include increased emphasis on technology, more support for chapter section activities, and better advertising of programs.
Suggestions for new activities included mentoring and recruitment, a directory of members (with geographical emphasis), and more networking activity, but there was also a call to continue to emphasize our strengths instead of branching out more.
Division strengths were seen as camaraderie, good programming, personal networking, and the focus on the humanities in an environment of business and technology.
Weaknesses included a lack of chapter activity, need for more continuing education courses, poor electronic communication (improved during the past year), and need for more marketing.
Members value most programs and events, friendships, the relationship with SLA, affiliation with like-minded librarians, information related to their work, support of the humanities, and the sense of fun in the Division.
Of 77 respondents to the question of satisfaction, 28 were “neutral" and 34 "satisfied." With work on the part of Division leaders; we hope to move more of these responses into the "very satisfied" category. A similar distribution characterized the responses about belongingness, with 43 feeling "OK" about belonging and 20 feeling "very well.” Ideas for improvement included greater use of the Web site and e-mail.
A large majority read The Bulletin regularly (75 of 86 responded to this question). They appreciate the annual meeting reports, member news, list of officers, Chair’s report, and Board minutes. As to feeling informed about activities, 31 respondents said they felt "OK" and 33 said they felt very well informed.
Suggestions for program topics included Internet e-publishing, library education, and nonlibrary subjects, such as management issues in nonprofit organizations and news from the humanities field. Also proposed were cataloging, classification and indexing, use of metadata schema in museums, and digital image resources.
Little interest in the timing of annual conference programming emerged, with many skipping the questions. Those responding believe awards are appropriate but poorly publicized.
A profile of respondents is probably typical of SLA members. We are aging (mode is 46 to55); have a masters degree; have worked in libraries 11 or more years; work full time; make decent but not outstanding salaries (mode is $36 to $50 K); have been in SLA for a long time (52 of 82 for 5 to 25 years); and belong to a number of other professional organizations, including ALA and state library associations.
As to long-range planning, those responding felt we should be concerned with many influences, such as more virtual museums; economic, political, and technological factors; SLA leadership stability; conservation and preservation; and issues of privacy and access. They suggested growth should take place in the realms of technology, recruitment, and in strengthening existing strong points such as fine programs at the Annual Conference.
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SLA’s Architectural Caucus
by Dennis Hamilton
Recently, your discussion list received a request from me for responses from anyone who might be interested in discussing an Architectural Caucus within SLA. Martha McPhail asked that I write this article to explain why and how this came about.
For years, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) sponsored a group (usually organized by the librarians of AIA) of architectural librarians. This group was called The Association of Architectural Librarians. When they were active, they attempted to meet once every year during the AIA conference. However, due to severe economic conditions within the AIA offices several years ago, the AIA library staff was drastically reduced, thereby preventing the staff from keeping the group active.
I always felt that SLA was a good place to organize a group of architectural librarians. So, last year, not sure how to proceed, I contacted SLA Headquarters with my idea. SLA suggested I place an article in SLA's Information Outlook. In the meantime, I contacted the discussion lists of the Museums, Arts & Humanities Division and the Solo Librarians Division. So far, there have been 20 SLA members who have expressed an interest in the Architectural Caucus.
I hope to soon officially begin a formal discussion among those SLA members who have expressed an interest in the Architectural Caucus. If possible, I would like to see some of us get together in Nashville to allow further discussion. I don't know, of course, where this will eventually end. We might disband, we might need another year of discussion, we might decide to work within MAHD, we might attempt a new caucus, or we might go in another completely different direction.
Thank you for this opportunity to speak to your Division.
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New MAHD Members
(* denotes student member)
Henry W. Baker*
New York, NY
Karen S. Bradley*
Hyattsville, MD
Laurie A. Biggs*
Berkeley, CA
Diana E. Carey*
Brooklyn, NY
Julian A. Clark*
Hyattsville, MD
Kevin L. De Vorsey*
American Museum Natural History
New York, NY
Geri P. Dosalua*
Mountain View, CA
Jacqueline D. Goins*
Lexington, KY
Celia A. Griffin
Birmingham, AL
Gretchen M. Gueguen*
University of Maryland
College Park, MD
Florante Peter Ibanez*
Loyola Law School
Los Angeles, CA
Carol A. Kirsch
State Historical Society of IA
Iowa City, IA
|
Lyla Lalik*
Rochester, NY
Paula A. Larich*
Rand Corp.
Santa Monica, CA
Lisa H. Lewis*
Baton Rouge, LA
Rachel L. Mathieu-Leo*
Kew Gardens, NY
Catherine C. Nash*
Greensboro, NC
Kelly Riutta*
Detroit, MI
Collette F. Saunders*
Halifax, Canada
Anne K. Schlitt*
Kaplan College
New York, NY
A. Kate Thompson*
Dartmouth, Canada
Cherry N. Williams*
Los Angeles, CA
Jennifer O. Yao*
Brooklyn, NY
|
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About the MAHD Bulletin
The MAHD Bulletin is published four times a year by the Museums, Arts and
Humanities Division of the Special Libraries Association. Deadlines for submission
of advertisements and materials are as follows:
Spring issue April
8
Summer issue July 8
Fall issue October
8
Winter issue
January 8
Division Chair
Martha McPhail
Bulletin Editors
Stephanie Orphan
Nancy Adams
ISSN: 1064-5608
The Special Libraries Association assumes no responsibility for the statements
and opinions advanced by contributors to the association’s publications.
Editorial views do not necessarily represent the official position of the Special
Libraries Association. Acceptance of an advertisement does not imply endorsement
of the product by the Special Libraries Association.
Advertising Rates:
Less than one-halfpage $50
Half page $100
Full page $175
Issue sponsor $500
(acknowledgement under masthead, 2 full-page ads)
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