Fall Bulletin 2004

Increase vendor support. I have drafted a brochure for soliciting vendor support, and I hope we can tweak it as a tool to draw more sponsorship interest.

Broaden relationships with other SLA units. For several years, we have shared in an Open House with MAHD and DEDU; we have those who partner with us to put on the International Reception; and we have participated in partnerships for individual sessions. This year in Nashville, we joined in to co-sponsor the All-Sciences reception and the Thursday tour of the Hermitage. We should continue to seek out and participate in such partnerships as a way to broaden our contacts with other Divisions, Chapters, and committees, while also sharing the costs associated with quality programming.

The third area is Public Relations.

We need to toot our own horn more, letting all of our members and others in SLA and the information industry know who we are, what we’re doing, and the impact we’re having on our organizations or companies and on the profession. I’m delighted to have one of our past chairs, Ann Sweeney, spearheading this effort to get the word out to others using all available outlets. If you, or someone you know within the Division is a star – maybe you’ve done something really innovative at work, maybe you’ve launched a great new service, or maybe you’ve done something really amazing in your community – let us know.

The final area I’m calling Process.

The process by which we will accomplish all the activities I’ve just mentioned will likely be restated and maybe redefined this year as we work to meld our current practices and procedures with the new Recommended Practices document issued from SLA.

Thanks to the strength of our recent leaders, our Division has grown and flourished for the past several years. We will contribute to this trend as we work to craft this new document. Past Chair Beth Hansen has appointed a committee to undertake this effort – Hetty Barthel, Ann Sweeney, Beth and myself, so we have our work cut out for us. Unfortunately for us, Hetty has just retired (although we’re not allowed to call it retirement) and will be traveling for the indefinite future.

Positioning. Partnerships. Public Relations. Process. Although I’ve described these four work areas only briefly, there is much to be done. There will be many opportunities for your input and assistance. I hope I can count on each of you to help us with all I’ve outlined. And, I hope I’ll hear from some of you even before I have a chance to contact you.

-- Nancy Minter
DSOC Chair

GIS and the Social Sciences

What is GIS (Geographic Information System)? GIS is a frequently heard buzzword, but how many really know what the term means? Rachel McDonnell in her International GIS Dictionary defines GIS as “a computer system for capturing, managing, integrating, manipulating, analyzing, and displaying data which is spatially referenced to the Earth.” In other words, it is what cartographers have done for thousands of years – make maps. The only difference is that in the past the cartographer would gather the information, manually calculate the values, and then sit at a drafting table and meticulously draw the map. Needless to say, this was not only tedious but also time consuming. Today the computer performs many of these tasks, but the cartographer still has to understand the basic concepts of mapping because he is the one that tells the computer which operations to perform. So cartography and GIS are basically the same thing; the only difference is that in the past maps were created manually and today they are created with the assistance of a computer.

The use of computers for creating maps lagged behind other applications because of the large amount of disk space and memory that is required. Unlike other applications all the space on a map has to be accounted for, i.e., assigned a value. GIS systems use two types of data to create a map: vector data (points, lines, and polygons) and/or raster data (a matrix of cells). In the past a GIS system could only handle one type of data, but today’s systems can accommodate both. When you have a map that has an image as a background with roads, rivers, towns, etc. superimposed on it, you are looking at a product that was created from both vector and raster data.

So how does a GIS system work? Data in a GIS system are stored in layers and each layer has a table associated with it. These layers can then be superimposed upon each other and each layer can be manipulated independently of the others. This is what makes a GIS system such a powerful analytical tool. A layer can only contain one kind of vector data (points, lines, or polygons) and should represent only one type of feature. In other words even though roads and streams are line features, they should not appear in the same layer. The reason for this is that you can manipulate the features in a layer without affecting any of the other layers, but within a layer this is not the case. So how does the computer know where on a map a feature is located? This information is contained in the table that is associated with each layer. Each feature on the map is represented by a record in the table. Each record has a field/fields for the coordinates (latitude/longitude, UTM coordinates, state plane coordinates, etc.) of that feature and may also include fields for other types of attributes. Every field in a record is linked to the location.

Using a computer to map the spatial relationships had its beginnings in the environmental sciences. The US Fish & Wildlife Service was one of the first agencies to develop a GIS system (GRASS) to map their data. Today the natural and environmental sciences are still heavy users, but GIS has found application in many other fields. The US Census Bureau uses it to map their data; transportation companies, such as UPS and FedEx, use it to route their cargo; retailers use it for marketing; public utilities, such as power companies, use it to map their power grid; and the list goes on and on. But the social sciences have not embraced the technology to any great degree. Sociologists, anthropologists, economists, demographers, etc. have not focused on geographic location to explain social phenomena. However, things are beginning to change, and social scientists are beginning to see the value of location in their research.

In the article “Social Sciences: Interest in GIS Grows” (ArcNews 26.1 (Spring 2004): 4+) Michael F. Goodchild indicates that currently less than one percent of the literature in the social sciences includes a spatial perspective. To address this discrepancy the Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science was established at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1999. Through workshops, specialist meetings, developing new tools, and providing resources (http://www.csiss.org), they hope to increase the awareness of social scientists to the spatial component of many of the issues they address. But there already are some social scientists who are incorporating spatial concepts into their research and developing tools to make this possible. For example, Jeffrey Sachs and his colleagues determined that the place of birth determines to a great extent what opportunities you have in life. Another example is Danny Dorling and his colleagues who have shown that in the United Kingdom location has an impact on how long you live. The principle of distance decay (human interaction declines with distance) lends itself well to spatial analysis. It has been applied by several researchers in market analysis and fighting crime.

Software packages have been developed to assist in adapting spatial analysis to the social sciences. For example, a software package called GeoDa, a tool used for autoregressive analysis, was developed by Luc Anselin at the University of Illinois (can be downloaded at www.csiss.org/clearinghouse/GeoDa) and is compatible with ESRI products. Another piece of software was developed by Stewart Fotheringham and his colleagues at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, that allows you to do geographically weighted regression (available from author at
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/geps/research/geography/gwr/).

If you are interested in more information on the use of GIS in the social sciences, you may want to contact Dr. Michael Goodchild at the University of California, Santa Barbara (e-mail: good@geog.ucsb.edu or by phone at 805-893-8049).

Anita K. Oser
DSOC, Geography & Map Section

DSOC Member Hetty Barthel Begins a New Adventure

Hetty Barthel, Senior Reference Librarian at the Urban Institute Library in Washington, DC since 1995, has left her position there to begin a new adventure as a world traveler.

Hetty served as the Chair of the Social Science Division in 2001-2002, leading the Division from the San Antonio to the Los Angeles Conferences. Hetty served two years as Division Program Planner, in charge of division programs at the Minneapolis and Philadelphia Conferences. She developed many successful programs such as the all-Conference event in Philadelphia where Jim Lehrer, PBS news anchor and Presidential debate monitor, addressed the conference and autographed his books. Hetty was Fundraising Chair for the New York and Nashville Conferences, securing significant financial support for division programs at these meetings.

Hetty received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Master’s in Library Science from the University of Maryland at College Park. Before attending Library school, Hetty taught in native schools in Alaska. After graduate school, Hetty worked at the Juneau Public Library. Among her positions there was a term as “Bush Librarian,” packing boxes of books for families living in remote areas of the 49th US state. Hetty greatly enjoyed getting to know these readers by creating interest profiles for them and roaming the stacks to create enjoyable reading experiences for all age levels in the family.

Hetty and her husband Frank are starting their world travels with a coast-to-coast US trip that will take them first to Delaware, then on to Maine, Florida, New Mexico, and California. After reestablishing their Alaska residency in their old Juneau home, they will travel to France where they may reside for as long as two years.

Before the Barthels left Washington, DSOC Secretary-Treasurer Heidi Yacker and her husband Marc hosted a farewell dinner at their Northwest Washington home. Guests included Division Chair Nancy Minter, and past Division Chairs Beth Hanson, Ann Sweeney, Lyle Minter, Mike Kolakowski, and Roger Haley.

You can contact Hetty by email at hettyfrank@msn.com.

-- Lyle Minter

A Grand Time Was Had By All

The 2004 SLA Annual Conference was held at the Gaylord Opryland resort and convention center in Nashville. It was swelteringly hot outside, but that didn't effect the conference-goers -- we were in the huge Opryland "enviro-dome."

Trendy restaurants, elegant hotel architecture, and shops were set amid lush vegetation, waterfalls (complete with a light show), and even a river.

Meetings and programs were held in the enormous convention center.

Some people took time out to run into Nashville for their world-famous barbecue or to listen to country music and bluegrass.

Of course, the Social Science Division provided some excellent programming at the conference, and we sponsored a few light moments, too -- most notably, the annual International Reception. A special thanks goes to Iris Anderson, our Program Planner. Her hard work really panned out! Here are reports on our programs. We also honored two DSOC members: Lyle Minter was named a Fellow of the Special Libraries Association and Kenlee Ray received the SLA Member Achievement Award.

Outgoing Chair Beth Hansen passed the gavel to incoming Chair Nancy Minter.

The Three Pillars: Managing Your Library, Archives, and Records
Sponsored by Social Science and Museum Arts and Humanities Divisions
Corporate Sponsor - Elsevier Science

At this well-attended program held on June 8, 2004, the audience was treated to interesting career development stories from three highly experienced information managers. If you couldn’t be there, each Powerpoint presentation is now available on the DSOC website at
http://www.sla.org/division/dsoc/Conference%20Archive/2004programs.html. The moderator wishes to extend her sincere thanks to the speakers for their exceptional, imaginative and enlightening presentations. Our three champions of innovation were:

1.) Pamela Tripp-Melby, Chief of the Information Services Division at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In this position, Pamela manages the Joint World Bank-IMF Library as well as the IMF Archives and Records. In her presentation, called “Strategic Perspectives,” she explored strategic reasons for merging external and internal information within an organization and how this benefits end-users. Here are some of her main points:
* To our users, information looks like a tidal wave. It is often overwhelming.
* It’s all about content.
* Archivists, records managers, and librarians all need to work together to manage content.
* Archivists understand their organization’s structure and business processes and know the importance of preserving information; records managers understand the core business processes of their organizations and how to partner with IT; librarians are search experts and know how to find and deliver information. Customer service is their strength.
* Therefore, we need not only federated search engines, but federated information professionals. This entails being aware of each other’s resources and repositories; being able to link, guide, refer; sharing specialized expertise with colleagues; recognizing each discipline and its importance to the integrity of its repository. Specifically included are archival description; archival preservation; records tracking; records retention; library information organization, and library search.

2.) Susan Fifer-Canby, Vice President at the National Geographic Society, called her presentation “Making New Music Together.” In it she described how the library, archives, records, and the indexing units at her organization, went from separate bands to play together as an orchestra. As a result of this sometimes disonant process that took place in phases, her merged group more effectively supports the editorial and business staff and partners of the National Geographic Society. It includes a very “musical” staff of 26 librarians, archivists, records managers, and indexers who also play a supporting role for the Intranet/Portal Team at National Geographic. Bravo! Here are some of the key strategies used along the way:
*Staffing – eliminate redundancies; consolidate tools; job share and cross-train; develop cross-divisional approach to tasks (e.g. systems, training, ,marketing); anticipate how to close ranks; create an internship program to shore up staff reductions; develop new leadership skills
*Space – consolidate, reduce office space, integrate staffing
*Collections – consolidate, brand, market
*Branding – consolidated brochures; consistent training and marketing; one logo; one website

3.) Our third presenter was Kevin Manion, Associate Director of the Strategic Planning and Information Services Department at Consumers Union (CU), headquartered in Yonkers, New York. CU is the publisher of Consumer Reports Magazine and http://www.consumerreports.org. They have been independently testing consumer products since 1936. In his presentation, Kevin included some interesting photos of long-gone consumer products--remember the paper dress of 1966 or the permanent wave curl making contraption of 1938? You have to see these to believe them. In November of 2003, Information Services at CU was merged with the Product and Market Analysis Department. Kevin’s responsibilities grew to managing not only the information professionals and the market analysts, but also the research budget, as well as the archives and records. As a result, his job currently includes research coordination and oversight, administering the corporate records program and overseeing the archives at Consumers Union. His staff has over 20 members including a three member management team that supports all the research needs of the organization. Some of Kevin’s main points were:
*Develop a strategic plan – CU did a 5-year plan
*Get creative
*Re-think department structures
*Give staff opportunities
*Develop relationships
*Practice guerilla librarianship – define yourself!

-- By Iris W. Anderson, Session Planner and Moderator

Spotlight: Best Social Science Web Sites: Geography, Demography, and Immigration was held on Wednesday afternoon, June 9th at this year’s SLA Conference in Nashville. Attendees were treated to a three super and informative presentations by Kelly Blessinger of Louisiana State University, Zuali Malsawma of the Population Reference Bureau, and Elana Broch of Princeton University.

What I always enjoy about “Best of” sessions is the combination of seeing sites that are old (though, perhaps neglected) “friends” and finding entirely new sources. Among the highlights for me were rediscovering the American Memory Project’s Map Collections 1500-2004 and learning about developing countries demographic and health statistics compiler from Macro International
http://www.measuredhs.com/start.cfm and the Global Data Center from the Migration Policy Institute:
http://www.migrationinformation.org/GlobalData/

If you missed the program, our handouts and the PowerPoint presentations are all available on the Social Sciences Division web site http://www.sla.org/division/dsoc/Conference%20Archive/2004programs.html. Many, many thanks to Kelly, Zuali, and Elana for participating. Also, I’d like to express my appreciation to Iris Anderson for her hard work in organizing the programs and most welcome assistance to this new moderator.

Looking forward, we are considering topics from other social science areas such as tourism, trade/economics, psychology, etc. for next year’s conference in Toronto. If you have suggestions for speakers or subject areas you’d like to know more about, let me know.

As always, if you have any ideas, questions, concerns, or comments about the Nonprofit Section, please let me know.

-- Liz Green, Chair, Nonprofit Section. lgreen@hewlett.org

It Takes a Global Village: International Education Web Sites
The program, “It Takes a Global Village: International Education Web Sites,” co-sponsored by the Education Division and the Social Science Division was well attended, and subsequent attendee feedback was very positive. The speakers were Carole S. Sund, Patricia O’Brien Libutti, and Ann R. Sweeney. Carole Sund is the Web Product Editor/Digital Librarian at the National Education Association in Washington, D.C. Carole is immediate past chair of the Education Division and a frequent presenter at NEA conferences on various topics. Patricia O’Brien Libutti is the Social Sciences/Education Librarian for Rutgers University Libraries. Patricia has a forthcoming publication titled The Doctoral Student, the Dissertation and the Library. Since 1993 Ann Sweeney has been Librarian for the European Union’s European Commission Delegation in Washington, D.C. Ann is immediate past chair of the Social Science Division, and a former Global Strategies Task Force Chair. Deborah S. Garson, a member and former chair of the Education Division, was the session moderator. She provided an introductory overview of international education and introduced the speakers.

Ann Sweeney presented information about the European Union’s international education program. Carole Sund provided information on programs and initiatives to improve public education worldwide, to support better working conditions for the world’s teachers, and to provide opportunities for teachers and others to teach and work in different countries. Patricia O’Brien Libutti introduced WorldED, a “collaboratively developed web site that provides a searchable interface for studying the evaluated education sites sponsored by groups” from other countries. Power point slides from Carole’s presentation, International Education Websites from the National Education Association, and Patricia’s presentation, A Comparative Education Study Site are available on the Education Division’s Web site at
http://www.sla.org/division/ded/annual_conferences.html

-- Deborah Garson

One-Dot Shopping: Update of the Best International Business Sites
The One-Dot Shopping program was the fourth in a very popular series, and once again the room was filled to capacity. This year the country specialists covered China, the United Kingdom, and India. The presenters were Terese Terry, Sylvia James, and Jen Venable.

Terese Terry’s presentation on China was entitled “China – Barbarians at the Gates.” China is the fastest growing economy in the world, with the market currently at 1.3 billion consumers. There are a number of factors that make it difficult to obtain accurate information about economics and business in China: 1) lack of disclosure, transparency and reliability of information; 2) infancy of the economy; 3) superabundance of information which is controlled by the government; 4) strict political control of business and society; and 5) corruption. In her presentation, Terry listed a few paid sources and a large number of reliable, free, Web-based sources, divided into the categories of general overviews, statistics, trade, directories, and finance.

In contrast to China, the United Kingdom can boast the best disclosure of business information in the world. Sylvia James, who is from the UK, described the long-established disclosure tradition. In addition to official government data, there are numerous print sources that go back to the 19th century. Sylvia showed official company filings; free company and industry directories such as Commercenet (http://www.commerce.co.uk/, provided by the UK Chamber of Commerce); directories of listed companies and public companies that are not listed; news sources; statistical sources (some government); commercial market research publishers, which give away free contact information; and some general business sites (for example, biz/ed at http://www.bized.ac.uk/).

Jen Venable described India as an exciting country with an emerging market that barely existed 20 years ago. The country shows the contrast between traditional culture and modern economic growth. Currently the average annual growth in GDP is 6%, as compared with the U.S. which is 3%. Factors that have contributed to the emerging market are the growing middle class – helped by success in IT and similar industries – and reform of the economy led by the current Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. Jen divided selected favorite sites into the categories of Culture & Background, Economics & Trade, Finance & Investing, Government & NGO, Other (B2B & Directories, Business News, Banks).

All of the handouts and PowerPoint presentations from this session will be on the Social Science Division Web site.

-- Karen Shaines

Report on G & M Programs at Nashville conference

The Geography & Map Section sponsored three programs at the Nashville conference, the Mary Murphy Contributed Papers session, the Government Mapping Update and a panel presentation/discussion on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services.

Mary Murphy Contributed Papers Session

The Mary Murphy Contributed Papers session, named for one of the founders of the Geography & Map Section, featured two speakers, David McQuillan, map librarian at the University of South Carolina, and Linda Zellmer, Head of the Geology Library at ** Indiana University in Bloomington. David McQuillan spoke about geography and map activities at the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) * conference held in Berlin in 2003. The IFLA meeting included presentations by David Rumsey from Cartography Associates and Wolfgang Crom from the State Library of Berlin on “Digitizing and Presenting Historical Maps.” IFLA members also visited the Map Department of the Berlin State Library and took a day long study trip to the Institut for Landerkunde in Leipzig where the German National Atlas is produced. An additional conference session was held at the Berlin Geographical Society with papers given on online map sources and digital atlases.

Linda Zellmer spoke about her work with the Homeland Security Working Group, a task force within the Federal Geographic Data Committee. A member of the Cartographic Users Advisory Council (CUAC), Linda volunteered to be a member of the Homeland Security Working Group and assisted in developing guidelines for access to spatial data. As a result of the terrorist incidents on September 11, 2001, various types of spatial data, such as the location of nuclear power plants, pipeline location data and water resource reports are no longer available from government agencies. Ironically, some information that was removed from U.S. government websites is still available from other public and private sources. The Homeland Security Working Group established guidelines to assist agencies in determining which spatial data is vital to national security. Additional information and a copy of the proposed guidelines can be found on the FGDC website at: http://www.fgdc.gov/fgdc/homeland/.

Government Mapping Update

The Government Mapping Update included two speakers from Tennessee agencies, Elaine Foust, a geologist from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and Kim McDonough, GIS specialist from the Metropolitan Planning Department of the city of Nashville. Ms. Foust discussed the work of the Geology Division and their ongoing efforts to digitize Tennessee mapping information and make it available to researchers and the public. The website of the Geology Division contains information on the programs and offices within the division along with links to maps and publications available online and in print (http://www.state.tn.us/environment/tdg/).

Mr. McDonough outlined the uses of Geographic Information Systems in Nashville city government. Residential resources have been one of the major areas of development. Through the city of Nashville website (http://www.nashville.gov) residents are able to access up-to-date online city property maps. Prior to the development of GIS services, some 22 city offices in Nashville held property maps. Now all have been combined into one database.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Services Panel

“So You Want to Offer GIS Services…” included panel members Jim Gillispie, head of the Government Publications, Maps and Law Library at Johns Hopkins University; Linda Zellmer, head of the Geology Library at Indiana University; and Anita Oser, Map Librarian at Western Carolina University. Panel participants discussed issues involved in establishing, maintaining and servicing GIS in their libraries. The panelists addressed several areas including why to offer GIS services, the basic components of GIS, what library staff members need to know about GIS, sources of geospatial data, and traditional reference service vs. GIS reference service.

The panelists identified various reasons why a library might want to offer GIS services. GIS is an extension of the paper map collection and offers a new tool allowing users to visualize data differently and make better use of data. Interest in GIS is increasing among students, faculty, and librarians; and many users need maps that show different features. Expanding services to meet the interests and needs of their patrons is an important step for libraries.

Components of GIS include hardware, software, data, and personnel. Hardware needs include a “high end” computer with a large hard drive or readily accessible file storage on a server. The website
(http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/computers/rs.html) contains “Recommended Specifications for Public Access Workstations in Federal Depository Libraries.” Within this list the note “For Cartographic Data Use” indicates specifications applicable to GIS workstations. Various GIS software programs are available, with ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) products being the most widely used. Libraries offering GIS services will need to decide how many different software products to support. Sources for GIS data are extensive. Some data is available free online, but other data must be purchased or is restricted by licensing. State data centers are good places for census data. Data is also held by various county, city and local agencies. Basic boundary files contain essential data with which to begin and additional data can be added as needed. Libraries will need to decide which data they will collect. Each library needs to determine the core data they will need, along with other data they may choose to collect. Libraries offering GIS services must decide to what extent they are going to support these services, they must decide who (librarians and/or staff) will work with GIS, and they must provide these individuals with the necessary training.

Staff knowledge and expertise with GIS is a critical aspect of the service. At least one staff member needs to be trained extensively in GIS, and this person should be able to work with data files. GIS involves a steep learning curve and significant amounts of time are needed to develop expertise with GIS software. Staff who can think spatially will probably have more success with GIS. GIS involves working with layers of data. Attribute data collection areas must be the same as the spatial areas of the outline map, i.e. county level data must be plotted on a county outline map. Projections must be consistent for layers to line up properly. Staff members need to know which GIS question they can handle and when to refer the questions to someone else. It is useful to determine the GIS needs of your library and campus community, and to be aware of new or ongoing GIS projects. Establishing a GIS user group may help keep the library up to date on user needs and help users know what data and software is available in the library. Libraries may offer workshops/classes on GIS and/or how to use specific types of data. However, users must also commit the time and effort necessary to learn what they need to know about GIS.

GIS is truly an interdisciplinary tool with applications in business, health care, and government as well as environmental science, and geology. Partnering with several units on campus or within a company will help to share costs and expand expertise. Administrative support is essential in developing GIS services. With rapid changes in hardware and software, some ongoing expenses need to be written into annual planning and budgeting documents.

Many sources are available for continuing education on GIS including, websites such as GIS.com and ESRI.com, discussion lists such as MAPS-L, and publications such as ArcUser and ArcNews.

-- Vanette Schwartz
Chair, Geography and Map Section

NASHVILLE INTERNATIONAL RECEPTION

A hoedown of networking, conversation, awards, recognition, and welcome danced through Opryland’s Delta Lounge at the 2004 SLA International Reception, on Monday, June 7, from 5 to 7 pm. The Reception is hosted annually by the members of the Social Science Division, the European Chapter, and the International Information Exchange Caucus and generously sponsored by Factiva.

On the Delta Patio, amid fountains and foliage and while sampling homemade potato chips with Gorgonzola cheese, fried green tomatoes, fried pickles, Jack Daniels whiskey watermelon, Jack Daniels cocktails, and mineral waters, attendees listened to SLA luminati. SLA President Cindy Hill, SLA Executive Director Janice Lachance, and International Information Exchange Caucus Convenor Sue Henczel expressed their warm greetings to the assemblage. Museums, Arts and Humanities Division Chair Martha McPhail introduced her division’s Travel Award recipient: Niala Dwarika from Trinidad and Tobago. Washington, DC, Chapter representative Barbie Keiser described the Twinning Project , which fosters sponsorship of SLA membership for developing country librarians.

European Chapter President Neil Infield introduced Factiva CEO Clare Hart, who, in turn, presented the 2004 European Special Librarian of the Year Award to Janet Tomlinson, Information Manager at the UK Institution of Electrical Engineers. Janet briefly addressed the group.

International Information Exchange Caucus members provided a handout listing all international activities at the 2004 SLA Annual Conference. Animated exchanges among information professionals from across the globe capped the event.

Ann R. Sweeney
Public Relations Chair

DSOC Member News
Do you have some news about yourself or another member of the Social Science Division that you'd like to share? Help develop our Division community and keep us up to date on what's happening with us professionally. Send your information in an email to Heidi Yacker at
hyacker@crs.loc.gov

Social Science Divsion member Joann Donatiello joined the staff of the Princeton University Library as a Population Research Librarian on July 1, 2004. Prior to going to Princeton, Joann was Information Specialist/Librarian at the Center for State Health Policy, Rutgers University, NJ, where she managed the library and provided research, training and current awareness services to the researchers affiliated with the center. Joann is a graduate of Rutgers University with an M.L.S. degree from the School of Communication, Information and Library Services and an M.A. in Political Science. She also has a B.A. in Sociology and Spanish from Drew University.

On June 15, 2004, Columbia University National Center for Children in Poverty (http://www.nccp.org) Publications & Information Resources Manager Carole J. Oshinsky was elected Co-President for the Fall 2004-Fall 2005 term of the New York Zero-to-Three Network (http://www.nyzerotothree.org/about.html). The NY Zero-to-Three Network promotes the optimal development of young children, their families, and their communities in the New York region—providing support and information to professionals who work with New York's youngest children and their families by creating opportunities for interdisciplinary learning and collaboration. Further, the Network fosters and disseminates a developing, clinically sensitive, state-of-the-art body of knowledge to zero-to-three practitioners, public and voluntary institutions, policymakers, universities and professional organizations; encourages training that integrates the perspectives of various disciplines to achieve a comprehensive and reflective approach to intervention; provides a forum for the exchange of information emanating from infant and early childhood practitioners, researchers and programs; fosters networks across service delivery systems in order to improve effectiveness and quality and comprehensiveness; diminishes social and professional isolation by facilitating collegial support among members of different disciplines; stimulates research partnerships; promotes public awareness about and advocates for the needs of children, parents, caregivers and families.

Using open-source software, Mercy Corps (http://www.mercycorps.org/) Librarian Pam Osborne, member of the Social Science Division and President of SLA’s Oregon Chapter created a digital library for the international relief and development organization. The worldwide staff—in 15 different time zones—now has round-the-clock access to all of their internal documents and pertinent websites. Mercy Corps is the first and only international relief and development organization to have such a library. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided over $830 million in assistance to people in 80 nations. Their programs currently reach over 6 million people in 39 countries, including the United States. More than 91% of the agency's resources are allocated to programs that directly assist those in need, providing emergency relief services that assist people afflicted by conflict or disaster; developing integrated strategies to promote sustainable communities; and promoting civil society initiatives to encourage citizen participation, accountability, nonviolent conflict management, and the rule of law.

Social Science Division
Special Libraries Association
Annual Business Meeting
Gaylord Opryland Convention Center
Canal B
Nashville, TN
Monday, June 7, 2004

Present: Iris Anderson, Hetty Barthel, Laura Bender, Elena Broch, Mary Fortney, Mary Galneder, Liz Green, Beth Hansen, Sally Henderson, Joe Hovish, Rhonda McGinnis, Lyle Minter, Nancy Minter, Tara Murray, Greta Ober-Beauchesne, Pam Osborne, Daille Pettit, Linda Richer, Verna Riley, Nick Robinson, Ailya Rose, Alix Salinas, Vanette Schwartz, Marsha Selmer, Karen Shaines, Ann Sweeney, Pamela Tripp-Melby, Jan Watterworth, Heidi Yacker. SLA Board Proctor: Lynne McCay

The meeting was called to order at 7:45 by Chair Beth Hansen. She welcomed everyone and noted that our Division looks a little different this year. Our merger with the Geography and Map Division was completed; Beth extended a special welcome to our new members from G&M. And we now have Sections rather than Roundtables. Beth thanked everyone for all their work in accomplishing these achievements.

The agenda for the meeting was approved.

The minutes from the 2003 annual business meeting in New York were approved.

Treasurer’s Report. Heidi Yacker reported that, as of June 4, 2004, there was $13,909.16 in the treasury. She proposed a budget for 2005, estimating expenses of $19,985 and income of $20,350, resulting in a year-end balance of $13,615. The budget was approved.
Finance Committee. In 2003, a committee was formed to investigate possible opportunities to make use of our “surplus funds” – the money remaining once a suitable amount is set aside as a cushion against unforeseen expenses. The committee (Beth Hansen, Linda Richer, Ann Sweeney, and Heidi Yacker) investigated three options. The first was a Twinning project. DSOC would be paired with a librarian from a developing country and would act as a mentor to that librarian, encouraging participation in professional activities or grant opportunities, and exchanging communications. DSOC would be responsible for sponsoring two years’ membership for our twin, at a cost of $274. Our twin should reimburse us for 10% of that cost. Under the second option, DSOC would pay a stipend of up to $300 for a Division member to attend a continuing education workshop at the SLA annual conference. The grant, which would promote professional growth, would assist members who are able to attend the conference but may not be able to afford the cost of the workshop. The final option considered was investing in the SLA Pooled Fund. SLA maintains a collective investment fund in which individual units can invest. Because the investment is a large sum, the individual units get a better rate of return than if they invested individually. The current rate of return is 3.21%. Because our treasury balance fluctuates throughout the year, it was determined that this last option was not suitable for our Division. We decided to go ahead with the first two options.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Membership. Nancy Minter reported that we have 475 members, a 36% increase over last year at this time. Of these, 365 are full memberships and 65 are students. We also have ten members who have been with the organization for 45 years or more.
Nancy reported that she sent hyperlinked emails to new members, welcoming them to the Division, providing descriptions of our Sections, and urging them to participate.

Fundraising. Hetty Barthel reported that our fundraising efforts have been successful this year. She created Certificates of Appreciation for each of our vendor sponsors and these are displayed at their booths in the Exhibits. She urged everyone to thank our sponsors. She would welcome any fundraising ideas or names of potential sponsors.

Nashville Conference. Conference Planner Iris Anderson described the rich array of programs sponsored by DSOC this year. She thanked each of our Section Chairs (Liz Green, Ailya Rose, Vanette Schwartz, and Karen Shaines), all of whom planned a program, as well as everyone else who worked to make the conference a success. Programs include one on archiving (Let Us Save What Remains) and another on managing your library, archives, and records; three on Web sites: this year’s editions of the popular One-Dot Shopping for international business sites and Spotlight for social science sites, and It Takes a Global Village for education sites; and several geographic programs, including the Mary Murphy Contributed Papers Session, a panel on government mapping, and a panel on the Geographic Information Systems. We also have a number of networking receptions (notably, the International Reception) and tours.

Social Science Discussion List. Linda Richer reported that we have 398 subscribers to our discussion list. She continued to make efforts to get more subscribers by encouraging new Division members (including the new Geography and Map Section members) to join. Ailya Rose will be assuming the role of Discussion List Chair next year.

SECTION REPORTS

Geography and Map Section Chair Vanette Schwartz discussed the successful merger of the G&M Division with DSOC. G&M members had been overwhelmingly in favor of the move. Vanette thanked Anita Oser and Beth Hansen for their hard work in making the transition a smooth one. She announced the Section meeting planned for later that day where discussions will begin about program planning for next year’s conference in Toronto.

International Relations Section. Chair Karen Shaines reported that there are currently 56 members of the section, many who had belonged to the International Affairs, Peace, and Conflict Management Roundtable. This year’s program planned by the Section is another in the proclaimed series, One-Dot Shopping, this time focusing on China, India, and the U.K. Karen mentioned the possibility of a new program format for Toronto.

Non-Profit Sector Section Chair Liz Green described her Section’s program, the second annual Best Social Science Web Sites, focusing on geography, demography, and immigration. Her members, many from the former Independent Sector Roundtable, have expressed an interest in getting together more as a Section.

Public Policy Section. Chair Ailya Rose reported that her 60 members are interested in networking through a community of practice rather than the discussion list. They are working with the IT Division.

REPORT OF THE 2004-2005 NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Ann Sweeney, Nominating Committee co-chair, introduced the slate of officers for 2004-2005. The nomination for Chair-Elect is Linda Richer. Though only a Division member since 2000, she has already demonstrated her commitment to the Division by serving as an annual conference speaker and Finance Committee member, and has successfully run the Division’s discussion list. Heidi Yacker was nominated for a second two-year term as Secretary-Treasurer. There were no nominations from the floor, and Linda and Heidi were unanimously elected.

NEW BUSINESS

Governing Documents and Recommended Practices Documents. Beth Hansen described the new SLA protocols, approved at the Leadership Summit in Albuquerque, which were instituted to streamline the administration of the various units (Divisions, Chapters) within SLA. We are now officially operating under the new Governing Document; our bylaws are no longer governing us. The Recommended Practices Document is a procedures manual for the units which will provide cohesion as to how the units operate.
DSOC has formed a committee to compare these documents to our current bylaws, make the necessary changes, and report to SLA by the end of the summer. Our Governing Document as adapted will go up on the Division Web site.

New Section for DSOC? Daille Pettit stated that there is some interest in forming a new Academic Section for members who work in academic institutions. This idea was favorably received. Daille will work on getting it organized.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ann Sweeney and Nancy Minter have been named to the SLA Public Relations Committee. Ann will also be doing PR for the Divisions. She urged everyone to tell her about any accomplishments, “anything wonderful” that happens this year.

REMARKS OF THE INCOMING CHAIR

Beth Hansen expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to serve as Chair for 2003-2004. It was an interesting year -- forming Sections, merging with G&M -- and she thanked everyone for their hard work, most especially executive board members Ann Sweeney, Nancy Minter, and Heidi Yacker. She also mentioned the help and support of the Advisory Board members, and recognized the efforts of Ann Sweeney and Anita Oser in last year’s merger negotiations. She also noted that she got a lot of email from Division members, too. She passed the gavel to our new Chair, Nancy Minter.

Nancy gave Beth a lovely gift in recognition of her service to the Division.

Nancy began her remarks with the story of an enchanted frog who told a young girl that, if she kissed him, he would turn into her dream guy. Instead, she put him in her purse. When he protested, she explained that she had no time for a man, but she could certainly make use of a talking frog! This is a lesson in “fostering the unique,” which is what Nancy hopes to do this year. She has a four-point program:
Positioning: get our membership numbers up; enhance the Web page; develop the Bulletin; establish communities of practice; and expand programming
Partnerships: increase vendor support; co-sponsor programs and activities with other divisions
Public Relations: toot our own horn more. Our PR is in the capable hands of Ann Sweeney.
Process: “how” we’ll accomplish our goals. This will become clear as we meld our current practices and procedures with the new Governing and Recommended Practices Documents.
There will be lots of “fun” work and lots of opportunities for input and assistance. Nancy hopes to get calls from members before she calls them!

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40.

Respectfully submitted by Heidi Yacker, Secretary/Treasurer

Social Science Division
Treasurer’s Report
June, 2004

Balance as of 12/31/2003		$8,489.27
2004 Income to Date
Dues Allotment	4,820.00
Sponsorships	3,550.00
Transfer of G&M Treasury	1,774.27
Miscellaneous (CD-ROM sales)	20.00
Total Income		$10,164.27

2004 Expenses
Prepayment for conference		$4,744.38
Balance as of 5/31/2004		$13,909.16

SLA GEOGRAPHY AND MAP SECTION BOARD MEETING
MONDAY, JUNE 7, 2004, 3:45 – 5:15 P.M.
DELTA ISLAND BOARDROOM, OPRYLAND HOTEL, NASHVILLE

Present: Vanette Schwartz, Anita Oser, Paige Andrew, Kelly Blessinger, Harry Davis, Mary Fortney, Mary Galneder, Jim Gillispie, Beth Hansen, Dorothy McGarry, David McQuillan, Nancy Minter Mary Murphy, Bruce Obenhaus, Linda Richer, and Marsha Selmer

Chair, Vanette Schwartz, opened the Board Meeting at 3:45 p.m.

Minutes from the 2003 meeting in New York City were approved

I. Reports From SLA Representatives

A. Report from the Cartographic Users Advisory Council (CUAC) Representatives Paige Andrew and Bruce Obenhaus

1. Paige reported that the 2004 Annual CUAC meeting was held on May 6th and 7th at the Suitland, Maryland site of the sponsoring/hosting agency, the US Census Bureau. All 12 members were present for the two-day meeting. The first day was reserved for CUAC business, while the second focused on agency presentations. Paige reported that Linda Zellmer and Wangyal Shawa are currently working on the FGDC (Federal Geographic Data Committee) Homeland Security Working Group's guidelines for providing appropriate access to geospatial data. Tim Trainor opened the Business Meeting with a presentation of the Census Bureau's Geography Division.

2. CUAC Archives situation - Mary McInroy will contact the University of Illinois to get an estimate of start up and continuing costs. Once they have more information in hand they will move forward on resolving this issue.

3. Paige stated that CUAC now has a website (http://cuac.wustl.edu/) approved to release information regarding meetings, reports, and agency duties for CUAC representatives.

4. Bruce reported that CUAC is currently organizing a major conference for next year with the working name of “Map Libraries in Transition II,” which will be modeled in part on an earlier conference with the same name that took place in 1993 at the Library of Congress. This conference is scheduled for May 12 & 13th, 2005, at the Library of Congress and they will be hosting the event. Presentations and discussions will focus on current and future issues on digital cartographic information such as preservation and access, standards, and ways of strengthening or changing our current map organizations. The goal is to pull in speakers from government agencies, data providers, and others from within and outside of the library world, and to keep it broad in scope. Recommendations for speakers can be sent to Linda Zellmer. The Social Sciences Division of SLA gave a $100 contribution towards the cost of this meeting. Bruce passed around a flyer announcing this upcoming conference.

B. Report from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
Chair of the Geography and Map Libraries Section, David McQuillan

1. David reported that at the 2003 meeting in Berlin, the focus for the Geography and Map Libraries Section was Berlin and German cartography. The issue of paper maps and relevancy will be discussed at the Buenos Aires meeting, in August 2004. The Map and Geography round table of ALA (MAGERT) is also discussing the paper maps issue. This could fold together as part of the CUAC meeting. David is currently working with IFLA and the Library of Congress to co-sponsor the upcoming meeting. David passed around information about the program for the 2004 IFLA meeting in Buenos Aires. Some of the highlights of the Geography and Map Libraries Section programming will be sessions on South America in Maps and Geography, a General Overview; with Emphasis on Latin American Holdings at the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress, and Glaciers of Argentina.

2. David stated that Dorothy McGarry was currently working on the fifth draft of the International Standard Bibliographic Description for cartographic materials.

3. IFLA’s Spring newsletter is out.

C. Report from Anglo-American Cataloging Committee for Cartographic Materials (AACCCM) Representative Dorothy McGarry

1. Dorothy reported that following the publication of the Cartographic Materials manual, the Committee decided that the secretariat should stay in the United States rather than rotating to another country (the Committee is composed of members form Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States). Elizabeth Mangan (formally at the Library of Congress and now retired) has been the editor-in-chief, and she will remain in that position.

2. Updates based on the 2003 and 2004 revisions to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2002 revision, are being studied to determine what updates might affect rules in the Manual. Revision proposals will then be sent to all members of the Committee. Following discussions and decisions, revisions will be incorporated into the Manual as needed. The Manual had been published in loose-leaf format to make such revisions easier to incorporate.

3. The “Memorandum of Agreement” for the Committee is being revised slightly this year, to update some terminology and stipulations.

II. Merger Issues

1. Vanette brought up the issue as to whether or not the Geography and Map Section should still maintain representative appointments to outside organizations. Several members voiced their opinions that this was still a worthwhile endeavor, even if Geography and Map was now a section instead of a division. Beth Hansen, outgoing chair of the Social Science Division encouraged the section to continue participating in this activity.

2. There has been some trouble with the listservs unsubscribing members. Several members said that they had received a message that they had unsubscribed when they had made no such request.

3. Anita brought up the topic of awards, and whether or not the section would still be able to give out the same awards that were given out as a division. The two awards that came up in discussion were the Honors and Bill Woods Awards. The Bill Woods award hasn’t been given out in quite some time, because there no longer is a bulletin from which to choose the best article. Marsha Selmer suggested that instead of rewarding the best article in the bulletin the best article related to Geography and Maps published in library literature could be chosen. There was traditionally a cash award that went with the award, and that may have to be eliminated. It was suggested that the section could ask for vendor support to provide a monetary award. The Bill Woods award has not been given in quite some time, but the Honors Award was given just last year. Marsha Selmer moved to pursue the continuance of awards, Vanette seconded, motion carried.

III. G & M Archives

The Division archives (pre-merger) are housed at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The University of Illinois will begin charging an annual processing fee due to their budget problems. Due to this new fee, the Geography and Map Section will have to find a new home for the archives. Chris Baruth from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee offered his institution to house the archives. Chris spoke with Anita Oser in regard to this matter, and was supposed to call Marsha Selmer to discuss the issue, but never did.

A discussion began as to whether or not the pre-merger and the post merger archives should be housed together. It was decided that it would be better if they were kept together, but it would be best if they were available for retrieval, so whatever venue made the archives most accessible would be preferred.

Jim Gillispie proposed that Marsha Selmer and Anita work with Chris to fully explore the archive opportunities for the closed division archives at the University of Wisconsin. Paige Andrew seconded that motion, and a friendly amendment was made to look into section archives as well, motion carried.

IV. 2005 Annual Conference Programming

1. The Galdos company is interested in being part of the program in Toronto. They published a book
on Geography Markup Language (GML), which is an XML application for coding geographic information. Some discussion was generated as to whether or not we wanted to dedicate a whole session to this topic, given the limited interest in this topic across a broad variety of members. It was suggested that someone who uses this language be invited to speak, and Paige stated that the Census Bureau is currently using this format. Paige proposed that we look into this as part of the Mary Murphy contributed papers series. Kelly Blessinger seconded, motion carried.

2. Bobbi Ann Weaver contacted Vanette Schwartz in regard to Brent Maxwell doing a session in Toronto on his book on Geography Statistics. The book is to be published by Santa Monica Press. No one in the board meeting had seen the book, to know what type of statistics were included, and it was suggested that we should see what type of statistics are included before agreeing to a session.

Meeting adjourned at 5:15.

Recorded and submitted by:

Kelly Blessinger
Secretary, Geography and Map Division, SLA