DC/SLA Chapter Notes - January/February 2008

President's Corner: Mining the Past for a Pathway to the Future

By Diane R. Schnurrpusch, dschnurr@dtic.mil The DC/SLA Web site is a treasure-trove of information for an incoming officer, especially the President. Leading the largest chapter of SLA is humbling responsibility requiring knowledge of the past as well as a vision for the future. Numerous archived documents on our site tell the story of an organization always finding new ways to reach out to its membership. Armed with these “lessons learned,” I will work with all of you to continue this tradition of excellence.

What did I learn from studying the past? I noticed that something happened during the fall of 2007 that went virtually unnoticed.

DC/SLA’s Web site turned 10 years old. In the November 1997 issue of Chapter Notes, then President Ellie Briscoe announced, “We are on the WEB!!!” Our 2008 1st Vice-President, President-Elect, Greta OberBeauchesne led the Internet Committee that birthed this new means of communication for our chapter. Congratulations to those innovators and all who have made our site what it is today. Our DC/SLA Web site is well organized and well designed; as a result, it is one of the Chapter’s strongest communication and marketing tools. Look it over, enjoy it, and don’t hesitate to offer new ideas.

January/ February 2008 Volume 69, No. 1 www.units.sla.org/Chapter/cdc

Inside this issue: President’s Corner …..……..1 2007 Year in Review..……...3 Mike McCurry……………...5 Award Winners……….……7 Surviving in the New Digital Ecosystem..………………...8 DC/SLA Book Club…………..…………….9 Egypt's Bibliotheca Alexandrina....………..........9 Upcoming Events………....13

At the recent Annual Business Meeting and Holiday Party, I talked about my vision for 2008. I used three words starting with the letter “C” to summarize what I hope to accomplish with your help.

Member Notes………….....15

Continuity: As is often said, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” The Chapter has many aspects that are working very well. While there is always room for some improvement, we will continue to offer those programs and services that our members find beneficial. The popular twice-monthly Click U Live virtual seminars will still be offered free to members at various DC locations. The Dine Around series will continue to bring together those connected by geographic location, career interests, or love of a particular cuisine. The Web site, discussion list, and newsletter will go on to regularly inform our virtual audience. Local programs will again offer opportunities for face-to-face communication.

Read about new products and services from:

Grant Announcement……..15

• • • • •

OCLC Eastern InfoCurrent Library Associates Trak Legal EOS International

Check us out on the Web! www.units.sla.org/Chapter/cdc

Special Libraries Association assumes no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by the contributors to SLA’s publications. Editorial views do not necessarily represent the official views of SLA. Acceptance of advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product by SLA. Subscriptions: Chapter Notes is free to DC/SLA members.

Subscriptions to non-members are available at $10 per year.

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For information regarding advertisements, contact the DC/SLA Chapter Notes Business Manager: Charlotte White Email: cwhite@fmc.gov Deadline for the March issue is February 20th. The issue is distributed approximately one week after the deadline. The preferred submission format is a Word document sent via email. You should receive an email acknowledgement of your submission.

Materials for Chapter Notes should be sent to the Editor:

Chapter Notes Editor: Jenny O'Shea Library, U.S. News & World Report Phone: 202-955-2087 Email: oshea.jenny@gmail.com DC/SLA Webmaster: Krista Mantsch National Geographic Society Libraries and Information Services 1145 17th St., NW Washington, DC 20036 Phone: 202-457-8450 Email: kmantsch@ngs.org DC/SLA Listerv Manager: Gulnar Nagashybayeva Government Documents Librarian NOAA Central Library SSMC-3, 2nd fl., E/OC4 1315 East-West Hwy. Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: 301-713-2607, ext. 143 gulnar.nagashybayeva@noaa.gov Please contact the Editor with any address changes.

President’s Corner [cont’d from p. 1] Stability and consistency are important for our organization, and will be vital as the inevitable changes do occur.

Change: Some transformations are in store. The 2009 SLA Annual Conference will be held in

Washington, DC. We are charged with being the Local Arrangements Committee. It’s our job to make our out-of-town guests feel welcome.

A large group of volunteers under the leadership of DC/SLA Director, Sharon Lenius, is busily developing exciting ideas. Local Arrangements Communication Chair, Karen Huffman, already set up a Wiki on the SLA Web site and her committee members are populating it with information that even we DC members will find fascinating and fun. After the 2008 Annual Conference, you will begin to see the results of their efforts which I’m told will incorporate numerous Web 2.0 technologies. At the same time, the chapter officers and committee chairs will soon use a Wiki to update our Chapter Manual and share planning information. To prepare yourself for a time in the near future when we have content available for all our members, I urge you to go now to the SLA Wiki Web site, set up a username and password, and look around.

Collaboration: One thing is certain-- none of us can do anything alone. Not only do we need each other to succeed, but whatever we do together will be better as a result. The upcoming year will see partnerships within the chapter, with Association leadership, with other parts of the Association, with other information professional organizations, with the library schools, with information product providers, with government entities, and more. I have already been approached by several organizations hoping to collaborate on events and projects. DC/SLA has always led the way in forging these alliances. Our chapter can maintain its focus on special libraries and information centers, while entering new relationships to improve the profession as a whole.

In closing, I hope some of my vision is yours as well.

Supporting a 1,100 plus-member organization requires a lot of hard work and dedication. Don’t leave it to just a few. Whether you can contribute regularly or only on a short-term basis, you are needed and appreciated. If you want to help in some way or can host an event, either evening or weekday, please contact me at dschnurr@dtic.mil or 703-7679069 or Greta Ober-Beauchesne at gretaob@gmail.com or 202-623-6413.

Let’s have a great 2008!

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 2

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Outgoing Chapter President Susan Fournier turns the gavel over to incoming President Diane Schnurrpusch.

2007 Year in Review

By Susan Fournier The DC Chapter’s first full year under the new governance calendar was challenging, record breaking and very productive—and led by a great team—your elected board, committee and group chairs.

PROGRAMS Each month, then President-Elect, Diane Schnurrpusch, and Hospitality Chairs, Alicia Koundakjian and Mary Reusch, put together fun and thought-provoking programs to interest a wide range of members. The year started off with a bang with a presentation by Anne Caputo on “Seven Ways to Make the Most from Your Information Products and Services.” Other major programs included: • “Beating Meeting Madness” – a tutorial on running effective meetings with Donna Scheeder.

• “Giving Libraries a Second Life in a Virtual World” - our best attended event. Participants saw just how Second Life functions, and how it is being used in conjunction with other library and information center services.

• A delightfully entertaining and interesting panel discussion, slide show, and journal readings by SLA President Rebecca Varga and chapter members Victoria Harriston and Shelly Edwards on their visit to South African libraries as part of a People to People delegation.

• An interactive session on Idea Mapping with Lisa Metzer.

• International Special Librarian’s Day was celebrated in April with a look at “Grassroots DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 3

Special Librarianship” and Jane Kinney Meyers’ Lubuto Library Project.

The Joint Spring Workshop, co-hosted by DC/SLA, focused on “Envisioning the Future."

Click U Live! Seminars have become a foundation of our professional development programs and were offered to all members free of charge. Ten webbased seminars were held during the afternoon at locations provided by our members. Three particularly popular seminars were replayed for evening presentations, as well. A half-day Professional Enhancement Day program was held in October, and focused on skills needed in a variety of environments that are hiring librarians and information professionals.

Committees and groups were also very active throughout the year. The Young Professionals continued their monthly Happy Hours, and hosted a number of walking tours open to all. The Military Librarians organized tours of the newly renovated Pentagon Library and the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico. In March, they hosted “The Pitfalls of Making DoD History” with Dr. Lawrence Kaplan, Missile Defense Agency Historian. The DC/SLA Book Club met 4 times over the year to discuss an interesting selection of titles, including "Thinking for a Living: How to Get Better Performance and Results from Knowledge Workers" by Thomas Davenport; “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” by Chip and Dan Heath (Chip Heath had been the keynote at the SLA Leadership Summit in Reno, NV, in January). The final two books were “Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything” by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams and “Library 2.0 and Beyond: Innovative Technologies and Tomorrow's User”, edited by Nancy Courtney. Dine-Arounds continue to be popular networking activities and Rick Davis coordinated fifteen of these events during the spring and fall.

The ‘big-three’ events-- New Members’ Reception, Volunteer Appreciation Reception, and the Annual Meeting and Banquet-- were well attended, and held at terrific venues. I was unable to attend the New Members’ Reception at Elizabeth’s on L, but I heard great things about the location and food. Volunteers were treated to an extraordinary venue this year, the Marion Koshland Science Museum at the National

Academy of Sciences (made possible by Victoria Harriston, NAS Librarian). While attendees enjoyed food and drink they were able to take in the museum’s exhibits. President, Susan Fournier and President-Elect, Diane Schnurrpusch presented awards to our exemplary volunteers. We closed out the year with a delightful evening at the Women’s National Democratic Club—decked out in all its holiday grandeur—for the Annual Meeting and Banquet. Scholarships and Chapter awards were presented. Second Vice President Gail Kouril introduced keynote speaker Mike McCurry, former President Clinton’s press secretary, who provided interesting and often amusing insights into the Internet's effect on the art of political communication for national leaders, politicians, and commentators.

MEMBERSHIP This review of the year’s activities would not be complete without highlighting this accomplishment: we met and beat the membership challenge presented by the New York Chapter under Past President Shirley Loo’s tenure as President. DC/SLA was officially recognized as the largest chapter with a membership total of 1124. The Board was treated to cheesecake by the NY Chapter. The NY Chapter also made a contribution to the Lubuto Library project. We will have to continue to recruit new members to retain number one status.

SLA AWARDS DC/SLA members took home a wealth of awards and honors at the SLA Annual Conference in Denver.

Terry Brooks was named an SLA Fellow and Sharon Lenius (DC/SLA Director and chair of our 2009 Conference Local Arrangements Committee) received the SLA Member Achievement Award.

Karen Huffman was recognized with the LexisNexis Innovations in Technology Award and Susan Montgomery was a co-recipient of the H.W. Wilson Award. Jane Kinney Meyers was awarded the Dow Jones Leadership Award and Blanca Chou received the Diversity Leadership Development Program Award. The Military Librarians Division was recognized with the SLA Professional Award.

Although the Division is not a member of the Chapter, military librarians are well represented in DC/SLA and a very active group within the Chapter.

FINAL NOTE My last comment involves an unhappy event which had a profound effect on our chapter. In September, longtime Chapter member and Past President, Sue O’Neill Johnson, lost her battle with cancer. Her contributions to the Association and to our chapter will always be remembered. She will also be remembered for her contagious enthusiasm for the profession and her love of music and performance that she shared at many holiday parties and other events. In her spirit-- on to a great 2008!

Patricia Sanner (Catholic University) and Christopher Zammerelli (University of Maryland) were recognized as DC/SLA's 2007 scholarship winners.

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 4

At the annual business meeting and holiday party, the incoming 2008 DC/SLA board members gather to start the new year. From left to right: Martha Reifschneider, Jenny Wood, Lorraine Bell, Susan Fournier, Diane Schnurrpusch, Sage Hulsebus, Greta Ober-Beauchesne, and Julia Leggett.

Mike McCurry Gives Keynote Address at DC/SLA Holiday Party

By Gary W. Schnurrpusch

DC/SLA’s holiday party and year-end business meeting had a special keynote speaker in 2007. Mike McCurry has served as press secretary to President Bill Clinton, on the staff of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and has held many other political staff and advisory positions. In addition to his distinguished professional career, Mike has a special lifelong relationship to library science. His mother is a career librarian and, as many of you know, his wife Debra is one of DC/SLA’s members. Here are some highlights of Mike McCurry’s address.

McCurry’s theme was the dominance of information in society today, and he acknowledged the contributions of librarians in managing this information. He related that the new crush of available information and global access to massive quantities of information have made it increasingly difficult for most to cope with it. For example, McCurry claimed this situation has most recently had a profound impact on the state of politics. More critical is that there appears to be an equally massive dysfunction in communicating mass information. He asked how we should make sense of so much DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 5

information to make rational choices and decisions.

According to McCurry, three fundamental events have impacted the use of information in the world today.

First, the end of the Cold War has negatively impacted the way we deal with the world. During the Cold War, there was order and structure to information. We had a venerable tradition of simple bi-partisanship, but when “the wall fell,” bipartisanship dissolved. We became more divisive, more multi-polarized. At the time, we may not have had any idea what we would do with the Cold War victory or a ready idea of what to do next.

Second, McCurry said, the technical revolution had its own profound impact. For example, at the beginning of the Clinton administration, there were about 25 websites; at the end, there were 250 million.

YouTube™ has changed politics today. YouTube™ carries the same amount of information in one day as all websites combined in 2001. Today we are measuring information quantity not in gigabytes, but in exabytes … that’s one billion gigabytes. One exabyte is the same as all the information in 50,000 Libraries of Congress!

Today’s politicians use the power of the Internet to reach their constituents one-to-one, not just in large groups. It’s called “micro-targeting” … bypassing conventional mass communications. It could be said that Senator John Kerry ran the last campaign of the 20th century because he did not use the network, while President Bush ran the first campaign of the 21st century because he discovered the new means to communicate information. Bush empowered individual citizens, who discovered they each can have impact. Otherwise, the overload of information today crushes the political process because it seems to hinder simple assembly of information and its effective use to make informed, coherent choices.

The bottom line is that people like librarians who understand how to assemble and use so much information will lead the way!

Former White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry was the keynote speaker at DC/SLA's annual banquet.

One concern is that we have plentiful information, but a paucity of understanding it. How do we make it understandable? Librarians have a role because they start the process by sorting it.

McCurry's third example is the dramatic change in the way political information is communicated today.

In the “old” days, we used to “sit around the nightly campfire" of network news. Now, network news commands less than 30% of the TV share-- there are so many more sources for people, especially youth, to get the same information. Newspapers are following the same downward pattern as TV news.

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 6

enjoyed getting to know many of you as both professionals and extraordinary individuals. Your dedication to the information profession and each other's advancement is inspiring, and I have loved every day I have worked on your behalf for the last four and a half years.

I often say that SLA is too big to be run by just volunteers, yet we are too small to have the number of staff needed to achieve all our goals without help from volunteers. We are in the middle and we need a working partnership of both dedicated volunteers and an able staff to achieve just about any of our goals.

And, while many associations waste time and precious resources struggling with this balance, SLA has figured it out for the most part and this enables us to stay focused on our mission and vision.

Janice LaChance (represented by Nancy Sansalone, shown here) and Erin Clougherty were the two 2007 Chapter Award winners. LaChance received the Board of Directors award, and Clougherty was chosen Member of the Year.

Remarks from Board of Directors Award Winner Janice LaChance Janice LaChance received the Board of Directors Award at this year's DC/SLA banquet. She was unable to attend, so Nancy Sansalone delivered these remarks on her behalf.

I am terribly sorry that I cannot be with you tonight to share in the excitement of this evening.

Unfortunately, my SLA responsibilities require me to be representing you at a conference in London.

As I write this in London, I am both humbled and excited by this great honor you have given me. To receive an award is always a gratifying moment; but to be recognized by a group of people who are so forward-thinking and visionary is truly an honor.

SLA is a very special organization and the DC Chapter exemplifies the best of what we are. I have DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 7

Tonight, this Chapter has taken this philosophy and partnership to a new level. By giving me this award, you acknowledge that this partnership of staff and volunteers is critical to SLA's success. So, on behalf of all our professional staff, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I could not have achieved any of what you recognize me for tonight without the 27 other people at SLA headquarters who not only work hard all week, but show up on weekends and respond to your e-mails when they should be sleeping or with their families.

I also want you to know how much this award means to me personally. When my friend Anne called with the news, I was stunned. It took me a moment to realize how significant it was for you have decided to give this important award to a staff member; then it took me another moment to realize that you were giving me an award for a job I love doing every single day. Working on behalf of information professionals around the world and the values you stand for is already extremely rewarding, and your contributions to the economy and global society make it easy for me to be passionate about you and your work.

The DC Chapter has always led the way in SLA so being honored, in this way, by you, will be a recognition I will treasure my entire life.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for this immense honor. I am very grateful.

Surviving in the New Digital Ecosystem: A Presentation by Lee Rainie Alison Hicks Inter-American Development Bank alisonh@iadb.org When Lee Rainie first became Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, he wondered who would possibly be interested in their data. It never even occurred to him that librarians would care. But it was an enthusiastic group of SLA-ers who gathered in the plush setting of Covington and Burlington for the first meeting of 2008, and the lively discussion that ensued showed that librarians are one of the groups who care very much indeed about how many teens have created an online identity (55%) or how many adults use Wikipedia (33%).

The Pew Internet & American Life Project “produces reports that explore the impact of the internet on families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life.

The Project aims to be an authoritative source on the evolution of the internet through collection of data and analysis of real-world developments as they affect the virtual world.” To illustrate this mission, Mr. Rainie presented his seven hallmarks of digital society today: 1) Media and gadgets are ubiquitous 2) Internet is everywhere and broadband usage is growing 3) Wireless is growing, sparked by the iPhone 4) Ordinary people have become creators 5) All content creators have an audience 6) Web 2.0 is creating conversations and community 7) The internet is becoming more customized To illustrate these hallmarks, Mr. Rainie drew upon some of the latest figures from the Pew Project, which are gathered using telephone surveys (yes, cell phones as well as landlines). Some of the data was to be expected: 88% of college students have a cell phone. However, some data was a surprise. Sure, 34% of young adults have tagged online content. But 28% of ALL adults have added tags on the internet.

Who knew? Similarly, while 37% of young adults have rated something online, 32% of all adults have

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 8

added their rating-- a number which seems quite high. So before you think that you’ll have retired/ been replaced by Ms. Dewey/ have won the lottery and be sunning yourself in the Mediterranean before those same students get through law school and begin using your library-- think again. These technologysavvy users may already be there…

While all the data that Mr. Rainie showed us was not directly related to libraries, it served to analyze the current information society. Longitudinal data from the Pew Project is a little thin on the ground (although the survey started in 2000), but the data does show the general trend for technology movements (broadband usage has risen from under 10% in 2000 to just over 50% in 2007). For libraries looking at figures to see whether they should invest more in tagging software or podcasts, though, future trends in the ecosystem remain hard to predict. For a start, computing power doubles every 18 months.

Secondly, Pew focuses solely on American data, and many trends are influenced from abroad. For example, you may see data that says that only 27% of college kids have Blackberries and think that all the hype about adapting libraries to handhelds seems overrated. However, outside the USA, the sale of PCs has dropped in Japan because of the success of handheld devices.

Lastly, it remains hard to tell what the effect of the Millennial generation on the digital ecosystem will be when they reach the corporate world. Instant messaging has become more accepted in companies today because of the habits of younger workers. Will the same happen with blogs and social networking?

Or will the use of blogs decrease as Millennials become more bound by corporate restrictions?

There are no easy answers, and the only thing certain is change. However, the Pew Internet & American Life Project provides an intriguing insight into today’s information society, and helps information professionals understand the world of the library’s changing patron. (For now, at any rate…)

For more on the Pew Internet & American Life Project, visit their website at www.pewinternet.org.

You can view the slides from Lee Rainie's recent presentation to DC/SLA on the Chapter website at http://units.sla.org/chapter/cdc/presentations/PEWDi gitalEcosystems012208.pdf.

share the story of how his dream of rebuilding the ancient library of Alexandria has become a reality.

DC/SLA Book Club Layla Voll DC/SLA Book Club Chair 2008 Layla_Voll@hotmail.com The DC/SLA Book Club opened the year with a lively discussion of Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell, the club's first repeat author (his previous book, The Tipping Point, was discussed in 2002).

To examine the phenomenon of the snap judgment, Gladwell draws examples from fields as varied as emergency room medicine, marriage counseling, military strategy, and art history. Members were interested in Gladwell's analysis of our ability to make these snap judgments, and, in particular, how we know what we know; how much information we want in order to make a decision, and how much we actually need; and the dark side of snap judgments, racism and bigotry.

The book club members ended by extending a very warm thank you to Mary Bowen, who so capably led the book club this past year. I am delighted to be taking it over, and look forward to another exciting year. Please let me know (layla_voll@hotmail.com) if you have any suggestions for good restaurants at which to meet (preferably quiet and near a Metro), or for future reading. I look forward to seeing many of you at future meetings -- you don’t even have to be an SLA member to attend, which makes it the perfect DC/SLA event to invite friends and co-workers!

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina

The Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt was once the largest library in the world. Its collection and position as a research institution was famous throughout the ancient world. The new Library of Alexandria, called the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), is dedicated to recapturing the spirit of openness and scholarship of that library of so many centuries ago.

Dr. El-Abbadi is professor emeritus of Greco-Roman Studies at the University of Alexandria, Egypt. He has authored several books, including Life and Fate of the Ancient Library of Alexandria; Egypt from Alexander to the Arab Conquest; and Alexandria, Site and Region. He has also published various articles including “The Alexandria Library in History” and “The Pharos in Myth and History.”

Nostalgia

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina: How the Dream is Becoming Reality

By Zeinab A. Mansour The red blazing sun was slowly dissolving into the deep blue Mediterranean sea, shining its brilliant colors on the boats and the 15th century Qaitbuy Citadel. I watched that breathtaking sunset from the verandah of Egyptian historian Dr. Mostafa ElAbbadi. It was May 2007 when I visited Alexandria, Egypt and tracked down Dr. El-Abbadi, a former history professor of mine at the University of Cairo.

Dr. El-Abbadi graciously agreed to be interviewed to DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 9

Dr. El-Abbadi and I reminisced about the time when he first shared his dream of reviving the ancient library of Alexandria. It was in the mid-1960s, when I was a student in his Greco-Roman class at the University of Cairo, Egypt. It was then that he shared with great passion his dream of reviving the ancient library, which was created in the 3rd century B.C. While we students shared our professor’s enthusiasm, we were unable to grasp the idea of the revival of an ancient library that had once held an estimated 700,000 scrolls but then vanished over 1,600 years ago.

Now, 40 years later, I was sitting with my old professor listening to the same passionate description about how the dream is becoming reality. It began in the early 1970s when Dr. El-Abbadi, then a history professor at the University of Alexandria, approached university president Dr. Lutfi Dowidar with the idea of recreating the ancient library. Dr. Dowidar and the university not only endorsed the idea, but donated land owned by the university. The land lies along the University of Alexandria and overlooks the Mediterranean sea, very close to what is believed to be the original location of the ancient library.

According to Dr. El-Abbadi, it took almost ten years of hard work in order to gain the support of the Egyptian government and the international community. Then, Dr. El-Abbadi noted, “we encountered major obstacles, mainly monetary. The financial issue was the challenge.”

the humanities and the preservation and restoration of rare books and manuscripts.

While the Gulf War paralyzed the project, construction of the library finally began in 1995.

The Norwegian firm Snohetta beat out 523 rivals in an international design competition for the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The magnificent design forms a simple circle inclined toward the sea, partly submerged in a pool of water. It is the image of the ancient Egyptian sun, the continuity of life and civilization, which in contemporary terms will illuminate the world and human civilization. The library was inaugurated in October 2002.

The Turning Point For years, Dr. El-Abbadi said, “raising money was the most difficult challenge in sustaining the project.”

Then the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) became an important player. Recognizing the importance of the prospective library as a beacon for knowledge and as “a bridge of understanding between the East and West....” UNESCO issued an appeal to the international community “...to participate, by means of voluntary contributions in cash, equipment or services,” in the creation of the Library.

In February 12, 1990, in Aswan, Egypt, members of an international honorary commission signed the Aswan Declaration to support the Revival of the Ancient Library of Alexandria. The commission noted that the new library would serve as “a link with the past and opening to the future...unique in being the first library, on such a scale, to be designed and constructed with the assistance of the international community.” The international community’s support was tremendous in both monetary as well as technical support. Sixty-five million dollars was collected at the Aswan Meeting for the project in a partnership between governments, non-governmental organizations, and individuals. The library was designed to be a public research library and include unique collections focusing on the cultural heritage of Egypt, the Mediterranean region, Africa and the Arab world. The library would have an emphasis on DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 10

Dr. Mostafa El-Abbadi

Has the new library met expectations?

In responding to my question, Dr. El-Abbadi referred to the main purpose of the ancient library. It was created mainly as a public research library and attracted scholars from all over the ancient world.

The ancient library’s objectives were to collect “all the books of the world” and “writings of all nations.”

Its librarians were prominent scholars, considered the “keepers of the Books.” The Library’s patrons were considered to be the best minds of the ancient world.

For the new library to fulfill this purpose, the main concern now is to obtain more books, particularly books of scientific value. While Dr. El-Abbadi noted that it will be a long path for the new library to truly become a public research center, he acknowledged the great efforts of its current director, Dr. Ismail Serageddin to build the library’s mission as a meeting place for scholars from all over the world. Several seminars, workshops, and exhibitions are offered at the Library on a regular basis to address global issues

of concern and to build bridges among members of international community.

The day after my interview with Dr. El-Abbadi, I was anxious to visit the library that I visited in 1998 while it was still under construction. At that time, I had interviewed its main architect, Dr. Mohsen Zahran, and toured the site. (See my previous article, "The Revival of an Ancient Library and the International Community's Role." Chapter Notes, Special Libraries Association, Vol. 58, No. 3 (November 1998).)

I started with a guided tour of the BA. The entrance is very welcoming, including a number of manuscript showcases and pieces of art including a statue of Demetrius Phalereus, the ancient library’s first chief librarian and the driving force behind the creation of the ancient library. The tour guide noted that the Library currently attracts 800,000 visitors per year.

Following the tour, I met with librarian Leila Abdel Hadi. She agreed with Dr. El-Abbadi on the urgent need for books, most significantly newer scientific books. She noted that the collection has reached 555,555 volumes, including documents, books, rare manuscripts, and other materials from ancient times to the modern period. Following our meeting, I had the opportunity to attend a lecture, “Faiths in the Mediterranean Region,” which was very well attended.

As I was leaving the cultural beacon of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, I took one final look at its magnificent design. I once again thought of the time in the mid-1960s when Dr. El-Abbadi shared with us his vision of the recreation of an ancient library that was the most famous library in history. After 1,600 years, the ancient library is now standing tall before my eyes as a legacy of the glorious past and to continue its mission as a center of dialogue, learning, tolerance and understanding. I was fortunate to have that unique experience to see a dream fulfilled. It is a phenomenal story, a great tribute to the triumph of the human spirit and to the spirit of collaboration of the international community.

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 11

For more information The Bibliotheca Alexandrina has many friends around the world to help build its extraordinary heritage and support its mission. These friends form 35 branches of Friends of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Dr. El- Abbadi is the president of the Egyptian branch of this association. The closest association in the Washington metropolitan area is The Baltimore Friends of Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

The Baltimore Friends of BA has joined other international efforts in supporting and promoting the BA through disseminating information, organizing events, exhibitions, and launching book drives in order to support the BA's collections. If you would like to learn more about the Baltimore Friends of the BA, please visit www.baltimoreegypt.org.

To learn more about the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, please visit www.bibalex.org.

The author, Zeinab A. Mansour, is a library consultant. The photographs are courtesy of the author.

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 12

Upcoming Events Announcing the 2008 Joint Spring Workshop-"Knowledge Management: What is the Librarian's Role?"

April 29, 2008 Keynote speaker: Susan Fifer Canby, National Geographic Society Panelists to include: • Peter Hobby, Academy of Educational Development • Michael Novak, IRS • Jay Liebowitz, Johns Hopkins University • Denise Bedford, World Bank Event Sponsored by: DC Special Libraries Association (DC/SLA) Law Librarians' Society of Washington, DC (LLSDC) District of Columbia Library Association (DCLA) Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) OCLC CAPCON

The workshop will be held at the Library of Congress' Madison Building in the Mumford Room (6th floor) from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Please arrive at 8:30 a.m., when LC opens, for enough time to go through security, find the Mumford Room, and get registered. The program will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m.

Cost: $60.00 members, $25.00 students and retirees, and $85.00 non-members. Price includes continental breakfast and lunch.

Tax ID number is 52-1121282 Registration information will follow soon.

If you have questions, please contact Anne Linton (alinton@gwu.edu) or Carla Evans (CEvans@proskauer.com).

Online Sources of Information on International Relations.

You are invited to a joint meeting of the SID Development Information Working Group and the Washington International Librarian’s Group (WILG) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 13

on Wednesday, February 13, 2008, from noon – 1:30 p.m.

Allen Overland, Head Librarian at the National Endowment for Democracy, will show some of his favorite online information resources on international relations, and you are encouraged to bring your own to share. These will be posted to the WILG web site at: www.wmd.org/wilg/sitereview.html. A brief tour of the new library will follow the discussion.

This is a brown bag event, but cookies and soft drinks will be provided.

RSVP to Allen Overland at Allen@NED.ORG. You must have a photo ID to present to the security desk in the lobby.

Where: National Endowment for Democracy Multimedia conference room 1025 F St NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20004 Directions to the National Endowment for Democracy: Take the blue, orange, or red line to Metro Center. Go to the 11th & G St exit. Walk towards F St, turn left and enter the building at 1025 F St. (For those of you who have lived in DC for years, NED is in the old “Woodies” building.)

Military Librarians Book Talk DC/SLA members and guests are invited to join the Military Librarians Group of DC/SLA at the Tivoli Restaurant on February 21st for dinner and a book signing with author Steve Vogel. Vogel, a reporter for the Washington Post, will autograph and discuss his 2007 book, The Pentagon: A History, which recounts the building of the Pentagon during World War II as well as its restoration after the attack on 9⁄11.

The book signing will begin at 6:00 p.m. You can purchase a copy of Vogel's latest book that evening, or bring a copy from your library or home along with you.

Dinner starts at 6:45 p.m. Select your entrée from the list below.

Pre-registration is required. Please RSVP by Friday, February 15 to Deborah Keller at deborah.eb.keller@us.army.mil or 703-428-7432 and let her know your choice of entrée. Payment via PayPal is preferred, but contact Deborah if you need to pay by check.

When: Where:

Thursday, February 21, 2008 Tivoli Restaurant 1700 Moore Street, Arlington VA Metro: Rosslyn (Orange and Blue lines)

Validated parking is also available in the garage under the building.

Price: Cost will vary based on your dinner selection (see below). For student and retired members, the price is $20 regardless of entrée.

Dinner: Includes salad, choice of entrée, dessert, and coffee or tea.

Entrée choices: • Sliced pepper-crusted entrecote NY sirloin flamed with brandy ($39 for members, $47 for non-members) • Seared Tilapia with Stewed Tomatoes, Basil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil ($39 members/ $47 non-members) • Fettucine with grilled vegetables and extra virgin olive oil ($27 members/ $35 nonmembers) For student and retired members, the price is $20 regardless of entrée.

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 14

Member Notes Grant Announcement Michael Kolakowski, an Information Research Specialist in the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress, will retire on Feb. 19. Mike has been a valued member of CRS for almost 30 years in several positions. He is currently serving his third year as chair of the DC/SLA Scholarship Committee. He has served as Second Vice President and as Director in addition to being chair of the Social Science Division and other SLA positions. He was also elected to a two-year term as Membership Secretary of the District of Columbia Library Association a few years ago, and elected co-chair of the DC-Maryland-Virginia Chapter of the Art Libraries Society/North America in the 1980's. Mike intends to have a relaxing retirement.

DC/SLA members David Shumaker, Clinical Associate Professor, Catholic University School of Library and Information Science, and Mary Talley, Senior Consultant, Axelroth & Associates are the recipients of the 2007 Special Libraries Association Research Grant. The grant was made by the SLA Research & Development Committee and approved by the SLA Board of Directors at their December meeting.

Shumaker and Talley will receive a $25,000 grant award to pursue a comprehensive study of the success factors in embedded librarianship programs.

The term "embedded librarianship" refers to the practice of aligning information professionals with groups of information users who need highly customized services. The goal of the study is to develop an evidence-based model to guide information professionals in a shift to an embedded model.

Shumaker has written and lectured widely on embedded librarianship, including a 2007 SLA Contributed Paper. Talley uses embedded librarianship models in her consulting practice.

If you are a DC/SLA member planning to attend the South Atlantic Regional Conference (SARC) in St. Petersburg, Florida from February 27-29, please consider working at our Chapter’s booth outside the Exhibit Hall. SLA’s 2009 annual conference will be held in Washington, DC. This will be our first opportunity to entice members to our city, make them aware of off-the-beaten-track sights, and learn from them what they expect from our Chapter’s wiki and overall hospitality. Consider spending an hour or two manning the booth, distributing leaflets and information, and sharing your knowledge of DC with prospective attendees of the 2009 conference. For more information, or to volunteer, please email barbieelene@att.net.

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/ February 2008 | pg 15