President's Corner: James King By James King, james.king@nih.gov I’m honored to be your 2010 Chapter President! Our awesome chapter members have won numerous awards (58 at last count), started new divisions (including Military Libraries Division and Government Information Division), hosted six annual conferences (including the Centennial Conference last year), and six of our members have advanced to lead our association (including Anne Caputo our current SLA president). Building upon the extensive successes of the past and leaning heavily upon our outstanding team of volunteers, I have high expectations of this being one of the best years for our chapter. Despite our many successes and our enviable position, this isn’t a time to be resting on our laurels. I’ve worked in special libraries in the area for the past 20 years and I’ve seen libraries as well as information centers struggle to adapt to the new digital environment and show value within their organizations, resulting in budget cuts, staff cuts, and closures-even prior to the Great Recession. The SLA Alignment Project helped us see the stakeholders’ and decision makers’ perspectives and how we can begin to reposition ourselves to be strategic in our organizations. Jessica Beauchamp, the 2009 second-vice president, and her team, which included Lorraine Bell, Anne Caputo, Catherine Kitchell, Gail Kouril, Diane Schnurrpusch, and Jean Tatalias, updated the DC SLA Strategic Plan last year. They did a great job creating a vision and a direction for our chapter. I will strive to do them honor by implementing as much of the strategic plan as possible during my year of service. To start off, the new chapter vision states, “The Washington, DC Chapter of the Special Libraries Association is the recognized model of excellence as it prepares knowledge leaders for the future.” This vision is driving everything that the DC SLA Board is working on for our chapter members, and is being carried out through five strategic goals:
January/ February 2010 Volume 71, No. 1 Inside this issue: President’s Corner …..……..1 Chapter Events …..…….......3 Library Related Events …….5 2009 Smashed Records …..10 Taking the Reins …….........15 The Way Forward …...……16 Chapter Heads Updated at SLA Leadership Summit …17 Leaders and Followers Teach Each Other During the Leadership Summit ………18 Q & A with SLA’s President Anne Caputo ………...........19 Lubuto Libraries Transforms Youth Services in Africa …25 Librarians Explore Living in Multiple Worlds ………….27 Chapter Notes Membership Survey Results ….………...28 Backdoor Librarian Seizes Opportunities …...………...29 See our Snow Collage at: http://tinyurl.com/y8ooly6
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Membership & Participation - Grow and support a vital and active chapter representing a broad demographic of information professionals.
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Communications - Maintain a communications infrastructure providing timely and high quality information dissemination and exchange that benefits individual members and Chapter/Association leaders.
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Subscriptions: Chapter Notes is free to DC/SLA members. Subscriptions are available to non-members at a rate of $10 per year. The newsletter is also available electronically at the chapter's website, www.units.sla.org/Chapter/cdc.
Finances - Run a fiscally responsible organization.
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Advertising: Advertising rates are: $95—1/4 page; $175—1/2 page; $290— full page. For information regarding advertisements, contact the DC/SLA Chapter Notes Business Manager, Charlotte White.
Outreach / Community Service - Provide outreach programs and community service opportunities for all members.
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Programming & Events - Provide the chapter’s broad demographic of membership with a variety of appealing and easily accessible programs and events, focusing heavily on professional development, but also including networking and special interest opportunities.
Chapter Notes is the newsletter of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). It is distributed six times per year (bimonthly) as follows: January/ February, March/ April, May/ June, July/ August, September/ October, November/ December. 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.
The deadline for the March/April 2010 issue is April 1st. The issue will be distributed approximately two weeks 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 or requests for mailing address changes should be sent to the Editor. Chapter Notes Editor: Chris Vestal, ASRC Management Services Phone: 540-227-0718 cmvlibrarian@gmail.com Chapter Notes Business Manager: Charlotte White cwhite@fmc.gov DC/SLA Webmaster: Lorette Weldon Research Director Weldon Researchers dcslacalendar@gmail.com DC/SLA Discussion List Manager: Lea Wade lea.wade[at]gmail.com Information: http://units.sla.org/chapter/cdc/list.html
For more details about each of these goals see the DC SLA Strategic Plan at http://tinyurl.com/ykvwl2u. The Strategic Plan and Priorities slide deck at http://tinyurl.com/yhndxlu, has information on how we plan to implement the Strategic Plan this year. We’ve created a number of new committees and volunteer positions in the chapter to help execute this ambitious agenda. A sign-up web site has been setup at http://signupgenius.com/go/chapter, to help us manage and clearly advertise opportunities. Having a diverse and active group of volunteers is critical to our success so please see if there is an opening that interests you. I need to also take a minute to recognize our newest award winners: Chris Vestal, our new Chapter Notes editor-in-chief, and Jessica Beauchamp, the 2009 second-vice president, and ethics ambassador; both were announced as recipients of the SLA Rising Stars
DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 2
Award. This is given to SLA members in the first five years of their library careers who have shown exceptional accomplishment and potential for the future. After working with both of them this past year, I couldn’t agree more.
Chapter Events • Library Leaders/Distinguished Speakers Program: Roberta Shaffer, Law Librarian of Congress, 6:30-8:30p.m. Wednesday, 24 February. Covington & Burling, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20004. An interview with Shaffer on her career, and leadership and management insights, conducted by DC SLA President Elect Mary Talley. Register at http://tinyurl.com/yjp46ek. • U.S. Army Art Collection Tour, 6-8p.m. Thursday, 25 February. 1099 14th St., NW (Franklin Court), Washington, DC 20005. The DC SLA Military Libraries Group invites you to a special event and tour of the U.S. Army Art Collection. To register contact Sharon Lenius at sharon.lenius@us.army.mil. • Click U Webinar: Embedded Services for Solos and Small Info Centers, 2-3:30p.m. Wednesday, 3 March. Free for SLA members, register at http://tinyurl.com/yjyruvs
Alexandria buried in snow (Photo by Joan Goodbody) • Board meeting, 6-7:30p.m. Thursday, 4 March. National Institutes of Health Library, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20814. The meeting will be held at the National Institutes of Health Library (Medical Center Metro stop on the Red line). More information on visiting the NIH campus is at http://tinyurl.com/ykmvgmp. For questions contact James King at James.King@nih.gov • Fiction Book Club Meeting, 6-7p.m. Wednesday, 17 March. Location TBA.. Please RSVP Barbara Folensbee-Moore at bfolensbeemoore@morganlewis.com. • Library Leaders/Distinguished Speakers Program: Laura Soto-Bara, NPR Library, 6:308:30p.m. Thursday,18 March. Location TBA. An interview with Soto-Bara on the future of libraries in media organizations, and on leadership and management insights, conducted Talley. • Reverse Mentoring, Tuesday, 23 March. Chevy's, 1201 S. Hayes St., Number 1, Arlington, VA, 22202. New professionals talk to experienced librarians about the profession from their perspective. In conjunction with the Young Professionals and Students Happy Hour.
Students from the CUA SLA Chapter tour the Library of Congress in January (Photo by Callie McLean)
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• ABC’s of Military Resources, 5-8p.m. Wednesday, 24 March. Hilton Hotel, 1767 King St., Alexandria, VA 22314. Program and Dine Around.
• Board meeting via WebEx, 6-7:30p.m. Thursday, 1 April. This meeting will be held virtually on WebEx with a backup physical location at Dow Jones and Company, Suite 1103, 1025 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036. • Click U Webinar: Session 1: Survival Lessons: The Corporate Library in Turbulent Times, 2-3:30p.m. Wednesday 7 April. Free for SLA members, register at http://tinyurl.com/yk96ld3.
Huntington area blanketed in snow (Photo by Joan Goodbody) • The Informationalist: From Medical to Bio and Beyond, 9:00a.m.–4:30 p.m. Tuesday, 30 March. Collaboration between scientists and librarians to support informatics research. Sponsored by Elsevier in cooperation with DC SLA. • Click U Webinar: Maximizing Your SLA Membership Benefits, 2-3:30p.m., 31 March. Free for SLA members, register at http://tinyurl.com/yhkak5w.
• Speed Mentoring Program, 6:30–8:30p.m. Thursday, 8 April. Location TBA. • Library Leaders/Distinguished Speakers Program: Blane Dessy, director of the Department of Justice Libraries, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, 13 April. EPA Hearing Room, EPA East Headquarters Building, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20004. An interview with Dessy on change management, staff development, and leadership, conducted by Talley.
Giant icicles loom outside (Photo by Karen Danoff) • Click U Webinar: Session 2: Survival Lessons: Sourcing, Planning and Alignment, 23:30p.m. Wednesday, 14 April. Free for SLA members, register at http://tinyurl.com/yk96ld3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Temple during the blizzard (Photo by Greta D. Ober)
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• Using Google Apps for Collaboration, 6:308:30p.m. Tuesday, 20 April. Location TBA. Karen Huffman presents.
• Young Professionals and Students Happy Hour, Tuesday, 20 April. Ireland's Four Fields, 3412 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008. For more information about the location see http://tinyurl.com/cuq5an. Send RSVPs to Carrie Port at Carrie.Port@turner.com. • Fiction Book Club Meeting, 6-7p.m. Wednesday, 21 April. Board of Veterans Appeals Research Center, Room 814, 811 Vermont Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20571. Please RSVP Barbara Folensbee-Moore at bfolensbeemoore@morganlewis.com. • International Special Librarian’s Day, Thursday, 29 April. More information TBA.
Library Related Events • Catholic University of America’s School of Library and Information Science Open House for Prospective Students, 5-6p.m. Thursday, 25 February. Stone Bridge High School, 43100 Hay Road, Ashburn, VA 20147. • Catholic University of America’s School of Library and Information Science Open House for Prospective Students, 10:30a.m.-1:30p.m.. Saturday, 27 February. John K. Mullen Denver Memorial Library, Catholic University of America, 620 Michigan Ave., NE, Washington, DC 20064.
Decks were almost completely covered with snow (Photo by Ken Kamppila) • Discovering Game: Game Design for Librarians Online Workshop, 1-30 March. Learn to engage youth at the library with interactive, multimedia, content creation workshops: video game design. For information and registration see http://tinyurl.com/yjespge. • Wikis in Libraries: Building Interactive Collections and Knowledge Repositories Online Workshop, 1-30 March. This workshop will provide an overview of the wiki phenomenon and distinguish its position in citizens' media and the free culture movement; explore a variety of ongoing projects in the wiki and library community. For information and registration see http://tinyurl.com/yfo487q. • Introduction to Virtual Worlds Online Workshop, 1-31 March. Interact in virtual worlds to find what fit is right for you and discover library applications for avatar creation, easy machinima, community building, library programs, and more. For more information and registration see http://tinyurl.com/yhxe8xd.
Shoveling a pathway was no easy task (Photo by Karen Danoff)
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• Secret Formula for Successful Searching: Search Engines, Social Media, Government Sources, and More Online Workshop. 1-31 March. Beyond discovering how to get the most from Google, you will be introduced to specialty search engines, social networking, and other sites and portals. You will learn the secret formula for finding quality information. For more information and registration see http://tinyurl.com/ye5hvf6.
fee is $75, includes all materials and two Continuing Education Units. Space is limited, contact Lois Meyer at 202.944.2232 or lois.meyer@labschool.org for registration and questions. • Tour of the Department of Justice Main Library, 1-2p.m. Friday, 5 March. Constitution Avenue, NW, between 9th and 10th streets. • The Future is Now: Libraries and Museums in Virtual Worlds Online Conference, Friday-Saturday, 5-6 March. OPAL, the web-conferencing collaborative service, in Second Life, and in other three-dimensional virtual worlds. Register at http://bit.ly/7L8M1j.
Washington, DC during the height of the blizzard (Photo by John Grunwell) • Private Company Research: More Sources than You Think Online Workshop, 1-30 March. This course identifies an extensive collection of sources for private company research and teaches effective search techniques critical for piecing together information about US companies in time- and costeffective ways. For more information and registration see http://tinyurl.com/ybcp45f.
• DC Library Association (DCLA) Board Meeting, 12-1p.m. Tuesday 9 March. DC Public Library Board Room, 901 G St, NW, Washington, DC 20001. • Legal Research Institutes, 8:30a.m.-4:30p.m Tuesday-Wednesday 9-10 March. The Legal Research Institutes are one-day introductory workshops on legal research. The workshops cover both print and electronic sources and teach a variety of topics. Register at http://tinyurl.com/yjan2yh.
• Classroom Management Techniques for Librarians, 10a.m.-12p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, 2-3 March. Students will be introduced to classroom management, teaching, and presentation methods that librarians will apply in a variety of settings to keep classes motivated and on task. For more information and registration see http://tinyurl.com/ykktg2t. • Interactive Information Literacy Teaching Methods, 2-4p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, 2-3 March. This two-day, two hour class will explore methods for improving teaching and learning in the information literacy classroom. For more information and registration see http://tinyurl.com/ykp6ore. • Lab School Training for School Librarians, 46:30p.m. Tuesday, 2 March. The Lab School, 4759 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington, DC 20007. “Helping School Librarians Work with Students with Learning and Attention Problems.” The registration DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 6
Intersections were frosted with snow (Photo by Abby McDermott)
• Becoming a Certified Records Manager (CRM) Seminar, 8a.m.-5p.m. Monday, 15 March. Law firm of Orrick, Columbia Center, 1152 15th St, NW, Washington, DC 20005. This workshop will help you prepare for the CRM exams by identifying what areas to study for each exam part and where to find the resources to help you learn what you need to know. Cost for the seminar is $150 for Greater Washington DC Chapter ARMA members, $185 for non-members which includes a catered lunch and snacks. For more information on the seminar see www.armamar.org/gwdc
Washington, DC during the first night of snowfall (Photo by April Knepp)
• Fundamentals of Electronic Resources Acquisitions Web Course, 15 March thru 9 April. Provides an overview of acquiring, providing access to, administering, supporting, and monitoring access to electronic resources. For more information and registration see http://tinyurl.com/ykfq968.
• Trendy Topics 2010 Online Conference, 10a.m-5p.m. Tuesday, 9 March. Taking the Trends Report to the next step and creating a forum and community for ongoing discussion. More information at http://tinyurl.com/ykqlqx7. Register at http://tinyurl.com/ygk9daw.
Some cars were completely hidden in all the snow (Photo by Greta D. Ober) • Under the Dome: A Stately Event in Annapolis, 8p.m. Monday, 15 March. Legislative Services Building, 90 State Circle, Annapolis, MD 21401. Tour of the Maryland State House and legislative library. Includes a light meal, and observing the evening's legislative session. Register at http://units.sla.org/chapter/cmd/statehouse10.htm Snow even began to cover lampposts (Photo by Hannah Rubin)
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• Library Research Seminar Call for Juried Proposals Deadline Monday, 15 March. The fifth Library Research Seminar (LRS-V) will bring together a diverse community of scholars from academia and practitioners from libraries and archives who are interested in research that informs policy-making, decision-making, and best practices. Participants will share research projects and explore ways to develop future research agenda, refine research methods, and facilitate successful completion of research projects. For more information see http://tinyurl.com/yztrqpn. • FLICC Coach/Mentor Workshop, 9:30a.m12p.m. or 1:30-4p.m. Monday, 15 March. John Adams Building, Library of Congress, 2nd St, SE, Between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street, Washington, DC 20540. The FLICC Human Resources Working Group has created a program to connect federal librarians mentors and coaches with interested and enthusiastic professionals who seek support, advice and career direction as well as specific, practical information regarding their federal librarian profession. To launch this program, the working group invites anyone working in federal libraries or information centers interested in becoming a mentor or coach to attend an informal orientation workshop.
Piles of snow taller than them didn’t stop children from playing outside (Photo by James King) • Intelligence Community Virtual Career Fair, 10a.m-8p.m. Tuesday, 16 March. Visit the career fair to explore career opportunities, chat with recruiters, and apply for job openings-all from the comfort of your computer! Register at www.icvirtualfair.com. • Meet the ALA Presidential Candidates, Wednesday, 17 March. Location TBA. • Law Librarians' Society of Washington, DC (LLSDC) Town Hall Meeting with AALL President, Catherine Lemann, 12-1:30p.m. Monday, 22 March. For information contact Cameron Gowan at cgowan@groom.com.
Silver Spring, Maryland buried in snow (Photo by Hannah Rubin)
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• 2010 Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Conference, Monday-Wednesday, 22-24 March. Hilton Alexandria Old Town, 1767 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314. With the theme of "Celebrating 65 Years of Providing Access to Defense Information," this year's conference will address DTIC's important role since World War II as a repository of scientific and technical information and an information broker for the Department of Defense. Register at http://tinyurl.com/yzn8aev
Join actor Danny Glover for a night of entertainment, benefitting the Lubuto Library Project. Those interested in receiving information on how to purchase tickets should send their postal address to info@lubuto.org.
Shoveling a path was a major undertaking (Photo by Karen Danoff) • Government Resources on the Web and Beyond Online Workshop, 2-4p.m., TuesdayWednesday 23-24 March. This two-part, live online workshop will help you learn where to find topical government information. For more information and registration visit http://tinyurl.com/ygm7oon
• Job Search Workshop, 9a.m.-12p.m. Saturday 17 April. Classrooms at Kossiakoff Center, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel Maryland. The first in a series of Career Workshops designed to help students, out of work librarians and those wishing to change jobs prepare for their job search. We will have one hour plus on resume writing and interviewing followed by networking with refreshments; the second workshop will be devoted to job hunting. The presenters will be from Library Associates, who have a great deal of experience dealing with these topics. Registration will be limited to 50. To register please contact Judy Tapiero at jtapiero@erols.com.
• Federal Law Librarians Conference, Wednesday-Friday, 7-10 April. Limited to federalgovernment librarians. For more information see http://tinyurl.com/yjcb6aq. • Computers in Libraries Conference, MondayWednesday, 12-14 April. Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202. The theme, “Information Fluency: Literacy for Life”, encompasses all of the challenges, solutions, technologies, and practices that those working with computers in libraries are dealing with today. Register at http://tinyurl.com/ygyyq6m. • LLSDC Board Meeting, 9-10:30a.m. Tuesday, 13 April. For more information see http://tinyurl.com/yghyk7n. • ILL-SIS Meeting, 12-2p.m. Wednesday, 14 April. Capital Hill Consulting Group, 499 South Capitol St., SW, Washington, DC 20003. For more information see http://tinyurl.com/yjggdso. • Benefit for the Lubuto Library Project, 6:30p.m. Thursday, 15 April. National Geographic Society, 1145 17th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036. DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 9
Some homes looked especially scenic in the snow (Photo by Ken Kampila) • Joint Spring Workshop, 8a.m.-4p.m. Tuesday, 27 April. Library of Congress, Madison Building, Mumford Room, 101 Independence Av., SE, Washington, DC 20540. Marketing to users and decision makers. • Xtreme Reference, Thursday, 21 October. A full day event devoted to the content, delivery, and skill sets for today's reference services. This professional development and networking opportunity is being presented by the Maryland Chapter of the SLA. Early bird registration and session details will be coming soon.
2009 Smashed Records By Greta D. Ober, DC SLA immediate-past president Well, it certainly has been an exciting year for me and an honor to be President during the year that SLA turned 100! Our chapter was among many that took on extra efforts to celebration SLA’s Centennial. With the creation of a special Centennial Planning Committee back in 2008, our chapter held more programs than ever before, in addition to the customary dine arounds, Click U virtual seminars, new member reception, professional & career enhancement programs, Joint Spring Workshop, book club meetings, and happy hours.
We welcomed new members to the chapter at the New Members’ Reception in May (Photo by Bill Tuceling) who enlightened us with life-shifting examples of everyday changes we are facing. In addition to the major monthly programs and Centennial-themed events, regular programs included: • Dine Arounds. Another record breaker: 22 Dine Arounds (10 in the Spring and 12 in the Fall). Each Dine Around had at least four attendees, the largest with 24.
2009 started off with cake at our big "Capital Celebration: SLA @ 100" reception with Guy St. Clair (Photo by James King) The DC Chapter hosted a record breaking number of programs in 2009: a total of 85! Attending these were 1214 SLA members, and 356 non-members. We began the year with “A Capital Celebration: SLA@100.” A lovely reception which included a delicious “birthday” cake was followed by a presentation with Guy St. Clair on the history of SLA. Ending the year at the annual business meeting and banquet, we heard from Andy Hines, a futurist DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 10
• Click-U Live seminars. Marie Kaddell hosted all 18 at Lexis-Nexis with participation of 189 SLA members and 45 nonmembers. • Joint-Spring Workshop. DCLA was the lead for 2009 with Anne Linton and Terri Wheeler representing DC SLA. The topic was “Collaboration: The Key to Survival,” with nine speakers on the panel. • International Relations. In addition to the annual International Special Librarians Day program (“International Dimensions of the Profession: Where do we stand?”), the International Relations Committee held a second
program later in the year to celebrate UN Week which was held at the UN Information Center in DC.
• Book Club. The DC SLA book club met four times in 2009 (January, April, July, and October). Attendance has increased from the previous year, with a grand total of 36 for all four meetings. It was noted that in 2008 locations in MD or VA were selected, which may have resulted in some of the lower attendance; metro accessible DC locations appear to be the preferred choice.
Sharon Lenius and Susan Fournier working the DC SLA marketing table during the 2009 SLA Leadership Summit in Savannah, Georgia (Photo by Karen Huffman) • Students/Young Professionals. This Committee hosted nine events in 2009 (eight happy hours and one Dine Around). One of these events was co-hosted by the International Relations Committee. Most events had about ten people, with the largest turnout by far being the June event following the SLA Conference (30 attendees representing four different SLA chapters!)
Members at the Mama Ayesha’s Dine Around (Photo by Greta D. Ober)
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Members learned more about the search engine at the Google 101 event (Photo by Bill Tuceling) • Professional Enhancement. Following the very well attended Spring Career Day at Catholic University, the Professional Enhancement Committee organized a “Speed Mentoring” program. The three-hour Career Day program offered career guidance and networking opportunities and featured a keynote address by then SLA President-Elect, Anne Caputo. Feedback from the Career Enhancement Day and the Strategic Planning Survey (isn’t it great how initiatives can fit together!), led to the idea of the Speed Mentoring program. Twenty-one attendees (mentees) were given the opportunity to speak with 16 mentors to discuss career opportunities and development.
• Membership. Still strong as the largest SLA Chapter, we ended the year with over 1100 members. New members were honored once again at the annual New Member Reception held at Elizabeth’s on L Street.
DC SLA volunteers packed up the second Lubuto Library collection on 2 May 2009 (Photo provided by the Lubuto Library Project) • Hospitality Committee. In addition to assisting with any and all programming needs, this committee consisting of Layla Heimlich and Lisa Pogue, developed the Hospitality section of the SLA DC wiki. Venue information includes contact information, site specific details, and postevent notes.
The Military Librarians Group organized a tour of President Lincoln’s Cottage (Photo by Bill Tuceling) • Marketing/Communications. The DC Chapter brochure was revised and reprinted with 180 copies made just in time for the annual conference where they were made available at the DC Chapter hosted Hospitality booth as well as the Mid-Atlantic Chapters Reception. DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 12
Members kept their technical skills current at the Beyond 23 Things program (Photo by Bill Tuceling) • Strategic Plan. With the leadership of Jessica Beauchamp, second vice-president, the 2004 Strategic Plan has been updated. Jessica’s committee consisted of Diane Schnurrpusch; Anne Caputo; Lorraine Bell; Catherine Kitchell; Jean Tatalias; Gail Kouril. Thanks goes out to all for developing an online survey which focused on membership, chapter involvement, programming, events, communications, community service, career enhancement, and demographics. From these findings the 2009 Strategic Plan, Chapter Vision and Mission was updated, which included suggested actions to be considered for implementation by future DC SLA board members and committee chairs. • Chapter Notes. In 2009, the DC/SLA chapter newsletter transitioned to a reduced publication schedule. Chapter Notes is
Spend a Day with a Special Librarian – an enriching and valuable experience to both students and hosting librarians! We had 38 students sign up, being placed in law firms, government, academic, medical, military, museum, corporate and science libraries. The goal of the program is to provide students with knowledge and support, so they will consider a career in special librarianship. • Scholarship Winners. Catherine A. Jones Memorial Scholarship: Caroline Huggins, San Jose State University School of Information Sciences InfoCurrent Scholarship: Ryan Pineda, Catholic University of America School of library and Information Science The chapter raised money by selling DC SLA Polo Shirts (Photo by Bill Tuceling) now published bimonthly, marking a decrease from the earlier 10 issue per year schedule. Continuing a trend from recent years, more and more chapter members are reading the issue electronically through the DC SLA website. Only 36 members still request the printed newsletter by mail.
• Awards. Presented at the Annual Business Meeting and Holiday Party, the Member of the Year award was given to Bill Tuceling, with the Board of Directors award going to Sharon Lenius, Nancy Minter, and Karen Huffman.
• Community Outreach. Among the many activities this committee participated in this year, the Oyster-Adams Middle School (volunteers assisted the Librarian with a data entry/cataloging project), and Lubuto Library Project (volunteers packed library materials for shipment to Zambia) were two major efforts. • Student Outreach Catholic University Student Group is well connected with a website at http://studentorg.cua.edu/sla; a Facebook page at http://tinyurl.com/yke954g; and LinkedIn Group at http://tinyurl.com/yzk9c8y. The Student Group collected over 300 books from the CUA SLIS community to benefit the Lubuto Library Project.
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The chapter hosted its Meet the Candidates event at Elephant and Castle (Photo by James King)
• SLA’s Alignment Project: Align in 09! I hesitate to even mention this one more time . . . Well, the name change voting has taken place in 2009 with the majority of SLA members choosing to
Gloria Zamora hosted a Dine Around at Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar (Photo by Chris Vestal) keep SLA as the name of our association. Special mention to DC Chapter Alignment Ambassadors: James King, Shirley Loo, Mary Talley, Chris Vestal, and Dave Hemingway who stepped forward and kept everyone informed of the process and research involved; including organizing a Town Hall meeting which briefed DC Chapter members on the objectives, research and outcomes of SLA’s multiyear alignment effort. For the benefit of those who could not attend, he Town Hall was video tapped and made available on the chapter website.
• Annual Conference. Lastly, with the SLA’s annual conference held in DC, we were the honored to be the Host Chapter! DC Mayor Adrian Fenty officially declared the week of the SLA conference, June 14-20, 2009, “Special Libraries Association Week” in the District of Columbia! Under the leadership of Sharon Lenius and Nancy Minter, a Local Arrangements Committee was formed which organized our Chapter Hospitality Booth, and of course Karen (middle name “wiki”) Huffman created the conference wiki. We were also the lead chapter in organizing and hosting a midAtlantic chapters reception. Not only did was our Chapter well represented at the conference with many chapter members as speakers and moderators; we swept the Awards with six DC SLA Chapter Award winners! Diversity Leadership Development Program Award: Julia Leggett Rose L. Vormelker Award : Dave Shumaker SLA Hall of Fame: Donna Sheeder Dow Jones Leadership Award: Barbie Keiser Fellows of SLA: Nancy Minter and Ellie Briscoe (might I add that all except Diversity were also awarded last year to a DC Chapter member) Also noted are the conference stipend award winners (DC Chapter members Kimberly Lyall and Lorette Weldon); and as host chapter, Dialog generously provided us funding which allowed three DC area library students to attend the conference (Ann Buki, Rhonda Clossum, and Jennifer McDaniel). Of course all these events and activities would not have occurred without the support and assistance from all of you our members! Thank-you DCChapter for a wonderful and successful 2009 year.
Young Professionals group checking out the National Christmas Tree(Photo by Carrie Port) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 14
Taking the Reins
others—with the added bonus of casting a positive light on our profession as a whole.
By Elizabeth Ann Blake As a newer professional who has been living and working in DC for a short time, I may not seem the most likely candidate to write a column called Taking the Reins. I have never been the director of a library or information center, and I have not been a major player on the board of a professional association. I know that I still have an incredible amount to learn, but I am constantly seeking to discover more about what it means to be a productive professional and a dynamic, effective leader. While I cannot profess to be seasoned leader within our field, I hope that I will be a keen observer who can recount her own experiences, share the experiences of others, and provide useful insights on leadership. This will be the first of an ongoing series of columns that I write about how we can expand the scope of our professional influence—on an individual and on a group level. I will not spend any time advocating a name change for our profession in this column, and I will not attempt to unionize our members. Instead, with the input of my readers, I would like to facilitate a discussion of small but constructive measures that we can take in order to better position ourselves as leaders and to gain professional empowerment. Given that 2010 has just begun and that many of us are still sorting out our resolutions for the New Year, I think that volunteerism is an appropriate subject for this first column. I realize that not everyone has the time or energy to commit to volunteer work. Many of us are so busy that we can barely balance all that is expected of us in our professional and our personal lives. However, for the people who can make room in their schedules for volunteer work the payback can be tremendous on many different levels. Regardless of your age or your amount of professional experience, you can make a difference in the community and in your own career simply by serving
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When I first started my current job, I did not have any friends or connections in D.C. For the first few months that I lived in the city, I focused my energy almost exclusively on my new job and on maintaining my ties back home. As a result, I felt disconnected from the place where I lived and worked, and was not entirely satisfied with the change that I had made in my life, even though I enjoyed my job. Upon the dawning of the New Year, I resolved to commit substantial time and energy to professional organizations and to serving the community. My first volunteer activity with DC SLA was on the International Relations Committee. By taking this simple step of getting out and doing something positive, I feel like I have contributed to our profession’s impact on the world and enhanced my own leadership potential because of the experiences, friends, and acquaintances I gained. In addition, I have also become involved in many of the community service activities that are available at my workplace. After chairing two service-oriented committees for my employer, I could not be happier that I had the opportunity to help the community. Because of my work on these committees I met many wonderful people within my organization that I might not have otherwise gotten to know. At the same time, I also demonstrated that I am a capable leader within my workplace. Through volunteer work, I expanded my leadership skills by taking on responsibilities that I would not otherwise get a chance to practice in my everyday life. I am more confident as a result of my connections and my experience. Now I find myself often sought out as a leader even though I am still relatively “new.” Because of this, I believe that volunteerism can be key to becoming an effective, recognized leader in any context and on any level. Elizabeth Ann Blake, MLIS, is a reference librarian at a law firm in Washington, DC. Contact her at elizabethannblake [at] gmail [dot] com.
The Way Forward By Montrese Hamilton Welcome to the The Way Forward. Over the year, this column will illuminate creative ways in which DC SLA members are re-imagining their careers in a fast-changing economic landscape. I asked for the opportunity to write this column because I'm deeply curious about how you might answer the question: What is your "Way Forward?” What are you doing to build, enhance, or restart a meaningful career in the information profession? Today’s economic turmoil has pushed the need for sustained career innovation to a new level. This space is dedicated to your stories about how you are rising above your challenges. It's only fair that I balance a request for your personal insights by sharing my own. I've been with my present employer for nine of my 10 years in librarianship. Some great measure of luck timed my career to launch during a mild recession then grow during a remarkable period of economic expansion. I worked hard to learn the ropes of real-world library work: growing the collection, expanding services, and meeting my clients’ needs. Staying focused on that mission served me well when times were prosperous, but that focus overwhelmed what I knew instinctively - prosperity is earned but not guaranteed. Honestly, there are few career pleasures greater than managing a library during a boom . . . and perhaps no shock greater than learning how to manage one after a ka-boom. As the meltdown gathered steam I lost authorization to hire an assistant, a large number of periodical subscriptions, and a hefty chunk of the collection development budget. What next . . . my job? I’ve been downsized before so I knew the signs and my fear was not unreasonable. However, my employer remained committed to avoiding layoffs. I still had a library to run-but how? With constrained resources and a new organization-wide strategic plan, I have to evolve. I can no longer thrive by working and thinking in a manner that was the right approach for most of my career. I find myself asking: what's the right approach today? DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 16
If I had the answer this is where I would say how I figured it all out, lived happily ever after, and here’s how you can do the same. I’m not there yet and that’s why I want to hear from those of you on your own journey. What's your "Way Forward?" Send your insights and comments to montrese [dot] hamilton [at] gmail [dot] com and I will print as many as space allows in my next column. Finally, if I may anticipate one question, the name of this column is borrowed directly from a wellknown model of corporate rebirth. Ford Motor Co. dubbed its 2006 restructuring plan, The Way Forward – a blueprint to move the company away from plunging sales, and the brink of bankruptcy. Defying the expectations of industry experts, Ford turned the corner. In 2009, the company reported the first profit in four years and competitive vehicles are in the pipeline. The Ford recovery story is still being written, but if it could plot a strategy to thrive in and beyond the Great Recession, we can do the same. Montrese Hamilton, MSLS, is librarian for the Society for Human Resource Management in Alexandria, VA. Contact her at montrese [dot] hamilton [at] gmail [dot] com.
Chapter Heads Updated at SLA Leadership Summit By James King, DC SLA President Chapter President-Elect, Mary Talley, and I attended the 2010 Leadership Summit in St. Louis at the end of January. The goal of Summit is to help develop leadership skills and provide an update on all things SLA. The Summit started with a State of the Association report from SLA CEO Janice Lachance and SLA President Anne Caputo. SLA, like the rest of the world, faced a budget shortfall in 2009 and in 2010. Even though the 2009 Centennial SLA Annual Conference held in DC had a record high attendance, it provided lower overall revenue due to an increase in one-day attendees, reduced sponsorships, and an annual 20 percent increase in conference costs. SLA’s Leadership Connections blog has more information at http://tiny.cc/2THoh. Since SLA provides $571 per member in benefits, a majority of SLA’s funds come from conference proceeds and corporate donations. Since both of these have declined and there has been an large shift in membership to the unemployed membership category, the association faced a combined 20 percent reduction in projected revenue.
Susan Fifer Canby shows off SLA’s full page ad in the Wall Street Journal (Photo by Ruth Wolfish) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 17
SLA President Anne Caputo presents at the Leadership Summit (Photo by Ruth Wolfish) To make up this shortfall, SLA made a number of cuts while maintaining the value of membership. Specifically, SLA was forced to cut 25 percent of its staff since September (five staff laid off and two vacancies unfilled), has suspended all SLA staff professional development, has increased employee contribution to health care, and frozen all SLA staff salaries for the second year in a row. Still faced with a gap even after those cutbacks, SLA was forced to raise dues for the first time in four years (SLA Bylaws require the dues be frozen for three years). More details on the membership dues changes can be found at http://tiny.cc/GhPLn. The complete text of Janice’s State of the Association speech is available on the SLA CEO’s Corner at http://tiny.cc/DFUTZ. In Creating the Future, Caputo shared her vision for 2010, referencing five global trends that we as knowledge professionals need to understand. The five global trends are globalization, distressed markets, disintermediation, disruptive technologies, and competition. Our response to these trends as an association has influenced the three goals for 2010. The first goal is to better understand our role and opportunity in this constantly-changing world. To do so the association plans to take the findings of the Alignment Project and create toolkits, applications, and templates, that demonstrate the value of information/knowledge professionals. The
Leaders and Followers Teach Each Other During the Leadership Summit By Mary Talley The SLA Leadership Summit has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. I’m embarrassed to admit that during 20 years of active participation in SLA, I never thought about going; I was so unsure about what went on at the summit, let alone who could or should attend. That ended last month when I attended my first Leadership Summit in St. Louis as DC SLA Vice-President and felt like slapping my forehead. Mystery solved with a pile of misguided notions left behind. James King with his family during the Leadership Summit (Photo by Ruth Wolfish) second goal focuses on improving the value of membership in order to encourage growth. Finally, the association will continue to focus on fiscal sustainability and professional civility. The keynote speaker for the conference was James Kane, who spoke about building and maintaining loyal relationships. Kane explained through his entertaining presentation how loyalty is built, what can destroy loyalty, and why this is critical in every area of our life. His new book The Loyalty Switch captures his thought-provoking concepts far better than I. For more information on Kane visit http://jameskane.com/.
One vague notion I had was that the Leadership Summit was really intended for those who have a title after their name like Chapter President, Treasurer, Division Chair, etc. So I was surprised right off the bat to meet several professionals who were not SLA office holders and had come anyway. One impressive professional from a middle-of-thecountry state was participating in the summit to increase her level of involvement in SLA and overcome barriers encountered at the local level. She found an opportunity in the summit to engage and connect with SLA leaders and forge her own path towards a future leadership role. Another professional told me about her determination to attend the Leadership Summit despite her recent lay-off from a long-term position. She having served in leadership roles on her chapter’s board, wanted to stay connected with current leadership as a way of maintaining her own leadership skills. I expected to come out of the Leadership Summit with more knowledge than I had going in, even as I was uncertain about what that knowledge might be. What I didn’t expect was to learn from those who weren’t in SLA leadership roles.
Mary Talley, DC SLA vice-president, attended the summit for the first time (Photo by Ruth Wolfish) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 18
Next January, DC SLA will host the Leadership Summit. Everyone can take a leadership initiative of their own by getting involved with the planning and attending the summit. It’s a great opportunity for any SLA member interested in developing his or her leadership skills. And, you never know what old notions you might shed along the way and what you might learn.
Q and A with SLA President Anne Caputo With the White House, the Capital Building, and the Supreme Court it’s no secret that the DC area is filled with leaders. This year Anne Caputo, chapter member and SLA's president, also calls the DC area home. Chapter Notes recently had a question and answer session with Caputo and we covered everything from having to brave protestors to land her first job, to her goals for SLA this year. Your early background was in history, what prompted your interest in library science? I came to my MALS via a short foray into teaching high school social studies, which was my original career objective. After a couple of years teaching in Portland, Oregon I discovered I loved teaching but hated all the non-classroom parts of the job, such as hall duty, parents and administrators. I then had to regroup and think about what else I loved. That would be museums and archives, so my original idea was to work in a special library such as a museum or archive or special collection. There were no jobs in those types of libraries when I graduated in 1976, so I went to work in the vendor world and never left. What was library school like in pre-web days? With the advances in technology in since you got your MALS how have kept your skills current? Gosh – the earth’s crust was just forming in those days. We were barely into the world of photocopiers! I remember one of my classes introduced the idea of computer-based research in which we filled out queries on a form and mailed them to Dissertation Abstracts in Ann Arbor, Michigan where they were turned into boolean queries. In a few days we got the results back via the mail. If our query was too broad or too narrow we reformulated our search and mailed it back. The whole process took days and sometimes weeks. We had a class in using the campus computer to run jobs using punched cards. Very quaint indeed!
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SLA President Anne Caputo Was your first library related job working with Dialog? When I graduated I found myself in a time when there were really no library jobs in California. My advisor, the formidable Marty West, suggested I interview with the Lockheed project which was inventing Dialog. I drove to the Lockheed Missiles & Space research lab in Palo Alto, CA on a day when the Stanford picketers were protesting and carrying placards saying “Merchants of Death” and similar slogans. I crept through the picket line and went in for the interview. I basically knew nothing about what they were talking about, and when they mentioned the salary was $7K I didn’t even know what a ‘K’ was! Imagine my astonishment when I got a call a week or so later offering me the job. I learned later that the line at the end of my resume, added at the last minute, that I had been the Oregon High School debate champion was the thing that clinched the deal for me.
You were with Dialog during a period great change in the profession and in technology; can you tell us what that was like and what role you played first as Director for Dialog’s Classroom Instruction Program and later as a Senior Director? I will be forever grateful for my job at Dialog, and particularly Dialog in the early days. I was responsible for answering the first 800-number, providing customer service, training, and the writing and editing of the newsletter and many other basic things. These diverse jobs forced me to learn everything about how a company and product are built and supported. I gradually became a business information specialist and then ultimately responsible for the Classroom Instruction Program (now the Graduate Education Program) and the Quantum professional development program. These were seminal programs now offered by many other vendors. The idea is that the first service you learn becomes your native language, the one you feel most comfortable using. Back in the early days we had elementary school and high school students using Dialog as well as library and information science graduate programs. At one time these users were the fastest growing group in all of Dialog. We had to refocus the program to target the graduate school students who were the most likely to make rapid use of the product.
Caputo at the Iron Barley during the St. Louis Leadership Summit (Photo by Ty Webb) Can you describe your role as a Director for Factiva and as Executive Director, Learning & InfoPro Programs with Dow Jones? I think I have one of the best jobs ever! My team is responsible for all Dow Jones Factiva and Newswires product training as well as training for all the other enterprise products aimed at organizational use. We train internal clients such as Sales and Customer Service, as well as create tools and processes for customer training. Our other responsibilities center on liaising with knowledge professionals and their associations, principally SLA, but also AIIP, ALISE, SCIP and others. We work to create professional development opportunities, sponsorships and other support programs to create successful connections with professionals in our field. When you started working with Dow Jones the Web was still pretty new and fairly static in nature. Today it’s morphed into a dynamic environment that people use to not only retrieve information but as a platform to create information. So what I’m wondering is how has that impacted your role at Dow Jones?
SLA Past-President Gloria Zamora helps Caputo prepare at the St. Louis Leadership Summit (Photo provided by Caputo) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 20
I have lived through some of the most incredible and exciting times in the development of information technologies, including the rise of the Web and the impact of social media on information dissemination. We can no longer succeed just
because we create unique and valuable content, although that is still extremely important, but rather the use of these technologies to integrate internal and external content, to use data mining to create new insights into knowledge collections, and to advance the way we organize and disseminate knowledge. User interface design is also a dynamic and increasingly important aspect for information providers.
make a foray into school libraries and ALA in the 1980s. I have also been very active in ASIS (now ASIS&T) in the 1980s. I’ve always returned to SLA because it is the best fit for me and my most comfortable home.
Being president must keep you pretty busy how do you balance your work with SLA with your work with Dow Jones and your personal life?
My first leadership role in SLA was as a director in the DC Chapter. This was in 2000-2001, and I loved the sense of involvement in creating a vibrant and active chapter. Later I was President-Elect of the DC Chapter and responsible for program planning. This is my true passion for chapters along with creating networking opportunities. I was one of the originators of the Young Professionals group and was in the group that created the book discussion group. In 2002-2003 I was DC/SLA Chapter President
I’ve been SLA president for one month, so I’m not sure this is the best vantage point from which to comment – but for now I would say a profound thank you to Dow Jones and to my Learning Programs team for giving me the time and support to work for SLA. This work is also supported by the excellent SLA headquarters staff and a wonderful and hard-working Board of Directors. Some parts of my personal life will just have to be on hold this year.
What was your first leadership role in SLA and what was it like? What made you decide to take on leadership positions?
What other positions have you held within the chapter and within SLA? I have had the pleasure and honor to have been a President-elect and President of DC SLA as well as an Ethics Ambassador. Additionally I’ve been on the SLA Board of Directors twice, once as the Chapter Cabinet Chair and most recently as President-Elect and now President of SLA. This is really the capstone of my professional career and one I am very honored to be elected to serve. Can you describe what being our chapter Ethics Ambassador entailed?
Caputo visiting Rutgers University in 2009 (Photo provided by Eric Schwarz )
When did you first join SLA and what made you decide to join? What other professional memberships have you had? I first joined SLA in 1976, when one of my Dialog colleagues encouraged me to attend a meeting of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. I’ve belonged to SLA pretty continuously ever since, although I did DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 21
Ethics is a new area of focus for SLA and we are introducing the first SLA Code of Ethics this year. Ethics provides a new framework for how we look at our particular role within the information community, how we serve our clients, how we maintain strong ethical standards called for in our profession, and how we treat each other. As one of our chapter’s past presidents, how has that experience been compared to being SLA President-Elect and now the current SLA President?
It would be tempting to say that they are very similar jobs, just on a larger scale, and there would be some truth in that. A Chapter president needs to think about programs and other activities for the chapter as well as recruiting new members and particularly recruiting volunteers to serve the chapter. All those are elements in the role of president of the association as well but the role of programming becomes much less of a focus since conference programming is primarily the responsibility of the divisions. Instead, the association president thinks a lot about their primary focus for the association for the year, what high-level things does she want to accomplish, and particularly about how we manage our footprint in the world. We encourage chapter development in many parts of the world, particularly in Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Europe and the Arabian Gulf. One of the particular pleasures is the opportunity to visit some of these places as part of your presidential year.
usable level. Membership growth is another goal for 2010 and also sustainability in our financial and organizational model. We intend to do all this with civility and respect for each other and our interactions with each other. Years ago the New York chapter was the largest chapter with thousands of members and today our chapter is the largest with just over a thousand. What do you think this means for SLA and for the profession? This issue strikes at the core of the Alignment Project and our goals to better understand and align ourselves with the view of knowledge professionals in the world. Now that we better understand how we are perceived and valued and must use that knowledge to make our membership tent larger by attracting others for whom knowledge-intensive work is a key and essential part of their professions. Our members are often working in embedded jobs in organizations and we need to find and support these members and increase their participation in SLA. In the current economy there’s a lot of librarians out of work, what role do you see SLA playing in helping them?
Then SLA President-Elect candidates, Caputo and Janice Anderson pose at the 2008 conference (Photo by Karen Huffman) What are some of your goals with SLA in 2010? What’s next with Alignment? I believe we need to have a small but impactful number of top goals for our association in 2010; chief among these is making the findings of the Alignment Project usable in practical ways for our members. I’ve appointed a new taskforce, lead by Mary Ellen Bates, to develop practical tools templates, processes and measurements we can use to take the Alignment Project's findings to the final DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 22
We can help in a number of ways: our current variable dues structure allows low-cost, affordable membership in SLA because dues tiers are based on salary. We offer a wealth of networking opportunities as well as career services and job listings. Our professional development and Click U! programs provide new knowledge and skills and our overall support and encouragement is a key factor in successfully finding new jobs. New graduates from library programs are finding there’s not the shortage of librarians predicted a few years ago and sometimes have to compete with more experienced professionals for the same job. What advice do you have for them? There are jobs in our professions among the more than 2,000 different titles SLA has identified among our members. Here are three ideas for new graduates: look for jobs outside the traditional bounds of libraries and information centers. Look
for try-on jobs via temporary agencies or part-time positions. Look in your background for skills or
I’ve asked Susan Fifer Canby, recently retired from the National Geographic, to head a group who will work at the DC SLA level and beyond to formulate ways to move this initiative forward. How has your work with SLA over the years helped you grow in the profession?
Caputo hands out beads to promote the New Orleans conference (Photo by Bethan Ruddock)
In so many ways. I would say first of all SLA has offered me the opportunity to grow my leadership skills in a safe and encouraging environment. I have served with so many inspiring leaders: Sue O’Neill Johnson preceded me and Susan Fifer Canby, Sheryl Rosenthal, and Shirley Loo followed me as chapter presidents and are truly dedicated and inspiring chapter officers. The many professional development programs have enriched my knowledge and skills. The networking and learning opportunities from global SLA members have given me lifelong friendships.
experiences or knowledge that will make you stand out from other applicants. Just has my high school debate experience helped me land my first job; you may have unique identifiers in your background too. What advice do you have for members who are in their midpoint of their careers? Mid-career professionals sometimes need to jumpstart their careers by either adding a new set of skills and/or making a career move. In the midpoint in your career you have time to take actions as large as new careers or as small as learning a new skill. Whatever you want to do, SLA has a something to help and inspire you. SLA created the First Five Year initiative to appeal to newer people in the profession, is there anything in the works aimed at long time or retired members? Those who are entering their ‘encore years’ are a tremendously valuable resources for SLA in terms of their knowledge, experience and ability to coach their fellow professionals. This resource has two areas of need; how to prepare for retirement and then to make use of volunteer opportunities to give back to our profession. We have an increasing number of people who want to extend their participation in our profession and there are a myriad of ways this participation can be organized. DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 23
Caputo with son, Chris (Photo provided by Caputo) What’s the most recent book you’ve read? What’s your favorite book and what makes it your favorite? My book club just finished reading Annette Gordon-Reed’s The Hemingses of Monticello for our January meeting. It’s a big book with a very detailed look at Sally Hemings and her family and their relationship with Monticello and with Thomas Jefferson. It’s a very fascinating look at her
forebears and descendents and the times in which they lived. My all-time favorite book is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. I first read this in college and have re-read it many, many times since. To me it speaks about the flavor of the place and time in a way that is magical. It deals with honor and integrity and the ability to see beyond what lies on the surface. I grew up in a very small town in the west and it speaks to me of the special way in which people in small towns accept and understand each other.
Where do you see the profession in the next 10 years? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Caputo at the DC SLA's promo table for annual conference during the 2009 leadership summit (Photo by Karen Huffman)
Technology always offers new opportunities and surprises and we are very well-positioned to help our organizations choose the best of the new technologies and understand how to apply that technology in ways that are the most valuable and useful.
What do you do in your spare time? I’m a strong believer in a balanced lifestyle, so I enjoy lots of different things in my spare time. I have a group of close friends, eight in all, who many years ago began meeting on one Friday night each month to enjoy watching old movies. We call ourselves the FNMG (Friday Night Movie Girls). Over time we have watched fewer and fewer movies and have more and more time to just talk and be friends. We’ve helped each other through all of life’s celebrations and sorrows. Each year on the Presidents’ Day weekend we rent a house in Bethany Beach and spend a glorious four days watching movies in our jammies. I also belong to a very active book club and a wonderful garden club. I am a very active gardener and flower arranger and I love architecture and architectural history.
I’d say in next 10 years we will continue to see changes in our profession. Institutional libraries will continue to close as we struggle to prove the return on investment for our patrons. This will include several types of libraries previously thought to be immune from closings, for example law libraries and academic libraries will see transformation into new formats. We will see an acceleration of the iSchool movement and an increased focus on distance education programs such as the one at San Jose State. On a more hopeful note I would predict an increase in the variety and number jobs people with our background and education are qualified to hold and in which we are recognized as valued contributors. I hope to see more people with our background in more senior positions in organizations and recognition of the critical and central role our skills in finding, acquiring, organizing, training, referencing, storing and retrieving knowledge bring. I would like to predict that we become more skillful and articulate in expressing and quantifying our value.
In 10 years I personally hope to be on a beach in some warm, sunny place drinking Mai Tai’s brought on a silver tray by a youthful pool boy!
Caputo with her brother and his partner (Photo provided by Caputo) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 24
Lubuto Libraries Transform Youth Services in Africa By Chris Vestal Imagine both your parents dying by the time you’re five. Now imagine just a few years later the grandparents that took you in are both dead too. You’ve been chased out of their home by other relatives, forced to face the streets of Zambia with only your brother. After being separated from brother you’re beaten and threatened with being jailed over false accusations. While this may be reminiscent of Slumdog Millionare, this was the life of a young man named Humphrey. With nowhere else to turn, Humphrey found the Fountain of Hope Drop-in Center where he discovered a small library collection; a collection that helped save Humphrey’s life. Today Humphrey works as an outreach counselor helping other street youth and he credits the education he received from that library collection with helping him turn his life around. That collection had such a profound impact on his life that he tracked down the librarian that created it, Jane Meyers, and shared his story with her. Today Meyers is the founder and president of the Lubuto Library Project (LLP) and through its work hopes to help other homeless African youths like Humphrey. The LLP develops libraries geared
Meyers gave a talk about the LLP at the World Bank on 2 February (Photo provided by LLP)
Youths gather around the Talking Circle for motivational mentoring (Photo provided by LLP) toward children and teenagers living in the streets or not enrolled in school. It builds the libraries, develops culturally and age appropriate collections, and trains local people on how to run the library. The LLP’s libraries are non-lending so its agreement with community that owns the library requires that it be open for a minimum 40 hours a week and aim to be open during the time users most need it. It also requires that the libraries be accessible to all youths who aren’t in school, including those that have to care for younger relatives-so they’re allowed to bring the infants they care for with them. The LLP has currently opened one library, in Lusaka, Zambia, with plans to open about 100 and spread the program to Rwanda and other African countries. While the youths enjoy the books in the collection, perhaps its greatest impact has been in serving as a focal point for other services. Prior to the LLP, social-service programs predominantly only had access to youths in school. With a large number of Zambian children not in school, such programs had limited impact. “It’s like the collection is just an excuse to have the library so we can offer other programs,” Meyers says, “there are a lot of Zambian professionals that came forward to offer different programs without pay because we could finally reach kids that no one could reach before.” According to Meyers of all the programs the motivational mentoring, which focuses on empowering youths, has had the most profound impact youths not enrolled in school, serving about 650 children and teens each quarter. Another program the LLP is writing a grant for will use open-source software in conjunction with the
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entry anyway, in the pattern of the traditional insaka,” Coromvli explains.
The library’s architecture is faithful to the indigenous culture (Photo provided by LLP) libraries’ One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) laptops to teach children how to read in their native language. “A child’s first encounter with reading really needs to be in their own language. The first language most youth’s speak is a Zambian language but there’s not a lot of print material in those languages. Our plan is to engage reading teachers and have them write literacy programs that teach reading in seven major Zambian languages. We’re excited that everything will be open-source so other countries could translate and adapt,” explains Meyers. A large part of the libraries success is due to their architecture. The architect responsible for the design, Eleni Coromvli, wanted the libraries to be completely faithful to the indigenous culture. Coromvli was inspired by Christopher Alexander’s concept of pattern language and sought to utilize this in the design. “The issue was how to use traditional building patterns to create a space that would be a strong centre and able to accommodate the functions of a library,” states Coromvli. In order to truly represent the culture Coromvli knew the libraries would have to be composed of more than one building. “A typical Zambian homestead comprises a number of buildings, some more important and bigger than others. The building housing the book collection of the library was done; I needed at least two more structures to complete the pattern of a Zambian homestead. Thus, the Arts Room was created as a secondary in size building, and the entrance building was added as the smallest building of the complex, which needed a point of DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 26
So the prototype library consists of three round buildings with thatched roofs. The first building modeled after an insaka, a focal point in a village where villagers gather, is an open building with hand washing stations and the entry point to the other buildings. The next building, the “Arts Room” is where children can engage in arts and activities. The final building, the “Reading Room”, houses the library collection itself in its periphery, along with private seating, and in center there’s a sunken-round seating area, called the “Talking Circle”, used for story time and group discussions. “The buildings make Zambians feel proud-that it represents their culture and are more grand than the western buildings. People think it’s cozy and beautiful and they want to be there. It helps us get adults in there with the kids,” states Meyers. Not surprisingly librarians have embraced the LLP as well. In fact it was from posting a question on the DC SLA discussion list that Meyers was put in contact with Carol McClarnon, who not only helped LLP achieve its a non-profit status but serves as secretary on LLP’s board of directors. Several librarians also sit on LLP’s different boards. Sally Sinn is a board member and also working on establishing a union catalog for the collection using LibraryWorld. Because of connecting with the
The Reading Room building contains the library’s collection, private seating, and the communal Talking Circle (Photo provided by LLP)
National Geographic Society through Susan Fifer Canby the society’s chief financial officer has gotten a tremendous amount of support for LLP including offers for free shipping. Librarians have also had an impact on the LLP from organizing book drives, to cataloging books every Sunday, to packing up the collection for shipment. The LLP is still recruiting volunteers, particularly those interested in assisting with its website. Because of the work it’s doing the LLP has even come to attention of celebrities. Actor Danny Glover will be present at a benefit for the LLP on 15 April at the National Geographic Society. The LLP and its staff have also received numerous awards. LLP won the ALA’s Presidential Citation for International Innovation and for second consecutive year is a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Meyers herself was honored with a lifetime membership to the Zambia Library Association, SLA’s Dow Jones Factiva Leadership Award, and the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. For more information on the LLP visit www.lubuto.org. To find out more about volunteer opportunities email info@lubuto.org.
Librarian volunteers help catalog books for the collection (Photo provided by LLP)
Librarians Explore Living in Multiple Worlds By Eileen Boswell
Navigating through multiple worlds and its impact on an individual's professional and personal life were the focus of the chapter's 26 January, book club meeting. Members gathered at the Taj Mahal restaurant in DuPont Circle, to discuss Living in More than One World: How Peter Drucker's Wisdom can Inspire and Transform Your Life. The author Bruce Rosenstein, a chapter member himself, was present to participate in the conversation and to autograph copies for attendees. The book is a primer on the work of renowned author and management consultant, Peter Drucker, and serves as a guide for applying Drucker's principals. Rosenstein explained how living in multiple worlds enhances one's work and enriches one's life. In fact, Rosenstein has firsthand experience juggling several worlds; while he wrote this book he also worked as a writer and librarian for USA Today, and as an adjunct professor with the Catholic University of America's library science program. More information about Rosenstein and his books is available at www.brucerosenstein.com.
Youths make use of OLPC laptops for a number of programs at Lubuto Libraries (Photo provided by LLP) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 27
For more information on the chapter book club visit http://units.sla.org/chapter/cdc/book/bookclub.html
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DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 28
View the full survey results, including unedited comments at http://tiny.cc/inIa3
Backdoor Librarian Seizes Opportunities By Chris Vestal Newer librarians and even those that have been in the field a number of years often find career planning challenging. Trying to come up with a comprehensive strategy that takes into account your strengths, areas of improvement, your experience, and plot a path for your ultimate career goal can be frustrating and counterproductive. So how do you map out your evolution as a professional?
access to material. “It was a wonderful first job because I did everything,” says Raphael, “the interrelatedness of the various aspects of librarianship was right in my face.” Raphael began her career in DC libraries just a year later in 1970, as a Children's Librarian at the Chevy Chase Branch. Her DC career culminated as Director of the DC library system from 1997-2003. However, Raphael never planned on being the head of the library system. “I call myself a backdoor library director as well as backdoor librarian. My career path was based just on what looked interesting at the time and when I was ready for a new challenge,” Raphael explains. When the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (MLK) opened Raphael thought she was ready to work in a larger library and applied for a Reference Librarian position. A couple of years later in 1974, after attending ALA’s Annual Conference, Raphael found herself thrown into her first professional leadership position. She had worked with deaf and hearing impaired staff at her library and Raphael noticed ALA was lacking any sort of service for this population.
ALA Candidate Molly Raphael (photo supplied by Molly Raphael) According to long time DC librarian and current candidate for ALA President, Molly Raphael, you don't. Raphael never planned to be librarian while in college. She graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in psychology. After moving to Boston following college, she realized her employment opportunities with a psychology degree were limited. Raphael decided to fall back on her minor, art history, and work in an art library. At the time pursuing a library degree was just a means to an end. The art library job didn't materialize after library school and Raphael found herself working as an Assistant Librarian for a small town’s library in Massachusetts. Her experience here taught her how an item’s cataloging impacted a reference librarian’s ability to answer a question or a patron’s DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 29
Raphael sent out an invitation to other ALA members to attend a meeting to see what kinds of services different libraries were offering to the hearing impaired. Over 50 people attended the meeting and it included some of ALA’s senior leadership. Based on what was discussed at the meeting Raphael met with ALA’s executive board. The board created an ad-hoc task force to deal with services for the hearing impaired and appointed Raphael chairperson. By 1976, the head of Telephone Information and Reference position opened up at the MLK Library and Raphael decided to apply for her first management position. “At the time I thought it would be fun to be the head of a division,” states Raphael. Over the next 20 years Raphael found herself in progressively higher senior level management positions. “They [senior management positions] opened up a door to greater impact than I could have in the direct service positions,” Raphael observes.
But along with more opportunities, management presented Raphael with challenges as well. Raphael had to accustom herself to looking at issues keeping the big picture of the library system as a whole in mind, rather than thinking of only one branch. Raphael also found that her relationships with coworkers and peers changed. “It takes a little while to figure out how people look at you differently. After I made the transition from being their peer to being in a higher level position, some people understood our personal relationship could continue but our work relationship had to change somehow,” she recalls. One of her greatest challenges came when Raphael was appointed Acting Director of DC’s libraries. At the time the library system had a number of vendors it owed money, however there were no contracts in place to actually pay the vendors. The situation came to a head when the one of the system’s major book suppliers said it would not supply any more books until the library system paid its bills. Raphael was able to maintain the flow of new materials and resolve the situation within six months by working with city council members. “Gradually I earned the respect of the council and the community back,” Raphael explains, “I knew I needed to go after that respect and to be as transparent as possible. It was a trial by fire-I didn’t have text book to go on.”
was working in library systems she felt she never had the time. Raphael decided to run because of the advocacy role ALA plays for the profession. “ALA is the voice that is the most powerful in terms of impacting public policies. That’s really where I believe ALA has an incredibly important role in the library world because it speaks for all types of libraries,” she states. Reflecting on all that she’s been able to accomplish Raphael maintains she never mapped out where her career would take her. “There were all kinds of opportunities I seized when they came around rather than something I planned,” she says. Raphael stresses that librarians should take advantage of every chance they have to grow professionally and personally. “Take up roles that broaden your experience,” she advises, “seize those opportunities or look for them when they come because you’ll be a happier person and they’ll help you find out what you like and what you don’t.” To learn more about Raphael and the ALA Presidential Election visit her website http://mollyraphael.org/ or her Facebook Fan Page at http://tinyurl.com/yzxkpfq. For more information on the ALA election visit http://tinyurl.com/59efgg.
After years of budget increases the DC library system faced major cuts and decreased services in the wake of the 9/11 terrorists attacks. Raphael had planned on retiring from the DC system but an opportunity to serve as Director of the Multnomah County library system in Portland, Oregon presented itself in 2003. The system served roughly the same population size but with a significantly larger budget, factors Raphael said convinced her to take the position. “The more I looked into it, the more I felt I could be a librarian and focus on services again. It was the opportunity to work in an area that had a library that was really well funded and very much used,” she remembers. Raphael did finally retire last year, but that didn’t stop her from working within the profession. On top of serving on the advisory board of two library school programs, Raphael is currently running for ALA President. People had suggested to Raphael before that she should run for office but while she DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 30
Raphael with then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at a virtual tour of the White House launched from a DC public library (Photo supplied by Molly Raphael )
DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 31
Bear the dog had trouble playing in all the snow (Photo by Abby McDermott) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | January/February 2010 | pg 32