DC/SLA Chapter Notes - October/November 2010

President's Corner: James King

October/November 2010 Volume 71, No. 6

It has truly been an honor to lead this group of professionals in 2010!

Inside this issue:

At the beginning of this year, I outlined an aggressive plan to implement the chapter’s strategic plan that was finalized last year under Greta Ober’s term of office.

I’d like to take a few moments to summarize the goals and what we’ve done to meet them in 2010.

The first of five strategic goals focused on supporting our chapter by making it easier for our members to get involved. Since volunteering in our chapter is a safe way to build skills in new areas, we wanted to make the process as easy and as open as possible. We appointed Deena Adelman to be our volunteer coordinator and developed a list of opportunities that required a variety of skills and had varying levels of time commitment so that anyone who was interested in helping could volunteer. We’ve also worked hard to call out different ways to help the chapter, focusing on those that do not require long-term commitments.

These efforts have resulted in well over 140 members helping the chapter in a variety of capacities in 2010!

Communication was the second strategic goal and the most difficult to tackle. We recognize that we have a world of opportunity to improve communication with and collaboration between chapter members using free tools now available to us. Our vision in this area includes a revamped Web site that is easier to use, easier to maintain, and more collaborative. This also includes taking advantage of social media such as Facebook and Twitter to keep our membership abreast of chapter events, activities, and news. It also means addressing the tension between rapid dissemination of information and preserving the critical pieces of our chapter’s history for future generations. Efforts towards this vision will take years to complete but small progress has been made. After more than a year of discussion, SLA has finally adopted a new Web hosting platform for use by chapters and divisions. DC/SLA is an early adopter of

President’s Corner ............................. 1

Upcoming Library Related Events ................................................ 4

The Way Forward .............................. 6

Career Column .................................. 7

FLICC Announces 11th Annual Awards for Federal Librarianship ......... ......... 9

Librarians Embrace E-Readers ........ 11

DC/SLA President Asked to Speak by White House..................................... 12 DC/SLA Volunteers: One Size Doesn’t Fit All .......................................... 14

Volunteers Recognized as DC/SLA’s Best Birthday Presents...................... 16

The Last Word: Q & A with Janel White ............................................... 17

Chapter Notes is the newsletter for 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.

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The deadline for the October/November 2010 issue is 1 November. The issue will be distributed approximately three 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.

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DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 2

a replacement Web site for the chapter at http:// dc.sla.org. Much more needs to be done in this area and it will be my area of focus for my term as Past President in 2011.

In light of the struggling economy, our third goal was to live within our means as a chapter this year. We started the year with a balanced budget, and have strived to keep expenses in check as much as possible. We’ve also expanded our efforts to bring more sponsors to the table, which included showing the value of a partnership more clearly, and building a vendor relations committee to ensure continuity of operations since the directorship changes hands each year. Lois Ireland and her team did a tremendous job in bringing more sponsors into the fold at a time when their budgets were being cut as well.

The rest of the board also did a great job of helping the chapter to live within its means while providing the best possible value to our membership. Combined, these have resulted in placing our budget squarely in the black! This will help us to overcome the deficits we’ve run in the past few years and build some reserves for the next couple years that are expected to be lean as well. For example, a large portion of the chapter’s funds comes from SLA based upon chapter membership counts at the end of each year The economy has forced many to drop membership in DC/SLA, most of them where DC/SLA was not their home chapter. The economy and this trend have resulted in the first net decrease in total membership in a number of years. The membership trend is in line with other chapters and the association as a whole, but this will have an impact on budget plans for the next couple years. To help provide additional transparency of

the DC/SLA board, we’ve also published quarterly financial reports on the public portion of the chapter’s wiki this year so that our membership can monitor the board and how funds are being utilized.

Our fourth goal was to expand our outreach efforts to help members and our community. This included our continued commitment to community service, led by Jessica Beauchamp and Kenlee Ray. In 2010, DC/ SLA served as a grant partner on a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant with Adams Middle School and Hardy Middle School to help these DC public schools to purchase and process new books. This effort enables the Hardy Library to create a program encouraging middle school students to read more through video-recorded book talks created and edited by the students. We also created a retirement committee named “encore” to explore how to provide better service to our retired members, and also how to help those considering retirement to be better prepared for it. Finally, we expanded our outreach to library school students by soliciting liaisons to not only the two library schools in the area (Catholic U., and Univ. of MD) but also to reach the students that virtually attend library school like Drexel or San Jose State, but physically live in this area.

mentoring, and the Cinco de Mayo event. Finally, we have continued our chapter tradition of dine-arounds, New Professional Happy Hours, International Special Librarian Day program, book clubs, and Click-U events.

A lot was accomplished this year, but much more needs to be done. If you would like to help us to move forward in any of these areas, please contact Mary Talley, incoming president, and let her know your interest. Once again, it has been an honor to serve you this year and I look forward to even better times for DC/SLA. Thanks and God bless!

Finally, creating top-notch programs that appeal to our broad and diverse demographic membership is a critically important goal for the 2010 board. Keeping pace with last year’s record number of programs, Mary Talley and her program planning team created numerous programs, especially the library director speaker series so that we could hear from successful librarians that live in our backyard, including Roberta Shaffer, Laura Soto-Barra, and Blane Dessy. Given Mary’s passion for professional development, we also had several professional development and networking programs including reverse mentoring, speed DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 3

Editor’s Note Starting in 2011 to better coincide with DC/SLA events Chapter Notes will shift it’s publication schedule forward one month. The new schedule will be: • January • February/March • April/May • June/July • August/September • October/November

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DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 4

Upcoming Library Related Events

• Library of Congress’s Books and Beyond Program, Wednesday, 12 January 2011, noon, Montpelier Room, Madison Building. Kate Masur will discuss and sign her new book An Example for All the Land: Emancipation and the Struggle Over Equality in Washington, D.C. For more information please see www.read.gov/ events/

•Right on the Money: Financial Literacy @ your library, Wednesday, 19 January, 2p.m.

The webinar will be led by Fernando Cordova, Holly Fulghum-Nutters and Pat Jarvis, all staff of Project Read, a South San Francisco initiative promoting lifelong learning. Attendees will learn how to offer a financial literacy program at their libraries, including how to train volunteer tutors and how to draw patrons in for financial management coaching. For more information please see http://tinyurl.com/ 39bmru9

• New ALA TechSource workshop: Integrating E-Books and E-Readers into Your Library, Tuesday, 25 January 2011, 4-5:30p.m. With the recent explosion in the popularity of eReading devices, many librarians are grappling with how to effectively integrate these devices into their services and collection. In two 90minute sessions on Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, 2011, Polanka will provide practical guidance on how to begin purchasing eBooks for your library to lend electronically and how to purchase eReader devices for patron use. The first session will provide a primer on acquiring eBooks, while the second will provide an overview of the issues surrounding library lending of eBook readers. For more information please see http://tinyurl.com/ 2eoy37s

Fall Swept through the area (Photo by Rowena Wallace) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 5

Upcoming Library Related Events • Teen Tech Week

2011, 6-12 March. Teen Tech Week is a national initiative aimed at teens, librarians, educators, parents, and other concerned adults that highlights nonprint resources at the library. The 2011 theme — Mix and Mash @ your library — focuses on encouraging teens to use library resources to express their creativity by developing their own unique online content and safely sharing it by using online collaborative tools. For more information see http://tinyurl.com/22ldj2c

Autumn was a time of harvest for many (Photo by Rowena Wallace)

• SLA Leadership Summit in DC, Wednesday-Saturday, 19-22 January.

Renaissance Washington Hotel. If you're a leader, you simply must attend the 2011 Leadership Summit-you will learn practical skills to grow in your leadership role in SLA or other volunteer organizations which will then assist in elevating your leadership skills in your job.

That translates to what today's employers are seeking in today's information professional. In its centennial year, SLA completed important alignment research and is now poised to implement its findings. The research has defined the perceived value of the profession and the association. See the latest from the alignment toolkit. For more information see http://tinyurl.com/2b3yn8v

Memembers discussed productivity measurements in dynamic environments at this Elsevier sponsored event (Photo by James Madigan)

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 6

The Way Forward

By Montrese Hamilton What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, I started writing “The Way Forward” with the hope of understanding how information professionals are designing viable career paths amid economic uncertainty. Through generous colleagues who shared their stories, lessons from SLA professional development opportunities, and experiments with my own career ladder, I learned the following important lessons: Admit to wanting security and certainty. Stop wanting security and certainty. Career experts encourage clients to visualize an ideal job, employer, etc., and I took that idea all the way to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need. Honest assessment identified a yearning for THE career path with clear steps leading to guaranteed job and financial security.

Letting go of the wishful thinking frees me to focus on making smart choices while being aware of challenges and opportunities in front of me.

Saying goodbye to the career I assumed I would have. There was a moment of genuine sadness as I admitted to myself that some aspects of library science on which I built my professional identity will fall from my evolving skills portfolio. Less original cataloging and more marketing; less database design and more SharePoint site building … however, clinging to the status quo hurts more than the uncertainty of creating something new.

adversity may have a hard time dealing with tough times.” (Landro, October 2010) The study notes that too much adversity can overwhelm even the best coping mechanisms, so weaving a safety net of community and social bonds is crucial. This seems obvious yet it is easy to focus on the pressing issues of life and work and thus allow our human networks to fracture through benign neglect.

This is my final column so I give parting thanks to Chapter Notes Editor Chris Vestal for his hard work in shaping my writing into columns worth publishing. Thank you, readers, for investing time in “The Way Forward”; may the next step in your journey emerge with clarity and you take it with confidence.

Landro, L. October 2010. . The Wall Street Journal . "Study finds adversity does make us stronger.", p. D3.

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.

Expanding my identity beyond career. In his book “Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker’s Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life”, Bruce Rosenstein describes Drucker’s “total life” philosophy: contentment through investing time and talents across a myriad of relationships and activities. Finding the right balance among my domains is difficult but invigorating; when life gets hard in one world, I find succor and restoration in another.

Don’t attribute my good fortune to my abilities. I like to believe I owe any and every success to my unique blend of performance and savvy. Honestly though I am also very lucky. My employer values having a librarian on staff, my director appreciates my work, and my clients want to include me in their projects. I can influence these variables but they can change in an instant so I take each day with gratitude (and bated breath).

O U R P E O P L E - YO U R R E S U LT S

Becoming resilient. One year later and things are still tough all over. If we are doing okay, we know many who are not so fortunate. An article about the upside (?!) of adversity is worth noting: “Adversity … can help people develop a “psychological immune system” to help them cope with the slings and arrows that life throws, while those with no experience of

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 7

C O N S U LT I N G & P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T

L E G A L S TA F F I N G

I N F O R M AT I O N & A S S E T M A N A G E M E N T

M ANAGED SERVICES

L I B R A R Y & R E S E A R C H S TA F F I N G

RECRUITING

lac-group.com

Career Column

By Aimee Babcock-Ellis, James Madigan, and Kerry Mason Weeda While this is the season of shopping, hopping and bustle, it is also a time for a purposeful pause in preparation for our resolutions to come for the new year just ahead of us. With that in mind, the topic of time is reflection and resolve with regard to your active involvement and participation in your professional membership associations. Hopefully you consider your past present and future with regard to your career development within both SLA and DC/SLA.

your talents. You may want to consider a contribution you are familiar with.

However, also consider pushing the envelope a bit and involve yourself in an activity that is not as familiar to you. To be sure, you will be supported by others involved in the newer area. In this regard, you will grow professionally and personally.

DC/SLA offers several opportunities to participate, to contribute and to grow.

Deena Adelman (deena.adelman.ctr@dot.gov) our volunteer coordinator, can provide more information about opportunities.

Hopefully you will come to realize what other successful people have often mentioned: when you give of yourself you often get more in return. To put this in more concrete terms, your direct involvement in your professional interest will not only contribute to the body of knowledge, it will also contribute to the development of your capabilities and self-confidence in general and wisdom in particular.

Your professional involvement will also contribute to your visibility. This will hopefully encourage you to continue and perhaps result in both deepening your understanding of your profession and increase your personal satisfaction on several dimensions.

In particular, consider your involvement in the DC/SLA. There are several opportunities to volunteer or contribute DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 8

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 9

FLICC Announces 11th Annual Awards for Federal Librarianship

By James King and Terrie Wheeler The Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) of the Library of Congress announced the winners of its national awards for federal librarianship, which recognize the many innovative ways that federal libraries, librarians and library technicians fulfill the information demands of government, business and scholarly communities and the American public. FLICC honored the award winners on Oct. 6, 2010, at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The winners received their awards from Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. The names of the winners will remain on permanent display in the FLICC offices at the Library of Congress. Federal libraries and staff throughout the United States and abroad competed in four award categories (Federal Library – Large, Federal Library – Small, Federal Librarian, and Federal Library Technician). Two SLA Washington DC Chapter member organizations were honored to receive these awards in 2009.

DC/SLA chapter member Terrie Wheeler led the Gorgas Memorial Library to win the 2009 Federal Library/Information Center of the Year Small Library/Information Center Award.

Libraries that qualify for the small category have 10 or fewer employees. Libraries with 11 or more employees fall into the Large Library category, which was awarded this year to the National Institutes of Health Library.

The Gorgas Memorial Library serves both the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the Naval Medical Research Center, which each conduct infectious disease research to keep warfighters from becoming ill while on deployment. The Army has designated the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research as both its Center for Military Infectious Disease Research and its Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience Research.

The Gorgas Memorial Library is recognized for its 2009 implementation of a citation database and citation management system for its Silver Spring laboratory and six overseas laboratories. Using this licensed data, librarians create innovative products such as publication strategies and research impact analyses on each organization's malaria, campylobacter, shigella and dengue research. Librarians also developed publication strategies, giving scientists metrics on highest impact journals to consider when sharing their work with the world.

Customers indicated high satisfaction for new and already established information services with a 177% increase in database usage and a 51% increase in library usage over 2008.

95% of customers rated the Gorgas Memorial Library’s

The 2010 FLICC Award Winners (Photo provided by James King) searching as excellent, and the remaining 5% as good. These searches are required by law for animal research protocols.

Librarians read research protocols in order to better design the search queries to be responsive to investigators’ information needs. The Gorgas Memorial Library's information services are instrumental in supporting researchers who preserve the fighting strength of soldiers, sailors and marines. in supporting researchers who preserve the fighting strength of soldiers, sailors and marines.

The Gorgas Memorial Library is named after William Gorgas, who first eradicated yellow fever in Cuba, based on the landmark studies by Walter Reed to discover definitively that the vector for yellow fever was the mosquito. The work of Gorgas was to reduce mosquito populations and therefore reduce transmission of the disease. He served under the direction of his mentor, Walter Reed, then the Surgeon General of the United States. Later President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him as Sanitation Director for the Panama Canal Project, where he eliminated both yellow fever and malaria, enabling the Americans to build the Panama Canal.

Ms. Terrie Wheeler has been Gorgas Memorial Library Director for three years, and has served on the Institute’s Infectious Diseases Task Force as well as its Leadership Development Team.

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 10

FLICC Announces 11th Annual Awards for Federal Librarianship DC/SLA member and President James King was successful in nominating the NIH Library for the Federal Library of the Year award, the second time that NIH has won this award. The NIH Library was recognized for innovative services and transformation of physical facilities.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is often referred to as the “crown jewel” of the Federal Government, serving as the “steward of medical and behavioral research for the Nation.”

With a sprawling 310-acre campus in Bethesda, MD, NIH is composed of 27 Institutes and Centers and employs 20,000 Federal workers and contractors; roughly half in scientific and clinical positions. NIH conducts translational bench-to-bedside health care research, leading the way toward important medical discoveries that improve health and save lives around the world.

Over 83% of the NIH’s $28 billion medical research budget is awarded through approximately 50,000 competitive grants to more than 325,000 external researchers in the U.S. and around the world.

Located in the Warren G. Magnuson building, the NIH Library’s staff of 48 full-time employees and 15 contractors serves all of NIH and select Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) offices. Under the tag line of “Amazing Research. Amazing Help.” the NIH Library focuses on being the heart of the NIH, meeting and exceeding the scholarly information needs of the NIH research community through a range of innovative services, resources, and knowledge. Unlike the National Library of

Gorgas Memorial Library accepting its award(Photo provided by James King)

Medicine (NLM), which has a national mission to collect, preserve and disseminate biomedical literature, the NIH Library focuses on supporting the research information needs of clinical and basic science researchers and science administrators who work at NIH conducting translational research or administering the grant program. The Library's services and collections, emphasizing digital formats, are comparable in size and scope to a large academic biomedical library.

As of 2009, of the more than 10,000 scholarly journals available from the NIH Library, 99% are online and available at the desktop.

Its informationist program, one of the largest and most advanced in the country, also expanded into new areas in 2009 in response to emerging user needs. In addition to providing research support service to more than 40 clinical research teams and research support programs in 16 Institutes and Centers, the program added bioinformatics consultation and training, customized content integration services, and disaster response support to its portfolio of services in 2009. Informationists, aka embedded librarians or librarians in context, have subject area expertise or training as well as strong credentials as information scientists/ librarians. The NIH Library currently has 14 people in this role, several with PhDs. Surveys over the past decade have consistently demonstrated that the NIH Library’s singular focus on customer service has paid off, resulting in being highly valued by its stakeholders for its services and acclaimed for its specialized activities and services. With the most recent round of renovations to the physical library, the NIH Library also added value to the “Library as Place”.

To evolve the library’s physical library to meet the changing needs of the NIH customer base, the NIH Library embarked on a routine renovation of the library’s main reading room. As the effort started, library staff strategically decided to apply green principles to their planning. This construction effort was approved as the first green-compliant remodel on the NIH campus and has changed facilities management’s view of green projects and has become a model for all future NIH and HHS remodeling efforts. Occupancy of the Information Commons and Green Terrace has dramatically increased by the end of FY09.

This Green Terrace is also one of the only usable vegetative roofs being used by the public rather than only viewable through windows.

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 11

Librarians Embrace E-Readers

By Montrese Hamilton As a librarian for a professional association with strong research and editorial teams, I need technology that lets me offer ondemand access to new content. Curious about the Kindle, Amazon’s electronic document reader, I surveyed three SLA discussion lists about using the Kindle in library settings. A summary of the replies follows below with some key points highlighted:

• Consider how Amazon and publisher terms-of-use agreements might affect your plans.

• Tablet computers (iPads, etc.) may supplant dedicated ereaders as the preferred lending device.

• Libraries are not willing to build collections based upon certain devices but are buying content accessible from the myriad devices (computers, phones, readers, etc.) their clients use to access, store, and organize content.

• Check with your IT department to ensure that new devices connect with your network and enterprise Wi-Fi. • Kindle software update 2.5 added the ability to pan and zoom within PDF documents.

• Amazon recently announced (http://tinyurl.com/2daczmc) a forthcoming feature through which Kindle users may “lend” their e-books to other Kindle users.

• The Minnesota Department of Transportation Library volunteered its Kindle user survey as example: http:// www.surveymonkey.com/s/kindle. Contact them at library.dot@state.mn.us with questions about the instrument.

RESPONSE #1 We only store e-books we've bought from our publishers--do not use Kindle books because of licensing issues.

RESPONSE #2 Staff interested in e-readers as solution to portability issues during travel; popular for document-storage feature. Library may buy Kindle version of titles already in collection. Voice reading [when available] and large-print features help clients with disabilities.

RESPONSE #3 We allow people access to books already purchased and to buy new work-related titles; also load book summary abstracts for distribution.

RESPONSE #4 We purchased two iPads for lending; intend to store our entire ebook library on both devices. Loans made under usage terms of our IT department's tech policies.

The original and current versions of Amazon’s Kindle(Photo provided by Angel from Amazon Kindle’s product information page) RESPONSE #5 Bought Kindles to let users know we are staying current with technology. Selected colleagues to test devices; allowed users to add new titles.

RESPONSE #6 Users liked portable reading material, ability to preview books, and quantity/diversity of titles. Library developed closer relationship with users and is more likely to be included in future research [efforts].

RESPONSE #7 Terms of service do not allow organizational lending … not yet heard [of] Amazon enforcing it. [Note: The forthcoming lending feature does not address organization-to-individual transactions.]

Courts ruled [in 2009 that Kindles] were not adequate for those with disabilities - university could not use as a textbook platform; no read-aloud for menus some books.

RESPONSE #8 Began circulating four Kindle DXs alongside staff book discussion group; research found many libraries interpreting Amazon's terms of use differently. They store entire Kindle library on each device. Kindles are deactivated before circulating to block user purchases. Many users borrow Kindle as test-drive before buying.

Portions of this content first appeared on www.llrx.com and www.governmentinfopro.com Montrese Hamilton, MSLS, is librarian for the Society for Human Resource Management in Alexandria, Va. Contact her at montrese.hamilton[at]shrm.org.

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 12

DC/SLA President Asked to Speak by White House

By James King You know it is going to be an interesting day when you receive a call from the White House.

Anyone who has interacted with me in the past two years knows that my wife and I adopted a little girl early last year. Sarah has been a joy to us and has changed our lives in so many ways. In early October of this year, we received a call from a White House staffer who wanted my wife Carla and me to share our adoption story as part of a promotion of the adoption tax credit. We jumped at the chance and two days later were sitting in a studio at the Department of Health and Human Services headquarters building in downtown DC. James King with family and Bill Blacquiere (Photo provided by James King)

The webcast event entitled “Helping American Families: The Adoption Tax Credit and the Affordable Care Act” captures this discussion and included Bill Blacquiere, CEO of Bethany Christian Services. Bethany is the largest adoption agency in the U.S. and the one we used to adopt our baby girl Sarah last year. Other notable speakers were Barbara Collura, Executive Director of RESOLVE - the National Infertility Association; Chuck Johnson, CEO of the National Council for Adoption; and several senior administration officials from the White House and the Department of State.

Though it was hard sharing our personal story with “the world”, it was quite an experience.

Since many have asked about the event, I was asked to mention it in Chapter Notes. The webcast has been posted on YouTube (http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpHxyoHpu8Y).

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 13

DC/SLA Volunteers: One Size Doesn’t Fit All

By Mary Tally When you hear “be a volunteer for DC/SLA”, what is the first thing that comes to mind? “Oh, no I am way too busy to make that kind of commitment!”? With so many claims on your time, we know you have to weigh what you might want to do against how much you can do. That is one reason DC/SLA does not have a one-size-fits-all volunteer program. We know that many members would like to be more involved but just do not have the time to serve on a committee or run for an office. Fortunately, there are many other ways to work with DC/SLA – some you may not have even thought of as “volunteering.” But we certainly do! This year, we have had members volunteer for a number of short-term commitments - to host a program in their facility, speak at an event, or even lead a program.

Some have volunteered to help out at a specific event; others have filled in where needed. In the next month, we will be posting long- and short-term volunteer opportunities on the DC/SLA volunteer sign-up site, SignUp Genius (http://signupgenius.com/go/chapter) We want to thank the many members who helped DC/ SLA in one of these unique ways in 2010.

Hosted a Program

• Larry Guthrie, Covington & Burling (Library Leaders with Roberta Shaffer) • Barbara Folensbee-Moore, Morgan Lewis & Bockius (Speed Mentoring) • Laura Soto-Barra and Janel White, NPR (Library Leaders (3), Digital Archives, NPR Tour – thank you!)

• Marie Kaddel, LexisNexis (Google Apps) • Barbara Ferry & Staff, National Geographic Society (Cinco de Mayo) •Marilyn Bromley & Catherine Kitchell, BNA (Red Light Tour of SLA Conference) • Stephen Mellin, Jenner & Block (Census 2010) • SLA HQ (Meet the Candidates, 70th Anniversary & Volunteer Celebration) Spoke at a Program

• Laura Soto-Barra (Library Leaders) • Blane Dessy (Library Leaders and Speed Mentoring) • Sharon Lenius (Speed Mentoring) • Joan Axelroth (Speed Mentoring) •Cy Behroozi, (Speed Mentoring) • Lorraine Bell (Speed Mentoring) • Karen Eggert (Speed Mentoring)

Volunteers manned registration tables at all the chapter events this year (Photo by Chris Vestal)

• Barbara Folansbee-Moore (Speed Mentoring and Red Light Tour) • Richard Huffine (Speed Mentoring) • Marie Kaddell (Speed Mentoring) • Sharon Lenius,) (Speed Mentoring) •George Lentz, (Speed Mentoring) • Victor Monti (Speed Mentoring) • Diane Schnurrpusch (Speed Mentoring) • Hannah Sommers (Speed Mentoring) • Vesselina Stoytcheva (Speed Mentoring) • Karen Tate (Speed Mentoring and Red Light Tour) • Pamela Tripp-Melby (Speed Mentoring) • Susan Westenberger (Speed Mentoring) • Karen Huffman, (Using Google Apps) •Jennifer Whitfield (Cinco de Mayo) • Ariel Deiaco-Lohr (Cinco de Mayo) • Larry Lempert (Cinco de Mayo) • Anne Capto (New Member Reception and Cinco de Mayo) • Patrick Jones (Surviving Digitization) •Maureen Clements (Surviving Digitization) • Christine Barrett (Surviving Digitization) • Lynn Dudinsky (Surviving Digitization)

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 14

DC/SLA Volunteers: One Size Doesn’t Fit All •Marilyn Bromley (Red Light Tour) • Michael Chesnes (Red Light Tour).

• Eileen Deegan (Red Light Tour) • Lydia Hellrich-Dawson (Red Light Tour) • Layla.Heimlich (Red Light Tour) • Marie Kaddell (Red Light Tour) • Deborah Keller (Red Light Tour) • Chris Vestal (Red Light Tour) • Jean Tatalias (Library Leaders) • Kee Malesky (70th Anniverary) Organized and/or Lead a Program • Anne White-Olson (Library Leaders with Laura Soto-Barra) • Layla Heimlich (Speed Mentoring) • Karen Tate (Surviving Digitization) • Kari Anderson (Meet the Candidates) • Eileen Boswell (Census 2010) • Rick Davis (Dine Arounds) • Sandi Fox (Sunset Boulevard Theater-Around – Feb. 2011)

DC/SLA Program Planning Committee By the end of the year, the DC/SLA Program Planning Committee will have put on 15 events for DC/SLA members. They have developed, organized, and hosted programs; invited speakers and participated as speakers; and arranged for the meeting space and refreshments. They have done the heavy lifting: rented margarita machines, transported food (including quantities of tacos and chips), printed name tags, staffed registration and cleaned up after guests have left. And they have done it all with humor and fellowship. Without these hard-working, creative committee members, DC/SLA would not have been able to offer the number and quality of programs presented in 2010.

They deserve a big applause and THANK YOU! They are: •Kari Anderson • Joyce Baker • Elizabeth Ann Blake • Linda Cullen • Rick Davis • Kimberley Edwards • Barbara Folensbee-Moore • Layla Heimlich • George Lentz • Katalin Mouyal • Robin Pachtman • Karen Tate • Janel White • Anne White-Olson

Volunteers served refreshments at the Cinco de Mayo event (Photo by Elizabeth Ann Blake)

DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 15

Volunteers Recognized as DC/SLA’s Best Birthday Presents

By Chris Vestal Turning 70 is a big deal for most people, and DC/ SLA is no exception. This year the chapter celebrated its big seven-o by recognizing the secret to its success: its volunteers.

On 10 November about 30 DC/SLA members and SLA staff gathered at SLA’s headquarters in Old Town Alexandria. The evening started off with food and networking so the volunteers could get a chance to get to know one another. Each volunteer was given a raffle ticket they could use in one of several raffles (including Amazon.com gift certificates, National Geographic DVDS, and copies of Kee Malesky’s new book All Facts Considered). Additional tickets were available for purchase with the proceeds going to benefit the chapter’s scholarship fund.

Towards the end of the networking DC/SLA President-Elect Mary Talley recognized current as well as upcoming DC/SLA board members. Next she identified each of the volunteers present and

SLA Staff and DC/SLA members had a chance to network and hear Kee Malesky talk about her new book (Photo by Chris Vestal)

explained the work they did for the chapter.

Talley made a good point about all the diverse roles volunteers can play in the chapter.

Since this was the chapter’s birthday party, Tally followed the recognition and raffles with redvelvet birthday cake. After everyone had a chance to get their dessert attendees gathered to hear our guest speaker Malesky talk about her new book.

Malesky read from her introduction, which discusses the basic nature of facts. Next she invited questions from the audience, indicating she’d really been looking forward to hearing what kinds of questions fellow librarians would ask.

Questions ranged from wanting to know what the hardest fact to find was to whether or not Malesky did the book’s index herself and to what kind of changes the publisher suggested. The night ended with everyone getting a chance to purchase the book and have Malesky sign it.

There was plenty of cake to go around when DC/SLA turned 70 this year (Photo by Chris Vestal)

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The Last Word: Q & A with Janel White DC/SLA would be nothing without its volunteers!

Chapter volunteers handle everything from building webpages, event planning, to hosting book club meetings. Chapter Notes had a chance to catch up with Janel White, a broadcast library at NPR, who’s taken on a number of volunteer projects for the chapter to see how her work with DC/SLA has impacted her professionally.

What do you think the most important lesson you learned from library school was?

Time management in multiple ways. 1) fitting my studies in with my work responsibilities and 2) learning how to prioritize the reading and online discussions as well as the physical assignments.

What was your favorite experience in library school?

My favorite experience was visiting and touring the Science, Business & Industry branch of the New York Public Library for a class assignment. It was interesting to see the library systems I had been studying in real-life practice. Obviously this wasn’t my first trip to a library, but it was one of the first trips to a large library since I started my studies.

You got your MLIS from Drexel University, were you one of their online students? If so how would you compare this experience to face to face class?

Yes – I did my whole MLIS degree online while working full-time at a consulting firm. I can only compare the experience to my face to face class experience during undergrad. One advantage of completing your degree online is that you can determine when class time is. For me this idea was key since my full-time job was not flexible to let me leave early for class two or three times a week. One disadvantage is that I never really got to know my fellow classmates as you would by seeing them face to face.

Janel White (center) assists Mary Tally with a Raffle during DC/ SLA’s Volunteer Recognition Program (Photo by Chris Vestal)

What kind of impact has your volunteer work with SLA and other associations had on you personally and professionally?

I definitely “lurked” initially on the listservs for ALA & SLA right after I joined them. I got involved in one of ALA’s roundtables initially and slowly expanded to an SLA national committee. Finally I started to volunteer for DC/SLA just this past January. For me, the volunteering helps with networking with fellow librarians but also getting experiences that might not be available to me at my current workplace. It allows me to grow new skills without impacting my performance at work. It also helps me share my skills with other librarians.

When did you first join SLA and what made you decide to join? What other professional memberships have you had?

I joined SLA a few months before I graduated from Drexel. I joined ALA at that same time, because I wasn’t sure what type of library I was going to end up at. To me professional organizations are important because they are a source of information and professional development opportunities outside of the networking possibilities.

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The Last Word: Q & A with Janel White

White helped facilitate several of the Library Leaders events by hosting several at NPR (Photo by Chris Vestal)

You’re active in a number of professional associations, how do balance your time between different volunteer activities, your work life, and your personal life?

It all comes back to time management skills. I don’t have the formula down perfectly.

Sometimes my volunteer work suffers in order to have some down time from work. I have a very supportive boss who encourages us to be active in professional organizations.

ALA’s recognized you as one of its Emerging Leaders, can you tell us what that was like?

ALA’s Emerging Leaders program allows up and coming leaders to work on a six-month project to benefit a roundtable or division within ALA. My project was to create a conference portal/template for LITA (Library Information & Technology Association) to gather tweets, blog posts, session details, pictures and presentations for LITA specific programming at conferences. I worked with librarians from New York City, Florida, and Oklahoma to survey the LITA membership and create prototype examples to be presented to the LITA Board of Directors. As part of this project, we were given a two-day leadership training as well. What I took away from this experience was learning more about another division that is relevant to my library career as well as meeting a network of librarians from around the country.

In all your volunteer work what’s the accomplishment you’re most proud of?

I would have to say the session I organized for ALA's Annual Conference this past June. The session was sponsored by NMRT (New Members Roundtable) on Innovative Career Choices. The committee I chaired found three panelists and created marketing materials for the session. The room was so packed that we had to turn people away unfortunately. The session also got great coverage within the ALA publications – Cognotes & American Libraries.

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The Last Word: Q & A with Janel White What leadership position in SLA or any professional association could you most see yourself in one day?

Currently I am serving on the NMRT Board as Secretary and I’m planning to run for NMRT Vice President/President-Elect next year. I could see myself running for a leadership position in DC/SLA (or another local chapter) one day in the future as well.

not make editorial decisions but provide whatever is available to the reporter or producer and let them make the editorial decisions.

You’ve been in the profession for about five years now. What advice do you have for other librarians beginning their careers?

Don’t be afraid to take risks and explore. Internships and volunteering is a good way to learn about an organization’s culture and also the basic duties of a job.

I came into librarianship as a second career and knew that they only way for me to find my niche was to explore and have a few different experiences to determine what environment was right for me. I would also encourage new librarians to be active in their local SLA or ALA chapters and attend conferences if they can.

What’s the most recent book you’ve read? What’s your favorite book and what makes it your favorite?

I just finished Philippa Gregory’s most recent book The Red Queen. This past year I was in a reading challenge started by one of my high school friends which had a goal of reading 52 books in a year – one book a week. I was able to finish the challenge within 50 weeks. One of my favorite books from the past year was Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.

NPR sounds like it’d be a very dynamic place to work, can you walk us through a particularly notable day?

Too many notable days to mention, but a typical day of work at NPR really varies. My main job functions are two-fold – audio reference (i.e. finding speeches, movie clips, sound of a specific person) for the NPR staff and cataloging of the NPR produced shows. In addition to those two functions, I also participate on a few different software projects. NPR is in the process of creating a new digital archive software system for cataloging the NPR produced shows and storing our 40 year collection as digital files. I also consult with the Multimedia Team on metadata needed for their photo archive.

What do you do in your spare time?

I’m an active reader and book blogger. I also sing, play piano and play tennis when I can.

When there’s a book you want to read do you usually go to the library, a bookstore, or download it to an ebook reader? What do you think of ebooks?

I try to get most of my books from the public library if possible. I do buy books as well as get ARC copies from work and/or other giveaways. I don’t see myself in the near future making the switch to e-books. I like the feel of a book in my hand and tend to scan when reading online than really reading for comprehension.

What do you find most challenging at NPR? What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job?

One of the most challenging aspects of my job at NPR is thinking outside the box and finding the appropriate audio based on the patron’s request. One of the most rewarding aspects of my job at NPR is hearing a piece of audio that you helped find within a story broadcast on the air.

As a librarian what do you think you’re most important impact on journalism is?

White was one of the people who made the tour of NPR’s library The librarians at NPR strive to help our reporters and producers provide the most accurate information on the possible (Photo by Chris Vestal) air. When providing audio options, we do our best to DC/SLA Chapter Notes | October/November 2010 | pg 19

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