DC/SLA Chapter Notes - March 1998

Chapter Notes/March 1998

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Volume 57, No. 7

Contents: 1998 DC/SLA Professional Development Workshop Focus on SLA The President’s Corner Who Deserves a Pat on the Back?

SLA Honors DC Members with Association Awards Join the Board Meetings Another Chance to Network International Committee Formed Library Settings New Chapter Members 1998 DC/SLA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP TAP DANCING WITH SPARKLERS: PROMOTION ACTIVITIES FOR YOUR LIBRARY Where: AARP, 601 E St. NW, Washington, DC Date: Wednesday, March 25, 1997 8:30 a.m. (registration), 9 a.m. -12 noon Cost: $25 SLA members $12.50 students & retirees $27.50 non-members Presented by Chris Olson of Chris Olson & Associates. Chris will discuss different types of promotion tools and how to create a healthy mix of promotion activities to achieve desired results. The workshop will also include the roles Intra- & Internet Web sites can have in promotion plans.

Looking to attract more customers & attention to your library services & products? JOIN US! Directions: Metro stop to Judiciary Square (red line). Exit toward National Building Museum (F St.), turn left and walk through Police Memorial plaza, turn right on E St., go 1 1/2 blocks. Sign in at security desk in lobby. Metro stop to Archives (yellow line) Walk north on 7th St. to E St. Turn right one block to 601 E St. Sign in at security desk in lobby. Parking is available in the building or across the street.

Professional Development Workshop Registration Form Name:______________________________________ Phone/email:_________________________________ Organization:________________________________ Amount Enclosed:____________________________

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Make checks payable to DC/SLA. Checks must be received by COB Wednesday, March 18, 1998.

Send checks to Andrea Tully, TASC, 1101 Wilson Blvd., Ste. 1500, Arlington, VA 22209. Questions?

Contact Andrea Tully at 703/816-5208 or aetully@tasc.com Return to contents

FOCUS ON SLA On Saturday, January 24, several chapter members participated in a focus group conducted by Dr. Ruth Arnold, director of research for the Special Libraries Association. The purpose of the group was to gather members’ opinions on SLA products and services. The group consisted of ten members with various levels of experience with the association: new members, student members, rejoining members and those who had been members for many years. Arnold invited participants from the DC and Virginia chapters who lived relatively near the Gateway Marriott.

Participants arrived at the Gateway Marriott and enjoyed coffee and bagels before the session began. As is usual in focus groups, the meeting was taped so that the moderators did not have to take extensive notes during the discussion. Arnold was assisted by Christine Kennedy, SLA director of Membership Development.

Arnold began by assuring participants that there were no right or wrong answers to the questions she was going to ask - everyone was entitled to express his or her own opinion. She assured everyone that our names would not be used in the research - we would be identified as "person 1" or "person 2," etc. Then she asked questions about SLA’s services, such as conferences and meetings, and products, such as publications.

Members were not shy about expressing their likes and dislikes, and discussing issues that were of concern to them. Arnold ensured that everyone had a chance to express opinions. At the end of the session, participants were given a small amount to cover any costs incurred in participating. Arnold and Kennedy were pleased with the amount of feedback and ideas gathered at the focus groups and were eager to share the results at SLA headquarters for the purpose of improving services.

Three more focus groups, scheduled to be held at the Annual Conference at Indianapolis, will be composed only of librarians who have had two or fewer years as members of SLA. Return to contents The President’s Corner

By Ellie Briscoe, DC/SLA President, ebriscoe@ngs.org Thanks to members who were excluded from last month’s newsletter and volunteered to help with this year’s Winter Meeting: Pamela Tripp-Melby, Priscilla Trujillo, Marisa Urgo, Virginia Van Brunt, Benita Vasallo, Suzanne Wang, Suzanne Wnek, Lisa Young, Brenda Scherr and Michele Crecca.

Changes and new projects are in the air this spring for the DC Chapter. At its February meeting, here’s what the Board did: z z z

approved the move of our Web page from Capcon’s site to the SLA site. The new address is: http://www.sla.org/chapter/cdc accepted the slate of nominations for the election of new officers from Nomination chair Karen Holloway.

It’s a great group. The ballot is in this issue. VOTE TODAY! funded a membership survey and reactivation of our Long Range Planning Committee, renamed the

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Chapter Notes/March 1998

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z z

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Strategic Planning Committee. You’ll have seen Information Outlook by now. Our Chapter has not updated its plan since 1990. This begins a critical process of finding out what services our members need now, and what direction the Chapter should be moving. If you are interested in serving on this committee, PLEASE let me know! appointed Sue O’Neill Johnson of the World Bank to chair an ad hoc Committee on International Projects.

This committee, after some preliminary discussion with the Board and with SLA, has settled on a project to raise funds to enable a librarian or librarians from a developing nation to attend SLA’s Conference 2000 in Brighton, England in late 2000. Details will follow; this is an exciting follow-up to the trend to internationalize the association through Chapter activities. discussed changing the nature of the Cathy Jones Memorial Student Loan Fund to a scholarship fund. agreed to begin a project to subsidize SLA student member dues for one student at each of our two local library schools, and give them free admission to some of our Chapter activities. Applicants will be asked to submit a SHORT essay on why librarians should participate in a professional organization, and what makes special libraries particularly interesting to them.

And we approved the 1998 budget, too!

Return to contents WHO DESERVES A PAT ON THE BACK? The Awards Committee of the Washington DC Chapter has begun its search for the Member of the Year for 1997-1998, and invites you to nominate a Chapter member whom you think merits consideration. Send in your recommendations, giving a brief description of the nominee’s qualifications. It’s that simple.

Any Chapter member is eligible for recommendation. The Awards Committee will seek someone based on outstanding contributions to the Chapter, public service activities, assistance in professional development, promotion of special librarianship, or publication of a professional paper.

Submit your recommendation in confidence to the Chapter Awards Committee Chair by March 31: Include the nominee’s name, your name and a description of achievements or contributions and send to: Roger Haley, 1243 Independence Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20003; fax: 202/546-2214; e-mail: roger haley@aol.com Return to contents SLA HONORS DC MEMBERS WITH ASSOCIATION AWARDS

by Roger Haley, RogerHaley@aol.com SLA’s Awards and Honors Committee has recognized the achievements and activities of two members of the Washington, DC Chapter by selecting them as award recipients. In June, Winifred Sewell will be inducted into the SLA Hall of Fame, and Donna Scheeder will become a Fellow of SLA, during Awards Banquet ceremonies at the annual conference in Indianapolis.

Winifred Sewell has compiled an extensive career as a researcher, author, consultant and teacher. Her professional work includes positions at the Columbia University Libraries, the Wellcome Research Laboratories, the Squibb Institute of Medical Research in New Jersey, and the National Library of Medicine. In addition, she has taught library science courses at Columbia University and the University of Maryland, and served as an adjunct professor at the School of Pharmacy at Maryland University. She is currently a consultant and has worked in that capacity for numerous organizations, including the American Medical Association, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Library of Medicine.

Her SLA career has been equally distinguished, having been a member since 1941, and having

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served as the Association’s President in 1960-61. She was chair of the Pharmaceutical Section of the Science-Technology Division and a long-standing contributor to the Biological Sciences Division.

She has also been an officer and committee chair for both the New York and New Jersey chapters; she has been a member of the DC Chapter since 1960. Winifred has been very active in other professional organizations as well, and has a long and impressive record of publications in both library and medical literature. These activities have won her numerous awards, including an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Sciences. The DC Chapter was pleased to support the Biomedical and Life Sciences Division in its nomination of Winifred for the Hall of Fame Award. ______________________________________________________ Donna Scheeder began her career at the Library of Congress almost 30 years ago, and her work there has led to progressively more responsible duties. For the last two years, she has served as acting assistant chief and as acting chief of the Congressional Research Division. She has also been a member or leader of several teams in the Congressional Research Service, as well as on librarywide policy committees. Her contributions have won her numerous citations of achievement.

Donna has been a member of SLA for 20 years, and has been very active in the DC Chapter. After having served as chair of several committees and as an officer of the Board of Directors, she was elected president of the Chapter in 1988-89. In addition, she has been chair of the News Division and an officer of the Social Sciences Division.

More recently, Donna has served as treasurer on SLA’s Board of Directors and as a member of both the Association Office Operations Committee and of the Strategic Planning Committee. Before that, she had been a member and chair of the Government Relations Committee and the Nominating Committee. Her many accomplishments have received deserved recognition--the DC Chapter conferred its Board of Directors Award on her in 1989, and the News Division presented her with its Shoemakerr Award in 1994. Her selection to become a Fellow of the Association confirms the Chapter’s belief that Donna will continue to render significant service both to the Chapter and to SLA. The Washington, DC Chapter is extremely pleased and proud that SLA is presenting awards to these two members, and adds its voice in praise of them. Well done and congratulations, Winifred and Donna!

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JOIN THE BOARD MEETINGS The Chapter Board of Directors meets once a month to plan Chapter affairs. All members are welcome to attend and observe. Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm. The meetings for the rest of the year are scheduled for: z z z

March 10, April 14 and May 12.

The location is currently the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1800 K Street NW, Suite 400.

If you plan to attend, please email Ellie Briscoe at ebriscoe@ngs.org or call 202/857-7050 first to verify date, time and location; all of the above is subject to change.

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ANOTHER CHANCE TO NETWORK Northern Virginia Information Specialists is a group of librarians who work in Northern Virginia, anywhere from Manassas to Falls Church, Arlington to Alexandria, who meet informally once a month for discussions and networking over a brown bag lunch. For example, the February program, held in Falls Church, featured Linda Rothbart of Rothbart Information Solutions and The American Trucking Association, discussing her experiences in developing and running fee-based services for the last 15 years.

For questions and ideas please contact the co-facilitators Sue Dunbar at 703/803-5485 or Carol Ward at 703/208-2636.

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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FORMED At the February 10 meeting, the Board approved the creation of an ad hoc committee for International Projects. This group, chaired by Sue O'Neill Johnson, will be raising funds to allow one or more librarians from the developing world to attend SLA's Co nference 2000 in Brighton, England in October 2000.

Sue also suggested setting up a network of e-mail mentoring opportunities where DC librarians would exchange information and advice with comparable libraries in developing nations.

More committee members are needed. If you're interested in assisting librarians from the developing world, please contact Sue at sjohnson3@worldbank.org for more information.

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LIBRARY SETTINGS

by Nancy Matthes, MIC@iafc.org Setting up a library in a new location can be a difficult task, but identifying user and space needs can make the project easier, says one library director who is now going through the process of relocation. Nora Yuk, director of the library for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum (ASCD), recently spoke to a group of library employees about the association's plan to move to a new facility later this year, and her efforts to set up a library that will integrate technology and space needs to meet user demand.

The ASCD Library staff is evaluating its print and electronic formats in preparation for the move.

The print collection has already been weeded, and the staff is reviewing automation systems as well as electronic and online databases to enhance their services.

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Yuk said it is important to find software that is easy to use. "Be certain it's user-friendly because it's going to take some time for people to feel comfortable using it." ASCD will keep their CD-ROM collection since it takes up little space and they will continue to collect print materials. However, Yuk sees research papers moving to CD-ROM, although lengthy documents could tie up printers.

Since the Internet is becoming a more viable place to obtain information, Yuk encouraged users to create accounts at frequently visited Web sites and use a credit card for other sites to keep track of expenditures. Yuk anticipates that more publishers will charge for the information they upload on the Internet and what was once free no longer will be.

Publishers also have a concern "that someone can make changes [to electronic copies] and put it on the Web." In keeping with copyright and fair use laws and ownership rights, librarians should be cautious about how they use resources from the Internet. "You don't know if the person or organization has been granted copyright permission for the text or graphics you're downloading from their site. You could violate copyright law."

The ASCD has a Web site at http://www.ascd.org, covering ASCD's activities, services, publications and networking. Yuk can be reached at 703/549-9110.

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New Chapter members

by Terri Clark, DC/SLA Membership Committee, clark@bizou.nlm.nih.gov Please welcome these new members of DC/SLA who joined from November 1-December 31, 1997: z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z

Mildred E. Bailey, DC School of Law Library Leslie S. Farkas, SMS, Inc. Barbara P. Ferry, National Geographic Society Library Donna L. Kanin, US Generating Library Mary Muller, US Information Agency Elizabeth M. Schwartz Lori Sylvia, Phillips Business Information, Inc. Katherine Boyd, Telesec Corestaff, Information Management Division Barbara L. Coons, Hill & Knowlton Research Department Sandra R. Levy, Baltimore Sun, Library & Information Services Oona Pilot-Sitkoff Michael P. Sikora, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Albert T. Camp Library N. Bernard Basch Svetia P. Baykoucheva, American Chemical Society, Library Services Tressa F. Bennett, West Group, West Online Solutions Lenore K. Grossinger, US Department of Energy Steve LaFalce, Advisory Board Company Rosemary Phalen, Central Intelligence Agency Philip M. Piemonte Susan M. Pries, Association of International Auto Manufacturers Paul R. Savary, NATSO, Inc., Communications | back to top | back to Chapter Notes | back DC-SLA Homepage |

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