DC/SLA Chapter Notes - May/June 2000

Chapter Notes May/June 2000

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Vol. 59, No. 8 May/June 2000 Contents DC/SLA Annual Meeting & Banquet President's Corner Top Ten Great Reasons to Use a Special Library Business Information Finders (BIF) Presents: Special Opportunity - Help Build the Official DC/SLA Guide to Humor on the Web DC/SLA Discussion List Acronym Challenged New WILG Website Debuts on International Librarians Day Minutes of the March DC/SLA Board Meeting What a little attention can do!

Librarians take research skills, training to journalists and students in six countries Technology Day 2000 School Library in Nicaragua Needs Technical Books Math Books Sought for University Libraries in Developing Countries DC/SLA Annual Meeting & Banquet "How to Think Funny: Yogi Berra's Lessons for Librarians" Feeling stressed? Buried under a virtual avalanche of email? Weary of the World Wide Wait, with cranky customers calling your phone, cell phone, beeper, and fax? Fear not! Humor is all around you! Join your DC/SLA colleagues and featured speaker John Jay Daly for a guided tour to the sources of humor in everyday life, and some tips on how to use them to lighten up your day.

John Jay Daly comes to us direct from his keynote presentation at the April 1 symposium "Humor and Communication," at the Art Gliner Center for Humor Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Daly, a noted speaker and communications consultant, is a charter member of the Hall of Fame of the National Capital Chapter, Public Relations Society of America, and was recognized by the National Speakers Association's Washington Chapter which named its highest award in his honor. Daly is also the father of eight children. "All girls," he says, "except for the four boys."

Special Added Benefit: Everyone who attends will receive a free copy of the official DC/SLA Guide to Humor on the Web! (For details on how to send in your favorite websites, see the notice elsewhere in this issue.)

WHEN: Wednesday, May 24 Registration / cash bar 6 p.m.

Dinner and Meeting at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Pier 7 Restaurant, 650 Water Street SW Plenty of free parking; or Metro to L'Enfant Plaza, exit 7th Street SW PRICE: $25.00 Members $12.50 Students and Retirees $37.50 Non-Members The Washington, DC Chapter gratefully acknowledges financial support from Lexis-Nexis, Inc., and Keesing's Worldwide for this program.

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REGISTRATION FORM FOR ANNUAL MEETING & BANQUET May 24, 2000. Registration 6:00 p.m.; Dinner and Meeting 7:00 p.m.

Pier 7 Restaurant, 650 Water Street SW, Washington, DC Name:_____________________________________________________ Organization:_____________________________________________ Phone: ___________________ Email: ____________________ Indicate your menu selection: Prime Rib ____ Fisherman's Platter ____ Vegetarian _____ Membership Status: New Member ____ Student/Retiree _____ SLA Member ______ Member of LLSDC, ASIS, or DCLA _____ Check here if this is your first DC/SLA event _____ Send your completed form with check made payable to DC/SLA to: Mandy Baldridge Telesec/CORESTAFF 11160 Veirs Mill Road, Suite 414 Wheaton, MD 20902 All registrations must be received no later than Friday, May 19.

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President's Corner Washington DC Chapter, Special Libraries Association

By Nancy Minter, DC/SLA 1999-2000 President, nminter@ui.urban.org That Certain "Specialness" Earlier this week, as my staff and I were busily setting up for an open house in our Information Center to celebrate both International Special Librarians Day and the launch of a new product we have developed, it occurred to me that some of the research staff who would be attending might not be familiar with the term "special library." So I thought I would take a moment to see if the technicians helping me really understood the term.

My impromptu survey results were inconclusive. One had a good idea of what we mean by "special library," and one clearly needed some coaching. I had to chuckle at the third response: "It's any library where I would work I'm pretty special." We then talked about why we were called a special library, the kinds of responsibilities information resource professionals manage, and some of the services we provide that define the value we add to our organization.

As our preparations continued, one person was placing some signs that we had adapted from SLA's "Top Ten Great Reasons to Use a Special Library," arranging them Burma-Shave style on a counter top. It was perfect timing -- a great way to reinforce some of what we had been discussing for the past several minutes, as we placed our decorations.

Sure enough, several of the research staff who attended our event asked the inevitable, "What's a special library?" I was even asked the question by a senior fellow on our staff. And I was pleased to know that my staff could answer that query quite easily. We also got a number of questions on our "David Lettermanesque" top ten list. Stated briefly below, the list became a conversation piece for the afternoon. We received many favorable comments on our day's festivities -- our goodies (and the privilege granted to all to actually eat in the Library!), our unveiled new product, and our signs.

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Perhaps the best part of the afternoon was hearing one researcher say to a new colleague: "You know, that's really true. I know I get more accomplished because of our great library. Given the comparison in size I think it's much better than my university's library." I glanced up, and there was our organization's new president, just taking it all in.

YESSSSS!!!

-- Nancy Minter Return to contents

Top Ten Great Reasons to Use a Special Library 10. You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.

9. You will get more accurate information.

8. You will make better decisions.

7. You will save time.

6. You will be more productive.

5. You will get your work done.

4. You will do better work.

3. You might even become a "fast-tracker."

2. You will contribute to knowledge sharing within your organization.

1. You will save money.

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Business Information Finders (BIF) Presents: Print and Electronic Small Business Resources at Arlington Central Library Presenter: Elizabeth Cline, Business Librarian Date: Wednesday, June 28, 2000 Time: 7:00 pm Place: Arlington County Central Library 2nd Floor Meeting Room 1015 North Quincy Street Arlington, VA This event is open to everyone; an R.S.V.P. is not necessary.

For directions to the library go to: http://www.co.arlington.va.us/lib/, Click on the "About the Library," "Hours and Locations," and "Central Library," links. Scroll down to "Directions."

For more information contact: Elizabeth Cline ecline@co.arlington.va.us 703-228-5984 Return to contents

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Special Opportunity - Help Build the Official DC/SLA Guide to Humor on the Web In conjunction with the DC/SLA Annual Meeting and Banquet program, "How to Think Funny: Yogi Berra's Lessons for Librarians," we're creating our own webliography of the best humor sites. Send in your favorite sites, and then attend the Annual Meeting and Banquet to get your own, free copy of the list. You will be credited for each of your submissions.

To submit your selections, email David Shumaker at dshumakr@erols.com,today!

Return to contents DC/SLA Discussion List Subscribe to the Chapter Discussion List!

A great way to keep up with Chapter news and events is to join the DC/SLA Chapter Discussion List! This list was created to provide SLA DC Chapter members a means of quick & easy communication. To subscribe to the list, send an e-mail to: lists@lists.sla.org with the following in the body of the message: subscribe sla-cdc Firstname Lastname You will receive an automatic confirmation message once subscribed.

For additional information, click here http://www.sla.org/chapter/cdc/list.html, or contact Greta Ober, 202-6236413, e-mail: greta@worldbank.org Return to contents

Acronym Challenged

by SCP (Suzanne 'Cataloger' Pilsk) pilsks@sil.si.edu I moved to Washington, DC from the sleepy town of Nashville, TN, where I attended a now dead, masters in library science program at Vanderbilt University. No sooner had I crossed the Potomac than I realized -- I had to learn a new language. I wondered why so many people were talking about the South Eastern Conference. Wow, I said, so many basketball fans! It didn't take me too long to realize my mistake. "SEC" was not what I thought it was. I still haven't found out, though, if the Securities and Exchange Commission has an intramural basketball team.

The acronym speak hasn't gotten better. However, I have learned not to open my mouth until I can glean the true topic of the conversation. DC is a Mecca to acronym junkies, and librarians seem to love these little non-words! I spent some time trying to figure out how to tell my parents that I might be joining the Symbionese Liberation A whoopsee - S.L.A.!

I propose this challenge for the month: Identify the acronyms in the following paragraph. The person who can identify the most will win a prize. I don't know what the prize will be yet since I need to look around the SLA Conference's Exhibition Hall in Philadelphia to see what free thing is cool. In the case of a tie, I will take the winning answers, put them in a pile and ask MFBC (My First Born Child) to randomly pull one. There will be nothing scientific about it, but I believe my daughter will accept bribes of cookies or candy. Good luck and may the best MLS, MLIS, MS in LS, or MIS win! (Actually, you don't have to have any of those to enter - you just have to send in your answers. I couldn't think of a cute acronym to end on.) Here we go: I checked the AACR2r, LCRI and then LCSH and still couldn't formulate the exact entry I wanted. Keeping in mind that my library participates in NACO, SACO and BIBCO, I felt obligated to make a valid heading and have a full record in OCLC. Checking the ISBD(er) and CONSER I found some examples that might work. Yet, CORC is so

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new that following these standards might not apply to DC. What will I do if my record won't convert to the proper XML DTD or XHTML or SGML? I posted a couple of questions to OLAC and ITE and got some good suggestions.

SLA members tend to be more lax than some of the ALA members. CC:DA may even be working on this - I know that ALCTS/CCS/SAC subcommittee published some recommendations. USMARC manuals help a lot but there still seems to be no "right" answer. I might take the attitude of "cataloger's judgement" to heart, not overwork one record, and to KISS. SCP is the DC/SLA Representative to the SLA CC (Special Libraries Association Committee on Cataloging).

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New WILG Website Debuts on International Librarians Day In honor of International Special Librarians' Day on April 13, the Washington International Librarians' Group (WILG) launched a new website.

Located at http://www.wmd.org/wilg, WILG's website features the following information: z z z z

An Events Calendar An Announcement's Bulletin Board for job postings, future events and serials donations A list of favorite Web Resources nominated by WILG Associates A Contact List of WILG Associates who have provided information for the site

WILG, formed in 1997 by a group of Washington-area librarians, exists virtually via the Internet. There are no dues, officers or formal ties with other groups. WILG is open to all those interested in sharing information on topics related to libraries and international affairs. Should you wish to join the group, send an e-mail message with your name, and your organization or library to: Margarita Studemeister at mss@usip.org, or Allen Overland at allen@ned.org.

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Minutes of the March DC/SLA Board Meeting The DC/SLA Board met at the Urban Institute at 6:00 p.m. on March 14, 2000.

A new sponsorship policy, drafted by the Board, was passed. The basic sponsorship fee for DC/SLA programs is $300. For a contribution at this level, the sponsor receives the following: a mention in program announcements; acknowledgement at the event; and a thank you notice in Chapter Notes after the event. The premium level sponsorship fee for DC/SLA is $500. A contribution at this level provides the following recognition: a mention in program announcements; acknowledgement at the event; a thank you notice in Chapter Notes; one full registration for a representative; and a space at the event for brochures or other marketing material.

It was announced that the Strategic Planning Committee will send out the membership survey in the April issue. It will also be available at two Chapter events and will be mailed to all Chapter members. The Committee would also like to put this on the website.

Other announcements included the following: Nominations co-chairs Lyle Minter and Marilyn Bromley are working to complete the slate. The ballots will be published in the April issue of Chapter Notes. Eight of the first fourteen people asked to run for office accepted the offer. Ballots are due back May 5.

Marcia Lei Zeng, the Chair of the SLA Committee on Cataloging, has informed us that currently the DC Chapter does not have a liaison on the Committee. Suzanne C. Pilsk who works in the cataloging services section at the

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Smithsonian Institution Libraries is interested in participating on this committee. The Board approved the President's appointment of Suzanne to this position.

The electronic order form and payment system for the SLA Virtual Bookstore and the preliminary information on the Annual Conference are available on the website. The Salary Survey reveals equity in pay for female information professionals. The summary results from the 1999 SLA Salary Survey are available at: http://www.sla.org/research/salsur99.html The International Committee is reviewing more than 400 fellowship applicants for the Global 2000 conference.

The Committee is hoping to receive $60,000 from chapters, individuals, and committees to send twenty librarians from developing countries to the Global 2000 conference.

For a complete copy of the minutes, please e-mail Laura Foy, Recording Secretary, at labuy@msn.com Return to contents

What a little attention can do!

You may remember that back in November we asked DC/SLA members for economic and finance books and journals for the Economics and Finance Institute of the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Cambodia. We have had many donations from DC/SLA members, and librarian Sam Ghanty reports that they are cataloged and read as soon as they arrive!

Because of the attention we have placed on the Institute, the World Bank Institute, (the training arm of the World Bank) is considering locating a distance learning facility there, and the World Bank External Relations Office is considering making the Institute a depository library.

-Sue O. Johnson Return to contents

Librarians take research skills, training to journalists and students in six countries A partnership between The Freedom Forum and the Special Libraries Association sends librarians to international outposts to conduct two weeks of Internet research training for journalists and journalism students.

In 1999 the program provided training in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, with the agenda tailored to meet local interests and needs. Beyond research training at The Freedom Forum's international centers and in capital cities, sessions were held in regions less sophisticated technologically.

News librarians or other librarians interested in media research compete for places in the program, which began four years ago.

"Everywhere I visited, I sensed that the participants could really benefit from having access to a librarian - or someone with those information-management skills - who could help them sift through the vast amounts of information available," said Miriam Matteson of the University of North Carolina, who conducted training sessions in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in Lima, Peru.

Learning search techniques and discovering Web sites were the nuts and bolts of the classes, but often the training led to discussions of regional issues facing journalists in developing countries.

Another training topic was identifying and lining up expert sources, said Janet Dombrowski of the National Geographic Society, who conducted training in London, in Bucharest, Romania, and in Budapest, Hungary.

"Journalists were very interested in photo sources and ... copyright issues. They find it frustrating that they cannot

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pay what [major news agencies] want for photos rights, and without any other way to negotiate rights, they admit to using photos without permission."

In South Africa, the training went right to the newsroom. Identifying newspapers that would benefit from hands-on workshops, Sylvia Piggott from the Joint Library of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund worked at news papers in Johannesburg and Cape Town conducting deadline research to help journalists understand the resources available to them.

This partnership is part of The Freedom Forum's effort to increase journalists' resources around the world. A major component of that effort is the network of 13 news and journalism libraries that continue to provide information to journalists and journalism students in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. The libraries support a free press with access to current and unbiased information from CD-ROMs, online services, books and journals.

-Reprinted with permission from The Freedom Forum 1999 Annual Report.

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Technology Day 2000 If you think an intelligent agent is a Harvard grad in a trenchcoat, then you weren't at Technology Day 2000. This day-long seminar, organized by our neighbors in the Maryland Chapter with co-sponsorship by the DC/SLA Chapter and the Association of Independent Information Professionals, took place March 20 at the UMUC Inn on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. More than 100 registrants immersed themselves in a day-long survey of agents, bots, and the many ways that information professionals are using new tools to help get the right information to the right people at the right time.

The highlight of the day was hearing three nationally known keynote speakers -- Marcus Zillman, Clifford Lynch and Stephen Arnold. Marcus Zillman, of Marco Island, Florida, is the creator of the botspot (http://www.botspot.com which is now an internet.com site), and bottechnology (http://www.bottechnology.com) websites. These are award-winning, definitive metasites that feature bots, intelligent agents, data mining, knowledge discovery, and artificial intelligence engines. Zillman surveyed the various species of bots -competitive intelligence bots, alert bots, newsgroup bots, chatter bots, and shopping bots -- to name just a few that are active today. He covered their strengths, limitations, and what we can expect to see in the future.

Clifford Lynch, executive director of the Coalition for Networked Information (http:www.cni.org) in Washington, and author of the seminal Scientific American article "Searching the Internet" (March 1997), gave an absorbing survey of the technical and social issues we are grappling with as digital formats become the predominant form of communication. These issues include the challenges of organization; stability of access; preservation; authorization and authentication; and intellectual property.

The afternoon's keynoter Stephen Arnold (http://www.arnoldit.com) has been involved with online information for more than 20 years, and helped create the widely used business database, ABI/Inform. Arnold continues to consult with leading-edge technology companies, and treated the audience to a discussion of available and emerging tools to automate the organization, discovery, and updating of information. Arnold's website includes an overview of current projects.

Complementing the keynote addresses was a varied menu of small group presentations. Most focused on details of a single tool or a single service, and gave the audience the chance to dive into the details of how it worked, how it was developed and implemented, what worked well, and what the presenter would do differently. Among the presenters were several DC Chapter members. Rounding out the day were exhibits from several leading information companies, including Lexis-Nexis, Factiva, Dialog, Gale Group, OpenText, PTFS, Swets/Blackwell's, and TeleSec Corestaff.

This was the second annual Technology Day program. Given the enthusiastic response, we can look forward to a continuing partnership with the Maryland Chapter, and more Technology Days in the future.

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--Dave Shumaker Return to contents

School Library in Nicaragua Needs Technical Books A volunteer group among World Bank staff has been formed to draw attention to using and improving its field libraries, and to donating library materials and begin networking between the field libraries and other libraries in their communities.

The group was recently asked to help build up the library collection of a technical school in Grenada, Nicaragua. This project is getting the attention of the highest level officials in Nicaragua, so it will be managed well. The library has two librarians. Best of all, there is a budget to pack up and send books.

These books do not have to be new, or any where near new. Suitable materials would be auto mechanics, carpentry, plumbing, electricity, refrigeration, construction, teaching computers... any books to learn a trade. The level is junior high to high school. English is fine.

Please contact Sue O. Johnson at sjohnson3@worldbank.org for more information, or to share some ideas.

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Math Books Sought for University Libraries in Developing Countries

By Sue O. Johnson I was recently contacted by Gail Kouril who told me that she had some graduate school-level math books to donate. She had remembered that I have been asking for books from time to time on the DC/SLA discussion list and in Chapter Notes. I sent a message to the World Bank small field libraries (67 of them). While they do not collect math books, I suggested that a nearby university library might be able to use some math books.

To my surprise, around FORTY of these libraries responded! Cameroon was the first to ask, and unfortunately, thirty-nine libraries are now disappointed. I thought I'd ask that if you have math collections, could you please take a look at duplicates or potential weeded materials? We can send them to university libraries in developing countries. Please let me know.

Donations of books can be sent to Greta Ober-Beauchesne at this address: International Monetary Fund, 700 19th St, Room C-717, Washington DC, 20431. We'll send them from there.

I was reminded in this exercise how little these people have. It appears that any reading materials on any academic subject would be highly prized. The abundance of our resources here is monumental in comparison to how little they have. Since Greta and I have a way of sending things (at least for now), let's do it!

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