Fall 2012 Alumni Newsletter

Volume 34 Number 2

Fall 2012

School to Launch Undergraduate Minor, Propose New Major and Master’s Programs Most significant changes to the School of Library and Information Science since the early 1950s YEARS AFTER IT WAS FIRST DISCUSSED, the School of Library and Information Science will launch an undergraduate program spring semester 2013. The program, in information studies, will begin as a minor that will be entirely online. It is a significant step in the evolution of the School, a presence in the undergraduate curriculum, which is seen as important at a time of increased emphasis on undergraduate studies and increased competition for resources.

The proposal the School presented, which makes it clear the minor would be the first of two phases, the second of which would be a major, addresses the related issues of recruiting, distance learning, and online instruction: “Ultimately, a new degree program in information studies, particularly when offered in an online format, would recruit rural, non-traditional and out-of-state students who would otherwise not attend the University of Kentucky. The introduction of this minor coincides with a push to offer distance learning at UK…. The rollout of the minor now will also serve as a model for online course development in additional areas of the curriculum. The flexibility afforded by offering this as an online program would attract students … who are unable or unwilling to commute to the Lexington campus. In addition, offering this program in the online format is in keeping with current trends in the information professions, which rely heavily on electronic resources.”

The proposal states that a major in information studies “has become a popular degree program at a number of U.S. research universities, including North Carolina, Michigan, Syracuse, and Florida State. In nearly all of the programs we are aware of, the major was created within the college or school that houses the university’s ALA-accredited master’s degree program. That is one – but by no means the only – reason for our proposing not only that UK create an information studies program but also that it do so within the School of Library and Information Science, which now offers the University of Kentucky’s ALA-accredited master’s degree program, the only such program in Kentucky.”

Further making the case for an undergraduate program in information studies within the School, the proposal states: “The impact of information technology, digital initiatives, and changes in information-seeking behavior have been shifting the teaching and research agendas of schools of information

studies, and prominent has been the introduction of undergraduate programs in schools that traditionally offered only graduate programs. Although in nearly all of the information studies undergraduate programs we are aware of, the program was created within the college or school that houses the university’s ALA-accredited master’s program, nevertheless the two programs – ALA-accredited master’s and information studies baccalaureate – attract different cohorts. A high percentage of those attracted to our master’s degree program are interested in careers in libraries…. However, students attracted to undergraduate information studies programs appear to be interested especially in careers in corporations.”

Continuing, the proposal notes that “the single largest area of change in the field [information studies] has been an emphasis on information technology and large undergraduate majors.

This trend has gone from virtually zero undergraduate majors twelve years ago to several thousand students nationwide in 2009. Beyond traditional markets, the National Research Council report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economy Future (2006), forecasts a need for more information scientists to manage the knowledge-intensive enterprises upon which the future U.S. economy will be based. Anticipating this trend, such programs currently exist at many of UK’s benchmark universities and others, including NC Chapel Hill, Washington, Michigan, UCLA, Pittsburgh, Florida State, Oklahoma, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Rutgers, Drexel and South Carolina…. The University of Illinois, UCLA and the University of Texas-Austin currently have minors in this area, and are planning for a major.”

The proposal addresses employment prospects of those who complete the program: “The job market has been growing steadily for graduates who understand both the technical and human side of information management. With the Internet and electronic business generating large volumes of data, there is a growing need to be able to store, manage, and extract data effectively. According to the Commerce Department’s Occupational Outlook database, employment in the information supersector is expected to increase by 6.9 percent, adding 212,000 jobs by 2016. … (continued page 2)

“Computerization in various sectors of the economy has led to a need for analysts of many types, including those who analyze organizational information systems (systems analysts) as well as those who study industries (research analysts, or competitive intelligence analysts), and foundations or other donors (donor analysts). The growth of the Internet and the expansion of the World Wide Web have generated a variety of occupations related to the design, development, and maintenance of Web sites and their servers. For example, webmasters are responsible for all technical aspects of a Web site, including performance issues such as speed of access, and for approving the content of the site. Internet developers, also called Information architects or Web designers, are responsible for day-to-day site creation and design. The dataprocessing, hosting, and related services industry, which is expected to grow by 53 percent, includes establishments that provide Web and application hosting and streaming services.

Internet publishing and broadcasting is expected to grow rapidly as it gains market share from newspapers and other more traditional media. In addition we expect that the proposed adoption of electronic medical records in U.S. health care agencies will create further demand for specialists in managing electronic information.”

New Information Communication Technology Programs When the School developed the proposal for an undergraduate minor, it was made clear the minor would be the first of two phases, the second of which would be a major. The School is proposing the second phase would begin fall semester 2013, with the introduction of an undergraduate major in Information Communication Technology (ICT). Also proposed is a master’s degree in ICT. Director Jeff Huber stressed the School’s ALA-accredited master’s degree program would continue, and he said the School would not seek ALA accreditation for the ICT master’s degree. The undergraduate major and master’s will initially be face-to-face with some online courses. Although the ICT program would be lodged in SLIS, other units in the College of Communication and Information – Department of Communication, School of Journalism and Telecommunications, and Division of Instructional Communication – would contribute courses.

According to the proposal, “Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) programs strive to educate students to assume leadership roles where the application of information technology is concerned with the ultimate goal of connecting people, organizations, and communities to enhance their ability to succeed. The broad cluster of occupations that fall within the ICT arena include software and applications programmers, computer network professionals, database and systems administrators, IT security officers, ICT business and systems analysts, telecommunications engineering professionals, multimedia specialists, Web developers, technical support, and quality assurance and testing.”

The proposal cites strengths at UK: • broad range of faculty expertise; • much stronger research foundation than any other Kentucky program; Fall 2012

• opportunity for collaboration across the UK campus.

Elaborating about opportunity for collaboration, the proposal envisions including courses from Health Sciences, Statistics, Education, Biomedical Sciences, and Public Administration at the undergraduate and graduate level.

Turning to weaknesses, the proposal cites “increasing concerns about the ability of campus computing infrastructure to support growing demands.” An additional weakness is “limited capacity to add courses with current faculty,” which “coming budget cuts/personnel reductions will exacerbate.” A minimum of four new faculty lines would be needed within the first two-to-three years. To help address this, Dean O’Hair has approved two new faculty lines within SLIS beginning in academic year 2013-2014.

The proposal for the undergraduate major and master’s degree addresses career prospects for those who complete an undergraduate or graduate ICT program: “The U.S. Department of Labor projected growth rates for employment in the ICT sector trends favorably for the ten-year forecast period. Employment projections in most job categories reflect double-digit percentage increases over that term. Employment availability in two categories (1.Information Security Analysts, Web Developers, and Computer Network Architects; 2.Media and Communication Workers, All Other) already exceeds the projected numbers for 2020.” When advertisements on commercial jobs databases were compared with Department of Labor employment projections, it was found that “Current employment opportunities in all categories are significantly outperforming USDL projections, which bodes well for current and future ICT graduates.”

According to the proposal: “This expansion in the ICT sector job market can be attributed to a variety of robust initiatives being undertaken in the public and private sectors. Retailers are aggressively shifting more of their business online to circumvent high operating costs (e.g., facilities costs, staffing) and to expand customer reach. The accelerated pace at which the Government is introducing regulatory mandates is serving as a catalyst for increased IT spending by organizations to ensure compliance. The financial and banking industry serves as an example of a sector that has come under heightened government scrutiny since its collapse, resulting in increased government mandates and regulations. And finally, social media continues to exert extensive influence in the public and private sector. Trained professionals are constantly in demand to integrate evolving social media tools into the organization’s IT ecosystem, and to leverage and optimize social media presence online.”

Asked to comment about what will be the most significant changes to the School of Library and Information Science since the early 1950s, when the bachelor’s degree program in library science was terminated and the master’s degree program introduced, Director Jeff Huber replied: “This is a very positive move for the School. Dean O’Hair selected the School to house Information Communication Technology, and it is already bringing us new resources. And, it will help anchor the School more securely across campus.”

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An Interview with Director Jeff Huber In August, Jeff Huber concluded his first four-year term as Director of the School of Library and Information Science. Earlier, he had accepted Dean O’Hair’s invitation to serve a second term as the School’s chief administrative officer. The newsletter saw the completion of Jeff’s first term as an occasion to interview him, and he agreed to the interview, which took place as the fall semester was getting underway.

What were the biggest surprises in your first term as Director?

Arriving with a budget shortfall that I had not been aware of, with the financial situation further complicated by ongoing budget cuts. Dean Johnson announcing his resignation after he had told me he would not do so.

What were the greatest challenges in the first term?

Managing the growth of the School while managing shrinking resources.

What accomplishments in that term do you consider to be the most significant?

Having the undergraduate minor approved and moving to rollout spring semester 2013; having the School navigate the reaccreditation process successfully; initiating a full review of the curriculum and revising it as necessary.

Under your leadership, SLIS enrollment has risen significantly, from 214 fall 2008, your first semester as Director, to 254 this fall. Has the enrollment increase benefitted the School in the competition for resources?

Yes. The School received $24,000 for part-time instructors in our recurring budget specifically due to the increased enrollment. In addition, the Dean’s office is funding a STEPS staff member devoted to student affairs.

Further, we received an additional faculty line due to the enrollment increase and the tuition generated.

Do you believe the enrollment increase will benefit the School in the future in the competition for resources?

Absolutely. The Dean has indicated repeatedly that he wants to reward growth. Also, at every meeting I attend at which upper administration is present, the message is clear: UK must grow its way out of the current economic situation.

Spring semester 2013 the School will introduce an undergraduate minor in information studies. Why did the School take that step, and what benefits do you see it generating for the School?

Fall 2012

The School had tried to launch an undergraduate information studies program for many years. I believe the undergraduate program will help anchor the School more broadly across the University, which is especially important given the current administration’s emphasis on undergraduate initiatives.

Do you anticipate the minor in information studies becoming a major, and if so, when?

Yes. We’re in the process of drafting a proposal for an undergraduate Information Communication Technology major, with a 3+2 option to matriculate to a new master’s program fall semester 2013.

Would you explain what is meant by “a 3+2 option”?

A student would be able to complete the undergraduate major in Information Communication Technology in three years and complete the master’s program in Information Communication Technology in an additional two years.

What do you see as the greatest challenges in the second term as Director?

Managing to do more with less. We really don’t know the new budget model or how it will affect our resources.

Are there things that you especially want to accomplish in your second term as Director?

To insure that the Information Communication Technology program is fully funded and operational at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

The College of Communication and Information, which includes SLIS, is a member of the iSchools organization.

Has membership influenced or affected the School of Library and Information Science, and if so, in what way?

Yes. I can see a difference in the applications we are receiving in response to our current postings for faculty vacancies. I also believe our participation in the iSchools organization is helping to drive the future direction of the College.

Do you have a “strategic vision” for the School, and if so, what is it?

I believe it is necessary for us to anchor the School more broadly across the University. I also believe we must expand our target market by increasing our degree and course offerings beyond those focused explicitly on library settings. However, I am not suggesting that we diminish the School’s focus on preparing individuals to assume leadership roles in libraries.

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New Courses for Students Specializing in Information Science The newsletter thanks Will Buntin, Assistant Director, Student Affairs, for the following: Reflecting the evolving nature of the LIS workplace, the School of Library and Information Science this year is offering several new courses geared toward those specializing in information science, including Information Architecture, Knowledge Management, and Social Networking and Web 2.0. These new courses will supplement the already broad range of information science courses currently available, including Database Administration, Content Management Systems, Information Systems Design, Internet Technologies and Information Services, and Online Information Retrieval.

Information professionals, such as librarians, are skilled in the organization and retrieval of recorded knowledge.

Traditionally, their work has been with print materials, but these skills are being increasingly used with electronic, visual, audio, and digital materials. As part of its mission to “prepare students for an ever-expanding array of careers in the information field,” UK’s School of Library and Information Science is committed to remaining on the leading edge of information science research and education, preparing its students for careers in today's information-intensive workplace. To help advance that goal UK’s School of Library and Information Science is a member of the iSchools caucus, a collective of Information Schools dedicated to advancing the information field in the 21st Century.

Information science is a broad, interdisciplinary field, incorporating not only aspects of library science, but often diverse fields such as archival science, commerce, communications, computer science, health, law, museology, management, public policy, and the social sciences. Information science professionals work in a variety of public, private, non-profit, and academic institutions.

SLIS Distance Learning Featured in UK Alumni Magazine The fall 2012 issue of Kentucky Alumni, the magazine of the University of Kentucky Alumni Association, has an article, “Live (anywhere) and Learn!”, about distance learning at UK; and the School of Library and Information Science receives the prominence in the article that it deserves. The article quotes Will Buntin, Assistant Director, Student Affairs, alumna Meredith Nelson (’11), and current students Juan Armijo and Jessica Maurice.

As many UK SLIS alumni know, the School introduced distance learning years ago, when faculty traveled to offcampus sites. The sites included Louisville and Ashland, KY, but the off-campus site that was host for the longest time and with the greatest number of students was Northern Kentucky University. Distance learning has been significant in the history of the School and is discussed in the 2011 Fall 2012

Program Presentation, written in conjunction with ALA accreditation review. The discussion begins with the twin observations that “The School has participated in distance learning since the early 1970s, and over the four decades since we began to teach off campus, our distance learning instruction has evolved….”

The evolution was in the delivery method. For many years in distance learning School faculty members traveled to the off-campus site. As the program grew, we added parttime instructors to teach off campus, but regular faculty continued to do so as well. The day came when technology in the form of interactive television enabled the instructor of a course to have students at multiple locations. However, students in an ITV course still had to be in a classroom at the time the instructor was teaching. When technology for teaching online was introduced, the classroom was eliminated. Moreover, the School’s decision that online courses would be asynchronous meant students no longer had location or time constraints.

The number of our courses available online grew, and the time came when a student could complete the master’s degree program online. For a while some faculty teaching online required students to come to campus for one, two, or several classroom sessions, but several years ago faculty voted to establish the policy that there would be no required classroom sessions in online courses. With that policy in place, a student anywhere could enroll in the School’s program. Will Buntin notes in the Kentucky Alumni article that “students from 25 states, including Kentucky, are taking library science classes online.”

Not only do students throughout Kentucky (as well as in 24 other states this fall) take our classes online, students right here in Lexington also do so. Meredith Nelson is just one example. Although some Lexington-area students complete the program through a combination of face-to-face and online courses, Meredith told Linda Perry, who wrote the Kentucky Alumni article, that she took all of her classes online. “That was not originally my intent, but ended up being the case due to the variety of classes offered online in the program. At the beginning of my studies, my classes required several face-to-face meetings on campus, and I was glad that requirement was eliminated in my later classes.”

Throughout the time she worked on her MSLS degree, Meredith worked full time.

Current student Juan Armijo is from one of the other 24 states represented in the student body this fall. He is a high school social studies teacher in Las Cruces, NM. Juan, who has a doctorate in secondary education from Arizona State University, “decided he wanted to transition into the library profession but felt a master’s degree in the field would be helpful.” He told Linda Perry: “I researched and found that one of the best programs, with a bonus online option and affordability, is at the University of Kentucky, which has very high academic standards for admission and to continue with the program.

“Distance learning is quite rigorous. You have to master the content in order to be successful. I have found the faculty to be excellent in working with students online -- alPage 4

ways available, helpful and they go the extra mile to work with students.”

Current student Jessica Maurice has an undergraduate degree in anthropology from the University of North Carolina – Wilmington and lives in Pfafftown, NC. She told Linda Perry that classes online “have allowed her the flexibility to travel, assist her grandmother with a move, and in general lead a more balanced life.” However, she says she “did have to adjust her approach to learning to successfully complete her classes. The fact that online communication isn’t always easy to interpret has also led me to become more direct. If I don’t understand something, whether from a classmate or a teacher, I need to ask. I’m more directly involved in the experience this time around. I’m not sure that I’m a ‘quicker’ learner, but I do think that I’m a ‘better’ learner.”

Excerpts from Kentucky Alumni reprinted with permission.

School Introduces Joint Degree Program The School of Library and Information Science has introduced a joint degree program in health information/communication with the Department of Communication, another of the units in the College of Communication and Information. While in the joint degree program the student is able to choose as many as nine credit hours to share between the two master’s programs, and at the conclusion of the 57 credit-hour program the person receives a master’s degree in communication and a master’s degree in library and information science. The program brochure emphasizes the opportunity for the student to develop a course of study that is tailored to the person’s interests and “to build a degree positioned to accommodate the growing need for technology users in the health field.”

SLIS Director Jeff Huber told the newsletter: “The joint degree program provides students with academic preparation designed to mirror the growing overlap between health information and health communication as well as the near ubiquitous application of information technology to this area.”

University and the University of Kentucky. The project’s goal is to formally integrate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into library and information science (LIS) curricula at these two schools. The project’s objectives are to create two online GIL courses, implement a recruitment plan and deliver the two online GIL courses at both institutions; use a survey validation study of the knowledge, skills, and abilities to inform LIS curricula; and increase GIS related research in LIS. The resulting GIL courses will be permanently offered by the two schools on a biannual basis.”

Professor Bishop explained to the newsletter: “GIS is a multi-billion dollar industry that continues to grow. The U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET (2011) states that employment for GIS jobs has a bright outlook, which means those jobs are projected to grow much faster than average (employment increase of 20% or more) and are projected to have at least 100,000 or more job openings over the next decade. These increases are in response to the wide use of GIS in commerce, government, the military, and academia. Nearly 80 percent of all government data retain spatial locations as their key element. In academia, GIScience research and application are interdisciplinary, with use in a diverse range of fields including science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). GIS has also grown in use in the social sciences and humanities. In response to GIS growth in higher education, fifty GIS librarian jobs were advertised in academic libraries alone from 2007 to 2009. Certainly, there has been demand beyond academic libraries for information professionals with a GIS skillset.

These will be popular electives wherever they are offered because students who attain these knowledge, skills, and abilities will be employable.”

Wade Bishop, Shari Veil Conduct Study Funded by Natural Hazards Center

Prof. Wade Bishop Awarded Institute of Museum and Library Services Grant

The National Science Foundation’s Natural Hazards Center awarded a Quick Response Program Grant to College of Communication and Information faculty Wade Bishop, SLIS, and Shari Veil, Director of Risk Sciences. In the project, Community Resilience and Public Libraries: Post Crisis Information and Connectivity, the investigators interviewed 22 librarians and library users in communities affected by tornadoes that struck Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, and Alabama in early March of this year.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded UK SLIS Assistant Professor Wade Bishop and Drexel University Associate Professor Tony Grubesic a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant in the amount of $345,270.

The project, “Geographic Information Librarianship,” is in the Programs to Build Institutional Capacity category.

The IMLS announcement reads: ”Librarians are increasingly called upon to manage and preserve the resources created by an array of geo-location tools. The ‘Geographic Information Librarianship’ project (GIL) is a two-year curricular research collaboration between Drexel

Wade told the newsletter: “Public libraries serve as Internet provider all of the time, but the criticality of that service is heightened in times of emergencies. Displaced patrons rely on the public library Internet access to request aid, try to find missing family and friends, file Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and insurance claims, and begin rebuilding their lives. The study found that the services and activities performed by public librarians were critical in helping communities begin the process of recovery from the traumatic events.”

Among SLIS Faculty

Fall 2012

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Prof. Donald Case’s Monograph Published Earlier this year the 3rd edition of Dr. Donald Case’s awardwinning monograph, Looking for Information, was published by Emerald Group Publishing.

The book by Prof. Case and former College of Communication and Information Dean J. David Johnson, Health information seeking. was published by Peter Lang in late September of this year.

Dr. Case will make three presentations at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T), in Baltimore this October.

Donald has been invited to give the keynote address at a symposium in Australia in April, 2014. The meeting is sponsored by Charles Sturt University, in Wagga Wagga, NSW. Prof. Case has informed the newsletter that he has applied for phased retirement from UK, to begin in July of 2013.

Under phased retirement faculty spend from one to five years teaching half-time and continuing other research and service duties. Dr. Case joined the SLIS faculty in 1994.

Prof. Lisa O’Connor Promoted with Tenure Prof. Lisa O’Connor has been promoted to Associate Professor, with tenure.

Dr. O’Connor’s recent articles include: • O’Connor, Lisa and Marcia Rapchak (’11). (2012) Information Use in Online Civic Discourse: A Study of Health Care Reform Debate. Library Trends, 60(3).

• O’Connor, L. (2013). Investors’ Collaborative Information Behaviors in Virtual Communities. Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology. In press.

• O’Connor, Lisa. (2013). The Information Seeking and Use Behaviors of Retired Investors. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 45(1).

The article by Prof. O’Connor and Kacy Lundstrom (’11), The Impact of Social Marketing Strategies on the Information Seeking Behaviors of College Students. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 50(4), 351-365, has been selected as one of ALA-Library Instruction Round Table's Top Twenty Library Instruction articles of 2011.

Prof. Namjoo Choi Receives Distinguished Dissertation Award At last spring’s University at Albany/State University of New York Graduate Commencement Prof. Namjoo Choi received a Distinguished Dissertation Award from the University. Informing Dr. Choi that he had been selected for the recognition, Peter A. Bloniarz, Dean, College of Computing and Information, wrote: “This is well-deserved recognition for the fine job that you did in your research. There were a number of strong nominees this year, and it is truly a credit to your work to recognize you in this way. Congratulations Fall 2012

on a job well done.”

In addition to the announcement of the award at the University's Graduate Commencement on May 19, it was also announced at the College of Computing and Information's Commencement later that afternoon.

Shannon Oltmann Joins SLIS Faculty Dr. Shannon M. Oltmann joined the School of Library and Information Science faculty this fall as Assistant Professor.

Dr. Oltmann, who earned her Ph.D. at the School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, defended her dissertation in December of last year. She also holds the M.I.S. degree from IU SLIS. She earned the B.A. degree magna cum laude at DePauw University.

Professor Oltmann’s research interests are information policy; information access; reference and user services; collection development and management; and information ethics, intellectual freedom, and related issues. She has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals and has made numerous presentations.

Shannon comes to UK SLIS with teaching experience in collection development and management, social science information, information policy, and international information issues. In addition, she has taught a seminar in intellectual freedom.

Her awards include: • 2012: Third place in the Jean Tague Sutcliffe Doctoral Poster Competition at the annual Association for Library and Information Science Education conference; • 2009: Best presentation at IU SLIS Annual Doctoral Student Research Forum; • 2009: Beta Phi Mu Award for Student Scholarship, Chi Chapter; • 2004-2009: Recipient, GAANN Fellowship (Graduate Assistance in Area of National Need).

Jamey Herdelin Has One-Year Appointment Jamey Herdelin, who completed the School’s master’sdegree program in 2004 and is enrolled in a doctoral program in education and social change at Bellarmine University, Louisville, accepted the School’s offer of a one-year appointment as Visiting Assistant Professor. She is responsible for the school library media program. Her appointment follows the departure this summer of Melissa Johnston, who joined the faculty at the University of Alabama.

The newsletter asked Jamey to comment on the Bellarmine doctoral program in which she is enrolled, and she said the goal of the program “is to develop change agents whose purpose is to improve the education of children in poverty.” She is a member of the first cohort.

Jamey earned a B.S. in business administration at the University of New Hampshire and later earned an elementary teaching certificate at Glassboro State College, New Jersey.

She is a member of Phi Chi Theta Honor Society, the professional business and economics fraternity.

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Jamey joined Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, as an elementary school teacher in 1997, and since 2004 she has been Library Media Specialist at Maupin Elementary School.

She received an IMLS grant to attend the UK SLIS graduate program. She has been active in the Kentucky School Media Association and in the Jefferson County Schools Media Association and has served on the boards of directors of those organizations. Jamey has been a National Board Certified Teacher since 2009, and in 2010 she was co-recipient of a Gheens Institute for Creativity and Innovation grant.

New name for our college

College of Communication and Information In May the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees approved a name change, and the former College of Communications and Information Studies, which includes the School of Library and Information Science, is now the College of Communication and Information. The change was effective July 1. Dean O’Hair commented: “We are repositioning the college name with our mission, our strategic plan and our nationally recognized programs. The new name … is better aligned with our national associations including the I-Schools, the National Communication Association, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and the American Society for Information Science and Technology.”

Alumni and Awards Banquet 2012 The School's annual Alumni and Awards Banquet was held Friday, April 27, at the Double Tree Suites. Julie VanHoose received the LISSO Leadership Award, and Emily Aldridge received the Melody Trosper Award. New members of Beta Phi Mu were initiated. Terry Birdwhistell ('78) received the 2012 Outstanding Alumna/us Award and delivered the Karen Cobb Memorial Lecture.

The following were invited to membership in Beta Phi Mu: August 2011 graduate Meredith Nelson; December 2011 graduates David Broussard, James Green, Jacqueline Hawes, Jessicah Hohman, Connie Kibbey, Julie Ledford, Eric Pennington, Christine Riveire, Amber Surface, and Sara Wood; and May 2012 graduates Emily Aldridge, Andrew Champion, Bridget Farrell, Melinda Groff, Meredith Kerrick, Holger Lenz, Rachel McGuire, Nicole Morgan, Kimberly Robbins, Rachel Staub, Julie VanHoose, and Randy-Lynne Wach.

McConnell Youth Literature Conference The 44th McConnell Youth Literature Conference was held March 23–24, 2012, at Lexington’s Embassy Suites Hotel again this year. M.T. Anderson, author of Printz Honor winners The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party and Vol. 2: The Kingdom on the Waves, delivered the Joy Terhune Fall 2012

Lecture at the banquet on Friday night. In a talk filled with humor, Anderson discussed travel and literature.

The banquet was attended by a large number of School faculty, and School director, Dr. Jeff Huber. Although Mrs. Terhune could not be with us this year, she was with us in thought, as was conference namesake, the late Anne McConnell.

On Friday afternoon, many aspects of youth literature and services were explored in breakout sessions. Ellen Jenay Hall presented ideas for “Bringing Youth Literature to Life,” while Becky Nelson and Erin Conness discussed “School & Public Library Collaboration,” and Master’s students in the Critical Analysis of Children’s Literature course presented on the recipients of the 2012 Caldecott, Newbery, and Printz awards.

Saturday’s breakout sessions continued our exploration of youth literature and services with presentations by local librarians, Mary Landrum and Lowena Latiff, on “Literature and Early Literacy,” Becky Nelson, Melinda Caldwell, and Jill Barrows, on “Autism in Print,” and Peter Howard on his time on the Newbery Committee with “But Then I’d Have to Kill You: What I Can and Cannot Tell You About Serving on the Newbery Committee.”

Illustrator Lisa Desimini spoke about her work as an author/illustrator during the general session on Saturday morning, while Saturday’s lunch session featured historical fiction/children’s graphic novel author Jennifer Holm, who shared the inspirations for her various novels.

The Saturday schedule also included smaller breakout sessions with Anderson, Holm, and Desimini. The Master’s students also presented on the ALA Youth Media awards again. Thank you to all of the presenters for a job well done.

The Blue Marble Bookstore of Fort Thomas, Kentucky, once again provided conference attendees with a wonderful selection of books. We are grateful for the continuing support of Peter and Tina Moore, Tish Gayle and all the staff of The Blue Marble. Many thanks go to our wonderful volunteers.

2013 Conference March 1-2 Please mark your calendar for March 1-2, 2013, for the 45th McConnell Conference celebration. Jack Gantos, the 2012 Newbery Medal Winner for Dead End in Norvelt, will be our banquet speaker on Friday evening. Selene Castrovilla, author of The Girl Next Door, will be the morning session speaker, and Dan Yaccarino, illustrator of Boy + Bot (2012) will be our lunch session speaker.

We hope to see you then.

Updates can be monitored through the official McConnell Facebook page and the School of Library and Information Science website. We hope you will be with us as we celebrate the McConnell Conference’s 45th year.

Thank you for your support of the McConnell Conference. ~Rachel McGuire & Dr. Stephanie D. Reynolds Page 7

Alumni and Awards Banquet 2012

Clockwise from top: Reception prior to the banquet; 2011 Alternative Spring Break Library of Congress interns with former Associate Librarian of Congress Deanna Marcum (left-to-right): Cheyenne Hohman, Meredith Nelson, Emily Pike, Deanna, Emily Aldridge; LISSO President Debbi Lloyd presents the Leadership Award to Julie VanHoose; Outstanding Alumnus Award recipient Terry Birdwhistell with son-in-law John Smith, daughter Jessie, wife Janice; Melody Trosper Award recipient Emily Aldridge and LISSO Leadership Award recipient Julie VanHoose.

Fall 2012

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Alternative Spring Break 2012 The spring 2012 newsletter included information about SLIS students selected to participate in the alternative spring break program. Mindy Groff, Laura Hess, Holger Lenz, Susan MacDonell, and Daniel Weddington had placements at the Library of Congress. It was also reported that the National Library of Medicine would participate in the alternative spring break program, and students Lauren Coil and Kelly Lee had internships at NLM. Following their return, the students were invited to reflect on their experience: Mindy Groff: This Spring I was privileged to be one of five students chosen from the University of Kentucky to participate in the Library of Congress Alternative Spring Break. As a student in this program, I was able to spend the week in Washington D.C., working at the library during the day and touring the beautiful city in the evening.

This trip was an incredible opportunity, and the experience provided a great capstone to my years of course work in the University of Kentucky School of Library and Information Science.

Each student in the Alternative Spring Break program was assigned to a specific project within a division of the library. I was assigned to the African and Middle Eastern Division, where my fellow student, Susan MacDonell, and I were responsible for inventorying a collection of artifacts, informally called “Obamabilia,” from various countries in Africa that celebrated the election of President Obama. Our assignment was to inventory the collection and create a spreadsheet listing each item by name, description, type, and country of origin. Once we had created the spreadsheet, we went back and applied a loose controlled vocabulary and categorizing system to the information we had compiled, in order to facilitate future use of the items. Eventually, the inventory will be made available online as a finding aid.

It was fascinating to see the items that the Library of Congress has acquired in this collection. The majority of it is made up of newspapers published during the campaign, immediately following the election, and after the inauguration. Many of the newspapers come from Kenya, which is happy to claim Obama as its “Native Son.” From beer bottles to cloth dolls, t-shirts to buttons, gum wrappers to bumper stickers, the collection offers a wide variety of Obama-themed paraphernalia. Completing this project allowed me to work hand-on with items that celebrate an important moment in American history.

Once we completed our project, our site supervisor scheduled additional meetings and tours for us. We accompanied her to a luncheon with the Library of Congress Professional Association, which is a large group of LOC employees who participate in community service and networking events outside of their usual job descriptions. The luncheon was a great opportunity to speak Fall 2012

with many different librarians, hear more about professional development, and gain an understanding of the organizational culture at the LOC. Attending this meeting helped me develop a more comprehensive understanding of this amazing institution.

One of my favorite parts of my week at the LOC was touring the Preservation Department. We had the opportunity to speak with a preservationist, who showed us many of the tools and equipment that are used to conserve the priceless items held by the library. We were also able to watch the preservationists at work, and observe the methods they use to restore such items as Japanese paintings and a childhood manuscript written by George Washington. Preservation is an important component of library science, but I’ve had little experience with it first-hand. Taking this tour made me want to look into additional training and possibly an eventual certification in this field.

I am so thankful to the University of Kentucky for enabling me to participate in the Library of Congress Alternative Spring Break program. As a soon-to-be graduate, it was wonderful to spend a week surrounded by established professionals who provided me with enthusiastic encouragement about my future in the field.

Although I won’t be headed back to Washington D.C. anytime soon, I am hopeful that my future will eventually lead me back to the Library of Congress and to the beautiful city that houses it.

Holger Lenz: “The Library of Congress is the most amazing library in the world, and we are working hard to keep it that way.” These words, from Roberta Shaffer, Associate Librarian for Library Services, will be playing in my head for the rest of the week, over and over again: as I walk through the monumental hallways, made of sweat and marble to form a “more perfect” library; as I gaze at statues, mosaics, paintings; or as I sit in the cafeteria quietly, sipping on my coffee, contemplating my Spring Break assignment this year. I am at the most amazing library in the world.

Washington D.C. is itself wonderful. It is a city full of attractive buildings, free museums, and energetic people—the perfect place for the world’s biggest and most impressive library. Every morning I take the red line from Takoma Park, a quaint little suburb of D.C. with lots of expensive real estate and good restaurants. When I exit the endless metro tunnels at Union Station I can already see the Capitol, standing at a distance, waiting for me to pass by. After ten minutes and a brisk walk, I finally arrive at the Library.

I work at the Madison building. Constructed in the 1970s, the Madison building lacks the architectural splendor of the Library’s main building and houses mostly administrative staff—those who make sure that we “keep it that way.” Roberta Schaffer’s office is here, and so is mine. An ounce of jealousy overcomes me as I Page 9

think of my fellow UK interns who get to spend their week in rooms with wooden ceilings, among the pillars of marble and sweat.

Unfair? Not really. As I am introduced to my new colleagues, all exceptional people who could not have been nicer at the same time more competent, my excitement comes back to me. All previous thoughts of envy pass into thin air as I finally get to see my assignment. For the next five days I will be cataloging, indexing, and researching photographic archival material from the National Photo Company. The National Photo Co., as it is lovingly called here, was a company that documented urban and social life in and around Washington D.C. from 1900 to 1940. The pictures are fascinating, to say the least. I never knew what General John Pershing looked like, and that one of his favorite leisure activities was sharp shooting. For several hours each day, I get to plunge into a world that is so distant and yet fascinating at the same time.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. Are there any caveats? There is one—that the week is simply too short. Before I know it, it is Friday 12:00 p.m., and the badge that I wore proudly these past five days has to be returned.

What I have learned, however, and the people I have met and time I have spent, all was well worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Laura Hess: For the Library of Congress Alternative Spring Break Program 2012, I was assigned to the AsianAmerican reading room in the Jefferson Library. I worked with Reme Grafalda to revise a research guide detailing the Asian-American materials in other departments of the Library of Congress. Originally created by a team of librarians in 2007, the guide is broken down by region (China, Japan, Korea, etc.) and then by library department. My job was to expand the Southeast AsianAmericans and Pacific Islanders sections. Using descriptions of resources in the catalog and departmental Web sites, I vastly expanded the resources listed for Southeast Asian-Americans.

One of the greatest challenges for my project was the time limit. If I had more time, I would have been able to actually visit the respective reading rooms and departments of the library to search for materials. But since I only had five days to work on the research guide, I was limited to using online resources. I was also hampered by my lack of knowledge of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. I know very little about the history of Southeast Asian nations and their involvement with the United States, and I have even less expertise with the languages.

Several portions of the research guide that I created had to be approved by various librarians in the department because the materials were in a foreign language.

The Alternative Spring Break Program was a wonderful experience. In addition to gaining work experience, I was able to expand my professional network. Everyone I met in the Library of Congress was extremely welcoming and very excited to work with library science students.

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The professional community created by the Library of Congress is a wonderful place to work, even if it was only for a week.

Susan MacDonell: I was assigned to the Africa and Middle East division at the Library of Congress. My supervisor, Eve Ferguson, gave me (and Mindy Groff, who was assigned to the same division) the assignment of cataloging items in the Obamabilia collection, assembled from various countries in Africa. We used descriptors such as title, description of artifact, and country of origin to organize our findings. Ms. Ferguson then had us put the information in a simple Excel spreadsheet in order to create a useable index that could later be put on the Africa and Middle East Division Web page.

Ms. Ferguson also gave us the opportunity to explore various parts of the library. She set up tours for us with the Maps and Geography department as well as the Preservation and Conservation department. Rene Sayles, one of the Maps and Geography library technicians, gave us the tour of her department. She explained the various methods of cataloging the maps. Evidently, not all of the maps are available online, but any can be requested to be scanned and sent to individual researchers. The reference librarian and researcher relationship is much more personal because the researcher is not allowed to rummage through the maps.

I was particularly appreciative to Ms. Ferguson for setting up the tour of Preservation and Conservation.

That subject area is the reason I started looking into the Library and Information Science program. Claire Dekle gave Mindy and me a tour of that department, and she even remembered people from the University of Kentucky who had toured or worked there before (Sara Wood and Kazuko Hioki). Ms. Dekle showed us the space, which spanned several different rooms, and the equipment that is used in various aspects of preservation and conservation. She even showed us a couple of the projects being worked on, from an century or so old advert for a geisha house, to a draft of the letter to King George from the colonists stating their grievances. That was absolutely groovy.

The entire experience charged up my desire to work within the library and information science field. I am excited to work as a librarian and later have the opportunity to increase my education into the Preservation and Conservation realm. I am thankful to the School of Library and Information Science for giving me the opportunity to work within such a highly regarded library.

Lauren Coil: For my project at the National Library of Medicine, I worked with the Specialized Information Services section of the library. This group includes, among other things, environmental health, disaster information management, and outreach activities. I worked closely with the librarians in the Outreach Activities and Resources branch. Because they are trying to find unique ways to reach special populations that often face health Page 10

disparities or a lack of consumer information, including minorities, seniors/caregivers, and public health practitioners, they are looking at different social networking sites as well as at funding opportunities. One of the approved social networking sites for government entities is Twitter (mostly due to reasons of security). It was my job to use Twitter to see who the outreach group should be following and then follow them as a means of establishing a relationship for outreach. I was also tasked with researching ways in which these groups seek information as well as their preferred methods of communication.

Along with the technical experience, which was new to me having not spent a lot of time on Twitter, I was also able to network with other medical librarians and learn about all of the opportunities that are available in the field of health sciences librarianship. I also got to meet the associate fellows and learn how the Library of Medicine operates with its several parts such as PubMed and open access policies.

Outside of the project, I was able to take advantage of the great free things that DC has to offer. One of my favorite evenings was getting to do a tour of all the monuments on the national mall.

This was a really great opportunity and I really appreciate getting the chance to participate.

Kelly Lee: The Alternative Spring Break opportunity at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) was fantastic in many ways. The ability to experience the collective good that the government is doing for its citizens is evident all over the city. Each monument, museum, or government agency seen makes one realize the mission our elected officials and government workers have been given and the passion they have for implementing it. The NLM is no exception. Everyone from the receptionist assisting in credentialing, to the person in charge of PubMed, are welcoming and eager to share the wealth of information they have amassed with those that have a desire to learn.

My project was supervised by Lisa Sedlar, an inviting, organized and knowledgeable librarian whose responsibilities include administering the Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce Web site. This site is a portal with links to trusted sources of public health information designed to serve public health workers, medical librarians, or anyone administering a public health program (including providing consumer health information). The participating agencies include the Medical Library Association (MLA), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the NLM, and more.

For my project, I assisted with the update of NLM’s Health Promotion and Health Education main topic page.

It began as a list of participating organizations with links to public health-related pages associated with each organization. As each one contributed more and more links, the page grew such that it could no longer be easily browsed. I was assigned (actually chose out of a list of options) the task of organizing these links by categories Fall 2012

and building a new page within their content management system. The job itself was interesting, and through it I was exposed to the myriad of resources available for consumer health (among others). The opportunity to witness real world ties to content of which I have been introduced in the Consumer Health Information and Electronic Resources in Healthcare courses was welcoming.

Throughout my time there, my supervisor was a helpful resource for and went out of her way to introduce me to her colleagues and encouraged me to take advantage of all that the campus had to offer. I went on the public tour at the NLM and was able to browse their two exhibits: "And there’s the humor of it: Shakespeare and the Four Humors," as well as "Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness." I also had a unique opportunity to attend a lecture and was able to hear a presentation on a study currently in progress that outlined a unique community healthcare initiative in New York City.

This week was also eye-opening in presenting the vast variety of jobs in which librarians are employed. Kathel Dunn, the Associate Fellowship Coordinator, was very helpful in providing a well-rounded experience and arranged for us to spend time with the head of the Bibliographic Services Division (David Gillikin) as well as the opportunity to attend a meeting with their Fellows. This enabled us to have an inside glimpse into the interesting projects that they are currently working on, as well get a sense of the program including the professional collaboration that they enjoy. This partnership, in addition to a commitment to education and serving the public good, can be seen all throughout the NLM and NIH campus. I would highly recommend this experience to those interested in any aspect of medical librarianship.

National Archives Added to Spring Break Sites; Library of Congress Placements Double Alternative spring break was introduced in 2011 when five SLIS students spent the week of March 14-18 in Library of Congress internships, with financial support from the School. Spring 2012 the National Library of Medicine joined LC as a site for internships. Spring 2013 the National Archives will join LC and NLM to host students from the School in spring-break internships.

Also in spring 2013, the program will grow in another way, when the number of interns at the Library of Congress doubles, to ten. After launching the alternative spring break, the School applied to the Women & Philanthropy Network at UK for funds to support the program, and in January of this year Director Jeff Huber learned SLIS had been awarded $10,000 in scholarships for that purpose, for spring 2013. Whereas in 2011 and 2012 five students had LC internships, in 2013 the School will be able to double that number.

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Your will is your witness . . .

I am pleased to present information in each issue of this newsletter on ways that gifts can be made to benefit the Library School through gift and estate planning. I hope the following will be useful to you.

Your will is a plan for what happens after you are gone, but it can also be a witness to how you live today and what you hold dear. For many, estate planning is less about possessions and more about values. When you write a will, you tell the world what’s important to you. A will can affirm your hopes and dreams as well as protect your loved ones.

Many individuals make provisions in their estate plans for cherished causes in their lives like the University of Kentucky. Including a worthy institution with a bequest in your will demonstrates that the support you have shown during your life will become a lasting legacy through your estate.

And usually, most people are able to make substantially larger gifts through their estates than they can during their lifetimes. While every gift is helpful, larger gifts can transform a program or an area of the University -- such as the Library School -- and make a significantly greater impact upon students and the Commonwealth. Often, a bequest will be a person’s ultimate gift to the University of Kentucky.

If you have included the University or the Library School in your estate plan, please let me know. We want to honor you and thank you on behalf of the University for your generous decision.

We also want to invite you to become a member of the University’s Society of 1865. Named to commemorate the University’s founding date, this special Society recognizes alumni and friends who are leaving a legacy at the University of Kentucky through a bequest, charitable gift annuity, life insurance policy, retirement plan, life estate in a residence or farm, or testamentary or life income trust.

If the University is not in your will, consider leaving a legacy in this simple way which can have a transformative impact upon students’ lives for generations to come.

And as you consider your estate plans, perhaps you will have questions to ask, or ideas you would like to discuss. I invite you to contact me at no obligation. It would be a pleasure for me to learn about your philanthropic dreams . . . and help you find ways to make them come true at the University of Kentucky.

Sincerely,

Ford Stanley ’91 Director of Gift and Estate Planning University of Kentucky Sturgill Development Building Lexington, KY 40506-0015 Phone: 800-875-6272 (toll-free) or 859-257-7886 Email: giftandestate@uky.edu

Please Support Your School The support you provide through gifts to the School helps us to fund student scholarships, to send faculty and students to professional meetings, to support the McConnell Conference and many of our other programs. You can now make a gift by credit card or make a pledge on-line at: https://giveto.uky.edu/CIS_p/cis.htm.

The University accepts payment by Master Card, VISA, American Express and Discover.

This site contains a list of all scholarships funds in the College. To make a gift by credit card, first go to the drop down box and select a fund. You will then be prompted on how to pay for the gift. If you need additional information, please contact College Alumni and Development Officer, Janice Birdwhistell, at 859.257.4241 or at: janice.bird@uky.edu

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Re-Educating a Librarian by

Terry L. Birdwhistell Karen Cobb Memorial Lecture – April 27, 2012 Dr. Terry Birdwhistell (’78) received the School’s 2012 Outstanding Alumna/us Award at the April 27 Alumni and Awards Banquet. On that occasion Terry delivered the 2012 Karen Cobb Memorial Lecture, and we thank him for making the text available to be published in the newsletter.

career when her life was cut short. Nevertheless, she had GOOD EVENING AND THANK YOU. It means a great deal to already made a lasting impression on those who knew her in me to have been selected for this honor. I guarantee that no this college and in UK Libraries. one in my classes in library school would have predicted that I would be standing here before you this evening!

I want to thank Dr. Jeff Huber, the faculty and staff of the “educational and professional journey” It is so tempting at this point in our profession’s development school, and especially Dennis Carrigan for this honor. I apto talk about libraries in the 21st century. But previous speakpreciate Dean Dan O’Hair for being here this evening and for his leadership in the College of Communication and Iners at this event have already done that better than I can. More formation Studies and campus-wide. importantly, with the knowledge and And, a special shout out to Dr. Beth brain power in this room tonight I Barnes, Director of the School of think I might have the least to offer Journalism and Teleon that topic. communications. Over the past I am interested in how, as several years UK Libraries has librarians, we establish our proworked with Journalism on several fessional goals and how we public programming initiatives. continue to learn and grow to meet Joining me here this evening is what are inevitable challenges my spouse, Janice Birdwhistell, within our profession to provide Director of Development for this essential information for people college, my daughter Jessie when they need it, where they Birdwhistell, a doctoral student in need it, and how they need it. I am the other Dean O’Hair’s college, certain that those of you who Education, and my exceptional sonknow me well expect that I might in-law, John Christopher Smith. have a story or two to tell this I appreciate so many of my UK evening. Well, I must admit you Libraries colleagues being here toare correct. With that in mind I night. I am honored that former UK hope you will indulge me as I tell Dean of Libraries Carol Diedrichs is a few stories about my educational here. Carol, who is now Director of and professional journey that The Ohio State University Libraries brought me here tonight in the conDr. Terry Birdwhistell delivers the and a national leader in research text of the ongoing re-education of 2012 Karen Cobb Memorial Lecture. libraries, is one of the people who a librarian. played a tremendous role in advancing my career, and I am Not unlike most of you, I am here because of the help of a greatly indebted to her. Now that she has given up a Friday lot of people. I was a first generation college student in my evening to drive down and be here tonight, I owe her even family. When I entered Georgetown College in the late 60’s, more! my father took out a personal loan at the local bank to pay I want to recognize Brenda and Don Lampton. Brenda is my first semester’s tuition. I will always appreciate that president of the UK Libraries National Advisory Board, and support from my parents. her ongoing support is greatly appreciated. I hope each student in this room tonight is fortunate enough to have a American Studies president of your advisory board as dedicated as Brenda is At college I took political science classes thinking I was to UK Libraries. going to law school, which seemed like a noble ambition. In I also would like to take a moment and acknowledge the my small hometown, there were only three professions belife and short career of Karen Cobb, for whom this lecture is sides teaching to emulate; doctor, lawyer or preacher. I am named. Karen was just at the beginning of a very promising omitting undertakers of which there were two.

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Georgetown College history professor Fred Hood became my advisor and somehow convinced me to change to a new American Studies major created at the college. It was a great degree for the late sixties; learn a little bit about a whole lot!

It was a real liberal arts education, but I have always wondered if Dr. Hood wanted to assure I could never find gainful employment after graduation. Turned out American Studies was the perfect major for me then and for my career.

The only real option with an American Studies degree is to go to graduate school. Graduate programs in American Studies were at very elite and expensive schools like Penn and Emory and my favorite, the University of Hawaii where, if I could have attended, I am certain I would have really enjoyed graduate school.

Graduate School: History But it was obvious I could not afford to go to any of those schools even if they may have admitted me. So I applied to graduate school in history at the University of Kentucky. I do not think it ever occurred to me that not majoring in history might be a problem. Nor did I realize how much weight graduate programs placed on my dreadful GRE scores. I mean really, who knew?

I was in for a rude awakening of course. Soon after sending in my UK application, a letter came back letting me know they did not think I had the right stuff. But Dr. Hood, who had gotten me into this predicament, would not be deterred. He absolutely pestered the history department at UK until they agreed to read the Honors paper I had completed and meet with me. “there are no jobs in history” During that meeting Dr. George Herring, the History Department’s Director of Graduate Studies, looked over his desk at me and said, “Mr. Birdwhistell, even if we let you in the program, there are no jobs in history.” I simply replied, “That works for me, I’m not looking for a job. I just want to study history.” For whatever reason, he was kind enough to admit me, and still these many years later he is a great mentor and friend.

So I was on my way to becoming some type of historian.

But, as is often the case in life stories, something completely random changed the course of my career. In January, 1973, I found myself once again sitting before Dr. Herring discussing a book review I had written for his diplomatic history class. Dr. Herring asked me if I knew the little book Elements of Style. I told him I had never heard of it, and he did not seem a bit surprised. He advised me to obtain a copy and study it before I submitted another writing assignment. “desperately needing part-time work” I appreciated that sound advice, but as we were talking Dr. Herring’s phone rang. A person from the UK Archives was calling to see if Dr. Herring knew any graduate students who might be available for a job in the archives. My parttime jobs at a small bookstore called “For Madmen Only” and at a local distillery ended, and I desperately needed parttime work. I left Dr. Herring’s office and walked directly to the King Library, applied for the position and was hired.

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Even as a student worker in the archives and a heavy user of the UK Libraries, I knew virtually nothing about the library profession. At Georgetown College I had spent hours upon hours in the library, and some of that time I was actually awake. It seemed to me at the time that Ms. Covington’s major task was waking me up. I knew nothing about her many other responsibilities within her library.

By the summer of 1974 I completed my M.A. in history.

A year earlier UK Libraries had received a modest grant to initiate an oral history project. Unfortunately, by the summer of 1974 they had spent most of the money and had only three oral histories interviews to show for it. UK Archives needed someone to do oral history interviews cheap! Turned out I was their guy.

UK Libraries offered me $6,300 a year as a part-time staff person (39 hours a week) with benefits like health insurance, vacation and sick leave. When a friend asked me how I could work for so little money, I told him it tripled my income. I had so much more money I got married. Thank you Janice!

Graduate School: Library and Information Science Even though I found myself working nearly full-time in a Special Collections and Archives environment, I still knew very little about how one became a librarian. A fellow graduate student in history, upon finishing his degree, told me he was going to library school. At that time I did not even know there was such a thing as a library school, much less that UK had one. But it occurred to me, after working in the library for awhile, that getting a library degree made great sense. Pursuing a graduate degree in Library and Information Science turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. Former Dean Tim Sineath and Professor Tom Waldhart were the two key persons who guided me through the library school program, and I thank them for that. Since I went part-time while working at UK Libraries, it took several years to complete the degree.

40 Years at UK: “lucky enough to start here” I find it hard to believe that I have been at UK for nearly 40 years. James K. Patterson, UK’s first president, served for 40 years. Toward the end of Patterson’s long tenure, a young faculty member remarked that old President Patterson “knew more dead people than living people.” I am starting to appreciate that more every day.

A newspaper reporter once asked me why I had never left UK. My answer was simple, “Most academics spend their careers trying to get to a place like UK. I was lucky enough to start here!” As importantly, UK Libraries afforded me opportunities to do many different types of archives and library work, and I have enjoyed all of it.

So, that is how I made it to this point, but I realize in situations like this I am expected to share some knowledge, or even wisdom, that I have learned over the course of my career. Research libraries and higher education generally are changing rapidly and we face many challenges. Change comes in huge waves and it comes often. Google, digital, Wikipedia, learning commons, e-journals, e-books, digital scholarship, Hathi Trust, Digital Public Library, Big Data.

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“core challenges remain the same” It is somewhat reassuring that there is one constant in research libraries and higher education, not enough money!

But the advantage of a 40-year perspective is that while everything does continuously change, the core challenges remain the same. We must use our resources wisely, have well-defined strategic goals, and utilize the latest technologies to provide students, faculty, researchers and citizens the information they need.

Perhaps our challenge is greater now because people have come to expect their information when they want it, how they want, and where they want it. For example, show today’s undergraduate student a microfilm reader and see what reaction you get. It is much like asking them to use a communal bathroom in an old dorm! Seriously. That is just not what they are used to. But in my long library career this has always been the primary challenge. Improve access to information and help users understand the difference in the quality and validity of the information they use.

Early in my library career we struggled to be brave enough to abandon the old card catalog and change over to an online catalog. Many of my library colleagues were not sure about that. Academics can be some of the most conservative people ever when it comes to change. We see the same hesitancy today with faculty (and some librarians) who are only grudgingly giving up paper journals for online open access articles.

The expectation of what access means has changed dramatically. When I began my oral history work, the release forms we asked our interviewees to sign stipulated that the interviews would be transcribed (with a typewriter) and made available in the research room “to qualified researchers.” I never really knew what we meant by “a qualified researcher,” but it did seem to convey a seriousness about the enterprise. Within 20 years we were transcribing with computers and putting oral history transcripts on the Web. A few years ago we began placing actual recordings on the web. Access trumps total control in today’s research library.

I spent the greater part of my library career on the archives side and I enjoyed it immensely. I had the opportunity to meet and interact with very fascinating people. I conducted over 800 oral history interviews across Kentucky and around the country. I enjoyed my 16 years as University Archivist, and it amazes me that I have known eight of UK’s 12 presidents. “broad array of challenges” Now, as Dean of UK Libraries, I am confronted with a broad array of different challenges. Just this week we learned that we will reduce UK Libraries’ budget by over 11% in the next eighteen months. Everyone here tonight is very aware that the system for creating scholarly journals is broken, and that the future of research libraries depends very much on how this generation of librarians deals with open access and scholarly publications.

As distinctions between libraries, scholarly presses, information technology, writing centers, and living/learning spaces continue to be less defined, what are our strategic goals and how can we best accomplish them?

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Mary Beth Thomson, UK Libraries Associate Dean for Collections and Technical Services, with the help of many others has created UKnowledge, our first institutional repository, in which we are capturing theses and dissertations, faculty and student scholarly output, and publishing four electronic journals. Will this trend in scholarly communications grow and be central to research libraries’ futures?

My colleague Mary Molinaro, Associate Dean for Library Technologies, has UK Libraries partnered with University of Kentucky Information Technology to play a major role in university-wide data curation. UKIT provides the hardware and software and UK Libraries provides metadata and access expertise. Will we be able to build the infrastructure fast enough to meet our researchers’ needs and sustain it permanently? What will be our role in national digital preservation?

Janet Stith, Director of the Medical Center Library, and her colleagues face rapidly increasing prices for journals and databases needed by medical students and researchers.

Will open access develop fast enough to be able to meet the demand for medical and science information? If not, how do we bridge the gap between shrinking collections budgets and rising costs?

At the same time we have an active clinical librarian program in which the Medical Center librarians participate in hospital rounds with physicians and medical students. We attempt to provide on-the-spot information using mobile devices. Can we sustain this approach for delivering information? Can we afford it, and even if we can, is this the right model? If so, for how long?

Finally, in a world in which research libraries increasingly have access to the same published information, archives and special collections represent uniqueness. Just as I leave special collections, the Association of Research Libraries and nearly everyone else concludes that unique collections are the real future of research libraries. So, an area that librarians have for years complained received more resources than warranted now needs even more resources to collect, organize and provide access to huge quantities of unique materials. Moreover, they must be digitized and made accessible world-wide for free! “future of our profession” What I have mentioned are programmatic challenges. But what about the challenges to the profession itself? Will tenured faculty appointments continue for academic librarians?

Will we find ways to make information literacy central to the teaching component within our universities? Can we make library instruction in large universities scalable with a better use of online technologies or more targeted audiences?

Our professional future and the future of research libraries depend on how we react to these issues during the next several years. I hope we do not have our own Kodak moment where we realize one day that no one needs us because we could not adapt to what people wanted. But it could happen if we do not work to adapt and challenge ourselves and our profession.

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We must accept that change is good. We must not fear change but embrace it. We must plan strategically and well.

We must be willing to take risks. We cannot be afraid to fail.

Librarians must cooperate more than ever. Even in Kentucky, with the strain upon our libraries, there remains real competition among libraries. We must work together to succeed and serve our users. We must also stay focused on our core strategic goals: serving students, faculty and researchers, and citizens and preserving our history and culture.

My entire career has been about being re-educated. I became an oral historian before I knew the techniques and theory of oral history. I became a librarian even before I had a library degree. I became an administrator responsible for digital programs before I knew the intricacies of the digital environment. It has been a continuous process of re-educating myself as a librarian.

I want to close by congratulating the students here this

evening who are receiving your graduate degree in Library and Information Science this semester. You now have the foundation upon which to build your careers. Without my degree from this program, I could not have made the most of the opportunities I have been given. I will always be grateful for what the UK School of Library and Information Science gave me.

With your new degree in hand, your challenge now is to go out and begin making a difference as a librarian, whether in a public library, a school library, a research library, or as an information professional. You will have many challenges ahead in your individual positions and in our chosen profession. But I am confident that with the foundation you have received in this program you will succeed.

Congratulations! It is a well-deserved honor – and you join a very distinguished line of leaders who have graduated from UK. Thank you.

How the Karen Cobb Memorial Lecture Came About Karen Elaine Cobb earned a BA degree in English at Talladega College, AL, in 1980; worked as a librarian at Webster Elementary School, Muscle Shoals, AL, for a year; and moved to Lexington in June 1981. She was hired as a staff assistant in the Circulation Department of the University of Kentucky’s Margaret I. King main library. Library faculty who worked with Karen encouraged her to apply to what was then the College of Library and Information Science.

She did so, was admitted, and enrolled summer 1983. Karen completed the MSLS program in December 1984 and joined the UK library faculty in February 1985, assigned to the King Library Reference Department. She died tragically in February 1988. At the time of Karen’s death, Tom Waldhart was Dean of the College of Library and Information Science. Even then there was an awards banquet each spring, that included a speaker. It was Tom’s idea to name the annual banquet talk for Karen, and so was born the Karen Cobb Memorial Lecture. For a number of years it has been tradition that the recipient of the School’s Outstanding Alumna/us Award, which is presented at the spring banquet, is asked to deliver the Cobb Lecture.

Fall 2012

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Lunch-N-Learn: Advice from Recent Graduates In the first Lunch-N-Learn of the fall semester, Heather Burke, Graduate Assistant in the School’s administrative office and responsible for organizing this semester’s LunchN-Learns, moderated a panel comprised of four recent graduates of the School: Emily Aldridge, Matt Cockerell, Virginia Lacefield, and Tony Ubelhor. Heather told the audience, in which LIS students were well represented, the panelists had been asked to talk about their experiences while in the program and pass along advice to current students for the job search that will follow. First, though, each panelist was asked to introduce herself, to comment on his focus while in the program, and to say what she is doing now.

Emily Aldridge completed the program in May 2012. While in the program, she worked in Reference and Instruction at Crabbe Library, Eastern Kentucky University’s main library.

It was there she developed her love for public service and instruction. She knew when she entered the LIS program that she wanted a career in academic librarianship, and she soon will join the library faculty at Bowling Green Technical College, KY. “Because of my work experience at EKU,” Emily said, “I did not take all of the courses I might have been expected to take, given my career interest. I wanted to complement my at-work experience, taking a variety of classes including cognates. I even took a CLD [Community Leadership and Development] 775 course, Nonprofit Leadership and Management, which proved to be a good window into board, fundraising, grants, and leadership.”

Matt Cockerell entered the program in 2009 and completed it in May 2011. He took online courses exclusively. Matt earned his undergraduate degree at UK and then attended UK law school, and while a student he worked in the Fine Arts Library. Matt discovered he disliked law school very much (“I hated law school.”) and realized he enjoyed working in the Fine Arts Library, and so he applied to the LIS program. His second year in the program he was a Graduate Assistant in the School’s administrative office. In preparation for the panel he reviewed his LIS transcript “and couldn’t identify a track.” Matt is Technologist/Instructional Producer in the UK College of Communication and Information. “I work with faculty to develop and deliver online courses, which means lots of problem-solving. The courses I took in LIS prepared me for my current position. When I was tasked with designing a course from scratch, I drew from the many examples of course layout I had been exposed to during my LIS education.”

Virginia Lacefield entered the LIS program in January 2009 and graduated in May 2011. After completing the MSLS program, she entered the College of Communication and Information’s doctoral program. Then, as now, she worked at UK in information technology, and while in the LIS program she was especially interested in the information science track. “The availability of online courses in the LIS program appealed to me as someone working full time.”

Also, she was interested in the LIS program because of the Fall 2012

opportunity it would give her to see an online program from the perspective of the student, which would put her in a better position to help faculty who encountered problems while teaching an online course.

Tony Ubelhor completed the School’s program in May 2012. This is his third career. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s he was a computer systems analyst in the private sector. In the late 1990s he began work on a Master’s degree in English and for 10 years taught in the UK English Department. In the LIS program, Tony said, “I was interested in the information science side of things. I wanted something that allowed me to bring my two career paths together.” After taking Prof. Huber’s health information resources course and completing a professional field experience placement in the UK Medical Center Library, he now hopes to obtain a position in health sciences librarianship.

During his last semester in the LIS program, Tony had a technology Graduate Assistantship in the administrative office; he currently is working for the School until he lands a library position.

Following introductions, Heather said to panel members: “If you could go back to being a student in the LIS program, what would you have done differently? What was most helpful? What advice to you have for current SLIS students?

Emily urged students to “look broadly; get in the field, in a paid or unpaid position. Classes are theoretical; it’s important to combine the theoretical with the practical, and working while in the program is a good way to do that.” She said the LIS program makes available “a multitude of opportunities,” and she cited her experience at the Library of Congress in the Alternative Spring Break program as an example. She urged students without library experience to take advantage of LIS 675, a semester-long internship-like placement that provides credit toward degree requirements.

Emily completed LIS 675 in UK’s Special Collections under the direction of Gordon Hogg.

Matt said that, if he were to go back to being a student in the LIS program, he would be more active in student organizations and more engaged with SLIS faculty. “It isn’t enough to go to class; you have to do things that will allow you to separate yourself from others in the job search. The faculty, staff, and administrators in UK SLIS are great. This school is highly regarded across campus and beyond; it is up to you as a student to take advantage of these resources.”

And he added: “Enjoy this time to interact with like-minded classmates.”

Virginia urged students to “try to extract the broadest information from all the courses and take courses that are going to stretch you or introduce you to new topics.” The time in the program will pass quickly, she said, making it all the more important that students “make every course count.”

Tony told the audience that in his job search he has reviewed many position notices and sees recurring themes.

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“Certain skill sets are very important,” he said, and he mentioned in particular instructional design and “any kind of Web experience.” He said he could “not emphasize enough the importance of taking LIS 675, which allows a person to show experience on his resume.”

Finally, Heather asked the panelists what advice they have for the job search.

Emily said, “When you begin the search for a professional position, find people who care about you and ask them to help you with the job search – creating a resume, writing a cover letter.” She said, too, “the first job may not be the perfect job, but you will learn from it. It’s important to capitalize on every opportunity.”

Matt repeated his earlier comment, that “It isn’t enough to go to class; you have to do things that will allow you to separate yourself from others in the job search, and the panel has mentioned ways to do that.”

Virginia said that, in her view, it is important for a student to prepare broadly to enter the competition for the first professional position. She urged students to “take advantage of the cognate course option.” She was interested in instructional design and human-technology interaction and, while in the LIS program, took graduate-level courses on these topics from the College of Education and the Department of Psychology. She also pointed out that at UK there are numerous opportunities to earn interdisciplinary graduate certificates and urged students to explore programs that would complement their LIS degree.

Tony stressed that he is still in the process of applying for a professional position, and has learned that “applying for positions in the academic world is a slow, slow process.” He said, too, whereas his frame of reference for writing a cover letter was the private sector, where brevity is stressed, “I have learned that is not the case when applying for an academic position. It seems to be expected that the cover letter will be several pages long.”

April Ritchie Discusses Kentucky Sister Library Project at Lunch-N-Learn The spring newsletter reported that the January/February 2012 issue of American Libraries has a feature article by April Ritchie (’98), “O Sister Library, Where Art Thou?” in which she discusses the Kentucky Library Association’s Kentucky Sister Library Project (KSLP), which she founded. In the article, after reminding readers some public libraries have “more resources” while others “are libraries lacking adequate resources – often, but not always, in rural areas” – April writes: “A new model for enhancing library services in these more vulnerable areas is emerging in Kentucky, a state with libraries at both ends of the economic spectrum.” At the heart of the “new model” is a partnership between a better-funded library and a lesser-funded one.

Fall 2012

April discussed the Kentucky Sister Library Project with SLIS faculty, students, and staff at a spring Lunch-N-Learn.

April, who is Adult Services Coordinator at the Erlanger Branch of Kenton County Public Library, is KSLP Coordinator. She explained that, as she envisioned it, in KSLP: • libraries with more resources would pair with libraries with fewer resources; • meaningful projects would be identified and carried out; • relationships would be fostered between employees at the two libraries.

She saw a number of benefits. For lesser-funded libraries: • access to staff expertise in, e.g., HR, PR, and IT; • help with projects; • patrons would receive needed services; • possible donations of materials and equipment.

However, all participating libraries would benefit from: • good will between institutions; • professional development for staff members.

The result would be a stronger library system throughout Kentucky.

In her presentation, April identified possible activities between sister libraries: collection development, weeding, programming, web site development, staff exchanges, grant writing, policy development.

The first sister libraries were Kenton County Public Library in northern Kentucky, April’s institution, and Carter County Public Library in eastern Kentucky. Next, Campbell County Public Library, also in northern Kentucky, and McLean County Public Library, in western Kentucky, became sisters. As an example of the assistance a relatively affluent library can provide its sister institution, CCPL staff went to McLean County for a week and cataloged more than 1,600 items for the library. In another pairing, Boyd County Public Library gave its sister institution, Elliott County Public Library, what April described as “many, many boxes of books.” KSLP sister libraries in contiguous Madison and Estill counties share and jointly maintain a book drop used by patrons of both institutions.

The number of libraries participating in KSLP continues to grow, from 10 at the time April wrote the American Libraries article, to 16 at the time she discussed the project at the Lunch-N-Learn, and to 23 the middle of September.

Robert Glushko Explores “The Discipline of Organizing” at Lunch-N-Learn Dr. Robert J. Glushko, Adjunct Professor in the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, in April spoke to faculty, students, and others in the popular Lunch-N-Learn series. In his talk he discussed “The Discipline of Organizing,” which is the title of a book manuscript that he has written with collaborators.

As he explained, the manuscript evolved after he had taught a master’s-level course on “Information Organization & Retrieval” for several years at Berkeley’s School of Information. “Organizing is a fundamental activity in many disciplines,” he reminded those present, “most notably liPage 18

brary and information science, computer science, informatics, law, economics, and business. However, these disciplines have only limited agreement in how they approach and describe problems of organizing and in what they seek as their solutions.”

Continuing, he said his goal for the book is “to synthesize insights from these many disciplines to provide students with a richer understanding about information organization and retrieval than any one discipline could provide. I came to realize that information was just one type of resource to organize and that it would be beneficial to think about organizing in a more abstract way – as a system that integrates the concerns often treated separately as ‘organization’ and ‘retrieval.’”

He emphasized the book “presents a framework for issues and problems that arise when organizing, especially when organizing information. It emphasizes the common concepts and goals of the disciplines that study them. The central idea is that of an Organizing System, an intentionally arranged collection of resources and the interactions they support.”

Although the book began as the lecture notes from his Berkeley course, he soon realized that a book motivated by the goal of bringing together different disciplines in a “comprehensive yet minimalist way” would be challenging to write. “So I enlisted numerous collaborators, and the book is now the product of countless discussions with students and faculty colleagues at Berkeley and other schools. The manuscript has been extensively revised as a result of its use in my Berkeley course in 2010 and 2011 and in 2011 courses at the University of North Carolina and at Humboldt University in Berlin.”

As Dr. Glushko explained, from the early days of the project he and the collaborators thought the book “should not be a conventional text. A printed book is an intellectual snapshot that is already dated in many respects the day it is published. In addition, the pedagogical goal of this book is made more difficult by the relentless pace of technology innovation in our information-intensive economy and culture. But we think that the emergence of ebook publishing opens up innovative possibilities, and we are creating a living repository of content that can be collaboratively maintained, evolved, customized and republished in ebook formats.”

According to Dr. Glushko, “‘a living repository’ for collaboration is not just a cliché here. We have been experimenting with this idea for over a year. The multi-disciplinary multi-campus collaboration needed to create this book has grown broader over time to include discussion and sharing of lecture notes, course assignments, and exam questions. Student-created content such as course-related blog posts and commentary has also been shared between schools using the book. In addition to email, we are using Dropbox, Skype, Google Plus and other collaboration technologies with some success to coordinate across campuses.”

Turning to “customization,” he said: “The key innovation that enables robust customization is the tagging or classification of notes according to issue or domain. Some notes are untagged and explain references or provide additional detail that isn’t particularly domain-dependent. However, notes Fall 2012

tagged as [LIS Note] contain details of most interest to readers interested in library and information science, those tagged as [Technology Note] contain details about technology or implementation more of interest to computer science or informatics readers, and those tagged as [Business Note] provide more details of interest to business students.”

Dr. Glushko told those at the Lunch-N-Learn he and his collaborators expect to complete the manuscript in the summer of 2012 and would make it “freely available in pdf format to anyone interested in trialing the material in fall 2012 courses. We also expect to be developing several ebook versions in the fall of 2012 and will probably make them available, but we would not want potential adopters to count on that.” The schedule calls for the book to be available in print in January or February 2013. It will be available simultaneously in pdf format and as an ebook.

Concluding, he said he and his collaborators “have registered DisciplineOfOrganizing.org to serve as the distribution point for the digital versions. The ebooks, and the ability to customize them, will be available through some kind of site licensing arrangement that is yet to be determined. The repository of book content, course materials, assignments, etc will be hosted at Berkeley, and I will serve as the curator for a period of at least two years. We will also provide technical guidance and support for authoring and customization. Most of the publishing system will made available through dita4publishers.sourceforge.net.”

Matt Cockerell: Technologist/ Instructional Producer While he was enrolled in the LIS master’s degree program, Matt Cockerell (’11) was a Graduate Assistant in the School’s administrative office. Those who worked with Matt while he was a GA quickly recognized his many talents and willingness to take on and complete whatever project he was assigned. His experience as a student taking online courses and reputation as someone who could solve problems that students and faculty often have in online courses led to his being offered a new position in the College of Communication and Information, Technologist/Instructional Producer. The newsletter asked Matt to discuss his wok, and he agreed.

Your title is Technologist / Instructional Producer in the College of Communication and Information. Would you tell readers of the newsletter, in one sentence, what you were hired to do, and then elaborate?

I was hired to assist instructors throughout the College with their online courses. My assistance can, and does, come in many different forms. I often help instructors choose activities/assignments that are best suited for the online environment. I offer training for instructors who wish to incorporate media into their course. I offer support for many different software systems the University makes available for faculty and staff. There is a great deal of variety in my work. There are some courses I am involved with daily and other instances where I might work with a given instructor once the Page 19

entire semester; it all depends on the needs of the instructor.

Do you have data that show with how many courses you’ve been involved?

I do not have an exact headcount by course. I am involved in about a dozen courses this semester (Fall 2012) and that number is fairly typical for a given semester. However, number of courses may not be a good way to approach my level of involvement. I often work with instructors outside of a particular course (i.e. training for recording video, etc. that may be used in multiple courses). I also work with instructors and provide training that they use to supplement their face-to-face courses.

The School of Library and Information Science has been a leader in online instruction at UK. Is it accurate to say most of your work is with instructors in other units in the College of Communication and Information?

Yes and No. The faculty at the School of Library and Information Science has such experience in online instruction that I often do not have to train in methods or design. However, because the School has such a large online presence, I find myself working with the School’s faculty closely on technical issues and helping ensure faculty access to emerging tools.

My most intensive work is generally in other units of the College, in particular the Division of Instructional Communication. It is here where I often assist instructors who are new to the online teaching environment and develop courses that have not previously been offered online. These opportunities allow for more in-depth training and one-on-one attention as needed This work balance is changing though. Outside of Instructional Communication, the School of Journalism and Telecommunications is now offering courses online. SLIS will begin offering a minor next spring that will be entirely online, and the Graduate Program in Communication is planning to offer a certificate in Risk Sciences online in Fall 2013.

What do you find most enjoyable about your work?

The people. I love working with faculty and staff across the College and throughout the University. My position allows me to make relationships across disciplines. These relationships are extremely helpful in performing my job. I am supported by the entire administration of the College, and I am given the tools I need to succeed.

Holger Lenz Lands Two-Year Residency Holger Lenz, who recently completed the School’s master’s-degree program, was selected for a two-year Instructional Design Residency at Kansas State University Libraries to begin this fall semester. According to information about the program: “This isn’t your typical residency. We are looking for someone with a high level of comfort in the online environment (whether it be programming, web design, social networks, social tools, course management systems, content Fall 2012

management systems, or other web-related skills) and a strong interest in learning more as he/she works in tandem with experienced librarians. Residents will be evaluated on criteria similar to that of other library faculty, including an annual portfolio. This is a two year residency reporting to the Head, Undergraduate and Community Services.

The information included a statement of the purpose: The purpose of the residency program is to: • Promote educational opportunities to provide professional-level experience in an academic Library; • Identify and engage candidates who will further the Libraries’ goal of diversifying its staff, the K-State community and the library and/or instructional design professions; • Help the resident build skills for success in an academic faculty position; • Help create a diverse community of university faculty and staff that reflects both our multicultural society and individual differences.

Several objectives were listed: The residency program will provide unique opportunities for individuals from diverse groups to pursue a career in an academic environment through: • Work in an academic setting under the guidance of knowledgeable, experienced, successful mentors; • Practical application of skills and experiences comparable to those of entry-level professionals; • Career development opportunities in a supportive environment.

According to information about Core Responsibilities, approximately 75% of the Instructional Design Resident’s time would be devoted to “Special Projects”: • Information Literacy Research Modules • Gaming and immersive learning environments • Mobile applications • Assessment of online learning objects • Assignment Planner (ksulib.org/ac) • K-State Libraries’ interface with K-State Online (course management system) • Library tools/widgets” Holger told the newsletter: “I will primarily work on a state-wide pilot project involving the development of research modules. This project has been initiated at Kansas State as a way to introduce research as a more transparent and intelligible process to the undergraduate student community.”

SLIS Well Represented Among Movers & Shakers 2012 Three UK SLIS graduates are among Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers 2012. They are Tricia Racke Bengel (’96), Jim Blanton (’00), and April Ritchie (’98). This year is the 11th for the program, which, according to the web site, “has been spotlighting librarians and others in the library field who are doing extraordinary work to serve their users and to move libraries of all types and library services forward.”

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In 2012, there are six categories of Movers & Shakers: Community Builders, Advocates, Change Agents, Innovators, Recession Busters, and Tech Leaders. April, Jim, and Tricia are among the Recession Busters: “In these tough economic times, you need people like these who can make financial literacy seem easy, stretch a dollar, increase efficiency, share resources, and – yes – lobby for library funding.”

This year’s Moves & Shakers were announced in the March 15 issue of Library Journal, where there is information about each of the 53. According to the Movers & Shakers information, at that time Tricia was Emerging Technologies Administrator and Interim Director, Nashville Public Library, TN. “In 2008, following a plea for help from Nashville mayor Karl Dean, Tricia Racke Bengel launched a program that would transform Nashville’s 16 struggling public high school libraries and revolutionize how students used the Nashville Public Library (NLP). She used seed funds from the mayor to start Limitless Libraries, a partnership with Metro Nashville Public Schools that has bolstered school library collections, allowed student IDs to double as NPL library cards, and brought NPL books to the school libraries daily, giving kids irresistibly easy access to the nearly two million items in NPL’s collection.

Initially, Racke Bengel was bent on ensuring that school libraries met the state standard of nine items per student and updating collections whose average nonfiction item was over 20 years old, she says. She purchased 50 ebooks to launch a common core collection and introduced audiovisual collections to each school.”

At the time the information was written, NPL was delivering more than 400 items daily to 54 middle and high schools. The information also reports that, after hearing a presentation by Tricia, “a private donor pledged $1 million to renovate a 5000 square foot school library.” The information notes, too, that Tricia is “working with a $100,000 Institute of Museum and Library Services/MacArthur Foundation grant she received to plan an NPL Digital Media Lab.” The Library Journal information also reports on what Tricia was doing in her spare time – “building an RV-7 single-engine two-seater plane with her husband.”

Jim Blanton is Senior Library Manager, Chesapeake Public Library System, VA. “While brainstorming possible ideas for a financial literacy program at Chesapeake Public Library (CPL),” the Library Journal information reports, “Jim Blanton thought guest speakers and other ideas seemed ‘so ordinary.’ He pitched the idea of creating an online video game that required players to learn about money matters to help a character named $teve avert financial disaster.

‘Finance is an intimidating subject for most people. I know it is for me. … I wanted to make it visually appealing and fun so you didn’t realize you were learning.’” To implement this idea Jim led a CPL team which applied for, and received, a $100,000 grant from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Investor Education Foundation. He then worked with the Creative Gaming and Simulation group at Norfolk State University, as well as with local artists Brian and Marie Bridgeforth. His collaborators “deFall 2012

signed the look of the game, including $teve, who resembles Blanton.”

The Library Journal information quotes CPL director of PR Phyllis Schirle: “‘Ideas flow from Blanton, and he’s able to create accessible programs and market them, especially important in the case of $ave $teve because financial information is perceived as dull.’” The LJ information added: “Most recently, Blanton’s ‘Scanversations’ (which enable patrons to interact with as many library staff as possible) introduced library users to QR codes. Staff posted book reviews online and they wore QR codes on their badges that directed patrons to the links.”

The newsletter congratulated Jim and asked about other professional activities that he is engaged in. He replied: “My next project is a program at CPL called ePublish or Bust. It is designed to educate budding authors on how to get their works published, and will include library resources which provide authors with the tools for creation and promotion.

Like $ave $teve and my other programs, it will emphasize the visual appeal/fun factor to draw interest. Information on the program is available at: www.epublishorbust.com.”

April Ritchie is Adult Services Coordinator, Erlanger Branch, Kenton County Public Library, KY. The Library Journal information about her discusses the Kentucky Sister Library Project, which she founded and which she discusses in an article (“Oh Sister Library, Where Art Thou?”) in the January/February 2012 issue of American Libraries. In the opening sentences of the article, April asks, “What if libraries, like sisters, could be there for one another? What if public libraries with more resources partnered with underfunded ones to help them reach their fullest potential?” The goal of the Sister Libraries Project is to encourage such partnerships, and at the time of this writing, mid-September, 23 public libraries in Kentucky participate in the Sister Libraries Project.

According to the Library Journal information: “April Ritchie certainly didn’t invent the concept of sister libraries. Across the United States, libraries have formed partnerships and connections with counterparts in Russia, China, Spain, and a host of other nations. But Ritchie … found a good idea by narrowing the focus of sister libraries to keep them as close to home as possible.

Why couldn’t Kenton County become a sister library with one in a neighboring county, Ritchie wondered? And why couldn’t other Kentucky libraries do the same? After all, libraries have resources, training, and specialties that are ideal for sharing with growing systems looking to do better.

‘This is new, and we’re sort of making it up as we go along,’ Ritchie says. Nevertheless, Kentucky now has six sets of sister-library partnerships, with at least three more in the works. All because Ritchie was able to sift through a nationwide concept and determine how it could help library patrons in her own backyard.

Ritchie’s project emanated from a successful test case. In March 2010, the Erlanger Branch adopted Carter County Library as a ‘sister.’ Weeded books were donated to bolster the Carter County collection, as was gently used furniture.

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Later, staff members from both libraries switched places for a few days, in an exercise in familiarity.

Buoyed by the success, Ritchie hoped to make the project statewide. The Kentucky Public Library Association took it on, with Ritchie serving as coordinator. It makes sense; after all, by now she has literally written the sister-library manual.”

Information about Movers & Shakers 2012 is at http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/03/people/moversshakers/movers-shakers-2012/

Alumni Activities Melody Jenkins (’75) retired the end of June after serving for nearly 37 years as Director of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library System, GA. The newsletter has learned that last March Charlie Matthews (’77) was appointed Director of the George H. and Ella M. Rodgers Memorial Library, Hudson, NH. Debbie Bogenschutz (’79) informed the newsletter she has retired, after serving for 32 years as Coordinator of Information Services, Johnnie Mae Berry Library, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.

In June, the University Press of Kentucky published Mary Hamilton’s (’79) book, Kentucky Folktales: Revealing Stories, Truths and Outright Lies.

The end of August Susan Irving (’81) retired from Louisville Free Public Library, where she had been Manager of the St. Matthews-Eline Branch for 20 years.

In August, we received a nice note from Doris Sigl (’87): “I retired in May from my job as Serials Librarian at North Carolina State University. I loved my years as a librarian, but I am delighted to be retired! Am on a longer trip that brings me through town so thought I’d look at the campus. A lot has changed in 25 years! When I lived at Cooperstown, the Young Library would have been convenient – great facility. I like the School’s new digs too.”

In a press release dated October 2, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County announced that Greg Edwards (’91) had been appointed Deputy Director.

Tricia Racke Bengel (’96) is among Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers 2012. Tricia is on the staff at Nashville Public Library, TN. Gwendolyn Carter (’97) is a librarian and archivist at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, in Biloxi.

April Ritchie (’98) is among Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers 2012. April is Adult Services Coordinator, Erlanger Branch, Kenton County Public Library, KY. Jim Blanton (’00) is also among Library Journal’s Movers Fall 2012

& Shakers 2012. Jim is Senior Library Manager, Chesapeake Public Library System, VA. The newsletter congratulates Rob Zai (’02) and thanks him for sending the news he has been promoted to Associate Professor with a grant of tenure. Rob is Coordinator of Information & Research Assistance, W. Frank Steely Library, Northern Kentucky University.

John Adkins (’04) is Director of the Schoenbaum Library at the University of Charleston, Charleston, WV. The newsletter thanks Emily Prather-Rodgers (’05) for passing along this information: “I'm pleased to share with you and everyone else at UK SLIS that I was recently elected Vice President/PresidentElect of the ALA New Members Round Table. I began my involvement with ALA while attending UK – I attended my first Annual Conference while I was a student – and I've maintained active involvement ever since. My term begins at the conclusion of the Annual Conference in Anaheim next week, and it promises to keep me busy. “ Emily is Technical Services Coordinator, Oesterle Library, North Central College, Naperville, IL. In August, we received a press release from the law firm of Stites & Harbison: “The Special Libraries Association’s (SLA) Legal Division has named Liz [Smith] Polly [’05]of Stites & Harbison as the recipient of the 2012 Bloomberg Law/Bloomberg BNA Outstanding New Member Contribution Award. Liz Polly is the firm’s Lexington, Ky., office librarian.

The Outstanding New Member Award honors a member in the early stages of his/her career who has already made significant contributions to the SLA Legal Division and shows great promise to continue serving the division and the profession. To qualify, nominees must also be in the first 10 years of their law library career.

‘Clearly, Liz’s peers at the SLA have observed the same talent and dedication that Liz has demonstrated in her job at Stites & Harbison,’ said Greg Parsons, Lexington office executive member (partner). ‘We appreciate Liz’s great work and congratulate her on this achievement.’”

Aaron Smith (’05) is a Cataloger/Assistant Manager at the Genealogy Center, Allen County Library, Fort Wayne, Ind. Janet Arno (’06) is Adult Programming Coordinator at the Campbell County Public Library, KY. The newsletter received an e-mail from Steve Hammel (’06) in August, in which he reported: “I have moved up to a director’s position at Norelius Community Library, Denison IA. I started the first of July and it has been ‘interesting’ to say the least. On the plus side I have a great staff. On the minus, the library is suffering from a bad case of ‘that’s the way we always have done things’. Consequently my first couple of months have been spent fixing a lot of fundamental problems and introducing Page 22

more efficient ways of doing things. I’m the 4th director in 6 years which has only added to the problems. Add the usual funding issues, declining numbers, and such; I have my work cut out for me. I knew there were problems coming in I just wasn’t expecting the amount or types of problems I have inherited. This is the stuff they don’t tell you about in library school; guess it will keep me out of trouble. Denison is a small community in western Iowa, pop about 8000. It is considered a small rural library and because of this I have the opportunity to speak at the Association of Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL) conference in Raleigh NC this September. The presentation is titled, “The Greatest Product You Will Ever Sell; Your Library.”

Victoria [Hammel (’07)] is starting to establish herself in the local music scene (pretty minimal) and is thinking about opening up a music studio to teach singing. The high school librarian is retiring the end of the year and she’s looking into the requirements for the job so who knows.”

formation, & Technology with the eThemes project. Also, I serve as my school's Graduate Professional Council Representative. I am currently active in a couple of student chapters: ASIS&T and Progressive Librarians Guild.”

Jennifer Dupuis (’11) passed along this news in July: “I am now working for SkyRiver, a startup company that does cataloging software and competes with OCLC. I am the sales rep for 8 midwest states, including Kentucky (by my special request).”

In mid-July Nick Wilczek (’08) wrote: “I just wanted to let you know that I've accepted a branch manager position in Arcata, California. It's a small college town about 200 miles north of San Francisco, about 3 miles from the ocean and a mile from the redwood forest.” Nick’s branch is within Humboldt County Public Library.

Emily Pike (’11) has accepted a position as Media Specialist at Yates Elementary School here in Lexington.

Gregg Stevens ('09) is Librarian for the Health Care Professions at the Ghazvini Center for Healthcare Education, Tallahassee Community College, FL. In an e-mail the middle of July, Jen Green (’10) wrote: “I started a new job at Centre [College] -- almost a month ago today (6/18). I'm managing the electronic resources and doing reference. I'm also the science liaison. I love being back in central Kentucky, and am spoiling my niece rotten.”

She confirmed something we had heard: “And, yes, I was on Jeopardy. I filmed at the beginning of November, and my episode aired December 29th. I lost, but made some great friends. And I have the world's best cocktail party icebreaker -- who else can say they lost $22,000 on one letter?

(I wrote McMurty instead of McMurtry.)”

Marcia Rapchak (’10) will teach in the School’s online undergraduate minor program in information studies. She has kept her day job, as Instruction Librarian at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA. Paul Roberts (’10) let us know the end of August he had accepted the position Dean of Library Services at Oklahoma Baptist University.

The newsletter thanks David Broussard (’11) for this information: “I just wanted to let you know about my activities since graduation from UK SLIS. I am currently enrolled in the PhD program (emphasis: Information Science) at the University of Missouri School of Information Science & Learning Technologies. I am also employed as a full-time graduate research assistant at the Allen Institute for Research on Learning, InFall 2012

The article by Kacy Lundstrom (’11) and Prof. Lisa O’Connor, The Impact of Social Marketing Strategies on the Information Seeking Behaviors of College Students. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 50(4), 351-365, has been selected as one of ALA-Library Instruction Round Table's Top Twenty Library Instruction articles of 2011.

Kacy has been named faculty employee of the year at Utah State University library.

This summer Eli Riveire (’11) wrote: “I have just been offered and have accepted my first professional position as an Adult Services Librarian I at the Central branch of the Lexington Public Library. I start August 27th, and am excited to put my LIS education to good use for Lexington's public library patrons!”

Among Recent Graduates Emily Aldridge has joined the library faculty at Bowling Green Technical College, KY. The article by Emily Aldridge, Julie VanHoose, and Bridget Farrell, What They Didn’t Tell Me (or What I Didn’t Hear) in Library School: Perspectives from New Library Instruction Professionals, appears in Reference & User Services Quarterly issue 52(1), 26-29.

Jason Boczar is on the staff at William T. Young Library, University of Kentucky.

James Caudill is on the staff at Tolsia High School, Fort Gay, WV. Esta Day is Collection Development Librarian, University of Colorado, Boulder.

Mary Allison Doyle is a teacher in Jefferson County Schools, Louisville, KY. Ruth Houston is a library staff member assigned to Teen Underground, Main Library, Louisville Free Public Library.

Stuart Jones is a computer trainer, Jeffersonville Township Public Library, Jeffersonville, IN. Page 23

Stephen Leist in September joined the library staff at Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk as a Research & Instruction Librarian.

Susan MacDonell has joined the staff of the School of Library and Information Science as Student Affairs Officer.

Jennifer Mart-Rice, Esq, is Assistant Director for Collection Development, Acquisitions, and Serials, Chase College of Law Library, Northern Kentucky University.

Rachel McGuire is Head of Reference, Main Library, Raleigh County Public Library, Beckley, WV. Jana Mayfield Mullen is on the library staff at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA. Stephanie Niemeyer is Serials, Binding, and Bibliographic Control Coordinator for the Herman B Wells Library, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Christian Shroll is on the staff of Greenup County Public Library, Flatwoods, KY.

Rachel Staub is Children's Services Outreach Librarian, Jessamine County Public Library, Nicholasille, KY. After working as a GA during spring 2012, Tony Ubelhor has continued working for the School. Primarily, he maintains the School's web site and assists with issues relating to technology.

Julie VanHoose is Digital Services Manager for the Chillicothe & Ross County Public Library, OH. She told the newsletter: “Part of my job is being the selector for all 7 of our system's branches for reference material. Ordering for print reference is just about the only aspect of my job that is not related to technology/online services in some way. I think the director put this in with my job so that the same person would control both the print and electronic reference collections. I started at this position in late May, and the collection development portion is just one of many of my roles, so it's one that I'm just now starting to dig into. I am hoping to really get to know the collections (and the patrons that each of our branches serves) and get a policy down … but there are some other things that I'll have to do before I can get to that!”

Please send information for the newsletter to carrigan@uky.edu.

Fall 2012

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