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UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

School of Library and Information Science Volume 29- Number 1

Spring 2007

Search for School’s Next Director to Get Underway Tim Sineath’s Early Notice of Plan to Retire Assures Time to Identify Successor Last fall Timothy W. Sineath, Director of the School of Library and Information Science, announced he would step down from that position summer 2008. He will remain on the faculty and enter the phased retirement program beginning July 1, 2008. Dean J. David Johnson of the College of Communications and Information Studies met with SLIS faculty in the fall to talk about the search for a Director and again in January to discuss the process in greater detail.

At the January meeting, Dean Johnson explained the need for a broad membership on the search committee, including staff, students, and members of the professional community; and he presented the calendar for the search: mid March: search committee named; mid April: statement of qualifications and position advertisement developed; late April: advertisements published; summer: initial applications received; early fall: invited candidates campus visits scheduled.

Dean Johnson expects UK Provost Subbaswamy to participate in the interviews, as will Dean Johnson, and at the conclusion of the interviews the Dean and the Provost will agree on the person to be offered the position, Director of the School of Library and Information Science. The next Director will assume that position July 1, 2008.

During the January meeting with faculty, Dean Johnson said he had become aware of the debate throughout the library and information science community, about which should be stressed, “library” or “information,” and he noted that one outcome of the debate was the formation of the “ISchools Project.” One of the critical issues the SLIS must face, the Dean said, is whether to emphasize the “L” or the “I”, or some synthesis of the two. What to emphasize will be a “strategic decision,” he said, and the next Director “will drive that decision forward.” Dr. Johnson said, too, that in deciding how it is represented in the “I” versus “L” debate, it is imperative that the School be sensitive to the University’s drive to achieve Top 20 status. (For more on this, see below.)

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Dean Johnson said that “to get a feel for the lay of the land and to learn what the issues are” within library and information science, he attended two ASIST conferences.

Moreover, he attended the I-Schools conference in Ann Arbor last fall and would attend the ALISE conference later in January. Dr. Johnson has talked informally with some individuals, in an effort to further his own education and to get an idea who might be available for the Director’s position, and he said he would pass along to the search committee the names of those he wants to make certain the committee is aware of.

The search for a Director comes at a time when the Top 20 planning process is well underway and promises to produce decisions that will influence significantly how resources are allocated throughout the University. President Lee Todd’s determined pursuit of the legislatively-mandated Top 20 status (see following article) is driving the planning process.

The Board of Trustees adopted the Top 20 Business Plan in December 2005, and the 2006-09 Strategic Plan, which the Board of Trustees adopted in October of last year, marks “the first step in the implementation of the Business Plan.” The Strategic Plan incorporates specific “Measures of Progress.”

Academic units were to develop strategic plans after the Board of Trustees approved the University Strategic Plan.

In his memorandum to deans, about strategic planning, Provost Subbaswamy said that academic units were “to update their action plans to better align them with the university’s goals and priorities.” In going about this, the Provost wrote, “The fundamental questions for you will be: (1) What is my college’s role in UK’s quest for Top 20 Status; and (2) What is the appropriate level of resources (within the overall bounds of the Top 20 Business Plan) for my college?” In the College of Communications and Information Studies, Dean Johnson directed each of the units – the Department of Communication, the School of Journalism and Telecommunications, and the School of Library and Information Science – to develop a strategic plan for the unit, which would be folded into the College plan.

University of Kentucky and ‘Top 20 Status’ In 1997, the Kentucky General Assembly passed and Governor Paul Patton signed into law what is commonly referred to as House Bill 1, the “Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997.” The law includes certain “goals to be achieved by the year 2020,” one of which is “A major comprehensive research institution ranked nationally in the top twenty (20) public universities at the University of Kentucky.” Thus was born what has come to be referred to simply as “Top 20 status.”

Since becoming University of Kentucky President in July 2001, Lee T. Todd, Jr., Kentucky native, UK graduate, and former College of Engineering professor, has left no doubt that he is committed to achieving Top 20 status, and he now has in place two important elements in the pursuit of that goal. The first was development of the Top 20 Business Plan, which the Board of Trustees adopted in December 2005. The second was appointment of Provost Kumble Subbaswamy, who assumed that position July 1, 2006.

In his December 2005 memorandum to the Board of Trustees about the Top 20 Business Plan, President Todd wrote: “The challenge we face is a Top 20 mandate that came to us without any definition or clear understanding of what it will cost.” He continued: Ambitious agendas for change in Kentucky too often fall victim to vague objectives, financial constraints, and competing demands. So it is essential that we make a clear and convincing argument for why it matters for Kentucky that we make progress toward the Top 20, how we intend to measure that progress, and what resources will be needed to achieve this ambition. * * * The only way to escape reactive, circumstance-driven funding is to develop a financial plan that indicates clearly and specifically the long-term cost of achieving the Top 20 mandate. This Business Plan describes the Top 20 Compact in financial terms. * * * This Business Plan is a financial, rather than strategic, document. We now can begin the hard work of plotting our strategy for the next 15 years. The next Strategic Plan (for 2006-2009) will define specific measures of quality, establish strategic goals for excellence, and direct the allocation of resources across campus. Those decisions must – and will – be made by the campus community and will appreciate the complexity and diversity of our colleges. We will begin immediately a series of internal conversations about the next Strategic Plan and how this institution moves forward. We will discuss as an academic community what our priorities and specific goals are, how we can best achieve those goals, and how resources will be allocated.

These discussions will translate the Business Plan into a plan of action. It must be a dynamic, serious, and honest conversation about what kind of university we want to be. Make no mistake about it. This institution must change Spring 2007

if we are going to succeed. A university wedded to the status quo in a dynamic world will fail. Just as we need to force a discussion with the state about our need for more resources, we must force the internal discussion about our priorities.

According to the Business Plan, achieving Top 20 status will require additional revenue of more than $1 billion between 2006 and 2020. The money will come from three sources: increased state appropriations (above the increases associated with growth in UK spending independent of the pursuit of Top 20 status), tuition, and the University. According to the Top 20 Business Plan Executive Summary, “Success will require more investments from every fund source. UK will increase substantially its endowment, private fundraising, research expenditures, and internal cost savings. From these and other sources UK will provide 40 percent ($438 million) of the needed investments [to achieve Top 20 status].”

Although the Executive Summary uses the expression “internal cost savings,” the Business Plan itself uses the expression “internal reallocation,” and that term has been used regularly in recent years. At the end of his memorandum to the Board of Trustees, President Todd addressed the question, “What’s Next?” He wrote that, following Board approval of the Business Plan, he envisioned a university-wide Committee on Academic Planning and Priorities. I will ask that Committee to take on the responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the Plan, and recommending specific steps necessary to achieve its goals. Their recommendations must – and will – include specific allocations of our operating budget, plans for capital construction, and targets for internal reallocation and operating efficiencies.

Online Courses: Convenience and Challenge Five years ago this spring faculty of the School discussed the increasing popularity of courses online and the existence of entire degree-programs online at some schools offering ALA-accredited master’s programs. The upshot was creation of a Distance Learning Task Force, with Professor Tom Waldhart serving as chair. In their deliberations, Task Force members were guided by, among other things, awareness that obligations accompanied UK’s having a statewide mission and the School’s having the only ALA-accredited program in Kentucky.

The Task Force report, issued in November 2002, had two major recommendations, that the School (1) develop and implement an off-campus degree program (as opposed to merely offering courses off-campus) and (2) commit to a 3year transition to an Internet degree program. Both in the report and in subsequent marketing, the School stressed it did not intend that all of its courses be available online, but that enough of its courses be available online or onsite at remote locations so that a student could complete 36 credit hours as a Distance Learning student. (The School emphasizes that being able to complete 36 credit hours as a DisPage

tance Learning student does not mean a student would never courses; time demands are higher for online courses; Blackhave to come to Lexington for a class meeting. This is beboard, the software, can be unreliable. Still, the SLIS concause some instructors of online courses hold one, two or tinues to be guided by awareness that obligations accomseveral meetings in conventional classroom format.) After pany UK’s having a statewide mission and the School’s a thorough discussion of the report and recommendations, having the only ALA-accredited program in Kentucky. faculty voted unanimously to accept them.

The report included tasks to implement each of the recA librarian works in tissue banks? ommendations and dates by which each task was to be completed. First in the list of tasks to implement recommendaDr. Sujin Kim Discusses Her Research tion (2) was that Internet versions of the four core courses be developed by the end of the fall 2004 semester. To date, At a planning retreat in October 1997, faculty identified three of the four core courses are available online. The sechealth science information as a field in which the School ond and third tasks to implement recommendation (2) were to would develop a distinctive competence. Professor Jim Anidentify other courses to be offered via the Internet (to be drews’ arrival in 2000 was the first step in implementing completed by the end of spring term 2004) and to develop the decision, and his accepting an offer, after several years Internet versions of the identified courses (to be completed at UK, to join the faculty at the University of South Florida by the end of spring 2005).

Dean Johnson asks that the name was seen as a setback. However, the The other courses, in addition to the School was especially fortunate to of anyone thought to be a good core, to be available online were recruit Dr. Sujin Kim to join the identified and Internet versions faculty fall semester 2004 as Jim’s candidate to be Director of the developed. However, the School successor.

School be sent to him. Provide continues to add to its complement of A native of the Republic of Korea, information about the person and Sujin earned a BS in library and courses that are available online. As examples, the Public Libraries and information science at Duksung a statement explaining why you Information in the Humanities courses Women’s University, in Seoul. She believe the person to be a good are available online for the first time came to the US for graduate school candidate for the position. Send this spring; the Collection Development at the University of Pittsburgh, where course will be available online for the she earned the MLIS and PhD. After the name and information to: first time this summer; and the completing her doctorate, she began a jdavid.johnson@uky.edu Organization of Knowledge I and post-doctoral fellowship in the Center Online Information Retrieval courses for Oncology and Pathology will be available online for the first time in the fall.

Informatics, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

Experience over several years has made clear the popularWhile at Pitt she participated in several national projects ity of online courses, and experience this spring revealed the that provided her with extensive knowledge and experience dramatic difference possible in access to a course when ties concerning biomedical researcher information requirements. to location and time are removed. The schedule included In February, we asked Sujin to discuss her research for classroom sections of the Public Libraries course at both the newsletter, and we thank her for doing so. Her primary off-campus locations, Northern Kentucky University and the research interest concerns human biological materials and University of Louisville. After two days of registration, the their management, which, she told the newsletter, has a sections had registration of five and six, respectively, and strong resemblance to bibliographic information and its would have to be canceled. However, Susan Moore (’93), management. The bibliographic information has a life cycle, Manager of Children’s & Young Adult Services at Louiswhich starts by acquiring, processing, annotating, storing, ville Free Public Library, who was to teach the Louisville and disseminating the information among people who seek section of the course, offered to teach it online. The two it for various reasons. Similar to bibliographic information, classroom sections were canceled, a single online section bodily materials and residual diagnostic specimens, which put in their place, and registration quickly went to 25. are readily available with human subjects, are valuable Some Distance Learning students complain there are too components of biospecimen-associated studies. With the few conventional classroom courses available at the offadvent of genomic and proteomic studies, biological specicampus locations. Often, however, the choices are not an mens are increasingly demanded by biomedical communionline or classroom course, but an online or no course. Economic considerations require that we pay attention to the ties. In this context, tissue banks – libraries of human bionumber who register for a course, even on the Lexington logical materials – increasingly strive to connect the biocampus. Economic considerations loom even larger with a medical community by managing information, which, of Distance Learning course, because UK’s Distance Learning course, has been a critical role of libraries worldwide.

Programs office looks over our shoulder.

One of Sujin’s research efforts was to investigate the Students who find online courses frustrating have combiomedical researchers who require human biological matepany; School faculty also find them frustrating – and chalrials, which she did through a user survey, publication lenging. Course evaluations tend to be lower for online analysis, and semi-structured interview. A hierarchical cluster analysis was used in the study, and the technique was Spring 2007

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useful in classifying groups of researchers who should be served by their different requirements found in the study.

The recent study of cancer blog users also used a cluster analysis to characterize unidentified cancer blog user groups based on self-reporting survey data.

Another part of Sujin’s research was to incorporate user requirements into information system designs, which resulted in three Web databases (i) UK Markey Cancer Center (ukTISSUE), (ii) Korea Lung Tissue Bank (KLTB, Seoul, Korea), and (iii) UK Mouse Specimen Repository (ukMOUSE). The majority of Sujin’s research efforts have been spent in database development in collaboration with the above mentioned tissue repositories. As she explained it to the newsletter, Sujin’s expertise in developing Web databases for tissue banks is not only for research purposes but also for information management in practice.

The projects were funded through the UK Markey Center (Dr. Alfred Cohen, Principal Investigator), the UK Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (Dr. Michael Cibull, PI), the UK Reproductive Health Sciences (Dr. Chemyung Ko, PI), the Ministry of Science and Technology (Seoul, Korea, Dr. Hankeyom Kim, PI), and Idea Network of the Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) Program (NIH grant, UK, Dr. Chuck Staben, PI).

Two working projects are: Data Requirements of Tissue Required Researchers and Study of Bioethical Knowledge and Perception among Koreans. The biggest challenge for human biological materials, according to Sujin, is to annotate according to their representative characteristics. As a LIS researcher specializing in a multidisciplinary field, biomedical informatics, Sujin’s research goal, she explained to the newsletter, is “to apply core concepts of knowledge representation for use in surrogate records to human biological materials.” Therefore, her research findings can be used to increase accessibility to human biological materials by applying what she has learned from library science research. In conclusion, she said, “an emerging collaborative network sharing human biological materials can benefit what librarians know from antiquity, and I would like to contribute to this exciting challenge in the modern genomic era.”

Who may receive payments from the annuity?

Payments may be made to up to two beneficiaries. While typically the donors name themselves, an annuity can be established to benefit someone else, e.g., a parent or sibling.

What will the amount of my payments be?

The annuity payments will be determined at the time the annuity is entered into, and will be based on the age/s of the beneficiaries at that time.

How does the gift annuity benefit UK? At the end of the beneficiary’s life (or, with a two-life annuity, the end of both lives), the remainder of the principal transferred will be used to support UK. Are there tax advantages with a gift annuity?

Yes. The donor receives an income tax deduction in the year of the gift.

Can I contribute securities for a gift annuity?

Yes. In fact, contributing highly appreciated securities that have been held for more than 12 months offers additional tax savings. The donor pays no tax on the capital gain attributable to the charitable portion of the contribution. If the donor is a beneficiary, all of the gain attributable to the annuity payments does not need to be recognized in the year of the gift, but can be reported in equal increments over the donor’s life expectancy.

I don’t need additional income now, so is a charitable gift annuity wrong for me?

Not necessarily. A donor may want to consider a deferred annuity, with payments to begin at some time in the future.

The charitable deduction is still received in the year of the gift, which may offset current higher income.

UK is pleased to offer this way for supporters to benefit themselves as well as the University and the School. For additional information on UK’s Charitable Gift Annuity Program, contact Dion Guest in the Gift Planning Office in Central Development at (859) 257-3911 or (800) 875-6272.

For individual gifts the Development Office also has on-line giving through its Web site. All gifts made through the UK Office of Development Web site are secure and confidential.

Gifts can be made by cash or by credit card. UK accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Cards. A gift may be made online at https://iweb.uky.edu/giveonline/.

UK Development Office Offers Charitable Gift Annuity Program as Way to Aid School

John Thomas Durham Fund Established

The School’s Director, Tim Sineath, continues to work with UK Development Officials to obtain information about the giving programs offered through the University of Kentucky. Through this newsletter we provide information on ways available to our alumni to make a gift to the School in support of our students, faculty, and programs. In this issue we feature the Charitable Gift Annuity Program.

How does a charitable gift annuity work?

In return for a contribution, and pursuant to a signed agreement, UK agrees to make fixed income payments for life to the donor or to the donor’s designee. The minimum donated amount to establish an annuity is $10,000.

Last fall Mr. Henry Durham, of Highlands, NC, endowed a fund in the name of his son, Tom Durham (’97). Known as the John Thomas Durham Graduate Student Fund, the endowment agreement provides that “Income from the Fund shall be used to support and enrich the experiences of School of Library and Information Science graduate student(s) working in the UK Libraries.”

The money is to be used for graduate student expenses, and both recipients and use of the funds “will be selected by the Director of the School of Library and Information Science in consultation with the UK Dean of Libraries.”

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Endowed Fund Named for 1997 Graduate

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Alumnae Helen Frye and Ruth Gaylord Honored at Homecoming Awards Banquet

vice and progressive educational organizations.

Frye organized Centre College’s first integrated performance with guest and Danville native Richard Todd Duncan, a civil rights pioneer, teacher and singer, who portrayed the Each year the University of Kentucky Lyman T. Johnson original Porgy in George Gershwin’s opera, Porgy and Bess.

Alumni Constituent Group has a Homecoming Awards Frye’s story as a student was featured in a thesis entitled Banquet, and the Group invites UK colleges to nominate Dreams fulfilled and dreams denied: the ironies and paragraduates for Torch of Excellence Awards and Torch Bearer doxes of being a student under the Anderson Mayer State Awards. The former “honors alumni who have succeeded Aid Act, 1936-1950, by UK alumnus Vernell Denae Larkin. nationally, statewide and locally. Those honorees then ‘pass Frye was also asked to contribute an interview to an oral on’ their faith, determination, hard work and academic exhistory on the Danville School Integration Project. Recorded cellence to current undergraduate students who have shown in 1981 by David Davis, this oral history is part of Centre those same qualities. The undergraduate students then beCollege Special Collections’ Danville/Boyle County Oral come ‘torch bearers’ for their colleges.”

History Interviews.”

University Libraries and the Ruth Gaylord, the other School of Library and Information Libraries/School nominee, grew Science collaborate to nominate up in Richmond, Kentucky, and individuals. The process begins graduated from Berea College each year when the in 1962. According to the press Libraries/School selection release, “After some time workcommittee, Reinette Jones and ing as a substitute teacher, Gaylord Dennis Carrigan, issues the call was intrigued by a Lexington for nominations, from which the Public Library position listed in selection committee chooses the classifieds, remembering how those to be the Libraries/School she was not welcome in her town’s nominees. Last year the selection library as a child. Curiosity and committee received four faith led her to apply for a nominations, from which the Helen Frye and Ruth Gaylord shown with Frank X bookmobile driver position at the committee selected two. (A college Walker, keynote speaker at the 2006 Awards banquet Black and Williams Cultural may nominate no more than two Center in 1977. The bookmobile, individuals.) Both were among the 2006 Torch of Excelknown then as the ‘InMobile,’ served Lexington’s inner city lence Awards recipients. The nominees were Helen Frye neighborhoods. Since Gaylord couldn’t drive the stick shift (’63) and Ruth Gaylord (’84). They joined a number of bus, the library hired another driver whom she accompanied th other men and women who were honored at the 16 Homeas the ‘InMobile’ visited neighborhoods and day care cencoming Awards Banquet, held November 3 at Lexington’s ters. Gaylord provided story hours for the children and Radisson Plaza Hotel. worked with kids at the center.”

According to the joint press release issued by UK LibrarAfter working at Lexington Public Library for a while, ies and the School, “Frye was the first black graduate of Ruth applied and was admitted to the School’s master’sUK’s Library Science program (now SLIS), earning her degree program, which she completed in 1984. According to master’s of science in library science in 1963. She served the the press release, “After graduating she moved into a fullDanville [Kentucky] school system, from which she retired time professional librarian position at the Lexington Public after serving many years as a librarian at both the middle Library, becoming the first black to do so.” At LPL she has and high school levels, and her state, as an active contribuworked at the Northside Branch and the Central Library and tor to the civil rights movement in Kentucky.” today is Assistant Manager at Eagle Creek Branch. LexingArtist and scholar Frank X Walker, who was the guest ton Public Library Executive Director Kathleen Imhoff speaker at the Awards Banquet, nominated Mrs. Frye, who nominated Ruth for the Torch of Excellence Award; and, had been his middle school librarian. In his nomination, he according to the press release, in her nomination letter Ms wrote: “Her years of service promoting literacy and library Imhoff “notes the positive relationship Gaylord has with science are remarkable and her contribution to civil rights both her staff and the public and acknowledges the special activities in Central Kentucky is equally significant.” effort Gaylord puts forth to include everybody because she The press release said of Mrs. Frye that her “contributions wants people ‘not to be afraid to come in.’” to civil rights are quite significant to the state, evidenced by When Dean of Libraries Carol Pitts Diedrichs and School her inclusion as one of 175 interviewees in the Kentucky Director Tim Sineath learned both of the Libraries/School Historical Society’s Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky 2006 nominees had been chosen to receive Torch of ExcelOral History Project. Active in her community since the lence Awards, they issued a joint statement: “The Libraries 1950s, she participated in local sit-ins, provided leadership and the SLIS have been honored to be able to participate in to the NAACP, and served on the Public Housing Commisthe Lyman T. Johnson awards so that the stories of these sion, Salvation Army advisory board and other public serimportant Kentucky librarians can be told.”

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Open bar: no better way to start the evening

College Recognition and Awards Dinner We don’t take the position an open bar makes all the difference, but we do take the position an open bar makes a difference. It’s hard to imagine a better way to start the festivities – the College of Communications and Information Studies annual recognition and awards reception and dinner, cosponsored by the University of Kentucky Alumni Association. For the idea behind the annual event, we are indebted to Dean J. David Johnson; for the execution each year, we are indebted to College Development Officer Janice Birdwhistell, whose hard work produces an enjoyable evening.

The 2006 event was held on December 1 at the Lafayette Club, and the Lafayette Club proved to be such a congenial place for it that the School’s April banquet will be there.

Friend of the College Award and Outstanding Alumnus Award. Nominations for this award come from faculty, unit heads and alumni.

Outstanding Staff Award This award was first presented in 1995. From the School, Tina Moorhead received the award in 1995, and Pam Thompson received it in 2003.

Anyone may nominate for this award.

Each unit selects students the unit would like to have recognized at the event, to include winners of named scholarships. Donors to those scholarships are invited to the event.

It gives them an opportunity to be recognized for their support and to meet winners of the scholarships. At the 2006 ceremony, SLIS student Victoria Hammel was recognized for receipt of the Williena Burdine Broyles Memorial Scholarship (see following story).

Information on past events and recipients may be found at http://www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/awards.html.

Broyles Scholarship Recipient’s Indirect Route to Library and Information Science

Tim Sineath and Barbara Stephenson at the recognition and awards reception and dinner. Barbara is the daughter of the late Hallie Day Blackburn, who endowed a scholarship for students in the School’s master’s-degree program

To provide readers of the newsletter with information about the event, we turned to Janice. She confirmed that the idea for the dinner started with Dean Johnson, who wanted to hold an annual event that would recognize faculty, staff, and students, and also alumni and friends. He felt that very few activities were designed as social events that would bring the College units – Department of Communication, School of Journalism and Telecommunications, School of Library and Information Science – together. He saw this as a way to help us form a College identity and also as a way to recognize our talented faculty, students, staff, and alumni.

Numerous awards are presented, some of which pre-date the recognition ceremony.

College awards presented include: Excellence in Teaching Award This award has been presented annually to a College faculty member since 1990.

The School’s Professor Joe Miller received the award in 2000, and Professor Lois Chan received in in 2003. Nominations for this award are made by students.

Faculty Community Service Award and Faculty Excellence in Research Award. Nominations for this award come from faculty, alumni and unit heads.

Spring 2007

Several years ago Mr. Marvin Burdine established an endowed scholarship at UK as a memorial to his sister, Williena Burdine Broyles, who was a school librarian in the Pulaski County, Kentucky, school system for more than 25 years. Recipients of the Williena Burdine Broyles Memorial Scholarship must be enrolled in the School of Library and Information Science, must be “from the area of the Commonwealth of Kentucky known as Appalachia as defined by the Appalachian Regional Commission,” and must demonstrate financial need.

Tim Sineath presents the Williena Burdine Broyles Memorial Scholarship to Victoria Hammel at the 2006 College recognition and awards reception and dinner

The Scholarship was awarded for the first time in 2005 to Victoria Hammel. The agreement between Mr. Burdine and the University, establishing the Scholarship, provides that, if the recipient “is making satisfactory academic progress,” the person “may receive the award for successive academic years.” Victoria’s aversion to a grade other than A leaves no doubt she “is making satisfactory academic progress,” and she was awarded the Williena Burdine Broyles Memorial Scholarship for a second year.

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Victoria Hammel is an Illinois native who gradu­ated in 1988 from DePaul University, in Chicago, with a Bachelor of Music in music performance. Two years later she completed a Master of Music degree in voice performance at Northwestern University. She and her husband, Steve, moved to Kentucky in 1994. (Steve Hammel completed the School’s master’s-degree program in December 2006.)

In the essay that is a part of the application to the School’s program, Victoria wrote that she had “20 years experience as a professional singer of opera, operetta, musical theater, oratorio, concert and choral repertoire, and 15 years experience as a private voice teacher.” That experience included two years at Morehead State University.

When her teaching position at Morehead was eliminated, Victoria began taking undergraduate classes at UK, in philosophy and classics. At the time, she thought she would eventually enroll in a seminary, and felt that the secular scholarly study of philosophy would be a valuable foundation upon which to build future theological studies.

In her application essay she explained that “Due to various life events and circumstances,” she began to consider other career options. “As I am more of an academic generalist, I was having difficulty finding a niche in any specific advanced degree program at UK. My inter­ests tend to lie where many disciplines intersect.” Victoria next did what, no doubt, many non-tradi­tional students do before they return to school, she took career and personality tests, and assessment tests, “and ‘librarian’ actually topped the list.”

After investigating librarianship as a possible ca­reer choice, she concluded it would “be a good fit for my skills and interests….” She applied and was admitted to the School’s program and began taking classes summer 2005.

In the application essay, Victoria wrote:

I have always loved books and learning. I also enjoy teaching and helping people. I find the idea of being able to assist in making the tools for learning, knowledge and information avail­able and accessible very appealing.

Also, this would be a way for me to contribute in some small way to protecting free speech and pre­serving the wide diversity of human ideas. Equally appealing is the diversity and flexibility of career options to which a MSLS can lead.

Victoria has been a Lay-Leader at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington and a board member of The Interfaith Alliance of the Blue­grass. She is a paid soloist at Walnut Hill Church in Lexington. She is a facilitator in training for Woman Within International, a non-profit organization that provides educational opportunities for personal growth to women, and she is a board member of Woman to Woman Ken­tuckiana, the local branch of Woman Within In­ ternational.

Currently, Victoria is a cataloging intern at Clark County Public Library and is “enjoying it immensely.” When not in school or at work, she enjoys spending time with Steve and their son, Harry, playing soccer, practicing Kung-Fu, watching movies, reading, and, of course, singing.

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Wayne Onkst Succeeds Jim Nelson as KDLA Commissioner, Kentucky State Librarian After 27 years with the Kenton County Public Library, the last seven of them as Director, Wayne Onkst (’79) in November took over as Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives and State Librarian. He succeeded Jim Nelson (’69), who had held the position for 26 years and at the time of his retirement was the second longest-serving state librarian in the nation.

Wayne is a Kentucky native whose undergraduate degree, in history, is also from UK. He began at KCPL as a Reference Librarian and subsequently was Head of Adult Services and then Associate Director. While he was Director KCPL built two major branches, at a total cost of $17 million. Moreover, the Kenton County Public Library Foundation was created. As we reported in the fall 2005 newsletter, at the ALA conference that summer Wayne received the prestigious ALA Sullivan Award for Public Library Administrators Supporting Services to Children.

The end of February we caught up with Wayne long enough to ask how he was finding the work of KDLA Commissioner, and he told the newsletter: “I am continuing to learn about this job and KDLA along with the needs of libraries across the state. We will be undertaking a strategic planning process late this spring and I’m sure I’ll have more to report following that process. However, I definitely think it is safe to say that I see the Library School as an important resource – of which we haven’t taken full advantage.”

Alumna Rebecca Montano-Smith Chosen for ALA ‘Emerging Leader 2007’ Program Rebecca Montano-Smith (’05) has been chosen to participate in the ALA Emerging Leaders 2007 program.

When we asked Rebecca about the program, she replied, “It is Leslie Burger’s [ALA President] initiative to mold future library leaders. I am working on a project w/4 other librarians across the country developing a plan for a Library Corps (also Leslie’s idea).”

In order to get information about the program, we went to the Web site whose URL Rebecca provided the newsletter: http://wikis.ala.org/emergingleaders/index.php/Main_Page What Is the Emerging Leaders Program?

Emerging Leaders 2007 will welcome and train 100 new librarians to get a jump-start in leadership. EL’07 kicks off with a day-long session on Friday, January 19, at the 2007 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. Afterward, it will grow and develop online for six months, culminating at the 2007 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Applicants have committed to participating in all three elements of the program.

We expect the new leaders to put their leadership skills to use by accepting a term of service on an ALA or chapter committee, task force, working group, or project team.

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The goal is to have 100 new librarians ready to participate in leadership in the Association, one of its divisions or state chapters.

Rebecca, who is on the staff at Lexington Public Library, is the second alumna to be identified as a future leader in the field; the first was Susan Moore (’93), who participated in the Emerging Leaders program its first year, 1998,

Alumna Ella Jean Grippin Dies at 52 Remembering a Woman Whose Indomitable Spirit Was an Inspiration to the People She Met We are indebted to Stephanie Midkiff (’94) for passing along the sad news that Ella Grippin (’95) died in January of this year. Stephanie provided a link to Ella’s obituary in the Statesman Journal, published in Salem, Oregon, and she put me in touch with Ella’s sister, Lois Grippin, whom I had met while Ella was a student here. I phoned Lois, and we had a nice conversation about Ella, whom several of us at the School remember fondly.

At the time of her death, Ella lived in Salem, where she volunteered at the Oregon State Library, which she had done for 10 years. She died at her home on January 12; the cause of death was respiratory failure. Ella was born in 1954 in Dallas, Oregon, and graduated from Falls City High School in 1972. She earned a BS degree from Western Oregon State College (now Western Oregon University), where she majored in English and minored in educational media.

(A scholarship fund has been established in Ella’s name to assist those with handicaps to attend college at her alma mater, Western Oregon University.)

Ella was involved in a serious accident in February 1985 that left her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. However, despite her disability, she applied and was admitted to our master’s-degree program, and came to Kentucky from Oregon. In her application she wrote she was applying to our School because she had heard “the University of Kentucky is very wheelchair user friendly.” She completed the program, and the MSLS degree was awarded to Ella in May 1995. Lois said that in addition to volunteering at the State Library, Ella enjoyed reading and doing research, which she did in the library and on the Internet. She also enjoyed visiting those who were sick or shut in their homes.

When I learned Ella had died, I turned to her student file and to the essay that accompanied her application to our program. In the essay, Ella wrote: I am interested in becoming a librarian. Ever since I first learned how, I have loved reading. I majored in English in college. Therefore I think much good can be derived from the writings of others. The world of ideas, of which books certainly form a part, I find to be challenging and maturing. The coursework needed to become a librarian would be enriching for me.

I say all of the above now. Over seven years ago I had a car wreck which left me with a broken neck and an inSpring 2007

jured spinal cord. I am a quadriplegic. And for a long time I lost interest in a lot of things, including learning.

But just because I had stopped reading very much didn’t mean I could get out of learning. I’ve learned books can be a solace, a way of getting your mind switched to other things and off yourself. They also help sharpen the mind.

Learning seems to be one of the things life is for. I think going to graduate school would help me on my way to learning what I am to learn in life.

I wanted to go to school and become a librarian before my injury. … Because of my injury I feel I have insights that could help libraries better meet the needs of the physically disabled.

I have no doubt that Ella brought her quiet determination to bear, to help libraries better meet the needs of the physically disabled; and I have no doubt that her indomitable spirit was an inspiration to those who knew her.

Dennis Carrigan

Report from Cornell

Warm Greetings from a Chilly Place On Monday, February 26, we commented to the person with whom we shared the day’s first mug of coffee that the month soon would be over, which elicited the reply it would not be missed. For days on end we had temperatures that were unusually cold for Lexington. However, at work that morning Student Affairs Officer Will Buntin passed along an e-mail message from Annalisa Lewis Raymer (’84). We suspected Annalisa would have found our February days mild by comparison with what she experienced in Ithaca, NY, and in a subsequent exchange of e-mail she confirmed our suspicion: “Yes, we have been having a bit of weather up here!” We thank Annalisa for permitting us to print her report, and we congratulate her for earning the Ph.D. She wrote: Warm greetings from a voice from the way past, this is Annalisa Lewis Raymer. When I was in Library School back in the early 80s, I was Lisa Anne Raymer. It was an exciting time; I was privileged to be able to help with the early organizing of what looked like a room full of stacks of books, but was, in fact, the start of the McConnell Center for the Study of Youth Literature. Diane Wolkstein was the featured conference speaker at one of the children’s literature conferences, and she gave a memorial reading from Inanna. I recall sharing media lab duties with fellow student Larry Obrec [’84].

Here’s a brief update. I just finished (Jan. 07) my PhD in Planning and Evaluation at Cornell University, and my dissertation entailed participatory research as an avenue of community planning – as a means of promoting public life in the course of designing public space. This past summer my family and I visited fellow SLIS alum Susan Strickler [’84] (now Polstra) and her family in Amsterdam. I have a post-doc at the moment, but I dream of returning to Ky (where we still have a house in Berea).

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Best wishes to everyone at SLIS and to the alumni afield.

The website looks great, and it seems the School has grown in interesting directions. During my time at Cornell (also did a masters in Community & Rural Development here), I’ve had access to fantastic libraries, and I am even more appreciative of library expertise and the excitement of good materials.

Annalisa Raymer, Stein Institute Research Project in Community Livability, 440 Kennedy Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853: alr26@cornell.edu

He Admits It! Recovery Now Takes Longer In December, we received a report from Tom Enneking (’03) along with an admission. We thank him for both: It’s been a few years since I last sent an update - much has happened that I hope my classmates will find interesting.

2003 was a big year for me. My then-fiancee Amanda Stein and I bought a house in March and have been spending the last 3.5 years totally renovating it. In September, Amanda and I got married at French Park in Cincinnati; we honeymooned in Bar Harbor, ME, the lobster capital of New England.

In June 2005, Amanda and I welcomed our son, Matthew, into our lives. It’s hard to believe he’s already 18 months old - late night feedings and sleepless nights are distant memories. When he grows up, Matthew will be a big, good looking, smart and athletic guy (not that I’m biased).

Finally, in August 2006, I made a job and career change.

I now work in marketing for Winegardner & Hammons [as Business Development Information Specialist] – a hotel management and development company. My area of emphasis is market research and development. My department analyzes different market segments and presents the infor-mation to our sales staff, who then uses it to sell room nights. We also work to identify new areas, either market segments or geographic areas, from which we can tap new business. I still use many of the skills I learned at UK’s SLIS, just not in a library setting.

For those who remember, I still play softball, but I now pitch or play 1B. However, it takes longer to recover from a game than it did 4 years ago.

That’s been me since 2003. tom.enneking@whihotels.com

Alumni Activities Evelyn Cropper (’51) on September 1 of last year retired from her position as Director of the Mason County Public Library, Maysville, KY. Karen McDaniel (’75), who in 2005 retired from her position as Director of Libraries and Professor at Kentucky State University, is a visiting scholar at Eastern Kentucky University and one of the editors of the Kentucky AfricanAmerican Encyclopedia.

We read with profit and enjoyment Trudi Belardo Hahn’s (‘76) article, “Impacts of Mass Digitization Projects on LiSpring 2007

braries and Information Policy,” in the October/November 2006 issue of the Bulletin of the American Society for In­ formation Science and Technology.

There is an especially nice piece about Kim Fender (’83) in the fall 2006 issue of Kentucky Alumni, the magazine of the UK Alumni Association. As many readers of the newsletter know, Kim is Executive Director of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. There is something in the piece that will elicit memories for many who went through the program here. Kim explained to Beverly Bell, who wrote the piece, that while in library school she was very busy, commuting from her home in Northern Kentucky not only to her classes in Lexington but also to her KDLA internship in Frankfort, and as a result she “didn’t have much time for campus activities and interactions.

Still, Fender does remember one teacher at UK. … [H]e taught Library Management and Public Libraries. He was unlike any professor Fender had ever had. Constantly on the move in the classroom, he engaged the students on a deeper level; probing and pushing them, forcing them to respond and to react to the material. ‘He had a very strong personality, very dynamic,’” Kim said. Those who went through the program a while ago know there is only one person Kim could have been referring to, Larry Allen.

We appreciate Annalisa Lewis Raymer (’84) letting us know that in January of this year she finished her PhD in Planning and Evaluation at Cornell University.

Bruce Alan Wilson (’87) was nominated for a People-toPeople Ambassador’s tour to South Africa. “I could not go for financial reasons, but it was an honor to have been asked.” In was, indeed, and we congratulate Bruce.

Terry Manuel (’88) in October was appointed to the posi­tion Branch Manager for the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives Program Development Office. Terry had been Technology Consultant and E-Rate Coordinator for KDLA. Evelyn McGill (’88), Library Media Specialist at Sts Peter and Paul School in Lexington, received a Landmarks in American History Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In July of last year she attended the workshop, Creating Freedom: Thomas Day and Elizabeth Keckley; Free Black Entrepreneurs and Artisans in the Antebellum Period, in Durham, NC. In November, Carol Dellapina (’90) retired from Lexington Public Library, where she was most recently Assistant Manager of the Tates Creek Branch.

Greg Edwards (’91) is Main Library Services Manager, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

Lisa Hamrick (’96) is Manager of the Children’s Learning Center, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

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Jodi Spillane (’97) in August of last year started a new job, as Database Maintenance Librarian/Catalog Li­brarian, Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Caro­lina.

Michael Steinmacher (’98) was promoted in September to Manager of Branch Services, Louisville Free Public Library.

“In that capacity I’m working with the managers, assistant managers, and staff of the Library’s 16 branches to see that we provide the highest quality service to the public. It’s a challenging and fun job.” We assume that if word reaches his superiors that Michael finds his job fun, they will take corrective action.

We thank Pamela Mullins (’02) for passing along the news that after six years as a Collection Development Librarian at BWI, here in Lexington, she relocated to Morristown, TN, in June of last year to assume the Director’s position for the Morristown-Hamblen County Public Library.

Robert Zai (’02) let us know in November that he had left the University of Cincinnati for the position Coordinator of Information & Research Assistance, Steely Library, North­ ern Kentucky University.

We appreciate Maureen Humphrey-Shelton (’03) letting us know that in April of last year she left her position as Assistant Library Director at St Catharine College and ac­ cepted a position as a Research Analyst with Commercial Kentucky, in Louisville.

On January 2 Susan Knoer (’03) passed along the news she had accepted the position Special Collections Librarian at Ohio University in Athens, effective February 1st.

Jeremy Berberich (’04) has left his position as Reference Librarian at Thomas More College. On February 1st he started at Gateway Community and Technical College as a Librarian (Instructor). GCTC, one of the institutions that make up the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, has four campuses in Northern Kentucky.

We learned in February that Nicole Montgomery (’04) was selected to receive an Eastern Kentucky University Libraries ACRL Conference Scholarship, a competitive scholarship awarded to new librarians. Nicole is Justice & Safety Li­ brarian at EKU. Tonya Head (’05) has been promoted to Assistant Manager, Tates Creek Branch, Lexington Public Library.

Rose Spector (’05) is Librarian 1, Miami Dade County Public Library, FL. Rose said in an e-mail: “Basically, I am an Adult Reference Librarian at the Coral Reef Branch, which is a medium sized branch in the System. I do a little of everything. I do reference, circulation, and collection development. I started on August 28th.”

Spring 2007

Among Recent Graduates Janet Arno is Reference Librarian at Campbell County Public Library, Ft Thomas, KY. Mary Baker is Director of Reference, Laurel County Public Library, London, KY. The first of the year Katrina Bate joined the staff at Lane Libraries in Hamilton, OH. Katrina told us her title is Information Services Librarian and she is doing reference.

Jessica Bazeley is Museum Assistant, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Division of Invertebrate Paleontology, Yale University.

Amy Buskey is Youth Services Librarian, Goshen Branch, Clermont County Public Library, OH. John Chenault is on the staff at Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, University of Louisville.

Susan Courtney is on the staff at Lexington Public Library and working at Central Library.

Jennifer Frazier is State Law Librarian, Kentucky State Law Library, Frankfort.

Nicole Gaines is Manager, National Instructional Materials Access Center, American Printing House for the Blind.

In November, Amanda Golden joined Mayo Clinic as a Research Librarian.

Sara Grant is on the staff at Lexington Public Library.

Steve Hammel is Project Archivist at the International Museum of the Horse.

Jenni Link is on the staff at Lexington Public Library, assigned to the Tates Creek Branch.

The first of the year Suzanne Maggard joined the library staff at the Filson Club in Louisville, as Special Collections Assistant. Suzanne wrote: “I will be processing and cataloging archival materials and providing reference services to patrons. I will also oversee the Filson’s ‘virtual card catalog’ project through which we will be attempting to make all the information in the Filson’s print card catalog available in an electronic format.”

Patrick Mundt let us know early in October that he had been hired as a librarian at the Oak Creek Campus, Milwaukee Area Technical College, WI. “I am a bit of a jack of all trades,” Patrick wrote, “in that I am doing cataloging, circulation, instruction, and reference.”

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Jennifer Paul has joined the reference staff at Jessamine County Public Library, Nicholasville, KY.

Deanna Spears is Children’s Librarian at BWI, here in Lexington.

Robin Pearce is Document Preservation Technician at Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.

Peggy Stanifer is Deputy Director, Laurel County Public Library, London, KY.

Annie Prewitt is Learning Resources Center Manager at the Lexington Campus of Strayer University.

We received notice of the death of a number of graduates, with no additional information: Marian May ’52, Georgia T. Cole ’53, Agnes McDowell ’59, Marian E. Kienholz ’67, Ruby W. Bolton ’69, Charles E. Hale ’70, Barbara H. Hiatt ’72, Daniel W. Reasor ’77.

Jenn Rembold joined the staff at Dayton Metro Library, OH, as Children’s Librarian.

Roberta Shannon is on the library staff at Spencerian College, Lexington.

Please send information for the Newsletter via email to: carrigan@uky.edu Deadlines for receipt of information are September 1 and February 1.

Alumni and Awards Banquet Reservation Form The School’s Alumni and Awards Banquet will be Friday, April 27, at the Lafayette Club in downtown Lexington.

(The Lafayette Club is on the 15th floor of what is known as the Lexington Chase building, at the intersection of Main Street and North Martin Luther King Blvd.) There will be a cash bar from 6:00 to 7:00 PM, followed by dinner. To make a reservation for the banquet, provide the information asked for below and send this form, with your check made payable to the University of Kentucky, to: Lousetta Carlson, School of Library and Information Science, University of Kentucky, 502 King Library, Lexington KY 40506-0039. This reservation form and your check must get to Lousetta not later than Friday April 20.

Lousetta may be reached by phone at 859.257.8876 or e-mail at Carlson@uky.edu Name: ________________________________________ E-mail address: _________________________________ Daytime phone number: (______)____________________ Number of reservations (@ $25 per reservation): ______

Spring 2007

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MEMBERSHIP DUES - 2007

Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0039

Alumni Association

School of Library and Information Science

University of Kentucky 502 King Library

Name ____________________________________________________________________ Postal address _____________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ E-mail address _____________________________________________________________ Please make check, in the amount of $5.00, payable to SLIS Alumni Association, and send check, with this form (or photocopy), to the above address. Thank you.

If you wish to contribute to a School Fund, designate the Fund below, make your check payable to the University of Kentucky, and send your check and this form (or photocopy) to the School at the above address. Thank you.

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