Volume 35 Number 1
Spring 2013
School Appears to be Positioned Well for New University Budget Model Numerous cuts in state funding for the University have prompted senior UK officials to develop an alternative to the current incremental budget model, and the new model, referred to as “incentive-based” and “value-based,” could reward the School of Library and Information Science for increasing enrollment and developing new programs. Reductions in state support have become a persistent reality for the University. In his message to accompany the University’s 2009 financial statements, then-President Lee Todd referred to “a mid-year [state] appropriations reduction for the sixth time in eight years.” The following year President Todd noted: “State support for the University in fiscal year 2009-10 … was $9.4 million below the state support for UK originally enacted by the General Assembly. This is a decrease of $24.5 million compared with the originally enacted fiscal year 2007-08 budget.” In April 2012, as the General Assembly finalized the state budget for the next biennium, UK President Eli Capilouto reported: “For Fiscal Year 2012-13, UK’s general fund budget will be cut 6.4% or nearly $20 million – one of the largest single cuts in our institution’s history. For 2013-14, our appropriation from the state is flat. Since December 2007, we have experienced cuts of $50 million to our general fund budget….” In January 2012, following release of Governor Beshear’s budget in which he proposed the reduction in UK funding the General Assembly incorporated in the adopted budget in April, President Capilouto appointed a University Financial Systems Accountability Committee, charged “with developing a guiding set of budgeting principles and a framework for a new University of Kentucky Budget Model (‘Kentucky Model’).” In its report the Committee recommended a set of five “guiding principles for the new model.” Three of the five, having to do with mission, strategy, and transparency, “can be achieved with any variety of budget models. … The two remaining principles, however, guide the creation of a new customized Kentucky Model.” The two are: • Authority/Responsibility – The University should ensure the alignment of authority for financial management decisions and responsibility for the outcomes of those decisions … and determine the right balance between centralization and decentralization and between units. • Rewards/Entrepreneurship – The budget should support
a culture that responsibly rewards performance, collaboration, and entrepreneurship. A September 2012 message from President Capilouto and Interim Provost Timothy Tracy, in which they discussed “making decisions about our budget,” has numerous references to “reallocations” and relates “these reallocations” to making “the right strategic investments in education and research.” In October 2012 Interim Provost Tracy sent an email to the UK community in which he discussed the new financial model. After noting, “our current incremental model has served this institution well for decades,” he added: “But in a world where economic uncertainty and challenge are the norms rather than the exceptions, we need a financial system that puts more authority and responsibility in the hands of colleges and units where research and teaching are conducted.” “[O]ur current financial model doesn’t do enough to align the expenses we incur with where and how revenues are generated.” In Town Hall meetings Dr. Tracy said under the current budget model “Units don’t have much control over their revenues and don’t know that if they do x, y will happen.” In contrast, the new model “promotes entrepreneurship, because now your revenues are attributed to you.” Dr. Tracy created a Financial Model Steering Committee, “To develop guiding principles for the implementation of the value-based financial model and to provide input on key strategic questions.” SLIS Director Jeff Huber is a member of the Steering Committee. As the head of an academic unit, Jeff has been very interested in the general discussions about a new budget model. As a member of the Steering Committee, he is one of a small number of people whose recommendations will translate the general principles of the new model into the specific budget allocations, beginning July 1, 2014. The newsletter asked Jeff to share his thoughts about the new budget model – the thinking behind it, and how he sees it affecting the School: “The new financial model should provide a more transparent approach to the UK budget process. It is intended to allow resources to follow growth and reward entrepreneurship initiatives. I am hopeful that SLIS will benefit from our efforts to grow enrollment in the LIS master’s program and anchor the School more broadly by launching new academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate level.”
SLIS Receives Initial Approvals for Undergraduate Major in ICT The fall 2012 newsletter reported that the School would launch an undergraduate program spring semester 2013. As the newsletter article explained, the program, in information studies, would begin as a minor that would be entirely online. According to the article, “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.” 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 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 separate proposals, for an undergraduate major as well as a master’s program, both in ICT, are subject to several reviews, and in early February Director Huber learned the Council on Postsecondary Education had approved the preproposal for the ICT undergraduate major. In addition, the proposal had cleared the UK Undergraduate Council and was being reviewed by the Graduate Council, which was required because the proposal includes a 3+2 option to matriculate to the new master’s program in ICT.
Assistant Director Will Buntin Comments on Changes at SLIS When Will Buntin (’04) interviewed for the position Student Affairs Officer, in February 2006, he said, if offered the position, he would add marketing to the activities. He did so, and his marketing efforts, perhaps more than anything else, have led to the strong enrollment at the School. Enrollment – not only total UK enrollment but also program enrollment – is very important and can be expected to become more so as the competition for resources increases within the University of Kentucky. The newsletter asked Will, who was promoted to Assistant Director of Student Affairs nearly two years ago, to comment on the changes that have taken place at the School during his tenure on the staff and to do so with enrollment in mind. What have been the major changes at SLIS since you joined the staff as Student Affairs Officer in early 2006? As we made it possible to earn the master's degree completely online, we now recruit more students from across the country. Because of that and other changes (for example, Jeff [Director Jeff Huber] got the School Media position refunded and was able to add another lecture line) actual enrollment and enrollment capacity have continued to increase. Looking back, what do you find most gratifying about the evolution of SLIS since you joined the staff? Spring 2013
SLIS has become much more dynamic – new courses, changes to existing courses. The Alternative Spring Break program, I think, is the best change/addition for our students during my time. What do you see as major changes and challenges on the horizon? We have added an undergraduate minor. Getting involved with undergraduate students will be a significant change for the program. Additionally, a new undergraduate major and new master's program are both in the proposal process. Both of these are enormous changes and opportunities for SLIS. One huge challenge for the library master's program is understanding our online students and ensuring that we create as much of a “community” as we can for them. Enrollment this spring is above enrollment spring 2012. In the past the newsletter has mentioned various recruiting efforts you employ, e.g., direct mail and online advertising, career fairs, online information sessions. In addition, a student now is able to complete the program online, with no required visits to campus. What things do you believe are most responsible for the high enrollment? I think it’s a combination of all the things you mention – aggressive recruiting, recruiting students nationally, our program being a realistic option for all students regardless of where they are in the country. Of course, our faculty and programming, specifically the Alternative Spring Break, are certainly things that attract students to our program as well. And last, it doesn’t hurt that online students are able to take advantage of in-state tuition rates. To illustrate how important our national recruiting is, for spring 2013 35% of our students report not living in the state while in the program. And that doesn’t even consider those students who live outside Lexington. Last spring 27% did not reside in Kentucky.
School of Library and Information Science in Top 25 of LIS Master's Programs The UK School of Library and Information Science has been ranked as the #22 Best Library and Information Studies master's degree program by U.S. News and World Report in the magazine’s “2014 Best Graduate Schools Rankings.” That is up five slots from its #27 ranking in the last published report. Additionally, SLIS ranked #4 in Health Librarianship graduate programs. U.S. News ranked 51 ALA-accredited master's degree programs, with the rankings based solely on the results of a survey sent to the dean of each program, the program director, and a senior faculty member in each program. The survey asked individuals to rate the academic quality of programs at each institution on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). SLIS achieved an overall peer assessment ranking of 2.8. The Health Librarianship ratings were based solely on the nominations of program deans, program directors, and a senior faculty member at each program. They were asked to choose up to 10 programs noted for excellence in Health Librarianship. Those with the most votes were listed. Page 2
Anthony Ubelhor Appointed SLIS Student Affairs Officer Anthony Ubelhor (’12) has been appointed to the position of Student Affairs Officer at the School of Library and Information Science, following the resignation of Susan MacDonell (’12) to accept a position elsewhere. Anthony spent more than 15 years in the private sector as a computer systems analyst before returning to school to get degrees in English and philosophy from the University of Southern Indiana in 1998. Following graduation, he began to work on a master’s degree in English at UK, and for ten years taught as an adjunct instructor in UK’s English department. Anthony enrolled in the LIS program in 2010, in part because he saw it as a way to bring together his two seemingly disparate career paths. “In the private sector,” he told the newsletter, “my primary responsibility was to analyze the flow of information within organizations, and then to design database systems to capture and analyze that information according to my clients’ specific needs. While in the English department I honed my teaching skills and discovered that I had a real love for research. These same skill sets stand at the core of library and information science, especially today with the move toward more sophisticated search and retrieval systems.” Anthony graduated from the LIS program in 2012 with a focus on information systems and health sciences librarianship. During his final semester, he had a technology Graduate Assistantship in the School’s administrative office and completed an internship at UK’s Chandler Medical Center Library.
Prof. Lisa O’Connor to Teach Summer Course in Northern Ireland Associate Professor Lisa O’Connor will teach a course in Northern Ireland in summer 2013, at Queens University in Belfast. She told the newsletter: “The topic of the course is how reference and instructional services are organized and offered in Northern Ireland, particularly how technology is used to reach rural areas. The four credit hour course will examine the organization and delivery of information services. We will consider how technology is employed to offer reference, instructional and other user services across a wide variety of information organizations, including rural and urban public libraries, school libraries, corporate and industry information centers, and archives. Critical questions considered in the course are: • How is technology employed to meet users’ information needs in a variety of information services contexts? • What are the relevant digital/cultural divides in who is served, underserved and not served, and how are Irish information professionals attempting to address them? • How is information literacy conceptualized and implemented across the various information contexts studied? • How are cross-cultural variations in information seekSpring 2013
ing and communication within Ireland accommodated? • How are information professionals trained to deliver information services? • What are relevant differences in ethical norms for the provision of information services?” As of mid-February 11 students, including one from Texas Woman’s University, had registered for the course.
Prof. Shannon Oltmann On Her Research Dr. Shannon Oltmann joined the SLIS faculty last fall. Her research interest, intellectual freedom, is among the core principles of librarianship. Knowing that alumni would be interested in learning about her research, the newsletter asked Prof. Oltmann to discuss her work, and she replied: “My research focuses on intellectual freedom, freedom of speech, information policy, and censorship. I am especially interested in people's reasoning about intellectual freedom and censorship – why should we restrict access to certain information? Or, conversely, why should we allow access to certain information? I like to uncover the social, political, and personal reasons that people work to facilitate or hinder access. I also like studying the policies (both formal and informal) that aid or thwart freedom of speech and intellectual freedom. I'm not sure how this research focus developed, but I can tell you I was interested in this from the day I began graduate school [at the School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University]. My entrance exam was about intellectual freedom. I remember, as a precocious pre-teen, being turned away from the ‘adult’ stacks in my local public library because the librarian thought I wasn't old enough to read grown-up books. I remember Congressional hearings about preventing kids from accessing allegedly dangerous music, video games, and movies (a subject which seems to reappear often). I remember heated political battles over controversial social topics, in which each side seemed determined to silence the other – and my puzzlement about that. Wasn't the point to share our perspectives, listen and explain, learn and contemplate? How could we do that if one side or the other didn't have the freedom to say what they wanted to say? I remember learning about samizdat in communist Russia, underground dissident literature that kept intellectual fires stoked and demonstrated how passionate people can be for freedom of thought and expression. I think all of these different thoughts and memories, and many others, come together and get expression in my current research. To me, a library school is the perfect place to study, research, write, talk about, and teach about freedom of speech and censorship. Students are curious, thoughtful, and passionate, as are my colleagues.” In February Prof. Oltmann made a presentation at the iConference 2013, and in May she will make a presentation at the 9th International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. Page 3
McConnell Literature Conference 2013 The McConnell Conference this year, held March 1-2, was a success! The conference began with breakout sessions, including a presentation by Mary Lou White, Tyler Anderson, and Stephanie Sawyer on this year’s Young Adult Youth Media Awards. Dan Yaccarino kicked off the conference with a breakout session where he answered the audience’s questions about his fabulous illustrations. Meggan Conway gave a breakout session on how to find multicultural literature for all children, and Krista King-Oaks and Pamela Jayne geeked out with graphic novels.
Following the lunch session, there were more breakout sessions, during which some previous sessions were repeated and conference attendees could “meet the author” with Selene Castrovilla or celebrate the art of picture books – our first hands-on session in many years – with Denise Vallandingham. Thank you to local treasures Martha Bennett Stiles and George Ella Lyon and to up-and-coming author Ashley Hope Pérez for participating in our signing sessions. This year was another wonderful Conference for us! Thank you to all who joined us. Dr. Stephanie D. Reynolds & Mercedes Hopewell
Ways to make a transformative difference at the University of Kentucky . . . 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.
McConnell Conference 2013: Prof. Stephanie Reynolds, Jack Gantos, Dan Yaccarino, Selene Castrovilla, Graduate Assistant Mercedes Hopewell.
During the first round of breakout sessions, the McConnell Conference sponsored its first SLIS Student Poster Session. Jessica Herrington, Desiree Perry, Heather Burke, and Danielle Gabbard presented an amazing poster session on marketing information to youth. On Saturday Heather Burke presented her poster session on her “Artists’ Books Access Project.” Thank you to all the participants from SLIS who contributed to the McConnell Conference’s first poster session. Friday night was concluded with the Joy Terhune Lecture featuring the author of the Joey Pigza and Jack Adrift books, the amazing Jack Gantos. The 2012 Newbery Medal Winner for Deadend in Norvelt had the entire audience laughing at his childhood antics. On Saturday, the morning session began with the author of The Girl Next Door, Selene Castrovilla. Breakout sessions followed, including a meet-the-author with Jack Gantos and a session by Karalea Lane discussing the virtues of heroes in young adult literature. Edith Campbell and author Ashley Hope Pérez presented a wonderful breakout session that discussed creating and finding ethnic authenticity in youth literature. Our Saturday lunch session featured author/illustrator Dan Yaccarino. He has sold over 1.5 million books and has illustrated over 50 books! He is also the creator of Nickelodeon shows “Willa’s Wild Life” and “Oswald”. Yaccarino delivered a hilarious presentation about his struggles and rise to becoming an amazing illustrator. Spring 2013
An overview of giving options Philanthropy is an expression of generosity with the understanding that certain gifts have the capacity to be transformative. There are many ways in which you can make a gift to have a significant impact upon the important work of the University of Kentucky and the Library School. The information below explains some of the common ways to make gifts that will help the University and potentially provide you with valuable tax and income benefits. Current gifts A current gift is one that you give today with immediate benefits. There are several ways for you to make a current gift. Cash: A cash gift is usually the easiest and most convenient way to make a gift. The University of Kentucky is able to make use of your cash gift right away and you receive a valuable income tax charitable deduction to offset your taxes on this year’s return. Securities: A gift of stocks or bonds may provide you with an even greater tax benefit. If you have owned securities for more than one year and the value has increased, you can avoid capital gains tax and receive a charitable income tax deduction equal to the fair market value of your gift. Real estate: A gift of your real estate that has been held for more than a year also has the advantage of providing you with a charitable tax deduction based on the current value of the property, as well as enabling you to avoid capital gains tax on the sale of your property. Personal property: Selected artwork, books and antiques are examples of gifts of personal property which also can be given. To ensure that your gift of personal property qualifies for a favorable charitable tax deduction, please contact me. Planned gifts A planned gift is a specific giving strategy that will benefit the University of Kentucky at some point in the future while potentially offering immediate benefits to you. Charitable gift annuity: A charitable gift annuity is an exPage 4
ample of how a gift to the University of Kentucky can generate income for you. You transfer your cash or property to the University in exchange for a fixed payment to you for life at a rate based on your age. In addition to the security of fixed income, you receive a charitable income tax deduction and a portion of each of your annuity payments may be tax free. The deferred payment charitable gift annuity -- in which annuity payments are delayed for more than one year -- offers rates that make it an attractive supplement to your retirement income. Charitable remainder trust: The most versatile charitable giving tool, the charitable remainder trust can help you avoid capital gains tax on the sale of your appreciated assets, generate regular income for you, provide you with a charitable income tax deduction and fulfill your philanthropic objectives. Charitable bequest: Next to writing a check, perhaps the best known vehicle for philanthropy is the bequest. A bequest is a gift that is made through your will or trust. By means of this planned gift, you can establish your wishes today without relinquishing any assets during your lifetime. If you have questions, please contact me. I will be happy to provide you with a personalized illustration of any of the gift options described and explain the benefits to you. Your philanthropy can make a transformative difference 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 Web site: http://www.uky.edu/development
SLIS Faculty, Students Participate in Library Legislative Day For a number of years the public library leadership in Kentucky has designated a day during each regular session of the state General Assembly as Library Legislative Day. This year it was February 20. SLIS students Ashley DeWitt, Andrea Atkins, Denise McClure, and Jenny Harris joined faculty members Lisa O’Connor and Shannon Oltmann to participate in the events of the day. The newsletter asked Prof. O’Connor what prompted her to participate in Legislative Day, and she replied: “During times of fiscal retrenchment, library advocacy, which is always important, becomes critical to survival. I wanted to participate in Library Legislative Day to give our students a real-world opportunity to develop advocacy skills. The experience was clearly worth all the effort. Seeing seasoned librarians, library administrators and board members in action was an invaluable experience for me and Spring 2013
the students who participated. I'd like to take twice as many students next year.” To learn more about Legislative Day, the newsletter turned to Wayne Onkst (’79), Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. Wayne wrote: “Legislative Day has a long history in Kentucky. In the early part of the 20th century, the fledgling Kentucky Library Association organized the first major lobbying effort for libraries. Using the persuasive power of the Kentucky Federation of Women’s Clubs, the library community convinced the 1910 session of the Kentucky General Assembly to create the Kentucky Library Commission for the purpose of establishing public libraries in all communities that chose to do so and then offer advice, assistance and counsel to those libraries. Additional advocacy efforts followed in the 1930’s after the establishment of the Citizens Library League (which later became the Friends of Kentucky Libraries). Major lobbying efforts were launched for the Public Librarian Certification program in the late 1930’s, the first state aid program for public libraries in the early 1950’s, support of the new bookmobile program in the mid 1950’s, and finally statutory authority to create library districts in the late 1950’s. As libraries grew, the Public Library Section of the Kentucky Library Association became stronger in the 1970’s and public librarians became more organized politically. Efforts against HB44 in the late 1970’s, which limited increases in library district income to 4% annually, demonstrated to libraries that political involvement was more necessary than ever. Channels for contacting legislators were organized while librarians, trustees, and friends were identified for the purpose of testifying before legislative committees. In the mid 1990’s, the Public Library Section created an Advocacy Committee which first identified a day during each session of the General Assembly on which the public library community would join together in Frankfort for a day of meeting with legislators to present their appeal for legislative action. So Legislative Day has become a tradition over the past 20 years, but advocating for libraries has been happening for more than 100 years in Kentucky.” The newsletter asked students who participated to comment on their experience. Jenny Harris wrote: “The director and assistant director of the Warren County Public Library kindly asked us to accompany them to their meeting with Representative Wilson Stone. It was a valuable experience to witness firsthand the concerns public libraries face and the ways in which they combat those concerns. Representative Stone was very attentive during the meeting and proved to be a true advocate for Kentucky libraries. He even took the time to speak at the rally following individual meetings to show his support for all those present at the event. It was overwhelming to see how many librarians participated in Library Legislative Day and to witness their commitment to libraries. I am honored for the opportunity to attend and hope I can do so again in the future.” Page 5
Ashley DeWitt commented: “Jennifer Harris and I were fortunate enough to help with registration and meet with a representative. We spent the morning greeting participants as they entered the meeting room and distributing stickers to those individuals. Once we completed this activity, we spent a brief period of time at the registration table creating a list that detailed the number of participants from each county. Just after 11 a.m., we accompanied the Director, Lisa Rice, and Assistant Director, Ashley Fowlkes (’95), of the Warren County Public Library to their meeting with Representative Wilson Stone. Although the meeting was brief, we were able to witness these librarians highlighting the importance and fiscal responsibility of libraries. Meeting Representative Stone, a staunch supporter of libraries, was an honor and incredible learning experience. I greatly enjoyed meeting librarians, patrons, and friends from all over the state. Participating provided me with an opportunity for community engagement that has greatly enriched my educational experience. I am already looking forward to next year, and I hope I will be able to provide even more assistance than I did this year.”
Seventeen SLIS Students Participate in Alternative Spring Break 2013 As a result of a meeting in summer 2010 between Director Jeff Huber and Deanna Marcum (’71), who was then Associate Librarian of Congress for Library Services, students in the School’s program have been able to participate in the Library of Congress Alternative Spring Break Internship Program, beginning in 2011. The first year five SLIS students spent the week of March 14-18 in Library of Congress internships, with financial support from the School. Spring 2012 there were again five LC interns. In addition, two students had internships that spring at the National Library of Medicine, which joined LC as a site for internships. The School once more provided financial aid. In the fall 2012 newsletter it was reported that spring 2013 the internship program would expand, in two ways. The National Archives would join the program, and the number of interns at the Library of Congress would double, to ten. After launching the program, the School applied to the Women & Philanthropy Network at UK for funds to support the program, and in January of last year Director Jeff Huber learned SLIS had been awarded $10,000 in scholarships for that purpose, for spring 2013, when the School would be able to double the number of LC interns. The 2013 interns are: at the National Archives Edna Fugate, Kayla Meadows, Anastasia Musser, and Victoria Vaughan; at the Library of Congress Heather Burke, Ashley DeWitt, Holly Jackson, Amanda Kessler, Jama Watts, Andrew Adler, James Allen, Bruce Bachand, Daniel Naas, and Jon Tenant; and at the National Library of Medicine Alexa Clark, Emma Kelly, and Rebecca Freihaut. Spring 2013
Debbi Lloyd Selected to Participate in ALA’s Student-to-Staff Program SLIS student Debbi Lloyd has been selected to participate in ALA’s student-to-staff program. According to the program web site: Each year 40 library students are chosen to assist ALA staff during ALA Annual Conference. In exchange for working four hours a day (or a total of 20 hours), these students receive free conference registration, housing, and a per diem for meal expenses. During free time, they may attend programs and participate in other conference activities. In order to qualify for the program: • Each student must be a student chapter member; • Each student must be a current ALA member and remain an ALA member through the ALA Annual Conference that he or she is nominated to participate in; • Each student accepted cannot have previously participated in the program; • Yes, students are eligible if they graduate in May immediately before the conference. Qualifying students are chosen by their schools, and only one student is accepted per chapter.
Popular Lunch-N-Learn Series an Additional Resource for Students Director Jeff Huber in 2009 introduced Lunch-N-Learn, a program that brings librarians and others to campus during the noon hour to make presentations and answer questions. At the time he introduced Lunch-N-Learn, Jeff told the newsletter: “I see Lunch-N-Learn as a way to enhance the on-campus experience for our students while providing an additional resource for our distance students, since we record these sessions and post them in the student organization area in Blackboard.” More recently, the School began hosting the sessions online on our video channel on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/ukslis). On Friday, February 8, Susan MacDonell (’12) moderated a Lunch-N-Learn at which several academic librarians at smaller Kentucky institutions discussed their work and answered questions. Panel members were Andy Busroe (’95), Library Director, Alice Lloyd College; Phil Hanna (’92), Library Director, Lindsey Wilson College; and Morgan Tracy, Library Director, Asbury University. The panelists are members of FoKAL, the Federation of Kentucky Academic Libraries. According to Morgan, “FoKAL was created in 2007 and the members are the libraries at all SACS-accredited institutions in Kentucky – public universities, private colleges, community and technical colleges. The goal was a greater degree of collaboration. We pool our resources – our ‘intellectual capital.’ One of its original goals was to serve as an advocate for academic libraries within the state, especially after there were reductions in the resources of the Kentucky Virtual Library.” Page 6
Panel members were asked to comment on what the job of each entails, the path each took to get to his current position, what in the MLS program turned out to be especially valuable, what each panelist considers to be the most important skills a person should have for a career in librarianship, and what recommendations or suggestions each had for students in the SLIS program. On Friday, November 30, 2012, Graduate Assistant Heather Burke moderated a Lunch-N-Learn that brought six panelists to campus to discuss careers in archives. The six were: Becky Ryder (’92), Director of the Keeneland Library; Ginny Daley (’85), Manager, UK Facilities Library; Heather Fox (’09), Associate Curator of Special Collections (primarily working with photographic collections), The Filson Historical Society; Valerie Edgeworth (’04) and Beth Shields, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives; Sarah-Jane Poindexter, Associate Curator of Special Collections, The Filson Historical Society. In the course of the hour-long session, Heather asked panelists to address how each got started working in archives and how the field has changed since each began to work in the field; what organizations and other resources each would recommend to students interested in archives careers and advice about searching for professional positions in archives. Audience member SLIS Prof. Joe Miller asked the panelists what IT skills a student should acquire if she is interested in a career in archives, and especially in digital archives. Graduate Assistant Heather Burke arranged a Lunch-NLearn on October 19, 2012, at which panelists addressed alternative career paths for the MSLS degree holder. SLIS Assistant Director Will Buntin was moderator. Panel members were Christine Ayar Illichmann, Marketing/Customer Success Coordinator with Evanced Solutions, a firm that “provides simple, cost-effective tools to help streamline library processes and better attract and engage the community”; Jennifer Dupuis (’11), a sales rep for eight states with SkyRiver, a startup company that does cataloging and competes with OCLC; and Sarah Perlmutter (’07), an Account Services Manager with EBSCO Information Services. Sarah’s territory includes Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, northern Virginia, and the District of Columbia. After asking each panelist to introduce herself, Will asked, What are the likes and dislikes of your work? Following replies to that question, he asked each to discuss what, that she encountered in the LIS program, the person found to be especially useful to her work. Heather then asked, What are the backgrounds of the people you work with? One thing was clear, each panel member travels considerably in her job, and Will asked, What do you see yourself doing when the time comes you want to travel less? Panelists were asked what advice each had for students in the MLS program who are interested in working for a vendor following graduation as well as what advice, about working with vendors, each had for students who intend to work in libraries following completion of the master’s degree program. Spring 2013
SLIS Students Present Professional Field Experience Capstone Projects The School’s master’s degree program does not require an internship, but a semester-long internship is available via course LIS 675 Professional Field Experience, at the completion of which the student receives three credit hours. In an LIS 675 placement the student assumes entry level professional duties and responsibilities in an operational setting and works under the close supervision of a placement supervisor. In addition to completing 140 hours of experiential learning, the student must complete a multimedia capstone project under the direction of the course instructor. In early December 2012 several students presented their capstone projects to faculty, fellow students, and others and discussed their work. In her LIS 675 placement Heather Burke worked on the University Artists' Books Access Project for the UK Fine Arts Library, to begin the archival processing of the artists' book collection, create a LibGuide for the collection, and put together an exhibit. Her Placement Supervisor was Meg Shaw (’79), Head, Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts Library. Heather told the newsletter: “My knowledge of Archivists’ Toolkit and preservation methodology was very valuable for the project. I used AT to create records for more than 50 books, and I gained expertise in this cataloging method. Meeting with librarians in the Access Records Management and Special Formats departments allowed me to gain knowledge of the procedures involved with putting records into Voyager. Working with the Archives and Digital Library Services departments provided knowledge of how records are handled for a finding aid and how digital images are placed on the libraries’ website. Organizing and providing interpretive information for an exhibit in the Little Library’s display cases and negotiating with artists for reproduction permissions gave me experience in creating online and physical exhibits. Using the libraries’ LibGuides program, I gained the ability to use specialized software that enables library users to access research information.” Samantha Jeffers’ LIS 675 placement was at Somerset Community College. The name of her presentation was “The Diversity Outreach Project at the Somerset Community College Learning Commons.” The LIS 675 contract elaborated: “Library services of the future should be repostured to accommodate a variety of groups and their distinct needs.” According to Samantha: “My project was performing outreach to five diverse student communities (students with disabilities, ethnic and cultural minority students, immigrant students, veteran students, and nontraditional students), their coordinators, and faculty at the Somerset Community College for the Learning Commons. The second part of this outreach was a needs assessment, which was done through interviews and meetings to find out how the Learning Commons needed to adapt services to better accommodate the diverse student needs. Lastly, recommendations of Page 7
changes needed to accommodate these needs were made for the Learning Commons generally and for each community based on the feedback from students.” It was natural that Kelly Lee, who has a BS in nursing from UK, would undertake professional field experience in health sciences. Kelly, who lives in Nashville, TN, arranged a placement at Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville, where her placement supervisor was Jan Haley, Library and Information Services Coordinator. Kelly said: “The title of the video I made is Library Connections: Past, Present and Future. The video has a twofold purpose. The first is to provide an overall picture of medical librarianship at a non-academic hospital. The other purpose will be to serve as a health sciences library orientation tool for hospital employees at Saint Thomas Health. “The video project was presented at library open houses held within Saint Thomas Health’s three main hospitals. Surveys were conducted on the perceived usefulness of the resource at the time of viewing and plans are in place to repeat the survey 6 months post-viewing to ascertain a longer-range impact. The project was presented at the LIS 675 Showcase in Lexington, KY, and the Tennessee Health Science Library Association Fall 2012 meeting in Nashville, TN. In addition, the Saint Thomas’ Medical Librarian presented the project at the Medical Library Association’s Quad Chapter Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.” Emma Kelly, whose LIS 675 placement was at the Keeneland Library under Director Becky Ryder (’92), explained her project: “My showcase project was titled ‘From Boxes to Finding Aid: Processing the Joe Hirsch Papers.’ The project involved handling a collection of artifacts that once belonged to Joe Hirsch, a prominent horse racing journalist. The initial processing involved sorting, labeling, creating major categories called ‘series,’ and subdividing each series, often multiple times. Next, I created a finding aid based on archival standards with the information from the processing step. The finding aid was included with the record in Keeneland’s public access catalog, allowing the public to access my work at any time. In addition to the Joe Hirsch project, I also prepared horse racing publications for digitization, processed a collection of racetrack programs from California, and re-housed photographic negatives during my semester at the Keeneland Library.” In her placement Ida Sell assisted in the mass digitization efforts of the Digital Library Services (DLS) Department, UK Libraries, including digitizing manuscript and special collection materials using DLS’s various imaging equipment, performing quality control of digitized content, and providing basic metadata for digitized materials based on the METS and OAI standards. “During the internship,” she explained, “I was exposed to many of the benefits of mass digitization efforts as well as problems and challenges that arise. I created a digital exhibit, using a content management system. The exhibit display my work on digital imaging and processing. I used the METS and OAI standards for describing digital content, as well as a description of the content for Spring 2013
the general public. The exhibit includes examples of the materials I digitized using various equipment, and I showcased the Digital Library Services department methods I learned.” While enrolled in the School’s program, Cynthia Thornley has taken advantage of online instruction. She has remained in Maryland, where she had a Professional Field Experience placement at Charles County Public Library, under Library Director Emily Ferren. The LIS 675 contract describes the nature of the placement: “Initiate a project to repurpose the current library space to embrace the evolving notions of the traditional library. The student will plan an integral role in the conceptual design and execution of the project. Her duties are: establishing specifications and generating alternatives, furnishing design specifications, developing the project schedule, devising cost estimates, reviewing final design, initiating a grant proposal to fund the project.” Cynthia told the newsletter: “I familiarized myself with the fundamentals of the Director’s Station software that is used to track and analyze statistical data that is collected by the library. My deliverable was a multi-media presentation summing up the research I did for grants, grant submissions, conceptual design, financial commitment and timeline of the repurposing project.”
Emily Frank Reports from Oslo “member of a group of 16 students from 15 countries” The newsletter thanks Prof. Lisa O’Connor for passing along the following from Emily Frank (’10): “After graduating from UK, I was accepted in a two-year master’s program in Digital Library Learning. I started the program in August 2011. This degree is part of the European Union’s Erasmus Mundus program which offers full scholarships for master’s and PhD studies in Europe on a variety of topics. I learned about the program from a professor at Butler University, where I was an undergraduate. My program’s coursework focuses on the skills, methods, and tools needed to manage digital libraries and to participate in digital projects. As a member of a group of 16 students from 15 countries, I have also learned from the backgrounds and experiences of my classmates and been exposed to international perspectives on library services. I have spent semesters studying at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences in Norway, Tallinn University in Estonia, and the University of Parma in Italy. The program has also taken me to a conference in Berlin, to summer school in Florence, and to an internship at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva. It was an exciting place to do an internship and I was exposed to many of the trends and issues in science librarianship. I gained a lot of enthusiasm for roles librarians can play in the sciences, especially in terms of supporting scholarly communication and open access publishing. I even put to use the reference skills I studied at UK, when Page 8
I helped a Nobel prize-winning physicist while working the reference desk! Now in my final semester, I have returned to Oslo to write my thesis and conclude this exciting experience.”
Kate Black Retires After 27 Years with University of Kentucky Libraries Kate Black (’78) retired from University of Kentucky Libraries in January. As Kate prepared to leave UK, Reinette Jones (’88) interviewed her. The interview appeared in Off the Shelf, the employee blog for the University of Kentucky Libraries, and is reprinted with permission. Kate Black … spent most of her 27 years [at uk] as the curator of the Appalachian Collection in the Special Collections Library. After her retirement, Kate said that she will continue working on her various projects, including her recent sabbatical work, the oral history interviews with gardeners in Kentucky. Kate came to the Libraries by a very fascinating route that started in Corning, Arkansas, where she was born in 1952. She is one of eight children. After completing high school, she enrolled at Barat College in Lake Forest, IL. Barat was a small, progressive Catholic women’s college that opened in 1858. The school was named for Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart. In 2001, the school was purchased by DePaul University, and closed in 2005. During her senior year at Barat College, Kate came to Kentucky for a semester of Appalachian Studies classes at Alice Lloyd College in Pippa Passes. At the end of the fall term, she decided to stay for another semester. Kate worked with the Appalachian Oral History Project and was witness to labor organizing and other social movements which she calls “radical politics.” “I had been in the coal fields with all this labor organizing. There was the Black Lung Movement; the Miners for Democracy Movement would come along in a little bit; there was an Anti-Strip Mining Movement going on. There were a lot of movements going on with radical people who were different from anyone than I had ever known. I felt that that’s where I wanted to be for a while.” In May of 1974, Kate returned to Barat College for graduation; she earned a B.A. in Southern Studies. She returned to Alice Lloyd College and worked with Al Stewart, editor of the Appalachian Heritage magazine. She soon left the magazine and next worked for the Appalachian Legal and Defense Fund, an organization that provided legal services to low income families and persons. Kate said that she earned about $3,000 per year that was supplemented with produce from her garden. “I lived up a holler away from town. I lived in a little house without running water and I burned coal for heat. I
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just learned how to do it. When the water freezes in a bucket in your kitchen and you get up in the morning and it’s frozen, you figure out a way to unfreeze it. Right? It was a beautiful place. It’s been strip-mined now.” After a few years of living in eastern Kentucky, Kate said that she decided to attend library school and was accepted to the program at the University of Kentucky. In 1977, she moved to Lexington, took classes during the day and worked part-time in the UK Libraries Acquisitions Department, and at night she cleaned for a printing company. The library job fell to the wayside when she received a fellowship, which had the stipulation that after graduation she would become a librarian at a public library in a poor area. Kate earned her library degree in one year and became head librarian at Estill County Public Library in 1978. She was the first college-trained librarian at the library. She updated various library processes and procedures, and fought and gained health benefits for all the employees (including herself). She was also able to get pay raises for the employees who were earning less than minimum wage. In 1981, Kate left the public library. She remained in Estill County for the next few years while she and her partner lived off the land and worked odd jobs. They were very poor. In 1984, she was hired as a part-time cataloger at Eastern Kentucky University. A couple of years later, Ann Campbell, the Appalachian librarian at the University of Kentucky, moved to a new position, and Kate was hired as the curator of the Appalachian Collection. That was in 1986. “I’ve often dealt with really large collections. That’s been my specialty. I have had such an interesting intellectual time. My own intellectual development has just been incredible for being in the world of Appalachian Studies and being on the Appalachian Studies faculty while also being on the library faculty. I have been able to do a lot of neat things and have a lot of freedom. The Appalachian Studies faculty has always treated me as a colleague and as an equal member of our enterprise called Appalachian Studies.” Kate said that there have also been changes over the past 27 years. “I have always been researcher-oriented; highly detailed finding aids, so very intense levels of processing and description, which has fallen out of favor under our current administration and also in the archives profession at large. I think the new method is oriented toward getting things accessible; people being able to see we have the materials, via the internet, and maybe not knowing what’s really in there, having it very superficially mapped out. Those are two different philosophies. I feel like the libraries and the archives are very different places than the ones I came into. The library, like the University, has become more corporate, like a business, and I don’t like it. I have always been interested in the intellectual content. I felt really ready to leave for those reasons. I am excited to retire. I am ready to retire.”
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As Head, Preservation Services, Becky managed and administered departmental activities, including commercial and in-house binding, book repair, conservation treatment, grant administration, preservation microfilming and labeling After serving as Preservation Librarian in University of Kenand shelf preparation. One of her first projects was to design tucky Libraries for a number of years, Becky Ryder (’92), and equip a new conservation lab. When the William T. accepted the position Director of the Keeneland Library in Young Library, which was to become the main library, was May 2010. In late fall 2012 Becky was on campus to particibeing designed, Becky worked with the planners to design pate in the Archives Lunch N Learn, and I talked to her about and equip the preservation and conservation facilities in the significant change in her work environment, from a large Young Library. university library, where she was not in the top levels of manBecky participated in state, regional, and national preservaagement, to a small special library, where she is the top level tion forums to remain current with preservation trends and to of management. Prior to Becky’s provide direction for UK Libraries’ going to the Keeneland Library, the preservation efforts. She developed top administrative position was Head and taught a course in preservation Librarian, a position that remains. management for UK SLIS. Between Becky was appointed to a new 1992 and 2004 she directed the position, Director, and I asked if Southeastern Library Network creating the new position reflected a (SOLINET) Cooperative Preservation broadening of the mission of the Microfilming Project (CPMP), and library. She said it did: “I am to from 2002 to 2004 she co-directed the st strategically shape a 21 century Institute of Museum and Library agenda in fulfillment of the Keeneland Services (IMLS) grant entitled Beyond Library’s mission to become the the Shelf: Serving Historic foremost research facility for the Kentuckiana Through Virtual Access, Thoroughbred industry in the world.” using a microfilm to digital As we talked, it occurred to me alumni methodology. She served as Principal would find her comments interesting, Investigator for Partnering to Preserve and she agreed to an interview to be Racing’s Rich History: The Daily published in the newsletter. Racing Form Preservation Project; and Becky Ryder in the Keeneland Library lobby. Dennis Carrigan she participated in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). Becky earned a BA with Honors in English at the University In February 2008 she received the first annual George of Virginia. As an undergraduate at UVa, she worked in the Cunha and Susan Swartzburg Preservation Award, presented music library. Following graduation, she worked in the refby the American Library Association (ALA), Association of erence department at Alderman Library, the humanities and Library Collections and Technical Services Division, Presersocial sciences library at the University of Virginia. Later, vation and Reformatting Section. From 1999 to 2009 she was Becky worked in the UVa Health Sciences Library, initially a member of the SOLINET Preservation Advisory Council, as Serials/Binding Assistant and then as Medical Reference and since 1998 she has been a member of the Kentucky State Assistant. She left Charlottesville in 1988 and relocated to Historical Records Advisory Board. Blacksburg, VA, to accept the position Binding/Preservation Over the years, Becky provided presentations on many Supervisor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univerpreservation topics. She gained a national reputation for her sity. At Virginia Tech she chaired the Standing Committee on presentations called Microfilm 101 which she offered at UK’s Preservation. While enrolled in the UK SLIS program, she “meta | morphosis: a film to digital institute” and at the NEH was Graduate Assistant in the Preservation Department, UniNDNP awardees training program. Becky became wellversity of Kentucky Libraries. Also during her tenure as a known for her succinct presentations about the technical asstudent, Becky served as an Archives Intern at the Kentucky pects of preservation microfilm. To demonstrate the durabilDepartment for Libraries and Archives. ity of polyester film, she would spool out 30” of roll film, Becky had taken a leave from her Virginia Tech position to grasp it in her fists, then forcefully twist, turn and “thwack” attend library school, but while she was enrolled in the MSLS the film during the durability demo, thoroughly startling eveprogram her husband, Gordon Hogg, was offered a position ryone in the room. in UK Libraries, which he accepted. As a result, when she In the past two years, she has provided lectures about the completed the School’s master’s-degree program, Becky Keeneland Library and the Daily Racing Form Preservation wished to remain in Lexington. She worked briefly in the UK Project. Last fall, she provided four presentations about the Medical Center Library; but when Judy Sackett, who had Keeneland Association’s mission, history, and its reputation been UK’s Preservation Librarian and Becky’s supervisor in for innovation during a “One Book” month held in public the Graduate Assistantship, accepted another position in Unilibraries in four Northern Kentucky counties. The book, Writ versity Libraries, Becky was offered the position Preservation of Mandamus, included scenes during the Keeneland SepLibrarian and Head, Preservation Services, in August 1992. tember Yearling Sales and at a broodmare farm in Ireland.
Becky Ryder, Keeneland Library Director, Builds on Career in Preservation
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Becky was a frequent workshop instructor. She offered numerous book repair and disaster preparedness training sessions to her UK colleagues and to groups around the state. From 1997 through 2001, two workshop series kept her particularly busy. They were Preservation Microfilming: The Silver Standard, a two-day workshop designed to train project administrators to plan, implement, and manage microfilming projects, and To Film or To Scan: Preservation Options in a Digital World, a three-day workshop designed to evaluate the similarities, differences, advantages and disadvantages of both technologies. These workshops took her to 10 states and finally to Cape Town, South Africa in May 2001. In addition to South Africa, Becky has participated in international outreach in India and Ecuador. Recently Becky was appointed ALA’s representative to the Preservation and Conservation (PAC) Section of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). She will attend the annual meeting in Singapore in August. What led to your interest in preservation? In 1987, while working at UVa’s Health Sciences Library as a Binding/Serials technician, I was given a chance to attend a three-day book repair workshop sponsored by SOLINET. My supervisor knew that I used to repair pianos, so he figured that I might have some aptitude for repairing books. Almost all major research libraries were in the midst of building preservation programs, and most of them were building those programs on their established binding and book repair departments. The SOLINET instructors prefaced the hands-on work with an explanation about preservation principles, about prevention versus restoration, about environmental factors, about “first do no harm,” about archival quality supplies and about setting up good workflows. To me, all of this information was 100% net gain. I’d never heard any of it before. And it was so obvious. So common sense. So easy to do. It was like seeing the light for the first time. And, yes, I did have the hand skills to do efficient and effective book repairs. I attended another week-long book repair workshop at Johns Hopkins in the summer just before moving to Blacksburg. I continued to take workshops, mostly through SOLINET, and built up the base of my expertise. Each and every experience deepened my knowledge of all aspects preservation: environmental monitoring, commercial binding, disaster planning and recovery, microfilming, digitization, digital preservation, integrated pest management, audio-visual preservation, photograph preservation, book arts and book publishing, and more. What have been the most significant changes in preservation during your career? The astronomical, explosive growth of electronic information. That has affected everything. Everything. The way we communicate, the way we research, the way we market our services, the way we preserve the collections, the way we, as information consumers ourselves, expect to discover resources. We are now living in a digital world. In prior generations, collection stewards procured materials, perhaps performed some preventive preservation measures, then cataloged them and then put them on the shelf. Today, we create born digital content, and we reformat analog materials into digital versions. In the past, we were Spring 2013
passive stewards who perhaps had some vague notion of format life expectancy. Generally, we had 25 to 100 years to think about the next generation of the information lifecycle. In the 20th century, we learned how to reformat the brittle volumes of the 19th century into microfilm. That bought us a lot of time, maybe 500 years, before we had to think how to move that information into the future. But, today, we must be active custodians of digital information, because we know that digital systems have a life expectancy of 5 to 10 years. We are now in a position to migrate and validate information on a regular schedule. We are just learning how to be active custodians. In past, we did not have to trot into the book stacks every 5 years to see if the words were still in the books, but today, in the digital world that’s tantamount to what we have to do to preserve the integrity and the rendering of our digital assets. That requires new skills, new training programs, new budgets, new grant guidelines, new management, new energy and enthusiasm and usually, new information policy – an aspect of digital preservation that is not always entirely governed by the library. I’ve been involved with the development of digital preservation policy, procedures and standards since the CD was proclaimed as the “ultimate preservation medium,” so I have seen the tremendous progress that the international digital brain trust has forged. I foresee a time when digital preservation systems will be technically self-preserving. That said, the research librarians and archivists of the future will have the responsibility to interpret the value of our digital libraries and to defend and justify their continued existence in the face of changing paradigms, while at the same time preserving the artifacts of prior generations. What have been the most significant challenges in preservation during your career? Trying to improve the environments in which academic research libraries store their collections. Many of the spaces that house priceless collections suffer from wide swings in relative humidity and temperature. This “cycling” enhances the deterioration of collections. Additionally, high temperatures and high relative humidity have led to mold outbreaks. This is not an isolated situation at UK. I think many preservation administrators at large universities face this discouraging challenge. It is usually concluded that it is too costly to control the environment properly; yet, it is the single most important thing that any institution can do to preserve its collections, and in the long run, it is the least expensive option. How did your involvement at the Keeneland Library come about? In 2000, I was contacted by the Keeneland Library to provide preservation advice regarding the newly acquired Daily Racing Form collection. The Daily Racing Form, Inc. donated to the Keeneland Library more than 3,700 volumes of the Daily Racing Form and the Morning Telegraph, the two daily horse racing newspapers covering the years 1896 through 1996. Keeneland’s first accommodation of the gift was to build a state-of-the-art library which opened in 2002. The Library included a purpose-built storage vault to stabilize and protect the century of fragile newsprint. Page 11
At the same time, Keeneland reached out to the University of Kentucky Libraries for advice on how to further stabilize the DRF volumes and how to make them accessible to the public. The UK Libraries Preservation Department was wellknown throughout the library and archival community as being the most experienced facility regarding the preservation of current and historic Kentucky newspapers. At that time, the UK Libraries had been microfilming Kentucky newspapers since the 1950s. Additionally, they were on the cusp of engaging in the National Digital Newspaper Program. I developed a pilot project which involved UK Libraries partnering with the Keeneland Library to microfilm and digitize 100,000 pages of the DRF, capturing Triple Crown racing coverage from 1896 through 1991. The project, Partnering to Preserve Racing’s Rich History, got off the ground in 2007 and concluded in 2010. During that time, I worked closely with Cathy Schenck [’77], the Head Librarian at Keeneland, and got to know a lot about the Library’s other collections and functions. At the same time, the Keeneland administration wanted to expand the Library’s visibility and began thinking about a new administrative structure for the Library. Keeneland approached UK Libraries about how to recruit such a position. My colleagues and I agreed that I might be a good fit for Keeneland since I had already established a rapport with the Keeneland staff, had a basic knowledge of the collections, and coincidentally, loved Thoroughbred horse racing. For the first two years of my administration of the Keeneland Library, I continued to work as a University faculty librarian on contract to Keeneland. In May, 2012, I transitioned to being a full-time Keeneland employee. I gladly returned my UK parking permit and did not look back. What were priorities during your first two years as Director of Keeneland Library? From a strategic perspective, I have crafted a plan that focuses on increasing the Library’s visibility. The Keeneland Library has priceless, unique collections that are virtually unknown outside a small group of researchers. I want to increase access to finding aids, catalogs, indexes and other tools to help users gain access to the Library’s collections. I also have worked with Keeneland facilities staff to enhance our storage spaces. Increasingly, other agencies in the Thoroughbred industry have looked to Keeneland as a “copy of record repository.” They have donated materials that they can no longer maintain. We have added shelving and honed the collection to eliminate duplicates. Still, the Library’s space for growth is limited. Along with a look towards the next generation of space utilization is the reality of succession planning for staffing. My work involves a great deal of administrative forecasting as well as hands-on, roll-up-yoursleeves workflow development, training and schlepping. In the first two years, I orchestrated a conversion from a card catalog to an online system. Using a hybrid approach employing out-sourced services and an in-house volunteer team, the Library converted, labeled (for the first time) and reorganized over 6,000 monographs by summer 2012. The online catalog is now available on the Library’s website. http://www.keeneland.com/discover/online-catalog Spring 2013
I developed a strong conduit with UK SLIS to provide intern opportunities for SLIS students. By taking advantage of the Professional Field Experience course, eight student interns have tackled priority projects and gained valuable experience. The students have succeeded in rehousing the Charles Christian Cook glass plate photographic negative collection, consisting of approximately 20,000 images. They also made a huge dent in re-housing the Bert Morgan photographic negative collection. Approximately 25% of the 200,000 negatives have been rehoused. Additionally, they have prepared over 200,000 pages of the Daily Racing Form and the Morning Telegraph for imaging, processed several archival collections and answered numerous reference requests. Accepting the position Director of the Keeneland Library required that you leave UK. Was that a difficult decision? No, not really. I have worked almost all of my professional life in ARL libraries. During the two years I served on contract to Keeneland as its Director, I became very involved with an entirely different corporate culture. Yes, it was a big decision to give up tenure at UK, but I have found the climate at Keeneland very communicative, very supportive, very rewarding and very team-oriented. It’s much less complicated working in a smaller institution. It’s a refreshing change that gives me a lot of energy. It’s a positive, “can do” environment. The Keeneland Library was in the news recently regarding the purchase of the Thoroughbred Times Library. Tell us about that acquisition and its significance to Keeneland. The parent company that owned the Thoroughbred Times declared bankruptcy in September 2012. As a result, the Times closed, and all of its intellectual and physical property was organized for auction which concluded on February 1, 2013. The Keeneland Library successfully bid on the library collection, the photo collection and historic research file collections. We had approximately a week to move 68 filing cabinets of files and photos and approximately 10,000 books. Some materials were placed with another library, but the bulk of the materials moved to Keeneland. The collections are fabulous, and they really augment and complement Keeneland’s collections. I am so pleased that Keeneland could “give back” to the industry by saving the collection from decimation through bankruptcy, and I am also very happy that what we did not keep, we put into the hands of Thoroughbred industry researchers to support their work--a great example of how Keeneland takes pride in giving back to the community. What are the most significant differences between working at University of Kentucky Libraries and as Director of the Keeneland Library? The biggest difference has to do with the size of the institution. At Keeneland, there are not multiple layers of middle management to work up, down, over, with or through. A series of deadlines is not needed to complete an Associationwide project on time. Management is very direct, very nimble and completely transparent. Page 12
Alumni Activities
archival sound collections, and provide original cataloging for the broadcast recordings in the sound archive.
An article about UK Dean of Libraries Terry Birdwhistell (’78) appeared in the October 19, 2012, issue of UKNOW, the online news source at the University of Kentucky.
Joel Meador (’08) was appointed Director of the Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library, KY, effective March 1.
Alan Barrish (’85) let the newsletter know that in May he will retire from the position Director of the Ethelbert B. Crawford Public Library in Monticello, NY, a position he has held since May 1, 1988. Alan and his wife intend to return to Lexington to live following his retirement. In January, Shawn Livingston (’93) was named Director of William T. Young Library, UK’s main library. Kari Martin (’00) is Director of Library Advancement, Eastern Kentucky University. In October of last year Mary Todd Chesnut (’02) received Northern Kentucky University’s 2012 Online Faculty Member of the Year Award. She is Associate Professor and Coordinator of Information Literacy at the W. Frank Steely Library and teaches two classes for NKU’s Library Informatics Program. Dorie Raybuck (’06) and Karen Morrison (’12) are 2012 Kentucky Bluegrass Award Book Grant recipients. In early March Melissa Brooks (’07) wrote: “I have taken a position at West Virginia University. I will be working as the original cataloger for the University. I was previously at Morehead State. I chose to leave Morehead State to be close to family in the Pittsburgh/Johnstown area.” Sandy Rodriguez (’07) successfully completed a National Endowment for the Humanities “Humanities Collections and References Resources” grant to provide access to over 3,500 broadcast recordings and disc stampers in the Arthur B. Church KMBC Radio Collection, housed in the Marr Sound Archives, University of Missouri – Kansas City. Upon completion of the grant, she is stepping into her new role as Special Collections Metadata Librarian, where she will manage metadata activities for UMKC libraries' digital collections, develop standardized finding aids for the
Spring 2013
The article by Krista King-Oaks (’09), “Advocacy, Teens, and Strategic Planning ,” appeared in the Fall 2012 issue of Young Adult Library Services. In the article Krista discusses how teens got involved in her library’s strategic planning process and as a result spoke up for themselves in the library and the community. Krista is on the staff at Boone County Public Library, KY. Robbie Danielson’s (’11), article, “A dual approach to assessing collection development and acquisitions for academic libraries,” appears in Library Collections, Acquisitions, & Technical Services 36 (2012) 84–96. In early February, the newsletter received the following report from Lindsay Kokai (’12): “I wanted to share a life update. Yesterday I was promoted to Assistant Branch Manager/Children's Library for the Southwest Branch of LFPL [Louisville Free Public Library]. I'm terrified but looking forward to using all the tools I learned in the required management course! The city is financially bankrupt, which is the reason for the combined position, incredibly low pay compared with responsibility, and frankly why I'm able to get promoted so quickly. I'm hoping L2 will look fantastic on a future resume. Besides taking on two positions, I also get to help organize a move as we are building a new building.” After serving for several months as the School’s Student Affairs Officer, Susan MacDonell (’12) resigned to accept a position at Kentucky Mudworks, a teaching studio and production pottery studio in Lexington. Anthony Ubelhor (’12) has been appointed Student Affairs Officer at the School of Library and Information Science. The newsletter learned in February that Daniel Weddington (’12) had been appointed Digital Archivist at The College of William and Mary.
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