Instructional Technology Awards WinnersMember News/Library NewsLive from the Internet - TitanicLAUNC-CH Conference HighlightsSusan Steinfirst: a personal tribute
The North Carolina Collection is a major repository for photographs documenting people, places, and events significant in the history of the state. These photographs are spread over some fifty individual collections, but many of the images are in just one of these collections. This is known as the "County Collection," for it contains files on all of North Carolina's one-hundred counties. A Web page will be created for each county and made accessible from the North Carolina Collection's Web site at www.un c.edu/lib/ncc. The pages will have one to three digitized images and a listing of the subject titles found on all of the file folders in the County Collection. These Web pages will provide distant researchers with a general idea of photographic holdings f ound in this important collection at the Library.
Southerners comprise one third of the U.S. population, but only recently have scholars and the general public begun to explore fully the riches and diversity of Southern experience. In particular, Southern literature has reflected the region's distinctive concerns. Not only teachers of literature, but also historians and others studying the culture of the South need access to literary texts that illustrate these differences.
The late Professor Bain of the English Department at UNC-CH asked his colleagues in Southern studies to help him identify the one hundred most important Southern literary texts. The list he compiled forms the basis of this project. Although most titles are in print, this database provides access to twenty-five important literary works published before 1920 that are no longer available, including Ellen Glasgow's The Battle-Ground, and The Mysteries of the Backwoods, by Thomas Bangs Thorpe. The texts come from the premier Southern collections of the libraries at UNC-CH: the North Carolina Collection, the Rare Book Collection, and Davis Library.
The Planning Documents Web Access Project is designed to complete the Chapin Planning Library's effort to make available electronically the four collections of planning documents housed in New East. They include the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Collection, the Soul City Collection, North Carolina Planning Documents, and Vertical File Planning Documents. The more than 10,000 items in these collections are produced by various planning agencies and organizations and include comprehensive plans, thoroughfare plans, community development information, environmental impact statements, and ordinances. The collection continues to grow, especially documents from North Carolina and the Southeast. For example, there are 55 items from Charlotte/Mecklenburg County in the North Carolina Planning Documents Collection and 41 items from Knoxville/Knox County in the Vertical File Planning Documents Collection. Users must consult paper files and indexes in the Chapin Planning Library to access the collections. These valuable resourc es are under utilized because of this limited access.
The period from the 1830s to the 1850s was one of great economic
prosperity in the U.S.; the growing middle class filled its parlors with
pianos, melodeons and organs, and purchased sheet music to perform there.
While the intense cultural activity of thi s period was halted by the
Civil War, sheet music publishing continued to flourish through the 1860s
as thousands of new titles poured from presses of North and South. The
UNC-CH Music Library collection of 19th-century American sheet music
includes 125 " binders' collections" which consist of a young woman's
favorite pieces of sheet music (vocal and instrumental) gathered and bound
into one volume, with her name embossed on the cover. Because each volume
embodies its owner's taste and philosophical leanings, these collections
illuminate the culture of the eastern and southern U.S. during a most
significant time in the region's history.
Currently there is a descriptive bibliographic listing of the contents
of about 20 volumes (about 500 pieces) of the collection browsable on the
Music Library's web site ; elements of each piece are indexed in detail.
The project will involve indexing 500 additional pieces of music, then
digitally scanning each piece, including a link between the scanned image
and the index record.
The Southern Folklife Collection (SFC) is composed of thousands of rare
and unusual documents related to the history and culture of North
Carolina. These items include taped interviews with performers who have
contributed to North Carolina's heritage, and commercial recordings of
North Carolina artists. Much of this valuable resource material, however,
is hidden within the greater SFC collection of items pertaining to the
larger region of the Southeast, or for that matter to the nation as a
whole.
The purpose of the proposed project would be to allow students,
teachers, researchers, and members of the public greater and easier access
to North Carolina materials in the SFC. Through mounting such information
on the Web, as well as preparing printe d guides of multi-media resources,
this project would produce learning and research packages on North
Carolina history and traditions.
This interdisciplinary proposal builds on efforts currently underway at the Health Sciences Library (HSL) and the School of Dentistry that are aimed at effectively integrating instructional technologies in undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and continuing education programs. The goal is to complete the development of a core group of products and to build a comprehensive "toolkit" that will promote the use of instructional technology. The toolkit we propose will consist of: a core group of products that se rve as examples for future projects; a workshop series that lays the foundation for ongoing collaboration; expertise extracted from HSL, faculty mentors, SimpleStart, and Center for Teaching and Learning; standardized authoring configurations as a result of coordinated acquisition of hardware and sofware.
The Information Skills Building Instruction project will introduce students to information resources in electronic and web format, help them develop effective strategies to access, evaluate, and apply that information, and support the learning process thr ough electronic communication. Because the course will be designed in modules, the sessions will become a toolkit that can be used in a variety of settings and courses both on-campus and through distance education. The package will be designed as a self-p aced, collaborative, and self-evaluative instruction and will utilize a web discussion forum.
The project goal is to provide a prototype of an instructional tool to help faculty effectively store, find, retrieve, share, and preserve images, sounds, and videos for teaching and learning. Using web technologies, existing networks, standards for image indexing, and database management software, the UNC multimedia database will enable electronic retrieval of digitized media stored on campus servers. By creating indexed, searchable online collections, media resources can be incorporated easily into class lectures, interactive instruction, or distance learning activities. Equally important, students outside the classroom can access media for study and research. Media currently available only during lectures, in laboratories, in faculty offices, or in special library collections, will be available over the network whenever and wherever needed. Faculty in classics, pathology, pediatric rheumatology, radiology, and religious studies departments have agreed to work with libraries, and campus information technology units to achieve the project's objectives.
The Center for the Study of the American South will use the funds from the Chancellor's Task Force on Instructional Technology to enhance the Center's outreach efforts on the World Wide Web. Using our existing homepage (http://www.unc.edu/depts/csas/) as a foundation, the Center will:
Hsi-chu Bolick attended 1997 AAS-CEAL (Association for Asian Studies - Council on East Asian Libraries) annual conference in Chicago, March 11-16. During the annual meeting, she reported to the OCLC CJK Users' Group a list of OCLC CJK enhancement requests collected and compiled by the Program Committee. She was elected to OCLC CJK Users' Group Executive Board as Member at Large, 1997-99. She was also appointed as Chair of Task Force on Statistics for CEAL, 1996-99. She is currently serving as the owner of the Eastlib Listserv. a part of official CEAL publications.
LAUNC-CH Conference attendees: Celine Noel, Carol Pekar, Joe Collins, Anita Booth, Margaretta Yarborough, Brenda Ambrose-Fortune, Rodger Harris, Frieda Rosenberg, Betty Waynick, Ed Davis, Patty Vaught, Betty Mehan-Black, Janet Flowers, Helen Miller, Andre w Hart, Hsi-chu Bolick, Pat Dominguez, John Rutledge, Natalia Smith, Nadia Zilper, Joe Hewitt, Geneva Holliday, Diane Strauss, Cindy Adams, Bernice Bergup, Donna Cornick, Robert Dalton, Rita Moss, Michelle Neal, Tom Nixon, Pam Sessoms, Carol Tobin, and Michael Van Fossen.
SPAs who went to the conference: Cynthia Baker, Cynthia Cowan, Tiffany Eatman, Elena Elms, Anne McDaniel, Richard Murray, Sue Pierson, Lucinda Thompson, Jennifer Ward, Chris Wolf
Michele Fletcher and Tony Reevey of NC State co-hosted a national meeting of twenty-five library fund raisers from other ARL libraries on March 14 and 15, in Chapel Hill and Raleigh. Members of the Development Officers of Research and Academic Libraries (DORAL) met in Davis Library and at D. H. Hill Library to share ideas and techniques for increasing private support for their institutions. DORAL developed about eight years ago as an informal network that meets annually at a member library. Membership is limited to 35 libraries. Topics ranged from finding donors to being good stewards of endowment gifts, raising funds for technology and the role of the head librarian in fund raising.
On April 10, 1997, Michele gave two presentations, "Gifts in Kind: A Primer" and "Major Campaigns: Pulling Out All the Stops for a Capital/Endowment Campaign" at the pre-conference on "Funding Our Futures: Fund Raising Strategies for Libraries" at the Association of College and Research Libraries annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.
Mike Van Fossen will be the Guest Editor for the Fall 1997 issue of North Carolina Libraries. The theme of the issue is Government Information.
Barrie Hayes and Lynn Eades have been seleted to join other UNC-CH faculty and staff for the first Tar Heel Bus Tour. This tour is in line with the Chancellor's outreach to the state. Faculty and staff who have been with UNC-CH three years or less were asked to participate based on letters submitted by supervisors. The tour will be from May 12-16 and will visit a hog farm, the Institute of Marine Sciences, a prison, rural health clinic, and the Charlotte Observer.
Tim Pyatt was appointed as Curator of Manuscripts, effective March 1. David will hold the title Director, Southern Historical Collection. As Curator of Manuscripts, Tim is responsible for departmental administration and representation in the Library and elsewhere on matters related to his administrative responsibilities. David will be responsible for fund raising and share collection development responsibilities with Tim.
Libby Grey participated in the satellite videoconference "The Future of Librarians: Positioning Yourself for Success" March 20, 1997. The videoconference was sponsored by the American Association of Law Libraries, Medical Library Association, Special Lib raries Association, and LEXIS-NEXIS.
Glenn Hayslett facilitated, as well as helped to organize, the March 26, 1997 program "Position Review", jointly sponsored by the SPA Forum and the AAL Staff Development Committee.
Dr. Ralph Russell, a dynamic and entertaining speaker, delighted and educated his attentive audience with his keynote address, "Of Marx, Modems and Bubba: GALILEO and the Future." The genesis and implementation of the GALILEO team as it worked with all the libraries in Georgia, foraying into the electronic environment, were discussed. He further outlined the political, financial and technical support, staff training, governance, collaboration and resource sharing, and quality assurance that were imperative for the success of the project.
Concurrent sessions in the morning and repeated in the afternoon provided everyone with the opportunity to participate in all the presentations through questions or comments. One of the highest rated sessions was that presented by Rita Moss whose topic was, "Business Sources on the Web." Rita stepped in at the last minute when one of the presenters withdrew. She did a sterling job taking her audience on a tour of business information available on the Internet. Doris Sigl and Bao-Chu Chang chronicled developments in "Cataloging Electronic/Networked/Internet Resources." They described new MARC record fields for electronic journals and databases, and demonstrated the corresponding effect on displays in the public catalog. "The Training Connection" was the topic explored by Wendy Scott and Angie Fullington. The presenters analyzed the training necessary for library staff in the implementation of NCLIVE, a project to connect all North Carolina libraries to each other and to the Internet. They also exa mined the needs assessment, learning objectives, training methods and evaluation necessary to expedite the process.
A panel discussion provided the conference attendees with the opportunity of direct participation through comments, questions and the exchange of ideas. Sandra Cooper, David Ferriero and Jordan Scepanski presented their vision for North Carolina libraries in the new electronic environment, particularly in reference to NCLIVE. Additionally, they summarized their effort to achieve this vision. Dr. Fred Roper concluded the conference proceedings with his topic, "The Distance Education Connection: USC's Experience." Dr. Roper detailed the program offered at the University of South Carolina School of Library Science, which provides a master's degree in library science electronically to qualified students in Georgia, West Virginia and Maine, states in which there are no library/information science degree programs. Dr. Roper's lecture indicated the pedagogical approaches, obstacles facing distance delivery methods, interinstitutional collaborations and goals, faculty involvement and rewards.
The interest and excitement generated by the conference have already sparked discussions on the topic for 1998. The evaluation of the activities was excellent as was expressed in the desire for follow-up activity in the wake of the enlightening sessions. Hopefully, the enthusiastic response will be a catalyst for the future.
--Brenda Ambrose-Fortune and Bridget Loven
RMS Titanic (Contains links to other sites)
http://www.jasonproject.org/JASON/HTML/titanic.html
RMS Titanic: Her Passengers and Crew
http://www.rmplc.co.uk/eduweb/sites/phind/
Titanic
http://www.mediature.com/titanic/
Titanic and Other White Star Ships
http://members.aol.com/MNichol/Titanic.index.html
Susan and I shared a love for Schubert. She and I often found pleasure in hearing, or reading or viewing, an artistic masterwork for the first time; one of those times for her was when she first heard Schubert's B-flat piano trio. Her enthusiasm was so infectious at those moments. She knew certainly that the quintet was composed in the last year of Schubert's life, that it was his last large-scale work, that he never heard it performed, that it wasn't publicly performed until 22 years after his death.
She perhaps even knew that the piece embodies some of Schubert's most profound musical characteristics: his interplay of major and minor modes, his modulations to distant tonalities, his juxtaposition of starkly contrasting moods. The quintet also cont ains a haunting trio in the scherzo movement and the sunniest of finales. Facts of this nature about art were not unimportant to Susan. But for the adagio, and perhaps for this occasion, it was enough for Susan that it is unutterably beautiful. The adagio is made up of a simple, serene, hymn-like melody played by the three inner instruments while the outer voices adorn it, "commenting" on it in the most profound and touching ways. The serenity is interrupted by a middle section that is troubled, passi onate, even angry - but the serenity returns, more complicated now, informed by the outburst, but with musical gestures of longing, of regret, of repose, now even more intensely beautiful. This movement has been a talisman for me; Susan and I had sometime listened to it together; that it was played on this occasion was deeply moving
Susan gave me a uniquely personal opportunity to know her and the small portion of her life that we shared was experienced intensely and reached great heights, and some depths. Susan of course had unbounded interests, but literature, painting, serious m usic, and a response to nature were among the most important to her. These we shared with an intensity and a common knowledge that I have rarely experienced with another. Moments with her in museums, or reading aloud, or at concerts and films, or at her farmhouse on her land, and always in conversation, were always extraordinary. She truly loved these things and showed that they informed her living. But as important as these and her accomplishments are - her own writing and research, her teaching, her mentoring - Susan's large-hearted humanity is her enduring characteristic. She was a true friend to so many, and a mother, a wife, an intelligent and witty companion, a woman of taste and discernment and energy and hospitality and generosity and much more. I deeply regret the time I could not have with her and now the time that will never be. The world seems much smaller after her, though my life be immeasurably enriched from knowing her.
Susan was much a part of the UNC library community. She joined in many of the endeavors of LAUNC-CH, always offering encouragement and support. The LAUNC-CH Executive Board has voted to contribute $200 in her honor to the Susan Steinfirst Memorial Lecture Fund at SILS. I know that many members mourn with me her loss.
After the memorial service at SILS, a memorial tree was planted on the North side of Manning Hall. I visited it recently and it is just now coming alive with spring blossoms. George Steiner says in Real Presences that "...there is music which conveys . .. the finality of death and a certain refusal of that very finality." He then cites the Schubert adagio as an example. Susan knew and admired Steiner with me. The coincidences cannot be accidental. Hearing the Schubert will henceforth be both beautiful and painful, but in its refusal it will endure as her memory and spirit endures. I cannot imagine how Susan bore her last days. I imagine her family and friends did, but I also hope her music gave her solace, and I hope she now knows eternity.