June 1998 Number 158 

---

Table of Contents

Each year the LAUNC-CH Professional Welfare Committee drafts a letter to the Chancellor sharing with him the latest findings of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Annual Salary Survey and informing him of the Academic Affairs Librarys ranking. ARL is comprised of the largest research libraries in the United States and Canada. Among the 110 ARL university libraries surveyed for fiscal year 1997-98, the Academic Affairs Library ranked as follows:
 

• For average salaries of professional librarians, UNC-CH ranked 77th
• For median salaries of professional librarians, UNC-CH ranked 80th
• For salaries of beginning professional librarians, UNC-CH ranked 49th, up from 57th last year.

For purposes of comparison, please note that the average annual salary of a professional librarian at Carolina is $5,100 less than that of his or her counterpart at Duke (Duke ranked 29th). North Carolina State University, our sister institution, ranked 58th in average professional salaries (more than $1,600 greater than the average at UNC). Among national peer institutions (for average salaries), U.C. Berkeley ranked 4th ($16,700 greater), the University of Wisconsin ranked 24th ($6,100 greater), the University of Virginia ranked 25th ($5,700 greater), and the University of Michigan ranked 35th (almost $4,000 greater).

This year the letter was sent to Chancellor Michael Hooker, President Molly Broad, Executive Vice Chancellor Elson Floyd, Provost Richard Richardson, Faulty Chair Richard Andrews, Chair of the Administrative Board of the (AAL) Library, and the three library directors. A similar letter was sent to all the legislators representing Durham and Orange counties. An encouraging response from the Chair of the Faculty indicated that the salary survey information was being forwarded to the University Priorities and Budget Committee, a recently established committee chaired by the Provost to consider major resource and budget priorities. A copy of this information was also sent by the Faculty Chair to the Faculty Legislative Liaison Group.

Salaries for university law and medical librarians are calculated separately by ARL and this information is not included in the letter. However, they show a similar pattern with the Health Sciences Librarians fairing somewhat better than their colleagues.

ARL University Law Libraries

• For average salaries of professional librarians, UNC-CH ranked 38th out of 61 law libraries surveyed
• For median salaries of professional librarians, UNC-CH ranked 46th out of 61
• For salaries of beginning professional librarians, UNC-CH ranked 43rd out of 70

• For average salaries of professional librarians, UNC-CH ranked 28th out of 59 medical libraries surveyed
• For median salaries of professional librarians, UNC-CH ranked 22nd out of 59
• For salaries of beginning professional librarians, UNC-CH ranked 34th out of 66

If you would like more information about the letter contact Tommy Nixon (nixon.davis@mhs.und.edu), Chair of the Professional Welfare Committee. Tommy also has a copy of the 1997-98 (and earlier years) ARL Annual Salary Survey . The Survey is also available in the Reference area of SILS (Z682.3 .A79a).

--Tommy Nixon and Geneva Holliday

Return to Table of Contents 

The LAUNC-CH Nominating Committee announced the election of the following officers for 1998/1999:
 

Vice-President/President-Elect - Eileen McGrath
Secretary - Brynn Mays
Treasurer - Betty Waynick.

Return to Table of Contents 

The fourth annual LAUNC-CH Research Forum was held May 7, 1998 in the Student Union Building. Presenters at this year's Forum were Jordan Scepanski, Executive Director, Triangle Research Libraries Network, David C. Taylor, Undergraduate Librarian, R. B. House Undergraduate Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Chris Filstrup, Associate Director for Collection Management, Organization, and Preservation, North Carolina State University.

Jordan Scepanski's research, "Library Organizational Structures Over Time," studied changes in Library organization over a twenty year period. The UNC-CH Academic Affairs Libraries were used as an example in this presentation. David C. Taylor dis-cussed the issues involved in providing around-the-clock li-brary service with his presentation "Twenty-four-hour Librar-ies, Trend or Aberration?" He highlighted many of the concerns and questions UNC-CH's Undergraduate Library faced when they began offering twenty-four-hour service. Chris Filstrup closed the program with his presentation "Fictional Librarians." Mr. Filstrup provided an overview and bibliography of non-mystery fiction in which librarians are the major figures.

--Joe Williams

Return to Table of Contents 

How private is the Internet? President Clinton is urging Con-gress to look into making the Internet more privacy minded. Wherever you go on the Internet, you leave a bit of yourself.

Internet Cookies (Not Oreos!)

Many have heard about Internet cookies, but don't know what they are or what they accomplish. Cookies are files sent from a server to your browser to record what places you visit on their site or what items you select. Cookies were originally thought to only be used for online shopping. The file would record those items you put in your "shopping cart" and return this data to the server. However, web administrators found cookies useful in seeing what links on their page were being used and who was using them.

While many find just the thought of a server putting a file on your hard drive an invasion of privacy, cookies cannot do the following: 

• read files on your hard drive,
• create executable files,
• get into your email,
• or put a virus on your machine. 

Avoiding Cookies

Can you avoid cookies or allow only certain cookies to be set? The answer is yes. Both Netscape Navigator(r) and Microsoft In-ternet Explorer(r) allow you to be notified when a site wants to set a cookie. In Netscape, click on Options, then Network Prefer-ences. Click on the tab Protocols. Within the box marked Show an Alert Before, click next to Accepting a Cookie. The next time a server wishes to send a cookie, an alert box appears giving he name of the cookie (which is in a language that only a computer can understand!) and the option to accept the cookie or cancel.

Clicking on OK sets the cookie in your cookies.txt file. Clicking on Cancel tells the server, you don't want the cookie. Saying no to a cookie can have its drawbacks. A site can be very persistent in trying to set a cookie. You may have to click on Cancel every time you ask for a new link.

Internet cookies can be very useful to web administrators and to users. Cookies can keep preferences you set at a site, let a site know you have been there before, or keep track of those items you really want to purchase. This is one cookie monster not to be feared.

Recommended Readings:

1. "Getting stuffed with cookies when you browse?" Internet Medicine, 1997 Mar; 2(2):2, 6-7.
2. Randall, N. "The new cookie monster: everyone's afraid of cookies lately, but they can be good for you!" PC Magazine, 1997 Apr;16(8):211-14. 
3. Snell, J. "Big brother meets the cookie monster." MacUser, 1997 June; 13(7):96.

Return to Table of Contents

Davis

Health Sciences

Highway Safety Research Center

Return to Table of Contents