President's MessageForthcoming ProgramsLibraryNews/Member NewsRenew or Join NowExecutive Board and CommitteesThis is the time of the year when acquaintances that know that I'm a librarian at UNC ask me if I'm very busy. They ask the question because they assume that the rhythm of my job corresponds to the cycle of the school year. But it doesn't. The ebb and flow of my job relates more to the arrival of book dealer catalogs and Publishers Weekly issues and to the receipt of large gift collections. Each of us has a job with its own unique cycle. Those who employ students, give tours, instruct classes, or provide reference service are busy at the start of the school year. Others of us have different busy periods such as the beginning and end of the book year, or June with its annual supply and equipment requests and WPPRs. In addition to these predictable patterns, we all have an element of uncertainty in our jobs: who knows when a machine will break down, a valued employee will move to another job, or a new software upgrade will finally arrive? In the brief period between when my acquaintance asks the question and the moment when we should each move on, I don't have the time for a full answer. Instead I say something about the library being a year-round operation, but that, yes, things do pick up in at the end of August.
LAUNC-CH begins again at this time of year. The elected officers (Diane Pettit, Tommy Nixon, Paula Hinton, and yours truly) have recruited a wonderful group of committee chairs. Roberta Engleman and Joan Ferguson will be co-chairs of the Conference Committee; Donna Cornick will head the Professional Development Committee; Jean Blackwell will lead the Professional Welfare Committee; Anita Booth will direct the Program Committee, and Geneva Holliday will continue to head the Publications Committee. Each committee has already begun to take shape, but its not too late to volunteer for a committee that interests you. Working on a LAUNC-CH committee is a good way to meet colleagues from around campus, and it can also provide an outlet for talents that you don't get to use in your daily job.
You can volunteer for a committee by calling or emailing the committee chair (see the list of names and numbers elsewhere in this issue) or by talking to her at the LAUNC-CH fall social. The social, the first offering from the Program Committee, will be held on Thursday, September 16 from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. in Toy Lounge. This is truly a social event, a chance to meet new colleagues and to catch up with old friends. It's also a good time to renew your LAUNC-CH membership for 1999/2000 by bringing your checkbook to pay the modest $10 dues.
I want LAUNC-CH's membership figures to reflect the importance of the organization to librarians on this campus. To do that, I'll be encouraging early renewals, meeting new librarians, and contacting colleagues who have let their memberships lapse. Another priority item for me is to build on the interest that the Administrative Board of the Library has shown in improving librarians' salaries. In March, at the recommendation of the Administrative Board of the Library, the Faculty Council passed a resolution urging the University Administration to raise librarians' salaries to a level competitive with peer institutions. (Presently our average salary ranks 80th out of 110 ARL libraries.) The library directors are following up on this, but LAUNC-CH should too. I've asked the Professional Welfare Committee to examine a variety of data sources on salaries, cost of living, etc. in order to develop an array of arguments that we can use to support our case. Your ideas on this are welcome. Contact the chair of the Professional Welfare Committee, Jean Blackwell, or the other members of the committee: Bernice Bergup, Carol Nicholson, Tommy Nixon, Will Owen.
During my time on the Executive Board last year I heard many great ideas that came from individual members. The stimulating professional programs and conferences of past years all started with the ideas of individual members and took shape through the efforts of many members. The strength of LAUNC-CH comes from its talented members and the way we work together. As president, I'll use my soap box to remind everyone of what we have done and can do through this, our on-campus professional association. Yes, many of us are busy at this time of the year, but before the semester really takes off, renew your membership, and through the ebb and flow of the year keep some time for the opportunities for professional renewal that LAUNC-CH provides.
Eileen McGrath
President,
Librarians' Association at
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
For additional information contact Liza Terll, 962-1301
Pat Thompson, former head of the Art Library at Michigan State University (1989-1999) and B.A. with Honors in Art History, UNC-CH 65; Simmons GSLIS 82 was appointed Art Librarian of the Sloane Art Library, succeeding Phil Rees, Art Librarian from 1968-1999, on July 1, 1999. She was also readmitted to the Graduate School/M.A. program in art history, and hopes to complete a thesis on the oriental mode in Venetian Renaissance painting. This summer, Pat published book reviews in Art Documentation Online (print edition forthcoming) of Nicholas Thomas Possessions: Indigenous Art, Colonial Culture. (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1999) and Unpacking Culture: Art and Commodity in Colonial and Postcolonial Worlds, ed. Ruth B. Phillips and Christopher B.. Steiner (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1999) and also contributed to ARLIS/NA Update (4: August 1999) a short bibliography "Conservation Information on the Internet: a Brief Selection of Sites.
Hsi-Chu Bolick has published an article entitled "Problems in the Establishment of Nonunique Chinese Personal Headings with Special Reference to NACO Guidelines and Vendor-Supplied Authority Control" in Library Resources & Technical Services, 43 (2): 95-105 (April 1999).
Patricia Dominguez attended ALA in New Orleans and gave a presentation about the "Library of Southern Literature" (Documenting the American South) to the English and American Literature Section on June 26.
Other ALA attendees from tech services: Andrew Hart, Celine Noel, Tim Shearer, and Margaretta Yarborough.
Janet Flowers attended ALA. As a member of the Technology Committee of ALCTS Janet participated in the committee's preparations for its program at the 2000 conference. Janet also attended an Advanced Acquisitions Preconference.
Janet Flowers has published the following articles:
Celine Noel attended ALA and made a short presentation on OCLC's CORC project at the Program for Cooperative Cataloging's Bibco-at-large meeting. She also attended OCLC's CORC Participants' Meeting as a UNC-CH representative.
Frieda Rosenberg attended the North Carolina Serials Conference in March at the Friday Center. She also attended CONSER Series Authorities Workshop and a CONSER Operations Committee meeting Apr. 20-23. During the meeting she helped present slides and respond to questions on a proposal to insert serial publication pattern and holdings data into CONSER bibliographic records.
Natalia Smith, Digitization Librarian participated in the panel "TEI in Libraries: Guidelines for Best Practices" at the 1999 International Conference of the Association for Computers and the Humanities (July 9-13, 1999.) The panel also included representatives from the Library of Congress, Indiana University, University of Michigan, and UVa.
On August 24, Lucinda Thompson completed the 1999 Master Trainer Program for academic library trainers sponsored by the State Library of North Carolina. The program was designed to strengthen libraries' internal training programs to cope with the rapid pace of change brought about by technology.
Marcia Tuttle attended the United Kingdom Serials Group annual conference in Manchester, England on April 12-14.
The Academic Affairs Library announces the following promotions: Gary Pattillo to Assistant Librarian, Jan Paris to Librarian, Barbara Levergood to Associate Librarian, and Jill Shires to Associate Librarian.
Several members of the Health Sciences Library staff will be active at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association, to be held in Wilmington, N.C., Oct. 5-9, 1999. Steve Squires, Chair-Elect of the chapter, and Diane McKenzie are on the program committee. Linda Frank and Lynn Eades are on the Local Arrangements Committee. Betsy Dain and Diana McDuffee will present their paper "Building the Virtual Clinical Campus with the AHEC Digital Library and Resource System" at the Contributed Papers Session of the Program. Julia Shaw-Kokot and Robert Ladd will teach a day-long Continuing Education Course, "Multimedia Basics."
Opening of the User Services Center:
There have been a number of exciting new developments at the Health Sciences Library this summer. The most dramatic change came with the completion of the first floor renovation project and the opening of the User Services Center in early August. After extensive planning and hard work by many individuals on the HSL staff, the User Services Center became a reality in early August. Responding to concerns expressed by patrons, the Library moved to a unified service point. The goals of this new arrangement are to provide one-stop-shopping for most services, to reduce confusion, and to eliminate the feeling of getting "bounced" from one service location to another. Detailed information on this project can be found at: http://www.hsl.unc.edu/hsl/usc/mpres2/sld1.htm
Other HSL changes:
Over the summer, new copiers replaced the well-worn and increasingly unreliable machines in the Health Sciences Library. At the same time, HSL converted most of the machines to use of the campus One Card.
The HSL Library recently opened a new "Multimedia Kitchen." It includes three workstations and a variety of software, including programs such as Powerpoint, Photoshop, Acrobat and Authorware. "HSL chefs" are available to consult with students, faculty and staff, either one-on-one or in small groups. In addition, the Media Kitchen is used to teach classes in multimedia software and related topics. See the Aug./Sept. 1999 issue of the HSL Newsletter News and Views for more details.
The HSL is in the process of implementing a new Interlibrary Loan system using the ILLIAD software program. This will allow improved service and will simplify submission and tracking of ILL requests. Many copies will be available more quickly through electronic delivery, patrons will receive e-mail notification when items are ready for pick up, and it will be possible for patrons to check the status of their requests via the Web. Along with enhanced service will come the implementation of new fees. The library will continue to subsidize borrowing, but can no longer do so fully due to the budget shortfall.
Lolly Gasaway, Tom French, Anne Klinefelter, Steve Melamut, Robert Vreeland, Terri Saye, and Carol Nicholson attended the 1999 American Assocation of Law Libraries Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. Robert and Steve presented papers at the conference.
Lolly Gasaway conducted a 3-hour cyberspace law course for the African Law Project of the World Bank on August 13.
Terri Saye attended the OCLC Knowledge Access Management Institute.
Over the summer, the Law Library staff conducted a massive shift of the materials in the stacks. Most books and journals have been moved to new locations. A guide to these locations is available online at http://library.law.unc.edu/services/collection.shtml.
A few days before classes started, the Law Library occupied its new wing in the recently completed addition to the Law School. Visitors will now have to enter the Law Library through the new building.