IRIS News and Notes, October 2004
Good company!
New IRIS Website
IRIS TST joins Desktop Services
Services
My Document Delivery goes live
Pilot Format Migration Service for faculty
Loaner Laptop Program: refreshed!
Facilities
Library Annex Construction Update
Uris Library Dean Room renovation
Olin Government Study Room facelift
Staff News: Comings, Goings, and Kudos
Committees
IRIS Management Group Review Committee
Common Reserves Task Force
Public Services/Public Computing Committee
Director of Communications and Media Relations Search
PSEC planning process
Events
CL-Cubed ribbon cutting ceremony
IRPC Retreat on Information Fluency
Reception for new Dean of the School of Architecture, Art, and Planning
Portraits of Humanity: films about race in America
Hurricane Ivan and its Effect on the University of the West Indies
You’ll probably be glad to learn that Godzilla will soon be age-eligible for the Gray Panthers. On November 3, 1954, Toho Studios released in Japan the film Gojira, and the monster bearing its name soon became a worldwide cultural icon. Fifty years later, Godzilla still stands as a warning of the dangers of the nuclear age. Beth Katzoff has informed me that in honor of Godzilla's birthday, the Severinghaus Reading Room will display relevant books and videos that are part of the Asia Collections. These will be on display from the end of October through December when the 28th and latest installment in the Godzilla series, Godzilla: Final Wars, opens in Japan. Kroch Asia will also make available a guide to the Godzilla films it has collected, which may be checked out from the Olin Media Center. By the way, Godzilla’s in good company. King Kong is 71; Mothra is 42, and Cookie Monster turns 35 this year.
Here’s what’s new since last time.
New IRIS Website
If you haven’t noticed yet, the IRIS website is sporting a new look, thanks to the creative talents of Jenn Colt-Demaree and Carla DeMello. The images on top highlight all the wonderful things IRIS staff do every day and change every time you refresh your screen—and we’d be happy to have more images to add to the mix. Drop Jenn or Carla a line with your thoughts and suggestions about the new look.
IRIS TST joins Desktop Services
In response to the LARIS IT investigation, responsibility for public and staff computing support in Olin, Uris, and Kroch Asia has been transferred from IRIS to DLIT. Members of the IRIS Technical Support Team (Chris Bucko, Rick Lightbody, and Joe Richardson) have joined DLIT’s Desktop Services, headed by Oliver Habicht. Over the next couple of weeks, IRIS staffers should continue to report problems to the TST listserv. Oliver will be in touch very soon about changes in the current arrangement. I anticipate that technical support will be enhanced by this consolidation. If you have questions, suggestions, or concerns, please contact Oliver and/or Susan Currie, as they will work closely together during the transition.
Services
My Document Delivery goes live
MyDocumentDelivery went live campus-wide on Wednesday, October 13. The service allows valid Cornell faculty, staff, and students to request articles, book chapters, and other materials from our print collections. Requests are scanned at the owning library and made available for the user via ILLiad. MyDD is fee-based, $4 for up to 30 pages and $1 per 10 pages thereafter. Users can pay for requests with a credit or procurement card. An option to use a department account will be available by mid-November. Under certain circumstances, requests will be filled for free. These include:
- Patron has permanent or temporary disability restricting their access to the libraries (please note this when placing requests
- Material held at the Library Annex
- Patron is based in Geneva, requesting material from the Ithaca campus
- Patron is based in Ithaca, requesting material from the Geneva campus
- Faculty or staff office located off campus, i.e., Lab of Ornithology, Baker Institute
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to send them to mydd@cornell.edu or contact Jesse Koennecke at 255-5680.
We would like to thank the members of the MyDD Full Implementation Committee for their hard work in preparing their units for joining the service. In addition, we would like to thank all of the people who have helped over the past several years as MyDD grew from a good idea to a campus-wide service. ~The MyDD Implementation Steering Committee: Baseema Banoo, Carmen Blankinship, Amy Blumenthal, Mike Fordon, Joanne Leary, Linda Westlake, and Jesse Koennecke (chair)
Pilot File Format & Media Migration Service for Faculty
Research and Assessment Services is conducting a one-year pilot migration service for faculty to rescue information stored on obsolete media or formats. This service will be free to faculty on a limited basis during the pilot year. Initially the service will be able to convert data from 5.25” floppy diskettes (from PCs and certain older systems), 3.5” floppy diskettes (including older Mac and PC formats), and other removable media such as original Zip disks and 44 Mb Syquest cartridges (for Mac and PC). If you know faculty members who could benefit from this service or would like more information, they can fill out a request form, call 255-1156, or send email to elb34@cornell.edu.
Loaner Laptop Program: refreshed!
Thanks to Sarah Thomas’s support, Oliver Habicht reports that the laptop loaner program will expand and continue for another three years. The older laptops are being replaced with 47 new Dell Latitude D600 laptops throughout the endowed Libraries. This includes expansions in Uris Library (38 total laptops) and the Math Library (two total laptops), and replacing the two loaner laptops in PSL. New loaner laptop locations include the Africana Library (two laptops, as soon as the newly renovated Africana Library opens) and three to be available at the Fine Arts Library. This program complements other loaner laptop programs throughout the Library, including ones at Mann Library (CIT), the Engineering Library (ACCEL), Nestle (Hotel) Library, Olin Library, the Vet Library, and Geneva Library. Any out-of-warranty but still serviceable laptops from the original loan program will be retained by Desktop Services to support staff activities within the endowed libraries. An updated list of laptop and other equipment locations is available online. There is also a page that outlines staff roles and responsibilities for loaner laptops.
Facilities
Library Annex Construction Update
Although, it might not be readily apparent, we are now officially in the construction
phase for the expanded Library Annex. The construction contract was awarded to R.J. Ortlieb, who has worked on a
number of Cornell projects. The excavation equipment is now at the site and the construction office trailer has been set up along Palm Road, next to the apple orchard. Although the public parking lot is still available, the area designated for excavation has been outlined in paint. Fencing could be erected and digging could begin any day now.
The Annex Planning Committee has formed a Collections Sub-Committee (Zoe Stewart-Marshall, Barbara Berger Eden, Cammie Hoffmier, Susan Currie, John Marmora) to begin meeting with units for collections issues. We held our first of two meetings with the Asia Curators on September 30th and will be organizing the next meeting for later this month. This committee has also asked to meet with David Block, Mary Ochs, and John Saylor to discuss collections issues. The completion date for the expanded facility is expected to be August 1, 2005. ~Susan Currie
Uris Library Dean Room renovations
The main reading room in Uris Library, the Dean Room, will be getting new carpet and a new circulation desk in the summer of 2005. Bethany Silfer, Sharon Wargo, Carmen Blankinship, Susan Currie and John Hoffmann are working with Jim Constantin from Maintenance Management on the project. Meetings are under way to outline the programmatic needs for Circulation Desk operations, including things such as how many computers are needed, drawers, cabinets, etc. There are some
items for further discussion including ADA issues (the pager for the Tower Room entrance); shelving needs for materials; a different, more efficient set-up for book sensitizers; discharging; and a better and more secure space for the laptops. ~Susan Currie
Olin Government Study Room facelift
The Government Study Room (405 Olin) will be getting a new look, thanks to the financial support of Howard and Karlene Weg, and Sarah Thomas’s commitment of matching funds that secured this gift. Mr. Weg, whose son is a junior majoring in government, decided to support this effort after visiting Olin and meeting with Sarah. Plans are to upgrade the room along the lines of the Classics Seminar Room that was renovated with support from the Classics Department. Work will be completed over the winter intercession so the room will be ready for the start of the spring semester.
Staff News: Comings, Goings, and Kudos
Comings and Goings:
I am delighted to report that Randi Kepecs has joined the Department of Instruction and Learning as the new Instruction Administrator. Many of you already know Randi from when she worked in the D-LIT offices or from her internship at Mann Library. Randi recently received an MLS degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and has broad general administrative experience. Randi will be working from 9-1 in 310 Uris Library. She can be reached at 255-1173 or rk16@cornell.edu. Beginning in November, Kizer Walker will also be joining the Instruction Department, and will be focusing his efforts on information fluency as well as continuing as the Classics Selector. Kizer’s office is located in 504 Olin. ~Peter Hirtle
Although all are sorry to say good-bye to Yhi-Chaw Chang and Kevin Lash, Access Services recently welcomed Lindsay Vanberkom and John Fitzgerald to the staff. If Lindsay's face seems familiar when you see her at the Olin Desk, it is! A recent graduate of Cornell with a major in Applied Economics and Management, Lindsay has been working as a manager in the Libe Café for the past few years. In addition to working at the desk, Lindsay will be serving as the new Billing Assistant following Sam Hultzman's promotion to Reserve Supervisor. You will have to be a bit of a night owl to meet John Fitzgerald. John is the late night Circulation Assistant in Uris Library. John also works as a freelance writer for the Ithaca Journal and an Alternative Instructor for the Newfield School District. He received his BA from Tulane University in New Orleans. ~ Pat Schafer
The Fine Arts Library is pleased to announce that we have a new evening supervisor. Matthew Klein, a freelance writer, comes to us with a wealth of experience—including work as both project assistant and project manager on TEEAL (The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library) at Mann Library from 1998-2001. ~ Martha Walker
Deb (Joseph) Schmidle has rejoined the Catherwood Library staff as the Collection Development Librarian. She succeeds Phil Dankert who concluded his forty-one year Cornell career at CUL on September 30. Deb has considerable experience in academic libraries, twenty-one of which were acquired at Cornell. Most recently at Catherwood, she served from 1997 to 2001 as Reference/Outreach Services Librarian. After a brief stint as Reference Librarian/Bibliographer at the University at Albany, she served as the Director of Library and Education Services at Nylink before returning to the university and Catherwood. Please join me in welcoming her back to Catherwood. Her new phone number is 255-5576. ~ Gordon Law
Joe Richardson of IRIS TST is moving to 217 Olin, where he will share an office with Marty Crowe.
Kudos:
Ida Martinez has won one of the four highly competitive Digital Library Federation (DLF) Forum Fellowships for Librarians New to the Profession. The fellowship supports Ida’s expenses in attending the Fall DLF Forum, October 25-27 in Baltimore, MD. Ida will have the opportunity to spend time with the Director of the DLF, David Seaman, and the other Fellows who hail from the University of Tennessee, Dartmouth, and the California Digital Library. She’ll also see a lot of familiar faces there as well. Cornell wil be well represented on the Forum program, with presentations by Jon Corson-Rikert, Medha Devare, Bill Kehoe, Marcy Rosenkrantz, David Ruddy, and Nathan Rupp.
Committees
IRIS Management Group Review
An ad hoc group of four IRIS managers is revisiting the role of the IRIS Management Group. The committee, led by Lenore Coral, includes Martha Hsu, Nancy McGovern and Adnan Malik. This group will examine how frequently IMG ought to meet, how its agenda should be developed, how it should be managed, and what its role in the structure of IRIS is. The group is seeking input into their process. Any member of the Management Committee having ideas should feel free to send them to a member of the ad hoc group. ~Lenore Coral
Common Reserves Task Force
At the direction of Sarah Thomas, PSEC charged a new task force with developing and implementing for second semester a common set of policies and procedures and a single form and page for reserve for the entire library system. A survey of CUL's current approach reveals a wide variety of procedures, forms, and instructions. A primary goal for the task force is to facilitate the submission process and information for the faculty. The group will also develop explicit instructions for circulation and reserve staff to follow. Members of the group are, Carmen Blankinship, Jesse Koennecke, Peter Hirtle, Joanne Leary, Maureen Morris, Oya Rieger, and Pat Schafer (chair). Linda Miller provided the group with a valuable review of reserve practices at peer institutions. The task force is on a fast track schedule with plans to deliver a preliminary report to PSEC on October 27, to unveil a page for staff comment by November 12, and to release the final version no later than November 22. The Common Reserve Task Force is coordinating its work with that of Personalized Services Group through Jesse's and Oya's joint membership. ~Pat Schafer
Public Services/Public Computing Committee
LMT has endorsed the establishment of a new committee to provide direction regarding the design and implementation of public computing throughout the Library. PS/PCC will advise on services being supported for users and the consistent presentation of those services library-wide. The group will monitor security measures to be employed on public workstations, balancing them against privacy and access considerations, and will serve as the communications link between technical staff supporting public computing and library public services staff. Oliver Habicht and Michael Cook will serve as co-chairs. LMT is in the process of finalizing the rest of the membership. The committee will meet quarterly, or more frequently as needed, and will report regularly to PSEC and the soon-to-be established Information Technology Executive Committee.
Director of Communications and Media Relations Search
A search committee has been formed to locate the best candidate for the newly formed position of Director of Communications and Media Relations. Members of the committee include: Sarah Thomas, Anne Kenney, Susan Markowitz, Marisue Taube, Linda McCandless (Communication Manager,
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences), and Mike Powers (Director of Operations, Office of Communications and Media Relations). The committee held its first meeting on Monday, October 18 to review the candidate pool.
PSEC planning process
To get input into its strategic planning process, PSEC held four separate meetings with public services staff across the system over the past month. The group is close to finalizing a mission, values, goals, and priorities document, which will be broadly shared with library staff in the very near future. PSEC will then turn its attention to implementation issues.
Events
CL-Cubed ribbon cutting ceremony
On Monday, September 27, Sarah Thomas, Provost Biddy Martin, and Professor David Schwartz from Computer Science officially opened the Cornell Library Cooperative Learning Computer Laboratory in Uris Library. Approximately forty people—faculty, students, librarians, and administrators—attended the ribbon cutting ceremony. News of the lab’s availability and equipment capabilities has spread quickly. In addition to the two classes currently being taught there, students are lining up to use the facility for a range of projects. From Sept 13-Oct 7th, 1,000 students used the lab outside of class room hours to produce course-related and other multimedia material and presentations.
IRPC Retreat on Information Fluency
On Monday morning, October 11, the Instruction Working Group of IRPC held the first of two retreats on information literacy. The first retreat focused on information fluency competencies and best practices. The second retreat, scheduled for Spring 2005, will be on assessment. This retreat opened with introductory remarks by moi, followed by an excellent talk on “Best Practices in Information Fluency” by Nancy Becker, Associate Professor in the Division of Library & Information Science at St. John's University and member of the Institute for Information Literacy Executive Committee. Other speakers included Pat Viele, Stuart Basefsky, Lynn Brown, and Michael Engle. David Way, Director of Instructional Support, Center for Teaching and Learning, provided closing remarks. Copies of the various talks and Power Point presentations will be made available soon by the Instruction Working Group.
Reception for new Dean of the School of Architecture, Art, and Planning
On Tuesday, September 28, the Library held a welcoming reception in Kroch Library for Mohsen Mostafavi, the new Dean of Architecture, Art, and Planning. A large turnout of students and faculty joined library staff at this reception, which began with a presentation by RMC staff of highlights of the Rare Book and Manuscript Collections holdings related to art and architecture. Sarah Thomas, Elaine Engst, and Martha Walker all offered remarks. Martha supplied a basket full of Ithaca goodies, including local wine, cheese, apples, jam, plus maps and other New York state-related items. Mostafavi comes to Cornell after two terms as chair of the Architectural Association School (A.A.) in London. He has also held positions at Cambridge, the Frankfurt Academy of Fine Arts, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Portraits of Humanity: Films about Race in America
The New York Council for the Humanities, The History Center in Tompkins County, and the Multicultural Resource Center are sponsoring a series of four films to “ promote a greater understanding of media literacy, spark discussion about race as a social and scientific construct, and foster community dialogue about the power of film in conveying how individuals can work together toward positive change.” IRIS staffers Eric Acree and Ida Martinez will lead post-film discussions respectively for the last two films of the series. These will be shown at The History Center in Tompkins County. Here’s the lowdown on these films taken from The History Center’s website.
Fundi: The Ella Baker Story
Thursday, October 21, 7:00pm
Highlighting the turbulent 1960s, this film adds to our understanding of the U.S. Civil Rights movement by looking at its history from the perspective of Ella Baker, the dynamic activist affectionately known as the Fundi, a Swahili word for a person who passes skills from one generation to another. Post-film discussions led by Eric Kofi Acree, Director of Cornell University's Africana Library.
My American Girls: A Dominican Story
Thursday, October 28, 7:00pm
This is a vivid portrayal of a year in the life of the Ortiz family—hard working Dominican immigrants who live frugally in Brooklyn and dream of retiring one day in their native country. However, their American-born daughters have different ideas and aspirations. These bittersweet contradictions form the core of the film as we watch the family sort out the rewards and the costs of pursuing the American dream. Post-film discussion led by Ida Martinez, Reference Librarian at Cornell University's Olin Library.
Hurricane Ivan and its Effect on the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica.
Trip Report by John Dean, October 4 th to 9th.
I was asked to go to the University of the West Indies to advise them on hurricane damage only a few days before I actually left for Jamaica. I arrived at the library shortly after checking into my hotel and inspected the circumstances of the damage.
Although the wind effects of the hurricane did not substantially affect the campus, the torrential rains caused enormous damage by flooding through overfilled drains, penetrating windows, and permeating the roof in several places. Every library of the university was affected, but the worst damage was in the main library where more than 31,000 books were flooded.
Most of the books were shelved on bottom shelves in the stacks, which received about 18” of dirty water as shown in the image to the left. The general infrastructure of the library is generally poor, as the numerous budget cuts over the years have obviously taken their toll and it will take the staff some time to recover from this flood. The disaster overtook the library about two weeks before I arrived, and the first flush of volunteerism has now completely dissipated, leaving the library with a logistical nightmare. 
Money is badly needed to pay extra staff to clear away the books. Readers are now allowed back into the library but study for them is difficult.
When I arrived, every table in every room in the library was filled with air-drying books and the air was permeated with the stench of mildew. I began to organize a sorting operation whereby books that could be returned to the shelf were set aside for shelving, books that will need to be rebound were set aside for treatment, and books that were badly warped were gradually flattened through a humidification chamber that I was able to rig up. 
Mold on the books was cleaned off with cloths and the molded areas swabbed with ethyl alcohol. Unfortunately, the hurricane season is not over yet so I was reluctant to allow the dry books to be returned to the bottom shelves in case of future flooding. I suggested some possible storage alternatives to them in my report.
The most tragic damage was in the West Indian Collection, one of the largest and finest in the world. This collection includes works by West Indian authors, manuscripts, works about the West Indies, maps, and various other important materials. 
In addition to the thousands of books air-drying in the library, 135 boxes of books were sent to a commercial freezer at the docks. I inspected the books in the freezer and was pleased to see that substantial natural drying has already occurred. Of course, these books will also need to be sorted into categories when they are removed from cold storage. I advised the library staff to leave the books in the freezer as they will slowly dry naturally over a six-month period.
The library bindery is poorly staffed, badly equipped, with a very poor rate of production. Roughly 40% of the collection will need to be rebound, and although I checked out two commercial binders in Kingston, there seems to be little alternative to in-house work. I have promised to return in February to begin improvements to the bindery and to train the binders to deal efficiently with the thousands of books that need to be rebound. The library lacks a 
number of things likely to help prevent similar occurrences in the future. There are no environmental monitors, no water alarms, no emergency supplies, and no workable disaster plan that could have been put into operation. The building is 1950s vintage with many additions and a flat roof that has a chronic leaking problem.
On Thursday evening of my stay, I gate-crashed a justice seminar at the U.S Embassy and made contact with two United States public affairs staff. I extracted a promise of some funding for the library, but will be surprised if they follow through. I will also work on
a grant proposal to an international funding agency for a more effective disaster response mechanism for the library when I return. ~ John Dean
One final thing: the Fall 2004 issue of Arts & Humanities Library News is out and available in print (contact Kim LaMorte) or online.
That’s it for this time. As usual drop me a line with your comments, suggestions, and questions.
Anne
