Announcements: Sarah Thomas:

1. Jesse Koennecke has been appointed as Access Services Librarian at Mann Library. Jesse received his MLS from Syracuse University last year and had previously been working in Access Services in O/K/U.

2. Lee LaFleur has been appointed as Social Sciences Bibliographer at Mann Library. Lee received his MLS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was the first participant in the Cornell University Library Fellow Program. He has been with the library since October 2000.

3. Jaime Martindale has been appointed as Public Services/Spatial Data Specialist at Mann Library. Jaime received her MLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She most recently worked as the GIS Specialist in the American Geographical Society Collection at UW-Milwaukee before coming to Cornell University Library.

4. Marcy Rosenkrantz has been appointed as Director of Library Systems at Cornell University Library. Marcy received both her PhD and Masters in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Binghamton. She was previously the Associate Director Cornell Information Assurance Institute, Associate Director Cornell Intelligent Information Systems Institute, and Director Corporate Relations in the Department of Computer Science at Cornell University.

Announcements:

• February is Black History month and the library is proud to be hosting Professor Emeritus Dr. E. J. Josey in the Libe Café on Monday, February 18th from 2:00-4:00 P.M. For forty-nine years, Dr. E. J. Josey has been responsible for recruiting minorities to librarianship. Dr. Josey will speak about current issues related to recruiting and including underrepresented groups in our library system.

• Marty Blume, chief editor for Physical Review, will be coming to campus on March 25th, 2002, to give the physics department colloquium. His visit is being co-sponsored by the physics department and CU Library. His topic will be “The Physical Review and Physics Publishing: Past and Future”.

• The March Academic Assembly will feature Anne Kenney, Assistant University Librarian for Instruction & Learning, Research, and Information Services (IRIS); Nancy McGovern, Digital Preservation Officer; and Bill Kehoe, Digital Library Programmer/Analyst Specialist, speaking on the topic “Digital Preservation at Cornell University Library: Research and Implementation Initiatives”. Phase II of the Central Depository (CD2) project is defining the responsibilities and requirements for building a central depository for Cornell’s digital collections. CD2 serves as a focal point for addressing key digital archives issues. The presentations will discuss the preservation requirements of and key results from relevant ongoing projects, including Project Prism, Project Harvest, Project Euclid, as well as, future digital preservation plans.

President Hunter Rawlings III comments:

• I always feel that the Cornell Library is the best in the country. Now that you have won the ACRL award for excellence, my feelings are supported.

• The three most important parts of the library are: 1) the cutting edge technology we use, 2) the collections, and 3) the people we have on staff.

• We should look ahead and use new technologies, but also look back and hold onto the really good things that we have both materials and practices.

• Innovative projects involving collaboration with academic departments include the creation stations, ctheory Multimedia internet journal of digital art [http://ctheory.concordia.ca/], and Contemporary African Artists database [http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Feb01/Hassan.Ford.Award.fc.html], and the digitized video collection at the vet college. The vet library is video-taping 150 core surgical procedures to be used for teaching.

• Inter-departmental research connections include the fact that 50% of human genetic material is the same as the tomato’s. The tomato growth gene is very close to the human oncogene. Research at the lab of ornithology has applications in neuroscience. Biological sciences and physical sciences also share some interrelated research.

• Heads of other libraries are envious of CUL.

• The library is truly the heart of the university.

• Teaching PERICLEAN ATHENS this semester. He finds the students intellectually innovative and challenging.

• There will be no budget increase this year or next.

• The governor and Senator Bruno have introduced a bill that will provide for a new building at Cornell, the NYS Center of Excellence for Biotechnology and Genomics. The building will be called "The Life Sciences Building".

• CU alumni are very loyal. There has been an unexpected surge in gifts. Gifts as of December 2000 totaled $84 million. Gifts as of December 2001 totaled $122 million.

• Gifts are usually designated for certain programs. The university must limit spending; thus, the hiring freeze. The freeze was designed to prevent lay-offs

• Q. When will the hiring freeze end?
  A. It is hoped that the freeze will end this fiscal year.

• Q. Will the Statler Auditorium be unavailable for performances?
  A. No. CU is looking at alternative locations. Bailey Hall will be renovated. It will be a state of the art performance center, but will have fewer seats [with more leg room].

• Q. What challenges will library staff face in the future?
  A. I have heard almost nothing but praise for the library from faculty. This is very unusual.

• Q. How can library staff reconcile the tension between serving local users and the global community?
  A. We will try to find the breakeven point. The CU trustees are very interested in the fee for service business model.

• Q. Do you see more inter-institutional cooperation in the future?
  A. Yes. Inter-institutional cooperation is the name of the game. An alliance between Rockefeller University, Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Weil Medical College and the CU Ithaca campus has been formed. An $80 million grant is available, contingent on matching funds. A new graduate program in genomics is being started. Graduate students will start at the Ithaca campus and then go to NYC. The institutions in NYC lack computer science and chemistry departments.

• Q. How do you make use of information technology?
  A. I use email very sparingly.

• Q. Do you feel that undergraduate research/scholarship needs to be strengthened?
  A. Yes. We need to get freshmen into the library to do research. The common reading experience for freshmen was a good start. My advice to freshmen is: go to the library, go to the lab of ornithology, go to the Johnson museum and then go to the plantations. They are all free.

• Q. Do you see a return to the pre-WW II model of requiring research?
  A. It is certainly worth exploring. I also think we should require Latin.

• Q Do you see Cornell changing its image by recruiting students who are willing to learn critical thinking?
  A. Students seem to be more interested in their career than in learning especially life long learning.

• Q. What impact has e-Cornell [distance learning] had on CU?
  A. It is too early to say. In about six more months, we should have a feel for effects. The events of September 11 made it difficult to recruit students. Usually the corporation would pay tuition.

Respectfully submitted,
Pat Viele, Secretary
Academic Assembly Steering Committee

03/01/02 vwb