Promotions of Librarians
Senior Assistant Librarian
Anna Korhonen, Olin Library
Anna Korhonen is Documents Librarian and Head
of Government Documents, Inputting, and Gifts and Exchanges in Central
Technical Services. In this role she directs the activity of staff and
students who initiate access to a wide range of information in all formats.
Since accepting the position as Documents Librarian, Anna has demonstrated
her leadership skills and innovative spirit. She oversaw the elimination
of the government documents backlog—but that wasn’t enough. Anna
led the drive to bring to Cornell University Library end-users online
government documents in a big way, yet in a short time frame. Her hard
work, effective planning, and diplomacy resulted in the addition of title-level
access to over 47,000 government documents e-resources.
Soon after taking over as Documents Librarian, Anna was asked to manage
the CTS Inputting Unit and just as she had completed the work to merge
these staff, she agreed to take on the responsibility for the Gifts and
Exchanges operation.
Anna has reached out to colleagues in the various depository programs
through the Federal and State meetings and has given several presentations
in ALA documents-related sessions, highlighting some of the Cornell best
practices to receptive audiences.
Anna is very concerned with the long-term preservation of government
documents, both those in print and those born digital. In recognition
of her interest, she has been appointed to serve a three-year term in
the ALA GODORT Committee of Rare
and Endangered Government Publications.
Anna is one of those new librarians who bring a wealth of solid experience
and a drive to meet tomorrow’s challenges. Her promotion is well
deserved.
~Scott Wicks
Ida Martinez, Olin Library
Ida joined the Reference Department in 2002
as a Library Fellow and never looked back. (Well, after a winter like
the past one, she might be looking back at those halcyon days in El Paso,
where she was Valedictorian of her high school class, and it was warm.)
Ida has her MLIS from Dominican University in Illinois, where she was
the American Library Association Spectrum Initiative Scholar, and her
B.A. in Psychology from Notre Dame. So she did have a chance to acclimate
before arriving in Ithaca.
As a Library Fellow Ida made an immediate impact. Her work with the Latino
Studies department became a model for other library outreach efforts.
At the same time she developed into an outstanding reference librarian
and a much sought-after instructor.
Ida then officially joined the Olin/Uris Reference Department with the
added responsibility of being the Outreach Librarian for IRIS, charged
with developing better communication and engagement with our user communities.
Because of her obvious skills in organization, instructional design, and
graphic presentation, and her knowledge of, and commitment to, Latino
Studies and Native American Studies, Ida became the selector for both
these program areas.
Ida takes part in all the department training activities and gives an
outstanding training session on Latino resources. She has prepared an
excellent Web
Guide for Library Research in Latino Studies,
and another one for American
Indian Studies.
These are both examples of her ability to repackage complex and widely
diffuse information and re-present it in a way that is useful for students
and staff.
The department has made a major push over the past three years to increase
and formalize its outreach to the academic departments we support in the
College of Arts and Sciences. Ida organized this effort for the department
and in the IRIS reorganization has taken on the role of coordinator for
outreach. She clearly demonstrates the kind of engagement with academic
departments that is at the core of our understanding of how we will promote
information competencies within Cornell’s complex information environment.
She has sought out and met program faculty and has attended Latino Program
faculty meetings. She has developed an impressive set of techniques for
interacting with both programs, culminating in a credit course on resources
in Latino Studies, which she gave this winter.
Ida has also worked recently with Patrick Stevens in developing an outreach
page for Jewish/Hebrew studies in response to a request from President
Lehman. This ongoing effort is an example of Ida’s integrating approach
to outreach efforts and builds on the success of her participation in
CUL’s Race, Ethnicity & Religion Project Internal Advisory
Group.
Ida is a member of the Outreach Committee and through them helped organize
a very successful orientation program last fall. Among her successes was
our first Graduate Student Reception.
Ida serves on several other CUL committees in addition to those already
mentioned. Her effectiveness on these is based on her acknowledged ability
to work with others toward a common goal. She was co-chair of the IRPC
Documentation Committee, is also a member of one of the ad hoc committees
on ENCompass, and just rotated off the IRIS sign committee—of which
she was a founding member.
In the larger professional world Ida is a Spectrum Scholar and continues
to participate in Spectrum initiatives, an ALA program working to increase
minority participation in the profession. Ida was also chosen as a Digital
Library Fellow in 2004.
Ida has developed a reputation for intelligence, skill, and hard work,
which makes her increasingly in demand for committees and projects throughout
the system. She is a model for the department and IRIS in the way that
she integrates reference, instruction, and collection development.
Ida works quite independently while still maintaining close engagement
with others and a very natural collegiality. This has been much appreciated
by the department, IRIS Information Services, the IRIS administration,
and her colleagues in CUL. Ida is valued not only for her skills and intelligence,
but also her wonderful approachability and humor. She also does some wickedly
hilarious imitations. I’d like to hear her impression of me—or
maybe I wouldn’t.
~Bob Kibbee
Paul McMillin, Olin Library
Paul has a long history in Olin Library.
He worked in Access Services from 1994 to 1995 and then joined the Reference
Services Department as a Reference Assistant. Paul left Cornell to pursue
his MLIS at the University of Texas, Austin. In addition to his course
load there, Paul worked as a Teaching Assistant in the Information School's
computer lab, and taught JavaScript in the classroom and online for the
Austin Community College WebMaster Program. Paul joined IRIS and Reference
Services as a professional librarian in the fall of 2002 after several
months of cold travel in the Andes.
Paul is one of the star reference librarian/instructors for IRIS Reference
Services. He has a strong subject background in Sociology (Cornell ’91),
Philosophy, and Linguistics and these strengths come through clearly in
his course-integrated websites. Check out his latest guide for a class
related instruction session, Linguistics
100.05: like, slang 101: Teens as Linguistic Innovators.
In IRIS, Paul made an immediate impact as an instructor: he taught
his first class in his second week here and since then has given over
50 class-related instruction sessions. He’s a very thoughtful teacher
and is always willing to try a new approach. Paul also teaches in our
workshop series in HTML and took over the design, presentation, and teaching
of our JavaScript workshop.
Paul has taken on several responsibilities outside the department with
CUL-wide impacts. He serves on the ENCompass team, and participates in
one of their subgroups which designed and implemented a public interface
for ENCompass. Paul has assumed a critical role in interface design where
he uses his deep knowledge of JavaScript and his skill with XML/XSL to
provide technical support to the team. With his public services background,
he’s been invaluable as a consistent advocate for users in a technical
environment.
Paul works on several other committees. He is now on the Metadata Working
Group Steering Committee where he brings a unique public service perspective
to an environment focused on the technical underpinnings of information
retrieval. Recently he was instrumental in bringing the group from Rochester
to give a presentation on their XML-based single-search box interface
to the University of Rochester Library’s resources.
Paul has been on the OPAC team since May 2003. On the team he has been
troubleshooting and developing the “Find Articles/Find Databases/Find
eJournals” and more recently has been developing innovative enhancements
to the Library Catalog. His success at this stems his technical acumen
and first-hand knowledge of the patron’s information-seeking behaviors.
In the past year, he has brought these combined talents to bear on two
newly formed committees: the Public Computing Advisory Committee, and
the CUL Objectives Committee charged with developing an integrated framework
for CUL's Digital Collections.
In his first year, Paul coordinated a team that won an internal grant
to develop a toolkit for designing subject guides and course-related Webliographies.
The implementation team for this grant, the Web Guide Working Group, is
working to automate some aspects of library web-guide creation.
Paul has been a strong ambassador for CUL in several venues. He has presented
and co-presented talks and workshops on metadata and library interface
programming with XML and XSLT. His venues have included the annual SUNYLA
conference, the annual Endeavor EndUser conference, the workshop series
at SCRLC, and workshops here at CUL. Recently he has helped to forge ties
with the University of Rochester Libraries, where he sees great potential
for collaborative work on improving the usability of Endeavor software.
As a department we could never have attempted many of our current projects
without Paul. Many we could not even have envisioned. Everyone in the
department has benefited directly or indirectly from Paul’s knowledge
and creativity. Paul is also a great colleague, intelligent, hard-working,
respectful, but probing and with a keen eye for the absurd.
~
Bob Kibbee
Associate Librarian
Eleanor Brown, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections,
Kroch Library
Eleanor Brown has distinguished herself as RMC’s
Head of Program and Project Management. In that position, Eli directs
RMC projects ranging from archival processing of 19 th century winery
records to developing policies for 20 th century movie films to preserving
and making accessible 21 st century digital collections.
Eli came to Cornell in 2002 from the National Archives of Canada as RMC’s
Technical Services Coordinator. In 2003, as part of a reorganization of
RMC public service activities and in recognition of her particular talents,
she was promoted to the newly created position of Head of Program and
Project Management. She took on these complex new responsibilities with
her usual efficiency, energy, and enthusiasm.
Special Collections librarians and archivists have to be multi-faceted,
and Eli is an exemplary case. Most recently, she was responsible for coordinating
the publication by the Library of A Bend in the Road, a collection
of poetry written by Eamon J. McEneaney, the Cornell alumnus who died
on September 11, 2001. She currently manages a New York State-funded survey
of the records of Finger Lakes wineries and vineyards.
Along with her other responsibilities, she not only provides expert reference
services, but she also gives outstanding presentations and tours. In the
fall of 2003, she curated “Pastimes and Paradigms,” a very
well received exhibition and Web site which engaged everyone from undergraduates
to President Lehman (who stills speaks highly of it), and she has co-curated
a number of other exhibits.
Eli has also been generous in her assistance to other CUL libraries.
Among other projects, she has worked with Kheel Center on the EAD project;
helped the Law Library with the William Rogers collection; advised the
Music Library on archival processing; and assisted the Africana Center
with photographic collections. She has helped to enhance the profile of
Special Collections within the Cornell Library by her participation in
many CUL groups and committees. As a member of the Public Services Executive
Committee, in particular, she provides a different perspective to the
group and brings library public services issues to the Special Collections
community.
She is professionally active, participating in the Society of American
Archivists (SAA) and has been invited to join several RLG committees.
She has presented papers at SAA, at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives
Conference (MARAC), and internationally. She also has published a number
of articles in Canadian archival journals. And, in her leisure time, she
owns and shows three beautiful flat-coated retrievers.
Eli’s lively interest, integrity, intellectual curiosity, flexibility,
and sense of humor (combined with her great Scottish-Canadian accent)
make her an outstanding archivist, valued colleague, and good friend.
We congratulate her on her richly deserved promotion to Associate Librarian
and look forward to her continuing growth and professional success.
~
Elaine
Engst
Richard Entlich, Olin Library
Richard Entlich, Digital Projects Librarian
in Research and Assessment Services of IRIS, is a senior researcher, FAQ
editor for RLG DigiNews, and a principal instructor and curriculum developer
for Cornell’s
Digital Preservation Management workshop series. Rich regularly contributes
to the prestige of Cornell University Library through his insightful explorations
of digital imaging, digital preservation, and related topics.
As a researcher, Rich initiates explorations that are timely, interesting,
and produce significant results. His research is informed by long-term
familiarity with rapidly changing computer technologies. Rich writes extremely
well and contributes prolifically to the literature of the profession.
As an instructor, Rich applies his research expertise to develop sessions
that are well-informed and full of instructive examples. His sessions
are the technical, detailed, meaty ones that participants both love and
hate.
As the FAQ editor, Rich continually anticipates and tackles topics that
are timely, significant, and complex. His enquiries are thorough and the
results well-crafted. He frequently receives recognition for his FAQs
in Current Cites and other well-respected sources, and has established
an appreciative international audience.
~
Nancy McGovern
Barbara Morely, ILR Catherwood Library
Barb Morley has had
a varied career within ILR's Catherwood Library. Beginning in 1988, she
was appointed as Senior Circulation Reserve Supervisor and then moved
to the Library's Reference Unit as an Information Assistant. During the
seven years she served in these positions, she began a Master's in Librarianship
Degree at the University of Albany that she finished in 1999. Because
of her outstanding work and successful experience in various assignments
in the Circulation and Reference Units, Barb was hired as the Center's
Technical Processes Supervisor in 1995. Subsequently, in September, 1999,
Barb moved to the position of Media Curator for the Kheel Center. In all
her positions at ILR, Ms. Morley has made substantial contributions to
the Center and the School. This is most recently reflected in the mounting
on the Web of the Kheel Center's Labor
Photo Database,
which Barb shepherded from concept to completion.
~
Richard Strassberg
Leah Solla, Physical Sciences Library
As the CUL Chemistry Librarian
Leah Solla provides chemical information support to Cornell scientists
and serves as liaison to the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.
When Leah accepted the position in 1999, she came home to Ithaca, where
she had spent much of her childhood, and to Cornell, where she had done
graduate work in nutritional biochemistry and worked as a student assistant
in Mann Library. Just as Leah was coming on board, CUL was introducing
two client-based chemistry databases: SciFinder Scholar and Beilstein.
Leah has spent much of her time over the past six years helping researchers
and librarians use both the clients and the databases.
Leah could be the poster child for the ASTech Libraries motto, “Collaboration
in Action.” It is her instinct to work with others on projects and
to use those activities for mutual growth. She has been particularly successful
in developing common interests among the science libraries. To that end,
she co-wrote a successful internal grant to fund two retreats for science
librarians from Ithaca, Geneva, and the Medical College, one in Ithaca
and one in New York City. Leah has co-authored articles and presented
at conferences with several colleagues. She is completing a two-year term
as Science Team Leader and will continue to work across the sciences through
her activities on the Life Sciences Working Group.
Each spring semester Leah teaches Chem 602, Information Literacy for
the Physical Scientist. In addition to teaching most of the classes, Leah
coordinates guest lectures by librarians and outside speakers. It is fundamental
to her philosophy of librarianship that every class is open to all interested
participants, not just those who are enrolled. Much to her credit, a few
years ago one of her students undertook (unsuccessfully) to convince the
Chemistry and Chemical Biology faculty to make Chem 602 a required course.
The Chemical Information Division of the American Chemical Society has
benefited from Leah’s amazing energy. She is serving a two-year
term as Chair of the Education Committee and has organized conference
programs on intellectual property and scholarly publishing. She attends
and presents at national and regional ACS meetings. Leah’s after
dinner presentation on the history of the department was the highlight
of Cornell’s ACS Centenary Symposium.
Leah has a number of other skills including knitting and Morris dancing.
Every May Day Leah and the other Heartwood Morris Dancers greet the sun
by dancing around a Maypole at Thornden Park in Syracuse. Heartwood also
dances in and around the Ithaca area (the Commons and the Farmers Market
are two locations) in the summer so you might be able to catch a performance
at a more reasonable hour.
~
Jean Poland
Elaine Westbrooks, Mann Library
I’ve had the privilege to work
with Elaine since she joined the staff in Mann Library’s Technical
Services Division in 2000 and congratulate her on her promotion to the
rank of Associate Librarian. Since beginning in her position as a Metadata
Librarian, she quickly established herself as a leader on campus concerning
metadata issues and through her many presentations and publications a
leader within the larger profession. She’s been a mentor to other
staff at Mann working with metadata issues and has been an effective leader
of the Metadata Working Group. Elaine is informed about developments in
metadata and in the technologies that enhance access to digital collections.
On a team or committee she does not view her role narrowly, but takes
interest in the larger picture. She has been critical to the development
of CUGIR, and is increasingly recognized
nationally as a leader in the field of geospatial metadata. In addition
to many papers and presentations, Elaine has devoted much time as an editor
of three monographs during the last few years:
Westbrooks, Elaine L., ed. Black Studies and Culture on the WWW:
A Guide to the Very Best Websites. Wilmington: Scholarly Resources, (publication
in 2005).
Hillmann, Diane I. and Elaine L. Westbrooks, eds. Metadata in Practice:
Building the Diverse Digital Library. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2004.
Westbrooks, Elaine L. and Keith Jenkins, eds. Metadata and the Digitization
of Information: Festschrift in honor of Thomas P. Turner (publication
in 2005).
Last fall Elaine was the recipient of a travel award. Her proposal was
entitled, “Learning Multilingual Data Management: XML internationalization,
data encoding, and data localization activities in academic Chinese libraries.” She
used this award to meet with librarians in Shanghai, where she also attended
Dublin Core 2004, and Beijing. More recently Elaine received the SUNY
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Librarianship. Elaine clearly
possesses the energy, initiative, and skills that contribute to moving
CUL forward.
~
Bill Kara
Librarian
Philip Davis, Mann Library
Congratulations to Phil Davis for his promotion
to Librarian this year. Phil joined the staff of Mann Library in 1995
as the Instruction Coordinator and later moved to Collection Development
as Life Sciences Bibliographer in 1999. Phil originally hails from Canada,
where he received his undergraduate degree in Biology from the University
of Guelph and his M.L.S. from the University of Western Ontario.
Phil has provided outstanding leadership for Mann Library and the Science
team in the past few years, as we have moved from print journals to e-journals.
Phil has helped to negotiate many of our e-journal contracts with publishers
and has coordinated Mann’s serials review efforts for the past three
years. Phil has an excellent sense of humor, which was evidenced by his
naming the Serials Review Team the “Ginsu Group,” after the
famous knife widely advertised on television. The name stuck, and probably
50 years from now Mann librarians will still recall that someone named
Phil Davis coined the term Ginsu Group, if there are still serials then!
In the wider library community, Phil has received many accolades for
his innovative research, including being cited as one of Library Journal’s “Movers
and Shakers” for 2004. His early research focused on the effect
of the Web on undergraduate citation behavior. His current research has
focused on analyzing e-journal usage statistics, with a long and impressive
list of publications to his credit. Phil’s expertise in this area
is also put to use as a member of the Project COUNTER Board, as a member
of the editorial board for the journal Portal, and as a reviewer
for several other library journals.
In addition to his many contributions to Mann Library, CUL and the wider
library community, Phil also serves as “dad extraordinaire” to
his daughter, Anna.
Please join me in congratulating Phil on his promotion.
~
Mary Ochs
Martin Kurth, Olin Library
The Library hired Marty in 1999 to be head
of the Academic Cataloging Unit in Central Technical Services (CTS). By
March 2000, he was the head of cataloging, and he had taken on a major
role in implementing Voyager. In addition, Marty has played a major role
in the success of the CUL Electronic Resources Committee (ERC). In all
these positions, Marty grew a great deal as a leader; he was able to support
the catalogers through some significant changes; he was one of the key
reasons our Voyager implementation went so well; and his contributions
to ERC and to making e-journals available via the catalog are a significant
part of the reason that Cornell is a leader in providing discovery systems
for networked resources.
In 2002 Marty participated in another reorganization of CTS, this time
to free up the resources necessary to create a CTS Metadata Services department,
which Marty has managed since that time. Marty moved up the metadata learning
curve at lightening speed, largely as a result of the key role he played
in the ENCompass Working Group. Marty was a key player both in bringing
up the first ENCompass digital collection in 2002 (May Anti-Slavery) and
in moving a new e-resource discovery system into production in 2003 (Find
Articles/Find Databases/Find E-Journals). Today, he is a major contributor
to the success of DCAPS.
Marty is a sought-after colleague both within and outside CUL. He has
extraordinary gifts for working with people and bringing out the best
in them. By word and example, he encourages flexibility and resourcefulness
among all who interact with him. He is well known as a leader in the profession.
He's actively supported, embraced, and led change in CUL and in librarianship.
He's used his excellent communication skills to build alliances, coach
his staff, promote cooperation, and solve problems. Just one of his most
recent accomplishments is teaching a class for the Syracuse Information
Studies program. There are many others. In summary, few are more deserving
of recognition and praise than Marty Kurth. I wholeheartedly congratulate
him on his promotion to Librarian.
~
Karen Calhoun
UNIT IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Digital Library and Information Technologies
Desktop Services
From left: Joe Richardson, Amy Blumenthal, Oliver Habicht,
Colleen Gardner, Keene Silfer, Chris Bucko, Rick Lightbody, and Laura
Heisey
Library Systems
From left: Pete Hoyt, Mike Fromerth, Lydia Pettis, Bill Kehoe, Marcy Rosenkrantz,
George Kozak, Surinder Ghangas, Paul Houle, Yuk Kee Cheung (student), and Aaron
Suggs
Electronic Publishing
From left: Shin-Woo Kim, Josh Santelli, David Ruddy, and David Fielding
DLIT
From left: Victor Lonsberry, Terry Ehling, David Ruddy, Debra Federation, Tom
Hickerson, and Michelle Eastman
Digital Media Group
Front, from left: Oya Rieger, Matt Arnstein, Fiona Patrick, and Jim
Reidy
Back, from left: Mira Basara, Danielle Mericle, Melissa Kuo, David Jones,
Gale Halpern, and Bronwyn Mohlke
Digital Media Group
Rhea Garen
Fuerst Awards 2005
Kate
Kastenbaum began working in the Nestle Library
as a Hostline Student Assistant during her sophomore year in 2002. All
this time, she has used her statistical skills and knowledge, as well
as her knowledge of the hospitality industry, to make significant contributions
to the library and to the Hostline project. She completes her assignments
effortlessly and accurately, and requires very minimal supervision. Kate
can even be trusted with responsibilities that are more typical of full-time
staff. She is reliable and always displays maturity and professional
courtesy when on the job. Her service ethic, professionalism, productivity,
and reliability have made her the role model for all other student assistants.
The Hotel School Library has found Kate’s cheerful, helpful and
efficient presence a true blessing over the past few years.
Pam Hannah has worked as a Student Computer Assistant
in Mann Library’s Administrative Office since fall 2003. 
Her job
consists of creating a variety of informational publications and exhibit
materials that promote Mann’s events, services, and resources. Her
strong design skills have made her an indispensable asset to Mann Library.
Despite the always-tight deadlines under which Mann’s student assistants
work, Pam can always be counted on to complete high quality work and to
maintain a friendly, positive, and upbeat attitude, no matter what. One
of her recent accomplishments is the creation of the Mann Library Student
Exhibition Program, which she has coordinated and directed along with
one of her peers. Pam’s initiative and quality of work has made
a lasting contribution to Mann Library.
Mitesh Kaphle started as a freshman in August 2001 as
a Technical Services Assistant in Olin Library. He wears two hats in the
Library, having also joined Access Services in 2002. Mitesh has displayed
initiative by seeking variety in his student employment. Opting to work
in two different areas in the Library and finding flexible hours that
fit into his busy schedule, he keeps his duties fresh and interesting,
which attracts him back every semester. Working dual roles in the library
gives him an understanding of the important impact that one position has
on every one else in the Library. He is industrious, self directed, and
always motivated to learn something new. Despite his various commitments,
he is always very positive and has exceptional interpersonal skills. His
commitment and contribution to CUL is exemplary, and his openness and
maturity make him a true stand out among his peers. (We regret we have
no photo of Mitesh; he was unable to attend.) 
Andrew Gossett has been an integral part of the Library
Alumni Affairs and Development Office since his freshman year. His contributions
go well beyond those usually accomplished by student workers. Andrew helps
manage day-to-day operations as well as special events. He carries out
these complicated tasks quickly and thoroughly, and still produces excellent,
highly dependable work. His four years of experience have given him a
unique and thorough knowledge of the job, which allows him to handle all
of his responsibilities with commendable efficiency and diplomacy
.
Robert Meyers began working for the library during his
freshman year. He started in the Creation Station Lab, which he later
helped to develop into the Cornell Library Collaborative Learning Computer
Laboratory (CL3). He quickly distinguished himself by his outstanding
performance, great work ethic, and genuine concern for the lab users whom
he helps. His supervisor, Tony Cosgrave, credits the success of CL 3 to
Robert’s contributions. He helped get the lab in order, set up the
computers, and installed their hardware almost single-handedly. Furthermore,
Robert has a friendly attitude that allows him to provide lab users with
the best service and to take on problems that might intimidate other workers.
RJ is a model student and will be greatly missed next year.
Retrospective Conversion at CUL—More than Numbers
Zoe Stewart-Marshall, Database Enrichment Librarian
Since 2002 CTS has
been working on converting the remaining CUL catalog cards into electronic
records accessible to users through the OPAC. The library received an
$830,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to convert approximately
270,000 LC classed volumes to be completed by December 2004. The library
contributed additional funds to cover record cleanup and barcoding work.
In June 2004 Post-Cataloging Services (PCS) staff realized that they were
going to complete the project six months earlier than expected and considerably
under budget. This allowed us to petition the Mellon Foundation to amend
and extend our original retrospective conversion proposal to include conversion
of the 104,000 cards for the Area Collection and half of the approximately
40,000 titles in the Harris Collection.
That all sounds pretty cut and dried and full of wonderfully large numbers.
However if you focus on the numbers, you will miss a true appreciation
for the work that went into the success of this project. You would not
see the dedication of the staff and students whose flexibility and hard
work were largely responsible for the efficiency and productivity that
resulted in those numbers. Over the course of the project there have been
countless students without whom we would never have gotten the cards searched
and sent out to OCLC and barcodes applied. Most of them showed up to work
even on those treasured days when the sun was out in Ithaca.
The team of staff involved in retrospective conversion weathered changes
in players and procedures over time and kept its focus on the project
goals. Hana Dedina was in charge of the overall project management, supervised
the searching students, and kept OCLC on track. Barb Tarbox unearthed
the shelflist drawers from the depths of the Old Rare Vault, trained new
staff and students, and solved Gordian knot-like problems resulting from
batch loads of records. The highly skilled crew of Anne Carson, Sonia
Hizi, and Irina Mikhailichenko made sure the process of manually resolving
the problems that can result from machine processes went as smoothly and
efficiently as possible.
In the midst of this work of pushing through thousands of records and
meeting deadlines, CTS went through a major reorganization and welcomed
a new staff member and functional responsibility to PCS. Sally Lockwood
joined the unit in May 2003 when CTS absorbed the Barcoding Unit which
had previously been part of IRIS. Never missing a beat, the team welcomed
Sally, her many students, and all the record problems that needed to be
resolved from the barcoding process. The synergy of the work of the two
previously separate units became evident early on and integrating the
work in one overall workflow kept materials and work moving smoothly.
Sally’s enthusiasm and willingness to adapt, as well as her ability
to encourage the best in her students, has greatly aided in a smooth and
effective transition.
And the synergy did not stop there. In the midst of rapidly changing
Technical Service workflows, there were some times when additional CTS
staff were temporarily available to assist PCS with retrospective conversion
work. With the assistance of Yan-Yun Mi, Denise Spenser, Grace Lin, Judy
Adams, and Nelli Kurbanova, PCS has been able to complete the manual conversion
of the Cornelliana, Skeletal K, and Hart collections and begin the manual
conversion of the Olin Pamphlet collection. While we are not there yet,
the goal of having all CUL’s catalog cards converted to electronic
records is much closer to being a reality. The credit for these retrospective
conversion accomplishments rests squarely with these Cornell Technical
Services staff.
More detailed information on the progress of the retrospective conversion
process is available online.
Book Collection Contest 2005
Prizes for the third annual Cornell University Library and Cornell
University Library Advisory Council Book Collection Contest were
awarded in early May at a reception in the A. D. White Library in Uris:
First prize—$1,000, John Miles '07—Classic Cars
of the 1930s
Second prize—$750, Willy Franzen '06—The Contemporary
Literature of the Angle: Fishing Genius
Third prize—tie—$500 each, Andrew Marks
'05—Jewish
Law through the Ages and Beth
Smoot '05—Mathmania
Honorable Mention—$100 each, Joye Harmon '07—Forever
Young: The Evolution of the Child Hero in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Alex
Wolf '06—Arthur and the Medieval Hero
The judges for this year's event were:
Beth Anderson, Cornell University Library Advisory Council
Jonathan Culler, Class of 1916 Professor of English and Comparative Literature
Katherine Reagan, Division of Rare Book and Manuscript Collections
Listed below are the sixteen contestants and their collections:
Maria Adelmann '07—Children’s Christmas Literature and
the True Meaning of Christmas
Caitlin Cameron '05——A Rome Collection Was Not Built in a Day
Corey Ryan Earle '07—Echoes from the Walls: Books of Cornell University
Willy Franzen '06—The Contemporary Literature of the Angle: Fishing
Genius
Joye Harmon '07—Forever Young: The Evolution of the Child Hero
in Fantasy and Science Fiction
Ruth Jacobs '05—The Disquieting Image
Nechama Levy '05—Fragmentary Judaism
Andrew Marks '05—Jewish Law through the Ages
John Miles '07—Classic Cars of the 1930s
Sarah Okorie '08—In Love: What Black Men Want
Anastasia Poushkareva '05—Decadence: The Paradox of Dead Life
Elena Sanchez '08—Learning German: The Journey through My Lifetime
Beth Smoot '05—Mathmania
Walker Thisted '07—Architecture and Philosophy
Ben Winger '07—Legacy: Works of Cornell Ornithologists
Alex Wolf '06—Arthur and the Medieval Hero
CUL Art Show 2005
Visual
Art contributed by Joan Brink, Lucy Burgess,
Roswitha Clark, Tom Clausen, Peg Coogan, Nancy Dean, Betsy Elswith,
Erla Heyns, Martha Hsu, Sarah Keen, Cynthia Lange, Danielle Mericle,
Liisa Mobley, Bronwyn Mohlke, Susette Newberry, Julia Parker, Lydia
Pettis, Tatyana Petukhova, Marge Robinson, Cheryl Rowland, Marcy Rosenkrantz,
Suzanne Schwartz, and Ardeen White.
Dance Performances by Ron and Mary
Wesche and Dan
and Rosemarie Saikkonen, and Anne
Carson.
Keith Jenkins played the following compositions on accordion:
- "Que Tu Amor" by Thierry Robin
- "Ma Gavali" by Thierry Robin
- Untitled by Keith Jenkins
Performers in the Musical Tribute to Carol Buckley:
- Rick Lightbody, voice
- Doug Matthews, voice
- Joe McNamara, voice and guitar
- Beth Kelly, flute
- Alan Nussbaum, clarinet
- Lenora Schneller, bass clarinet
- Mark Simon, clarinet and master of ceremonies
Musical pieces performed:
- "One" from A Chorus Line by Marvin Hamlisch (performed by
CUL Orchestra)
- "Nice Work if You Can Get It" by George Gershwin (performed
by Joe McNamara)
- "The Way You Look Tonight" by Jerome Kern (performed by
Joe McNamara)
- "Someone to Watch over Me" by George Gershwin (performed
by Mark Simon and Joe McNamara)
- "Autumn Breezes" by Carol Buckley (performed by Rick Lightbody
and Doug Matthews with Mark Simon and CUL Orchestra)
- "Embraceable You" by George Gershwin (performed by Rick
Lightbody and CUL Orchestra)
Africana Library Renovation
The
John Henrik Clarke Africana Library is now located in a new building in North
Campus along Triphammer Road. The painting of John Henrik Clarke
(the library's namesake) greets people as they enter the library,
and
almost appears to keep watch over the library. Among the services
that
are offered at the Africana Library are six computer workstations,
wireless Internet connection, and two visual stations. There
are over
20,000 volumes of books. The library has current issues of 15
newspapers
which highlight the Black experience in America and the diaspora.
The high ceilings and large windows give library users a feeling
of a wide-open space. One of the things that are most striking to
first time visitors is the pine ceiling and the African mahogany
beams. The
earth-tone wall colors give the library a feeling of warmth.
One thing that helps give the library an atmosphere where students
enjoy researching and studying is Kwasi Seitu Asantey's "Black
Cowboys" painting. This is loaned to the library by the Herbert F. Johnson
Museum of Art. The painting features Black cowboys Isom Dart, Nat Love,
and Bill Picket. The new library truly helps highlight the word "research" in
Africana Studies and Research Center.
~ Eric Acree, Africana Librarian
People News
Welcome
Welcome back to Christina Bucko, who has rejoined the
Library after serving in active duty in the Navy since January 2004. Christina
is back working in D-LIT/ Desktop Services, and we are delighted to have
her on board!
Kirsten Hensley is the new Access Services Supervisor
at the Physical Sciences Library. Kirsten works 20 hours per week for
us, as she also works at the Center for Applied Mathematics.
The Division of Digital Library and Information Technologies (DLIT) is
pleased to welcome Victor Lonsberry as Marketing and
Publicity Manager for the Electronic Publishing Program. Victor brings
his diverse marketing experience from Los Angeles where he promoted numerous
foreign DVD/Video campaigns along with an independent domestic theatrical
movie release. He previously served as a marketing analyst at eBay.com
and contributed to its evolution into the world's largest E-commerce company.
Victor comes to Cornell University from UCLA where he was evolving high-throughput
breast cancer research technology. His work was most recently cited in
the December 2004 journal of Biochemical and Biophysical Research
Communications.
Melody Padgett is the new Integrated Services Desk Coordinator
and Access Services Supervisor at the Engineering Library. Previously
Melody worked at Eddie Bauer as a co-manager.
Jeffrey Peterson has joined the Echols Collection as
the Southeast Asian Librarian. Jeff received his MA in Anthropology from
Northern Illinois University and his MLS from the University of Illinois
at Urbana.
Promotions
Eileen Keating has been promoted to Library Administrator
III in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections.
Yayoi Koizumi has been promoted to Technical Services
Assistant IV in CTS Acquisitions.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Keith Jenkins on being awarded a
DLF Forum Fellowship for Librarians New to the Profession. This award
provides an opportunity for new professionals to attend the DLF Forum "where
they can learn more about the profession, see digital initiatives from
other institutions, and meet leaders in the profession." The award
is accompanied by one thousand dollars to help defray the cost of travel
to the spring 2005 DLF Forum in San Diego.
Congratulations to the CUL Life Sciences Working Group on the successful
launch of VIVO—our new virtual life sciences
library. VIVO
is a fantastic resource for students, faculty, and staff members working
in the life sciences. The site brings together all the information they
need to figure out who's doing what, where, and how in the life sciences
at Cornell—and what library resources are available to support that
work. VIVO provides easy access to online databases, software tools and
image collections licensed for use by the Cornell community, as well as
to important external resources. For more information about VIVO, and/or
to suggest additional resources for the site, contact Bioinformatics/Life
Sciences Librarian Medha Devare at <mhd6@cornell.edu> or
255-2199.
The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives at
Cornell University's Catherwood Library is pleased to announce that a
digital collection of more than 1,000 photographs documenting the ninety-five
year history of the International
Ladies Garment Workers Union is now
available on the Web. Drawn from among the 350,000 labor union and work
photographs held by the Kheel Center, this database built in conjunction
with Mann Library programming staff may be browsed or searched.
Users are able to save selected images for later review and to order reproductions
as digital files or photographic reprints.
Good-bye
Good-bye and good luck to Iris Wolley from CTS Cataloging, Susan
Greaves from O/K/U Collection Maintenance, and Omar
Afzal from the Echols Collection, who recently left the Library.
Obituaries
Charles Wivell, 1931-2005
The Asia Collections is sad
to announce the death of our long-time Asia desk volunteer, Charles
Wivell, on Sunday March 13. Charles
was a retired professor of classical Chinese language and literature (University
of Rochester), had lived in China and taught at Peking University. Since
1994 Charles worked one or two afternoons a week at the Asia desk, and
was invaluable for his knowledge of Chinese history, philosophy, literature
and language. He loved working with students; many would come to the desk
and ask when Charles would be working there. He helped them too with his
store of Chinese language web sites, and with advice on studying and travel
in China. Charles was a very kind person with a great sense of humor and
always came into the reading room with a cheerful smile and a wave. We
will miss him.
C. Herbert Finch, 1931-2005
C.
Herbert Finch died peacefully on April 27, 2005. A member of the Cornell
University Library staff from 1964 until his retirement in 1996, Herb
came to Cornell as Associate Archivist in the Collection of Regional History
and University Archives. In 1967, he became Curator and University Archivist;
from 1970 to 1976, Archivist in the Labor Management Documentation Center
(now the Kheel Center); Assistant University Librarian for Rare Books,
Manuscripts and Archives from 1972 to 1983, Assistant University Librarian
for Collection Development and Management, 1983 to 1988; and Assistant
University Librarian and Archivist, 1988 to 1996. From 1976 until 1980,
Herb served as the Library’s first Development Officer, the first
person in the country specifically charged with library fundraising.
At Cornell, Herb developed many of RMC’s premier collecting areas
including city and regional planning, ornithology, human sexuality, and
university history. He founded the New York Historical Resources Center,
which conducted the Historical Documents Inventory, a project to survey
manuscript repositories across New York State. The resulting statewide
guides received the Society of American Archivists’ C.W.F. Coker
Prize for outstanding finding aids in 1991. He also instituted a Historians-in-Residence
program to take historians into local community projects. In his role
at the Kheel Center, he worked closely with railroad unions and served
as adjunct professor of collective bargaining. He pioneered in the creation
of microfilm editions of manuscript collections, working on early NHPRC
grants for the George Bancroft Papers (1965), the Andrew Dickson White
Papers (1970), and the Charles Abrams Papers (1975).
When asked about his most important responsibility in the Library, Herb
always spoke of helping his colleagues to do their best work. He offered
the necessary administrative support and the freedom for his staff to
find a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in their work.
Herb cared deeply about the quality and accessibility of Cornell’s
scholarly resources. In 1976, an AP story quoted him at the joint meeting
of the Society of American Archivists and the International Council of
Archives. He said: “an archivist, to know what papers to keep, needs
a solid grasp of history and must have ‘archival imagination’ and,
finally, intuition. You just have to develop a gut feeling that some day
someone will say, ‘Blessings on that archivist.’” Scholars
and students who use Cornell’s collections will be blessing Herb
for years to come!
Professionally active as a member of the American Library Association,
the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians,
and, particularly, the Society of American Archivists, Herb also represented
the Library and the University in local, state, and national forums. In
SAA, he chaired or served as a member of Council, Executive Committee,
Program Committee, College and University Archives Committee, Manuscripts
and Special Collections Committee, the Committee on Uniform Archival Statistics,
and the Urban Archives Committee. He was a participant on every SAA program
for nearly twenty years. In 1969 he was named a Fellow of the Society.
He served on the National Archives Advisory Council. He represented Cornell
on the South Central Research Library Council and the New York State Historical
Records Advisory Commission, which established the New York State Archives
in 1971.
After his retirement from Cornell, Herb continued to be active, serving
as president of the DeWitt Historical Society, now the History Center.
In March, the History Center named a new award, the C. Herbert Finch Award
for Excellence, in his honor and named him as its first recipient. He
also provided archival consulting services and worked with John A. Woods
as an appraiser.
Herb was born on a farm near Boise City, Oklahoma on November 8, 1931.
He attended Oklahoma Baptist University, receiving a B.A. in English literature
and ministerial studies in 1953, and a Bachelor of Divinity degree from
Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, in 1957. In 1957, he left the
ministry to begin doctoral studies in modern American labor history at
the University of Kentucky, where he also became a field archivist in
the University of Kentucky Library.
Herb was an outstanding archivist and an excellent administrator. We
will miss his intellectual curiosity, his tall tales, Oklahoma drawl,
and good humor. His grace and courage in facing difficult situations remains
an inspiration to all of us. He was a good colleague and a good friend.
A memorial service and celebration will be held at Sage Chapel on Sunday,
July 10 at 11:00 a.m.
~ Elaine Engst and Brenda Marston
Lenore F. Coral, 1939—2005
On a crisp clear day in early April family, friends, and colleagues gathered
to pay tribute to Lenore Coral, Music Librarian of the Sidney Cox Library
of Music and Dance. The memorial service was held in Barnes Hall where
carefully chosen musical selections were interspersed with tributes from
six different speakers. The music was classical and contemporary, universal
and personal; there was a piece composed in her honour, and the piece
she herself had commissioned for the dedication of the new Sidney Cox
Library in 2000. The chirping of spring birds wafted through the open
windows while speakers recalled their friendships, family their recollections,
and colleagues her professional contributions to the world of music scholarship.
Lenore touched students, faculty, and colleagues both at Cornell and
abroad, with her excellence, uncompromising standards, and generosity.
We learned that her good friend and former colleague, Jim Cassaro, is compiling a festschrift in her honour,
and that the Lenore Coral Fund had already been established as an endowment
in her name, back in 2000, to continue her legacy at Cornell. What a tribute
to Lenore—a room full of people remembering her with admiration,
humour, and love. Would that we all might be worthy of such a tribute.
Rest in peace, Lenore, scholar librarian.
See below for the text of Sarah Thomas’ memorial address and other
reminiscences.
Lenore Coral, 1939-2005
Tribute by Sarah Thomas, University Librarian
Lenore Coral came to Cornell
as Music Librarian in July 1982, a position she held until March 2005.
The search committee, chaired by Ryburn Ross, recommended Lenore as their
first choice. Indeed, there was no second or third choice. In November
1981 Lou Martin, the University Librarian, phoned Lenore to let her know
that she was the unanimous choice of the search committee, but also to
inquire if not having tenure would be a stumbling block to acceptance.
Lenore did have concerns about this, and she asked for time to consider
the matter. On November 25, 1981, she wrote a long, and I must say, “classic” letter
to Lou Martin, detailing issues which were affecting her decision. She
notes: “the question
of whether I would be willing to give up my tenured position at Wisconsin
is more complex than it appears on the surface. Besides the job security
implied by the tenure the holding of such a title means access to research
monies.” Lenore goes on to probe about the institutional support
for her bibliographic work, something she enjoyed at Wisconsin.
She inquires about the role of librarians in governance.
In the next paragraph, she challenges Martin with regard to his recent
decision not to replace the Assistant University Librarian for Collections. “Who
functions as the advocate for [the collection development] budget in general
library budgeting meetings? Further, how are the needs of new or changing
teaching programs met by the library? I ask this especially in the context
of the new ethnomusicology program which apparently was founded without
adequate library support.”
Without hesitation, Lenore pushes Martin on the number of line managers
reporting directly to him. “Do not the many responsibilities of
the Director of a major research library such as yours interfere with
your ability to effectively assist the large number of staff who report
directly to you?”
Another concern is the “mounting problem of cataloging arrearages.”
Lenore concludes: I hope you will understand my questions not as any
sort of attack on your decisions but rather as my seeking to understand
more fully the rationale governing the Cornell library.”
It took a return visit in January to Ithaca to iron out these issues
in a manner satisfactory to Lenore, but on February 16, Lenore formally
accepted the position as Music Librarian, with an effective starting date
of July 1, 1982. She was 43 years old.
Over the 23 years Lenore served at Cornell as music librarian, she exhibited
all the traits revealed in her November 25 letter, and more. She was,
above all, committed to her profession, something she demonstrated over
and over again in her national and international committee work and in
her own bibliographic research and publication. She was a tenacious advocate
for the support of the music library, which existed to serve musical scholarship.
Uninhibited by rank, although not disrespectful of it, Lenore never hesitated
to exercise her critical judgment.
We in the library valued Lenore highly. One of her colleagues, speaking
of the new Sidney Cox Library of Music and Dance, declared: “her
name may not be over the door as you enter the library, but her ‘fingerprints’ are
all over it. Her vision from the outset of planning, her informed and
critical involvement throughout the process, and her extraordinary commitment
of time and energy to ensuring the success of this project, are all truly
remarkable.”
Another staff member sent me a remembrance of Lenore. She wrote: “For
me working with Lenore Coral over the last 20 years was a unique pleasure.
She was knowledgeable, efficient and always responded quickly in a clear
precise manner to my questions. I would like to mention an encounter I
had with her one day last summer. I went to the Music Library to check
out a book and unexpectedly met Lenore in the lobby. She greeted me warmly.
A beaming Lenore reflected how proud she was of the new facility. I explained
this was the first time I had been to the music library in my 34 years
working in the library system. She jokingly scolded me, said I should
come more often and asked what book I was looking for. Hesitantly, I told
her, Dolly: my life and other unfinished business, by the country
music singer Dolly Parton. To my amazement, Lenore walked directly to
the book, took it off the shelf and handed it to me.
Rather than the brusque always in a hurry Lenore that library staff most
usually saw, I was delighted to pass some time with a totally relaxed "in
her element" Lenore. I wish I could have spent more time with that
Lenore!”
Another person, who met regularly with Lenore confided: “Every
one of our meetings ended the same way. Lenore would walk with me, escort
me really, to the front of the library where we would stop in front of
the reference desk, admire the flowers, and sometimes chat with [a staff
member at the desk]. Lenore always had a smile on her face at this point.
And, I don’t think because I was leaving. She was so proud of her
lovely library and enjoyed having someone visit who clearly appreciated
it, too. She treated me like a very welcome and honored guest in her home.”
Lenore was a complex individual. She was critical and direct, yet endearingly
helpful and generous to those in need of her assistance. Lenore, 43 when
she arrived at Cornell, remained true to her character, over the almost
23 years she was among us. She didn’t stop asking tough questions
or demanding the best for Cornell Music students and faculty. When I read
the excerpt from her letter, pushing the university librarian about his
managerial decisions, to one of my colleagues in the library—saying “imagine
doing”—he laughed and said: “Lenore was probably that
way when she was five!” But although Lenore the person stayed the
same, Cornell and the world of music did not. Thanks to her commitment
to excellence, her knowledge of music and of Cornell’s academic
program, we have an incredibly strong collection, a beautiful library
(with flowers, thanks to a bequest from Lenore), and generations of people
who will carry forward her legacy.
~
Sarah Thomas, University Librarian
Letters
I am not very good with dates, sequences of events, or conversations.
I have a visual memory. Say a name and I picture a scene. Say “Lenore
Coral” and I think of my bi-weekly meetings with Lenore in the beautiful
Cox Library over the past few years. I was Lenore’s last supervisor.
I loved the ambience of the Music Library and asked that we have our meetings
there. Lenore always greeted me the same way. She’d be at her computer.
I was invariably late. She’d give me a somewhat suspicious sidelong
glance and ask, “What’s new?” That question launched
every one of our meetings. I was expected to share a bit of library gossip
before getting down to our agenda. And, every one of our meetings ended
the same way. Lenore would walk with me, escort me really, to the front
of the library where we would stop in front of the reference desk, admire
the flowers, and sometimes chat with Lenora. Lenore always had a smile
on her face at this point. And, I don’t think because I was leaving.
She was so proud of her lovely library and enjoyed having someone visit
who clearly appreciated it, too. She treated me like a very welcome and
honored guest in her home. When I visited Lenore on the afternoon of the
Monday she entered Hospicare, she greeted me with a slight turn of her
head and a murmured, “What’s new?” I have a great deal
of difficulty now going to the Music Library knowing that I won’t
hear that familiar greeting. I especially feel the loss of this very special
colleague when I leave. And, Cornell and academia in general have lost
a gifted scholar and teacher, a genuine Renaissance librarian who cared
passionately about her work and whose standard was excellence.
~
Pat Schafer,
Director of Unit Libraries, IRIS
For me working with Lenore Coral over the last 20 years was a unique
pleasure. She was knowledgeable, efficient, and always responded quickly
in a clear precise manner to my questions. I would like to mention an
encounter I had with her one day last summer. I went to the Music Library
to check out a book and unexpectedly met Lenore in the lobby. She greeted
me warmly. A beaming Lenore reflected how proud she was of the new facility.
I explained this was the first time I had been to the music library in
my 34 years working in the library system. She jokingly scolded me, said
I should come more often, and asked what book I was looking for. Hesitantly,
I told her, Dolly‚ my life and other unfinished business,
by the country music singer Dolly Parton. To my amazement, Lenore walked
directly to the book, took it off the shelf, and handed it to me. Rather
than the brusque always in a hurry Lenore that library staff most usually
saw I was delighted to pass some time with a totally relaxed "in
her element" Lenore. I wish I could have spent more time with that
Lenore!
~
Mary Wesche, Library Administrator, CTS Acquisitions
I was a graduate student in musicology at Cornell, in residence from
1986 to 1992, and receiving my Ph.D. in 1995. While I have no specific
story to relate about Lenore Coral, I do have many vivid recollections
about her. She had high standards for the graduate students (as did the
entire faculty), especially when it came to the details of their work
and research. That should be no surprise. She could be tough as nails.
But what I remember most was how she cared for the souls, if you will,
or at least the spirits of the graduate students, especially the youngest
in the group. Lenore made sure that the first-year graduate students became
a part of the community. She invited them to her house for dinner. She
took them swimming at Buttermilk Falls. She kept a careful and unobtrusive
eye on them, making sure that they took care of their own physical and
mental health, that they learned how to stand up for themselves. She was
careful to privately correct the students when they misspoke or misidentified
something, so that they would learn from their mistake but not feel embarrassed
publicly. Cornell will find someone to take over her job responsibilities.
But Lenore will be a difficult person to replace.
~
Carol Traupman-Carr
Because of her character and position, Lenore was a constant presence
in all of the music students' lives. I for one will never forget the afternoons
spent in the music library with her, when she would often stop for a chat
as she pottered around watering the plants. And, like a lot of the graduate
students, most of the academic milestones of my time in Ithaca were marked
with drinks or dinner at Lenore's house; she was always having us around,
in fact, whether on our own or in groups, to watch the fireworks on July
4 from her balcony or play croquet on her lawn. As someone from a soccer-playing
nation, I was also one of the lucky group who got served a full breakfast
at 5 am to watch the World Cup final in 2002!
~
Nicholas Mathew, JRF in
Music, Jesus College, University of Oxford, England
I would like to join the many friends, colleagues, and students who today
mourn Lenore. Many of us can speak about her exceptional contributions
to the scholarly world and the world of librarianship. But now I prefer
to speak about the wonderful, joyful person she was, about her detached,
humorous and yet committed, and generous way with which she looked at
the world, at her friends, and at her own work. It was a totally original
blending, which characterised her conversation and her many activities.
It is in this light I would like to remember her in the days to come.
~
Pierluigi Petrobelli, Rome/ Parma
I remember when I first met Lenore at the IAML [International Association
of Music Libraries] conference in Cambridge in 1980. Lenore really encouraged
me to get involved and invited me to serve on the Computer Cataloging
Project Group. I am so thankful to her for doing that. She was a great
inspiration to me then and throughout my career. At the end of the MLA
conference last year Lenore and I had a lovely dinner together at a seafood
restaurant at Reagan International Airport while we waited for our flights
home. We reminisced about looking for the best chocolates in Brussels,
UNIMARC, and many other things and also talked about plans for the future.
I really enjoyed that time with Lenore. It seems extremely precious now
that I know that it was the last time I saw her. I always looked forward
to seeing Lenore at conferences, especially in the last few years after
I resumed participating in MLA after a hiatus of about 12 years. I really
missed her in Vancouver last month.
~
Joan Colquhoun McGorman, Technical
Services Librarian, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest,
NC
Lenore served on the RIPM [Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals]
Commission for Indexing Norms in the early 1980s helping us in important
ways to develop the indexing system we have used and developed since that
time. Lenore’s ability to view a forest-full of information and
to focus therein on a tiny unhealthy seedling—a potential future
problem—was
truly remarkable, as were her proposed solutions. RIPM profited greatly
from Lenore’s presence in its early, formative years. I have always
been very grateful for Lenore's contribution to RIPM, for her always helpful,
straightforward, and at times colorful directives (“garbage in,
garbage out”), and for her unique way of rightly keeping us in line.
I miss Lenore as an exceptional, concerned colleague whose vast knowledge,
experience, and analytical skills were so often enlightening, and I miss
her as a friend.
~
H. Robert Cohen, Founder and Director, RIPM
I am writing ... to say how profoundly saddened I was to hear that Lenore
passed away earlier this week. I simply want to add my voice to the very
many who I am sure have made themselves heard in remembrance of Lenore.
As you know well, she made the music library an extraordinary place where
to work. Work was not the only thing that we graduate students associated
with the music library, however. It was also a place where one could always
be sure to meet colleagues who were also friends, and exchange thoughts
and emotions: a place where one always felt welcome. And this was largely
due to Lenore, to her passion for music and book, but especially for people.
Her bibligraphic knowledge is legendary, of course, but her helpfulness
deserves to be at least as legendary, behind that gruff facade so very
easy to see through. We always knew that she genuinely cared about
us, that she always had our best in mind when she was talking to us. Her
contribution to the friendly and supportive atmosphere for which the Cornell
music department is justly famous was fundamental, and I am sure that
this contribution will be felt for many many years to come. I always knew
that I could always turn to her when in need, even if I had been gone
from Cornell for years. I have extraordinarily fond memories of her, and
will miss her very much. My thoughts are for you all, especially the ones
who were closest to her. Please add my name to the very many who want
to be counted as remembering Lenore with affection and gratitude. Un caro
saluto.
~ Emanuele Senici, Ph.D.’98, Faculty of Music, University
of Oxford, St. Hugh’s College, Oxford, England
It is my sad duty to tell you all that Lenore Coral, librarian of the
Sidney A. Cox Library for Music and Dance at Cornell University, passed
away last night, 8 March 2005, from cancer. She was 66 at the time of
her passing. The loss to the profession, of both musicology and music
librarianship, is great. A bright light has gone out, and we will all
be the less for it. Lenore's passion for everything she did was evident
throughout her career. She was a vocal advocate for the information needs
of scholars, and worked endlessly for improved standards for access to
music information. Lenore was instrumental in spearheading many of the
projects which we now consider standard tools for music research, and
was the founder and director of the U.S. RILM Office at Cornell. Within
IAML, she was quite active and a visible presence. Most notably, she was
chair of the Cataloguing Commission, vice-president of the association
for two terms, active on the ISBD working groups, elected an honorary
member in 2001, and co-owner of IAML-L. We will all miss her wise counsel,
her unending friendship, and her immense wit. She was mentor to a whole
generation of music librarians and scholars. For those of us lucky enough
to bask in her aura, be fired up by her passion and wit, she remains in
our hearts always, and will always be an icon of modern music librarianship.
A Festschrift in Lenore's honour is in process. Titled, Music, Libraries,
and the Academy, and edited by Jim Cassaro, the volume is scheduled
to be published by A-R Editions of Middleton, WI in 2005.
~
Posted to several
listserves by Jim Cassaro, Music Librarian, University of Pittsburgh,
formerly at CUL
RILM Conference, New York, 2005, Closing Session
Dear Colleagues, last
week, RILM [Repertoire International de Litterature Musicale] lost one
of the heads of our family, a person that, I dare say, everyone in this
room has known of, a fair number have known personally, and some quite
well. Lenore Coral was diagnosed with cancer late last summer, and she
battled the disease with all the strength and determination that she had—and
she always had significantly more than the usual quota of strength and
determination. In fact, you will perhaps have noticed that she was to
give a paper in the last session of this conference—a
paper about RILM, in fact. As recently as early January, Lenore was still
hoping to be able to come to the conference; she was facing her last chemotherapy
treatment, and had hoped to return to work late in February, and to come
to our conference. Sadly, the disease was even more tenacious than Lenore—no
small feat—and she died just last week in Ithaca.
Rather belatedly—Lenore’s death is so recent and such a shock
that we are still trying to realize that it has happened; as such, the
following has only rather belatedly come to us—we would like to
dedicate this conference, RILM’s first ever, to Lenore.
I’d like to tell you a little about Lenore. Some of this you will
know, perhaps, and some I suspect may be news to you.
- Raised in Detroit, Michigan
- Played flute and piccolo growing up
- B.A. (1961) and M.L.S. (1965) from University of Chicago
- Ph.D. in Musicology, King’s College, University of London (1974).
Worked with Thurston Dart.
- Founding librarian, Fine Arts Collection, University of California,
Irvine
- Music Librarian, University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Music Librarian and Professor of Music, Cornell University (1982-2005)
- Musicological focus: The dissemination of music in Western Europe
and the United States (17th-19th centuries) through the study of British
auction and sales catalogues
- Major contributions in musicology and music librarianship (copyright
laws, ISMN, cataloguing, etc.)
- President, Music Library Association (MLA)
- Member, Board of Directors, International Association of Music Libraries,
Archives, and Documentation Centers (IAML)
- Member, Board of Directors, American Musicological Society (AMS)
- Numerous awards, prizes, citations
But for RILM, Lenore was primarily the founder and chair of the national
RILM committee in the United States. Her contributions to RILM have been
huge, and date back to well before she founded this committee. In fact,
she was involved with RILM since its establishment in 1966.
I have put together a slide to show some of the mile stones of the RILM
work in this country.
- 1966: The founding of RILM
- 1969: Volume I (covering publications from 1967) appears. The main
RILM office at CUNY is also the home of the U.S. committee, chaired
by Barry S. Brook; Lenore Coral is listed as a committee member.
- 1978: IAML-US/MLA Joint Committee on RILM founded with the aim of “assisting
RILM with its U.S. coverage”; Lenore Coral on committee and already
actively organizing volunteers to abstract journals.
- 1984: U.S. RILM office established at Cornell University in the summer
of this year.
Lenore had a remarkably quick and perceptive mind, sometimes a sharp
tongue, and always a very warm heart. She has been not only a central
figure for RILM, but also for me personally. She would pull no punches
in telling me what she thought we at RILM were doing wrong, where we were
misguided, and what we should do about it. And much as this was sometimes
not easy to take, I found that she was usually right, and that it behooved
me to pay attention to what she had to say. Her motivations were always
of the highest order—she cared a great deal about RILM, and invested
a lot of her time and energy in it.
I was fortunate enough to be with Lenore a week ago last Monday, the
day before she died. She was very tiny and weak, didn’t open her
eyes much, and spoke with difficulty, but her mind and her personality
were all there. When I walked into her room, she immediately apologized
for not being able to be at our conference and to give her paper. She
wanted to hear the latest goings on about RILM, and was interested in
everything I had to tell her about it, expressing her opinions and ideas
with nods and shakes of the head, and the occasional brief comments when
more needed to be said. Several times she responded with the trademark
Lenore shrug. Of Lenore, it can truly be said that she was fully engaged
in the work of RILM for decades, right up to the very end of her remarkable
life.
~ Barbara Dobbs Mackenzie, editor-in-chief, RILM
Credits: Kaleidoscope is published bi-monthly except June and July
by Cornell University Library. Editor: Elizabeth Teskey, Photography: Cynthia Lange, Layout: Carla DeMello and Jenn Colt-Demaree
