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April 2006This is our last issue of the academic year. Readers may notice our increasing use of photographs, one of the benefits of going online in May 2005. As always we welcome your stories about colleagues and photographs now too. Have a great summer and see you in August when we resume our bimonthly schedule. In this issue:Promotions of Librarians Promotions of Librarians 2006LibrarianPam Baxter, Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research Her job involves frequent contact with those trying to track down information that Cornell does not appear to have. Once Pam has determined that the data truly cannot be found at CUL, she undertakes the process of not only acquiring the data set but, when possible, making it accessible to the broader research community at Cornell. This is an extremely valuable service--making specialized data products more widely available and affordable across campus. Since her last promotion, she coordinated the migration of the CISER data archive through two generations of hardware and software upgrades. She also recently took on a total redesign of the CISER Web site. Both of these arduous and time-consuming tasks came off without a hitch, which is what one expects when Pam is at the helm. She quietly accomplishes countless complicated, behind-the scenes tasks at CISER. We applaud and appreciate her many efforts. Pam is currently a member of the International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) and participates in its Web Site Action Group. She was recently elected to a two-year term (2005-2007) as the U.S. Regional Secretary. She is also a member of the Association of Public Data Users (APDU) and the American Society of Notaries. Jim LeBlanc, Library Technical Services At around the same time, Jim was playing a key role in the project that produced, for the first time, a single point of entry to the Library’s networked resources—that is, the first iteration of today’s Library Gateway, which was introduced in early 1998. Since that time Jim continued to play significant roles in the Gateway’s evolution. For example, he chaired the group that, in 2001, redefined the Gateway catalog—by then an unwieldy collection of all kinds of e-resources, from the Americans & Food Quiz to BIOSIS—to a tightly focused collection of e-resources of significant reference value. Jim’s 1997 workflow analysis and his work on the birth and evolution of the Library Gateway are only two of many examples demonstrating his strengths as an analyst and leader. The list of his important contributions to the Library and profession is lengthy indeed. To be brief, I would claim that Jim is one of the most well-rounded and talented professionals in the Library. In the many diverse and difficult assignments I have given him since I became his manager, I have not yet found the boundaries of Jim’s abilities as an individual or a leader. I cannot end this short note without noting the immense success of this past summer’s Joyce conference at Cornell, a triumph for the Library largely attributable to Jim’s excellent literary connections, organizational abilities, and affable nature. Jim is a prized member of my senior management team and a sought after colleague. His subordinates, peers, and managers trust him. He is viewed as knowledgeable and highly skilled inside and outside the library (as well as in his corner of the literary world). In summary, few are more deserving of recognition and praise than Jim LeBlanc. Joy Paulson, Mann Library Joy currently serves as the Principal Investigator for Mann Library’s ongoing NEH-funded project to preserve the state and local literature of agriculture and rural life in states throughout the U.S. Under Joy’s leadership, land grant libraries throughout the country are identifying and preserving the most important agricultural literature for each state. Cornell has received six two-year cycles of funding from NEH for this project, and to date 29 states have participated. Joy has also recently begun work on a new digital library initiative to add a significant body of agricultural literature to the digital collection of the Million Book Project, a project of Carnegie Mellon University. Joy will again be coordinating the contribution of agricultural content from a number of libraries throughout the U.S. In addition to Joy’s regular responsibilities, she has served the CUL community in a variety of ways including serving as chair of both the Academic Personnel Policy Committee and the Metadata Working Group. And at the national level she has served as the chair of the ALA Association of Library Collections and Technical Services, Preservation and Reformatting Section. Outside her work, Joy is an avid reader and has traveled widely, including several trips to India. Congratulations to Joy on her well-deserved promotion! Associate LibrarianJean Callihan, Law Library Jean serves the law faculty in a variety of ways, as librarian liaison to 8-12 faculty each year. In an integrated approach to faculty service, collection development, and the Web, she has worked long and hard on the Law Faculty Publications, a Web list that includes links to the full text of their publications on Lexis, Westlaw, NELLCO (New England Law Library Consortium), and SSRN (Social Science Research Network). A new concept that Jean brought to the Law Library is one-credit courses on distinct topics to meet the interests of law students. She started the series off with Business Law Research, a real specialty of hers that builds on her many years of experience as a lawyer. We have also added courses in Foreign and International Law Research, U.S. Legal Research for LL.M. Students, and Law Practice Technology, all taught by law librarians. Jean also teaches in the Lawyering program, a required course in research and writing for all first year law students. And she has regularly taught the Advanced Legal Research course, a three-credit course for second and third year law students that challenges their skills in online legal research and multi-disciplinary topics. Jean coordinates many of the library outreach services to law students--as liaison to the Moot Court teams, training summer Research Assistants, planning the Strategies for Summer programs during National Library Week, and coordinating the librarian liaisons for the four student-edited law journals. She also works on the Law Library Web site, is responsible for the extensive International and Foreign Web Guide, does even more outreach with the Public Relations/Publications Team, and does Collection Development for Anglo-American law materials. Of course, Jean is active beyond the Law School, serving on the Reference and Outreach Committee of PSEC. She is a founding member of the CUL Business Information Group, Treasurer of ALLUNY (Association of Law Libraries of Upstate New York), and currently a member of the Research Committee (which awards research grants) for the American Association of Law Libraries. An active professional who cares about the success of the team and its projects, Jean is a prized colleague and good friend at the Law Library. Michael Cook, Mann Library Michael is an exact match for his position. He has excellent administrative and service skills, understands the complexities of information technology support at Cornell, and likes to track emerging technologies. He and Oliver were the impetus behind the creation of the Public Computing Advisory Committee (a.k.a. PCAC). PCAC coordinates the discussions on services for public computing between technical staff and public services staff. Their goal is to provide patrons with the most effective computing services possible. Michael has developed a partnership with the CIT staff responsible for public computing support that enables us to maintain our highly popular laptop loan program. He has cultivated a similarly productive partnership with the CALS staff responsible for student computing services. One outcome of that partnership was our assumption of the management of the Warren computer labs in the late summer 2005. All told Michael and the other computer support staff in Mann are responsible for over 170 public computers and over 25 peripherals (scanners, plotters, etc.). Michael has researched the potential of PDAs for library applications, the contribution of the Core Historical Literature to agricultural history, and he just returned from the Northeast Regional Computing Program (NERCOMP) where he presented a paper on issues relating to the support of public access computing in academic libraries. In his alter ego as Rocket Morton, Michael has opened for Johnny Dowd at several Ithaca performances. Kornelia Tancheva, Mann Library Kornelia oversaw a doubling in the reach of our instruction program. Between 2001 and 2005 the number of participants doubled, from 2,100 in 2001 to 4,650 in 2005. She administered the curriculum of the Mann open workshops and the assignment of the course-related sessions amongst approximately 20 instructors. She spent considerable energy ensuring students in the large core programs in our colleges (CALS and CHE) received library instruction. She has been an energetic participant, and oftentimes leader, in CUL instruction activities. She co-chaired the Instruction Working Group (IWG) with Tony Cosgrave for four years. The IWG sponsored numerous activities that supported the activities of all CUL librarians providing instruction. Kornelia is the team leader for CUL Strategic Priority #3: Information Fluency Integration. In addition to her activities in instruction, Kornelia has been involved in a wide range of projects. Most notably Kornelia was the project coordinator for the CUL Race, Ethnicity & Religion project. She coordinated the work of all the many faculty, library, and technical staff who were involved in the project. The site is the product of a collaboration between the Library, Faculty, and CU Press. In the fall of 2005 she co-taught IS 425: Human Computer Interaction and Design, with Professor Geri Gay. She is Project Coordinator for the CALS Research Portal. That Portal, using the information technology developed for the VIVO site, enables the efficient retrieval of information about research performed by CALS faculty and staff. Currently Kornelia is researching social network analysis and social navigation and their potential for library services. Kornelia’s hobbies are teaching (theatre, ESL, literature) and gardening, and her definition of a good weekend is one that allows her to see at least three good movies. Senior Assistant LibrarianJames Alberts, Music Library In addition to cataloging responsibilities in the music library, Jim serves on the Technical Services Advisory Committee and has been instrumental in designing the new LTS Web pages. Jim also participates in cataloging discussions at the national level, serving as chair of the Music Library Association’s MARC Formats Subcommittee and as liaison to ALA’s MARC Advisory Committee and MARBI. Jim’s understanding of and commitment to national efforts also are evidenced by his ongoing contributions to the NACO-Music Project. Jim’s quiet leadership in the music library during Lenore Coral’s illness and following her death helped insure that the high quality of service music library users had come to expect was continued. Jim is a supportive and thoughtful colleague; please join me in congratulating him on this promotion. Julie Jones, Law Library Beth Katzoff, Asia Collections For me Beth represents the glue that binds together the three distinct collections that make up the IRIS unit called Asia Collections, i.e. the Echols Collection on Southeast Asia, the South Asia Collection, and the Wason Collection on East Asia. As Head of Public Services Beth is the public face to users and colleagues for Asia. In this role Beth has increased the presence of Asia in CUL’s public services programs, serving on committees such as Reference and Outreach, participating in training programs, library tours, and orientation programs. She is also a member of CUL’s Priority Objective Team 3 on Information Fluency. Beth brings to her work a highly collegial personality, a keen intellect, and impressive education capped by a PhD in history from Columbia University. Cornell’s History Department is benefiting from her expertise, for she is currently teaching a course she developed called, “War and Women in Japan: The Asia-Pacific War (1931-1945).” Adaptability is a valued and essential skill in libraries today. Over the ten months I worked closely with Beth I found her one of the most flexible, “can do” colleagues with whom I was interacting in the Library. As an example, Beth’s response to the suggestion she assume responsibility for Korean selection next academic year was a cheerful “yes.” It is important to understand that Beth’s area of expertise is Japan and Japanese, not Korea and Korean. In order to tackle this new and additional assignment, she plans to study Korean this year! A widely recognized challenge for libraries in the future is where we are going to find the next generation of leaders. Having librarians like Beth Katzoff at Cornell makes me more sanguine about our library’s future. Thomas Mills, Law Library Matthew Morrison, Law Library Ira Revels, IRIS Information Services Ira has become a leading professional in the field, active in both ALA and ACRL. For the ALA Black Caucus, Ira serves as its Secretary and Webmaster as well as on its Recruitment and Professional Development Committee. She is also serving on ACRL’s First-Year Experience Task Force and its Effective Practices Committee, and is a member of the Membership Committee of ACRL’s African American Studies Section. She has made presentations to the ALA (in 2002, 2003, and at this past midwinter conference), ACRL (in 2003), and the National Diversity in Libraries Conference in 2004, and has collaborated with her CUL colleagues on writing three articles. She has also been very active with the local Cornell community. For example, she is an active member of a group of Cornell minority professional women, and is also the co-chairperson of the Village at Ithaca, a grassroots educational initiative begun with the active support of Cornell faculty and staff. No wonder she was selected as one of Library Journal’s “Movers and Shakers” of 2006. Ira has accomplished a tremendous amount in the time she has been at Cornell, and I can’t wait to see what new initiatives her energy and enthusiasm will spark in the future. Petrina Jackson, Rare and Manuscript Collections Unit in the SpotlightGeneva
Members of the Frank A. Lee Library at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, N.Y., from left: Jane Irwin, Marty Schlabach, Mike Fordon, and Holly King. The Geneva Library collection focuses on the production, protection, and processing of horticulture food crops of economic importance in New York, with in-depth collections on enology and viticulture. Acronymphobia: a Short DiscourseRichard Strassberg
Acronym usage on this list [the CUL listserve] has reached epidemic proportions of late. As an assiduous reader of the list (despite rumors to the contrary), I used to think that the regular use of such shortcuts in minutes and so-forth was limited to a particular sub-class of our colleagues who had them inflicted on them from outside of the University and therefore should not be held to be personally responsible for the resulting confusion. Of late, however, acronyms seem to be popping up in our own minutes and other communications perpetrated by individuals with far less excuse to use them. Indeed, some of our colleagues (who will remain nameless) seem to be taking positive pride in creating them. The promiscuous creation of considerable numbers of newly coined acronyms in our local communications must be deplored. Indeed, I would argue that their perpetrators should be put up to universal scorn, forced to memorize the illustrated edition of Strunk and White or, at the very least, soundly razzed. Indeed, the proliferation of such linguistic shortcuts has been said to have a more sinister aspect to it. To quote an authoritative blog on the subject: “Acronyms become the magic spell words of technological social networks. Having mastery of the latest acronyms is the precise equivalent of the now short phrases and acronyms of chat, instant messaging, and, yes, the gaming community. They determine who is in, who is out, who is hot, and who is not. In other words, they not only determine what you know, they are used to rank membership in the social network of a technology. . . . ” Surely this is not the intent of our own acronym habitués. Let us all aspire to remain clear-thinking, straight-talking librarians and archivists who do not obfuscate, dissemble, confuse or coin eminently forgettable acronyms to the infinite pain of all those who must attempt to decipher them. Cordially, Richard Strassberg [Editor's note: Readers may recall an article by Ross Atkinson, in Kaleidoscope, Vol.7, No.5 (December 1998), called "Alphabet Soup." It begins, "If you get the DRC, the ERC, and (what was) the CER mixed up—if you say LTD when you mean LMT or ITD—then you've got a lot of company." After explaining the various abbreviations "currently in vogue" throughout the Library system, Ross ends his piece thus: "For my own part, I hardly ever use abbreviations. I also think, FYI, that we would do well to bear this especially in mind as IRPC, ITD, ITS, and others do the necessary R&D for the design of the OPAC in the new LMS."] Employee Assistance ProgramDear CUL colleagues, To follow up on Sarah's message [about Janie Harris and Ross Atkinson] yesterday, I will arrange for a counselor to come to the Library if any individual or group of employees wants this. Please let me know if this would be helpful to you or you would like to discuss the possibility further. I also want to clarify that the Employee Assistance Program is a benefit for all CUL employees, and staff members are encouraged to contact EAP directly if they would like to speak with a counselor. See the EAP Web site for more information about the scope of their services and how to contact them. The EAP Web site also contains links to materials on dealing with grief and other related issues:
For help with these issues, Cornell staff, faculty, and retirees are urged to call the EAP at 255-1531 for more information or to set up an appointment. ~ Susan Markowitz
Cornell United Way Campaign Reaches its GoalAt the official windup of the Cornell United Way Campaign 2005 on March 7, the Cornell chair, Charles Walcott, thanked all those who made possible the achievement of 109% of our monetary goal. This includes United Way cabinet members, board members, volunteers, and each and every donor. The Division Deputy Chair, Steve Myer, recognized nine divisions, from among thirty or so, that had met the goal of 20% participation. The Library was one of those nine, and while our participation rate of close to 28% was not the highest, I can tell you that it was the highest for a group our size. All but one of those nine were significantly smaller than ours. After remarks from several speakers, including President Rawlings, Charles Walcott passed on the Torch to the 2006 Campaign Chair, Sarah Thomas. President Rawlings stressed the importance of giving, not until it hurts but until it feels good. Thank you for being willing to help our neighbours in Tompkins County and the counties where we live. It is your ongoing support, year after year, that keeps many social service agencies running and able to reach out again and again in times of need. Thank you for your generosity. You should feel good. ~ Elizabeth Teskey People NewsWelcomeBronwen Bledsoe is the new Curator for the South Asia Collection in Kroch Library. Dr. Bledsoe received her PhD from the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago and has served as assistant to the Bibliographer for Southern Asia at the University of Chicago since 1997.
Andrew Rabkin is the new preservation assistant in the Department of Preservation and Collection Maintenance. Andrew previously worked in a bookbinding program at North Bennet Street School. Andrew is also a recent graduate of Cornell where he received a Bachelor of Arts. Troy Shaver is the new public services assistant in the Annex Library. Troy comes to us from Barnes and Noble where he worked as Lead Bookseller. Michael Wakoff is the new production administrator in DLIT. He will be responsible for managing production and operations related activities for the Center for Innovative Publishing (CIP). Michael comes to us from the Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) where he worked as an assistant editor. Michael also worked as a publications assistant for the Philosophical Review. Michael has a PhD in Philosophy (Cornell 1996) and before returning to Ithaca he worked for a research company in Austin, TX where he developed ontologies for various applications. Photos of new Cornell campus staff can be seen in the display case outside the staff lounge on the second floor of Olin. Expanding DutiesEleanor Brown will become RMC's Assistant Director for Programs and Services. In that role, Eli will be responsible for overall coordination of RMC's various programs and services. She also will assume supervisory responsibility for all RMC reproductions services. Additionally, Eli will assume a new role as Digital and Media Collections Curator. Building upon her current leadership of RMC digital collections management, she will have overall responsibility for developing and managing new digital collections and projects, and for expanding and enhancing current digital collections in RMC, in collaboration with curators and faculty and public services and Library Information Technology (DLIT/DCAPS) staff. As part of Technical Services Integration, Margaret Nichols will become head of a new Special Collections Materials Unit in Library Technical Services (LTS). In that role, she will continue to supervise staff responsible for the acquisitions and cataloging of printed special collections materials and will serve as the LTS liaison to RMC. Katherine Reagan will become RMC's Assistant Director for Collections as part of her role as the Ernest Stern Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts. Katherine will provide leadership for all of RMC's collection development activities and represent the concerns for the printed artifact on CUL committees and groups. She will serve as the RMC liaison to Library Technical Services' (LTS) Special Collections Materials Unit, and she will continue to represent special collections concerns on CUL's Collection Development Executive Committee (CDExec). PromotionsMirjana Basara has been promoted to Graphics Assistant III in DLIT.
Philip Koons is the new Operations Manager in Facilities. Phil has been working in the Library as the Manager of Facilities since August 2005. Nanci Trapani is the new Technical Services Assistant in LTS E-Resources & Serials. Nanci has worked for the Wason Collection on East Asia as a collections assistant since June 2004. Congratulations
The article identifies Ira as "Hyper-Active." Ira’s supervisor, Peter Hirtle, says, “Anyone who knows the range of activities into which Ira throws herself can only agree. Ira's commitment to the profession in general and the importance of diversity within the profession is absolute. Please join me in congratulating Ira on this well-deserved honor.” Well-deserved and rare. Ira joins a national group of 250 Movers and Shakers that includes only one other Cornellian, Phil Davis, who was honored as a Problem Solver in the 2004 list. GoodbyeGood-bye and good luck to Sam Hultzman, O/K/U Access Services, and Denise Spencer, DBQE, who recently left the Library. AnnouncementsIn our last issue, Peter Hirtle wrote a piece called, How Many Libraries Are in CUL? The article began, "We all know that there are twenty units in the Cornell University Library, but do you know what those twenty units are?" Peter reported that his survey showed agreement on eighteen libraries, with less consensus on the last two. Apparently we ought to have consulted Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia online. See Wikipedia for their take on the twenty units. Annual CUL Arts and Performance Show New Digital Collection: Southeast Asia Visions
Obituaries Janie Harris, 1949-2006
Janie Lynne Harris, a librarian at Cornell for over thirty years, died February 11, 2006 at home from complications of breast cancer. She leaves a rich legacy in the Olin Library collections she built, a permanent foundation for cross-campus research in government, economics, sociology and urban studies. Janie was widely respected for her integrity, dedication, meticulous work, and personal example. She developed and nurtured close working relationships and friendships with colleagues throughout the Library. An unwavering friend, she was an excellent listener, free with advice given with edgy humor. She is mourned and greatly missed. An Ohio native and Columbia University Library School graduate, Janie started work at Cornell on August 1, 1972, in the Reference Department of Olin Library. During the academic year 1975-76 she pursued a graduate degree in History at the University of Pennsylvania. Two years after returning to the Olin Reference Department, she was appointed Social Sciences Bibliographer as part of a new collection development structure that grew out of a three-year Mellon grant. Although this new structure was originally meant to be temporary, at the end of the grant Janie continued as Social Sciences Bibliographer. For two years in the mid-1980s, Janie was Deputy Head of Collection Development, working with Herb Finch. After Ross Atkinson’s arrival in 1988 she served as the first leader for the Social Sciences Team. Janie influenced many colleagues through generous, persistent mentoring and direct example. She had developed deep knowledge in many areas, among them government documents, newspapers, social science databases, and microforms. Janie understood the importance of public data in research and was an advocate for better access to data. Her commitment to this work was manifested in her national involvement in the Association of Public Data Users (APDU), serving on the board from 1988 to 1996 and as President of APDU in 1993 and 1994. At Cornell, she helped establish the CISER Archive in 1981-82, built collections to support data resources, and was frequently consulted by her colleagues and by researchers because of the extent and the currency of her knowledge. Janie is survived by her beloved children, Ben Rockey-Harris (Cornell 2004) and Kate Rockey-Harris (Cornell 2006), and by her partner Steve Rockey, Director of Cornell’s Mathematics Library. Ross Atkinson, 1946-2006 The following obituary appeared in the Ithaca Journal on March 11, 2006. Another obituary appeared in the Cornell Chronicle Online on March 14, 2006. DRYDEN—Ross Atkinson, 60, Associate University Librarian for Collections at Cornell, died at his home in Dryden on March 8 from complications of leukemia. Ross grew up in San Jose, California. He received a BA in German from the University of the Pacific, an MA and PhD in Germanic Languages and Literatures from Harvard University, and an MS in Library Science from Simmons College in Boston. Before coming to Cornell, Ross held library positions at Northwestern University and the University of Iowa. He published widely throughout his career, primarily on the subjects of collection development and bibliographical theory. In 2003, he received the ACRL (Association of Academic and Research Libraries) Academic / Research Librarian of the Year award. Ross was a Buddhist and took lay precepts at the Namgyal Monastery in Ithaca. He is survived by his wife, Carole; by his son, Andrew of Queens, NY; and by his sister, Lindy Matalone of Sacramento, CA. Ross was very grateful to the health care specialists who helped him confront and survive his particularly aggressive disease for so long--including especially Dr. Garbo and the highly skilled chemo nurses in Ithaca, and Dr. Abboud, Lucy Wedow, and the outstanding bone marrow transplant nurses at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. In accordance with Ross's wishes, there will be no funeral or memorial services of any kind. In his honor, donations may be made to the Namgyal Monastery, P.O. Box 127, Ithaca, NY 14851, or to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Letters Dear Friends, Ross has been a major contributor to our profession. Most recently the Cornell University Library organized the Janus Conference, a look backward and forward at collection development. There is a streaming video of Ross's presentation. This conference was heavily influenced by Ross and the six challenges he developed with his colleagues here have generated much discussion. It was Ross's goal that they would also result in significant action: action to digitize our retrospective collections, to make a rapid transition to electronic information, to develop deeply coordinated and integrated collections, to negotiate collectively with publishers for the best and most cost-effective access to electronic publications, to ensure the long-term archiving of digital materials, and to support alternative modes of scholarly communication. The Chief Collection Development Officers of Large Research Libraries Discussion Group (ALA) has been moving these issues forward, and the Council on Library and Information Resources has also proposed to contribute to their advancement. Ross was insistent to me that it was important to move from local solutions to collective action. We plan to continue in that spirit. The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services of the American Library Association published, in late 2005, through the impetus of Pamela Bluh and Peggy Johnson, Community, Collaboration, and Collections: the Writings of Ross Atkinson. Robert Alan and Bonnie MacEwan edited the collection of Ross's classic work. In a note to me in January, thanking me for writing the introduction to his collected works, Ross says that the "whole ground for our perceptions of information services has been shifting," and that he is glad that others felt he had made a contribution at such a critical time. He concludes: "What fun it has been!" Sarah—I learned through Jane Ouderkirk of Ross's death. What a loss. . . . He made people think in important ways. I will always be grateful that he touched my life. My sympathies to all of you in his Cornell extended family. Dear Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah—what a shock to hear of Ross' passing. I did not know if he had been ill, but it still would have come as a shock anyway. What a terrible loss for everyone at Cornell and for all of us. He was such a wonderfully unique and gifted person who truly made a major contribution to librarianship. Not having come to the Janus conference, I had recently viewed the CD and thought what a great guy he was. It’s hard to imagine discussing collection development without having Ross around. My sympathies to all of his Cornell colleagues. Sarah, Dear Sarah, Dear Sarah, Sarah—I'm devastated, as I'm sure you're devastated, and I'm sure Ross' family is devastated. My condolences to you and your staff on the loss of a true giant of a man. Sarah, Dr. Thomas, I knew from the time when Ross first arrived at Northwestern that his astonishing intellect matched his decency as a person. He contributed to our profession in ways that will continue to influence the next generation of library leaders and inspire those yet to come. On one occasion, after a particularly difficult day as Director of Central Technical Services, I whined to him about how I had accomplished nothing on that day. “Christian,” he said, “You have not accomplished nothing. You have guided a large and complex department through yet another successful day.” I learned to become satisfied with small accomplishments. Another time, I had given him an article that I had written to review. He trashed it, thoroughly and without mincing words, which it deserved. I had been arrogant. He wrote to me: “You have reached a point in your profession, a status, where you can no longer just criticize. You must offer solutions.” I rewrote the article and he passed it the second time. I still take his words very much to heart. In the third instance Ross affected not only me but also a whole generation of acquisitions librarians through his [1992] article, “The Acquisitions Librarian as Change Agent in the Transition to the Electronic Library”. He challenged us to develop a new model of acquisitions librarianship, essentially telling us that a new train was leaving the station and that we had better be on it or become irrelevant. The article, which we debated at length, affected us profoundly. Perhaps this was his most important contribution to me and many of my colleagues, some of whom are now library directors. It was exhilarating to have someone to look up to that could, and did, give us a framework for our professional development. So, yes, Ross was the best boss that I have ever had. I know that I frustrated or exasperated him terribly at times. I only wish that, as employee, I had matched his excellence as boss. [Editor’s note: The article earned Ross the 1993 award of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS), Best of LRTS (Library Resources & Technical Services).] I have always had the highest respect for Ross's intellect. When I started at Cornell, I heard him speak one day at a conference. He talked in an articulate and persuasive way, without any notes. I was blown away by his charisma. He later confided that he actually rehearsed before doing a public speech. His eloquence and the substance of his talk made a big impression on me, and made me feel proud to be part of the Cornell family. I worked with Ross as a member of CDExec for about the past seven years and always appreciated his deep knowledge of libraries and the building of their collections. Recent changes in scholarly communication have required that we examine many of the basic tenets of collection development. CDExec had many spirited discussions about new directions in scholarly communication and library collections. I recall one time a few months ago making a comment about the commercial publishers and their role in the scholarly communication process. Ross turned to me with intensity (and a smile) and said, "how can you be a librarian and not be a SOCIALIST?!" Can't you just hear him saying this? I have fond memories of these spirited discussions and Ross' wisdom, which guided my thinking about library collection building and many other things. Although I do not have a particular story to share about Ross, I would like to note that as busy as he was he took the time to take ALL of his responsibilities seriously. He always looked at the books on the second week shelves the day he was supposed to. Whenever I needed a fund to finish processing an invoice, he got it to me immediately. If a problem needed to be addressed, he addressed it and always took our work flow issues in LTS into consideration before giving the final OK. Ross knew the information we needed from him was a link to getting our jobs done correctly and in a timely manner and always gave the impression that this was important to him. It was always a pleasure working with Ross. Ross was a brilliant man, a thinker and a writer, a public speaker and a teacher, librarian and professional. He was the consummate professional. Everyone remembers Ross at work in a suit and dress shoes. Imagine my delight when I first saw Ross at Grassroots many years ago, wearing jean cutoffs and no shoes. Moreover, I discovered that he always got to Grassroots ahead of me on the opening day, before the bands had started. I learned later that he regularly booked for vacation days the Thursday and Friday of the four-day weekend music fest. This is how I like to think of Ross, an intense and very private person who nevertheless had depths to him unimagined by outward appearances. This summer I fully expect to see him hovering by the Dance Tent when the complex rhythms of Bubba George fill the air. 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 |
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Congratulations to Pam on her promotion to the rank of librarian. As the data archivist for CISER, she serves the social science requirements of hundreds of faculty and their graduate students. This is no small task. It involves the collection, cataloguing, and curatorship of about 20,000 specialized data sets.
When I first met Jim in 1997, he’d already earned the superb reputation for collegiality and competence that he possesses today. The difference was, fewer people in the library were aware of Jim back then. I however quickly came to appreciate him when he helped me and everyone in technical services set out on the long road to eliminating what was then a cataloging backlog of nearly 100,000 items. Jim’s gift for workflow analysis was already well honed at that time, and it was in large part his innovative plan for workflow changes throughout technical services that freed up the necessary cataloging staff to begin truly shrinking the backlog.
Imagine starting a new job . . . and on the first day your supervisor tells you that you are going to submit an IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services) grant proposal, it is due February 1, and it is now December 1. Do you (A) Walk out the door and quickly get your old job back, (B) Secretly hope that your supervisor will change her mind, or (C) Write a successful IMLS grant which will be used as a model grant on the IMLS Web site? The answer for Joy Paulson was C. Since coming to Cornell in 1999 as the Mann Library Preservation Librarian, Joy has provided leadership for the many and varied preservation initiatives at Mann Library. The IMLS grant Joy helped write in her first months here at Cornell was the successful grant which launched the creation of HEARTH (
Jean Callihan has been on a fast track at Cornell Law Library, moving quickly through the ranks from Assistant Librarian to Senior Assistant and now to Associate Librarian. Her titles and responsibilities have grown along the way, as well. She is currently Head of Research and Student Services, coordinating the work of several staff; she is also Research Attorney and Lecturer in Law, reflecting all of the reference and teaching work she does at the Law School.
Michael earned his BA in English and his MA in Philosophy. He worked as a digital preservation technician in Mann Library before becoming stacks manager in Uris in September 1995. He received his MLIS from the University of South Carolina in 1997. He worked as a reference/instruction librarian in Florida before fleeing the heat for the more salubrious conditions of Ithaca and a position in Collection Development in Mann. We were fortunate he was interested in changing responsibilities when we had an opening for the coordinator of our public computing services. Michael became the Coordinator in October 2001.
Kornelia Tancheva earned an MA in English from Sofia University in 1986 and a PhD from Cornell in American Theatre and Drama in 1996. She earned her MLIS from Syracuse University in 2001. Her library career began in Olin/Kroch/Uris where she worked as a public services assistant from 1996-97. She moved to Mann as a public services assistant/information assistant in 1997 and became our Instruction Coordinator in 2000. In January 2006 Camille Andrews assumed the duties of Instruction Coordinator and Kornelia turned her attention to several special projects. Kornelia has run an almost parallel career as a teacher, having taught in the Department of Theatre Studies at Cornell, in the Department of English at Ithaca College, and in various local ESL programs.
James (Jim) Alberts serves as Assistant Music Librarian, yet the scope of his work certainly exceeds that implied by “assistant.” Jim’s primary responsibilities include selecting and cataloging sound and video recordings and maintaining the music library’s Web pages. Jim’s knowledge of many music genres, from jazz to avant-garde to world musics, insures that we acquire a broad range of recordings to meet the needs of faculty, students and researchers. Jim is adept at tracking down recordings that are difficult to locate, a talent appreciated by both music and dance faculty. Jim’s expertise has been invaluable in evaluating online music resources. He quickly discerns advantages and disadvantages in content, sound quality, and search engine performance.
Julie Jones came to Cornell for her first librarian job after a demanding career with an elder law agency in Chicago and as a judicial clerk in Alabama. She brings high standards, independent thinking, and a true service orientation to her work at the Law Library. As library liaison to law faculty, she introduced law students in the feminist jurisprudence course to sources beyond the traditional legal research materials, which brought some of those students back to her for research training on their real world work on equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples in Ithaca. In addition to teaching the Advanced Legal Research seminar and the Lawyering program on research and writing for first year law students, Julie developed a sought-after course on Law Practice Technology, introducing students to electronic discovery, the paperless law office, courtroom technologies, and the underlying ethical issues. She leads the Public Relations/Publications Team and the Web Team into new and ever more effective outreach for the Law Library. Her fresh approach and can-do attitude make her a law librarian sought after at the Law School, CUL, and AALL (the American Association of Law Libraries).
One of the greatest rewards of my ten months connection with the Asia Collections was the opportunity to recommend Beth Katzoff for promotion to Senior Assistant Librarian. 
Thomas Mills is known first of all at the Law Library for his extensive and creative work as coordinator of International and Foreign Law. He developed a popular two-credit course on International and Foreign Legal Research, serves as Book Review Editor for the International Journal of Legal Information, works closely with international law faculty providing classroom instruction and specialized research for their scholarly projects, provides intensive training and assistance to the law student editors of the Cornell International Law Journal, developed a workshop with Kroch librarians on Chinese and Japanese legal resources, and is research advisor to the European and the Jessup Moot Court Teams. Thomas is also coordinator of the Rare Books and Special Collections Team, all of which comes together with our collection of the legal materials of Liberia, as he works with the United Nations, USAID, the State Department, and Lawyers Without Borders to make our special collection of Liberian materials accessible, digitally and in print, where it is needed in that country. While international and foreign law is just one slice of what Thomas does, it exemplifies his in-depth knowledge and innovation in the projects he handles.
Matt Morrison is Research Attorney and Lecturer at Law, providing extensive reference service to the many faculty, students, attorneys, and researchers who visit or otherwise contact the Law Library. They are lucky researchers who get to work with Matt on their complex questions since he is so very knowledgeable, resourceful, and tenacious. Matt coordinates a special research service for law faculty, wherein he trains and works with law students who are Research Fellows, doing in-depth projects. He has been a popular instructor in the Lawyering program, a required course in research and writing for all first year students, where students find him very accessible and extremely helpful. He also teaches the Advanced Legal Research seminar, works on the busy Public Relations/Publications Team, and is active in the American Association of Law Libraries, currently on the AALL Publications Editorial Board. As a Southerner who isn’t quite used to northern winters, Matt brings us that sunshine and bonhomie of a true Southern gentleman.
Since coming to CUL through the Library Fellowship program, Ira Revels has tackled an impressive array of different tasks and assignments. One of the more notable was the program to train high school seniors in the fundamentals of information practice. While working on the Instruction staff, Ira created an information literacy course based around hip hop music. She found two different Cornell courses with which she could work, arranged presentations to a number of different campus groups, and designed and implemented a curriculum, all on her own. Most recently, Ira conceived of a partnership between CUL and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that would foster the development of digital collections at the latter. Ira determined that the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation would be interested in funding the project and, as project manager on the grant, has played an active role in developing and teaching a digital imaging curriculum for the ten participating libraries.
Petrina Jackson became a colleague in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections in September 2002, serving initially as a Library Fellow. From July 2004, Petrina has been an assistant archivist in RMC.
Before coming to Cornell in 2003, Kari Smith enjoyed a diverse international career. She worked on a joint U.S. / Russian Army records management project in Moscow and she served in Romania as an Institute of International Education Professional Development Fellow, investigating systems and procedures for cultural documentation. As a post-graduate research intern at the University of Michigan., she assisted tribal librarians and archivists at three tribal colleges to develop projects using information technology for cultural heritage preservation.
Let me apologize in advance for this rant but I must support the recent (and far more terse) messages on this subject.
Pattie Mongelia has been appointed Assistant Librarian in Information Services at the Weill Cornell Medical Library. She previously worked at the New York Public Library’s Health Information Center. She earned her BA in Anthropology from Hunter College of the City University of New York and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Pratt Institute. She also completed the Medical Library Association’s Consumer Health Information Specialization. Pattie’s research interests include remote access to consumer health information and provider-patient communication.
Congratulations to Diana Delgado on her promotion to Head of Access Services at the Weill Cornell Medical Library. In this new role, Diana oversees the services provided by Circulation and Interlibrary Services. She will continue chairing the Web committee, teaching, and providing consultations and expert searching. 
Congratulations again to Janet A. McCue, Director of Mann Library and Associate University Librarian for Life Sciences, on her selection for the 2006 Frye Leadership Institute. Her award was first announced in the 
Ross died on March 8, 2006. His wish was for no memorial service of any kind. We asked colleagues to send in their stories about Ross. We also received many letters of condolence in response to a note that Sarah Thomas sent to colleagues in the profession.