August 2005

Welcome Back

In this issue:
Service Awards 2005
Staff Outstanding Performance Awards 2005
So You Want to be a Translator
Textile Mania
People News
Annual CUL Staff Picnic
Obituaries

Service Awards 2005

40 Years

Crystal Hackett, Law Library
Crystal provides administrative support in personnel and budget matters for the Edward Cornell Law Librarian and Professor of Law. She also manages the administrative office and business operations of the Law Library, with a staff of 23.5 FTE and student assistants. She is an exemplary staff member, the consummate professional.

Crystal is an amazing person and essential to the success of the Law Library. She is efficient and professional, completely devoted to her work and to the Library. She is also creative and has become the institutional memory for the Law Library. She has contributed to our publications by retracing our history and accomplishments. After forty years of dedicated service, there is no one better or more qualified than her to do it.

Crystal consistently goes beyond her job description. The quality of her work contributions is amazing, especially when you consider she has a heavy workload that takes her in many directions at once, assisting not only all library departments but interacting also with many law school offices. And throughout the day Crystal answers countless questions and welcomes everyone with a smile, promoting a sense of well-being for all whether staff, students, or faculty. She is a true gem. In French she would be called “une perle,” a pearl.

Crystal has three granddaughters who are lucky that she spends as much time as possible with them. She and her family can be found at their summer home on Seneca Lake in the warmer weather.

~Claire Germain

35 Years

Martha Crowe, Library Communications
Martha (Marty) Crowe celebrates more than thirty-five years at Cornell—but not all of them as a librarian. She got her start in Central Serials Records as a documents searcher, took a personal sabbatical overseas, returned to what is now known as Publications and Marketing Services at Cornell as an editor, and then completed her library science degree at Syracuse University to return to CUL as a bona fide librarian.

A born scholar, Marty continues her love of learning, and points to this long-held passion as what drew her to libraries and librarianship. She has traveled extensively, living in Germany and Thailand, where she enjoyed international camaraderie and served as an unofficial translator of language and American culture. Italy’s Lake District is her retirement residence dream.

Her colleagues value her keen intelligence, dry wit, wry smile, and innate sense of adventure. And yes, she has ridden an elephant.

~Mary Beth Bunge

Cecilia Sercan, CTS Cataloging
Cecila Sercan began her career at CUL in 1969 as a library assistant in the catalog department. She had recently completed a master’s degree in Luso-Brazilian studies at New York University and came to Ithaca with to be with her new husband, Kadri, who was enrolled as a graduate student at CU. The Library was looking for a Luso-Brazilian specialist to do original cataloging. The position was originally funded by a Ford Foundation grant, through the Latin American Studies Program. The library wanted a "guarantee" that Cecilia would remain at CUL for at least three years. That, as it turned out, was not a problem.

Cecilia’s initial assignment in the library is a glimpse of procedures past. She created aq-1 slips that eventually became temporary cards in the shelf list. She searched the National Union Catalog volumes (dozens of large, green books with reproductions of catalog cards—a precursor to online utilities like OCLC and RLIN), using a Polaroid camera to snap a photo of a usable or adaptable record. She also trained as a copy cataloger, then as an original cataloger of Latin American materials, an assignment she continues to this day.

Cecilia began library school at Syracuse in the 1970s and finished her MLS in 1978. That same year, she got her academic appointment and has since moved up to the full librarian rank. She went on to train many other catalogers, both here at CUL and in a classroom setting. She was an adjunct cataloging instructor for SUNY Albany, teaching basic cataloging and serials cataloging in Binghamton when the Albany library school offered courses there.

In recent years, Cecilia’s role has expanded beyond technical services into collection development. She began to do selection of philosophy and Portuguese studies materials in 1997, and she enjoys both the variety and keeping up with these disciplines. She continues to be active in the Latin American library community via the Seminar on Latin American Library Materials (also known as SALALM), as well as in ALA and the Program for Cooperative Cataloging.

Cecilia’s friendly manner and generous spirit are well-known to all of us who have the pleasure of working with her. She’s been a mentor and friend to many staff, past and present. And her contributions are not limited to selection and cataloging. Cecilia is well-known as an excellent cook and baker. Her desserts rival those from the best bakeries, and her carefully prepared meals are always a treat for those fortunate enough to be invited to dinner. She’s also a talented knitter and quilter and loves reading.

After thirty-five years, Cecilia still loves to come to work. That’s good news, since we hope to see her here for many more.

~David Banush

30 Years

Susan LaCette, ILR Catherwood Library
Strong work ethic, continuous initiative, excellent problem-solving skills, and ability to adapt—all of these phrases can describe Susan during her thirty-year Public Services career in the Cornell University Library. Before working in her current position as Reference Specialist, Susan worked in Access Services in both Olin (1974-1979) and Catherwood (1980-1999). A little known fact is that she was CUL’s very first Annex Attendant (1979-80)!

During her time at Catherwood, Susan has developed specialized knowledge of the ILR subject area and information resources, which has become invaluable in assisting our patrons as well as her staff colleagues. This knowledge, in combination with her desire to help, results in the best possible service for those using our library—whether in person, by e-mail, or on the phone. She is one of CUL’s Refworks experts and was instrumental in the effort to make this a campus-wide resource.

Susan has a passion for continuing education both professionally and personally. She has taken numerous classes to improve her subject knowledge and technical skills, and this past December, she graduated with a Paralegal Degree from TC3. Aside from class readings, Susan loves to read for pleasure and is always in search of a good book! Susan is devoted to her family, including her husband, Ben, and her children, Judd and Lauren.

~Suzanne Cohen

25 Years

Omar Afzal, Echols SE Asia Collections
Congratulations to Omar Afzal for the twenty-five years he worked at Cornell University Library. Omar retired earlier this year, in March. As an important member of the Echols Collection on Southeast Asia in the Asia Collections of Kroch Library, Omar maintained the Southeast Asia serial and newspaper collection. He was also always willing to assist his colleagues at the Severinghaus Reading Room Asia Desk.

In addition to working at Cornell, Omar obtained his Ph.D., an M.Lit (Linguistics), M.A. (English), and Alim (Islamic and Arabic Studies) degrees here. He has also been the Chairman of the Center for Research and Communication, and Committee for Crescent Observation International. He has expertise in Islamic History, Contemporary Islamic movements, the Islamic calendar, and Islamic jurisprudence. Omar is an outstanding linguist who speaks, reads, and writes many languages from Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Europe. Omar is also a mullah who performs religious ceremonies for members of the Islamic community of Upstate New York. He advised Muslim students at Cornell through MECA (Muslim Educational and Cultural Association).

We wish him well in his retirement.

~Beth Katzoff

David Corson, Rare and Manuscript Collections
David Corson has served as CUL’s Curator for the History of Science Collections for twenty-five years. In that position, he has been responsible for developing holdings documenting the historical development of the physical and biological sciences, technology, and non-clinical medicine from the Renaissance through the twentieth century, focusing mainly on developments in Europe and America. Although he spent many of those years in Administration, he is now focused on building an active program to promote research, teaching, presentations, exhibits, and publications, as well as collection development. As Special Projects Librarian, David also continues to have responsibilities for strengthening the Library’s relationship with University alumni and other potential donors, and assisting in planning for construction and renovation projects.

David continues to expand History of Science Collections in interesting and creative ways. This year, for example, he was able to acquire additional original manuscripts relating to Antoine Lavoisier, the “father of chemistry,” making our already outstanding collection even more spectacular. Like all Special Collections librarians, David must excel in a variety of areas. He not only provides expert reference services, but he is also a wonderful and popular teacher and speaker. His knowledge and love of the collections comes across to students, faculty, and visitors.

Most recently his role in preparing for and coordinating the Kroch sprinkler project made difficult and disruptive tasks go smoothly. Thanks to his expertise and (almost) always-calm direction, the project was bearable and, following his lead, everyone remained cheerful and cooperative. It was quite remarkable that we could accomplish so much and only be closed to the public for five days during spring break.

I enjoy working with David, and I appreciate his expertise, intelligence, lively curiosity, deep caring for others, flexibility, and sense of humor. He continues to be a colleague whose opinions and counsel I value and trust. I cannot imagine how we would have dealt with facilities issues like the sprinkler project without him. I look forward to more productive and enjoyable (and at least slightly less crazy!) years of working together.

~Elaine Engst

Mei Hsi Chen, CTS Cataloging
Before coming to the United States from Taiwan in the 1960s, Mei Hsi was trained as a nurse. She has just the sort of temperament that one would expect in a nurse. She is kind, loving, eager to assist others, has a gentle soul, and is a natural at maintaining harmony. Many in our large department of about eighty staff, rely on Mei Hsi for her quick massages, gentle touch, and sage advice as we experience aches and pains in our daily lives. And in addition to what she does for the physical and emotional well-being of all department staff, she is a competent and careful cataloger. The Cornell Library's Asia collections are world renowned and Mei Hsi has made a significant contribution to making Chinese materials available to the Cornell community and international scholars as well.

Mei Hsi and her husband Joe, who is retired from Cornell, have two sons, Sam and Dan, both of whom were born in Ithaca. In fact, Mei Hsi and her husband were married in Ithaca. She was given away on her wedding day by Lee Teng-hui, who was at the time, a graduate student in Cornell's Agricultural College, and went on to become the president of Taiwan. Mei Hsi is from a large family and she remains very close with them, even though many of them are still living in Taiwan. She and her husband visit Taiwan each year for about a month, at the time of the Chinese new year. They also befriend many Taiwanese students who come to Cornell to study, welcoming newcomers, hosting them in their home, and corresponding with them long after they are gone.

Mei Hsi and her husband are active in their church, helping others through the church community as well as the university one. They are both avid golfers too, concerned about staying healthy and fit. And Mei Hsi exercises by walking each day with several of her library colleagues. It is not an exaggeration to say that Mei is liked and respected by everyone with whom she comes in contact.

~Lois Purcell

Julie Copenhagen, Interlibrary Services
Julie Copenhagen has a continuous record of outstanding work since joining Cornell's Olin Interlibrary Services Department in 1979. From the very beginning of her long career here, her supervisors recognized her intelligence, collegiality, initiative, and service attitude. After regular promotions marked by major roles in implementing innovative service enhancements, Julie became head of the unit in 1992. In 2003 Julie was honored by the Library with the 2003 Staff Outstanding Performance Award. At the time a number of colleagues from around the country and Cornell faculty wrote in support of Julie's nomination. Bob Krall from the University of Pennsylvania and the Project Manager for Borrow Direct, summed up the general sentiment when he wrote, " The Olin Library Interlibrary Loan department is recognized nationwide as a model of efficient, timely, and top quality service largely due to the dedication and organizational skills of Julie Copenhagen. I’ve worked with Julie from afar for almost eight years, and whenever we’re in a pinch, we always look to Cornell and Julie for help." Outside of work Julie is renowned for her beautiful garden. Users and library staff look forward to fresh flowers brightening the Olin ILS office all summer.

~Patricia A. Schafer

Nancy Dailey, Mann Library
Nancy has filled a number of roles at Mann and previously at the Hotel Library. In her current position as Billing Coordinator, Nancy takes on the tricky job of negotiating the often unsteady waters of library fines. She also provides support to the Entomology Library and handles MyDocumentDelivery for Mann. Nancy's knowledge of policies and procedures and her customer service skills are a great benefit to Mann and the entire CUL system.

~Jesse Koennecke

Surinder Ghangas, Digital Library and Information Technologies
Surinder is the Lead Programmer/Analyst and Database Administrator for all library management systems. Since the Library Systems group maintains no fewer than six different database systems for various library management functions, it’s easy to see how crucial Surinder’s work is. Surinder prides herself on her ability to maintain these databases so they serve our users and colleagues in the excellent manner we’ve come to expect. Since February of 2002, the Voyager and ENCompass systems have been unavailable probably not much more than 60 hours out of approximately 30,000 hours. In no small part that exemplary record is due to Surinder’s diligence, pride in service, loyalty, and perseverance.

Surinder has played key roles in just about every hardware and software system implementation since she began work at the library—from Voyager to ENCompass, Luna Insight and Commonspot, Surinder’s participation has been pivotal.

Surinder’s accomplishments and dedication are even more noteworthy in light of her background. Surinder came to the United States from Punjab, India about thirty years ago reading and speaking no English. She worked hard, at first working in a manufacturing job to help support her husband in graduate school and to learn English by interacting and working with English speakers. A year later and within a few weeks after the birth of her first child,she took a course to learn data entry using a keypunch machine. (Some of you may remember them!) Every day for six weeks she packed up her infant son and took him with her to class. She came to Cornell twenty-five years ago and began work as a third shift data entry operator. Later she worked in the Network Operations Center at CIT. She took courses at TC3 during the day while working on the third shift to improve her technical skills and slowly took on more and more responsibility—including that of raising her son and twin daughters to whom she gave birth almost at the same time she and her husband came to Cornell. Eventually her hard work and analytical skills were noticed by her colleagues and supervisor at CIT who encouraged her to learn database administration. About nine years ago Surinder moved from CIT to the Library at Cornell and is now a certified Oracle Database Administrator. She has consistently maintained and improved her skills through self-study, formal class work, and on-the-job training with each new system the library has purchased.

Surinder is very much a goodwill ambassador for the library. She employs the strategy that one can attract more bees with honey than you can with vinegar and strives to make friends wherever she goes and with all the vendors with whom she deals. She considers and treats all her colleagues as friends. We wish we could clone her, but her personal ethics would preclude us from doing so. She claims that her loyalty to Cornell is only small payment for the home, support, and friendship she has found here.

But Surinder is not just a database geek; she’s a talented knitter, crocheter, and quilter. And those of us who have eaten at her house know that she’s also a great chef.

~Marcy Rosenkrantz

Sung Ok Kim, CTS Cataloging
It’s impossible to pick just one trait of Sung Ok’s to highlight. As an original cataloger in Library Technical Services, she has to juggle many conflicting responsibilities and she does this with an enviable calm. No matter what the department calls on her to do, she always accepts with a good-natured smile. She is the most dedicated and conscientious of catalogers. As faithfully as she attends to what is currently on her desk, she also takes many classes to prepare herself for whatever may come down the road next. She knows there is no standing still in our dynamic environment!

Sung Ok takes her responsibilities to others seriously. She devotes her time to her church library, does Korean translation, and tutors in the Korean language.

~Pam Stansbury

W. Mae Leckey, Law Library
I have had the great pleasure of working with Mae for twenty of her twenty-five years at Cornell. In the course of the past quarter century, Mae has witnessed the evolution of the Library from a completely paper-based institution with a card catalog to the digitized environment we work in today. The demands placed on staff members in such a rapidly changing workplace can be overwhelming to some, but Mae always rises to a challenge and meets it head-on. She views change as an opportunity for growth and uses that opportunity to develop new areas of expertise that serve the evolving needs of our organization. For example, Mae can supervise the bookmarking students, catalog a complex looseleaf, administer our GPO program, and serve as Network Administrator for all of Technical Services with equal ease.

She is a consistently high-performing staff member whose knowledge, dependability, flexibility, and cooperation play a vital role in supporting the services provided by the Law Library. Mae embodies the characteristics of a truly exceptional employee. We extend our congratulations and thanks to her for twenty-five years of excellence and outstanding work on behalf of the Law Library.

~Jean Pajerek

Tim Lynch, Mann Library
When the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences was looking for a person to become the college's first IT Coordinator, they did not have far to look. For the past twenty-five years, Tim Lynch had been contributing his technical expertise to Cornell University. Tim began his Cornell career at the College of Veterinary Medicine in 1979 as a Research Assistant in the NYS Diagnostic Laboratory where he designed and implemented software for the Laboratory of Automated Serology. Five years later, he was Manager of the Statistical Laboratory Computing Facility in the Vet College. Mann Library was lucky enough to hire him in 1990 and he soon made his mark on digital library development as the Head of Information Technology Services.

From the Mann Library Gateway to XML to Web services to Greenstone, Tim has led technology development in Mann Library and contributed substantially to the library system. Tim is intelligent, inquisitive, and innovative. He is able to translate puzzling technical issues into a layperson's language, but he can also speak knowledgeably with programmers and software developers. New technical staff value his mentoring and seasoned professionals are inspired by the clarity of his analysis. He is a scout of the information technology landscape, following new trends, separating the wheat from the chaff, and plotting a course for the future. One senior programmer who worked for Tim said of his boss, "Tim is miles ahead of the rest of us in scouting upcoming technologies and methodologies."

Recognizing Tim's abilities, Bill Fry, Associate Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, asked Tim to become the IT Coordinator for CALS in September 2004. In this role, Tim is taking the lead in developing and investigating new technologies for the college, organizing the CALS IT managers group, representing CALS on campus-wide IT committees, and serving as a technical advisor to the Dean's Office when needed. Bill said that he recognized Tim's many talents and contributions and thought he might enjoy tackling a few more challenges in CALS.

In his spare time, Tim enjoys fly fishing on the Salmon River and twirling his wife, Donna, around the Rongovian Embassy dance floor. Most recently, he has fallen in love with being a Grandpa.

~Janet McCue

Linda Mapes, Engineering Library, Associated Science and Technology Libraries
Linda Mapes has been part of the Engineering Library team for most of her twenty-five years at CUL. To hear her tell it, she had no intention of staying that long, but it is to CUL’s benefit that she has. Much of Linda’s career has centered on serials activities, particularly receiving and binding. As local check-in was introduced Linda took the lead in implementing the process. Over the past several years Linda’s responsibilities have changed in large part because fewer serials are received in paper.

Linda is now Access Services Manager for the Engineering, Mathematics, and Physical Sciences Libraries. In that position she serves on the ASTech Libraries management council, Directors Plus. She coordinates local serials check-in, order initiation, binding, and transfer operations for the three libraries. In addition, Linda has taken on administrative support duties in the Engineering Library. She is an early riser and is usually on hand to be sure the library is opened on time. Linda is very accommodating in supporting the activities of the combined service desk when others are unavailable. Her many years of experience and her flexible nature are tremendous assets to CUL.

Linda lives in Watkins Glen and takes her civic responsibilities very seriously. She has been involved in the Watkins Glen Italian Festival and the LPGA tournament in Corning for a number of years. I’m sure those of you who have seen the Watkins Glen Christmas Parade noted the close resemblance between Linda and Mrs. Santa Claus.

We in the ASTech Libraries are proud of Linda’s contributions to CUL and to her community and are delighted that she has made her career with us.

~Jean Poland

Janet McCue, Mann Library
In September 1979, having just completed her Masters in Library Science from the University of Michigan, Janet McCue joined the Cornell University Library on a one-year appointment as an assistant librarian in Uris Library, providing reference and instruction to undergraduates. In just a few months, she transferred into a permanent position and began dividing her time between Technical Services, reference, and selection in Uris Library. Janet started 1987 in a new role, that of head of technical services in Mann Library. During the next decade Janet led Mann’s Technical Services operations, the unit successfully met many challenges of transforming acquisitions and cataloging in the age of rapid technological development. Janet’s superb organizational skills and warm personality were qualities that brought her to her current assignment, Associate University Librarian for Life Sciences, and her collateral title of director of Mann Library.

Janet McCue is highly valued inside and outside Cornell for her leadership and her sense of commitment to users. Her thoughtful and gracious manner bathes those who work with her in a warm cloak of well-being, and her sense of humor lightens dark days. Faculty, alumni, and students who interact with her praise her for her effectiveness and her friendliness.

Janet manages to balance work and family and friends with aplomb. One day she is presenting a million dollar proposal to a major foundation, and the next might find her jetting off to Paris to celebrate with a lifelong friend a half-century milestone. In the winter she’s hitting the cross-country trails, and in the summer her office is graced with flowers. And, as far as I know, Janet is the only accordion-playing AUL at Cornell. In the twenty-five years Janet has served Cornell, she’s made it a much better place. A community of friends and co-workers gives thanks for her contributions.

~Sarah Thomas

Julia Parker, Rare and Manuscript Collections
During her time here in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Julia has worked in different positions. My experience interacting with Julia is in her role of Archival Assistant. Though not formally trained in Archival Science, Julia has all the right skills for the job, she is methodical and meticulous about detail, she can think outside the proverbial box, a must for Archives and she is facile with new technologies. Julia is especially good when training and interacting with our students and they obviously enjoy her humor and off-beat Jokes of the Day. Of course her most endearing trait is that of Divisional Dragon Lady, we can never forget Dragon Day down here. I enjoy working with Julia, she is a fun and interesting colleague and also good at her job, what more can a supervisor want.

~Eleanor Brown

Lois Purcell, CTS Cataloging
Lois managers a unit of eight copy catalogers, part of the larger Information Organization Services unit in Library Technical Services. Lois takes justifiable pride in being an advocate for her staff, steering their growth and development. Lois has been an invaluable member of the staff, assisting the current department head and his predecessors in writing reports, creating and maintaining documentation on the Web, performing data analysis, overseeing special projects, and solving many problems, large and small.

During her tenure at CUL, Lois has overseen a number of important projects. One of her most recent, and most significant, was the multi-year effort to eliminate the large backlog of unprocessed materials. With her help and leadership, the backlog was officially eliminated in early 2005. Lois has also been involved in several projects to expand and improve the Web presence of Library Technical Services. Lois is among the library’s very best supervisors and employees. Her long experience, good judgment, and outstanding people skills make her a genuine asset to Cornell.

Lois’s first experience working at Cornell was when she was still a high school student. In the summer of 1959, she worked in the cafeteria of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall. Except for that single foray into food service, she has spent the rest of her Cornell career in the library system. She began working in Olin Library as a college student, after which she became a regular employee. Lois took a hiatus from Olin to care for her three sons. She parted again from Olin to work in the CU Law Library, where she worked for 11 years. Later, she moved to Vermont for nine years, where she worked in two different academic libraries.

Lois enjoys spending time with her family, especially her three granddaughters and her West Highland terrier, Charlie. She also likes reading, hiking, gardening, and knitting.

~David Banush

Laura Smith, Preservation and Collection Maintenance
I have had the pleasure of working with Laura Smith the entire twenty-five years that she has been at Cornell. She has been a very valuable asset to our department. Laura is cross trained between the Binding unit and the Preparations unit, and is very willing and able to help out where ever she is needed. On Laura's off time she enjoys her grown children and her six grandchildren. Laura is very active in her Church and enjoys walking and spending time outdoors.

She is a great friend and I look forward to working with her for many more years.

~Susan Cobb

20 Years

David Block, Rare and Manuscript Collections
David Block has been a major contributor to CUL collection development for over twenty years. He has worked with remarkable success in a range of administrative and operational positions. He is greatly respected among faculty Library users, and has played important roles in the Latin American Studies Program and the Einaudi Center. He has an outstanding international reputation and is a past president of the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM). He travels regularly to Latin America to make presentations, do research, and purchase Library materials. He has published widely, including a book on Mission Culture on the Upper Amazon (which we hold in both print and electronic). He has served as the team leader of the CUL Area Studies Team for many years, and has been a very active member of CDExec. In pre-IRIS days, David supervised the Olin selectors, and up until his new appointment as Curator of Native and Latin American Studies, he was administratively responsible for all of IRIS area studies collection development. He has at the same time selected in subjects beyond Latin American Studies, including psychology, anthropology, and Spanish history and literature. I sometimes have wondered whether he has the ability to be in several places at the same time. He is without question one of the most knowledgeable and reliable bibliographers I have worked with in my own lengthy career in collection development.

~Ross Atkinson

Katherine Chiang, Mann Library
Kathy Chiang began working at Mann Library in 1984 as Mann's first "Non-bibliographic Computerized Data Files" Librarian, and her creative and innovative approach to Public Services has been a constant at Mann over the last 20 years. She wrote a collection development policy for software and worked on grants relating to 'machine readable datafiles' and numeric retrieval systems. In 1990 she began working with Geographic Information Systems. Since 1995 Kathy has been the Head of Public Services. Under Kathy's leadership, Mann Public Services has developed many valuable new services, including the Cornell University Geospatial Information Repository (CUGIR), services for the New Life Sciences, and a laptop lending service. Kathy's artistic flair and understanding of design have been a key ingredient in the planning for the new and renovated Mann building. A quick visit to Kathy's office illustrates this aspect of Kathy's persona. Stop by her "museum of information technologies" if you are up at Mann. In addition to all of these activities, Kathy continues to work on her Ph.D. in Communication with a focus on information visualization. Many thanks to Kathy for her contributions to the Cornell University Library, and congratulations on twenty years of service.

Barbara Berger Eden, Preservation and Collection Maintenance
Barbara Berger Eden has spent twenty years at Cornell University Library, first joining the staff at the Fine Arts Library in 1985. She then moved to Olin, where she worked in the Inter Library Loan Department. In 1988, Barbara came to the Department of Preservation and Conservation as the project coordinator for the first in a series of preservation microfilming projects funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Over the years she managed many microfilming and digitization grants, and helped to establish the digitization service in DCAPS. In 2002 she became Associate Director of the Department of Preservation and Conservation, playing a key role in the IRIS transition that resulted in the establishment of the Department of Preservation and Collection Maintenance. This July she was promoted to Director of the Department. Barbara has a golden touch when it comes to grant writing, having successfully authored ten grants from New York State, NEH, and most recently, the Institute for Museum and Library Services. She's the past chair of the Preservation and Reformatting Section of ALA/ALCTS and currently serves on the Executive Board of the NY State Preservation Administrators' Program Group. In her spare time, Barbara is an avid bird watcher, swimmer, and gardener extraordinaire.

~Anne Kenney

Rhea Garen, Digital Library and Information Technologies, DCAPS
Have you ever seen the remarkable images presented at the Rare and Manuscript Collection's online exhibits? They are so perfectly reproduced, sometimes looking more real than their print counterparts. Rhea is the talented digital photographer behind many of these images and their print versions presented in brochures and posters. As the Digital Photography Coordinator for the Digital Consulting and Production Services (DCAPS), Rhea oversees the digitization of the Rare and Manuscript Collection's exhibitions and patron requests. She performs high-end digital photography captures, works with Luna Insight collections, and provides technical and research support. In addition to her work with RMC, Rhea manages other digitization projects, especially if they involve special and rare materials. For example, one of her current projects is to capture various art work housed at the Lab of Ornithology. Rhea’s work is so top-notch that even the New York State Archives has chosen to outsource the digitization of their special collections to DCAPS.

Rhea has a background in scientific imaging and conventional and digital photography. She worked for fourteen years in Cornell's Microbiology Department teaching and conducting research in the field of groundwater microbiology, and for shorter periods at eCornell, for Integrated Pest Management’s web group, and for the Material Science Department's Electron Microscopy Facility. Rhea is also a fine art photographer with an extensive exhibition history. Her art work has been shown at prestigious places like the Getty and LightWorks. Her educational background includes an A.B. in Biology from Cornell plus considerable graduate level course work in photography, fine arts, and graphic design.

Rhea is a passionate bird watcher and loves dancing to live local music. In the summertime, she spends as much time as she can in and near water (when she’s not puttering in the garden). Since purchasing a pair of backcountry skis, her appreciation for this area’s long winter months has increased considerably. She is often out photographing for her personal collections, and every few years a flurry of editing and printing results in a public presentation of new work. She usually ends most days engrossed in a novel or short story, a selection from Olin’s recent arrivals section.

We wish Rhea many happy and productive years at the Library.

~Oya Y. Rieger

Lance Heidig, IRIS Collection, Reference, Instruction, and Outreach
Lance has worked in CUL since November of 1984. He started out in the Uris Library Reference Department as a Reference and Instruction Librarian. He became the Uris Library Circulation and Reserve Librarian in 1987 and held that position until 1993. In 1993 Lance went back to his "roots" as a reference librarian and joined the newly formed O/K/U Reference Department. In 2003 Lance joined the IRIS Instruction Department which merged into the Collections, Reference, Instruction, and Outreach Department in 2005. Wow, what a long and winding road.

During this time Lance has served on and chaired numerous important library committees and task forces including the Instruction and Reference Program Committee, the original Committee on Electronic Resources, and the Media Assessment Task Force. He has also served on several search committees over the years. Most recently Lance has been instrumental in the success of the New Student Reading Project. Lance has also been a selector for the Uris collection and oversees the New & Noteworthy Books section in Olin.

Lance's enthusiasm and energy extend beyond the Library's walls as well. An avid traveler and lover of the outdoors, he enjoys hiking and mountain climbing, particularly in Colorado and points west.

Lance is very talented and a valued reference librarian and library instructor. In a recent performance appraisal Peter Hirtle wrote: "Some of the faculty who call on you for instruction praise your teaching. In short, you do an excellent job as a representative of the library." I join all of Lance's colleagues in congratulating him on his twenty years of dedicated service to CUL.

~Tony Cosgrave

Cynthia Lange, CTS Cataloging
Cynthia is an original cataloger in Library Technical Services. Her responsibilities include the cataloging of Fine Arts, Wason, and South Asian materials and for the last couple of years she has served as the LTS official photographer. She is incredibly conscientious and somehow manages to juggle all her commitments in the friendliest of manners. The selectors of her materials all give Cynthia high marks for her concern and genuine interest in both the materials she catalogs and the scholars that use those materials. In spite of all her cataloging skills, the trait we all rely on the most is Cynthia’s wicked sense of humor. No matter what trials and tribulations come our way, Cynthia always puts them in perspective with a wry comment and a devilish laugh.

~Pam Stansbury

John Marmora, IRIS Collection Maintenance
John began his career at CUL as the evening supervisor in Olin Library. In his able hands, the library was well taken care of, and he was able to still instill in the student workers a sense of professionalism and dedication to public services. John coordinated the movement of materials to the Annex in 1998, and he set a new standard for moving collections. In recent years, he was asked to plan the Africana library move, the Huntington Free Library collection move, and all of the internal moves that have occurred in Olin and Uris library. In addition, John was asked to be the move manager for the Annex that is currently being constructed. Besides being our book moving guru, John is responsible for the work of the serials and microforms processing unit and we rely on John to be a key player in numerous library projects.

Outside of work, John owns a vineyard overlooking Seneca Lake, is an accomplished leather worker, licensed teacher of massage, horticulturist, and is currently studying Buddhism.

We are very fortunate to have John as one of our team.

~Barbara Berger Eden

Mary Newhart, ILR Catherwood Library
Mary Newhart’s first position at Cornell was as a temporary employee (“temporary office assistant starter”) in 1985 at the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. Over time, she assumed more responsibilities and eventually became Program Coordinator for the school’s offerings of year-round professional as well as short courses. Her experience handling logistical arrangements for instruction, budgeting, publicity, registration, and staff supervision were good preparation for her next assignment (1992 to 2001) as Administrative Manager for the Program on Ethics and Public Life in the College of Arts and Sciences. This was a thirty-hour position and Mary filled out the rest of her week with a part-time Administrative Assistant/Data Analyst position in the University Ombudsman’s Office. By summer of 2001, she was ready for something completely different and became our Web and Workindex Editor at Catherwood. Within a short time, this half-time assignment became full-time as Mary’s level of expertise and vision of what could be accomplished grew in direct proportion to our needs. A year ago, it became clear that we needed to invest more resources in enhancing our existing digital products as well as move towards licensing or building a digital repository. With that in mind, we put Mary in charge of identifying, developing, editing, and managing online content for the Catherwood Web site as well as the information products we maintain to position us as a key information resource on issues in the workplace.

It was clear to Mary that we needed to take advantage of some key opportunities and move quickly to install a digital repository. She recommended last December that we license the DigitalCommons product. This has enabled us not only to gain experience making ILR faculty and staff publications available to the world but also to fulfill our commitment to distribute content maintained and created by the school’s Employment and Disability Institute. Mary has also been working closely with Patrizia Sione to create an infrastructure for archiving Web sites relating to international labor standards, an important new direction for the Kheel Center.

Multitasking is one of Mary’s specialties. On top of her many responsibilities, she has made time to volunteer at the Trumansburg School District, including most recently a term as trustee on the board. And this past spring, she began study for the MS in Industrial and Labor Relations.

Her subject background in the field, an ability to learn quickly, and skill in nudging all of us towards the future make Mary an invaluable addition to the staff. We are most fortunate to have her on our staff.

~Gordon Law

Margaret Nichols, Rare and Manuscript Collections
Margaret has worked in Special Collections for twenty years, initially in the History of Science Collections and then in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. In RMC, she currently serves as Head of Cataloging, Metadata, and Collection Management. In that position, she supervises all aspects of acquisitions, cataloging, and metadata for rare books, manuscripts, archival collections, graphic materials, and other collections in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. As our primary rare book original cataloger, she catalogs everything from Dutch pamphlets, to exceedingly obscure Rhaeto-Romance serials, to medieval manuscripts. Margaret and her staff have succeeded in keeping up with new acquisitions, backlog reduction, and retrospective conversion. She is an excellent trainer, assisting other libraries with rare book and manuscript cataloging issues, and she had primary responsibility for the recent RLIN21 training and implementation. Additionally, she is responsible for managing all activities associated with collections and stacks maintenance, supervising paging, and other vault operations.

Special Collections librarians have to be multi-faceted, and Margaret is an exemplary case. She not only provides expert reference services, but is also an effective teacher, giving class presentations on subjects ranging from ichthyology to horticulture to mathematics. She serves as RMC’s general editor, and her invaluable assistance is reflected in exhibition labels, catalogs, and other print and Web publications. She has curated several exhibitions, most recently serving as co-curator of the highly regarded James Joyce exhibition.

Margaret is also an outstanding committee member, representing Special Collections and CUL concerns on library-wide groups including TSEG, the Working Group on Cataloging, Technical Services Integration Team, the Annex Planning Committee, and Promotion Review Board for Promotion to Librarian/Archivist. In 2003, in recognition of her national professional stature, she was elected chair of the ACRL’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Section.

I enjoy working with Margaret. I appreciate her interest in all aspects of librarianship, her deep caring for others, her intellectual curiosity, and her sense of humor. She is a valued colleague and friend whose opinions and counsel I trust. I look forward to many more years of working together.

~Elaine Engst

Jean Pajerek, Law Library
Jean M. Pajerek graduated from SUNY Binghamton with a BA in language and linguistics. Her MLS degree is from SUNY Albany. Her graduate studies also included course work at the College of Librarianship Wales in Aberystwyth. After a short stint as an indexer for Film Literature Index, Jean accepted a position as assistant catalog librarian at Cornell Law Library. In 1989 she became Head of Cataloging, and in 2000 she was promoted to the position of Head of Technical Services, now renamed the Information Management department.

It is difficult to imagine what we would do without Jean, because the Law Library depends on her in so many ways. As Head of Technical Services/Information Management, Jean leads an efficient and effective department which often receives kudos from faculty for its personal and expeditious service. In recent years, Jean has successfully re-engineered her department by reconfiguring several positions. She has also expanded her responsibilities within the library and actively works on a variety of interdepartmental projects.

In addition to running Technical Services and gaining expertise in Acquisitions, Jean presently serves on the Library Administration team and the Technology team. She has been involved in the Web team and the Strategic Plan Drafting team. She coordinates and serves as editor of InSite, our Web site current awareness tool, and is Project Manager of our online Repository for Law Faculty. Jean has been Network Administrator for the entire library and creates all the complex reports we need from the new LMS. She has also served on many Library-wide committees. Jean masters whatever she sets out to do and her contributions are not only excellent but substantial. Her dedication and hard work make her a great team member.

In addition, Jean is a master cook and often graces our workplace with her baking. Thank you for twenty years, Jean, and please don’t retire for another twenty more!

~Claire Germain

15 Years

Gary Branch, CTS Acquisitions
Fifteen years ago, Gary Branch began his career in the Acquisitions Department as a Gifts and Exchange Assistant on July of 1990. From the very beginning, Gary has had an uncanny talent for making order out of chaos, to look at a problem and quickly figure out the best way to bring about order.

He transferred to the cataloging unit in 1996 and was assigned the task of managing the enormous backlogs. Gary was responsible for the initial organization of the Olin backlogs and the smooth operation of it for several years. Gary became known in CTS, and around CUL, as the guy who could find an item after others had given up.

In 1996 CTS formed a team of staff members picked because of their knowledge, versatility, productivity, and their ability to work under pressure. They also shared a desire to try something new. These staff members were trained to step in and backup crucial functions such as receiving, inputting, and cataloging across CTS. Gary was chosen to be a member of what became known as the SWAT team. Once again his willingness to do the task at hand with the utmost effectiveness and efficiency proved how very fortunate we were to have Gary as a CTS staff member.

In 1998 Gary’s position was promoted to copy cataloger. As a copy cataloger, he became an expert on AACR2 rules for cataloging and MARC holdings statements. He never shirked responsibility and took on some of the more tedious tasks such as the cataloging of videos and microfilm sets with fortitude and good humor.

1998 was also the year Gary agreed to become one of the network administrators in CTS. Once again, we found ourselves depending on him to accomplish the impossible. During the Voyager migration in 2000, Gary quickly caught on to the nuances of the new system and was a big help to others in the Department, both in Acquisitions and Cataloging. When we adopted the Macro Express software for use with the new system, Gary investigated the software (it had intimidated others) and created the initial core group of macros that CTS now uses with Voyager. He emerged as a real leader within the six person Netadmin team. His steady, confident presence makes it easier for new Netadmins to learn their job and contribute more quickly.

In 2001, when an opening became available in the Receiving Unit of CTS, the Acquisitions managers were thrilled that Gary applied. He is now assisting with problem solving on series standing orders and serials. The totality of his CTS experience, his knowledge from the ordering process, including acquiring material through gifts and exchange, to AACR2 rules for cataloging and MARC21 holdings statements, is invaluable. His technical knowledge is legendary. If a more efficient way of completing a process is available, he will find it. He is most cooperative, flexible, his judgment of priorities is exceptional, and his ability to concentrate on work at hand, even with a lot of interruptions, is enviable. When a project is assigned, we never have to question if it will be completed on time and in a most professional manner.

Gary once said that when he came to work here, he realized he needed to make a niche for himself to be successful. He has made so many unique niches for himself that those of us who came before and after him wonder what CTS would be like without him. It's not an overstatement to say that his accomplishments have made CTS a better place for staff members to work. Gary is so good at everything he does in CTS that he actually makes other employees better, and CUL as a whole stronger.

~Mary Wesche

Carol J. Buckley, IRIS Access Services
Carol Buckley was well known to the Cornell community for her fifteen years of dedicated library service. As a front line public services staff member, her boundless enthusiasm, courtesy, and knowledge are what patrons remember of their interactions with her. In March of 2004, Carol began having problems with her speech, which over time affected her ability to work at the Circulation desk. A few months later, she was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease.

As an access services student supervisor, Carol hired, trained, and supervised approximately 150 student assistants. She served as an outstanding role model for them by demonstrating a high level of professionalism and dedication to quality customer service. For many students, working for the library was often their very first, professional public service job, so in that respect Carol served as a mentor to them as well as teaching them everything from telephone etiquette to how to appropriately handle customer service complaints and making proper referrals to the appropriate supervisors.

When not working at the library, Carol was using her beautiful voice and acting talents in various musical and theatrical events throughout the community. Her musical involvement with the community also had ties to Cornell and to the Library. For example, some years ago she was in a play about the life of Jennie McGraw. A local elementary school teacher who had been bringing her fifth grade classes for a field trip to Cornell University, and to visit Uris Library in particular to show them some of the things they had been learning in class, recognized Carol as being in the play about Jennie McGraw, and asked if Carol wouldn’t mind talking with her students. Carol was honored and this became an annual tradition.

Carol was honored with a special recognition award at the 2005 Library Service Awards Luncheon.

For fifteen wonderful years of dedicated service, we remember Carol for making all library patrons experiences special, be it their first trip to the library or their 101st, and for making the lives of those who had the pleasure of working alongside her very special as well.

~Bethany Silfer

Christina Bucko, Digital Library and Information Technologies
The Library, and particularly Desktop Services, is fortunate to have someone with the skills and can-do attitude that Chris Bucko brings to her work. In the short time that I have had the pleasure to work directly with Chris, I've come to appreciate her organized, resilient, and industrious nature. Chris's broad interests are represented in the numerous contributions she has made throughout Cornell and the Library, and Chris has most recently been focusing on her professional interest in IT.

Chris started in Library Administration in May 1990 as an administrative assistant working for Ross Atkinson and Linda West. In June 1994 she transferred to O/K/U Administration, working for Pat Schafer and David Corson. In February 2002, Chris became the Finance and Technology Coordinator, under Susan Currie, of the new IRIS organization. From January 2004 through March 2005, Chris was recalled to Active Duty serving in Naples, Italy. Upon her return this past April, Chris joined Desktop Services as an IT Support Provider and enjoys having the opportunity to focus on IT. In her position, Chris advocates and addresses the IT needs of Library staff, with a primary focus on staff within Kroch Library (RMC and Asia). In addition, Chris coordinates a number of projects within our group.

Chris has served Cornell and the Library in many capacities outside the specific confines of any particular position she has held. She was elected to the Employee Assembly twice, serving from 2001 to 2003, and was the Finance Chair during her second term, as well as joining several other sub-committees. Within CUL, Chris has also been active, doing production work for Kaleidoscope for ten years (5/1992-2/2002) and coordinating numerous Library-wide employee events.

Studying via distance learning, Chris is close to completing her B.S. in Management of Information Systems from the American College of Computer and Information Sciences, Alabama. When she is not working, studying, or training in the U.S. Navy Reserves, Chris spends time with her family Jim, Katelyn (who is 13), and Samual [sic] (who is 6).

~Oliver Habicht

Donna Callais, Mann Library
What can I possibly say about Donna Callais that hasn’t been said already? She is conscientious, responsible, dependable, proactive, positive, hardworking, and caring. To top that off, Donna also has a wonderful sense of humor that makes her fun to be around. For those of you who don’t know Donna, she has sole responsibility for staff computing at Mann Library. Donna is diligent in insuring that the staff members at Mann have the proper hardware and software with which to do their job. It is amazing how much Donna knows about what each person at Mann is doing! In addition to looking out for individual needs of the staff, Donna also looks for single solutions to create a better work environment for everyone. Donna will assist you with any problem you encounter and will treat you as if you are her number one priority. She is usually balancing no fewer than a dozen requests and problems at any one time, but still manages to meet the highest standard of quality. Based on comments received by me, it is clear that the rest of the staff here shares my perception of Donna. I truly don’t know how Mann Library would survive without her!

~Holly Mistlebauer

Margarita Ditmars, Mann Library
Margie has gone full circle from Mann, to the Accel labs in Engineering, and back to Mann in her time at CUL. As the Access Services Supervisor, she is an excellent manager, motivator, and mentor to our student employees. In addition to keeping everyone up to date on policies and procedures, Margie easily handles the task of balancing the needs of the Circulation desk with the often full schedules of her co-workers.

Customer service is an essential part of Margie's job, and she sets an excellent example for students and other staff to follow. She takes care to understand our patrons’ needs, then takes whatever efforts are necessary to meet those needs. Margie provides valuable and well thought input into policies and procedures system-wide, and she is always happy to help her fellow staff at Mann and beyond.

~Jesse Koennecke

Michael Friedman, Veterinary Library
Michael’s patron orientation and vast experience are only two traits that make him such an able contributor to the Veterinary Library–and CUL as a whole. He is constantly on the alert to find ways to better serve our patrons—and to implement and share his ideas. His warm and caring demeanor mixed with a dash of humor makes him well liked and respected.

Michael’s first position in the Preservation and Conservation Department hurtled him into what was then a new and exciting area: digitization of materials that were formerly available only in print. In an agreement between Xerox and CUL, over 500 books on mathematics were digitized with a focus on preserving core materials that had become brittle over the years.

From there, he moved to Mann to explore another new technology designed to provide electronic reserves. He was involved in both the electronic and the people aspects of this experimental project. He also participated in the initial implementation of ILLiad for interlibrary loan.

Michael’s initial responsibilities at the Veterinary Library included managing the interlibrary loan and reserves systems while also serving as night supervisor. As computers became a more integral part of providing library services, Michael stepped into the role of Electronic Services Specialist.

Building on his solid base of computer expertise, he became the front-line technical support for public and staff computers while continuing to handle interlibrary loan and document delivery services. He has maintained the library’s Web site. He played a major role in helping the College’s Office of Educational Development create an electronic reserves system which they embedded into their customized version of Blackboard.

While not at work, Michael can be seen riding his bicycle or motorcycle or relaxing with a cup of Gimme Coffee! in his hand.

We appreciate the many fine contributions Michael has made to the system–and look forward to whatever he comes up with next!

~Terry Kristensen

Sarah How, IRIS Reference Services
Sarah How is one of Cornell’s most experienced bibliographers, having spent most of her work time selecting since her arrival at Cornell in 1989. She remains the Library’s first and only selector in Western European social sciences, and the high quality of the Library’s holdings in this complex area is a result of Sarah’s energy and resourcefulness. She has developed a strong, productive relationship with the Institute for European Studies and been professionally active in the Western European Studies Section of ACRL. In addition, Sarah has also selected in a range of other subjects, including English and American literature, and currently in British history. Working closely with Acquisitions, she initiated several new approval plans that remain highly effective. She is often sought after for task forces, because of her broad background and her focused input.

Sarah has been very active in the administration of collection development, as well. From 1991 to 1993, she was leader of the Social Sciences Selection team, and during the past two years she has been a very visible and effective leader of the humanities team. Sarah is the only selector at Cornell to have chaired two different selection teams.

In November 2003 Sarah added a major new challenge to her career when she became a member of the Reference Services Department. Not only will you see her at the reference desk in Olin Library, but she has also provided assistance in the Fine Arts Library.

Last, but not least, Sarah always seems to know about the most interesting art exhibits (especially in cities where ALA meetings are located) and she is an excellent source of recommendations for books to read!

~Ross Atkinson and Nancy Skipper

Ronald Liso, Engineering, Associated Science and Technology Libraries
Ron Liso is the weekend supervisor at the Engineering Library and also helps out at the Physical Sciences Library. Ron's circulation expertise and congenial nature make him an ideal public services assistant. He goes out of his way to answer questions and always stays calm with patrons. The Engineering Library is integrating the circulation and reference services and Ron is active on the cross-training team.

Outside of work Ron is very active in the Ithaca community and is involved in the Unitarian church, singing groups, and dancing activities. Ron is a vegetarian and involved in the Greenstar Coop and the Community Garden. He is very interested in the environment and volunteers at the Clearwater Festival. The local school districts benefit from having him as a substitute teacher for pre-K through 6th grade and he always has anecdotes to relate from the students! Ron is taking classes at Binghamton University in special education as he is very concerned for children with special needs.

Ron grew up in New York City and moved to Ithaca to find a stimulating, but smaller place to live, and he recently bought a house that he is fixing up. He has taken a few trips to Italy, as he has family there, and studied Italian to prepare for these trips.

To quote a co-worker, "he's a very sweet, gentle, step-lightly-on-the-earth kind of person, with a large circle of friends in Ithaca."

~Melody Padgett

Craig Mains, IRIS Access Services
Craig Mains first Cornell Library job was a Building Attendant, checking bags of people leaving the library and IDs so that only graduate students or undergraduates with special passes could use the Olin stacks. Within a year he had been promoted to evening/weekend supervisor and has been outstanding job in this position ever since. Over the years, he has very capably handled countless security incidents, emergencies, health crises, and building problems. He has handled all those problems while continuing to keep the Access Services desks running and oversee the work of staff and student assistants. He consistently provides quality public service and serves as a resource and role model for other staff and students. Craig is an excellent trainer and has helped to train many new students and staff. In addition to his supervisory duties, Craig is on the IRIS Sign Committee where his graphic design skills are well utilized. His work is visible in the signage throughout Olin/Kroch/Uris and increasingly in other IRIS units. A notable skill of Craig's is his adaptability and acceptance of change. The library and Access Services have undergone technological and procedural changes and added new services, which Craig has unfailingly embraced, always showing initiative and providing constructive input in order to improve service for patrons.

~Carmen Blankinship

Joseph McNamara, Post Cataloging Services
Joe McNamara began his Cornell career at the Hotel Library in 1989, where he worked in a temporary position as Night Supervisor. In June 1990 Joe joined the Authorities Section of the Cataloging Department in CTS and has been working in Olin Library ever since. His work ethic is incredible; his expertise in authority control is renowned. Two years ago Joe successfully tested and instituted into production Gary Strawn's headings maintenance program, which virtually eliminated manual bulk bibliographic corrections. Joe's responsibilities also include supervising students, who return year after year, in spite of his stringent expectations.

Joe is an accomplished musician and has performed at several holiday parties.

Congratulations to Joe on fifteen years of excellent service to Cornell.

~Debra Warfield

Suzanne Schwartz, IRIS Collection Maintenance
Suzanne joined the Cornell University staff in 1990. After eight years at the University Development Research and Records Data Management Office, she began her employment in the Cornell University Library as part of the Collection Maintenance Unit. Since 2001 she has been in her current position as a student supervisor in the Media, Newspapers, and Microforms Division of the Department of Preservation and Collection Maintenance.

Suzanne’s work is concentrated in three main areas: student supervision, newspaper processing and maintenance, and equipment maintenance. In her interaction with the more than twenty student assistants, whom she hires and trains, she tries to establish good rapport and understanding of their problems. Due to her thoroughness and knowledge of the workflow, the students possess the necessary skills to work in our specific environment.

One of Suzanne’s assets is her willingness to learn. She is continually improving her awareness of the policies and procedures in the Media Center and already has a very good knowledge of the audio-visual equipment.

Suzanne interacts in an excellent way with patrons using the Media facilities. Providing the best possible service to library patrons is probably one of the strongest sides of Suzanne’s performance.

Suzanne works hard on her personal development. She earned the right to be a sign-language interpreter and has put these skills to use in several theatrical performances and in her church community.

All of these qualities have made Suzanne a valuable member of the staff of Cornell University Library.

~Boris Michev

Ardeen White, CTS Cataloging
Ardeen began her CUL career in 1990 at the Experiment Station Library in Geneva. Since 1991, she has been in Technical Services at Olin Library and a copy cataloger since 1993. In a relatively short period of time, Ardeen became the senior copy cataloger and has helped to train many of her current colleagues in Olin Rm.110. She’s also worked diligently in testing new software and in training and writing procedures for new workflows. The recent Library Technical Services integration has resulted in a well-deserved promotion for Ardeen. She will fill a newly created position of LTS Training Coordinator. Ardeen is a natural trainer, and even when she is not “on assignment”, she is looking for new ways to enhance her already rich training skills. LTS managers are grateful for a way to fold Ardeen's natural talents into the reorganization of library technical services functions. Ardeen is well liked and respected by all of her colleagues so she will be well-received in that role.

Ardeen has many friends throughout the library system. She is considerate, kind, and thoughtful and she gains the respect of others very quickly on both a professional and personal level. Many CUL staff know that Ardeen has been an avid gardener for many years, and how thrilled she is to be able to coax beauty from the soggy Ithaca soil on her very own piece of treasured real estate on West Hill. Ardeen's eyes light up when she talks about projects she undertakes around the house, and her flower gardens reflect the time and energy she devotes to her "kingdom."

Some little known facts about Ardeen are that in the early 1980s she lived without electricity for three years in Yates County—a real test of her resourcefulness! And having played the piano since she was ten years old, she still plays for her own pleasure. She is also interested in many fiber arts, and has made clever dolls, clothing, dried flower arrangements, creative and inspirational little books and wreaths, to name just a few. Fortunately for her colleagues, she shares her extracurricular interests at work, too. She has contributed her work to the annual staff art show, and our work place has been enhanced by her careful selection of the department greenery.

~Lois Purcell

10 Years

Pam Baxter, Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research
Pam has been a valued and dependable colleague in the Cornell Library since her arrival in 1994—first as a Public Services Librarian in Mann Library, then as Acting Manager of the Physical Sciences Library, and finally in her current position as Data Archivist at the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research (CISER). Pam is a model of versatility. She has authored, co-authored, and edited monographs and other key publications on traditional information services, especially in the social sciences; at the same time, she is unquestionably one of the Library’s top experts on the availability and use of social science data. She is a past member of IRPC Steering and of PSEC. Her ability to work at CISER (now located off campus), while at the same time maintaining close links to the Library, is awesome and invaluable, ensuring that each organization is well aware of the values and services of the other.

~Ross Atkinson

Ann Crowley, Library Administrative Operations
In the past ten, relatively short, years with the Library, Ann has become invaluable to the Accounting Services department and to the many library customers we serve. Ann's "can do" attitude, expert knowledge of Voyager fund accounting and other university financial systems, and her willingness to drop almost anything to answer questions and resolve problems, have endeared her to many. Library selectors, travelers, unit heads, principal investigators and colleagues rely on Ann every day.

Ann's commitment to excellence and team-based approach have earned her many bowling trophies outside of work. Those same qualities have contributed greatly to our ability to effectively adapt to our ever-changing work world. Ann played a critical role in planning and implementing work flow changes for the Technical Services Integration project, university system enhancements, etc. All this, plus Ann's quick and hearty laugh which lightens things up at just the right moment, make her an enjoyable and valued colleague. Thanks Ann!

~Linda Westlake

Philip Davis, Mann Library
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 University of Western Ontario.

Over the past six years as life sciences bibliographer, Phil has worked to build Mann’s collection of electronic journals. He has used his knowledge of journal publishing and his understanding of the disciplines Mann serves to help develop an outstanding electronic life sciences collection. He has also used his skills to benefit the wider CUL community by serving on DRC, the Science Team, and many other CUL Collection Development committees.

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. Much of 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 the area of usage statistics 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.

Perhaps Phil’s most popular presentation in the wider library community recently has been his workshop, “Statistics for Librarians.” He has presented the workshop at ALA Mid-Winter and ACRL National conference, as well as several other venues including an abbreviated version for the CUL Mentor Program. It’s not everyone who can make statistics fun and interesting!

If some of this write-up sounds vaguely familiar, it is because you very recently read about Phil’s promotion to librarian in the last issue of Kaleidoscope. And now we congratulate him on ten years of service.

~Mary Ochs

Eveline Ferretti, Mann Library
Last semester, Mann Library hosted eight talks, four exhibits, several orientations, and lots of visits. At the center of each of these activities is Eveline Ferretti. As the library's Special Projects Assistant, Eveline is the grand orchestrator for all of our public programs. You can find her working closely with landscape architects on the Centennial Garden or sculptors with their art. She can talk to plant pathologists about mushroom exhibits and entomologists about fried grasshoppers. You can see her creative hand in every publication in Mann Library—from virtual exhibits to seasonal bookmarks, and you can see her sparkle and sense of humor in every spam luncheon menu or jello extravaganza for the Human Ecology Fellowship program. Each of the library's public programs requires not only orchestration and organization but publicity, lots of back and forth correspondence, patience, and energy. Even when the deadline is today and the request was made two hours ago, Eveline is invariably willing to help out.

But, you can also find Eveline's work in our own library catalog. She has published several bibliographies—on topics ranging from natural resource management in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia, to informal work and social change in America. She has travelled the world widely and worked as a Program Officer in Indonesia, a Consultant with FAO, and a Health counselor in California. Eveline is fluent in German and Bahasa Indonesia, she has a good working knowledge of French and Spanish, and even knows some Vietnamese. Eveline came to Cornell in 1991 as a Research Assistant in the International Agriculture Department. Mann Library was fortunate to hire her in 1994 as Collections Assistant in the Core Literature of Agriculture program and, since 1997, she has been the Special Projects Assistant in the Administrative Office.

Anyone who has worked with Eveline knows that she is a ball of energy and a source of inspiration. Even though her job might exhaust most other mortals, Eveline goes home to entertain two active young 'uns, Ali and Felix. And, she even finds time to organize fund raisers at their school, including the popular Mardi Gras benefit for the Immaculate Conception school. If this is what she can do in ten years at Cornell, imagine what we'll celebrate for her twentieth anniversary!

~Janet McCue

Eileen Keating, Rare and Manuscript Collections
Eileen Keating serves as the University Records Manager, promoting and coordinating an active program to manage university records in all formats and working with university staff on the maintenance, transfer, and disposition of records. Additionally, she serves as the Records Manager for the College of Human Ecology’s comprehensive records management program. I continue to be very impressed with her ability to interact with faculty and staff at all levels, and to provide them assistance in transferring records. She provides retiring and emeritus faculty with skilled and sensitive help during transitional times. She has grown in knowledge and expertise, and her job has changed to reflect the changing records management environment. She has responded to these challenges with energy and enthusiasm, retaining the cooperative and friendly attitude that has been the mark of her interaction with colleagues across the university. Recently, she has begun to work actively in the area of electronic records, a long-time goal, and she was specifically invited to participate in the Library’s OAIS task force. She continues to acquire, accession, and process archival collections, and to create finding aids for them, working effectively to supervise student assistants. In 2004, her work with volunteers and staff of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences culminated in the arrival of the 400 cubic feet of the collection, along with substantial funds to assist with the cost of moving and processing the collection.

Despite the many competing demands on her time, she also provides expert reference service and gives a number of information sessions, presentations, and tours. She has helped team teach several courses with Professor Joan Brumberg, most notably the one that culminated in the successful exhibition and Web site, “From Domesticity to Modernity: What was Home Economics?” She also assisted in curating last year’s Liberty Hyde Bailey exhibit.

Eileen has been professionally active, and her continuing service as President of the Central New York Chapter of ARMA acknowledges her professional stature. In all of these areas, she has continued to assume greater responsibility in response to greater and more complex challenges. I continue to enjoy working with Eileen. I appreciate her lively interest, her energy, her sense of humor, and her deep caring for others. She is a valued colleague and friend whose opinions and counsel I trust. I look forward to many more years of working together.

~Elaine Engst

Vanessa Ng, IRIS Access Services

Before joining Olin/Kroch/Uris Access Services Department in June of 2001, Vanessa previously worked for Campus Life from 1990-1999 with the last four years as their production specialist, and then from 1999-2001 she worked at the College of Human Ecology in their Policy Analysis and Management (PAM) department as their Undergraduate Field Assistant and assistant to the Director for the Talking to Kids About AIDS program. Within the library, Vanessa works at the Circulation desks as well as performing a variety of other public services functions. Vanessa responds to our very active circulation e-mail account and assists with the MyDocument Delivery program.

In recent years, Vanessa has served as the layout editor for Kaleidoscope. She is also an excellent photographer. A sampling of her work was on display at the Library Art Show and can be viewed on her Web site listed below.

In addition to the library, Vanessa also works for Family Medicine Associates. She attends to their scheduling as well as supporting their IT needs. Vanessa is also busily taking Cornell courses working towards her employee degree due to be completed this year.

When not at work, attending classes, writing (she is hoping to be published someday), or taking pictures, she is caring for her beloved pets, Murray and Shadow. To see pictures of Murray, Shadow, and other things dear to Vanessa’s heart, feel free to visit her Web site; you’ll be glad you did! Vanessa has a great love of nature and travel as you will see from her photographs. It is her desire that someday her publications will help towards environmental causes.

~Bethany Silfer

Allen Phillips, Library Copy Center
Allen has helped keep the Library Copy Center running smoothly through the many technological changes that have taken place over the last ten years. His commitment to customer service is an asset that is invaluable to the Library and Cornell community.

Allen is also a skilled craftsman making period clothing for Renaissance fairs. Some of his pieces have been displayed at the annual Library Art Show and modeled by library staff.

~Linda Sczepanski

Keene Silfer, Digital Library and Information Technologies
Keene Silfer started part-time in Uris Library's circulation services in December 1994, and quickly found himself "loaned out" to Collection Management for a project involving the shifting of the entire Olin Library Reference collection. Keene then left CUL in August 1995 to obtain his teaching certification at SUNY Cortland. He returned to work in O/K/U Collection Management in June 1996, right after getting married to IRIS staffer Bethany Silfer. Keene worked in Collection Management full-time while finishing up his Master's degree in history at SUNY Cortland. In January 1999, Keene left Olin to become Mann Library's new stacks coordinator, and during his tenure there supervised the move of the entire collection from old Mann to the new Mann Library addition. In March 2001, Keene returned to Olin Library, joining D-LIT's Desktop Services and has since made many contributions, playing a key role in discovering and deploying effective technologies to address both public and staff computing needs. Outside of the office, Keene has served as the manager for the "Stack Rats," CUL's summer intramural softball team, for the past three seasons.

~Oliver Habicht

Thomas Trutt, Mann Library
Tom Trutt has served Mann Library since 2001. As the e-Reserve Coordinator, he has processed thousands of documents for hundreds of classes. Tom is a techie at heart, and he lends Mann Library his skills and enthusiasm by producing statistics reports, developing databases to make some of our jobs easier, and helping his co-workers jump their own computer hurdles.

Beyond his technical skills, Tom also provides excellent customer service at Mann's Circulation desk. He works hard to meet our patrons’ needs and takes a genuine interest in helping them. Tom is an asset to Mann Library and to CUL.

~Jesse Koennecke

Patricia Viele, Physical Sciences Library, Associated Science and Technology Libraries
Pat Viele joined CUL in 1994 as part-time Assistant Physical Sciences Librarian. Until 1997, when her position at CUL changed to full-time, Pat was also Assistant Reference Librarian at SUNY Cortland. Pat is now CUL’s Physics and Astronomy Librarian. As a subject librarian Pat is responsible for instruction, collection development, reference, and other outreach activities to the Physics and Astronomy Departments and to relevant research centers on campus. She is also currently acting ASTech Reference and Instruction Coordinator.

Pat’s outreach activities are legendary. She attends weekly Physics Department lunches and various department social events. She works closely with the Cornell Center for Materials Research and other CU research centers. Her instruction activities include supporting and working with people participating in the NSF-funded Research Experience for Teachers and Research Experience for Undergraduates. She sends weekly emails highlighting Web resources to the Society of Physics membership.

Pat is an active member of the Physics, Astronomy, and Math Division of the Special Libraries Association as well as of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). Pat has prepared a number of tutorials, workshops, and presentations for AAPT annual and semi-annual meetings on critically reviewing Web sources. She is actively involved in AAPT national committees and last year she had an article published in Physics Education, the AAPT journal.

On behalf of her ASTech Libraries colleagues I extend congratulations to Pat and thank her for her ten successful years with CUL.

~Jean Poland

STAFF OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AWARDS 2005

These awards are made possible through the generosity of Christian Boissonnas and his family.

Amy Blumenthal, Ed Zieba, Liisa Mobley, and George Kozak form the core of the Technical Problems Response Team that monitors and responds to problems raised on the LIBIT-L list. Some of the problems are resolved by staff at the desk, but many that can’t be resolved and that require more trouble shooting or technical knowledge are forwarded on to the team. Amy, Ed, Liisa, and George monitor the list and have made fast turn-around and thorough follow-up an integral aspect of the service they provide. Those who subscribe to LIBIT-L will often see responses from the Response Team being sent to users having technical difficulties late into the evenings, not only Mondays through Fridays but on weekends as well. This is just one example of how the response team often goes “above and beyond” the call of duty to assist Library staff and users and reflects their dedication and commitment to providing outstanding service.

Nominated by Ed Weissman

Carol Buckley is well known to the Cornell Community for her fifteen years of dedicated library service. As a front line public services staff member, her boundless enthusiasm, courtesy, and knowledge are what patrons remember of their interactions with her. As an access services student supervisor, Carol has hired, trained, and supervised approximately 150 student assistants. She has served as an outstanding role model for them by demonstrating a high level of professionalism and dedication to quality customer service. At the Circulation desk, Carol has greeted every library patron who has come to the desk with a cheerful, “Hello, how may I help you?” Graduate students in particular have stopped and chatted with Carol as if they have known her for years. Carol frequently went above and beyond what was expected of her to ensure that patrons received what they needed.

Nominated by the IRIS Cabinet

So You Want to be a Translator?

By William Sayers

If you like to get up between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m., feed the cats, make a huge pot of strong tea, and sit down to page one of a 440-page academic book, translation may be for you—or maybe not. Years ago I worked as a technical translator, a relatively mechanical job but one calling for accuracy when you are drafting operating instructions for mining and civil engineering equipment. I had never really thought of other kinds of translation until my wife, a university teacher then on the board of her school’s press, said that they were inviting bids, actually something a good deal less formal, for the translation of a doctoral dissertation from German. The subject was the Nazi treatment of the disabled, more specifically the deaf, and of their betrayal by their very own teachers. Not the most attractive of subjects but one, as I later learned, about which much too little had been made known after WW II.

I was awarded the job and set to work in the fall of 1997 in a trailer on the east shore of Seneca Lake that we had rented for my wife’s sabbatical so that she could call on the resources of the Cornell University Library, in particular the Fiske Icelandic Collection. The translation was complete in about a year, but since the contract had not called for editing—I’ll have more to say about contracts below—the press was obliged to make a number of adjustments to the dissertation format to produce a marketable work of modern history. Fortunately, they were able to attract a prominent American historian of the Holocaust, Henry Friedlander, to write a preface, which surely furthered the commercial success of the venture and helped to bring the work to a wider public. The finished product appeared in 1999 as Horst Biesold, Crying Hands, published by Gallaudet University Press (available in print and online at CUL).

I found that I had experienced the translation as extremely satisfying work, even independently of the small contribution that I was making to the historical record. But there were eerie moments, such as sitting in the near dark one morning trying to find the right register in English to translate a German telegram from 1933 ordering the arrest and imprisonment of deaf school children. Translation is demanding work and it is hard for me to imagine anyone putting in a normal, eight-hour day, without various kinds of breaks and other undertakings. But I found one and a half to two hours each morning just about right. Shortly after the completion of this first assignment, I began work at the Library, but thought I’d go looking for some extra work, although I have never really thought of it as “work.” Since I now had some grounding in the darker side of twentieth-century history, I wrote to the director of academic publications at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, inquiring as to the possibility of translation work.

How It Works
As it happened, the Center was in a bind. It had formed a partnership with University of Notre Dame Press to publish a work of history in French by Adam Rayski, Le choix des juifs sous Vichy: entre la soumission et la résistance. A third party had volunteered a translation pro bono but had withdrawn before beginning. I received the contract after submitting a sample of some fifteen pages that was also reviewed by the author and his associates. A typical contract for an academic, book-length translation includes agreement on a fee and payment schedule, responsibility to read the first set of page proofs and to meet other requirements the publishers may have, such as completing inadequate (by our standards) bibliographical references in books of European provenance, suitably formatting the foot- or end-notes, indexing, etc. Typically, the more mechanical work, such as the index and bibliography, is placed with someone other than the translator. A typical fee is $85 per 1000 words. This may seem likely a fairly good return on one’s work when the translator feels on a roll, but you must also factor in the time spent on revisions and stylistic polishing, tracking down authoritative English versions of texts, e.g., Plato’s Symposium, that your author may have quoted in French, proof-reading, and a variety of problems of detail. A press typically pays one third of the agreed-on fee in advance, one third when the completed translation has been submitted and approved by an outside party (the moment of truth for the translator and a very sobering experience), and one third when the book is published.

The actual working methods of translators vary a great deal. All will have a battery of reference tools, and a superior library, like Cornell’s, is a great asset. Old dictionaries that might otherwise be discarded can prove invaluable, as when you want to try to get the equivalent of Nazi officiousness into something that might pass as the British or American English of the 1930s. Should the translator read the entire work closely before beginning or just plunge right in? Clearly, you have to feel at home with the historical period reflected in the work. I prefer to start absolutely cold, so that each sentence is totally new to me, because that way my neurons fire (if that is indeed what they do) and give me an almost instantaneous English equivalent. Of course, a great deal of subsequent mistrust must accompany such a “shoot first, ask later” method and I don’t really recommend it. I typically spend a great deal of time on revision. The danger is also that you may have gotten the sentence totally wrong to begin with, and then through exposure to your own version become so blind to the original that a recovery of the true meaning is not possible. With each sentence you are dealing with questions of meaning, but also of register and style (“Can you really say that in English?”), even in such utilitarian writing as books of history.

French Resistance Activist Turns Historian
My author, Adam Rayski, had come from Poland to Paris in the early 1930s to work as a journalist and soon joined the French Communist party, as did many other East European Jewish immigrants. When war broke out, he joined the Resistance and, as far as I can tell, since the book is not autobiographical, was sent to the city of Lyon in the (then) unoccupied southern half of France, to coordinate communications. His wife and son remained in occupied Paris. After the war Rayski began a formal study of history and historiography, and began to write. His works were informed by a double perspective: having been a participant in many of the events and circumstances that he would write about, while trying to maintain a historian’s objectivity and wider perspective.  Le choix des juifs was the first work by Rayski to be considered for publication in English and, as the title indicates, deals with the insoluble problems faced by urban French Jews, whether to continue to be law-abiding citizens under the Nazi occupation and hope for the best, or initiate resistance. With the hindsight available to us, this does not seem like much of a choice, but what is scarcely thinkable now was also unthinkable then. Rather surprisingly, the author was still alive. He and the director of publications at the Center spoke on the phone in Yiddish, since the latter, a Cornell grad, had no French; Adam and I spoke in French, and I was also in touch with his cousin, a rabbi in Cincinnati, and naturally we spoke English.

Reconciling Memory and History
The translation involved a great number of problems of detail—checking out this and that—but was not particularly demanding, since the base French text was eminently clear and readable. I submitted my translation by the agreed date and the Center began its in-house copy-editing. This is when the trouble started and here I must emphasize that I speak only from my own perspective, and not the Center’s. The Center was acutely aware that the Holocaust denial movement would seize on any inaccuracy in a work published under its aegis and so went over the manuscript with a fine-tooth comb. Here the problems of personal experience versus hard historical evidence, subjective view versus objective “truth” became most apparent. As it turned out, the Center spent several years working with the author and others to get the manuscript into a form that they would feel comfortable publishing.

University of Notre Dame Press naturally became frustrated and the editor who had engineered the initial acquisition left the Press before the project was completed. As the manuscript became increasingly distant, at least in some respects, from the translation I had submitted, other connections also began to loosen. The Center never held me to my obligation to read the page proofs (rather a disappointment) and thus I have not contributed to this aspect of the book’s quality. It even remembered me by the name I use when I send relevant clippings along to the director of publications, so that my name appears rather casually in the book and on the dust jacket as Will Sayers—which would not have pleased my mother. Fortunately, Adam Rayski is still alive and received his first copy of the book in late May, 2005.

Although the Rayski book, now just out from UNDPress as, The Choice of the Jews under Vichy, Between Submission and Resistance, was a very long haul, it was satisfying work. While it was taking final shape, the Center also engaged me to translate another book dealing with the same complex of events, these experienced and retold as a memoir by Gerhart Riegner, the first salaried employee of the World Jewish Congress, who operated from Geneva during the war years and later. He is best known as the man who sent the Riegner Telegram, the first credible statement to the West on the existence of the death camps in Eastern Europe.

Since then there have been other translations, some for Cornell University Press, and the cats and I are a little more comfortable with our mornings. But sitting down to page one, book one, remains a memorable and rather harrowing experience. Perhaps you should try it. The encouraging thing is that there are no good translations, only graduations of less bad. For readers interested not in academic translation but rather that of belles lettres—novels, short stories, essays, poetry—Gregory Rabassa has a memoir of his first work on South American authors such as Julio Cortázar, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Gabriel García Márquez. It was recently reviewed in the New York Times Review of Books (May 15, 2005) and is available to readers here as, If This be Treason: Translation and its Dyscontents. Cornell has a copy in its collection.

Getting Started
There seems no hard and fast rule as concerns getting a first commission. Some things not to do are to contact the press which published the original, since translation rights are usually not actively marketed, although presses will exhibit at large book fairs. But it will be the English-language press that takes the initiative, not the original publisher. Writing to a British or North American press with a great idea for a translation also seems not to work well. You may get an enthusiastic response and invest considerable effort in promoting your title but in my experience this has never caused a press to change its priorities. The soundest thing seems to be to sit down and decide what your interests and strengths are. Then look in a directory of academic presses and learn the identity of the acquisitions editors at the various presses for the fields you are interested in. Write them a very brief covering letter, for their files, and attach a compressed list of your qualifications. Then, when you get your first assignment, make sure you have a great library to back you up and that everyone on the reference desk knows and tolerates you!

Textile Mania

See below for some of the regional textiles collected by David Block, Anne Kenney, and David Wyatt during their travels in South America and South East Asia. On a Friday in June they shared their treasures with Library staff at a Brown Bag lunch in Olin. David Block’s textiles, collected over the last thirty-five years, include Bolivian homespun clothing worn by native people in the Andean Highlands. More photos can be found here.

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