October 2007

In this issue:

LSDI at CUL:  One Year Later
Geneva Library Celebrates 125 Years
Mann Library Reopens Old Doors to New Library
The End of Recon
Unit in the Spotlight:  ILR Catherwood Library
Women Swimmin’
People News
Picnic 2007
Farewell
Obituaries
Retirements

LSDI at CUL:  One Year Later

Bill Kehoe

One year ago, on October 17, 2006, CUL announced the Large-Scale Digitization Initiative (LSDI), a partnership with Microsoft to digitize many tens of thousands of CUL's books.  CUL would ship its books to Victor, NY, to be digitized, Microsoft would get digital copies to add to its Live Search Books project, and CUL would get its books back unharmed, as well as digital copies for preservation and access.  What kind of progress have we all made during this year?

The short answer is that all three partners have been working hard to solve the many administrative, technical, and logistical problems that can be expected in a project as large as LSDI.  A short answer, however, doesn't do justice to the scope of the project; nor does it explain a rate of progress slower than the three partners originally expected.

The goal for the first year was to process 100,000 non-brittle, English-language monographs published between 1851 and 1923--books not rare and also in the public domain.  Some hundreds of volumes from the Rare and Manuscript Collection would be included, too.  The rare books are being digitized at Olin Library, but all of the others are being sent to Kirtas Technologies in Victor.

John Marmora, the lead on the Preparation team--the staff who are picking, shipping, and receiving the books--gives some idea of the size of the project when he says, "The new six-shelf book trucks that Kirtas built average 150 books per truck.  About 68 book trucks will be at Kirtas and 32 at Cornell at any one time.  At this point it will take about 46 weekly shipments, 736 book trucks worth, and 7,000 staff hours to process 100,000 books.  Cornell staff will send out for digitization up to 10,000 books a month and shelve another 10,000 returns during the same month."  The other steps in the process of preparing CUL's materials for digitization are being taken by the librarians and staff on the Annex, Selection, Bibliographic Control, and Access teams; all of the teams are similarly affected by the impending pace of the digitization schedule.

The scanning process, too, has been affected by that schedule.  The people at Kirtas have been working diligently to ensure that they can produce high-quality images very rapidly while, at the same time, treating CUL's books gently.  Additionally, they have had to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to perform something like a mirror image to CUL's materials preparation work flow.

The numbers of items involved make the project a daunting one for everyone involved with the physical books.  The project may have been even more daunting for the LSDI Storage team: in comparison to the total of all items previously digitized by CUL over the past 15 years, which use 5-6 terabytes of storage, the LSDI files will need a staggering 40 terabytes of disk space.  With the goal of building a manageable and affordable large-scale digital infrastructure for CUL, the Storage team investigated the feasibility of the current methods of large-scale storage and its management.  Many hours of consultation with storage experts from CIT and other institutions, many hours of discussion with vendors, many hours of analysis of requirements and proposals and risks have gone into the purchase recommendation written by the Storage team.

Marty Kurth, storage team leader

While the Storage team, led by Marty Kurth, has been planning for the hardware and the Materials Preparation Group and Kirtas have been perfecting their work flows, the programmers on the Repository & Ingest team have been working to build the software system that will manage the digital objects themselves, now and into the future.  When the average 370-page hardcopy volume is scanned and processed to make searching possible, it is converted into a very complex digital object comprising about 1,600 files.  For 100,000 volumes, that means a total of 160 million files to be managed.  Building on design and programming work done for earlier CUL projects at Olin and Mann, the team has created an end-to-end system that transports the files from Kirtas, checks their quality, creates descriptive and preservation metadata, and stores the objects in an open archival information system.  A recent innovation of note for CUL is the adoption of the JPEG 2000 file format for preserving images, a change that will reduce storage needs and processing time by at least a third.  The first thousand or so of the digital books are now being stored at Cornell on storage space that CIT has generously loaned to CUL.

Day-to-day progress in the LSDI project has been shepherded by Danielle Mericle.  Her tasks have been to communicate with Microsoft and Kirtas and all the CUL teams regularly and to keep everyone working together toward our goal.  She has also coordinated the in-house scanning of books in RMC, part of the larger project still in the pilot phase.  The names of the all of the teams' members and the local structure of LSDI can be found at http://wiki.library.cornell.edu/wiki/x/tLM.

And what has Microsoft been doing while CUL and Kirtas have been building the capacity and capability to produce the digital books that Microsoft will be making available?  A visit to the Microsoft Live Search site http://www.live.com will show the system they are working on.  At the time of the writing of this article, late September, 2007, the "Live Search Books" link is tucked away in a "More..." drop-down list of beta software.  It's a rather robust beta, though.  A search for “would found an institution” returns 39 hits.

The pamphlet that is displayed is NOT from CUL's collection, however.  It was digitized at one of the University of California libraries.  The University of Toronto is also an early contributor to the Live Search system.  Books from CUL are scheduled to begin appearing at the end of this month, October 2007.  All of them will be identified by a bookplate that will be inserted near the front of the digital book.

A view inside one of the books returned by the search shows the quality of the images and the services provided at the level of the individual book.

The screen shots that appear here hint at the promise of the LSDI project.  CUL receives digital copies of a large number of its books, furthering its dual mission of preservation and access; Microsoft will add them to a large and growing collection of digital books they are making searchable and accessible on the Web.  When the project will have been completed, books that have seldom been opened through the decades will appear in search results and will become visible and, more important, will be useful to scholars not only in Ithaca but around the world.

Editor's note:  look for the LSDI team in the next issue of Kaleidoscope as the Unit in the Spotlight.

Geneva Library Celebrates 125 Years

Mike Fordon

The New York Agricultural Experiment Station first became operational in 1882.  The annual report for that year lists book donations and library acquisitions, so it seems clear that the Station’s library is as old as the Station itself.  Purchases and donations continued and the collection grew larger every year.  In 1896 Director W.H. Jordan sought to hire a full-time person to take on the task of librarian and editor of the Station’s publications.  Frank Hall, hired in 1897, was the first to fill this role.  His successor, James Luckett, convinced the director that the two jobs should be split into separate positions.  Consequently, this was done in 1924 and Catherine Oaks became the first person to hold the title of librarian exclusively.

The library was likely to have originally consisted of books shelved in a variety of offices and labs.  Then in 1897 it was consolidated in the Denton House (later named Parrott Hall), which was the administration building and home of the director.  Three rooms on the west side of that building were set aside and a weekly “library day” was established to encourage staff members to take advantage of the current scientific literature.  After Jordan Hall was completed in 1918 the library was moved to that location.  Again this presented an opportunity to bring stray bits of the collection together under one roof--although there were still smaller department libraries which were branches of the main library in Jordan Hall.

When Frank Hall was in charge of the collection he devised his own system of organizing the books and shelved them accordingly.  After he left the position in 1920 it became clear that method was untenable.  James Luckett consulted with librarians at the Department of Agriculture in Washington and was strongly advised to adopt the Dewey Decimal system.  Use of a standardized system made the collection more accessible and ensured that successive generations of users would be able to locate desired material and carry on with proper maintenance of the collection.  It was only in the mid 1990s the library switched to the Library of Congress classification system which organizes and classifies books by subject categories.  This system remains in place to this day.

Because of the Station’s early commitment to grape related research (grape breeding began in the 1880s) the library has been collecting viticulture and enology related books for quite some time.  Today, the library is part of the larger Cornell Library and is the university’s main repository for grape growing and wine making books and journals.  Thanks to the strength of this collection and the Station’s work in the field, when the Eastern Section of the American Society of Enologists was looking for a place to establish an Eastern U.S. library dedicated to these topics, they chose the library at the Geneva Experiment Station.  The idea, originally proposed by Phillip Wagner, was the library would serve as a place for ASE/ES members to have access to important journal articles and books they might otherwise not be able to find.  Once approval came in the late 1970s the ASE/ES, later named the American Society for Enology and Viticulture / Eastern Section, began donating $500 annually to support the purchase of new titles in grape and wine science.

The Station library has always been an important source of information for scientists and researchers who work at the Station.  However, budget limitations and the library’s small size, when compared to larger more comprehensive Cornell libraries, have occasionally been a source of frustration to faculty needing ready access to current journals and books.  One frustrated faculty member was Frank A. Lee who worked in food chemistry from 1936 to 1967 and conducted important work in the area of freezing.  Dr. Lee, concerned that the library did not always have the means to procure the best materials, left a sizable bequest to the library in his will.  In recognition of Dr. Lee’s 2.3 million dollar gift, the Experiment Station Library was renamed in his honor in 2000.

Mann Library Reopens Old Doors to New Library

Jim Morris-Knower

Development Sociology graduate student Amanda Flaim found herself in a really long line at Mann Library on August 24.  No, she wasn't checking out books at the circ desk; rather, she was waiting in the food line at Mann's Open House.  She found the wait was well worth it, though, when she finally made it to the cake and lemonade and then toured the newly opened original library building.  "The library is so beautiful," she said.  "I'll never go outside again."

The wait was certainly worth it seemed to be the general consensus among the hundreds of faculty, staff, and students who attended the come-and-see-the-progress party that celebrated the return of the library's entrance to the ag quad.  Patrons who ventured beyond the lobby and its enticements of free food, music, tattoos, and raffle prizes witnessed first hand how the renovation of the original Mann--designed by architect Cornelius J. White in the 1930’s, built in the early 1950s, and closed for renovations in 2000--retained the glory of the original art deco interior while adding modern necessities like air conditioning.

While everyone cheered the building's cool interior on a 90+ degree summer day, it was the physical beauty of the renovated space that really captured everyone's attention.  Especially eye-catching was the five-story atrium that greets patrons to the library with streams of light cascading into the building and connects the original building with the addition.  "The atrium creates a 'heart' to the library," commented Landscape Architecture professor Peter Trowbridge when he saw it at the open house, "and the transparency to the plantations woodland links the academy to nature.  BRAVO!"

Also back to party at the library on the 24th were Sarah Davidson and Ashlee McCaskill, who organized a 50s styled renovation ball in the lobby's interior in 2003 when the library was first vacated for renovations. Sarah, a PhD candidate in Plant Biology, and Ashley, a recently minted PhD in the same field, attended the open house wearing the same vintage 50s dresses they wore to the sock hop four years ago, and their outfits blended perfectly with the restored lobby.

Though the construction trailers are off the ag quad and the library's entrance is on it once again, there remain some exciting milestones for Mann in the months to come.  Study tables and chairs for the lobby, 3rd floor graduate student study area and other spaces will be arriving soon, as will the high tech tools for the new Bissett collaborative work space on the 2nd floor.  The adjacent Mann Gallery will be having its first exhibitions in September and October, and Mann's famous Chats in the Stacks book talks will now take place in the newly renovated seminar room just across the lobby from the café.  Come spring, there will be four new computing classrooms--two on the library's first floor, accessible both from within the library and the lobby, and two in the library's basement.  And when they finish the tunnel under Tower Road, patrons will be able to travel underground from the new biotech building to the basement of Plant Sciences and on into Mann.

With so many reasons to never go outside again, the library recognizes a special responsibility to encourage all Mann library lovers to reconnect with their families periodically and take in fresh air at least once a week.  Food and coffee, meanwhile, may be had in plentiful supply within the building at the Manndible café.

More info on the evolution of Mann may be found on the Mann Library renovation website at http://www.openhouse.mannlib.cornell.edu/.

The End of Recon

Ed Weissman

Not very long after the Cornell Library began creating machine-readable catalog records for new acquisitions in the OCLC database at the end of 1973, we began to create machine-readable records for titles that had been cataloged before the advent of online cataloging, the process referred to as retrospective conversion.  Through the leadership and foresight of Assistant Director for Technical Services, Ryburn Ross, Cornell was among the initial group of participating institutions in the CONSER (Conversion of Serials) Project, and in the spring of 1976 staff in the Serials Department of Central Technical Services began to create machine-readable catalog records in the OCLC database for our serial titles.  Thus began over 30 years of retrospective conversion at Cornell.

In the early days, most of the work was done in-house.  Staff searched OCLC or the RLIN database to see if records already existed and, if so, added local call numbers and other local information.  If not, information from the catalog cards was keyed in and new records created.  Often books had to be pulled to verify incomplete information on the cards.  In later years, the bulk of the record creation was contracted out to a variety of vendors, although library staff still had lots of work to do preparing the catalog cards for shipment, responding to questions from the vendors, and cleaning up after the records were loaded into our online catalog and barcodes were created and inserted into the books to allow for online circulation.

Retrospective conversion activity was very much dependent on grant funding.  In some years, grants from agencies such as the National Endowment for the Humanities allowed us to convert many records.  In other years, fewer records were converted.  But retrospective conversion never entirely stopped.  The South Central Regional Library Center (SCRLC) provided small grants for many years that helped us keep the process going.  In 2001, through the efforts of University Librarian Sarah Thomas, we received an $830,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and it was this funding that got the Library to the finish line.  Over 1,900,000 records were converted in all.

Many, many staff and students all across the Library were involved in retrospective conversion over the years.  I'd like to mention a few in particular who come to mind:  Florence Hayes and Elizabeth Perenyi who worked on the serials record conversion from the start in 1976 until they were all converted; Marjorie Robinson who converted the majority of titles for the Rare and Manuscript Collections; Barbara Tarbox who did so much of the preparation and clean-up work from the early days right up until the end; and Hana Dedina who managed the retrospective conversion projects from 1998 forward, including the final Mellon-funded push.  Thanks to the efforts of all who were involved, bibliographic access to Cornell's outstanding collections is available to scholars and researchers around the world.

For a complete list of the recon projects see <http://www.library.cornell.edu/recon/summary.htm>.

Unit in the Spotlight:  ILR Catherwood Library

Front row, from the left:  Gordon Law, Richard Strassberg, Helen Hamilton, Sharon Reeves, Melissa Holland, Lynn King; Center:  Zach Kemp, Deb Lamb-Deans, Jim Del Rosso, Stuart Basefsky, Chris Miller, Mary Newhart; Back, from the left:  Julie Dean, Angie Wagner, Susan Lacette

Women Swimmin’ 2007

From Sally Lockwood

In early June of 2006, Suzanne Schwartz, Annie Becker and I decided to form the Carollers Women Swimmin’ Team to benefit Hospicare and Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County for the 3rd annual Women Swimmin’ event.  Annie’s sister Carol Buckley passed away from ALS in June of 2005 and we wanted to give back to an organization that had done so much not only for Carol but also for her whole family.

After last year's swim, Suzanne, Annie and I agreed to do it again in 2007.  We were so proud of ourselves!  Although we were novice fundraisers, we managed to raise about $800 and our respective boating and swimming experiences gave us a sense of empowerment.  But it was not to be.  Suzanne broke her wrist early in the summer and we had not seen Annie in time to make plans.  If I wanted to participate in the 4th annual Women Swimmin’ event I would have to do so on my own.  The thought of fundraising without Suzanne and Annie’s help made me nervous.

To keep going I thought of Carol and her words, painstakingly spelled out one letter at a time a few weeks before she passed away:  “I always felt I’d been blessed with incredible friends.  What I’ve so enjoyed is seeing the crossover happen, where new friendships are being born, and those who barely knew one another (but care for me) are hugging.  It’s truly beautiful.  It helps me hang in there when I can see the good things in this mess, you know?”  Those words still resonate with me today and I suspect will do so for a long time.

Once I registered as a swimmer, by some miracle the right help appeared out of nowhere.  I felt blessed with incredible connections.  I learned that one of my neighbors was a whiz at fundraising and planned to boat during the event.  When I told her I was a swimmer, she jumped at the chance to help me raise money.  With her guidance, I set my goal at $1000 and actually surpassed it!

Joining the Dragon Boat team gave me a tremendous workout.  My endurance improved rapidly, my upper body strength increased, and the hot summer of 2007 ensured that I got plenty of lake swimming practice as well.

The day of the event, I got up at 5 am to be at the Ithaca Yacht club by 6.  It was a misty morning and it looked like we might be rained out.  I watched the canoers and kayakers unload their boats and scramble to move their cars so others could unload.  Looking forward to meeting the women in my pod, I headed toward the coffee and bagel station.  Later, we stood by the shore watching the clouds dissipate as the sun streamed over the west shore.  At one point, it appeared to be raining rays of sunshine!  We heard the haunting sound of Bob Kibbee’s bagpipes and I looked over to see him standing by the point sending off the boaters.  There is something mystical about Women Swimmin’ and I plan to participate for as many years as I can.

From Bob Kibbee

Joan Brumberg had the original idea for bagpiping as a stirring sendoff to the swimmers; this was after I had played at a party at her home.  At first, I was apprehensive.  I came to the bagpipes very late and still consider myself a beginner.  I was even more of a beginner that first year I played!  But in the same way this event brings out the best in all the participants, it brought out the best in my piping.  I am very proud to have been a part of this amazing community effort for the last three years.  The swimmers and boaters always seem to appreciate the playing, but this year was exceptional.  No bagpiper can resist playing across the "loch," and with the sun rising and the mist on the hills it was a perfect time and place.

This year I played a little more than usual--playing while the kayaks and canoes went out, but my main task was to pipe the swimmers onto the boats and give them a rousing sendoff.  For this, I played a tune called "Steamboat" and the ever-popular "Skye Boat Song."  Every year the community effort and the dedication of the swimmers is inspiring, but this year was particularly inspirational because my wife, Janet McCue, was swimming for the first time, and she had put a lot of effort into preparation, as well as having to overcome a fear of the open water.  I gave her a special send-off with one of her favorite tunes, "Sad am I to be in Ireland."

It was a thrill to send her and all her 249 companions off on their swim.  I hope I can continue to play for Women Swimmin' for many years.

From Susann Argetsinger

My friend invited me to canoe with him this year for the event and I liked the idea of supporting a worthy cause and doing something fun at the same time.  The adventure aspect definitely appealed to me too--getting up at 4 am to be at the Yacht Club by 6 and paddling across Cayuga Lake with over 100 other boaters--something I hadn't done before.

Being out on the water so early in the day was lovely, especially with the mist and pockets of fog in the hills and eventually the warm glow of sunrise lighting up the western shore.  The air was cool but comfortable, and there was a nice sense of camaraderie among all of us waiting for the swimmers to arrive.  It was exciting to follow the progress of the MV Manhattan as it came over with the swimmers, and even more exciting to watch them jump off into the water.  Sometimes it was challenging to keep out of each other's way, with so many swimmers and boaters in the water, but we ended up escorting a strong group of four women who impressed us with their stamina and skill in staying on course and steadily making their way over to the Yacht Club.  As we got closer we could hear Bob Kibbee’s bagpipes on shore, and the lively sounds of the Yardvarks' music, which made the day seem even more festive.

Because we were with one of the first pods of swimmers, there was plenty of time to go back out to escort other swimmers from later pods so we did two more crossings, including being with a group of about eight other canoes and kayaks who paddled along with the last swimmer.  I loved it that as that swimmer approached the docks, several other swimmers jumped back into the water to swim in with her--to loud cheers from the crowd.  What a wonderful show of support--the kind that seemed evident throughout the event.  I was impressed with the efforts of all the people who made the day so successful, and was happy to be part of an enjoyable experience.  I would gladly do it again.

From Barbara Berger Eden

Barbara Eden with Janet's pod; photograph supplied by Bob Kibbee

This was my second time swimming for this amazing community event.  When the swim began four years ago, Joan Brumberg told me she wanted to see women swimmers from the Library participating, and she knew that there was a group of us that regularly swam together.  I didn't agree at first, for I had never swum 1.2 miles before.  Three years ago I ran into an old friend the evening of her swim, and she told me what she had just accomplished.  I thought, "If Lois can do it I can!"  I was then determined to do the swim.  This year I was able to improve my time by 15 minutes, and once again felt very connected to all of the swimmers, the boaters, and of course the worthy cause that Hospicare is.  I encourage anyone who is contemplating this to sign up.  Anne Kenney told me we should do this until we are 80, so if you can't join us for 2008 there will be other opportunities.

From Anne Kenney

The morning of the swim was cool but beautiful.  Cloud cover broke to the east around 6:30, allowing the sun to mark the spot where the swim would begin.  The colorful canoes, kayaks, and swimmers spread out across the lake looked like a psychedelic Dunkirk.  My main fear wasn't whether I could swim the distance, but whether I'd freeze in the process.  But my "pod" buddies and boat friends surrounded me, providing a virtual cocoon of warmth.  Only my fingers complained by swim's end.  The rest of me was pumped by the experience.

People News

WELCOME

Kaila Bussert is the new public services librarian in the department of Collections, Reference, Instruction, and Outreach.  Previously Kaila worked at the American University in Cairo, Egypt as Reference/Digital Access Librarian.  Kaila received her MA in Information Resources and Library Science from the University of Arizona, Tucson, in 2003.

Willa Collins is the new technical services assistant in the Music Library.  She has a Master of Musicology from Rice University in Houston, Texas.  Previously Willa was a teaching assistant at Cornell in the Music department.  She is also a doctoral candidate at Cornell.

William Cote is the new public services assistant in O/K/U Access.  He has a BS from Montclair State College in Montclair, New Jersey.  William previously worked for Historic Ithaca, Inc. as a warehouse supervisor at Significant Elements.

Lorena Dremel is the new administrative assistant in the Echols Collection on South East Asia.  She is a recent graduate of the Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, MA, earning a Master's while working at Harvard’s Widener Library as a stacks assistant.  She also holds a BA in Religion from Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO.

Robert Kotaska is the new public services assistant in O/K/U Access Services.  Robert previously worked at Cinema Source in Ridgefield, CT as a data manager.  Robert holds a BA from SUNY Buffalo, with a major in Arts in media and a BA from SUNY Fredonia in English.

Ella Sadza Loinaz is the new public services assistant in O/K/U Access Services.  Ella has a Master of Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk, Poland.  Previously she worked at Cornell in the school of continuing education as an Arts Activities Coordinator.

Gerda Shank is the new programmer/analyst in DLIT and will be working on the arXiv.org project.  Previously she was a software engineer with Oracle.  Gerda has a BS from the University of Wisconsin.

Heather Shipman is a new technical services assistant in LTS Cataloging. She is a 2001 graduate of Cornell’s astronomy program.  Heather previously worked at Borders in Ithaca.

Cassandra Shortle is the new public services assistant in ILS.  She has an MLS from the University at Buffalo.  Previously Cassandra worked for the Finger Lakes Library System in Ithaca.

Welcome to Judy Stribling who joined the Weill Cornell Medical Library on October 1 as a temporary Information Access Specialist.  Judy has her MLS from Pratt Institute and an MA in history from the University of Southern Mississippi.

O/K/U Preservation and Collection Maintenance welcomes two new staff members:  Chaw Susu and Thet Mar Oo have been hired as public services assistants to help with the paging and processing of books chosen for transfer to the Library Annex.

Kariann Teeter is the new public services assistant in O/K/U Access Services.  She has an Associate of Liberal Arts from TC3.  Kariann previously worked at Lansing Residential Center in Lansing, NY.

Yael Zucker is the new technical services assistant in LTS Acquisitions.  She has an MA from Haifa University in Israel.  Yael previously worked as a flight attendant for EL-AL Israel Airlines in Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Transfers, Promotions, and New Assignments

Diana Goodrich is the new Borrowing Coordinator in Olin Interlibrary Services.  She comes to us from a previous position in Olin Circulation.

Tiffany Howe has transferred from Public Services Administration to Library Administration.

Michelle Hubbell is the new coordinator of the Library Public Services Office and the O/K/U billing supervisor.

Zachary Kemp is the new Night Supervisor and Reserves Manager at the ILR Library.

Judd Karlman has been promoted within O/K/U Access Services.

Troy Shaver has transferred from the Library Annex to O/K/U Access Services.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Law Library has a new Web site thanks to Julie Jones, Jean Callihan, Sasha Skenderija, and Stefan Mitropolitsky.  It features two navigational paths:  browsing by subject (who we are, what we have, what we do, faculty publications) and link piles by audience (for students, faculty, alumni, and visitors). Check it out at www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library.

Hello all--I'm thrilled to announce that Jennifer Sawyer, Director of External Relations for the Central Library at the University of Denver, will join us November 1 as the Director of Alumni Affairs and Development.  Jennifer comes with a range of experience in fundraising, marketing, and non-profit management.  At the University of Denver, Jennifer worked closely with alumni and friends groups, chaired the library's public relations committee, and served on various university committees, including the Prospect Management Task Force.  No stranger to the Finger Lakes region, Jennifer helped launch the Cayuga Medical Center's campaign to build a new center for radiation oncology in 2003 and helped Seneca Falls Library raise $3 million for a new library building in 2002.  She is delighted to be returning to upstate New York to live and to direct the development team for CUL.  "I am excited about this tremendous opportunity to work with the wonderful librarians, faculty, and staff at Cornell and the different prospects to seek support for one of the world's greatest academic research libraries," says Jennifer.  Please welcome Jennifer to CUL when she arrives.  (Anne Kenney)

We are making some staffing changes in Mann Collection Development in light of the reorganization last fall which created the new Services and Collections group at Mann Library.  Beginning in August, Nan Hyland will serve as Collection Development Coordinator for Mann Library.  Nan will have oversight responsibility for Mann's acquisitions budget, provide leadership for Mann's collection-building process, serve as the primary liaison with CALS and CHE faculty on collection related issues, and serve on CD Exec.  Nan will report to me as Head of Information Services and Collections at Mann.  Starting in August, please contact Nan for general issues relating to Mann collection development.  Nan will also continue in her role as Social Science Bibliographer for Mann Library and Psychology/Higher Education selector for Olin Library, as well as coordinator for the CALS Research Portal and the USDA Economics and Statistics Service.  Congratulations and best of luck to Nan in her new role!  (Mary Anderson Ochs, Head, Information Services and Collections, Albert R. Mann Library)

Earlier this month, Tom Cotton, CUL Facilities Coordinator, left the library to go on military leave of absence.  Tom will be serving in the Navy Reserve for the next several months, and we all wish him the very best.  While Tom is on military leave, Ron Clark, CUL building Coordinator for Olin, Kroch, and Uris, will serve as the interim Facilities Coordinator.  Ron has years of experience in library facilities and is well qualified to take over for Tom.  Ron's contact information has not changed, he can be reached at: rbc9@cornell.edu, 255-2405 (desk), or 327-0282 (cell).  His office will be in 2B05 Uris.  Adam Spry, familiar to many of you as CUL Senior Shipping Clerk, will serve as interim Building Coordinator.  Among other duties, Adam will be handling issues related to minor building repairs, maintenance, and requests for custodial assistance.  Adam can be contacted at: aes44@cornell.edu, 255-5767 (desk), or 220-4878 (cell).  Adam's office will be in 2B06 Uris.  Pete Schlough, formerly on the staff in the Preservation and Conservation Department, has returned to the library to work in the shipping department.  I'm sure many of you will recognize him as he makes his rounds delivering the mail.  Please join with me in expressing best wishes to Tom Cotton, appreciation to Ron and Adam for stepping in to their interim positions, and "welcome back" to Pete.  (Phil Koons, Facilities Manager)

The Law Library recently welcomed two visitors from the Supreme Court Law Library in Brazil, Head Librarian Lilian Januzzi Vilas Boas and Digital Librarian Monica Fischer.  Their internship here was the result of a collaboration that began when Director Claire Germain delivered the keynote address at the "First Seminar on Juridical Information Management in Digital Environments," an international symposium in Brasilia in February.  During their three weeks stay in September and October they participated in the general activities of the library.  They also presented at the Starr Foundation Workshop for international law librarians, "Tapping into the World of Electronic Legal Knowledge," held at the Law Library October 7-11, organized by Director Claire Germain and Radu Popa, Director of the Law Library at NYU School of Law.  The Law Library was very pleased to facilitate this cross cultural exchange of ideas. 

Ithaca’s 1st Annual Walk to D’Feet ALS

It was a beautifully sunny and unseasonably warm first day of fall Sunday, September 23rd which brought over 125 people together to Cass Park to walk on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail in honor of those living with Lou Gehrig’s disease and in memory of those who have passed.  Although the grand total is not yet known, it can be said that over $15,000 was raised at the Ithaca walk.  The walk represented about 13 people who have had ALS, two of whom attended on Sunday.  Cornell’s a capella group, Class Notes, came to participate in the walk and entertain the crowd with their beautiful voices.  Class Notes raised over $5,000 themselves.  Carol Buckley, a 15 year Cornell Library employee who passed away two years ago from ALS, was an active member of their group for two years and served as an advisor to them for many years after.  Seeing them and knowing that many of them never even knew Carol, but knew of her legacy and therefore walked in her memory, meant a great deal.  It was as though you could hear Carol singing and smiling right along with them.  (Bethany Silfer)

Kristine Alpi, Associate Library Director at Weill Cornell, has been recognized as a Distinguished Member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals of the Medical Library Association.  Congratulations to Kris!  (Photograph supplied by Kristine Alpi)

 

David Rosenthal, Network Administrator for the Law Library, and his wife Laura welcomed their first child to their family on July 10, 2007.  Haylie Jade Rosenthal was born at Cayuga Medical Center; she weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces and measured 20 inches long.  Congratulations to David and welcome, Haylie!  (Photograph by David Rosenthal)

Don’t miss the current exhibit at RMC, "Lafayette: Citizen of Two Worlds," on view from September 25, 2007 through April 28, 2008.  The exhibit marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Marquis de Lafayette, a singular man who left his mark on two cultures.  Best known for his role in the American and French revolutions, Lafayette (1757-1834) belongs to American and French history alike.  His ideals were formed both by the French Enlightenment and his exposure to America's culture of civic equality.  As a result, he viewed himself as a citizen of two worlds.  The exhibition is the most comprehensive display of Cornell's Lafayette Collection since its inaugural exhibition in 1964.  Cornell's Lafayette Collection is the largest of its kind in America; it numbers more than 11,000 original manuscripts, documents, and letters, and associated books, images, and artifacts.  You can see the online version here:  http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/lafayette/.

CUL PICNIC PHOTOS

My mother often remarked that the sign of a good visit was if people left hungry for more.  On that score, I'd say yesterday's library picnic was a rousing success.  The weather gods contributed to attracting an unusually large turnout for the event.  The turnout was so good (by some counts close to 500), that we ran short on food.  For those of you who didn't get to try the barbequed chicken or any of the other tasty entrees, my apologies.  Next year, we'll plan for more.

I do want to thank the many, many folks who worked on this event--and especially to acknowledge the use of biodegradable products.  In full recognition that I may omit a key planner's name, I'd like specifically to acknowledge the hard work of CJ Lance, Debbie Muscato, Rachel Brill, Ken Tiddick, Bronwyn Mohlke, and Keith Jenkins.  If you run into one of them in the next week or so, please extend your thanks as well.

~Anne Kenney

GOOD-BYE

Good-bye and good luck to Michela Barbieri, Preservation & Collection Maintenance, Christiana Diamond, Echols Collection, Nancy Holcomb, LTS, Mihoko Hosoi, Hotel, Dia Karakantas, Library Administration, Matthew Kibbee, Collection Maintenance, Sophia Kramer, Preservation & Collection Maintenance, Eckhart Lindemann, Engineering, Ron Liso, Engineering, Richard Strassberg, Catherwood, and Lindsay Vanberkom, O/K/U Access Services, who recently left the Library.

FAREWELL

 

Mihoko Hosoi

Mihoko Hosoi, Head of Instruction and Research Services in the Nestle Library, has accepted a position as Library Resources Manager at the J. Hugh Jackson Library at the Stanford Business School.  This is a marvelous opportunity for Mihoko who has been a mainstay of public service here in the Nestle Library since 2001.  Mihoko is known among alumni, students, and faculty for going the extra mile to provide top quality library service.  She has been our ambassador for visitors to the library and the school.  In December 2006, Mihoko received her Master of Management in Hospitality (MMH) degree from the School of Hotel Administration.  While we are losing a valued staff member, she will stay connected as an alumna!

~Don Schnedeker  (Photograph by Derrick Brown)

OBITUARIES

Robert Oakley, 1945-2007

Bob Oakley, our colleague at the Law Library from 1972 to 1979, died suddenly on September 29, 2007.  Claire Germain, Director of the Law Library and former president of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), shared this news with CUL and forwarded the official announcement from AALL president Ann Fessenden.  See also below the reminiscence from Diane Hillmann who worked with Bob when he was at Cornell.

Dear Colleagues,
It is with great sadness that I wanted to let you know that Bob Oakley passed away last Saturday, unexpectedly.  Bob was one of the most prominent law librarians in the country.  Many of you knew him, since he was a dual degree Cornell alumnus, having received his B.A. and J.D. from Cornell, and he worked in the Cornell Law Library as the Associate Librarian.
He will be sorely missed,
~Claire

Monday, October 1, 2007

AALL Mourns the Loss of Bob Oakley

It is with great sorrow that I announce the death of Robert L. Oakley on Saturday, September 29.  He had been hospitalized for treatment of complications following knee surgery in August, but had been expected to fully recover.  His death Saturday from cardiac arrest was completely unexpected.

At the time of his death, Bob was serving as our AALL Washington affairs representative and as director of the law library and professor of law at Georgetown University.  He also served as AALL president from 2000-2001.  Bob became AALL Washington affairs representative in 1989 and Georgetown law library director and professor in 1982.  As Washington affairs representative, he worked on a wide variety of issues, ranging from access to government information to censorship, copyright, and telecommunications reform.  Recently, he had been increasingly speaking for law librarians' interests in the international arena as well.

In addition to his work as the Washington affairs representative, Bob served two terms on AALL's Executive Board, from 1991-1994 and 1999-2002, including serving as president in 2000-2001.  He was chair of the Special Committee on National Information Policy from 1988-1990 and the Constitution and By-laws Committee from 1980-1982.  Before becoming director at Georgetown, Bob was the director of the library and associate professor at Boston University School of Law from 1979-1982 and served at Cornell Law School as associate law librarian from 1976-1979 and circulation librarian/assistant reference librarian from 1972-1979.  He received his JD and BA from Cornell and his MSLS from Syracuse.

A small service will be held on Tuesday, October 2, at 2 p.m. at Sugarloaf Congregation of Unitarian Universalists, 16913 Germantown Road, Germantown, Maryland; however seating in the church is very limited.  The Georgetown Law Library staff is planning a larger memorial service at a later date; Bob's many AALL friends and colleagues are encouraged to attend that service instead.  An announcement will be made as soon as details become available.  Please check Georgetown Law Library's Web site for the latest information.  Georgetown will also post information about appropriate recipients for memorial gifts, which have not yet been identified by the family.

It is largely through Bob Oakley's vision and leadership that AALL has become a leading voice in national and international legal information policy.  He will be sorely missed by his many friends and colleagues.
Sincerely,

Ann T. Fessenden, AALL President

 

I met Bob Oakley in 1976, before I even came to Cornell.  I was finishing up my library degree in Syracuse, and Bob was teaching a legal research course for the [then] library school.  At that point I was trying not to take classes from the regular faculty, having been largely under-impressed with the regular offerings.  Bob’s class was very, very different from the regular library school fare.

Bob taught that course as if it were a first year law school legal research course.  He used the Socratic method, which meant in this small group you could count on being called on frequently, making it very obvious who hadn’t done the readings.  (The class shrunk by about 50% after the first session—those who weren’t up to the challenge got out fast!)  The reading list was extensive, and each week we had a substantial amount of research to do in the SU Law Library.  Our final project was a brief on a constitutional issue that might be sufficient as congressional testimony.

We worked like dogs, all of us—Bob was the kind of teacher you wanted to please, and none of us wanted to let him down.  I think I ended up with a B+, and I worked harder for that B+ than I had for any of the A’s I’d gotten from any other class.  Bob’s class, for me, was the highlight of my three part-time years as a library school student.

After finishing my degree I looked for a job, without notable success (I was a union shop steward, which made many libraries a bit nervous).  Early the following spring (March 17, 1977, to be exact) I interviewed for a job at Cornell Law Library, and asked Bob for a recommendation, which he supplied.  Christian Boissonnas (then Head of Technical Services for the Law Library) might well have hired me without it--he wanted someone with serials experience who would argue with him and I certainly fit that bill--but I’d like to think that my enthusiasm for Bob’s class and hard-won B+ had something to do with being offered the job the following day.

The things that made Bob a great teacher also made him a wonderful colleague.  He was always well prepared, committed to making the library the best it could be, and expected the same from everyone he worked with.  Though he sometimes seemed to be a relentlessly serious person, that demeanor hid a great sense of humor and a wonderfully infectious giggle.

This past summer I attended the American Association of Law Libraries annual meeting for the first time in many years, presenting my metadata workshop as a pre-conference.  I went to the opening reception to see how many of my old law library colleagues I could run into.  I saw many people there I was hoping to see, but not Bob. I didn’t know until this week how sorry I would be to have missed him then.

~Diane Hillmann, October 2007

RETIREMENTS

Nancy Holcomb

Nancy Holcomb is retiring from Cornell after 20 years of service effective August 30, 2007.  Nancy has held numerous positions in her twenty years in Olin Library.  These positions included Metadata Librarian, Catalog Librarian, Science/Technology Catalog Librarian, and Copy Cataloger.  In her tenure, Nancy has been adept at learning how to catalog a variety of formats and materials, including foreign language materials, audio-visual formats, and maps.  We wish her much happiness and satisfaction in the next phase of her life.

~Elaine Westbrooks  (Photograph by Cynthia Lange)

Eckhart Lindemann

Eckhart Lindemann retired on March 30 after 21 years in the Engineering Library.  Eckhart came to Cornell in August 1986.  He started as night circulation supervisor and was promoted to reference specialist within a year.  He has degrees in botany (Rutgers) and horticulture (Technische Hochschule Hannover; since 1978 Universitat Hannover) and worked with plants before coming to the library.  His scientific knowledge and enthusiasm for learning has enriched the lives of many of us here at Cornell.  His teaching, language, and sleuthing skills with students have helped produce many Cornell degrees over the years, while always maintaining his good humor and can-do attitude.  He became the engineering library's expert on Chemical Abstracts searching before this system became available to end users, compiled endless statistics in Excel, organized thousands of technical report papers, and helped beautify the library with plants.

He drives a 1973 Volkswagen van and it has no rust thanks to his knowledge and care.  He holds a U.S. patent--System and Apparatus for Plant Culture Propagation (US 4,463,522).

His engaging stories range from his escape from the former East Germany and hiking the Alps to his recipe for rust proofing cars, growing unusual plants, exercise, birding, and astronomy.  At his retirement party, he graciously agreed to share his interests with us with a PowerPoint presentation, complete with audio.  We were treated to sights of mountains, animals, interesting book titles, and more.

On his original job application he wrote--"Excellent health.  Can and will do any type of work as necessary."  This is not something you typically see on a resume, but it reflects his sincere willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done.  He did an outstanding job.

We miss Eckhart but know he will enjoy having more time to travel, garden, and stargaze.

~Jill Powell  (Photograph supplied by Jill Powell)

Ron Liso

Ron Liso will be retiring from his weekend supervisor position in the Engineering Library at Cornell on September 21, 2007 after almost eighteen years of dedicated service to Cornell University Library.  Ron began his employment in the Engineering Library in January of 1990 as a circulation/ reserve assistant and has consistently been a hard working, reliable, and flexible contributor to this Library and others in the CUL system including the Physical Sciences Library.

Ron is truly a very helpful and gentle person whose strengths are in his customer service abilities, his sensitivity to the needs of others, and his respectfulness.  He is especially good with and well liked by the many students he trained, supervised, and tutored over the years.  This will certainly serve him well in his next role as a pre-kindergarten teacher, which has been his ultimate goal.  Throughout the years he has been a substitute teacher and, although it saddens us that he is leaving the library, we are so happy that he will now be able to teach full time.  Ron is an active member of the Ithaca community and I'm sure we will still be seeing him often!  Please join me and the staff of the Engineering Library in offering Ron congratulations and wishing him all the best.

~John M. Saylor  (Photograph by Jill Ulbricht)

Richard Strassberg

Richard Strassberg has announced his retirement from Cornell effective late September 2007.  His last day at work will be Friday, 28 September 2007, just a few days past the 36th anniversary of his first day at ILR on 16 September 1971.  His Cornell career actually began in September of 1968 when he was placed in charge of technical processing at the University Archives.  He transferred over to Catherwood from his position at the University Archives.  His Cornell career will span 39 years by the date of his retirement.

Given such a long term, highly productive presence at Cornell, it is very difficult to envision a future without him.  Richard has been immeasurably helpful to each of the four Catherwood directors he has worked with over the years and I have benefited the most of all of them from his advice and counsel.  He has been active system-wide on many committees and in professional associations as well, including the Society of American Archivists.  Several years ago Richard was awarded the John Commerford Labor Education Award for Lifetime Achievement presented by the New York Labor History Association.

A search for Richard's successor will begin shortly.

Gordon T. Law, Jr., Director
Martin P. Catherwood Library

Richard Strassberg Retires and Strassberg Research Fellowship Announced

Gordon Law

Richard Strassberg retired on 9 October 2007 from Cornell after a distinguished career of nearly 40 years of service.  He was honored at a reception in the Statler Terrace Lounge on 25 September 2007.

Richard holds an MA, with honors, in librarianship with a concentration in archival administration.  He also holds a graduate degree in American History.  After completing internships at the Colorado State Archives and the Colorado State Historical Society, he began his Cornell career in 1968.  Within a short time, he was promoted to the position of Assistant Archivist for Technical Processes in the university’s Department of Regional History and University Archives.  In 1971, Richard moved over to Catherwood, working with Herb Finch who held a half-time appointment at ILR and was in charge of the Labor-Management Documentation Center (LMDC).  Early in his appointment at ILR, Richard assumed primary responsibility for the program and was formally appointed Director of LMDC in 1978.  Two years later in 1980, Shirley Harper, the Catherwood Director, gave Richard additional administrative responsibilities and appointed him Associate Director at the Catherwood Library.

Richard is Catherwood’s first recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Librarianship.  He is a charter member of the Academy of Certified Archivists.  Among other distinctions, he was honored in 2002 with the John Commerford Labor Education Award for Lifetime Achievement presented by the New York Labor History Association, an organization he helped to found in 1975.  Last December, he won the ILR School Recognition Award for his service and contributions to the school.  He has been active in the Society of American Archivists, and is recognized as a national authority on building and archival security as well as other aspects of archival administration.

Under his leadership, the Kheel Center has developed into the foremost labor archive of its type in North America, rivaled only by the Reuther Center at Wayne State in Detroit, the AFL-CIO’s Meany Center in Silver Spring, MD, and the Wagner Archives in New York City.  The collection totals nearly 20,000 linear feet of manuscript material, including an historical photographic collection documenting the labor movement of over 360,000 images.  The Center also holds more than 2,000 sound recordings relating to the labor movement.  The Kheel Center is the repository for the papers of many influential organizations in the state and nation with which the ILR School maintains important relationships.

The wave of construction at ILR which began in 1994, and continues today with ongoing renovation of the faculty wing, had its genesis in planning which Shirley Harper began in 1977.  Richard played a role in convincing Shirley that the library was long overdue for expansion and updating.  Once she began to focus on this project, Richard worked closely with her over the years to rehearse ideas for design and help write a building program.  The finished product embodies much of Richard’s thinking, including the importance of bringing the most heavily used archival collections together into compact storage at Ives where researchers could gain access in a timely manner.  Before the library tower was built, Kheel Center collections were scattered around Ithaca in many locations and making files available for researchers’ use often involved some delay.

In addition to presenting a Cornell rocker in appreciation for his commitment and service to Cornell, a photograph of Richard was unveiled which will hang in the Kheel Center.  It bears the following inscription:

“In recognition of exceptional leadership and dedication to the university, the library system, and the ILR School, the Richard Strassberg Research Fellowship was established on the occasion of his retirement and with funding provided by Ann S. and Theodore W. Kheel.  Strassberg Fellowship stipends are granted to scholars on a competitive basis to defray expenses incurred in traveling to Ithaca to conduct research using the collections of the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives.”

Establishment of the Strassberg Fellowship recognizes Richard for his central role in promoting scholarship in the field of labor and management relations as well as enhancing the visibility of one of the nation’s foremost archives and documentation centers.

We will miss his wise counsel and extend to him all our best wishes in retirement.

Memory Book for Richard Strassberg

Richard Strassberg is retiring from his positions as Associate Director of the Martin P. Catherwood Library and as Director of the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives on October 10th, 2007.  The Center is the special collections unit of the Catherwood Library, the foremost library of its kind in the United States.  He has held the position of the Director of the Archives since 1978 and was appointed Associate Catherwood Director in 1980.

During his thirty-nine year career at Cornell, Rich has had experience in every aspect of archival administration.  Following internships at the Colorado State Archives in 1966 and the Colorado State Historical Society in 1967, he was hired as Assistant Archivist for Technical Processes in Cornell’s Department of Regional History and University Archives in 1968.  In 1970, he was appointed the Technical Processes Coordinator for the department.  In 1971, Richard joined the staff of the Labor-Management Documentation Center as its Associate Archivist and moved to his present position as Director of the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives in 1977.  (The Center was renamed in 1995.)  The Kheel Center is among the leading repositories of its kind in North America.

Richard holds an MA, with honors, in Librarianship with a concentration in archival administration and a graduate degree in American history.  He is the recipient of the New York State Chancellors Award for Excellence in Librarianship and has been a member of the Academy of Certified Archivists since it was founded.  Richard is an active general archival consultant, with a specialization in library and archival security and writes and lectures widely on security as well as other aspects of archival administration.  He is the founder of the Society of American Archivists’ Security Roundtable and originated and co-taught the Society’s Security Workshop since 1990.

Richard and his wife Marilyn have just celebrated 41 years of marriage.  They have two children, Michael and Pamela, and six grandchildren.  Marilyn will continue her employment as Director of Residential Services at Longview, a senior residence on South Hill, after Richard's retirement to the status of house husband, home contractor, and occasional archival consultant.

A memory book is available for you to make comments at www.ilr.cornell.edu./memoryBooks/Richard-Strassberg.html

The memory book will remain open until 12 November 2007.