People to People, Librarian to Librarian
Pat Court
China looms large as an economic force and a burgeoning player on the world stage. A country of great majesty and profound hardship, modern cities and jobless villages, poetry and axle grease, China intrigues me to learn more. So I was thrilled when I was invited to join a delegation of law librarians on a two week trip last fall to China as a People to People Citizen Ambassador. Above, I stand in front of the Hall of Literary Glory and the Imperial Library in the Forbidden City.
People to People Ambassadors is a program established by President Dwight Eisenhower to encourage peace and understanding through meaningful contact with people in countries around the world. By experiencing how others live their daily lives and how similar professionals conduct their work, we learn to appreciate more deeply our similarities and gain new knowledge for our own work.
People to People delegation of law librarians in Beijing with local hosts on each side
I traveled to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, and Kunming in late October and early November last year. My Chinese friends in the U.S. told me it was a wonderful time of year to be in China for perfectly mild weather. It was also harvest time, which fascinated me on our long bus rides through the countryside. I saw rice, corn, melons, tomatoes, soybeans, flowers, tobacco, and more being harvested by hand on the small family plots that covered fields and hills like patchwork. As a Midwestern girl, I am used to corn fields stretching as far as the eye can see. But the reality of tiny plots, worked without tractors or combines, but with hoes and the occasional water buffalo, was quite eye-opening.
We were a small group of ten law librarians, just the right size to fit comfortably around a circular table to enjoy what felt like a banquet at every lunch and dinner. With a glass turntable filling most of the table, we spun through delicious meals offering at least twenty different dishes at every restaurant. Peking duck was a favorite, but not the fried scorpions. We enjoyed kung pao chicken, eggplant in bean sauce, venison hot pot, colorful dragon fruit, and cabbage every way imaginable.
In Beijing, our delegation met with staff from Peking University Law School, where we visited the Law Library which had recently lost much of its space to the Olympic venue for ping pong! The librarian proudly showed us their complete volumes of Cornell Law Review, 
one of just a few English language journals in the collection. We met with the producers of ChinaLawInfo at their offices (see left), one of the premier legal databases used by Chinese lawyers and others around the world. One of our most interesting visits was to the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), where we talked with the editor-in-chief of the Publishing House, editors, the law librarian, and three attorney alumni of CUPL who now practice in the largest law firm in China. It was surprising for our delegation to learn that they subscribe to major American databases and Westlaw, Lexis, and HeinOnline are all available to their faculty and students.
Discussion was lively around the question of how law practice in China has changed (or not) due to the global economic problems currently being faced. The Chinese criminal lawyers are not seeing much change in their practice; however, business for the bankruptcy attorneys is up, and they expect it will continue to increase as they face more financial problems in the next year.
The profession of law has changed dramatically over the last fifteen years in China. Attorneys used to hold government positions, but now are private professionals. There are 559 public law schools in China, with over 300,000 students of law at all levels each year. However, it is not easy for graduates to find jobs as lawyers. The first step is to take the National Unified Justice Examination, which is required for lawyers and judges, but the passage rate is only ten per cent. The court system is now more independent of the government, and corruption is now prosecuted, sometimes quite severely. (See above for a classic Chinese garden; this one is in Kunming.)
On our big tourist day, we walked with the crowds through Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. I had watched so many Chinese movies in the months before the trip that entering the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Palace of Heavenly Purity felt like coming home. See left the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City. The Great Wall of China was magical to see, knowing it spans four thousand miles across northern China. It looked like an exposed spine on the unending mountain sides.
Shanghai is a very modern city, the Manhattan of the East – skyscrapers and lights and bustling crowds everywhere. Our delegation met with several librarians and a law professor at East China Normal University, where we felt we could get to know our counterparts on a very realistic level. When one of our group described the extensive legal materials available on computers at her library, the Chinese librarians were very excited and asked if they could access it too. The answer was: yes, but only if you come to our library. So they were thrilled when I then introduced Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute and the Cornell Law Library web site, which make legal information and research guides free to web users around the world. That insight for them was a good trade for all the hospitality and knowledge I was soaking up. We also had an insider’s tour of the Shanghai Library, enjoyed a homemade lunch at the apartment of a local family, and toured the Bund (their famous waterfront district), Old Town, and Yu Gardens.
After the professional meetings, I continued to tour in interior China, to visit the Terracotta Warriors near Xi’an and the Stone Forest outside Kunming. Constructed as a mausoleum by the first emperor of China over two thousand years ago, this underground army of over seven thousand clay warriors, horses, and chariots was built to protect the emperor in the after life. Amazingly, the site was only discovered by farmers in the 1970s. The Stone Forest, seen above, is a vast area of karst formations that look like trees from afar. These hauntingly beautiful and dramatic stone landscapes were formed over two hundred million years ago.
Terracotta Warriors near Xi'an
As a practitioner of Tai Chi here in Ithaca, I knew I just had to join an early morning group while I was in China. Another in our delegation also does Tai Chi regularly, so he joined me at People’s Square in Shanghai to go through the slow, fluid moves with the locals. It was a real highlight of the trip for me! And, yes, I did come home with souvenirs to bolster my memories of the trip. Jade, silks, cloisonné, a scroll painting, children’s picture books in Chinese, and more found their way into my suitcase. It was a remarkable two weeks that has given me much to bring back to my work at Cornell as well as an abundance of colorful memories. I like to think of this as my FIRST trip to China.
Photographs by Pat Court
Redesigned Library Web Site Goes Live
Zsuzsa Koltay
“Absolutely fantastic job with the new Web site. I can’t tell you how frustrating the old one was. A very welcome change.”
“The new site is fantastic – a huge improvement.”
“Disaster! Did you pay someone for this?”
“I love the new library Web site! Very attractive and user-friendly. . . . ”
“This new page is terrible.”
“I just wanted to say how much I love the new Web site redesign . . . it makes it a lot easier to find everything.”
This small sampling of varied opinions all describe the same thing: the completely redesigned CUL Web site that greeted students and faculty returning for the new semester in January. Since the previous site, the Gateway, had been mostly unchanged since its 2002 redesign, it’s not surprising that the change has prompted comments on both ends of the opinion spectrum. A particular point of pride: unlike the launch of the Gateway some years back, this time around there has not been feedback calling for the immediate firing of everyone associated with the project.
The new home page is the result of a user-centered design philosophy and has gone through several rounds of usability testing. Instead of listing all choices and services offered by the library, it is designed around the few major tasks that students and faculty have told us they come to the site to accomplish.
- A search box allows searching the catalog, licensed resources, and Vivo right from the home page, with convenient links to advanced search options. Although searching still takes place in multiple systems, the user experience is more unified than it was in the past.
- A new beta catalog provides global coverage with integrated delivery options and advanced Web 2.0 features.
- The new My Account feature on the site brings together user records from Voyager, BorrowDirect and Interlibrary Loan.
- Course help brings together the current semester’s course listings from a Day Hall feed with course reserves information from Voyager and course guides created by librarians.
- Another new feature of the site is We Recommend, where users and librarians alike can share their favorite library tips and resources with each other.
- The site also features the results of other aspects of the Web Vision project: LibGuides as an authoring tool for library guides and CUL Labs as an area for experimental tools to make library research easier.
- There is also something new under the hood as the site is based on Drupal, an open source content management system. Drupal’s architecture allows the Web site to be built in a very modular and dynamic way, a feature that should pay off during the planned ongoing development. The numerous content contributors, to be trained during the month of February, should enjoy a reportedly user friendly editing interface.
This quick rundown of the major new features does not do justice to the complexity and magnitude of the project. The implementation team has done a wonderful job pulling all the pieces together for an on-schedule launch. Thank you for all your hard work and efforts:
Matt Arnstein, Jenn Colt-Demaree, Matt Connolly, Carla DeMello, John Fereira, Gwen Glazer, Shin-Woo Kim, Zsuzsa Koltay, Kavitha Reddy, Jim Reidy, Rick Silterra, Adam Smith, Nancy Solla, Kornelia Tancheva, Wendy Wilcox; also alums and friends: Nick Cappadona, Emilio Del Plato, Chris Mannly, Ellen Marsh.
I would also like to thank the supervisors and units of the team members for reprioritizing their task lists to allow the time needed for this big task. Although by far the biggest commitment came from DLIT, the list of all the departments whose work the project has touched demonstrates the cross-unit and cross-functional nature of the project: DLIT, Communications, Mann ITS, Research and Learning Services, LTS, RAU and RMC.
With this, the implementation team signs off, and hands the baton over to the incoming co-directors of Web service development: Nan Hyland and Adam Smith.
Photograph of Zsuzsa by Gwen Glazer
Charging Ahead with Training
Ardeen White
So, what do Botnets, mailboxes, and cascading windows have in common? These are just a few of the topics covered in the past year in a Library Technical Services (LTS) training class.
The LTS Training Committee has met unofficially since mid-2005 when library integration made it essential for staff to all “be on the same page.” Then in 2007 we received an official charge giving us a scope of responsibility, guidelines for membership, and a license to charge ahead! The group consists of 5-6 members with three permanent members: Anna Korhonen (chair and LTS Senior Management Team, SMT liaison), Ardeen White (LTS training coordinator), and Linda Bryan (LHR ex-officio). The remaining members are appointed to two-year rolling terms. For 2009, those additional members are Sally Lockwood, Liisa Mobley, and Cynthia Rich.
The Committee works closely with SMT to determine what training needs are priorities in LTS, supplemented by an occasional survey. Then we develop and implement workshops taking into consideration all existing resources available. A total of eleven different classes were presented in 2008, and all were taught by Library staff except one. It is delightful to notice how many prospective trainers respond favorably and with enthusiasm when asked to teach a class. This is also an opportunity for trainers to hone their speaking skills as well as learn new material and tailor it specifically to LTS needs. And, we are proud to add, the classes received positive evaluations, were well-attended (223 participants in 2008), and all this was done with little cost to the University!
The LTS Training Committee, front row from left: Linda Bryan, Liisa Mobley, Ardeen White; back row from left: Anna Korhonen, Sally Lockwood, Cynthia Rich; photograph by Betsy Elswit
In addition to organizing classes, the Committee has their own web page which is loaded with class information, useful training resources, and helpful links to other Cornell sites and beyond. Whenever possible, the Committee posts handouts and PowerPoint presentations from classes as a follow up to training or for staff unable to attend the class. We also have our own wiki for posting meeting minutes, our annual report, and room information.
Staying ahead of the rapid technological changes in the library and the corresponding training needs is a challenge, but the Training Committee is charged up and ready to lead the troops into a learning-packed 2009!
Photograph of Ardeen by Cynthia Rich; banner photograph of Ardeen by Cynthia Lange
Unit in the Spotlight: Johnson School Management Library
Front row from left: Neely Tang, Public Services Librarian, Susan Kendrick, Public Services Librarian, Barbara Bartholomew, Reserve Assistant, Teresa Whitaker, Office/Circulation Supervisor; back row from left: Elena MacGurn, Reference Specialist, Melissa Jackson, Night Supervisor, Angela Horne, Director, Lee Ringland, Circulation Supervisor, and Robin Shoemaker, Serials Assistant; photograph by Kyi Gyaw, student employee
Strategic Thinking about Staff Engagement: Changing the Status Quo
Angela Horne
If a colleague whispered the letters SAG in your ear, what would come to mind? The glamorous stars of the Screen Actors Guild? Big buckets of South African gold? Open positions with the Servicio Agricola Ganadero (Chile’s Agricultural Cattle Service)?
Or perhaps you immediately thought of CUL’s Strategic Alignment Group?
In May 2008, Anne Kenney formed the SAG team (Eric Acree, Bonna Boettcher, Linda Bryan, Jim Del Rosso, Erla Heyns, Angela Horne, Somaly Kim-Wu, and Bethany Silfer) and we set forth with this charge:
"The Goals 2010 Strategic Alignment Group (SAG) will prepare a white paper by September 15th, 2008 for review by Anne Kenney and members of the library's Administrative Team (CAT). SAG's work will provide senior library administrators with an ongoing, multi-directional communication process that feeds input up, down and throughout CUL. The team's report will propose how to engage staff in implementation of the library's goals and objectives for the period 2007-2010 and will also recommend ways to ensure that the library's strategic direction can be course corrected as the information landscape evolves. The paper will include expected outcomes and measurement options, including agile methods for continuously gathering information about innovative opportunities and focusing efforts on user needs. Data gathered in the recent ClimateQual survey and the upcoming staff engagement call (coordinated by the Research and Assessment Unit) will be integrated into SAG's work as appropriate."
We began our work by scanning relevant published literature and internal reports, meeting with selected individuals and groups, and trying to think as broadly as possible about how to ensure that every CUL employee feels connected to Goals 2010. The famous anecdote that a custodian who worked at NASA felt that he was helping put a man on the moon applies to CUL – everyone’s work contributes to the research, teaching, learning, and overall scholarship goals of the Cornell community.
SAG didn’t view its work as merely an exercise in pushing the library’s strategic vision outward; rather we strove to discuss ways to help the library culture move forward to embrace the goals (or at least understand them!).
In October 2008, the SAG report was released and our team has been gratified by the constructive feedback we’ve received. Every idea shared helps us refine our ideas as we prepare for our second report. Yes, there will be a second report!
The SAG team, front row from left: Eric Acree, Somaly Kim-Wu, Erla Heyns;
back row: Linda Bryan, Bonna Boettcher, Angela Horne, Bethany Silfer,and Jim Del Rosso; photograph provided
Our current charge states:
"The Goals 2010 Strategic Alignment Group (SAG) is charged in phase two of its work to gather input from CUL employees and create an action plan based on the recommendations and framework detailed in its report "An Opportunity to Challenge and Change the Status Quo." The phase two plan will provide suggested timelines, priorities, and teams/individuals responsible for completing the actions. SAG will work in a consulting capacity with staff charged to implement the recommendations. SAG will complete phase two by January 31, 2009."
SAG couldn’t create a timeline and action plan on its own, so we have used a variety of techniques to garner feedback and spur discussion. These have included: departmental / unit discussions, a short online survey, direct comments from library employees, and seven recent forums. In January, sixty-three different staff attended one or more open forums to share ideas concerning SAG’s main topics: engagement, communication, course correction, teams, outcomes and measurement, and information gathering. We are still analyzing the data, and we are already finding common themes that were raised in almost every forum. We were also able to lead Library Exec through the forum process in a separate session, and their responses matched many of those expressed by CUL staff. All feedback will be included in SAG’s phase two report. To whet your appetite, here are a few representative comments (taken from either the staff or Library Exec sessions):
- “I feel engaged with my work and with CUL when I get positive feedback for things I’ve done well”
- “To me, respect means a willingness to listen to other perspectives and [being able to ] appreciate that folks can disagree and it’s okay”
- “I respond best to change when I’m included in the process; when my input and expertise are valued and appreciated”
Due to the economic downturn, and a desire to hear from all staff, Anne Kenney has asked us to delay our final report until at least the end of February. This will enable us to have a better sense of how budget cuts may affect our proposed roadmap forward.
The SAG team hopes that our phase two report will provide stakeholders with realistic suggestions for how to help CUL’s culture continue to evolve as we all strive to meet Goals 2010 and make CUL an excellent place to work.
A Legal Valentine
By Seth M. Siegel '74, JD '78
Our story begins a trifle less
Than one-hundred years ago,
With the health of Miss Jennie McGraw
Oh, so terribly low.
The heroine of our story
Was ill, as you'll soon see.
In fact she was dying
Of contagious TB.
The illness did not stop Cornell Librarian
Mister Willard Fiske,
Who said, "TB or not TB,
I'll take the risk."
What did he see in her,
This man so debonair?
Could it be that she was
A multi-millionaire?
Tho' Jennie was sick, dying
And thirty-nine,
The Cornell scholar asked,
"Will you forever be mine?"
Willard pursued her in Europe,
They were engaged in Venice,
About the time Jennie's cough
Became a public health menace.
At the Consul's home in Berlin,
Jennie and Willard were wed.
"Till death do us part,"
Willard merrily said.
They honeymooned in Paris
And then cruised down the Nile.
But the specialists warned darkly
That Jennie had but a short while.
She declared, "We must return home
At once! Immediately!
Cornell and Ithaca are places
I must again see."
Cornell had much interest
In beloved Jennie's fate,
As Big Red was the main taker
In the poor one's estate.
As Jennie succumbed, her loved ones
Called the mortician's black hearse.
She was entombed in Sage Chapel,
As each contemplated on her purse.
Her last Will was heard
With few dry eyes,
Each mourner waiting to hear the words,
"I do bequeath and devise. . . ."
Fiske took much,
Cornell took more,
But this is where begins
The jurisprudential war.
Here's some stuff for the lawyers
Who love the irregularity:
It seems that spouses were barred by law
From giving so much to charity.
Fiske learned this, by
The purest of chances,
And also that Cornell tried to cover this up
To improve its own finances.
It seems that Boardman,
Estate's executor and Law School dean,
Had hands which were
Equitably unclean.
Fiske brought the battle in Tompkins County's
Surrogate's Court,
Where, we know, is the place
That probate is fought.
Fiske lost at this low court
And chose to appeal higher,
All the while ranting at the dean,
"Boardman! You're a liar!"
Forty-five Hun's Reports
Page three-fifty-four
Is where we find the appealed case
"In Re Estate of McGraw."
Tho' Cornell won at the Surrogate's Court,
On appeal, it came out worst.
The New York Supreme Court wrote:
"That decision is REVERSED."
Boardman and the Cornell trustees,
Especially Henry Sage,
Couldn't believe the court's report
And flew into a rage.
In New York, it seems, there's a court
Supremer than Supreme,
So, the trustees went there
To resurrect their scheme.
At the Court of Appeals,
One-eleven New York sixty-six,
The Cornell trustees continued to get beat
And to take their licks.
After receiving the Court of Appeals'
Affirming report,
Boardman said, "Let's put our faith in
Our US Supreme Court."
But when Boardman read,
One-thirty-six US one-fifty-two,
His mood turned from one of hope
To one of sheer rue.
For the High Court held
Against the Big Red,
Tho' it took forty pages
To say what they said.
Fiske took his wealth
And retired to an Italian villa,
Where he collected books, threw parties
And was a regular lady-killa.
But if this story sounds unfair,
Perhaps even cold,
It's because the happy end
Has not yet been told.
Willard's Will read at his death,
Would everyone's respect compel,
For he gave all his worldly wealth
To his wife's beloved Cornell.
And now in Sage Chapel
Rests the man said to have had no pride.
And resting beside him for eternity,
Is Jennie McGraw Fiske, Willard's only bride.
I hope you've enjoyed this Valentine's story,
Which was less romantic than legal.
It's been my pleasure to be your reporter,
I'm Cornell-lover Seth M. Siegel.
(c) Seth M. Siegel
Photographs from the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections include portraits of the lover protagonists, Fiske's Italian villa, Fiske's library housed in Florence, and a portrait of Jennie McGraw at the time of her wedding (the last photograph); photograph of Douglass Boardman bust by Julie Jones; photograph of Henry Sage provided by Elena MacGurn
Many thanks to Mr. Siegel for allowing us to reprint his poem, originally published in the February 1979 issue of Cornell alumni news (Vol.81, No.6, p.22) as, "A Brief Poem." Its genesis was research for a class on Trusts and Wills, taught by Professor Judith Younger. The assignment, in the form of a contest, was to discover the facts in the great Will Case of Cornell and provide all legal citations. Although the assignment was optional, Mr. Siegel rose to the challenge and submitted his entry in verse as it was due on Februrary 14. For more about Fiske see The Passionate Collector: Willard Fiske and His Libraries.
People News
WELCOME
There are no new hires to report in this issue of Kaleidoscope.
PROMOTIONS
With pleasure, I am announcing that Jim Del Rosso, Web Editor and Reference Assistant at Catherwood, has just accepted the position of Web & Digital Projects Manager at Catherwood effective Monday, 19 January 09. Any questions and requests you might previously have forwarded to Mary Newhart's attention regarding the Catherwood Library's web site and/or DigitalCommons@ILR should now be sent to Jim's attention at jdd10@cornell.edu, 607.255.8688. Please join me in congratulating Jim in his new role as Web & Digital Projects Manager at Catherwood. (Gordon Law)
I am pleased to announce that Liz Muller will be rejoining LTS Database Management & Metadata Services (DMMS) in January as the new Metadata Librarian. Liz has worked in CUL Library Technical Services since 2005, having served as a catalog management assistant in DMMS, a copy cataloger for the Harris and Native American collections, and most recently as a rare books cataloger. In her new role, Liz will be responsible for providing metadata consultation, design, development services, and outreach to facilitate the use of digital and analog information for research and education across a wide array of academic disciplines (yes, that's a quite a mouthful!). She will also continue to work as a rare books and map cataloger, albeit on a greatly diminished basis. Liz holds an AB in Cultural and Intellectual History from Princeton University, an MA in the History of Architecture and Urbanism from Cornell, and will be receiving her MLIS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign later this month. Welcome back to DMMS in your new role, Liz! (Jim LeBlanc)
CHANGES
Library Executive Group
Anne Kenney, Carl A. Kroch University Librarian
Lee Cartmill, Associate University Librarian for Administrative Services
Dean Krafft, Chief Technology Strategist
Xin Li, Assistant University Librarian for Strategic Initiatives
Janet McCue, Associate University Librarian for Teaching, Research, Outreach, and Learning Services
Oya Rieger, Associate University Librarian for Information Technologies
John Saylor, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Communications and Collections
Edward Weissman, Assistant to the University Librarian
Scott Wicks, Associate University Librarian for Central Library Operations
The Library Executive Group replaced the CUL Administrative Team on September 1, 2008. With the appointment of John Saylor, effective February 1, the senior leadership team of the Library is complete. Lib Exec's primary responsibilities are setting goals and priorities for the library and making system-wide resource allocation decisions. You can see the new organizational chart here.
Last week [January 5, 2009] the Adelson Library welcomed two new volunteers. Linda Orkin, who many of you know as a Lab of Ornithology docent and trained naturalist has volunteered to work in the library on Tuesdays 11AM to 1PM. Robin Tuttle, an avid birder will be working on Wednesdays 2PM to 4PM. Robin is a home schooling mom who is also a trained librarian interested in brushing up on her library skills. Please welcome our new volunteers when you see them and take it easy on them until they learn the ropes. (Jacie Spoon)
With Marty Schlabach's change in responsibilities, becoming head of collection development at Mann Library, it is necessary to make some changes to the day-to-day management of the Entomology Library. Betsy Bush will be supervising the student assistants and managing the operation of the Entomology Library. Betsy is the reserve coordinator at Mann, works regularly at the Mann circulation desk, and has an array of library experience at Mann that will be applicable in the Entomology Library. Hiring and training of the students assistants will be more integrated into Mann Library circulation staffing, giving more flexibility for covering schedule gaps in the Ent Library, and giving the Ent Library student assistants more training at a more active circulation desk at Mann. In general, various aspects of services at Entomology will be integrated into the appropriate group at Mann, much like collection development for Entomology is integrated in the Mann collection development activities and procedures. Marty will continue to be the liaison to the Entomology Department and welcomes your questions and comments. Betsy can be reached at <bab7@cornell.edu> or 255-9569. (Marty Schlabach)
***
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2009
To: Cornell University Library
From: Janet McCue
Subject: Steve Rockey, Interim Director of Engineering
Dear Colleagues,
Please join me in welcoming Steve Rockey as the Interim Director of the Engineering Library effective Feburary 1st. To a certain extent, this will be like a homecoming for Mr. Rockey. Steve graduated from Cornell with a degree in Engineering and even worked in the Engineering Library following graduation. Most of us are familiar with Steve's leadership of the Mathematics Library--a well-run operation with an outstanding collection that is valued by the community in Mallott Hall. Steve will continue as the director of the Mathematics Library while he is serving as Interim Director of Engineering. To do so, he will rely on the very capable and dedicated staff in both the math and engineering libraries.
In celebrating Steve's 35 years of service, Jean Poland dubbed him one of CUL's "pioneering entrepreneurs." Before Google began digitizing books, Steve suggested that the "QA's" might be a a good pilot collection for scanning--and that was twenty years ago. He has continued supporting digital initiatives as diverse as Project Euclid and EMANI (Electronic Mathematical Archiving Network Initiative). Many of these national and international initiatives depend on Steve's collaborative skills. He is thoughtful, analytical, practical and well-respected by his professional colleagues. Steve is active in both the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Sciences Publishers Library Committee.
In addition to his passion for public services, Steve is passionate about his two children, Ben (CU '04) & Kate Rockey-Harris (CU '06), Cornell ice hockey (only Steve would travel to Florida to watch ice hockey!), hiking in the Rockies or cross-country skiing in the woods of the Finger Lakes area.
Please join me in welcoming Steve to this new role!
***
Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2009
To: CU-Lib@cornell.edu
From: Deb Schmidle
Subject: CRIO--a New Year, a new name, a new structure
As we herald in a new year, the department formerly known as Collections, Reference, Instruction, and Outreach (CRIO) is unveiling a new name--the Department of Research and Learning Services. This name is the result of a rebranding of CRIO's identity to more broadly reflect the services provided by Olin and Uris Libraries to the humanities and social sciences.
Furthermore, I am very pleased to announce that Susette Newberry, who was previously CRIO's Outreach Coordinator, is now the Assistant Director for the Department. In her new role, Susette provides oversight of the instruction and liaison services for the department with a special emphasis on services for the humanities.
Susette is a longtime Cornellian; she earned a doctorate here in the history of art and worked for several years at the Johnson Museum of Art. Susette came to the library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections in 2000, where she was Coordinator of Public Programs. In 2007, she joined CRIO as Outreach Coordinator, and has led the Library Outside the Library team of the Web Vision project and the VIVO Humanities curatorial team. Susette is also the selector for Art.
When you see Susette, please congratulate her on this appointment.
***
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009
To: cu-lib@cornell.edu
From: Oya Rieger
Subject: DLIT Organizational Changes
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to announce the new organizational structure of the Division of Library Information Technologies (DLIT). The goal behind the reorganization is to provide cohesive oversight for our programs, facilitate priority setting, expand our capacity, create more balanced portfolios and workloads, and encourage and support professional growth.
We restructured DLIT into two groups:
Infrastructure
Managed by Marty Kurth, this unit oversees the Library's servers; server-based information systems such as Voyager, Luna Insight, and eCommons; data storage and backup; digitization and reformatting; desktop services; and administrative computing. Marty has worked in university libraries since 1988 and has served at CUL since 1999. His CUL positions have included Head of Cataloging and Head of Metadata Services in Library Technical Services and Head of Digital Library and Discovery Services in DLIT. He has contributed to the library and information science literature over the years on topics including transaction log analysis, information browsing, controlled vocabularies, and metadata management.
Application Development
I am pleased to announce that Simeon Warner will lead this new unit, which will focus on digital repositories, scholarly communication technologies, web development and enduring access (digital preservation). Simeon came to Cornell in 2001 and has managed arXiv within DLIT since 2006. His research expertise includes web information
systems, repository interoperability, and open-access scholarly publishing. He is one of the architects of the Open Archives Initiative OAI-PMH and OAI-ORE specifications and has been an active contributor both in the national and international initiatives that explore new scholarly communication models.
We'll also have a small administration & planning group with focus on project management, organizational development, and financial administration. Please see the attached chart for the details of our team structures.
We scheduled two open houses to talk about the changes and our agenda for 2009 as well as hear your ideas and comments:
- February 3, 2009, 10am, 703 Olin
- February 26, 2009, 10am, 703 Olin
We are also planning to start a quarterly newsletter so that we can keep you informed of our work and share with you information on the technology and users fronts that may be of interest to you.
We are excited about our new organizational structure and look forward to a productive and enjoyable 2009!
***
Date: Mon, 08 Dec 2008
To: CU-LIB@cornell.edu, mann-staff-l@cornell.edu
From: Marty Schlabach
Subject: Lee Library Changes
THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS FROM TOM BURR:
Re-Engineering Lee Library for the Future
In the context of serious budget constraints at the NYS Agricultural Experiment Station as well as throughout the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the University, but mindful of the key role that Lee Library plays in the Station community, the Library will be implementing some significant changes. The plan outlined below was developed collaboratively by the Station administration, CALS administration, and Lee and Mann Library staff. Three key components will be 1) a consolidation of library space and print collections by withdrawing print volumes where electronic versions are available, 2) a reduction of staffing to one person, with some services and resources being delivered by Mann Library and 3) a future goal of developing an exemplary virtual library web site that will facilitate easy discovery of and access to the wealth of services and resources relevant to the research, outreach and instruction activities of the Geneva, Portland and Hudson Valley communities’ needs.
1) Consolidation of Library Space and Print Collections
The Library’s print collection will be down-sized and consolidated in one location on the first floor of Jordan Hall. Space can be created by withdrawing the bound volumes of journals where the electronic equivalent is available. This is possible because of Lee Library’s collaboration with other Ithaca campus libraries in adding access to many electronic journals, both current subscriptions and the purchase of the “back files” of many journals. Substantial shelf space will open up in the first floor stacks area of Jordan Hall, allowing the entomology collection in Barton Lab, the book collection on the second floor of Jordan and the publications in the Jordan basement storage to be integrated into the first floor stacks of Jordan. This new arrangement will make it easier for faculty, staff and grad students to access the library books and journals and easier for staff to support and maintain the collection.
The subject profile of the collection will remain the same and new materials will continue to be added. Selection of new books and journals for the collection will be integrated into Mann Library Collection Development procedures, with recommendations continuing to be welcome from the Station community as before. Lee Fund and other Geneva-specific endowments will be managed by Mann Library Collection Development with all funds benefiting Geneva.
2) Staffing and Services
Day-to-day activities will be managed by one staff person, Mike Fordon, who will report to Marty Schlabach, now the Head of Collection Development at Mann Library, with Mike also having a “dotted line” reporting relationship to the Station Director. Holly King will be taking a position in the Administrative Service Center, and will continue to be available to provide back-up staffing of the Library. We all want to thank Holly for all her contributions and dedication to the Lee Library over the years and congratulate her on the move to the Service Center. We will call on Holly for her expertise as the new plan for the Lee Library unfolds.
Lee Library will maintain standard hours. Public access computers, software, printers, scanner and copier will be available. Basic circulation and reference services will be offered, as well as library-to-library delivery, interlibrary loan and other document delivery services for materials not located at Geneva. There will be expanded reliance on Mann Library and other Cornell Library staff for assistance with these services, such as chat, email and phone reference and technical assistance at times when Lee Library staff is not available. In addition, Mann will explore better use of new distance learning facilities recently installed at Mann to share access to workshops, seminars and other Ithaca-based instruction opportunities.
3) Virtual Library
This transition will also give the Library the opportunity to develop a web presence tailored to the subject needs of the Station community and taking into account that library users in Geneva, Portland (Lake Erie) and the Hudson Valley as well as other outlying Cornell laboratories are physically located some distance from the Ithaca campus. This virtual library will organize the services and resources provided by the Library in a manner that will improve the discovery of appropriate and relevant information resources and assist in the access and use of the wealth of print and electronic content provided by all the libraries of Cornell. Mann Library Information Technology staff will take the lead in this development in collaboration with Lee Library staff as well as other Geneva faculty, staff and students. New technologies are constantly emerging that have the potential of improving the delivery of library services.
The Lee Library was established to help meet the scholarly information access and management needs of the Station faculty, staff, students, visiting scholars, stakeholders and others participating in the Station community. The plan in place is intended to continue the tradition of the Station being a supportive and invigorating place for scholarship, outreach and instruction. This transition will take some time and substantial effort. Suggestions, feedback and other input will be very welcome as this plan for the future evolves. Please feel free to contact Marty Schlabach mls5@cornell.edu or Mary Ochs, Acting Director of Mann Library mao4@cornell.edu, or Tom Burr tjb1@cornell.edu with your comments and questions.
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to John Saylor on his appointment as AUL for Scholarly Resources & Special Collections.
"A search that reached around the globe revealed that the very best candidate for the position of Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources & Special Collections was an internal one," announced Anne Kenney in early December. She continues, "I have accepted the search committee's unanimous recommendation that John Saylor be appointed the Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources & Special Collections, effective February 1. With this appointment, the senior leadership of the Library is now in place" (Take One, December 8, 2008). See below for more on John.
John's new portfolio combines collection development, scholarly communication, and special collections responsibilities system-wide. It acknowledges the growing importance of special collections in defining the local campus holdings as mass digitization, licensed content, expedited document delivery, and collaborative lending arrangements broaden the scope of what can be provided to faculty, students, and other researchers. As the AUL, John will be administratively responsible for the collections development budget as well as the Division of Rare & Manuscripts Collections and Kroch Asia. Additional direct reports include Terry Ehling, Kizer Walker, and Peter Hirtle. Terry will remain Director of the Center for Innovative Publishing, and Kizer's interim role as Assistant to the AUL for Collection Development will become permanent. Peter Hirtle's title will be changed from Intellectual Property Officer to Senior Policy Advisor, as his role has evolved beyond pure intellectual property issues to include contractual negotiations with companies (such as Google and Amazon) and advising on such matters as scholarly communications directions, legislation affecting libraries, and digital preservation alternatives.
John Saylor is an excellent choice for this position. For the past three years, he has ably managed the library's materials budget and collection development responsibilities, working closely with selectors system-wide. A skillful negotiator, John has succeeded in tough contract arrangements with publishers to get the best possible return on the Library's huge investment in critical scholarly resources. A natural collaborator, John has led successful initiatives in digital library development and scholarly communications that have brought together library staff, faculty, administrators, editors, and other researchers. His leadership in the field of Engineering librarianship was recognized last year when the Engineering Libraries Division of the American Society for Engineering Education awarded him the Homer I. Bernhardt Distinguished Service Award.
John spends most of his non-working hours with his best friend who also is his wife, Sue Compton, playing music in The Purple Valley and a few other bands. In 1982 he co-founded the High Noon Athletic Club at Cornell, which is an extremely informal group of runners of all abilities (faculty, students, staff, locals, and visitors) who meet every weekday at noon for a run together. When not playing music or running he enjoys carpentry (he built most of his own house), learning new things, and growing vegetables. John tells me that when he grows up he wants to be a jazz musician and travel again to Ireland and Japan.
In closing, I want to thank the Search Committee for their excellent work in selecting John Saylor for the position. The members included: Elaine Engst, Peter Hirtle, Curtis Lyons, Janet McCue (chair), Dan Mckee, Nerissa Russell, Kizer Walker, and Scott Wicks. (Anne Kenney, Take One, December 8, 2008).
Kudos go to Jeremy Cusker, Reference Assistant in the Engineering Library, for creating our latest display inside the library and online:
E-Books in Science and Engineering: Extra Libraries, Hidden in Plain Sight.
The Cornell University Library system has access to more than 400,000 e-books, including several whole libraries specially designed for use by students, scholars and professionals in science and engineering. These e-books are available in full-text, from anywhere, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Some of the individual e-books in these collections are not easy to locate by regular searches in the library catalog. To find them, you need to know where to look. You can access this and PDFs of our other displays at
http://astech.library.cornell.edu/ast/engr/about/Exhibits.cfm.
Thanks also to Anna Korhonen, who assisted with some fact checking. (Jill Powell) (photograph provided)
Happy Birthday to Neely Tang, Johnson School Management Library, who celebrated her birthday with close to two million people this year. She writes: "We began our celebration on Martin Luther King, Jr. day (Jan. 19th) by volunteering at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., putting together care packages for our troops. We woke up at 3:30 on the 20th (what a way to start my 33rd year!) to get to the metro which was already very busy. By the time we got out at our exit, there were already hundreds of people making their way to the Mall. We got as close as possible without tickets (about 4th & Independence). Everyone was lovely and the mood was definitely celebratory. Within a few feet of me, there were two other folks celebrating their birthdays and we were all serenaded by the crowd around us. The cold (and it was definitely cold!) and the waiting were worth it when Obama took the stage and became our 44th president. All I can say is that I feel fortunate to have celebrated my b-day and been a part of this moment in history."
Neely (on left) with her sister Sheila in Washington on January 20, 2009
(photograph provided)
Management Library & the Working World
With the economy in turmoil, the library stepped up efforts to help job-seekers this year. The Management Library staff increased the number of career research consultations and workshops to help students prepare for corporate briefings and job interviews. Using current industry insider resources and working together with the Johnson School Career Management Center, the Library is involved throughout the entire job-seeking process. "I can’t tell you how grateful I am," one patron said. "From the perspective of a student, it’s great to see how supportive the staff is here." (Elena MacGurn)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008
To: cu-lib@cornell.edu
From: Library Communications
Subject: CANCELED: Today's CUL Holiday Party at Duffield Hall
Neither snow, nor rain, nor gloom of night... but that's for the U.S. Mail service, and the dedicated librarians and staff who have to stay and work!
Unfortunately, the holiday party has been CANCELED. Please have a safe afternoon, and we wish you very happy holidays.
***
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008
To: CU-LIB@cornell.edu
From: Library Administration
Subject: Holiday Party Food: Mon., December 22
The food from the canceled CUL Holiday Party
will be set out on Monday, December 22
in the Olin Staff Lounge starting at 11:30 am.
Please come and enjoy!
***
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008
To: CU-LIB
From: Lee Cartmill
Subject: Uris' Tower Cafe closing
Dear CUL - I wanted to let you know that we were informed yesterday by CU Dining that they are closing the Tower Cafe in Uris Library effective with the end of this semester. This is a business decision on their part based largely on the declining volume of business the cafe has been experiencing. I also wanted to let you know that it is the library's intent to keep this space as a study area and continue to allow food to be consumed there. Dining has agreed to install additional vending machines to improve the selection available. We will take advantage of the extra space this will provide to expand the number of user seats. We will be working with Dining to have the space fully operational again by the start of the spring semester.
***
Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2008
To: CU-LIB@cornell.edu
From: Lee Cartmill
Subject: New food and beverage policies
Dear CUL,
As you know and have read, the University, as well as all of higher education and the nation in general, is facing difficult economic times.
Anne will be reporting later on other aspects of our budget planning in the Library, but in the meantime, there are a couple of changes I would like to implement now. Effective immediately I request that you discontinue the purchase of food and beverages for all library in-house events such as committee meetings, assemblies, forums, seminars and training sessions. While a relatively small step, it is something that can be done quickly and with no impact on services or staff. If you feel an exception is warranted please submit your request and reason to Rachel Brill (rlb54@cornell.edu). I realize that many of you, including central library administration, have already scheduled holiday events far in advance. I am not asking that these be cancelled, but please use your judgement and restraint where possible, even at this late date.
Also I am asking that you exercise judgement in the use of the Statler Inn and other local restaurants. I recognize that there will be legitimate business occasions that will continue to be appropriate, mostly when hosting outside visitors and candidates for positions. However, also effective immediately, the purchase of alcoholic beverages will no longer be permitted when using library funds.
As the Library Executive Group continues to review ways to reduce our operating costs, I encourage you to share your ideas via our budget planning website,
http://communications.library.cornell.edu/com/culbudget/. You should also feel free to discuss any suggestions with your supervisor or respective associate university librarian. Thanks for your support during this challenging and difficult time.
FAREWELL
David Banush, LTS Cataloging
Friends and colleagues gathered to say good-bye and wish David well after nearly eleven years at Cornell. David was presented with several gifts, including a gift certificate to Amazon, a framed print of the clock tower at night, and a framed print of St. Sebastian strangely resembling David's face. Speakers included Scott Wicks, Jim LeBlanc, and Gordon Law. See below for the party invitation and Scott's remarks. See here for party photos.
Farewell, David!
Please join with me both in congratulating and
bidding farewell to David Banush as he leaves
Cornell to become the Associate University Librarian
for Access Services at Brown University.
WHEN: 2 - 3:30 pm, January 29, 2009
WHERE: Kroch Library, 2B48
Remarks will begin at 2:45pm.
Scott B. Wicks
Associate University Librarian
Remarks
What’s in a title? If you know David and have read his written words, a lot.
You have only to look at the issues of Backstory to see his wit:
Such titles as ‘Metadata is for the Birds’; or ‘Raiders of the Lost MARC—Mining the Voyager Database for Fun and Profit’; ‘ITTS: Not Monty Python’s Flying Circus’; and my personal favorite—‘They Never Metadata They Didn’t Like: LTS Metadata Services, Now New and Improved!’
When David writes for the professional literature (not that Backstory isn’t professional), he’s used such titles as ‘Rabid Cataloging: a Response to David Bade’ where he deconstructs the flimsy arguments of one of his harshest critics. In a collaborative work with Jean Pajerek and Marty Kurth, the title was ‘Rehabilitating Serial Killers: An Automated Strategy for Maintaining E-journal Metadata’. But you won’t find it appearing that way in the literature as the editor of LRTS required the title be changed to ‘Rehabilitating Killer Serials: an Automated Strategy for Maintaining E-journal Metadata’.
Speaking of titles . . . let’s be clear about David’s new title, Associate University Librarian for Access Services. He will be managing technical services. But he’ll also have administrative oversight for interlibrary services, preservation, and stacks management, including the management of Brown’s library annex. Hmmm. That sounds a lot like my job!
When I had the privilege (and misfortune) to offer a reference for David, I wanted his potential new colleagues to know more about what I value in him. That he has several strong attributes including intelligence, honesty, a strong work ethic, and high performance expectations which he demands from himself and expects from his peers. (He also has voodoo dolls, but I’ll let them discover that on their own.)
I wanted them to know that I have a lot of respect for David’s intellect and his willingness to think about how libraries can best serve users both today and into the near future with the limited resources made available.
As I’ve mentioned, David has penned a number of professional articles that have brought him both fame and flaming arrows from those who have strong emotional reactions to his rational examinations of cataloging theory and practice. If you haven’t already done so, I recommend you read them. David’s voice has been among those few looking at the broader picture of cataloging to help focus on maximizing international efforts that will support users’ needs for information discovery and retrieval. I know he will apply the same care and insight to his broader portfolio.
But . . . it’s true. David is leaving.
Congratulations, David! Thank you so much for all you’ve done at Cornell! We will miss you and Brown is lucky to have you. (Scott Wicks)
Photograph of David by Cynthia Lange; party photos by Cynthia Lange
GOOD-BYE
Good-bye and good luck to the following folks who recently left the Library: David Banush, LTS; Mary Newhart, ILR; Liane O’Brien, CRIO;
Doris Smith, JGSM; and Laura Smith, Preservation & Collection Maintenance.
RETIREMENTS
Laura Smith, Preservation and Collection Maintenance
In November of 1979 Laura Smith started her career in the Serials Department of Olin Library, later to become the Conservation/Collection Maintenance Department. She started working by preparing monographs for commercial binding and later expanded to periodical prep. She took her turn at physical processing (book marking back then) and soon learned all the jobs in the department. As the department expanded and the Stiffening Unit was added, Laura took on additional responsibilities. She soon became a floater and would work wherever she was needed the most. Laura was a very dedicated and dependable employee. Laura's last day of work was Jan. 14, 2009. She is looking forward to spending lots of time with her husband and six grandchildren. She is also planning on visiting her daughter who lives in Arizona. We will miss her and wish her all the best in the next phase of her busy life. (Susan Cobb)
Photograph of Laura by Joan Brink
Credits: Kaleidoscope is published bi-monthly except June and July
by Cornell University Library. Editor: Elizabeth Teskey, Layout: Carla DeMello and Jenn Colt-Demaree
