ASDAL Action

Volume 25, No. 1 Special Anniversary Issue Summer 2005

IN THIS ISSUE

Columns


FROM THE EDITORS

As we approach the 25th anniversary of ASDAL, it seems fitting to commemorate the occasion with a look back at where we've been as a group, to reminisce and to think about how things have changed in our profession and what issues have remained the same throughout the years—thus this special issue of ASDAL Action!

In looking back at past issues, some positive themes stand out: how much the library field has changed through technology (remember those typed and mimeographed issues of this newsletter!); just how international ASDAL has become; how strong a bond has formed among this group of SDA librarians; and how fortunate we are to belong to such a unique organization! Some less positive threads also weave through the discussions, some of which may always be with us: the attempts to encourage the School Library Section to grow; the lack of adequate funding to accomplish our mission; how to do more with declining staffing levels; how to learn and make the best use of all that technology we have at our disposal!

We hope you have as much fun reading this special issue as we did in putting it together, and that you enjoy this little walk down memory lane. Enjoy the ASDAL "firsts," the histories of ASDAL and the presidential messages, as well as think back on the "lighter side" of ASDAL and all the fun we've had together throughout the years. A big thanks to all of you who helped make this special issue possible — we're most grateful!

Your editors,

Sallie Alger and Linda Mack

Sallie Alger is Head of Bibliographic Services at the James White Library, Andrews University. Her first ASDAL experience was assisting Linda with ASDAL Action. She has also presented and worked on local arrangements at ASDAL conferences and is currently ASDAL Action editor.

Linda Mack is Director of the Music Materials Center, James White Library. She is grateful for the monetary and moral support her D. Glenn Hilts Scholarship added to her library school experience. She has served ASDAL as ASDAL Action Editor (2 terms), the Scholarship & Awards Committee, and is currently President-elect.




ASDAL FIRSTS

By Cynthia Mae Helms

As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of our association, let us reflect on our beginnings. The Association of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians (ASDAL) began at Pacific Union College in June 1981 with Larry Onsager (Union College) as president; Peg Bennett (Southern Missionary College) as vice-president/president elect; Kit Watts (Andrews University) as secretary-treasurer, and Margaret von Hake (Columbia Union College) as editor. Union College was designated as the association's office and permanent mailing address at the 1984 conference. We became incorporated as a non-profit organization in the state of Nebraska in 1987.

Logo, ASDAL Action

Watts was responsible for the idea of an ASDAL logo and for having it designed and printed. Von Hake named the newsletter ASDAL Action and created the masthead by using the logo from the stationery. She used stick-on letters and extended the horizontal line off the L to underline the word Action. For a smaller version of the logo for the editorial box, she used the logo from the official envelope. It was a tedious job to prepare the newsletter during those days because it had to be done on a typewriter which meant starting over several times when corrections had to be made. Von Hake remembers that the logo was black rather than red and that the printer reproduced the masthead in orange; however, the first four issues of the newsletter were in brown because that was the color that the printer had at that time. We give credit to Violet Maynard-Reid for the blue logo which we currently use and which thankfully is in electronic format.

ASDAL Action started with eight pages and slowly increased in length as more and more people contributed. The only exception was the Spring 1987 issue with four pages. The first issue with more than ten pages was dated January 1984 and edited by Keith Clouten. The Oct. 1984 issue contains the first and only full-page cartoon we have ever had in ASDAL Action. The cartoon done by Bob Mumford was borrowed from Canadian Union College's Your Emergency Guide to CUC Library. The first issue that reached the 20-page mark was dated Fall 1992 with 21 pages under the editorship of Linda Wildman Mack.

Features, Columns

Besides official business, feature articles, and news from librarians and libraries, regular columns comprised the backbone of ASDAL Action. The first columns appeared in the 1990's. Here they are, the first time they appeared, and their first columnists: Adventist Resources Section (v. 10, no.1, Fall 1990) - Gary Shearer; School Librarians' Forum/Column (v. 13, no.1, Fall 1993) - John Kihlstrom; and Preservation Corner (v. 18, no. 1, Fall 1998) - Randy Butler. The first two columns are still being published, but by different columnists.

Job Placement

Our Association has some very outstanding firsts that we can be proud of. One of them is the Job Placement Service established at Pacific Union College in 1982 with Taylor Ruhl as the contact person. This service was later renamed Job Referral Service in 1984 and discontinued in 1992. Job Openings are currently being posted on the ASDAL web site.

SDA Periodical Index

Another first that we can be proud of is the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index (SDAPI). According to Ruhls' article, "The Association of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians, 1981-1991: A History" in ASDAL Action, (v. 11, no. 2, Winter 1992, p. 13), "...The index would not exist had ASDAL not been established and functioned on behalf of the Index as it has." The SDAPI was transferred in 1992 from Loma Linda University to Andrews University. In 1993 there were discussions of its electronic access and by 1994 James White Library loaded it on its public access catalog, JeWeL. It has also been issued as a CD-ROM since 1998. The indexing and searching of SDA periodicals are now much more convenient than they were in the 1950s when some academic libraries did cooperative indexing of selected SDA periodicals.

SDA Classification Scheme

A major breakthrough in Adventist librarianship is the Classification Scheme for Adventists and Ellen White covering BX 6101-6189 developed by Keith Clouten and Warren Trenchard. It provided a range of 40 numbers for Adventists and 5 numbers for E.G. White. While it was announced at the first ASDAL conference in 1981, it was not until 1983 when a committee composed of Clouten, chair; Carol Crider; Peg Bennett; and Nelia Wurangian was formed to refine and recommend any actions. After its adoption at the 1984 conference at Keene, Texas, a standing committee was assigned to be responsible for its use and future development. The currently updated scheme is available on the ASDAL Web site.

Website, Listserv

Our profession was experiencing revolutionary changes with the impact of technology on our work. Harvey Brenneise, former head reference librarian, resources development librarian, and systems librarian at Andrews University and twice president of the Association, brought us up with the times by designing the first ASDAL Web site and setting up the SDA-Librarians' listserv both of which resided at the Andrews site. The listserv was announced in the Fall 1993 issue of ASDAL Action. The listserv is still being managed from Andrews by Steve Sowder; the Web site eventually assumed an organization domain when Stan Cottrell took over the job of Web site coordinator.

ALICE Consortium

ALICE took off for "wonderland" in 1998 with ten institutions: Andrews University, Columbia Union College, Florida Hospital College, La Sierra University, Loma Linda University, Oakwood College, Pacific Union College, Southern Adventist University, Union College, and Walla Walla College. The idea of cooperative access dates back to 1996 when the Cooperative Information Access Committee voiced the need for an Adventist Electronic Library Consortium "for identifying and evaluating electronic resources as well as for sharing." The name ALICE which means Adventist Library Information Cooperative was coined by Clouten.

SAIL

Another term coined by Clouten was SAIL. Established in 1995, SAIL originally stood for Services to Affiliated Institutional Libraries and later for Services to Adventist International Libraries. Clouten announced this service offered by Andrews University during his term as overseas libraries coordinator. Although it is not really an ASDAL project, it is the fulfillment of the idea of a Library Resources Clearing House back in 1984. At that time, ASDAL worked on addressing the need to help Adventist libraries outside North America who were requesting materials for their collections. (See ASDAL Action, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jan. 1984, p.11).

ANGEL

ANGEL is another cooperative venture which was officially started in 1981 by Southern Missionary College (now Southern Adventist University). Its purpose was to develop and process the collections of the church schools in the Georgia-Cumberland Conference. Initially there were 63 schools in the system. In 1983, the acronym ANGEL which initially stood for Adventist Network of Georgia-Cumberland Elementary Libraries was changed to Adventist Network of General Educational Libraries with the addition of other conference and educational levels. It is currently under the professional leadership of Katherine Hunt. Again, this is not an ASDAL project but it is one of the firsts in Adventist librarianship.

International Leadership

Although ASDAL is based in the United States (U.S.), there has always been an international perspective from the very beginning. The 1983 membership report revealed that we had representatives from "West Indies, South America, Hawaii, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Africa, and England." The first president from outside the U.S. was Keith Clouten (1988-1989) who was then the library director of Canadian Union College (now Canadian University College). The first president from outside North America was Per Lisle (1997-1998), library director of Newbold College. These may be debatable statements because both of them are really from outside North America — Clouten, an Australian, and Lisle, a Norwegian, but I am referring to the countries where they were employed when they served as president rather than their countries of origin. This brings us to the idea of international conferences.

International Conferences

The first conference held outside the U.S. was at Canadian Union College, Canada in 1993 and the first conference outside North America was at Newbold College, England in 1995. Those of us who attended the Newbold conference observed the variety of new attendees from all over the world. There were representatives from 20 countries and 5 continents. One unique experience was that of seeing and touching hand-written Bibles in Russian. One ASDAL member probably carries an unpleasant memory of falling off the bunk bed and breaking an arm. And there must be two librarians who would recall temporarily getting lost and coming back to Newbold in a taxi after the tour bus left them and someone else had to track them down. We stepped outside the comfort of our English-speaking world and held the first conference in a Spanish-speaking environment when we went to Montemorelos University, Mexico in 1999. This was where we walked across a hanging bridge and some of cooled us off by lying on the floor of Library Director Adan Suriano's office on Sabbath afternoon. The first conference held in the southern hemisphere was at the Universidad Adventista del Plata, Argentina in 2002.

International Chapters

The first chapter that held its own conference is the European chapter, organized by Ralph Köhler in Germany in 2003. This is also the first chapter to issue its own publication, ASDAL Action Europe, in the 1990's under the editorship of Annette Melgosa. Unfortunately, this publication did not last very long. Köhler is also credited for establishing the German version of SAIL. The Mexico conference (1999) gave birth to the Inter-American and South American chapters while the England conference (1995) gave birth to the European chapter. The fist African chapter was organized by Wendy Young in 2004.

Special Internet Sections

ASDAL has had two long standing sections, the Adventist Resources Section (ARS) and the School Library Section (SLS). After a day-long Adventist history seminar held prior to the conference held at Atlantic Union College in 1986, the ARS was born. The first officers of the working committee were Don Yost, chair; Marilyn Crane, secretary; and Louise Dederen, Gary Shearer, and Jim Nix, members. Nix is considered the founder of ARS. At the 1987 conference held at Pacific Union College, the SLS announced their first officers as John Kihlstrom, chair; Lorabel Midkiff, membership secretary; and Ruth Stickney, recording secretary.

Hilts Scholarship

Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Margarete Ambs Hilts, the Hilts scholarship was established in 1983 in memory of her late husband D. Glenn Hilts, librarian with a total of 44 years of active service at various SDA educational institutions — Union College, Atlantic Union College, La Sierra University, and Loma Linda University. The first Hilts scholarship was awarded to Christina Keslake Cicchetti of Walla Walla College as announced at the fifth annual conference. Cicchetti is a former president of ASDAL.

Transportation

We have gone far and wide via plane or car to attend our conferences. How about recalling some of the other fun rides we have had besides the usual bus rides for our day tours and field trips? Our first cable car ride was to the top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park, Canada in 1993. I remember one person who was not quite thrilled about taking that ride but when she was told that if she had signed up for supper, that's where she was going to get it—she finally rode the car and got her share of lasagna. How about our first boat trip to go and see a library? That was during the Florida Conference in 2004 when we were split into small groups to ride the boats that took us to Rollins College. One conference held at Andrews University also gave us a chance to ride a boat but that was an architectural tour on the Chicago River.

Romance

ASDAL has also given a couple a pleasant ride into marriage as we witnessed the first ASDAL romance of Stan Cottrell, cataloging librarian at Columbia Union College (CUC), and Genevieve Steyn, library director at Southern Adventist University (SAU). They tied the knot at the Korean SDA Church in Collegedale, Tennessee on June 6, 2004. CUC's loss was SAU's gain as Cottrell moved from Maryland to Tennessee and assumed the role of technical services librarian.

Individuals

Here are a few interesting facts about some of our members. Receiving his degree from the University of Southern California in 1973, Dr. George Summers gets the credit for being the first Adventist to receive a Ph.D. in Library Science. The first Adventist librarian to receive a Ph.D. in Library Science since the birth of ASDAL is Dr. Jannith Lewis who received her degree from Indiana University in 1982. The first librarian to win in a cherry pit spitting contest is Marley Soper. He projected at an amazing distance of 34 feet and 3 inches at the 1985 conference held at Andrews University. Teresa Thompson of Lincoln, Nebraska may just be the first librarian to be on oxygen therapy while at work. A small student thought that what she had was a "bugger-catcher" — and was he serious!

I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this article by responding to the message I sent to the listserv, by corresponding directly with me, or by writing those articles in ASDAL Action that preserve our Association's history.

Cynthia Mae Helms, is Head of the Information Services Department, James White Library, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.




MEETINGS OF SDA PROFESSIONAL LIBRARIANS PRIOR TO THE FORMATION OF ASDAL

By Harvey Brenneise

The earliest documented meeting of Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) professional librarians occurred in February 1951 at Emmanuel Missionary College (EMC) in Berrien Springs, MI. The minutes of the 1957 meeting state that two such meetings of librarians had been held "in recent years," and noted that the results of the 1951 meeting had been negligible. In 1951 the librarians present agreed that an SDA periodical index was an urgent necessity, recommending that it be undertaken by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (GC).

Most meetings of SDA librarians prior to the formation of the Association of Seventh Day Adventist Librarians (ASDAL) in 1981 took place in conjunction with meetings of SDA academics held every 3-6 years during the 1950s to 1970s. These meetings had various names, including Intercollegiate Departmental Conference, North American Higher Education Convention (NADHEC), General Conference Department of Education Quadrennial Session of College and University Teachers, and North American Division Quadrennial Council for Higher Education (QCHE). Meetings were held in 1951 at EMC, 1957 at Washington Missionary College (WMC), 1961 at Southern Missionary College (SMC), 1965 at La Sierra College (LSC), and 1968 and 1976 at Andrews University (AU). Meetings were ordinarily held in August, and were divided into sections by discipline.

Each SDA college and university library sent representatives to these meetings. In early years there was often only one representative per institution, but attendance in later years more closely resembles that of a current ASDAL conference. The librarians' section of these meetings usually published extensive proceedings of its meetings. These proceedings were more thorough than anything currently being produced by ASDAL, and are a delight for the historian because of their completeness. They always include a list of attendees and actions taken by the group. In addition they include either summaries or virtual transcripts of meetings, summaries of or the complete text of papers presented and often copies of supporting documents. The 1951 meeting was held February 4-7 at EMC in conjunction with the American Library Association (ALA) midwinter meeting in Chicago. No official proceedings as such were produced. However, the Pacific Union College (PUC) Library contains a bound copy of PUC Library Director Lois Walker's documents from that meeting, which include a tentative program, transcripts of some of the papers read, and recommendations. Anna Blackney of EMC chaired the meeting. The topics discussed were a mixture of general professional subjects and those of specific SDA interest.

The program included the following topics: library techniques, circulation, censorship, book selection, buildings, compact shelving, departmental libraries, bibliographic instruction and orientation, student assistants, what the faculty expect of a college library, a proposed SDA periodical union list, SDA microfilming, and an "index to denominational periodicals."

SDA librarians love surveys. Dorothy Ferren reported the results of a survey of 11 SDA college libraries for their circulation policies. Harry Casey strongly advocated censorship of the materials coming into the libraries. "The word censorship brings to mind the perusal of letters and correspondence by experts or critics to eliminate any spurious, offensive, objectionable material that might be detrimental to a person, country or nation. I would therefore assume that censorship of books in our libraries by those concerned would eliminate similar objectionable features and characteristics in the light of the best standards and principles of the SDA denomination." He quoted extensively from Ellen White's writings, particularly about fiction and surveyed SDA college libraries on their censorship policies. He presented lists of characteristics that might make books suitable or unsuitable for SDA college libraries. Among the unsuitable characteristics were obscene and profane language, extreme realism, humorous references to illicit sexual relations, portrayal of nudity, uninteresting books that in all probability will not be read, modernism, ridicule of God, popular novels, fiction (except classics) fiction not needed for classes, books on theater and dancing, books for graduate students, novels based on the life of Christ and other Biblical characters, and popular fiction. Virtually any book other than a technical one was subject to censorship. Many present agreed with him that "in the light of the Spirit of Prophecy [Ellen White], we are a little lax in the censorship of books." Attendees reported that war books, Betty McDonald's writings and fiction required by the Department of Education in Alberta were problems. However, one librarian stated, "If we had only books whose sentiment could be underwritten by our denomination we would not have a library of real comprehensiveness." Casey concluded that SDA librarians should and do censor materials. "It certainly behooves us, in the light of the Spirit of Prophecy and these days of shifting and slipping standards and the nearness of the end, to take unusual care in the choice of the very best literature for our youth." In Lois Walker's hand are these notes: "What about books on communism?" and "Belles on Their Toes has pages on girls smoking."

Floda Smith reported on departmental libraries in the liberal arts college. She advocated departmental libraries for the sciences, so that they could be near the laboratories, and reported the experience at Union College (UC) with its departmental libraries in physics, chemistry, biology, educational/curriculum, nursing, the academy (secondary school), and the elementary school.

Alfred Brandon of Atlantic Union College (AUC) reported on SDA library science instruction. He expressed a need for training school librarians, and concluded that only PUC had a real program in library science. Barbara Phipps, in her report on training student assistants, stated, "It is this start in the library methods class and the work in the college library that gives the impetus for professional library training, and librarianship as a career. While none of us would insist that we have been an unmitigated blessing to the profession, there are six of us professional librarians in our colleges today as a result of Miss Blackney's requirement at EMC of library methods for student assistants. Her patience in training us, and her enthusiasm for quality in library service inspired us and started us toward a satisfying career."

Stanley Brown's presentation, "The Size and Organization of the College Library Staff," contained 12 pages of detailed SDA library statistics, concluding that more staff was needed. Arlene Marks studied the possibility of producing an SDA periodical index, and estimated the cost of 7,000 entries per year (without inclusion of union conference or division papers) to be between $3,500 and $9,000 per year. Estimating 100 potential subscribers, she concluded that libraries could not afford to pay $350-$900 per year for an index. She suggested heavy financial support from the colleges, with the GC and North American SDA publishers as two other potential sources of income, and suggested Takoma Park as the place of publication. She also spoke of the need for retrospective indexing, and special SDA subject headings. "If we could find a young man (or woman) with the 'bibliographic urge' and practical business ability of Mr. Wilson, a theological training, some practical knowledge of the library, a prodigious capacity for work, and a willingness to devote his life to the compiling of a denominational index, the success of an index might be assured, at least from an editorial standpoint."

Anna Blackney revised the 1951 resolutions before sending them out. They were as follows: that teachers be more active in selecting and censoring general reading books; that librarians and library architects be involved in new library buildings, modular construction be used and departmental libraries be discouraged; that bibliographic instruction be given freshmen, library workers and upperclassmen, and that library training for teachers be available; that SDA libraries use the ALA Library Score Card to survey themselves and use it to improve library quality; that there was too much dependence on student labor, and that specific standards for the number of professional librarians based on the size of student body be used; that a union list of SDA periodicals be compiled; that a cooperative SDA periodical index be begun, specifying the procedures; and that SDA materials be microfilmed.

Alfred Brandon chaired the 1957 meeting held at Washington Missionary College, for which it was admitted a "very heavy agenda had been prepared." Those present saw shop talk as being a major benefit of the meeting. The SDA periodical index was again a major issue. D. Glenn Hilts was elected interim chairman, to serve as coordinator until the next such meeting. The list of those present reads like a who's who of Adventist library pioneers, including Oscar Schmidt of AUC, Barbara Phipps of EMC, D. Glenn Hilts of LSC, Jannith Lewis of Oakwood (OC), Lois Walker of PUC, Myrtle Watrous of SMC, Floda Smith of UC, Anna Blackney of Walla Walla College (WWC), Theofield Weis of WMC, Alfred Brandon of the College of Medical Evangelists (CME), and Mary Jane Mitchell of the SDA Theological Seminary.

Included in the 95-page proceedings is an interesting introduction of SDA libraries and librarians, including statistics on staff, collections and buildings. For example, at that time the EMC library had 52,000 volumes, 2 3/4 professional staff, 1/2 clerical staff, and 225 student hours per week. The building was seen as "inadequate; new addition promised; construction plans not yet definite." Open forum discussions on a number of topics were held. In discussing circulation policies it was noted that "teachers' loans were discussed, but no solution reached." The entire text of the 1953 edition of Hilts' Classification Scheme for Works of Mrs. E. G. White is included in the proceedings.

The proceedings include the entire text of a number of papers that were read. "Cooperative Indexing of SDA Periodicals" was presented by Lois Walker. She gave the history of other cooperative indexing projects, including Catholic (unsatisfactory), the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) and a group of 5 seminaries. In a survey, Walker found that only LSC, UC and WMC were currently doing SDA indexing, with La Sierra's the most complete. However, there was no uniformity among them. She also noted many problems of indexing periodicals, especially denominational ones. For example, she asked, "How does one find subjects for rather elusive materials such as an article by Elder Branson entitled 'How Long Halt Ye Between Two Opinions,' being a dissertation on staunch and careful Adventism?" She also analyzed ways of sharing indexing cards and the potential cost of a cooperative index. She figured that indexing 16 periodicals would take 17 hours per month for a total of 857 cards per month. She estimated the cost per college per month to be $198.10, not including professional time. "If other colleges are like PUC, each can have all the student help desired and no questions asked." She allowed that if the indexing were to be done in some central place with each college paying its share, considerable propagandizing might be necessary. In an appendix, Walker included ATLA's procedure manual. Walker indicated that a list of SDA subject headings was needed, and called for retrospective indexing.

Presentations were given by Hilts on La Sierra's indexing, and by Weis of the WMC index of SDA periodicals, which ceased in 1945 due to lack of funds. Previously it had been a National Youth Administration project (which ceased in 1943). Hilts led an afternoon workshop on indexing SDA periodicals. He noted that La Sierra's use of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) with an SDA supplement constituted subject cataloging rather than indexing. Included in the proceedings is La Sierra's index procedure manual.

There was an extended panel discussion entitled "The College's Objectives, the Curriculum, and the Library," which largely revolved around accreditation issues. Jannith Lewis noted that the Southern Association required a minimum annual expenditure of $30 per student for library expenditures. She also reported that a visiting evaluator had noted that "You are brave. You have Karl Marx on the shelves."

Floda Smith presented "Book Selection of Academy Libraries." She sent a questionnaire to 65 SDA secondary schools (statistical data not included in the proceedings). She noted that many used the GC book list for academies (1940, rev. 1954) and suggested that the college librarians might assist in supplementing and updating this list possibly by utilizing rotating summer workshops. The librarians present urged that properly educated librarians be hired by academies.

Anna Blackney presented the results of a questionnaire on bibliographic and library science instruction AUC and PUC were the only institutions that reported a library science minor. Mrs. Mitchell called for standardizing bibliographic instruction, noting that "consistently the AUC men know how to use the library," because religion majors there were urged to take a library science course. Graduates of other institutions did not do as well in the Seminary Library.

Richard Schwarz answered "No" to his own question, "Shall we Have a Union List of SDA Periodicals?" at least not until there was a periodical index, concluding that it would have limited usefulness. He then outlined how it could be done, with his reluctant cooperation.

The librarians didn't spend all their time in meetings. They took tours of the Ellen G. White Estate, Review and Herald Publishing Association Library, Seminary Library, National Archives, Library of Congress, and University of Maryland Library.

Round table discussions were held on a large number of issues, including evening library use [cooperate with the dorms], the function of the faculty library committee [not usually active, though one used it as a parachute to get out of difficulty], professional reading, and phone calls for patrons. Yet another survey found that one urban Adventist library hired a student to answer the phone for community students because many young ladies use the library in the evening and it seemed advisable to maintain a service so that parents could call, while another library only called students to the phone when summoned by administrative officers of the school.

In 1957 the librarians' section voted many resolutions and recommendations, including establishing a mimeographed SDA librarians' newsletter to be edited by Floda Smith, clearing student records with the library before they could check Out of school, distributing Hilts' SDA subject headings, establishing a committee to prepare an SDA supplement to the ALA code, reproduction of La Sierra's SDA periodical index, microfilming Ellen White periodical articles and the Review and Herald (general church paper), calling on the General Conference to assist in increasing the number of professional librarians in SDA colleges, establishing a minor in library science at Potomac University to train teacher/librarians, improving college bibliographic instruction, calling on the GC Education Department to sponsor a trained librarian to assist academy librarians, developing a bibliography of SDA publications, having SDA librarians meet every four years with other college faculty, developing a cooperative who's who of SDA librarians, and using the Seminary list of religious books as a core list for overseas schools. Most importantly, the section voted a lengthy SDA periodical index working agreement.

The proceedings of the 1961 meeting at Southern Missionary College take only 28 pages, primarily because they include summaries rather than full text documentation. However, this meeting also had a full agenda. Oscar Schmidt chaired the meeting because Hilts was absent due to illness. Rather than presenting papers, specific and general problems were discussed, for which summaries are given.

The following topics were among the many discussed. Grace Prentice discussed "Indexing of Denominational Periodicals." Because the Union College and Loma Linda University (LLU) libraries were not indexing the journals that they had agreed to do at the previous meeting, two titles were transferred to other libraries. Lenoa Silver discussed "Recruiting of Librarians." She asked, "Is the stereotype idea of a librarians justified? Introvertive, too bookish, unfriendly, sarcastic, too busy to help, etc." There was discussion of the possibility of asking Andrews University to offer a master's degree in education with a major in library science. AU Library Director Mary Jane Mitchell described the Dewey/Library of Congress (LC) reclassification project at Andrews. Lois Walker and Mitchell described their experiences in planning a new library, and Mitchell told of some of the misadventures of building the new James White Library (AU). It was voted to revive the newsletter edited by Floda Smith, and 28 other problems were "briefly noted"!

Two sections of resolutions were voted in 1961—new resolutions and revised versions of 1957 resolutions that had not been acted on. New resolutions included: that SDA publishers give library discounts, that Ministry magazine use LCSH and the Hilts list of SDA subject terms in its subject index, that the GC list the romanized version of the actual name of foreign institutions along with the English name under which it appears in the Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, that the OC Education Department adopt a plan of giving grants-in-aid to assist students to go to library school in return for a two year internship in an SDA library, that study be given to centralizing indexing of SDA periodicals, that thanks be given to those church entities that had acted on the 1957 recommendations, that the proper training of school librarians was urgent, that SDA publishing houses use LC cataloging in publication (CIP) service, and that college librarians have faculty rank. Seven previous recommendations were revised and re-endorsed, most importantly the index working agreement.

The 1965 meeting was held at La Sierra College. Thirty-five librarians attended, representing all the institutions of higher education in North America and some from academies and hospitals. As usual, the agenda was very heavy, and many presentations were made on a variety of topics. A number of library vendors made demonstrations of their products. A full-day field trip was taken to Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale Sanitarium Library, the Voice of Prophecy, Huntington Library and Art Gallery, and a Newport Bay boat cruise. In addition to the joint minutes with the other sections, the librarians produced a 123-page set of proceedings. Oscar Schmidt chaired the meetings.

Eight recommendations were made in 1965. They were as follows: a request for a discount from denominational publishers at least equal to those received from other publishers, as well as making materials available on a standing order basis; a recommendation to "our" publishers to include their offerings in Books in Print; a recommendation for the forthcoming Review and Herald index to be similar to Wilson indexes and be made available in book or keypunch card form and that the GC Publishing Department set up an editorial office to expand the Review index to include other SDA periodicals; a recommendation to the editors of the Journal of True Education to make its index a true annual index, a request that Andrews University prepare a full-page advertisement for colleges with minors in library science to appear periodically in The Youth's Instructor, a recommendation to the GC Education Department to require that a demonstration library with a competent librarian be required as part of the teacher training program at each college or university having an elementary or secondary demonstration school.

The 1968 meeting was held at Andrews University. The only documentation found was the librarians' section report contained in the 694-page official report of the conference entitled "Relevant Teaching for Revolutionary Times." At this meeting there was a joint meeting of librarians with faculty from English, modern languages, administrators, board chairmen, and secretaries of education. The topic of the meeting was "improper literature" (i.e. containing profanity and/or sexual realism) allegedly being taught in some academies as a result of its being taught in the colleges. There was consensus that reports of the situation were exaggerated. The minutes of the English section note that no one at the meeting expressed the view that all non-factual narrative was condemned by Ellen White.

George Summers presided at the librarians' section meetings. He also presented the keynote, "Librarianship and the New Technology," which was in harmony with the theme of the section, "Academic Libraries of Tomorrow—Today." Grace (Prentice) Holm presented a paper on the feasibility of changing an academic library from Dewey to LC classification. This paper, along with Summers' keynote address and a paper by Barbara Phipps on library orientation, are contained in full in the proceedings. Several library vendors made presentations, most having to do with then-new technology.

Thomas Geraty of the GC met with the group to again discuss the proposed index to SDA periodicals. He reported that the college administrators had looked with favor on this idea in their meeting at Walla Walls in 1967. However this action had never been reported to the librarians. An ongoing SDA Periodicals Index Committee comprised of Mary Jane Mitchell, D. Glenn Hilts, Floda Smith, George Summers and Margaret von Hake was appointed to work on this project.

A panel discussed the ALA Freedom to Read Statement and book selection in the SDA library. The desirability of obtaining copies of doctoral dissertations written by SDAs was discussed, and a continuing librarian recruitment committee was formed. The group toured the libraries at University of Notre Dame and Goshen College.

The most important resolution of the 1968 sectional meeting concerned the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index. The section recommended that it be sponsored by an educational institution or the GC, that an experienced indexer do the work, that an experiment be done to determine cost, and voted a list of 26 journals to be indexed (including Spectrum, the only one not published by a church organization).

Elwood Mabley was elected interim chairman of the section until the next meeting. The general council also made several recommendations affecting libraries. These were: to recommend an immediate and substantial increase in library funding for the purchase of materials for English departments, that librarians make every effort to choose materials compatible with the aims of Adventist higher education, that ways to improve bibliographic instruction be sought, that Junior college credits not be accepted for a certificate in school librarianship, that library statistics be a part of the GC Education Department statistics program, and that a librarian be appointed as a member of the GC Education Department to coordinate services in all types of Adventist libraries.

The next meeting, in 1976, was again held at Andrews University. The proceedings of this meeting total 173 pages, and include much supplementary material (especially items handed out by Don Yost of the GC Archives). Fifty librarians are listed as participants, the largest group to date. Elwood Mabley gave the keynote, followed by a presentation on the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index given by Grace Holm, and computer use on SDA campuses by Alice Gregg, with a panel reaction. Grace Holm, James Nix and Mary Jane Mitchell were appointed to meet with board chairmen, presidents and finance officers to emphasize the urgent need to properly finance the index. Interest groups met for mini-sessions, and Johnnie Givens of Austin Peay State University made a presentation on the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) "Standards for College and University Libraries." Apparently this was the first instance of the SDA librarians inviting someone not a church employee to make a presentation at their conference.

Robert Olson of the White Estate gave a presentation entitled "Playing the Numbers game!, or the Placement of Prophetess of Health: A Study of Ellen G. White." In it he made a number of interesting suggestions, including the idea that if Adventists could easily borrow the book from a library they might not then feel the need to purchase their own copy, thus unjustly enriching the errant author. He especially urged that libraries obtain multiple copies of the various White Estate rebuttals of the work, and that these be made readily available to the public.

Maurice Hodgen spoke about the need for oral history projects, and Bill Hessel about the status of faculty rank and tenure for Adventist librarians. Marley Soper led a tour to three Chicago libraries—the Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago, the John Crerar Library and the Newberry Library. Jim Nix gave an important speech entitled "Cogitations of an Adventist Bibliophile," in which he discussed how to tell if an Adventist book is rare. He also pled for more cooperation among Adventist libraries in the preservation of Adventist materials. There were also presentations on a number of topics related to the preservation of Adventiana.

Margaret von Hake made a successful motion that the librarians meet every other year for a 2- to 4-day conference. Xerox was chosen to microfilm the Weis Index. Don Yost concluded the conference with a one-day seminar on the management of archival collections. Bob Cooper agreed to be the newsletter editor, and Charles Davis was elected interim chairman.

Only three other recommendations were voted at the 1976 session, the last such meeting held. These were a funding formula for the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index, that a professional librarian be part of academy accrediting teams, and an endorsement of the ACRL statement on faculty status of academic librarians (which statement is included in full in the general report of the conference).

In conclusion, it is clear that Adventist librarians in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s clearly felt a need to meet and discuss mutual problems, conduct cooperative projects, develop professionally and get to know each other. in those years when the GC discouraged Adventist professionals and academics from forming their own professional associations, these meetings were enormously beneficial. Both the quantity and quality of the discussions are exemplary and gave ASDAL a good tradition on which to build. The need for the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index and attempts to develop it were a constant throughout this period, as was the need to preserve the Adventist heritage and properly index, organize, distribute, catalog and describe its documents. Other important ongoing topics were the need to improve the quality of Adventist school libraries and training of school librarians, recruiting Adventist college librarians, and faculty rank and tenure.

It is also clear that meeting only every four years was not sufficient to be able to effectively conduct business, although meeting at the same time as other Adventist academics surely was positive. The need for a newsletter to bind the members of the profession together is also apparent. Twenty volumes of the SDA College Library Newsletter were published between the late 1950s and 1981. The newsletter had an uneven publication schedule and participation by colleges was less than complete It is doubtful that a complete file of these currently exists in one location.

Many of the "traditions" of ASDAL, from the too-full agenda to the fun and educational tours, were set in this pre-ASDAL period. Present SDA librarians can only be thankful that these librarians laid such a good foundation on which to build. If they had been able to solve all the problems that were discussed how little there would be to do now!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians (February 4-7, 1951: Emmanuel Missionary College, Berrien Springs, MI). [Proceedings.]

Intercollegiate Departmental Conference (August 2 1-27, 1957: Washington Missionary College, Takoma Park, MD). Proceedings of the Librarians' Section.11

Intercollegiate Departmental Conference (August 23-29, 1961: Southern Missionary College, Collegedale, TN). Proceedings of the Librarians' Section.

North American Division. College & UniversityTeachers Section Meetings (August 18-25, 1965: LaSierra College, Riverside, CA). Education, English,Modern Languages, Librarians, Health & Physical Education. Minutes.

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Department of Education. Quadrennial Session of College and University Teachers (August 18-25, 1965: La Sierra College, La Sierra, CA). Section Meeting. Librarians. Proceedings.

North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. Quadrennial Council for Higher Education (August 20-27, 1968: Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI). Official Report: "Relevant Teaching for Revolutionary Times."

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, North American Division. Higher Education Convention (August 9-16, 1976: Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI). Report.

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Department of Education. Quadrennial Session of College and University Teachers (August 9-16: Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI). Librarian's Section Meetings. Proceedings.

This paper was first presented at the June 1991 ASDAL Conference and was published in ASDAL Action, Volume 11, No.2 Winter 1992. At the time, Harvey Brenneise was Head Reference Librarian, James White Library, Andrews University




THE ASSOCIATION OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST LIBRARIANS, 1981-1991: A HISTORY

By Taylor D. Ruhl

It is especially interesting to have been asked to review the history of ASDAL at this meeting, for today, June 26, is the tenth anniversary of the official establishment of ASDAL at Pacific Union College. At the North American Division Higher Education Conference held at Andrews University in 1976 it was announced that the next quinquennial meeting would be held at Pacific Union College in 1981. However, as enrollments began to drop precipitously and the cost of travel increased in the late 70s and very early 80s, it was apparent that no such meeting was practical and that one would not be held. With the announcement in early 1981 that the American Library Association (ALA) would meet in San Francisco, the library faculty at Pacific Union College invited their Adventist colleagues to meet at their campus just prior to the ALA conference. Although Adventist librarians had previously gathered for dinner at ALA meetings, there had not been any organized effort to meet in formal session outside of the NAD higher education meetings.

The meeting at PUC was chaired by Charles Davis, then Director of Library Services at what we knew as Southern Missionary College, because he had been appointed chair of the library section meetings that would have been held as part of the NAD meetings in 1981. It could be said, then, that Charles was the first president of ASDAL although he never formally held that title.

The first issue of ASDAL Action published in October, 1982 noted that "nearly 40 librarians, most of whom were from eight North American Adventist colleges, met at PUC before going on to attend the ALA conference in San Francisco." The major actions reported were: To organize a Seventh-day Adventist professional association. To establish an advisory board to assist in the continuing publication of the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index. And to recommend that a placement service for professional librarians be set up at the Pacific Union College Library. That year best wishes were extended to retiring librarians Mary Jane Mitchell, Barbara Phipps and Floda Smith, all of whom attended the conference. Lawrence Onsager, newly appointed director of the Union College library, was elected president of the association, and Peg Bennett, then Catalog Librarian at Southern College, was elected president-elect, responsible for planning the next conference program.

The second conference was held at Columbia Union College in July of 1982. At that time ASDAL had grown to a membership of 116. This conference in noted both in its minutes and in the memories of those who attended as being dominated by continued landmark discussion of the status and future of the Index. ASDAL's constitution and bylaws were first presented and accepted at this meeting as well. At this meeting the General Conference Department of Education presented the need for coordinated gathering of statistical information regarding NAD libraries, and ASDAL assumed yet another important cooperative function. Peg Bennett, now director here at Southern College, assumed the presidency of ASDAL at the conclusion of this meeting and Maynard Lowry, director of libraries at Loma Linda University became president-elect.

In 1983 ASDAL met at Loma Linda University. Jim Nix, chairman of the department of Archives and Special Collections at Loma Linda, served as program chairman for Maynard, and the major focus of the conference was the collection and preservation of Adventist materials. At this meeting it was announced that the Hilts Scholarship for SDA library science students had been established, another major landmark in the activities of ASDAL. Yet another significant cooperative venture was begun at this meeting with the establishment of a committee to study a classification scheme for Adventist materials within the Library of Congress BX Schedule chaired by Keith Clouten. Keith Drieberg, then librarian at Auburn Academy (Washington) was elected vice-president.

The fourth session of ASDAL convened at Southwestern Adventist College on June 19, 1984 and is remembered first for the near-century daytime temperatures. Attendance was down to thirty, but this was the first ASDAL gathering at which all twelve NAD centers of higher education were represented. [Is that a goal that may have been forgotten and should be revived. It seems that this has seldom been achieved.] At this conference, an amendment to the Association's by-laws was passed which provided for the appointment of a permanent executive Treasurer, and Chloe Foutz, now director at Union College, was elected to the new office. Harvey Brenneise was elected vice-president.

Andrews University hosted the fifth annual session of ASDAL. Association records indicate that the first ASDAL scholarship winner, Christina Keslake from Walla Walla College, was announced at this conference, implementing yet another important cooperative venture in Adventist librarianship. Being a General Conference year, this session is remembered for its broad attendance, particularly by overseas librarians. Among significant discussion was consideration of the impact of the new publication, Current Christian Abstracts, on the SDA Periodical Index. Jannith Lewis was elected vice-president.

New England and Adventist history dominated the sixth annual conference at Atlantic Union College which was preceded by an Adventist history tour conducted by Jim Nix. During that tour the grave of Robert Harmon, brother of Ellen White, was relocated in Maine by members of the tour group. The SDA Index was again a major item of discussion, especially regarding what ASDAL's role in the Index should be, what the role of ASDAL in the selection of Index editors should be, and who would hold the copyright, ASDAL or Loma Linda University. It is significant to note that this was the first time the Index editor was commended for timely publication. The new SDA classification scheme was presented, accepted, and made available by subscription. ASDAL voted at this meeting to incorporate to protect individual officers from liability and to protect the assets of the association. For some reason which remains to be known, I accepted election to the office of vice-president as this meeting concluded.

Returning to the location of its inception, ASDAL met at PUC in 1987 for its seventh annual meeting. For the first time a guest speaker was invited to an ASDAL conference, and Evan Farber, well-known director of the Earlham College library, presented the topic of course-related bibliographic instruction. Keith Clouten became president-elect at this meeting.

In 1988 ASDAL met at Oakwood College. One of the outstanding events of that session was the first discussion between Adventist librarians and Adventist publishing where open and constructive discussion chaired by Kit Watts, now Assistant Editor of the Adventist Review and formerly Periodicals Librarian at Andrews University, lead to a better understanding of the needs and concerns of these two distinct and important Adventist information sources. Margaret von Hake, director of the Columbia Union College library, became president-elect.

Moving away from the sites of ALA in order to visit yet another Adventist campus, ASDAL met at Union College in 1989 a meeting highlighted for many by a delicious feast of pizza and pasta at Valentino's during a mid-western thunderstorm. A controversial and memorable presentation on library management by Herbert White, Dean of the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University, was the significant program presentation of the conference and marked the second time a guest from outside the denomination was invited to an ASDAL conference. Another first in Adventist library cooperation was the establishment at this conference of an ASDAL literary award and the appointment of a committee to oversee it. Marley Soper was elected vice-president.

With General Conference scheduled in Indianapolis and ALA in Chicago, it was natural for ASDAL to return to Andrews University in 1990 for its tenth annual conference. The SDA Periodical Index was again a significant agenda item with the presentation and acceptance of a governance document which marked a major milestone for ASDAL, its relationship to the Index; and for the Index itself. The recent trend in using guests from outside the denomination continued with a guest presenting a seminar on stress management and the keynote banquet speaker discussing culture and librarianship. Many attendees enjoyed presentations and performances from the concurrent music conference in session at Andrews as well. Joel Lutes was elected vice-president at this conference.

As ASDAL meets for the eleventh time during its tenth anniversary week it is most appropriate to be reviewing what events lead to the development of the association as well as the history and accomplishments of the association. Since this is the purpose of this presentation, rather than to be a cumulative secretary's report, it is important to ask now, what accomplishments and trends can be seen from these ten years and ten conferences?

Certainly the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index was repeatedly a topic of discussion and action. I would propose to you the possibly bold opinion that the Index as we know it today, timely and professional, would not exist had ASDAL not been established and functioned on behalf of the Index as it has. In addition, I would submit to you that the relationship between the library at Loma Linda University, the Index and ASDAL has come through the past ten years strengthened and improved through cooperation and cooperative communication made possible by ASDAL.

Interlibrary cooperation within the North American Division has obviously been fostered through the functions of ASDAL in a way or to a degree that would not likely have occurred without ASDAL The Index itself is really a prime example of this, but other important examples are the SDA LC classification scheme, the ASDAL scholarship, the job referral service, and the SDA literary award to name a few. Adventist librarianship and Adventist education are enriched and strengthened by what was begun ten years ago with the formation of this association.

Adventist librarians have personally been enriched by having had the opportunity to attend conferences at all but Walla Walla College where we will meet next year, La Sierra University, and Canadian Union College among the NAD system of higher education. We have been blessed by the fellowship and friendships that ASDAL has made possible. Certainly I thank ASDAL for the privilege of a close friendship with David Rios, twice an ASDAL roommate, former Index editor, and now director of libraries at Loma Linda. And I wouldn't have missed for anything all the good times and laughs, as well as serious discussions, enjoyed with Chloe Foutz.

So what of the future? Is there still a purpose for ASDAL? Will it remain strong and vital? And what is needed to make that happen. I propose to you that we need to seriously review, as we have here in the last few minutes, the significant accomplishments of ASDAL and their importance and pledge ourselves, our institutions, and our staffs to the continued support of Adventist library cooperation through ASDAL. I propose to you that we seek a means of challenging each Adventist librarian, ASDAL member or not, to recognize the need for ASDAL and the need to support it. As we reviewed the significance of the 1984 conference at Southwestern Adventist College it was noted that for the first time every NAD institution of higher education was represented. Should that become a recognized, promoted goal: to seek the representative attendance of at least one librarian from every BHE institution? Perhaps it would lend strength to ASDAL and make an important, continuing statement as to its importance.

We can see gratifying success behind us and significant opportunity and need before us. ASDAL must be kept functioning in a strong and vital way.

This paper was first presented at the June 1991 ASDAL Conference and was published in ASDAL Action, Volume 11, No.2 Winter 1992. At the time Taylor Ruhl was Director of Library Services, Pacific Union College.




THE ASSOCIATION OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST LIBRARIANS, 1991-2005

By Cynthia Mae Helms

The last historical review of the Association of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians (ASDAL) was done by Taylor Ruhl, covering the years 1981-1991. My role is to pick up from where he left off and cover the last fifteen years of our Association's history. During these fifteen years, we witnessed the automation of libraries and the impact of technology on our work, the changes in personnel including those that transferred to fund raising/development, the struggles of the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index (SDAPI) to keep afloat and successfully become available on the Internet, the establishment of an endowment for the Hilts Scholarship, the efforts to make ASDAL more international, the demise of the Literary Awards and the birth of ALICE, the various projects of the Adventist Resources Section, and the survival of the School Library Section.

Fiscal Year 1991 - The 11th annual conference with Marley Soper presiding and hosted by Southern College. During this time when the Literary Awards Committee was actively awarding authors and adding adult fiction and children's book awards, SDAPI and the Hilts Scholarship were going through financial difficulties. It was announced that the General Conference was going to withdraw its support of the SDAPI and that Mrs. Hilts was no longer going to send scholarship money in advance. There was some call for discontinuing the Job Referral Service but some members felt that it should be given one more chance even if the institutions were utilizing mass mailings to hire librarians. Harvey Brenneise contributed to the Adventist publication world by completing a five-year (vols. 16-20) index to Spectrum.

Fiscal Year 1992 - The 12th annual conference was held at Walla Walla College under the presidency of Joel Lutes. It centered on the theme of technology — a theme that frequently came up in subsequent conferences. Once again SDAPI made big news as it moved from Loma Linda University to Andrews University. Excitement filled the air as plans to meet outside the U.S. become more real. Canadian Union College would be the site for the 1993 conference and Newbold College for 1995. Since Newbold was the first conference to be held outside North America, the Association took the necessary steps of planning in advance by forming an Ad Hoc Committee for Planning the 1995 Conference. The usefulness of the Job Referral Service came up once again and this time it was decided that such a service be discontinued.

Fiscal Year 1993 - This year the conference was held outside the U.S. for the first time. The 13th annual conference held at Canadian Union College focused on "The Practical and Philosophical Issues for SDA Librarians" and was chaired by Carolyn Gaskell. This year marked the birth of the "SDA-Librarian" listserv. Literary awards were given to Alden Thompson for his book Inspiration and to Clifford Goldstein for his book How Dare You Judge Us, God; the Hilts Scholarship was awarded to Stan Cottrell. The SDA Library Cooperation Committee recommended a survey of libraries regarding interest in group purchasing of electronic resources. ASDAL Action included the first "School Librarians Column" which provided a bibliography of administration and collection development resources.

Fiscal Year 1994 - The theme for the 14th conference held at Andrews University was "The Electronic Library of the Future." There were presentations not only looking forward to the future but also looking back into some libraries' electronic beginnings. For the first time in ASDAL's history, the host institution provided an Internet room for "Internet addicts" and dedicated a half-day to hands-on training for Internet use. The business sessions were presided over by Lee Marie Wisel. Two session highlights were the cessation of the Purchasing Planning Committee and the formation of the Cooperative Information Access Committee. The literary award went to Tricia Padgett (pseudonym) for The Tempting of Audra Gray. No applications for the Hilts Scholarship were received. This year was characterized by libraries working on consortium agreements in their regions, meeting the demands for more information access, and coping with the shock that goes with the different access protocols. Southwestern Adventist College Library moved into the new Chan Shun Centennial Library.

Fiscal Year 1995 - The Association continued pursuing the electronic theme as this 15th conference dealt with "The Global Electronic Village: Sharing Human and Information Resources." This was a "defining moment" in our history when we took the major leap to hold our first conference outside North America. With the General Conference sessions being held in Holland, it was a great opportunity to have the ASDAL conference at Newbold College, England, and to have tours before and after the conference. It was also an opportunity to hold the first joint meeting with international directors of Ellen G. White Research Centers and for SDA librarians from a wide range of countries to attend. It was a rare experience to hear reports from 16 SDA institutions from around the world. At this meeting Keith Clouten announced the establishment of SAIL and President Harvey Brenneise announced that SDAPI and Religion Index were available from the Andrews University Web site at a cost to participating institutions. At the business meeting, we voted to publish the conference proceedings separately. We acquired a modernized logo through the efforts of Editor Violet Maynard-Reid. Hilts Scholarships were awarded to Sarah Endres and Bruce McClay.

Fiscal Year 1996 - For the 16th annual conference, we made a quick change of sites from Atlantic Union College to Columbia Union College. Once again the emphasis was on electronics— "Serials Collection Development in the Electronic Age." Fiscally, SDAPI was able to come out in the black due to the support of the North American Division (NAD) and the General Conference for the past and present years in addition to the ongoing payments received from the NAD educational institutions. Retrospective conversion of the index had been made possible by donations from Loma Linda University and La Sierra University. This also marked the 10th anniversary of the Adventist Resources Section. ALICE was born with a string of six projects lined up for the future. Decisions made at the annual conference under the presidency of Adu Worku were to discontinue both the Literary Committee and the publication of conference proceedings and to hold an international conference every five years. Several changes were made in the Hilts Scholarship application procedures. One important decision affecting everybody was that every member would be able to vote for Association officers. This was different from previous years when elections were held onsite at the conference and only those who were present were able to cast their votes. Under the new procedure, nominees would be announced in the Winter issue of ASDAL Action, ballots had to be sent out by mail with sufficient timing so that the president could receive them by May 31, and then the list of new officers would be published in the Fall issue of ASDAL Action immediately after the conference. ASDAL Action (16:2, Winter 1997) published the first set of nominees. The Hilts Scholarship that year went to Sabrina Pusey Riley.

Fiscal Year 1997 - Chloe Foutz, fondly referred to as the "Mother of ASDAL" was the president this year. Once again, this 17th annual conference, held at La Sierra University, focused on technology, "From There to Here: Electronic Document Delivery in the Electronic Age." Some of the actions taken at this conference were the establishment of an Eastern Africa chapter, the preparation of a revised set of guidelines for overseas libraries, the creation of an umbrella database for Adventist resources, the formation of a planning committee for the conference to be held at Montemorelos University and an ad hoc committee on document delivery. Under the sponsorship of the Eastern Africa Division, Keith Clouten held the first African Adventist librarians' conference in Kenya. Canadian Union College joined the Central Alberta Library Consortium and Walla Walla College inaugurated its Innopac. Karin S. Thompson was the recipient of the Hilts Scholarship.

Fiscal Year 1998 - After pursuing the topic of technology for the past several years, ASDAL's 18th conference, held at Columbia Union College, shifted away from technology and focused on "Seventh-day Adventist Libraries: Today and Tomorrow." However, technology was integrated into the conference with the fun-filled "Internet Races" instruction on Web searching led out by Lee Marie Wisel. Under the presidency of Per Lisle, the Association took the necessary steps to plan three years in advance for the 20th anniversary in 2001 by appointing an ad hoc Anniversary Committee. The "School Librarians' Column" in the Winter 1998 issue is worth noting because this is where the school librarians expressed a desire to join ALICE or a similar consortium. Joyce Biggs was this year's recipient of the Hilts Scholarship and the last one to date to receive it.

Fiscal Year 1999 - In response to the previous conference's keynote speech by Dr. Richard Osborne, North American Division educational secretary, President Randy Butler formed "Task Force 2000" to develop proposals for cooperation and sharing among K-16 SDA libraries. The 19th conference was held at Montemorelos University, Mexico with the theme "Working Together: Cooperation among SDA Libraries." It was the first bi-lingual conference and the first time for seminary librarians to meet as a group. Adilson Pavan on Brazil's first national meeting of Adventist librarians, educators, and library paraprofessionals, on the theme "The Creative Library and its Role in the School of the Future." Nancy Kim reported on behalf of the School Librarians Task Force. ASDAL received a new web address (http://www.asdal.org) and approved the formation of the Inter-American chapter and South-American chapter. The SDAPI announced three major advances, namely: to issue the SDAPI and obituary index as a CD-ROM, to use the Folio software, and the possibility of providing full text to some key SDA magazines. A new column, "Preservation Corner" was introduced in ASDAL Action (18:1, Fall 1998).

Fiscal Year 2000 - We experienced a presidential crisis this year when halfway through the year, President Christina Cicchetti resigned from her post. Maynard Lowry, President-elect, fulfilled the role of President as well for the remainder of the year but declined to continue another year. But as it had always been in the past, the year ended with another good conference! With the General Conference meetings being held in Toronto, Canada, it was convenient for the 20th ASDAL annual conference to be held at Andrews University, Michigan. The theme for the conference was "The Library's Role in the Changing Teaching/Learning Environment." Expecting a large attendance of librarians from overseas, Andrews University offered workshops before and after the conference. At the conference, Peg Bennett referred to the SDA Catalog search engine as one of ASDAL's contributions to distance education. There was a suggestion for the School Library Section to work with the Adventist Virtual Learning Laboratory in acquiring electronic databases. Editor Cynthia Helms surveyed membership interest in electronic delivery of ASDAL Action and by the next renewal period, members could indicate whether they preferred to receive electronic or print copies. Carolyn Gaskel produced a bibliography of Adventist historical sites on the Internet in ASDAL Action (19:1, Fall 1999).

Fiscal Year 2001 - The 21st annual conference was a celebration of ASDAL's 20th anniversary at the very place where it started in 1981 - Pacific Union College with the theme "Bridging the Past and the Future: Engaging Our Past, Examining Our Present, Embracing Our Future." At the annual conference, Web Master Stan Cottrell announced the plan of putting the SDA Classification scheme on the association's Web site. The solution to the presidential succession was reached when Gilbert Abella took charge as president of the Association. The Hilts scholarship awards had not been given since 1998 due to lack of funding and so this year's decision to create an endowment with the Community Foundation of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties is considered a major accomplishment. The SDAPI Board voted to revert to the Innovative software for the online version of the index. The term "information literacy" gave a new twist to bibliographic instruction. The 20th volume of ASDAL Action introduced a new column entitled "From a Distance," an evidence of how distance education had added a new dimension to our work.

Fiscal Year 2002 - As we marked our 22nd annual conference and third international conference, we ventured into another Spanish-speaking country. Universidad Adventista del Plata, Argentina hosted the regular members as well as a significant number of librarians from South America and Central America with the theme "Shaping Adventist Librarianship in the 21st Century." It was an opportunity to listen to a panel of five Latin American librarians report on their libraries. Annette Melgosa presided at this conference which voted to create a committee to work on a Library Manual as requested by the General Conference Department of Education, to add Job Openings to the ASDAL Web site, and to approve the formation of the Inter-American and the South American chapters. The ALICE Council announced their new Web page and access to EBSCO Premier and ATLA fulltext. This conference opened up more opportunities for participation through posters, exhibits, and a swap shop.

Fiscal Year 2003 - Web coordinator Stan Cottrell added the SDA Classification, all issues of ASDAL Action in full text, and job openings to the ASDAL Web site. We had a total of 14 job openings in SDA libraries this year. ASDAL Action introduced a new column "Random Surfing" and it had a special emphasis for each issue. Another quick switch in conference sites occurred this year, from Kingsway College to Atlantic Union College. Cynthia Helms presided over the 23rd annual conference and the theme was "Libraries, Leadership, and the Future." The attendees of the conference voted to transfer the archives from Union College to Andrews University, to increase the dues, and to establish a liaison between Adventist Distance Education Consortium and ASDAL. In June 2003, the Adventist Virtual Learning Network awarded ASDAL the Organization Collaborative Spirit Award for the "powerful spirit of networking and collaboration in Adventist education."

Fiscal Year 2004 - One month after ASDAL's annual conference, the European chapter under the leadership of Ralph Köhler, held its own conference in Germany around the same time as the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) meetings. The theme was "SDA Libraries in the Unified Europe: Mission and Vision for the 21st Century." Ruth Swan and Keith Clouten from the U.S. were there to give their support through their presence and presentations. The 24th annual conference was hosted by the Florida College of Health Sciences and held at the Florida Hospital Seventh-day Adventist Church. The theme was "Thinking Outside the Box." During the presidential term of Paulette McLean Johnson, ASDAL voted to purchase an advertisement in the Journal of Adventist Education special issue on libraries, to continue the overseas coordinator, to become an organizational member of the Adventist Professional Network, and to audit the treasurer's work at the end of every three-year term.

Fiscal Year 2005 - Here we are in 2005! We have read and heard about the inauguration of the Center for Adventist Research which is a combination of the Adventist Heritage Center and the EG White Research Center at Andrews University. Wendy Young has organized an African chapter with 23 members and she reports that three newsletters have been circulated so far. This year being another General Conference year, we are hoping to have a large attendance at the 25th annual conference, particularly from our sister institutions from around the world.

In addition to the main conference, the following sessions are available: Adventist Resources Section Pre-Conference — "Advancing Together," School Library Section Concurrent Session — "Preparing Your Library/Media Center for the 21st Century," and Post-Conference Session for international librarians and other interested librarians — "Communication: Key to Successful Library Leadership." We support and encourage President Bruce McClay, President-elect and Conference Chair Linda Mack, and Onsite Coordinator Sabrina Riley as they coordinate the conference at Union College, Nebraska with the theme, "Christian Librarianship: Occupation, Vocation, or Ministry."

The 2005 conference is the 25th annual conference since the first meeting in 1981 but ASDAL does not turn 25 years old till 2006. That's when we all go to Southern Adventist University to experience another wonderful conference. So, for now we can summarize what has transpired in the last 15 years as follows:

This article is based on previous issues of ASDAL Action and the Conference Minutes on the ASDAL Web site. Acknowledgements go to the authors of articles in ASDAL Action and the secretaries who wrote the Conference Minutes.

Cynthia Mae Helms, former secretary, editor, and president of ASDAL, is Head, Department of Information Services, James White Library, Andrews University.




ASDAL IN ACTION

By Lauren Matacio

Although preceded by two other newsletters, The Library Clock, which began in 1948 at Washington Missionary College, and the Seventh-day Adventist College Library Newsletter published from 1957 to 1981, the official publication of the formalized Association of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians began in January of 1982. Conceived at the Pacific Union College (PUC) librarians' conference June 25-26, 1981, the newsletter's first editor, Margaret von Hake of Columbia Union College, made it a reality. Margaret originated the name "ASDAL Action," it was approved by the ASDAL officers, and ASDAL Action was born.

The first issue contained brief articles about the beginning of the association, minutes of the meeting at PUC, news from SDA libraries in the United States (called "News Notes"), an editorial, brief editorial box, and membership form. It was 8 pages in length, with regular layout, printed on 11 x 17 in. paper which was folded in half. The orange masthead was created by Margaret. A photograph of attendees of the previous years' conference or the site of the next year's conference was included in each issue. Two issues (winter and spring) were produced each year. This format remained constant throughout von Hake's two-year editorship. ASDAL Action was off to a good start.

In 1984 the new editor, Keith Clouten, brought a growth spurt to the fledgling publication. The size doubled from 8 to 16 pages average length, a table of contents and photograph appeared on the cover of each issue, various fonts and sizes of type were used, and illustrations such as photographs, drawings, and cartoons were frequently included. The content of the newsletter began to expand too. "Feature" articles became a regular feature. Personal experiences, opinions, interviews, institutional reports, and the first review—of an Ellen G. White laser concordance—joined ASDAL business and conference information. Library news followed a cataloging format: news about people was under the heading "Personal Entry;" news about libraries was under the heading "Subject: Libraries;" and announcements were under the heading "Tracing Notes." New members were called "Added Entries." Colorful quotations about books and libraries contributed to the interest of the publication. Here's one of my favorites from Bookman's Bedlam by W. Hart Blumenthal: "Lady Gough assured herself a measure of immortality by forbidding the placing of books by male authors in her library alongside books by female authors-unless, of course, they were married."

The first noticeable difference in ASDAL Action under Joel Lutes' editorship (Fall 1985-Spring 1987) was a change from the orange masthead previously used to alternating red and green masthead. The table of contents moved to the second page. Bylines which included the author's name and institution, became more frequent. The editor's box included the names and addresses of ASDAL officers. "The Editor's Corner" became a regular column in which editor Lutes conveyed opinions about SDA librarianship and suggestions for the budding organization. News about libraries and librarians returned to the heading "News Notes." In addition, volume 6 (1986-1987) contained 3 issues—fall, winter, and spring.

Volume 7 (1987-1988) brought a total new look to ASDAL Action. Editor Gilbert Abella used a sleek new masthead and column layout, printed on textured cream-colored paper to give the publication a more sophisticated appearance. The traditional ASDAL group photo was eliminated. Library news became known as "News from the Field." The first article for school librarians by Christina Keslake and Randy Butler's first preservation article were both seen in vol. 7, no.2.

When Taylor Ruhl became editor in the fall of 1988, ASDAL Action returned to its former look with red masthead and a regular layout. The table of contents was back on the front page and "News Notes" reappeared. Several new features were added as the content became more professional. Book reviews were a standard column. The first scholarly article, "Librarians in SDA Colleges and Universities: A Recruitment and Retention Problem," by Maynard Lowry, was highlighted in vol. 8, no. 2. Harvey Brenneise submitted the first "Letter to the Editor" in vol. 8, no. 3. Three issues per volume became the norm from 1988 on.

The return of columns heralded the editorship of Linda Wildman, which began in 1990 and continued until the spring of 1994. The increasing sophistication of word processing programs enabled her to incorporate different sizes and types of fonts and graphics such as lines and boxes. The table of contents, termed "In This Issue," appeared in the lower left or right corners of the first page. The author's name, position, and institution was given at the end of each article under a dividing line. The "Adventist Resources Column" began in vol. 10, no. 1. "Announcements" and "Library News" were regular columns. Linda also added unique sections such as "Chronicling SDA Academic Libraries," a digest of library news reported in student newspapers of SDA colleges in North America. The editor's box came complete with ASDAL officers, membership information, purpose and frequency of the publication and contact information for article submission. The "School Librarian's Column" emerged in vol. 13, no. 1, fall 1993 and asterisks came into use as dividers between articles in this issue.

Violet Maynard-Reid became ASDAL Action editor in 1994. During her first year a beautiful new blue masthead was created. It first appeared in the spring issue of vol. 14. The editor's email address was added to the editorial box. All of the previously established columns continued to grow and thrive. In the fall of 1995 ASDAL Action Europe began. Edited by Annette Melgosa, it was sent to 21 Adventist educational institutions in Europe. It continued for three years.

An international and scholarly emphasis was pursued by the next ASDAL Action editor, Cynthia Helms (1996-2000). Reports from Russia, East Africa, India, and many other countries broadened our knowledge and appreciation for colleagues around the world. The first non-English article was published during her term. It was written in German by Friedensau University Library director Ralph Köhler and translated into English by Wolfhard Touchard, Andrews University. Both versions were included in ASDAL Action. News items were separated into two columns—"Library Directors' Reports" and "Announcements" until vol. 18, no.1 (Fall 1998) when a new catch-all column "Bytes and Bits" was inaugurated. "Preservation Corner" by Randy Butler became a regular in the fall of 1998. Email addresses were added to the author information at the end of each article. In the year 2000 ASDAL Action got a face-lift. The table of contents became the cover sheet.

During this time ASDAL's first web site was created, based at Andrews. It is reported in the Fall 1996 issue and became part of the editorial box in the Fall 1997 issue. Thanks to Harvey Brenneise, ASDAL Action was soon available on the web. Steve Sowder took over this delightful task in 1998 and it was quickly passed to Stan Cottrell, who completed mounting all the back issues on the web site in 2002. Since 2000, the current issue of the publication is password accessible only to paid members of the association. Archival copies of the electronic version are available to the public on the web.

In 1999 Lauren Matacio became Assistant Editor of ASDAL Action and was elected editor in 2000. "ASDAL: Looking Back" was added to v. 20 (2000/2001) to whet readers' appetites for the 20th anniversary celebration. The growth and development of distance education prompted one of ASDAL Action's newest columns, "From A Distance," coordinated first by Marilyn Gane (2001-2003) and Ann Greer from 2003 to the present. Unfortunately, ASDAL Action also said good-bye to a column in 2001. "Preservation Corner," written by Randy Butler, was discontinued after Randy took over full-time duties as Professor of History and Criminal Justice at Southwestern Adventist University. This interesting column has been missed the past few years.

Each issue of volume 23 (2003/2004) focused on a special topic of interest to librarians. The fall issue featured marketing, the winter issue emphasized technical services and systems, and the spring issue focused on human resources. Many interesting articles were submitted for the special topics that year. Since Keith Clouten's retirement in 2003, ASDAL Action has been blessed with Keith's engaging library-related travel diaries from Germany, Ghana, and Lebanon.

Sallie Alger was elected editor of ASDAL Action in 2004. Her first year has been a busy one with the added responsibility of preparing this special Silver Anniversary issue for publication.

That's the historical view of 25 years of growth and development of ASDAL in Action from the beginning to the present and from the front cover to the back page.

This updated paper was first presented at ASDAL's 21st Annual Conference, June 2001. Lauren Matacio, former ASDAL Action editor, is Instruction Librarian at the James White Library, Andrews University.




A BRIEF HISTORY OF ALICE

by Carolyn Gaskell

Meeting at Columbia Union College in July of 1996, ASDAL paved the way for the creation of the Adventist Library Information Cooperative (ALICE). According to the minutes, Harvey Brenneise and Keith Clouten brought the proposal for an electronic consortium, called the Adventist Library Information Cooperative, before the ASDAL business session on July 2, 1996. It was Keith who came up with the acronym ALICE. The Adventist Information Cooperative Memorandum was presented for review. A lively discussion ensued. What were the concerns? That ALICE be:

After some modification from the floor and further discussion, the revised ALICE Memorandum was finally passed by ASDAL on July 3, 1996. The motion was actually "That we accept Keith's 'Adventist Library Information Cooperative (ALICE) Agreement' as originally moved Tuesday July 2." All library directors of those libraries interested in participating in ALICE met that evening at 7 PM to breathe life into the consortium.

After some legal loose ends were taken care of, the Adventist Library Information Cooperative (ALICE) officially came into being on September 1, 1996. Keith Clouten, at that time Library Director at Andrews University, was elected ALICE's first Chair. Gilbert Abella was its first Projects Manager. There were 10 original members of ALICE, all from the U.S.

Interestingly enough, ALICE didn't make it into the ASDAL Bylaws until 2001. While all library directors of ALICE libraries are members of the ALICE Council, the only time all have met together, since the historic 1996 meeting of Charter members, was the 2000 ASDAL conference at PUC. As you might infer, most of ALICE's work is done via email.

In 1999 ALICE added its first non-NAD library. Project Manager Joel Lutes was very persuasive negotiating with EBSCO and convinced them to accept the Universidad de Montemorelos (UM) as part of the ALICE consortium. This acceptance set a precedent. From that point on, additional non-NAD or overseas libraries were able to join without a problem, though EBSCO has changed the way it handles renewals for them.

Today, seventeen Seventh-day Adventist academic libraries located in seven countries and one territory are members of ALICE. The consortium licenses 12 databases, though no one library subscribes to all twelve. The most popular database remains Academic Search Premier. While it seems like we've had Academic Search Premier forever, it has only been four years since we switched from Academic Search Elite. Again, it was Project Manager Joel Lutes who negotiated successfully with EBSCO to obtain favorable pricing for the upgrade.

In 2003 ALICE bid a fond farewell to its founding father and current Treasurer, Keith Clouten, who retired as AU's Library Director. In fact, of the original ten founding library directors, only four are still active in ALICE. All the others have either retired or moved on to other positions within their institutions or at other universities. Another farewell occurred in 2004. Joel Lutes, one of ALICE's most able Project Managers, stepped down from this position. This year (2004-2005) might be characterized as one of treading water, since the Alice Chair has also been acting Project Manager. The priority has been to hold the consortium together and make sure the database licenses renew seamlessly. Since both positions of ALICE Chair and Project Manager are currently up for election, 2005-2006 could involve big changes for ALICE.

Carolyn Gaskell, current chair of ALICE and acting Projects Manager, has been the Director of Libraries at Walla Walla College since 1989.




HISTORY OF THE ADVENTIST RESOURCES SECTION OF ASDAL

By Jim Ford

At the 5th annual ASDAL conference held at Andrews University in July 1985, it was voted that "three people be elected to plan a program for those members who are interested in Adventist Heritage at the next ASDAL conference... Jim Nix, Jim Ford, and Gary Shearer were elected." At the same meeting there was a second action which gave the ASDAL president power to "invite people who are interested in Adventist Heritage collections to join and participate in ASDAL." So began the official organization of the Adventist Resources Section.

Prior to the official action Jim Nix from the heritage room at Loma Linda University was quite active in ASDAL encouraging discussions on topics related to the collection, preservation, and use of Seventh-day Adventist materials. It was his involvement which led to the formation of the Adventist Resources Section (ARS). The first ARS meeting, "a day long seminar on the collection and preservation of Adventist materials," was held in June 1986, at Atlantic Union College. This set the tone for future ARS meetings. Most meetings are a day long pre-conference, though a couple have been post-conference or even in the middle of the main ASDAL conference. The themes are always related to the collection, preservation, and use of Seventh-day Adventist materials.

Anyone can join the meetings of ARS as there is no official membership procedure. If you have an interest in what we are discussing please join us. The programs usually take the form of several formal presentations, discussions, and reports. A planning committee of five individuals, who serve staggered three year terms, plan the programs.

Over the years ARS attendees have discussed, encouraged, and supported a wide variety of topics and projects. These include but are not limited to:

Jim Ford, current Adventist Resources Working Committee Chair, is Associate Director of the Center for Adventist Research, Andrews University.




THE D. GLENN HILTS SCHOLARSHIP

By Maynard Lowry

Having retired in 1973 as Director of the Library as Loma Linda University, La Sierra Campus library, D. Glenn Hilts concluded a long and distinguished career in librarianship. He served as librarian as Union College and while there was the first SDA to complete a program of professional study in librarianship. For many years he also served as librarian at Atlantic Union College and then at La Sierra College/Loma Linda University.

At La Sierra, he met his second wife, Margarete Ambs. She was a professor of modern languages. Together they were often seen at library functions on campus and continued to be great friends of the Library until Glenn's death in 1982.

For several years after Mr. Hilts death, his wife, Margarete, funded a scholarship award made annually by the Association of SDA Librarians. It was first awarded in 1985, to recognize excellence in scholarship and to encourage individuals with leadership potential to seek employment in a Seventh-day Adventist library. Sixteen students benefited from the scholarship assistance during the time that the awards were made. It was always Margarete's wish that the scholarship continue after her death; and, in her will she provided for a distribution to the scholarship fund now established at the Community Foundation of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

The scholarship is now funded with a combination of funds contributed by ADSAL members and others and a bequest from the Hilts estate.

H. Maynard Lowry, PhD, is executive director of planned giving and major gifts at La Sierra University. He was formerly the Library Director at La Sierra and has served ASDAL as president and other positions.

HILTS Scholarship Winners
1985Christine Keslake Cicchetti
1986Daniel Maxwell
Linda Wildman Mack
1987William Stuivenga
1988Randall Butler
1989Stephanie Carter
1990Carol Nicks
Richard Scott
1991Sheila Clark
1992Brett Cemer
1993Stan Cottrell II
1994Sarah Endres
1995Bruce McClay
1996Sabrina Riley
1997Karin S. Thomsen
1998Joyce A. Biggs



RERFLECTIONS ON THE SCHOOL LIBRARIANS SECTION

By Nancy Kim

The first ASDAL Conference I attended was at Canadian Union College in 1993 and the last one I attended was at La Sierra University in 2001. During these nine years I attended five conferences—about one every other year. I was able to attend two of these conferences just because they were hosted by PUC and La Sierra, schools within driving distance for me. My school generously provided my travel expenses for the three that were farther away.

I really enjoy ASDAL Conferences. I've benefited from every session of every conference I've attended even the ones not specifically for school librarians. I've heard tremendous presentations by leaders in the church and in SDA librarianship. I've been able to travel to new places. I've socialized and networked with SDA librarians from around the world.

In preparation for writing this column for the 25th anniversary edition of ASDAL Action I read through all of the school librarians' articles in the issues archived on the Internet. It seems that it was several years before the need for a school librarians' section was realized. And then there are several lapses over the years between contributions to the Action with the most consistency in the '90s. But the included articles were good and specific to the K-12 librarian.

I also read the annual conference topics for school librarians through the years and was impressed by the relevance and value of the presentations. Current issues and trends were addressed. In fact, I wish that I could attend the upcoming conference at Union College. The school librarians' agenda lists several sessions I could use.

School librarians as members of ASDAL have always been a nebulous group. Because of the larger number of K-12 schools compared to colleges/universities just contacting members and/or potential members is a challenge. Many K-12 librarians are only part-time librarians. Few K-12 schools provide financial support for conference attendance.

But school librarians have been a part of ASDAL throughout the 25 years of the association. ASDAL has provided a place to belong. It has also modeled, hand-held and loved. And perhaps most importantly ASDAL has provided a vision for K-12 librarians. Thank you, ASDAL and congratulations on your 25th anniversary.

Nancy Kim is past coordinator of the ASDAL School Library Section and is Librarian and IT (Instructional Technology) Coordinator for Redlands Adventist Academy.




A PROGRESS REPORT ON THE SCHOOL LIBRARY SECTION

By Wolfhard Touchard

In November 2002 I received the following mandate from the officers of ASDAL to—

  1. Continue a forum for discussion of mutual challenges and professional concerns of SDA school librarians.

  2. Enhance communication between SDA school librarians.

  3. Promote librarianship and library services to SDA institutions.

  4. Improve professional skills through seminars, workshops, etc.

  5. Develop strategies for keeping students focused on educational activities while using the Internet.

  6. Make suggestions for interesting new biographies for the middle grades (6-8).

  7. Help shape the direction and plans for SDA School Libraries.

  8. Affirm academy and church school librarians, teacher/librarians and library volunteers.

  9. Promote library services to students & teachers.

Regarding the above concerns, the following has been accomplished:

In summary: it has been my goal to lay a foundation of communication tools for school libraries. My work has been blessed by our heavenly Father, AND if it wouldn't have been for many of you, this assignment would have been much more difficult. Therefore, Thank You so Much!

Wolfhard Touchard, Chair of the ASDAL School Library Section, is Reference and Database Librarian at the James White Library, Andrews University.




FROM COMPASS & MAP TO GPS:
A Brief History of Seventh-Day Adventist Periodical Indexes

By Daniel J. Drazen

It officially began as a three month experiment that has lasted, with a few interruptions, for almost forty years. Though an index of Seventh-day Adventist periodical literature was envisioned as early as the 1950s, the modern history of indexing Seventh-day Adventist periodicals began in the 1960s in Kettering, Ohio. From 1967 to 1968, Myrtle and Richard Scharffenberg produced an Index to SDA Periodicals. It started with just twenty-three titles and relocated from Kettering to Chico, California, in 1968. It was what the Scharffenbergs referred to as "the compass and map" through the church's periodical literature. This Index was originally intended to be used by church libraries; the list of magazine titles indexed did not include Conference publications though it did include special interest titles (Israelite, Life and Health) and children's publications (Our Little Friend and Primary Treasure).

Though no other editions of the Scharffenberg Index were produced after 1968, that did not spell the end of an idea. At the Quadrennial Council on Higher Education meeting at Andrews University in 1968, the decision was made to consider whether a current index to Seventh-day Adventist publications was a possibility. A continuing committee was formed chaired by Mary Jane Mitchell.

With Keith Clouten and Marilyn Crane in charge, the pilot project went forth at Loma Linda University. As a way of determining production costs, it was decided to index only the publications that appeared in the first three months of 1969. The number of titles to be indexed was raised to forty-seven, practically double the number of titles covered in the Scharffenberg Index. These included world division, North American union conference, institutional and departmental publications. Children's papers, including Guide, were excluded.

What became known as the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index appeared in January 1971 as a semi-annual publication, with Grace Prentice Holm as the editor (1971-1977) and a list of periodical titles that had expanded to fifty-nine. Published by Loma Linda University libraries, it received financial support from North American colleges and universities, publishing houses and other institutions for what would originally be a three-year trial period. Despite lacunae (1973-74 and 1979-1981), the Index continued to be published out of Loma Linda University at La Sierra under several editors: Althea Holmes Fletcher, 1977-83, and Edward Collins, 1983-1992.

In mid-1992, the Index moved to the Andrews University campus with a new editor, Daniel J. Drazen (1992-present). The Index was on the verge of the most dramatic change in its history, as a new word was about to enter everyday language: Internet. The Index would continue to be published as a hard-copy annual for the next five years (having switched to an annual from a semi-annual format in 1982) but this would change when the Index as a whole became searchable online in late 1994, and when the Index began being issued in a CD-ROM format in 1998.

What Myrtle and Richard Scharffenberg had envisioned as a "compass and map" is now more like a global positioning system. But the vision of an index of current SDA periodical literature has become an ongoing reality.

Daniel Drazen is currently Editor of the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index.




PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGES
1981-2004

Early in ASDAL's history, writing a presidential message to the ASDAL membership became a tradition. Reading these messages gives one another historical perspective on the Association's growth and development. Most presidents provided their message to the Fall issue of ASDAL Action subsequent to the assumption of their presidency. Some presidents provided more than one message. Harvey Brenneise holds the record for the most presidential messages—five distributed over his two terms. Sometimes no presidential messages were published. There no doubt were several reasons for this. In one case snow and Canadian mail problems were blamed, in other cases perhaps either the current editor didn't "nag" enough, or the president just didn't write one. In such cases, the editors have taken the liberty of substituting various other items. All former presidents were contacted for their current thoughts on their ASDAL presidencies and these contributions have been inserted in the appropriate places as "Reflections, 2005." The editors wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to all presidents who have contributed to this section.

1981/82: Larry Onsager

"FROM THE PRESIDENT"

ASDAL Action Vol. 1 No. 2 June 1982

Greetings!

I hope the preview of the ASDAL program which appears in this issue excites you as much as it does me. This has been a busy year. In October, Peg Bennett and Kit Watts met in Minneapolis to write a first draft of our constitution and start the planning for our meeting. All presidents of a newly-formed organization should have help of the caliber I have had this year. Peg has taken some ideas and suggestions and has planned an exciting program. Kit suggested the idea of a logo and followed through with having it designed and printed. She has been very active in soliciting members and passing on correspondence she has received. Margaret von Hake, the editor of ASDAL Action, has redesigned our newsletter and has spent many hours planning for our visit to CUC.

That ASDAL is needed is apparent by comments in letters we have received. Academy librarians have expressed a definite interest in our organization if they have a Place in it. From Australia we have received a request for a "corresponding members" category. I have received requests that we exchange student newspapers and look into the possibility of co-operative computer databases among Adventist libraries.

At last count we have 116 members in ASDAL. I hope this meeting will continue to generate the kind of enthusiasm generated at PUC. We hope to see you in July.

"LETTER FROM ASDAL'S FIRST PRESIDENT"

ASDAL Action Vol. 21 No. 1 Fall 2001

This letter was read at ASDAL's twentieth anniversary conference, June 2001.

I have always believed that communication between the Adventist college and university librarians could only strengthen their ability to serve faculty, staff, and students. I am very proud to have been your first president.

Looking at your web site and thinking about the first steps we took twenty years ago to get this organization started, I feel like my efforts were puny compared to what you are doing today. Writing a constitution and bylaws seems very pedestrian compared to work you are doing in consortium buying, distance education, and international cooperation.

Twenty years ago, Kathy Dunn and I had just written an article for The Journal of Adventist Education, "Will Computers Revolutionize College Libraries?" In the article we discussed the use of OCLC for shared cataloging and sharing resources using the Interlibrary Loan Subsystem. OCLC was developing a system for online check-in of periodicals. We stated, "As computer costs go down and labor costs increase, it is likely that even small academic libraries will have automated circulation systems."

For the future, we discussed the online catalog as "one of the payoffs" for small academic libraries. Telefacsimile promised to further revolutionize interlibrary loan operations depending on how the technology developed. We projected electronic mail as another means of transmitting documents "that may be used extensively" in the future. Reference sources were projected as "the materials most likely to disappear in printed form."

Our conclusion was that "small academic libraries can best increase their efficiency and service by participating in library computer networks. Indeed, in order for small academic libraries to progress into the future as viable entities, capable of supporting the academic programs of their mother institutions, they must become participants in computerized library networks." Today, the Internet has provided us with a computerized network beyond anything we could have dreamed about at that time. I am excited to again be involved in Adventist libraries and look forward to integrating future technologies into our libraries.

Today, as I look at the future, I realize what a wonderful time it is to be working in a library. At my current library, we had been sending scanned interlibrary loans as MIME email attachments. When this became impossible because of firewall problems, my new interlibrary loan technician went out on the Internet and found a solution. He discovered the DocMorph website (http://DocMorph.nlm.nih.gov/docmorph/default.htm) sponsored by the National Library of Medicine. The DocMorph software can be used to change Ariel tiff files into pdf files. The pdf files are then sent as email attachments and read with Acrobat Reader. This has been a solution that works well because many students already have Acrobat Reader or can readily load it on their computer.

The DocMorph Server is an experimental prototype web server for processing library information through the World Wide Web. It is designed and operated by the Communications Engineering Branch, part of the National Library of Medicine's Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications. Besides converting tiff files to pdf files, it will split multi-page tiff files into separate pages, use optical character recognition (OCR) to convert your images to text, and will also convert images or text to synthesized speech. NLM has an ongoing R&D program in document imaging on the DocMorph server that includes all aspects of electronic document conversion, document transmission and document usage.

Another exciting technology that I became aware of while attending a recent meeting was announced by Lee Jones, President of the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City. Norsam Technologies (http://www.norsam.com/) uses focused ion beam technologies to provide analog storage of information and images on nickel plates that last for thousands of years. Depending upon how many pages are stored on the Rosetta, users may employ viewers as simple as optical microscopes to read and retrieve the etched information. For the most detailed retrieval, Norsam's coordinate transfer program works with an electron microscope and a PC. It can locate any page on a plate, simply by mapping its coordinates on an (x,y) axis. This means that a user may type in a target page number and the software will locate it, magnify it and display it on the screen for optical viewing and optional printing.

Reflections, 2004

"ASDAL Beginnings"

I have just been rereading the first few issues of ASDAL Action about what was happening in Adventist librarianship in 1981. One of the things that really struck home was how fortunate I was to have Peg Bennett, Kit Watts, and Margaret von Hake to work with as we put together the constitution and bylaws, logo and the ASDAL newsletter.

Much of what happened was put together in a hotel room in Minneapolis-St. Paul. It was really an idea whose time had come. Everyone pitched in and made it happen.

Peg planned the first meeting with zeal—she was amazing! Kit's creativity quickly turned out a logo. Margaret speedily took on the task of publishing a newsletter.

I remember being coerced into running for president by Jim Nix and Kathy Dunn on a day when I really wasn't feeling very good. The meeting is sketchy in my mind. I think that was the time that I roomed with Keith Clouten. The airlines had lost Keith's luggage and he was trying to put together a set of clothes to wear to the meeting. I can't remember if I provided Keith with a handkerchief or socks. Keith and I differ on the details.

As I browsed through the first few issues of ASDAL Action, I noticed some issues that never go away—like "rank and tenure" and how much technology has advanced. We were all predicting that computers would transform libraries, but the changes have been way beyond anything we could have dreamed.

I found many familiar names like Jim Nix, Warren Johns, Maynard Lowry, Keith Clouten, Kit Watts, Margaret von Hake and others who have taken on different roles which gives the past and present a continuity that always surprises.

The zeal with which Adventist librarians at all of the colleges and universities took part in ASDAL from the very beginning really made a statement about the need for ASDAL.

I am sure the next 25 years holds many surprises for the library world. Change is always with us, as is it was in the past. That is part of what makes being a librarian a fantastic profession! I am sure ASDAL will continue to play an important role in this future. Hold on to your hats—the next 20 years are going to be fun!

Larry Onsager, First ASDAL President, 1981/82

1982/83: Peg Bennett

"A WORD FROM YOUR PRESIDENT"

ASDAL Action Vol. 2 No. 1 February 1983

Dear ASDAL Members,

Though our first Conference is now history, the aura of fellowship and camaraderie continues to linger. It was a personal privilege for me to establish new friendships, as well as to continue and enliven existing ones. A big thank you is due each of you attendees for the impact you had on the Conference. We have a terrific group, and I am convinced that our Association can make significant contributions to our profession and our denomination. We sorely missed those of you unable to attend the Conference and look forward to seeing you at our 1983 meeting in Loma Linda, California.

The Conference evaluations will be most helpful in planning for this year's meeting. All except one wished to continue the mini-session concept, and many suggested computers and library automation as topics for future Conferences. In addition, a number desired a separate session for school librarians. Be assured these suggestions have been studied as we draft strategy for the coming Conference.

Continue to alert potential members to ASDAL—the greater the input from our membership, the more benefit we all can derive. Share your suggestions with us—this is your Association!

Reflections, 2005

Since this was a few years ago, recalling specifics presents a challenge to this ol' gal, but I do remember how very important my fellow officers were—always willing to assist when needed, so I must begin by thanking once again Maynard Lowery, Jannith Lewis and Margaret von Hake.

Since we were just beginning our organization, we had a few hurdles to overcome. The NAD Education Department was pretty determined that we should join their group rather than have our own organization. But of course we had no intention of being subsumed under them, so numerous letters (yes, snail-mail) went back and forth concerning this. Finally we in effect said "Thanks, but no thanks - our final word", and they capitulated.

I also recall requesting from the GC Legal Department permission to use the term "Seventh-day Adventist" in our organization's name, which required sending them a copy of our Constitution and By-laws that the executive committee had hammered out the previous year. After some time, permission was obviously granted.

For the 1983 Conference at LLU, I wanted to accomplish two goals: first, that ASDAL be an organization providing professional growth, and second, that school librarians be included. Working with LLU, Maynard was able to arrange 1 hour of graduate credit for 30 clock hours and CEU credit for 25 contact hours. A number of school librarians attended, and Eileen Lantry offered a school library workshop with a mini-session, Computers in Libraries, by Keith Drieberg. ASDAL even elected a school librarian as Vice-President.

One humorous incident occurred during the business session. Someone from the floor suggested that we change the name o