ASDAL Action
| Volume 16, No. 2 | Winter 1997 |
In This Issue
By Annette Melgosa
Due to a vote taken at the 1996 ASDAL Conference to change the bylaws concerning voting, every ASDAL member will now be given the opportunity to vote for officers and members of working committees.
In the past, officers and committee members have been nominated and elected by members who attended the annual ASDAL conference. Two main problems resulted: (1) candidates were sometimes bypassed because they could not be secured; and (2) only those members actually attending the convention had the opportunity to vote.
According to the action taken at the 1996 Conference, new voting procedures are to be implemented in 1997. Here is a brief summary of the new procedures which have been developed:
President-elect:
Randal Butler
He is Director of the Chan Shun Centennial Library and an Assistant Professor at Southwestern Adventist University. An alumnus of Walla Walla College, he holds an M.A. degree in History from Loma Linda University, an M.L.I.S. degree and a Ph.D. degree in American History from Brigham Young University. He has had postgraduate training and extensive experience in the area of special collections and archives. Butler's interests include reading, swimming, hiking through ghost towns, and spelunking in old mines.
Marley Soper
He is Library Director at Florida Hospital College (FHC). Before that, he was Library Director at Andrews University (AU). He was also full professor at AU. During his term as Director of James White Library, he automated the library and now he seems to be doing it again at FHC. Soper holds an M.A.L.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin and an M.A. in History from AU. He served as ASDAL President in 1990-91. Soper is known as the "motorcycle riding librarian" and he still rides to work from time to time on his cycle.
Treasurer:
Lee Marie Wisel
She is Reference Librarian and Associate Professor at Columbia Union College. She holds an M.L.S. degree from the University of Maryland. Wisel has been ASDAL Treasurer since 1994. She also served as ASDAL President. She has been active in the American Library Association-Association of College and Research Libraries as Legislative Network Coordinator, Chapters Council Chair, and Instruction Section Local Arrangements Chair. She has served as Treasurer for the Potomac Technical Processing Librarians and for the College of Library and Information Services Alumni Chapter, University of Maryland. Wisel enjoys showing one of her parents' Shiloh Shepherds at American Rare Breed association dog shows.
Overseas Libraries Coordinator:
Keith Clouten
He has been Library Director at Andrews University since 1993. Prior to that, he directed libraries at Avondale College and Canadian Union College. He has served ASDAL in several capacities (President, Newsletter Editor, SDA Classification Editor, SDA Periodicals Index Board Chair, and ALICE Council Chair). Recently, he did site visits and library consultation reports in Africa, Peru, and Jamaica.
Publicity Coordinator:
Clint Anderson
He has been on the library staff of Southwestern Adventist University since 1984. He has served in a number of capacities including Cataloguer, Head of the Media Center, and currently as Coordinator of Bibliographic Services which still includes cataloguing. He has been an ASDAL member from the beginning of his library career and has served as Chairman of the Literary Awards Committee. He has an M.A. in English.
Jess Oliver
She is Director of the Multimedia Center at James White Library (JWL), Andrews University. She enjoys working with people and fosters a team spirit in her department. For several years, she has edited and published "Keeping in Touch," a quarterly in-house newsletter for JWL.
Constitution and Bylaws Committee (one new member to be chosen):
Margaret von Hake
She is Director of the Weis Library and Associate Professor of Library Science at Columbia Union College. An alumnus of La Sierra University, she holds an M.S.L.S. degree from the University of Southern California. She was the first editor of ASDAL Action (1981-1983) and served as ASDAL President, 1989-1990. She is the current Chair of the Maryland Independent College and University Association Library Directors' Round Table. Von Hake's special interests include music, history (particularly the American Civil War), and collecting Sherlockiana.
Scholarships Committee (one new member to be chosen):
Sheila Clark
She is currently the Access Services Librarian at Walla Walla College, a position she has held for 3 1/2 years. Previously, she taught adult education, biology, and chemistry at Red Deer College in Alberta, Canada. She received her M.L.I.S. in 1992 from the University of Alberta, an M.A. from Loma Linda in the same year, and undergraduate degrees in biology and education from Canadian Union College in 1988.
Morris Iheanacho
He is Catalogue Librarian and Assistant Professor at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. He received an M.S. in Librarianship from Western Michigan University in 1970. Born in Nigeria, West Africa, Iheanacho studied at Newbold College, England. He received a B.A. degree from Columbia Union College, Maryland. He has served on the ASDAL Classification Committee. He was formerly a librarian for the State of Michigan and the Adventist College of West Africa in Nigeria.
SDA Classification Advisory Committee (one new member to be chosen):
Annette Melgosa
She is the Assistant Librarian at Newbold College, England. Prior to her present position, she was Circulation Manager at Newbold. She is currently completing an M.A. in Library and Information Studies at the University of London. In her spare time, she enjoys doing Spanish-to-English translation and has translated 4 books for two European publishing houses.
Carol Nicks
After coming home with her family from a missionary assignment in Pakistan, Carol Nicks went back to school and graduated with an M.L.S. from the University of Alberta. For the past 4 years, she has been Associate Librarian in Charge of Cataloging at Canadian Union College.
SDA Periodicals Index Publication Board (one new member to be chosen):
Carolyn Gaskell
She has been an ASDAL member since the association's inception and has served in a wide range of positions including President and member of the Constitution and Bylaws, to name just a few. She is currently Chair of the Adventist Resources Section. She has been at Walla Walla College (WWC) since 1978, originally as Circulation Librarian and then as Library Director since 1989. Gaskell is very active in WWC's self-governance system for faculty and currently chairs the College Master Planning Committee. She is also current President of the northwest chapter of ACRL.
Adu Worku
He has lived, studied, and worked in Ethiopia, Australia, Canada, and the United States; and has travelled in Southeast Asia. His 3 Master's degrees are in history, curriculum and instruction, and library science. He is currently the Library Director at Pacific Union College. His involvement in ASDAL includes Conference Program Planner, President, and member of the Rank and Tenure Committee.
Site Planning Committee (one new member to be chosen):
Petre Cimpoeru
He is Assistant Archivist and Reference Librarian at the Del E. Webb Memorial Library at Loma Linda University with responsibility for archives and special collections. He is also Assistant Professor of History at La Sierra University. Cimpoeru came to the United States from Romania in 1980 where he suffered religious persecution and where he was involved in underground publishing of Adventist literature. Although he already had a Master's degree in History and Romanian Language, he spent a number of years validating that degree at California State University at San Bernardino, where he earned a Master's degree in National Security of the United States. He holds an M.L.S. degree from San Jose State University.
Jannith Lewis
She is the Director of Library Services and Professor at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Library Science from Indiana University. She was the first SDA woman to earn a doctoral degree in the field of library science in the United States. She has served in the past as ASDAL President, President-elect, Secretary, and Treasurer. She has served on various ASDAL committees such as Adventist Resources, Book Awards, and Constitution and Bylaws.
Adventist Resources Working Committee (two new members to be chosen):
Peg Bennett
She is Director of the McKee Library and Associate Professor of Library Science at Southern Adventist University. She received her M.S.L.S. degree from Florida State University. In addition to being a member of ASDAL, she is a member of the Chattanooga Area Library Association, the Southeastern Library Association, and the American Library Association. Bennett was one of the founders of the Adventist Network of General Education Libraries (ANGEL), which catalogs books for many school libraries in the southern part of the United States. She was the second president of ASDAL, 1982-83.
Harvey Brenneise
He is the Resources Development Librarian at Andrews University. He has served twice as ASDAL President and is currently Managing Editor of the SDA Periodical Index and Executive Secretary of ALICE. He has participated on many ASDAL committees during the past dozen years.
Violet Maynard-Reid
She has worked at Walla Walla College (WWC) from 1989-1993 as Access Services Librarian, and from 1993 to the present as Reference Librarian. Before coming to WWC, she was Library Director at West Indies College from 1981 to 1985 and Assistant Librarian at Antillian College 1985 to 1988. She has an M.L.S. degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Maynard-Reid has been an ASDAL member since 1982 and has served on a number of committees. She was ASDAL Action editor from 1994 to 1996.
Tony Zbaraschuk
He is new to the SDA library scene. Originally from the Northwest, where he graduated from Walla Walla College in 1989, Zbaraschuk obtained an M.L.S from the University of Indiana in 1993, then completed an M.A. in medieval studies at Notre Dame University in 1995. In 1996 he joined the faculty of La Sierra University, where he is currently Special Collections Librarian and Archivist.
School Librarians' Planning Committee (one new member to be chosen):
Nancy Kim
She is the Library Consultant at Southeastern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Riverside, California. She is also Librarian at Redlands Junior Academy, Redlands, California. She considers herself a "militant librarian."
Paulette McLean-Johnson
She is presently working on her dissertation at home in Toronto, Canada. Her last work assignment was Periodical Coordinator at La Sierra University. Previous to that, she was Librarian at Crawford SDA Academy in Toronto, Canada.
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Annette Melgosa is Assistant Librarian at Newbold College, England, and chair of the ASDAL Nominating Committee.
ASDAL SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
June 22 - 25, 1997
La Sierra University
From There to Here: Document Delivery in the Electronic Age
Preliminary Conference Program
By Per Lisle and Chris Cicchetti
Sabbath, June 21
We have organised an afternoon tour to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park for those who prefer to arrive at La Sierra University before the weekend. The tour group will leave after lunch.
The National Park Foundation tells us that "Two deserts come together at Joshua Tree National Park and encompass some of the most interesting geological displays found in California's deserts." The tour will include the major features of Joshua Tree with commentary provided by Jamie Walker, geology teacher (M.S. Geology) at La Sierra University. On the way back we will visit Palm Springs where we will explore the downtown area and have dinner. Because Joshua Tree is at a high elevation and it is still relatively early in the season, we do not expect the temperatures to be excessive.
The registration fee for this tour is $8.00. This covers transportation charges. Dinner in Palm Springs is not included in the registration fee; each person will pay for his/her own meal.
Sunday, June 22
Registration
School Librarians Section Pre-Conference (coordinated by Chris Cicchetti)
Adventist Resources Section Pre-Conference (coordinated by Carolyn Gaskell)
ASDAL Board (Officers') Meeting
Evening:
Progressive Party
ALICE Council
Monday, June 23
Registration
Keynote address
Presentation
Business session I
Evening:
Committees
SDAPI Board
Business Session II
Randall Marcinko, the keynote speaker, began his career as a natural products organic chemist. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Alberta in Canada, and did his graduate research at Stanford University.
In 1980, Marcinko founded Dynamic Information Corp., a full-service information brokerage, specializing only in document delivery since 1986. After selling Dynamic to EBSCO Industries, Inc. in 1994, he headed the new document delivery division, EBSCOdoc, as its vice president and general manager.
Marcinko remained at EBSCO through January 1996 implementing the first complete document delivery interface on the World Wide Web, mounting numerous databases, and enabling full functionality for document ordering.
Currently, Marcinko is the president of Information Canada Ltd., an information brokerage that he founded in 1989 and heads Marcinko Enterprises, Inc., a California-based information consulting firm.
He is a member of numerous Information industry associations, including ALA, SLA, EUSIDIC, DAI, MLA, and ASIS. He is a past founding board member of AIIP and is currently the president of the Association of Information Dissemination Centers (ASIDIC.)
Tuesday, June 24
All day tour
Our tour will begin with the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda. Richard Nixon was born and raised in Yorba Linda, and the house has been restored with much of the furniture that was present when Nixon was growing up. Nixon graduated from Whittier College, the next stop on our tour. Phil O'Brian, Librarian and also an alumnus of Whittier, will be our tour guide at both the Nixon Library and the Whittier College archives. Whittier College has long maintained a collection on Nixon, and has loaned some of its collections to the Nixon Library. O'Brian will be able to share with us some of the history of Nixon's youth which is not as widely known as Nixon's later life.
From Whittier College, we will be taking in some of the history of the Los Angeles area, beginning with the first people to live in the area, the Native Americans. The Southwest Museum has one of the finest collections of Native American artifacts in the United States, with a special emphasis on tribes of California and the southwest. The Southwest Museum, established in 1907, was the first museum in the City of Los Angeles. The museum's founder, Charles Lummis, was also the head of the Los Angeles Public Library from 1905 to 1910. The museum maintains a fine research library. We will see the library's collections on the history of Los Angeles, the southwest, and the native tribes of the Americas. The museum also has a fine gift shop, so come prepared!
Another part of the Southwest Museum is the Casa de Adobe, a reconstruction of a Spanish Colonial hacienda, or ranch house. This house is typical of early houses on the ranchos that made up much of Southern California in the late 1700's and early 1800's. Two museum rooms contain displays relative to the California missions and to life on the early ranchos. Incidentally, the Southwest Museum is located just off California's first freeway, the Pasadena Freeway, built in 1940.
Our tour will end a few miles from the Southwest Museum at Olvera Street, one of the most famous streets in Los Angeles. Also one of the oldest streets in the city, Olvera Street was transformed into a Mexican market place in the early 1930's as part of an effort to preserve the historic heart of the city. Its shops feature a wide selection of Mexican goods. La Golondrina Cafe, where we will have dinner, was one of the earliest businesses to be established on the street. Originally founded in 1924 on Main Street, La Golondrina was the first restaurant in the city to serve "Mexican" food as opposed to the Spanish food which had characterized the earlier cuisine of the city.
The tour price includes a sack lunch and dinner at La Golondrina as well as entrance fees to the museums.
Wednesday, 25 June
Presentation
Breakout sessions
Reports from breakout sessions
Panel discussion: An electronic SDA bibliography?
Reports
Evening:
Banquet
Business session III
A full conference programme will appear in the Spring issue of ASDAL Action. We will also publish conference details on the ASDAL home page.
Please see the registration form for financial information. International librarians, please use the attached registration form as the spring issue of ASDAL Action may be too late for you.
Shuttle Service from Area Airports to La Sierra University
Please note that Ontario is the closest airport (18 miles) to La Sierra University. It will almost certainly be the best option for those traveling within the United States. Those traveling internationally may need to fly into Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles (LAX) direct to La Sierra:
Inland Express (909) 626-6599
1 person - $49.00
Each additional person - $9.00
7 person van - $105.00
Shuttle Express 800 991-RIDE
1 person - $55.00
Each additional person - $ 7.00
7-person van - $85.00
From Ontario direct to La Sierra:
Inland Express (909) 626-6599
1 person - $29.00
Each additional person - $ 9.00
7-person van - $64.00
Shuttle Express 800 991-RIDE
1 person - $24.00
Each additional person - $ 7.00
7 person van - $24.00
All services need to be booked in advance.
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Per Lisle is Library Director at Newbold College, England, and Chair of the Conference Planning Committee. Chris Cicchetti is Reference/Curriculum Librarian at La Sierra University.
HISTORIC MEETING OF SDA LIBRARIANS IN AFRICA
By Keith Clouten
When the education director of the Eastern Africa Division of the world church stopped by my office late in 1995 to discuss a proposal for a week-long librarians' seminar in that division, I made lots of encouraging sounds. Privately, though, I doubted that the idea could ever become reality. Cost alone appeared to be a prohibitive factor. The Eastern Africa Division struggles with the challenge of operating six universities and colleges in many different countries of East Africa, all the way from Zimbabwe and Malawi in the south to Ethiopia in the north. I have tried to think of occasions when even our most affluent divisions of the church have initiated and sponsored meetings for their librarians.
However, I failed to reckon with the creative determination of Eastern Africa's education director, Hudson Kibuuka, and a supportive division administration. The first ever meeting of Adventist librarians on the African continent actually took place on October 11-20 at one of the continent's premier conference sites, the Mbagathi campus of Kenya College of Communications Technology a few miles from Nairobi. Seven attendees, including myself as leader, met for six consecutive days. The members were: Margaret Adeogun (University of Eastern Africa, Kenya), Emmanuel Chigogora (Eastern Africa Division), Cheryl Doss (Lakeview Seminary, Malawi), Betty Nakibuuka (Bugema University, Uganda), Sheila Ndlovu (Solusi University, Zimbabwe), and Vicky Perry (Tanzania Adventist College, Tanzania).
We were the smallest of nine professional groups that comprised the first inter-departmental leadership conference organized by the Eastern Africa Division. Among the more than 400 delegates were physicians, dentists, nurses, health/temperance directors, education and ministerial directors. The site facilities included a new and well-equipped conference center, with an adjoining conference hotel providing a high standard of accommodation for nearly 400 guests. The location adjoined Nairobi National Park, one of Kenya's best known game parks.
Planning this seminar was a new and challenging experience for me. I wanted the program to be practical and relevant to the diverse needs of library personnel representing institutions ranging in size from less than 100 to more than 1,000 students. Three of the six attendees were professionally qualified librarians, the others had no librarianship training and only limited experience in the field. All, however, were enthusiastic and ambitious for the growth of their libraries.
I decided to build the six-day program around a core exercise: each person would prepare the outline of a library development plan for their institution. Each plan consisted of five segments: a mission statement, analysis of the library's strengths and challenges, new goals for library development, an implementation strategy, and a plan for ongoing assessment. By the end of the week each delegate had successfully completed the outline of a plan for their own institution's library.
The seminar program included a mix of formal presentations using prepared overheads, demonstrations of several CD-ROM's (including two multimedia encyclopedias), library software demos, discussions of practical issues and problems, a visit to a Nairobi Internet provider for hands-on web experience, and field trips to libraries at the University of Nairobi and Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology. Topics of the formal presentations included automation and its impacts, building collections in Africa, organizational and staffing issues, marketing the library on the campus, and evaluating services. Daily there were drawings for library and stationery items which I took to Africa with me.
On the final afternoon we invited Dr. Kibuuka to join us as we discussed future development of Adventist libraries in Africa. From this meeting comes a request to ASDAL to recognize an Eastern Africa Chapter, and a recommendation for some major revisions to the ASDAL Standards for Overseas Institutions. All agreed that the seminar had been a worthwhile program, and the librarians expressed the hope that more such meetings will be possible. Mr. Kibuuka and the Eastern Africa Division are to be commended for their initiative and foresight in organizing and funding this historic session.
My visit to East Africa was expanded to include participation in two General Conference accreditation team visits just prior to the Nairobi conference. The two institutions visited were Solusi University near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and the University of Eastern Africa at Baraton in western Kenya. Both visits were classified as "Interim" in purpose to review progress since the last regular accreditation team visits in 1993. Other members of our team were John Fowler (a GC education director), Hudson Kibuuka, Bert Stickle (assistant treasurer for the division), and the local union education director. This was my first participation in an Adventist accreditation team, and I found the experience educational, enjoyable, eventful, and broadening.* We were treated royally by the administrations and faculties of both universities, shown their campus facilities, given reams of documentation to study, scheduled for numerous interviews and presentations, and given minimal time to prepare reports.
The church continues to grow energetically and rapidly in many parts of Africa. Unfortunately, however, only a very small percentage of Adventist young people in East Africa are able to take advantage of our post-secondary educational institutions, due to the high cost of education. From published church membership statistics, I did a rough calculation which shows that less than one percent of Adventist college-age young people are currently attending one of our universities or colleges in that division. On the other hand, Adventist universities in Kenya and Zimbabwe have a high reputation for quality education, and in spite of their relatively isolated locations, are attracting increasingly larger numbers of non-Adventist students.
My visit to the main library of one major public university in Kenya, coupled with reports I read or heard of Africa's libraries in general, would indicate that if libraries alone are considered to be an indicator of educational quality, at least some SDA institutions in East Africa have a significant edge over most of their competitors. The stark reality is that books and periodicals imported from the western world are extremely expensive in African currency terms. Any creative support which we as librarians in the developed economies can provide to our libraries in Africa will be important and appreciated.
* You may interpret this as you wish. We were of course fed very well during these visits.
Post Script:
I will remember Africa for its friendly people (they've forgiven us for the harsh treatment they often received under colonial administrations), its unique natural beauty and wildlife (I toured a game park for a few hours and saw prolific numbers of animals), its educational and cultural achievements (Africans are proud of their educational institutions and want only the best), its staggering problems (the AIDS epidemic is rampant in many areas, poverty is widespread), its urgent energy needs (there were power blackouts on most of the days I was in Africa).
Africa is also an adventure. During the Nairobi conference I washed my underwear every two or three days and hung it to dry just inside the open window of my third floor hotel room. One afternoon I returned to my room to find one pair of undershorts missing and the windows closed. Perplexed, I was just contemplating a call down to reception for explanation when there was a knock at my door. It was a lady from room service who asked if I'd found some clothing missing. Yes, I had.
"You left your window open," she remonstrated.
"Oh, did the wind blow away my underpants?" I had my doubts about that.
"No, no", she said. "A monkey was swinging down from the roof and stole your clothing. Someone outside saw the monkey run away with it, and reported it to reception. So we closed your window." Then she added, "You must not leave your window open."
I thanked her for the explanation and advice. But I still possess a mental image of one African monkey who is trying to set a new dress code for the species.
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Keith Clouten is Library Director at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.
ZAOSKII THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: THEN AND NOW
By Zeleny Terretta
Perhaps some of you saw it then, in those first brave years before March 1995. A library meant to fill the reading and research needs of nearly 200 students in a four-year seminary program, a music school, and even classes at the master's level--crammed into every available cubic centimeter of two smallish classrooms in the Zaoskii Seminary administration building. Books were squeezed in vertically, precariously piled horizontally. Then when all shelves were full, the books were wedged behind the shelves, stacked in boxes, on windowsills, chairs, desks, and even the floor.
Optimistic attempts to catalogue the unlikely mix of second-hand textbooks, valuable scholarly monographs, outdated donations, expensive reference volumes and Soviet-era bargain-basement surplus resulted in quite a few hand-typed English cards in the nascent catalogue, but virtually no Russian books were classified. Students climbing on the flimsy chairs to search for a title in Russian history or literature were more likely to receive a brain concussion from a book avalanche than the desired volume.
In March 1995, when Clinton Wahlen was director, we moved into an attractive three-story red building echoing the traditional Russian architecture of the original seminary structure, and decided that with a bit of money and a lot of hard work, we, too, could be a professional, scholarly theological library.
That same spring we purchased a computer program from Moscow State University theoretically capable of producing catalogue cards in either Cyrillic or Latin characters. After some months of tinkering by a local programmer and considerable manual readjustment for each card set, it usually does just that. This program and the lone ancient IBM clone it runs on are our sole acknowledgments of the electronic information age. Most of our procedures would seem quite familiar to anyone who worked in a U.S. library 25 or 30 years ago. Thanks to (or in spite of) this equipment, we have accessioned over 20,000 books, a little more than half of them in Russian and the rest in English except for occasional German titles. At least 5000 more of widely varying value wait on shelves or in the basement for accessioning, sale, or discard.
Only one person remains of the original group who received some training from Andrews University library personnel. Nevertheless, we have slowly developed a diligent, capable, and efficient staff. Alla, trained as a schoolteacher, effectively manages public services and periodicals. Larisa, present at the creation eight years ago, does computer data entry and retrieval, and knows the collection almost well enough to function as the online catalogue we as yet only dream of. Anna, a Russian language and literature graduate of the University of Tver, is being trained to tackle the formidable task of cataloguing 10,000 to 12,000 Russian books. The director, the only professional librarian and the only foreigner, also supervises tech services, does English language cataloguing, oversees acquisitions, and reviews cataloguing with Anna. Just since the New Year, we have hired two half-time workers to assist with circulation, book security, reshelving, temporary organization of uncatalogued books, filing, and verifying the old hand-typed catalogue, whose contents were long ago irretrievably lost from a quasi-functional predecessor of our computer "cataloguing" program. We are understandably glad to have Nina and Natasha on the team.
So, thankful for such progress in a few short years, we face the future undismayed. Some significant challenges do remain. We would like to have a couple more computers (at least!). We only dream of easy, affordable access to U.S. online catalogs. Presently, more prosaically, we would just like to have heat! The seminary heating system proved inadequate for our new building, so temperatures in the library vary from about 46 degrees to 53 degrees Fahrenheit. Stringent book security measures are difficult to enforce when all students must study wearing heavy parkas, thick gloves, and fur hats. The cataloguing office is the "hot spot" at 58 or 59 degrees directly above our little electric radiator. We sit on it while cataloguing.
Come visit us in Zaoskii, 100 miles south of Moscow, if you have an opportunity. You might be more comfortable, however, if you wait until spring! If you have any donations, please check with us before expending your time, effort, or money. We have many book needs but it is not worth paying for expensive shipping for items we already have. For these or other questions, I can be contacted quickly at CompuServe 74617,1443.
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Zeleny Terretta is Director of Zaoskii Theological Seminary Library, Russia.
From Isolation to Cooperation: School Libraries in the Southeastern California Conference
Nancy Kim, Coordinator and Author
The following is a condensed version of a paper that was read at the 1996 ASDAL Conference, School Librarians' Section.
It all started with the 1993 ASDAL Conference at Canadian Union College. It was the first ASDAL Conference I had ever attended. I returned to my job with my head buzzing with nebulous ideas about the conference-wide school library situation and my own. Several months later, I had isolated and defined some of my ideas and wrote them in a letter to Chuck McKinstry, the Superintendent of Education for the Southeastern California Conference. Here are some of the salient paragraphs from that letter:
I believe the Southeastern California Conference (SCC), especially within the Inland Empire, composed of the Riverside, La Sierra, Loma Linda, Redlands, and Yucaipa areas, has a situation unique in the SDA education in the world. Within a sixty-mile radius exists a K-12 student population of over 2,000 with several large schools that have school libraries. Unfortunately these libraries are outdated in many ways because of recent advances in technology. And then there are the small schools that have basically no library services at all. I feel that our schools and school libraries need to make changes, even revolutionary ones, if we are to serve our students well. This geographical area would be ideal to pioneer the kinds of changes I envision.
First of all, there should be a general plan for making technology a part of the library services at all schools, not only for research but also for handling library procedures. Another dimension of an overall plan could be a central purchasing and processing center with all materials selected, cataloged, and entered into a main server and then sent out to the specific school. (This service would be similar to the ANGEL plan in the Southern Union.)
With a centralized set-up, schools that are too small to employ a librarian even part-time could have functioning libraries. An automated library is relatively easy to manage and could be maintained with a minimum amount of time once it is set up. Parent volunteers, older students, or a coalition of teachers could do the routine circulation procedures on the computer with a conference library coordinator taking care of the administrative tasks.
With a computer serving each school in their library, another service could be added. The library computer could go online with Internet so that schools could benefit from the many resources available there and also keep in touch via e-mail.
I am proposing three specific services which would dramatically change the quality of school library services in SCC: central purchasing and processing, automation, and linking to the Internet.
I closed with the following paragraph which basically sums up my philosophy.
We must change and revolutionize our school libraries in order to prepare our students to live in the 21st century. The students in our schools will be facing life/work environments that are in some ways impossible for us to conceptualize. We must begin now to prepare them for the tremendous changes they will be facing as adults. As a librarian and an educator, I feel a tremendous challenge to prepare students for their future lives within this information explosion. The way I can do this is through up-to-date library services.
Several phone conversations later, I found myself making a presentation to all of the associate superintendents of education and then to all the conference principals. There was an overwhelming positive response. The SCC Office of Education created a new half-time position, that of conference library consultant, and hired me to coordinate the services I envisioned.
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Nancy Kim is Librarian at Redlands Junior Academy, Redlands, California and Library Consultant at the Southeastern California Conference, Riverside, California.
Books
Jones, Laurie Beth. The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement for Work and for Life. New York: Hyperion, 1996. 249p.
One of the first things that a company or organization should do to define its purpose is to write a clear, concise mission statement. However, creating a focused, succinct one is often a daunting task. Indeed, some organizations have devoted whole retreat sessions, lasting several days, to this very purpose.
In her book, Laurie Beth Jones "provides inspiring and practical advice to lead readers through every step of both defining and fulfilling a mission. With more than ten years' experience in assisting groups and individuals, Jones offers clear, step-by-step guidance that can make writing a mission statement take a matter of hours rather than months or years." The Path discusses three qualities of good mission statements and offers profiles of six Biblical characters who used their "mission statements" to change both their personal and professional lives.
"Rich with humor, exercises, meditations, and case histories, The Path is essential reading for anyone seeking a lighter, clearer way in the world."
This is the second book for Jones in the area of Christian business philosophy. Her first book, Jesus CEO, was a national best-seller.
By Sallie Alger
This book gives a detailed, fascinating look at the top customer service-oriented company in the United States. The reader finds out what makes Nordstrom so special, what it does that so clearly distinguishes it from other large retail giants, how the customer service culture works, and what it is like to work for this retail powerhouse.
Spector and McCarthy each have been associated with Nordstroms for over 20 years, so they are able to convey an intimate perspective on the personalities of the Nordstrom family throughout several generations and on the internal workings of a company that is so admired and, at the same time, so feared. Since Nordstrom sets the standard for customer service in the retail industry, other companies are scrambling to emulate this customer-driven philosophy.
The reader also quickly finds out that working for Nordstrom is not for everyone. The authors describe "a hotly competitive 'Darwinian' culture where 35,000 employees are given freedom to either think and act like entrepreneurs or pass into extinction."
Although the book tells us more than we may have ever wanted to know about the company, there are some practical lessons that can be applied to both our personal and professional lives as librarians, including:
"Becoming 'other-centered' rather than 'self-centered'"
"Valuing the nobility of service"
"Finding and bonding with customers"
"Serving and keeping those customers"
"Giving front line people the freedom to make decisions"
This book is valuable reading for the business student, but it would also hold the attention of the general reader as well.
By Sallie Alger, Head of Technical Services at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Bond, Karlyn, pianist. Piano Classics from the World of Jane Austen. Salt Lake City, UT: [K. Bond], 1996. 73 minutes.
"What music might Elizabeth Bennet, Marianne Dashwood, and the other Austen heroines have performed?" asks pianist Karlyn Bond. The answer comes in a lively 73-minute rendition of piano music drawn from the library and times of Jane Austen, herself an accomplished pianist.
The recording comes accompanied by a 12-page booklet where Bond carefully documents how each piece performed is connected to Austen's musical world. The music performed was drawn from actual pieces found in Austen's personal library, and other works by composers represented in it, primarily from the London Pianoforte School. The lively discussion of the music is interspersed with quotations from musical passages of Austen's novels. The booklet concludes with a list of sources for further study of Austen and music.
The classical gems of Haydn, Field, Cramer, Mozart, Clementi, Schobert, and Beethoven elegantly sparkle as Bond brings them to life in the passionate manner of Marianne Dashwood of Sense and Sensibility. Although a modern Steinway is used for this recording, the ambience of the recording space gives an authentic feel for the sound that a piano would have made in 18th century drawing rooms with high ceilings and hardwood floors.
Bond graduated from Walla Walla College with a degree in piano performance and subsequently completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California under a Jacob K. Javits fellowship. She currently lives in Salt Lake City where she teaches at Westminster College and performs as a solo and chamber music pianist.
The recording is available from: K. Bond, 2441 Evening Star, Salt Lake City, UT 84124. Phone (801) 272-0104.
By Linda Mack, Music Librarian at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.
LIBRARY SERVICES IN INDIA AND U.S.A.: A BRIEF COMPARISON
By Abraham Philip
India has a long and rich tradition of education and culture. University libraries like Taxila and Nalanda existed in India in the 4th century A.D. However, the role libraries could play in the overall development of the country came to be recognized only in the 2nd half of the 20th century. The previous history of librarianship in India, as in several countries in the East, put little emphasis on library service in the modern sense. Compared with India, U.S. library history is relatively recent. The main difference is that U.S. libraries (which began in 1873) has been a story of vibrant growth.
In India with its 17 recognized languages (Hindi as official language, 15 regional languages, English as an associate official language), the effective communication necessary for democratization of knowledge is not easy. In the U.S.A., this kind of language problem does not exist since there is only one common language that serves as the official language of education and communication.
Services in Different Types of Libraries
In public and academic libraries of India, demand for quick and expeditious service is not commonly seen. Traditional library services still exist in India. However, in special libraries which cater to specialized services especially in the area of business, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, engineering, frontier technology, and such competitive areas, the demand for accurate and expeditious service is very evident. This picture ushers in the automation of special libraries from the 1970's. Furthermore, industries had enough financial resources to fund the automation programs in special library units. Some university libraries started automating their services in the late 1980's with whatever resources they had. A large number of universities have started the automation process in the early 1990's with the help of government funding. In public libraries, automated services are absent with few exceptions. In school libraries, automation is a luxury.
Compared to the above scene in India, the U.S.A. is far ahead with all its public libraries, university libraries, special libraries, and to a great extent school libraries giving the advantage of the emerging technology to all its users. India may take more than 25 years to catch up with present status in U.S.A. By then, the U.S.A. is destined to reach the planet Mars.
Application of Technology
Electronic Information Systems are a phenomenon of the last 25 years. As a profession, we have been faced with extraordinary changes over the last 10 years. Though computers were used in India since the 1950's for storage and processing of data, its use in libraries came much later. Automation started with special libraries in India in the late 1970's. As of 1996, over 1,000 special libraries have been automated. Best examples of automated libraries are the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research library and the Bhaba Atomic Research Center both of which are in Bombay. National research organizations are in the forefront in regard to library automation. To cater to the technically adept audience, INTERNET service providers are found in all the major towns of India, e.g. ERNET, IndiaLink, VSNL, aXcess online services, Live Wire BBS, XLWeb, etc.
Information Brokers and online vendors are seen in mega-cities. Metropolitan library networks are the latest trends in the Indian library scenario. Scientists and research workers have access to the Information Highway. With the cost of specialized journals skyrocketing and the perpetual problem of delays and missing copies and the demand for pinpointed and expeditious information service, the emerging technology is the only answer. As far as the application of technology in libraries is concerned, the U.S.A. is far ahead of all the other countries of the world.
Library Science Education
In the U.S.A., many reputed library schools closed their doors. Those that remained open experienced a sharp drop in enrollment in the recent years. The story is slightly different in India. Librarianship as a profession made great strides in India since the 1950's. There are about 75 library schools in universities conducting one-year Bachelor's degree courses. About 45 of them offer an additional year leading to the Master's degree (so a Master's degree in Library Science is a full two-year program in India which is not the case in the U.S.A.). About 25 library schools register students for the Ph.D. program. The number of library schools have been increasing recently. The main difference between the two systems is the technology component that is found in U.S. library schools; thus, all other countries including India look towards U.S.A. as a model.
A Statistical Comparison
| India | U.S.A. | |
| Libraries (all types) | 78,536 | 127,362 |
| Volumes | 340,990,000 | 2,186,150,606 |
| Professional Staff (with certificate, diploma, etc.) | 52,874 | 130,310 |
| Library Association Membership | 2,900 (ILA) | 57,000 (ALA) |
Place of the Library Professional
In this networked environment, professional librarians in both countries will be required to optimize the potential of technology, to sort quality information from the glut available. Professionals are also required to smooth the public's ride on the Information Super Highway.
References
Statistical Abstract of United States, 1991.
U.G.C. Annual Report, 1988-89.
India: A Reference Annual, 1993-94.
World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, 1993.
__________
Abraham Philip was Library Services Director at Spicer Memorial College, India (1976-1996).
ARCHITECTURE LIBRARIAN VISITS EUROPEAN LIBRARIES
By Kathleen Demsky
What do librarians do on vacation? Over the past ten years or so, whenever the opportunity has arisen, I have visited many architecture libraries around the United States. Ever since my son spent a year in Forli, Italy with Adventist World Radio, I have wanted to visit Bologna, Italy. This past fall, I had the ultimate privilege of traveling to Europe and visiting four very special libraries. With a letter of introduction and a gift of two calendars, one of Andrews University and another of the Great Lakes, my husband and I were off to experience other environments.
University Library
Bologna is a fascinating city and one of the most well-preserved in Italy, second only to Venice. With its rows of arcades, which range from the wooden medieval to the archways of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, Bologna is a wonderful city to explore. There is a fascinating gallery of architectural examples which makes this town one of the most scenic in the world. The warm-toned quality of terra-cotta tiles and brickwork facades give Bologna its unique and evocative red-ocher shading. This city with its rich history dates back to the ninth century B.C. The Guinness Book of World Records refers to it as the city with the most towers.
Here is located the Universidad di Bologna which is one of the oldest universities in the "western world." It will soon be celebrating its 900th birthday. The librarian, Pasti Franco, graciously gave us a detailed tour and told us that there was an argument with the university in Paris as to which university is the oldest.
The founder of the Institute was Marsigli Luigi Fernando. He was a scientist and a general in the Imperial Army of Austria against the Turks. He was born in Bologna in 1685. He traveled around the world and collected manuscripts, including Arabic and Oriental ones.
The library better known as the Biblioteca Universitaria had a main reading room which was grand in size (larger than the Burnam Library in the Art Institute of Chicago). There are busts of philosophers around the tops of the book shelves which must have been over two stories high. Mr. Franco pointed out the busts of Esdri, father of the Talmud, and Moses which flanked the far end wall. Under these busts were the books, codices, and manuscripts of a religious nature. The other shelves held materials on law and medicine. The first four reading tables in the room are reserved for ladies only.
Before 1930, there were no tables and a man rode around on some ancient type of bicycle to get books for patrons. Now, a new building is being added where computers and new technology will be installed. The old part of the library will stay as it is.
Mr. Franco brought out rare manuscripts, books, and illuminations for our viewing. One of these was a Calendar of Mexico from pre-Columbian times, ca. 1400. Among the more precious manuscripts is the Canon of Medicine which has been studied by scholars from all over the world.
As Mr. Franco realized our deep interest in the library, he took us into the rare apartments of the library, including the Museo di Geologia and the Museo di Zoologia, were we saw the rarest manuscripts. This part of the library was at one time a private residence of the Poggi family in the sixteenth century. Mr. Franco told us that the items in these museums were the first collections of natural science opened to the public in 1742. Ulisse Aldrovandi, born in 1522, was the procurator of the museum. When Napoleon visited the Academy of Science in 1805, he was so excited about the collections that he decided to provide funding.
There is a large green and gilt chair which was Napoleon's throne when he was in Bologna. The frescos around the ceiling were done by a French artist, Nicole Della Abrata. They have the traditional author and subject catalogs in the Dewey classification. Each new room we entered was painted with frescos and contained statues of rare beauty. There are, of course, closed stacks and reference rooms by subject. There are general bibliographies, encyclopedias, the Greek Catalog and the Union Catalog of Paris and London. Finally we were taken to the rooms where the old accession books were kept. The author of these original books was Coronti. There are over one million volumes which include codices, manuscripts, incunabula, prints, and drawings. Visiting this magnificent library full of rare and priceless materials was an experience of a lifetime.
Architecture Libraries
Amsterdam, Holland
We visited the Berlage Institute which is said to be the most prestigious in all of Europe with only 31 students enrolled at one time. The school was founded primarily by Herman Hertzberger. The school has a List of Lecturers which looks like a list of who's who in a gallery of world-renown architects. The library, with 500 books and 21 periodical titles, is on the top floor of this 1860's wooden construction typical of Dutch architecture. Mila Hauser is the librarian/archivist. It is interesting to note that Herman Hertzberger's wife organized the collection using her own method of accession and keeping a hand-written accession book. This library is not online and does not look like it will be soon. There are more videos than books which is due to the fact that the guest lecturers are such high profile architects on an international scale.
Milan, Italy
Anna Lisa Mariani, director of the Biblioteco Centrale Facolta Archittura, gave us a tour of this busy library. It was incredible to learn that 40,000 students attend this school of architecture. Its library is divided into four main areas. The study area was filled with students who sat six to eight at each table. Overcrowding throughout the facility was evident. The multiple copy machines were occupied with students making copies. The periodical room was also wall to wall with students. There are 330 current periodical titles and some 40,000 books. The stacks are partially open for professors and students doing research for professors. Compact shelving is used to save space.
A committee selects books; however, I was told that for the past 16 years only the landscape professor has selected. They use the Dewey system for classification and are presently coming online. They are using EASYWEB and EASYPAC. There are no library fines. Patrons with overdues are excluded from the library from six months or more if there are problems involved in returning items. At this time, funding for libraries is slim due to the fact that libraries are not considered important in Italy by the government funding entities.
Venice, Italy
In Venice, we visited the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia which has 13,000 students in attendance. Students spend sometime in Finland for a design workshop. The library under the directorship of Andreina Masotti has nine EASYPAC stations and six computers dedicated to the Internet. Books and periodicals are in open stacks. Periodicals for the past ten years are available to students and faculty. Older periodicals and duplicate copies of each book are kept in archival vaults. Access to the major books is allowed on Fridays only. The library is open until midnight except Saturdays and Sundays.
Books are cataloged using a combination of the national system known to them as SBN and the Dewey system. When they order books from America, it takes three months to finally get them.
It may be safely said that librarians around the world face similar problems and obtain the same rewards in their work environment.
__________
Kathleen Demsky is Architecture Librarian at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Marilyn Crane, Coordinator
Recent Books, Theses, & Periodical Articles
Choosing who's to live: ethics and aging. Edited by James W. Walters. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, c1996. 165 p. $18.00. ISBN:0252022408 (cloth); 0252065417 (pbk.). Edited by a professor of ethical studies at Loma Linda University, this book is a discussion of health care rationing in the United States.
Family ministries counselors and therapists directory. Silver Spring, MD: North American Division, Dept. of Family Ministries, [1996?]. 25 p. Order from NAD, Dept. of Family Ministries, Willie Oliver, Director, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600.
Ford, Herbert. Pitcairn port of call. Angwin, CA: Hawser Titles, c1996. 484 p. $45.00. ISBN:0964964201. A blend of brief history and chronological listing of ships that have landed at fabled Pitcairn Island.
Hale, Frank W. Angels watching over me: the autobiography of Dr. Frank W. Hale, Jr. Nashville: James C. Winston Pub. Co., c1996. 435 p. $26.00. ISBN: 1555237819. Dr. Hale has had an active career in higher education for more than four decades as teacher, administrator, speaker, and writer at a variety of schools ranging from Oakwood College to Ohio State University.
Harker, Barry R. Strange fire: Christianity and the rise of modern Olympism. Rapidan, VA: Hartland Publications, c1996. 209 p. ISBN: 092330939X. The book "reveals why the Olympic games are inextricably associated with controversy and why the expected character-building effects of competitive sports have failed to materialize."
Koranteng-Pipim, Samuel. Receiving the word: how new approaches to the Bible impact our biblical faith and lifestyle. Berrien Springs, MI: Berean Books, c1996. 368 p. ISBN: 1890014001. Order from Berean Books, P.O. Box 195, Berrien Springs, MI 49103-0195 ($10.95 plus $3.00 shipping). The book deals with "biblical inspiration and interpretation and their impact on our faith and practice."
Marshall, David. The Celtic connection. Alma Park, Granthan, Lincs., England: Stanborough Press, c1994. 47 p. ISBN: 090474888X. A brief history of Christianity in Ireland and Britain and how it initially varied from that practiced on the continent.
Melashenko, Lonnie and David B. Smith. Bodyguards, bombs, and baptismal barrels. Fallbrook, CA: Hart Research Center, c1996. 111 p. The story of God at work in Target 50,000, the successful public evangelism effort in the Philippines.
Messina, Mark and Virginia Messina. The dietitian's guide to vegetarian diets: issues and applications. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers, Inc., 1996. 511 p. ISBN: 0834106358. There is brief mention of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in the history of vegetarianism section and Seventh-day Adventists are mentioned in the section on "Cancer rates in vegetarians."
Ministering to women: a handbook for success in congregations. [Silver Spring, MD]: North American Division, Women's Ministries Dept., c1996. 52 p. ISBN: 157756006X. Order from AdventSource, 5040 Prescott Avenue, Lincoln, NE 68506, 1-800-328-0525. This title is intended as a resource for leaders in the women's ministries work at the local church level.
Painter, Nell Irvin. Sojourner Truth: a life, a symbol. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., c1996. 370 p. $29.00. ISBN: 0393027392. Sojourner Truth's relationship to the Millerites is mentioned.
Those who do not remember the past. Eatonville, WA: Hope International, c1995. 159 p. $8.00. A collection of essays concerning the sanctuary doctrine and the book, Beyond belief, by Jack Sequera.
Ratzlaff, Dale. The cultic doctrine of Seventh-day Adventists. Sedona, AZ: Life Assurance Ministries, c1996. 384 p. ISBN: 0962754692. Written by a former Seventh-day Adventist, the book voices the author's concern about doctrinal errors he sees in the church.
Statements, guidelines & other documents: a compilation. Silver Spring, MD: General Conference, Communication Dept., c1996. 149 p. This book presents what the Seventh-day Adventist Church officially has to say about current topics from abuse to pornography to theological and academic freedom. A number of documents and guidelines are also included.
Timm, Alberto Ronald. The sanctuary and the three angels' messages 1844-1863: integrating factors in the development of Seventh-day Adventist doctrines. UMI Number:9600300. A doctoral dissertation from Andrews University Theological Seminary.
Warren, Mervyn A. Oakwood! A vision splendid, 1896-1996. [Huntsville, AL]: Oakwood College, c1996. 277 p. $42.00. A history of Oakwood College in celebration of its centennial.
Woodard, Russell Main. Revelation, a spiritual study. Silver Spring, MD: ReadWrite Publications, c1996. 722 p. $68.00. ISBN:0964749300. "A spiritual interpretation of the apocalypse of John, and a reinterpretation of the doctrines long held by the Seventh-day Adventist Church."
__________
Marilyn Crane is Cataloging Librarian at Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California.
STANDARDIZED USER INTERFACE FOR ELECTRONIC SEARCHING, A MYTH
OR A REALITY?!
By Wolfhard Touchard
How It All Began
Two years ago, I assumed the task of preparing summaries and cheat sheets for all the databases in the James White Library. With the big number of databases we had, our staff was constantly helping patrons. Seeing the value of this project, I decided to compile the summaries and cheat sheets into one volume and have it available at every workstation for patrons' quick reference. I called this guide How to Search Electronic Databases; A Survival Guide.
No sooner had I published and sold these guides when it became necessary to put out a second edition which took 102 pages and which could have been so many pages less if only there were standard commands for searching. I voiced my concerns on the reference librarians' listserv which led to my involvement in the Michigan Library Association (MLA) annual conference.
The Program Committee of MLA was so interested in this topic that I was asked to chair a session with this very topic: Standardized User Interface for Electronic Searching, A Myth or a Reality?! on Nov. 7, 1996 at the MLA conference. The two goals were as follows: (a) to have the industry give us, librarians, more insight into the technical make-up of a database, and (b) to provide opportunities for librarians to present to the industry the frustrations faced by patrons in searching and the challenges faced by those who have to teach the patrons.
The question presented to the representatives of EBSCO, Information Access Company (IAC), and University Microfilms Inc. (UMI) was: "What would it take to make the vendors standardize search commands for at least title, author, and keyword searching?"
Response from the Industry
The response from EBSCO was given by Oliver Pesh, director of Technical Development. The current state of the art in technology covers speech recognition which will eventually replace the keyboard and the mouse; Windows95 which offers tools and tips; Microsoft beta tests of smart agents; and advances in natural language searching. Because of the rapid applications development of tools and technologies, the life span of a product is now considered to be months rather than years as it was in the past. There is a graphical approach to the interface in the future. It is a reasonable expectation to be able to offer a consistent use of terminology in basic functions such as printing, downloading, and e-mail. The suggestion was to take a hard look at the data format of MARC, ASCII, HTML, and PDF in order to take advantage of emerging tools and techniques.
Arta Zygielbaum, Senior Manager of Strategic Planning, gave the response on behalf of IAC. When Reader's Guide was introduced, the cry for standardized commands actually began. Librarians need to understand that the user interface is not the search engine, and that the interface is the connection between the user and the search engine. We may want to look for a "common screen design" and compare it with desirable functions and capabilities; browsing of authority file and cross references; the ability to expand and narrow searches; indication of abstract or full text or table of contents availability. Will the Web browser be the new standard?
Personally, I felt that the presentations were stimulating. I am thankful to have gained a much needed insight into the development of databases. Before leaving the room, I asked one of the representatives, "What would it take you to change your truncation symbol to another?" "Five minutes!" was the answer. This was most encouraging and this answer has spurred me to explore this topic further.
Formation of a Librarians' Task Force
After making this presentation, MLA has asked me to head a task force that will address the issues presented above, to take a serious look at the suggestions given at the conference, and to come up with recommendations.
Members of the MLA Information Literacy Roundtable, the Reference Division, and the Library Technologies Division comprise this task force. There is good representation from university, college, and public libraries. If you have any suggestions or observations, please call (616) 471-6263 or send e-mail to touchard@andrews.edu or send by regular mail to:
Wolfhard Touchard, chair
Michigan Library Association Task Force on Standardizing Search Commands
Andrews University
Berrien Springs, MI 49104-1400.
__________
Wolfhard Touchard is Reference Librarian at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Florida Hospital College
Last Fall, Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences (FHCHS) Library started publishing a newsletter for faculty and students. The publication called INFOLINK provides information related to library activities such as book reviews, notes from the director, lists of popular new books, automation updates, and news from the Learning Resources Center about current videos and learning programs. Some of the feature columns have rather unique titles such as "Peek-a-Book," "Did You Know," and "Gotcha" (a list of overdue books with no names attached). The "Gotcha" column has brought some surprising results and gives evidence that there are readers out there.
As mentioned in the last issue of ASDAL Action, FHCHS Library was funded for automation in 1996. Library faculty and staff are heavily involved in the process at this writing. The software, Master Library System (MLS) from Book Systems, Inc., has been loaded on the server and is now being studied by the staff in preparation for uploading the database. The first round of bar coding will be finished by Feb. 10. The usual problems related to bar coding keep popping up, i.e. books with no bar codes and bar codes with no books. In fact, the problem is somewhat larger than expected with an estimated ten percent of the collection involved in such enigmas. These problems probably stem from the fact that the base collection was purchased from another school without proper change of property codes and also from some fast cataloging done by inexperienced personnel during a blitz of purchases made back in 1992-93.
Nevertheless, the work is progressing and it is hoped that the system will be up and running sometime in March. Library director Marley Soper and head cataloger Beck Hutchinson are very happy with the MLS system for a small library. Support from the vendor is great.
Through a bit of misunderstanding, FHCHS Library did not get into the initial ALICE program for EBSCO. As a result, Marley has been actively working with Learning and Information Resource Network (LIRN) for this service. The consortium is made up of a very diverse group of independent colleges and universities, all of which have some or all operations in the state of Florida. The University of Phoenix, St. Francis College (in Illinois), Webster University, Schiller International College, and Central Michigan University are some members who have operations both inside and outside Florida. On Jan. 31, LIRN representatives including Marley Soper voted to move forward into an agreement with EBSCO as well as ABI/Inform with UMI and one database from IAC.
Unfortunately, LIRN lacks the real leadership and communication that ALICE has had. The fact that ALICE has a president and executive secretary who have been empowered to act on behalf of ALICE seems to have been an excellent decision. LIRN has a part-time State of Florida government staff as a point of contact, but decisions are being made by a committee which meets once a month. Hopefully, the committee can make it happen! First contracts are expected to be signed by March 15.
Submitted by Marley Soper
The Loma Linda Academy (LLA) Library System serves 1548 students and 78 teachers working in three different schools on a 40-acre campus. The entire operation is administered by one Board of Directors and a head principal. Eleven constituent churches support the LLA system, which includes an elementary school, a junior high, and a high school. The LLA campus has recently been recognized in the San Bernardino SUN newspaper as being one of the most ethnically diverse schools in the San Bernardino, California area. Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Bengali, Hindi, Filipino, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, German, French, Romanian, Turkish, Arabic, and Russian are some of the languages heard on the LLA campus. The libraries and teaching staff are adding materials and literature classes to reflect the cultural mix.
The elementary library built in 1986 serves the K-6 resource center. A full-time librarian oversees this very busy operation. Every one of the school's 768 students is scheduled for a weekly visit to the library. All cataloging and circulation procedures are automated through Winnebago Software, Inc. Internet access is available to staff and students. A growing CD-ROM collection is a popular resource.
The high school library serves both junior high and high school campuses. A full-time librarian also administers this facility. It is housed in Franz Hall, a building which is about 60 years old. The administration hopes to build a new library/classroom complex in the next 3-5 years. A ten-station Novell network is currently being upgraded to a 25-station Novell 4.11 IntraNetWare system. Winnebago is presently converting the card catalog and circulation functions to full automation. Students have a choice of over 30 CD-ROM databases including SIRS Researcher, Wilson-CD (full text mini-edition of the Reader's Guide), and Encyclopedia Britannica CD. INFOTRAC is currently being evaluated for future use. Internet access is available to students and faculty.
An instructional media center provides supplies, multimedia equipment and service, and printing/copy services to all three schools.
Loma Linda Academy is fortunate to have a strong support for its library program.
Submitted by Bob DuBose
The good news at Thunderbird is that we have finished the task of automation. We are using Follett software. It is wonderful for our size library. We have a network in the library with 5 search stations. From 3 of these stations, students can also access the local public library which will drop off books for us via their courier service. We are also using EBSCO's Magazine Article Summaries on CD for periodical searches in addition to Reader's Guide. Our local public library will fax articles to us if we do not receive the periodical. Our phone company, U.S. West, is supplying a free unlimited access to Internet to the school. We are excited about the changes that allow our students access to so much more information.
Submitted by Ella Jean Albertsen
Conference Registration
International librarians, you are strongly encouraged to use the registration form attached to this newsletter because you may not receive the Spring issue in time to register.
Dinner at ACRL
Join your SDA colleagues attending the Association of College and Research Libraries conference in Nashville for dinner. We will meet at the "message board" in the registration area at 6:00 p.m., Saturday, April 12, to go to a local restaurant. Please R.S.V.P. to Lee Marie Wisel, phone no. (301) 891-4222 or e-mail lwisel@cuc.edu.
New Members
We welcome four new members to our association: Brian Jackson, Cheryl Jackson, Vicky Perry, and Marge Seifert. Brian and Cheryl Jackson, husband and wife, are students at the University of Arizona. Expecting to receive their M.A. in Library Science degrees in May 1997, they are out looking for jobs. Both of them are active in the Library Student Organization (student chapter of the American Library Association) at their university, he as the president and she as the program coordinator. Marge Seifert is Librarian at Collegedale Academy, Collegedale, Tennessee.
Vicky Perry is Librarian-In-Charge at Tanzania Adventist College. Here are some facts about her as quoted from the e-mail message she sent: "My husband is the pilot for Tanzania Union and at present I am the librarian for Tanzania Adventist College. We have been here since 1984, but are planning to come home on permanent return in July of this year. My library qualifications are pretty skimpy. I worked at the Circulation Desk at James White Library for the 4 years I was at AU, never dreaming I would go into library work someday. I got my present job simply by asking if Griggs University has any graduate work in Library Science! I have had to learn a lot, classifying, cataloging, and basic library management; but I have found great help from the folks at JWL and from a couple of professional librarians here in Arusha. I hope to begin a Master's program this summer. I also home school my 2 children, grades 5 and 3, and do flight following for my husband. We live a busy, but very happy life here and will miss it terribly!"
Newsletter Deadline
Everyone is invited to share ideas, experiences, news, reviews, etc. with our readers. We would like to hear especially from librarians outside the U.S., librarians from different fields of librarianship, and students in library school. Due to an earlier conference this year, the revised deadline for the next ASDAL Action issue is April 18, 1997. Please refer to the editorial box for mailing information. Since there are occasional problems with e-mail, please send a second copy by fax to (616) 471-6166 if your contribution has not been acknowledged.
Scholarship Offer
The D. Glenn Hilts Scholarship, in the sum of $1,000, is offered yearly by ASDAL. 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.
To qualify, applicants must be accepted into a library school accredited by the American Library Association, and must expect to complete their degree within the next two years. Applicants not attending a library school in the United States or Canada must be accepted into a library education program for the degree (usually graduate level) that qualifies a person for an entry-level position in a university library in that country.
All applicants documents must be received not later than May 15. For additional information and applications forms, write to:
Carol Morse, Chair
ASDAL Scholarship and Awards Committee
Walla Walla College Library
204 South College Avenue
College Place, WA 99324