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  • ASDAL in Action - The Past Twenty Years

ASDAL in Action - The Past Twenty Years

21st ASDAL Annual Conference
Pacific Union College
June 20, 2001

Part 1

By Lauren Matacio

HISTORY

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 to1981, the official publication of the newly 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, 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 written 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 and continued for 3 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 our 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 Kohler and translated into English by Wolfhard Touchard of 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‘s 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 is endeavoring to mount all the back issues on the web site. 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 I was privileged to become Assistant Editor of ASDAL Action and am now your editor. This past year has been a busy one as I have endeavored to learn the “tricks of the trade.” I have appreciated Cynthia staying on as Assistant Editor. Her help has been invaluable this year. Web presence seems to increase with each issue produced. This is especially evident in our newest column, “From a Distance,” coordinated by Marilyn Gane, Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Distance Education. This year “ASDAL: Looking Back” was added to whet our appetites for this anniversary celebration.

That’s the historical view of 20 years of growth and development of ASDAL in action from the beginning to the present and from the front cover to the back page.

Part 2

By Cynthia Mae Helms

TRENDS

(An expanded version of this section is also available on Cynthia Helms’ web site)

We will now look at the trends as published in ASDAL Action. The first part of my presentation will cover the TRENDS within ASDAL as an association.

TRENDS: ASDAL

As a group of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians, our main focus has been on Adventist Resources. The Adventist Resources Column began in 1992. Articles that dealt with Adventist Heritage and EGW Resources go back to the early 80’s. ASDAL’s first joint meeting with the EGW Directors was reported in 1995. ASDAL Action published the problems, transfer, and change of management of the SDA Periodical Index. Andrews Heritage Room started computerizing the entries of the Obituary Index in 1985. Walla Walla College and Loma Linda University participated in this project. The EGW Classification Scheme was designed by Keith Clouten in 1982 and recognized by the Library of Congress in1986

In the Publishing World we handed out Literary Awards from 1989 to 1996. We undertook Cooperative Ventures. A Library Resources Clearinghouse was proposed in 1984 to help receive, process, and distribute library materials to overseas libraries. Attempts to team up with ADRA in 1985 were unsuccessful. Finally Andrews University took up the challenge and formed SAIL which stands for Services to Adventist Institutional Libraries. In 1996, the Cooperative Information Access Committee proposed the Adventist Library Information Cooperative which we commonly refer to as ALICE.

Interest in Personnel was shown in different ways. We attracted people to librarianship by offering the Hilts Scholarship since 1985. We set up a Placement Service in Pacific Union College under the leadership of Taylor Ruhl. This service was opened in 1982 to those who held a master’s degree or expected to complete one. It was discontinued in 1992 when libraries changed their method of hiring.

Concern over Rank and Tenure was evident in 1988 when the Rank and Tenure Committee presented a Librarian Evaluation form. It conducted a survey in 1993 and influenced our decision to use ACRL standards. Besides the Heritage Center Directors which fall under the Adventist Resources Section, the Association showed a fleeting interest in Medical librarians from 1986 to 1987. The interest in School librarians persisted through the years. Lately, the North American Division invited school librarians to participate in a division-wide teachers convention.

International Libraries have always had a soft spot in our hearts as revealed in the articles published in ASDAL Action. Our interest came in stages. We started off Listening to their Needs for staff, books, and card catalog cabinets. Then we shifted to Talking about Them by forming an Overseas Libraries Committee, establishing a Coordinator in the 80’s, and assigning a Task Force for International Cooperation in the 90’s. The next stage was Reaching out to Them. We addressed culture and the international scene in the 1990 conference. In 1991, we approached the General Conference with a recommendation that a librarian be included in evaluation teams; and in 1995, we voted to hold one conference outside North America every 5 years. We have had two conferences outside North America and will have one next year. We have come now come to the point where we have Open Communication: more and more international librarians have joined the Association, international librarians are willing to report and write articles for ASDAL Action, North American librarians are visiting overseas libraries, SAIL Germany and ASDAL Action Europe are initiatives that have been set up outside North America.

Let us now look beyond the association and see the TRENDS among the SDA LIBRARIES.

TRENDS: SDA LIBRARIES

Let us begin with Librarianship. There were a few outstanding articles within the last 4-5 years that addressed SDA librarianship. Arthur Winzenreid’s article in the Spring 1998 issue made the following Observations: Need to develop world vision, Church schools staffed by untrained personnel, and Collections are developed with narrow perspectives. At the conference held at Columbia Union College, Maynard Lowry conducted a survey and published the results in ASDAL Action. That survey revealed the following Target Areas: Personnel, Information access, and Resources.

Anything that dealt with Technology was worth printing in ASDAL Action. The focus differed from decade to decade.

1980’s: online catalog, CD-ROMs, Dialog
1990’s : Integrated system, Internet connections, more databases; Email and discussion lists (especially SDA-Librarian); Ariel, instruction classrooms, consortial agreements; Fulltext, wireless networks
2000’s: Websites, eBooks, eJournals; Censorship, intellectual freedom, information infrastructure.

Several Conferences in the past focused on Technology:

1983: Pre-conference on micro-computers;
1992: Libraries and Technology
1994: Electronic Library
1995: Global Electronic Village: Sharing Human and Information Resources
1996: Serials Collection Development in the Electronic Age
1997: From There to Here: Document Delivery in the Electronic Age.

We addressed the topic of Collaboration and Cooperation at the Newbold Conference with the theme: Global Electronic Village: Sharing Human and Information Resources, and at the Mexico conference with the theme: Working Together: Cooperation Among Seventh-day Adventist Libraries.

Collaboration and Cooperation have been evident in different ways:

  1. Within the Institution: Andrews participated in the Holocaust Exhibits and Creative Arts Week. In Southwestern Adventist University, the Communications Dept. held monthly book discussion club based on the library’s New York Times Best Sellers shelf
  2. With the Community: Union College worked with the genealogical society and Atlantic Union College participated in Community Service Day
  3. With SDA Libraries (besides those mentioned earlier). In the first issue of Action, Larry Onsager talked about student newspaper exchange and cooperative computer databases. The ANGEL project of Southern and the current GOLIATH project of the School Librarians are good examples of this category.
  4. With Other Libraries. We have a lot of examples in which SDA libraries joining consortia.
  5. With SDA Institutions/Organizations as shown by our current interest in the Adventist Virtual Learning Lab.

In the area of Administration and Management, we published articles that dealt with Finances. In the early years, we talked about budget cuts and increases. Then we saw a shift from “What’s happening with our budgets” to “What can we do about augmenting our budgets?”: Jess Oliver wrote about phonathons; Carolyn Gaskell showed how we can get government grants; Adu Worku told us how he got an award from Worthington Foods, and Maynard Lowry reported on endowments. New Buildings, extensions, and renovations, etc. made news! Randy Butler has been writing about Disaster Planning since 1986 when he wrote about the Los Angeles Central Library fire. He started the Preservation Corner in 1998. Disasters were reported by Loma Linda in 1992 and Kettering Medical College in 1994. Conferences in WWC and Montemorelos provided workshops on this topic.

Libraries coped with Name Changes. Within the last few years we saw colleges turn into universities: Southern, Southwestern, and Canadian.

Personnel issues were seen in several areas. The problem of Recruitment and Retention was brought out in an article in 1989 and in another article ten years later by the same author. While we see the Hilts Scholarship as a partial solution to recruitment, we are also seeing evidences of retention problems as the record shows that we have had three moves from librarianship to development and one to full-time teaching within the last few years. While we witnessed technology as a major cause of Change, we were also seeing personnel reorganization as another form of change. Rapid changes must have caused stress on the personnel that the 1990 Conference provided for a seminar on “Stress Management.” Clouten’s article: “Librarians in the Saddle?” pointed out our changing role as service workers

SDA librarians’ Active Participation in other organizations on the state and regional levels was well documented in ASDAL Action. Here are a few examples: Loranne Grace with Chattanooga Area Library Association; Carolyn Gaskell with ACRL Washington Chapter; Marley Soper with Learning and Information Resource Network; Bob Baldwith with Maryland Community College Library Consortium; and Margaret von Hake with the Congress of Academic Library Directors.

Under Services and Collections, Public Service articles were mainly in the area of Library Instruction on topics such as: using online catalogs, information literacy, active learning, web tutorial, and handouts. Besides all the news about automation and the demise of the card catalog, there was hardly anything on Technical Service except for a full length article on acquisitions. There were brief comments about Baker and Taylor’s beta phone service which provided cards and pockets, and outsourcing the cataloging of standing orders to Baker and Taylor

Libraries loved to report on Collections especially those that were donated. In the area of Periodicals, Canadian Union College chose microfiche as an alternative to binding in 1983, Pacific Union College established a current awareness program in 1985, and Atlantic Union College rearranged is periodicals into alphabetical order in 1990. In the area of Electronic collections, some libraries have acquired titles from NetLibrary.

There were announcements of Publications which fell under two categories:

  1. Bibliographies/Core Lists
    • Clouten (1988) – A Framework of Learning Resources
    • Shearer (1989) – A Basic Selection of Books for Heritage Room Collections
    • Brenneise, ed. (1992) – Library Standards and Guidelines for Institutions Affiliated With or Offering Extension Programs of Andrews University
    • Touchard (1995) – A Basic Theological Bibliography: An Annotated Research and Selection Guide
    • Loma Linda University (1995) – Bibliography of Ellen G. White Titles, 3rd ed.
  2. Indexes
    • A five-year index to Spectrum was announced in Winter 1991

ASDAL has been in action all these years! Let’s keep up our activities and be sure they get printed in ASDAL Action.

(Read the expanded version of this section on Cynthia Helms’ web site)

PANEL OF EDITORS

All past editors of ASDAL Action, please tell us the most significant memories you have of your term of editorship.

Below is a summary of what each editor shared with the audience:

Margaret von Hake, 1982-1983

Gave the name ASDAL Action, designed the masthead using the existing logo of the letterhead and using stick-on letters for ACTION, started with an orange masthead on 17 x 11 sheet folded in two and stapled in the middle, used a typewriter with no correction feature and had to retype the whole page when errors were made.

Keith Clouten, 1984-1985

International emphasis and feature stories, the publication was a good excuse to get more fonts for the typewriter.

Joel Lutes, 1985-1987

Editorial column with editor’s opinions, experimented with different-colored mastheads.

Gilbert Abella, 1987-1988

Experienced the difficulties of desktop publishing.

Linda Mack, 1990-1994

Use of e-mail was growing, diskettes and e-mail minimized rekeying, added a column “Chronicling SDA Academic Libraries.”

Violet Maynard-Reid, 1994-1996

Redesigned the masthead and changed it from red to blue with emphasis on putting action in the word “Action,” problems with articles submitted in different programs.

Cynthia Mae Helms, 1996-2000

Besides those mentioned earlier in Laurie’s presentation, the greatest challenge was in coordinating with the Web master in producing the electronic version and making it password accessible only.

Lauren Matacio, 2000-2001

New column, “From A Distance,” and anniversary feature, “ASDAL–Looking Back.”

Part 3

QUIZ

  1. Who was the first editor of ASDAL Action?
  2. Who was editor for the longest time period?
  3. Who wrote the first scholarly article?
  4. Which issue was the longest?
  5. Which issue was the shortest?
  6. Who was the most frequent contributor?
  7. Who contributed the longest article?
  8. What is the longest running column?
  9. What is the shortest running column?
  10. Who wrote the first review?
  11. Who wrote the most colorful commentary?
  12. Who changed their name while editor?

RECOGNITION OF EDITORS AND COORDINATORS

Plaque of recognition

  • Margaret von Hake (first editor)

Certificates of recognition

  • Editors:
    • Keith Clouten
    • Joel Lutes
    • Gilbert Abella
    • Taylor Ruhl
    • Linda Mack
    • Violet Maynard-Reid
    • Cynthia Mae Helms
    • Lauren Matacio
  • Column Coordinators:
    • John Kihlstrom
    • Nancy Kim
    • Gary Shearer
    • Marilyn Crane
    • Randy Butler
    • Marilyn Gane
  • ASDAL Europe:
    • Annette Melgosa
  • Web Version:
    • Harvey Brenneise
    • Steve Sowder
    • Stan Cottrell

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