Minutes of the Adventist Resources Section
Association of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians
Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI
July 11, 2000
Jim Ford, a minuteman substitute for John McVay, read "Professor X and the Library Book Drop," by Lucile Lacy. The story is in More College Faith, page 211-212. The story is about a graduate student whose professor gives a take home test over the weekend. Classmates spend the whole weekend in the library and still did not get the test completed. Lucile kept the Sabbath and relied on God for help. Late Sunday, as she walks through the library books start falling off the shelves and opening to answers to her test questions. Lucile is the only student to finish the exam. Lucile concludes by saying that she has "found that people cannot set limits for us when we pray and completely depend on a loving God who honors those who trust in Him."
Marilyn Crane, chair of the Adventist Resources Section (ARS) working committee, welcomed those few in attendance. Attendance was no more than 20 at the peak later in the day.
Marilyn presented a brief history of ARS. It informally began with a half day session in 1982 at Andrews University. The next year, a full day session was held at Loma Linda. The official start, however, was 1986. It has been an annual event since then except for 1995. The stated purpose of ARS is concern for the preservation of Adventist materials. Membership is any ASDAL member with an interest in this preservation.
The 1999 ARS meeting voted that the SDA bibliography should be thoroughly discussed at the 2000 ARS meeting, and that the working committee should bring some ideas or recommendations.
Marilyn reviewed the long history of this topic. She began by suggesting that the bibliography could be based on earlier discussions:
We've talked about this for years. The first reference was apparently in 1957 at a SDA professional librarians meeting. This group recognized a need for such a bibliography, but nothing resulted. [Taylor Ruhl, ASDAL Action, vol. 11, no. 2]. Every ARS since 1986 has discussed this topic, but it was never fully defined. In fact, the 1986 ARS established a bibliography committee. It was revived in 1988.
In the 1980s several projects were done. They include Don Yost's, Guide the Research Material; the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index, the Cooperative SDA Obituary Index, and Louise Dederen's list of book titles compiled from advertisements in church magazines.
From 1993 to 1996 ARS discussed an electronic list. In 1996 a pilot project indexing dissertations and theses began at La Sierra University. Suggestions came at the 1998 meeting, and the 1999 meeting placed the responsibility for progress into the hands of the ARS working committee.
At this point, the group heard four reports. There were brief reports from the SDA Material Location Project and the SDA Dissertation Project. These reports will appear in the business portion of these minutes. Two new initiatives were presented, one by Marilyn and the second by Steve Sowder.
Merlin Burt has a volunteer, Dr. Paul Bork, who is willing to work on producing a bibliography of Sabbatarian print materials from 1844 to 1870. The bibliography will be in four sections or eras:
Methodology involves:
The report currently stands at 50 pages. The final product will be on the department's web page and should be searchable. The list is arranged alphabetically by title. They hope to finish sometime within a year.
Other similar projects mentioned include the Methodist Union Catalog. This project is currently stalled at volume 6, after publishing A to I of an author index. Per Lisle mentioned a Norwegian bibliography from 1880s to 1990 which he produced some years ago.
Steve Sowder introduced and demonstrated the Virtual SDA Library Union Catalog. It is characterized by:
How it works:
Currently, the majority of NAD college/university libraries are included. A few present problems due to consortia, etc. Steve expects to include several international libraries in the near future.
Comments and discussion led to the suggestion that there needs to be an explanation of some of the idiosyncracies of the present system. Another comment was that this obviously only shows what is found via a search. It does not help someone simply wondering what may have been published. [This is where the LLU list would come in.] Despite the present shortcomings and idiosyncracies of the VCAT, it is a very exciting prospect.
Steve is also working on a SDA Library Union List of Periodicals. Currently, the list includes only Andrews and Southern. He is willing to include others.
The current address for the VCAT is:
http://www.andrews.edu/library/vcat/sdaunionlist.html
The ARS Working Committee prepared the following preamble and proposal for a SDA Bibliography:
The Seventh-day Adventist Bibliography is an evolving project which ultimately is dependent on the creativity and time commitment of section members. The project is viewed as both specific (a union list of official print material) and broad (material by and about Seventh-day Adventists in any medium) in nature.
The Adventist Resources Working Committee proposes to address the need for a bibliography from two perspectives:
- A Seventh-day Adventist Bibliography of Sabbatarian print materials covering the years 1844 through 1870 done by Loma Linda University.
- A Seventh-day Adventist Virtual Library Union Catalog done by Andrews University.
Progress on these projects will be reported at the Adventist Resources Section pre-conference in 2001.
It was VOTED to accept the proposal as read.
It was also VOTED that we consider a third phase, with particulars to be worked out by the 2001 ARS meeting, which will be a cooperative effort to continue the bibliography beyond 1870. It is understood that a recommendation will be brought to the 2001 ARS meeting.
April Summitt, assistant professor of history at Andrews University presented a lively and interesting talk on her experiences in using archives. She recently completed her dissertation on the Kennedy administration's Middle East policy. In this research, she utilized public archives extensively. She has also used local history archives and private archives for her other research interests. She has a diverse experience with different types of archives so is in a good position to speak about how historians view and use archives and what they should expect.
Archives serve two primary goals for historians: 1. preservation, and 2. research facilitator. These two goals sometimes coordinate as well as conflict.
Preservation. This goal takes precedent if the two goals conflict. One will find a wide variety of conditions in archives, but above the local level, standard practices often prevail. These include:
Research Facilitation
Steve Sowder presented a PowerPoint presentation on issues in digital preservation. The point was to help attendees understand that in the digital arena, nothing lasts very long.
Steve began by asking if digital format will always be there? He then reviewed various computer related media, hardware, and software from past years to see how many of these we remembered and can still easily use. The point? Current technology will quickly become obsolete.
Various issues mentioned include:
Issues in hardware:
Trends:
Other issues:
Solutions??????
Conclusion
Randy Butler presented a talk on preservation of digital data. He discussed primarily the problems associated with CD ROMS. All CDs are a laminate or layered structure which is a problematic situation. Over time, the laminate layers will deteriorate and breakdown rendering the CD unuseable.
The industry is changing which will force us to change as well. Change is constant and expected in the electronic industry.
Department of Defense study found 7 years of heavy use is all they could expect from a CD. Seven to 12 years is maximum useable life.
How can you secure a CD? Labels, glues, and marking equipment all can damage a CD by destroying or otherwise compromising the laminate structure. Fingerprints can reduce readability or completely destroy a CD.
In conclusion, don't embrace completely the newest technology. It will change and pass away. Keep the original. Be prepared to reproduce it. The best long range solution is still microfilm. It is not popular with general users, but serious researchers accept it as a necessary "evil."
Jim Ford reviewed the minutes of the 1999 meeting of the Adventist Resources Section at Montemorelos. It was VOTED to accept them as presented.
The term for Violet Maynard-Reid expires with this conference. Three names were nominated as replacements. They were: Gary Shearer (PUC), Petre Cimpoeru (LLU), and Ralph Koehler (Friedensau). In the voting, Ralph received the most votes. This will be a three year term.
Jim Ford reported that progress this year has been steady if unspectacular. Andrews University continues to keep the index current as well as do some retrospective work. AU worked on the Central Union Outlook this year. Columbia Union College talked about doing some entry, but never was able to get to it. The same for Canadian University College.
This year the Index migrated from Innovative to Folio along with the SDA Periodical Index. The change had minimal effect on the obituary index. Data entry is now via a web interface. There is some time delay from data entry until it appears on the web, but this is minimal, two to three weeks usually.
Jim Ford reported that no progress was made this year due to the time required for other activities in his area. This project is an attempt to identify the existence of primary source material and include it in a list so everyone can know where to go for this material.
Jim requested input from the group regarding where to turn next. The NAD institutions are done plus the General Conference. Institutions mentioned were: the German archive at Friedensau headed by Daniel Heinz, the archive in Denmark, Collonge, the Ellen White Estate main office and research centers.
Tony Zbaraschuk reported that there was nothing to report. This past year he has assumed several additional hats and has not had time to devote to this project.
He did raise a philosophical question regarding the project. What does this project do that Dissertation Abstracts does not do? The answer was that theses and graduate or doctoral projects are not reported. Also, work from outside of NAD is lacking in Dissertation Abstracts.
In discussion, it was asked how we are to know what work is done at non-SDA institutions and at non-NAD institutions? One answer would be to encourage the General Conference Education Department to add a line to the annual report submitted by each tertiary institution to include the number of doctoral degrees granted along with the titles of the work. Peg Bennett volunteered to contact the GC Education Department in this regard.
It was VOTED to recommend that institutional librarians encourage their institution to report dissertations to UMI (now Bell and Howell). This will be referred to ASDAL.
A question was asked regarding the output of the dissertation project. Tony suggested it could be a subsidiary database of the Innovative system at either La Sierra or Andrews. He was unclear what level of cataloging would be employed, whether it would be full or more simple.
Marilyn read a report from the Fred Bischoff of the Adventist Pioneer Library, publisher of Words of the Pioneers CD ROM. Fred expressed his appreciation to ASDAL for their interest and support in the past. In 1999, they distributed a CD to those purchasing the latest edition of the Ellen White CD.
Since they began, they've distributed the following:
1st edition - 117 copies
2nd edition - 724 copies
Great 2nd Advent Movement book - over 3,000 copies.
Work on the 3rd edition is under way. The largest addition will be about 10 volumes of the Review and Herald, covering the 1860s. They would appreciate any help ASDAL could provide in paying for the preparation of the 3rd edition.
Lest We Forget, their quarterly publication, has fallen behind in production. They plan to catch up by issuing all of the missing issues combined into a larger volume. Watch for this soon.
Jim Ford read the following report.
Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index
Report to the Association of SDA Librarians
July 11, 2000The year 1999/2000 was a momentous and tempestuous one for the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index. In the winter of 1999, the SDAPI Board voted to produce a CD ROM version of the Index. Prior to the vote to cease production of the print format, the SDAPI Board conducted a survey to see how many of our subscribers had access to a computer with a CD drive. We found the vast majority did, so we felt comfortable moving forward with the CD initiative.
The CD format initiative was due primarily to rapidly rising printing costs as well as with an eye to the future. Today, most people would rather use an electronic product than a paper product. With the CD we could include the entire index, not just the most recent year. The old way of maintaining the Index utilizing the James White Library's Innovative Interfaces computer system, while very good, did not allow for the eventual addition of full text capability or for the easy production of a CD ROM product. The CD could not contain full text, but the on-line version of SDAPI can.
During last year's ASDAL Conference the first work was underway in converting the data from the Innovative system to a database recognizable by the Folio software. Folio was chosen for several reasons:
- It is used for the Ellen G. White writings.
- It is used for the Words of the Pioneers.
- It is a powerful and recognized database useful for this type of application.
- It will easily accept full text.
- The price was reasonable.
- We could easily produce a CD ROM product.
The fall was one of frustration as we worked with consultants to get the data converted, and to get the 1998 edition of the index placed on a CD ROM. Most of our wait was for one consultant who was producing the actual master CD. He had a day job which interfered with his moonlighting-i.e. our project. Between November and January we received at least two CDs which were either incomplete or failed to work properly. In February we finally got a useable product. This product was quickly duplicated and sent to our subscribers.
In June of this year the on-line database search interface switched to Folio. In retrospect, we made the Folio interface the default one a little pre-mature. We did not have proper help information available. The Folio interface can be difficult to use if one is not familiar with the proper way to access the data. During the first week or so we received a lot of justified complaints about the difficulty in using the Index. Since then we have produced a help screen which will immeasurably help the users.
Some of you are concerned about the financial situation of the Index since your institution funds our operation. Expenses this past year were heavier than anticipated. I will tell you that this year has taxed our reserves severely. At present we are still in the black but not by much. In the course of the next couple of years we hope to increase our reserve to a more comfortable margin. As we move more in the direction of additional on-line offerings in the future we may need to explore other avenues to fund these adventures. For now, we do not anticipate a price increase for our subscribers. If we had not gone to the CD ROM we would probably be looking at a price increase.
Those of us responsible for the Index are anxious to produce a product which will meet the needs of as large a segment of our potential user group as possible. We feel the CD ROM is a step forward. Folio, while it has its bugs here at the beginning, should prove to be a very useful tool. Folio opens up larger possibilities for the future. This is where the Board is looking-to the future.
Your input is important. Please feel free to speak to any of the Board members about your concern or suggestions. We are listed in your program.
Thank you.
Following the report, Index editor, Dan Drazen, presented a demonstration of the new Folio interface. He fielded a number of questions from the audience.
This topic was mentioned in 1999 at Montemorelos. The ASDAL web coordinator, Stan Cottrell, is happy to work with anyone who may volunteer to translate the page.
Marilyn reported that the Women's Center located at La Sierra University has some files that may be useful for research. They plan to develop a web page in the future.
The classification scheme for Ellen White books will be available from Keith Clouten (Andrews University) for those interested. The Library of Congress has expressed interest in adopting the scheme in the next edition of their classification schedule.
Merlin Burt at Loma Linda plans to contact institutions world-wide inquiring if they have an institutional history available. This inquiry could also include learning whether archival records are kept. We could include the results of this inquiry in the material location project.
Two related topics were suggested for the 2001 ARS meeting. They were:
Marilyn Crane, Chair
Jim Ford, Secretary
