FALL 2007 ISSUE

Winning My Way to SLA
Special Libraries Association Stipend Award Essay - Leslie Wolf

I read on QUICKSLIS about a $1,200 student stipend to attend the 2007 SLA Conference in Denver. It is awarded by the Business & Finance Division, and since I have a business background, it didn’t seem too hard to meet the requirements--a resume, letter of recommendation, and short essay. I pulled up a current resume and drafted a letter of recommendation for my advisor to approve. Then came the hard part: a 2-page essay around the conference theme, “Rising to New Heights.” (I waited till the last minute on that part, and realized after the deadline that I didn’t actually use the words “Rising to New Heights.”)

I was surprised and pleased to get a letter telling me I had won a stipend. There were four winners from around the country, as well as a student from Germany. The Division is certainly generous; the stipend covered my entire trip. The awardees assisted with Continuing Education courses the weekend before the conference and were honored at a Division awards ceremony. We were asked to serve on a committee, so I signed up for the mentoring initiative. I love mentoring, and it’s clear that the Division is committed to nurturing new librarians both here and abroad.

The conference was a great event. I met new people everywhere: on the airport shuttle; walking to the conference center; going to various evening parties; and attending the learning sessions. I also loved connecting with some of my SLIS classmates and getting to know them better – it was nice to see some friendly faces in a big conference hall.

And I vow to keep my resume up to date for the next opportunity!

This is my award-winning essay.

Embracing Paradigm Shift:

The Biggest Challenge Facing Information Professionals Today
The Library of Congress laid down the gauntlet on the biggest challenge facing our profession. In August of 2006, it announced a voluntary retirement incentive for librarians who could not or would not update their skills for the digital era. More than an incentive, this was really shorthand for stating the true challenge – having the courage and grace to embrace the constant change of the digital era. These new skills are not technical – those learned in classrooms – but rather profound life skills that promote continuous, thoughtful, and successful change.

New Learning Styles: Information professionals must be collaborative rather than authoritative; they are not only information providers but coaches in information-seeking skills. They must constantly learn to embrace each generation’s learning style, providing tools that meet those learning styles. They must always be aware of changes in our culture and work in new ways to meet society’s needs. They must value our rich library-centric history and culture while looking forward without regret for the old ways.

New Technologies: Technology is now a primary framework for our society – it provides both the push and the pull that has structured our world. Information professionals must eagerly watch the way new generations use applications such as social networking, and adapt them to provide content and services within that networking structure. The professional who understands not only the application but its underlying technology will always be ready for “the next new thing” in collaborative tools.

Management Skills: Many young library school students feel that library management classes are a waste of time, stating: “I could never be a manager; I’d be afraid to take on the responsibility.” Management skills of all types are crucial; every organization is eager to hire those who can confidently manage people as well as projects, processes, and technologies.

Skills Portability: Those who label themselves solely as “librarians” will only see the job market narrowing. Those who label themselves as “information professionals” will perceive a rich job market demanding portable skills and accomplishments. Those with the right skills can look forward to being hired by technology companies, digital archives, private libraries, or emerging business segments not yet imagined.

Confidence: Many librarians joke that the profession of librarianship attracts introverts. Information professionals can no longer afford to hide behind this confining (if comforting) stereotype; nor should they want to do so. Professionals whose introversion hinders their progress would do well to learn from the marketing profession. They must honor themselves by presenting their skills and accomplishments with verve and self-assurance.

Courage: Information professionals of today are in for a wild ride. Those who learn and grow, who embrace new ideas and new technologies, will thrive. They must embrace our constantly shifting paradigm with courage, and teach others to do the same.



Margaret Herrick Library and the Academy Film Archive
LISSTEN library tours - Annie Knight

Thanks to the planning efforts of Lucy Bellamy, LISSTEN V.P. (2006-2007), SJSU-SLIS students and guests were given a tour of the Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles on April 25th. The tour was led by Barbara Hall (Research Archivist), Anne Coco (Graphic Arts Librarian), and Jenny Romero (Special Collections Department Coordinator)—each candidly sharing their individual film scholarship and librarian experience in addition to highlighting the library and film archive collection offerings.

Upon checking in our bags (only paper and writing tools allowed, but guests are given complimentary locker space for personal belongings), having our IDs checked by security, and signing in, we gathered in the main lobby of the library, and settled into Barbara Hall’s brief history of the Herrick Library facility. Next, we headed upstairs to the Cecil B. DeMille Reading Room to see the library and archive holdings: 32,000 books; 1,800 periodical titles; 60,000 screenplays; 200,000 clipping files; 30,000 posters; lobby cards, pressbooks and other advertising ephemera; 8 million photographs; 300 manuscript and other special collections relating to prominent industry individuals, studios and organizations; sheet music, music scores and sound recordings; production and costume sketches; artifacts; and oral histories.

We enjoyed demonstrations of the library’s catalog that enables users to search books, periodicals, scripts, and posters (go ahead and look up your favorite Bruce Lee poster! You can even order a print of it from the library for a nominal fee!); databases (including the Motion Picture Scripts Database and the library’s in-house electronic periodical index database MHL), and public computer station functionality. We even got a behind-the-scenes introduction to a name authority project underway at the library that gave many of us new insight regarding the library’s treatment of LC and local subject headings.

In the library’s special collections area were several tables prepared by our tour guides displaying actual film archive materials, some dating back to the very early 1900s. Works such as a scrapbook created by Mary Pickford, silent movie sheet music (the library is also said to have a music and recorded sound collection), and a handwritten script are just a few examples of the awe-inspiring artifacts highlighted. We also viewed pieces from the library’s fan letter, release flyer and publicity sheet, production design drawings, and costume design sketch collections. To give context to our eager sifting through of one incredible piece of film history after another, our tour guides explained the daily and long-term logistics involved in collection development and maintenance. For example, we learned about the library’s storage of its clipping files. Also discussed was the library’s treatment of donations, responsibility of the staff specialists (such as the acquisitions archivist and conservator), and the overall prioritization of the library’s numerous and never-ending projects that involve the preservation, cataloging, and accessibility of its collection’s holdings.

As the tour ended, I took one more peek into the library’s antique Edison kinetoscope, The film buff in me was indeed stirred, and I could have stayed at least five hours longer just looking through the ephemeral personal reaction card collection and the library’s seemingly endless supply of fan letters (oh, and the periodicals!).

LISSTEN would like to wholeheartedly thank Barbara Hall, Anne Coco, Jenny Romero, and the Margaret Herrick Library and the Academy Film Archive for their time and graciousness in providing us with such a memorable tour. To inquire about a tour at the Margaret Herrick Library and the Academy Film Archive, call 310-247-3000.

The Computer History Museum
LISSTEN library tours - Penny Scott [SJSU SLIS Alumni Association President]

Our first stop was to the Visible Storage exhibit, where we saw all kinds of computer equipment spanning many years! Our tour guide, Herb, was informative and lively.

We next moved to the archives, where Paula Jabloner, Rebekah Lim and Sarah Wilson showed us the print and hardware archives.

It was a very interesting tour. The Computer History Museum also has a lot of digitized photos in online exhibits on their web site, which is here: http://www.computerhistory.org/.

If you would like to make suggestions of future SJSU SLIS tour destinations, please email: the Alumni Association at: sjsuslisalumniassociation@yahoo.com.


Mechanics’ Institute Library & Chess Room Tour
LISSTEN library tours - Brenda Welch

[Brenda Welch is a LISSTEN Vice President, San Jose campus, and Mechanics' Institute Membership Secretary]

On a warm September afternoon, Mechanics' Institute Library Director Inez Shor Cohen and I hosted a tour of the historic landmark building in downtown San Francisco. The Mechanics’ Institute was founded in 1854, shortly after the Gold Rush brought thousands of fortune seekers to the city of San Francisco. The Institute was established to promote the technical and scientific arts, with the goals of providing technical education and training for mechanics, a profession defined more broadly in the 19th century than now, to sponsor lectures on technical and cultural topics, and to promote local industry. From 1857 to 1899, the Mechanics’ Institute sponsored thirty-one industrial fairs, which included exhibits of agricultural products, manufactured goods, scientific apparatus, and art. The fairs, while providing entertainment for Victorian San Franciscans, also supported the economic development of California. In addition, one of the pavilions created for the fairs was used as a hospital for the wounded during the 1906 earthquake– until it, too, came within reach of the fire racing through the city.

The Library itself became a casualty of the earthquake and fire. The previous January, the largely technical collection of the Mechanics’ Institute, comprising 135,000 volumes, had merged with the humanities collection of the San Francisco Mercantile Library. Just a few months later, the majority of both collections burned to the ground. Today, the Library, located on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building, has moved away from collecting technical materials and instead houses a general-interest collection of almost 175,000 books, 500 periodical titles, 45 newspapers and 4,000 movies and audiobooks. The collection is especially strong in California history, business, finance, and investment, fiction and literature, and travel. The Library also provides reference services and research assistance, interlibrary loan, wireless Internet access, online databases, and multiple workshops and classes.

Another strong subject in the collection is chess. This is because the Mechanics’ Institute houses the oldest chess club in the United States. The Chess Room, located on the 4th floor, offers a variety of activities for players of all abilities – so feel free to drop in and try out your game! The Chess Room hosts tournaments, lectures, lessons, casual play, and special programs for children and women. If you sit down to play a casual game of chess at the Mechanics’, you never know if you’re facing a beginner or a Grandmaster.

Today, the Mechanics’ Institute is a nonprofit membership organization open to the public. Membership in the Mechanics’ Institute is open to all. If you were unable to attend the LISSTEN-hosted tour of the Mechanics’ Institute but would like to take a look around, please consider attending the weekly public tour, which is held every Wednesday at noon.

Mechanics’ Institute Library web site: http://www.milibrary.org/