American Library Association
Association of College and Research Libraries
ANSS CURRENTS
The Newsletter of the ACRL Anthropology & Sociology Section
Vol. 13, No. 2 ISSN 0888-5559 November 1998
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR J. Christina Smith
As Chair of ANSS for 1998-1999, I would like to report on opportunities for ANSS members.
At Annual Conference in Washington DC, one person noted that well over half of the people attending the Executive Committee meeting were former chairs of the section. While that may be good in terms of experience and collective memory, ANSS has approximately 600 members; but only a small number of members are actively involved in the only a small number of members are actively involved in the work of the section. I would like to invite members, both old and new, to consider becoming more active. When I attended an ANSS Executive Committee meeting for the first time and asked how I might become more involved, the Executive Committee approved the establishment of the Liaison Committee, and made me a charter member. While I cannot guarantee committee charter memberships, I can offer ways to get more involved with ANSS.
First, there are several committees which will be looking for additional members for two year terms (1999-2001) commencing at the close of Annual Conference in New Orleans. If you would like to serve on a committee, please contact Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect Sally Willson Weimer, Sociology ” Global Peace ” Security Librarian, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, E-mail: weimer@library.ucsb.edu, phone: (805) 893-3454. The volunteer form, printed on p. 6 of this newsletter, is also available here.
The Bibliography Committee reviews and analyzes the current state of bibliographic control of publications in anthropology and sociology. It identifies areas needing improved bibliographic control and communicates these needs to publishers. The committee publishes its reviews of indexes and abstracts (print and electronic) in ANSS Currents and on ANSSWeb.
The Liaison Committee identifies organizations and professional bodies active in the fields of anthropology, sociology, and affiliated fields that issue publications. It contacts these groups and maintains communication about their information needs and publications. The Liaison Committee is presently working on an online directory of subject specialists.
The Nominating Committee recommends a slate of candidates for elections. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect Sally Willson Weimer will be selecting this committee for the year 2000 elections. Perhaps you may want to consider running for office as vice-chair/chair-elect or member-at-large.
The Publications Committee produces ANSS Currents and oversees ANSSWeb, ANSS-L, a publicity brochure, and the ANSS Manual.
With the exception of Nominating Committee, all committee meetings and the ANSS Executive Committee meeting are open to ANSS members. Please feel welcome to visit committee meetings at Midwinter and Annual Conference to learn more about what they do.
Second, ANSS also has two discussion groups, one for anthropology and one for sociology, which provide an opportunity to discuss issues regarding reference, collection development, instruction, publications, core collections, databases, and other topics. The discussion groups meet at every ALA conference and have a topical presentation and discussion. ANSS members are invited to attendsion. ANSS members are invited to attend discussion groups meetings, contribute ideas for future topics (or offer to present a topic), or consider whether they would like to serve as a co-convener for a two-year term, 1999-2001. To learn more about the Anthropology Librarians Discussion Group, contact Jim Williams ( jamesww@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu) or Pauline Manaka ( pdmanaka@uci.edu). For details on the Sociology Librarians Discussion Group, contact Brian Quinn ( libaq@ttacs.ttu.edu) or Beth Sibley ( esibley@library.berkeley.edu).
Third, ANSS welcomes all members to make use of the section listserve, ANSS-L. To subscribe, send a message to: LISTSERV@UCI.EDU containing the line: SUBSCRIBE ANSS-L your name. Messages can be sent to ANSS-L@UCI.EDU. If you have (re)sources that you think ought to be on the Web page, ( ANSSWeb), please let ANSSWeb editor Joyce Ogburn ( jlogburn@u.washington.edu) know.
ANSS is here to serve its members. Let us know how we can help you better do your work as subject specialists in anthropology and sociology. Please feel free to contact me with your ideas and concerns. I can be reached at (617) 353-3715 or E-mail: jchris@bu.edu.
CANDIDATES FOR ANSS OFFICES
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect:
Suzanne H. Calpestri
Cathy Moore-Jansen
Secretary:
James Haug
Lori Foulke
Member-at-Large:
Gregory McKinney
Brian Quinn.
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect Candidate Statements:
CALPESTRI, SUZANNE. Education: University of California, Berkeley, B. A. 1969; University of California, Berkeley, MLIS, 1971. Present Position: Head, The George and Mary Foster Anthropology Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1994-present.. Previous positions: Head, Cooperative Services Dept., UC Berkeley, 1980-1994; Public Service Administrative Intern, UC Berkeley; Reference Librarian, The Bancroft Library, 1970-1983. ALA Activities: ACRL, Chair Appt. & Nominating Committee, 1994-5; ACRL/ANSS Conference Program Committee, 1995-197; ACRL/ANSS Liaison Committee, 1997-1999. Regional Library Association: California Library Association, Chair, Library Services Development and Planning Committee, 1989-1991. Organizations and Learned Societies: American Anthropological Association, 1994- present; Society for Scholarly Publishing. Honors: Townsend Fellowship, UC Berkeley, 1998-1999. Recent Publications: Allies, Partners and Competitors (In Rethinking Reference, Library Solutions Press, 1994).
Statement of Concern: I first encountered ANSS at the Chicago Annual Meeting 1995 and remember thinking that the program (Publishing the Social Text: Issues in Sociology and Anthropology Publication and Reviewing) was the best ALA program I had attended — and that covered more than two decades of ALA attendance. Over the past few years I have continued to be past few years I have continued to be impressed by the focus and leadership role ANSS has placed on publishing in the social sciences. Librarians with academic specializations, a defining feature of ANSS members, have a special role to play in shaping the new terrain of scholarly communication and if elected, I would welcome the opportunity to work with members to carry on the important agenda which has been in play for many years in ANSS.
MOORE-JANSEN, CATHY. Education: Cornell University, B.A., Anthropology, 1973; Texas Tech University, M.A., Museum Science, 1983; University of Tennessee, M.S., Library and Information Science, 1986. Present Position: Acting Coordinator of Collection Development, Wichita State University Library, Wichita, KS, Aug. 1998-present. Previous Position: Social Sciences Librarian, Wichita State University Library, Wichita, KS, 1991-1998. ALA Divisions: ACRL ANSS Bibliography Committee, Chair, 1996-1998; ACRL ANSS r, 1996-1998; ACRL ANSS Bibliography Committee, Member, 1994-1996. Publications: Moore-Jansen, C. (1997). “What Difference Does It Make? One Study of Student Background and the Evaluation of Library Instruction”, Research Strategies 15(1):26-38; Moore-Jansen, C. (1997). “National Archeological Database (NADB)”, ANSS Currents 12(1):5-7; Fast, M. et al. (1994). “Bibliographic Control of a Technical Report Series Through OCLC Cataloging and Indexing/Abstracting Services”, Cataloging and Classification Quarterly 18(1):63-73.
Statement of Concern: As an active member of ANSS for the past several years, I have been continually impressed by the dedication and hard work of the members of the section. As we face the challenge of maintaining the high level and quality of all our ongoing efforts – through our newsletter, committees, discussion groups, programs, listserv and Web site – while moving forward in newer areas – such as increasing liaison activities with other professional organizations and becoming more involved in ACRL planning activities, we will continue to draw on all that dedication and hard work. At the same time, it is imperative that we continue to promote the section and encourage the active participation of more members in our activities. That participation and the collaborative efforts that result not only benefits the section as a whole, but benefits us as individual librarians as we work as individual librarians as we work to provide services and resources to our users in our academic settings.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Executive Committee Report
Submitted by: Joyce L. Ogburn (Chair)
The two ANSS Executive Committee meetings at ALA Annual Conference (Saturday June 29, 1998 and Monday June 29, 1998) heard reports from ACRL and ANSS committee meetings. As usual the meeting also provided an opportunity for exchanging information, sharing ideas, and confirming directions for ANSS.
On the ACRL front, the section continues to be concerned about the proposed change in dues structure, which may adversely affect our membership numbers. In recent years our membership has remained fairly stable. The ACRL Sections Council has determined a new means of selecting the chair, and as a result, Sally Willson Weimer, who will be chair of ANSS, will chair the Sections Council in 1999-2000. Scheduling meetings continues to be a challenge because ACRL sets up so many no conflict times. Communication of this problem so far has been ineffective in producing a change. ACRL does plan an evaluation of the existing board, and ANSS may be contacted for input.
The Executive committee discussed the process of appointing replacements when someone cannot fulfill the terms of an elected office. ANSS will be refining its rules to make this an easier process.
Library of Congress has proposed changes to the of Congress has proposed changes to the sociology classification schedule and has asked ANSS for feedback. Members with expertise in this area were urged to send comments to LC. JSTOR has also been in contact with ANSS about advice on the titles in its service. There will be more communication in the future and discussion groups may want to explore this topic at future meetings.
Harvard’s Tozzer Library has appointed a new Tozzer Librarian, Maija Lutz, and a new editorial board for Anthropological Literature. Tozzer also has a new conservation lab and is contributing to a Harvard brittle books microfilming grant-funded project.
Lynn Schmelz reported that the Council for the Preservation of Anthropological Records would meet again in November 1998. She has relayed that the Human Relations Area Files is continuing to increase their number of electronic publications, including an encyclopedia of prehistory and a collection in archaeology. By 2000 all 60 cultures should be converted to electronic format.
Greg Finnegan noted that the Library-Anthropology Resource Group plans to have its guide to collections in anthropology ready for publication in November 1998.
All the ANSS committee reports given to the Executive Committee are published in this issue of ANSS Currents.
Bibliography Committee Report
Submitted by: Cathy Moore-Jansen (Chair)
The Bibliography Committee met twice at ALA Annua Bibliography Committee met twice at ALA Annual. At those meetings, the committee concentrated its efforts on two reviews: Martin Shapiro’s review of IBSS Extra (International Bibliography of the Social Sciences), and Beth Cramer’s review of Population Index on the Web. Due to time constraints, a review of America History and Life, prepared by Royce Kurtz, will be discussed in more detail at ALA Midwinter. The committee also continued work on the criteria for analyzing indexes and abstracts that has been revised by Jim Haug. Finally, the committee discussed future projects including reviews of Criminal Justice Abstracts, Anthropological Index Online, Sociofile, and NCJRS (Web version).
1999 Conference Program Planning Committee Report
Submitted by: Cheryl Kugler (Chair)
The Conference Program Planning Committee members continued their discussion regarding the theme of the program and the identification of panelists. It was reported that three librarians were confirmed panelists at this time. The fourth panelist, a scholar, had not yet been contacted.
Committee members agreed that the program would be titled as follows: Preserving Social History: the Leadership Role of Librarians and Scholars In Building Locally Based Collections. Committee members also discussed potential tours which would relate to the program topic. No decision was made at the committee meetidecision was made at the committee meeting.
1998 Conference Program and Tour Report
Submitted by: Gregory A. Finnegan (Chair)
The 1998 ANSS Program was held on Sunday morning, June 28. Three speakers addressed the topic “Research 2001: Learned Societies Facilitating Information Awareness and Dissemination in Sociology and Anthropology.” They were Dr. Felice Levine, Executive Officer of the American Sociological Association; Tobi Brimsek, Executive Director of the Society for American Archaeology; and Rick Custer, Director of Publications for the American Anthropological Association. At least 47 people were in the audience for the program.
The rise of electronic access to scholarly information was a major topic of discussion. The ASA has 5 of its 8 journals in the JSTOR project, and two others available via Blackwell; only one of the 8 journals is not available in some fashion electronically. The SAA created a website with significant content in 1996, which includes resources restricted to association members. E-mail is now the major means of communication between the association headquarters, the officers, and members in general. Publication of current-research topics now occurs only the Web. Ms. Brimsek also demonstrated two CD-ROMs – “Vanishing River” and “Excavating Occanneechi Town” – one for teaching archaeological methods, and one a site report.
The AAA is turning to electronic solutions to sharp urning to electronic solutions to sharp rises in the number of members in attendance at the annual meeting and the corresponding increases in numbers of papers read there and in books received for review.
The Section also held its customary museum-library tour at the Smithsonian on Tuesday, June 30. Seventeen people toured the library of the National Museum of African Art, the Eliot Elisofon [photographic] Archives at the NMAA, and the National Anthropological Archives. While construction prevented our touring the John Wesley Powell Library of Anthropology, its director, Dr. Margaret Dittemore, was able to talk to the tour groups about her library and its mission. Many thanks to her, Dr. Christraud Geary of the Elisofon Archives, and their staffs, and to Maggie and John Homiak and Robert Leopold of the NAA. Thanks, too, to the three presenters on the panel, and, most of all, to the members of the 1998 Program Planning Committee: Ruth Baker, Greg McKee: Ruth Baker, Greg McKinney, Maggie Dittemore, and Joyce Ogburn as member and Section Chair.
Liaison Committee Report
Submitted by: Lori Foulke (Chair)
The Liaison Committee met once at ALA in Washington, D.C. After new members introduced themselves, the committee charge was reviewed, and ongoing and future activities were discussed. Two new members have joined the committee — Christine Menard and Penny Whitten. Liaison Committee members made suggestions for improving the Subject Specialists Directory Data Form for the web (now in draft form). Members also discussed including more sociology organizations in the ANSS Currents mailing list maintained by the Liaison Committee as well as increasing representation of organizations outside of the United States.
Nominating Committee Report
Submitted by Fred J. Hay (Chair)
The committee has nominated the following slate of candidates for next year: For Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, Suzanne H. Calpestri (Berkeley) and Cathy Moore-Jansen (Wichita State). For Secretary, James Haug (East Carolina) and Lori Foulke (Johns Hopkins). For Member-at-Large, Gregory McKinney (Temple) and Brian Quinn (Texas Tech).
Publications Committee Report
Submitted by: Janet Steins (Chair)
The ANSS Publications Committee met on Sunday afternoon, and began its discussions by critiquing the May, 1998, issue of ANSS Currents and by este May, 1998, issue of ANSS Currents and by establishing due dates for copy for the fall issue. The May issue was Mary Nofsinger’s first as layout editor, and the front page image she selected appears for the first time. There seems to be a delivery problem, with some members not receiving their copies, and this will be brought up with ACRL.
Gary has begun assisting Joyce with content and design of ANSSWeb, which continues to reside at Old Dominion; we hope to be able to obtain usage statistics from the technical staff there. Joyce noted that she has added a bibliography of important resources in sociology. She was recently approached by a journal publisher requesting advertising space on ANSSWeb and by a book publisher asking us to review books. The later idea was tabled as being out of scope, but the former will be referred to the Executive Committee with our recommendation to pursue soliciting advertising in order to expand our publications.
Regarding ANSS-L, the job of moderator will remain with Steve MacLeod for the time being, since UC Irvine has postponed anticipated changes to their technology that would have permitted easy transition to a new moderator.
A new membership recruitment brochure has been made available at the ACRL booth and the ANSS program.
Ellen Gilbert will assume the duties of Committee Chair as of the close of the annual conference. Janet Steins thanked everyone for their efforts during her t everyone for their efforts during her two-year term as chair.
DISCUSSION GROUP REPORTS
Anthropology Librarians’ Discussion Group
Submitted by: James W. Williams (Co-Convener)
Anna L. DeMiller, Coordinator of Reference Services-Collection Management at Colorado State University, Fort Collins and author of the well-received Linguistics: A Guide to the Reference Literature (Libraries Unlimited, 1991) spoke on anthropological linguistics. DeMiller, who received a Master’s degree in Arabic linguistics in the mid-1970s, stated that linguistics has advanced since her student days, with new areas being explored. For background reading, she suggested The Linguistics Wars (by Randy Allen Harris. Oxford University Press, 1993) and A Concise History of the Language Sciences: From the Sumerians to the Cognitivists (edited by E.F.K. Koerner and R.E. Asher. Pergamon, 1995) These works are splendid sources, giving coverage to both the ancient and the modern.
DeMiller distributed an outline of the contents of the second edition of Linguistics. Published in 1991, the first edition included no materials issued later than 1989. Hundreds of publications appeared during the intervening years. In addition, many older foreign language works were newly translated into English. The revised edition will have added as chapter four, “Internet Meta-Sites.” DeMiller, who had prepared for distribution a four-paged guide, “Linguistics – Meta Sites on the Web,” stated she was overwhelmed by the vast number of Internet resources. Deciding how much to include was a challenge, in part because a page limit was imposed by the publisher to keep the book affordable.
Professor DeMiller retained certain older works because of their continued importance to the discipline, but descriptions were often shortened. The manuscript for the first edition was difficult to edit because of the diacritics and DeMiller had to proofread it for that reason. While she has been assured proofreading will be unnecessary for the new work, she is not convinced this will prove to be true.
A discussion of print and electronic resources for anthropological linguistics and the collection of anthropological linguistics by libraries followed Professor DeMiller’s presentation. DeMiller stated the LLBA does not include enough monographic literature for anthropological linguistics. MLA provides much better coverage, although the MLA focus is literature. LLBA is easier to search, however. PsycLIT is a good resource for cognitive linguistics and psycho linguistics. Linguistics is hard to collect because of its interdisciplinary nature. Library collections are often shaped by the needs of faculty and students, not by the discipline.
A total of 21 signed the attendance sheet which was circulated. Jim Haugnce sheet which was circulated. Jim Haug, whose term of ALDG Co-Convener expired after the 1998 Annual Conference, was thanked for his work. Pauline Manaka (University of California, Irvine) and Jim Williams (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) will co-convene ALDG during 1998/1999. Topics for potential discussion are welcomed and may be sent to either Pauline ( pdmanaka@uci.edu) or Jim ( jamesww@uiuc.edu)
Sociology Librarians Discussion Group
Submitted by: Sally Willson Weimer and Brian Quinn (Co-Conveners)
Fifteen librarians attended the meeting. Both Felice Levine, American Sociological Association Executive Officer, and John Kennedy, ASA Visiting Professor from Indiana University were scheduled to appear, but Felice Levine was unable to attend, so John Kennedy spoke with the group.
John announced that ASA is planning a new publication similar to the Journal of Economic Perspectives, but with a focus on sociology. He asked the group what ASA would have to do to get libraries to subscribe. Group attendees responded by explaining that many libraries were trying to cope with cuts in their serials budget, but that the ASA could improve the journal’s chances of being adopted. Suggestions included broadening the journal’s interdisciplinary appeal, making sure it is well indexed, reasonably priced, fully archived, peer reviewed, and available in electronic form. Attendees also suggested that ASA am. Attendees also suggested that ASA aggregate journals as a package and use a single, simple interface to access them and try to make it available to as many vendors as possible. Librarians asked what the rationale was for introducing a new journal when the field is already crowded. John explained that in the field, there was a sense that journals like the American Sociological Review provide depth but not breadth, and that it is time for a journal with broader interdisciplinary appeal that uses non-technical language.
John went on to note that ASA has not been as quick in utilizing information technology as some other professional societies. ASA has been discussing possible collaboration with organizations like APA and OCLC, but ASA is not clear at this time about what the best way to proceed is in moving into electronic publishing. ASA has begun to archive some of its journals with JSTOR.
The discussion then turned to the issue of wheturned to the issue of whether ASA might be able to provide the full text of its conference papers in some form. Undergraduates think conference papers are articles and want access to them quickly and easily. John mentioned that conference papers are sold at ASA conventions and any remainders are simply left there.
The point was raised about possible collaboration between librarians and sociologists in developing new ASA products. John agreed that this would be a good idea. Sociology has no way of disseminating its technical reports, preprints, and working papers like other sciences. Sociologists have no preprint server or working paper archives. Discoveries are not documented or spread as well as they are in other fields. Librarians can help remedy this by telling sociologists how to communicate and disseminate discoveries better. The meeting concluded with a brief discussion of possible implications of the reclassification of the HM’s. Possible topics for future meetings were also discussed. Beth Sibley, of UC Berkeley, will serve as incoming co-convener.
NEWS & QUERIES
Distance Learning Section of ACRL:
The Distance Learning Section of ACRL, formerly the Extended Campus Library Services Section, focuses on the delivery of library services to students in distance learning programs. Areas of interest to members include reference and referral services, library instruction,nd referral services, library instruction, cooperative library agreements, consortia arrangements, document delivery and many of the other issues confronting librarians today.
For more information, please contact Rob Morrison, Chair of the Distance Learning Section and Coordinator of Distance Education Library Services at the SciTech Library, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-3100. His e-mail is: robmor@cc.usu.edu. The Section’s web page is at: http://ecuvax.cis.ecu.edu/~lbshouse/home.htm.
Librarians on Panel at American Sociological Association:
Brian Quinn, Texas Tech University, and Sally Willson Weimer, University of California- Santa Barbara, served as co-organizers of “Libraries in the Electronic Society: Dinosaurs or Gateways to Cyberspace?” a professional workshop panel discussion featuring Leigh S. Estabrook, U. of Illinois – Urbana Champaign; Sydney J. Pierce, U. of Washington; and Michael F. Winter, U. of California-Davis. It was held at the ASA’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco on Saturday, 22 August 1998. It is listed in the ASA program: http://www.asanet.org/98AM/saturday.pdf on page 19. It provided an opportunity for librarians to become more active in ASA.
Haddon Library of Archaeology and Anthropology Refurbished:
Cambridge University’s Haddon Library of Archaeology and Anthropology marked its recent refurbishment with new computerized loan and security tagging systems at a ren and security tagging systems at a reception on Friday 25 September. The library is named after its founder, pioneering anthropologist Alfred Haddon, who led an expedition to the Torres Strait Islands in 1898. Haddon’s expedition has been marked by the publication of Cambridge and the Torres Strait by Anita Herle and Sandra Rouse, a special exhibition in the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and a documentary in the BBC’s “Horizon” series.
REVIEW
ANSS Currents (ISSN 0888-5559) is published by the Anthropology and Sociology Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago IL 60611; (312)944-6780.
����American Library Association, 1998.
Co-Editors: Isabel del Carmen Quintana, Tozzer Library, Harvard University, 21 Divinity Ave., Cambridge MA 02138-2019. (617) 495-2292 quintana@fas.harvard.edu
Mary M. Nofsinger, Holland Library, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-5610, (509) 335-8614; (509) 332-1274 mnofsing@wsu.edu
Production & Circulation Office: 50 E. Huron St., Chicago IL 60611.
ANSS Currents is published semi-annually in May and November and is distributed, at no additional charge, to members of the section. Back issues are available from ALA/ACRL, 50 East Huron St., Chicago IL 60611.
Chair, 1998-1999: J. Christina Smith, Mugar Library, Boston University, 771 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215-1401. (617) 353-3715. jchris@bu.edu
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, 1998-1999: Sally Willson Weimer, Reference Services, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010. (805) 893-3454. weimer@library.ucsb.edu