American Library Association
Association of College and Research Libraries
ANSS CURRENTS
The Newsletter of the ACRL Anthropology & Sociology Section
Vol. 15, No. 1 ISSN 0888-5559 May 2000
ACRL ANSS PROGRAM
Sunday, July 9, 2000, 9:30 A.M.-12:30 P.M.
“Sociological and Anthropological Research in Transition: Trans-disciplinary Collaboration, Qualitative/Quantitative Rapprochement”
Social scientists seem to be rediscovering each other through cooperative research, work in common research aretive research, work in common research arenas, and use of similar data now almost ubiquitously available. At the same time most are rediscovering the interconnectedness of research on the populations they study. This panel asks whether this will be a persistent pattern and what librarians need to know as facilitators. Panelists will discuss what kinds of cooperative bonds have been, are and can be formed between librarians and researchers in our increasingly electronically complex information and data-full world.
Speakers: Kathleen Parks, Asst. Dir., Committee on Demographic Training, Natl. Opinion Research Ctr. (NORC), Univ. of Chicago, “Research Centers as Research Facilitators”; Tom W. Smith, Dir., Natl. Opinion Research Ctr. (NORC), Univ. of Chicago, “The International Social Survey Program: Cross-National Research Developments and Opportunities”; Jennifer Hiselman, Research Assoc. IL Criminal Justice Info. Authority, “Using State Data for Research”; Jocelyn Tipton, Data Libn., William J. Wheeler, Collections, Yale Univ. Social Science Lib., “Transdisciplinary Work and Data in Libraries.”
ANSS TOUR IN CHICAGO
Tuesday, July 11, 10 – 11 AM
There will be a tour of the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum at 800 S. Halsted Street, Chicago, IL. The Hull-House Museum is located on the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) campus. Lynn C. Hattendorf Westney, a member of the ANSS Program Planning Committee 2000 and a reference librarian in UIC’s Main Library, will be on hand to greet everyone. Attendees should arrive about 9:45 so that the tour can start on time. Afterwards, Professor Westney will escort attendees around the campus and/or through the Main Library.
To get to the Hull-House Museum and the University of Illinois at Chicago from the downtown area, take a CTA Blue Line rapid transit train west and get off at the UIC/Halsted station, which is the first stop after the train comes up from underground. Walk approximately one block and a half south on Halsted Street and the Hull-House Museum is on the west side of the street next to Chicago Circle Center and across from two parking lots.
Preliminary Schedule of ANSS Meetings
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
ANSS Executive Committee
Sally Willson Weimer, Chair
The ANSS Executive Committee meetings were held on Jan. 15 and 17 during ALA Midwinter, San Antonio. This summary gives an overview of discussion and activities. J. Christina Smith reported that the Nominating Committee, 2001, is seeking candidates for Vice Chair, Secretary, and Member-at-Large. So, if a member of the Nominating committee approaches yof the Nominating committee approaches you or a colleague, please think positively about agreeing to serve as a candidate. We need your enthusiasm and creative ideas. You will learn much from this opportunity and get to know a whole new group of friends and colleagues!
Erin Daix, Chair of the Conference Program Planning Committee, 2001, San Francisco, has invited ANSS members to send her suggestions for the conference program they are planning.
J. Christina Smith suggested that we create a Membership committee or ad hoc committee to begin to focus on membership organization and development. ACRL Membership committee has been working on ways to help sections to build and increase the numbers of their members. J. Christina Smith or Sally Willson Weimer planned to attend the ACRL membership committee meeting to learn about the membership development projects ACRL is working on.
There was some discussion of planning a panel discussion or session for the ACRL National Conference in 2001 in Denver. It was also suggested that our Section would be celebrating its 30th birthday in 2001 and we might want to plan a birthday party at the ALA Conference in San Francisco.
Several members suggested that because of difficulties with scheduling, the Section might want to explore consolidating most committee meetings at one time in one large room. Several people have complained about schedule conflicts and have not been able to attend the meetings they need or would like to attend.
You are welcome to attend any of the committee and discussion group meetings, except the Nominating committee meeting which is closed. THANKS TO ALL for helping and participating in the Section, its activities, and programs, whether virtits activities, and programs, whether virtually or in person!
ANSS Conference Planning Committee 2001
Erin Daix, Chair
The committee met on Sunday, January 16th. Members in attendance were Erin Daix, Rhonda Neugebauer, Cathy Moore-Jansen, Paul Kauppila, Beth Sibley, and Sara Williams. Pauline Manaka was unable to attend due to meeting conflict.
The main agenda item was to come up with a program title and list of potential speakers for the 2001 Conference in San Francisco. Moore-Jansen reviewed the basic guidelines for speakers and honorariums. Brainstorming of program ideas followed. Possible ideas included questioning who publishes marginalized material, or material produced by marginalized groups, e.rial produced by marginalized groups, e.g. what is the role of the Internet or web sites such as PeaceNet or Global Exchange. It was suggested that for speakers, the committee might try finding people who are collecting ephemera or groups providing infrastructure to collect data and information. After much discussion, the tentative title of the program became Social Movements, Marginalized Groups and the Electronic Information Environment: Issues for Researchers and Librarians. The committee welcomes suggestions of possible speakers, in the San Francisco area, who might speak on this topic.
Several locations were suggested for the tour. Thanks to Paul Kauppila, the committee has tentatively agreed upon a walking tour, arranged by Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center, of the rich and colorful murals of San Francisco.
Bibliography Committee
Wade Kotter, Chair
The Bibliography Committee met once in San Antonio. The major part of the meeting involved discussion of Kotter’s review of Criminal Justice Abstracts. It was approved, with modifications, for publication in the May issue of ANSS Currents. Katie Whitson distributed her draft review of Sociological Abstracts, wheview of Sociological Abstracts, which will be the main topic of discussion at the 2000 Annual Meeting in Chicago. The committee also decided that, upon publication in ANSS Currents, each reviewer will forward a copy of their review to the publisher of the reviewed product along with a letter highlighting important aspects of the review. The Bibliography Committee encourages members of the section to volunteer for appointment to the committee and looks forward to receiving suggests from section members regarding products to review.
Liaison Committee
Christine Whittington, Chair
The Liaison Committee met on Saturday, January 15th, 2000, from 8:30-11 a.m. Members in attendance were Christine Whittington (Chair), Christine Menard, Jane Segal, and Penny Whitten.
The Committee discussed the idea of an Ask-a-Librarian service connecting people (both academics and the general public) with experts. The idea grew out of the plans for a print Expertsw out of the plans for a print Experts Directory and is modeled on services like AskEric and Ask-a-Palaeontologist. The group discussed a modified idea that would consist of setting up electronic reference service through our own page. We would have a policy explaining limitations, such as referrals to a person’s own library for questions that could and should be handled locally. The service could also be supported by the Experts Directory we had planned to compile. The purpose of the service would be to inform people about ANSS, to share our own expertise with organizations like ASA, SAA, and AAA, and to forge closer links with other organizations.
We also talked about the possibility of funding ANSS members to attend meetings of organizations like ASA or AAA through an ACRL Initiative Fund proposal. A first step for this would be to find out what organizations ANSS members belong to and gauge how much interest in this proposal there would be. We will start with an informal survey through ANSS-L and proceed from there. We can look to submitting a proposal next year.
Nominating Committee for 2000 ALA Election
Joyce Ogburn, Chair
Current candidates for office are:
Vice Chair/Chair Elect:
Anna DeMiller (Colorado State
University)
Member-at-Large:
Christine Whittington (University of Maine)
Mary Nofsinger (Washington State University)
Publications Committee
Gary McMillan, Chair
The Publications Committee reviewed the recent issues of ANSS Currents and the revised
brochure. The brochure is maintained now as one Microsoft Word document and will be revised on an annual basis. Both the newsletter and the brochure are displaying a wider selection of clip art. The Committee will keep an eye out for clip art catalogs with images relevant to sociology. The Committee is exploring a new home for the ANSSWeb. One proposal entails maintaining the home page and other “core” pages which by their nature will require no or infrequent updating on the ACRL server with links to more actively updated pages housed on a cooperatinupdated pages housed on a cooperating university’s server. We will seek to migrate the site to a new home by annual conference or shortly thereafter.
Review and Planning Committee
J. Christina Smith, Past-Chair
We discussed how Review and Planning could be more proactive in the section. We had as background information the charges of committees of several other sections. Review and Planning Committee members were given draft copies of the revised section manual. We recommended that the manual be forwarded to Executive Committee. We discussed the current trend toward decreasing membership in the section and recommended the formation of an ANSS Membership Committee. We took this recommendation to Executive Committee. We talked about the ongoing difficulties in scheduling section meetings at ALA Midwinter and Annual and suggested that VC/CE Cathy Moore-Jansen consider such models as “Consolidated Committee Meeting” or “All Committee Meeting” as is done in several ACRL sections.
DISCUSSION GROUP REPORTS
Anthropology Librarians’ Discussion Groups
Pauline Manaka
Pauline issued a call for the Discussion group co-convener, describing the responsibilities of the position. A list soliciting ideas for future meeting discussion topics was circulated.
Guest speaker was Kristen Garlock, User Services Coordinator for JSTOR. She addressed twenty-eight attendees on “Building Ideal collections of Electronic Resources in Anthropology: the case of JSTOR.” JSTOR is a non-profit organization that provides participating Libraries with access to the back issues of core scholarly journals. The presentation revolved around the following previously submitted questions: How do anthropology librarians identify and select e-resources? How are these resources paid for? How do anthropology librarians use JSTOR to respond to research needs? How can anthropology librarians maximize the use of JSTOR? Other issues included how to provide adequate support for installation and use. Ms. Garlock also discussed enhancements by JSTOR. This includes disciplines like Area Studies, Anthropology and Archaeology, Sociology, etc.
In the next three years JSTOR plans to increase content and a series of discipline-specific clusters. It will include the “highest quality journals” in disciplines new to JSTOR. Ms Garlock solicited ideas on titles in anthropology. The list also covered journal indexes for linking purposes, another enhancement that JSTOR was planning. Some suggested titles include, American Antiquity; Anthropological Index; Web of Science; and World Archaeology. Because of the nature of anthropology, there was a suggestion for JSTOR to consider long-standing monographic series, such as Peabody Museum Publications, Geological Survey, Bureau of Ethnographic Publications, etc.
The issue of printing from JSTOR generated an interesting discussion. JSTOR is looking at a new interface redesign. There were also questions concerning JSTOR’s role in electronic s concerning JSTOR’s role in electronic archiving. Redesigning of the interface involves navigation and the structure of the database, not necessarily format. JSTOR is confident of the 600dpi scan. An aspect of this will involve the ability to e-mail, mark articles, and save searches for the future. One tough question is on how to decide what is a multidisciplinary journal. To assign journals multi-type disciplines may cause too much cross listing. Kristen also referred to the future plan to link to indexes and citations.
Topics were suggested for future discussions: strategies for BI in anthropology; African publishing venues for African ethnography; different publishers in anthropology, quality, selection prices, etc; E-HRAF; anthropology/anthropologists in non-traditional parts of the curriculum; RLG Citadel’s expanded version of Anthropological Literature; HRAF Collection of Archaeology (cost, etc).
Sociology Librarians Discussion Group
Brian Quinn
The Sociology Librarians Discussion Group met on Saturday, January 15, 2000 at ALA Midwinter in San Antonio. Twenty-one librarians attended. Our guests were Dr. Meredith McGuire and Dr. David Spener of Trinity University. The topic was “Contested Knowledge: Critical Themes for Contemporary Social Theory.” They began by pointing out that the knowledge that we have about our world is based on social constructions. Our guests believed that social theory is better because contesting knowledge redefines boundaries, and it is important to pay attention to how boundaries are constructed. Contested knowledge creates new boundaries of identity, body, and nationality. Contested knowledge can tell us what is wrong with our ways of knowing about social reality.
One important aspect of contested knowledge is its focus on space and spatiality. This refers to space in both a geographic and a metaphorical sense. How people construct space around them is no longer fixed or given and is constantly being contested. There is also a great emphasis on perspectivity – your position in social theory depends on your perspective. Spatiality can be seen in the “global village” concept. This shrinking of the global world over the last 30 years suggests a compression of time and space. Globalization, multidirectional mass migration, the development of transnational communities, multiple citizenships, and deterritorialization of people and communities are other spatiality trends. Community is no longer tied to a particular place. All these trends undermine traditional social theory, which has been based on people living together over time in one place.
As people become more transnational, border processes become more salient. For example, how do ethnic groups construct boundaries and difference between themselves and other groups? These trends call into question identities, including ethnic identities. For example, the ethnic conflict in the Balkans may be an attempt to construct new solidarity by emphasizing boundaries and difference. . Some historians are now saying that attempts by social groups to create authentic traditions are really social constructions. These trends contribute to an emerging social theory that all realities are constructed and can be challenged. Following a question and answer period, attendees were asked for possible topics for ALA in Chicago. The meeting was then adjourned.
NEWS & QUERIES
ANSS-Web
ANSS-Web receives congratulations from ISI, which has selected our site for inclusion in Current Web Contents (http://www.isinet.com/products/webselect/webselect.html), a new section of Current Contents Connect TM. ISI editors — following carefully structured evaluation criteria — visited our site, reviewed it, developed a standardized descriptive record, wrote an abstract and created a link from CC Connect to ANSS-Web. ISI has now applied these selection standards to Current Web Contents, an ever-growing collection of high-quality, scholarly Web sites. We are proud to be part of this prestigious database.
Books & Publications
The 2nd edition of the book, Linguistics: A Guide to the Reference Literature, by ANSS member Anna L. DeMiller appeared January 2000. It is published by Libraries Unlimited.
Africa e Mediterraneo is an Italian magazine publishing articles about African society, politics African society, politics and arts since 1992. To submit a paper, contact Massimo Repetti via e-mail at: repetti@tn.village.it. Send an abstract of 200 words or fewer, and the author’s statement.
ANSS-L
To join, send an e-mail message to LISTSERV@UCI.EDU containing the following message, SUBSCRIBE ANSS-L (your name)
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; (800) 545-2433, ext. 2515.
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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, 1999-2000: Sally Willson Weimer, Reference Services, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010. (805) 893-3454. weimer@library.ucsb.edu
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, 1999-2000: Cathy L. Moore-Jansen, Collection Development, Wichita State University Libraries, Wichita, KS 67260-0068. (316) 978-5080. moorejan@twsuvm.uc.twsu.edu