American Library Association
Association of College and Research Libraries
ANSS CURRENTS
The Newsletter of the ACRL Anthropology & Sociology Section
Vol. 17, No. 1 ISSN 0888-5559 May 2002
ANSS PROGRAM FOR 2002
ALA Annual, Atlanta, GA, Sunday
June 16, 2002, 9 A.M. to 12 P.M.
“Shamanism Implications for Revisioning Librarianship”
Submitted by JoEllen Broome, Program Chair
Program Description: Three speakers will examine Shamanism from different perspectives. A medical anthropologist will examine the healing aspects of shamanism in earlier eras and how it is utilized today in her work. A cultural anthropologist, who is also a professor of religion, will define the term and look at its development historically in American culture especially among Native Americans. He will comment on modern day applications in contemporary societies that he’s examining in his research. Finally, a sociologist, who is also a professor of library science, will offer a sociologist’s perspective on shamanism. She will examine its appeal to high tech information driven cultures like our own and how it resonates with the profession of librarianship in particular.
Speakers’ List. The committee has put together an impressive trio of guest panelists. Here they are in order of appearance. The speakers preferred to entertain questions immediately following their remarks.
- Dr. Delia Easton from the CDC (Center for Disease Control in Atlanta) is a medical anthropologist. JoEllen Broome will be happy to send you more information about her. Please notify her at jbroome@gasou.edu
- Dr. Gary M. Laderman is a Professor in the Department of Religion at Emory University. For further information on him go to: http://www.emory.edu/COLLEGE/RELIGION/faculty/laderman.html
- Dr. Sydney J. Pierce is an Associate Professor in the School of Library Science at Catholic University of America. See her CV at: http://slis.cua.edu/sjp/vita.htm
EBSS is co-sponsoring the event thanks to the efforts of committee member Brian Quinn. This means assistance with advertising to a broader audience for which we are grateful. Committee members will also send promotional announcements to appropriate list-servs like the RUSA and LAMA lists.
ACRL-Forum and of course ANSS-L are logical candidates. If there other suggestions for postings please notify the committee chair at jbroome@gasou.edu.
Anna de Miller is developing a Bibliography on Shamanism. She asks that those who have suggestions for the list send them to her at ademiller@manta.library.colostate.edu
ANSS TOUR IN ATLANTA
Date & Time: To Be Announced
Pauline Manaka is coordinating this part of the program. Interested members are invited to tour the Carter Center and Carter Library, which is a beautiful complex in downtown Atlanta. It is a showplace architecturally and is surrounded by native plant landscaping and garden spaces for quiet contem-plation. It contains a museum full of presidential artifacts and gathering places for distinguished national and international guests to work on world problems. It’s a fine tribute to the statesmanship of Georgia’s only U.S. President, Jimmy Carter.
A behind the scenes tour of the Presidential Library is planned. It should prove especially interesting to those of us who’ve never visited the non-public area of a presidential library. More information on the date and time and directions to the location is forthcoming. There is a possibility that the President and/or Mrs. Carter may welcome us briefly. This depends of course on their schedules since they are a busy, globetrotting pair.
Preliminary Schedule of ANSS Meetings
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
ANSS Executive Committee
Anna L. DeMiller, Chair
The ANSS Executive Committee meetings were held on January 19 and 21, 2002, in New Orleans during ALA Midwinter. Plans are being made for ANSS to participate in the ACRL “Learning to Make a Difference” conference to be held in Charlotte, NC April 2003. If anyone has ideas, please contact William Wheeler . William has volunteered to coordinate planning efforts for our section. The deadline for submitting a workshop proposal is May 2002, a poster session November 2002 and a round table discussion January 2003. One possible idea floated during the meeting was presenting something about the Scholarly Communications Group that was recently established within the American Anthropological Association due to efforts by a number of ANSS members.
The idea of virtual membership on committees was discussed in view of some developments within other sections of ACRL. The College Library Section has even moved beyond virtual membership in agreeing that none of its committees will meet at Midwinter in Philadelphia 2003. The section will be conducting all their business virtually for this conference. The decision was made in part because so many new librarians are not well funded by their institutions for travel expenses. Anna DeMiller encouraged ANSS committee chairs to talk with their members and explore possibilities. The Bibliography Committee for example might be able to conduct some of its work virtually.
The committee welcomed Pamela Snelson, the new representative from the ACRL Board to ANSS. She reported on the formation of a joint ACRL/ARL task force on recruitment issues in academic libraries. A newly formed standing committee on scholarly communications is one of ACRL’s highest priorities. Another new ACRL task force will focus on the future and where ACRL should be headed as an organization.
Jim Haug gave the report for the John Wesley Powell Library at the Smithsonian Institution. He reported that volume 13 of the Handbook of North American Indians had been published. Due to a budget shortfall the monograph budgets of all Smithsonian library branches were altogether only $7,000. Jim also reported on the irradiation process of mail following September 11 and the effects of this process on flats of letters and journals. The library staff discovered that the irradiation process ages the paper to an extraordinary degree, journal pages are stuck together. Around 10% of the mail has been negatively affected.
Janet Steins reported that on July 1, 2002, the Harvard University Library HOLLIS database will migrate to the Aleph system. They do not anticipate any downtime. With so much emphasis on HOLLIS, there is some uncertainty about whether the Anthropological Literature database will be glitch-free on July 1. If there are problems, this may impact the RLG file. The expansion of the Special Collections room has allowed the library to relocate and make non-circulating a large amount of unpublished material, including many volumes of seminar papers. All maps are also now in Special Collections and must be requested; the library hopes to conserve a number that are in poor condition. The Peabody Museum Archives, including Photo Archives, has implemented new access procedures for researchers.
Suzanne Calpestri reported on celebrations for UC-Berkeley’s Anthropology Department centennial. They are planning a yearlong program of exhibits and a lecture series. The first of three exhibits will be of faculty publications in the main library. A wall-sized photo of Kroeber will hang in the Main (Doe) Library. Suzanne passed out a post-card of the exhibit to committee members and guests. A second exhibit will be at the Bancroft Library and a third at the Hearst Museum. They are expecting good press, with feature stories in the San Francisco Chronicle. The exhibits will look back on faculty fieldwork over the last 100 years; there will also be a photo gallery of faculty. In addition there is a map of the world onto which all dissertations were mapped. This was done in 25-year segments using color pins. During the first 25 years, there were three dissertations; during the second 25 years, there were 58 dissertations; during the third 25 years, there were 200+ dissertations; and during the last 25 years, there were 400+ dissertations. A lot of the fieldwork has occurred in California. They are converting the map from print to web, so they can make links from the pins to the catalog, and the full-text of the dissertation.
Bibliography Committee Report
Domenico Bonanni, Chair
The Bibliography Committee met twice from 9:30 to 11:00 am on Saturday, January 19 and Sunday January 20 in New Orleans. The committee welcomed two new members, Christine Menard and James Nalen. The chair, Mimmo Bonanni, described the background and charge of the Bibliography Committee to the new members. The majority of the meetings involved a discussion of Pauline Manaka’s review of Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA). The committee decided to postpone printing of the review of ASSIA in order to grant more time for discussion and editing of the review this summer in Atlanta. At the Atlanta meeting, the review will be considered for the fall publication in ANSS Currents. The committee members had a discussion of current databases for review. A draft review of BIOSIS will be presented and discussed at the next committee meeting in Atlanta. If possible, a draft will be sent via e-mail in order to give members more opportunity to read the review before the meeting this summer. The last item on the agenda was a discussion of the current ANSS Bibliography Committee Projects List. As a result of the discussion, committee members are looking into the following products as subjects for future reviews: BIOSIS, AgeLine, RLG Cultural Materials, and the Chicano Database.
Liaison Committee Report
Submitted by William J. Wheeler
ANSS Liaison Committee met at midwinter to discuss practical work that could be accomplished. Guest attendee Sandy Roe, catalog librarian and anthropology masters candidate at Minnesota State University, Mankato presented information on her content study and user survey of the multiple versions of the Human Relations Area Files she is undertaking for her thesis.
- The Committee unanimously endorsed Ms. Roe’s project and committed itself to assist wherever possible. Other action items agreed to were:
- Look into AAA publications online.
- Contact Stephen Fowlkes about his contact with ASA and establishment of an ASA committee on library issues.
- Collect information from our own faculty on their current research and use of materials (The Committee will develop some questions so as to have some commonality among our results).
Membership Committee Report
Erin Daix, Co-Chair
Committee members discussed the possibility of changing the Social to a night other than the traditional Friday night. After much discussion, the Committee decided Friday still remains the most convenient time. Members then had a discussion of possible locations for a Friday evening social in Atlanta. The Committee decided to review the letters of welcome to new members at the Annual Conference.
Nominating Committee Report
Sally Willson Weimer, Chair
The current candidates for office for 2002 are:
Vice Chair-Chair Elect, 2002
James Haug, Smithsonian Institution
Will Wheeler, Yale University
Member at Large, 2002
Stephen Fowlkes, Tulane University
Lynne C. Hattendorf-Westney, University of Illinois, Chicago
The committee was not able to meet during the ALA midwinter meetings. As chair, I want to thank each of the candidates for running for his or her respective office. The ANSS Executive Board works effectively as a team to represent the interests and concerns of members and to help educate and train new officers and elected candidates to their new responsibilities and projects. I want to also thank the committee members for their participation in this important process.
Publications Committee Report
Lynn C. Hattendorf Westney, Chair
The Publications Committee met on Saturday, January 19, 2002. Three major issues constituted the focus of the meeting. Two of the issues were resolved. Isabel del Carmen Quintana is resigning as co-editor of ANSS Currents in June 2002. Shawn Nicholson of Michigan State University volunteered to serve as the new co-editor. Joyce Ogburn is resigning as the editor of ANSSWeb after seven years of faithful service. Joyce will keep up the Resources page but a new editor is needed. (Note: At the ANSS Executive Committee Meeting on Monday, January 21, Erin Daix of the University of Delaware volunteered to serve as the new editor of ANSS Web.)
Stephen MacLeod is currently the ANSS-L Moderator but has stated his intention to resign from this position. Thus, the Publications Committee is currently seeking a new Web moderator for ANSS-L. Interested volunteers for this position should contact Lynn C. Hattendorf Westney, Chair. Other business conducted included the ANSS brochure, which Ann Roselle will revise and arrange to have printed and ready for distribution to ACRL.
Review and Planning Committee Report
Cathy Moore-Jansen, Chair
During the committee’s Midwinter meeting, the primary agenda item was the systematic review of the ANSS manual including revisions proposed and compiled by committee members before the meeting. Suggested changes and additions will be incorporated into the manual and reviewed again at Annual. There were also discussions about the committee charge and future projects. Committee members have decided to review issues related to archiving ANSS documents, and we hope to make recommendations about retention schedules and formats that can be reviewed at Annual.
Subject and Bibliographic Access Committee Report
Karen J. Davis, Chair
This new committee consists of three members: Karen Davis, Isabel del Carmen Quintana, and Fred J. Hay. The first meeting of this committee took place at ALA Midwinter in New Orleans. Ever practical, the committee got down to the business of creating a subject heading in-take form to post on the ANSS web site. Isabel offered to make a first draft of the form. The first steps have been made and we are working on the latest draft of the in-take form. When the finalized form is complete we will notify the ANSS constituency through ANSS-L. During the intervening time, please feel free to contact any member of the committee if you have questions, need clarification or have comments on the work of the committee.
Karen J. Davis
Isabel del Carmen Quintana
Fred J. Hay
Below is the original proposal for constituting this committee and should serve to refresh your memory of what we are trying to accomplish.
Subject and Bibliographic Access Committee
Background: The proposal for a bibliographic access committee was first presented at the 2001 Midwinter Conference by Isabel del Carmen Quintana as a COPAR request for a committee that could submit new or revised subject headings to the Library of Congress. A formal proposal for an expanded Subject and Bibliographic Access Committee was presented at Annual 2001.
Charge: The Subject and Bibliographic Access Committee is charged with providing a forum for exchange of information and a clearinghouse for issues and concerns related to bibliographic access (including, but not restricted to, subject headings, call numbers, and name authorities) to materials in anthropology, sociology, and related fields. The Committee is further charged with processing proposals for Library of Congress Subject Headings including changes to existing headings, additions of new cross-references to existing headings, and new subject headings.
Composition: The Subject and Bibliographic Access Committee consists of up to five members, who serve two-year terms. At least three members must be acknowledged by the Library of Congress as full SACO (Subject Authority Cooperative) or NACO Name Authority Cooperative) contributors, with both SACO and NACO represented on the committee. Committee members must have some background in cataloging.
DISCUSSION GROUP REPORTS
Anthropology Librarians Discussion Group
Gail Egbers, Co-Convener
There were twenty-one attendees at the Anthropology Librarians’ Discussion Group at Midwinter in New Orleans. Brita Servaes and Gail Egbers were the convener and co-convener.
After introductions and some brief announcements, Wade Kotter gave a report about the Scholarly Communications Interest group at AAA. This group met at the AAA meeting in DC in November. The turnout was small and mostly librarians but the group decided to continue. The AAA executive committee recommended approval of the group. The formal decision will be made in May but in the interim the group is to continue as if already formally accepted. At this point the group may:
- Apply for a special event (meeting) at the AAA meeting.
- Submit one volunteered section. There are plans to put together some sort of presentation/ papers.
- Send a mailing of up to 200 people using AAA funds. The focus would be towards increasing membership.
- Publish a 500-word article in the Anthropology newsletter. It also would be aimed towards increasing membership of the interest group.
Greg Finnegan suggested a program on how published research is accessed might be of interest to anthropologists. During the discussion it was mentioned that AAA doesn’t have consistent standards for publication. There doesn’t seem to be a controlled vocabulary and anthropologists do not use indexes.
A reminder was made that the ANSS website has a great bibliography.
A discussion grew out of Greg Finnegan’s comment about a journal that is owned by only three libraries. How do we find out about new journals in the field. Anthropologists don’t always fit into the departmental structure, and often there are anthropologists working in other disciplines, which is a challenge to librarians who have to keep up collections to serve the widely interdisciplinary areas in which anthropologists are active.
This led to ideas for future topics for the Anthropology Librarians Discussion Group. The idea that was decided for summer 2002 was collection development. There will be an introduction by experienced selectors (Janet Steins volunteered) and a discussion on the methodology for such an interdisciplinary area.
Criminal Justice/Criminology Discussion Group
Deborah L. Schaeffer, Convener
The first meeting of this new ANSS discussion group was quite a success! Kendra Stampor, Product Manager, from Proquest, presented an informative overview of Criminal Justice Periodicals Index (CJPI). She gave insights on new journal selection, and article indexing, abstracting, and the criteria for inclusion in the database.
Ms. Stampor also shared search tips for using natural language searching and how to effectively use site builder. In addition, she solicited comments and suggestions of enhancements the group would like to see in the future. Some of these included more on criminalistics and forensics, GIS information, the inclusion of Sage publications, full text conference papers, and the addition of more research journals. The Discussion Group meets again in Atlanta on Saturday at 4:30 P.M.. Please join us.
Sociology Librarians Discussion Group
Submitted by Dana Edwards, Co-Convener
The Midwinter Meeting of the ANSS Sociology Librarians Discussion Group met on Saturday, January 19, 2002, in the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Co-Congeners Dana Edwards and Stephen Fowlkes led a discussion on the use of print and web-based librarian-created research guides/bibliographies for Sociology and other uses of the web for library instruction. Printouts of several representative web pages from several libraries were shared among the approximately 20 attendees.
The discussion revealed several common practices and concerns. Everyone present reported that they create subject guides for Sociology in their libraries, and almost everyone indicated that they also place these on their library’s web page. Several of the attendees create the web pages themselves, while others compile the content and forward it to their library’s webmaster or web team. A common concern, and a frustration for some, was the need to place the content into a uniform template on their respective library’s web page. Some felt that this requirement is overly restrictive, and can lead to less flexibility, authority and control of the content.
Several librarians indicated that they use the web extensively for instructional purposes. Besides placing bibliographies and instructional guides on their library’s web page, some reported that they create additional pages for their one-time library instruction sessions for Sociology Department classes. Some librarians link these resources to their personal web page as well as to their library’s web page. Other innovative ideas and methods of using the web to compliment library instruction were discussed. Several different web authoring products were mentioned, but no particular product was used by a majority of those present.
By the end of the hour, it was apparent that the creation of subject guides and instructional resources on library web pages is becoming increasingly important in the work of Sociology librarians.
News & Queries
ANSS member Jay H. Bernstein’s article, “First recipients of anthropological doctorates in the United States, 1891-1930,” will appear in the Centenary issue of the American Anthropologist, June, 2002. Jay is a cataloger at Fordham University’s Walsh Library. His reviews of anthropology books frequently appear in Library Journal, and his entry on Taman shamanism for the Encyclopedia of Shamanism (ABC-Clio, in preparation) reflects the anthropological work he undertook prior to becoming a librarian.
GET INVOLVED IN ANSS!
ANSS-Web
Please visit our ANSS-Website to learn more about officers, committees, discussion groups, programs, and publications.
ANSS-L
To subscribe to the ANSS-L listserv, send an e-mail message to LISTSERV@UCI.EDU containing the following message, SUBSCRIBE ANSS-L (your name). It’s a great way to keep informed on new topics and developments.
Volunteer to Serve on a Committee (This form is also accessible here.
ANSS is seeking volunteers for several committee assignments. Committee appointments require attendance at ALA Midwinter and Annual Conferences. To volunteer, please print and fill out this form, and then return it to:
Royce D. Kurtz, ANSS Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect
Coordinator, Informational and Instructional Services
J.D. Williams Library
The University of Mississippi
University, MS 38677
662-915-7985; fax: 662-915-7477
ulkurtz@olemiss.edu
Name, Title, Institution, Preferred Mailing Address:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
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Telephone: _______________
FAX: ______________
E-mail: _____________________________________
Number of Years as Member of ANSS _______
Academic Background (Institutions, Dates, Relevant Subject Areas):
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Previous and current ALA or ACRL Committee Assignments:
______________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
ALA or ACRL Offices Held:
______________________________________________
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ANSS Experience (Committees, Offices):
_____________________________________________
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ANSS Committee Preferences (Be Specific):
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
Anthropology and Sociology Background/Interests/ Publications (include state, local, regional):
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
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Signature _______________________
Date: _________________________
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.
����American Library Association, 2002.
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, 2001-2002: Anna L. DeMiller, Reference Services, Colorado State University Libraries, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1019. (970) 491-1858. ademiller@manta.colostate.edu
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, 2001-2002: Royce Kurtz, J. D. Williams Library, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677-2944. (662) 915-7985. ulkurtz@olemiss.edu