American Library Association
Association of College and Research Libraries
ANSS CURRENTS
The Newsletter of the ACRL Anthropology & Sociology Section
Vol. 19, No. 1 ISSN 0888-5559 May 2004
Preliminary Annual Schedule, 2004 OrlandoFriday, June 25 Saturday, June 26 Sunday, June 27 Monday, June 28 |
Message From the Chair, James Haug
Despite the distance of San Diego from the eastern and southeastern states-or perhaps because of the draw of southern California’s wintertime warmth-both ANSS Executive Committee meetings were well attended. Much of the time spent in the meetings was devoted to informative reports of standing committees and discussion groups. Written summaries of these reports appear elsewhere in this issue of Currents. Here I shall highlight only the events of the meetings that are not covered elsewhere in the newsletter.
The Chair and Vice Chair summarized the Midwinter meetings of the ACRL Leadership Council and the ACRL Sections Council, both of which they had attended. The meeting of the Leadership Council was wholly concerned with further development of a new strategic plan for ACRL. The principal aim of the new plan is enhancement of the role of ACRL in advancing learning and scholarship. Though the plan may produce some changes in the organization of ACRL, the impact of such changes on ANSS and other sections is presently unknown.
Two announcements made in the ACRL Sections Council warrant reiteration. One had to do with the forthcoming ACRL Conference, which will be held in Minneapolis in April 2005. The theme of the conference will be “Currents and Convergence.” Proposals for papers and sessions in the conference will be accepted until May 28, 2004. Another announcement of note was that rosters of ACRL and section committees are now available through the ALA website. It was recommended that members should use this feature to check their membership information.
Three events of the ANSS Executive Committee meetings stand out. The first of these was unexpected visits to Saturday’s hour-long meeting by two candidates for ACRL Vice President/President Elect. Although their visits interfered with the rather tight schedule of the meeting, in particular preventing presentation of important reports, their visits’ untoward effects were mitigated by the discussions the candidates had with members of the committee. All the same, future ANSS chairs should insist that ACRL candidates who wish to visit Executive Committee meetings must (1) give clear and ample notification of their intentions before they arrive, and (2) visit only during Monday’s meeting, which usually lasts two to three hours instead of one.
A second notable event was a change in the title and content of a traditional section of the agenda for the meetings of the Executive Committee; namely, a change of “Organizations, Institutions, and Association Reports,” to “Reports on Developments in Scholarly Communication.” The aim of this change was to shift the focus of the reports in this section from happenings in particular institutions to developments in databases, websites, preservation, and the like, which transcend (but are often associated with) organizations, institutions, and associations. Let us hope that this change will be effective.
The third notable event was the Chair’s proposal to form an ANSS Ad Hoc Information Literacy Committee. The members of the Executive Committee asked the Chair to rewrite the proposal, then e-mail it to them for their consideration. This was done subsequent to the Midwinter meetings, and the members approved the rewritten proposal. ANSS members who wish to be members of the ad hoc committee should contact the Vice Chair/Chair Elect, Wade Kotter.
Last, but not least, I ask all of you to spread the word about the ANSS/AFAS co-sponsored program for Orlando 2004, “Her Eyes were Watching Humanity: Zora Neale Hurston as Ethnographer, Novelist, and Feminist.” The program is scheduled for Sunday, June 27, 8:30 – 12:00. One can find information about the program elsewhere in this issue of Currents and at the extraordinary website http://www.library.uiuc.edu/edx/zora/.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Bibliography Committee
Domenico Bonanni, Chair
The reading of the first draft review of ISI Web of Science was cancelled because the reviewer was ill and could not attend the meeting. The committee decided that the best way to proceed would be to edit and review the draft via mail and email. The final draft will then be read at the Annual conference in Orlando. The Chicano Database reviewed by James Nalen will be published in the spring 2004 issue of ANSS Currents.
After welcoming new members, the chair encouraged newer members to look at the Guidelines for Analyzing Bibliographic Resources for ANSS Currents and ANSS Reviews Web pages.
Some current reviews that the committee is working on are: National Criminal Justice Database, and PAIS. Some future reviews that the committee is considering are: Ethnic Newswatch, folklore content in MLA, and BIAB (online version of British and Irish Archaeological Bibliography).
Conference Program Planning Committee, 2004
Stephen Fowlkes, Chair
The committee was joined by three African American Studies Librarians Section (AFAS) members who are working jointly with us to produce the program: Lisa Pillow (co-chairing the committee), Angela Gooden and Courtney Young—-an additional AFAS member, Rebecca Hankins, will be working with us by phone and e-mail up until conference time as well.
The scheduled program is entitled, “Her Eyes were Watching Humanity: Zora Neale Hurston as Ethnographer, Novelist, and Feminist,” and is scheduled to be held from 8:30 to 12 noon, on Sunday, June 27, 2004 in Orlando. As of the Midwinter Meeting date, there were 4 speakers confirmed; however, several weeks later, Robert Shaddy (U.Fla.) cancelled, leaving the following 3: Valerie Boyd, author of a recent, award-winning biography: Wrapped in Rainbows: the life of Zora Neale Hurston. Pamela Bordelon, author of Go Gator and Muddy the Water: writings by Zora Neale Hurston from the Federal Writers’ Project. Deborah Plant, author of Every Tub Must Sit on its Own Bottom: the philosophy and politics of Zora Neale Hurston. Shaddy was going to speak about the Hurston papers that reside in the UF Special Collections. Stephen Fowlkes and Lisa Pillow discussed replacing him, and decided instead that we will ask each of the three authors remaining on the panel to include comments about their experience with/knowledge with ZNH papers and manuscript collections in various archives.
JoAnn Jacoby is developing a website to announce our program; it will include the basic info about the program; some images of ZNH; links to various relevant websites. [As of this writing, the web site is active: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/edx/zora/] Sally Willson Weimer will work on a bibliography to of relevant publications and web sites. Maggie Dittemore and Rebecca Hankins will work on publicity with the various cosponsoring sections and ALA groups. In addition to the AFAS and ANSS lists and publications, the program will also be cross-listed with the following co-sponsors: ACRL’s Womens Studies Section, Literatures in English Section; ALA Feminist Task Force and the NMRT Diversity Committee. As in the past, the committee and the speakers will go to lunch after the program; Courtney Young and Angela Gooden (of AFAS) volunteered to coordinate this.
Fred Hay and Stephen will look into Sociology/Anthropology-related museums, etc., where the ANSS members can have their traditional educational tour on the Tues. morning of Annual Conference.
Conference Program Planning Committee, 2005
Brian Quinn and Lynn C. Hattendorf Westney, Co-Chairs
Brian met with Wade Kotter to discuss the plans for Chicago 2005. Brian reported on the meeting he attended in which ACRL Vice-President Frances Maloy outlined her expectations for section programs. The timetable for submitting ALA and ACRL program proposals was discussed. A deadline of May 1 has been set, and the ACRL board will vote on proposals in June. Budget allocations for the programs will be announced in late September/early October. The total ACRL budget for all sections is $15,000, so funding is a concern. Logistics, honoraria, travel expenses and other details were discussed. There was some discussion about possible program ideas, including the possibility of a program about the future of subject librarianship. Wade appointed Mimmo Bonnani and Pauline Manaka to the Committee.
Liaison Committee
Sally Willson Weimer and Susan Bennett White, Co-Chairs
The ANSS Liaison Committee met on January 10, 2004, during the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association in San Diego. Seven current and appointed members, plus two guests attended, showing a renewed interest in the work of this group. Our charge is to identify and then maintain communication with organizations and professional bodies in anthropology, sociology, and related social sciences that issue publications.
Topics covered in a lively discussion included:
Updating the distribution list of ANSS Currents, and considering additional Associations which could be interested in receiving this publication. We want to explore more sociology, anthropology and criminology areas, and include subject related associations, to refresh the mailing list.
Establishing new and strengthening existing contacts with the American Anthropological Association, Anthropology librarians are working with the AAA and scholarly communication groups to build relationships and presence at the AAA meetings. This is part of our ongoing program of outreach to Professional / Scholarly associations such as the American Anthropological Association.
Seeking new, perhaps alternative ways to make accessible the conference papers of major sociological associations including those indexed in Sociological Abstracts, including exploring “open access” initiatives, and both video and audio formats of conference presentations.
Those interested in our work are encouraged to contact either of the co-chairs: Sally W Weimer, Phone 805-893-3454, email: weimer@library.ucsb.edu or Susan Bennett White, phone: 609-258-4814, email: sbwhite@princeton.edu Suggestions and comments are always welcomed.
Membership Committee
Stephen Fowlkes and Brita Servase, Co-Chair
Stephen and Brita had done outreach to AALA/NMRT prior to Midwinter to encourage interested librarians to think about becoming involved in ANSS. The Social on Friday evening was very well attended and there were several new faces. Stephen has a list of all attendees, and the new people will receive a follow-up message from the membership committee.
Thanks to outreach efforts by Stephen, the ANSS Program in Orlando is being co-sponsored by Womens Studies Section, Feminist Task Force and the Rare Books Division, as well as MNRT Diversity Council. Other outreach efforts for the program will be made to AAMES and Salalm. The Program will be on Sunday, 6/27, 8:30-12:30.
The ANSS Brochure will be updated by Annual (Lynn Hattendorf Westney); there was some discussion that besides distributing brochures at the Program and through the ACRL booth at Annual, they might also be sent to library schools for posting.
Plans for the Social in Orlando on Friday 6/25 will be made closer to the meeting date.
DISCUSSION GROUP REPORTS
Anthropology Librarians Discussion Group
Gail Egbers, Convener
The well-attended discussion at the Midwinter meeting focused on the Melanesian Studies Resource Center at the University of California at San Diego. We were privileged to have Kathy Creely, the director of the Center, as our presenter. She first gave us a quick overview of the geography and the peoples in the area known as Melanesia. Ms. Creely brought a few books along with some handouts on the specific collections held there and told stories about some of the fascinating people who have contributed to the collection. To “visit” the Resource Center check out its website: http://sshl.ucsd.edu/melanesia/.
Several ideas were suggested for the Orlando discussion group but no decisions were made. Suggestions are welcome.
Criminology Librarians Discussion Group
Jon Harrison and Cris Smith, Co-Conveners
Jill Blaemers, Managing Editor of CSA Sociological Abstracts, spoke to a dozen members of the Criminal Justice/Criminology Discussion Group at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Diego. Her PowerPoint presentation explained Sociological Abstracts and Social Services Abstracts basics, value-added features, web resources, and criminal justice/criminology content. Jill brought handouts listing relevant serials and whether they were treated as core, primary, or selective titles. She also explained how she derived this list of criminal justice/criminology titles, and she compared and contrasted this list with titles in CJPI and CJA. Jill (and the handouts) covered appropriate classification numbers and thesaurus terms for criminal justice and criminology. Her presentation included sample searches. Regarding our program at Annual Conference in Orlando, Jon Harrison will be sending a message out on the listserv.
Sociology Librarians Discussion Group
Sue Erickson and Shawn Nicholson, Co-Conveners
The topic for discussion was: “What’s in a name: Library Instruction, Bibliographic Instruction, User Education; 2) teaching bibliographic management tools (e.g. EndNote); and 3) how do subject specialists learn from and share with their library’s coordinator for educational activities?”
What we learned from our discussion is that not only do sociology librarians use different terminology for instruction at different institutions, but we also use different terminology when communicating to faculty in our attempts to get them on-board. Some suggestions for what terminology to use with faculty included: library skills, critical thinking, library session, and library orientation. Participants suggested appealing to faculty interests and trying to use their language when discussing instruction issues. Another way of getting faculty on-board occurs when upper-level undergraduates and graduate students provide feedback to faculty on how these kinds of sessions have helped them and how they would have benefited from them earlier in their academic careers.
Institutions are deploying instruction in a variety of ways: online modules; incorporating it as a part of campus-wide assessment requirement initiatives or other university-level requirements. One librarian raised the issue of retention. She has noticed that the same students who have taken her institution’s required online module show evidence of a lack of retention when she encounters them later in upper-level course-related instruction.
The discussion then turned toward EndNote and other bibliographic citation management systems. Does this fit into the librarian’s purview and if so how are librarians handling this type of instruction? Most institutions represented were not offering a site license to such software due to its high cost. The expense of upgrading personal copies of the software has left some librarians still using much older, less functional versions of EndNote. A few participants indicated that their library offered some type of instruction for these kinds of tools. Some libraries offer different levels of instruction sessions, ranging from a general overview to intensive workshops. The discussion wrapped up with a brief mention of where plagiarism issues are being addressed in library instruction.
Before adjourning, the group voted in new co-conveners, Brian Quinn and Sally Wilson Weimer, who will begin their terms at the close of Annual 2004.
News & ANSS
ANSS-L Move to ALA Successful
ANSS-L, the section listserv, is now hosted by ALA. Anyone who wishes to be on the new list, including those who belonged to the old list, must subscribe by sending an e-mail to listproc@ala.org containing the message “SUBSCRIBE ANSS-L (your name)”
Contact JoAnn Jacoby ( jacoby@uiuc.edu), the new ANSS-L Moderator, with any questions or concerns. Thanks are due to Stephen Macleod, who launched ANSS-L in 1994, for his many years of service as ANSS-L Moderator.
Don’t forget to check the rich resource that is ANSSWeb < http://www.lib.odu.edu/anss/>
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, send a message to listproc@ala.org. In the body of the message type “subscribe ANSS-L Firstname Lastname”.
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:
Dr. Wade Kotter, ANSS Vice Chair/Chair Elect
Social Sciences Librarian
Stewart Library
Weber State University
2901 University Circle
Ogden, UT 84408-2901
wkotter@weber.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):
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Previous and current ALA or ACRL Committee Assignments:
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ALA or ACRL Offices Held:
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ANSS Experience (Committees, Offices):
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ANSS Committee Preferences (Be Specific):
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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 East. Huron St., Chicago IL 60611; (800) 545-2433, ext. 2523. ����American Library Association, 2003.
Editor: Shawn W. Nicholson, Michigan State University, 100 Library, East Lansing, MI 48824-1048, (517) 432-1749. nicho147@mail.lib.msu.edu
ANSSWeb
http://www.lib.odu.edu/anss/
Production & Circulation Office: 50 East Huron St., Chicago IL 60611.
ANSS Currents is published semi-annually in May and November. Back issues are available from ALA/ACRL, 50 East Huron St., Chicago IL 60611.
Chair, 2003-04: James Haug, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, NHB 327/333, 10th Street and Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20560-0112. (202) 357-1819
haugj@si.edu
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, 2003-04: Wade Kotter, Stewart Library, Weber State University, 2901 University Circle, Ogden, UT 84408-2901. (801) 626-7458
wkotter@weber.edu
_ Printed on recycled paper