WESS Newsletter
Vol. 25, No. 2 (Spring, 2002)
New Orleans
22 January 8:30 – 12:30
Sam Dunlap, Member at Large, opened the meeting with 24 members present; guests: Larry Hardesty and Theresa Byrd.
Early in the meeting Larry Hardesty encouraged members to submit proposals for presentations at the Charlotte Conference of ACRL in April 2003. He emphasized that proposals for collaborative efforts with other sections would be especially welcomed, and he suggested that sections submit several proposals rather than just one.
Theresa Byrd, a representative of ACRL, reported on a number of issues of interest to the members. These include the following:
- Libraries should be aware of the ramifications of the Patriot Act, and that policies are often required for dealing with unusual situations :or requests (e.g., contacts with the FBI).
- The Initiative Fund has proven to be problematic and has been stopped.
- ACRL encourages WESS to spend funds by August 31 and not carry them over to the next year.
- The College Libraries Section has raised the issue of the need for a midwinter meeting, citing the schedule of 2003 (ALA Midwinter, ACRL in :Charlotte, ALA Annual) as an example of a schedule which is too full for some. She noted that midwinter funds the Washington, D.C. office.
- The tax status of ALA will undergo a change in the near future.
- She supported Larry Hardesty’s suggestion to submit more than one proposal for the Charlotte Conference.
Discussion Group Reports
Cataloging: Jon Marner reported that Charles Croissant spoke on the upcoming publication of AACR2’s translation into German, and that Charlene Kellsey discussed on her recent article regarding Italian monographs in OCLC (LRTS 45 2001 123-6), as well as other European vendor records.
Classics Medieval and Renaissance: Heather Ward, Chair, welcomed Joline Ezzell who described the APIS Project (Advanced Papyrological Information System), and Jim O’Donnell, the incoming chair of the American Philological Association. He reported on the upcoming combination of L’Année Philologique/AnPhilNet and the Database of Classical Bibliography, and also discussed the interest of the APA in creating a virtual reference shelf for Classics in partnership with librarians.
College & Medium-Sized Libraries: Dennis Lambert noted that the discussion group focused on aspects of collection development for international materials.
Germanists: Gail Hueting reported on an update of the German Resources Project by Tom Kilton and on the main discussion topic, a presentation on Linguistics in the German Context by Beau Case and Dick Hacken.
Scandinavian and Special Topics Groups met together. John Dillon reported that the combined session dealt with aspects of collection management, acquisition, and reference for fine arts materials from Scandinavian countries. Presentations were by Geri Laudati and Vanessa Kam. Gail Hueting will be the incoming chair the group.
Social Sciences & History: David Duncan said that Ceres Birkhead gave an update on the Program Planning Committee. Also included in the meeting was a presentation and description of the British Studies Web on WESSWeb.
Committee Reports
Nominating: Heleni Pedersoli announced the new slate of candidates: for Chair: Ann Snoeyenbos and Katie Radics; for Secretary: Louis Reith and Candace Miller; for Member at Large: Bryan Skib and Laura Bishop.
Publications: Barbara Walden (for Beau Case) noted that the focus of the discussion was on the production of the new brochure and the timely use of funds available for it. Donations from sponsors will allow the Newsletter to continue at its expanded size. Jeff Garrett also noted that articles from the San Francisco program would likely be published soon. Adan Griego and Tom Izbicki are the editors while Roberta Astroff has provided some translations.
Research and Planning: Kathy Rutter described the special ceremony which was held to honor Martinus Nijhoff International for its support over the years of the Martinus Nijhoff Study Grant. Ineke Middeldorp Crispijn represented Nijhoff while Philipp Neie represented Swets Blackwell. It was announced that the grant will be available this coming year as the “Martinus Nijhoff International: West European Specialist Study Grant” sponsored by Swets Blackwell. Following the ceremony Casalini Libri reported on recent developments in cataloging. Fred Jenkins will be the incoming chair.
Membership: Roberta Astroff reported on the developments for the upcoming cruise in Atlanta. Helene Baumann said that there would be 10 tickets available for new members of WESS. Thea Lindquist will be the incoming chair.
Updates
Nijhoff: Jeff Garrett gave further details regarding the Nijhoff Award. For now there will be an indefinite continuation of the award under the sponsorship of Swets Blackwell. May 1 is the deadline for application for this year’s award. Jeff thank Jim Spohr and Stephen Lehmann for their assistance in preparing the list of past Nijhoff winners and the publications, talks and exhibitions which resulted from the award. The complete list is now available on WESSWeb.
Frankfurt Book Fair: Helene Baumann described the events of last October’s fair. Five members of WESS were selected for the ACRL/WESS exhibit. They were Dale Askey, Helene Baumann, Thea Lindquist, Beth Remak, and Sue Roberts. Among other events there was an evening spent at Klaus Saur’s house. Baumann suggested that, while the extra events that were planned for this fair were enjoyable, it should perhaps not be expected that they be repeated each year on such a scale.
2004 Paris Conference Planning: Jeffry Larson reported that the budget would formally be presented to ACRL in Atlanta at the 2002 Annual Meeting, but that so far all indicators were positive. Comments regarding the program should go to Sarah Wenzel who is the chair of the Program Committee. He reserved a more thorough presentation for the meeting of the Executive Committee.
The main feature of the meeting was a report by Ann Snoeyenbos on her sabbatical doing research on the archives of European political parties. She described how the web presence of party archives is minimal and that Internet sites for the parties are generally for the purposes of funding, establishing a party identity, and increasing membership. Their archival use as a repository for speeches or photographs is much less in evidence. She presented a number of interesting illustrations of her conclusions. Her talk was followed by a lively discussion followed after which the meeting was concluded.
Respectfully submitted,
Bruce Swann
Secretary