Member News

Oct. 2009:
The Lexis Nexis Corporate Information Professional site recently published this article on SLA-NY "Cybrarian," Robin Sanders! Read more!

PRAGUE SEMINAR 2009: LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANSHIP IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

PRAGUE SEMINAR 2009:
LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANSHIP IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

By Leigh Hallingby

I had the pleasure of spending two glorious weeks from Sunday, May 24, through Saturday, June 6, 2009, in Prague in the Czech Republic (CZ) taking a summer school course entitled “Libraries and Librarianship in the Czech Republic.” Better known as the Prague Seminar, the course is sponsored by the University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science (UNC SILS) in conjunction with Charles University in Prague, Central Europe's oldest university (founded 1348). Attendees who are in Library school can take the course for 3 academic credits if they also write a 15-20 page on some aspect of the seminar. Or attendees can do what I did and take it, minus the paper, for their own fulfillment and enjoyment.

Our 2009 group included ten American “students” (four named Elizabeth!) plus a faculty member from UNC SILS. We represented all age decades from the 20’s through 60’s. The seven who were taking the Seminar for credit were from five U.S. library schools. I was using my own resources and vacation time for the Prague Seminar. As a librarian at an organization which works extensively in the former Soviet Union, I found the course a prefect intersection of subject matter and geography.

The Prague Seminar has been in existence since 2002, and over that time a wonderful curriculum has been developed and refined to near perfection. Monday – Friday of each of the two weeks we were fully occupied, mostly with field trips within and beyond Prague, and also with lectures at Charles University. A factor that greatly enhanced the Seminar is that we always had with us at least half a dozen CZ students and faculty from the University’s library science program. We enjoyed their company immensely and of course get totally spoiled with our own personal guides and translators.

We eleven Americans all checked into the 3-star Hotel City-Centre, where Prague Seminar attendees always stay for the two weeks. It is clean and comfortable, as well as perfectly situated for tourism, dining, and shopping.

A bit about Charles University which was our first stop on Monday, May 25th. Although the heart of the university is in the center of Prague, an actual campus as we know it is a luxury that a medieval university in a highly urban environment cannot afford. So, as appropriate buildings have become available here, there, and everywhere around the city, the university has acquired them (the library school building being a perfect example, as there are no other University buildings near it). There are some Soviet style high rises quite far from downtown that serve as dormitories for the University. Of course, this lack of geographic continuity makes the sense of community that a campus engenders impossible. I realized immediately what a luxury it is, especially in New York City, to have as many college campuses as we do.

In Prague we also visited the Klementium, which is the State Library (in a beautiful former Jesuit monastery), Parliamentary Library, Municipal Library, the library of a Baroque aristocrat, two monastery libraries, and Libri Prohibiti. The last, especially fascinating, is collection of thousands of underground books from the Communist era (1948–1989) that were secretly hand typed, with as many carbon copies as possible (maybe 15), and then bound in cardboard. Some are CZ translations of important works by Soviet dissidents, for instance, and some were new writings at the time by authors such as the former CZ Prime Minister Vaclav Havel, for example. Some of the typed manuscripts were smuggled out of CZ into countries such as Canada, where they were printed and bound as books and then smuggled back into CZ for much wider distribution than the carbon copy method allowed.

We had lectures in Prague over the two weeks on, among other topics: the history of Charles University, CZ history, various aspects of CZ librarianship, world cultural heritage on the Web, and how visually-impaired people deal with scientific information.

Going well beyond Prague, we took three day-long trips outside of the capital city to: Southern Bohemia to visit the Zlata Koruna Monastery and its reading room of rare books and prints; Northern Bohemia to visit the Reconciliation Center, opened in 2001, which includes a regional library and a lovely triangular-shaped synagogue; and Moravia to visit the Chateau Library of the Kromeriz Palace and a public library. One difference I observed in the CZ public libraries compared to the Bergen County, NJ, system that I use is that CZ people pay an annual fee to be members of the local library and obtain borrowing privileges. Also, the kinds of user-friendly online systems that we Americans have become accustomed to for interlibrary loan within a county-wide network are not available. Further, the hours, especially in the evenings, are quite limited in CZ.

A few comments on the monasteries and their libraries: I have always thought of monasteries as being spare places with minimal decoration, but will not think of them that way any more after visiting three magnificent CZ Baroque monasteries. They all started out modestly in the Middle Ages, but as they were reconstructed over time due to the devastation of fires, wars, etc, were rebuilt in the Baroque style of the era. Now all have lots of Baroque “frou-frou,” painted ceilings, etc., which seems like a real disconnect from monastic life. The Strahov Monastery in Prague has as magnificent a library as one will ever find anywhere, and though it is not normally open to tourists, we were privileged to spend more than an hour in it. One of our librarian guides explained that a major reason the monasteries are so elegant is that they became wealthy due to many donations (including from "sinners") and to successful businesses they ran.

There were some tourist activities added onto our excursions. In Prague we took a boat trip on the Vltava River (AKA the Moldau) and a walking tour of the Old Town (Stare Mesto). In Southern Bohemia we visited Cesky Krumlov, a historic town designated a Unesco World Heritage Site. In Northern Bohemia we walked in a “sandstone rock city” in a state park. And in Moravia there was a tour of the castle’s ancient wine cellar, accompanied by some tasting.

Beside the wonderful academic content and field trips, we experienced the joy of living for two weeks in the splendid city of Prague with its endless supply of fabulous buildings, especially in the Baroque and Art Nouveau styles. The weekend in the middle of the course was free for exploration of the city and/or countryside. For attendees who want to “do Prague,” the Seminar does not allow enough time for tourism, and an extra day or two on one’s own is recommended.

Participating for two weeks in the Prague Seminar was a fabulous experience on all levels: professional, cultural, tourist, and interpersonal. More information about the Prague Seminar can be found at http://sils.unc.edu/programs/international/prague.html. UNC SILS also sponsors a similar annual Seminar in England at Oxford University: http://sils.unc.edu/programs/international/oxford.html. And please feel free to contact me at lhallingby@sorosny.org if you have questions or wish to know more about either one.

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Lassana Magassa

On his motorcycle, Lassana Magassa, currently the SLA- NY Chapter’s Diversity Chair, says he can get just about any where in the city in 15 minutes. Soon though he’ll be traveling out of New York. Later this month, he will begin studies for a doctoral degree in Information Science at the University of Washington in Seattle. The recipient of the prestigious $6,000 Graduate School Top Scholar Award and a graduate assistantship for four years already has a topic in mind for his dissertation. Concerned about the digital divide-he would like to research whether access to the Internet in prison and development of technology and information searching skills has an influence on recidivism rates.

Lassana joined SLA and became active in the chapter as diversity chair in 2007, the same year he earned a masters degree in library and information science from Queens College, CUNY. Since July 2007, he has been the web content specialist at the Association of National Advertisers. Prior to that, he was a school library media specialist intern and also a trainer, conducting research and sensitivity training sessions for various groups at the New York City Tolerance Center- Simon Wiesenthal Center. Other earlier work positions involved being a dispute resolution training consultant at Creative Response to Conflict in Nyack and the Youth Futures Network Web Developer at the Harlem Community Justice Center. Lassana, who grew up in Harlem, earned a bachelors degree in computer science from Saint Paul’s College, Lawrenceville, VA, a historically Black college, where a professor encouraged him to combine his interest in computers and information.

As the chapter’s diversity chair, he’s talked to school classes where he’s been invited. He explains to students that each morning he checks Linked-In and Facebook accounts before proceeding to other computer work, such as ensuring confidentiality and availability of more than 2,000 proprietary resources, resolving customer questions and problems, and assembling and analyzing usage habits to better serve users. Then, he asks the students, to guess his career. “No one ever thinks I’m a librarian,” he says.

A program he organized for the chapter in 2008 was “Dealing with Diversity: Transforming Your Library's Work Environment,” with Dr. Camila A. Alire, 2008 ALA President, as presenter. In late August, during a “happy hour” at the Midtown Executive Club, SLA-NY members thanked Lassana for his contributions and wished him well in his new studies. When contacted for this article, he expressed thanks for everyone’s support and wishes.


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Fall Suit Drive

SLANY FALL SUIT DRIVE 2009
To benefit
THE GRACE INSTITUTE, NYC

Cleaning closets? - - Losing weight? -- Sick of your old suits?

Bring them to the First Annual SLANY FALL SUIT DRIVE

Women’s suits-- ALL SIZES, ALL SEASONS -- will be collected at the SLANY annual meeting to be held at Skadden Arps, Thursday evening, October 15.

We’d love even one suit from each member, to donate to the women students of the Grace Institute. The Grace program is a 100+ year old job training program for underserved women in NYC, providing computer and office skills to enable economic independence and empowerment.

The suits are needed as the women compete for internships, go on interviews, and attend the Job Fair held each semester at Grace. Since the Grace program is a full time commitment, 9-5, 5 days a week, these women are forfeiting an income to attend school, and many of them are single heads of households. So the $200.- $400. cost of a suit that will be worn one or two times is beyond their reach.

That’s where we come in!

So please- respond to our SOS and Save One Suit (or more!) for the women of The Grace Institute.

ALL SIZES….ALL SEASONS. (Women’s only, this year)

CLEAN, ON HANGARS IF AT ALL POSSIBLE.

JACKETS, BLAZERS AND SLACKS ACCEPTED, but please hang together as outfits.

And Thank You, from the women of The Grace Institute.


*Tax receipts will be mailed.
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Nominations for Chapter Awards

Please send nominations for SLA New York Chapter Awards to Sheila Sterling, Chair SLA NY Awards Committee ssterling@orrick.com

The New York Chapter of SLA now has 3 awards: The Distinguished Service Award, The Outstanding Achievement Award and the President's Award, please see descriptions of each below, to recognize members for special contributions to the Chapter in particular and/or the Association in general. These awards will be presented at the New York Chapter's Annual Meeting and Awards Presentation.

Please submit your nominations together with some explanatory information as to why you feel this person is deserving of this specific award by September 15, 2009. More than one nomination is welcome, so please nominate your colleagues or yourself!

- The Distinguished Service Award serves to recognize members of the New York Chapter who have a track record of long service to the Chapter in particular and perhaps also to the Association in general. The Distinguished Service Award can be given to more than one individual in the same year. An individual can receive the Distinguished Service Award only one time over the course of a career.
- The Outstanding Achievement Award is presented to members of the New York Chapter to recognize recent outstanding work on specific projects and activities (within approximately the last two years). The Outstanding Achievement Award can be given to one person or to a group of people who worked together on a project. An individual can receive The Outstanding Achievement Award more than once over the course of a career.

- The President's Award provides an opportunity to recognize members of the New York Chapter for outstanding contributions to SLA and/or for professional excellence. The President's Award is intentionally somewhat less well-defined than the other two in order to give the Board more flexibility in selecting individuals to receive it. The President's Award can be given to more than one individual in the same year.

Click here for information about our 2008 New York Chapter Award winners.
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SLA-NY Announces 2010 Slate of Candidates

Your nominating committee is pleased to present the following slate for the 2010 term.

Members of the New York Chapter of SLA will have the opportunity to vote on this slate of candidates during the Chapter's Annual Business Meeting on Thursday, October 15, 2009.

President-Elect: Pam Rollo
BST America, Managing Director, Business Intelligence







Secretary: Winter Shanck
WNET.ORG, Archivist/Librarian







Treasurer: Nancy Baldwin
Morgan Stanley, Vice President and manager of the Law and Compliance Division's Library







Communications Chair: Lynn Schlesinger
Infotrieve, Vice President, Marketing & Communications







Their bios are offered after the jump...



President-elect
Pam Rollo

Pam Rollo is a past president of the Association and is currently tackling advocacy and membership projects for the New York Chapter while serving on the chapter’s Centennial Committee. She is also a past chair person of the Business and Finance division.

Pam is currently Managing Director for Business Intelligence with BST America in New York where she develops and manages BST America’s new homeshoring research services providing clients with research services on demand. Additionally, Pam’s team consults with information centers and information policy officers interested in reorganizing and repositioning their roles inside of their organizations.

In previous roles, Pam has worked supporting premier clients with Lexis Nexis and as marketing director with Checkpoint Systems. She has marketed and managed for fee services at New York Public Library. The longest tenure she has held has been with Credit Suisse where she was Director for Information Resources for 16 years. Pam holds an MLS from Columbia University, New York, NY, and a BA in History from Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY.

Pam is a Full Visiting Professor with Pratt Institute in New York where she teaches business information courses and also enjoys teaching Special Library Management at Queens College.




Secretary
Winter Shanck

Winter Shanck is the Archivist/Librarian at public broadcasting station, WNET.ORG. She has worked in public, academic, and special libraries throughout her 14+ year career. Winter holds a BBA in Advertising Marketing from Baruch College and an MLS from the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at Queens College.

Winter has been a member of SLA since 2001. She is also a member of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA). In 2007, she was a panelist on a Future Proofing Your Archive panel at the PBS Tech Conference. In 2008, Winter volunteered to be the Archivist of the New York Chapter and she revived the previously defunct Midtown Luncheons for the chapter. She was awarded the Diversity Leadership Development Award through SLA and was a recipient of the SLA New York Chapter President's Award in 2008. Winter is also on the Advisory Council of SLA and myMETRO, the individual membership program of METRO that connects individual librarians, archivists, information professionals, students, and retirees to an array of unique networking opportunities, dynamic learning resources, and other valuable benefits. She is on the Independent Media and Arts Preservation (IMAP) Board.

Winter's love of reading, classic films, and classic television has led to her advocacy for the preservation of the rich audiovisual media assets available at Thirteen and their associated paper records. In her world, providing access to quality educational content is crucial to document the historical and cultural record. It is her hope to inspire future professionals in the field to assume leadership roles and to pass along her passion for open access to legacy and current resources.




Treasurer
Nancy Baldwin

Nancy Baldwin is currently law librarian at Morgan Stanley, where she is a Vice President and responsible for managing the Law and Compliance Division's Library. Her previous career has included work as a children's librarian as well as various positions in public and university libraries. As a special librarian, Nancy worked in the Law Department of Sun Company as an analyst on one of the first in-house litigation support systems and as Business Librarian in Sun's Information Resource Center.

Nancy holds an M.L.S. from Villanova University, a Certificate of Advanced Study in Management and Evaluation of Information Systems from Drexel University and a D.L.S. from Columbia University. While at Columbia, she was a graduate assistant and was responsible for managing the School of Library Service’s Computer Lab. She presented her doctoral dissertation, "The Information-Seeking Behavior of Securities Analysts," at the 1996 ASIS annual meeting and used it as the basis for an article, "Information-Seeking Behavior of Securities Analysts: Individual and Institutional Influences, Information Sources and Channels, and Outcomes," which she co-authored with her dissertation advisor Ronald Rice. The article was published in the August 1997 issue of Journal of the American Society for Information Science. Nancy has presented papers on Global Enterprise Portals at various library and computer conferences.

In addition to the SLA-NY Chapter, Nancy is a member of SLA's Legal Division, SLA’s Business & Finance Division and LLAGNY.



Communications Chair
Lynn Schlesinger

Lynn Schlesinger joined Infotrieve, a global leader in business solutions and consulting for information centers, as the Director of Marketing & Communications in June 2007 and was named Vice President, Marketing & Communications in January 2009. In this role she is responsible for all marketing strategy, execution, and communications activities including branding, marketing outreach, new product launches, media/public relations, and events.

Prior to joining Infotrieve, Lynn worked for Elsevier’s Reed Exhibitions division where she ran the marketing, communications, and business development efforts for leading industry tradeshows.

In addition, Lynn has held senior marketing and management roles at The Bond Market Association (now the Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association) and the New York Stock Exchange. Early in her career Lynn spent 11 years at McGraw-Hill’s Business Week magazine producing, marketing and managing sponsorships for C-level executive events around the world. She is a graduate of New York University.
Lynn resides in Wilton, CT just 1/10 of a mile from her office though she can’t wait for her daughters to go to college so she can move back to New York City.



SLA-NY Nominating Committee

Nan Schubel, Chair
David Adler
Jackie Kilberg
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Global Outreach seeks volunteers and donations

Chapter’s Global Outreach Committee
seeks volunteers and donations for raffle prizes

by Rita Ormsby
SLA-NY Global Outreach Committee chair


At the chapter’s upcoming annual meeting, Oct. 15, and holiday party, Dec. 10, the SLA-NY Global Outreach Committee will again hold raffles with the proceeds going to aid the Lubuto Library Project, www.lubuto.org. This nonprofit, tax-exempt organization, started by SLA-D.C. member Jane Kinney Meyers, builds libraries in Zambia so that street children and children who have lost family members to HIV/AIDS and other diseases have a place to read books and socialize. Through the generosity of SLA-NY members, last year our chapter contributed more than $1,000 to the Lubuto Library Project, which was greatly appreciated and for which many thanks were received.

During the two upcoming chapter meetings, raffle tickets will once again be available for $1 each, or 6 tickets for $5. Prizes that are awarded are frequently donated by members—books, wine, tickets, handmade jewelry, pens and pencils, and food, such as the flatbread made by chef Jim Copening, the husband of SLA member Donna Slawsky.

If you have a prize that you would like to donate to either raffle, please contact committee chair Rita Ormsby, rita.ormsby@baruch.cuny.edu. She can also be contacted if you would like to help with the committee. In 2001, SLA NY members Lois Weinstein and Lilleth Newby started the Global Outreach Committee to help provide gift certificated for Brodart library supplies to special libraries in developing nations. Through the raffle proceeds raised at chapter meetings, about two libraries were helped each year. When the chapter members learned of the Lubuto Library Project, which plans to build 100 libraries in Africa in the next ten years, it was decided that the Global Outreach raffle proceeds would help support this project.

The raffles have been successful because of the donations by members of both money and time. Special thanks go to members Nan C. Schubel, Louise Masarof, Holly Bussey, Helen Tannenbaum, Suzanne Castroman, Maggie Smith, Jamie Russell and Donna Slawsky for their help with recent raffles, and to Lois Weinstein and Lilleth Newby for their efforts in establishing the committee.

We hope to see you at the upcoming meetings… and with a winning ticket at an upcoming raffle.

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