February 2005

Volume 35
Back Issues: Past Library Links Articles

In this Issue

New Library Employees

Laura Tatum
Manuscripts & Archives
Project Archivist
2/1/2005

Karen Nangle
Beinecke Library
Library Service Assistant
1/27/2005

Becca Lloyd
Beinecke Library
Library Service Assistant
1/25/2005

Naomi Saito
Beinecke Library
Library Service Assistant
1/24/2005

Nisa Bakkalbasi
Kline Science Library
General Science Librarian
1/3/2005

Paula Zyats
Preservation
Assistant Chief Conservator
1/2/2005

Transfers

Kevin Crawford
Divinity Library
Catalog Assistant
1/31/2005

Ivaylo Stefanov
Medical Library
Library Service Assistant
1/9/2005

Christopher Zollo
Arts Library
Library Service Assistant
1/3/2005

Promotions

Jennifer Nolte
Integrated Library Technology Services
C&IS Support Specialist
1/3/2005

Departing Staff

Kristina Nowakowski
Catalog Department
Catalog Assistant
1/21/2005

Neil Malangone
Library Shelving Facility
Library Service Assistant
1/7/2005

Staff Member in Focus

Paula Ball

I began my long career at Yale in July of 1964 as a C & T worker in the Interlibrary Loan Dept. at the Medical Library. It was a busy department and I was the only staff member. I handled incoming and outgoing requests.

Within 3 years I had switched to the Catalog Department where I maintained the card catalog, and worked with a large number of catalogers. At that time, the catalog dept. made up of 4 or 5 catalogers and 2 or 3 clerical workers was much larger than the reference dept. which had only two staff members. I began attending library school in the late 60’s while working as a C & T under Monty Montee. When I finished school in the early 70’s a cataloging position opened up in the same dept. and I was hired.

A well-known Yale physician once said to me “coming into this library is like coming home!” and I agree the library has been like home to me. In my single years, when I lived in Guilford, many of my dates came to pick me up in the library (where I had brought a change of clothes) and during my library school years, I did all of my homework at the library using the library’s tools for my assignments.

Cataloging at the medical library went from automated card production for the Yale-Harvard-Columbia system, back to typing cards and reproducing them (where I first learned about an electric eraser), then to OCLC (after Fred Kilgour had left the medical library and moved to Ohio) and then to RLIN, until finally going totally online with Orbis.

Even though the Medical Library catalogers moved to SML for 10 years, we were always a separate unit. Being in a smaller library has given me the opportunity to learn to catalog many different formats. But by far the most interesting thing that has happened in cataloging is the result of new technology. With online resources, cataloging is sometimes “easier” and sometimes more complicated, but definitely standardized. Resources are accessible and can be shared between other libraries within and outside of Yale. Large heavy cataloging print tools have been replaced by online resources which are easily updated.

The change has been gradual but total over the years, as one would expect. It has not always been easy to keep abreast of the changes. However, the Catalog Dept. now under the excellent direction of Joan Swanekamp at SML has provided good training and ample documentation with many thanks to Steven Arakawa and others.

My forty years have created a challenging journey for me. The best thing about Yale has always been the people that I have worked with both in the medical library and the main and branch libraries, and the occasional enduring friendship of a Yale undergraduate student.

I have worked under various heads of the medical library: Fred Kilgour, Stanley Truelson, John Harrison (acting Head), Betty Feeney, Bella Berson, and finally Kenny Marone. I have known Kenny since she came to work in the Interlibrary Loan Dept. before going to library school. It is a real pleasure to work under her direction now.

My supervisors have been many as well, starting with Ruth Smith (when I worked in Interlibrary Loan), then Monty Montee (my long time friend), Carol Lawrence, and now Cindy Crooker (good friend and confidant … I can laugh and cry with her)

I look forward to a few more years at Yale, as long as I can remain productive, and then if the Lord provides, I would like to switch gears and enter into some type of ministry through my church.

~ by Paula Ball

Staff Submissions

Crocheting Club

What does someone who knows how to crochet, knit, tat, embroider, quilt and sew hope to do with her skills? Pass that knowledge on to anyone willing to learn.

When asked if I would mind showing them how to crochet, the Thursday noon instruction class was started. Vermetha Polite, Carol Acquarulo, and Robin Williams have been exemplary students. In a month and a half they completed their first stole and also made scarves to give family members for the holiday season. They are now at work making ponchos.

“I learned these arts by watching my grandmother when I was a little girl. I sat on a footstool beside her and watched as she would take a piece of “string” and make it into something beautiful. She would crochet, knit or tat while listening to the ball games. When she saw how interested I was she asked if I wanted to learn. This has become one of the most precious gifts in which to remember her.

My grandmother paid for my piano lessons by crocheting lace around hankies. She got fifty cents for each hanky she finished. I still have some of the hankies she made.

Carol, Robin and Vermetha will now go on to bigger and more intricate pieces and I will be here to help them when they have a question. My greatest hope is that one day they can teach someone else how to crochet.”

Robin says, “I was taught how to crochet one pattern by my mother. However, I always wanted to learn how to read patterns. Betty has taught us this valuable skill. I love the interplay and camaraderie with my “classmates”. We definitely bonded as a group.”

Carol’s input is, “Betty has a lot of knowledge for crafts. So, with that in mind we asked to start a Thursday Crocheting Club during lunchtime. We are all excited and proud with what we have accomplished and it gives us the confidence to try new and different patterns. We are all looking forward to our next project”

Vermetha’s decision to learn “has been very therapeutic and rewarding. I have thoroughly enjoyed each class and am eagerly looking forward to future projects. Betty has made crocheting easy to grasp and I am appreciative and thankful for her continued patience and experience.”

~ by Betty Whittemore

back to index

A Message From the University Librarian

The “ Ivies Plus” Librarians

One of the many pleasures of my job as University Librarian is the time I spend exchanging information about challenges and good practices in the world of large research libraries with my colleagues form other universities. The “Ivies Plus” group is made up of the university librarians from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Chicago, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown and Dartmouth. Last summer we met at MIT in Cambridge Mass., and last week we met at Princeton.

There is much in common between these libraries and their parent institutions, and we all learn from each other. Princeton is embarking on a strategic planning exercise, and their university librarian Karin Trainer (formerly an AUL at Yale) has asked for information from those of us, including Yale, who have already gone through similar processes. Karin also unveiled for our benefit a drawing of the enviable, projected new science library at Princeton, designed by Frank Gehry. From Stanford, Michael Keller (also a former AUL at Yale) gave us a briefing about the Google mass digitization project that was announced in December, and the group had a useful discussion about the implications for scholarly communication in the future. I anticipate many opportunities for Yale to create further areas of excellence in digitization, focusing in particular on our special collections.

“Ivies plus” can incorporate different membership, according to the activity concerned. Thus, Yale recently hosted an “Ivies Plus” meeting for Endeavor Voyager users, which included the Library of Congress and UCLA. And a perennial topic at the university librarians’ meeting is Borrow Direct, which includes all the Ivy League university libraries except for Harvard, and so far none of the “plus”. The opportunity to share views and develop our partnerships is invaluable. I always return from these meetings with new ideas, and reassured to discover that some of the challenges we face at Yale are common to others as well.

HR in Focus

back to index

JobX Feedback

"So far so good. It's much easier to handle this online, and we received more applications (at least I think) than we have in the past (23 for the clerical position alone!). There's a bit of a learning curve when it comes to using all the system's functions, but the basic procedure is self explanatory." - Stephen Naron; Archivist, Fortunoff Video Archive

"I very much like the new system. It's easy to use and speeds up the process. I did receive one totally unqualified candidate, but this sometimes happened even with the old system." - Daniel Lovins; Hebraica Team Leader, Catalog Department

"I have appreciated the independence the new system has given me in selecting candidates to interview and arranging times to meet. It has also reduced the paperwork. On top of all this, Sharon Tarascio has still been readily available to help out with any difficulties encountered with the new system. The training on Job X that Sharon gave on JobX I found very helpful in learning the process. In general, I think JobX is an efficient and straightforward hiring system that has allowed me to find high-quality student employees within days. I feel Library Human Resources deserves a big pat on the back for the new system. Their work has certainly made my job easier." - Sahr Conway-Lanz; Manuscripts and Archives

JobX Q & A

Q: Can the application asked for the date of birth, so that information can populate automatically when you hire a student?
A: Although this would make the hiring process more streamline, federal and state labor laws do not allow us to ask the age, gender, or race of applicants prior to hire.

Q: Where should we put the PTAEO numbers?
A: The PTAEO number should be listed in "Comments" section located at the bottom of the JobX PAF screen.

Upcoming Events

Yale Holiday Calendar

Did you Know?

Learning Plan Highlights

If you have a Learning Plan success that you would like to share, contact Shaundolyn Slaughter at 432-1810.

For more information on the Learning Plan go to: http://www.library.yale.edu/training/stod/learningplan.html

Wellness in Focus

back to index

Think Now

Everyone has plenty to do. There are responsibilities at home, work, and countless other places. It is tough to find the time to take care of everything that needs to get done. Taxes just make for another burden. Keeping this in mind, the following list of web sites was compiled. While none of these web sites will make your tax responsibilities magically disappear, they do provide helpful information that can make tax time a little less stressful.

Nolo.com – Legal Encyclopedia – Taxes & Audits

Nolo is a publisher of plain English law books. On their web site, they have numerous articles and FAQ’s about taxes. Here you can find out how to decrease your chances of an audit and learn what an OIC is.

DRS - FAQs on the Connecticut Income Tax

This site, straight from the Connecticut Department of Revenue Service, answers common questions about Connecticut taxes. Some of the topics addressed include: gambling winnings, moving expenses, and the property tax credit

PCWorld.com - “Online Tax Preparation Takes Off”

This article discusses the pros and cons of web-based tax software. It’s a good place to start exploring whether or not online tax software would be right for you. Do note that this article was written in 2004 and some of the information may be dated.

IRS – Tax Information for Individuals

“Tax Information for Individuals” provides a host of articles on various tax issues.
As one might suspect from an IRS website, the links are not well organized. Despite the clumsy site design, there are still good articles that deal with a wide variety of subjects. These include: extension filings, student loan deductions, and appeals.

One really nice feature is a link to a page that lets you track your refund. You can find out if the IRS has received your return and whether or not a refund has been processed and mailed out to you.

Blogs

"Blogs" are on-line logs made up of links to news articles and interesting web sites. They are published in reverse-chronological order and often contain personal commentary about the sited links.

Here are links to three book-related blogs:

Bookslut: http://www.bookslut.com/blog/ One of the top book-related blogs. It includes links to articles on the latest book-related news, and the posts on it are thoughtful, funny, and brief.

Moorish Girl: http://www.moorishgirl.com/ Run by fiction-writer Laila Lalami.

Maud Newton: http://maudnewton.com/blog/ Often contains good publishing-world gossip.

Four blogs specifically about library-related news:

The Exploded Library: http://www.explodedlibrary.info/ Contains many thought-provoking posts, plus links to other good library blogs.

Steven M. Cohen's Library Stuff: http://www.librarystuff.net/ "The library weblog dedicated to resources for keeping current and professional development."

The Shifted Librarian: http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/ Often considered the best of the library blogs.

and the collaborative Weblog at LIS News: http://www.lisnews.com/

Many public and academic libraries have also begun using blogs as a way of communicating with patrons and staff and bringing the communities they serve closer together. Blogs are a handy way for librarians to inform patrons about reference resources and to help them keep up on the latest news about the subjects they concentrate on. Three examples of these can be found here:

The Stark County Law Library Blawg: http://temp.starklawlibrary.org/blog/ documents resources and articles of importance to lawyers.

The Georgia State University Library: http://www.library.gsu.edu/news/index.asp runs a number of subject-specific blogs, plus one specifically about LIS news.

The Urbana Free Library: http://urbanafreelibrary.org/bldgblog.html has a blog detailing news on the construction work going on at their library.

-submitted by Tanya Angell Allen, who blogs at Choriamb: http://choriamb.livejournal.com a site of poetry news and reviews.

Tsunami Relief

I imagine all of us will have shared the world-wide horror at the scale
of the Tsunami disaster in Asia, and will feel a common concern to help
in whatever way we can. The Library Staff Association, LiSA, has
proposed a Library-wide drive to help the victims of the Tsunami in
Asia. I think this is a wonderful idea, and I hope many of you will
wish to contribute. At the bottom of this message are details of two
charitable organizations, both worldwide and non-sectarian in their
scope, with some indication of the ways in which they would use your
donations. You can contribute by simply making out a check to either
organization and giving it to a member of the LiSA council in your work
area, who will then pass it on. If there is no LiSA member in your work
area, please contact Stephen Cohen (stephen.e.cohen@yale.edu). Any
amount, however small, will be most welcome. For tax reasons donations
must be made payable to one of the agencies (so please make out the
checks to the organization you choose), not Yale University, and are
tax deductible for the individual. For that reason we cannot accept
cash.

Later on, I hope the Yale University Library can also help libraries
that have been affected in south and south-east Asia, through the good
office of IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations.
More news of what we may be able to do as an organization to help
libraries will be made available as plans develop, and any ideas will
be most warmly welcomed.

Yale University and the Yale University Library make up an
international community, and a caring one. I know that many of you
will have contributed generously already as individuals, and you should
not feel any pressure to contribute again. But if you would like to
demonstrate our community's concern for the victims of this terrible
disaster, please do take this opportunity. I give the names of
currently serving members of the LiSA council.

with my warm thanks for your help and good fellowship,

Alice

LiSA Council Members 2004-2005
·· Mary Bradway, East Asia Library (2003-2005)
·· Kathleen Burns, Beinecke (2003-2005), Webmaster
·· Patrick Butler , Engineering Library (2004-2006)
·· Ruth Carruth, Beinecke (2004-2006)
·· Bernadette Cioffi, Library Administrative Services, Ex-Officio
·· Stephen Cohen, Manuscripts and Archives (2002-2005)
·· Kevin Glick, Manuscripts and Archives (2004-2006)
·· Pik-Yiu (Lolly) Lee , Catalog Department (2004-2006)
·· Aubrey Novak, Catalog Department (2004-2006)
·· Amanda Patrick, Access Services (2003-2005)
·· Diana Quinones, Electronic Collections, Chair (2003-2005)
·· Kelly Shand, Divinity Library, Secretary (2003-2005)
·· Cesar Zapata , Law Library (2004-2006)

AmeriCares Foundation - South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund
Checks may be made payable to: AmeriCares Foundation, 88 Hamilton
Avenue, Stamford CT USA 06902
www.americares.org
100% of donation will be applied to relief efforts in this crisis.

AmeriCares has mobilized emergency response teams and airlifts into Sri
Lanka and India, with preparation underway for Indonesia. More than
155,000 people have died since the devastating earthquake and tsunamis
hit these countries and others on Dec. 26th, 2004. Our aid is focusing
on providing essential medicines, medical supplies, personal care items
and vital water purification treatments.

International Rescue Committee
Checks may be made payable to: International Rescue Committee, P.O. Box
5058, Hagerstown MD 21741-9874
http://www.theirc.org/
90% Program Services
10% Administration & Fundraising

Donor Designations
By choosing Tsunami Relief Fund, your donation will support our relief
efforts for tsunami and earthquake survivors in the Aceh province of
Indonesia. By choosing Where Most Needed, your donation will support
our efforts in Aceh, and our emergency relief efforts in the Darfur
region of Sudan, our ongoing programs in Afghanistan, Liberia, Congo,
and our all our life-saving, hope restoring efforts in the 25 countries
where the IRC provides relief and recovery to refugees and war-affected
communities.

Donations are tax deductible

Your Donation: What It Can Provide (approximate indications):
$35 Two high-energy meals a day to 200 children
$50 Vaccinations for 50 people against meningitis, measles, polio or
other deadly epidemics
$70 Two basic suture kits to repair minor shrapnel wounds
$100 Infection-fighting antibiotics to treat nearly 40 wounded children
$250 A sterilization kit for syringes and needles used in mobile
vaccination campaigns
$500 A medical kit containing basic drugs, supplies, equipment, and
dressings to treat 1,500 patients for three months
$1000 Emergency medical supplies to aid 5,000 disaster victims for an
entire month
$5500 An emergency health kit to care for 10,000 displaced people for
three months

back to index