November 2005

Volume 42
Back Issues: Past Library Links Articles

In this Issue

New Library Staff

Estelle Paskausky
Integrated Library Technology Services
System Librarian
10/03/2005

Jungohk Cho
Preservation
Conservation Assistant
10/03/2005

Stephen Ross
Library Shelving Facility
Library Services Assistant
10/03/2005

Jonas Baker
Access Services
Library Service Assistant
10/05/2005

Katherine Adams
Catalog Department
Catalog Librarian
11/01/2005

Marie-France Lemay
Preservation
Paper Conservator
11/01/2005

Julie Sweidan
Document Delivery

Returning Staff

Denise Hersey
Medical Library
Liason Coordinator
10/03/2005

Transferring Staff

Katherine Lalli
Beinecke Library
Senior Administrative Asstistant
10/10/2005

Ellen Cordes
Lewis Walpole Library
Librarian
11/14/2005

Departing Staff

Kathy DiMaio
Senior Administrative Assistant
Beinecke Library
09/30/05

Staff In Focus

Sara Burge I started my position as Preservation Coordinator for the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library in August. Previously, I was at the University of Illinois where I received my MLS degree. While completing the program I concentrated on the preservation and conservation of book and paper materials. In my position I will be working to preserve the diverse materials that are a part of the Historical Medical Collection along with having the opportunity to work with the Preservation Department and Conservation Lab staff.

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Library In Focus

Near East Book Purchasing
~ by Megan Gaffney

Simon Samoeil, curator of the Near Eastern Collection, knows that a “large number” of books in the Near Eastern Collection comes from his overseas book purchasing trips. Since Simon joined the Library staff in September 1990, he has gone abroad for collection development once or twice a year to many countries in North Africa and the Middle East, including Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Iran, and Algeria. During these trips, he has developed friendly relationships with many vendors. Rather than place blanket orders of books, Simon selects each title individually from these vendors’ holdings in order to emphasize quality over quantity of volumes. Private collectors also sell their books to Yale, sometimes having contacted the Library directly in order to notify the Near Eastern Collection of the materials they have. While on a trip overseas, Simon once acquired 15,000 volumes at one time from the private collection of Professor Mohamed Kamal Al-Din.

Yale’s collection of Arabic materials was one of the first to be established at an American university. In 1841, Yale was the first university in the country to appoint Professor Salisbury to teach Arabic language. Professor Salisbury started to build the Near East Collection for his research and his teaching. Since then, Yale has continued to develop a large and distinguished Near Eastern Collection. Simon’s work overseas adds unique items to the collection. On a recent trip to Egypt, Simon purchased the personal papers of Ali El Kassar, an Egyptian comedian and pioneer of theatre in the 1920’s and 1930’s. The papers include his plays and contracts, as well as government papers from Egypt’s censorship department about whether his works could be publicly performed. El Kassar’s son had offers from several universities who wanted to purchase the papers, but he chose Yale because he believes the Library will protect and preserve this special collection. It will be housed in Manuscripts and Archives, a department which also supports the Near Eastern Collection’s acquisitions in helping to negotiate sales and write contracts.

Simon’s contributions to Yale from his book purchasing trips extend beyond his meetings with vendors and collectors. When Yale students and faculty travel to the Middle East or North Africa, Simon gives them contact information for the vendors he knows. These contacts often help to provide hotels and information about the area that these researchers may need. Yale also has established book exchange programs with Tishreen University and some government agencies in Syria. The Near Eastern Collection purchases from Jesuit University in Beirut, one institution at which Yale faculty and students study or research. Simon also has contacts at the Library of Congress office in Cairo, which assists him in purchasing books from areas to which he does not travel, such as Sudan and the West Bank.

While the Near Eastern Collection is already impressive in both size and quality, Simon continues to add materials to it. While on his last book purchasing trip, Simon learned about an exceptional collection of 1600 posters of films made from 1950-2004 in countries such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Algeria and Morocco. He has successfully negotiated a contract to bring this collection to Yale.

Despite the current political unease in the Middle East, Simon does not see a negative effect on his travels abroad. Having worked at other academic libraries prior to coming to Yale, he has established strong professional relations with vendors who often give him priority in purchasing books. Simon notes that the Yale name often helps to “open doors” in working with universities and government agencies abroad. Simon states that although the Internet helps him to learn about new books, he will continue to travel abroad to maintain these good working relationships with vendors and to discover more materials that the Collection might acquire.

Simon’s recent acquisitions of rare papers and posters are examples of the valuable work he does when purchasing materials overseas. His contributions continue to distinguish Yale’s Near Eastern Collection from others around the country and to provide strong support for the students and faculty in related fields at Yale.

Event Highlights

New Staff Reception

Commitee News

Appointment of Communications Committee
I am pleased to announce the new and those continuing members of the Communications Committee. They are
Michael Scott, Paula Zyats, Lucille A Houde, Tanya Allen, Deborah H McGraw, Amanda Patrick, Sharon Tarascio, Amelia C Prostano, and Pedro Soto. We are deeply grateful that Pedro has agreed to lead the Committee and serve as chair. I will continue as its Sponsor.

I would like to express my deep appreciation to those members who are rotating off of the Communications Committee. The outgoing members are: Shirley Armstrong-Thimas, Dana Peterman, May Robertson Mary Caldera, Mark Gentry, Tara Heard, Mary Jane Kelsey, Jeffry Larson, Tatjana Lorkovic, and Pamela Mouson. They have done an excellent job of advancing communications within the library. I invite you to review the Committee's many accomplishments on its website at: http://www.library.yale.edu/cc/ . Much appreciation is extended to Mary Caldera, who did an exceptional job in leading the work of the Committee as its Chair. Her contributions have been significant and I thank her and the rest of the committee for their hardwork and dedication to two-way communications, one of the library's values.

Very shortly, the Communications Committee will be reviewing all library Committees, their charge and membership so that this information is easily accessible and up-to-date. Committee chairs will be asked to complete the form with the requested information about their committee and return to Pedro Soto by the deadline date. Please do take the time to respond when the request is received.

If you have suggestions for the Committee, please speak with a committee member, send comments through the Committee's website, the suggestion box (located outside of the Spoon of SML), or directly to Pedro.

Diane Young Turner
Associate University Librarian for Human Resources,
Staff Training and Security

HR in Focus

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Upcoming Events

Justice at Dachau: Joshua Greene to give lecture on issues
of the Holocaust and the Law

On Tuesday, November 15, author and filmmaker Joshua M. Greene will present a talk on the Dachau war crime trials. The event, co-sponsored by the The Sobotka Yom Hashoah Fund of Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale and the Manuscripts and Archives department, Yale University Library, will be held at 4:30pm at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale.

The Dachau war crime trials, conducted by the U.S. Third Army from November 1945 to August 1948, involved some of Hitler's most notorious henchmen: nearly 1,600 men and women responsible for atrocities inside the concentration camps. Mr. Greene's presentation will highlight the challenges confronted by chief prosecutor Colonel William Denson, whose personal papers are held by Manuscripts and Archives, and will examine issues raised by the trials, including what principles guide the pursuit of justice, whether there are degrees of guilt in extreme war crimes, and what role forgiveness and reconciliation play in the peace process.

Joshua M. Greene is the author of Witness: Voices from the Holocaust and producer of an award-winning companion film that aired nationally on PBS. His current book, Justice at Dachau: The Trials of An American Prosecutor, has been called "historical storytelling at its finest" (Douglas Brinkley) and "masterful" (Publishers Weekly). The New York Times described Mr. Green as "a storyteller in film and video who traces journeys to enlightenment." Among his many honors are an Emmy nomination and the International Reading Association award. He teaches in the Religion Department of Hofstra University.

For more information, please contact: Nancy Lyon at: nancy.lyon@yale.edu or Susan Jeanette at: susan.jeanette@yale.edu

Upcoming Lectures, Tours, and Exhibits

All the events below are free and open to the public

LECTURES:

November 11th - "The History of Art History at Yale: Visualizing the Discipline, 1930-2005" - A lecture in celebration of the work of the Yale University Arts Libraries as part of the 75th anniversary season of events. By Katherine Haskins, Director of Yale's Arts Libraries. The presentation will include an overview of the history of the Yale collections, including what the next steps in the evolution of art history teaching tools are likely to be. It will also address the fascinating issue of how the need to organize and classify art objects and their visual surrogates, an activity at the heart of the discipline, has been embodied in its teaching tools, and how the digital environment repeats or revises the organizational foundations of art history.
Time: 1pm
Location: Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall, 120 Wall Street, New Haven
For more information contact: anniversary75th@yale.edu or call 432 8061

November 15th - "Justice at Dachau" - a lecture about the Dachau war crimes trials and issues of the holocaust and the law. By author and film maker Joshua M. Greene. Co-sponsored by the The Sobotka Yom Hashoah Fund of Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale and the Manuscripts and Archives department, Yale University Library.
Time: 4:30 PM
Location: Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, 80 Wall Street, New Haven
For more information contact: nancy.lyon@yale.edu or susan.jeanette@yale.edu

GUIDED TOURS:
Special guided tours offered to the public as part of Sterling Memorial Library's 75th anniversary season of events. All tours last approximately one hour and require registration as spaces are limited. To register for tours and for further details, please email anniversary75th@yale.edu

November 15th - 11am and 2pm "Treasures of the Arts Library" - guided tours of the Yale Library's 'Visual Arts Resources Collection' comprising approximately 320,000 slides (both lantern and 35mm) and 187,000 mounted photographs. The tour will allow visitors the opportunity to view the variety of documentary photography in the Yale holdings, to gain a sense of the extent of the collection, and to glimpse how the digital and the “analog” worlds of art history are merging.
Location: The Yale Library Visual Resources Collection, Street Hall, New Haven (opposite Starbucks on Chapel Street)
Please register for this tour at: anniversary75th@yale.edu

November 17th - 11am and 3pm "Treasures of the Slavic Collection" - Housed in the beautiful Slavic reading room in Sterling Memorial Library, guided tours through one of the West's core collections of Russian literature including approximately 150,000 volumes concerning central and south-eastern Europe and 600,000 volumes relating to the former Soviet republics.
Location: Sterling Memorial Library, 120 Wall Street, New Haven
Please register for this tour at: anniversary75th@yale.edu

EXHIBITS:

October 28th - December 31st - "From the Caves to the Square: a photographic exhibit of the Tiananmen Square Movement of 1989."
Location: Memorabilia Room in Sterling Memorial Library, 120 Wall Street, New Haven
For more information contact: william.massa@yale.edu

November 7th - January 31st - "The Heart of Yale: Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Sterling Memorial Library 1930-2005"
Location: Exhibits Corridor in Sterling Memorial Library, 120 Wall Street, New Haven
For more information contact: judith.schiff@yale.edu

October 19th - December 31st - "History of Preservation at Yale"
Location: Sterling Memorial Library, 120 Wall Street, New Haven
For more information contact: tara.kennedy@yale.edu

November 1st - January 31st - "Production not Reproduction: A history of offset lithography in artists' books"
Location: The Nave in Sterling Memorial Library, 120 Wall Street, New Haven
For more information contact: jae.rossman@yale.edu

Yale Holiday Calendar

HR Updates

Learning Plan Highlights

Here are a few highlights from the Learning Plan Quarterly Report for September 30, 2005:

• Total staff participation is currently at 79%
• Due to increase in number of free courses available through the Learning Center, the 20% discount that Library staff have benefited from will end on December 31, 2005.
• Gareth Gibson’s Learning Plan represents a balance of professional development with personal interest.
• You can read the whole report at Summary of Learning Plan Activity (9/05): http://www.library.yale.edu/training/stod/lpforms.html

You can also review year end report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2005 from the same site at Summary of Learning Plan Activity (6/05). Some highlights from this report include:

• C&T staff made great strides by increasing their participation in the Learning Plan program from 55% on July 1, 2004 to 71% as of June 30, 2005 - a 28% increase!
• Total M&P participation increased from 77% as of July 1, 2004 to 86% by June 30, 2005 - a 17% increase!
• Congratulations to the Social Sciences Library staff for their creative use of LP funds and staffing coordination with other libraries.
  

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

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Recipes

Pumpkin Bread
~ by Marybeth Bean

5 eggs
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
1 can (15 oz) solid-pack pumpkin
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 packages (3oz each) cook and serve vanilla pudding
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add oil and pumpkin; beat until smooth. Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl, gradually beat into pumpkin mixture. Pour into 5 greased 5 x 2 ½ x2 inch loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Note: can also be baked in 2 greased 8x4x2 inch pans for 75-80 minutes

Crème de Menthe Cake
~ by Marybeth Bean

1 white cake mix
1 jar hot fudge topping
cool whip
¼ cup+ crème de menthe
1 pkg Andes mints

Make cake according to directions on mix, except sustitute ¼ cup of water with ¼ cup of crème de menthe. Let cool and spread hot fudge topping (cold) over cake. Mix enough crème de menthe with cool whip to turn color. Spread on top of fudge topping. Grate Andes mints on top. Keep refrigerated.

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