As an intern in the Slavic and East European Collection`s Baltic Librarian Fellows Program I had the opportunity from September 2nd till December 22nd, 2003 to work in one of the most famous university libraries in America – the Yale University Sterling Memorial Library (SML). I was able to participate in the program due to a generous gift from the Yale alumnus Dr. Kristaps Keggi, MD as well as to the dedicated engagement of the Curator of the Slavic and East European Collection at SML, Tatjana Lorkovic, who has created and maintained the program. The fellowship offers librarians from Baltic countries a chance to view the American academic library system, provides new experiences and encourages them to be more creative in doing their tasks in the home libraries. It also provides further possibilities of closer professional and personal contacts and connections between American and Baltic libraries and librarians.

The program provided me with a working experience in the Slavic and East European Reading Room and in the Cataloging Department’s subdivision, the Slavic Cataloging Team. I also had an opportunity to visit nearly all the departments, several collections of the various Area Studies of the SML as well as the many different other libraries of Yale University. I saw several beautiful and technically well equipped library buildings and became familiar with their wonderfully extensive collections. I was mainly interested in collection development, reference services and electronic resources. During my stay I had the opportunity to participate in and enjoy meetings, classes, colloquies, tutorials and talks with several reference specialists and librarians as part of the Public Services Orientation Schedule administered by Suzanne Lorimer, the Coordinator of Reference Services, Research Services and Collections Department.

I greatly enjoyed my visits to the largest library in America, the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, as well as to the New York Public Library and the Harvard University Libraries in Boston.

Work Experience

During my stay at Yale I worked most of the time in the Slavic and East European Reading Room. I learned a new skill  – how to create preliminary bibliographic records for books and serials and I also became acquainted with the normal, day-to-day procedures in the acquisitions workflow of the Slavic and East European Reading Room. It was interesting for me to see that many of the books are coming from exchange partners, for example, from the National Library of Latvia, my home institution.  I observed the high quality of the reference services provided by the staff of the Slavic Reading Room. My colleagues in the Slavic Reading Room help students and researchers in obtaining information mainly in the fields of history, political science, economics and the Slavic languages. The staff of the Slavic Reading Room provides important reference help to Yale professors, graduate and undergraduate students, and to visiting scholars from all over the world. 

I also had an opportunity to work with Team Leader Patricia Thurston and the Slavic Cataloging Team. This was very interesting to me in terms of learning more about RLIN and other cataloging procedures. Having had no prior experience in cataloging in the MARC system, I learned the basic rules, along with the main reference sources which catalogers use in their work - much of which is on line with various external databases. These basic rules pertain also to the cataloging of early-printed and rare books. I became acquainted with copy cataloging and how to create full bibliographical records. At Yale records are derived from such utilities as RLIN and OCLC and then adjusted to ORBIS. My work in the Cataloging Team was mostly focused on preparing catalog records for Latvian books in the backlog. I merged preliminary records with full records from the Library of Congress, OCLC and RLIN databases and I also added subject descriptions for Latvian books.

The Area Studies Collections of SML and various other libraries of Yale University

It was fascinating to me to observe the workings of such a large and structured group of libraries that comprise the Yale University Library system. Especially surprising and wonderful to me is the stated development policy of the Yale University Library collections to obtain and preserve humanities and social sciences materials covering areas literally spanning the entire globe. I visited several collections of area studies of SML and various other libraries at Yale.  I acquired a good overview and some valuable insights into not just one particular library’s actions, but also in regard to the entire Yale library system.  I learned about how the libraries’ organizational structures were designed to be very convenient for patrons, and that the system has been rationally separated into different area studies and special libraries. I familiarized myself with the responsibilities and work of the various subject and area specialists, and also I had many long and complete discussions about collections development, acquisitions policies and procedures, reference services, general problems and the various obligations and tasks of each part of the library. Touring the different area collections at the Yale University Library gave me a good general overview of the multiple possibilities in acquiring necessary materials from various countries and in building up and maintaining the collections in the vernacular languages. I highly appreciate the knowledge and expertise of the Curators of the many different area collections and the time they took to explain their know-how to me. I also greatly appreciate all the knowledge and advice given to me by the many specialists here at Yale. I believe I have obtained a well–rounded view of the many services available on the Yale University Library home page on the web. I believe it will greatly help me in my career as a library professional in seeing how the Yale library has set up its extended structures and procedures, the accessibility of its electronic resources and the wonderful on–line services provided for its users.

Reference Services

My work in the National Library of Latvia is connected with providing reference services for patrons. Thanks to Suzanne Lorimer, Coordinator of Reference Services, Research Services and Collections Department, who created and maintained the Public Services Orientation schedule, I had many opportunities to participate in the Service Quality Improvement (SQI) reference group, where I observed practices and policies regarding   questions of how to improve Yale University Library's services for its patrons. I also took part in the group’s discussions about adapting best practices for Digital Reference in the LC and IFLA Digital Reference Guidelines.

I was also given interesting information about the reference collection budget, as well as how the library uses various planning tools for assessing reference materials in both traditional formats and the new format of electronic resources. I also learned about Yale’s system of reference statistics. It was useful to me to get acquainted with the procedures of how to run reference services in SML and also in the other branch libraries. Furthermore, it was of great importance to me to observe how the reference work is organized at the Reference Desk, where I was able to compare practices at Yale with the relevant procedures in my library in Riga. I especially obtained important information in regard to the Reference Services Web page provided on the library web site, and as a result I acquired some useful ideas concerning the development of the library web page project at my library.

In accordance with my schedule I took part in several classes and colloquies that gave me a good survey of the huge amount of electronic databases available at Yale. I increased my ability to search information contained in many different electronic resources located in a large number of databases.

Visits to other libraries

The internship program included visiting the largest library in America, the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, as well as the New York Public Library and the Harvard University Libraries in Boston.

I would like to express my admiration about the collections development strategy in regard to acquiring Baltic materials in all of these libraries. I really enjoyed the tours and the special attention paid to me by the various librarians of the institutions mentioned above. For example, it was very interesting for me to see the historical exhibition "Russia Engages the World 1453-1825" in the New York Public Library, and to listen to the fascinating comments of Janis Kreslins, the Baltic Collections librarian, about Russian history.

I learned that the Library of Congress exemplifies the best ideals of America’s system of public libraries – its stated mission, which I think it fulfills in large measure, to give equal access to knowledge for both governors and governed, rich and poor. This represents, in my view, an essential minimal form of empowerment in a pluralistic democracy.

I have learned as well a lot about various more down-to-earth “practical” matters, such as dealing with different library networks and the advantages and disadvantages of many forms of cooperation among libraries. It was especially interesting to me to listen to the   librarians in these other libraries discuss and explain their viewpoints regarding these matters. I learned a lot about how to organize library education programs so as to aid and prepare patrons to make effective life–long use of different information sources and systems. For example, an excellent tour was provided for me in the Harvard University Library. I was able to observe how the Harvard libraries organized special digital projects to present important collections of books, maps, manuscripts, photographs, and other materials. Let me add that I especially enjoyed the presentations in the Library of Congress. I have seen several different ways of implementing collection development, reference services, database and Internet management and other policies, and I believe I have, as a result, obtained a much broader outlook about the various ways of organizing different library systems.

I was also very impressed with the many different library buildings I saw. These libraries are marvelous pieces of architecture. The Thomas Jefferson building of the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library building are wonderful examples of beautiful buildings and architecture.

Conclusion

I greatly enjoyed my stay at Yale University. I am very grateful to everyone I got to know during my visits to several collections of area studies of SML and various other libraries at Yale, to all the people who took the time to talk to me and who made me feel very welcome and at ease during my internship. I am deeply convinced that my new personal contacts with so many nice and friendly people comprise the most valuable and essential part of my experience at Yale.

I attended many wonderful lectures. I was glad to be able to hear the presentations at the conference entitled "St. Petersburg: 300 Years" at Yale University. I also listened to a wonderful performance of the Yale Russian Chorus Alumni and Yale Russian Chorus at Woolsey Hall, which was part of the celebrations of the 300^th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg. I really enjoyed visiting the Yale University Art Gallery and the Yale British Art Center, as well as the National Gallery of Art in Washington.  I was very impressed and inspired by the excellent collections of many famous artists, especially the impressionist school, housed in these art museums. I was also able to enjoy several good performances of classical, blues and rock music in New Haven. I also had a very delightful time with several short trips with friends to other parts of Connecticut on weekends and was able to visit several beautiful and interesting places. I very much enjoyed my trips to Old Saybrook, Middletown, Mystic and the Indian Reservation at Uncasville.

I will certainly do my best in the future to ensure that future relations and co-operation between the Yale University Library and the National Library of Latvia will be mutually rewarding.

Below is the schedule of activities in which Ms. Zalcmane participated while at Yale:

31 August – Arrival in New Haven. William Larsh met me at the Connecticut Limousine Station and escorted me to my room at 111 Linden Street.

1st week 1-6 Sept
Observed the labor strike on Yale University campus.
1 Sept - Labor Day. Brief tour of the campus guided by William Larsh, Acquisitions Assistant at the Slavic Reading Room.
2 Sept – First day of work at the Sterling Memorial Library. Got acquainted with the other staff members of the Slavic and East European Reading Room - Tatjana Lorkovic, Curator, Pauline Spitz and Gaukhar Surtayeva. Tatjana explained to me about the mission and principles of the Slavic & East European Collection and the Reading Room. Visited and registered at the Office of International Students & Scholars, Yale University.
3 Sept - Started learning about the Yale University ORBIS2 Cataloging system and the ORBIS2 Acquisitions Training. Learned about principles of Slavic Cataloging Manual and the Russian Transliteration Table in theory and practice from Pauline Spitz.
4 Sept - Learned how to search the library catalog Orbis and the Library of Congress database. Searched for Russian books. Started to create preliminary records for Latvian books. Learned principles of Latvian transliteration in English based records. Received  temporary Yale ID. Visited the Organizational Development & Learning Center, Yale University.
5 Sept – Continued processing Latvian books. Visited Fleet Bank to open my bank account. Visited the Yale University Tax department. Visited the Payroll Office, 155 Whitney. Meeting with the International tax coordinator.

2nd week 8-12 Sept
8 Sept – Worked in Voyager cataloging and acquisitions module. Learned how to process multi-part books and serials.  I created preliminary records for Russian books.
9 Sept –Introduction tour in Slavic Reading Room Web page. Visited Cataloging Department, met Patricia Thurston, Slavic Cataloging Team Leader, and became acquainted with different Teams, met staff of these teams. Applied for a permanent   Social Security number at the Hall of Graduate Studies.
10 Sept –Checking books from a vendor's list under the guidance of Pauline Spitz.  Got a password for login to my computer and Voyager. Got permanent Yale ID.
12 Sept – Learned ORBIS Cataloging Reference Guide; ORBIS Acquisitions Workflows. Lunched with Alice Prochaska, University Librarian, and Ann Okerson, Associate University Librarian. Conversation about my work experience in Latvia, the possibilities offered by Yale University and also about the political and economic situation in Latvia and Eastern Europe.

3rd week. 15-19 Sept
15 Sept – Started to process books received by exchange from Russian libraries . Created purchase orders. Short tour of the Yale Health Plan building with William Larsh.  Training in Slavic Acquisitions module with Gaukhar Surtayeva.
16 Sept - Meeting with Jennifer Weintraub, Digital Collections Specialist, who showed me the sophisticated equipment for digitalizing which the library has and introduced me to the possibilities of special projects in creating online databases consisting of images and text as well as to how to digitalize old and rare library materials to enable better accessibility of these types of materials for patrons.
17 Sept - Checked Russian book lists offered for ordering. Got permanent Yale picture ID. Visited the Library Human Resources Office, met Bernadette Cioffi, Representative.
18 - 19 Sept – Continued processing Russian books. Attended the first of the sessions of the Public Services Orientation Schedule, administered by Suzanne Lorimer, the Coordinator of Reference Services, Research Services and Collections Department. Started my Latvian language teaching course for Brad Woodworth, graduate student from Indiana University .

4th week. 22-26 Sept
22 Sept – Tour of the Yale University Web page (The Library Front Door). Latvian language class with Brad Woodworth. Continue this class every Monday.
23 Sept – Session on Wilson Web database with Suzanne Lorimer.  
24 Sept – Checking books sent as gifts from the Library of Congress in ORBIS. Created new bibliographic records for new books received as gift of LC. Attended meeting of the Service Quality Improvement Council (SQIC) Reference Group. Discussion about Ask ! Live service in on – line sessions and Question Point. Participated in the Instruction class – Creating Bibliographies with EndNote with Andy Shimp.
25 Sept – Talked with Emily Horn about the library`s instruction program. Participated in the library general instruction class – How to find Journal Articles. Continued to process and receive books from the Library of Congress.
26 Sept – Attended the Advanced Orbis class given by Suzanne Eggleston. Participated in the General Orientation Tour in SML. Started to check in books ordered and present in the Slavic Reading Room from the Russian vendor Kozmenko, and worked in   acquisitions module by creating and finalizing purchase orders.

5th week. 29 Sept - 3 Oct
29 Sept - Training session with Rebecca Hamilton, Acquisitions Department, Monograph Support Team.  Attended a session of the Library Front Door with Suzanne Lorimer. Talk about Reference services in SML, Reference services Web page through the Library`s Web site, reference correspondence policy.
 30 Sept – Visited the Cushing /Whitney Medical Library and History of Medicine Library (Charles J. Greenberg head of Reference Services). Saw their book collection and collections of different medical instruments and weights. Learned about their work at the Reference desk and their practice of assigning personal librarians for all medicine students, found Latvian books in their library collection. Session on Academic Universe database with Emily Horning. Session on Digital Dissertations database and IBZ with Dale Askey.
1 Oct – Continued processing Russian books received from the vendor Kozmenko. Created purchase orders. Meeting of the SQIC.  Nancy Godleski survey about CCL reference. Continue discussion about Ask! a librarian service in on–line. Session on Web of Knowledge database  with Suzanne Lorimer.
2 Oct – Visited the Interlibrary Loan Department, met Carol Jones, Hcad of this department. Discussion about on –line services, learned about Borrow Direct system at the Yale University Library. I learned, how interlibrary loan services at Yale are provided, had an survey in a large network of suppliers via interlibrary loan.
3 Oct – Visited the Music Library. Saw the collection of books music sheets, records, CDs and had lunch with Suzanne Egglestone, Assistant Music Librarian for Public Services, who had showed me the Library.  

6th week. 6-10 Oct
6 Oct - 10 Oct - Started working in the Slavic and East European Cataloging department. Got acquainted with the staff and was introduced to the main principles of the team's work by Patricia Thurston - Team Leader.  I spent the next 2 weeks in Slavic Cataloging.
6 Oct – Lunch with Dr. Kristaps Keggi and Tatjana Lorkovic.
7 Oct - Got familiar with working tools used by catalogers. Observed how to create a full bibliographic record in Orbis. Patricia Thurston told how the new library system Orbis/Voyager was introduced and about the Library's approach to the problem and  staff's participation in it.
8 Oct – Learned how to search for subject headings in Library of Congress database and how to use Cataloger's Desktop for searching subject headings. Doing subject analysis for Latvian books from backlog, importing records from LCDB, OCLC and RLIN and adjusting them to ORBIS.
9 – 10 Oct – Participated in the Library Research Colloquia for the History senior essay (Modern Europe 19^th & 20^th ; 20^th Century Society & Culture). Continued processing Latvian books from backlog.

7th week. 13-19 Oct
Worked in Slavic Cataloging Department. Continued searching Latvian books in backlog. Doing subject analysis for Latvian books from backlog, importing records from, LCDB, OCLC and RLIN.
14 Oct – Attended the Library Research Colloquium for the History senior essay 20^th Century Politics & Economics with Sandra Peterson, Director of Social Science Libraries and Information Services. Music from Elizabethan England presented by “The Yale Noyse”, a string band in the Renaissance tradition, honoring Elizabeth I at Beinecke Rare Book and manuscripts Library.
15 Oct – Meeting in the SQIC Group. Library Research Colloquium Great Britain with Suzanne Lorimer.
16 Oct – Attended the Library Research Colloquium for the History Senior essay Government Documents with Sandra Peterson at Mudd library.
17 Oct – Patricia Thurston gave me a statistical research outlook about cataloging   books, DVD, videos, microfilms and other media formats. Visited the Collection of Maps department. Met Frederick Musto, Curator of the Map Collections. Became acquainted with the excellent map collection, also with its digital map collection. Had a “geographical” tour and discussion about Latvian maps.
18 Oct -  Spent a pleasant and relaxing time with Dr. Kristaps Keggi, MD. Dr. Keggi showed me around Old Saybrook, gave me a short overview of Yale University history and we had lunch close to the Connecticut River.
19 Oct – Party at Patricia Thurston’s home.

8th week 20-24 Oct
20 Oct – Visited the Social Science Library, tour given by Judith Carnes, Librarian Coordinator of Instruction/Training at the Social Science Library.
21 - 22 Oct – Visit to Harvard University Libraries Widener Library, Lamont Library and the Social Sciences Program of Harvard College Library. Met and was introduced to colleagues in Slavic Division. Had discussion with Grazyna Slanda, Head of the Slavic Division, about acquisitions, collection development and work practices at Harvard. Tour in Widener library and in Reference services. I obtained some valuable insights into how to organize the library education program aid to prepare patrons to make effective use of information sources and systems.
23 Oct – Back in New Haven - worked in the Slavic Reading Room. Processing Latvian books, received from exchange partner, my library – The National Library of Latvia. Observed how the reference work is organized at the Reference Desk in SML, introduction on process and procedures was given by Frederick Musto, Curator of the Map Collections. Opening reception at the Beinecke Rare Book and manuscripts Library for the exhibition “St. Petersburg : Portrait of a Great City”.
24 Oct – Continued processing Latvian books. Participated in conference "St. Petersburg: 300 Years" at the Yale University – attended session  "Libraries and Treasures of St. Petersburg”. Also attended lecture “St. Petersburg : the City as Theater”, by James H. Billington at Yale Law School Auditorium. Opening reception at SML.
25 Oct – Participated in conference "St. Petersburg: 300 Years" - the session "The Flowering of Culture in St. Petersburg" at Linsly-Chittenden Hall. Listened to a performance of the Yale Russian Chorus Alumni and the Yale Russia Chorus in Woolsey Hall, part of the Yale celebrations on St. Petersburg.  

9th week 27-31 Oct
Worked in the Slavic and East European Cataloging department. I continued working with Latvian books in the backlog.
27 Oct – Patricia Thurston organized a “tea” party in the Slavic and East European Cataloging area. My colleagues form Slavic Reading Room also participated and enjoyed the party.
28 Oct – Patricia Thurston introduced me to her project on “Bibliographic Record linking”.
29 Oct – Visited the Catalog management Team, met Sun Dajin, Catalog Management Librarian /Team Leader. Talked about retro-conversion project. Lunch with Patricia Thurston, Mathew Beacom, Catalog Librarian for Networked Information and Karen Milosevich, a sales representative from East View publishing. Catalog Librarian Matthew Beacom introduced me to Yale's rules and practices in cataloging electronic resources.
30 Oct – Attended the Yale University Library program “New Staff Orientation.” Learned about the history of the University, its basic principles and career advancement possibilities for the staff. Learned about the various activities and responsibilities of the Library's Human Resources Department and Business Office. People who work in a variety of different departments were introduced to session participants - each person respectively stated their name and position.

10th week 3-7 Nov
3 Nov – Observed the Library Research Colloquium at the Slavic Reading Room. Processing Latvian books, received from exchange partner – The National Library of Latvia. Created purchase orders.
4 Nov – Took part in the special session of “Moving Forward Yale” – on building a better and more inclusive Yale University. Together with my colleagues from Slavic Reading Room listening to a concert performance by  Radoslav Lorkovic (Tatjana's son). The performance was wonderful.
5 Nov –Started to process Russian books ordered from the vendor Kozmenko. Participated in the “Ask! Live!” – I observe a live session where students and patrons e-mailed reference questions to the reference librarians - with Suzanne Egglestone.
6 Nov – Took part in a meeting with the Slavic Reading Room staff and Jeffrey Larson,   member of the Communications Committee - a talk about contacts between staff in different library departments and problems in agreeing to common procedures.  Talked with Suzanne Lorimer about Yale University Library Reference services and reference statistics.
7 Nov – Visited the New York Public Library and especially its Slavic and Baltic Division. Janis Kreslins, the Baltic Languages Specialist, gave me a general tour in the Library. We discussed the exchange of literature between NYPL and the National Library of Latvia. Met the Chief of the Slavic and Baltic Division, Edward Kasinec, and discussed the practices of acquiring materials from East European countries and collection profiles. Visited the exhibition "Russia Engages the World 1453-1825" - Janis Kreslins gave me the special historical tour. Visited The Science, Industry and Business Library.

11th week 10-14 Nov
Worked in the Slavic and East European Reading Room. Searched local and LC databases, created purchase orders, preliminary bibliographic records, received exchange books on approval.
11 Nov - Visited the Babylonian Collection.  Ulla Kasten, Associate Curator, described   history of the Collection and showed me its wonderful holdings of cuneiform inscriptions and other precious artwork.
12 Nov – Meeting of the SQIC Group. Conversation about new products for reference services.  “Ask ! Live,” session -  statistics, patrons. Get Ask!Live summary statistics for the period July-October 2003. Talk with Suzanne Lorimer about Question point. Statistics of reference services by e-mail.
13 Nov –I talked with Suzanne Lorimer about Reference Collections budget. A copy of the FY04 Budget Requests was presented to me. Listened to a report entitled  “Integrate Library Systems,” presented by Meg Bellinger, AUL for Integrated Library Systems and Technical Services. Attended the New Staff Reception at the Presidents room at Woolsey Hall.
14 Nov – Visited the Collection of Parliamentary Papers. Had an interesting talk with Maija Jansson, Executive Editor of the Collection, about her research work and publications based on the collection.

12th week 17-23 Nov
Worked in the Slavic and East European Reading Room. Processing books received from exchange partner – Russian Library of Foreign Literature. Created purchase orders.
18 Nov – Visited the Yale University Web page, searched information about service – Question point, a special service with e-mail requests by patrons.
19 Nov – Discussion with Suzanne Lorimer about reference services at the Yale University Library. She presented me with a survey in services provided by using OCLC and RLIN. A review of IFLA Digital Reference Guidelines Document.
20 Nov – Started processing Hungarian books. Lunched with Maija Jansson.
21 Nov – Had coffee with Saimon Samoeil, Curator of the Near East Collection. Talked about Yale University Library collections development. Visited the Latin American Collection, tour given by the Curator, Cesar Rodriguez. Afterwards, back in SRR, continued processing Hungarian books.
22 Nov- Had dinner with Dorothy Woodson, Curator of the African Collection.
23 Nov – Had lunch and had a wonderful time with Dr. Kristaps Keggi, MD. We visited Middletown and the nearby Indian reservation.

13th week 24-30 Nov
25 Nov – Visited the Near East Collection. Curator Simon Samoeil introduced me to the Collection's history and area as well as work procedures of his team, pointing out the differences compared to other area collections.
26 Nov – Processed Russian books received from exchange partner Russian Library of Foreign Literature. Created a purchase order.
27 – 30 Nov - Thanksgiving Day holiday, visited relatives in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

14th week 1-5 Dec
1- 3 Dec – Visited the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1 Dec – Visited the Central and East European Acquisitions Section. Nick Thorner, Senior Acquisitions Specialist, introduced me to the principal responsibilities the work procedures and the workflow in the Section. Met Lolita Silva from the Copyright Department, had a very pleasant late evening walk along the Washington Mall. Saw the Washington Monument, visited the Lincoln memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Had dinner with Lolita Silva.
2 Dec – Met John Van Oudenaren, Head of the European Reading Room. Had a short talk about the possibilities of cooperation between the library of Congress and the Latvian National Library in the field of digital projects. Met the Area Specialist and Reference Librarian from the European Reading Room who showed me around in Jefferson building – the focus of the presentation was on the reading rooms for area collections. Grant Harris, Senior Reference Librarian, the European Reading Room, showed me some of the electronic resources, available in the Library of Congress. Michael Neubert, Reference Librarian, European Division, gave me a tour of the special digital projects in the European Division. Observed how books were selected for the Library from the Copyright Department with Lolita Silva.
3 Dec – Visited the Serial and Government Publications Division. Met Sara Striner, Reference Librarian, who gave me a tour of the Serial Reading Room and also showed me the serials electronic databases. Visited the National Gallery of Art and the US Botanical Gardens. Returned to New Haven by train in the evening.
4 -5 Dec – Back in the Slavic & East European Reading Room, processed books received from exchange partner - Russian Library of Foreign Literature. Created purchase order.

15th week 8-12 Dec
Worked in  the Slavic Reading Room. Writing my final report.
8 Dec -  I processed Latvian books, received form exchange partner – The National Library of Latvia. Created purchase orders.
9 Dec -  I visited the  Near East Collection. Curator Simon Samoeil showed me his collection’s web page. Later, after work, accompanied by William Larsh, I attended a Mozart concert in Morse Hall in Sprague.
10 Dec –Went to a lecture  “Annual Report of the Librarian Yale University Library 2001 – 2002”, by Alice Prochaska, University Librarian. Went with Tatjana Lorkovic to  Pierson College Fellows Christmas party.
11 Dec – Continued processing Latvian books.
12 Dec – Attended lecture “The Library as an Asset in Community Building. Library Facilities and Organizations in the Information Age”, by Sara Thomas, Cornell University. Visiting The Art Library, Christine de Vallet, Assistant Librarian gave me the tour in the library and introduction to the collections and library's activities. Thanks to the Art Library and Christine de Vallet very kind art books donation, the National Library of Latvia have a possibility to receive art books published in Yale.

16th week 15-19 Dec
Work in Slavic and East European Reading Room. -  Processed Latvian books, received form exchange partner – The National Library of Latvia. Created purchase orders.
15 Dec – Visited the South East Asian Collection. Richie, Richard, Curator of the Collection gave me a tour. To answer Karlis Kreslins request,  search in Orbis for books published in Riga, Mitau, Dorpat, Reval befor 1850, sent him copies.
16 Dec – Visited the Manuscripts and Archives at SML. Saw the collection and  talked  about the collections with colleagues. Lunched with Saimon Samoeil.
17 Dec – Got ill, stayed at home and rested.
18 Dec – I visited the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
19 Dec – Last working day at Yale - Tatjana Lorkovic invited me and my colleagues to a very nice lunch at the Spanish restaurant, Ibiza. I had an enjoyable time and will miss all of my friends at Yale.