Jeff Trzeciak associate dean of the Wayne State University Library System since 2004, will leave the university to accept a position as University Librarian at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON. Trzeciak became associate dean in December 2004 after serving first as the Library System's assistant director of Systems and then as director of the Library Computing and Media Services department. Trzeciak has spearheaded several successful grant proposals including three Institute of Museum and Library Services grants at over $1 million and was also named one of the 2004 "Movers and Shakers" by Library Journal.
Bruce James public printer of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Printing Office in Washington, DC, has announced his retirement; he will depart when his replacement is chosen. He became public printer in 2002. James is former president of Printing Industries of California, a trade association for more than 7000 printing firms.
Jill Nishi senior program officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's U.S. Library Program, will assume responsibilities for the entire U.S. Library Program, effective June 1.
The End of LCSH? Provocative Report Stirs Up Cataloging Discussion
Should the Library of Congress jettison Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), the longstanding professional taxonomy? That's one of the provocative suggestions in a new report announced Tuesday by the Library of Congress (LC). But "The Changing Nature of the Catalog and Its Integration with Other Discovery Tools," commissioned by LC and written by Associate University Librarian Karen Calhoun of Cornell University, was already making waves weeks earlier, thanks to a critical review of a draft of her paper, written for AFSCME 2910, the Library of Congress Professional Guild, by Thomas Mann (author of The Oxford Guide to Library Research). The summary in LC's press release doesn't mention LCSH, but states that libraries should reduce the costs of producing catalogs; enrich the catalog with Amazon-like features like reviews and images; and offer rush delivery of materials and other services. Mann criticized the premises behind the report, warning of "serious negative consequences for the capacity of research libraries to promote scholarly research."
Calhoun, who oversees the acquisition and cataloging of books, online library resources and special-format materials for Cornell's 20 libraries, has an MBA and a career history with OCLC, but she says the interviews with 23 experts—from libraries, vendors, and LIS schools—had the most significant influence on the report. "Libraries are going to move at many different speeds," she said, noting that the members of the Association of Research Libraries for which the report is intended could participate in three potential strategies. The first, "Extend," would involve improved interfaces and simplification of cataloging for libraries maintaining a local catalog for a locally-housed and -circulated collection. For the second, "Expand," shared regional catalogs could serve more users. For the most ambitious strategy, "Leadership," she said, "There is no fully realized version anywhere. I think the Google Five [Stanford, Univ. of Michigan, Harvard, Oxford, and New York Public Library] have some elements of what it's going to take." An aggregated supply of library resources on search engines like Google could then support speedy delivery of materials in multiple formats, include digital and print-on-demand.
Mann argues that the solutions proffered hamper scholarship, since scholars seek an overview of all relevant sources and wish to become aware of cross-disciplinary connections to their work. LC Associate Librarian Deanna Marcum said, "Tom [Mann] quite rightly points to the superiority of doing searches the library way. He knows that people would get better information, more targeted information, if they used all the tools we made available." However, she said, "Instead of trying to force the users into our systems, are there ways we can take our vast resources to where the users are?" Calhoun said that it's not simply that students choose Google first, and scholars don't. The latter pursue different strategies depending on their discipline and their generation. "If we don't put [library materials] where the scholars' and students' eyes are, many of them are going to bypass the collection," she added. "If people know how to use catalogs, they get terrific results. Most people do not know how to use catalogs; they're too complicated."
LC's Marcum Says She Sees No Abrupt Changes
Deanna Marcum, Associate Librarian for Library Services for the Library of Congress (LC), has been talking about changes in cataloging since she arrived at LC in August 2003. After the first year, she realigned library services, in part to streamline processes, and created a new directorate called Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access. Meanwhile, LC has been hosting speakers and commissioning papers about cataloging. As for the controversial Calhoun report (see article above), "We'll be discussing this through the spring and probably through the ALA [American Library Association] conference. I don't envision an abrupt change," she said. "We're looking at ways to make content available more quickly and at more reasonable cost." She said library managers at LC "are in general agreement" about the report. By contrast, Saul Schniderman of LC's professional union said that reference librarian Thomas Mann's critical response to Calhoun's report "reflects the viewpoint of the overwhelming majority of our members. You can only get so much out of the search box."
Marcum said, "I can't imagine a scenario in which we end LCSH [Library of Congress Subject Headings] completely. I think we will be trying to figure out what part of the work we do adds value and is meaningful to our user community." While cost is clearly part of the equation, Marcum says that it is not the primary driver. "We recognize that the way people seek information has changed dramatically. Younger people go to Google, and don't go first to our catalogs. We've done a great job of identifying high-quality materials, of describing them, but we see that users appear to put a higher premium on convenience and speed." Indeed, in a 2004 address, Marcum mused, "But as we develop digital resources, the question arises—do we need to provide detailed cataloging information for these digitized materials? Or can we think of Google as the catalog?" Marcum's conclusions about Google were also challenged by Mann, who wrote that the "prospect of greatly expanded content for the open Internet comes freighted with a severely diminished capacity for finding that content." For now, Marcum won't predict how library records might be better integrated with search engines. "We really are in data gathering phase," she said, noting that LC is in "the talking stages" with several search engine companies.
Librarian's Book Choice Sparks Controversy at Ohio State's Mansfield Campus
Members of a committee charged with picking a book for a first-year reading program at Ohio State University, Mansfield (OSUM) wanted to shake things up. But probably not like this. In a bizarre case, two faculty members eventually filed charges of sexual harassment against an OSUM librarian contending his defense of a controversial book they call hateful and homophobic created a hostile workplace environment. Scott Savage head of reference and instructional services at OSUM's Bromfield library, suggested four books for the program, including David Kupelian's The Marketing of Evil, published by the right-wing WorldNet Daily (WND), where Kupelian is managing editor. In his email suggesting titles, which also included Rick Santorum's It Takes a Family and David Horowitz's The Professors, Savage admitted he hadn't read all the titles he suggested, but wanted to suggest titles that "confront the accepted wisdom" of the university. When faculty members objected to Kupelian's book, saying it lacked sufficient academic merit, Savage defended his choice, and over several email messages back and forth the matter escalated. Savage declined to comment on the case for Library Journal. He was, however, forthcoming in sharing background material, including faculty meeting minutes, and told the LJ Academic Newswire that the library, "in its role as a champion of articles II and III of the Library Bill of Rights," handled the controversy in an inspired way: by creating a National Library Week exhibit on academic freedom.
Notably, the controversy initially flared in March and now appears mostly settled—at least, the case against Savage. OSUM Bromfield library director Beth Burns confirmed that Savage is considering a counterclaim against the university, and met today with university officials. Although all charges against Savage were officially dropped on April 6, it wasn't until yesterday, she said, that Savage was notified. The controversy, which OSU Mansfield dean and director Evie Freeman characterized in faculty meeting as a "colossal misunderstanding due to the use of email," has now taken on a life of its own in the press, thanks in part to press releases from the Alliance Defense Fund, which charged that universities are hostile to Christians and conservatives. Over a month ago, however, according to the faculty assembly's public minutes, one of the complainants, OSU associate professor of English Norman Jones, told colleagues he had personally worked things out with Savage. Jones contends noted was not against Savage's choice of conservative books, but that Kupelian's book did simply not meet sufficient standards of academic rigor. "I feel like [Savage] and I are more on the same page than I had realized," Jones said at a faculty meeting, according to the minutes. "His language called into question my academic credibility. It's clear that he deeply regrets his statements." Kupelian's book is not part of the library's collection, but Burns says that is for fiscal reasons, not because it has been evaluated and dismissed. Burns said she agreed with Freeman's assessment that email played a major role in the flare-up. "No question," she said. "If this had all been discussed in meetings face-to-face, I'm sure this would not have happened."
At OSUM, Director Stands by Librarian, Hopes to Heal Rift
Beth Burns, director of Ohio State University, Mansfield's Bromfield library, isn't happy about the controversy at her library. "It's not good for the library," she says. "Aside from being a waste of time, it's not good for the university." However, the attention the controversy is generating may be, she noted, "good for the issue." That issue, she says, is freedom of speech. Although she makes clear she'd much rather be tending to the business of the library, Burns told the LJ Academic Newswire she will continue to support her librarian, Scott Savage, who came under fire in March from faculty and was charged with sexual harassment for his defense of a controversial book considered homophobic.
For Burns, it's not about the book or about anyone's politics, she explained to the LJ Academic Newswire. "We're librarians," she says. "I have to defend Scott for all the values we stand for as librarians." The charges against Savage have since been dropped, but the matter may not be over. While hoping for a quick and final resolution, she acknowledged that Savage could press a counterclaim. And Burns also acknowledged there will be some work ahead in mending strained relationships with some faculty. In emails and meeting minutes some faculty members questioned the library's judgment. In one email, associate professor of English Norman Jones, one of the complainants, told Burns that Savage's reasoning for standing by Kupelian's "anti-gay" book "severely damages my confidence in the library and its staff." Burns says that the library and faculty must put the episode behind them for the sake of the students. "We want to work with the faculty," Burns said. She reiterated that she would continue to support Savage.
SPARC Honors Herbert Van de Sompel
SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) has named Herbert Van de Sompel, who leads the Digital Library Research and Prototyping Team at the Research Library of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), as the first SPARC "Innovator," under a new program that recognizes individuals, institutions, or groups that exemplify SPARC principles. Van de Sompel is the initiator of the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) and the open reference linking framework (OpenURL), promoting interoperability standards. Van de Sompel says he is honored by the designation—if a bit daunted by it. "The one thing with recognitions like these is they tend to put additional pressure on, like people asking what the next big thing is you're working on," he noted. "I wish I had an answer." Whatever it turns out to be, notes Clifford Lynch, executive director of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), who has worked extensively with Van de Sompel, it will surely be a big thing. Lynch said Van de Sompel is uncommonly devoted, he noted, to "improving information flow and information access within the global system of scholarly communication."
Best Sellers in Medicine, June 2005-present, as compiled by YBP Library Services
Twenty-First Century Plague: The Story of SARS
Abraham, Thomas
Johns Hopkins University Press
2005. ISBN 0801881242. $24.95
...And a Time to Die: How American Hospitals Shape the End of Life
Kaufman, Sharon R.
Scribner
2005. ISBN 0743264762. $28.00
Abnormal Psychology in a Changing World
Nevid, Jeffrey S.
Prentice Hall
2006. ISBN 0131916785. $117.20
Uninsured in America: Life and Death in the Land of Opportunity
Sered, Susan Starr
University of California Press
2005. ISBN 0520244427. $24.95
One Nation, Uninsured: Why the U.S. Has No National Health Insurance
Quadagno, Jill
Oxford University Press
2005. ISBN 0195160398. $28.00
Health Care Mess: How We Got Into It and What It Will Take To Get Out
Richmond, Julius B.
Harvard University Press
2005. ISBN 0674019245. $26.95
Healthy, Wealthy, & Fair: Health Care and the Good Society
Ed. by James A. Morone
Oxford University Press
2005. ISBN 0195170660. $29.95
End-Of-Life Decision Making: A Cross-National Study
Ed. by Robert H. Blank
MIT Press
2005. ISBN 0262025744. $32.00
Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults
Brown, Thomas E.
Yale University Press
2005. ISBN 0300106416. $27.50
Modern Art of Dying: A History of Euthanasia in the United States
Lavi, Shai J.
Princeton University Press
2005. ISBN 0691102635. $29.95
Message in a Bottle: The Making of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Golden, Janet Lynne
Harvard University Press
2005. ISBN 0674014855. $25.95
Age of Melancholy: "Major Depression" and Its Social Origins
Blazer, Dan G.
Routledge
2005. ISBN 0415951887. $34.95
Bioethics Beyond the Headlines: Who Lives? Who Dies? Who Decides?
Jonsen, Albert R.
Rowman & Littlefield
2005. ISBN 0742545237. $65.00
Health Psychology: Biopsychosocial Interactions
Sarafino, Edward P.
John Wiley
2006. ISBN 0471691003. $117.90
Rise and Fall of HMOs: An American Health Care Revolution
Coombs, Jan Gregoire
University of Wisconsin Press
2005. ISBN 0299202402. $35.00
On the Stigma of Mental Illness: Practical Strategies for Research and Social Change
Ed. by Patrick W. Corrigan
American Psychological Association
2005. ISBN 1591471893. $59.95
Polio: An American Story
Oshinsky, David M.
Oxford University Press
2005. ISBN 0195152948. $30.00
Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu
Davis, Mike
New Press
2005. ISBN 1595580115. $21.95
Health Security for All: Dreams of Universal Health Care in America
Derickson, Alan
Johns Hopkins University Press
2005. ISBN 0801880815. $30.00
Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America's Obesity Epidemic
Oliver, J. Eric
Oxford University Press
2006. ISBN 0195169360. $28.00
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