Anu Vedantham has been appointed director of the David B. Weigle Information Commons at the University of Pennsylvania. Vedantham comes to Penn from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, where she directed the Southern Regional Educational Technology Training Center for six years. She also served as interim associate provost and as director of instructional technology. Vedantham will oversee programmatic development in the Commons.
Helen Josephine will join Stanford University Libraries & Academic Information Resources (SULAIR) as head librarian for engineering, beginning in March 2007. Jospehine has more than 25 years experience as an information professional, including six years at Intel, where she was manager of the Information Management Group and a member of the library management team responsible for long-term library services strategy and program planning. Her previous positions include jobs at the Gale Group, Menlo College, the University of Hawaii, and Arizona State University. Stanford is planning for a new engineering library and Josephine will have primary responsibility for that transition.
Frederick Stielow has been named dean of libraries and educational materials at the American Military University (AMU), Charles Town, WV. As dean, Stielow will lead a team of experienced research librarians and course materials specialists and will oversee AMU's virtual research library, which serves students in over 130 countries. Stielow previously served as a professor at Catholic University and the University of Maryland, as well as executive director for the Walter Reuther Labor Library and Tulane University's Amistad Research Center.
Good Turnout for ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle
Seattle proved a solid draw for the American Library Association's (ALA) Midwinter Meeting. As of Monday, there were 9161 registrants and 12,015 total including exhibitors, up from the 2006 event in San Antonio, which drew 8,133 and 10,877. Despite an exhibit hall split between two areas, decent traffic and relatively few grumbles were reported on the show floor, although Internet service faltered at times leaving the conference ISP to promise vendors relief on a case-by-case basis. In addition to solid attendance figures, ALA leaders were also buoyed by positive financial developments. ALA officials reported that the organization's endowment grew to $29 million, up from $25.5 million over the past year. In addition, the ALA-APA (Allied Professional Association) is finally experiencing positive net revenues, though it still has debts to pay off. ALA-APA also passed a resolution endorsing a $40,000 "minimum salary" for professional librarians.
Meanwhile, a new Democrat-controlled Congress buoyed hope that more library-friendly legislation and policies could be in the offing. Six representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency attended the Midwinter Meeting and pledged that the agency, which has closed five of 26 libraries amid a chorus of criticism from ALA officials, would reach out before further changes. "We have reengaged," a conciliatory Mike Flynn, of the EPA's Office of Environmental Information, said at an update session sponsored by the ALA Washington Office. He conceded that EPA had been ineffective in communicating its plans to rely more on electronic documents. EPA last year justified its library closures as part of a $2 million budget cut. Thanks to a continuing budget resolution emanating from budget gridlock, however, the agency's appropriation for FY07 will remain at the FY06 level. Flynn said, however, that the agency's future budget remains uncertain, but promised that EPA would seek and analyze stakeholder input before making further changes. "We're planning on taking the current plan and revising it," he said. "We're not on a road to close all our physical libraries. We're looking for the right mix."
Despite EPA's conciliatory approach, Emily Sheketoff, executive director of ALA's Washington Office, retained some skepticism. "They recognized they overstepped, and now they're backtracking," she said, noting that letters from powerful Congressional representatives and an ongoing investigation by the Government Accountability Office have also put pressure on the agency. Still, the six EPA reps were hard to miss in Seattle. "They've been going to meetings nonstop," commented ALA councilor (and longtime government librarian) Bernadine Abbott Hoduski at a Council session. "I think they're beginning to understand our concern. They're apologizing at every meeting for not paying attention to the library community."
The ALA annual conference, meanwhile, to be held in Washington, DC, June 21–27, promises an even greater focus on both national and international issues. Former vice president Al Gore, star of the hit documentary An Inconvenient Truth, has been tentatively identified as the speaker for the opening general session. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a noted environmental lawyer, has been confirmed as the speaker for the President's Program. Confirmed auditorium speakers include documentary filmmaker Ken Burns; Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, and Irshad Manji, author of The Trouble with Islam Today.
"24" a Hit at SUNY Albany Library as Overnight Hours Translate into Record Gate Counts
The numbers are in, and at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany, the library's 24-hour access during finals week was a huge hit. For the first time, the main University Library kept its doors open around the clock from Dec. 13 to Dec. 21, during final exams. Campus officials say that, during the extended hours, the total gate count jumped some 30 percent, to 74,021 from 52,126 during the same period last year. In fact, during the late night period alone on Sunday, December 17, more than 1300 students passed through the main University Library entrance. "Most of us were surprised by the numbers," Brenda Hazard, head of circulation and media Services, told the LJ Academic Newswire, noting that usage was much greater than during a spring 2006 program that extended hours to 3 a.m. "We were also surprised that the period of highest use came midway through finals week rather than at the beginning." Students consumed 45 free gallons (about 720 cups) of free coffee during extended hours, and laptop usage jumped sharply as well. The library's 12 laptops circulated 277 times during extended hours—roughly the same number of times they circulated in the previous 30-day period.
"I think that word got out that the library was the place to be," Hazard noted. "I think the draws are a comfortable place to study with friends, access to computers and the network, and a convenient and safe location." Besides keeping the space open, the library's circulation and reference departments offered extended hours, staying open until at 1 a.m. nightly. While the library covered the cost of additional student staff, other staffers voluntarily changed their schedules to cover the early morning hours. "There were no security incidents whatsoever," Hazard reported. "Our targeted 24-hour service was a great win-win situation. I think the Libraries were perceived as flexible and student-friendly. We already have a reputation as one of the most service-oriented agencies at the University, and offering extended hours has only strengthened that."
Big Plans: UT Austin Joins Google Scan Plan; Lands Financing for Library Project
The University of Texas at Austin last week announced that it was expanding both in cyberspace and on campus. On the eve of the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting, UT Austin officials announced they had reached an agreement to become Google's newest partner in its controversial digitization project. Under the "multi-year" agreement, Google will digitize "at least one million volumes" from the UT Libraries, working from a selection list prepared by the libraries that will include both books in the public domain, which will be freely viewable online, and books still under copyright, for which only index information and "snippets" will be viewable.
Dennis Dillon, UT associate director for research services, said the project will increase the libraries' effectiveness. "The best collections of information are only as useful as the quality of the tools available for discovering and accessing that information," Dillon said, adding that participating in Google's Book Search would make the library's collections' visible and in many cases accessible to "a much wider range of scholars and students." The partnership comes as no surprise. UT has been innovative and aggressive in pursuing the digital future; UT officials last year expressed to LJ a desire to be involved in the project, suggesting that their book diverse collection would be a rich addition to Google's project. Indeed, Google officials lauded UT's "unique set of rare books and manuscripts" in its Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection.
Meanwhile, UT officials also announced that the University Federal Credit Union (UFCU) has given the UT Libraries $500,000 for renovation to the Perry-Castañeda Library's (PCL) main floor, the first significant renovation since the building's dedication in 1977. In recognition of the donation, the west end of the main floor of PCL will be officially named "UFCU Student Learning Commons." Preliminary designs for the 11,000-square-foot space include installation of "softer, casual lighting, adaptable new furniture arrangements, new shelving for paper-bound resources such as journals and newspapers and the addition of a student gallery space." The plan also includes infrastructure and technology upgrades. The renovation is slated to begin this spring, with completion of the project expected by August. The construction is not expected to interrupt services, and study spaces will be shifted to other parts of PCL while the project areas are affected.
Still Orphaned: Court Rejects Copyright Suit
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco this week rejected a suit brought by Internet Archive founders Brewster Kahle and Richard Prelinger that challenged the constitutionality of the current "unconditional" copyright laws. The suit contended that the current copyright system violates the First Amendment by preventing orphan works—works still technically under copyright but without a clear copyright owner—from entering the public domain. The ruling confirmed a lower court dismissal of that argument. Specifically, Kahle and Prelinger had argued that changes to the copyright law in 1976 effectively moved the system from and "opt-in" to an "opt-out" system and was enough of a shift to require a First Amendment review. Until 1976, copyright law required creators to register their works. A series of changes in copyright law, however, have not only removed the necessity to register works but also swelled the basic copyright term from 28 years to life plus 70 years, a confluence that has thrown many works into copyright limbo.
In 2003, in upholding the Copyright Term Extension Act in Eldred v. Ashcroft, the Supreme Court ruled that it was legal for Congress to extend the copyright term as long as the "contours of copyright" were not altered. After the recent decision, Kahle seemed bemused that the court could not see how fundamentally changed—and flawed—copyright law has since become. "We argued that the 'contours of copyright' had changed in 1976 by going from an opt-in system to an opt-out system," Kahle said in a post to his Internet Archive Blog. "In other words: from 'you have to put a (c) on a document and send it into the Library of Congress,' the copyright of Thomas Jefferson from the founding, to 'you get copyright on every scribble and spew whether you want it or not, and, oh, it usually lasts over 100 years,' the copyright sponsored by Disney circa 1976, [That] has now been ruled not a change in the 'contours of copyright' according to Jerome Farris of the 9th Circuit." Such changes in copyright law have greatly inhibited the archival work of libraries and efforts such as the Internet Archive, which seek to digitize and save books in the public domain. Although shut out by the courts, librarians and Internet activists say they will continue to press for federal legislation to rescue orphan works.
SMU Faculty Meet Again to Express Bush Library Concerns
Southern Methodist University (SMU) president Gerald Turner told colleagues this week that SMU has all but landed the George W. Bush presidential library, and that it is simply waiting for the official nod from Donald Evans, head of the Bush library committee. Meanwhile, the University of Dallas, one of two other universities also vying for the library, said this week that it was out of the competition, citing the Bush administration's focus on exclusive negotiations with SMU. Concerns remain at SMU, however, as nearly 200 faculty members this week held an "intense" though polite meeting with Turner, according to local reports and blogs. They continued to express reservations over how both the library would operate and the requirement that the library come with a think tank.
In a New York Times op-ed, library supporter James F. Hollifield, a professor of political science and the director of the Tower Center for Political Studies at SMU, observed, "Yes, former presidents are interested in polishing their legacies, and universities must be careful to remain nonpartisan and protect freedom of inquiry. But we must also take the long view, and that means building institutions that will serve generations to come, giving historians the chance to do their work." In another Times op-ed, historian Benjamin Hufbauer addressed the presidential library concept in general. Hufbauer insisted that "fund-raising for presidential libraries needs to be made transparent" and that "presidential policy institutes associated with universities should be subject to academic oversight." The president himself last week said he was "leaning heavily" toward SMU, and "admonished" critics of his plan to house a policy institute. "Just understand that a library and institute would enhance education," Bush said, according to the Dallas Morning News. He added that he would announce his decision soon.
Best Sellers in Psychology, June 2006–present, as compiled by YBP Library Services
APA Dictionary of Psychology
Ed. by Gary R. Vandenbos
American Psychological Association
2007. ISBN 1591473802. $49.95
Secret History of Emotion: From Aristotle's Rhetoric to Modern Brain Science
Gross, Daniel M.
University of Chicago Press
2006. ISBN 0226309797. $35.00
New Psychology of Love
Ed. by Robert J. Sternberg
Yale University Press
2006. ISBN 0300116977. $35.00
Speed, Ecstasy, Ritalin: The Science of Amphetamines
Iversen, Leslie L.
Oxford University Press
2006. ISBN 0198530897. $55.00
Creativity and Reason in Cognitive Development
Ed. by James C. Kaufman
Cambridge University Press
2006. ISBN 0521843855. $75.00
Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe V. Wade
Fessler, Ann
Penguin Books
2006. ISBN 1594200947. $24.95
How Children Develop Social Understanding
Carpendale, Jeremy I. M.
Blackwell
2006. ISBN 1405105496. $78.95
Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons
Gardner, Howard
Basic Books
2006. ISBN 0465047688. $19.95
Enriching the Brain: How to Maximize Every Learner's Potential
Jensen, Eric
Jossey-Bass
2006. ISBN 0787975478. $24.95
Female Thing: Dirt, Sex, Envy, Vulnerability
Kipnis, Laura
Pantheon
2006. ISBN 0375424172. $23.95
Rethinking Friendship: Hidden Solidarities Today
Spencer, Liz
Princeton University Press
2006. ISBN 0691127425. $35.00
Families Across Cultures: A 30-Nation Psychological Study
Ed. by James Georgas
Cambridge University Press
2006. ISBN 0521822971. $99.00
Family Routines and Rituals
Fiese, Barbara H.
Yale University Press
2006. ISBN 0300116969. $55.00
Getting Your Way: Strategic Dilemmas in the Real World
Jasper, James M.
University of Chicago Press
2006. ISBN 0226394751. $28.00
Brain and Culture: Neurobiology, Ideology, and Social Change
Wexler, Bruce E.
MIT Press
2006. ISBN 0262232480. $34.00
Nature of Creative Development
Feinstein, Jonathan S.
Stanford University Press
2006. ISBN 0804745730. $34.95
Contemporary Social Psychological Theories
Ed. by Peter J. Burke
Stanford University Press
2006. ISBN 0804753466. $75.00
Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives
Fine, Cordelia
W.W. Norton
2006. ISBN 0393062139. $24.95
Rise and Fall of Soul and Self: An Intellectual History of Personal Identity
Martin, Raymond
Columbia University Press
2006. ISBN 0231137443. $29.50
Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships
Goleman, Daniel
Bantam
2006. ISBN 0553803522. $28.00
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