Engineering Libraries
Division Newsletter
March 1999
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Engineering Libraries
Division Newsletter
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Message From the Chair
Greetings! Has spring made its blustery way into your neighborhood? I'm still shaking the winter from my back but I've noted some brave green shoots nosing their way out of the ground recently... so summer IS on its way, right?! OK, maybe that's a stretch, but at least we can look ahead to summer, and with summer the ASEE Annual Conference in wCharlotte, NC. I hear North Carolina is famous for its luscious green and varicolored plant life, not to mention warmth and hospitality. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you at the conference come June 20-23! Sheila Curl and many of your dedicated colleagues are working to deliver a vibrant and stimulating program, and your participation will ensure a memorable and rewarding conference. The ASEE web site now has information about the 1999 conference-- check it out at: http://www.asee.org/conferences/annual99/
And you'll find additional news on the conference in other sections of this Newsletter.
The work of the Division is continuing with a host of ongoing activities that keep the Division a pro- active participant in areas of concern to engineering librarians. Here's a synopsis:
Karen Andrews and the Accreditation and Standards Committee are re-examining the direction to pursue in relation to surveying engineering libraries, perhaps partnering with other groups doing similar activities;
Don Richardson, Archivist, is retaining important communications on Divisional concerns;
Suzanne Weiner and the Awards Committee are reviewing nominations for the Homer I. Bernhardt, Best Paper and Best Reference Awards and are asking for nominations for the Ford Digital Librarian Award;
Charlotte Erdmann and the Bylaws Committee are steadfastly working on needed Bylaws revisions;
Mel DeSart, Kate Thomes, and the ELD-SPARC Initiative Committee are gathering information on expensive journals;
Dorothy Byers, J-STOR Action Committee Chair, is posting an update and a call for volunteers;
Glee Willis and the Membership Committee continues to inform prospective members about ELD, and introduce us to new members;
Fred O'Bryant, Directory Editor, is preparing and soon distributing the 1999 Directory (see note later in the Newsletter on opportunities in this area);
Marilyn Von Seggern and Jay Bhatt, Mentoring Committee, are considering suggestions and reviewing the literature for ideas on mentoring endeavors;
Communication within the Division is continuing through the efforts of the Newsletter Editors, Tom Conkling and Kelly Jordan, Listservs Editor, Mel DeSart, and Webmaster, Jill Powell;
Charlotte Erdmann and the Nominating Committee are preparing a slate for the Secretary-Treasurer and Director elections;
Sheila Curl with her Moderators and Speakers, and Tom Volkening, Director, are working on various aspects of planning for the upcoming conference;
Ann Ward and her Subcommittee are overseeing the production of Guides to the Literature and Mary Schlembach and her Subcommittee are preparing to produce the next edition of the Union List.
Godlind Johnson, Publications Committee Chair, oversaw the review of one paper for the ASEE Conference Proceedings;
Linda Musser, Secretary-Treasurer, has been verifying the financial accounts and preparing her pen (laptop?) for taking minutes at the annual business meeting.
The wide range of projects is a tribute to the various members' professional interests and enthusiasm, and reflects well on our Division. Thank you to each of the Chairs, committee members, and Officers who make the projects possible. You'll receive more information on each in the May Newsletter, when Annual Reports are provided.
Since ELD is a part of a larger entity, let me mention a few facts aboutthe larger world we inhabit. As members of the Engineering Libraries Division, we join 43 other Divisions in ASEE, each focusing on a particular subject or area of interest. There are Divisions which are discipline oriented, e.g. Mechanical Engineering Division, and those which have other alignments, e.g. the Graduate Studies Division. You can belong to up to six Divisions. Some Divisions charge membership dues, as ELD does, and others do not. Your opportunity to join a Division comes with your annual membership renewal; as you select membership in ELD, consider other Divisions which might be of interest as well. It isn't necessary to belong to a Division in order to attend the programs sponsored by that Division. If you plan on attending the Annual Conference, look over the program offerings for other divisions...especially during those times ELD isn't sponsoring one! Going to a program of interest sponsored by another Division gives you an opportunity to hear a different viewpoint, see an issue from a different perspective. Part of the benefit of the Engineering Libraries Division's association with the American Society for Engineering Education is this opportunity to join in dialogue with the faculty teaching the engineering courses. The ELD program planners try to have some sessions that would interest engineering faculty, and ELD members in turn may attend other Division's sessions which are of interest. So look over the ELD offerings in the Annual Conference's Advance Program (it came with the March ASEE Prism) but also take note of the programs sponsored by other Divisions that are of interest to you.
The rest of this newsletter will be filled with information from your colleagues, about your colleagues and the activities they are undertaking. Please take note of any requests for suggestions, comments, and participation, and respond!
As always, please contact me with comments or questions about the Division. Enjoy your spring, and look forward with me to summer... and travel to North Carolina.
Cheers,
Beth Brin
Division Chair
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See ELD Program at the 106th ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
For more information about the Charlotte area, here are some web sites.
http://thiscity.com/dining/ [Link No Longer Active]
http://www.carolinausa.com/carolina/caroncfr.htm [Link No Longer Active]
http://www.charlottecvb.org/
http://cityguide.lycos.com/southeast/CharlotteNC.html
http://www.mallcharlotte.com/travel.shtml
http://usacitylink.com//charlotte/default.html
http://www.travelersfriend.com/Where.htm#North
http://www.ncsearch.com/travel.htm
http://www.charweb.org/home.html
http://www.metrocast.com/Carolina/NCAttract.html
http://www.mindspring.com/~notnorml/charlott.htm
Tom Volkening
Director
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Annual Business Meeting Minutes, 1998
Engineering Libraries Division Annual Business Meeting Minutes Seattle, WA, June 30, 1998
The meeting was called to order by Chair Charlotte A. Erdmann.
The Chair introduced Duane Abata, the new PIC IV chair, replacing Richard Culver. Prof. Abata represents PIC IV and ELD on the ASEE Board of Directors. Robert Schwarzwalder thanked him for coming to our business meeting.
Chris Byrne, University of Washington, gave directions for the University of Washington visit on 7/1/98.
A motion and a second to approve the minutes of the 1997 ELD Business meeting that were published in the Sept./Oct. issue of the Newsletter, beginning on page 4. There was a unanimous vote for approval.
Sheila Curl distributed the 1997/98 ELD budget report and reported that between the dues and corporate support, the Division has a healthy balance in our BASS account.
Awards
Linda Musser announced that the Best Reference Work award would be given to
Perry's Chemical Engineering Handbook, published by McGraw Hill as the definitive reference in chemical engineering.
The Best Paper Award was presented to Suzanne Weiner, who had been at MIT
and is now at North Carolina State University for her article in Science & Technology Libraries.
Robert Schwarzwalder presented the Ford Motor Company Digital Library Award
to Shelly Matthers, Cooper-Hewitt
The Chair thanked Ford Motor Company and Robert Schwarzwalder for the Award
and their support of the Division.
The Homer I. Bernhardt Award for Distinguished Service was awarded to Steve
Gass, Stanford University. In accepting the award, Steve thanked the committee and the Division and said 'there is no greater recognition than that given by one's peers.'
Accreditation and Standards
Karen Andrews reported that the committee met just prior to the business meeting and plans to revise and improve the current survey. They plan to improve the definitions and focus more on how to evaluate library resources and services. In addition, they plan to pursue information literacy as a component of accreditation. They feel they need empirical data to support the assertion that information literacy has an impact on the career of engineers. One idea was to survey employers and students about two years after graduation. The committee will work on these ideas this year.
Archives
Don Richardson was absent, but his report appeared in the Newsletter.
Awards
Linda Musser thanked the committee for its work this year. Suzanne Weiner will chair the committee next year. Linda reminded the membership that the committee cannot make nominations for the awards and put in a plea for nominations especially for the Homer I. Bernhardt Award.
Electronic Discussion List
Mel DeSart reported that the only addition to his main report that appeared in the Newsletter is that the number of subscribers to the list is down mostly due to elimination of duplicates but some corporate members of the list signed off. There was some discussion of the value of cross-posting
messages that appear in PAMnet and STS-L. Some members thought it useful. Mel reported that he will often contact the originator of a message and suggest that they post to ELDnet.
Membership
Glee Willis had an amendment to her report. As of June 29, the Division had 177 members. This does not include people who registered at conference. She reminded the membership that registration does not include
membership in ELD and Headquarters will be contacting new members of the Society about division membership.
This year's conference had 78 attendees from ELD, a record number. There were also a record number of new members in attendance.
Publications
Godlind Johnson reported that 162 literature guides had been sold this year mostly due to the five guides published in 1997. Ann Ward will replace Sheila Curl as co-chair of the Literature Guides Subcommittee. Linda
Musser stepped down as the Union List committee of one.
Newsletter
Tom Conkling reported that it cost about $50 to produce each issue of the Newsletter; four issues were produced this year and that support at Penn State is drying up.
Nominations
Andy Stewart thanked Ann Ward and Christy Hightower for their work this year. There were two nominations for director, Nestor Osario and Tom Volkening and one nomination for secretary-treasurer, Linda Musser.
Elections
The chair asked if there were any nominations from the floor, there were none. Nominations were closed and ballots collected for the director position. It was moved and seconded that the secretary cast a single ballot for the secretary-treasurer. Sheila cast the ballot. Linda Musser is the new secretary-treasurer, Tom Volkening is the new director.
Old Business
Ad Hoc Web Task Force
Jill Powell reported that the Division web site has moved from Michigan to Cornell. The URL is http://www.englib.cornell.edu/eld/. She thanked Andy Shimp and Karen Clay for their help. The archive site is a problem, she is looking for a volunteer to do a search engine. Karen Andrews reported that ASEE Headquarters still points to Michigan as the ELD site. Jim Ottaviani will check on the pages at Michigan and Jill will notify headquarters of the change.
Sponsors for Division Awards
The Awards Committee asked the membership to consider getting sponsors for best new paper and best new reference work awards. They are currently looking at approval plan vendors. Steve Gass asked if we could get corporate sponsorship for the Homer I. Bernhardt Award. Paige Gibbs suggested the Homer I. Bernhardt Award is the premier award of the Division and should maintain priority. The HB award could include a cash gift and support for attending the conference. We have chosen people who could attend; this award could include travel and accommodations.
Comments included: The HB award could be the equal of the SLA Engineering Division's Engineering Librarian of the Year award which Ei supports with $1000. We need to safeguard the award even if the vendor goes away. How do we feel about having the vendor's name on the award. The vendor name could go on best new reference book award but the HB should remain the name of our main award. Could the division put up the money for the award? A separate fund has been discussed; either from money collected or as part of dues. SLA Aerospace division receives $500 from Faxon for an award and though they are not named in the award, they are in the presentation of the award.
There was a motion that the Awards committee take under advisement the comments made in this discussion. It was decided to refer this topic to the Awards Committee and the Extended Executive Committee for discussion and use ELDnet as a sounding board. However, corporate membership on ELDnet could be a problem in this discussion.
Newsletter Publication Format--Print, Electronic or Both
Headquarters is encouraging the divisions to move away from paper. Andy Shimp is willing to do the markup. Other divisions send straight e-mail newsletters only to members. ASEE web site access is through a member number to keep it a member benefit. Andy Shimp disliked the idea of using a member number. He sees the newsletter as a way to show others what we do.
Comments included: Some members do not have e-mail. We would prefer not to have web follow print, we would need to release both at the same time. This can be done simultaneously, we need to set an example. Suggestions included attaching a pdf or doc file to listserv message or printing from html. Did we join the division to get the Newsletter? There is a huge value to having an archival copy on the Web. We can save on postage if the bulk of the membership got their Newsletter from the web.
It was moved and seconded to leave the option of print to individual members and to continue producing print and electronic versions of the Newsletter. The motion was carried with one dissenting vote.
Review Process for Papers
The division needs to put a review process for papers being submitted for admission to annual proceedings into the bylaws. The Extended Executive Committee should review the issue and appoint a committee. There is a total of $5000 awarded for papers by the PICs; PIC IV has $1000 for the best paper award. There is a $3000 award for the best paper at the conference.
Australian Society for Engineering Education is meeting in September in Queensland. It will be the first meeting for the engineering library's division.
New Business
Dialog pricing issues
There was a great deal of discussion on the new pricing arrangement recently instituted by DIALOG. Many members felt that there was neither a justification nor an explanation on the part of DIALOG for this change.
Database providers are upset as well and at least one, Fitztechnik is pulling 25 databases. The suggestion was made that we encourage data providers to move to other aggregators. The membership was in favor of drafting a proposal to take to STN and/or DIALOG; Patricia Johnson read a draft of a statement she prepared. The decision was made to not use ELDnet for this discussion but to send any draft of the statement to the Extended
Executive Committee then a copy of the finished letter to the membership.
The Chair will work with the Extended Executive Committee to get the statement sent out quickly.
Discussion of INSPEC pricing changes was deferred.
The meeting was adjourned at 6pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Sheila Curl, ELD Secretary
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Project News
JSTOR Project On Hold
The following project is null and void. The JSTOR president Kevin Guthrie reviewed the text for the article below and decided that working on an engineering cluster is too premature. They do not want to build false hopes. I am including the text so that you can see what it was that I was proposing. The summary of the JSTOR meeting at ALA Midwinter sent to us via email from Linda Musser (and available at the JSTOR web site) gives a good summary of where JSTOR is right now in its planning.
Original unapproved article:
"I have been querying JSTOR about the possibility of establishing an engineering cluster of journal backruns, since engineering was not represented at all in Phase I. (This was a purposeful omission; they felt that it was harderfor humanities and social sciences to get into the electronic arena.)
Now JSTOR is moving into Phase 2, which will consist of subject clusters. The subject clusters will be purchased individually. The first clusters planned are Ecology/Botany, General Science, and Business, with a focus
on Finance and Management. It will take a long time for these clusters to materialize, as identifying titles, getting permissions and scanning are time-consuming propositions. Thus it may be quite a while before JSTOR is ready to consider an engineering cluster.
Nevertheless it would not be a vain exercise for us to discuss what titles would be most useful in an engineering cluster. We would have well-considered suggestions in the event that JSTOR is ready to develop engineering in the future. My contact Heidi McGregor indicates that JSTOR would be willing to take input from the ELD librarians as well as from other sources.
I am seeking individuals who would like help to construct a prioritized list of titles that would be most beneficial. The selected titles must be research-oriented, not applied in nature. We would have to ask ourselves: how valuable are the BACK FILES of this journal from a useage standpoint. Engineering is a very broad field, but we should limit ourselves to a very important few. Almost as important as the actual list will be the criteria by which we determine that a title is worth including.
Tasks for volunteers in this effort would include 1) developing ideas for criteria as a group, 2) individually applying the criteria to an assigned subject subset of titles recommended by ELD members, and prioritizing those titles, and 3) prioritizing as a group across subsets for a suggested master list. The work of this group will be discussed at the Annual Meeting in June. Reviewing and revising the title list on a periodic basis is recommended until such time as JSTOR is prepared to look at it."
Dorothy Byers
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Committee News
ELD MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY EDITOR WANTED
Fred O'Bryant, current Editor of the ELD Membership Directory, will be resigning from thisposition following production and distribution of the 1999 edition of the Directory, which should be completed by March 8th. Any ELD member(s) interested in taking over the position of Directory
Editor should send E-mail to Glee Willis, Chair of the ELD Membership Committee (willis@unr.edu) expressing interest. Glee or Fred (jfo@virginia.edu) will be glad to explain the duties to anyone interested and Fred will supply detailed instructions on preparation of the Directory to whomever is selected to replace him.
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Publications
"A science-engineering library's needs assessment survey: method and learnings"
by Laura Bender, Robert Chang, Patricia Morris and Chris Sugnet.
Science and Technology Libraries 17(1):19-34 (1998).
"Modeling the engineering information professional" by Maurita Holland.
Science and Technology Libraries 17(2):31-43 (1998).
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Library News
During Spring Quarter 1998, the Science and Engineering Resource Group (SERG) of the Stanford University Libraries surveyed its user communities. A total of 835 responses were received. The results have now been tabulated and analyzed, and they are on the Web at http://elib.stanford.edu/htdocs/survey/scilib.html [Link No Longer Active].
The information gathered provides valuable feedback on current library resources and services, along with a wealth of information useful in planning the future of library services and space for the seven SERG libraries: Falconer Biology, Swain Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Branner Earth Sciences and Map Collections, Engineering, Miller Marine Biology, Mathematical and Computer Sciences, and Physics.
Go to ASEE Home Page | ELD Home Page
Revised 3-99
Jill Powell, jhp1@cornell.edu