Engineering Libraries
Division Newsletter
December 1999
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Engineering Libraries
Division Newsletter
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Chair's Message
I had an interesting ELD-related interaction this Fall as Purdue University was going through its accreditation review. For the benefit of the NCA Review Team, the university held a showcase of Purdue's instructional technology and, as an instructor who developed an online information strategies course in the Electrical Engineering Technology curriculum, I got to show off the course and its technology during the showcase.
One of the Review Team members was Carl E. Locke, Jr., Dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Kansas. I did a little research and found his picture on the KU website. The day of the showcase, the Purdue's Dean of the Libraries steered Dean Locke in the direction of our booth. I introduced myself and mentioned that I am an ASEE member and the current chair of the Engineering Libraries Division. He said, "Oh, were you in Seattle?" I said, "Yes." He had been at the business meeting when the Division gave the Best Reference Book Award to the editors of Perry's Chemical Engineering Handbook. Not only was he pleased that that particular book had been singled out, but what he remembered most were our numbers and our enthusiasm (I think the word he used was rowdy).
So, if you think that other division members of ASEE don't notice our Division, think again. We are a vibrant and vital part of the ASEE, in the same way that engineering libraries are a vibrant and vital part of universities. You have chosen to be a member of the ASEE because you, too, are an engineering educator. Make sure you mention your membership in ASEE when you talk to engineers.
At Purdue, we like to say that communication is everyone's responsibility. This is true in the ELD as well.
Remember the Alan Greenspan quote from the November issue of Prism: "the defining characteristic of the current wave of technology is the role of information."
If you haven't attended an ASEE conference to-date (or even lately), this would be a good year to come. I don't want to start an argument about U.S. geography, but St. Louis is pretty centrally located. Linda Musser and her colleagues are putting together another exciting program. There will be plenty of opportunities to learn (technical and poster sessions) and to socialize (banquet and picnic). I hope the Cardinals are in town (for Mel's sake).
Announcements
I am continuing discussions with Barton Lessin (Wayne State University) on the proposed partnering between ASEE/ELD and ACRL/STS. Linda Martinez (Duke University) has agreed to serve as co-chair of the Mentoring Committee with Jay Bhatt (Drexel University).
Sheila Curl, Division Chair
Purdue University
Sneak Preview (#2) of ASEE 2000 Conference
Plans for the ELD sessions at the conference in St. Louis are pretty much in place now. We have a very active program planned but still have room for more volunteers. Several members have expressed interest in shared sightseeing - meaning that ELD members could visit local sights in groups, particularly on Saturday and Sunday. If you would be willing to be a group leader, please let me know. Tour leader responsibilities include figuring out directions from a gathering point to the sight-to-be-seen and a willingness to be the first to arrive at the gathering spot. Members have expressed interest in visiting the Arch, Laclede's Landing, the Botanical Gardens, Forest Park area (zoo, art museum, science center, etc.), and the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. Riverboat cruises and gambling casinos were also mentioned. There is excellent downtown shopping in the St. Louis Center as well as the refurbished Union Station mall. There are lots of fun things to see and do and what better than to do them in the company of colleagues? Sign up now!
Baseball fans will have the opportunity to see the Cardinals in action against San Francisco during the conference. The series begins Tuesday night and continues for several days. Since Tuesday night is our traditional ELD banquet time, we are organizing group seating for the Wednesday night game. As the conference draws closer, I'll have more information on ticketprices as well as information on whether we'll be in the loge or bleacher seats!
Thank you to the many ELD members who submitted abstracts of paper ideas. These were the basis for many of the programs this year and I look forward to hearing about the creative projects and research of our members. In the last ELD newsletter I shared a preview of some of the ELD technical programs. In addition to those previously listed there will be programs on electronic books and influences of the WWW on engineering librarianship.
I hope you all plan to "Meet Me in St. Louis", as the old song goes. As you start to consider your travel plans, please consider arriving early and staying through to Thursday to take advantage of all the city has to offer as well as the good company of your colleagues.
Linda Musser, Program Chair, lrm4@psu.edu
Call for Nominations for ELD Officers
Is there someone among your ELD colleagues whom you believe would be an excellent Officer of the Engineering Libraries Division? This is your opportunity to nominate candidates for two positions: 1) ELD Secretary-Treasurer and 2) ELD Director. Questions about the specific duties of the positions can be found in the ELD Bylaws (http://www.englib.cornell.edu/eld/bylaws.html); other questions can be asked of one of us. Please submit the names of possible nominees to any member of the committee by January 10, 2000.
A list of candidates for these two positions will be published in the May, 2000 ELD Newsletter. Nominations will also be accepted from the floor at the ELD Business Meeting of the 2000 ASEE Annual Conference.
Committee members are: Larry Clemens, (410) 293-6926 or clemens@nadn.navy.mil, Jill Powell, (607) 255-8701 or jhp1@cornell.edu, and Beth Brin, (208) 426-3136 or bbrin@boisestate.edu.
Beth Brin, Chair, ELD Nominating Committee
Call For Posters for ASEE Conference, June 2000
Are you looking for an excellent opportunity to share progress and gain feedback on your research and projects from your colleagues in a casual setting? Here it is! There is still time to submit an abstract for the ELD poster session at the ASEE Conference next year in St. Louis. The poster session will be Monday afternoon, June 19, 2000 from 2:30 - 4:15 p.m. You may submit your abstract directly to the poster session moderator, Leslie Reynolds. Leslie's email is reynolds@purdue.edu and her phone number is 765-494-2870.
Note from Membership Directory Editor
As many of you already know, I've decided to resign my editorship of the ELD Membership Directory. This message is to let everyone know that Andy Stewart of the University of Missouri at Rolla is the new editor of the Directory and all questions about the Directory, requests for changes in your Directory listing, etc. should now be addressed to Andy. I will continue to maintain the current version of the Directory in PDF format on my website at http://www.people.virginia.edu/~jfo/asee/elddirsu.pdf [Link No Longer Active] until Andy produces the next update, at which time this file will disappear.
I have enjoyed serving as your Membership Directory Editor and look forward to working with all of you in other ways in the future. In the meantime, please join me in welcoming Andy as your new Directory Editor!
Submitted by Fred O'Bryant
Library News
Email Reference Service
Wendt Library, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has a pilot project to improve our AskWendt email reference service. Between the hours of 11a.m. and 4 p.m. (Monday-Friday), customers receive an answer within 30 minutes (or at least are told that their questions are being worked on). Questions that come into AskWendt before 11a.m. or after 4 p.m. are also accepted and answered as soon as possible.
Wendt Reference staff are scheduled for AskWendt Reference service parallel but separate from the Reference Desk schedule. A separate AskWendt schedule has enabled staff to concentrate on electronic reference service without detracting from service to customers in the building.
All of Wendt's Reference staff is participating in the new AskWendt service, which has provided an opportunity to improve staff training and consistency of service for all Wendt customers.
Submitted by Amy Kindshi, University of Wisconsin
People & Places
Tom De Petro is now at "TAMU" or Texas A&M University. He is the liaison there to the Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, and (temporarily) Chemical Engineering Departments, plus the Computer Science Department.
Publications
"The U.S. Department of Energy Information Bridge: Technical Reports to the Desktop" by Tom Conkling, Journal of Government Information, v.26(4), pp.405-412, 1999.
" 'Nuclear Pants' and Other Web Queries: Unexpected Consequences of Using the Web to Promote a Small, Specialized Collection" by Kelly Jordan and Tom Conkling, Internet Reference Services Quarterly, v.4(2), pp.43-49, 1999.
(Ed. note - the following article is reprinted with permission from the STS Signal, v.14(2), p.7B, Fall 1999)
Partnering with the ASEE Engineering Libraries Division
An ACRL Initiative Fund grant prepared by Billie Reinhart and Allison Level provided the STS with an opportunity to actively pursue collaborative activities with the Engineering Libraries Division (ELD) of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). The grant provided financial resources to send a member of the STS Council to the 1999 ASEE Annual Conference and Exhibition in Charlotte, North Carolina. It also supported the attendance at ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans by one member of the ASEE ELD Executive committee. Mel DeSart, Coordinator of Science and Engineering Resources and Services, Anschutz Library, University of Kansas (ASEE ELD) and Barton Lessin, Assistant Dean and Director, Science and Engineering Library at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI (STS) were chosen to represent their respective organizations.
The exchanges were used for more than opportunities to attend an additional conference. The coordinating group for science and technology librarians in each organization held a brainstorming session to identify possible areas for partnering. The ASEE ELD held its meeting first and developed a thoughtful list of twenty-two potential projects for collaboration with the ACRL STS. Additionally, the ELD Extended Executive Committee identified a priority list of those projects that were of greatest interest to it. The ACRL STS Executive Council responded by holding its own session devoted to collaboration where it examined the earlier list and chose those projects where it thought collaboration was both possible and mutually beneficial. Fortunately, there was overlap among those projects deemed most important by both groups. The STS project priority list included these topics for focused attention and a suggested part of the STS organization that would be involved if a joint project is undertaken:
The last item on the list of potential areas for collaboration represents the only one where there is no existing segment of the STS organization that is a match for the expected focus of this project. We understand that this situation is also the case for the ELD. The STS preferred project areas have been communicated to the new chair of the ELD, Sheila Curl at Purdue University. Further action is anticipated prior to Midwinter Conference.
Submitted by Barton Lessin
Workshop Announcement
3 Day UCLA Extension Course in Document Imaging - Document Management, Winter 2000
This course is for managers who have been assigned to manage a document imaging system or digital library, and must start immediately. Students will gain an understanding of how document imaging can be used and managed in both small and large-scale organizations.
Three days, Winter 2000: Thursday, January 27, 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM, Friday,January 28, 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM, and Saturday, January 29, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, 2000, location TBA. Courses are also planned for Thursday, March 30, through Saturday, April 1, 2000 and for Thursday, June 22 through Saturday, June 24, 2000, The course is generally offered every quarter.
For those persons who cannot attend the class, all of the class materials are available free at http://www.ArchiveBuilders.com/abpapers.html
For more information, contact the course instructor, Steve Gilheany, at (310)937-7000 or SteveGilheany@ArchiveBuilders.com.
Tom Conkling, Newsletter Editor
Pennsylvania State University
(814)865-3451
twc1@psu.edu