WHA Conference Podcasts
October 1, 2007 at 6:11 pm | In history, libraries | Leave a CommentThis is very cool – mp3 files of some of the papers given at the 2007 World History Association Conference. To quibble slightly: this isn’t really a podcast (as the web site claims) since there’s no feed available.
While you’re over at the WHA site, be sure to check out the list of recommended books. This would be a useful checklist for librarians wishing to do a quick assessment of world history holdings at their library.
["podcast" link from Jonathan Reynolds at Cliopatria]
Follow-up to “On scholarly communication …”
July 7, 2007 at 11:33 pm | In Instruction, history, libraries, scholarly communication | 2 Comments[more scribblings]
In the “old days,” bibliography (of the enumerative kind) was important because of scarcity: researchers needed to know where things were because it was difficult to find things (articles, books, whatever). Nowadays, there’s not really information scarcity to the same degree? There’s too much information, so historians just need to know what’s really good/important. Thus, a different kind of bibliography is necessary – more things like the AHA Guide to Historical Literature (which is now getting a bit too old): an annotated list of the most important scholarship. Citation indexes become more important, as do review essays (doing cited reference searches and finding review essays need to become more central to advanced library instruction). Using wikis to create online, collaborative guides to historical literature (e.g., Mason Historiographiki). This is something I’ve advocated for before.
On scholarly communication among historians
July 3, 2007 at 5:30 pm | In history, libraries, scholarly communication | 5 Comments[This will be a series of very loosely connected ideas because I don't have time to "work them up" right now, but I don't want to forget too many of my thoughts (I've already misplaced a few ideas about this from last night)]
Sometimes, librarians wonder how academics convey information to each other and often do things like study the citation patterns in journal articles to get a glimpse into an exotic world (librarians do “ethnographic” studies as well – though while librarians often put students into the “savage slot,” I’m not sure that academics are seen as savages in the same way. I think it’s more that librarians see academics as The Mysterious Other.). Luckily for librarians, there is now this thing called the Internet where academics leave traces of their scholarly communication, thus allowing librarians to observe academics “in the field,” as it were.
Here’s Mark Grimsley (the author behind the most excellent Blog Them Out of the Stone Age) describing how he conceptualizes a new “information need” (to use the librarian lingo):
When I think about how to go about it, my first instinct is to turn the issue around: What approach would best assist me if I were trying to learn a subject area in which I had no graduate training? This has actually happened more than once, and it’s invariably been a source of some anxiety. What is the cognitive landscape? Do I understand the main conceptual frameworks that define the area? Am I finding the best books and articles on the subject? Are there opportunities and/or mine fields of which I’m unaware? All these questions occur to me well before the crucial one: just how exactly will a knowledge of field X assist me in my own professional work?
These questions help provide a framework for understanding the information needs of graduate students as well, and I think are interesting because they can be a way of conceptualizing how librarians fit into the research cycle of historians. I don’t think many historians would find Grimsley’s questions foreign; this sounds a bit like how anyone trying to learn the field would go about it.
But then how does an historian go about answering these questions? Let’s take a look at the context for Grimsley’s questions above: he’s responding to another historian (Rebecca Goetz) who wants to know how better to integrate military history into her teaching (“Military History 101“). Grimsley doesn’t respond with “Look it up!” Instead he offers suggestions and more generally shares his expertise. While I don’t want to make this exchange into a model of “how historians do things,” it is productive to note the following:
**The learning process has a social element: Goetz remarks that she’d rather learn in a seminar setting; this whole exchange started because Goetz asked a recognized expert in the field how she might learn more about military history.
**While this exchange was facilitated by a blog, I don’t think one can assume that social software is what makes this kind of exchange possible; my guess is that, generally, the difference that social software makes is in making this kind of exchange more explicit (visible) and easier/faster (it facilitates); my own experience tells me that this sort of conversation happens all of the time. I recognize that I may be underselling the role of technology in this, but back in the day when things were sent in the mail and I was still using a typewriter, there were exchanges like this in classrooms, over the phone, via post, and at conferences.
**How useful, given this exchange and Grimsley’s enumeration of his own learning process, are library catalogs or library databases as they exist right now? That is, if we have a hypothetical researcher who wants to integrate military history into his or her “knowledge base” (to use the information literacy term), are the resources we offer the best way to resolve this kind of information need?
**Would librarians be more useful if we had expertise in subject areas beyond “search and discovery”?
Digital Collection of WWII Government Publications
May 4, 2007 at 9:31 pm | In history, libraries | 1 CommentThe GPO and SMU have just announced a new digital collection of World War Two government publications. Historic Government Publications from World War II: A Digital Library makes available a vast body of government information covering both the military and the homefront. All of the documents are available as PDFs and the whole collection can be browsed or searched. There are two collections separated out for easier access: Pocket Guides prepared for U.S. soldiers and The Melvin C. Shaffer Collection of photographs depicting North Africa and parts of Europe during the war.
[link from beSpacific, where you can also get the link to the PDF of the press release, should you want to read it]
Why We Need Non-LC Metadata
April 21, 2007 at 12:21 am | In libraries | 1 CommentOK, I’m still officially in hibernation, but I’m in a cross mood and my library catalog has shown me quite clearly why we need tagging (or something) to allow for additional, non-cataloger-generated access points. So I’m reading the Yale Press Log about the Annals of Communism series, and I quickly check our catalog to make sure we’ve got this to some degree. Thankfully, we do, so I’m browsing the records and come across the record for Enemies within the gates? : the Comintern and the Stalinist repression, 1934-1939 / William J. Chase ; Russian documents translated by Vadim A. Staklo. Take a look at the subject headings for this (I’ve linked to Open WorldCat): none of them give any indication that this is part of a series of documents (that is, primary sources) relating to the Soviet Union. So if I find myself helping students searching for primary sources regarding Stalin and the purges, either I already know about this series and tell them to look for the series specifically and browse through the records; or, more likely, I tell them to do keyword subject searches with terms like Stalin sources or Soviet Union sources, or whatever. These searches would not yield this book. So if my catalog had the ability to add tagging, I could see this and quickly tag it with “primary sources” and “Soviet Union.” Or even tag it with a course number if there is a course offered that would regularly make use of something like this.
Protest Art @ Your Library
April 18, 2007 at 5:31 pm | In libraries | 5 CommentsPoking my head out of my cave for a very special reason: photos of a public art display at my former place of work. A little background – this library is under renovations and parts of the collection have been put into inaccessible storage, things have been moved around, services temporarily out of service, it’s hard to find things, and so on. And so, I present to you what is probably the work of some students protesting the library’s “transformation”:
University of Georgia Press “White Sale”
April 10, 2007 at 8:00 pm | In history, libraries, literature | Leave a CommentThe University of Georgia Press is having its White Sale 2007: hundreds of titles (in history, anthropology & folklore, literature, and environmental studies) at 75% off. Go forth and multiply your book collections!
Streakers @ Your Library
March 15, 2007 at 6:50 pm | In libraries | 3 CommentsOregon is on the quarter system, so it’s finals week right now and lots of students are tucked in at the library doing their studying. Last night two young gentlemen let off some steam and entertained their peers by streaking down our spiral staircase and out the front of the building. I happened to be walking past the stairs at the moment they came down, so I had a front row seat for the action. To commemorate this special moment, I have composed a haiku:
Cupping your naughties
O, Knight Library streaker?
How modest you are!
UPDATE: while I like the randy tone and utter absurdity of “cupping your naughties,” others have felt differently. So, another stab at it:
Why is your sword sheathed
O, Knight Library streaker?
How modest you are!
History Librarian Position Available
January 25, 2007 at 5:40 am | In libraries | Leave a CommentI joked, at some point in the past, that many of the visits I get to this site are from people searching for history librarian jobs. Well, here’s an actual job posting (it’s my former job). I will preface by noting that I immensely enjoyed working with the faculty in the History Dept. – they treated me as an equal partner, which is, frankly (and lamentably) rare. I also enjoyed working with some really great colleagues. No place is perfect and I don’t want people to apply expecting that there’s a history librarian paradise in downtown Atlanta, but it’s a good opportunity for the right person and I’m more than willing to admit that there is much that I miss.
Georgia State University Library is part of a dynamic urban university in the heart of Atlanta. With a $20 million transformation scheduled for completion in 2007, the Georgia State University Library continues to be an important partner in teaching and research at the University with over 1.3 million volumes and an environment which encourages learning and study. The Library employs a dynamic and innovative staff of over 100 FTE who have the opportunity to work with a diverse faculty and student population, as well as participate in Library and University governance. The Library collections are finely tuned to the needs of the University, and the Library is engaged in numerous digital initiatives designed to provide access to an array of scholarly information.
The University Library seeks a committed and energetic subject specialist to serve the teaching and research needs of students and faculty associated with the study of history and anthropology. This position offers an opportunity to participate in instruction programs and develop collections in all formats in these areas as well as others as assigned. This position reports to the Head of Liaison & Outreach Services.
Responsibilities
This liaison/librarian will be responsible for outreach to both the History and Anthropology departments. The successful candidate will deliver quality, in-depth reference and consultation services; develop library collections in the assigned subject areas; promote the library and information literacy; foster communication between the assigned departments and the library. Liaison librarians assist with general reference service that includes desk and virtual reference hours and may work some weekend and evening hours. Commitment to service and scholarly excellence.
Requirements
ALA-accredited or Georgia BOR-approved master’s degree in library science. Undergraduate degree in history. Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills. Proficiency in the use of relevant technology for instruction and outreach purposes. Knowledge of collection development issues and trends. PREFERRED: Graduate degree in history. Experience providing research services within an academic library, particularly reference and instruction in history or a related subject area. Experience with collection development in history or related subject areas, including selection of materials and management of collection budget. Demonstrated interest in scholarly and professional activities.
Library and University Environment
Georgia State University is a dynamic urban institution located in downtown Atlanta with an enrollment of approximately 27,000 students. The close relationship that exists between the university and its surrounding business, government and cultural communities makes GSU unique in the University System of Georgia and distinctive among universities in the South.
The University Library houses over 1,420,000 volumes, subscribes to more than 7,700 serials, and is a Federal Document Depository with more than 804,000 government documents. Its growing Media Center has holdings of approximately 24,000 audio, video, and multimedia materials. The carefully selected collections are designed to serve varied research and instructional needs at the undergraduate and graduate levels of the university community. Library services are supported by the Endeavor Voyager integrated library system. The University System of Georgia has a statewide system known as GALILEO, providing access to electronic resources and other materials for libraries throughout the state. The University Library is a member of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries; the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET), and the Atlanta Regional Consortium for Higher Education, consisting of fourteen academic and research libraries serving nineteen institutions in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area.
Condition of Work and Benefits
Forty-hour workweek Retirement plans include: State Teachers
Twenty-one days vacation Retirement Plan, TIAA–CREF and VALIC
Twelve paid holidays Group health and life insurance
Twelve days sick leave Social Security
Faculty rank and status Optional pre-tax benefits
Non-Tenure track Support for research and professional activities
Salary and Rank
$40,500-$48,500 for 12 months commensurate with the candidate’s education and experience. Appointment at a faculty rank, on a contract renewal basis.
Submit a cover letter addressing the above qualifications; resume; name, address and phone number of three references, including immediate supervisor. Review of materials will begin March 9, 2007 and continue until the position is filled. Send materials to:
Human Resources Coordinator
University Library
Georgia State University
100 Decatur Street, SE
Atlanta, GA 30303-3202
(404) 651-2172
OA to Library Literature: Postfaces
October 18, 2006 at 9:57 pm | In libraries, open access | Leave a CommentActually, a few short things:
- During active times, I get about 5-10 blog-views/day, but mostly from people who seem to be looking for history librarian jobs; these last two posts have netted me ten times that amount.
- I want to emphasize that Dorothea’s “Nine Commandments” for increasing access to library literature rock and are much more sensible steps than my own mania for starting OA journals. I recognize that my desire to have all library-related literature under my control is a problem and am seeking help from various sources.
- I searched in LISA for articles about the information seeking habits of public librarians as well as articles about professional development for public librarians and came up with nothing of interest. Am I missing something? This would be an interesting avenue of research if it hasn’t been covered.
- (added later that very evening) I forgot that I wanted to address one other matter: in the first OA post, I wrote: “there needs to be an open access journal for librarians that can be the equivalent of Library Journal or better.” I meant this in terms of ubiquity, not in terms of content – LJ gets eyeballs; I’m not so sure that the present OA library journals do to the same extent (noting, as I did before, that I’m thinking here of general librarianship, not digital libraries or information science – I recognize the importance and visibility of, for example, D-Lib and First Monday). For example, how many librarians have read Elaine Peterson’s “Librarian Publishing Preferences and Open-Access Electronic Journals” (not the best example, but it’s interesting in light of the present discussions)?
Okay, my meanderings have probably scared most people off by now.
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