The instructor was enthusiastic (“We can catalog a-ny-thing!  Even the Dr Pepper I’m drinking right now!”).  The content was elementary (purpose of cataloging, cataloging terminology, examples of catalog records).  I’m glad to have a renewed familiarity with the work that our fine catalogers do.

From Rachel:  Also sitting in on the Cataloging for Non-Catalogers class, and learning to speak Cataloger.  I found the resources and links the presenter provided very helpful.  It’s great to have so much of this information easily accessible on-line.

From Carrie:  I’ve added these two sites to my delicious bookmark collection:

• eduserv’s Online_cataloging_resources Bundle
  Delicious bookmarks for Lyrasis cataloging webinars
• Cataloging Glossary
  Learn what catalogers are saying when they speak in secret code!  From the University of Southern Mississippi Libraries.

And of course, there’s lots of documentation for catalogers on the Cataloging page of the LIS Wiki.

Liaison Discussion Section
Thursday 5/19,  10-11 am in Lib 105
Topic: Summon, the greatest library research tool ever to be invented!  And I might not even be exaggerating.  Bryan Carson will do a quick demo, then we all can try it and share what we figure out.  It’s in Beta testing now (look for it on the library home page), but it’ll be live by the time summer school starts.
RSVP:  Liaisons have received and responded to an Outlook invite.  All others don’t need to respond.  Just come if you’re interested!

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“Liaison Discussion Section” meetings address topics of interest to liaisons: research and/or technology. They can be conversations, or presentations, or both.  They take place most often in the 3rd week of the month.  Anyone in LIS or beyond is welcome to attend.

New compact shelving was installed in the SE corner of the lower level, and all of the books in the “stacks” (aka general collection shelves) were shifted toward Z.   Therefor, if you’re used to finding your favorite PQ books in a specific spot, to find them now, keep following the alphabet toward Z until you run into them.

The Vermont Collection was moved to the middle of the lower level, as were the Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese Collections.   The VHS collection was moved to open shelves in the center of the Main Lvl just east of the Government Documents.

Rutland Railroad Archives Open House on April 30, 2010

A two page summary of material in the Rutland Railroad Archives can be found at http://midddigital.middlebury.edu/rutland_railroad/Summary%20of%20holdings%20of%20the%20Rutland%20Railroad%20Archives.doc and a more detailed 25 page listing of holdings can be found at http://midddigital.middlebury.edu/rutland_railroad/RRAGuide.htm.  A two page gateway to other resources relating to the Rutland Railroad Archives can be found at http://midddigital.middlebury.edu/rutland_railroad/RutlandRailroadArchivesHandout.htm.

Hans Raum served as co-chair of the two day convention held at the Middlebury Inn, which drew attendees from as far away as California.  Greg Pahl, an expert on the Beldens Falls Branch Railroad (and Joy Pile’s partner) spoke about the railroad at a program on Saturday, in preparation for a field trip on Sunday morning to visit traces of the short-lived railroad which ran from Beldens Falls, north of Middlebury, to a marble quarry about four miles away, east of Middlebury.

Middlebury’s is one of the first collections to go live in Shared Shelf, which will be released worldwide in July 2011. There are currently 3,143 images in the Middlebury collection, and the collection is growing as we continually add images to support the curriculum.

For more information about Shared Shelf, go to: http://www.artstor.org/shared-shelf/s-html/shared-shelf-home.shtml. To access our collection:

• Go to http://www.artstor.org/index.shtml
• Click “Go”
• Click on “Middlebury Visual Resources” at the bottom.  It is not necessary to log in.

Users can search all ARTstor collections together, or just our local collection. Faculty and students are already enthusiastically using the system and Megan looks forward to demonstrating Shared Shelf’s features at upcoming LIS meetings.

Currently, the NYTimes does not have a group plan in place that covers institutions such as libraries.  This was mentioned in a brief comment at the end of an article on Mar. 23, 2011 in the Talk To The Times section discussing the new digital subscription.  Apparently, such plans are in the works, however, and LIS will continue to monitor developments in this area.  Hopefully, at some point, we will be able to subscribe to the Times online as an institution.

Until then, please do be aware that Middlebury College community members who wish to purchase individual subscriptions may be eligible for a discount.  Please see this page for details and this page to sign up.  You must be registered with the Times with a valid middlebury.edu email address in order to qualify, so you’ll need to change your default email address to your Midd address if it isn’t already set up that way.

When the NYTimes announces their institutional subscription plan, LIS will investigate pricing and make a decision about subscribing.  Much depends on pricing, of course — our budget for library resources has remained flat or even decreased over the last 5 years, even as journal prices continue to increase and the number of quality online resources has exploded.  If we do subscribe, we will be sure to shout it from the proverbial rooftops, so stay tuned.

Thanks,

Terry

ProQuest National Newspapers doesn’t include images, but ProQuest Historical Newspapers does (1857-1922 is here, and 1923-2007 is here).

How did I know all of that?  I’m a librarian!  But even if I didn’t have super powers, I could have just typed New York Times into the “Journals A-Z” tab on the library home page.  For a few more tips about the library page, watch Go/lib (now what?) or consult our Quick-Start Guide to Library Research [pdf].

Benefits of open access journals:

• no cost to end-user
• downloaded more, cited more
• more opportunities for collaboration, interdisciplinary studies

Challenges of open access journals:

• may or may not include peer-review
• perception of faculty members (impact on promotion and tenure, concern about author-pays model)
• during this transition period, Marilyn generally recommends new faculty publish in traditional venues til they have tenure

Reasons for library involvement:

• advocate new form of scholarship
• provide repository space
• offer copyright advice
• showcase student work in a place where community can see it; this is valued especially by service-learning projects

In general, the other institutions represented at this seminar seem to be in a situation similar to Midd:  they host an institutional repository and as yet, it has minimal participation.