The Western Waters Digital Library Announces the Completion of a NEH Funded Project - July 6, 2010 [Authorized Press Release]   A partnership of five academic research libraries led by Colorado State University, and including Brigham Young University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Utah, and Washington State University, has just concluded a three-year project, The Foundations of Western Water Policy, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).   The purpose of the project was to add content to Western Waters Digital Library (WWDL), a website that provides free public access to information resources regarding water issues in the Western U.S.  “Water concerns have dominated the western states for over a century, and as populations increase and we face the uncertain outcomes of climate change, pressures on the West’s fragile water supply will only increase.  The WWDL provides data and information resources that can guide future planning and policy” said Kenning Arlitsch, Associate Director for Information Technology Services at the University of Utah, Marriott Library.   These resources, which cover a wide range of topics, and include items such as government reports, legal transcripts, personal papers, photographs, and audio/visual materials, are held by a geographically dispersed partnership of major western universities.   WWDL began as a collaborative regional partnership undertaken by twelve academic research libraries from eight western states under auspice of the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA).  Initial funding for WWDL was provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).    Since its inception in 2004, WWDL has expanded to include water-related materials for twenty-five archival holding institutions including: Arizona State University; Brigham Young University; California Institute of Technology; Claremont Colleges; Colorado State University; Humboldt State University; Iowa State University; Northern State University; Oregon Institute of Technology; Oregon State University; Texas A&M University; University of Arizona; University of California, Berkeley; University of Idaho; University of Hawai'i at Manoa; University of Nebraska – Lincoln; University of Nevada - Las Vegas; University of New Mexico; University of Oregon; University of the Pacific; University of Texas – Austin; University of Utah; Utah State University; University of Washington; and Washington State University.   For more information about WWDL, or to access its collections, go to: http://www.westernwaters.org.  Institutions interested in contributing water-related materials to WWDL should contact James Dildine, Digital Collections Program Officer for GWLA at jim@gwla.org.    (Acknowledgment of Support and Disclaimer: Unless advised to the contrary, all materials publicizing or resulting from award activities shall contain an acknowledgment of NEH support. The acknowledgment shall also include the following statement: "Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this (publication) (program) (exhibition) (website) do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.").

GWLA libraries are invited to participate in WorldCat Discovery Day, a special event organized by the Orbis Cascade Alliance for July 30, 2010 in Portland, Oregon.

Designed for staff of Orbis Cascade Alliance members (academic libraries in Oregon and Washington), WorldCat Discovery Day aims to further understanding of the WorldCat discovery platform. Discovery Day sessions will focus on the user interface and its impacts on reference and instruction.  The event will include a keynote address by Lorcan
Dempsey, Vice President and Chief Strategist, Office of Research, OCLC. The program can be viewed at http://www.orbiscascade.org/index/program


IMPORTANT: Orbis-Cascade is recording expressions of interest from colleagues at non-member libraries now and will process those requests as space allows, beginning on June 15.  Registration will be $55. To get on the list, please see: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22AM9XJSNNH

Here's the url to the Archived version:

Name: Webinar on implementation and use of KIC (Knowledge Information Center-walk up scanner) - 06/02/2010 14:01

URL: http://uutahlive.wimba.com/launcher.cgi?room=GWLA_DCC_2010_0602_1401_29

His op-ed, titled You Deserve Access to Research, was published in the Southern Illinoisan on May 21, 2010.

http://www.thesouthern.com/news/opinion/article_c6f16ae2-6491-11df-ac79-001cc4c03286.html

The papers of the late Diane Blair will be opened to researchers on Tuesday, March 9, at the University of Arkansas Libraries in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The collection comprises 113.5 linear feet and includes biographical materials, correspondence, newspaper clippings, research materials, notes, primary and secondary source documents, manuscripts, memorabilia, photographs, VHS recorded programs, audio interviews, and electronic data and databases. The materials are divided into five series: personal and family materials, professional materials, Bill and Hillary Clinton materials, general political materials, and photographs and audio materials.

Diane Blair was born Oct. 25, 1938, in Washington, D.C., and received a Bachelor of Arts in government from Cornell University in 1959. Blair earned her Master of Arts in political science at the University of Arkansas in 1967 and became a part-time lecturer for the university the following year. Arkansas Gov. Dale Bumpers appointed her chair of the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women in 1971, and on Feb. 14, 1975, Blair debated the Equal Rights Amendment in the Arkansas General Assembly against nationally known conservative Phyllis Schlafly. In 1976, Gov. David Pryor appointed her to chair a Commission on Public Employee Rights.

She was named University of Arkansas Outstanding Faculty Member by students in 1976 and 1978 and was promoted to assistant professor in 1979. She received the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences Master Teacher Award in 1982. Blair published two books: Silent Hattie Speaks: The Personal Journal of Senator Hattie Caraway (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1979), about an Arkansan and the first woman to be elected U.S. Senator, and Arkansas Politics and Government: Do the People Rule? (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1988, reprinted 2005), for which she earned the Virginia Ledbetter Award in 1991, given for the best book published about Arkansas history or culture. She authored or co-authored 12 essays appearing in books, 21 professional journal articles, and many book reviews.

After Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham moved to Fayetteville in 1974, Blair became their close friend and active promoter. Gov. Clinton appointed Blair to the Commission for the Arkansas Educational Television Network in 1980, a position she held until 1993. Taking leaves from the university, Blair served as senior researcher in the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign and as senior adviser in the 1996 re-election campaign. During the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign, Blair gathered audio interviews of staff members involved in the campaign. Sixty-five of the interviews, for which the Libraries have obtained ownership, are included in the Blair Papers. As president, Clinton appointed her twice, in 1993 and 1997, to the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, on which she served as chair from 1996-2000. In 2003, the board named its new boardroom in her honor.

Blair was guest scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington in 1993. Blair was awarded the honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Arkansas in 2000. She died on June 26, 2000.

CHICAGO—The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is announcing that Olivia Marie A. Madison, dean of the library, Iowa State University, is the recipient of the 2010 Margaret Mann Citation presented by its Cataloging and Classification Section (CCS).

The award will be presented on Sunday, June 27, at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony during the 2010 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.  The Mann Citation, recognizing outstanding professional achievement in cataloging or classification, includes a $2,000 scholarship donated in the recipient’s honor by OCLC, Inc. to the library school of the winner’s choice. Ms. Madison has chosen the University of Missouri School of Information Science & Learning Technologies, Library Science Graduate Program to be the recipient of this year’s scholarship award.

Madison is recognized for having exercised decisive leadership in the development and management of cataloging throughout a long and distinguished career. She has served as both secretary and chair of the Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA), where she played a key role in the ongoing development of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules. As a long-standing member of IFLA’s Standing Committee of the Section on Cataloguing, Olivia served two two-year terms as chair of the Study Group on Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records. (These terms were interrupted by a two-year term as chair of the Standing Committee of the Section of Cataloging.) The work of this group has been broadly influential in shaping the development of several international cataloging codes including Resource Description and Access (RDA). More recently, Ms. Madison served as co-chair of the Library of Congress’s Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control. The conclusions of this diversely constituted group are likely to have widespread effects on the future of cataloging at the Library of Congress, nationally and internationally. The Margaret Mann Citation Jury is pleased to honor Ms. Madison for her dedication, persistence and exemplary cataloging expertise that has helped direct high-level groups with difficult charges toward extremely productive outcomes.

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is the national association for information providers who work in collections and technical services, such as acquisitions, cataloging, collection development, preservation and continuing resources in digital and print formats.

ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association.

http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2010/march2010/mann_alcts.cfm

Emeryville, CA—SkyRiver announced on 1/5/2010 that it is extending an offer to the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) to offer SkyRiver services to its member community. Joni Blake, Executive Director of GWLA, states, “We are very pleased to offer our members the opportunity to save thousands of dollars in cataloging costs through SkyRiver..”

Leslie Straus, President of SkyRiver notes, “GWLA's membership includes many research libraries in the western U.S. and we're particularly pleased with the prospect of offering our services to this community known for strong library leadership.”

SkyRiver services include an easy-to-use cataloging client for searching, editing, and adding records to the library's local catalog. Features include a powerful search engine with facets and tags, automatic record request notification, one-click downloading of bibliographic and authority file records, and shelf-ready support. SkyRiver is right for all types of libraries and integrates with any local library system. SkyRiver's services are now fully operational in selected libraries with a market-wide launch planned for January, 2010.

About Greater Western Library Alliance

The Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) (www.gwla.org) is a consortium of 32 research libraries located across 17 Midwestern & Western states with common interests in programs related to scholarly communication, interlibrary loan, shared electronic resources, cooperative collection development, digital libraries, staff development and continuing education. Twenty-five GWLA libraries are also members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The staff offices of the consortium are located in Kansas City, Missouri; Phoenix, Arizona; and Salt Lake City, Utah.

About SkyRiver
SkyRiver (www.theskyriver.com) announced its new bibliographic utility service on October 6, 2009. SkyRiver is dedicated to the development and deployment of efficient, economical cataloging services for libraries.

DataONE (Observation Network for Earth) Project at UNM Receives $20 Million Award

The DataONE office, based within both the Office of the Vice President of Research and University Libraries at the University of New Mexico, has been awarded $20 million by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support its scientific research activities for the next five years. The project is under the direction of William Michener, professor and director of e-science initiatives at University Libraries.

Researchers at UNM have partnered with dozens of other universities and agencies to create DataONE, a global data access and preservation network for earth and environmental scientists that will support breakthroughs in environmental research.

DataONE is designed to provide universal access to data about life on Earth and the environment that sustains it. The underlying technologies will provide open, persistent, robust, and secure access to well-described and easily discovered Earth observational data.

Expected users include scientists, educators, librarians, resource managers, and the public. By providing easy and open access to a broad range of science data, as well as tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing data, DataONE will be transformative in the speed with which researchers will be able to assemble and analyze data sets and in the types of problems they will be able to address.

Dr. Michener spoke at the Spring 2009 GWLA Membership Meeting in Houston, TX.

For further information, please go to: http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/004536.html

The GWLA program on "Reinventing Reference" is now available for viewing at http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/media/gwla.htm. We thank our excellent panel of speakers and Jim Cogswell and the team at MU Libraries who made the webcast possible.