President's Musings

Some Thoughts from our President, Kathlene Hanson

Getting to Know You...

Editor's Note: This interview with CARL President Kathlene Hanson is the first in a series of interviews with CARL leadership, designed to give CARL members an opportunity to get to know the Executive Board better. The President's column will return to its usual format in September.

Tell us about how you got involved with CARL and how you came to be President.

Wow, that's kind of a long story! I went to University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign for my MLS, but my family is from California, and I knew I wanted to come back. When I graduated and returned to California, I joined CLA, not being aware of CARL. However, I quickly met Sandra Vella, who was a great mentor to me at the beginning of my career. She helped me get my first reference gig at Sacramento City College, and she told me all about CARL. Soon, I started working at Dominican University of California, for library director Carl Bengston, who may have been CARL President at that time. So I started helping out with events, and off I went.
Still going...

All our presidents are first VP for their region, as you know. I stepped up to run for VP North with the encouragement of some of my librarian friends here in the North. You know who you are. It's only one year as President, but really a three-year stint if you count the VP service -- four if you also count service as Past President.

Give us a day in the life of CARL President.

Well, to be honest, it is a pretty good gig. There is more organizing of the Board's time and of work groups for projects than I thought there would be. But, I find, I really do not mind these administrative duties. This year I am helping shepherd some ongoing projects relating to finance policies, standing rules and bylaws changes, an upcoming survey of our membership, as well as chairing the Mentoring Program Committee. All these projects were started under the leadership of previous presidents. The CARL members on these committees and teams are hard workers! Sometimes, we need to strike a balance between how much time they can volunteer and when they need some time to do their "day jobs." But I think all the groups are making great progress. The hope is to get some of these items completed before my presidency ends, as the priority of the South VP who will be president next year is and will continue to be all things 2014 conference-related. Our virtual quarterly board meeting just happened on the 14th, which involved a lot of work organizing that agenda. What I love most is getting to work with such great people. Seriously. I am not just saying that because it is what is expected. Everyone on the board gives so generously of their time and energy. Some go consistently above and beyond. I am not sure all CARL members are aware of this.

Describe what it's like working collaboratively with an Executive Board that is located all over California.

Yeah, well, it can be a challenge. Although plenty of technologies are available for virtual meeting now, we normally use those available through our own institutions -- and some are better than others. I find that meeting virtually, though, is often as effective for getting work done as meeting in person. Since we are trying to save travel dollars, we are slowly moving toward more virtual meetings for the Board. I do find that people miss the interactions of meeting in person. I find that complex conversations are richer and more fluid in person. Phone conferencing can work well, as can collaborative online workspaces. We are a Google campus, using their email, calendaring, G+, documents, etc., so I am always interested in working on documents collaboratively within Google Drive and in using Hangouts for workgroup meetings. But, everyone has different technology, so in trying to collaborate virtually, flexibility remains key. I must say, though, that in terms of IGs, programs, events, etc. there are still geographical boundaries to take into consideration. It will be interesting to see how CARL deals with the whole North - South organization over the next few years.

In addition to being our fearless leader, you are also a very busy librarian at CSU Monterey Bay. How do you make it all work?

First, let me say that I think I actually have less CARL work than some others on the Executive Board. Trying to be as organized as possible in my work as President and seeing where I can delegate is part of the answer for me. Honestly, though, it is tough sometimes. Things come up, both in CARL and at work. Prioritizing helps. But any librarian very active in professional volunteer organizations knows that they are going to have to do a bit of a juggling act when they agree to serve in a leadership position. Fortunately, working with CARL can also be a lot of fun, so a few overtime hours are okay (especially when you like your "day job" as much as I do). I would like to see more programming that focuses on technology and electronic collections in CARL, more that would inform some of my day-to-day work here at CSUMB. However, clearly the programming and networking opportunities in CARL help me keep up with the bigger picture and I can apply this to my job. In that way, it's a win-win.

Share a favorite moment from a past conference or other CARL event.

There are so many moments related to people I have met, both past and present members of CARL, that it is difficult to choose. One of my favorite moments was when Locke Morrissey received the CARL Outstanding Member Award. All the recipients are deserving, of course. However, his devotion to the profession and to working with young librarians was amazing. I think he was truly surprised. Everyone in the room got very emotional that year, too. I think that the majority of the room had worked closely with him on one or another CARL project. More significantly, though, many people in the room had been mentored by him. He had boundless energy for teaching and listening, and he never stopped learning. And he was humble about it all. I tear up just remembering it. He was so loved that his personal Facebook account later became a memorial and testimonial for those whose lives he had touched.

What excites you the most about CARL's future?

While I dearly loved the smaller conference days at Asilomar, I would still have to say that the caliber of the past few conferences has me very excited for our future conferences. There are more learning opportunities, more types of sessions both in person and virtually and recently, there are also conference proceedings. With national travel getting tougher these days, I feel it is important for CARL to be able to provide this type of learning and networking opportunity right here in California. I am also excited about the new Mentoring Program. Ned Fielden, a past president of CARL, was instrumental in getting this program up and running. I am excited by the possibility of facilitating mentor/mentee connections like those I had with Sandy and Carl or like Locke's mentees had with him. I realize that this won't always happen in a formal matching environment, but the fact that we offer that possibility is exciting to me.

Whom do you admire more than anyone else in librarianship?

Ah, this is a really tough one. Actually, I admire a number of librarians, a few of which I have already named, and a number of which I have seen speak at conferences. But the librarian I admire the most won't be known to anyone reading this and I would rather keep it that way. Part of why I admire him/her is that he/she does not seek admiration. He/she works very hard, but also knows how to have fun, is a genius (but few know it) and has the most wicked sense of humor of any librarian I know. Let's just say that person is serious, but does not take things too seriously. I will offer no time/space-related hints.

Which database would you take with you to a desert island?

No fair! I work with databases every day, and I don't play favorites. However, since I am hypothetically stranded: give me a database of fiction e-books, so I can escape from my environment. Will you give me a way to read them, too? And a way to charge whatever it is I'm reading them on?

Share a favorite quote.

LUKE: All right, I'll give it a try.
YODA: No! Try not. Do. Or do not! There is no try....

What are you reading right now?

I am reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini because I am going to hear him speak at ALA. I've already read "The Kite Runner". I am also reading "The Golden Mean" by Annabel Lyon, "The Twelve" by Justin Cronin, and Sylvia Plath's unabridged journals. I just finished a new YA book called "The Rithmatist" by Brandon Sanderson where drawn lines have power and drawings can come to life. Essentially, you can defend yourself or kill with a drawing, with art. I sort of read based on my mood of the moment. With e-readers I can take them all on the road, though I still read plenty in print, too.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

Well, this isn't really a superpower. I want to be able to be truly calm myself and spread that calm to those around me. A calm virus, if you will.

What is your totem animal?

I have never been asked that question before nor given it much thought (though I have read "Clan of the Cave Bear"). So, I took one of those many online quizzes… you know, the ones you answer based on subconscious preconceived notions about yourself? Swan, Owl, and Spider (of all things) came out on top. Who knew? Seriously, I do not want to play down this type of spirituality for those who identify with it, and I would definitely need more time to give a serious answer. I never would have seen myself as predatorial, though, and I'm thinking the quizzes I took were not very comprehensive in assessing my characteristics and mapping them to a limited set of possibilities. Oh, don't get me started on test validity and reliability! As Ed/Psyc Liaison, I have plenty I could say. But why ruin the experience?

Submitted by Kathlene Hanson, CSU Monterey Bay, CARL President
Interview conducted by Nicole Allensworth, San Francisco State, CARL Newsletter Editor

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CARL Business

A Note From our Treasurer

Here is the CARL Budget Estimate for Jan 1, 2013 to May 31, 2013:

Submitted by Pam Howard, San Francisco State University, CARL Treasurer

Membership Report

In the 2nd quarter, we had 31 new and renewing members (most coming from the North), for a total membership of 362 (or 90.5% of our goal of 400). Of these, 325 are regular members, 11 are retired members and 26 are student members.

Interest Group Memberships, 2nd quarter:

ABLE: CALM: CARLDIG: CARLIT: CDIG: DIAL: SCIL: SEAL: TSIG:

50 199 124 82 70 164 59 45 86

Submitted by Kelly Janousek, CSU Long Beach, CARL Membership Director

CARL Awards

CARL Research Award Report

Sheree Fu, Holly Gardinier, Meg Garrett, and Mary Martin of Claremont Colleges received the 2012 CARL Research Award for their "Ethnographic Study of Student Research Frustrations". The project team investigated the factors that contribute to student stress, as well as the role of the Claremont Colleges Library and its staff during the students’ research process at The Claremont Colleges. The team's article describing their research and findings is currently under review by a scholarly journal.

Submitted by Sheree Fu, Claremont Colleges

CARL Conference

CARL 2014 Conference

CARL Conference Planning 101: Theme & Program

CARL Conference Planning 101 is a short series of articles designed to share the conference planning experience with CARL members. If you have any questions about conference planning, or are interested in getting involved, please contact Allison Carr, CARL Vice President South.

One of the most exciting things to do when planning a conference is to choose a theme. Next year’s theme, Leadership in Action, was the brain-child of co- chair Brena Smith. Brena was inspired by both current and past colleagues whom she has seen act as leaders in big and small ways. We realized that the concept of leadership has moved beyond the traditional model of “supervisor-as-leader” and that experienced and new librarians alike are providing leadership in a range of areas and in surprising ways. Brena especially wanted to encourage people to participate in this conference as a way of contributing to the expanding definition of leadership.

This year, the call for proposals went out much earlier than expected. The new timeline addresses some of the issues that came up in the last conference. In addition, we wanted the programs to be ready when registration opens in the fall.

Once received, proposals are blinded and reviewed by teams of 4-5 librarians. The teams use set criteria to evaluate each proposal: fit with theme and session-type; clarity and organization; practicality and utility; interactivity (if applicable); and potential interest to attendees. One of the issues we’ve tried to address over the years is the areas within librarianship from which the proposals originate. You may have noticed in the past that many of the sessions come from public services (instruction, reference, etc). Our selected sessions come from the high number of submissions in these areas. If you are interested in seeing more proposals in areas outside of instruction and reference, we encourage you to get involved and submit proposals!

Our keynote for 2014 is Patricia Iannuzzi, the Dean of Libraries at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. An expert in information literacy, she was recently awarded 2013 Academic Research Librarian of the year by the Association of College and Research Libraries.

Next year, we will be continuing with our Invited Papers Sessions, and we are proud to announce our two presenters. Marie Kennedy is the Serials and Electronic Resources Librarian at Loyola Marymount and Pearl Ly is the Interim Assistant Library Dean at Pasadena Community College. Both of our presenters bring you a unique perspective on leadership in libraries.

A new type of session next year is our Interest Group Showcase. These sessions offer our IGs the opportunity to present on an area of interest or research, as well as to promote involvement in the group. In the past, our IGs sessions have been of high quality and have had excellent attendance, and we’re very excited about this new format.

Please visit the conference website for more information about any of these sessions. Take a moment to create an account (this will come in handy later) and peruse the abstracts. As always, if you have any questions, let us know.

Allison Carr, CSU San Marcos, CARL 2014 Conference Co-Planner
Brena Smith, California Institute of the Arts, CARL 2014 Conference Co-Planner
Joseph Aubele, CSU Long Beach, CARL 2014 Conference Site Coordinator

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Interest Group News

CARLDIG-S Program Report
Leatherby Libraries Field Trip

On May 17, 2013 CARLDIG-S had the privilege to tour the Special Collections and California’s Gold Archive of Leatherby Libraries at Chapman University.

Attendees enjoyed a detailed tour of the Special Collections & Archives by Special Collections Librarian and Archivist Rand Boyd. Librarians got a behind the scenes peek at the archives workspace where they saw many items that were in the room waiting to be processed or waiting for repair. Rand Boyd was able to provide a background into how Chapman acquired the Huell Howser collection as well as share personal stories regarding his interactions with Huell himself. Some of the Huell Howser items are currently on display in the Leatherby Libraries, including one of the group’s favorites, the Fosselman’s Cow. Librarians also enjoyed a comprehensive tour of the library that highlighted many unique collections, such as their antique toy collection, and spaces. After the tour, attendees dined at a popular local spot, The Filling Station.

Special thanks to the Leatherby Libraries' Charlene Baldwin, Dean of the Leatherby Libraries; Essraa Nawar, Assistant to the Dean; and Rand Boyd, Special Collections Librarian and Archivist, for your assistance in coordinating, your willingness to host and your gracious reception of our group!

Missed this field trip? That’s okay. CARLDIG-S will be hosting a fieldtrip in August to University of California, Riverside’s Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Water Resources Center Archives (WRCA), and California Museum of Photography!

CARLDIG-S's field trip to Special Collections and California’s Gold Archive of Leatherby Libraries at Chapman University

From left to right: Angela Boyd (UC Santa Barbara), Michael Yonezawa (UC Riverside), Elisa Slater Acosta (Loyola Marymount); Marjorie Acevedo (Mount St. Mary’s College), Adolfo Prieto (CSU Fullerton), Jennifer Masunaga (Loyola Marymount), Rand Boyd (Chapman University), Deborah Schaeffer (CSU Los Angeles), Janet Pinkley (CSU Channel Islands), Julie Mason (UC Riverside)

CARLDIG-S Save the Date!
"Reference as Place"

When: Friday, December 6th, 2013
Where: CSU Fullerton
Time: TBD

On Friday, December 6th, CARLDIG-S will host a half-day workshop, “Reference as Place” at California State University, Fullerton. This half-day workshop will offer an opportunity for academic librarians to learn from their colleagues who have experimented with non-traditional reference desk models in their libraries. These presentations may include comparisons of different models, librarian experiences transitioning from one reference model to another, pros and cons, starting a new service point for reference (i.e. inside or outside the library), and more. A call for presenters will go out later in the summer, so watch your email inbox. We hope to see you there!

For more information, please contact Janet Pinkley at (805) 437-3217 or via email.

CARLDIG-S Wants to Hear from You!
CARLDIG-S Survey

As the Reference Discussion Interest Group of CARL, we are surveying academic librarians across the state regarding their reference service points. In more recent years, reference services have seen a trend towards moving away from the traditional reference desk and implementing alternative desk and service models. We are interested in what is really happening across California in academic reference. Survey results will be shared at our fall program, “Reference as Place?” on December 6, 2013 at California State University, Fullerton. Access the survey here.

If you have a unique reference model that you are interested in sharing, keep an eye out for our late summer 2013 “call for proposals”, where we will be seeking presenters for our Fall program.

All CARDIG-S articles submitted by Janet Pinkley, CSU Channel Islands

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People News

Awards, Publications and Presentations

Matthew Conner and Melissa Browne published their article “Navigating the Information-scape: Information Visualization and Student Search Behavior” in Reference Services Reviews 41.1 (2013): 91-112.

An article submitted by Maryann Hight (CSU Stanislaus) to American Libraries became their feature article for the May 2013 issue. The article is titled “Greetings from America’s National Park Libraries”. It features libraries at six national parks, including California’s Yosemite National Park’s three libraries and archives, and the Maritime Library at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in San Francisco. The article is brief, but for Maryann, the experience of speaking to the librarians at the featured libraries (plus several more that didn’t make the cut) was a very enlightening experience. As Maryann points out, "The librarians who work in these libraries have unique challenges, and I learned about a class of special libraries not widely known in the academic or public library sphere."

Hema Ramachandran (CSU Long Beach) and her co-authors (Professor Ashok Naimpally, Dean of Mathematics, Science and Engineering, Fresno City College and Caroline Smith, Engineering Librarian, UNLV) won the “Best Publication Award 2013” from the Engineering Libraries Division of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) for their book "Lifelong Learning for Engineers and Scientists in the Information Age", published by Elsevier. The book was chosen over all other nominated monographs and articles published in 2012. The presentation of the award will be made at the ASEE Conference in Atlanta in June. As one nominator said, “This slim volume of just 91 pages brings into juxtaposition the goals and realities of engineering education and of teaching information literacy, marking points of logical intersection and providing suggestions for both librarians and engineering educators to take advantage of those…” and “The book is deceptive in its brevity; each succinct chapter concludes with a list of references providing a wealth of further information and examples to explore.“ An Award Committee member found it “a great resource” and that it “includes great talking points for librarians to use when discussing the importance of information literacy with faculty and practicing engineers."

Jie Tian co-organized the Sustainability Distinguished Lecture Series and curated the accompanying art and book exhibit, “Earth Body: The Art of Sustainability,” a University Mission and Goals Initiative Grant project, California State University, Fullerton, 2012-2013. Her poems, “At the Henry Miller Library, near Big Sur” and “Psalm Concerning an ex-Revolutionary Girl” are forthcoming in Solo Novo.

Darlene Tong of San Francisco State University has been published in an edited book with an international scope: Artist-Run Spaces: Nonprofit Collective Organizations in the 1960s and 1970s. Darlene authored "La Mamelle/Art Com, San Francisco," (pp. 154-180), which documents the history of the organization and its contributions to alternative art during the 1970s-1990s. Artist-Run Spaces: Nonprofit Collective Organizations in the 1960s and 1970s, Gabriele Detterer and Maurizio Nannucci (eds.) Zurich: JRP Ringier, 2013.

Places News

Appointments, Promotions and Retirements

April Fool’s Day (no joke!) is the date that Linda J. Goff selected to retire as Head of Instructional Services at the University Library, California State University, Sacramento (CSUS). After a 40-year career, spanning libraries in a community college, 2 public libraries and 2 campuses of the CSU, Linda is going to take a break and do some traveling before she returns part-time in the fall.

She joined the Library Faculty at Sacramento State in November of 1986 as the first Instruction Librarian and built a program that reached up to 15,000 students per year. From 2000 to 2006 she directed the Information Literacy Tutorial program, which peaked at 73 sections of WebCT classes per semester. She was the first librarian to receive an Outstanding Teaching Award at CSUS.

Linda has been very active professionally. She is currently finishing her term as Immediate Past President of the American Library Association (ALA) Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT). She was the
Round Table Coordinating Assembly Representative to the ALA 2001 Conference Program Planning Team, 1999-2001, which produced the first Program Track system for ALA conferences. From 2005-2009 she represented ALA and LIRT on the Information Literacy Standing Committee of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), attending and contributing to conferences in Norway, South Korea, South Africa, Canada, and Italy.

She served on the California Library Association Assembly from 1995-1998 and has been on the Steering Committee of the California Conference on Library Instruction (CCLI) for over 25 years. Linda has been a member of CARL since 1987, and has served on a variety of CARL committees.

Les Kong, CSU San Bernardino, served on a WASC accreditation team, as Assistant Team Chair, visiting Coleman University, March 26-29, 2013. In July 2013, he will be serving as the Chair of the ACRL Chapters Council, for a one-year term.

Steven Mandeville-Gamble has been named UC Riverside’s ninth University Librarian, replacing Dr. Ruth M. Jackson. Jackson, who has held the position of University Librarian since 2002, has retired. Her tenure ended on February 28th, and Mandeville-Gamble began his on March 1st.

Mandeville-Gamble comes from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he has been the Associate University Librarian since 2007. In that role, he worked closely with development officials to bring in over $23 million in contributions and endowments that helped support projects like the Churchill Library and Center and the Teamsters Labor History Research Center — both of which were projects that resulted in endowing faculty positions.

Prior to serving as the Associate University Librarian, Mandeville-Gamble held positions in the area of special collections at George Washington University, North Carolina State University, and Stanford University. Throughout his career, he has effectively advanced diversity, dating back to his work as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund project archivist at Stanford University two decades ago. He holds a masters in library and information studies from UC Berkeley, a M.A. in anthropology from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a B.A. in anthropology from Stanford University. According to Dallas Rabenstein, executive vice chancellor and provost, "Steven has an impressive vision for the future of UCR's library and has a dynamic leadership style and acumen as seen through his vision seminar and his other meetings during his campus visit."

Talitha Matlin was hired as the new STEM Librarian for CSU San Marcos. She started the first week of June.

After almost 31 years with San Diego State University, Anne Turhollow will retiring on July 1. She has worn many hats there, including Science Librarian; at various times heading Computer Search Service, Electronic Research Services, the Science Division, the Reference Services Division; and lastly having served as Interim Associate Dean (for two and a half years). Anne tells us, "It's been a great career!"

Beginning August 1st, Marymount College in Rancho Palos Verdes will be officially changing its name to Marymount California University (MCU). This new name reflects the recent transformation of the 45-year-old institution from a solely two-year Associates-degree granting college to a multisite institution with newly offered undergraduate and graduate programs.

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CARL Special Announcements

California Rare Book School (CalRBS) News and Updates

After a very successful 2012 season, California Rare Book School (CalRBS) is off and running for 2013. Here’s what’s new:

Curriculum:

Five new courses that will debut in 2013 have been added to the curriculum. Julie Sweetkind Singer will teach the “History of Cartography/Maps” that will begin with antiquarian printed maps and end with digital maps. Stephen Davison and others will collaborate to present “Born Digital/Digital Collections.” There will be “Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts” taught by Melissa Conway and Lisa Fagin Davis. “The Renaissance Book, 1400-1650” will be taught by Craig Kallendorf. Bruce Whiteman will return to Southern California to teach “Rare Books for Scholars and Archivists.” Other courses that have been very popular in the past will be offered again, including “Artists’ Books” taught by Johanna Drucker, “History, Identification, and Preservation of Photographic Materials” taught by Gawain Weaver, and “Preservation Stewardship of Library Collections” taught by Mark S. Roosa.

As in the past two years, two weeks of courses will be offered in Los Angeles in August, and one week will be offered in November in the San Francisco Bay area.

Scholarships:

CalRBS carried out its first ever Annual Fund drive in 2012, and we are very pleased to announce that proceeds from the Annual Fund will be used for scholarships in 2013. Additional scholarships are also funded in 2013 by the William Reese Company, the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing (SHARP), the Kress Foundation, and the Delmas Foundation. Furthermore, this will be the first of three years in which CalRBS is able to offer twelve IMLS scholarships to mid-career librarians.

The IMLS Scholarships and the Kress-Murphy Scholarships (for art librarians and art historians, and graduate students studying for these professions) include both a tuition waiver and $1,000 for expenses if you live more than 50 miles from the site of the CalRBS course you wish to take.

Anyone who applies for admission to a CalRBS course may apply for a scholarship. The scholarship application deadline is August 15, 2013 for Week 3. Please mark your calendar.

For more details regarding CalRBS and to contact staff, please browse the web site. There you will find complete descriptions of all the courses offered in 2013 and brief bios for the faculty. You will also find course and scholarship application forms there. And while you are at it, look at the photos from 2012 and join many of your colleagues and become a CalRBS FaceBook friend.

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About the CARL Newsletter

The CARL Newsletter (ISSN: 1090-9982) is the official publication of the California Academic & Research Libraries organization and is published online quarterly. The RSS feed for this newsletter is available at http://www.carl-acrl.org/newsletter/feed.xml.

Deadlines for submissions: February 15, May 15, August 15, and November 15.

Newsletter submissions, including creative contributions, People News and Places News should be sent to carlnewsletter@gmail.com. For corrections, questions and comments please contact the Editor, Nicole Allensworth (nallensw@sfsu.edu), J. Paul Leonard Library, San Francisco State University, 1630 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132.