Charles Marx to Retire
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Murphy Library University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Number 34, Fall 2004 Charles Marx to Retire Charles Marx is retiring after twenty five years at Mur- complete the project phy Library. Charles came to UW-L in 1980 from Oli- prior to the installa- vet College, Olivet, Michigan, where he served as the tion of the new com- Technical Services Librarian. puter system. Charles led cataloging at Murphy Library during the As a cataloger, pivotal years in the 1980’s when the library converted Charles has been an its record keeping and catalog access from cards in influential voice in drawers to an integrated online catalog and circulation issues relating to system. In 1984/85, UW System grants and matching shared bibliographic local funds allowed the library to launch a retrospective data, both in Wiscon- conversion project to transfer the information on cata- sin and nationally. Charles represented Wisconsin on log cards into the new computer system in MARC re- the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) Catalog- cord format, facilitating the advent of the integrated ing Advisory Committee from 1981-1984. OCLC is a online catalog. When funds for the two year project nonprofit computer library service organization used by were no longer available after only one year, and more than 50,000 libraries in 84 countries. Charles has 87,000 titles remained, Charles coordinated the 1985 served as both Chair and Vice-Chair of the Peer Coun- all-out effort in which all library staff worked in shifts cil for WILS, a consortium of member Wisconsin li- at two OCLC computer terminals in a valiant attempt to braries. He has also taught workshops for WILS in MARC tagging for approximately five years. Inside this issue: Charles has also been active in professional organiza- tions. He was elected to serve as the Chair of the Wis- consin Association of Academic Librarians in 1991. He Charles Marx Retires ......................................1 served on the board of the Wisconsin Library Associa- La Crosse History.............................................2 tion (WLA) for two years. He also served on many LibQUAL+.......................................................2 WLA committees including Resolutions, Conference Funding UW Libraries .....................................3 Planning, and Nominations. In 1988 he co-chaired a five-state academic library conference, which was a Dale Montgomery Artist ..................................4 joint effort of academic library associations in Wiscon- Grand Excursion Review .................................5 sin, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Ralph DuPae Honored .....................................6 The conference, which was held in La Crosse and funded in part by the Association of College and Re- Database Tips...................................................6 search Libraries, featured James Billington, Librarian of Thank You Donors...........................................7 Congress as keynote speaker. Tidbits ..............................................................7 Federal Regulatioins ........................................8 Charles has been active in the community. He has held ERIC Update....................................................8 many offices in the local Democratic party. He has served on the board of the Municipal Transit Authority Library Hours...................................................9 since 1989. Telephone Directory ........................................9 Support Opportunities .....................................9 (Continued on page 4) The Fine Print Murphy Library Fall 2004 La Crosse History W e Asked, You Spoke: Unbound LibQUAL+ Survey Results Looking for a trail guide to the La Crosse Many thanks to everyone who participated in the Lib- Myrick Marsh? Curious about murder stories QUAL+ library survey last April. Overall, from the La Crosse Tribune? Doing research on user perceptions of the library’s resources, archaeology in La Crosse County? Want to look services, and space were above minimum up some “True Tales” from Doug Connell’s expectations, but below user ideals. To re- out-of-print book by the same name? Have a view our executive summary and official passion for old maps? Looking for pictures of results for UW-L and UW System, please buildings or social life in La Crosse? Needing visit our LibQUAL+ web page. Murphy information of plant and animal life in La Library’s actions in reply to your feedback, Crosse County? Then click on http:// as well as additional results analysis are lacrossehistory.org and look through the listings forthcoming. of La Crosse History Unbound. Should you have any questions, please contact a member of The digital materials found at La Crosse History Murphy Library's LibQUAL+ Team: Galadriel Chilton Unbound are the result of a joint venture be- ([email protected]), Michael Current tween the UW-La Crosse Murphy Library and ([email protected]), Anita Evans the La Crosse Public Library. By combining ([email protected]), and Cris Prucha resources, the two institutions are able to pro- ([email protected]). vide web access to digitized versions of original materials of historical significance while pre- Galadriel Chilton, Electronic Resources Librarian serving the original materials. Many of the original materials have not been easily available because they may be rare, heavily used, not in- Resources can be browsed under topics such as: Mississippi dexed, or overlooked for other reasons. Access River, Town Histories, Environment and Natural Resources, is enhanced further as many of the original Government of the City of La Crosse, Businesses, Cemeter- items now have full keyword-searchable text. ies, and many others. For the first time, both Murphy Library and La Crosse Public Library are able to provide some The first joint project related to the La Crosse River Marsh of these items in their entirety. (Myrick Marsh). The project now includes a multitude of resources including a trail guide, floral and animal life stud- ies, flood information, en- vironmental impact state- ments, land use plans, and more. Check back often because new materials are added on an ongoing basis. For more information, contact Mur- phy Library at (608) 785- 8399. William Doering, Library Systems & Technology Li- brarian Photo of downtown La Crosse from “La Crosse by the Camera” by W.A. Pryor, 1894. 2 The Fine Print Murphy Library Fall 2004 Funding UW Libraries: The 2005-2007 UW System Budget Request At the August 19 meeting of the UW Board of Re- found the collections and access to information less gents, President Katherine Lyall outlined the 2005- than what they desired to have. Survey comments re- 2007 UW System biennial budget request. In introduc- inforced that users were not satisfied with the collec- ing the budget, she characterized it by saying, “It is tion of e-journals. Typical among graduate student our aspirations for our students and our state that drive comments were statements such as “more access to this budget request and our continuing commitment to journal articles online would be very helpful.” our public purpose.” Improving the university infra- structure, with a focus on UW Libraries and instruc- While seeking to increase the budget for libraries, the tional technology, is one of the five major budget Council of University of Wisconsin Libraries goals for the next biennium. The biennial library re- (CUWL) also is pursuing efficiencies to ensure that quest, to fulfill the mission of providing core informa- current dollars are spent wisely. The newly formed tion resources to the campus research community and CUWL Collection Management Task Force, working general citizens, would cover: cooperative collection with campus collection development librarians, is development; strengthening the Shared Electronic studying collection overlap among institutions and Collections (SEC); funding for the rapid sharing of how to increase the range of materials available in the physical resources; and support for digital collections UW System. With the growing use of Universal Bor- (University of Wisconsin Digital Collections). rowing and ILLiad document delivery services, users can get either physical pieces or electronic journal ar- With flat budgets over the last and this biennium, the ticles delivered to their desktop from other UW librar- squeeze on the SEC has meant that some titles offered ies in a matter of a few days or in some cases 24 in this System-wide collection of e-resources had to be hours. canceled. To prevent a more significant deficit and impact, UW Libraries agreed last year to contribute Murphy Library subscribes to nearly 100 periodicals funding to the SEC. Across the System on a propor- that cost $1000 or more; each year there is a substan- tionate basis, $100,000 was added to the SEC. While tial inflationary increase for periodicals, e-resources, all campuses benefit from the greater purchasing and print materials. It is an ongoing challenge to main- power, there is less funding to spend locally. The tain current collections and respond to curricular budget request for the next biennium would help to changes. More funding is critical, and with careful, shore up both the campus and UW System collections. ongoing oversight, campus and UW System funding will go even further. The budget items earmarked for the next biennium match the user perceptions of library collections and Anita Evans, Library Director access measured in the LibQUAL+ survey conducted last spring. Both the graduate student and faculty