NEWSLETTER Volume 32 Number 3 December 2004 http://www.sla.org/chapter/csca President’s Message By Jay Springer, Fox Broadcasting

Holidays

Don’t the holidays just sneak up on you? I’m always amazed at how quickly time passes the older you get. Here we are again and I wanted to remind everyone to take some time during the busy season to relax and reflect.

First, I want to urge everyone to attend the upcoming Holiday event with LACASIS on December 7th. Our fea- tured speaker will be Dr. Kevin Starr, State Librarian Emeritus. We’ve priced the event at $35, which includes free parking. That’s a steal. It’s also nice to dress up a little (not required) and enjoy the company of your fellow information professionals. So take the time to head down the freeway and enjoy a great evening of food and entertainment.

I love the holidays. What I love the most about this time of year, among numerous things, is the music. I love holiday music. My favorite album of all time is A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. I listen to that CD in my car more than anything else I own. It just lifts my spirit every time I hear it. Around this time of year, it’s a permanent fixture on my long commutes to and from work.

One of my fondest holiday memories was listening to Handel’s Messiah one Christmas morning. I was sick and didn’t feel much in the holiday spirit. As I sat in my living room with my tea, I turned on the radio to a classical station and they had just started playing the piece. Wow, it just took me over. I was still sick, but I felt so much better. It really had such a positive effect that I try and listen to that piece at least once during the holidays, un- interrupted. It really makes my day.

I’m sure each of you has your own Charlie Brown Christmas or Handel equivalent. It may be a favorite piece of music, or a cherished holiday decoration. It could be a time-honored dish that’s served on your holiday table. Or going to a church service on Christmas Eve or lighting the candles for Hanukkah. Whatever it is, these connec-

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Inside this issue:

SLA-SCC & LACASIS Joint Holiday Meeting 2 Interview with Sara Tompson 8

Recent Events: The Chili’s Luncheon 3 Requests for Articles 12

Calendar of Events 5 Newsletter Editor 12

UCLA Students Tour KCRW Radio Archives 6 SLA Jobline on the Web 12

Small Business in a Box 7 2004-2005 Executive Board and Advisory Council 13

SLA-SCC Recent Local Job Listings 8 Vol. 32 No. 3 SLA-SCC NEWS Page 2

(Continued from page 1) tions bring about a sense of joy and excitement that follow us throughout our lives.

This year, take time the time to really enjoy that thing that brings the spirit of joy and peace in your lives. It’s that opportunity each year to reconnect to times we most fondly remember.

Also make a memory for someone else. Get involved in your company toy drive. Serve a meal at a mission. De- liver some food or clothes to someone you know who needs help. There a thousand ways to share your spirit of warmth and love. It truly is the time of year where it’s better to give than to receive. Make a pledge today to make it better for someone else.

Here’s to a safe and blessed holiday season for everyone. Happy Charlie Brown!

Jay

SLA-SCC & LACASIS Joint Holiday Meeting

When: December 7, 2004 Where: The Grand (www.thegrand.net) Time: 6:00 p.m. 4101 East Willow St. Long Beach, CA. 90815 Speaker: Dr. Kevin Starr Parking: Free Cost: $35.00

Send completed form and check (payable to SLA-SCC) to: Belinda Beardt (AIM) 900 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 1424, , CA. 90017. You may register by fax at 213-489-9802 or email to [email protected]. Please register by November 29, 2004. No refunds after November 29th.

Name: ______Affiliation: ______Email: ______Membership: SLA-SCC LACASIS OTHER

Dinner choice (circle one): Prime Rib Vegetarian Vol. 32 No. 3 SLA-SCC NEWS Page 3

Recent Events The Chili's Luncheon By Neal Axton

October 20th, 2004 began as a dark and stormy day, Cappoli, Margarita Chie, Kasey Eng, Jennifer Lange- but the information professionals from UCLA and the Pomes, Lindy Lecaros, Jenny Lentz, Bruce Liebman, Southern California Chapter of SLA were not de- Patricia Mallari, Joshua Manning, Kathy Mirescu, terred. At 11:30 a.m. they converged on the Chili's in Dorothy McGarry, Marion Peters, Marisol Ramos- Westwood to bring the sunshine of laughter and con- Lum, Elizabeth Sheehan, Barbara Smith, Kathy versation to lunch. 28 members were present, repre- Talley, Laura Tuers, Lisa Turner, Fern Willis, Scott senting UCLA staff and students as well as several Wilson, and Chris Gray. members of the Southern California chapter. While many people contributed to the success of the As the attendees reflected various aspects of the in- event, the UCLA SLA chapter would like to espe- formation profession, the luncheon exposed students cially recognize Kathy Talley, a first-year-student to the diversity of SLA. Due to the excellent atten- who volunteered to help with the advertising of this dance at the luncheon, every student was able to meet event. Thanks to everyone who attended and we at least two practicing professionals. hope to see you again next year.

Attendees included: Elaine B. Adams, Neal Axton, (Neal Axton can be reached at Belinda Beardt, Alison Becker, Diane Benner, David [email protected].)

Vol. 32 No. 3 SLA-SCC NEWS Page 5

Calendar of Events

December 2 - BEST Friends December 14 - SANDALL Holiday Party. Time: Annual Luncheon. "Hidden 4:30pm-6:30pm. Location: University of San Treasure of Los Angeles: The Diego’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice. Los Angeles City Archives." For information and registration, please contact Ju- Location: Union Bank of Cali- dith Lihosit at [email protected] fornia Coral Tree Pavilion at 445 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA. 90017. Time: Noon. Cost: $12.00 Please submit your calendar items to Mark Holmes per person. Contact John Shea at 213-236-6873 or at [email protected] Ann Shea at 213-744-2544 for more information and registration. Upcoming Events December 2 - SCALL Holiday Meeting. Location: San Gennaro Pasta Cafe & Bar in Culver City. Time: The Sternheim Fundraiser will be Saturday, 6pm. For more information and registration, please March 19, 2005. The location is to be determined, contact Belinda Beardt at213-489-9800 or but as usual, it will be a great time! Save the date on [email protected] your 2005 calendar.

December 7 - SLA-SCC & LACASIS Joint Holiday Meeting. Speaker: Dr. Kevin Starr. Location: The Grand at 4101 East Willow Street, Long Beach, Ca. 90815. Cost: $35.00. Contact Belinda Beardt at 213- 489-9800 or [email protected] for registration in- formation.

December 8 - NOCALL Fall Workshop. Time: 8:30am - 1:30pm. Location: Milton Marks Audito- rium at 455 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA. 94102. For registration information, please contact Fran Jones at [email protected] or 415-865-7170.

December 10 - CARL North One Day Mini- Conference: "Information Competency Student Learn- ing Outcomes: Strategies for Intersegmental Collabo- rations in California Higher Education." Time: 1:30pm-4pm. Location: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. San Jose. For more information, please con- tact Amy Andres at [email protected] or Florence Espiritu at [email protected]

December 13 - SCIP Meeting: "Santa's Spies II: The Competitive Edge." For full meeting details, visit http://www.scip.org

Vol. 32 No. 3 SLA-SCC NEWS Page 6

live music and news feeds, as well as recorded video UCLA Students Tour KCRW and audio performances. Radio Archives By Julie Huffman The highlight of the tour was visiting the studio, in which Nic Harcourt was broadcasting his daily The UCLA student chapters of both SLA and SAA "Morning Becomes Eclectic" show. sponsored a tour of the KCRW (FM 89.9) radio ar- (http://www.kcrw.com/cgi- chives and studio on Thursday, October 28, 2004. bin/db/.pl?show_code=mb&tmplt_type=progra m). Nic took time out to answer a few questions, and Head music librarian Eric J. Lawrence guided six- it was fantastic to watch him record the show we lis- teen students through the small, but very efficiently ten to everyday. packed, headquarters in the basement of the Santa Monica College cafeteria. As unglamorous as the Eric emphasized that much of the work of this NPR- setting may sound, it was like kids in a candy shop affiliated station is accomplished with the help of for the music-loving library students. volunteers, and many of the current employees started out in that capacity. The station plays LPs and CDs -- not the digital for- mats commercial radio steers towards -- and the If you're interested in donating your time, please visit small physical space of the library holds an astonish- http://www.kcrw.com/about/ and contact them--it's a ing quantity of items. Sliding floor-to-ceiling CD remarkable place! shelves are stacked around the perimeter, pull-out CD drawers line three rows in the middle of the (Julie Huffman can be reached at huffy- room, and ceiling-high shelves of LPs top the draw- [email protected].) ers. All are labeled and catalogued, and browsing is very easy due to genre categorization. Popular Music and Jazz are the genres with the most selections, and there are sub-genres of World Music, Classical, Soundtracks, and more. Color-coded stickers act as shelving aids, and box-sets or multiple CD packages are combined to economize space. Additionally, a home-created database derived from FoxPro allows deejays and library staff to access titles via key- words.

Eric, also the DJ of KCRW's program "Dragnet," (Monday nights, midnight-3am; http://kcrw.com/cgi- bin/db/kcrw.pl?show_code=dn&tmplt_type=progra m) did a wonderful job explaining their weeding and selection process. Of the 200-300 items that come in each week, Music Director Nic Harcourt picks out approximately thirty for the collection.

The students also had a chance to meet KCRW's webmaster, and visit with the staff as they created the internet content for the web. The website has be- come an increasingly important aspect of the radio station's marketing and visibility. It now includes an up-to-the-minute play list, and features streaming Vol. 32 No. 3 SLA-SCC NEWS Page 7

ers. The small business topics included but were not lim- Small Businesses ited to: general small business resources, how to start a business and develop a business plan, managing public re- in a Box cords, women and minority owned businesses, franchising, By Jeff Lambert working from home and meta sites. This link will take you to a listing of resources for small I recently had the unique opportunity to participate in the businesses. LSTA Grant, “Services for Small Businesses in a Box” – http://www.mcls.org/webpublic/refcenter/webliourl.cfm?hi Program I. As part of this grant program, I was asked to d=115 train over 100 California librarians and provide assistance in answering difficult business reference questions. In addition to discussing the offerings of these web sites, the agenda also included a discussion of the types of small There are currently more than 2.5 million small businesses business questions that patron may ask. in California, which employ 50% of the state’s workforce and generate more than half of its gross domestic product. To give you a feel for the types of questions small busi- In order to address the information needs of business peo- nesses may have, here are some actual examples that I an- ple, the California State Library initiated a two-pronged swered during the last year: Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant initia- tive by providing a “solution in a box” to assist public li- • I need assistance with writing a business plan for braries in developing and implementing services respon- starting a beauty salon in El Segundo, CA? sive to the needs of small business. The “Services for • How many women-owned businesses are located Small Businesses in a Box” program provided a package of in Los Angeles County? services to participating libraries, as well as training and a • What government grants are available for a new small grant to address local needs. business in Utah? (Continued on page 12) As part of the grant initiative, each library received:

• staff training for one or more person per library; • two online database subscriptions, including re- mote access for library users (RDS Business Refer- Request for Articles ence suite and Reference USA); • 24/7 online access to reference service for small Did you attend the Internet Librarians Conference business (“Ask Now”); in November? Did you learn something interesting • direct access to an expert business librarian for recently that you want to share with your col- assistance with difficult reference questions; leagues? Do you have any suggestions on neat • promotional materials that can be customized by websites to find useful and high-quality informa- the library; tion? Did you read a good book or article that oth- • access to a web page designer to create a Small ers can learn from? We want to hear about it. Business Services page for the library’s web site; • up to four outside speakers to present seminars Take a break from the stressful, busy holiday sea- for people who own or work in a small business; son and all that shopping, partying, socializing and and, eating. Collect your thoughts and brush up on • a grant of $3,000 -$6,000 for collection develop- those writing skills. ment and other purchases related to the program. Your colleagues want to read about it! Send that The training sessions (“How to be a Successful Business article to Amy Wegener Librarian”), were located in the Los Angeles Public Li- ([email protected]) for the very first brary, Oceanside Public Library, California State Library at SLA-SCC newsletter of 2005 by January 4, 2005. Sacramento, and the San Jose Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library Public Library from August 2 – 12. Start your new year on the write foot!

During these one-day sessions, I discussed the most useful (free) sites relevant to small business owners and employ- Vol. 32 No. 3 SLA-SCC NEWS Page 8

SLA-SCC Recent Interview with Sara Tompson By Amy Wegener Local Job Listings http://www.sla.org/chapter/csca/employ.htm Sara Tompson is the Science and Engineering Team Leader at USC. This interview was conducted on November 10 on the USC campus. Science and Engineering Library Information Specialist USC Amy Wegener (AW): Can you tell me a little bit about your- self? Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school? Digital Archive Cataloger Department of Special Collections-YRL Sara Tompson (ST): Certainly. Thanks, Amy. I’m from Illi- California Digital Library / Online Archive of California- nois. I grew up specifically in the suburbs of Chicago, and Digitization Project spent some time in downstate Illinois. I got my degree in li- brary science from the University of Illinois, then worked in Children's Librarian science and engineering for the past seventeen years. City of Thousand Oaks, CA AW: How did you find out about the job at USC? Librarian City of Thousand Oaks, CA ST: It was posted on a listserv, and a lot of things had come together in my life that made me consider looking for a new Librarian I job. There were a lot of reasons that I was looking for another County of San Diego position. I had always wanted to be an academic librarian, and my husband and I had always wanted to live in L.A. We have Library Technician I two nieces who have lived here (one still does), and this looked San Diego County like a challenging and interesting position.

Principal Manuscript Processing Librarian I liked the fact that the interdisciplinary teams – which are a Stanford University new paradigm at USC – came out of a strategic planning proc- ess that the faculty initiated. The academic senate wanted to Manager of Research & Database Integrity bring the library up to speed with how USC is growing as a Fortis Partners research institution. For instance, the USC School of Engineer- ing went from 20th to 8th to 6th in report rankings in just the last Supervising Library Specialist three years. There is just phenomenal growth in the level of USC research being conducted here. We in the library agreed that we were not up to speed with the faculty needs. Library Assistant Library Associates So, the interdisciplinary topical teams are one outcome of the strategic planning process. Our mission is beyond the buildings in which our teams are housed. The teams have libraries all over campus, and we capitalize on the intellectual piece of li- brarianship. Teams do not have budgets, the libraries do, but the teams are affiliated with the library.

The teams’ four-fold charge is collection development, instruc- tion, outreach and reference. Now those are not unusual, but what is a little different is we are not so linked to the day-to-day operations, so we have more time to focus on the outreach mis- sion.

The faculty decided everyone in the library at USC needs to be talking to the customers – faculty, undergraduates and graduate students – and that is what we are trying to do.

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(Continued from page 8) an academic setting. For instance, the college has this big ini- AW: How do you fit in to all of that? What are your daily re- tiative to hire seasoned faculty to raise their research profile. sponsibilities? Recently, in the campus faculty publication, USC Chronicle, there was a list of all the new faculty hired this fall, about ten of ST: I’m the team leader for Science and Engineering. It’s a whom were in the School of Science and Engineering. So, our huge customer base here: about 400 faculty, and over 5,000 team just sent them a customized email saying “welcome, students in science and engineering. Currently, our team is here’s what we offer….” – kind of Marketing 101 from an very lean. We just got the approval to hire a one-year fixed SLA-perspective; however, that was a somewhat new thing to position, and we are hoping to turn that into full-time. do on an academic campus.

Currently, the team is myself, two other science and engineer- AW: Because the expectation is that your clients will have to ing librarians, Jean Crampon (former chapter president), and come and you don’t have to sell to them? Najwa Hanel, plus the chair of the Science & Engineering li- brary, Charlotte Crockett. Also, Judith Truelson, the reference ST: I think that the impression is the library is an established coordinator across all of the libraries is assigned to our team, as good. But, I think USC hired me because I don’t think that’s well as her assistant coordinator Shahla Bahavar. It’s particu- true anymore. All libraries have to continue to prove the reason larly great to have the reference help, as they have been at USC for their existence. Our reason for existence it to hook up cli- for quite some time. That said the team is very small. ents with their information needs. So, why should we have that big fat library sitting there if it doesn’t offer anything that the With respect to my work, I’m making a lot of cold-calls to fac- students or faculty would want? I think there is some of that ulty in various disciplines of the School of Science and Engi- complacency, but it has a nice philosophical base that a library neering, to offer them our services and to tangentially introduce is a needed thing. But, I don’t think that is the way to operate myself: cold-calls, emails, and then following that up with vis- in this century. its in person. I’ve made good inroads, and reaching out to new faculty. Even doing some simple marketing… which eve- AW: What kind of services do you typically provide your us- ryone in SLA knows how to do… but it is not always done in (Continued on page 11) Vol. 32 No. 3 SLA-SCC NEWS Page 11

(Continued from page 10) toner for public pc printers keeps going up and up and up, since ers? more journals are online. I see this as a good thing…. The fo- cus has shifted. ST: We staff a reference desk every afternoon, and we are available by appointment. Really, the largest portion of our An area I’m really interested in is how we better understand collection is online journals, so managing the lifecycle of the how people are using the online resources. It’s better and it’s journals is now the team’s responsibility. That used to be done worse. With a print library, you see people pulling stuff off the with collection development people at SC; but now the teams shelves, but you don’t know what article they are looking at have a lot more control, which is wonderful. We still don’t have specifically in a bound journal. Well, most of our online jour- much control over the budget. nals provide user statistics, so we can download who is looking at what journals, so that is more specific. We are working with the faculty on refining our Elsevier Sci- ence Direct Package, for instance, this fall. A lot of work on There is so much more we can understand. Are there ways titles, and asking for suggestions for additions and cancella- users typically get to things? Does one article lead to another? tions, and of course no one ever wants to cancel… they always There is cutting-edge digital library research on this. Our Team want to add. is very interested in this, and we are wondering if we can do a project in the fall to understand how people use these services. It’s really a challenge in this huge area. It’s more of an art that We subscribe to journals, but it’s like a black hole knowing a science to balance new journals in molecular biology that may what users are doing exactly. be equally important to a new one for earth sciences. You don’t want to play favorites. AW: What’s your history with the SLA?

Team librarians assign themselves subject areas to specialize, ST: It’s my home organization, but I’m still learning how it so we do divvy up the disciplines. Najwa does the engineering, will be a good organization as an academic librarian. I know I do some engineering and some life science, Jean does a lot of there’s a fit – I’m working on finding it. I got involved with the life sciences. SLA in 1995 when I moved to the Chicago area from central Illinois. Actually I went to a couple meetings by driving to USC uses Yankee Book Peddler for books and monograph ap- Chicago from central Illinois, as I thought it would be a good proval plans. We get hundreds of notifications about newly organization to join. published books, and send those of interest to faculty to deter- mine if they are useful. When I moved to the Chicago area, a call went out for people to take over the writing and editing of the 4th edition of Special Instruction is fun here, which is why I wanted to get back in the Libraries: A Guide for Management. It’s a text that SLA has academic world. All of the libraries at USC are trying to get quit publishing, and the 4th was the last edition. It was one of back into this, especially going to a class and doing one or two their big sellers. Seven of us expressed an interest in participat- sessions on how to use library resources in that discipline. ing. During 1996 and 1997, we worked as a team, and re-wrote the book. Modernized it, changed it. This was perhaps my most Last month I talked to two engineering freshman academy intense team experience, with seven of us trying to work to- classes. This is a new required class for engineering majors. It gether with different backgrounds and ideas. Some of them are gives them a whole review of the profession. I spoke with them now my closest friends. That experience got me heavily im- about how to find engineering journals, that not everything on mersed in SLA-Illinois. the web is accurate and how do you validate it. Then, in 1996, I was nominated and won as Secretary of the There is also instruction on the electronic resources – every- SLA Illinois chapter. I was then elected President-Elect. I did thing is a maze. How do you get to a product? At the reference that for three years, and then right at the end of my presidency, desk we spend a lot of time simply trying to show the fastest I moved to the private engineering firm. After a year, they way – or least clicks needed -- to get to the information. asked me to run for the Chair of the Engineering division. I had my company’s support, and in 2001 and 2002, I was Chair of AW: How has technology enhanced the library or has it made the Engineering Committee. things more difficult? AW: What as involved at the division level? ST: I would hesitate to say more difficult, but different. The pros outweigh the cons. The faculty can get information at ST: At the division level, the main focus is conference program their desktop 24-7-365, and this outweighs any of the chal- planning. So, while I had a team of three, there was a lot of lenges I mentioned a few moments ago on clicking through. work to do, such as planning speakers, logistics of conference But, basically, it’s different. One obvious indicator: we’re not planning. SLA wants to know – do you need food? Can you buying toner for the photocopy machine anymore. But, the (Continued on page 12) Vol. 32 No. 3 SLA-SCC NEWS Page 12

(Continued from page 11) AW: Thanks so much, Sara. NEWSLETTER EDITOR:

ST: Oh, you’re welcome. Amy Wegener (Sara Tompson can be reached at [email protected].) 213-683-5669 [email protected]

The next SLA-SCC newsletter will be published on January 25, 2005. Feedback and comments on SCC- (Continued from page 7) SLA newsletters are welcome, and should be directed • How can I find out if a business name is being to the newsletter editor. Please send submissions for used in California? the December SLA-SCC newsletter to • Where can I obtain a tax or business license to [email protected] by no later than January 4, sell stuff on the Internet? • How do I start a charity? 2005. • Is there any information I can download that would assist me in starting a home based busi- SUBSCRIPTIONS: $10.00 per year ness? (7 issues) • What are the disadvantages and advantages of owning a franchise? SLA members can subscribe to the Southern Califor- • Where can I find a list of California adjudicated nia Chapter listserv by sending email to: newspapers for Fictitious Business Names? [email protected] with the following instructions in the message area: subscribe sla-csca Your Name. Finally, I identified and discussed a pathfinder -- business scripts – which I wrote to guide librarians, during the ref- To post to the list, subscribed members can send their erence interview. Here is a link to this document: www.247ref.org/business_pathfinder.cfm messages to [email protected]. Further informa- tion is available from [email protected] (Jeff Lambert, is a business reference librarian, for the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System (MCLS), lo- Special Libraries Association assumes no responsibil- cated in the Los Angeles Public Library. Jeff can be ity for the statements and opinions advanced by the reached at [email protected].) contributors to the Association’s publications. Edito- rial views do not necessarily represent the official po- sition of the Special Libraries Association. Accep- tance of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product by Special Libraries Association.

SLA JOBLINE ON THE WEB

http://www.sla.org/chapter/ csca/employ.htm

To place a listing on the JOBLINE please submit position information including salary range to: [email protected] Vol. 32 No. 3 SLA-SCC NEWS Page 13

2004-2005 Executive Board and Advisory Council

President: Jay Springer [email protected] 310-369-9476 [email protected] Newsletter Editor: Amy Wegener 213-683-5669 President Elect: Sue Brewsaugh [email protected] 714-229-7574 [email protected] Webmaster: Kathleen McElhinney 213-615-0242 Past President: Chris Lincoln [email protected] 310-336-6738 [email protected] Job Board: Richard Lindstrom 323-563-5832 Secretary: Ann Coppin [email protected] 818-354-6911 [email protected] Discussion List: Bill Lee 714 830 5819 Treasurer: David Cappoli [email protected] 310-794-5350 [email protected] Elections: Jean Crampon 213-740-4421 Membership at Large: Christian Gray [email protected] 310-234-2043 [email protected] Student Liaison UCLA: David Cappoli 310-794-5350 Publications: Alison Becker [email protected] 310-794-6757 [email protected] Student Liaison SJSU: Bally Dailey 714-750-4474 Archivist: Joyce Hardy [email protected] 310-336-4886 [email protected] Bylaws: Chris Lincoln 310-336-6738 Calendar: Mark Holmes [email protected] 310-369-2782 [email protected] Vendor Relations: Belinda Beardt 213-489-9800 Chapter Awards: Susan Hendrickson [email protected] 818-354-2883 [email protected] Sternheim Award: Alan Schroeder 818-677-4679 Sternheim Award Fundraiser: [email protected] Debbie Hartzman 805-447-7274 Professional Development: Richard Hulser [email protected] 805-447-7175 [email protected] Nominations: Jean Crampon [email protected] 213-740-4421