MINUTES
of the meeting of 7 March 2001
The Meeting was held at the Ambler Campus, Temple University, in Bright Hall and the Ambler Library, at 2:10 p.m. Carol Lang, President, presiding.
Welcomes to the Ambler Campus were given by Sandra Thompson (the Library) who introduced Dr. Patricia Bradley, Associate Dean, Ambler administration.
Business Meeting:
Minutes: There were no Minutes to review! New Librarian: Cathy Weng introduced Carla Davis Cunningham who started on February 19th as Copy Cataloging Coordinator in BSD, main campus (her background included Swarthmore and Drexel). University Librarian Report (Maureen Pastine):
She will soon (March 20-30) attend an academic publishing retreat in Italy with Lois Patton, Director of the University Press, where they will present a paper on the Press’ activities. She will then visit the Temple Rome campus and library.
Bottom Line, the journal concerned with finance of library activities, is expecting articles from her and Library staff concerning the procedures and costing concerns of the IMLS grant in which the system is currently involved.
She announced the approval of a second IMLS digitization grant, this time over $500,000.00; to begin after her return from Italy. She also announced that the attempt to acquire an NEH grant has fallen through, based on the poor performance by the Library and University on the 1986 NEH grant.
She noted the scheduling of the first meeting of the University Libraries/Temple University Press Executive Board (March 13th), at which Larry Kane, local CBS newscaster, will attend as a member. During the luncheon for the Board members Larry will hold a book-signing in the Tuttleman lobby for his new book published by the Temple University Press.
Other announcements and comments: the Staff Appreciation Day will be scheduled soon, the Libraries’ Strategic Plan needs updating (an annual job), the Technology Plan was finished and submitted, the University’s Major Capital Campaign is starting and the Library is submitting its needs and interests to the program, the Staff Council met yesterday in which salary problems were discussed and the national as well as local difficulties in hiring, a problem ALA is addressing with a task force.
Question from the membership: Have we or will we reach our goals for the first IMLS grant?
Answer: No, found that we overestimated and IMLS has approved our dropping our expected digitizing work to 35,000 (was 150,000).
Question: Update on Virtual Temple?
Answer (MP and P. Myers): There will be no Virtual Temple for now. Too many problems were identified and the proposal has been dropped for the time being.
Question: Can you tell us who is on the Executive Board?
Answer: I will soon have a list for you. However, I could still use additional names to invite to join since the Board will meet only once or twice a year and all cannot attend meetings and they can help without attending meetings.
Two-Millionth Volume Celebration: C. Lang described the planned ceremony day for the 2Mth volume —
Stats for the 2Mth do not include holdings of the Law Library nor the HSC
There is and will be full coverage of the day by Temple’s What’s New and The Temple Times, AND Channel 3 TV. New signs are going up in the Paley/Tuttleman lobbies.
The theme of the event will be “Philadelphia” – with the 2Mth volume being the latest best seller of the Temple University Press: Larry Kane’s Philadelphia, the 1,999,999th volume being a 1798 Philadelphia City Directory, and the 2,000,001st volume being a CD ROM “Naturalization Records: Philadelphia, 1789-1880”.
The two-hour book signing by Larry Kane, in which we hope everyone will attend and buy a book or two, will provide royalties which will be donated to the Library/Press fund-raising efforts.
The afternoon will find the 2Mth Ceremony in the Lecture Hall where the principal books will be presented and Larry Kane will talk.
Search Committee Updates:
Science Librarian – too early to comment on.
Administrative Services has submitted requests for three Librarians so we will be able shortly to act upon them: Systems, Government Docs/Maps, and Subject Specialist/Ref. Humanities.
Annmarie Heldt of Human Relations has acknowledged the problems with their web site that M. Pastine has pointed out to her: positions not found, data disappearing, etc. She noted that they had been using an outside consulting firm for their web work
Staff Recognition Award:
M. Darby noted that the deadline for award submission is Friday, 9th March, and the submissions will be reviewed next week. The Committee is desirous of more submissions and it is permissible to nominate more than one staff member.
Leaves of Gold Exhibition: M. Darby noted the major exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art: “Leaves of Gold. Treasures of Manuscript Illumination from Philadelphia Collections” which opens March 10th and runs through May 13th, 2001.
The exhibition is based on the work of retired Bryn Mawr Librarian James Tanis to locate and identify illuminated manuscripts in the collections of members of PACSCL, the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries. The majority of members will not be represented in the exhibition, but Temple University will be with one miniature painting from an administrative document. There will be a formal Museum catalogue of the exhibition, and a CD ROM produced.
AAL Documents-on-Line Proposal:
C. Weng initiated an open discussion of a proposal to place on the Web a limited number of documents and Minutes of the Assembly. A handout was distributed and discussion ensued over the contents of what is to be placed on the Web, the responsibility of entering and of updating the material, inter-linking the documents and a need for a task force to continue investigating the proposal.
The membership approved the proposal, several members agreed to work on the task force, all with the hope of accomplishing some placement on the web by August 2001.
Sandy Thompson proceeded with an historical presentation of Ambler, the origins and development of the educational site from its founding with two students in 1910 as the Horticultural School for Women through its fifty years as an independent school and its forty years as part of Temple University. The year-long celebrations at Ambler this year celebrating the 90 years since founding and the 40 years since its Temple connection heavily involve the graduates of the school. She reported on her and the campus committee’s work in the archives of the school and campus and explained the historical elements in the four panels hanging in Bright Hall prepared to graphically survey those years.
The meeting then continued in the Ambler Library where generous refreshments were served and the newly renovated library with its compact shelving was displayed for all to marvel at.
(Thanks are given to C. Weng for helping with the transportation logistics).
Tom Whitehead,
Recorder