New Series Vol. 4 No. 4
ContentsMinutes | | Proposed Constitution and By-Laws Change
Donald G. Davis Article Award
Liaison Reports | | LC History Projects | | Symposium on National Libraries
State Association News | | Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association
The History of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Call for Papers: SA Book Conference 2001
Prints & Labels: Copyrights Registered by the Patent Office, 1874-1940
Membership Promotion | | IFLA Open Session in Jerusalem in August
note: the paper "ALHRT: The First Quarter Century," originally published in
this issue, is located on the LHRT site under "History of LHRT."
LHRT Executive Committee Meeting
ALA Midwinter Meeting, San Antonio, Texas
1. Introductions
Chair Sibyl Moses called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. in the Riverview Room of the Marriott Riverwalk Hotel and distributed the agenda. Present: Hermine Anghelescu, Gary Colmenar, Margaret Dalton, Donald Davis, Jr., Robert Freeman, Julia Glynn (ALA staff), Toby Graham, Gerald Greenberg, David M. Hovde, Joyce Jelks, Christine Jenkins, Plummer Alston Jones, Jr., Melanie Kimball, Mary Jo Lynch (ALA staff), Mary Niles Maack, Sibyl E. Moses, Michael North, Jean Preer, Lee Shiflett, Steve Sowards, Pat Stenstrom, Andrew B. Wertheimer, Holly Willett, Michelle Cloonan.
2. All stood for a moment in silence in memory of Pamela Spence Richards
3. Approval of agenda
Steve Sowards moved the agenda be approved as distributed; David Hovde seconded. Agenda was approved by a show of hands.
4. Approval of the minutes of the June 27, 1999 meeting.
Andrew Wertheimer moved the minutes be approved as printed in the Fall 1999 newsletter;
David Hovde seconded. Motion carried.
5. Old Business
a. Membership Brochure. Andrew Wertheimer presented a draft of the text for the brochure for the Executive Committee's approval, noting that a brief text looks better. Sibyl Moses recommended that the missions of LHRT be included, and Don Davis observed that LHRT members receive a 20% discount on subscriptions to Libraries & Culture. There was discussion of the cover graphic, which will be the initials LHRT, and the kind of paper most appropriate. The application form will be printed in the brochure but was not included with the text presented to the Committee. Sibyl Moses requested that Andrew Wertheimer circulate the final text to the Committee so that the content can be approved by the end of March. David Hovde requested that brochures be ready by the end of April so that he can take them to the Popular Culture Association conference. Discussion ensued about other conferences and groups to which we could circulate the brochures. Mary Jo Lynch estimated the cost of the brochures at $25 to $50 at ALA. Andrew Wertheimer moved and Lee Shiflett seconded that the Committee allocate that amount for production of the brochures. The motion was approved.
Andrew Wertheimer suggested that he be given the names of people who have dropped their membership in LHRT so that he could contact them, noting that he had been dropped from LHRT's membership list accidentally. Mary Jo Lynch said that she receives information about those who have relinquished their memberships, but contacting them might not be worth the effort. Andrew Wertheimer could try it for a year and evaluate the result.
Other suggestions for promoting LHRT were discussed, principally advertising in American Libraries, which provides free space to divisions and round tables. An ad next to Wayne Wiegand's historical column might be particularly effective. The editor of American Libraries will not institute a column dedicated to the round tables. Gary Colmenar mentioned that he would be willing to represent LHRT at the New Members Round Table, and Andrew Wertheimer said that he would be in touch with Gary. He also recommended that LHRT alert the library press when we have something going on that merits attention, such as conference programs and the library history seminars. Sibyl Moses recommended ads or articles be placed in the ethnic round tables' newsletters and has sent e-mails to them.
The possibility that having the full-text of the newsletter on LHRT's Web page contributes to the decline in membership was discussed. The newsletter is the only concrete benefit other than the discount to Libraries & Culture. It seems that the newsletter editors decided to put the newsletter on the Web page, and Gerald Greenberg noted that the newsletter is received by members before it appears on the Web. David Hovde said he doubted that it was an issue. Andrew Wertheimer noted that students quickly drop division and round table memberships when they become professionals because the dues rise steeply.
b. Calendar for awards (20-30 years) as appendix to Handbook. Steve Sowards volunteered to create a 20-30 year calendar for the awards as a Web page. He will send the URL to the Executive Committee for their approval of the calendar.
6. New Business
a. Reports from Officers.
*Chair's report: Sibyl Moses reported that the theme for the Annual Conference 2000 program will be: Communities Build Libraries. The first choice for a speaker had a previous commitment. She has contacted a second person and has two other potential speakers to contact if necessary. The format for the program is: First hour is the keynote speaker, the next hour and a half will be a reactor panel. Lee Shiflett will co-chair the program. The chairs are considering avenues to promote the program. Mary Jo Lynch will fund the speaker from the budget her office receives each year for conference programs. The Executive Committee and members present expressed appreciation to Mary Jo for this contribution. Mary Niles Maack mentioned someone who could be a potential panel member for Sibyl Moses to consider.
The Chair noted that she has dealt with the administrative requirements of the LHRT; she has filled committee chairs and put in time slots so that they will know when they go on and off their committees. She created a focus for the newsletter on library history activities in the states and thanked the contributors. She sees local and state historical societies as another market for us. Gary Colmenar will try to present information on library history in the ethnic round tables.
*Secretary/Treasurer's Report: Holly Willett distributed the print out provided by Mary Jo Lynch of LHRT's account as of October 31, 1999. She noted that of the Fund Balance only $190 is truly available for spending. The rest of the fund balance represents the royalties donated by Wayne Wiegand for the Lectureship Endowment and other donations, including the $950 raised at the auction during Annual Conference 1999. We received donations from Wayne Wiegand and Jim Carmichael in November. In January 1999, the Executive Committee authorized moving sufficient money from our fund balance into the Winsor Endowment to meet ALA's $10,000 requirement to establish the endowment, which has now been created. In doing so, however, we did not contribute to the matching funds for the Lectureship Endowment, which had been recommended by the committee charged with devising a method to meet the matching requirements set by Wayne Wiegand. In the Revenue section, Holly Willett noted that the dues are applied in 12 monthly payments to the treasury by ALA, and Mary Jo Lynch observed this is a typical accounting method. Our actual current balance includes dues from November and December, representing an approximate doubling of the stated amounts. In discussing Expenditures, it was observed that Mary Jo Lynch had recommended that we regularly budget for equipment rentals for the Annual Conference program ($400). Mary Jo Lynch has paid the dues to the Freedom to Read foundation and the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History.
A question was raised about when the Library of Congress would need the $250 we budgeted for the Library History Seminar X, to be presented in October 2000, and when the University of Texas Press would need the $975 budgeted to help the Press produce the LHRT 50th anniversary volume. Don Davis reported that John Y. Cole would be happy to accept a lower amount if the LHRT were experiencing financial difficulties, and that the Center for the Book would fund the 50th Anniversary volume. The Executive Committee and members present expressed appreciation (and relief) for Mr. Cole's generosity.
Sibyl Moses and Holly Willett reported on their attendance at the Budget Analysis and Review Committee. Sibyl Moses spoke to BARC on the two models of creating endowments that we have used: Donations specifically for the endowment with contributions from the Round Table's regular budget (Winsor), and donations of royalties with the stipulation of matching the funds (Lectureship). She also expressed to BARC our concerns about the mixing of funds set aside for the endowment with our regular fund balance. It becomes confusing to know how much we can actually spend. One of the ALA financial staff present said that it was possible to create Special Projects lines in the budget to handle these monies, and Sibyl Moses has asked to have two Special Projects created, one for the royalties donated by Wayne Wiegand and the other for the matching funds.
Wayne has dropped the time limit on the matching funds, and we can establish the Lectureship Endowment when we reach $10,000 but will not be able to use any proceeds until we have made the match.
Steve Sowards reminded the Executive Committee that payment of the NCC dues could be shared with other units of ALA, such as ACRL and RUSA which have interests in library history. Don Davis recommended that ALA itself should really be the organization that makes the contribution to NCC, and Mary Jo Lynch suggested that Sibyl Moses write a letter to ALA to that effect. Steve Sowards will draft a letter for the Executive Committee to approve. Sibyl Moses will lobby the Washington Office on this issue.
* ALA Staff Liaison Report: Mary Jo Lynch presented background information on the printing of the LHRT certificates. She asked that we standardize the size and procedures of the certificates so that ALA Printing will be able to do them more easily. There was discussion about serif vs. sans serif fonts and whether the awards should have mixed fonts. Mary Niles Maack moved that we use a standard 8 ‡ X 11 inches for all award certificates. David Hovde seconded, and the motion carried. Andrew Wertheimer moved that the design of the awards be consistent and in a single font close to the design of the current Winsor certificate. Don Davis seconded, and the motion was approved.
As liaison to the ALA Standards Committee, Mary Jo Lynch is responsible for updating regularly the list of "ALA Standards and Guidelines" that is posted on the Web. The Standards Committee has asked that items more than 10 years old be deleted unless the responsible unit asks that they stay. LHRT's Statement on History in Library Education is now 10 years old. There was discussion that the need for the statement hasn't changed and that it is useful as a model of statements of its kind. Don Davis moved that we continue it, and Lee Shiflett and Mary Niles Maack seconded the motion, which was approved.
Elizabeth Cardman of the University of Illinois Library has sent proposals to ALA regarding the three-year contract with UI for maintaining the ALA Archives, which comes up for renewal at the end of this year. The level of funding from ALA for the archives hasn't changed in 25 years, and Ms. Cardman wants ALA to consider an increase. Melanie Kimball, a former staff member at the Archives, spoke on the value and usefulness of the archives to library historians. Mary Niles Maack moved that LHRT send a letter to ALA in support of Ms. Cardman's proposals, and David Hovde seconded. The motion was approved. Don Davis asked Mary Jo Lynch to let the LHRT Executive Committee and membership know if an avalanche of letters is needed to ALA.
Mary Jo Lynch recommended a change be made in the LHRT By-Laws regarding the term of the Secretary/Treasurer. A By-Laws change requires approval of the membership at a membership meeting. It was suggested that we hold the vote after the program at Annual Conference in Chicago; the By-Laws do not require a quorum for a vote. Mary Jo Lynch provided recent history on the difficulties produced by lack of continuity in the persons holding the position until Steve Sowards worked to clarify the situation. There was discussion about the level of complexity in the Treasurer's work with the endowments being established and the need for continuity in the position in order to train new Treasurers. Those nominated this year need to know what the commitment is if elected. Various proposals were made. Steve Sowards moved that we bring to the membership a rewrite of Article IV that would use the same terminology for the Secretary/Treasurer as for the Chairperson: The Secretary/Treasurer-elect would serve as Vice Secretary/Treasurer and the Past Secretary/Treasurer would continue serving on the Executive Committee. Robert Freeman and Mary Niles Maack seconded the motion, which was approved.
*Reports from Members of the Board: Lee Shiflett and Holly Willett attended the Planning and Budget Assembly meeting on January 15, 2000.
b. Reports from Committee Chairs and Liaisons
*Nominating Committee: Steve Sowards reported that Robert Freeman has agreed to run for the Member-at-Large vacancy. Melanie Kimball accepted nomination to run against him. Andrew Wertheimer accepted nomination to run for Secretary/Treasurer and Toby Graham accepted nomination to run for Chair. Other names are needed to complete the slates for Secretary/Treasurer and Chair. David Hovde recommended that Steve Sowards contact previous Members-at-Large for potential candidates.
*Research Committee: Gary Colmenar reported that the committee needs to discuss criteria for the awards. The committee has selected the Davis winner and will continue working on the Gleason; they have questions about procedures for the awards. The committee chair was not present, so the Davis Award winner was not announced.
*Library History Seminar X: Donald Davis directed the Executive Committee to page 8 of the Fall 1999 newsletter.
*Library Research Seminar II: Mary Niles Maack was to attend the meeting being held later on January 16, 2000 to plan Library Research Seminar II, which will be held at the University of Maryland in 2001. The theme is: Partners and Connections: Research and Practice. The issues in the Call for Papers include: Balance between electronic and other collections, research and practice, and electronic technicians. The history of technology and past technological adoptions is not included in the current call's language, but may be added to the list of methods. LHRT is included in the list of sponsors--we have agreed to give LRRT $250 towards support of the Library Research Seminar II. The Call for Papers should be reported in the LHRT newsletter so that our members know they are invited to propose papers and panels. This information needs to be sent to Gerald Greenberg by March 1, 2000 in order to be put in the Spring newsletter. Sibyl Moses has asked LRRT to co-sponsor our Annual Conference research program.
*International Federation of Library Associations: Don Davis, chair of the IFLA Library History Round Table, reported that the IFLA LHRT will present a program in Jerusalem in August 2000 on the Tuesday of the week that IFLA is meeting. Themes of the conference include Judaica Around the World and the contributions of the three monotheistic religions to books and library history.
c. H-LIS Request for Additional Editors and a Book Review Editor: Cheryl Knott Malone sent e-mail to Sibyl Moses requesting help for H-LIS. Volunteers or nominations are needed for at least 2 individuals for both positions. Andrew Wertheimer said he would consider volunteering; Melanie Kimball said she would discuss the possibility of volunteering with Cheryl Knott Malone.
d. Other New Business:
*Lee Shiflett suggested that we hold another auction at the 2001 conference in San Francisco. We raised $950 at New Orleans without a lot of effort, and perhaps we could be even more successful with a longer lead time. We need to appoint a local arrangements committee, start placing ads, find a willing book shop, and get the information in the conference program. The auctioneer lives in California and might be willing to make a second appearance. Lee Shiflett moved that the Executive Committee endorse the idea of sponsoring a book auction at the San Francisco ALA Conference for the purpose of raising funds for the Lectureship Endowment. Don Davis seconded and the motion carried with a show of hands. Sibyl Moses requested that Lee Shiflett and Al Plummer, as members-at-large contact Michele and Sid Cloonan.
*It was suggested that we continue to encourage Ed Holley to contact Fred Kilgour to match Wayne Wiegand's royalties to complete the Lectureship Endowment.
*Hermine Anghelescu proposed that an award be created in Pam Richards's memory for research into European libraries during the Cold War. There are still many documents surfacing and many archives that are still closed. Don Davis suggested extending the proposed award to international and comparative librarianship. Hermine Anghelescu will write a proposal to present to the Executive Committee at the June meeting. *Pat Stenstrom presented a proposal via Mary Jo Lynch that the LHRT continue her work on creating a directory of research resources in LIS to be mounted on the Web. Pat has retired and is unable to continue the work; it would be unfortunate for her efforts and those of her predecessors to be lost. The materials would be of use to students and researchers, and for distance education. The Executive Committee agreed to discuss this at the June meeting.
e. Calendar for awards (20-30 years) as appendix to Handbook. Steve Sowards volunteered to create a 20-30 year calendar for the awards as a Web page. He will send the URL to the Executive Committee for their approval of the calendar.
7. Announcements
Gary Colmenar announced that two small presses would be presenting at a meeting of the Ethnic Caucus network this afternoon at 2 p.m. He noted that he has an interest in maintaining the archives of the ethnic caucuses. He is the archivist for the Asian and Pacific American Library Association (APALA); APALA's archives are at the ALA Archives. Reforma's archives are at the University of California-San Diego and Satia Orange maintains the Black caucus's archives. It can be difficult to keep up the archives because people are not always willing to give up their records.
It was announced the that dates are correct for the Call for Papers in the Fall newsletter. March 1, 2000 is the due date for all information for the Spring 2000 newsletter.
Don Davis passed out brochures for Libraries & Culture.
Gerald Greenberg thanked those who expedited the production of the last newsletter; particular thanks were given to Elizabeth Stone.
The budget for FY 2000-20001 is due February 22, 2000. Sibyl Moses, Holly Willett, and Mary Jo Lynch will work on this and present it to the Board via e-mail.
8. The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m., with general appreciation to Sibyl Moses for running an efficient and expedited meeting.
Proposed Constitution and By-Laws Change
At Midwinter, the Executive Committee and members present discussed the need for greater continuity in the position of Secretary-Treasurer. A motion was approved that the membership be asked to vote on changes to the LHRT constitution and by-laws that would create a Secretary-Treasurer-elect to serve as Vice Secretary-Treasurer and permit the past Secretary-Treasurer to remain on the Executive Board. Voting will take place at Annual Conference in July. The changes are as follows. The underlined text is what will be added and the text in brackets [ ] is being removed, if the measure passes.
LHRT Constitution:
Article IV. Officers
Section 1. The officers of this organization shall be a Chairperson, a Chairperson-elect who shall serve as Vice-Chairperson, a Secretary-Treasurer, a Secretary-Treasurer-elect who shall serve as Vice Secretary-Treasurer, and two Members at Large all of whom shall be personal members in good standing of the Library History Round Table.
Section 2. The term of office for the Chairperson, Chairperson-elect, [and] Secretary-Treasurer, and Secretary-Treasurer-elect shall be one year. The term of office for the Members-at-Large shall be two years, the terms being staggered so that one New Member-at-Large is elected each year. Persons shall be eligible for reelection only after a minimum interval of one year out of office.
Section 3. The Round Table shall be governed by an Executive Committee comprising the Officers plus the immediate past-Chairperson and the immediate past Secretary-Treasurer.
LHRT By-Laws:
Article IV. Duties of Officers
Section 4. The Secretary-Treasurer-elect shall assume the responsibilities and perform the duties of Secretary-Treasurer in the event of absence, death, disability, or resignation of the Secretary-Treasurer and shall serve as Secretary-Treasurer in the year following his or her term as Secretary-Treasurer-elect.
Note: The former section 4 (concerning members at large) becomes section 5 and the former section 5 (concerning library history seminar) becomes section 6.
Report on Donald G. Davis Article Award
by Mark Tucker
Chair, LHRT Research Committee, 1998-2000
Introduction
With Mary Jo Lynch, ALA Liaison to LHRT preparing the paperwork, the Round Table was given ALA approval to create the Donald G. Davis Article Award. When the Executive Committee met Sunday 27 June 1999 in New Orleans, the responsibility for implementing the Davis Award was assigned to the Research Committee. This constitutes a brief report on the initial work of the Research Committee in making the first Davis Award. The purpose of the Award is to recognize the contributions of Professor Donald G. Davis, Jr. of the University of Texas for ìadvising many notable Ph.D. dissertations, compiling important bibliographies, co-editing The Encyclopedia of Library History, authoring numerous historical articles, but most especially editing Libraries & Culture and its forerunner.
Procedures
The process began with entries chosen ìfrom a group submitted for consideration by the author of the LHRT Newsletter's library history bibliography and the author of the Libraries & Culture biennial literature survey. These individuals are currently one and the same, Edward A. Goedeken, Humanities Bibliographer at Iowa State University. Since entries for each biennial award would have been published between 1 January and 31 December of the two years preceding the award year, and the Committee wanted to begin its work in the fall of 1999, the years chosen for consideration were articles issued with publication dates of 1997 and 1998. Goedeken reviewed the literature and produced a short list of the nominees all of which appeared in 1997 or 1998 in either Advances in Librarianship, Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, Libraries & Culture, Library Quarterly, Library Trends, or Studies in Bibliography and Booklore.
Criteria
The Award is intended to be the best article written in English in the field of United States and Canadian library history. Criteria for the Award, as specified the in the LHRT proposal to ALA, are as follows: quality of scholarship, clarity of style, depth of research, and ability to place research findings in broad social, cultural, and political context.
Winner for 1997-98
Committee members read the essays and cast ballots, three votes for their top choice, two for their second, and one for their third. The article receiving the most votes was declared winner. Members chose an article by Louise Robbins, "Fighting McCarthyism Through Film: A Library Censorship Case Becomes A Storm Center," Journal of Library and Information Science Education 39 (Fall 1998): 291-311. This essay makes effective use of numerous documentary sources involved in the making of the movie, "Storm Center," concerning the firing of Ruth Brown, Bartlesville, OK public librarian during the McCarthy era of anti-Communist hysteria.
Research Committee
Gary Colmenar, UC Santa Barbara
Ed Goedeken, Iowa State
Marilyn Martin, Rowan University
Jean L. Preer, Catholic University of America
Steve Sowards, Michigan State
Mark Tucker, Chair, Purdue University
Arthur P. Young, Northern Illinois
Liaison Reports
National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCC)
Submitted by Steven Sowards
NCC, a Washington-based public interest group that tracks library- and history-related federal government activities, has reported on the following issues of interest during the last six months.
1) The federal appropriations process for FY2000 budgets concluded in November 1999. As usual, this process saw substantial debate about funding for library-related bodies. Most agencies received increases, including the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Institute for Library and Museum Services, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Smithsonian, and the Historic Preservation Fund. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and Save America's Treasures remained at FY99 funding levels.
2) With his State of the Union address in January 2000, President Clinton released the FY2001 federal budget. While the content will undergo substantial changes, the initial version calls for increased funds for the NEH (which is still recovering from large cuts in FY1996) and the National Archives, among others. The Library of Congress is seeking more money for digital library projects.
3) Dr. Page Putnam Miller, the Executive Director of NCC for the last nineteen years, will step down in the summer of 2000 to become a Distinguished Visiting Professor of History at the University of South Carolina.
4) Meanwhile, the NCC Executive Committee issued an appeal for special contributions. Present contributions from NCC's 59 member organizations -- including ALA-LHRT as well as larger groups like AHA and OAH ñ are not expected to cover the costs of a search and transition to a new director.
5) Apropos of item #4: As the long-time liaison between NCC and LHRT, I believe this is an opportune time for ALA-LHRT to review its role as ALA's sole contributor to NCC. As NCC dues have risen with inflation, the amount has become a major charge on the LHRT budget. At the same time, the amount that LHRT can afford to contribute to NCC on behalf of ALA is very small, compared to funding from groups like AHA. NCC tracks matters that have implications for libraries, far beyond issues of interest only to library historians: it would be appropriate for ALA as a whole to consider a higher funding level. LHRT could approach other units of ALA, for the good of everyone involved: NCC, ALA and LHRT.
NCC 'Washington Updates' are online at http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~ncc/ .
The Association for the Bibliography of History
Submitted by Ken Potts
The Association for the Bibliography of History (ABH) recently sponsored two roundtable panel discussions at the American Historical Association (AHA) Annual Meeting that convened in Chicago, January 6-9, 2000. The ABH is an affiliate group to the AHA and traditionally offers 1-2 sessions at the AHA conference each year. Membership in the ABH is open to historians, bibliographers, librarians, archivists, and anyone interested in the skills, tools, and methods of history bibliography. ABH-AHA sessions often focus on topics of mutual interest to historians and bibliographers, such as the organization and use of historical collections in libraries and archives and associated methods of scholarly communication involving history bibliography.
The opening ABH session, chaired by Jim Niessen, current ABH President, treated the topic, "Book Selection for History Collections: Who Develops the Collection?" This session came about as a spin-off of a discussion-thread on the H-HistBibl list about bibliography and libraries. The panel addressed the vexing question of who should be doing the selection and why, and what criteria for selection are employed by librarians, or by classroom faculty? Panel contributors included Donald Altschiller (Boston U), Bryan Skib (U of Mich), Keir Sterling (US Army, Fort Lee), Sara Tucker (Washburn), and Hope Yelich (College of William & Mary).
Session 2, chaired by Charles D'Aniello, ABH Executive Sec'y, offered an enlightening and spirited discussion titled "Careers in Librarianship: What's in it for Historians?" This panel offered insights into the interesting phenomenon of the influx of historians in into various lines of library work. Panel members examined from varying angles why historians gravitate to librarianship, what special skills and values historians bring to the library, the necessity (or non-necessity) of the MLS, and why history graduate advisors might recommend librarianship as a viable path for their students. Panel members included Debra Gold (San Jose State), John Jentz (Marquette U), Kathleen A. Jonak (SUNY Buffalo), Harriet Lightman (Northwestern), and Marilyn H. Pettit (St. Johns).
LC History Projects in the LC Bicentennial Commemoration
by John Y. Cole, Center for the Book, Library of Congress
In addition to hosting Library History Seminar X on October 23-26 (see separate article), during its Bicentennial year of 2000 the Library of Congress (LC) is sponsoring several other projects of interest to library historians.
Josephus Nelson of the Manuscript Division is recording interviews with selected LC retirees as part of "Library Voices: A Bicentennial Oral History Project." The new tapes supplement interviews made with LC employees during the administration of Librarian of Congress Luther H. Evans (1945-1953). Thus far those interviewed have included administrators and subject specialists from the Evans era through the administration of the current Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington (1987-) The list includes Henriette Avram, the "inventor" of MARC, who was at LC from 1965-1992; William J. Welsh, longtime head of the Processing Department and Deputy Librarian, 1976-1987; and John C. Broderick, who greatly strengthened LC's American literature collections during his career at LC from 1964-1988.
Four historically-based books, all published in cooperation with the Library of Congress, are appearing in 2000: America's Library: The Story of the Library of Congress 1800-2000 (Yale University Press, $39.95); a new guidebook, The Nation's Library: The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Scala Publishers, $16.95); The Library of Congress: Architectural Alphabet (Pomegranate, $17.95); and Thomas Jefferson: Genius of Liberty (Viking, $35.00), a companion volume to the Library's major Bicentennial exhibit. A one-volume, mostly historical reference work, "Encyclopedia of the Library of Congress," will be published in 2001.
The April/May issue of Civilization: The Magazine of the Library of Congress, which now has a circulation base of 250,000 subscribers, featured the Library's Bicentennial. "The Pursuit of Knowledge in an Age of Information" is the issue's theme, and it contains several short articles about aspects of the Library's history. Finally, a series of monthly articles during the Bicentennial year by this writer serve LC history up in capsule form. They are appearing in a publication with a much more modest readership: the LC Information Bulletin, which has a circulation of 15,000.
Symposium on National Libraries to be Held on Oct. 23-26, 2000
by John Y. Cole
LHRT and Libraries & Culture are among the sponsors of a major Library of Congress Bicentennial symposium that also has been designated Library History Symposium X. "National Libraries of the World: Interpreting the Past, Shaping the Future," is a four-day symposium that combines historical perspectives about libraries (or "library history") with contemporary and future issues facing libraries. The emphasis is on national libraries and large research libraries. The first day, Oct. 23, is dedicated to exploring the state of the art of library history in the year 2000. Library historians and scholars from several countries will offer comments and updates. A highlight will be the celebration of the publication of the hard bound volume of Library History Research in America: Essays Commemorating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Library History Round Table. The publication of this text of the Winter 2000 issue of Libraries & Culture is sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The second day, Oct. 24, will feature presentations concerned with the history and the future of national libraries and other large research libraries. The sessions on Oct. 25 and 26 will emphasize discussion by national librarians from throughout the world about current and future issues facing their institutions. The program is open to the public. Please contact me for additional information.
News About Library History in the State Associations
Library History News in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Mountain Plains Library Associations
Contributed by Susan Dingle.
In the northern plains, library history at the state-association level is mostly trying to keep track of records of the state library association officers and committees that seem to have a long-term historical value. Not much publishing going on, except for special anniversaries.
The Mountain Plains Library Association published some historical reminiscences of the beginnings of the association in the post-WWII years in the MPLA newsletter a couple of years ago. website: http://www.usd.edu/mpla/
Susan Dingle currently is archivist [analogous position to the "historian" position in other associations] for North Dakota Library Association, sdingle@state.nd.us; the Executive Secretary of NDLA is Kathy Waldera, PO Box 1595, Bismarck ND 58502-1595. The archives of NDLA are stored at the State Historical Society of North Dakota, 612 E Boulevard AV, Bismarck ND 58505-0830, phone: 701/328-2091. Website available as a link from the North Dakota State Library website: http://ndsl.lib.state.nd.us [Note: _No_ www in this web address] The State Historical Society of North Dakota (SHSND) currently is not part of a regional online catalog, though its holdings are searchable on OCLC and its archival holdings are searchable on NUCMC http://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/ SHSND is slated to put up its holdings on the regional catalog, ODIN (also searchable through a link from the North Dakota State Library home page) within the next 2-3 years. NDLA began in 1906 and is starting to plan for its centennial conference in Fargo, ND in 2006.
South Dakota Library Association's Historian is Amy Cooper, University of South Dakota, Vermillion SD alcooper@usd.edu website: http://www.usd.edu/sdla/
Mountain Plains Library Association (MPLA)'s Historian is Roann Masterson, University of Mary, 7500 University DR, Bismarck ND 58504, phone: 701/255-7500 x447, 800/408-6279 x447m email: r.masterson@mail.cdln.lib.nd.us
George Cook, President of the History and Preservation Section of the New Jersey Library Association reports that the Section will sponsor a program on Wednesday, April 26, 2000, at the NJLA annual conference in East Brunswick. The session is entitled "Documenting New Jersey's Multicultural Populations". Dr. Larry Greene and Dr. David Abalos will explore the diverse changing populations in New Jersey today and offer some ideas on how libraries can collect information to help document these new communities. Dr. Greene is Professor of History, chair of the Multicultural Program and acting chair of the African American Studies Department; Dr. Abalos is a professor in the Department of Religion.
The Ohio Library Council reports that Mary Ellen Armentrout, currently Librarian at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, is completing a four-year project that photographically documents 115 Carnegie libraries in the state. This endeavor, supported financially by the George and Midred White Fund of Otterbein College and the Academic Library Association of Ohio, will be published in book form by the University of Akron Press in 2001. Each photograph will be accompanied by a brief history and description of the library. A traveling exhibition of the photographs is also planned. Viewing will be free of charge.
(Submitted by Gerald Greenberg)
The Library Company of Philadelphia acquired Michael Zinman's collection of early American printed matter at the end of February. The 9,000+ titles, which include books, pamphlets, magazines, broadsides, writs, notices, posters, and contracts produced before the beginning of the 19th century, nearly double the Library Company's holdings in the field. Only the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester, MA, now owns a larger collection of such materials. Mr. Zinman is a New York businessman who has focused his collecting on 17th and 18th century American imprints since the early 1980's. A very determined collector, Mr. Zinman amassed duplicates and ephemera, important for historical research, as well as single items of great monetary value. The items were acquired as a gift-purchased; the Library Company raised $5 million of the $8 million price and Mr. Zinman donated the rest. (This information comes from the Philadelphia Inquirer of March 5, 2000).
North Carolina, news submitted by Plummer Alston Jones, Jr. On March 1-2, 2000, a leadership conference on Access to Special Collections was held at the Radisson Hotel in High Point. The conference was sponsored by the State Library of North Carolina and planned by a work group chaired by David Perriero, Duke University Librarian. The work group consists of fourteen people from various colleges and universities, public libraries, school libraries, historic sites, museums, and notably the North Carolina Department of Archives and History.
Attendees participated in discussions led by librarians from Colorado, Virginia, and California. They shared what they were doing with regard to the digitalization of special collections in their respective states. Kate Nevins from SOLINET (Sourtheastern Library Netowork) gave a regional perspective on the issue. The attendance was limited to approximately 100 leaders who would have a part in the development of statewide plans for the digitalization effort. The vision is to have access via the Internet to North Carolina's special collections.
Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association
HISTORY AND PURPOSE
About APALA
Founded in 1980, the Asian/Pacific Librarians Association (APALA) was incorporated in Illinois in 1981 and formally affiliated with the American Library Association (ALA) in 1982. A predecessor of APALA, the Asian American Librarians Caucus (AALC), was organized in 1975 as a discussion group of the ALA Office for Library Outreach Services reflecting the interest in library services to minority communities and professional support of librarians of minority ancestry that prevailed in the ALA in the 1960s and 70s. APALA and AALC before it, were organized/founded by librarians of diverse Asian/Pacific ancestries committed to working together toward a common goal: to create an organization that would address the needs of Asian/Pacific American librarians and those who serve Asian/Pacific American communities.
The purpose of APALA is:
* To provide a forum for discussing problems of APA librarians.
* To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas by APA librarians with other librarians.
* To support and encourage library services to APA communities.
* To recruit and mentor APA librarians in the library/information science professions.
* To seek funding for scholarships in library/information science masters programs for APAs.
* To provide a vehicle whereby APA librarians can cooperate with other associations and organizations having similar or allied interests.
The History of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries:
An Overview of Recent and Continuing Activities By Nancy E. Gwinn
The history of the library at the Smithsonian starts with the Institutionís founding in 1846, when some of the strongest voices in Congress wanted James Smithsonís bequest to establish a great National Library. Those proponents made sure that the Smithsonian was given status as a copyright depository, along with the Library of Congress, and that one of the leading librarians of the day, Charles Coffin Jewett, was hired as the second administrator in the Institution. The story of Jewettís eventual downfall, the 1865 fire in the Smithsonian Building which revealed that it wasnít fireproof, and the move of the Smithsonian library to the Library of Congress as the Smithsonian Deposit, has been written about extensively. Michael Harris and Joseph A. Borome are two library historians who have covered the early years.
Much is also known about the history of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, which was created by Secretary S. Dillon Ripley in the late 1960s under a single Director of Libraries, to create a modern library system with consistent policies, procedures, and budget control. But there is a great gap in detailed knowledge about library service to the institution in the 100 or so years in between.
A few people on the Smithsonian Libraries staff have taken an interest in facets of the SI Librariesí history. Tim Carr, branch librarian in SILís National Postal Museum Branch Library, has done some work on Leila F. Clark, who was the Smithsonianís librarian during the Second World War. Among other things, she superintended the removal for safety from Washington, D.C., of the most valuable library collections, which were housed at Washington and Lee University along with collections from the Library of Congress. Leslie Overstreet has done some work on Charles Coffin Jewettís scheme for creating a union catalog of library holdings throughout the U.S. She did a small exhibition called ìFrom Mud to MARCî some years ago and is now contemplating reworking it for presentation online. Two librarians in the National Museum of Natural History did an excellent article about the history of our natural history collections and organization, which is among the references listed at the end.
Nancy E. Gwinnís dissertation, completed in 1995, was on the origin and development of international publication exchange programs in the nineteenth century, a story that involved the Smithsonian to a great extent. She covered the early history of the Smithsonian Library there up to the 1880s and has also written an article. Now, however, as time permits, Nancy E. Gwinn has begun to research that 100-year period mentioned earlier. John Y. Cole, who is the unofficial historian of the Library of Congress, and Nancy E. Gwinn have presented several times a slide presentation about the intertwining of the fates of the two institutions in the nineteenth century and the debate over national culture.
There are extensive records in the Smithsonian Institution Archives relating to the history of library service in the Institution, but they are scattered in many record groups. The Joseph Henry Papers, a unit of the Archives, maintains a database of all known correspondence relating to Henry, who was the institutionís first Secretary, and that is a great source for the early history. We havenít uncovered any extensive holdings of personal papers of the institutionís librarians in the SI Archives, but that doesnít mean they arenít there.
There is an oral history conducted with Jean Chandler Smith, who served as Acting Director for two periods. UCLA has done an oral history with Russell Shank , the first person to hold the title of Director of Libraries at the Smithsonian, which covers his whole career. The Smithsonian Archives has announced that it will be producing a web site (opening date unknown) containing documents relating to Smithsonian history from 1835 to the present. No doubt some of those will relate to SIL.
Reading list:
The Books of the Fairs: Materials About Worldís Fairs, 1834-1916, in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Smithsonian Institution Libraries Research Guide, vol. 6. Chicago: American Library Association, 1992.
Borome, Joseph A., Charles Coffin Jewett. Boston: Gregg Press, 1972.
Churgin, Sylvia, and Ruth Schallert., ìHistory of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, with Special Emphasis on the Natural History,î Journal of the Society of Bibliography of Natural History 9 (1980): 593-606.
Conaway, James, The Smithsonian: 150 Years of Adventure, Discovery, and Wonder. New York: Knopf, 1995.
Gwinn, Nancy E., The Origin and Development of International Publications Exchange in Nineteenth-Century America, Ph.D. diss. Ann Arbor, Mi.: UMI, 1996.
Gwinn, Nancy E., The Smithsonian Institution Libraries: Afoot in Three Camps, College and Research Libraries 50 (1989): 206-14.
Heralds of Science as represented by two hundred epochal books and pamphlets in the Dibner Library, Smithsonian Institution. 25th anniversary ed., rev. Burndy Library Publication, no. 34. Dibner Library Publication, no. 2. Norwalk, Conn.: Burndy Library, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1980.
Jackson, Allyn. ìMathematical Treasures of the Smithsonian Institution.î Notices of the American Mathematical Society 46, no. 5 (1999): 528-534.
Jewett, Charles C., The Age of Jewett: Charles Coffin Jewett and American Librarianship, 1841-1868. Edited by Michael H. Harris. Littleton, Col.: Libraries Unlimited, 1975.
Manuscripts of the Dibner Collection in the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Libraries, 1985.
Petroski, Henry. ìFrom Connections to Collections.î American Scientist 86 (1998): 416-420
Washburn, Wilcomb E., ìJoseph Henryís Conception of the Purpose of the Smithsonian Institution,î in A Cabinet of Curiosities: Five Episodes in the Evolution of American Museums, Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1967.
Call for Papers: SA Book Conference 2001
Colonial and Post-Colonial Cultures of the Book
6-8 August 2001
An international conference to be held at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.
The conference will address a wide range of questions relating to 'the history of the book' in colonial and post-colonial contexts, with a special emphasis on Southern Africa. Relevant topics include: national and international communities of letters; censorship; the history of reading and reading theories; reviewing and criticism; authorship; sociologies of the text; text and image; media history; the cultures of collecting; library history; literacy; oral cultures; orality and print; printing and publishing history; the marketing and distribution of books; the electronic text; and the future of the book. The keynote speaker will be Professor Robert Darnton, Princeton University.
Please send abstracts (500 words maximum) by 1 December 2000 to Professor John Gouws, Department of English, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa; or, ideally, by email to j.gouws@ru.ac.za. A preliminary program should be announced by 31 January 2001. Conference invitations will be sent to representatives from various presses, including Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Longman, and Blackwells. The organizers plan to publish papers in a volume intended to promote the study of book history in Southern Africa.
Peter McDonald
St Hugh's College
Oxford, OX2 6LE
United Kingdom
email: peter.mcdonald@english.oxford.ac.uk
Prints and Labels: Copyrights Registered by the Patent Office, 1874-1940
Michael White, Librarian
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
The Label Act of 1874 transferred responsibility for registering commercial labels, i.e. labels affixed to goods, from the Library of Congress to the Patent Office. Although labels had been registered under copyright law since the 1830s, the Librarian of Congress, A. R. Spofford, argued that labels were mere "triflings" not worthy of copyright protection but related to patents and trademarks. The increase in label registrations in the early 1870s also strained the Library's limited resources. Although labels bore similarities to design patents and trademarks, the vagueness of the statute forced the Patent Office to create distinct rules and procedures for their registration. Labels gradually evolved into a hybrid form of intellectual property bearing characteristics of trademarks, design patents and copyrights. It was a compromise that confused and frustrated the public, business owners and legal professionals alike. In July 1909, the Patent Office unilaterally ceased print and label registrations based on its understanding of the Copyright Act of 1909. However, the U.S. Attorney General quickly overturned this decision and registration resumed. In the 1930s, a series of congressional hearings and bills generated support for the transfer of print and label registrations back to the Library of Congress. This was finally accomplished by the Print and Label Act of 1939. From 1874 to 1940 the Patent Office registered approximately 60,000 labels and 20,000 prints. The Library of Congress held all Patent Office print and label files until 1984 when it transferred the collection to the Harper's Ferry Center (HFC), a unit of the National Park Service located in Charlestown, West Virginia. HFC intended to use the labels in museum displays. In October 1999, HFC concluded that it could not properly maintain the collection and decided to donate it to another institution. In February 2000, the National Archives and Records Administration, which houses the historical files of the Patent and Trademark Office at its campus in College Park, Maryland, agreed to accept the collection, which will be transferred in late April.
Membership Promotion
At midwinter, Andrew Wertheimer (chair) distributed the draft text of our membership recruitment pamphlet which will be sent to potential members. He asked for responses from the board. He received two suggestions and will shortly draft a pamphlet on pagemaker to send to ALA.
Mary Jo Lynch also passed on information on how LHRT could send free advertizing (filler space) to American Libraries. We need several months lead-time for such an advert and there is no guarantee, but this is an excellent possibility to promote roundtable events.
If you have more suggestions, please contact Andrew Wertheimer (andreww@unllib.unl.edu) 402-472-6987.
IFLA Open Session in Jerusalem in August
Don Davis sends a report about the following session at IFLA Program title: History of Books and Libraries in the Three Great Religions of the Book, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The three speakers will be Stefan Reif, Cambridge University Library, who will speak on the ìCairo Genizah,î Mark Tucker, who will speak on ìChristianityís Influence on Libraries,î and Dr. Mohamed Taher, Library Historian and currently Information Scientist, King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, who will speak on the "Islamic Contribution to the Development of Books and Libraries: History and Historiographical Perspectives."
Don Davis also shares information he has concerning the August 17, 2000 Workshop at the IFLA meeting sponsored in association with the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL, USA), Judaica Librarians* Group (Israel), Hebraica Libraries Group (HLG, UK). The overall session is entitled: ìHistorical Threads of Judaica and Hebraica Librarianshipî
Session I: How to Find the Jewel in the Crown: Judaica Cataloging & Classification
David Elazar, "Development of a Classification Scheme"
Miriam Harush, (JNUL)-- "The Importance of Broadsides as Historical Sources and Difficulties Incurred in Their Cataloging"
Gita Hoffman, (Bar-Ilan)ñìBar Ilan's Hebrew Subject Headings: and update."
Session II: The Written word: Manuscripts and Archives
Dr Roger Kohn, (Oberlin College, OH)-- "Recent Trends in Describing Hebrew Manuscripts"
Yael Okun, (JNUL)--"Reconstructing the Contents of a Medieval Institute for Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscript Collection"
Silke Schaeper, (JNUL)ñìGuide of the Perplexed: Survey of the History and Holdings of the JNUL Dept. of Mss.& Archivesî
Dr Silvia Shenkolweski, (Bar Ilan)-- "The Place of Libraries in the Historic Department of Archives"
Session III: Who, where and when? Special types of Judaica Reference Materials
Avraham Greenbaum, (Hebrew University)--"A Look at Rabbinic Biographical Dictionaries."
Prof. Bella Hass Weinberg, (St John*s University, NY)-- "Who Invented the Index? An Agenda for Research on Information Access Features of Hebrew and Latin Manuscripts"
Session IV: Special Interest Collections
Harriet Kasow, (Hebrew University)--"Developing a Genealogy Library" Ulf Haxen, (Royal Library, Copenhagen)--"Challenges Facing the Simonseniana Collection: Priorities and Strategies for Network Communication and Cooperation"
Ann Masnik, (U. Maryland)--"Judaica Collections in Washington, DC"
Session V: Bibliographic Milestones: the old & new
Tamar Leiter (JNUL)--"The Friedberg Genizah Project" Chaim Seymour (Bar-Ilan)ñìPublishing and the Jewish Ultra Orthodox" Dr Barry Walfish (U. Toronto)--"The Hovevei Zion Tribute Album Presented to Mosesv Montefiore on his 100th Birthday"
EDITORS
Ed Goedeken
Iowa State University
edgoed@iastate.edu
Gerald S. Greenberg
The Ohio State University
greenberg.3@osu.edu
Technical Advisor
Mel Pepper
03/2003
jkingsolver@earthlink.net