Inside this issue...

Thoughts from the WAAL Chair

Thanks to all of you who took time to complete the survey. The WAAL Board is very eager to review the results. Your ideas assist us greatly as we plan for the future of the organization.

If you would like to hear some of the results of the survey along with reports from all the WAAL Board officers, please join us at the WAAL Business meeting in the Illinois Room at the Radisson Hotel at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, October 26 during the WLA conference in La Crosse. WAAL is sponsoring and co-sponsoring a wide range of programs this year including The College Library at the turn of the (20th) Century, Gaming: What It Means for Information Literacy, and The Water is Wide: Training Catalogers and Leading to Excellence, an “interactive session for supervisors and managers, and those who are considering moving into these roles.” Again, I owe many thanks to Jo Ann Carr for all her work getting these programs arranged.

As this is my last issue as WAAL Chair, I need to take a moment to thank all the people that have made this a successful year. I, of course, need to thank the members of the WAAL Board for all their hard work and for their occasional assistance with parliamentary procedure. I think I may have it now. My thanks to WAAL Webmaster and co-newsletter editor Karen Dunn for keeping the Website in shape and the WAAL information flowing. Thanks also to Marlys Brunsting the other half of the dynamic newsletter crew. My thanks to the WLA office staff for making what needed to be done so much easier. Last, but not least, my thanks to all of you, the members, for making this such a memorable year.

Information Literacy in the Real World...

And now, the feature presentation…

--Jill Markgraf, McIntyre Library, UW-Eau Claire

“We’re going to be late!” exclaims my daughter as we dash out the door on our way to the Saturday matinee of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. “Don’t worry,” I reply calmly. “The first 20 minutes are just advertisements and previews.” “But I like those!” she responds.

She likes them? Sure enough, she likes them and she remembers them. She sings the jingles. She recites the dialogue. She has a somewhat disturbing command of celebrity trivia as a result of the multiple choice questions that flash on the screen. Hmmm. A captive audience learning and absorbing messages while waiting for the feature presentation. Is this an idea we can harness in the library?

The typical 50 minute library instruction session just never seems to be enough. Why not take advantage of those extra minutes prior to class, when students are filing in and finding their seats, to promote and raise awareness of our resources? In a sense the students are our captive audience awaiting the feature presentation. (Move over, Johnny Depp!)

Inspired by an idea brought to our library by Chris Cox, Assistant Director, while interviewing for his position, we set out to develop a continuous-loop PowerPoint presentation that would highlight features, services and collections in the library. Initially, we developed the presentation to run at an open house hosted by the library for faculty at the beginning of the semester. We wanted the presentation to be colorful, fun, interesting and informative. Results of the recently-completed LibQUAL+™ survey identified areas of great interest to our faculty and students as well as areas in which they seemed unaware of the full scope of what we offer. We tried to address some of these issues in the PowerPoint presentation. For example, we included a multiple choice question asking how many journals the library subscribes to: 100? 1000? 10,000? more? The resulting 12,697 surprises them. We bring attention to non-book collections, including videos, DVDs, games and even puppets. We highlight intriguing government documents, juxtaposing John Lennon’s FBI file with Richard Nixon and the Watergate hearings. (Photos of those two individuals don’t often appear together).

After modifying the presentation slightly to emphasize student interests, several librarians began displaying the presentation prior to instruction sessions. A concern about using the presentation in this way was that it might detract from time ideally used to engage the students and establish a friendly rapport. In reality this rapport-building comes more naturally with some classes than with others. We have found that the presentation is more likely to stimulate conversation and interaction than supplant it.

Librarian Leslie Foster uses the presentation frequently. Typically when students arrive they immediately log onto computers and read email. “It takes time to capture their attention… and get them to focus on the purpose of the class,” she says. However, when the presentation is running, it immediately grabs their attention and engages them. “Most students start watching it as they choose their chairs and shed coats and backpacks. Many actively participate by responding aloud to the questions it poses or by making comments such as, ‘I didn't know that.’" She often begins the session by asking if anyone learned anything new, surprising or unexpected. And she usually gets an answer!

Setting up a PowerPoint presentation to run continuously is easy. Simply select Set Up Show from PowerPoint’s Slide Show menu. Under Show Options, check the box for Loop continuously until ‘Esc’.

A few tips for creating a presentation:

Use plenty of animation. It adds interest and it’s fun.

Use lots of images and color for the same reason.

Minimize the amount of text. We librarians tend to be a wordy lot. Resist the temptation to say too much.

Incorporate humor. (If you have attended movies in recent years, you probably recall the image of the scorched Barbies who made the mistake of lighting up in the movie theater. We haven’t incorporated Barbies, or the librarian action figure, into our library presentation…yet).

Future plans for using the presentation include running it as part of a promotional back-to-school display and customizing it for different classes. All we need now is the popcorn.

To see an example of the presentation used at McIntyre Library, UW-Eau Claire, see: www.uwec.edu/markgrjs/welcome/student_welcome.html.

WAAL 2005-2006 Information Literacy Award, Call for Nominations

Have you and/or your colleagues been involved in an innovative and effective information literacy activity?

The WAAL Information Literacy Committee would like to hear about it.

The Committee is pleased to announce the Third Annual WAAL Information Literacy Award. This award recognizes a librarian or librarian-led team from any Wisconsin academic institution who has made innovative or significant contributions to advance information literacy. This year the emphasis will be on the successful delivery of a particular class or the development and implementation of a special project or program. There are no restrictions as to the size of the instructional effort, discipline, target audience, or techniques employed. Self nominations, as well as nominations of colleagues, are encouraged. Prior nominees are encouraged to apply. The award winner will present his/her winning information literacy contribution at the 2006 WAAL Conference (March 28-31, 2006, Stevens Point). The winner will receive one free registration for the WAAL conference and conference luncheon and will be recognized there for his/her achievement.

The deadline for submissions is December 16, 2005. To find out more about award criteria and to access the nomination form, please see the WAAL Information Literacy Committee Web page: http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/waal/infolit/ .

WAAL Information Literacy Award Committee members:
Dave Dettman, UW-Green Bay
Lynn Gilman, UW-Rock County
Jill Markgraf, UW-Eau Claire (chair)

Book Exchanges on the Web --Ray Hamel, Special Collections Librarian, UW-Madison

If you truly love your books, you will set them free. This philosophy underlies a growing number of book exchange groups now available on the Web. If you, like many librarians, have books spilling out of your office, your car or especially your refrigerator, here are three opportunities to send your books out into the world.

The biggest and best known of Web book exchange groups is BookCrossing (http://www.bookcrossing.com/). BookCrossing members are encouraged to register books with a BCID number and then release them "into the wild" to be discovered by other readers. Many members also make books available in exchange for the cost of postage or through book trades. Founded in 2001, BookCrossing has registered more than 2.5 million books and has nearly 400,000 members. The word bookcrossing has even earned a spot in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

PaperBackSwap.com (http://www.paperbackswap.com/) is a newer book exchange list, started earlier this year. You are rewarded with three initial credits when you post your first nine books. More credits are earned as you send out books, which can then be exchanged to receive books. Money is not expected to change hands in PaperBackSwap. When a member uses a credit, he or she receives a book mailed at the cost of the book's owner. PaperBackSwap has only 73,000 books listed, but is growing at the rate of 10,000+ books a month and continues to improve its Web interface.

For those who favor science fiction and fantasy novels, check out SF-Books (http://www.sf-books.com/). This exchange list also works on a credit system, but you get zero credits until someone requests one of your books or you purchase credits from the Web site at $4.00 a crack. The interface is also kind of clunky, especially when you are trying to post new books. However, if you're into cyberpunk, Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Tolkien wannabes, this may be the place for you.

All three book exchange lists currently have no membership fees, but they request that all books have covers and be in generally acceptable reading condition.

Web Accessibility at University of Wisconsin Libraries

--Axel Schmetzke, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Web resources need to conform to certain design principles in order to be accessible by everyone, including people with disabilities, who may use assistive technology to interface with computers. How are UW library Web sites doing this year with regard to accessibility?

Let me start with an overview of our campuses’ Web accessibility policies. Not too long ago (1999-2001), the policies, guidelines and standards pertaining to the design of official and instructional Web pages varied widely among UW campuses. Since 2002, this is no longer the case. Now, thirteen UW campuses (Madison, Milwaukee, and all the comprehensives), plus the UW Extension, have policies in place that call for, in one way or another, Web accessibility. Some variation continues to exist with regard to the stringency of the policies (whether accessibility is mandated or merely recommended) and the criteria adopted for accessibility (the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, developed by the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative, or the federal Access Board Standards issued under Section 508). Unique in the bunch is UWSP’s new Online Accessibility Policy in that it does not limit itself to Web pages. While it requires that all campus Web pages must eventually become accessible, it also covers the multitude of other resources offered onlinemandating that ”all parties involved in the creation, modification, replacement or procurement of online resources must strive for compliance with relevant Section 508 standards.” UWSP’s librarians will soon consider how this mandate can be incorporated into its collection development policy. Not to be mistaken, the new policy does not require that each and every product, such as our online indexes and databases, must be barrier-free. At this point in time, such requirement would be rather counterproductive; we would simply shoot ourselves in the foot. What is required instead is that the librarians involved in selecting electronic resources for procurement must, among other important criteria, consider their accessibility. As they begin to do so, a strong message will be sent to vendors; they will come to realize that accessibility is an important aspect that—if not now, then certainly in the future—gives barrier-free products a competitive edge.

Among the policy-type documents issued by our professional organizations, the ACRL Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services deserves special mention for three reasons: They have been influential in shaping policies and practices at individual libraries; they currently do not address the needs of people with disabilities (a group that, potentially, could benefit a good deal from distance education); and they are currently undergoing revision. It is the third reason that I wish to emphasize for it provides a great opportunity to get involved and help bring the issue of a barrier-free online environment onto the radar screen of librarians who plan for and manage distance education library services. Luckily, the Guidelines Committee of the ACRL’s Distance Learning Section (DLS), which is preparing the new revision, seems to be very open to input and encourages interested parties to participate. If you wish to make your voice heard, contact the DLS Guidelines Committee Chair, Rob Morrison, at robmor@cc.usu.edu or 435-797-1477. Information about the revisions and opportunities on how to participate in this process will be posted to the DLS’s Web site.

Now, what have the current policies, some of which have been in place only for a short time, accomplished so far? As in previous years, I have evaluated the accessibility of each UW library Web site by visiting its homepage as well as the library pages directly linked to it with a tool called Bobby. While Bobby is capable of registering only certain types of problems, it nonetheless provides a useful over-the-thumb estimate of Web page accessibility. As Figure 1 shows, library pages continue to outperform general campus pages and departmental homepages.

Figure 1: Percentage of barrier-free library, campus, and academic/departmental Web pages as detected by Bobby 3.1.1. Average trend among top-level Web pages on University of Wisconsin campuses: 1999-2005.

However, library pages are not perfect. After consistent major gains between 1999 and 2003—from 31% to 79%— accessibility has slightly dropped in 2004. The latest figures (April 2005) show that only 70% of the Web pages were free of the type of accessibility barriers that Bobby can detect. Interestingly, in terms of average errors per page, the 2005 data provide a more positive picture. With an average of .8 accessibility problems per page in 2005, as opposed to 3.6 in 1999, the number of barriers have been reduced to one-fourth over the past seven years.

Not all UW libraries follow the system-wide trend. Figure 2, which depicts the average number of Bobby-detected barriers (WCAG, Priority A) per Web page, shows that, on this measure, Web accessibility has recently decreased at four UW libraries —much so at River Falls and, to a lesser degree, at Eau Claire, Oshkosh and Superior. In stark contrast, the UW-libraries in Green Bay, La Crosse, Milwaukee, Parkside, Platteville, Stout and Whitewater have made tremendous gains with regard to accessibility.

Figure 2: Average number of barriers per library Web page, as detected by Bobby 3.1.1 (WCAG, level A), by campus 1999, 2002 and 2005.

As Figure 3 indicates, there is also considerable variation with regard to the types of barriers found at UW library Web sites. Among the campuses that have adopted a policy promoting conformance with Section 508 standards, lack of alternative text for images continues to be the number one problem. With the exception of La Crosse, the library Web sites of the other five campuses—including Madison, which has historically done rather well—still contain a significant percentage of pages (10%-95%) fraught with this type of barrier. Alternative text is missing for some of the image-map hot spots in Stevens Point and Eau Claire. At River Falls, over 80% of the top-level Web pages have a problem with the explicit association of form controls and its labels.

Figure 3: Percentage of top-level library Web pages containing at least one of the specified Section-508 violations, by barrier type and by campus, April 2005. (Only those campuses are included, at which Section 508 conformance is required* or recommended**).

For more information about Web accessibility policies on University of Wisconsin campuses, the research methodology of my study, and further data about the accessibility of general campus, library, and academic/departmental Web pages within our system, please visit my Web site listed below.

If you are curious about the accessibility of online indexes and databases, you may want to read the 2005 Library Hi Tech article by Stewart et al., which reports on data collected between November 2003 and January 2004. In a nutshell, the findings reveal that while most of the 37 index/database interfaces included in this study were compliant with Section 508 standards, they tended to be difficult to use by people who use screen reading software to interface with their computers. Another study spearheaded by Stewart that evaluates the accessibility and usability of some 30 e-journals is currently in the works. Its findings will be posted to the Technology Access Program Web site of Oregon State University sometime in November.

References

Association of College and Research Libraries. ACRL Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services. Available at http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/guidelinesdistancelearning.htm.

Guidelines: Distance Learning Section. Association of College and Research Libraries & American Library Association. Distance Learning Section (DLS). http://caspian.switchinc.org/~distlearn/guidelines/

Schmetzke, Axel, “Web Page Accessibility on University of Wisconsin Campuses:

2005 Survey and Seven-Year Trend Data.” Web Accessibility Survey Site. 28 April 2005. Available at http://library.uwsp.edu/aschmetz/Accessible/UW-Campuses/Survey2005/contents2005.htm.
[The findings are presented in both graphical and text-based table format.]

Stewart, Ron, Vivek Narendra and Axel Schmetzke, "Accessibility and Usability of Online Library Databases," Library Hi Tech, 23(2), 2005: 265-286.

Technology Access Program. Oregon State University. http://tap.oregonstate.edu/research/ahg.htm.

UWSP Online Accessibility Policy and Implementation Plan. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. 1 July, 2005. Available at http://www.uwsp.edu/it/policies/accessibility/AccessibilityPolicy.htm.

Reinventing Library Spaces...

Re-Carpeting the Library in 2005

--April Kain-Breese, Library Director, UW-Fox Valley

The library at University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley in Menasha was completely re-carpeted in June 2005. Here is a brief summary of our experience, with some suggestions for you, if a carpet project is on your horizon!

Stats: 15,000 sq. ft., 35,000 volumes, seminar rooms, a classroom, and seating for about 200.

Carpet Selection: We chose to use glued-down broadloom carpet throughout, although consideration was given to using carpet squares to go around the stacks, with the possible benefit of not having to move all the ranges of shelving. I surveyed other UW libraries to get feedback on these two options. The responses were fast and varied. In fact, if you want to get a high response rate on a survey, apparently the thing to ask about is carpet! Soon after sending out the survey, I had generous, thoughtful replies from library directors and purchasing agents all over the state. In the end, four factors led us to broadloom: comparative costs, some reservations about getting a good installation job with the squares, the possibility of renting some nifty stack moving equipment, and well, a tendency for perfectionism on my part.

Costs: We had a budget of $50,000, which sounds like a lot, but we needed all of that. After walking around the library with various carpet samples, looking at them in different areas of the library, with varied lighting conditions (an important consideration, we found), and after soliciting input from everyone we could buttonhole, we chose a Lee's carpet, called "Faculty IV," which is one of the state-contract options. Also included in our contract with the vendor, H.J. Martin from Green Bay, was removal and disposal of the old carpet and base (vinyl molding), and installation of the new carpet and base. Notably absent from this contract was removal and replacement of the stacks and furnishings.

Moving: Our ace in the hole was some interesting equipment that allowed us to move entire ranges of books, fully loaded. We rented this equipment from UW-Milwaukee for one month at a cost of $1,500. It was very worthwhile, even though it meant hiring a truck that could handle 12' long equipment and going to Milwaukee to get it. I understand that similar equipment is used by some moving companies, too, so if your budget will handle hiring such a company, that's a great option. We were relying upon our building and grounds staff and a crew of incredibly hard working students hired for the job. Printed instructions and some experimentation enabled our crew of eight staff to get started.

Photo courtesy of Dave Hager, University Relations Director

After removing all chairs, tables, and carrels to the hallway immediately outside the library, they moved stacks from half of the library before the carpet people came to pull out the old carpet. The stacks were crowded into our lobby, which was very strange--a range of Q's was positioned immediately outside my office; I could almost shelf read from my desk chair... Once the old carpet had been replaced, the stacks were returned to their proper location (more about this later). The same procedure was followed for the second half of the library.

It may be hard to believe, but the most difficult part of this project was getting the stacks back where they belonged. Despite a fair amount of measuring by our building and grounds team prior to removal, they had some difficulty getting the stacks back in position and yes, in the right order. Anybody who has shifted books among stacks knows it can get confusing, even if you work with call numbers all day long. Imagine moving entire stacks and keeping them in order when call numbers have little meaning, especially considering aisles that break up the long runs into two separate ranges! The crew also needed to be convinced that yes, actually, the stacks did have to be lined up with one another, square and true in both dimensions. It's more difficult than it sounds, and our student crew members got practice with measuring, chalk lines, and some basic arithmetic functions! They really contributed brain power as well as brawn!

Library Operations: We remained open throughout most of this process, although it was a very quiet time of year, so that wasn't difficult. Losing my office for several days was a challenge, and there was one really bad day with only one computer functioning, at the circulation desk. But, we survived.

The actual moving, carpeting, and reinstalling of everything took about 3 1/2 weeks, although the carpet installers were here only about ten days. The rest of the time involved our crew, and at times, library staff, in moving all of the furniture, computers, etc. We are very pleased with the results. The new carpet caused us to view the library in new ways, and to consider ways to refresh "the look." Our returning students and faculty/staff will be suitably impressed, and if they aren't, we can always point out the lovely new carpet.

Some tips based upon our experience:

1. Make sure your budget is sufficient; the gap between getting bids, getting approval during the budget process, and the go-ahead can be two years, so be sure to plan for increases.

2. With budget approval, begin planning the actual job at least six months to one year ahead of the intended dates.

3. Weed collections and office files (less to move). This was a revelation, as I dumped literally boxes of old files that I'd been keeping even though they weren't really necessary.

4. Be sure your stacks are thoroughly mapped before they are moved, so they will get back to their proper locations.

5. Offer beverages and snacks to all workers; they will really appreciate this, especially cold drinks.

6. Do consider use of stack lifters. They save having to move all the books by hand (twice), as well as finding space somewhere for them. We saved so much time and labor this way.

7. In selecting carpet, remember that it will be covering a vast space, and that it will look very different from the sample you have in hand. Be sure to put several samples on the floor and walk far away from them. You will notice that subtleties of coloration will be lost. Don't be overly influenced by the names of the colors or patterns. We selected a multi-color called "tea rose" which actually goes very "gray" when installed, and that's what we wanted. Look at samples in daylight and at night, directly under fluorescent lights and natural light. Compare one to another for durability, color, pattern, and so forth. Aim for something timeless; if your library is like ours, users and staff will live with your choice for 20 years!

8. Give your project plenty of time. We started right after the end of the spring semester, and we are so glad we did. The carpet has been down for almost two months, and some of us have (almost) forgotten the upheaval of June. It would be unquestionably horrible to be re-carpeting in August.

9. If you use existing staff, perhaps augmented with students, be sure they understand that they will be pulled from other tasks for stack moving on an "as needed" basis. As carpet is installed, stacks need to be reset, so the carpet layers can move forward. This requires some logistical coordination.

10. Plan for the unexpected--delays in carpet production and delivery from the manufacturer, delays by the installers who are busy on other jobs, glitches with equipment, and so forth. We were lucky. Our planning paid off, and we had no major glitches. That's probably quite unusual!

We could not have done this project without the leadership of our building and grounds department, the brains and brawn of our student help, or the patience of the library staff and users throughout the project. We thanked them profusely, and delivered custom-decorated cakes to them as a way to show our appreciation, a sweet ending to our story.

La Crosse History Unbound --Anita Taylor Doering, Archivist, La Crosse Public Library

Just debuted is a collection of material related to the La Crosse urban wetland, a place that is often discussed in relation to proposed road and transportation planning. The planning team of librarians worked in conjunction with the University’s public history staff and students to identify core materials related to the subject. The marsh project contains photographs, maps, interviews, published studies and summaries of fieldwork related to the marsh. The link to this project is http://lacrosselibrary.org/marsh.

Contact: Anita Taylor Doering, Archivist, by email a.doering@lacrosse.lib.wi.us or by phone (608) 789-7156.

WAAL 2006 Annual Conference

--Mary C. Frenn and Susan E. Sponberg, WAAL Conference Planning Committee members

"Academic Libraries: Pointing Toward New Directions” is the theme for our next annual conference, to be held at Country Springs Hotel Conference & Convention Center in Stevens Point on March 29-31, 2006.

Just as Point is at the center of our state, so also are libraries at the center of academic study and research. Join keynote speaker Michael Gorman and a host of other presenters and participants to discuss ways in which we point toward new directions in service delivery, digital collections, information literacy, assessment, TS innovations, collection development, marketing, and much more.

Program planning is well underway, but the Conference Planning Committee welcomes your suggestions. Send your program ideas or speaker names to Patti Becker (p2becker@uwsp.edu) or Jean Zanoni (jean.zanoni@marquette.edu) by September 30. Watch the WAAL Web site for additional details as they develop. Registration information will be available to WAAL members early in 2006.

Please mark your calendars and join us at Country Springs in Stevens Point to share points of interest with other academic librarians!

Scholarships Offered for WAAL Conference

The WAAL Professional Development Committee is pleased to offer scholarships to the upcoming WAAL conference:

“Academic Libraries: Pointing Toward New Directions”
Country Springs Hotel, Stevens Point
March 29-31, 2006

There are three categories of application for a scholarship:

Library student assistant or undergraduate student

Paraprofessional library staff member

Graduate student currently enrolled in a information science program

Guidelines for application and application forms for all of the scholarship categories are available on the WAAL Web site at http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/waal/

Nominations for the Undergraduate Student / Library Student Assistant scholarships are being sought from anyone that supervises student assistants. Any undergraduate student or library student assistant who may be interested in or who shows potential for a library career is eligible.

Application for a Paraprofessional scholarship is available to all paraprofessionals who are WLA members or who become WLA members prior to the conference. Paraprofessionals are those individuals who are currently working in a library. Graduate students who are currently enrolled in an Information Science program and who are working and/or interning in a library should NOT apply for the Paraprofessional scholarship, but should complete the Graduate Student scholarship application.

Application for a Graduate Student scholarship is available to all graduate students currently enrolled in an Information Science program and who are WLA student members or who become WLA student members prior to the conference.

All scholarship awards include conference registration, meals allowance, hotel room expense (double occupancy) and mileage, if applicable. Double occupancy can be with another scholarship recipient or other individual, to be arranged with the scholarship recipient at the time scholarship is awarded. Recipients will be paired with a mentor to guide them through the conference and introduce them to colleagues.

Nominations, application forms and supporting references must be received no later than January 15, 2006. Please send all completed forms to:

Laurie Swartwout, IMC Coordinator
Cardinal Stritch University Library
6801 N. Yates Rd
Milwaukee, WI 53217
E-mail: lgswartwout@stritch.edu
Ph: 414-410-4264
Fax: 414-410-4268

People & Places in the News

Marquette University

Read Raynor Memorial Libraries’ fall newsletter online, including collection and technology news, events, and results of a student survey. Staff also joined efforts to produce a second issue of their recommended reading newsletter, Ex Libris.

Dean of Libraries Nick Burckel has announced plans to retire in December after ten years at Marquette. A national search is underway for his successor.

The Wisconsin Historical Records Advisory Board and the Wisconsin Historical Society have announced that Raynor Memorial Libraries won the 2005 Governor’s Archival Achievement Award, to be presented during Archives Week in October. Also, Tutor.com presented its Innovator of the Year Award to the consortium of Jesuit university libraries in which Marquette participates to offer AskUs! 24/7 virtual (chat) reference.

To highlight the value of a spill-free library environment, the Libraries and student government (MUSG) have teamed up with Brew @ the Bridge to offer secure travel mugs at a special $1 price during the week of Sept. 11-17, 2005. Beverages will not be sold in paper cups during the week to underscore the policy of allowing beverages outside the cafe only in secure containers.

Four new READ posters have been produced, honoring Marquette University's faculty winners of teaching and research awards.

Northcentral Technical College

Gail Piotrowski has accepted a position as librarian with Northcentral Technical College in Wausau. Prior to assuming her new position, Gail worked for UW-Barron County.

Barb Cummings, former NTC library director, retired on September 2, 2005.

SLIS, UW-Madison

Larry Jacobsen, retired Director of the Primate Research Center Library and mentor to many SLIS graduate students, has generously endowed a scholarship (to begin in 2006) for second-year graduate students. For more information about the Lawrence Jacobsen Innovations in Library Science Award and its benefactor's distinguished career, see the full news release.

The School of Library & Information Studies has reinvented its Web presence. Visit the new site at: http://www.slis.wisc.edu/

UW-Eau Claire

After almost two years of planning, an overhaul of the collections that included weeding nearly 14,000 items, and a busy summer of construction, the Instructional Media Center (IMC) has found a new home on the lower level of McIntyre Library at UW-Eau Claire. The new space was designed especially for the IMC's unique collections and its users. It includes general study space, a comfortable lounge area, computer workstations, and multimedia study rooms and carrels, as well as the IMC's collections of children's books, textbooks, videos, multimedia, audiotapes, pictures, and teacher journals and professional materials. Although the finishing touches are still being completed, the IMC opened for business just in time for the fall semester.

Heather Muir, Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist at UW-Eau Claire since 2001, has resigned to follow her passion. An avid sports fan, Heather is pursuing a master's degree in Sports Management at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She is keeping a foot in the library world not only as a student but by providing reference service at the Blue Earth County Library.

UW-Madison

Helene Androski celebrated her retirement with a party, in her honor, July 8, 2005. Helene began her career with UW-Madison campus libraries in 1981. She was named a GLS Librarian of the Year in 2004 for her outstanding contributions to reference and instructional services. She looks forward to travel opportunities and more time for good literature.

Jo Ann Carr, CIMC Director, has been elected to the Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC). This nine member committee acts as the day-to-day administrative executive committee for the Academic Staff Assembly and for the academic staff at large.

Jo Ann and Susan Cramer, Associate Professor, College of Education and Human Services, UW-Oshkosh, co-presented a poster session at the 2005 MERLOT International Conference, Talk the Talk!: Enhancing Access to Learning Objects. This poster session reported on the results of their 2004-2005 UW-System funded curricular design project that resulted in the development of a draft portal for learning objects in teacher education. (See portal included in CIMC / MetaSites: Online Curriculum Resources at http://cimc.education.wisc.edu/computing/technology/curric.html).

In August, Jo Ann collaborated with Todd Price, instructor in the School's online education program, in a Course Showcase presentation at the Distance Learning Conference. Jo Ann has also been notified that her 2003 article, "Information-Literacy Collaboration: A Shared Responsibility," [American Libraries, September 2003, pp. 52-54] has been selected for inclusion in The Whole Library Handbook 4 to be published in early 2006 by ALA.

The CIMC is also happy to announce that Lisa Teyema has recently joined the staff as the new Reference/ Instruction Project Assistant. She will be working at the reference desk and helping out with our instruction program. Lisa is currently enrolled in the School of Library and Information Studies where she is working towards her Master's degree. Lisa brings classroom and library experience to the CIMC, in addition to a number of diverse life experiences.

Tom Durkin was appointed librarian for the Social Sciences Reference Library in July 2005. In addition to his responsibilities there, Tom will also contribute to projects and services of the Business Library.

David P. Henige (UW-Memorial Library/Africana Bibliographer) edited a book of essays for the Africana Librarians Council of the African Studies Association. Patricia S. Kuntz has a chapter in the volume:

Kuntz, P.S. (2005). "U.S.-African University Library Partnerships." In. V.K. Evalds & D. Henige (eds.), Africanist Librarianship in An Era of Change. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Patricia S. Kuntz also revised a paper presented at the African Studies Association concerning children's literature about Africa:

Kuntz, P.S. (2005). "Children's Picture Books About Africa: The Children's Africana Book Award 1992-2003." In M. Afolayan and D. Jules (eds.), Current Discourse on Education In Developing Nations. New York: Nova Science.

Eric Larson has been named the new research intern for digital projects at Wendt Library. He will work with other campus library staff on the Digital Publishing Initiative in addition to working on Web development with Wendt Library and Wisconsin TechSearch.

Eric Robinson has been hired as a WiLS Interlibrary Loan librarian. He will be responsible for national and international lending for GLS libraries. Eric has experience with various areas of the libraries, including the shelving facilities, Digital Content Group, CTS, ILLiad implementation and Steenbock Information Services.

Jo Ann Savoy, Water Resources Library, and other staff members from the Special Purpose Libraries on the Madison Campus received a 'good works' commendation from the UW-Madison Academic Staff Executive Committee for their work in providing story hours for children in the Allied Drive neighborhood. Details on this project are available at http://aqua.wisc.edu/Chronicle/Default.aspx?tabid=163.

Bonnie Shucha, Law Library, has had her article, "'This Naughty, Naughty City': Prostitution in Eau Claire from the Frontier to the Progressive Era," referenced in a new anthology of Wisconsin women's history, Women's Wisconsin: From Native Matriarchies to the New Millennium (Genevieve G. McBride, ed., Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2005). [Bonnie's article originally appeared in Wisconsin Magazine of History, autumn, 1997]. Bonnie will be giving a program on blogs and related technology-- Searching the 'New' Web:  Blogs and RSS for the Ohio Regional Association of Law Libraries Conference in Indianapolis (October). She will also participate in two programs for the Wisconsin Law and Technology Show in Milwaukee (November), Skyrocket Your Practice on a Shoestring: Blogs & Podcasting and 60 New Legal PC Tips: Gadgets and Web Sites.

Viterbo University

Crystal Brunelle joined the Todd Wehr Memorial Library staff at Viterbo University in February 2005 as a half-time Information Services Supervisor. Crystal has a degree in elementary education and was a teacher for twelve years.

WISPALS Consortium

The Technology Resource Library at the Chippewa Valley Technical College launched Voyager automated library system on August 8, 2005. The Voyager client–server based automated catalog is accessible from library workstations, campus labs, and to all researchers through the Web at http://cvtclib.wctc.edu/

The Voyager system will provide much improved Web access to the Chippewa Valley library collection of over 27,000 titles. Patrons will be able to use author, title, and keyword searches and print, save, or email their search results. Students and faculty will be able to search other Wisconsin Technical Colleges and University of Wisconsin library collections via Voyager’s simultaneous search feature. This feature will be especially beneficial to students in shared programs who attend multiple technical college campuses.

Chippewa Valley Technical College licensed the Voyager system through the WISPALS Library Consortium. Established in 1989, WISPALS enters its 16th year of service to technical college libraries. WISPALS has worked to improve library networking among the technical college members. Membership includes Chippewa Valley Technical College, Fox Valley Technical College, Gateway Technical College, Lakeshore Technical College, Moraine Park Technical College, Mid-State Technical College, Northcentral Technical College, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Waukesha County Technical College and Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College. More information can be found at the WISPALS Library Consortium Home Page: http://wctclnx.wctc.edu/~wispals.

WAAL Board Members Officers   Julie Fricke frickej@uwgb.edu WAAL Chair Alberto Herrera, Jr. Alberto.Herrera@marquette.edu Vice Chair/Chair Elect Gene Engeldinger eng@wi.rr.com Past Chair Dineen Grow dgrow@library.wisc.edu Secretary Sue Riehl sriehl@cc.edu Member at Large Nancy McClements nmcclements@library.wisc.edu ACRL Liaison Committee Chairs   Patti Clayton Becker p2becker@uwsp.edu Conference Planning Co-Chair Jean Zanoni jean.zanoni@marquette.edu Conference Planning Co-Chair Michael Watkins watkins@uwosh.edu Directory Committee Chair Eliot Finkelstein efinkelstein@library.wisc.edu Information Literacy Committee Co-Chair David Dettman dettmand@uwgb.edu Information Literacy Committee Co-Chair Evelyn Payson epayson@uwc.edu Legislative Liaison Mary Rieder mrieder@uwc.edu Membership Committee Co-Chair Renee Ettinger ettinger@uwgb.edu Membership Committee Co-Chair Lisa Weikel lweikel@uwm.edu Nominations Committee Chair Laurie Swartwout lgswartwout@stritch.edu Professional Development Committee Chair Peter Gilbert peter.j.gilbert@lawrence.edu Publications Committee Chair Lisa Strand strand@scls.lib.wi.us WLA Executive Director WAAL Board Web Site

Calendar of Meetings & Events Banned Books Week September 24 - October 1, 2005 Wisconsin Book Festival October 13 - 17, 2005 Madison Zine Fest October 14 - 16, 2005 WLA Annual Conference, 2005 La Crosse Foundation Silent Auction October 25 - 28, 2005 ACRL Information Literacy Immersion '06, Boston Application Deadline December 2, 2005 [Event: July 28 - August 2, 2006] WAAL Annual Conference, Stevens Point March 28 - 31, 2006 SLIS Centennial Weekend September 29 - October 1, 2006 ACRL 13th National Conference, Baltimore March 29 - April 1, 2007 Education & Enrichment Opportunities CCBC Calendar & Events e-Learning from ACRL SLIS Continuing Education Online Short Courses Wisconsin State Law Library Classes and Tours

The WAAL Newsletter welcomes articles of interest to academic librarians. Please consider sharing summaries of research or research in progress, announcements/results of meetings or conferences, and news of staff changes and/or accomplishments. Deadline for the next issue:

Material should be sent to:
Karen Dunn
Steenbock Memorial Library
550 Babcock Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1293
(608) 263-3899
kdunn@library.wisc.edu

WAAL Publications Committee:
Peter Gilbert (Chair), Marlys Brunsting, Karen Dunn (Newsletter Co-Editors)

© 2005 Wisconsin Library Association. Portions may be quoted or copied if credit is given. Contact the WLA Executive Director when quoting or reproducing extensively. WLA Phone: (608) 245-3640; Fax: (608) 245-3646

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Send questions or comments regarding these newsletter pages to Karen Dunn (kdunn@library.wisc.edu)