Gloria Zamora's Southern California Travelogue

SLA President-Elect Gloria Zamora spoke at the Southern California Chapter's Karen Sternheim Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser on October 4th and continued her visit to the L.A. area on Monday, October 6th, with a tour of libraries and information centers along the San Diego Freeway corridor. The following series of photos are from Gloria's visit:

At Aerospace Corporation with, L-R, David Cappoli, Joyce Hardy, and Pat Green - Photo by Eric Hamburg of Aerospace Corp.

Speaking to students at UCLA.



With the UCLA SLA Student Chapter officers, L-R, Hlly Fisher, Sheila MacDowell, and Charlie Walmann.



With Cameron Trowbridge at the Getty Conservation Institute Information Center.



At the Getty Research Institute with Susan Allen and Cameron Trowbridge.



Wrapping up the day at the Second City Bistro in El Segundo.

Chapter Election Results

Please join me in congratulating the newly-elected SLA Southern California Chapter Executive Board members:

• President-Elect (overseeing Programming) - Belinda Beardt
• Director at Large - Ann Coppin (re-elected)
• Treasurer - Bill Lee (re-elected)
• Publications - Charlotte Wixx-Daniel

Their official terms of office will begin on January 1, 2009 and they will join Teresa Bailey as President, Susan Hendrickson as Secretary, and myself as Past-President overseeing Chapter Practices on next year's Executive Board.

I would like to thank Sue Brewsaugh and her Nominations / Election Committee, Alison Becker, Joan Dubis, and Elizabeth Sheehan, for their work in identifying candidates and conducting the election earlier than usual so that there can be a smooth transition between the officers.

And please consider chairing or being a member of an Advisory Committee in 2009. To ensure a successful chapter and overall association, we rely on your participation and involvement.

David Cappoli

Chapter Membership Survey

For all SLA Southern California Chapter members:

Please note that the survey is now closed and results will be released to the membership once they have been analyzed.

Please complete a brief (honestly!) chapter survey that we hope will help guide the chapter's future programming and leadership recruitment. Your input is vital in helping the Chapter's Executive and Advisory Boards meet the needs of members such as yourself.

The deadline for completing the survey is December 16, 2008. Once the results of the survey have been collated, they will be announced on the chapter discussion list and posted on the chapter's web site.

Please note that this survey is meant for Southern California Chapter members, and should only be completed once.

Click here for the survey.

Century City Lunch

All SLA-SCC members are invited to an exquisite lunch experience at the Pink Taco. Bring a friend who's not a member!

Place: Pink Taco at the Century City Mall
Where: Outdoor Patio
Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Time: Noon
Hosts: Jay Springer, Fox Entertainment and Alan Schroeder, Stroock Stroock & Lavan LLP
Parking: Parking at the Century City Mall is free the first 2 hours

Please RSVP to Jay Springer at Jay.Springer@fox.com

Pink Taco
10250 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Phone: (424) 354-3412

CSI - SLA-SCC

Note: For all SLA Southern California members who subscribe to the chapter's discussion list, the following illustrates the tangled web of intrigue that regularly grips the maintenance of the list.

by your humble Discussion List Admin, Bill Lee

It was the week after the Memorial Day holidays, and I was checking up on things that were left open-ended over the holidays. One of those was a message David Cappoli had sent me from Maria Brahme, the Mentor person. He had gotten a bounce message, and I re-sent it on Friday before the holidays and didn't think too much about it. Now it was Tuesday, the holiday's over and I got the bounce.

So I logged in as Admin on the Discussion list server. It showed both David and I as legal subscribers, and the messages were successful, but not sent. So I looked at the ones that had been sent and saw Liz Sheehan's message about the Bowers Brunch had been sent to a different e-mail server. So I tested that and it worked.

So I e-mailed David, and e-mailed Jeff Leach, the SLA marketing person in charge of the discussion lists, and told him what I had found. A little later I got an email from Jeff saying their vendor had messed things up and he was going to e-mail others with news of the error (I had found).

I checked the website and it had the erroneous e-mail address, so I emailed Stacy the webmaster, to have it changed. Later David showed me messages from HQ sent to the upper-muckies saying there was a mess-up and everybody should change their e-mail addresses.

Little did I know what genie I had uncorked, just cause David's message had bounced. I hadn't thought how integral the advisory positions are to the smooth running of the chapter. I felt good after a day of e-mailing and it was good to be successful due to everybody's cooperation.

Themes of Change in Corporate Libraries: Considerations for Academic Librarians

On September 11the SLA-SCC and Boeing hosted a virtual seminar with research analyst Ross Housewright presenting, "Themes of Change in Corporate Libraries: Considerations for Academic Librarians". In his work at Ithaka, Ross explores ways to promote innovative uses of technology in scholarly communities -- he sees academic libraries as one place with growth potential. In the presentation, Ross discussed how corporate libraries have evolved to remain relevant in the internet age, and how academic librarians can learn from that experience. Ross said that corporate libraries now have a history of experiencing change and responding to a volatile environment where academic libraries have held tight to their traditional roles. Ross suggested that academic libraries could take advantage of some of the lessons learned by corporate librarians in weathering the challenges of implementing change efforts -- where there might be opportunities for academic libraries to make a greater contribution to the end users and the institutions they are supporting.

After about 35 minutes of presentation Ross facilitated a thoughtful discussion where several corporate and academic librarians chimed in. One theme raised in the discussion was how in academic libraries the staff is very resistant to change -- fifteen years ago this was also true for corporate libraries and now adapting to change has become the norm. Several suggestions were made about how to overcome this barrier by creating an environment where staff may be made more open to change by 1) presenting a data-driven impetus for change, to demonstrate the need for change and 2) helping staff understand that the change process will be sensitive to their individual needs, and that efforts will be undertaken to help them to adapt to change. Additionally, we also talked a bit at the end about the importance of focusing on things which the library can do by virtue of its local presence, that cannot be replaced by Google or other network-level players – these sorts of local roles represent an ongoing competitive advantage for the individual library.

Teresa Bailey
SLA-SCC President-elect

From the Archives ... June 1974

With SLA celebrating its centennial in 2009, the Southern California Chapter will periodically feature historical material from its 70+ years worth of archives.

SLA, Southern California Chapter, San Fernando Valley Luncheon Meeting, June 26, 1974 -- Lockheed DIALOG On-line Retrieval System Demonstration. Operating the CRT terminal and printer is Susanne Reed, Chief Literature Searcher, and explaining the operation is Stan Elman, Chief Librarian, both of Lockheed-California C., Burbank. Looking on in background, in dark suit, is Dr. Horace Jacobs, Mgr., Technical Information Center, Lockheed-California Co., and in foreground, with back to camera, is Herb Sclar, UPDATA Publications, Inc., Santa Monica -- Southern California representative for Lockheed's DIALOG system. And on the far right, in the print dress, is Shirley Tanaka.

President's Letter, September 2008

Inspiration from Change

Over the next few weeks I will meet all of the new students who are entering UCLA’s MLIS, PhD, and Moving Image Archival Studies (MIAS) Programs. I will be introduced to these students in lab orientations and technology workshops which I organize, and these students will have come from a variety of backgrounds with diverse life experiences – some will have arrived fresh from their undergraduate studies, and others will have chosen to pursue graduate study because they seek a career change. What binds all of these students together is their desire to move forward, and to change their lives. I am always inspired by these students as they eagerly look towards the future regardless of the economic or the political climate. They come to our program embracing, however nervously, the choices they have made. Their enthusiasm makes this sometimes jaded, middle-aged librarian look at his own future with fresh eyes.

Every fall, as the new students arrive, I am reminded of a dear friend who passed away in the summer of 2007, and who also was an inspiration to me. Jamie MacInnis and I worked together at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner’s Editorial Library for a number of years under Ann Sausedo whose own death in 2007 was a time of reflection for me. Jamie came to the Her-Ex from a harried family life and had attempted many times to complete her studies at Santa Monica College (SMC). In 1989 when I left the Her-Ex to enter UCLA Graduate School of Library & Information Science, Jamie’s high level of work made her an indispensable asset to the library, but the newspaper was to fold within two months. Jamie remained behind with a small staff as they prepared the library’s files for donation to the L.A. Public Library. Once her work was finished at the Her-Ex, Jamie focused on completing her Associate’s Degree at Santa Monica College. As her studies at SMC ended, she entered Cal State Fullerton, where she graduated with a B.A. in Linguistics in 1994. I sat proudly in Titan Stadium with my very pregnant wife as Jamie received her degree. And a few years later, Jamie graduated with her Masters degree in Library Science from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Jamie went on to be a librarian with the University of Missouri, Rolla, and, in what would be her final professional position, she was the Library Director at the Art Institute of California’s San Francisco campus. When I received my MLS degree, Jamie had a high school diploma. Yet she embraced the change that was thrust upon her and went from an A.A. degree, to a B.A., to an MSLS degree, and, finally, to a library director position.

I am always inspired when I remember Jamie’s professional path, and as I see new students come to the LIS program at UCLA. Jamie taught me about perseverance, and the students continually teach me to look towards the future with eager eyes.

Here’s to the people who inspire you!

Sincerely,

David Cappoli
dcappoli@ucla.edu

Note: Jamie passed away in the summer of 2007 along with another colleague from our Herald-Examiner days, Library Director Ann Sausedo. Jamie lives on though as the Art Institute of California's San Francisco campus library is now named the Jamie A. MacInnis Memorial Library.

Cast Your Vote in the Chapter Elections

On behalf of the Nominations Committee, I invite you to cast your ballot for the Southern California Chapter Executive Board.

Please visit

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=WMX_2fUj3wyw1NJDzw1semrQ_3d_3d

and cast your ballot for next year's officers.

The polls will be open until Tuesday, September 30.

The election results will be announced at the Chapter's Sternheim Scholarship Fundraiser on October 4th and on the Chapter website and blog.

If you have any problems with your ballot, please contact me or Sue Brewsaugh (sue.brewsaugh@boeing.com).

Alison Becker
Member, Nominations Committee
abecker@support.ucla.edu

Fall 2008 Chapter Events

For more information on these upcoming chapter events, go to: http://www.sla-scc.org

Sep. 11 - Virtual Seminar - "Themes of Change in Corporate Libraries: Considerations for Academic Librarians". Research Analyst Ross Housewright discusses how corporate libraries have evolved to remain relevant in the internet age, and how academic librarians can learn from that experience.

Oct. 4 - An Afternoon at the San Antonio Winery with Special Guest, SLA President-Elect Gloria Zamora. Proceeds to benefit the chapter's Karen Sternheim Memorial Scholarship.

Oct. 15 - The Power of Vision - Blue Pen Companies and Red Pen Companies: A presentation by Bill Bellows, of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, on new ways of thinking, learning, and working together. Also a tour of the Leadership & Learning Center, which houses a historical collection of engines and models, including a Space Shuttle Main Engine.

Nov. 12 - Tour the world-famous Jet Propulsion Lab, followed by lunch and a short program on storytelling in special libraries. Tour includes Space Flight Ops and Spacecraft Assembly facilities.