NOTABLES

LIBRARY NEWS

25 YEARS AGO IN THE LIBRARIES

EVENTS

• The UW-Madison Libraries have unveiled a new project that will deliver live reference service over the Internet. Live Contact is a one-of-a-kind innovation in the emerging virtual reference service area. The service will connect users with a librarian, who can help guide them through the library Web site. By using two-way text-chat, voice-over IP and a screen-sharing option, librarians will be able to instruct people in using the catalog, databases and other resources.

  Live Contact is scheduled to begin service with the start of fall semester. It will be staffed by more than 40 library staff 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Extended hours will be 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Between one and six librarians will be available to answer questions, at any one time during service hours, based on user need and staff availability. Participating libraries for the pilot include Business, CIMC, College, Health Sciences, Memorial, Steenbock, and Wendt.

  A video conferencing application may be added later in the year. Live Contact is modeled after pilot projects at Wendt and Steenbock libraries. Live contact requires downloading a plug-in. In addition to library workstations in public areas, the plug-in will be available from the WiscWorld CD this August, and on the library Web site. Once the software has been downloaded, the “Libraries Live Contact” logo appears among the browser tool bar buttons when people use campus library Web pages.

  John Wanserski, the deputy director of Wendt Library, has directed the development of this service for campus. The Reference Coordinators Committee (Ref-Coords) is managing Live Contact. Ref-Coords is chaired by Eunice Graupner, the Business Library Reference and Instruction coordinator. Others involved with the project include Steve Frye, Bob Sessions, Don Johnson, Dan Joe, David Null, Linda Balsiger, Janice Rice, Steve Daggett, Gerri Wanserski, Peter Cupery, Erika Sevetson, and Amy Kindschi.

• People searching for library materials in the UW-Madison library catalog will notice many new changes in an updated MadCat launched this month. The new MadCat features an updated design to improve navigation and several improvements in search options. Many more links have been added from MadCat to the electronic versions of journals as well. LINK to full story
• The UW-Madison Libraries blood drive will be Aug. 1, the only campus blood drive fully staffed by volunteers from the sponsoring organization. The drive, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will be in the Memorial Library staff lounge, room 460. For more information, contact Dennis Hill, 262-6526, dhill@library.wisc.edu.
• Victor Gorodinsky, a Slavic languages librarian in CTS, will conduct a large Festival Russian Folk orchestra as part of a Russian music festival to be held in Madison, July 31 through Aug. 5. Gorodinsky is the membership chair for the Balalaika and Domra Association of America (BDAA), a nonprofit organization devoted to the study and performance of Russian and Eastern European music on the balalaika and domra, traditional Russian folk instruments. Each year, the BDAA hosts a convention for its members, who hail from across the United States and around the world. This year's convention will be held on the UW-Madison campus, where members will attend workshops, lessons and rehearsals.

  At 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 4, the BDAA presents a Russian Festival Concert, featuring a variety of ensembles, solos, folk singing, and folk dancing. The highlight of the concert is a performance by the BDAA Festival Russian Folk Orchestra, conducted by Gorodinsky. The concert will be held in the Mills Concert Hall. Tickets are $12 for general admittance, $10 for senior citizens and students. For ticket information, contact the Vilas Box Office at 262-1500. For convention and concert information, contact Gorodinsky, vgorodinsky@library.wisc.edu, or see the Russian Festival Concert Web site. LINK to University Communications news release

NOTABLES

• One of Steenbock Library's "Happy Valley" members has left the valley. Gretchen Farwell retired late last month after an association with the UW-Madison Libraries that dates to 1967. LINK to full story

  Missed Gretchen Farwell's retirement party? Check out photos from the party here

• Richard Koons, a custodian in Memorial Library, will retire Friday, July 27. Koons has worked on campus for more than 30 years, much of which has been spent in Memorial and College libraries and other campus buildings. A retirement card is available at the Circulation Desk in Memorial Library.
• Barbara Walden, a European history librarian in Memorial Library, is the new chair of the Western European Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries. She assumed this position in June at the American Library Association annual conference. John Dillon, a European humanities bibliographer in Memorial Library, was elected chair of the Scandinavian Discussion Group, a unit of the Western European Studies Section. Dillon formerly chaired this section.
• Brian Beecher, a reference librarian in Weston Clinical Science Center Library, has left Madison to become the head of Access Services at a UW-Whitewater library. In Whitewater, Beecher will be responsible for collection development, circulation management, interlibrary loan, book reserves, and electronic reserves. Beecher left Madison July 13 and started his new position July 16.
• Ted Ingham has accepted the position of night/weekend supervisor in the Access Services Department of Memorial Library. Ingham has worked in the position for the past year as an LTE and now becomes a part of the permanent staff.
• Nate Vack is a new associate information processing consultant at the Health Sciences Libraries. He brings experience in library systems and prior knowledge about the Health Sciences Libraries to this position. Vack will work on Web programming projects, server management and the development of faculty projects.
• Joe Ryan is the new associate information processing consultant in the Library Technology Group. Ryan received an English degree this May from the UW-Madison. He brings a background of computing and networking skills and an interest in library technology to this position. He replaces John Watson who left to work for Imago Scientific Instruments in April. Ryan began work July 16.
• Heather Ballestad accepted a new position in Interlibrary Loan as a LSA advanced/lead. This is a new half-time position for the department. Ballestad began work May 29. Her office is located in 231 Memorial Library.
• Saad Samatar is the new Public Services library intern in GLS. Samatar will split his time between Memorial Library’s Access Services department and the Business Library’s Reference department. Recently, he worked in the African-American Press Preservation Project at the State Historical Society as a conversation specialist. Samatar earned a master’s in library science from SLIS this spring. He also holds a master’s in Development Policy and Public Administration from the UW-Madison, and a degree in business/marketing from Edgewood College. Samatar’s two-year internship began July 16.

LIBRARY NEWS

• Ed Van Gemert, assistant director for public services, has created an Access Services Policy Committee to coordinate discussion and plan access service for the UW-Madison Libraries. The committee works closely with the Electronic Library Council (ELC) and is dedicated to the oversight of access services, to include circulation, reserves, interlibrary loan, document delivery, delivery services, stacks and storage, distance services, and security.

  The committee gathers information, develops policy for access services, provides input and makes proposals and recommendations to the ELC. In coming years, the committee has plans to take on specific tasks and projects delegated by the ELC, such as assuring book transfer implementation and publicity.

  The new committee reports to the ELC and ELC directors designate membership. There are currently ten members, representing different campus libraries and services, on the Access Services Policy Committee.

• After months of remodeling, the Chemistry Library has reopened. To access the library, enter the building at the University/Mills Street entrance. Turn right in the lobby, then go through the door and take the stairs up one flight to the library. The librarian's office is located in room 2365. The collection will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• The Mills Music Library is currently host to an exhibit of postage stamps titled "Music in the Mail." The centerpieces of the collection are stamps from Erik Breilid, who works in Serials and Acquisitions in Memorial Library. This exhibit illustrates the connections between music and mail and depicts a broad range of musical topics commemorated on stamps, including both classical and popular musical traditions. The exhibit runs through the end of the year.
• The first floor lobby exhibit in Memorial Library was compiled by Social Sciences Bibliographer Vicki Hill. Titled "Germany under Reconstruction: Materials in Campus Libraries Relating to Germany in the Decade after 1945,"  the exhibit includes three groups of publications: books that examine and try to come to terms with the Fascist period, books describing U.S. and German attempts to structure a new society, and books that illustrate the beginnings of a cultural rebirth following World War II. The exhibit runs through the end of the summer.
• The Fall 2001 edition of the campus libraries map brochure is now available. Paper copies will soon be distributed through the Library Instruction Office, 436 Memorial Library. This guide provides the location, telephone numbers, hours, and brief annotations of the holdings for more than 40 campus libraries. A digital version is posted on the UW-Madison Libraries Web Site.
• Poet Robin Chapman guides readers through a journey of the Florida Everglades in The Only Everglades in the World, the latest chapbook release of the Parallel Press. Chapman's words reflect both a remarkable adventure and a disquieting odyssey in this 11-piece collection. LINK to more information about Chapman and the latest chapbook. She will read selections from her chapbook at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 2, at A Room of One's Own, 307 W. Johnson St.
• At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, WORT radio show host Rhonda Lee will interview Charles Cantrell, a forthcoming Parallel Press poet. Cantrell’s chapbook, Cicatrix, will be released in September. Cantrell has a master’s in Fine Arts from Goddard College and he teaches English at Madison Area Technical College. His poetry collections include The Literary Review, Nimrod, Poetry Northwest, Prairie Schooner, and Yankee. He was nominated for a 2000 Pushcart Prize. Radio Literature on WORT, call numbers 89.9 FM.

25 YEARS AGO IN THE LIBRARIES

QUOTATION

- Groucho Marx (1890-1977).

Libraries@UW-Madison is written by the staff of the News and Editorial Office. Editing intern is Anna Jackson ajackson@library.wisc.edu. Please send questions, comments, or story ideas to Don Johnson, djohnson@library.wisc.edu,  262-0076, 330C Memorial Library.