Since receiving her MLS from Syracuse University in 1990, Eileen has been very involved in chapter activites. In addition to serving on the program committee for a number of years, from 1993-1995 she served as Representative at Large/Communications Committee chair. In December of 1994, she agreed to serve as Program Committe Chair/Vice-President/President-Elect when an unexpected vacancy for that position occurred. Additionally, in 1994-1995, Eileen served as the ENY/ACRL representative to the National Advisory Council of the College Libraries Section of ACRL.
In addition to her ENY/ACRL activities, Eileen also has served as treasurer for the SUNY Librarians Association, and has authored an article entitled "The Internet and the Academic Library", which will appear in the premier volume of the Internet Reference Services Quarterly.
The chapter would like to take this opportunity to thank Eileen for her time and efforts on behalf of the chapter, and also extend best wishes as she embarks on the next phase of her career.
McGraw-Hill was a wonderful host, as we overlooked the city from the 50th floor of their building in downtown Manhattan.
There were delicious pastries and cookies to choose from, in addition to make your own ice cream sundaes with all the trimmings.
McGraw-Hill had several doorprizes, some won by ENY/ACRL Members Barbara Walton and Jim Simonis, as well as coffee mugs for all in attendance.
Hopefully, this tri-chapter get-together will become a well-attended tradition at the annual conference.
Registration forms will be mailed out to chapter members in mid-August. Registration also will be available in August electronically through ENY/ACRL's Homepage(http://urislib.lib.cornell.edu/acrlhome.html). For more information, please contact Peter Koonz via e-mail or at 518-442-3586. We look forward to seeing you there!
Nancy prepared a bi-lingual travel exhibition, TRANSFORMATIONS; THE VASSAR LIBRARIES OVER TIME and Betty made a video, both English and Russian language versions, on THE LIBRARIES OF VASSAR COLLEGE specifically for this visit. Plans are underway for sharing both the exhibition and video with libraries throughout Russia.
In addition, Betty gave an afternoon Internet presentation to the Library for Foreign Literature acquisitions staff. At a full day Foreign Acquisitions Conference sponsored by the Library for Foreign Literature and attended by librarians from all over Russia, she presented a paper and gave an extended Internet presentation with an acquisitions focus for those in attendance.
Nancy and Betty visited with colleagues not only at the Library for Foreign Literature but also at other libraries in both Moscow and St. Petersburg under the gracious guidance of staff from the Library for Foreign Literature. Everyone we met is faced with overwhelming challenges in these uncertain times and each shows dedication and commitment to not only facing but clearly overcoming these obstacles. It was an exciting, stimulating, and challenging visit filled with kindnesses and generosity and one that we will always remember.
Plans are under consideration for more exchanges and a continuation of this very special program.
In our two weeks in Beijing, China, in March-April 1996, we were asked this question many times, by people who had introduced us to Beijing Opera and Peking duck, by undergraduate intensive English students, by graduate psychology students, and by international education staff members who took us to cultural and historic sites like the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.
My partner, a counseling psychologist, and I, a librarian and archivist, visited Capital Normal University as representatives of SUNY Oswego, enhancing the cooperative relationship between the two institutions. Housed at the CNU Waishalo (international guest house), we were invited to share information with the CNU library staff, who served us tea and had many questions about CD-ROMs, library instruction, and reference service. We spoke to faculty and students of the psychology department who are interested in incorporating counseling into their curriculum. Having described Penfield's library instruction for graduate counseling psychology students which includes intensive orientation to PsycLIT, we heard that most students have to pay for PsycLIT use out of their own pockets, and obtaining articles found by a PsycLIT search is nigh to impossible.
The National Library of China, an impressive, relatively new building, had four computers, locked up behind a door with a sign which described their limited access and the individual cost of computer use. Primary access to collections is via card catalogues which extend as far as the eye can reach on the main floor, and placed within each area's holdings on various geographic regions of the large country of China.
The Special Collections area of Beijing Normal University's main library holds presidential papers in tall wooden cabinets with sturdy doors on which the names of the presidents are embossed and painted. A major and historically classic Chinese encyclopedia resides in many wooden cabinets; the staff acknowledges access difficulties and yearn for technology to solve access problems. Internet and the World Wide Web are available at BNU for librarians and teaching faculty; thanks to e-mail, our connections with Beijing have continued after our return home.
In our free time, we walked for miles through the farmers' market, where we discovered many varieties of vegetables, baked goods, stir fry food, meats, soybeans, grains, rices, and imported fruit. In addition, the people are using every imaginable skill to make a living: shoe repair, electronics, welding with the most rudimentary tools, and making handmade brooms and brushes. Everywhere the bicycle riders move before, behind and beside you. Carts on the rear of bicycles carry as much as ten mattresses, huge oil cans made into charcoal burning stoves, and entire members of a family, some sound asleep. And everywhere, people get immediate eye contact with you. The old men and the young boys say "hello!" many times. After one old gentleman, swinging his full rice bowl in a plastic bag at his side, said 'Good morning!' to us, he pointed at our Birkenstock sandals and laughed, making further remarks in Chinese. Our Chinese friend indicated that he thought we were wearing our bedroom slippers out in public!
The night before our departure, we dined at Beihai Park with representatives of CNU: the library director, two vice-presidents, two directors, a department chair, and our translators. We were served the Emperor's Dinner, traditionally one hundred dishes. Some of our hosts had been with the Chinese delegation which recently visited SUNY Oswego, and they made particular note that they had enjoyed their visit to Penfield Library. The graciousness, cordiality, and generosity of our hosts, as well as our cross-cultural sharing conversations, made this evening a memorable one. We were particularly grateful to colleagues who had made this trip before us, whose advice, counsel and good humor followed us throughout our Beijing visit.
Eastern New York Chapter
Association of College and Research Libraries
URL: http://urislib.library.cornell.edu/falnews.html
Created by Kristin Strohmeyer,