Ekstrom Library

Media and Current Periodicals
Summer is here, and that means that we can get caught up on some continuing and long term projects, such as reading the periodical shelves and the ERIC drawers. (At least reading the ERIC microfiche numbers might not be as boring as reading what's actually written on some of the microfiche.) Trish Blair will now have a little free time to continue her work on the Lost Cause Press. She is approaching her seventh year on the project, which sounds like the Biblical labors of Jacob--here's hoping she won't have to do a double shift! Trish has managed to get the collection organized well enough for her to locate materials, and the goal now is to make it possible for mere mortals to do so as well. Trish also hopes to get the smaller fiche and microcards integrated with the full-sized fiche, and she assures us that there is a growing light in the tunnel. Assisting Trish with this herculean project is Angela Durbin, who has been promoted to a Student Assistant II position. As a media processor, she is helping with much of the behind-the-scenes work in the department.

Congratulations to Robert Osborne, one of the frequent fliers in the Special Services office. Rob graduated with a double major in Philosophy and Humanities and was on the Dean's List this spring. Rob used the adaptive equipment in the suite most school days, and he contributed to the general morale with his unfailing enthusiasm and intriguing research projects. They ranged from finding slides of early Jewish art to the idea of will in Nietzsche to the correspondences between Munch and Ibsen (and they also helped to keep Wendy sane this term). Thank you, Rob, and congratulations! Rob will be back for graduate work in the fall after he returns from summer studies in Greece and Italy.

Office of the University Librarian
Lee Caruthers and Sharon Edge were honored on April 24 at a special reception and dinner for 25-year faculty members. The annual event was sponsored by the Office of the Provost and held at the University Club. Congratulations to Lee and Sharon on this special occasion!!

MICHAEL PURCELL has been promoted to the position of Programmer Analyst I, Grade 25, in the Office of Libraries Technology, effective May 26. Mike's arrival means that office will be fully staffed, finally.

CATHERINE GRABER has been hired as a full-time Lecturer (a temporary faculty position) at Kornhauser Library effective June 10. She will help fill the gap created by Jane Bottoms' full-time assignment in the hospital library.

CAROL LUCCHESI joined the Ekstrom Serials staff on March 30 as Library Assistant III, Grade 10.

PAULA MATTINGLY has been hired as Library Assistant I, Grade 6, at Kornhauser Library, effective April 27. Her duties are split between technical and circulation services. She had previously been a student assistant there.

PANOS STEPHENS will join us on June 9 as half-time Library Assistant III, Grade 10, in DADS.

MICHAEL TRAUTH has announced his resignation from his position as Support Services Assistant. Mike's last day will be May 22.

The Libraries will again sponsor a French intern from Montpellier during the month of July. If you would like to reserve some of this student's time, please inform Debbie, as she will coordinate the schedule. Merci!

Debbie Hawley attended a Human Resources Institute: The Human Resources Specialist, in Baltimore April 28-30, sponsored by the ARL Office of Leadership and Management Services. With a small group of only 14 participants, personal interaction and sharing made the excellent training event even more valuable. The three-member faculty was chaired by Maureen Sullivan, who was eager for an update on our reorganization activities. DeEtta Jones, ARL Program Officer for Diversity, also presented and was extremely approachable about the challenges of addressing diversity issues. Many useful tools and models were provided, such as a Diversity Awareness Assessment, Organizational Climate Questionnaire, and affinity diagram. One memorable statement from Maureen was that collaborative organizations may actually be more effective than the team concept! We all agreed that there has to be a way to make time to do more reading and reflection and planning.

Debbie was nominated last month by Ms. Rader for an Outstanding Support Staff Award through the Business & Professional Women (BPW) organization on campus. They attended the BPW annual luncheon at Masterson's on April 22, where each of the 22 nominees was presented a nomination certificate.

Reference
The Reference Department would like to welcome Raquel Gorena and Zaira Sanchez as student assistants. We are happy to have them, and hope that they will be with us for a long while.

Special Collections
Bill Carner's media empire continues to expand. His article "One Teamster's Battle with EPSM" was published in the Spring 1998 issue of Rural Heritage magazine. In the article Bill describes the long process of getting a diagnosis for his Belgian mare Dolly's mysterious weight loss and then establishing a treatment regimen to stabilize and hopefully improve her condition. Bill will also be a correspondent for Rural Heritage at Equitana here in Louisville in June.

On Tuesday May 16, Bill and Southern Indiana Draft Horse & Mule Association president Sherrill Wolfe gave a presentation on draft horses to the Harrison County 4-H. Following the talk the kids and their advisors had a chance to ground drive Sherrill's team, Duke and Jim, around the horse show ring at the Harrison County Fairgrounds.

Stacks Maintenance
Welcome to new student assistants Andrew Klein, Enrique Camacho, Hui-Ning Liu, and Troy Cox. Farewell to Sabrina Allen.

We extend a very special farewell to Stacks Assistant Ed Decker who is moving on to bigger and better things. He has accepted an engineering job in Frankfort. Good luck, Ed!

Kersey Library

Good bye...farewell
We bid a fond farewell to Syed Naseeruddin and Wassile Ibrahim. Both have accepted new jobs. We will miss them both, especially Syed who has been with for quite awhile. We wish them well in all their endeavors.

New Student
We are proud to welcome Yukiko Kojima to Kersey Library. Yukiko is from Japan and has been working for the University Housing Office. She is being trained to assist in maintaining the map collection and to provide backup for the circulation desk.

Kornhauser Library

Cataloging Assistant Crystal Humphrey graduated this May with a B.A. in Psychology.

Paula Mattingly (formerly Tech Services student assistant) is now a full time staff member who's time is being divided between Serials and Circulation.

Mike Purcell's last day at Kornhauser was May 22. We'll miss him!

Neal Nixon and Karen Feder recently gave presentations at two conferences: the Health Sciences OCLC User's Group in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians in Bowling Green, Kentucky. They discussed the challenges and opportunities associated with managing the University Hospital Library.

Maura Ellison has recently become an Aunt for the 10th time.

Leah Gadzikowski finally survived accounting (with an "A"), much to her joy.

Michel Atlas is NOT going to Indonesia, as was previously planned. Her consolation prize is a trip around the world including stops in Switzerland, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Singapore. She will be kicking off her tour in Atlanta, where she will be running in the Peachtree 10K race.

Kornhauser Library hosted the "Digital Libraries" teleconference from the National Library of Medicine.

Mary K. Becker went to North Carolina late last month for a mountain bike race. While there, she noticed the trees dying off above a certain elevation. The balsam wooly adelgid is wreaking havoc with the fir tree population.

Law Library

Circulation clerk Julia Nuss graduated this semester with a degree in Criminal Justice. She spent the last 6 1/2 years going to classes while working full time in the Law Library. Needless to say, she's a big fan of the tuition reimbursement program and recommends it to all library workers who need a degree.

The Louisville Mandolin Orchestra performed at the Great American Brass Band Fesitval in Danville, Kentucky during the weekend of June 13-14.the LMO is scheduled to appear on Sunday, June 14 at 4:--pm. Selections will include several turn-of-the-century marches and polkas, as well as signature pieces "The Louisville Suite" and "The Stephen Foster Medley."

Music Library

Alison Morgan and Steve Noble both participated in UofL's Commencement on May 9. Alison received her Bachelor of Arts in Music History, and Steve received his Master of Public Administration. Alison will be getting married in July, and plans to begin working on her Library Science degree in August. Since Steve is already married and has no desire to pursue a PhD, he plans to spend his summer looking for a better job and writing part of a book about accessible libraries which will be published by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) in the fall.

University Archives and Records Center

Kathie Johnson spent May 1-3 at Black Mountain Weekend at the Pine Mountain Settlement School in southeastern Kentucky. Founded in the early part of the 20th century to serve the educational needs of the local children, the school was converted to an environmental study center in the 1970s. Although its mission is to serve the children of Kentucky, the school also has hosted Elderhostels and three to four times a year there are weekends geared toward adult (and children of all ages) hikers. Kathie's group stayed in a large dormitory (built in the 1920s), ate wonderful meals served in the main building, and took great hikes (led by naturalists from the school) at Kingdom Come State Park, Bad Branch, Black Mountain, and Pine Mountain itself. From the looks of it, the group ranged in age from 14 to 70, and everyone had a great time - even hiking in the rain! Kathie recommends this trip to everyone!

On May 5, Kathie traveled to Washington D.C. to attend a grant application planning meeting at the Library of Congress. UARC is participating in a grant proposal to the NEH for the pilot phase of "The Quilt Index." Other participants include: Michigan State University and H-Net; The Alliance for American Quilts; the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress; the Illinois State Museum; Michigan State University Museum; the Tennessee State Library; and possibly the University of Nebraska. The Index is a database which will provide access to materials dispersed across the country and which are often times inaccessible. It will intellectually organize information from quilt collections and quilt documentation projects, making it possible for researchers and quilters alike to access information about quilt patterns, designs, quilt makers, quilt production and quilt use. As part of this project, UARC will process the records of the Kentucky Quilt Project and input all of the information into a database designed and housed at H- Net. This is an exciting project, blending the old (quilting) with the new (computer technology). The application goes in July 1, so stay tuned for more information in the future!

Margaret Merrick and her husband Robbie ran the Derby Mini-Marathon, completing the 13.1 mile course in 2 hours and eight minutes and 54 seconds. Margaret has run the Mini about sixteen times. Each time she runs it she vows she will not torture herself again, but somehow, the next year finds herself at the start.