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Inside ASIS&T

ASIS&T 2004 Annual Meeting Coverage

As this issue of the Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology goes to press, members of ASIS&T are finalizing their plans for attendance at the 2004 Annual Meeting in Providence , Rhode Island . Complete coverage of the meeting will be included in the February/March 2005 issue of the Bulletin. But to the whet the appetite for meeting coverage for those who didn’t attend, here are the winners of the 2004 ASIS&T Awards:

Award of Merit – Howard White

Watson Davis Award – Joseph Busch

Research in Information Science Award – W. Boyd Rayward

Information Science Book Award – A History of Online Information Services 1963-1976 by Charles P. Bourne and Trudi Bellardo Hahn

Thomson ISI/ASIS&T Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award – Don Cleveland

John Wiley & Sons Best JASIST Paper Award – Cecelia Brown for “The Role of Electronic Preprints in Chemical Communication: Analysis of Citation, Usage, and Acceptance in the Journal Literature”

Thomson ISI/ASIS&T Citation Analysis Research Grant – David Hubbard

Thomson ISI/ASIS&T Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Scholarship – Meng Yang

ProQuest/ASIS&T Doctoral Dissertation Award – Lennart Björneborn

Pratt Severn Best Student Research Paper Award – Tori Orr

James M. Cretsos Leadership Award – Stacy Surla and Tom Terrell

Chapter-of-the-Year – LACASIS and SOASIST

Student Chapter-of-the-Year – University of Washington Student Chapter

Chapter Member-of-the-Year – Nicole McNeeley Kallas

Chapter Event-of-the-Year – Database-Driven Technology (LACASIS Fall Workshop) and Taxonomy and Metadata Strategies for Effective Content Management ( Potomac Valley Chapter)

Chapter Electronic Publication-of-the-Year – OASIS, newsletter of the Los Angeles Chapter of ASIS&T, and website of the Southern Ohio Chapter of ASIS&T (SOASIST)

SIG-of-the-Year – SIG/STI

New Officers and Directors Join ASIS&T Board

A new ASIS&T administrative year got underway during the 2004 ASIS&T Annual Meeting in Providence , Rhode Island , bringing new faces to the Board of Directors. Four new members were welcomed  to the Board at the conclusion of the meeting, while four retiring members were thanked for their service.

            Each of the new members will serve the society for three years. Those elected to the Board during the summer balloting are Michael Leach, president-elect; June Lester, treasurer; and Donald Case and Marianne Afifi, directors-at-large.

            As the new members took their seats, Nick Belkin, elected last year as president-elect, assumed the presidency from Samantha Hastings, who now serves as past president for one year. Former president Trudi Bellardo Hahn, treasurer Cecilia Preston, and directors-at-large Abby Goodrum and Andrew Dillon completed their terms of service on the Board.  

Nick Belkin is chair and director of the MLIS Program at Rutgers University , where he has been professor of information science in the School of Communication , Information and Library Studies since 1985. Prior to his Rutgers service, he was senior lecturer in information science at The City University, London . Nick holds the Ph.D. in information studies from the University of London , and the MLS and BA from the University of Washington . He is a recipient of the ASIS&T Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award (1990) and the ASIS&T Research Award (1997).

Michael Leach is the director of the Physics Research and Kummel Libraries at Harvard University , where he earned his BA degree. He holds the MLIS from the University of Rhode Island . A member of ASIS&T since 1995, Michael has chaired the New England chapter's program committee, publications committee and the chapter, and has served as newsletter editor. Among his SIG activities is service as chair of SIG/Management and on the SIG Steering Committee. He has also served on the Leadership Development Committee. He is the recipient of the ASIS&T Cretsos Leadership Award and of the NEASIST Member-of-the-Year Award.

June Lester is professor, University of Oklahoma School of Library and Information Studies, and previously served as the school's director. Prior positions include associate dean, School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas; and director, Office for Accreditation, American Library Association. She teaches courses in information use and user behavior, foundations of information studies and the information environment. Primary areas of interest include information policy and information studies education.  She received her doctorate from Columbia University and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from Emory University .

Marianne Afifi is the director of electronic resources and special projects development at the Information Services Division of the University of Southern California (USC). She manages electronic information resources access, delivery and development and is an active participant in digital library projects. She holds an MBA from USC and an MLS in information systems design from the University of California , Los Angeles . Marianne was the first winner of the Los Angeles chapter's Margaret McKinley Scholarship and also served the chapter in virtually all positions on its board and currently as an Advisory Board Member. Nationally, Marianne has served as chair and member of the Awards & Honors Committee.

Donald O. Case holds the Ph.D. in communication research from Stanford University . He is a professor in the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information Studies. Prior to his position in Kentucky , he was a faculty member at the University of California , Los Angeles . Case teaches courses in research methodology and the social effects of technologies, and he conducts research on social informatics and information-seeking. Case has been a member of the JASIST Editorial Board for more than a decade. His book, Looking for Information: A Survey of Research on Information Seeking, Needs, and Behavior, received the ASIS&T Best Information Science Book Award in 2002.

News About ASIS&T Chapters

The Central Ohio ASIS&T (CO-ASIST) Chapter opened its fall season in October with a panel discussion on current services and future endeavors for ESOL populations. Kristin Shelley, manager of the Hilltop Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, chaired the panel, which included Lara Callahan, literacy liaison, Beth Riemenschneider, reference coordinator, and Lynne Fogel, foreign language materials selector. Topics included the needs of foreign customers and students, their impact on operations, improving collections and services for these populations, and more.

            Then in November, CO-ASIST scheduled a tour of the Mount Carmel West Hospital Center for Learning & Education Library. Fern Cheek, Mount Carmel health systems librarian, led the tour and discussed how the center helps support the state-of-the-art medical facility.

The Northern Ohio Chapter of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (NORASIST) held its 2004 Annual Meeting in late September. Greg Weller, Web applications manager at Cuyahoga County Public Library, was the featured speaker. He discussed browser innovations and new web technologies.

Then in November, NORASIST and the Cleveland and the Kent State University Student Chapters of the Special Libraries Association, held their annual student/practitioner get-together. Jerry P. Miller, director of the Competitive Intelligence Center at Simmons College in Boston , discussed the field of competitive intelligence and how it fits into the library and information field of practice.

            The New England ASIS&T (NEASIS&T) Chapter and the Simmons Student Chapter collaborated on a web-accessible Visitors Guide to Providence for people attending the 2004 ASIS&T Annual Meeting in the Rhode Island city. The chapters gave special recognition to Caryn Anderson, chair of the Simmons Student Chapter, and Adrienne Boudreau, Simmons at Mt. Holyoke coordinator, for their work on the guide.

            The Metropolitan New York Chapter of ASIS&T, in collaboration with the Queens College Chapter of the American Library Association and the Lloyd George Sealy Library, held a forum on The Future of Library Information Science Education in November. Michael Gorman, president-elect of the American Library Association, gave an introductory talk, which was followed by comments and responses by three panels: one of library school deans and directors; another of employers; and a third of LIS students. Among the ASIS&T members on the panels were Nick Belkin, Rutgers, and Michael Koenig, Long Island University .

The New Jersey ASIS&T Chapter (NJ-ASIST) presented its 18th Distinguished Lectureship Award to Eugene Garfield, chairman emeritus of the Institute for Scientific Information. The award, established in 1985, honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of information science. At a series of events associated with the honor, Dr. Garfield provided a synoptic review and history of citation indexes and their evolution into research evaluation tools. The review covered the origins of journal impact factors, citation classics and other bibliometric applications, including historiographic mapping of science.

The Wisconsin Chapter of ASIS&T and the UW-Milwaukee ASIS&T Student Chapter featured Feicheng Ma, dean, School of Information Management at Wuhan University , China , in a presentation focused on the achievements and deficiencies in the construction of Chinese information laws and regulations. The speaker also proposed corresponding countermeasures and presented a brief comparison study between Chinese and U.S. laws.

The Potomac Valley Chapter of ASIS&T, in conjunction with the DC Chapter of SLA, presented Technical Challenges of Digital Libraries for Children in November, a luncheon program held at the Supreme Court building. Allison Druin and Ann Weeks of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) at the University of Maryland presented the technical challenges of an informative and educational digital library – specifically the technical evolution, difficulties and successes of the International Children's Digital Library (ICDL) project. The ICDL is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The Los Angeles Chapter of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (LACASIS) and the Southern California Chapter of the Special Libraries Association kick off the holiday season with their annual joint holiday program. The featured speaker for the December evening of good food, friendly people and fascinating conversation is Kevin Starr, professor of history at University of Southern California and state librarian emeritus. A contributing editor to the Los Angeles Times, Starr spent more than 30 years researching and writing his six-volume Americans and the California Dream.

News from an Institutional Member

Rutgers University Receives Grants; Adds Faculty

The Department of Library and Information Science (LIS) in the Rutgers University School of Communication, Information and Library Studies (SCILS) has received two recent grants, one in support of a collaborative research project with IEEE and the other to support development of an online degree program.

The IEEE project, Experiment and Evaluation of Digital Library Performance, will explore user interface evaluations and system performance issues for IEEE's Xplore digital library. Nicholas J. Belkin and Karen Novick are the principal investigators for the project.

In other Rutgers University news, two new faculty members have joined SCILS for the fall semester: Marie L. Radford and Sherry L. Vellucci.

News About an ASIS&T Member

Former ASIS&T President Named Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania

Former ASIS&T president Toni Carbo, professor of information sciences and public and international affairs at the University of Pittsburgh , has been honored as a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania, a designation honoring accomplishments of statewide or national importance.

Carbo, who was nominated for the honor by the Women’s Association of the University of Pittsburgh , and six other honorees were recognized at a special luncheon at the Governor’s residence in Harrisburg .

“The Governor and I are pleased to host these distinguished women and commend them for their leadership and contribution to the Commonwealth,” said Judge Marjorie O. Rendell, Pennsylvania ’s first lady. “These seven women are committed to issues of importance in Pennsylvania , and their accomplishments and awareness will shape the future of our state.”

Carbo was dean of Pitt’s School of Information Sciences from 1986-2002. She has served as executive director of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences during the Reagan-Bush Administration, as executive director of the National Federation of Abstracting and Index Services in Philadelphia , as a consultant to the Institution of Electrical Engineers in London , England , and in several other positions in the library and information sciences field. She was also a Madison Council Fellow in Library and Information Science of the Library of Congress.

She was appointed by the Clinton-Gore administration to the U.S. National Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee. She is on the American Library Association Honor Roll and has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Pennsylvania Library Association and the 100 Most Distinguished Alumni Award from Drexel University , where she earned the master’s and Ph.D. degrees. Her undergraduate degree is from Brown University , and she is a fellow of several organizations.

ASIS&T Past President Takes Helm at NCLIS

Trudi Bellardo Hahn, most recently with the University of Maryland , has assumed the position of interim executive director at the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS). Formerly manager of Library User Education Services and adjunct professor at the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland , Hahn was ASIS&T president in 2003. She is also the co-author with Charles Bourne of the 2004 ASIS&T Best Information Science Book Award.

She has held prior positions as training specialist with the Maryland State Department of Education, Director of Professional Development for the Special Libraries Association, Associate Professor at Catholic University , and Assistant Professor and Data Services Librarian at the University of Kentucky .

Commission chair Beth Fitzsimmons says “Trudi Bellardo Hahn possesses the exact combination of qualities that will enable NCLIS” to address the library and information needs of the American people. “Her understanding and her love for the profession of librarianship, and her expertise in information system and management – together with the esteem in which she is held by her professional colleagues – mean that we at the Commission will be working with the highest standards of excellence as we seek to achieve the Commission’s goals.” 

Copyright © 2005, American Society for Information Science and Technology