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SULAIR NEWS – March 18, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Reference Forum Meeting Today - Wednesday, March 18
- SULAIR Technology Chalk Talk on Digital Preservation: Thursday, March 26, 2-3PM
- Upcoming Collections Care Session
- Green Library to Host Course on Medieval Manuscripts
- Physics Library Reduced Hours Begins Spring Quarter 2009
- Search SearchWorks from the SULAIR Home Page
- Society for Scholarly Publishing Interviews John Sack
- *** Reference Question of the Week ***
- SULAIR Job Opportunities
1. Reference Forum Meeting Today - Wednesday, March 18
The next Reference Forum meeting will be held today, Wednesday, March 18, from 2:00 - 3:00 pm in the SSRC Seminar Room.
Topic: SULAIR in Second Life
Presenter: Deni Wicklund (aka Artemis Jacks)
For background information, please see: SULAIR Creates Library in Second Life.
If you would like to be on the email distribution list for future Reference Forum announcements, please go to https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/libref-forum and Subscribe to the list.
--submitted by Chris Bourg
2. SULAIR Technology Chalk Talk on Digital Preservation: Thursday, March 26, 2-3PM
Next Thursday, the SULAIR Technology Chalk Talk will feature David Rosenthal, presenting a critical analysis of the commonly-accepted threats to the long-term access to digital information.
What: How are we "Ensuring the Longevity of Digital Documents"?
When: Thursday, March 26, 2-3 PM
Where: Green Library, SSRC Seminar Room
Fourteen years ago, Jeff Rothenberg's Scientific American article "Ensuring the Longevity of Digital Documents" set the agenda for the development of digital preservation. Jeff used the scenario of his descendants in 2045 trying to read a document on a CD that would lead to his fortune. He identified three threats; media degradation, media obsolescence and format obsolescence. These threats, and especially the last, have dominated discussion of digital preservation since.
Four months after Jeff's article, Stanford's HighWire Press pioneered the move of academic publishing to the Web by putting JBC on-line. The advent of the Web, and other changes in the IT infrastructure, have rendered all of Jeff's threats insignificant, and have introduced a whole new set of threats. The time has come for a critical review of Jeff's article and its analysis, and a repeat of his brave and valuable attempt at prophesy.
Dr. David Rosenthal, Chief Scientist of the LOCKSS Program at the Stanford University Libraries, will deliver this discussion as a preview to his keynote at this Spring's CNI Task Force Meeting.
David's blog on digital preservation can be found at:
http://blog.dshr.org/
An updated and expanded version of Jeff Rothenberg's 1995 Scientific American article (dating from 1999) can be found at:
http://konbib.nl/hrd/dd/dd_links_en_publicaties/publicaties/dig-info-paper.rothenberg.pdf
--submitted by Tom Cramer
3. Upcoming Collections Care Session
How do you deal with a wet book? What do post-it notes look like under a microscope, and why do they damage paper? When is a book too fragile to photocopy? These questions and more will be answered in an upcoming training session that explores common preservation issues in the collections at Stanford University Libraries. This 1.5 hour session is intended for all SULAIR staff who regularly process and handle general collections materials. Participants will learn basic strategies for extending the life of books, serials, CDs, and DVDs.
Topics will include:
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Primary factors that contribute to the deterioration of books, CDs, and DVDs
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Changes in book and paper-making in the last two centuries that contribute to book and paper degradation
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Identifying common types of damage caused by pests, moisture, mold, mutilation, and wear and tear, and what to do next
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Shelving practices that will extend the usable life of books
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Photocopying books without damaging bindings
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Caring for CDs and DVDs
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What to do when patrons have “repaired” materials with tape
Throughout the session, we will discuss prevention as a time and cost-effective means to collections care, the role of the Preservation Department at SULAIR, and the ways in which preservation activities are carried out by staff in all areas of the library.
Please join us as we discuss the mating habits of silverfish, why the Industrial Revolution is to blame for much of the damage in our collections, and much more.
This session will be offered on the following dates:
Tuesday, March 31, 1:00-2:30
Thursday, April 2, 10:30-12:00
Tuesday, April 7, 1:00-2:30
Thursday, April 9, 10:30-12:00
All sessions will take place in the Social Sciences Resource Center, Room 121A, Green Library. Please RSVP to Heather Bolei in Preservation at hbolei@stanford.edu.
--submitted by Mary E. Miller
4. Green Library to Host Course on Medieval Manuscripts
In Spring Quarter, Green Library will host English 209: Paleography and Codicology, Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts and Books. The course, which is offered every 2-3 years, will meet in the Barchas Room and be taught by Professor George H. Brown with library staff John Mustain and David Jordan.
For those interested in the subject, the syllabus is posted on the Department of English Web site. Although primarily a graduate seminar, undergraduates are encouraged to inquire about enrollment.
--submitted by David Jordan
5. Physics Library Reduced Hours Begins Spring Quarter 2009
Beginning with Spring Quarter 2009, there will be a necessary change to the Physics Library service hours during the academic quarter. The new hours will be:
Monday - Friday: 9am - 6pm
Saturday-Sunday: CLOSED
Summer/Intersession hours for now remain unchanged. The hours information on the Physics Library Web site and the SULAIR Web site has been updated. If you are about to refer a patron to the Physics Library, please check our current open hours before sending anyone over.
--submitted by Stella Ota
6. Search SearchWorks from the SULAIR Home Page
SearchWorks has been added to the dropdown menu of the Search box on the SULAIR home page. This additional exposure for SearchWorks has been made to get more user testing and feedback. Give it a try!
--submitted by Editorial Staff
7. Society for Scholarly Publishing Interviews John Sack
Recently, the Society for Scholarly Publishing interviewed John Sack, the Director of HighWire Press. This interesting interview covers John's background, how he came to publishing and HighWire, where he sees scholarly publishing heading, and advice he has for those interested in a scholarly publishing career.
--submitted by Editorial Staff
8. *** Reference Question of the Week ***
Question: I am looking at advertising in India (particularly global versus local). Can you suggest some places to start?
Answer: For books, if you look in Socrates for "advertising India" and then look at "Details" for the records, you will find good subject headings, including Consumers--India--Attitudes and Consumer behavior--India. There are also books (e.g., How Asia Advertises). Note that some of the sources are in Jackson, the business library. Click on "Details" and you'll see a link under "Location" that will take you to that catalog. And don't forget to check the bibliographies of the books you find--this can often lead to other promising sources.
For journal articles, try the Databases page. You might start with Business Source Complete, which has articles from the Wall Street Journal, marketing publications, and academic journals. Click on the tab at the top of a database page to select others--for example, you might try the multidisciplinary database Academic Search Premier. You can also take a look at our PWR Research Guides. Several may be helpful, particularly Globalization and Popular Culture.
You can find more reference questions and answers at the Information Center Web site.
To contribute to the Reference Question of the Week feature of SULAIR News, submit your question
and answer through the SULAIR News online submission form.
--submitted by Editorial Staff
9. SULAIR Job Opportunities
SULAIR has the following new position this week:
HighWire Express Software Developer (#33856)
For a complete description of open positions within SULAIR, go to the Stanford Jobs page and type University Libraries in the Job Search box at the bottom of the page.
--submitted by Editorial Staff
SULAIR News is an electronic publication of Stanford University
Libraries and Academic Information Resources issued weekly. Copy deadline is
12:00 NOON Friday for publication on the following Wednesday. Submit items for
publication via the online submission system.
Editor: Eleanor Brown, Eleanor.Brown@stanford.edu
