Eye Wide Shut

Dear Diary,

My Bibliographic Essay on "Seldom Explored Minority Stories"
was published, click on the hyperlink below:

http://www.ala.org/ala/diversity/versed/versedbackissues/november2005ab/nov05.htm

Who Knew Water is Alcohol?

Dear Diary,

Neither database was working properly so my Chemistry co-facilitator reviewed chemistry concepts with me.
Naming Straight Chain Alkanes http://www.ausetute.com.au/namsanes.html. We also collaborated on ways to include Active Learning Techniques into our sessions. http://www.wpbschoolhouse.btinternet.co.uk/page06/DFalcether.htm

I'm Just a Bill

Dear Diary,

Today's Legal Research class was treated to the long awaited School House Rock clip to help explain the life cycle of Laws http://www.school-house-rock.com/Bill.html

The class ended with a poem. I loved it as did the students. Nice transition for the first week back after fall break.

Talk About Multi-Tasking

Dear Diary,

Monday I attended a libray tour and was struck by the fact that there are entire departments dedicated to single tasks that I did as a group of tasks. Naturally, I understand why, because I was one of two librarians in a relatively small library, but it demonstrated to me that I have a wide range of skills, as a result of being a semi-solo librarian. For example, I did collection development, acquisitions, weeding and de-accessioning, "Tattle-Taping" meaning putting the security strips in the materials, I put Mylar on the dust jackets, I cataloged the materials (print and audiovisual), I claimed missing materials, I shifted the shelves (shelf maintenance), I did reference, bibliographic instruction, reserves and ILL requests. All of the above are separate departments in the main library (with the exception of Government Docs). Wow! I never thought about it.

Bonus: Me and my co-resident were asked to co-chair the Library Committee for the Department of Africana Studies. Yippee! I created a Collection Development Policy and ran it by the team, before I begin my search for resources, I need to have a clear goal.

BONUS: My 4th article has been accepted for publication by the American Library Association's Versed. This one is my Bibliographic Essay that I spent the absolute most time on, it is 24 pages "short."

And I was notified of the following nomination:

"Congratulations! The American Library Association's Nominating Committee has selected you as a candidate for Councilor-at-Large in the 2006 election. You were selected from a pool of many well-qualified potential candidates. Your nomination indicates the high regard in which your peers hold you."

Jane May Have 2 Mommies BUT African-Americans Are Even More Incredible!

Dear Diary,

Interesting reference request to locate the decisions of cases cited in a Washington Times article, titled "Same-sex parent rulings spark debate in California." http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050823-105215-5319r.htm

1) Reversed 16 Cal. Rptr. 3d 123
2)Reversed 13 Cal. Rptr. 3d 136
3)Reversed 13 Cal. Rptr. 3d 494

I attended an inspiring speech by 2 quite exceptional African-American Judges, the Honorable Judge Anne Williams http://www.nd.edu/~lawvisit/reflections_alumni.html, and the Honorable Judge George N. Leighton.

Judge Williams spoke of her foundation Just the Beginning http://www.jtbf.org/.

Judge Leighton spoke of having a post office named after him, a first of its kind occurrence http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/07-05/07-24-05/a04lo505.htm and http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r109:H04MY5-0029: and http://www.gop.gov/Committeecentral/bills/hr1542.asp

Background
Judge Leighton was born George Neves Leitao to Cape Verde immigrants Anna Silva Garcia and Antonio Neves Leitao, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on October 22, 1912. He attended grade school in New Bedford and on Cape Cod until he left the seventh grade to take a job on an oil tanker. But, he continued his education by reading books, attending night schools, and studying in Works Progress Administration classes. He went on to attend Howard University, after winning an essay contest, without EVER ATTENDING High School or completing Grade School!.

He worked an assortment of menial jobs and graduating with a degree from the College of Liberal Arts in 1940, magna cum laude. In September, 1940, he enrolled in the Harvard University School of Law, but his studies were interrupted by military service in World War II. He was awarded the Bronze Star for service during World War II. He received his LL.B. degree from Harvard in November of 1946.After graduation, Judge Leighton established a highly successful law practice in Chicago. He started his judicial career as a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, serving from 1964 to 1969; then he served as a Judge of the Appellate Court, First District from 1969 to 1976. In 1976, President Ford appointed Judge Leighton to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois where he served until 1987 when he became Counsel to the Chicago law firm of Earl L. Neal & Associates.

Among his many accomplishments and honors, Judge Leighton was the first African-American lawyer to sit on the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association, the first African-American judge to serve as a Chancellor in the Circuit Court of Cook County, and the first African-American judge to sit on the Illinois Appellate Court. Additionally, Judge Leighton has been a professor of law at the John Marshall Law School for twenty-seven years.

Look at Me

Dear Diary,

Let's play a game called Find the Resident! http://www.aallnet.org/caucus/bllc/
Hint: See the first photo.

What a fantastic conference! I learned about this great charitable concept, Reader to Reader on the listserv http://www.readertoreader.org/

Today I attended a training session, "ND Millennials: Characteristics to Instructional Success".

"I was born after the year 1982. I need structure and technology in myenvironment. Multi-tasking is a part of my life. Honest.I really can comprehend what you are saying while also sending a textmessage to my friend."
"I can run several IM conversations at the same time all while listening to MP3s on my PC as well as surf the web while adding content to my homework projects and assignments." Just who am I? I am a Millenial. I'm part of the generation known as Millenials.

"Meet the Gamers" http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/ca516033.html

I Know You Are But What Am I?

Dear Diary,

"Sticks and Stones...." www.alliancend.com Today is yet another day when students and faculty have been asked to wear their http://www.finebyme.org/index.html

ORANGE T- shirts "Gay? Fine By Me?"

I saw an article after the last time the shirts were worn and wanted to learn more and I did. I applaud the groups courage to fight for equality. I feel a wee bit timid being the only faculty with one in my building. But other faculty are wearing them. Some faculty have come up and inquired about the shirt because they were unaware that it was not JUST for students. I believe the mystery surrounding the shirts and the events have a lot to do with the fact that the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) of students, faculty, and staff are not officially recognized by the University.

I feel as a representative of "Diversity" in libraries, it is incumbent upon me to promote diverse beliefs and lifestyles and values. All too often, people confuse my being an African-American as the sum total of my contribution to diversity. Well they are in for a rude awakening. I have some of the most diverse thoughts on most subjects, and am not afraid to vocalize them. Sure wearing the shirt is attracting some stares but actually no more than when I first arrived. If I am this reticent and I am NOT GAY, I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it would be to walk around this campus or this homophobic world, and proclaim that you are gay.

Below is a schedule of events planned. On my Amnesty International listserv the question was posed:

What is your MORALITY Goal for this month?

I guess it is to stand up for equal treatment for all of God's children.

Tuesday, October 11: National Coming Out Day
Come Out of Your Closet!- 4:30 pm, South Quad.
“Come out” of a life-size closet for whatever reason you choose, and learn more about the significance of the act of coming out to members of the GLBTQ community. Also, a table in Lafun (GRC and Standing Committee on G&L Student Needs)

Wednesday, October 12:
8:00pm, Grotto Matthew Shepard Memorial Prayer Service
Prayer service to remember the murder of Matthew Shepard, victim of gay hate crime in 1998
Events Individually Sponsored by One or More of the Following: AllianceND, Progressive Student Alliance, Feminist Voice, Gender Relations Center & Standing Committee for Gay and Lesbian Student Needs, Sociology Dept., & Graduate Student Union.

I am doing a tutorial and assignment on History & Validation of Cases using Westlaw and Lexis.

Third Times a Charm

Dear Diary,

I am back after being off to tend to family business. I have been filling back dated requests, that came in during my absence. I key cite searched 2005 WL 2175166 in Westlaw. And am about to call a probate court to determine the dissolution of an intersting case in the news titled, "Florida Hospital Can Kill Man Via Euthanasia Over Wife's Objections" available at http://www.lifenews.com/bio579.html.

And what a great surprise, Christian Librarian emailed me that they want to publish what will be my 3rd article, "Spiritual Literacy."

I am bursting with excitement! I created a library concept, Spiritual Literacy and am so honored that it was accepted. I plan to include it in my panel discussion when I present at the Indiana Library Federation's Annual Conference in April 2006. The journal is backlogged and will publish it in the quote "very next issue, " April 2006 http://www.acl.org/tcl.cfm

I am so encouraged by having 3 articles actually accepted for publication, in 3 months. It may seem like quite an accomplishment but it doesn't reflect all the rejection emails I have received that can be discouraging at times. But I just recall it is said that Colonel Sanders' idea for KFC was rejected 1009 times. Good grief!
So what I have learned today is:

"Never give up...and never give in!"

Techno-What?

Dear Diary,

I attended the Indiana Library Federation's District 1 Conference in downtown South Bend today. I was impressed by Michael Stephens' Technology presentation http://www.tametheweb.com/

He talked about:
*Techno-Lust, just wanting things because they are cool.
*Techo-Must, things that you need to meet your mission.
Techno-Divorce, being able to disregard technology that does not meet your continuing needs.

He suggests having a Library Garage Sale for example his library sold old computers and there were lines around the corner.http://lishost.org/~sjcpl/

Mr. Stephens discussed IM virtual Reference at his library. http://sjcpl.lib.in.us/asksjcpl/asksjcpl.html

Mr. Stephens discussed Flickr.com as one example of photo-sharing services. Photo-sharing for the Digerati. He discussed how CD-ROMs will die because new wireless streaming video will replace them. He suggested that one day reference will be conducted using Skype http://www.skype.com/ and VoIP http://www.fcc.gov/voip/.

Mr. Stephens discussed how the South Huntington Public Library on Long Island, New York, became one of the first public libraries in the country to loan out iPod shuffles for audiobooks. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA515808.html

...And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

Dear Diary,

Retrieved "general audiences" from the Vatican, in microfilm newspaper L'Osservatore Roma.

My excerpt on "Innocents Lost" was distributed to Amnesty International Members. Tonight we discuss working with UgandaCAN http://www.ugandacan.org/speakout.php

Isaiah 11:6 http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?search=isa%2011:6-9&version=9;

Colloquium Mania & Making Sense of It All

Dear Diary,

Today I will attend a special Friday Colloquium, in addition to our weekly Tuesday meetings. Today's topic is “Similarities and Differences Between Statutory and Scriptural Interpretation”.

Some of the past colloquiums I attended discussed:
Aug. 23rd, The mind manager software
Aug. 30th, The Supreme Court's recent internet filing sharing cases
Sept. 6th, De re and De Dicto
Sept. 13th The D.C. Circuit's Handan military detention case
Sept. 20th The Constitution as a written document.

The next one I plan to attend is Religion and the rise of modern culture.

I remember attending my very first one on Tuesday July 5th, which was only my second day here. And when I left my heart was literally beating faster than it ever has, except when I rode the Whizzer roller coaster at Great America. I was so overly stimulated mentally that it was hard to breathe.

I was so proud that I was working among clearly some of the most brilliant minds and I was apart of this elite group of intellectuals. These colloquiums are just what I had always dreamed an academic environment would be like. A group of intellectuals in a room debating the merits of current hot topic political events. We have had discussions of faculty's trips to Alaska where they point out the waste left behind at abandoned military camps. I recently attended one where we discussed China and how half of all the construction cranes in the world are in China, rapid growth. But there are lighter sides to these discussions as well, for example, "The Colonel" (KFC) is more prevalent than the "Golden Arches" (Mickey D's) in China. No matter what the topic nor how esoteric it may seem, I leave each colloquium feeling more informed and more inspired to stay informed.

Some colloquiums are more heated than others, for instance the one on Detainees was intense. But the speaker explained about the 2 options for dealing with detainees under the Geneva Convention. And the importance of selecting the appropriate noun to describe these prisoners, either "Enemy Combatants" or "Detainees" and the different times that laws of war apply. And the captives' rights under each of those 2 titles. There has been much criticism about America's unchecked executive power, as is explained in this article:
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/guantanamobay-index-eng.

I am summarizing a complex issue, so for an abstract of one of this faculty's writing, click on this link http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=811046

I also helped some LLMs locate materials in the stacks. I did a reference request to locate "Audiences" from the Vatican, requires selecting appropriate "Holy Father," and I searched for articles on LexisNexis.

On a brighter note, all of this citation "stuff" is finally making perfect sense to me now. In fact, I helped a 1L student verify that there were no "Supreme Court" citations even though his answer was marked incorrect. So I showed the resources and the answer marked "incorrect" to the professors. And they changed the answer on their answer key. Phew! I am very proud of myself, and the fact that I felt confident in my answer, even though it clearly differed from what was touted as correct, proves I am becoming much more comfortable with the material.

Interesting article in the Observer...Gay? Fine By Me Tees.
http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/paper660/news/2005/09/30/News/Bright.Orange.Shirts.Make.Bold.Statement-1005171.shtml

Another Day in the Life of an Academic Library Resident

Dear Diary...

Today I attended a Law Library Faculty Meeting concerning "Collection Development for electronic resources." The main issues debated involved the necessity of both print and electronic versions of the same journals, taking into consideration usage metrics and cost differentials.

There was discussion of the ever present problem of preservation. I asked if the literature has indicated that libraries have been affected at any time by the "pervasive fear" that "IF" we subscibe to an electronic ONLY resource and 2 years down the line a patron needs an article from the previous year's archives but the company has gone belly up and no one has that vital article...all is lost!

I was informed that this phenomena is much too current to have suffered from such events, but with the palpable fear surrounding it, I guess I can't help but feel it is a tad bit overly dramatic.

I did learn that there is a real concern about the "shelf life" as it were of changing electronic formats, such as DVDs and CD-Roms. Some assume 100 years, max. I located the following excerpt that I found interesting:

"The Digital Problem; the Digital Challenge

Since the mid-1990s, we’ve known that digital preservation is a technical, legal, and organizational problem. Storage media degrade; signals decay; and the configuration of hardware and software required to render and display stored data become obsolete. Try running Microsoft Word 2.0 -- or any pre-1990 software -- on your Windows XP system and let me know how it goes. "
http://www.prelec.stonybrook.edu/lectures/marcumlecture.htm

There was also discussion of archiving websites, I had heard of one previously called the "Way Back Machine"
available at http://www.archive.org/

Academic Procession

Dear Diary,

Since I blew off my graduation ceremony for my MLIS, today was the first time I ever donned academic regalia. The hood color for MLIS is lemon.

On Friday, September 23, the faculty of the University of Notre Dame assembled at the Main Building and marched in Academic Procession to the Joyce Center for the Inaugural Convocation in which the Reverend Father John I. Jenkins C.S.C. will be invested as the seventeenth President of the University. Academic regalia was required.

God...Country...Notre Dame

Dear Diary,

"God...Country...Notre Dame"

That is phrase on the Red T-shirts volunteers wore to collect money for Hurricane Victims. We collected money by passing buckets through the rows during the Michigan State game on Saturday Sept. 17th. I enjoyed it but the collection did not go as planned. Perhaps next time we should have the audience attend the mandatory "rehearsal."

On more than one occasion I had to go running through the stands to retrieve my bucket of money. One excited fan simply put the bucket on the ground and resumed cheering. Then well-meaning people would simply pass my bucket a few rows back to anyone waving money in the air. While that was appreciated, we had been assigned specific rows to cover but no one except us knew that.

So I was just very thankful that while the collection process did not go quite as rehearsed, it was effective, all the same. We reportedly raised $197,871 for Hurricane Katrina victims and that is what it was all about. http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/paper660/news/2005/09/21/News/Community.Collects.Over.240000.For.Victims-992386.shtml

3rd Month in the Life of the "World's Busiest Resident"

Dear Diary,

Since today is my first day Blogging...I have included an account of the last few months of my Residency combined. See August for that compilation. My residency began July 1st, 2005.


Thur. 9/1 /05
Tour for undergrad students. Did reference request for Math Library "display" ideas after having lunch with the Supervisor of the Math Librarian. I completed a second request for a new law faculty member. I helped law students with homework.

Fri. 9/2/05
Bronchial Infection, was sent home.

**Sun. 9/4/05
Wrote "Spiritual Literacy" article since there is no literature on this. Creating the library concept from scratch using current literacies as a model to re-write my proposed definition.

Mon. 9/5/05
LABOR DAY HOLIDAY, I came in, voluntarily to complete Legal Research Assignment #3.

Tues. 9/6
Completed 4 Reference Questions for law faculty in London. I emailed my rewritten version of the movie "JAWS" in a library setting. I forwarded my Bibliographic Essay about Seldom Explored Minority Stories.
I learned about Case Reporter & Court Structure and the West’s National Reporter System.

Wed. 9/7
Met with Chemistry Librarian from 9am until Noon. Sent LexisNexis articles on SSN Privatization to patron. Sent LRI (Westlaw) articles on Elder Law. Sent weekly new resources update for the law library website.
Submitted "Spiritual Literacy" article for publication consideration in the Christian Librarian Journal.

Thurs. 9/8/
Trained with law librarian on Westlaw & Lexis. / Helped 1Ls with Assignment #3 and helped a student from Hesburgh Library find Congressional Record in KF 42.R42 in microfilm.

Fri. 9/9
Printed Westlaw (JLR & LRI) articles on the pros and cons of the smoking Ban in St. Joseph County. I used South Bend Public library website under- Community Info - Healthy Initiatives & I printed the actual ordinance which was requested.

BONUS: I learned today that my Reflections of a Resident article is published online!!! http://www.ala.org/ala/diversity/versed/versedbackissues/september2005a/sept05.htm

Mon. 9/12
I attended the new Provost Tom Burish introductory meeting.

I attended an Amnesty Int'l meeting (child soldiers group). I recommended "Innocents Lost" Book & possible Book signing or Video viewing of PBS video. I signed campaign letter to get law in Nigeria against Female abuse, since non-existent.

I was notified today that my 1st Editorial "That's All I Had" is among a few selected to be published in Christian Science Monitor. Excerpt from email from the:

"Your submission on Katrina is being considered for publication in a special Opinion page collection in The Christian Science Monitor. Given the overwhelming number of OpEds we've received, we've decided to pull the best nuggets from a dozen or so, and create a sort of literary collage of reflections in the wake of Katrina. This page is still in the works, and, as most things in journalism, there's no guarantee it'll run as planned until it's headed for the presses."

Tues. 9/13
3 reference requests. (Personal Note) I truly appreciate my supervisor’s confidence in me. It inspires me to try extra hard to meet his expectations. And I really appreciate his helpful hints as to "good places" to look for those requests, since he knows I would have no way of knowing where to look. His management style is totally conducive to allowing me to fulfill my potential. He does not micro manage and that empowers me.

I worked on transforming my Curriculum Vitae into Notre Dame's format. Pretty cumbersome examples in the faculty manual.

Wed. 9/14
My first day as an "Activist."

I handed out Darfur information during my lunch hour and spoke to a brave young woman who visited the region. At first I was apprehensive about approaching strangers, but since one of my strong suits is my assertiveness, I got over it, really quickly. I simply reminded myself how important the cause is.

As a librarian I am charged with informing the public. I was reassured of my mission, when I encountered the first person who had "Never heard of Darfur," and so naturally was unaware of the genocide transpiring there. That was all the motivation I needed.

I handed out Darfur information during my lunch hour and spoke to a brave young woman who visited the region. I signed up students for a petition to "Divest" and got students to send a campaign letter to an Indiana Senator. For more information see http://www.savedarfur.org/

Thur. 9/15
Lunch with the first Library Resident. Added "Reflections of a Resident" to my Notre Dame homepage with my reflecting image. Get it?

I submitted my "From Private Investigator to Librarian" article to LIS Career.com. Learned supra means "footnote" in Lexis assignment. Hesburgh Library Faculty meeting introduced me & Leslie, the other Resident. I submitted my registration to attend District 1 - Indiana Library Federation conference downtown South Bend on Oct. 4th. I search for faculty governance codes for our Director.

Fri. 9/16
Attended African American Studies Department reception. Scheduled lunch meeting with the new department head as a networking measure.

Mon. 9/19
Attended 1st Monthly Meeting with Laura. I told her about the 5 articles I have submitted already. She said we can be "Ex Officio" members of Diversity Committee and she suggested I look into WebCT/Vista class. She said I can use her CV as a model. I registered for WebCT see if I can incorporate into my sessions that I will teach next year for Chemistry Databases. At Amnesty International meeting we viewed a film "Invisible Children" http://www.invisiblechildren.com/

Tues. 9/20
Lunch meeting with head of Africana Studies department and the other Resident. We will be "Affiliates."
BONUS: LIScareers.com will publish my article scheduled for April 2006 or sooner if possible. I learned about Digests.

Wed. 9/21
Met with Dwight to ensure I work a normal 40 hours and not at home on my time off. I will focus on Legal Reference as did the previous Residents. He explained that I have written more than the other Residents. I have had 3 articles accepted for publication...2 of that 3 are technically pending.

Thur. 22nd - Fri. 23rd
Mainly Inauguration Events including Academic Forum & Procession (with Cap & Gown) and Investiture.
Tried to catch up on Assignment 4 and do #5 due next Monday. Laura and my supervisor, Dwight, are fully aware that I am a "Work-A-Holic" and since I am always working, during the academic procession I met David Link and had an intriguing conversation. I learned about KKK hired a Black attorney to defend them http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/analysis.aspx?id=14776 and Jewish lawyer defended Skokie Nazi.
These led to many deep and profound levels for discussion.

Monday 9/26
Emailed ND formatted CV to Laura. Completed past Assignment #4 and hand delivered library website "News Item " featured electronic resource to the law school webmaster. I emailed Information Literacy Program ideas to Africana Studies Director to discuss when he meets with Hesburgh Library Director. I re-familiarized myself with Dream Weaver using the Tutorial.

Tues. 9/27
Completed Assignment #6. Met with head of the Institutional Repository Committee. I did 2 reference requests. Hand delivered registration for ILF Dist. 1 meeting Oct. 4th South Bend.

Responded to law faculty listserv about Urban Legend "Do not call - cell phones"

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/dncalrt.htm What Phone Numbers Can I Register? 10. Can I register my cell phone on the National Do Not Call Registry? Yes, you may place your personal cell phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry. The registry has accepted cell phone numbers since it opened for registrations in June 2003. There is no deadline to register a home or cell phone number on the Registry. You may have received an email telling you that your cell phone is about to be assaulted by telemarketing calls as a result of a new cell phone number database; however, that is not the case. FCC regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers don’t call consumers on their cell phones without their consent.

Also http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/cell411.asp . Aside from doing my professional duty to dispel MIS-information, those emails are my ultimate Pet Peeve! Medical librarians email those and in fact a fellow librarian here, tried to disprove my above email by replying with the top portion of the FTC website...so I had to reply yet again and include the aforementioned excerpt. I love being RIGHT.
But I digress!!



Wed. 9/28
Chemistry training to prepare to teach SciFinder Scholar. After yesterday, I decided that for my presentation for the Indiana Library Federation's Annual Conference that I'll included "www.Snopes.com" to my info information literacy section. Because not just librarians but other professions who are in the business of "information" such as teachers also pass along Urban Legends, for example the one about their students telling of a midget living in the student's basement and parents thought the child was talking to an "imaginary" friend.

2nd Month in the Life of a Remarkable Resident.

Dear Diary,

Mon. 8/1
Per our Director's request, I submitted an editorial article to AALL Spectrum Perspectives Journal. "Soul Searching in the Stacks, " proof read by 2 law librarians. I helped a law student (1L), locate information in Microfilm & print it using LegalTrac Index and LINK catalog.

Tues. 8/2
Volunteered for a community service organization working with teens.

Wed. 8/3
Continue writing Bibliographic Essay. Renewed ALA membership. Applied for Councilor-at-Large deadline was pushed back to 8/31. I applied to be a Mentor to other Residents on DLN website www.lib.utk.edu/residents/dln/mentor_submit.html

Fri. 8/5
Spoke with High School students on panel with other Residents. Yesterday researched History Timelines from '70s to present for our Director, since he was the 1st president of an association and it is their 30th Anniversary.

Mon. 8/8
Picnic at Laura’s with High School Students. Lexis tutorial.

Tues. 8/9
Met with Laura and Leslie, the other Resident who recently began. Told them about http://www.cies.org/specialists/ss_overview.htm#discipline Asked about Religion questions upon Employment and learned of Section 702 of the Title VII Civil Rights Act "religious exemption." USCA indicates West publication / USCS indicates Lexis. Laura said our current, primary job comes first before grants and publications, conferences etc. next semester.

Wed 8/10 & Thur 8/11th
Submitted Bibliographic Essay to Choice (1 year booked in advance) and so submitted it to Versed for (Nov. issue). I attended my volunteer orientation.

Fri. 8/12
Interesting reference request about Land Stolen (ROSA Project by Bobby Rush) http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/il01_rush/art_050729.html

Mon. 8/15
Scheduled meetings with Chemistry Librarian to prepare for my Chemistry Database classes that I'll teach in January. Worked out bugs for ILF Conference & ALA Midwinter conf. so will not conflict with Chemistry class schedule. I was assigned "News" section weekly updates of in-house electronic resources.

My initial program idea was approved by Dee Holliday for Indiana Library Federation (ILF) conference. Audited assignment #1 for Legal Research class and did reference request for faculty to get ND Fact book.

Tues. 8/16
BONUS: I was NOTIFIED my "Reflections of a Resident article" will be published! Began writing outline for JAWS in response to a Call for Papers for Serials Librarian journal that I learned about on one of my listservs. Met with the other Resident, Leslie, alone to discuss Grant Ideas.

Wed. 8/17
Did Statutes & Citations assignments for Legal Research class. Learned about Mandatory v. Persuasive Authority and U.S. Court of Appeals.

Thurs. 8/18
Categorized Subscription Databases. I got the complete list of Database Passwords. Finished Statutes assignment.

Fri. 8/19
Attended 3 law review sessions with each of the Law Librarians. Reviewed 4 Steps in Legal Research assignment and checked Bound, Pocket Parts, Pamphlets and ALS. One encouraging and positive note is that during one of the law review sessions, I was the only one in class to find the Senate Print in Lexis Congressional. Considering I had never used the database and was in a room filled with the top law students, I was pretty impressed with myself.

8/22
Consider doing Blog and use AALL Conference examples. I'll keep this type of journal on the blog to use for marketing and evaluating and "unique contribution to the profession." Link to AALL listed blogs. I did a request for a 98 page document on "ADVANCE Democracy Act." pros/cons and located article with only author and month in economist "Middle of the Class." Continued working on Categories for Databases. Attended LLM reception met Rwandan student and another student from China.

Tues. 8/23
Went through all 9 assignments on syllabus for Chemistry Database class prior to my training tomorrow.

Wed. 8/24
Met with Chemistry Librarian. Did reference request for our Director. Worked on Law Database Categories.

Thur. 8/25
Reference request for US Court Cases (used US Report vol/page #) and then Under Law - Supreme Court - Opinions - Bound Volumes - Searched Alphabetically by Plaintiff v. Defendant & violation. For 1999 - Present but for Pre-99 or for both used http://www.findlaw.com/ and searched "Legal Prof." and US Cases, then Supreme Court then entered volume (US) page can EMAIL it or Printable Version. Finalized Sub. Database. Categories & Gave Tours

Fri. 8/26
Reference request for "Grand Forks" book and links, I printed specifics. My supervisor, Dwight liked my suggestion about "i" icon in database table. Dwight wants me to send weekly the news items along with 2 images to change. I discussed adding a blog of my daily activities from my homepage with Director of computer services who thought it was a good idea. Second day for 1L students, I did 3 tours.

Worked on request for "behind scenes civil rights cases" for a faculty member. Dwight showed me how to find Direct History Chart in Westlaw and corresponding PDFs.

Mon. 8/29
Did assignment #2. Continued proofing the website I emailed him "Acquisitions" etc...typos and dead links // Worked on Reference Requests, and subscription database descriptions. I re-wrote law library Mission statement per Dwight's request.

Tues. 8/30
Completed Table Layout for Subscription Database and all Information descriptions under each. Finished checking all links on Kresge law library webpage.

Wed. 8/31
Prepared for Undergrad class tomorrow. We ran through class and tour. I'll take 10 and my supervisor, Dwight will take 10 students.

1st Month in the Life of the Luckiest Resident in the Universe!

Dear Diary,

Fri. July 1st
I read "Innovative Redesign & Reorganization of Library Technical Services" book and journal photocopies left by the head of Technical Services: "New Technologies in the Library" and "100 Colleges Sign Up w/ Google to Speed Access to Library Resources" and "XML & MARC" and "Access to E-Resources" and "NISO's Metasearch Initiative.

I did my first (3) reference requests in a Law Library. Yippee!

Tues. July 5th
I met with the Head of Technical Services about Workflow. I did 1 Reference Request. I read the Research Services Dept. Annual Report from my supervisor, Dwight. My Director was kind enough to pay for me to attend the American Association of Law Librarian's Annual (AALL) Conference. I attended my first ever Colloquium. The topic was the 10 Commandments Statues in Courthouses. http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/27/scotus.ten.commandments/


Wed. 7/6/05
I met with the Technical Services department. I proofed the "In progress" Kresge Law Library Website and looked for comparable sites.

Thurs. 7/7/05
I decided to create a MOCK Webpage for Kresge and show Dwight different designs using animation, sample JavaScript codes available on www.DynamicDrive.com. Margaret Porter asked me to speak at an informational session for 7 Summer Students on "Why I became a Librarian and my Spectrum Scholar Experience" scheduled on Aug. 8th. I emailed the Library of Congress regarding a memo from Justice Robert Jackson to his Law Clerk John Costello 7/10/42.

I was amazed when the Dean of the Law School came to my office and addressed me by name and invited me to walk with her to her car. At my last job, it was highly unlikely that the head of the department would take time out of their day to just chat with lower level employees. I really enjoyed walking with Dean O’Hara to her car. Unfortunately, I got locked out of building.

So most important thing I've learned TODAY is the need to keep your keys and/or your ID with you at all times, especially after 5pm when the library doors lock automatically.

Fri. 7/8
I looked into IFLA, LITA and/or ACRL professional memberships. I did a complete (30 pages) list for Bankruptcy courts & Divisions for a patron. I prepared 15 minutes speech for High School students: "Including how my premature nephew inspired an intense need for consumer health information and was thankful for the medical librarians who helped me, and decided that I wanted to do the same for others. I am also incredibly competitive and just simply don't like people knowing more than I do."

I helped a patron locate CIS for 89th Congress and Serial Set and Committee Prints, which were in separate locations. I reviewed Martindale law directory and Digest for Statutes of Limitations and Lawyer Rankings, both print and online.

Mon. 7/11
Looked for duplicates of donated materials to make sure we do not need to keep it, if we already own it...boxes of donated material. I worked on wording for Access Restrictions for the website. I checked for ND Estate Planning Institute and notified patron. I searched for Legislative Histories of 1954 Tax Code and HR 8300.

Tuesday 7/12 - Thursday July 14th
I redesigned the website and submitted several different layouts that Dwight thought were better and replaced ND information on those websites, 10 different selections. Compared icons, legends and formats of similar libraries. Attended presentation of Serial Acquisitions Candidate Began a couple of articles to submit for publication to versed by Aug. 1st deadline. Lunch with Margaret Porter and the former Resident, Jessica.

Fri. 7/15
Re-did in Photoshop U of C webpage and Yale webpage, to see how that format would look with ND's information. Submitted rough draft of "Reflections of a Resident" article for proofreading and made suggested revisions. Began preparing to write scholarly article in the form of an Bibliographies (print & Media)

Monday 7/18 - Thur. 21st
Was at AALL Conference in San Antonio, TX. I networked and learned about www.liblime.com and Koha at Roy Tennant's plenary I session. I subscribed to his listserv WebforLib. I learned about AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), and his article "MARC Must Die" Web 2.0 like on www.chicagocrime.org. Web services like SOAP & REST (Simple Object Access Protocol) and (Representational State Transfer) Open Archives and collaborative filtering like on unalog.com or Del.icio.us. Different MODS (Metadata Object Description) and METS (Metadata Encoding Transmission schema) RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) and library blogs http://library.law.wisc.edu/wisblawg/blogslistpublic.htm. I learned about www.Redlightgreen.com especially for their ranking and FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) like WorldCat' Tabs and Table of Contents Redlightgreen.com also does APA Style Manual citations. Metalib is best for metasearching and found duplicates in OVID not known there before. The Plenary II was awesome as well. Jerry Kang of UCLA. spoke on Public Sphere. Other Web Design sites suggested by Susan Boland were:www.ssi.developer.net/main/templates and http://glish.com/css/home.aspwww.w3.org/Amaya/ instead of Notepad, WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) color pickers http://www.morecrayons.com/ 4,096 colors versus 216 normal amount of graphics if no Photoshop = http://www.gimp.org/ and FTP to move from your computer to server = http://sourceforge.net/project (for Filezilla) or http://www.coreftp.com/ Validate code to make sure Compliant = http://validator.w3.org/ or if CSS used try http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator to see if accessible to be ADA compliant http://www.wave.webaim.org/Link Checkers:http://validator.w3.org/checklink (page by page) or Xenu for entire site http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html but you must download it. http://watson.addy.com/ no more than 20 links, spell checks also) Log Analyzer to track usage "Webalizer."

Fri. 7/22 /05
Submitted "Reflection of a Resident" article for publication in Versed online bulletin of the American Library Association. Dwight is on vacation but told me to continue web designs. I got a brand new color printer in my office. I was given DreamWeaver to help with my designs. Dwight liked some sites and I'll incorporate those into my layouts. I gathered a list of books to begin doing a bibliographic essay.

Mon. 7/25/05
Worked on web designs and bibliographic essay.

Tuesday 7/26/05
Had a meeting over coffee with Laura who is over the Residency Program. We discussed problems with a few high school students. Laura wants me to "PARTICIPATE in meaningful way on Committees." She wants me to add a Webpage about myself she can link to from Diversity Page.

Wednesday 7/27/05
At my Director's request, I prepared a perspective article to submit to Spectrum journal about my experience at the AALL Conference.

Thursday 7/28/05
I completed 3 reference requests for a law faculty member on HR Bill 3144 / S1317 / Congressional Records / and Lexis search on June 13 National Law Review article about "flight attendants & 2nd hand smoke" and finally a request about OAR (oocyte reprogramming).

Cartoons Continued For Your Viewing Pleasure

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Inspired by the world's worst Cataloging Teacher in the history of mankind!