Fall 2002

by Dan Norstedt, norsteda@uwec.edu and Kathy Finder, finderks@uwec.edu

McIntyre Library began the fall semester with several important changes in place. We welcomed new librarians, said good-bye to the Initiative in Curricular Software and Support division, and adjusted library hours in response to budget constraints.

New and Changed Roles Over a year ago, two prominent figures in this library retired: Richard Bell from Reference and Linda Cecchini from Periodicals. With the news of their intended retirements, the library conducted an analysis of how the positions should be used in the future. The result was to reallocate twenty-five percent of the periodicals position to retain in part what had been a temporary position and use the reference position both for reference services and web development.

Web Librarian The Web has become a major means for the library to proffer its databases and conduct services. Faculty and students have become accustomed to searching the library’s catalog and databases from offices, labs, and homes. Interlibrary loan requests are increasingly made via forms on the library’s website, and other services like electronic reserve are available through the Web. Jill Markgraf, Distance Education Librarian, served for several years as the unofficial Web Librarian, but the library needed someone to dedicate more time to the Web.

Thus in August, the library hired Kate Hinnant, a recent graduate of the University of Illinois Library School, to be our Web Librarian. Kate will also staff the reference desk and conduct library instruction, but half of her time will be spent coordinating the library’s Web site.

Periodicals Librarian The Periodicals Librarian position has been reduced to seventy-five percent and the reporting structure has also changed. When Linda Cecchini was Periodicals Librarian, she reported to the Director of the Library, but with the personnel change, the Periodicals Librarian for Technical Services reports to Head of Collection Development, Janice Bogstad.

Ronadin (Roni) Carey has been hired to serve as Periodicals Librarian for Technical Services. Precise division of responsibilities is still evolving in Collection Development, but faculty should be aware that Roni is the person to ask about periodical collection development issues. Periodical circulation issues should be addressed to Mimi King, who has accepted the supervisory responsibility for Periodicals Public Services and Interlibrary Loan.

ICSS The Library expanded in 1997 to include the Initiative in Curricular Software and Support. The responsibilities of ICSS included faculty support for technology integration, software documentation, SPSS support, and training for faculty, staff, and students through the Center for Instructional Technology Improvement and Innovation (CITI) and Bringing Instruction in Technology to Students (BITS). Combining these functions within the library helped create new relationships and strengthened traditional library services and those offered by ICSS.

As a result of the campus "creating an LTDC-type organization" conversation last year, the Teaching and Learning Technology Development Center was created and the functions of ICSS were realigned with other ITM Units. The faculty support for technology integration and SPSS is now a part of the new TLTDC. BITS, staff training, and documentation have been moved to Computing and Networking Services. Kathy Finder is serving as the interim director of the TLTDC; Juanita Ikuta and Jeri Weiser are now a part of CNS.

The staff of all three units will continue to work together to serve the needs of the campus.

Library Hours Several years ago, in response to a Student Senate request, the library initiated a 24-hour open period during weekdays. Due to budget reductions, the all-night open hours have been eliminated. The library now closes at 1 a.m. on weeknights.

by Kate Hinnant, hinnanks@uwec.edu

Hi, I'm Kate Hinnant, the new Web services & Reference Librarian. I feel lucky to be here among the beautiful hills and trees after living for many years in prairie lands and cornfields of Illinois and Indiana.

I recently graduated from the University of Illinois' Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Before attending library school, I received an MFA in creative writing from Purdue University and a BA in socio-cultural anthropology from Cornell University. I also spent seven years managing the medical supply inventory of Purdue's Veterinary Teaching Hospital, so I know a bit about what makes cats, cows, and ostriches tick. I also taught composition and creative writing at Purdue, as well as served as the poetry editor of the literary journal "Sycamore Review" for a year.

As Web Services Librarian, one of my goals is to keep your needs front and center as I work with the library staff in maintaining and developing the McIntyre Library website. I hope to bring what I learn working at the Reference Desk to bear on the library website design and functionality, because what better way is there to understand what library users want than by working with you face to face? I also hope to implement periodic usability reviews of the site, as well as ensure that our site meets current accessibility guidelines.

I look forward to working with you.

By Ronadin (Roni) Carey, careyrl@uwec.edu 

I am very pleased to be working at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. I could say my life has come full circle because this is where I started years ago in the Environmental and Public Health program. After graduation, I moved to Texas and worked eighteen years at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. I managed the operations of the National Pesticide Telecommunications Network, an Environmental Protection Agency-funded hotline, and then spent another four years with the University Library. During this time I received my Masters of Library Science from the University of North Texas and started job-hunting in the Midwest. I worked a short time at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota before accepting this position at UW-Eau Claire.

One of my responsibilities is to manage the periodicals budget in coordination with Janice Bogstad, the Head of Collection Development. This will be a challenging year for all of us because the budget remains extremely tight. (See library director Bob Rose's article in this issue of Off the Shelf.) It is likely that we will be doing a major serials cancellation project again this academic year. I was told that during the previous cancellation, the faculty input was very helpful and much appreciated by the members of the cancellation project. I am looking forward to working with the faculty again in making these difficult decisions. It helps us to remember that, while it is a challenge, doing an assessment of the serials collection will help create a dynamic collection that will reflect the current curriculum and research interest of faculty.

Please contact me if you have any questions about periodicals. For example, I can help you with questions about policies, periodical databases, journal requests, and holdings. When requesting a new periodical, the "Journal Request" form should be used. A link to the online version can be found in the "Master Index" located on the Library web page. When requesting a new journal, be sure to send the request to your department biographer. You can also contact me if you would like a list of the Library's periodicals related to a certain area such as special education or business administration. You are welcome to stop by my office (L3042), call (715-836-3508) or e-mail me (carey@uwec.edu).

by Karen Pope, popekj@uwec.edu

For the last 6 years, each issue of Off the Shelf has announced the completion of yet another edition of the LIBRA Guide, including the increased price and estimated time it might become available in the campus bookstore.

This fall we are calling your attention to the new and improved PDF edition of the McIntyre Library Guide, now free and available 24 x 7 at http://www.uwec.edu/library. From the Library INFORMATION LITERACY section, click Research tutorials and McIntyre Library Guide.

The PDF version will allow additions and changes to be made immediately available without the need to reprint and redistribute printed revisions.

The McIntyre Library Guide has been designed to introduce students to the collections, services, and resources available in and through McIntyre Library by having them complete self-paced Guide sections.

Many instructors find it useful to have their students work in pairs. Because many of the sections include working with online databases, like the library catalog, students have more success if one of the pair reads from the Guide while a partner does the keyboarding. Students need not use the same search examples or research topics in order to successfully work together. This interactive approach often strengthens and expands student learning opportunities.

Even though the sections of the Guide follow the suggested research process steps, it is not necessary to assign all sections, nor do students need to print and do them in numerical sequence to benefit. It may suit your students to use the Introduction or the Glossary right where they are: on the library web pages

The Guide will be most useful if you refer to various sections as your classes are assigned research. For example, if students are expected to locate books to compile an annotated bibliography, the sections on online library catalog searching and citing sources could be assigned and discussed. When students need to find and use current scholarly periodical information, the sections on online searching and finding articles might be assigned.

Suggest your students work on Guide sections in advance of attending library research skills class sessions. The workbook sections are self-guided by design. If they become familiar with the library web home page, the online catalog and various online research resources they will benefit more from information literacy instruction and be able to ask questions specific to their research assignments as well as discuss problems (or successes) they encountered while working through selected sections.

Students may print sections as needed or as assigned by instructors. This fall we will add 2 quizzes and several appendices, including diagrammed screen prints explaining commonly used databases.

How do your students think about the research process? Do they understand the differences between and issues inherent in doing research using the library or using the Web? How about the library ON the Web? To assist them in developing critical evaluation skills, we suggest:

The McIntyre Library Guide should be used as one of several research resources. Because information is available from many sources and in many formats—such as printed text, television, videos, library databases and Web sites— to be "information literate" they need to know why, when, and how to use a wide range of information and to think critically about the content, accuracy, point of view and validity these sources provide. We also suggest that your students use TILT: the Texas Information Literacy Tutorial to get this "bigger" picture. TILT is linked from the same section of INFORMATION LITERACY Research tutorials on the Library home page. This is similar to an online tutorial we are planning for UW-Eau Claire campus use.

As always, we’d like your comments and suggestions for improvement.

"Do you have a radio set?" And other questions included in the 1930 Federal Census
by Heather Muir, muirha@uwec.edu 

On April 1, 2002, the 15th U.S. federal decennial census was released to the public. The 1930 population schedules are available on 2,667 rolls of microfilm. McIntyre Library has purchased the reels that include the six-county region covered by the Eau Claire Area Research Center (part of the library's Special Collections department). The counties covered include Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Eau Claire, Rusk, and Taylor.

Information Available in the 1930 Census

The primary use of the census information was to establish representation in Congress, but the census has taken on numerous secondary uses such as a source for genealogical names, dates, and places as was as socio-economic data. The 1930 Census did more than enumerate the number of people living in a specific location; it asked a wide variety of questions, such as, "Do you own a radio set?"  According to a "New York Times" article from 1930, the purpose of this question was not for personal property tax reasons but rather "to provide the Radio Commission with information regarded as essential for effective administration of the radio law." Below is a list for information gathered:

• Street or road name, whether a house number or if a farm
• Name, age, and sex of each individual in the household
• Relationship to the head of the head of the household
• Whether owned or rented home and if mortgaged
• Value of home if owned or monthly payment
• Whether owned a radio set
• Color or race
• Whether single, married, widowed, or divorced
• Age at first marriage
• Whether attended school or college
• Whether can read or write
• Place of birth
• Father's place of birth
• Mother's place of birth
• Language spoken in home before coming to the United States
• Year of immigration
• Whether naturalized or an alien
• Whether can speak English
• Type of profession or kind of work
• Type of industry or business
• Class of worker
• Whether worked yesterday or the last regular working day
• Whether a veteran, and if so, what war
• Finding Aids

For many of the federal census schedules a Soundex index was created to facilitate access to individual entries within the Census. The Soundex index converts surnames to a code so that names that sound alike but are spelled differently are filed together so that the Ole Olson's index entries will be together. Unfortunately, for the 1930 Census the Work Progress Administration only completed Soundex indexes for twelve southern states. Individual organizations such as "Ancestry.com" and local genealogy groups are working on their own indexes to the 1930 Census. City directories for Eau Claire will help locate street addresses and ward locations for individuals. A complete list of Eau Claire County's 31 enumeration districts organized by town or city ward can be found at the National Archives website at http://1930census.archives.gov/resultsPlace.asp?page=1&state_code=WI&state_name=Wisconsin&1stCountry=18=Eau%20Claire&tboxPlace=&whichSearch=byPlace

With this information, researchers can more readily locate the enumeration district (ED) of their relatives or their area of research and request the specific rolls of microfilm. For example, the city of Eau Claire's Third Ward is covered by ED 18-9 and ED 18-10 on roll #2571, and the Sacred Heart Convent is enumerated in ED 18-7 on roll #2571.

To search for the EDs for other counties and cities in Wisconsin, the National Archives has provided a look-up directory on its website at http://stevemorse.org/census/ed1930.html

Additional Resources

More information and articles about the 1930 Census can be found on the Internet. Check these sites:

1) NARA Comprehensive Guide to the 1930 Census http://www.archives.gov/research/census/1930

2) "Genealogy Notes: The 1930 Census in Perspective"  By David Hendricks and Amy Patterson http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2002/summer/

3) 1930 Census Enumerator Instructions

4) Historical Forms and Questions for the 1930 Census http://www.census.gov/pubinfo/www/photos/Histforms/1930/His930FQ.html

The Special Collections department holds the population schedules for several of the Federal and State censuses. Researchers may visit Special Collections Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., to make use of these records. Due to high demand and limited resources, we are unable to perform extensive research in the census materials for off-site researchers, but we are happy to help those who visit the department.

by Mimi King, kingm@uwec.edu

McIntyre Library now has UW System-initiated access to the American Council of Learned Society's History E-Book Project at http://www.historyebook.org/. ACLS is collaborating in this initiative with five Learned Societies: the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the Society for the History of Technology, the Middle East Studies Association, and the Renaissance Society of America, along with a selected group of University Presses. The Project will assist scholars in the electronic publishing of high-quality works in history, explore the intellectual possibilities of new technologies, and help assure the continued viability of history writing in today's changing publishing environment.

Approximately 500 full-text books are included in the initial launch of the ACLS History E-Book Project. The ACLS will be adding approximately 250 books annually to the collection, as well as publishing 85 completely new electronic titles that have the potential to use new technologies to communicate the results of scholarship in new ways. If you would like to recommend a book of high quality and lasting merit in the field of history for this Project, please email the ACLS at historyebook@acls.org with the title, author, publisher, and publication date, as well as your name, position, and affiliation.

You will find library Web page link to ACLS History E-Book Project in the Core databases section under History and also in the Subject list of databases under Arts/Humanities and Social Sciences. Records for individual tiles will appear in the library's online catalog when available.

The books are arranged in categories, broadly based on the American Historical Review's categories for book reviews. Each category is viewable by subsection sorted by either author or publication date. In addition to browsing the titles by author and title, the books are also fully searchable (simple, Boolean and proximity searches in full text, title, author, and subject fields). Subject categories on the Project are based on MARC subject cataloging.

Categories

• American, General/Multiperiod
• American, Colonial to 1789
• American, 1789-1900
• American, 20th Century
• European, General/Multiperiod
• European, Ancient to 400 C.E.
• European, 400 - 1400
• European, 1400 - 1800
• European, 1800 - Present
• European, Russia/Eastern Europe
• The Middle East, General/Multiperiod
• The Middle East, Ancient to 632
• The Middle East, 632 - 1918
• The Middle East, 1918 - Present
• History of Technology

by Janice Bogstad, bogstajm@uwec.edu 

Early last fall, the library was able to generate the first list of book, video, audio and related purchases made at the request of department bibliographers. The lists were initially sent in paper form to bibliographers, but they have been available online since spring of 2002.

You can also find the lists from the McIntyre Library homepage. Look at "What's New" on the right side of the screen. Click on Recent Acquisitions by Department, choose your department name and view the lists. They are alphabetic, by author and title (or just title, if there's no author). An item with a call number indicates that we had finished processing it when the list was generated. Items without call numbers had not yet been fully processed but may be available now.

We release a new list every three months, so look for the fall list within a couple of weeks. If your request is not on the list, check the online catalog to determine its order status, or call Collection Development. We have already heard from several faculty members who appreciate this new feature. If you have any questions about items on the list, or the listing process itself, please contact Janice Bogstad, bogstajm@uwec.edu or 715-836-6032.

by Mary Hayden, haydenm@uwec.edu 

McIntyre Library receives many queries about UW-System salaries. These figures were traditionally found at the Reference/Government Publications Desk, using a multi-volume set of "red" books titled University of Wisconsin System Budget. The print format of this red book has been replaced by two electronic formats, a website, and a CD. A title search in the Voyager online catalog for "University of Wisconsin system budget" will locate the record for both the website and the CD. Current data from four volumes can easily be accessed at https://www.wisconsin.edu/budget-planning/annual-operating-budget/redbook/. Searches for an individual by name should use the following format: last name, first name, or an alphabetical search of the entire budget can also be performed. The CD is located in the Government Publications Department and is held for archival use.

by Mimi King, kingm@uwec.edu

McIntyre Library has joined a consortium of Wisconsin libraries in a pilot project to introduce QuestionPoint and virtual reference services to Wisconsin libraries. The project will get libraries involved in assessing the concept, try the OCLC version of virtual reference and explore a Wisconsin reference consortium. QuestionPoint, the result of two years of collaboration between OCLC and Library of Congress, is a web-based server service that enables libraries to deliver email and chat-based reference. Our library already offers email reference, so the new service for our users is the chat portion. McIntyre librarians will be available for online chat sessions from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Look for links to this service on a number of library pages.

by Bob Rose, roserf@uwec.edu 

Today's budgetary climate presents the library, as well as other campus units, both unique challenges, and possibly unforeseen opportunities. With the budget reduction in FY 03, we have already begun to experience some major changes. With the possibility of even greater budget reductions in the next fiscal year, we will be faced with even greater challenges. 

This year the library experienced a $49,000-plus budget cut. We consciously chose a method of dealing with the cut that sought to save permanent positions and to protect the collections as much as possible. We did this knowing that over time cuts in the collections dollars and permanent staffing would have the greatest impact on the library's ability to provide research resources and services. Consequently, almost all of the budget reduction came from the library's services and supplies budget and the LTE budget that had been used to fund overnight hours. In making these choices, we also sought to minimize, as much as possible, the impact budget cuts would have on our users. The impact of cutting the services and supplies budget will affect library staff far more directly than the library users. However, it appears likely that in the future it will be more difficult to replace staff computers and other equipment, especially since operating costs are already climbing at a faster than anticipated rate. That replacement slowdown may eventually affect the ability of library faculty and staff to provide some services to library users.

So if we protected the library's collections, you might ask, why then did we cancel approximately $21,000 worth of serial titles? Unfortunately, inflation still has a stranglehold on the prices of library materials. Journal costs continue to increase at an average rate of 8% or more a year and other library materials at rates that exceed the CPI. Since we had no increase in our budgets for library materials this year, inflation meant that we had a reduction in purchasing power of about 6%. This year will be another year of the same, and that means that we will be canceling yet more titles if additional funding is not found. In the past year, we were able to reduce the number of titles canceled from the number originally planned to be canceled simply because we were able to find some additional money to go into the materials budgets. Serial cancellations and reduced firm order budgets will continue until a more stable library funding mechanism is created; fortunately, the UW System Administration and Regents have proposed that library collections funding be placed under a "cost to continue" model that will recognize that a budget increase is needed just to maintain existing collections.

This all sounds very grim, and it is. Libraries and library staff would always prefer to offer new or enhanced services or collections rather than cut existing ones. It is a cliché, but frequently true, that budgetary exigencies force us to look at the way in which we do things in a different light and subsequently may enable us to find more efficient ways in which to provide equivalent services. In fact, that we are able to provide the current breadth and depth of electronic resources is primarily due to the poor funding UW libraries have had over the past nearly decade and a half-ironic as that may seem. That lack of resources has encouraged a level of cooperation and centrally-funded resources that is the envy of libraries in many parts of the country. The UW libraries have adopted a "one system, one library" approach that has encouraged this kind of cooperation and collaboration and has enabled us to stretch available resources to their maximum. It has also resulted in such innovative services as Universal Borrowing - where users at one UW campus can borrow certain materials directly from another and have the material delivered to them, normally within two days.

With the specter of another, and potentially larger, budget cut to come, we will hope for the cooperation of UW-Eau Claire faculty, students, and staff in making responsible decisions to accommodate lower budgets. This year we will be conducting a major revision of the library's strategic plan and user input will be essential in making that revision a success. I hope that by all working together we may find ways in which to strengthen our services even in these tough budgetary times. It will be a challenge, but with some perseverance and luck, it will also be an opportunity.

by Roni Carey, careyrl@uwec.edu

The library, in response to recent and projected budget cuts, is assessing for cancellation those journals archived on microfilm or microfiche. We have made some recent microform cancellation decisions based mainly on the journal's microform usage statistics for the last three years and their availability through JSTOR. JSTOR is a database containing back files of over 200 journals; each issue is digitized cover to cover. Due to agreements with publishers, the back issues have a "moving wall" or fixed time range after which an issue can be copied. This time span or "moving wall" can be one to six years. The titles listed below are archived in JSTOR with a "moving wall" of two years or less. For these titles, we will no longer purchase archival copies on microfilm. Instead, we will continue to hold current issues of these journals in Periodicals for two years, at which time they should be available in JSTOR.

Further cancellations of journals and microfilm are expected as the library works to manage the flat materials budget. If you have any questions about this or the canceled microfilm titles, contact Roni Carey, Periodicals Librarian, at 715-836-3508 or careyrl@uwec.edu.

The canceled microfilm includes:

• American Journal of International Law
• American Journal of Political Science
• American Journal of Sociology
• Ethics
• Journal of Business
• Journal of Labor Economics
• Journal of Political Economy
• Shakespeare Quarterly
• Social Forces
• William and Mary Quarterly

by Leslie Foster, fosterla@uwec.edu 

"A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or tragedy. . . a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
         - James Madison

There are 26,110,000 potential voters in the United States between the ages of 18 and 25. These young adults have the nation's lowest voting rate. In the 2000 election, just 36% bothered to vote. 

The reasons behind these statistics are many. Some potential voters know little about democracy and the political process.