Author Archives: phover

IFLA in the USA! Friendly, fun Columbus, Ohio

Presenters at the Serials and other Continuing Resources program are (left to right) Sofie Wennström, Stockholm University Library; Anjana H. Bhatt, Florida Gulf Coast University; Clément Oury, ISSN International Centre; Gayle R.Y.C. Chan, University of Hong Kong Libraries; and Gaëlle Béquet, ISSN International Centre.

Presenters at the Serials and other Continuing Resources program are (left to right) Sofie Wennström, Stockholm University Library; Anjana H. Bhatt, Florida Gulf Coast University; Clément Oury, ISSN International Centre; Gayle R.Y.C. Chan, University of Hong Kong Libraries; and Gaëlle Béquet, ISSN International Centre.

Serials and Other Continuing Resources Section (SOCRS): Program in Columbus

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)  Section on Serials and Other Continuing Resources  “concerns itself with all issues which make serial publications unique in both the print and electronic environments.” We met twice during the 82nd World Library and Information Congress (WLIC). Working within the congress theme, “Connections. Collaboration. Community,” we organized Session 114, “The Role of Stakeholders in the New Serials World.” Here follows a list of titles and authors of our guest speakers’ presentations. For links to the authors’ papers, please check the SOCRS URL listed above for updates. (Gaëll’s paper is already linked below.)

  1. Open Access Collections: Current Scenario in American Academic Libraries and a Sample Work Flow, by Anjana H. Bhatt, Florida Gulf Coast University, United States
  2. Questionable Practices in Scholarly Publishing: The Stance of the ISSN Network (Paper in English), by Gaëlle Béquet, Director, ISSN International Centre, France
  3. Revising the ISSN: involving stakeholders to adapt a bibliographic standard to its ever-changing environment, by Clément Oury, ISSN International Centre, France
  4. Managing the Transitional Impact of Open Access Journals, by Gayle R.Y.C. Chan, Libraries, and Allan C.S. Cheung, Department of Chemistry, University of Hong Kong., Hong Kong
  5. Stockholm University Press – for researchers, by researchers – but what does the library publisher add? By Sofie Wennström and Birgitta Hellmark Lindgren, Stockholm University Library, Sweden

Satellite meetings: SOCRS also co-sponsored two satellite meetings this congress:

  1. “RDA in the Wider World:” SOCRS, along with the RDA Board, the RDA Steering Committee and the IFLA Cataloguing Section, sponsored this satellite meeting at OCLC’s headquarters.
  2. “Libraries as Publishers: Building a Global Community:” SOCRs co-sponsored this meeting with the Acquisition and Collection Development Section at the University of Michigan. Ann Okerson, our co-sponsor Chair, is working on forming a “Libraries as Publishers” special interest group.

SOCRS Committee Meetings

socrs-columbus

Attendees of  the meetings of the of the Standing Committee are (from left to right, top):  Andrea Wirth (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA); Ted Westervelt (Library of Congress, USA); Paul Hover (Virginia Tech, USA), Blogger; Smita Joshipura (Arizona State University, USA), Blogger and Facebook; Christina McCawley (West Chester University), Information Coordinator, holding a tablet with Sharon’s image on Skype from London during the second meeting; Sian Brannon (University of North Texas, USA); Gaëlle Bequet (ISSN International Centre, France) ; Meg Mering, (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA), Secretary. (From left to right, bottom): Sharon Dyas-Correia (University of Toronto), Chair; Rabab Rashwan (Egypt ENSTINET); Tricia Hudson (Oxford University Press, USA); and Regina Reynolds and Karl Debus-Lopez (Library of Congress, USA).

During the section meetings, membership matters were discussed, including what makes a dynamic IFLA Professional Unit and the ongoing need for seamless virtual participation. Section Chair Sharon and Section Secretary Meg reported on the Satellite meetings, Sharon informed us of her imminent departure for a new job in London, and Paul reported he has an article on Malawi’s Mizuzu University Library Disaster Relief in the print edition of the American Libraries International Supplement being distributed at the congress. Last minute preparations for the program were discussed, and we had productive brainstorming sessions about future plans. Attendees included strong contingents from the Library of Congress, the ISSN International Centre in Paris, and academic libraries.

IFLA 2017 to be held in Wrocław, Poland

We discussed possible topics for the SOCRS open program for 2017. At the end of the discussion, altmetrics was the topic that everyone liked the best. SOCRs is also planning to have a satellite meeting in Kraków. Two standing members from Poland will help with local arrangements. The Acquisition and Collection Section is being asked to co-sponsor a topic relates to scholarly communications and serials.

Friendly, Fun Columbus, Ohio: “Dime-A-Dog Night” at a Clippers game!

peruvian-librarian-1  international-librarians-enjoy-a-baseball-game

International librarians taking selfies and waving from the bleachers in Huntington Park at a Columbus Clippers baseball game.

International librarians: Michael Dowling, Director of the American Libraries Association’s International Relations Office, asked me to help Delin Guerra, Program Officer, and Beth Cramer, International Relations Round Table Chair, to “explain American baseball” to about 70 international librarians. He had tickets to a Columbus Clippers vs. Durham Bulls game! The librarians I met that night were amazing, some of whom, I realized, would become friends for life. Outside the stadium, I pointed to a sign announcing “Dime-A-Dog Night.” Try explaining THAT to a non-English speaking, first-time visitor!

dime-a-dog-night

Joey. Paul, and Norm pat each other on the backs in congratulations for “scoring” baskets of hot-dogs for US$ 0.10 each.

After finding our seats, I decided to invest in a couple “dawgs.” Making my way to the epic-sized concession stands, I was taken aback by equally epic queues waiting for the bargain-priced, American iconic culinary delights. But did you ever notice how waiting in line can be a great opportunity to meet people? The two “Buckeyes” (Ohio residents) who were standing in front of me were father and son baseball fans, and after I mentioned I was at the game with a group of international librarians at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, they busted out some good ol’ American hospitality. Norm explained that he and his son Joey always used to get 2 hotdogs each, but since the stadium had initiated “Dime-A-Dog Night,” they had upped that to 3, even though the maximum allowed per customer was 5.

To my surprise, when we got to the front of the line, Norm ordered 15! They wouldn’t let me pay a dime, and turned over most of their booty, mustard and all, to share with our international librarian guests.

By the way, did I mention I am a Buckeye, too? Well, I am now.

Cape Town, South Africa 2015: a World Library and Information Congress to Remember!

Giraffe

A Krueger National Park giraffe.

Serials and Other Continuing Resources Section in Cape Town, South Africa, 2015

SOCRS SC CAPE TOWN

Attendees to the second meeting of the Standing Committee are, from left to right, front row: Christina McCawley , West Chester University (Information Coordinator); Zandi Mogiba, University of South Africa; Tricia Hudson, Oxford University Press; middle row: Leslie Eager, Duke University Press; Meg Mering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Secretary); Sharon Dyas-Correia, University of Toronto, (Chair); back row: Ma Harry Nkadimeeng, National Library of South Africa; Anna Leonard, University of Namibia; and Paul Hover, Virginia Tech, (Blogger). Not pictured are Pumeza Tube, Cape Peninsula University of Technology; and Ann Snoeyenbos, Project Muse.

THE IFLA SECTION ON SERIALS and Other Continuing Resources met twice and went to dinner together during IFLA’s 81st World Library and Information Congress in Cape Town, South Africa. Our section “concerns itself with all issues which make serial publications unique in both the print and electronic environments.” (http://www.ifla.org/about-the-serials-and-continuing-resources-section) Although the expense of traveling to South Africa limited the number of members of the Standing Committee who could make it to the conference, we had about ten interested librarians drop in on our meetings, and we recruited two new members while we were there. During the first meeting we elected officers, did last minute arrangements for our session (see below), and took care of other miscellaneous business. Our second meeting was mainly devoted to discussion of future business centered around our program supporting the overall conference theme for the IFLA WLIC in Columbus, Ohio next August 13-19, 2016: “Connections. Collaboration. Community.” With the welcome brainstorming help of our guest librarians, we formulated an action plan and a subcommittee to choose from a list of topics we came up with. Finally, our Secretary, Meg Mering, added another feather to her hat when she was elected Secretary of the IFLA Division of Library Collections (Division II).

Session 116 Dynamic Transformations and Developments in the World of Serials and Other Continuing Resources

OUR SESSION’S PROGRAMME featured three presentations:

  1. “New Serials, New Roles, New Issues? An Update,” by Sharon Dyas-Correia, University of Toronto, Canada
  2. “New Roles for Serials Professionals: Description and Discovery,” by Sandy Chen, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, United States
  3. “E-serials Preservation: a Worldwide Challenge for Research Libraries,” by Gaëlle Béquet, ISSN International Centre / CIEPS, France, and Peter Burnhill, EDINA and Head of Edinburgh University Data Library

Committee dinner at “Mama Africa”

SC at Mama Africa Restaurant

Committee members and significant others at the Mama Africa Restaurant in Cape Town. We also invited our speakers and new members to accompany us for a dinner that included exotic dishes and meats most of us had never experienced, such as crocodile, ostrich, springbok, and kudu.

Old friends and new hats

THE PLOT THICKENED in the story of the hat-exchanging librarians (see last year’s ALA/ALCTS report) when Monena and Nathan Hall, two librarians at Virginia Tech, asked the author if he might know of a way to get toys and learning materials donated by the children in a daycare in Virginia to a remote pre-school in South Africa. Paul was able to check in one suitcase free, but how does one get the materials from Cape Town to Wolmaranstad, 1,188 kilometers (738 miles) away? By asking a librarian, of course! Paul contacted his hat-exchanging friend of a year earlier, Senovia Welman, Librarian at the University of the Free State, South Africa, for ideas. She was part of the awesome group of South African librarian volunteers assisting IFLA, and soon had it “sorted,” enlisting the help of librarians from the North West Province. For the complete story, please see the ALA’s American Libraries online story by George Eberhart entitled “Fifty Pounds of Books, Paper, and Toys Delivered to South African Preschoolers.” Anele Moko, Head Librarian, Tswaing Local Municipality, reported the suitcase delivered by Ian Segone and Moloki Poo of the North West Provincial Library Services.

Majestic South Africa

I WON’T ATTEMPT TO DESCRIBE how awesome South Africans are—it would take a poet. I will instead close this post with words from a proverb from the Africans themselves:

Do not flee from a roaring lion towards a crouching lion.”

Lyon 2014, ville merveilleuse!

Transformational declaration from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) 2014 World Library and Information Congress in Lyon

1-Lyon-Place-des-Terreaux,-La-Basilique-Notre-Dame-de-Fourvière

A view of the iconic Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière in Lyon, seen from the Place des Terreaux.

The Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development “aims to positively influence the United Nations post-2015 development agenda… The framework will succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and set the agenda for development for the next decade.” (http://conference.ifla.org/ifla80/node/522) Signatories from more than 270 institutions worldwide have already signed on, and delegates were sent forth to encourage home institutions to join in this important endeavor. For more information see (http://www.lyondeclaration.org/).

The Serials and Other Continuing Resources Section

The IFLA Section on Serials and Other Continuing Resources “concerns itself with all issues which make serial publications unique in both the print and electronic environments.”(http://www.ifla.org/about-the-serials-and-continuing-resources-section) In addition to meeting twice and going to dinner together, our Standing Committee partnered with the Academic and Research Libraries Section and the Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters to organize a well-attended program on big data (see below).

11-Standing-Committee-at-Le-Sud-resto

Standing Committee members posing at the Place Antonin Poncet before the group dinner at Le Sud Restaurant are, from left to right, Christina McCawley , West Chester University; Paul Hover, Virginia Tech (blogger, wearing hat); Sharon Dyas-Correia (Chair), University of Toronto; Margaret Mering (Secretary), University of Nebraska Lincoln; and Helen Adey (Information Coordinator), Nottingham Trent University.

Some of the other members (or soon to be members) of the committee who attended are pictured below:

And some family members attended the group dinner:

A story of new friends, new IFLA destinations, and new hats

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New friends (from left to right) Anne Verneuil, president of the Association des Bibliothécaires de France (ABF) (French Librarians Association); Paul Hover, Virginia Tech (VT); Senovia Welman, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa (wearing Paul’s hat); and Lynn Kleinveldt, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Cape Town, South Africa. CPUT and VT have a librarian exchange program starting this academic year.

After the Closing Session, I took some photographs commemorating some new-found friendships. It was also at this photo session I lost my hat. Actually, I gave it to Senovia. She had beamed a warm South African smile at me and said she had long puzzled over the right souvenir to remind her of IFLA’s 80th Congress, but now realized that she would “loooooove” to have my hat! Well, colleagues, I did exactly what you would have done. I took it off and placed it on her head. As everyone stood admiring Senovia, incredulously, in my favorite hat, I made a deal with her:

“Next year in Cape Town let us meet again, and you may replace it with an uber cool hat made in South Africa if you wish.”

“DONE!” It was all she needed to say to get my first meeting for IFLA’s 81st Congress in Cape Town on the calendar…

13-The-French-beret-hat-replacement

Having lost my Panamá hat, I needed something to protect me from the hot sun reflecting off the Rhône. Our French friends knew just the solution: a genuine béret  Basque.

Nous vous remercions beaucoup, Lyon!

More information on our Section’s co-presented programme:

Continue reading

Singapore 2013: great friends, superb food, amazing shopping, inspiring programme!

 

OPENING CEREMONY 2013-08-18 11.47.44

The Opening Ceremony of the 2013 IFLA WLIC was a feast of color–a fitting preview of the colorful experience awaiting us all in Singapore, a city of unbounded diversity.

The Section on Serials and Other Continuing Resources (SOCRS) met four times at the 79th IFLA General Conference and Assembly

Our Standing Committee met officially twice during the congress, sponsored a well-attended programme, and met informally for a delicious dinner in the Singapore district of Little India. Here are a few photos of our dinner:

TWO FRENCH COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2013-08-18 20.05.25

Members of our French contingent, from right to left, Francoise Pellé , ISSN International Centre, France, and Jean-Louis Baraggioli, Director Centre Technique du Libre de l’Enseignement Supérieur, enjoying a tasty dish of Indian curry.

 

BRITISH 2013-08-18 20.04.06

Chair Helen Adey, right, Resource Acquisition & Supply Team Manager, Nottingham Trent University, with her delightful family.

 

AMERICAN COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2013-08-18 20.04.31

Americans, from left to right,  Christina McCawley, Serials & Acquisitions Librarian, West Chester University, and Martha A. Spoers, Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy, Baku, Azerbaijan. Martha was one of our programme presenters.

 

RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN MEMBERS 2013-08-18 20.03.21

Incoming Secretary of our committee, Margaret Mering, Coordinator of Cataloging and Metadata, University of Nebraska Lincoln, smiling in the foreground, with (right) outgoing Secretary Helen Heinrich, Chair, Technical Services Department, California State University, Northridge, with her husband (far left), enjoying the spicy dinner and hearty companionship.

Conference Session 165, Congress track 3: Users driving access and services.

Singapore panel

The panel of speakers at our session (from left to right) were Wilma Mossink (MC), Ann Okerson, Helen Heinrich, David Tempest, and Martha A. Speirs.

Our committee’s session was titled: Gold mining! Text and data mining of journals: librarians, publishers and researchers excavating the treasure trove. Panelists were from Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, the UK, and the USA, and included librarians, administrators, and publishers. Individual presentations were as follows: Continue reading