On hiatus

I’m on hiatus!

As you can probably tell by the infrequency of my recent blog posts, I’ve been taking a break from blogging.

Kalamitsi beach, Lefkada island, Greece.

I will keep you posted as things change.

Poster Session Proposal Accepted by California Library Association – Social Media Use Among LIS Groups #CLA12 #defygravity

Good news!

My poster session proposal was accepted for the California Library Association‘s 2012 annual conference. I’ll be doing research on use of social media by San Francisco Bay Area student and professional groups in the library and information science community.

More details to come soon!

LIS Lady is the CLA Tech Services Interest Group Event Coordinator

Coming soon to LIS Lady blog: CLA Spring Fling event announcements and information about how you can apply for the CLA TSIG New Leader Award.

Some of you may recall that last fall I received the California Library Association (CLA) Technical Services Interest Group (TSIG) New Leader Award. In my emerging role as a new leader, I have taken on new responsibilities with CLA TSIG that I will begin to feature on my blog. I am the Spring Fling Event Coordinator for TSIG and will assist in the selection of the 2012 New Leader Award.

Stay tuned for details!

LIS Lady, aka Stephanie Roach, Accepts Position as Tech. Services Librarian at JFKU

That’s right! I’ve been offered a position at John F. Kennedy University Libraries as their Technical Services Librarian. I will start January 2012. What a way to ring in the new year.

New Look for LIS Lady Blog

I’ve given the LIS Lady Blog a make-over! A new look, and a new page. More changes are to come as I integrate the look of the blog with my lislady.com website, which is currently under development. For now, since I’m on the job hunt, I want to be sure that my work experience is featured as part of the LIS Lady Blog. With this in mind, I’ve added a resume page. Feel free to have a look, and let me know if you have suggestions for improving my resume or the look and layout of the blog or site!

Thanks,

Stephanie

IPSC Makes Some Noise at Jupiter

The Information Professionals Social Club met at Jupiter in Berkeley tonight, and despite the noise of the crowd, I was able to make new acquaintances and catch up with familiar colleagues. Records managers, librarians, and students with varying emphases made for a good mix of individuals, representing the information profession.

A recurring theme (not surprisingly) is of course the economy and job market. I had a great discussion with colleagues Cyndi Varady and Amy Rogers about successfully working with temp agencies to land a library/archive/or other gig.

My experience tells me that it is important to make sure to develop a solid connection and build rapport with the recruiter. Have a conversation, don’t just leave a message. Then, stay in touch.

The extra time and energy can eventually pay off, even if it is down the line.

Dwight C. Steele Papers: Finding Aid is Now Available via the Online Archive of California

For my final semester, Fall 2010, at the SJSU School of Library and Information Science (SLIS), I interned at the University of California, Berkeley’s Bancroft Library. I arranged and processed two collections and wrote finding aids for each one: the Dwight C. Steele Papers and the Gladys Worthington Papers. I am so glad to have helped make these collections accessible to researchers in the U.C. Berkeley community.

As of April 2011, the finding aid for the Dwight C. Steele Papers (BANC MSS 2005/195 c) is now available on the Online Archive of California (OAC).

Researchers can contact the Bancroft Library for access to the collection.

The Job Search and The Temp Job

So, as a recent graduate from the School of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University, I can officially append MLIS to my name. But, as three months have passed since my graduation and I still (like so many other recent grads) haven’t yet landed the perfect gig in my field of choice, I have decided to explore the world of temporary employment. I get a paycheck, and can look for the perfect gig (I truly believe it exists) on my own time. Which, as it turns out, is more difficult to find when you are working full-time–but I’m adjusting to this as I work away, at my new job.

The title of my current temp position–administrative assistant–doesn’t sound as though it is related to library and information science, but in fact, I am happy to say that much of my work rather resembles my manuscript processing internship at Bancroft Library last fall. Well, it is of course, different, because, for one thing, I am working with documents generated as part of a corporate environment. So I’m dealing with archival documents, rather than manuscripts. From an archival perspective, you could say I’m on the records management side of things, as many of the documents I handle are still active as part of the document life cycle. Nevertheless, they are being archived and stored at Iron Mountain, and I am helping to manage the transition of these documents from the creation and active use stage of their life cycle to the inactive and ultimate disposition, either disposal or storage.

In launching my library and information science career during a difficult economy and job market, I know how important it is to stay relevant. Finding the time to do it while temping can be a challenge. But I can think, read, and write LIS. I plan to keep bringing it. As I navigate this process, I hope to bring stories of my adventures and tips for making the most of it.

So, stay tuned…

LIS Lady’s Statement on Federal Copyright Protection of Pre-1972 Sound Recordings [PDF]

The U.S. Copyright Office, under direction from Congress is conducting a study on the “desirability and means of bringing sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, under Federal jurisdiction,” particularly as it relates to the ability of cultural heritage institutions to preserve and provide access to this class of recordings. For those of you not in the know, this class of recordings is not currently protected by Federal law, and instead is covered by a bevy of conflicting and confusing State statutory, criminal, and common laws. Unfortunately, this means that nearly no pre-1972 sound recordings are in the public domain in the United States.  This is problematic for libraries and archives charged with caring for and ensuring continued preservation of and access to these recordings.

This topic is near and dear to me, as it relates directly to my summer internship at the Graduate Theological Union’s Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, where I assessed intellectual property concerns and developed metadata requirements for the digitization of a pre-1972 sound recording collection. Further, I developed a research proposal on the topic for my Research Methods course. I appreciated the opportunity to submit my comments to the U.S. Copyright Office.

The extended deadline for submitting comments to the U.S. Copyright Office was today, and replies to the comments will be open until March 2, 2011. Attached is my statement to the U.S. Copyright Office.

LIS Lady’s Statement – [PDF]

Grapes of Wrath, Technology, Research, and Dramaturgy

My dramaturgical project at Chabot College’s Department of Theater Arts is keeping me quite busy. Since the beginning of the project, I’ve observed auditions, met the company, attended a few rehearsals, begun research, and am putting together a “look book” for the use of the director, cast and crew. What a wonderful opportunity to bring together my love of theater and literature with my professional ambitions as a researcher/librarian. Further, I get to put it all together in a blog format, for which I’m creating a taxonomy that keeps it organized and easily searchable in ways that relate specifically to the production of the play, and hopefully make it more useful and accessible as a company resource.

One of my goals with this project is to bring the information I find to the students involved in the production of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath where they play out their virtual lives and in formats they will use online. Most communication outside of the rehearsal process is via Facebook. In addition to posting information on the Grapes of Wrath blog, information goes up on Twitter (#ChabotTheater) and of course, on the company Facebook group page. YouTube and other video sources have also proved valuable.

Fortunately, many wonderful images are available from the Library of Congress, as part of the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information (FSA-OWI) images found in the American Memory Collection: America from the Great Depression to WWII: Black and White Photographs from the FSA-OWI 1935-1945. This is an excellent resource that is primarily in the public domain because most of the images are government documents photographed by government employees. And of course, so many of the images from this collection have become iconic, such as the image below by Dorothea Lange.

"Destitute peapickers in California; a 32 year old mother of seven children. February 1936." (retouched version)