President-Elect

Secretary

Treasurer

Government Relations Chair

Webmaster

Public Relations/Advertising Chair

Employment Chair

Membership Chair

Consultation Officer

Past President

Bulletin Editor

This will be my final President's message of the year, and what an exciting and positive year it has been! I have truly had a great deal of support and encouragement from the Executive Board and from many chapter.

Heartfelt thanks to Pam MacKellar for all the splendid programs we have had this year. I know she is going to continue her excellent work as your new President. Welcome also to Heather Hlava, President Elect, who is already coming up with great ideas for programming in 2000-2001. I am very grateful to Sandy Spurlock for always being available to answer my questions, give advice, and get information from Headquarters. Betsy Krause, who so generously filled the breach for Secretary in mid-year, will continue to be an asset in the permanent Secretary's position. And Frankee Ewing has kept the books in exceptionally good order. Particular thanks go to Heather O'Daniel who has done such a splendid solo job with the Bulletin.

Special thanks to new chapter member, Lisa Wishard, for her excellent work in coordinating the Sandia presentation for National Library Week. The Chapter also cooperated with the Transborder Library Forum 2000. I served on the Program Committee and Donna Berg, Frances Knudson and Carol Hoover of Los Alamos spoke on "Building an Electronic Journal Collection." Sandy Spurlock's programming for the South West Regional Conference and the efforts of other chapter members made that event a notable success. Due to Marie Harper's efforts we had a delicious luncheon at Bishop's Lodge which was enjoyed both by our President Susan Di Mattia and many of Rio Grande's members. The weather wasn't inclined to cooperate, but apparently Marie wasn't able to make her usual miracles there!

In spite of the Chapter's small size , we have a significant presence on International SLA. Sandy Spurlock was Chapter Cabinet President, Linda Morgan Davis is on the program committee for the Philadelphia Conference, and I am on the Scholarship Committee. In addition, Sarah Morley, Judy Neff and Linda will be presenting papers at the Conference. In the coming year, Linda Davis will be working on Publicity, Heather Hlava will serve with the Information Technology Division, Heather Gallegos-Rex and Margie Hlava will be on the 2001 slate for Executive Board positions. In the awards category, Margie Hlava was singularly honored with SLA's Presidential Award which will be conferred for ongoing commitment to the development of the Association. Linda Morgan Davis garnered the Mary Adeline Connor Scholarship which provides $6000 for graduate study. And as a bit of a bonus, had her registration paid to the Philadelphia Conference!

The chapter's budget is in very good order. A combination of hard work to boost our program attendance, and the Bulletin Ads garnered by Linda Davis has left our operating budget in better shape than it began the year. We have a new membership brochure. Thanks to Donna Cromer our new member list-serv is up and running well, which was a real plus in providing information for us all during the horrific fires at Los Alamos.

We should all be very proud of our accomplishments.

My last two years in the chapter as President-Elect and President have been very rewarding. I feel pleased that I have been able to put my career experiences at the service of the organization that has enriched my life as a librarian. I hope more of you will consider taking an active role in the Rio Grande Chapter. Henrik Ibsen said "that you can't, will surely be forgiven, but never that you won't". Working for the chapter is a marvelous way to network with your colleagues, get help with your own projects, and constantly be presented with new learning opportunities.

Please look at our upcoming services and programs and volunteer to help.

Judith

President Judy Bernstein called the meeting to order at 3:10 pm and gave the Presidential Report for the year. Special recognition was given to Pam MacKellar for the programs, Heather O’Daniel for the newsletter, Sandy Spurlock for reports from headquarters and work on the Southwest Regional Conference, and to everyone else who contributed in making the year a success.

Treasurer’s report was given.

Consultant chair: Mary Frances Campana reported she would like to get an article into the local papers on consultants in libraries for businesses. She also reported on the Procedures Manual, which she is still working on at this time.

Employment Chair: Judy Bernstein reported that Mary Ellen McMurtrie puts all job announcements in the Bulletin if one is due out at the time a position is submitted and all announcements go on the listserve.

Government relations: Heather Gallegos-Rex passes along any information from government sources to the listserve as received.

International relations: Judy Bernstein reported that Theresa Connaughton has taken on this position. The Board voted to send $500 to help support scholarships to the conference in Brighton, England this fall.

Membership: Donna Cromer reported the chapter has 79 members. Gained 12 new members, lost 17 members. The listserve was started in July 1999 and has 93 names on it, which will be edited to the current membership roster. If members want to add a second address to the list contact Donna. Check membership information on the SLA website since information will be sent to local chapters soon. Also let Donna know of any changes in your information since the next issue of the Bulletin contains member information.

Professional development: Donna Berg submitted an article to the Bulletin a couple of months ago. Worked on the videoconference on licensing. She appreciates all suggestions on topics in this area.

Program committee report: Pam MacKellar reported that 8 programs were done in the past year. Complete details are in her report. Advertising for the programs was done through the Bulletin and listserve. Thank you to all members who helped with the programs.

Public relations/Advertising: Linda Morgan Davis reported that she always sends announcements to the Albuquerque Journal on new officers but they never print it. A pizza party was given for the Emporium State students and they were also told if they joined SLA they could come to all local programs free. No one accepted this offer. Advertising revenue was $708.

Webmaster: Judy Bernstein reported that Frances Knudson has done a great job keeping the website current.

Nominating Committee report: Mary Frances Campana reported on the slate of officers. Heather Hlava is nominee for President Elect and Betsy Kraus is nominee for secretary.

Election of officers: Judy Bernstein conducted the election of officers calling for nominees from the floor for secretary. Betsy Kraus was unanimously elected. Nominations for President Elected were called for. Heather Hlava was unanimously elected.

New Business: RGC 45^th Anniversary Celebration is being planned for Santa Fe. A silent auction is also being planned and if anyone would like to donate items, contact Linda Morgan Davis.

President Elect Heather Hlava presented ideas for programs for the upcoming year. If anyone has other suggestions send her an email.

Meeting adjourned at 4:10 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Betsy Kraus

Secretary

We have two new members this month:

As customary, the RGC list of members and friends is included in this issue. I have done the best I could with materials at hand. Please check your entry and let me know what corrections I should make. Also, I urge all of you to check your entry in the online Who's Who at www.sla.org. This is in the Members Only section of the website, and you do need the PIN # that was sent to you by SLA. Then I urge you to fill out their member update form online. With any luck the changes will get made.

Donna Cromer

2001 is the 45th Anniversary of the Rio Grande Chapter. Already a Committee has been formed with Marie Harper and Linda Morgan Davis heading up the festivities. The Committee would love to have additional members so please contact Marie or Linda for participation opportunities.

Our big event will be in May and right now it looks like a luncheon at the Bishop's Lodge in Santa Fe will be the major event. More details as they become available.

There will be a SILENT AUCTION as a fund raiser for the Chapter. All donations most welcome. We hope that all our tile makers, quilters, jewelry makers and other talented artists and crafters will be thinking about a possible donation.

The second point of interest was that, though the committees had struggled hard to realize the conference (against a low registration), the number attending the conference actually enhanced its effectiveness. There was an intimacy and sharing that could take place which is not achieved in larger groups.

The organization, exhibits, and, of course, the location were all excellent--the organizing committee is to be greatly commended for their work and commitment! As a former member of the San Diego and Rocky Mountain chapters, it was personally a great time to renew friendships. I believe the SWRCII was a valuable touchstone for all who attended.

Mary Frances Campana

On April 12, 2000 Sandia National Laboratories’ Technical Library and Recorded Information Management departments, along with co-sponsor The Special Libraries Association Rio Grande Chapter hosted, "Information: The Competitive Advantage". The event was held to jointly celebrate National Records and Information Management Week (April 3-7), National Library Weeks (April 10-14) and International Special Librarians Day (April 13). "Information: The Competitive Advantage" included a full morning program, with a key note presentation by Richard P. Hulser of the IBM Corporation, a panel of information experts from Sandia National Laboratories as well as an information fair that featured exhibits from information vendors, organizations and various information projects. The program which was held at Sandia National Laboratories’ Steve Schiff Auditorium and video-linked to Sandia’s California site was attended by over 250 people and has received a great deal of positive feedback from people both in as well as outside of the library community.

Richard P. Hulser, Worldwide Content Management Product Marketing Manager, IBM Corporation, keynote speaker for the event, provided an entertaining look at the information future and how to use information to a competitive advantage. Including examples from current media, Mr. Hulser encouraged the use of information that is accessible, accurate and understandable to users in order to further an organization’s information advantage. Touching on emerging technologies and new applications of old technologies, Mr. Hulser provided a glimpse of the information future.

A panel of Sandia National Laboratories information experts gave brief overviews of the importance and the competitive use of information in their areas of work at Sandia National Laboratories. Ron Detry, Director for Sandia’s Nuclear Weapons Program Integration and Studies spoke about the significance of information to the nuclear weapons program and the importance of tacit knowledge, retained in "ambulatory databases" that goes into this work. Sam Varnado, Director, for Energy and Critical Infrastructure discussed the evolution of energy and computing technology including the increased need for electricity for the "Internet economy." Mr. Varnado stated that a failure of a nation’s electrical infrastructure, will impact the economic base of the nation by disrupting the Internet, electrical power and delivery of oil and gas. Thus he pointed out, it is essential that threats to the energy infrastructure and the Internet economy be identified so that a nation may protect against them. Jim Rice, Director for Information Systems Engineering, laid out the essentials for success of information enterprises in the twenty-first century which are the ability to see everything, to know everything and to remember everything. Jim Caruthers, Deputy Director for Weapons Knowledge Management discussed a knowledge preservation program at Sandia designed to retain the expertise or "intellectual property" of the engineers who did the initial weapons work during the Cold War. This program focuses not on the reams of paper documenting the lab-work of the engineers but rather records why

the engineers made the decisions that they did. Ken Washington, Director for Distributed Information Systems, discussed emerging work environments of the Internet revolution and their application to engineering work. He stressed, the importance of being able to extract "nuggets" of information from the collective knowledge bases of the past and stated that while there are many promising new information tools on the horizon, the implementation of these technologies would be formidable. The panel members and Mr. Hulser then took questions from the audience, which dealt with information standards, how to implement new technologies and provide access to information for all people regardless of their abilities, and the work of Sandia National Laboratories in preserving knowledge for the nation.

Before, during and after the program, the audience could also participate in an information fair which hosted some of the following exhibits:

• Information Champions, put together in celebration of this year's National Records and Information Management Week and National Library Week by the Recorded Information Management Department and the Technical Library, shared testimonials provided by Sandians relating the value and impact of information retrieval, knowledge preservation, and records management in their work.
• The Technical Library provided a tour of the Technical Library’s homepage. In addition, there was the opportunity to meet some of the librarians and learn about the information services offered by the Technical Library.
• Recorded Information Management and You introduced staff members of the Recorded Information Management (RIM) Department and taught visitors how records management could assist and enhance their work at Sandia.

• Evolution of Information Storage gave a look at the evolution of methods by which information has been stored, from petroglyphs to the electronic book.

• The Record Life Cycle showed how records are created, maintained and stored by Sandians as part of their every day work. It provided a look at the actual "life cycle" of Sandia records according to the Sandia Retention and Disposition Schedule and Sandia’s business practices.

• Web File Share demonstrated an automated system for sharing, managing, and distributing business information using a web site.

• Information Assets Management, Inc. (IAM) which offers digital document services demonstrated the benefits of creating and using digital documents and showed off some of their new technologies and services.

• Demonstrations were give of ThoughtWeb a knowledge management software tool that searches through databases, e-mail, and other files in order to identify information by topic.

• VxInsight a visualization tool for examining search results and the relationship of search concepts for scientific literature gave demonstrations.

• Putting Weapons to the Test a poster display stretching from the Pacific Proving Ground to the Arctic, and at a surprising number of places in between, showed how Sandia has both supported America’s nuclear testing activities and conducted its own extensive testing activities for the non-nuclear portions of nuclear weapon designs.

• Sandia History Books offered the chance to meet Carl Mora, a Sandia historian and author, and to purchase autographed copies of his book, Sandia and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant : 1974-1999. The National Atomic Museum also offered special prices for the bestseller, Sandia National Laboratories: A History of Exceptional Service in the National Interest, among other titles.

• The Sandia Authors Display shows the range of non-technical topics on which Sandians have written, which range from history of the Mexican Cinema to fishing on San Francisco Bay, from the Civil War in New Mexico to the structure of the sun. The range of books on technical topics is equally broad, with subjects in material science, photonics, aerodynamics and shock physics.

• The Special Libraries Association, Rio Grande Chapter, a program co-sponsor, displayed literature about SLA as well as Rio Grande Chapter member institutions.

The Rio Grande Chapter of SLA completed the day's activities by hosting a Mexican dinner for some 30 members of the chapter. Richard Hulser entertained and informed chapter member and guests with his presentation on "Dead and Morphing Technologies".

Lisa Wishard, Research Librarian

Sandia National Laboratories, Technical Library

ASIDIC's member organizations represent links in the information chain—from electronic database publishers to online vendors to corporate librarians to professional researchers and other users of information services. While the products, markets, and financial structures of our membership are diverse, we are united by a common goal: to foster,

encourage, and improve the development, production, processing, storage, retrieval, dissemination and use of electronic information. In support of its goals, ASIDIC strives to...

• Stimulate cooperation and interaction among all types of information organizations

• Provide a forum for the examination and resolution of technological, economic, and educational problems in electronic information transfer

• Foster research into the applications of computer and telecommunications technology

• Membership is available for any organization engaged in the electronic dissemination of information or in support activities for the electronic information industry or its user community.

ASIDIC is managed by the Executive Committee and focuses on various issues through other operating committees. The chairman of each committee reports on activities at the twice a year meetings.

I wanted to let all of you know about the upcoming Fall 2000 CHECS Conference to be held in Albuquerque November 1-3. More information can be found at the CHECS' website, http://www.checs.net

19th ANNUAL JOINT FALL CONFERENCE
November 1, 2 & 3, 2000 Albuquerque, New Mexico

The New Mexico Council for Higher Education Computing/Communications Services (NM-CHECS), and the New Mexico Association of Research Librarians (NMARL) in cooperation with the Electronic Distance Education Network (EDEN) Group invite you to participate in their yearly conference.

Conference Theme: "Technology in the New Millennium"

How IT effects the way we work, communicate, learn, research, provide
health care, play, teach, instruct, do
business, socialize and govern in the New Millennium.

Your paper, presentation, panel or tutorial is what "makes" this conference a yearly success, show us your IT stuff, how you do IT, how to do IT, how IT affects you, discuss IT.

Before July 1, 2000, submit your idea/abstract* of your presentation by e-mail to: Dave Rocks, Chair, Paper Committee, rocks@nmsu.edu

Share your ideas and initiatives at your institution regarding: Oracle, Banner, WebCT, MS Access as a reporting, Enterprise Applications, Data Warehouse, Networking, Wireless Networks, Security, Linux, Video/Data/Voice over IP, Library Automation, Distance Education, Internet2 or Staff Retention.

Conference attendees vote on the best presentation and all submitted presentations are published at www.checs.net.

Questions or Comments: contact Dave Rocks at 646-3430, rocks@nmsu.edu or go to www.checs.net for more information.

*Your abstract should state the title, presenter name(s), time requirements of 1/2 to 1 hour, special need requirement (i.e. Internet access, projection needs, etc.)

Maryhelen Jones

On May 18 an afternoon question and answer session was held at Tech Library in Socorro and led by Mark Adams, Interlibrary Loan head for the State Library. After discussing problems and sharing their expertise the group decided to schedule meetings each Nov. and May.