SLA News

The Nominating Committee for SLA's 2001 election needs your help in locating ten worthy candidates, ready and willing to lead the Association through the beginning of the 21st Century. We are five committee members, but between us we cannot possibly know every potentially worthy candidate in an association of SLA's size. That's why you are so important to the process!

Please let us know which of your colleagues are ready and willing to serve in any one of the following capacities: President-Elect, Chapter Cabinet Chair-Elect, Division Cabinet Chair-Elect or Director (we need a total of four candidates for Director). The slate will contain the names of two candidates for each position except Director, which will have four candidates as two Directors are elected each year. For more information on the nominating process and position descriptions please go to the SLA web site at: http://www.sla.org/assoc/board/index.html

Think about what qualities and experiences make this person ideal for the position you are nominating them for. What are their views on our profession and how would they represent us? What positions has the person filled that indicate he or she would be suitable for this position? What did they accomplish; did they fulfill their obligations with flair, enthusiasm and on time? Do they have ideas and the know-how to implement them? Has the person ever served on a board or a committee for another organization besides SLA--it's all valuable experience. Go ahead--nominate yourself if you believe that you match the criteria for success in one of these positions.

Please include with your nominations the nominee's name, affiliation, address, phone number and the position for which you are nominating her or him. Please also include any of the following information to which you have access: prior positions this person has held at the Chapter, Division or Association level; the length of SLA service and answers to any of the questions posed above! If you are not sure about the SLA positions held,do not be concerned--it is all in a database at headquarters.

It will help the committee if you can also tell us in what capacity you have served alongside this person or know this person and thus can personally speak to her or his effectiveness.

Send your nominations by Monday, December 6, 1999 to:

Lois Weinstein
Executive Director
The Medical Library Center of New York
5 East 102nd Street - 7th floor
New York, NY 10029
Tel: 212-427-1630 Fax: 212-860-3496
E-mail: mlcny@metgate.metro.org
Or phone/e-mail any member of the committee (also by December 6)

Name	Phone	E-mail Address
Margaret Hentz	1-317-337-3517	mhentz@dowagro.com
Sylvia James	011-44-1444-452871	5385418@mcimail.com
Dee Magnoni	1-503-725-4124	magnoni@lib.pdx.edu
Betty Eddison	1-781-938-4442	ebeddison@aol.com

David Bender Celebrates 20th Anniversary with SLA
SLA Executive Director David R. Bender recently celebrated his twentieth anniversary as executive director of the association. During his tenure, SLA has grown from a small national organization into an international association, incorporating the latest technological innovations in the information profession field and developing professional competencies for use as an industry standard. SLA's Board of Directors held a reception in his honor during 90th Annual Conference held in Minneapolis, MN, this past June. One-hundred professional and personal friends attended the celebration. Bender was presented with a memory book incorporating photographs of the past twenty years. Bender was hired at the Annual Conference in 1979 which was held in Hawaii. One of the Board members from 1979, Mary Lee Tsuffis, now lives in Hawaii. Since she could not attend the celebration, she sent the lei in honor of his twentieth anniversary. Pictured with Dr. Bender is Richard Green, executive director of association sales for the Marriott. Marriott graciously sponsored the event.

Dialog Joins SLA's President's Circle
SLA has announced that the Dialog Corporation is a new member of the prestigious President's Circle for the 1999 Annual Campaign. SLA President's Circle members are recognized for contributing at least $10,000 to the association in a single year. Dialog was recognized as a President's Circle contributor at the SLA Annual Conference in Minneapolis, MN, this past June.

Web Content Focus of Bender's Article
SLA Executive Director David R. Bender wrote an article published in the July 16-22, 1999, issue of the Washington (DC) Business Journal titled "Well-Done Web Sites Need Effective Info, Too." The article focuses on worldwide companies investing time and money into technologies such as flashy databases, intranets, or web sites without properly investing in the development of information content. Bender goes on to suggest that a number of companies have recognized the importance of content management by involving librarians to improve the content or information flow in order to enhance the IT tools within their company. The article was originally published in the San Jose Business Journal during the week of May 31, 1999. The article is available on the San Jose Business Journal web site at: www.amcity.com/sanjose/stories/1999/05/31/smallb6.html?h=DavidjBender.

Survey Reveals Growth Opportunities
According to a survey recently released by SLA in cooperation with the Association of Library and Information Science Educators (ALISE) and the Medical Library Association (MLA), Master's level university programs teaching library and information science have an opportunity to expand their curricula into information technologies and government information policies. The basis of the survey was two studies conducted separately by SLA (Competencies for Special Libraries of the 21st Century) and MLA (Platform for Change). The poll of deans and administrators of library and information science programs around the globe disclosed that of all the courses (1,909 total) taught by universities in the area of library and information science at accredited programs in Canada and the United States, eighteen percent are devoted to the study of information systems and technology. Of the 350 information systems and technology courses offered, only thirteen percent are a part of the core curricula. The survey also shows that ten percent of all courses cover information policy. The Executive Summary and the Final Report are available on the SLA web site at: www.sla.org/professional/comp.html.

SLA Awards
Goldspiel Grant to Turner and Hudon
SLA has awarded the 1999 Steven I. Goldspiel Memorial Research Grant to Dr. James M. Turner and Dr. Michéle Hudon for their proposal titled, "Organizing Moving Image Collections for the Digital Era." The project will attempt to reach an understanding of the organization of existing vocabulary-management tools used in special libraries with moving image collections, by identifying and studying patterns with a view toward building a uniform vocabulary available for broad use by librarians who manage collections of moving images. Turner and Hudon are professors in the École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l´information at the Université de Montreal.

Member News
Moon Featured in CIO Enterprise Magazine
Mary "Dottie" Moon of United Technologies in East Hartford, Connecticut, was featured in the July 15, 1999, issue of CIO Enterprise Magazine which focused on how companies are turning competitive intelligence (CI) into a strategic weapon in order to gain market knowledge. The article featured experts from across the country describing the techniques that their companies are employing in CI and the range of questions CI can help answer. Moon, the leader of a special CI unit in her company, spoke on the global aspect of CI, which involves keeping a watchful eye on megatrends that can affect all the business units. She also explained intelligence gathering techniques that may support acquisition strategies. The article is available on the CIO web site at: www.cio.com/archiveenterprise/071599_ci_content.html. Moon is currently serving on the Special Libraries Association Board of Directors. She is also an active member of the Connecticut Valley Chapter, as well as the Business and Finance, Library Management, and Engineering Divisions.

McPhail Completes Fulbright Scholarship
Martha McPhail, catalog librarian at San Diego State University, San Diego, California, recently completed a Fulbright Scholarship at a special historical library in El Salvador, this past June. McPhail was featured in the Making News section of Information Outlook, this past May for presenting the Spanish-language version of Competencies for Special Libraries in the 21st Century to the health science librarians of El Salvador in March and during "Library Week" in May. She also consulted at several special libraries and made presentations on the Internet, OCLC, and cataloging. McPhail is an active member of the San Diego Chapter, as well as the Social Science and Museum, Arts & Humanities Divisions.

Information Specialists for the 21st Century
Ruth Arnold, SLA's research director, will be a speaker at the German-Dutch University Conference "Information Specialists for the 21st Century." The meeting will be held October 14-15, 1999 in Hanover, Germany. The topic of the talk is the Special Library Competency's Survey/Library and Information Studies Programs Survey." The program of the conference is available at http://Conference99.fh-hannover.de/.

Lettis Promoted
to Principal
Lucy Lettis was recently promoted to Principal at Arthur Andersen effective September 1. Lettis is the first information professional to rise to the Principal level in Arthur Andersen's eighty-six year history. This is a significant accomplishment for Lettis as well as for the profession as a whole. It is proof that information professionals can rise to the highest levels of recognition and be affirmed as key players in their respective companies if they "live" certain competencies and reach for opportunities to integrate themselves with all aspects of the organizations they serve. Look for an interview with Lettis in an upcoming issue of Information Outlook®. San Diego Chapter Honors Knobloch
The San Diego Chapter recently awarded its newly established President's Award to Patricia Knobloch for her contributions as student liaison chair during the past two years. The award is given in recognition for notable or important contributions made to the chapter or the association, which have enhanced or furthered its goals and objectives. During the past two years, Knobloch established a strong relationship with the California State University-San Jose's School of Library and Information Science at Fullerton, developing a special outreach program for new students, establishing a student scholarship and creating "Libraries on Parade," which allows students to interact with librarians in different library settings.

Biomedical and Life Sciences
Division Announces Awards
The Biomedical and Life Sciences Division (BIO) presented its 1999 Distinguished Member Award to Eleanor A. MacLean in recognition of her exceptional contributions to the profession, the division, and her colleagues. An SLA member since 1974, she has been very active in the association, serving in numerous capacities, as well as chairing the BIO division. In 1998, MacLean was honored as an SLA Fellow. Naomi C. Broering was presented the first Winifred Sewell Prize for Innovation in Information Technologies in Biomedical and Life Sciences Librarianship. The award was given in recognition for her two decades of innovative leadership in developing and applying new technologies, educating others, and promoting emerging technologies within libraries and to patrons in biomedical information centers. Both awards were presented during the BIO annual business meeting this past June in Minneapolis, MN.

Information Technology
Division Presents Awards
The Information Technology division presented its annual Distinguished Member Award to Grieg Aspnes, former SLA president and one of the division's earliest chairs. Aspnes has been a member of the association since 1943. The ITE Division also presented the first annual Joe Ann Clifton Student Award to Susan Johnson from the University of Hawaii at Manoa for her presentation on "Using Information Technology for Improving Collection Management." The award was named in honor of Clifton, who served as SLA President and ITE Division Chair. In her passing, her son Randy Clifton presented the award on her behalf. Both awards were presented at the ITE luncheon in Minneapolis, MN, this past June.