WatsINFO

We met as usual in the Reading Room at 9:15. Delicious blueberry coffee cake by Gwen. As always, emendations are welcome.

Ken: Performance reviews are coming in “just fine;” time to start planning summer vacations so that all positions can be covered; Pratt intensive summer class early this year, May 14-25, so expect to see the students — Watson staff always thanked for their helpfulness, sure this year will be no different.

KS and DAS had long interview with architects from Beyer Blinder Belle working on feasibility study. “Everything is on the table,” nothing has to stay the same; move of offices would be considered if new space were enhanced. Did say that the future library will still buy and collect things that people will have to come here to see, so there will have to be a reading room of some kind. Has “great confidence in the ideas they will present.” It’s an eighteen-month project so we’re far away from any proposals.

Recent tours represent KS’s kind of outreach; e.g., recent visit from Gray Osborn of Tabasco family, ending with a check. Regs committee: nothing to report yet; maybe after Tuesday meeting. Travel: May 7-8, EBSCO art advisory board — seems important to participate and learn plans now that Art Index/Art Full Text are under EBSCO; happily editor Margaret Richter is staying on. End of May: to LA for meeting about Getty Research Institute Portal of Digitized Art History Texts (see presentation), part of the Future of Art Bibliography project. End of June: to London for ARLIS/UK as international keynote speaker; talk will be on influence of V&A library on American art museum libraries.

Image library dissolution: will be working with Digital Media on disposition of c. 3,000 books from former library; distribute and reduce. Nolen: Have requested dedicated financial support for Nolen, which came to us with minimal resources; Watson has supplemented but can’t do so forever and maintain high level of activity. Collection development: as fiscal year draws to close, thanks to 20+ selectors for excellent work; confident that no other library has our “international grasp” and the resources to support building a collection that is “better each year.” Read the rest of this entry »

Do we know where all of the Watson library items are?  No, but we’re about to find out!  (Okay, that’s not true, but we’re going to know more.)  As part of inventory control and collection maintenance, John and I (along with an unsuspecting intern) will visit all the curatorial departments to ensure that all Watson items are properly charged to the patrons who currently have them.  Below, you will find the workflow and schedule for the next six months.

Workflow:

Barcode Watson items as needed

All Watson items are scanned and charged to the patron’s library account

Mark as CLAIMED RETURNED all Watson items still charged to the patron’s account but not present at the time of inventory

When a department’s inventory is completed, the items still unaccounted for must be searched in Watson and the departmental library

After the search is completed, the status of the items still not found will be changed from CLAIMED RETURNED to MISSING

(Note that throughout, we will pay particular attention to the number of books that have been previously marked MISSING but actually turn up in someone’s office.)

Schedule:

May — Editorial

June — Medieval

July — Musical Instruments & Paintings Conservation

August – Paper Conservation

September – Photographs

October — ESDA

STATUS:  Active since 2003

ACCESS:  http://library.metmuseum.org/record=b1333554~S1; http://library.metmuseum.org/record=b1232593~S1 (Britannica online)

DESCRIPTION:  Merriam-Webster’s Third New International Dictionary Unabridged, the largest and most comprehensive American dictionary, searchable online. Merriam-Webster’s  is listed as a standard reference source for spelling, capitalization, hyphenation, and word division in the Museum’s Guide to Editorial Procedures and Style.

Available on the Britannica online platform (see: http://libmma.org/watsinfo/2012/05/01/britannica-online-active/).

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The Art Institute of Chicago has two online museum collection catalogs (Monet Paintings and Drawings at the AIC and Renoir Paintings and Drawings at the AIC) in the usability-testing phase and is seeking feedback. Note: the publications only function properly in Chrome and Safari browsers.

The url is: http://www.artic.edu/aic/books/online/

Take a look and complete the survey!

Some impressive features of the catalogs are:

• high resolution images that can be “zoomed” to view the paint surface
• interactive, multilayered technical/conservation images
• links in the bibliography to scanned full-text documents

Stated goals of the publications include:

• to develop an online catalog that would serve as a serious research publication and could be cited and used by students and scholars
• to provide functionality and accessibility that are not available in print but are so in the digital realm
• to make archival and technical materials about the artworks available in new and dynamic ways

Starting today, there is a new slip to be included with materials being sent to Book Conservation, from all Museum Libraries. This slip is in addition to any other accompanying forms or item records.

Please use only this new form now (discard outdated forms) and fill out as much of the top portion as possible. You may also suggest treatment in the box provided below if you wish. If the damage is not obvious, this will save us time and is appreciated.

Located on the watshare drive under Conservation/Forms, and on the Intranet in the “Library” section of the “Forms” link:

http://intranet/WebForms11/Formfiles/BookConservationSlip.pdf

STATUS: Active

ACCESS: Each database in the collection has a Watsonline record.  For example: WorldCat   http://library.metmuseum.org/record=b1277686~S1 or Ebooks http://library.metmuseum.org/record=b1707950~S26
There is no FirstSearch access point at the collection level.

DESCRIPTION: “FirstSearch provides access to a core collection of reference databases. The FirstSearch Base Package includes WorldCat as well as other databases such as CAMIO and Electronic Books. Users of WorldCat.org and WorldCat Local can access these FirstSearch databases through a user-friendly single-search box.”

The package includes the following databases:

• WorldCat
• Ebooks
• ArticleFirst
• ECO
• OAIster
• PapersFirst
• Proceedings
• WorldCat dissertations and theses
• ClasePeriodica
• ERIC
• GPO
• Medline
• The World Almanac
• CAMIO
• ArchiveGrid

PRICE:  FirstSearch Base Package is $2470

OTHER:

-IP-authenticated
-Unlimited simultaneous users
-Remote access
-Usage statistics available

CONTACT:

OCLC Headquarters
6565 Kilgour Place
Dublin, Ohio   43017-3395   USA
oclc@oclc.org
614-764-6000
800-848-5878 (USA and Canada only)

Library staff is encouraged to attend a meeting on Monday (April 30 at 10:30-11:30), beginning in the Reading Room and ending in Book Conservation.

Topics include: staff roles, conservation services, options for treament and rehousing collections, etc.

Please let us know if you will be attending, email to mindell.dubansky@metmuseum.org

We hope to see you there,

Mindy, Yukari, Jae, Jenny and Sophia

As announced:

Ken’s been asked to do a live tour related to his Connections piece. It’s tomorrow, starting at 3:30 in the galleries; he will bring the group (of undetermined size) to the library about 4:00 – main floor and stacks, including book conservation. It’ll be a walkthrough — they won’t be sitting down anywhere, so we won’t close any of the rooms. Don’t be startled, do look busy, the usual.

OCLC will be increasing the length of  OCLC control numbers in the upcoming year.  This is something both reference librarians and catalogers should be made aware of and here is the latest information:

WorldCat continues to grow!  The OCLC Control Number is anticipated to reach one billion after July 1, 2013. At that point, OCLC will increase the length of the OCLC number to accommodate a variable length number string.  If you use and/or store OCLC MARC bibliographic records and the OCLC Control Number, you will notice a change after July 1, 2013. You will need to check the systems at your institution that use OCLC MARC bibliographic records and the OCLC number.  You may need to implement changes to ensure those systems will be able to successfully handle the longer OCLC number effective July 1, 2013. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are the processing instructions we send to new shelf ready vendors. Read the rest of this entry »

The Visiting Researchers Instruction Program (aka VRIP) will be hosting the next meeting of the ACRL Grad Services Discussion Group, where we will talk about our many recent service improvements for outside researchers, especially grad students. There will be a tour of the library and discussion with the group.

We will meet on April 30 for our May staff meeting. Please add to the agenda below.

AGENDA

Performance reviews; Pratt intensive class May 15-25; collection development; Connections Live tour; Regulations review committee; architects’ interview and Feasibility Study; travel to EBSCO advisory board, Getty Digitized Art History Text Advisory Committee, ARLIS/UK (KS)
IUG report (LMH)
Collection development event (RD)
Workshop report (YH)
New project (MX)
OCLC meeting (OK)
Events in May, Vols update & meeting, facilities issues (nbm)

Robyn and Naomi will provide library orientation for 9 Teaching Corps interns who will be leading guided camp tours this summer.

We’ve been fortunate, but our luck has run out. Sofia Pacheco-Fores started here in the fall of 2009. William Blueher began in fall 2010, and Jenny Mathias and Wendy Rose joined the team in February of 2011. Since then they have scaled the heights, and plumbed the depths, of library science, but now it’s time for them all to move on. We’ll have a party in the Periodicals Room on Thursday May 3rd at 4:00 to thank them for their all the good work they’ve done during their tenure here, without which the library would surely have ceased to exist.

The Friends will gather in the library from 9:30 to 10 on Monday, April 23, before a tour of the Byzantium and Islam show. It shouldn’t be much disturbance, plus there will be coffee to share, I’m sure.

Eliot Nolen (of Nolen Library) is celebrating an “important birthday” at then end of this month.  To honor and thank her for her generosity,  young visitors to Nolen have made special birthday cards which illustrate what he or she likes most about visiting the library.  Many have drawn lovely illustrations, talked about his or her favorite books, or shared thoughts about Storytime.  One child asked his caregiver, “How many candles should I draw on the cake?”  She replied, “Hmm..maybe a lot of them.” The child says, “Ok, I’ll draw 14!!!”  The cards will be presented to her through the Development Office, and we hope she likes them.

It was a great conference this year.  Here are my highlights–ask if you have questions.

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A lot has been going on since our November post:

• Projects (recently completed, continuing, and new)
• Presentations/Meetings
• Hardware/Software (Zeutschel, Epson, CONTENTdm)
• Other stuff

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DECISION: Purchase

STATUS: trial until 4/13/2012

ACCESS:

Trial Link: http://www.galetrials.com/default.aspx?TrialID=29882;ContactID=62831

All the collections are searched by default, but you can uncheck the ones you are not interested in.

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The position has been posted and we will begin searching for a replacement for Joan.  The search committee consists of Lisa, Robyn, Erika, and John.  Here is information from the position profile:

General Description:

The Library Associate performs a variety of key activities in Watson Library’s team-based environment. As a member of the Circulation, Interlibrary Loan, and Cataloging and Processing Teams this position works to provide outstanding service and to process material with the greatest efficiency. He/she also provides back-up in the library office and will have the opportunity to serve on other teams

Primary Responsibilities and Duties:

• Provides outstanding customer service at the circulation desk and assists with inventory control of the collection
• Assists in providing interlibrary loan services
• Processes newly received books and other research material including periodicals
• Helps staff the library office; includes receiving visitors, processing mail, and back-up telephone coverage
• Prepares bindery shipments
• Occasional weekend work  required

Requirements and Qualifications:

Experience and Skills:

• Commitment to providing excellent and proactive customer service required
• Library experience required
• Ability to do detailed work accurately, to work effectively as part of a team, and to respond flexibly and creatively to a changing environment required
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing required

Knowledge and Education:

• B.A. required
• Knowledge of PCs and Windows and ability to work in a networked environment required
• Knowledge of at least one foreign language preferred
• Experience using an integrated library automation system preferred

This position will report to Lisa.