DC SLA Election 2011 -- Don't forget to vote!

The DC Chapter of SLA is conducting its 2011 election both digitally and via paper ballot. The voting is open from September 13, 2010 to October 1, 2010. The link below will take you directly to the ballot. On the first page of the ballot, there is a link to the candidate biographies on the Chapter web page; the Chapter web page will also link you to the ballot. To vote, click here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JWK67VL.

Paper ballots are being mailed this week to those who receive Chapter Notes on paper. If you prefer to vote using a paper ballot, contact Beth Kirton-Crane (bkirtoncrane@yahoo.com) to request one. You may use either a paper or a digital method to vote, but not both. The voting closes on October 1, 2010 at Midnight EST.

Thanks for your participation! Remember that there are a number of elections going on right now, so vote NOW to avoid confusion.

DC/SLA Tour of NPR Library and Studio, 9/11/2010

By Chris Vestal

All things considered, librarians are information aficionados, so it’s no surprise dozens of chapter members jumped at the chance to go on a guided tour of NPR.

Members gathered on Saturday, 11 September 2010, at NPR’s headquarters in Washington DC. Chapter President-Elect Mary Talley introduced members to several NPR librarians who led the tour, including Janel White, Maureen Clements, and Lauren Sin. Talley also introduced members to long-time NPR librarian, Kee Malesky. Malesky recently wrote a book All Facts Considered, a collection of facts she’s come across in her years as a reference librarian. Her book is available for pre-order from Amazon.com.

The tour started off NPR’s Broadcast Library. This library houses archival copies of NPR’s broadcasts both in cd and reel-to-reel tape formats. About fifteen librarians work in this area. Librarians retrieve archival programming, music, or other audio content of interest to reporters. In fact, during the tour a reporter working on an obituary came to the library to request a copy of all programs the deceased had spoken on. There’s also a collection of over 70,000 music cds and records NPR staff can request. The library has a very experienced music librarian, Robert Goldstein, who can answer a request like “music about snow” by indicating which album and then what track on the album (and even what portion of the track) would be most useful.

The next stop on the tour was the Digital Media Music Unit, which is home to the podcasts All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts. Musicians regularly perform mini-live concerts here which are in turn filmed and available for free download or streaming at iTunes or NPR’s website here.

In addition to the Broadcast Librarians, NPR also has Reference Librarians who are embedded with reporters. They train staff on how to use an internal wiki which links to several commercial databases, AP Style Guide, homegrown databases of NPR programming transcripts, a pronunciation guide, and information on important people and events. They also help reporters with fact checking stories and gathering background material. Each librarian is associated with specific NPR programming and sometimes receive on-air credits. For instance Malesky is associated with the weekend news programs and has received numerous on air-credits over the years.

For a final treat, members were able to watch a live broadcast of Weekend All Things Considered in NPR studio 2-A (the Daniel Schorr Studio). Following the tour half of the group networked and ate over tapas at La Tasca.

DC/SLA group at NPR

DC/SLA member Jay Santiago at NPR front desk

SLA Candidates Offer Real World Answers Virtually

By Chris Vestal

Celebrities often grace news programs on CNN with their presence virtually so they can answer questions without dealing with prohibitive logistics. DC/SLA recently took a page from the broadcaster and hosted a virtual question and answer session with the candidates for 2011 SLA President-Elect.

About thirty chapter members showed up for the event on August 31, 2010, at SLA’s headquarters in Old Town Alexandria to hear Brent Mai and David Stern answer preselected questions from chapter members as well as some live questions from the audience.

DC/SLA President James King started off moderating the session by asking questions about the candidates’ backgrounds in SLA. Both candidates come from backgrounds in academic libraries and explained why they chose to join SLA. Stern and Mai have a long history of leadership positions and were able to highlight several and explain how each got them more involved with SLA.

King followed this with several questions aimed at eliciting the candidates vision for SLA. Stern said his to priority would be finding out from SLA’s members what their own top priorities were. Mai said he believed that two main roles of president are “to be a cheerleader for the association and to evaluate how resources are allocated.”

Both candidates stressed the value of the association's diverse membership and the inclusion of international members. Stern said, “we need to also try to be a home professionally for those who don't have one.”

At the end of the prepared questions the audience was allowed to ask the candidates questions as well. Richard Huffine (who is also running for the 2011 SLA Board as Division Cabinet Chair-Elect) asked how SLA can improve vendor relations.

Mai and Stern weren’t the only leaders at the event. King pointed out that five of the ten candidates for the DC/SLA 2011 board were present at the event (for more information about the candidates and DC/SLA’s elections please go here). SLA’s senior-most leaders were also onsite for the event. SLA President Anne Caputo was one of the members who asked the candidates a question. SLA CEO Janice Lachance also attended and graciously welcomed members to SLA’s headquarters. SLA’s Chief Policy Officer Doug Newcomb also took several members on a tour of the facility.

To see the bios of all the 2011 SLA Board of Director candidates please click here. For videos of each candidate please go here. Voting will begin September 8 and continue until September 29, 2010.

DC SLA Fiction Club, August Review and September Preview

by Barbara Folensbee-Moore

Everyone is coasting towards the last long weekend of the summer so we want to encourage you to read this weekend and hopefully join us on September 15th to discuss what you read. The topic for our September meeting is any book that takes place in New Orleans. There actually are books that take place there that aren't about vampires so hopefully we'll hear about some of those. The group voted on no date restriction so that makes choosing something even easier. There is plenty of time this week to swing by the public library or bookstore and pick up some fun reading for the Labor Day weekend.

Our August topic was books made into movies. We had a wide swing in books chosen and the discussion was fun. I think I have decided that seeing the movie first works the best for me - other members were on both sides of the issue.

The books/movies discussed included :

• Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan - this was one that I think everyone agreed both the book and the movie were good and definitely recommended.
• Small Island by Andrea Levy - a book that was featured on Masterpiece Theatre involving Jamaica/Britain and the era around World War II and after. The film version was seen first but the book was also recommended.
• Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman - the movie was seen first and the book read later. The story involves two sisters being raised by their aunts - both of them witches. While both were enjoyed there was a great difference between the movie and the book.
• The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Trapp - the movie Sound of Music was seen years ago (most of a generation could sing at least of few of the Julie Andrews tunes, I'm sure) but the book was read recently and there were a lot of differences in the stories. The real story of the family and their life in Austria and then in the United States made a great read, even if not fiction.
• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - the book was read first and the movie seen later. The book was much better and more involved than the movie which definitely skipped over parts that had added to the complexity of the story. Seen first, the movie would have been better received.
• The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler - both book and movie were good. The focus of the movie was much darker than the book but the mystery was conveyed much better in the book than in the movie. Both would be recommended.
• Ghost World by Daniel Clowes - a story about two teenagers who have know each other growing up and finally come to the time in life where they are going to go their separate ways. This is a graphic novel made into an Indie film and recommended both in the print and movie version.