DC/SLA Program on Census Data Tools 9/21/2010

by Eileen Boswell
On September 21 the Chapter held a program on using data from Census 2010 and the American Community Survey for research, with a presentation by Census Bureau Services Statistician Troy King. The main differences between the decennial census and the American Community Survey (ACS) are how often the data are collected and from how many people, as well as the level of detailed information resulting from each one.

Census data are collected once every ten years, and the primary purpose of the Census is a population count, to be used for Congressional reapportionment. Census data sets are released through the American FactFinder website. (See projected release dates for 2010 Census data here.) ACS is conducted annually, but not everyone in the country will have an opportunity to participate, unlike the decennial census. The main purpose of ACS is to provide up-to-date information about the social and economic characteristics of American communities. For example, results may be used to decide where new schools, hospitals, and emergency services are needed. There is always a one-year delay in the release of ACS data. (See projected release dates for 2010 ACS data here.)

The group discussed the relative value of using 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year data estimates from ACS. King walked us through a very helpful table (see below) that shows under which circumstances you would use each data set. For example, 1-year estimates are best used when currency is more important than precision, and when analyzing large populations.
Caption: Distinguishing features of ACS 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year estimates (See this information online here).

Among the other great resources we learned about were:

* kids' pages with games and age-appropriate information
* data users' handbooks
* thematic maps
* PowerPoint training presentations complete with speaker notes, and
* the Census Bureau Training and Education schedule, including a course called Understanding Federal Statistics.

One attendee, Michelle Polchow, had this reflection on the program: "The Census Bureau offers a great model of information literacy. Supporting complex electronic data with free training opportunities, offered in a variety of instructional formats, is a socially responsible solution."

Many thanks to Steve Mellin at Jenner & Block for hosting this program in a beautiful and comfortable venue!

Librarians Buck Convention for Cinco de Mayo

By Chris Vestal

The heart and soul of Cinco de Mayo is defying the odds in the face of overwhelming adversity (to read about the history of the holiday see http://tinyurl.com/n4sd6). While no one actually engaged in combat this year, DC/SLA honored the holiday by keeping this theme in mind with speakers in unconventional careers.

Barbara Ferry and staff at the National Geographic Society Library hosted a lively celebration in the library’s space. Beginning with a trivia/scavenger hunt in the library stacks. The National Geographic Society’s library staff provided the trivia questions, posted them throughout the stacks, and even made some of the library’s resources available to answer them. Attendees entered their answers into a drawing for prizes, including Amazon.com gift cards, jewelry, and books published by National Geographic. Questions really ran the gamut of history, geography, and culture and included challenging ones, such as “What fruit is traditionally eaten in the evening to break the fast of Ramadan?” To hear all the questions and see the prizes see http://tinyurl.com/2vvwbgl.

Following the scavenger hunt and networking over tacos and margaritas, attendees broke into small groups and rotated among five speakers. Each speaker talked with individual groups about their non-traditional careers in this challenging economy.

Dave Hemingway-Turner, sales consultant for Innovative Interfaces, wowed some of the attendees by admitting that in the last 15 years he hasn’t had to apply for any of the jobs he’s had. He stressed the importance of forming connections with colleagues through professional associations like SLA.

Jennifer Whitfield, Outreach and Communications for the Joint Bank-Fund Library, spoke about the value of marketing and the challenges of developing communications and training material for multicultural environments. Whitfield is also a member of the Internal Association of Business Communicators and quipped that she hasn’t yet encountered any librarians who are also members.

Larry Lempert, Director of Product Research and Planning with BNA, noted that he enrolled in an MLS program to learn about Information Architecture and enhance his work at BNA, years after earning his law degree. He believes that librarians’ technical skills are easily transferable to positions that involve optimizing users’ experiences.

The National Geographic Society also contributed a speaker to the program: Ariel Deiaco-Lohr, account representative in the Society’s International Licensing and Alliances, talked about her experience in international publishing. Deiaco-Lohr spoke about the work she does to facilitate more localized content in the Society’s Traveler magazine.

View all the videos from the Cinco de Mayo event at the DC/SLA group on Youtube at http://tinyurl.com/2uqkw3v or view one of the videos of the scavenger hunt below:

Celebrating International Special Librarians' Week with DC/SLA's International Relations Committee

By Elizabeth Ann Blake

On April 29, 2010, the International Relations Committee of DC/SLA celebrated International Special Librarians Day at Kiplinger’s where three distinguished speakers spoke about their careers as international special librarians and how they represent their home cultures abroad through librarianship. Victor Monti, the chair of the International Relations Committee and the evening’s moderator, introduced the speakers.

Nadia Pazoulis-Gabriel delivered an overview of the mission and purpose of the library at Alliance Française and discussed her job as the head librarian and her role in promoting French language and culture.

Next, Barbara Conaty spoke about how the State Department makes a piece of American culture available overseas through the American Corners program. Although the program is not as well funded as it could be, she makes the most of her resources as the administrator of the program, holding American movie nights and making welcoming, accessible American cultural centers available to library patrons.

Finally, the sponsor of the program, Mohammed Eliwa, took the podium. Eliwa, the founder of Arabia Inform, discussed how he started his company, the many challenges involved with collecting, obtaining, and indexing information in the Middle East, and his company as it is today.

Following the evening's presentations, attendees enjoyed the opportunity to network over the food and refreshments provided by the evening's sponsor, Arabia Inform.

Defense Professionals Learn Their ABCs -- March 22, 2010

By Chris Vestal

It's no bombshell that military leaders and scholars have unique information needs. However, it is surprising to learn how similar their research process is to more traditional settings.

Librarians from around the country received helpful pointers in military research on March 22, 2010, during the Defense Technical Information Center’s 2010 Conference session, ABCs of Military Resources, co-sponsored by DC/SLA’s Military Librarians’ Group. Lily McGovern, a DC/SLA chapter member from National Defense University, and Greta Marlatt, from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, co-taught the session.

McGovern guided attendees through the process of conducting military research, quickly pointing out how similar it is to any other research process. “Techniques you’d use for any reference query can work in an area not familiar to you,” she explained. The first stage in the research process was the reference interview. Researchers need to pay careful attention to what military service the patron is interested in as acronyms could have multiple meanings across different service organizations. The next step is thinking about where you could find the needed information. McGovern recommended thinking about what organizations might collect or generate the needed information. For military or defense information, McGovern said using specialized databases is usually the best route to take. However, she also recommended using regular search engines and limiting results to .mil or .gov domains to cut down on the number of false drops. One interesting contrast to traditional research is that military information professionals may have to consider whether or not the requested information is classified or restricted in some way. The patron’s clearance level will affect whether or not the information professional will perform the research. If the patron has a high enough clearance the researcher may have to leave his or her regular work-station and search on a computer approved for viewing restricted information.

After attendees got a feel for how the process worked, Marlatt reviewed a myriad of useful specialized resources. These sources ranged from the webpages of libraries that are part of a military graduate program, to “think tanks” and even “WikiLeaks” (a wiki dedicated to encouraging and disseminating leaked information, http://wikileaks.org/). According to Marlatt, when using any of these sources, searchers should explore them as much as possible, even the ones that say they are restricted access only. Marlatt explained that while many of them do have sections that are restricted or pay-only access, if you take the time to mine through them there is often quite a bit of freely available information. For example, she cited the RAND Corporation’s website (http://www.rand.org/) where links to purchasing reports are prominently displayed at the top of the page, but near the bottom of the page you'll find links to view the same reports for free.

Following the session, attendees divided up into smaller groups and had dinner and lively conversation at five Old Town Alexandria restaurants.

To view the presentation with active links to all the recommended resources visit http://tinyurl.com/yzuwpe3

Picture 1. Attendees signing in to the ABCs of Military Research:

Picture 2. Attendees enjoying dinner after the Military Research event in Alexandria, VA:

DC/LA The Twentieth Annual Elizabeth W. Stone Lecture Series Featuring Clifford A. Lynch, Ph.D

The Catholic University of America School of Library and Information Science & The Potomac Valley Chapter of ASIS&T proudly announce The Twentieth Annual Elizabeth W. Stone Lecture Featuring
Clifford A. Lynch, Ph.D. Executive Director, Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), USA
 on  Tuesday, April 20, 2010 @ 7-9PM, Caldwell Hall Auditorium, The Catholic University of America,
http://www.cua.edu/res/docs/cuamap.pdf, Reception to Follow, RSVPs are encouraged. Please contact Robin Foltz: foltz@cua.edu, Please feel free to contact the SLIS alumni board at cua-slis-alumni-board@cua.edu with any questions.