Government Info Pro

The Embedded Archivist, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Change

2010-02-11T02:30:00-05:00

Thanks to Jan Zastrow, Archivist, Office of Senator Harry Reid, U.S. Senate, for the this article: The Embedded Archivist, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Change. This article was originally published in the 2009 Best Practices for Government Librarians: Change: Managing It, Surviving It, Thriving on It. The 2009 edition includes 60 articles and other submissions provided by more than 50 contributors from librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, LexisNexis Consultants, and more.

Read on...

Foreword

No doubt about it, the whole world has gone digital. Last week in the Washington Post, writer Monica Hesse recommended text-messaging as the best way to get your partner's attention! (“Text Is Cheap,” The Washington Post, April 8, 2009, p. C1/C9.)

Digital has changed everything …

I am an archivist in the office of a U.S. senator, employed to ensure documents of historical value are preserved for future research. This was relatively easy in the world before email, websites, MS Word documents, spreadsheets and databases. But now an archivist needs to be on the scene almost at the point of creation of a record—at the veritable birth of a file!—in order to ensure its preservation beyond the next Congress.

"Embedded" Archivists

I recently attended a Computers in Libraries conference and learned a new term, “embedded.” The concept of an "embedded librarian” came from the distance learning sphere, where librarians and faculty partner to serve online students. I’m going a step farther: as curators of digital collections—whether librarians, historians, archivists or IT professionals—we should be embedded in the process. Our “collaboration with creators is essential to effective curation of digital materials … Illustrations of such early partnerships include the sustained conversations between expected donors of personal papers, such as elected officials or authors, and curators to discuss and influence the scope and organization of the materials to be deposited." (Association of Research Libraries, Special Collections in ARL Libraries: A Discussion Report from the ARL Working Group on Special Collections, March 2009, p. 26).

On Digital Preservation, e-Records Management and Expectations

Despite its convenient searchability and sexy paperless allure, digital "preservation"—and here I mean digitizing documents or collections to ensure their long-term durability—is actually the most fragile means of saving a file. Platform changes and hardware/software upgrades make migration of electronic formats obligatory every 3 to 5 years. Imagine having to re-bind or re-photocopy every book and document on your library shelf that frequently!

I blame the advent of the desktop PC, which ironically led to the easy creation of electronic documents and at the same time diminished their chance of being saved. Gone are the days of the centralized filing system with its designated keeper of the approved Master File. Today's information117 savvy workforce saves their own files as they will, often without guidance on file structure, naming convention or backup. And thanks to cheap computer storage, the ability to "save everything" does away with the need to weed out the junk—the personal emails, the redundant versions, the spam—and actually appraise digital documents for their permanent historical value. The expectations of digital customers are way up too. Social networking trends and instant, ubiquitous tech tools lead Digital Natives to wonder why everything’s not online.

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

These changes in how information is created, stored, backed up, accessed and preserved should put archivists at the center of decision-making for the entire organization: on systems, policies, hardware and software at least, not to mention training and outreach (no more mousing around in dusty corners!). "The dynamic nature of digital materials requires effective partnership with others, especially including information technology specialists" (ARL Report, 2009). Collaboration and teamwork are now imperative in the digital environment. We are participating in project groups—assisting, evaluating, advising, problem-solving, partnering. At long last, we’re on the team …. how exciting!

Or is it? Many of us went into our professional fields thinking we'd be sheltered from the hurly-burly concerns of the marketplace. We could focus on lofty ideas, conduct research and work with objects—books, journals, manuscripts, photographs, in a word, analog stuff. Yet now more than ever we are in the People Business; digital information and its management has thrust us into the very visible forefront of information technology, business innovation, records management, collaborative relationships, “social software,” you name it. How digital formats have rocked our world. Stressed? Maybe just a little …

Here’s How I Manage

A few years ago I was asked to describe—“in 99 words or less”—my techniques for dealing with change for a class of Special Library students. I think these tips are still applicable for anyone who works in our profession...

Read the entire article starting on page 117 of the 2009 Best Practices for Government Librarians: Change: Managing It, Surviving It, Thriving on It.

Keep Current with SLA Government Information Division's News Feed

2010-02-10T23:38:00-05:00

I want to remind you about a great resources that is available to you out on the SLA DGI site. It's the SLA Government Information Division News Feed, sponsored by LexisNexis. Keep up with news of interest to you as a government librarian by visiting the SLA DGI website and checking out this feed on the right sidebar. You'll see a list of recent articles on topics related to government librarianship. Just click the link to the article title and you'll be able to read the full article.

One thing that I really like about the feed is its scope - it's global. This feed is another way that SLA DGI (and LexisNexis) actively support your efforts to stay informed as a government information professional. The feed is powered by LexisNexis Publisher.

If you aren't visiting the SLA DGI site and checking out the SLA Government Information Division News Feed, you are missing something!

SLA DGI also has a discussion list and a blog. If you are a government librarian and a member of SLA, make sure that you join the Division of Government Information if you have not done so already. It's a very active division that provides many excellent resources to its members. To find out more about joining DGI just CLICK HERE.

Government Blog Spotlight: NASA's Marine Debris Blog

2010-02-09T16:29:00-05:00

If you are interested in environmental or marine issues, you may want to take a look at this government blog: NOAA's Marine Debris Blog from the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program serves as a centralized marine debris capability within NOAA in order to coordinate, strengthen, and increase the visibility of marine debris issues and efforts within the agency, its partners, and the public. [NOAA's Marine Debris Blog]

Thoughts from a Librarian on Turning 50

2010-02-08T23:02:00-05:00

Michael Saint-Onge, LexisNexis Team Lead for the LexisNexis Librarian Relations Group, writes about the challenges of change, taking stock, and thinking about the future as he turns 50 in this Librarian Relations Group Monthly Column entitled: True Confessions: Personal and Professional Reflections on Turning Fifty.

Here's an excerpt:

I recently celebrated my fiftieth birthday, and no, it wasn’t traumatic — no midlife crisis, no expensive little sportscar purchased to compensate for my waning youth (actually, at fifty, I think it is now fully waned…). But there is something about reaching a milestone that makes one sit up and notice. Life is good, thankfully, but I think it’s a perfect opportunity to “take stock” and figure out where I’ve been and where I am going, both personally and professionally.

It is obvious that there have been some profound changes in our profession during my lifetime. Can you imagine what a law librarian from 1959 would think of a modern law firm library? I think her first question would be “What happened to all the books?” but she couldn’t possibly have anticipated how much information we now have at our fingertips. And we don’t even have to go fifty years back to marvel at these changes. Just in the twenty-three years I’ve been a law librarian, we’ve seen incredible advances. (Have you ever noticed that when a bunch of librarians of a certain age get together, we start to sound like those two old men in the balcony on The Muppets? “In my day, we didn’t have the World Wide Web. We had to FTP files.” “Yeah? In my day the only computer we had was that huge Lexis® terminal in the corner of the library with the rolled paper we had to cut down to size so the attorneys could read it.” It’s the librarian’s equivalent of bragging about having to walk to school in the snow, barefoot.)...

CLICK TO READ FULL COLUMN.

An Invitation To Be an Author for the 2010 Best Practices for Government Libraries

2010-02-05T14:15:00-05:00

A reminder to government librarians...

You are invited to be one of the authors for the 2010 Best Practices for Government Libraries!

Why should you contribute to this edition of Best Practices for Government Libraries?

Join the list of 75+ peer contributors who have made the annual publication a must-read for the government librarian community
Showcase your best practices for innovating and creating success in your workplace and beyond
Enjoy the recognition of being published in Best Practices and via the Government Info Pro

Here's a few examples of recent posts of Best Practices articles featured on the Government Info Pro:

Careers in Federal Libraries Resume Review Service Connecting Newbies and Professionals by Kim Lyall, Outreach Specialist, NASA Center for AeroSpace Information operated by Chugach Industries, Inc.
Engineering Your Library for Change by Deborah E. B. Keller, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity Library
The Federal Library Competencies: A Tool for Meeting the Challenges of Change by Roberta Shaffer, Law Librarian of Congress (then Executive Director FLICC/FEDLINK)
Libraries in Change by Suzanne Morrison, Branch Librarian, U.S. Courts Library 8th Circuit
The Library’s Training Committee Takes the Lead on Training Activity at the Department of Justice by Michele Masias, Law Librarian, Patrick Henry Library, U.S. Department of Justice Library Staff
Link to the PDF version of the 2009 Best Practices here: 2009 Best Practices for Government Librarians: Change: Managing It, Surviving It, Thriving on It.

This year, the Best Practices topic is Value 2.0: Developing It, Delivering It, and Demonstrating It. We seek examples of your efforts to create, provide, and showcase the value of the library and yourself, as an information professional. Your submission could be electronic or hard copy, cutting-edge or time-tested but with a new twist, in place or conceptual, in the workplace or in the community. In 2010, we look forward to seeing even more of your good ideas!

The scope of submissions is only limited by your imagination. In past years, we have received: program descriptions and promotional materials, planning documents, websites and blog entries, video, displays, original articles, tips and techniques, testimonials, awards, and personal observations on the topic.

I particularly want to encourage you to consider the submission of a short, original article on the topic of VALUE from any angle: library, organization, profession, or personal.

For the 2010 edition of Best Practices, please email your submissions to Marie Kaddell or mail hard copy contributions to Marie Kaddell, LexisNexis, Suite 600, 1150 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20036. The deadline for submission is April 9, 2010.

This is your opportunity to step into the spotlight! Take advantage of it and share your successes, your ideas, and your wisdom. I am looking forward to seeing a broad spectrum of content again this year and I hope you will make it a point to participate.

Share! Write! Get Published!

Virtual Reference: Embracing the Possibilities

2010-02-04T01:15:00-05:00

Thanks to Jennifer McMahan, Supervisory Librarian, 1425 NY Ave. Library, U.S. Department of Justice Library Staff, for the this article: Virtual Reference: Embracing the Possibilities. This article was originally published in the 2009 Best Practices for Government Librarians: Change: Managing It, Surviving It, Thriving on It. The 2009 edition includes 60 articles and other submissions provided by more than 50 contributors from librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, LexisNexis Consultants, and more.

Read on...

“I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting.”

This quote from the movie, “He’s Just Not That into You”, while an amusing take on the modern dating scene, also illustrates just a few of the options for communicating that now exist. Which of these methods are the most efficient and appropriate for use in libraries? It depends on who you ask and what his or her information needs are. A long and complicated research project might be best suited to email, while a simple and easy-to-find piece of information could be communicated efficiently over chat. In some cases, a phone call or in-person visit is the best way to discuss a request that is either too complicated or too sensitive to put in writing. I have patrons who come into my office with their requests scribbled on notebook paper and others for whom I have done research on a weekly or even daily basis but have never met. My experience leads me to believe that the more options we provide for people to contact us, the better.

At the Department of Justice Libraries, we have eight libraries in downtown DC, staffed by more than thirty librarians and technicians. There are also a number of US Attorneys’ librarians throughout the country, as well as bureau librarians at DEA, BOP, and FBI, among others. It would seem that we have a large enough presence at the Department that all DOJ personnel would be aware of our existence and how to contact us. But unfortunately, that is not the case. Each of the libraries and library staff has a core group of users in the offices they work with most closely, but there is a much larger group of people who work in buildings without libraries and who might not know where to turn if they need research assistance. There are ways to market library services to individual divisions and sections through email newsletters and intranets, but there is no way for the library staff to send a message out to the entire Department. So to some extent, we have to rely on people seeking us out and being able to find us.

One of the primary ways that people find us is through our Virtual Library, which houses a rich collection of subject guides, Web links, and subscription databases. Conducting a search on any number of legal topics in the Department-wide intranet will turn up at least one hit from the Virtual Library, so that even if someone is not looking for help from the library staff, they will find us anyway. On the left-hand side of each page on the Virtual Library is set of commonly used resources on the site. One of the top links is to our Ask a Librarian (QuestionPoint virtual reference e-mail) service. Since we started the service several years ago, the number of questions submitted on a monthly basis has continued to grow. In the beginning just a handful of questions were submitted, while last month we had about 50. We believe the most recent increase in questions corresponds with the addition of an “i” icon (as illustrated below) next to the “Ask a Librarian” link. It was a quick and easy way to make the link stand out and identify it as the place to go if one needs help. Not only are the number of questions we receive increasing, but we are getting requests from a number of first-time library users who might not have found us any other way.

Read the entire article starting on page 48 of the 2009 Best Practices for Government Librarians: Change: Managing It, Surviving It, Thriving on It.

Government Blog Spotlight: Inside Adams

2010-02-03T00:41:00-05:00

If you are interested in science, technology, and business topics then check out Inside Adams from Library of Congress. This blog

Inside Adams will point readers to the Library’s large and diverse collections of books, journals, prints, photographs, digital collections, finding aids, and Webcasts related to science, technology, and business. This blog will give us the opportunity to highlight the bibliographies, research guides, and special pages that have been developed by staff, as well as share the history, art, and architecture of the John Adams Building. Come with us on this journey Inside Adams. (About This Blog)

Authors of the blog are Jennifer Harbster and Donna Scanlon. Jennifer states in the first post of the blog on October 30, 2009:

The name of our blog, Inside Adams, is quite fitting in many ways. ST&B is located inside the John Adams Building. As the quote notes, we will dare to speak and write to you from Inside Adams about things that we find, read, think and do Inside Adams. (“…Never to be afraid of a book”)

Topics include:

Lexis for Microsoft Office

2010-02-02T01:51:00-05:00

LexisNexis Announces Lexis for Microsoft Office

First-of-its-kind integration with Microsoft applications transforms the way legal research is conducted

NEW YORK, NY, February 01, 2010 -

LexisNexis®, a leading global provider of content-enabled workflow solutions, today announced Lexis® for Microsoft Office – a new set of research capabilities that will enable legal professionals to access content and services from LexisNexis and other sources while operating directly within Microsoft Office applications. Legal professionals can now find, analyze and act upon legal content while working within Microsoft Office Outlook, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.

Input from hundreds of customers and other legal professionals shaped the development of Lexis for Microsoft Office, which was specifically designed to address their need to work more efficiently and productively, and ultimately serve clients better. Customers can now access vital information from the LexisNexis® services, the open Web as well as designated law firm or corporate files in one place and with the click of a button - eliminating time and energy intense searches across disparate sources and applications.

"Lexis for Microsoft Office is a significant leap forward in the transformation of legal technology - both in what it delivers and how it is being created," said Michael F. Walsh, CEO of LexisNexis U.S. Legal Markets. "Working closely with our customers, we've created a whole new way to access and use the trusted information they need directly from their day-to-day desktop applications. This frees them to focus on legal reasoning and strategy, responding faster to client issues and questions, and confidently managing legal matters."

How it Works

While reviewing a Word document or an Outlook e-mail message, Lexis for Microsoft Office users can seamlessly access content and resources from LexisNexis, the open Web, or their law firm or corporate files. Key features include:

"Search" - A single search box that delivers one-click access to the vast collection of legal content from LexisNexis, the open Web and the user's internal company information database. Results from all sources are displayed in a window next to the active document.

"Background" - This function provides background information on "entities" such as people, companies, organizations and cases mentioned in the text of a Word document or Outlook message. It automatically indexes the working document with hyperlinks to relevant information from internal, LexisNexis and Web resources. Upon clicking the hyperlink, the information is displayed in a side pane within the Microsoft Office applications. The Background feature will also display full Shepard's® reports and apply Shepard's® SignalTM indicators directly to the cases cited within the text of the document. Full text versions of case law, news and information cited within an e-mail message or Word document can also be accessed through the lexis.com® resources directly within the Microsoft software application.

"Suggest" - Similar to the Background function, this functionality interacts with any text in a Word document or Outlook message. By manually highlighting text, the user can prompt a search that will pull up relevant information from internal, LexisNexis and Web resources. The content is displayed in a side pane within the application.

While using SharePoint Server and Microsoft SharePoint Workspace, subscribers also have the ability to store, organize and share documents on a related topic from a SharePoint site. SharePoint can also act as an internal company database from which Lexis for Microsoft Office pulls information.

"With the increasing importance for law firms to bring meaning to content more quickly and cost effectively, Lexis for Microsoft Office provides a powerful new tool for legal professionals to access their information through a familiar, easy-to-use and integrated environment," said Brian Zeve, U.S. professional services industry managing director, Microsoft Corp.

Lexis for Microsoft Office will launch for Microsoft Office 2007 in spring 2010, and will be available with Microsoft Office 2010. To access and use these capabilities, users will require a current LexisNexis subscription.

See full LexisNexis press release here.

Computers in Libraries 2010

2010-02-01T20:34:00-05:00

Computers in Libraries (CIL) is coming up in April in Arlington, Virginia. The conference dates are April 12 - 14, 2010. This will be the 25th annual Computers in Libraries and it is billed as "the most comprehensive North American conference and exhibition on all aspects of library & information delivery technology".

Our theme, Information Fluency: Literacy for Life, encompasses all of the challenges, solutions, technologies, and practices that those working with computers in libraries or libraries in computers are dealing with today.

Leading-Edge Technology Tools for Libraries

Innovative Library Processes & Practices

Information Discovery & Visualization

Next-Gen Catalogs & Digitization

Search Engines, Intranets & Portals

Strategies for Digital Information Enterprises

Building Learning Communities & Environments

Implementing Social Media & 2.0 Initiatives

New Ways to Connect People & Technology

EContent, Preservation & Digital Libraries

(Computers in Libraries 2010, Information Today, Inc.)

View the advanced program for CIL 2010 in PDF.

Five to Follow on Twitter

2010-01-29T19:44:00-05:00

Need some suggestions about who to follow on Twitter? Here is a list of five you might consider:

timoreilly

Twitter Bio:

wiredscience

Twitter Bio: Science, space, energy and robot sharks with lasers. Hosted by @betsymason and @alexismadrigal

TheJusticeDept

Twitter Bio: Official DOJ Twitter account. DOJ does not collect comments or messages through this account. Learn more at justice.gov/privacy-file.htm

DowningStreet

Twitter Bio: The official twitter channel for the Prime Minister's Office based at 10 Downing Street.

RedCross

Twitter Bio: Official twitter stream for the American Red Cross. Follow us for disaster and preparedness updates.

If you want more suggestions see my prior Five to Follow on Twitter posts:

Of course, you can follow me on Twitter at Library Focus.

Who do you follow on Twitter? Share your recommendations in the comments section of this post!

Cobell v. U.S. Department of the Interior: How an Internet Shutdown Helped Change the Course of the DOI Library

2010-01-28T19:33:00-05:00

Thanks to George Franchois, Coordinator of Library Services, U.S. Department of the Interior Library, for the this article: Cobell v. U.S. Department of the Interior: How an Internet Shutdown Helped Change the Course of the DOI Library. This article was originally published in the 2009 Best Practices for Government Librarians: Change: Managing It, Surviving It, Thriving on It. The 2009 edition includes 60 articles and other submissions provided by more than 50 contributors from librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, LexisNexis Consultants, and more.

Read on...

Change can be forced upon a library due to shifting conditions beyond your control brought forth in its supporting organization. When a drastic change in services for your organization occurs, its library must be ready to accept the changes and find a way to still serve its users under sometimes difficult circumstances. Perhaps there may even be opportunities to enhance the status of your library that result from your organization’s new situation.

Such a change occurred at the Department of the Interior Library in the late fall of 2001. Winds of change were sweeping across federal libraries and the entire federal government in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. As a result, federal government agency information technology offices became preoccupied with insuring the security of their computer systems and networks in the hope of averting an unwanted infiltration of their data via a terrorist hacker.

At about the same, a five year old lawsuit brought by a descendant of a legendary Blackfeet Indian tribal chief was creating a typhoon of problems for the IT office at the Interior Department. Back in 1996 Eloise Cobell; great-granddaughter of Mountain Chief, a legendary 19th century leader of the Blackfeet Nation; and her co-plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against the Interior Department and Treasury Department on behalf of more than a quarter of a million Native Americans. The suit alleges that the federal government mismanaged Native American trust fund accounts from the time of the Dawes Act in 1887 to date, resulting in the loss, misdirection, and unaccountability of several billion dollars that were supposed to be held in trust by the United States for Native American beneficiaries.

As a consequence of the lawsuit, and in light of general concern about the security of government information systems, the federal court hearing the Cobell case wanted to find out if Indian Trust Funds accounts could be accessed and manipulated by an unauthorized user. A court appointed hacker was hired to attempt to get into the Interior Department’s network via the Internet and access these trust fund account files. They were successful in doing so. As a result, in December 2001, the federal judge overseeing the case ruled that the entire Interior Department must shut down its access to the Internet until such a time as they could prove that their trust fund account files were secure and could no longer be hacked into.

Obviously, a sudden and drastic change like this had serious consequences. For the DOI Library, it meant that we could no longer access our online database subscriptions from our desktops or from our patron workstations. Frantically, we reached agreements with neighboring libraries so that in emergency circumstances, we could send members of our staff or library patrons to their libraries to do necessary Internet research. LexisNexis was also kind enough to allow library staff in their training facilities on 18th Street in Washington to do work on the web. Our cataloger had to go to the Library of Congress a few times a week with new books in hand in order to catalog them. Similarly, our Interlibrary Loan technician made trips to the Library of Congress to process interlibrary loan requests on OCLC.

Even though we had come up with some stopgap agreements with other libraries and institutions in the area to get emergency access to the Internet when needed, the DOI Library still needed to put together a strategy to deal with the new reality of no web access. We decided to shift our budgetary resources from online access to the purchase of more print materials to fill in research gaps created by the shutdown. Most of the print materials purchased were in the legal and legislative fields, as the largest impact of the shutdown was the fact that attorneys in the Department’s Solicitor’s Office no longer had access to Westlaw or LexisNexis at their desktops. We felt that it was our responsibility as the Departmental Library to provide them with these resources in print for as long as the shutdown continued. We also did increase our acquisitions of scientific and technical materials that could be used by Departmental scientists and researchers to do the field work that is so important to the Interior Department.

Additionally, we initiated a series of new training programs for our users. These training sessions, which continue today, were originally intended to teach our patrons how to utilize the print resources in the library in place of the now inaccessible Internet resources. Because many had either forgotten how to use many of these print resources, or because some younger patrons may have never learned, these sessions proved to be very popular. The number of visitors to the Library increased as more Departmental employees had to rely on the print resources and services of the Library in order to do their jobs.

Read the entire article starting on page 109 of the 2009 Best Practices for Government Librarians: Change: Managing It, Surviving It, Thriving on It.

Saving Frequently Used Sources on lexis.com

2010-01-27T19:16:00-05:00

Do you like to use some sources regularly on lexis.com and want a quick way to access those sources and move quickly to your search? Then this tip from the Weekly Tips from Librarian Relations Consultants will be of interest to you. This tip is from Librarian Relations Consultant, Danielle Francis.

Read on...

Recently I did a lexis.com® training class for library school students. These sessions help to remind me of some great lexis.com tools I take for granted. One student asked: Can you save sources you use frequently, or those occasional ones that you are afraid you will not find again? Yes you can! Through the recently used sources tool, you can save up to 20 sources for easy one-click access...
Read the full tip.