West Virginia Library Association

Special Libraries Division

Annual Report  2004

 

            This year's activities centered around two major undertakings:  compiling a directory of special West Virginia libraries and lining up outstanding programs for the fall conference.

 

            According to last year's survey of all special librarians in the West Virginia, one of the expectations of the membership was that the Division provides a means of communicating about issues of unique interest to special librarian.  The chair used the listing from the West Virginia Library Commission and those in the American Libraries Directory as a base to compile a directory so that librarians could find each other.  Then each entry was checked against the Internet to confirm web sites, e-mail addresses, and other information.  The directory is posted on the Association's web site and was distributed in print to Division members.

 

            The Special Libraries Division will sponsor two speakers at the conference.  Beth Royall, WVU's Fine Arts Librarian, will talk about Art History DID (digital image database), a software package used to organize art slides on the web.  The software, developed at James Madison University, is free and gives professors a tool to organize and post on the web important works for students to view on their own time.  The software can be used in special libraries to organize other types of graphic files, for example photographs. 

 

            The Division will also sponsor Joanne Gard Marshall whose topic is "Competencies for Information Specialist."  Dr. Marshall, Distinguished Alumni Professor in the School of Information and Library Service at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is also current president of the Medical Library Association.  She will be addressing what the expectations should be for librarians working as information provider, what qualities are needed to succeed. 

 

            The Chair-Elect is Beth Royall of West Virginia University's Evansdale Library.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted by Linda Blake, Chair