AAR, A BayNet Bay Area Library and Information Network a Winter 2003 President's Message By Richard Geiger e are so blessed in the Bay Area and \ \ ] California when in comes to excellent pro- grams that expand our knowledge in the library and information field. We have a number of talented local library organizations that put out a plethora of offerings. We have Infopeople providing worthy, inexpensive seminars on wide-ranging top- ies, Speaking of excellent programs, hats off to our own BayNet crew for an enlightening seminar with the director of the Librarians’ Index to the Internet, Karen Schneider. By the time you read this, we will have had a wonderful tour of the California Historical Society and Library. Coming up in January, we will co-host a dinner program with the San Francisco Bay Region Chapter of the Special Libraries Association; featuring three speakers from up-and-coming search engines Teoma, AlltheWeb and SurfWax. And we have more planned farther ahead. Speaking of all professional development, all the time —I just returned from attending two conferences put on by Information Today: KMWorld /Intranets in Santa Clara and Internet Librarian in Palm Springs. Both were excellent, but my evalua- tion is not exactly impar- tial — I was a moderator in both conferences and in addition was a speaker at IL on digital rights man- agement. AS a special librarian, I feel ‘especially’ at home at the IL conference. I've been on the program commit tee since its founding and have moderated in all six of them. The topics covered seem so warm and fuzzy and having attended all of them, the incrementalism is easy to take, But I have to say, I've learned a lot of really new things at the KMWorld /Intranets conference. In fact, T've learned a whole new vocabulary. The KM world is in some ways a parallel universe to ours. They try to do a lot of the same things we do, but they do it in different ways and they have a different language than ours in Libraryland. They talk about COPS (communities of practice), silos (of hoarded information) and CRM (customer relationship management.) Some new acronyms I heard this year: PP&T (people, processes and tech- nology), IC (intellectual capital), OL (online leam- ing) and SI (sustainable innovation.) Both IL and KMWorld / Intranets are California “treats” — they've been held in this state their entire lives. IL has an excellent school librarian track. (Again, I'm not impartial — my wife helped plan it.) Richard says, "Next Fall — check ‘em out!" Last but not least, being near the home of the Moscone Center is another boon. Although full regis- tration fees for the many conferences are too rich for my blood, it is often affordable or free to go to the exhibits and hear some keynoters. I've often been 2 low-rent visitor to the Seybold Publishing confer- ence, MacWorld and others. So what is my favorite of the casual, drop-in, really cheap conferences? Well, there's one other way I get to go to conferences, and that's if I can borrow a press badge from one of our reporters. Continued on page 2 In this Issue President's Message Berkeley Central Public Library Reopens A Seismic Change to Cataloging An Icelandic Idyll Wonder is the Beginning of Wisdom Copyright Revisited - 2002PA TAT, \ BayNet Bay Area Library and Information Network So here it is, my all-time favorite: the Intemational Fancy Food & Confection Show! Need I say more? As always, we thrive on membership input and activ- ity, If you have an idea for a program or tour, a good location to hold one, or are willing to donate your time to our organization, we will be a welcome recip- ient of your ideas and efforts. Please feel free to call cr email me or any board member. look forward to seeing you at an upcoming BayNet event! Berkeley Central Public Library Reopens: Day One by Alan Bern and Sayre Van Young, Berkeley Public Library Over 7,000 Berkeley Public Library patrons streamed through a fully accessible entrance into the building in just four hours on Saturday, April 6, 2002, a day of many firsts for the library. The crowd had begun to gather at 11:30 that morning in antici- pation, and eager library fans were treated to Honoring Songs of the American Indian Drumming Group followed by music by the Farallon Brass Quintet. At 1:25 p.m. following remarks by Mayor Shirley Dean and Library Trustee Kevin James, both intro- duced by Library Director Jackie Griffin, the front door was ceremonially opened with an oversized key, Former Library Director Regina Minudti, who began the political process to fund New Central in the early 1990s and Jodie Lines, sister of former Library Director Adelia Lines, who had worked to pass the bond (Measure S), watched as young library patron Phillip Johnson tumed the "key" to open a new chapter for Berkeley's library. These three were the first patrons into New Central Once inside, the crowd was greeted by applauding library staff members in beautiful black sweatshirts Winter 2003 bearing the library's flying book logo, used also in newspaper ads, on banners, on bus signs. Looking around, patrons’ gasps were audible: the building is truly beautiful. The color palette of the new structure is warm and inviting, welcoming light in from the outside to mingle with the bright and accurate light of the interior. The new structure stands in wonder- ful relation to the renovated historic structure: one can see the differences between the two, as is man- dated by law, but it is a pleasing and harmonious relationship. Much of the early crowd headed to the Reading Room whose magnificent ceilings have been restored and repainted to their 1931 glory. There they heard enthusiastic speeches by City Council members and City Manager Weldon Rucker, who also introduced splendid vocalist Brenda Boykin and living treasure and author Alice Walker. Walker spoke of her own childhood in the South, of her own exclusion from the public library and how important libraries are for children, especially in these times of war and terror, This hour ended with the vital tones of Berkeley Public Library Staff Chorus, conducted by the Library's Circulation Services Manager Dolores Wright Entertainment continued throughout the day in all parts of the building, Visitors could find entertain- ment to suit a variety of tastes, ranging from tap dancing ("Fantastic Steppers," South Berkeley Senior Center Tap Troupe) to Lion Dancers (Asian Youth Services Committee). In mid-afternoon in the Children’s Library The Wild Thing (a costumed staff member) danced with a patron to the strains of Nigel ‘n' Nathan (Children's Jazz Duo), and much, much more, And all of it ~ entertainment, library services, and the entire building - was accessible to all users — mothers with strollers, elderly visitors, and people in wheelchairs. Food was served to patrons in the new Community ‘Meeting Room: dozens of cakes, thousands of cook- ies, tubs of ice cream and mints, thirty pounds of cheese on thirty loaves of bread, a thousand cans of juice and a thousand bottles of water cooled by 300 pounds of ice. The generous donations of local ven- dors and the unwavering support of the Friends of the Library made this community picnic a huge suc- cess.\ K BayNet PARANA Of course, library services went on throughout: over 4500 books were checked out and approximately 300 new library cards were issued in four hours, both records for a single day. Hundreds picked up tax forms; many more looked at the new collections of videos, audiotapes, and books. New accessible tech- nology was featured on several floors. Young and old visitors to the Children's Library had the joy of sit- ting in a huge model of the Brushmobile, from ‘Thacher Hurd's Art Dog, built by John LaTronica. The Library's "Day One" concluded with more music, The Longfellow School Steel Band played in the plaza outside as staff gently herded reluctant patrons out the doors, who had waited 1,252 days for the renovated library and really wanted to stay longer. And now, New Central Library service con- tinues: that was just a new first day. Come visit the library soon at 2090 Kittredge, between Shattuck and Milvia, in downtown Berkeley. Phone (510) 981-6100 for more informa- tion or visit the library's website at http:/infopeo- ple.org/bpl/. Berkeley's newly renovated Central Library is open! A Seismic Change Coming to Cataloging By Guma Bishop O'Dowd High School For the past two years we have been witnessing a new phenomenon in high schools: the overwhelm- ing majority of entering students have had more experience searching the Intemet than using libraries. Whether this change has been brought about by budget cuts for libraries or increased emphasis on technology in elementary school, I can- not say. What is most striking is how much that background determines students’ search habits. The implications of subject classification are diffi- ccult to grasp for these students. They are accustomed to using computer interfaces — search engines in par- ticular — and typing in keywords or key phrases. On the Internet, they will certainly get results this way, no matter how poorly worded their search is. They expect the same from a computerized library catalog. Itall comes "from the computer," right? “Bay Area Library and Information Network Winter 2003 If you try to explain the structure of call numbers or subject classification, from the most general to the ‘most specific, they will nod their heads in under- standing. But if you ask them for broader search terms and nar- rower search terms fora given topic, they will have difficul- ty coming up with appropriate answers, We gave students topics in World History and asked them to first identify their topic using basic reference sources (general encyclo- pedia and unabridged dictionary), then use that iden- tification to fashion search terms. A. freshman searching "Eleanor of Aquitaine" in a school library will think of "queens" before he thinks of "France - History"; a student searching the Dreyfus Affair might look under "1894" long before she thinks of "anti-Semitism" or even "France." It is unrealistic to expect students raised on Internet searching and computerized reference to look up a subject in the Library of Congress subject headings. Our school used to teach such things; I wouldn't waste my time attempting it. The subject headings will survive, if only because a controlled vocabulary is so useful, but in the future they will be the province of librarians, not average researchers. My speculation is that cataloging will have to be modified when the current computer-weaned gener- ation reaches adulthood. The better periodical data- bases today add "descriptors" to the articles they reproduce, in lieu of subject headings, and in the future books may need "descriptors" as well. But this too is a controlled vocabulary, and not everyone will find it useful. More likely, I think, catalogers will have to produce something like the "meta" tags on HTML pages, i.e., they will have to brainstorm every possible word that someone could use to search for a particular item, including common mis- spellings, To not do so will render most of the mate- rials in libraries inaccessible to the new generation of users, and accessibility, after all, is what cataloging is all about.An Icelandic Idyll By Cynthia Hsieh DeVry University In the summer of 2002, the author spent one month in Iceland on a Rotary Club's International spon- sored Group Study Exchange Program to examine the country’s libraries and their operation. The fol- lowing is a brief introduction to the heart and soul of the Icelandic Libraries - the National and University Library of Iceland, The popular joke "If you are lost in an Icelandic for- est, all you need to do is to stand up" is derived from Iceland's scarcity of tall forestry. Lack of lumber, severe weather, frequent natural disasters, and a long, history of foreign occupations, make Iceland the only European country with no castles or grand his- torical buildings to demonstrate its cultural heritage. For this reason, the Icelandic government and its people have been making every effort to preserve their written history. Icelanders place a high value on reading, knowledg library services, and open information access. The Icelandic government and people alike consider free access to information as well as inexpensive access to the Internet to be basic rights of all citizens. With a population of only 280,000, Iceland still has 115 public, 195 elementary, 36 secondary schools, and 8 university libraries. These numbers do not include libraries in various institutions, corporations and associations. The country also has one of the highest broadband Internet penetration rates in the world The undisputed leader of libraries in Iceland is the National & University Library of Iceland, located in the capital city of Reykjavik. Opened to the public on December 1, 1994, the National & University Library of Iceland (NULD, came about from a merger between the former National Library (founded in 1818) and the University of Iceland Library (founded in 1940). Since moving into its state-of-the-art four story new facility near the University of Iceland, the new com- bined library has been concentrating on providing its patrons with increased and improved services made available by modem technologies. Winter 2003 The National & University Library of Iceland (NUL!) ‘The total annual budget of NULI is approximately $4,000,000. More than 52% of the budget is allocat- ed to salaries and wages. Currently, NULI has about 100 employees (or, 55 FTE), including 35 profes- sional librarians. The library's funding sources include the Ministry of Education and Culture, income from fee-based special services, and an arrangement with the University of Iceland. In its policy statement, NULI defines its main roles as the following: © To supervise the collection and the preservation of the written cultural heritage of the Icelandic nation. ‘© To build « collection that serves the needs of the academic field of the University of Iceland and for general use. © To play a leading role among Icelandic libraries in the use of information technology in provid- ing access to Icelandic material, both at home and abroad, and in ensuring its patrons access to foreign databases. © To maintain close cooperation with other libraries in the country and to take the initiative in Icelanc’s participation in the growing interna- tionalization of information provision. # To-ensureits patrons as great as an access as pos- sible to electronic data obtainable on the Internet while the library itself does all in its power t0 ‘make its materials available in such media. ‘The library has actively developed joint ventures with similar institutions in Scandinavia, Europe and the United States. Its participation in NORDINFO,intl BayNet Bay Area Library and Information Network the Nordic Council for Scientific Information, is a prime example of international cooperation. The cur- rent National Librarian, Dr. Sigrun Klara Hannesdottr, is the former Director of NORDINFO. Another example of intemational cooperation is NULI's three-year collaborative project with Comell University. The library and Cornell, in association with the Ami Magnusson Institute, began a web- based digital library project in 1997 named SagaNet to digitalize Iceland's national treasure, Saga manu- scripts, and printed materials on Saga. Completed in 2000, SagaNet has become the world's most exten- sive digital collection on Icelandic history, language and literature, Domestically, NULI has played an important role in both the National Library System Project and the Nationwide Online Database Access Project. ‘The National Library System Project is an ambitious mission to switch the entire nation’s libraries to one single automated library system. In 1998, NULI was ‘commissioned by the Icelandic government to study the possibility of moving toward one national library system and to work out detailed system require- ments. Based on NULI's study, Aleph 500 was selected at the end of 2000. On November 14, 2001, the Consortium of Icelandic Libraries was ‘estab- lished to oversee the conversion process. The proj- ect is expected to be completed in 2004. Another equally ambitious project is the Nationwide Online Database Access Project. Its goal is to pur- chase nationwide license rights to online databases from a number of information vendors. ‘As the country's representative and negotiator, NULI was able to strike a deal with Elsevier Science, Blackwell Publishing, Springer-Verlag, and ISL Under the terms of the agreement, every Icelandic library, government, academic institution, corpora- tion, as well as every private home, would have full access to journals published by these information providers, This was and may still be the only nationwide access licensing agreement existing in the world. This nationwide online database access service currently is accessible through a secure web- site provided and maintained by NULL Winter 2003 As Thora Gylfadottr, Electronic Librarian at NULI once said "To we Vikings nothing is impossible.” Within six years of its creation, and with a somewhat limited operational budget, the National and University Library of Iceland has been able to accomplish projects that other countries would not even dare to consider. 1% ee SiS Wonder is the Beginning of Wisdom — Dick Hazer, November 4, 2002 By Pamela Miller, Keyser Marston Associates, Inc. My attendance at the Internet Librarian 2002 Conference began at the Oakland International Airport as I sat waiting for my plane to Ontario. Across from me I overheard a woman leaving a voicemail message for her family that she would be staying at the Courtyard Hotel and would return on. Wexinesday. Never reticent, [introduced myself and thus began my ongoing education that, as a librarian, never seems to end, Kristin Ramsdell was presenting at the conference on "Information Competencies for the College Bound." I enjoyed a fascinating conver- sation with her about information literacy while we waited for our boarding call. I knew I was on my way to my second Intemet Librarian conference. On Monday morning, Program Chair Jane Dysart welcomed 1100 attendees from 46 states to the Palm Springs Convention Center. We were all quickly informed that, in fact, 47 states were there as a rep- resentative from Arkansas announced herself. The opening keynote speaker was Jayne Hitchcock (www-haltabuse.org) who gave a chilling presenta- tion on identity harassment, outright attack, and theft =a theme that ran as an undercurrent in many of the presentations throughout the three-day main confer- ence. Now fully awake, it was off to the races. As an information gypsy, I did not follow any one track. Instead, I sprinkled in lectures that appeared to have nothing to do with my work with presentations that were right in my variety of interests. Of course,BayNet AN ‘Bay Area Library and Information Network 1 found that there were nuggets in just about every presentation. I continue to be amazed that something like "Climbing the Info Supply Chain" will have use- fal information for me. I so enjoy that I can essen- tially point and shoot at the conference listings for the day and I hear knowledgeable people speaking about their subjects - all to help me be a better librar- ian and information scientist. (On Tuesday, sponsor AIIP presented its first technol- ‘ogy award to two information professional business- es: Ask Sam and E-Gems. Our keynoter was Jack Powers of IN3.org, who presented his enthusiastic vision of the advances in digital information in real time. As someone who has serious fears about my privacy and the current state of public surveillance, his speech left me in a state of shock. While he may be thrilled that a web cam now exists that is the size ofa pack of cards, I am not so enchanted. Television screens that are skyscrapers! TV screens that are the width of a quarter and can bend and twist! Server boards that are the thickness of two quarters (quar- ters seem to be the hi-tech standard of measurement these days) and are running the MIT servers. I know this is all amazing technology, but I also confess (for ‘what it is worth) that, as a person who is gray-haired and has used computers intensely since 1981, these developments scared the dickens out of me as all I ccan see is their malicious potential. { grew up during the McCarthy anti-Communist witch-hunts and I remember neighbors tuming on each other. It was frightening then and it frightens me now. Just substi- tute the word "terrorist" for "Communist" and I get very worried, The conference sponsors extended an invitation to all conference participants to attend the reception for the speakers. The room responded with an enthusias- tic round of applause and I thought of the elegance of that invitation. I liked that the planning committee and the sponsors realized that we are all important, whether we are presenters or attendees, and that acknowledgement appeared to be well received indeed by the attendees. The reception tured out to be a wonderful opportunity for me to meet new peo- ple. I came early and claimed a chair ata large, well- located table and waited to see whom the other orphans (Ione attendees without fellow companions) might be. Within a half hour, we had a diverse group of people from all over the United States chatting Winter 2003 about everything from science fiction writing to mountain climbing. It was one of the best times for me at the conference. On Wedneséay morning, our opening speaker was Danny Sullivan of www.searchenginewatch.com, He was, as usual, enthusiastic (albeit exhausted after his trip over from his home in England) and informative about the latest developments and news about searching tool design and improvements. He also offered his projections for the near future about what needs to be done to help make search tools more rel- evant and precise for end users. I thought of his speech the year before, in which he was so candid about his unexpected emotional reaction during that first visit to the United States after the Trade Center destruction. I could not help but think how we go on, as humans, We just keep going on; surviving through many terrible events - all of which become a part of, ‘our information library. As a new librarian and an old lover of information, I left the conference with renewed hope and vigor that we will manage. We will manage our libraries, staff, families, community and our information. It is amaz~ ing. Iam honored to be a part of it. Copyright Revisited - 2002 Will the Mouse be Set Free? By Katie Meville The issue of copyright was brought up last month in the article "The Case for an Information Commons": ‘The article discussed the case of Eldred v. Asheroft, which was heard by the United States Supreme Court on October 9, 2002. Eric Eldred runs a free Internet library of publications that have become part of the public domain. Mr. Eldred is represented by Lawrence Lessig, attomey and Stanford Law School professor. The case addresses the constitutionality of the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA). This law extends the terms of copyright privileges from 75 to 95 years. The CTEA was introduced and promoted by singer, songwriter and former congressman, Sonny Bono in 1998, Eric Eldred is an Internet publisher who is on a liter- ary rescue mission. His website http://www.eldritch-AAT, BayNet press.org/ contains publications that have become part of the public domain. His site started as a hobby to help his teenage daughters in their understanding of The Scarlet Letter. Eldritch Press provides "free, accessible books" from Nathaniel Hawthome, H. L. Mencken and Louisa May Alcott, to Russian and French literature. The site sometimes receives up to 4,000 hits a day, from around the world. I was introduced to Eldred v. Ashcroft, by an instruc- tor at Diablo Valley College, Naheed Zaheer. She is a librarian at Stanford Law Library, so is well acquainted with the work and ideas of Lawrence Lessig. He is the founder of the Stanford Center for Intemet and Society and the author of two books: The Future of Ideas and Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace. His Stanford Law School web site hitp://eyberlaw.stanford.edu/lessig and resource page pertaining to the copyright case, http://lawschool.stanford.edu/~erika/eldred.shtml have many links related to his work on the case of Eldred v. Ashcroft ‘When I started my preliminary research, for this art- cle, I consulted a desktop encyclopedia for a basic definition of copyright. According to my source, the term of copyright was for 28 years, with an extension for 28 more years. But this book was published in 1982, so it is hopelessly out of date. This gave me some insight in how extensively the copyright arena thas changed, in a relatively short amount of time Copyright reflects the attitudes and values of the society. As a dress and garment design student in the late 1970's, I was surprised to lear that in France designers can copyright their clothing designs. However, in the USA, many clothing manufacturers obtain their designs from copying, also referred to as "knock-off" firms. A manufacturer in the US will buy cone popular item and then have their pattem-makers and sample-makers copy the design and then if the manufacturer is very cheap, they will return the item back to the store for a refund. This practice if per- fectly legal in the USA, but not in France. In the USA, the entertainment industry has impres- sive clout with Congress on copyright issues. Among those opposing Eldred v. Ashcroft are many large contributors to various reelection campaigns for con- gressmen and senators. AOL Time Warmer, Disney, the Motion Picture Association, the Recording \ Bay Area Library and Information Network Winter 2003 Industry Association of America and the Association of American Publishers are among those opposed to Eldred's ideas. The terms of Copyright have been changed (length- ened) 11 times in the past 40 years. The founding fathers of this country set up a delicate balance between the rights of creators and the rights of the public. The “exclusive rights" of authors and inven- tors were intended to be for a limited time, after which the work belongs in the public domain forev- er AOL Time Wamer copyrights the well-known song "Happy Birthday to You", and they expect compen- sation for its use. Disney has benefited from much work that exists in the public domain, including The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio and The Jungle Book The first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willy was a parody of a Buster Keaton movie. However, if a daycare facility in Florida puts up pictures of Mickey Mouse without first obtaining permission, they are threatened with legal action. This issue is of interest to librarians and is vital for libraries working on digital preservation projects. There were 10,000 books copyrighted in 1930, all except for 174 are now out of print. However, they cannot be scanned and published on the Internet without permission from the copyright holder. Much is kept out of the public domain, in order to protect the forever-lengthening term of copyright. Eldred v. Ashcroft may be a turning point in copy- right law. The decision by the Supreme Court is expected by July 2003, or possibly by March or April. In the meantime, we can let our representa- tives know our opinions and become informed regarding the issues. =|BayNet Bay Area Library and Information Network Winter 2003 The BayNe Newser is plied tree ines eur a The never feo Beet members Subions ee ee ee ae ee Suen Grea eed Gini Fendaon Library of ne ea eee eal Agicaliwal Bis Ran ‘University of California, Berkeley eae rea rra nesa Forget Hee Lacie Menten 8 ly rey in te Bay Ae the BayNet and SLA-SF di For further information, contact the Membership Cait Pra Rose Falanga Exporatriom 3641 Lyon Steet San Francisco, CA 94123 (415) EXP-LORE. Layout & Design by Ante MeGilicuddy AMeGillcuddy@RREEF com BayNet clo Jo Falcon 72 Prentiss San Francisco, CA 94110-6130