Alumni E-News
The University of Texas at Austin School of Information
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/
Issue 4- May 2003

This Issue
  Dean's Word
  School News
  Student News
  Alumni News
  Alumni Events
  Opportunities for Participation
  Gifts From Alumni and Friends
  Subscribe or Contact Us

DEAN'S WORD

Greetings and welcome to the fourth edition of the e-newsletter. When
I last wrote to you I described the impending budget problems the
School was facing. There have been few improvements since that time
though we have been able to proceed without losing staff. Better news
can be found by looking at our graduates the end of spring semester
brings a flurry of capstone projects and course deliverables, and I
have been impressed again this year with the quality and
professionalism of our latest graduates in completing projects that
make a difference for their clients. The capstone experience is
proving to be a great way to link students with the world of work, so
if you have project needs, we will almost certainly have a student
with the skills to help. Finally please spread the word about this
newsletter. If you know a graduate who would like to receive it, point
them to our subscription page. As always, I am delighted to hear from
alumni, so feel free to email me with your ideas and suggestions for
developing the school, and keep us up to date on your career and
accomplishments. 

SCHOOL NEWS

RON WYLLYS TO RETIRE AFTER 30 YEARS OF SERVICE TO SCHOOL
Ronald E. Wyllys, Professor in the School of Information, will retire
at the end of the Spring 2003 semester and will provide the School's
commencement address on 17 May.  Ron joined the faculty in 1972 and
served as Interim Dean and Dean from 1982 to 1990.  Consistent with
his education and experience in mathematics and in information
technology and systems, he taught at several institutions before
coming to Texas to teach courses in database design and measurement,
information storage and retrieval, systems analysis, and research
methods, to name a few.  Always characterized by his unswerving and
broad view of library and information science, he has encouraged both
the archives, and preservation and conservation programs in the
School, and the cooperative initiatives among public libraries.
Alumni who would like to express their gratitude for Ron Wyllys for
his long service should address their letters to Don Davis at the
School address or dgdavis@ischool.utexas.edu. 

KNOWLEDGE GATEWAY SNEAK PREVIEW
President Faulkner unveiled the UT Knowledge Gateway sneak preview
site "Portraits of the American Presidency" at a recent meeting of the
Littlefield Society symposium. SI staff members Quinn Stewart and
Shane Williams were responsible for encoding and captioning the
broadband and modem video clips used on the site, and they consulted
with UT Information Technology Services personnel on the best means of
incorporating streaming video into the sneak preview (See
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/about/news/gateway_preview_04242003.html)

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY AWARDS PROGRAM
The School was well represented and formally recognized at the 2003
Innovative Instructional Technology Awards Program this week, where
Karen Pavelka's team (Kayla Chioco, Rebecca Elder, Quinn Stewart,
Brenda Gun and Dean Dillon) received the Bronze Award in Resource
Development for the entry on Conserving Texas History: A Digital
Documentation of the Conservation Process (get a taste at:
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/txhistory  -eloquent testimony to
the possibilities of merging the technical and traditional in a
harmonious and fruitful manner! Furthermore, Randolph Bias was honored
in the 'Sharing What Works' category for his work in Integrating
Real-World Practice into Usability Instruction.  Awards were presented
by Executive Vice President and Provost Sheldon Ekland-Olson. Further
details are available at:
http://www.utexas.edu/academic/cit/services/incentive/iitap/index.html

BOOKS ARE TO BE TASTED
Austin's First Annual Edible Book Festival was held on April 1,
2003. Sponsored by the School of Information's Preservation and
Conservation Studies (PCS) program at the "Book Toast and High Tea:
Edible Book Festival 2003" was an opportunity for people of all
disciplines to showcase their creativity through both literature and
food products. View images of this year's festival at
https://webspace.utexas.edu/har1177/ebf/index.html

TEXAS LEGACY PROJECT FEATURED IN HOUSTON CHRONICLE
The Texas Legacy Project, a joint effort by the School of Information,
the Conservation History Association of Texas, and the Center for
American History was featured in the April 20th edition of the Houston
Chronicle. This project is a video oral history collection of
interviews with over 160 Texas conservationists from all areas of the
state.  The School of Information became involved with the project in
September of 2001, in a research effort by Quinn Stewart and Shane
Williams into the feasibility of using the iSchool and UT networks to
distribute broadband video content. The School of Information hosts
the Web site for Texas Legacy, http://www.texaslegacy.org/  For more
information see
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/about/news/texas_legacy_04242003.html

HELPING LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANS
In November, Ron Pollock, Director of Career services worked with the
Public Library Administrators of North Texas (PLANT) to develop
approaches for addressing recruiting and salary issues.  In February,
Ron worked with Houston Area Law Librarians (HALL) to document its
return on investments.

PAUL N. BANKS LECTURE A SUCCESS
For the third annual Paul N. Banks Birthday Lecture, held on April 17,
Professor Norbert S. Baer of the Conservation Center, Institute of
Fine Arts, New York University used the engaging title of "Titanium
and the Holy Grail" to speak on the transition of a document and a
building from object of use to symbol of national identity.

STUDENT NEWS

Brandon Burke, student in the Preservation and Conservation Studies
program and Graduate Research Assistant in UT-Austin's General
Libraries Digital Library Services Division, won a Forum Fellowship of
$1,000 to attend the Digital Library Federation Spring Forum 2003 in
New York City, May 14-16. Well done Brandon!

The faculty and staff also extend hearty congratulations to Bunhee
Jeong for passing her Ph.D qualifying procedure.

ALUMNI NEWS

LIBRARIAN OF THE YEAR
Jo Ann Oliphant, (MLIS 85) director of the Joe Barnhart Bee County
Library, was named Librarian of the Year" by the Texas Library
Association.  She is credited with dramatically increasing the number
of people who use the library (73%), raising 660,000 in technology
grants; and for improving the delivery of service to library staff of
the school districts. For more information see
http://www.bee-picayune.com/story57.shtml

DISSERTATION SHAPES FUTURE
Alumna Vicki-Ash-Geisler, Spokane (WA) Public Library Youth Manager,
received an LSTA/Washington State Library grant.  Extending Outreach
by a partnership with the United Way parenting program, the project
increases the number of childcare centers her library interacts with
and develops a means for interacting with the parents of those
children. A set photo frame magnets with positive parenting messages
in a format that the parents will see repeatedly is a gift/reminder
for participants.  Vicki, who received both her masters and her PhD
from the iSchool, stated that "my doctoral research topic continues to
shape my library life."

PROMOTIONS
Congratulations to Cindy McPeters, 1998 graduate of the El Paso
Distance Education program, for her promotion to Assistant Coordinator
for the Texas Trans-Pecos Regional Library System.

TLA ALUMNI DINNER 
Fifty alumnae, faculty, and students enjoyed an evening of good food
and drink at Treebeard's Restaurant in Houston.  Among the alumni
attending were Jo Ann Oliphant, TLA Librarian of the Year and Pat
Smith, Executive Director of TLA.  Dean Dillon's special guest was
Darryl Tocker, Executive Director of the Tocker Foundation and
Co-Director of the School of Information Advisory Council.  Everyone
enjoyed sharing their favorite--and often comical--experiences from
the school and discovering the career paths alumni have followed.

ALUMNI EVENTS

STRONG MINDS: STRONG SCORES!      June 10, 2003   Education Room, SBOE
Invited guests at the Texas School Library Summit include key policy
makers and managers from the Texas education arena.  The UT School of
Information, Texas Education Agency, Texas Library Association, Texas
State Library and Archives Commission are co-sponsoring the event.
Dr. Barry Bishop, MLS '79, is spearheading the organizing committee as
part of his TLA presidency.  iSchool Professor Barbara Immroth and
students Mary Jane Covington, Katie Poche and Kari Roop are working on
the program and local arrangements.  (See
http://www.txla.org/temp/strongminds.html )

JUNE 19-24:  ALUMNI REUNION DINNER IN TORONTO
SI Alumni will join alumni from other ALA accredited schools in the
joint, cash-bar reception at the Annual Conference.  For more details
look for Alumni Reunion announcements in the ALA Conference Program.
Faculty members will be present to meet and greet graduates from past
years, especially those living in the Northeast.

July 24-26:  SOUND SAVINGS: PRESERVING AUDIO COLLECTIONS
Realizing the growing need for a forum on audio preservation, the
Preservation and Conservation Studies program of the School of
Information at the University of Texas at Austin, the Library of
Congress Preservation Directorate, the National Recording Preservation
Board, and the Association of Research Libraries are co-sponsoring
Sound Savings: Preserving Audio Collections.  Sound Savings will
feature talks by experts in the field of audio preservation on topics
ranging from assessing the preservation needs of audio collections to
creating, preserving, and making publicly available digitally
reformatted audio recordings. (See
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~soundsavings/ )

NOV 8:  ALUMNI DINNER TO BE HELD IN CONJUNCTION WITH TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL
Watch for details in future bulletins in the events area of the
iSchool Website. 

50TH ANNIVERSARY PHOTO
In response to our request for photographs, Paul Vagt sent along a
"grand old picture" of most of the school personnel attending his 1953
graduation celebration.  See if you can guess the names of all the
individuals in the photo
(http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/people/ClassOf1953.jpg ) Send your list
to dgdavis@ischool.utexas.edu.

GIFTS FROM ALUMNI AND FRIENDS (March-April 2003)
Paul Barron (97), Jane Bedichek (Gracy EPS) John M. Brooks-Barr (84),
Alice J. Charbonneau (94), Stephen E. Cohen (98) Kari Connelll (92),
Frances S. Day (73) Barbara J. Denton (89), Ralph E. Domas (76), Naomi
Fackler (86), Suellen Fortine (78), D/M David B. Gracy II (PCS),
E. Thomas Hester, Patricia E. Higgins (84), Frances W. Isbell (71),
IBM (Jean K. Martin 69, Norice Lee (96), Marcella C. Lesher (86), Rita
Palm (PCS), Joy Palmer& Ian Richards (Pres Assoc.), Martha
L. Pattillo-Siv (70), Mary Perroni (80), Linda Peterson (97-PCS),
Richard D. Quartaroli (93), Mary Lynn Rice_lively (96-GLISSA Sch),
Elaine H. Sanchez (76), (90) Steven Schang (02), Sallieann C. Swanner
(71), Margaret L. Tenney, Robert Tissing (73), Maryanne Van Cott (79),
Kathryn Vaught (79), M/M William F. Wilkinson, Anna Wood (00), Barbara
Worley (90).


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