Alumni E-News / March 2004

Wed Mar 3 15:08:10 CST 2004

Alumni E-News
The University of Texas at Austin School of Information
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/
Issue 7 - March 2004

This Issue
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	Dean's Word
	School News	
	Alumni News	
	Student News
	Faculty News	
	Upcoming Events	
	Gifts from Alumni and Friends
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DEAN'S WORD

Greetings and welcome to the Spring 2004 edition of our
e-newsletter.  There is a lot happening here at the School of
Information.  We eagerly anticipate the arrival of our new faculty
member, Miles Efron, who joins us in Fall after completing his PhD and
a post-doc at the University of North Carolina, Chapel-Hill.  Miles
will add to our strengths in the organization and retrieval of
information areas.  We anticipate further faculty hires in the coming
year.

Our enrollments are also up, a 5% increase over last Spring, on top of
a 10% increase last Fall, reversing a long downward trend we had seen
in the last 10 years.  The entering class is also among the most
academically qualified we have seen, as noted by the Graduate School
here at UT.  All this is reassuring in times of massive adoption of
distance education programs across the field.  We remain committed to
offering a first-class education at Austin, and while this is not for
everybody, it is our view that the best graduate education is obtained
through face to face learning.  Our emphasis during my tenure will be
on quality, not quantity, and we wish to honor the great traditions
of this university in planning our path.

Remember, we always like to hear from alumni, and are always seeking
opportunities for you to connect with our students through capstone
projects, internships, and job openings.  Stay connected with the
school and allow us to become part of your life beyond the years spent
here as students.

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SCHOOL NEWS

Tocker Women

In the world of high tech, women are often perceived to be the
end-users and men the creators of new technology.  Under the guidance
of Associate Dean Mary Lynn Rice-Lively, a group of freshman women are
turning the tables on that stereotype through an innovative new UT
program, partially funded by the Tocker Foundation.  Read more at
http://www.utexas.edu/supportut/news_pub/yg_tockerwomen.html

New legal librarianship initiative

The School of Information, in conjunction with the faculty and staff
at the Tarlton Law Library, convened a specialist meeting last Fall to
examine the future of education for law librarians.  Invited attendees
from around the nation came together for a day to plan the development
of a new program in law librarianship that would be offered here.  Our
goal is to make UT the premier law librarianship program in the
country.

Faculty Grants

It has been a successful period for gaining grants at the School with
over $500 000 of awards being received since last December: 

Associate Professor Randolph Bias received a 2004 IBM Faculty Award
for $40,000 in recognition of his continual work on improving the
design of interactive systems for users.

Dr. David Gracy, Director of the Center for the Cultural Record,
received a $20,000 Knowledge Gateway grant to create a website that
contains home movies and personal photos of Nikita Khrushchev.  The
images were taken by Khrushchev's son, Sergei, who also provides the
commentary.  The Khrushchev Home Movie and Photo Collection are
available online at
http://gateway.utexas.edu/grant/awarded/khrushchev.html

Dr. Bill Lukenbill and Dr. Barbara Immroth received a $5000 Research
Grant from the Institute for Library and Information Literacy
Education (ILILE) for their project entitled "Promoting Information
Literacy and Teacher-Librarian Collaboration through Social Marketing
Strategies."

Preservation and Conservation Studies received a two year grant
($460,000) from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  This award
will enable the program here to continue its top-ranked education of
conservators and preservation administrators.  The NEH Award includes
$80,000 in matching funds (1:1) for every gift (up to $80,000) PCS
receives from individuals, foundations and corporations.

A $25,000 grant from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation will be used
to provide support for conservator students who are completing a
required nine-month internship program at major conservation
laboratories.  These sites include the Library of Congress, the
National Archives, the Huntington Library, Harvard University
Libraries, and Columbia University Libraries.  Delmas grant funds will
be matched 1:1 by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Brown Bag Luncheon

Ethel Salonen, President-Elect of the Special Libraries Association
will attend the March 5, 2004 brown bag luncheon.  Organized by the
UTSLA Student Chapter, the luncheon will be held from 12-1:30 pm in
SZB 562.  Cookies and drinks will be provided.

Love You Forever/Siempre Te Quiere

Holiday donations from faculty, students and staff were used to
purchase 125 copies of the paperback edition of this heartwarming
children's book written by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Sheila
McGraw.  The books were distributed through the UT Austin Orange
program.

Sound Savings Symposium

The School hosted the first national conference on audio preservation
in July last year which was extremely well-attended.  Papers presented
at  "Sound Savings: Preserving Audio Collections" are now available on
line at http://www.arl.org/preserv/

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ALUMNI NEWS

Annual TLA Alumni Dinner

On Thursday, March 18th, The School of Information will host its
annual Alumni Dinner in conjunction with the Texas Library Association
Annual Conference beginning at 6:00 p.m.  The dinner will be at
Rosario's, 910 S. Alamo, about one and a half miles from the
convention center in the historic King William District.  Experience
contemporary decor enhanced by portraits in the exuberant style of the
Colombian painter, Fernando Botero, while enjoying the special flavors
of traditional Mexican food.  This will be an evening to combine great
food with the fellowship of other alumni, faculty, and current
students.  You do not have to attend the TLA Annual Conference to
attend the Alumni Dinner.

Furthermore, each year, people stop by the School's exhibit to inquire
about our program, faculty, or fellow alumni.  As our alumni we welcome
any who would like to spend a little time with us at the iSchool
exhibit, telling people about your experiences in school and since
leaving and entering the professional world.  To make your dinner
reservation, or to find out more about the booth at TLA, contact Ron
Pollock at 512-471-2623 or rpollock at ischool.utexas.edu. 

Alumni Update

You will have received, we hope, a card from the School asking you to
update your contact details.  We had a huge response and wish to thank
you for making our "Keep in Touch" project such a great success.  Due
to the large number of replies, we are unable to mention all of the
changes in our e-newsletter. However, here is a sample of the
information we received.  A new feature "alumni updates" will soon be
added to our website, and We look forward to improving communication
with you.

Joanna Negrelli,'01, received a 2003 New York Times Librarian Award in
recognition of her efforts as a Wired for Youth librarian at the
Terrazas Branch of the Austin Public Library.  For more information
see: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/news/nr20031216b.htm

Dr. Mary Moore, '95, is the Director of Libraries at the UT Health
Science Center Library in San Antonio.  She was formerly at the
National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, MD.

Dr. Amanda Williams, '98, was appointed to the 2005 Caldecott
Committee.  The Association for Library Service to Children committee
selects the most outstanding illustrated children's book for the
current year.

Karl Gruben, '74, was appointed Director, St Thomas University School
of Law, Miami Florida.

Ling Hwey Jeng, MLS '83, Ph.D.'87, has accepted an appointment as
Dean, School of Library and Information Studies, Texas Woman's
University, Denton.  Dr. Jeng is widely published, an elected member
of ALA Council, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American
Librarians Association, and recipient of an IMLS grant.

Javed Mostafa, PhD '94, has been appointed Associate Dean for Research
at the School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University,
effective July 1st.

You can search for a classmate or update your personal information by
logging into the Ex-student's Association Directory.  You must
register to use the database.  However, you do not have to be a member
or join the Ex-student's Association.  The Alumni database, maintained
by the Ex-Student's Association,can be accessed through Alumni link on
the School of Information website:
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/people/alumni.html

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CONTINUING EDUCATION

APR. 17 "Presentation Power: Tips, Tricks, and Techniques for
Effective Presentations" taught by Belinda Boone and Ron Pollock.

MAR. 11 "ABCs of Cataloging: A Topical Approach to Creating and
Enhancing Library Catalogs" taught by Dr. Joanna Fountain.

Registration details available at 
http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/programs/continuing_education/index.php

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STUDENT NEWS

In December, 29 students received master's degrees and one student,
Dennis Reed Haire, received a doctoral degree.

Bunhee Jeong's successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation in
February; Don Drumtra passed his Comprehensive Exams; and Darius
Mahdjoubi won a Beta Phi Mu $3000 Garfield Scholarship.
Congratulations to all!

Kevin Rioux, now a faculty member at UNC-Greensboro, will defend his
Ph.D. dissertation on March 12th.

Brandon Burke, Preservation Administration student, was quoted with
regard to the Kansas University Jazz Archive, where he was archivist
http://www.ljworld.com/section/kunews/story/158198

Susan K. Soy, Ph.D student in Archival Enterprise, has been appointed
Manager and Archivist at the Austin History Center, Austin Public
Library in Austin, Texas and was recently appointed to the TexShare
Texas Collections Working Group.

Our website features photographs of some students who participated in
the Texas Book Festival.  We appreciate their contribution and the
support we receive from all of our student volunteers.

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FACULTY NEWS

You can find a list of recent publications from faculty on our website
at http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/research/publications.php.  Other
interesting items include:

Glynn Harmon is serving as a National Institute of Health consultant
on the funding of health informatics programs in Africa, Asia and
Latin America.

Loriene Roy co-edited a special issue on Indigenous Librarianship for
World Libraries.  Dr. Roy also received a UT Research Internship award
that will be used to attract a new doctoral student.

Dr Barbara Immroth and Michelle Campbell (iSchool student) are working
with the College of Education to produce a series of book reviews for
children and young adults.  The reviews will be accompanied by
"conversation starters" for parents and children interested discussing
books.  Learn more about this at
http://gateway.utexas.edu/grant/awarded/books.html

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UPCOMING EVENTS

The School holds a regular series of forums on topics of general
interest to faculty, students and alumni.  Please contact Dr. Bill
Lukenbill, Chair, Research and Colloquia Committee
(luke at ischool.utexas.edu) for information regarding future iForums.

MAR. 5, noon-2 PM - Brown Bag Luncheon with President-Elect Ethel
Salonen, SLA National Chapter - Conference Room, SZB 556

MAR. 18, 6PM - Alumni Dinner @ Rosario's, 910 S. Alamo, San Antonio
(See article above for more details)

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GIFTS FROM ALUMNI AND FRIENDS (November 1-Feb 15, 2004)  

Annual Fund giving for this quarter is up significantly from last year
and we are continually grateful to you for your generosity toward
us.  These gifts enable us to support many activities and new
initiatives that would otherwise be impossible for us with our limited
resources.  Programs such as ours are the smallest and usually the
poorest funded on any campus, and alumni giving is a tremendous boost
to us as we seek to shape the long-term future of this field.  While
we cannot mention everyone in this format, we would like to
acknowledge the following:

President's Associates ($1,000): Virginia M. Bowden, Nancy L. Eaton,
Mary J. Moore, Charles R. Dyer; Mary J. Parrish, Susan and Frank
Fernandes, and D/M Scott C. Reeve and Mary S. Pitts (John P. Schneider
Excellence Endowment).

Partners ($250-$499): Calvin J. Boyer, James O. Kirkpatrick, M/M
Daniel A. Macaluso.

A detailed list of gifts to the School will be posted to Development
Section of website in the near future.

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CONTACT US

If you know a graduate of our program who is not receiving this
newsletter, please forward a copy and point them to the subscription
page on our site at: http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/people/alumni.html

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