RBMS Newsletter - No. 39 / Fall 2003

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RBMS Newsletter is a publication of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, 50. E. Huron St., Chicago IL 60611, 800-545-2433, x2523. Editor: Jeffrey Makala, Olin Library, Wesleyan University, Middletown CT, 06459, 860-685-3863, jmakala@wesleyan.edu. Asst. Eds.: Jeff Barton, Butler Library, Columbia University, New York NY, 10027, 212-854-1640, jb2252@columbia.edu; Michael Forstrom, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven CT, 06520, 203-432-7215, michael.forstrom@yale.edu. Typesetting and layout by Jeffrey Makala using PageMaker 7.0 for Windows. Typefaces used are Lucida Sans and Times New Roman. Printed in the USA. RBMS Chair: Margaret F. Nichols, Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca NY, 607-255-3530, mrn1@cornell.edu.

©American Library Association, 2003
ISSN 0743-1481 (paper)
ISSN 1098-4291 (electronic)

CONTENTS

From the Chair

If you attended the RBMS Preconference in Toronto in June, you may have noticed the frisson of change in the air at the opening reception, or felt it during the jam-packed orientation session for new members. A new generation is taking hold in RBMS. New-comers are not only braving the Preconference but also going on to attend RBMS committee meetings at ALA, enthusiastically joining committees, and contributing vigorously to the work of the Section. Of the 65 or so committee members who began their first or second terms this past July, 19 are serving on an RBMS committee for the first time.

One of the satisfactions of reaching "a certain age," as the French say, is to see the torch being passed to the next generation in one's profession. It's particularly satisfying in this instance, because the torch is being taken up with impressive moxie by people who bring plenty of energy to their assignments. Not everyone in this next generation is fresh out of library school. Many are "next" meta-phorically rather than chronologically. Among the newcomers are professionals at mid-career and beyond who have long meant to be active in RBMS and are just now getting the chance, and also people who are returning to RBMS after a hiatus.

Welcoming this influx will give us veterans the opportunity to show that we mean it when we decry the smug clubhouse atmosphere that used to prevail in the special collections field. The "down with the clubhouse" movement can take the form of small, specific actions: signing up to be an RBMS buddy for a new attendee at ALA Midwinter; walking up and talking to somebody who looks lost at a reception; taking a new member to lunch; or explaining RBMS inside jokes or jargon to the uninitiated. On a larger scale, it involves implementing the Diversity Action Plan and thinking about what more we can do to attract a demographically diverse body of professionals to special collections work. There are as many other ways to tear down the metaphorical clubhouse as there are RBMS members. I invite you to invent your own.

In the meantime, as usual, Section committees have been busy. Plans for the 2004 RBMS Preconference in New Haven and the RBMS program at ALA Annual 2004 in Orlando are well underway. The new Code of Ethics for Special Collections Librarians is nearing final approval by the ACRL Board. Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials is nearing completion. A valuable compilation of state laws concerning library theft is now accessible from the Security Committee's webpage. Task forces are overseeing the Diversity Action Plan's implementation and revising the guidelines both for interlibrary loan and exhibition loan of rare materials. RBM marches on under the aegis of its new editor, Richard Clement. As Shakespeare might have said (if he'd been born in Brooklyn), the joint is jumping. To find out more, and to get involved, I hope you'll join us at ALA Midwinter in San Diego.

--Margaret F. Nichols

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2003 RBMS Preconference Report

The city of Toronto and St. Michael's College of the University of Toronto provided splendid venues for the 44th annual RBMS Preconference on June 17-20. The Preconference explored the theme of "TRUE/FALSE: Facsimiles, Fakes, Forgeries, and Issues of Authenticity in Special Collections." More than 200 registrants were treated to outstanding and provocative plenary sessions delivered by: David Levy, University of Washington; Richard Landon, University of Toronto; Stephen Rhind-Tutt, Alexander Street Press; Bruce Whiteman, UCLA; independent scholar Keith Arbour; and bookseller Jennifer Larson. In her concluding paper, Alice Prochaska of Yale made a compelling argument for special collections librarians and for the importance of their role in preserving the world's cultural heritage.

The Local Arrangements Committee, headed by Anne Dondertman of the University of Toronto, arranged tours with more than 15 cultural institutions. The same committee helped maintain registrants' stamina by offering three lovely receptions: the first evening at our host hotel, the InterContinental, sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of Canada; the second evening at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, sponsored by the Friends of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library; and the third evening at the Lillian H. Smith Branch of the Toronto Public Library, sponsored by the Friends of the Osborne and Lillian H. Smith Collections.

In between events, attendees sampled the remarkably abundant restaurants surrounding the University of Toronto and enjoyed local attractions, such as the Royal Ontario Museum, Bata Shoe Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and several bookstores (a few RBMS members were even spotted at the midnight opening sale of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). Friendly, cosmopolitan, and vibrant, Toronto provided a stimulating backdrop for the Preconference and an ideal opportunity to meet and renew acquaintances with many of our Canadian colleagues.

The two workshops offered before the start of the Preconference: "Identification of Illustration Processes, 1800-1914" and "Digitization of Special Collections," were both were fully subscribed. Continuing its traditional good work, the RBMS Seminars Committee staged eight seminars, including a lively panel discussion on the experiences of newcomers to RBMS, an update on the work in progress on Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials, and a discussion of issues surrounding offsite storage of rare materials. RBMS members also presented six short papers.

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RBMS Midwinter Meeting Conference Schedule

San Diego, January 9-12, 2004

FRIDAY, JANUARY 9

2:00-5:30pm Bibliographic Standards, Thesaurus Subcommittee
8:00-10:00pm Hearing on Rescinding the Standards for Ethical Conduct (superseded by the Code of Ethics)

SATURDAY, JANUARY 10

8:30-11:00am Membership and Professional Development
2004 Preconference Program Planning
8:30am -12:30pm Bibliographic Standards
Exhibition Awards I (closed)
9:30am -11:00am Public Services Discussion Group
11:30am -12:30pm 2004 Conference Program Planning
2005 Preconference Program Planning
Nominating (closed)
2:00-4:00pm Budget and Development
Publications
Seminars
8:00-10:00pm Diversity (Task Force)
Security

SUNDAY, JANUARY 11

8:30-11:00am
Conference Development
Exhibition Awards II
Curators and Conservators Discussion Group
Seminars
9:30-11:00am MARC for Special Collections Discussion Group
2005 Conference Program Planning
9:30am -12:30pm RBM Editorial Board
11:30am-1:30pm ACRL no conflict time (ACRL Presidential Candidates' Forum)
2:00-4:00pm Loan of Speical Collections Materials for Exhibition (Task Force)
Interlibrary Loan of Rare Materials (Task Force)
Manuscripts and Other Formats Discussion Group
4:30-5:30pm Information Exchange

MONDAY, JANUARY 12

8:30am-12:30pm Executive Committee

This is the schedule RBMS has requested. Be sure to check the final conference schedule for any changes.

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2004 RBMS Preconference Preview

The 45th annual RBMS Preconference will be held from Monday, June 21 to Thursday, June 24, 2004. The conference will take place on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, prior to the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. Entitled "Ebb and Flow: The Migration of Collections to American Libraries," the Preconference will focus on the history and current issues sur-rounding the movement of collections from the four corners of the earth into American repositories.

Librarians, archivists, curators, and collectors are responsible for the flow of cultural artifacts across oceans and continents, both into and out of American repositories. This conference will explore how and why these materials have crossed and re-crossed shifting international and cultural boundaries, and will also draw useful lessons from that history for future collecting and improved public access. Plenary sessions will address a variety of topics, ranging from broad issues of history and ethics to more practical concerns such as negotiating international contracts and the role of technical services and digital technology in improving international access to materials.

The 2004 Preconference Program Planning Committee held a productive meeting at ALA Annual in Toronto last June. The Committee is currently assembling a rich program, details of which will be made available via the Preconference website at: http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/rbms2004/. Mike Kelly is the Chair of the Committee and can be reached by e-mail at: mike.kelly@nyu.edu.

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Committee News

Bibliographic Standards

Initial comments on the alpha draft texts of Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Books) have been collected and are in the possession of an editorial group now shaping the copy into a beta draft. The group very optimistically hopes that this draft will be ready for perusal by Midwinter 2004.

Bibliographic Standards offered two successful (we think!) seminars at the 2003 Toronto Preconference: on name authority issues in special collections cataloging, by Manon Théroux; and a public forum on the Yale conference in March to revise DCRB. We are looking forward to sponsoring a full-day workshop at the 2004 New Haven Preconference on cataloging music manuscripts, and are developing future seminars on artists' books and digital projects.

Thesaurus Editor Beth Russell and her editorial team, along with enthusiastic guests, continue to discuss additions and changes to the thesauri and relator terms suggested by the public. Groundwork continues for converting the thesauri into a format designed to be freely available on the web.

In San Diego, the Committee will attempt to conduct all of its business during the thesaurus meeting on Friday afternoon and at a Saturday morning meeting between 8:30 and 12:30. Those making early travel arrangements, please take note.

As always, guests are encouraged to attend Bibliographic Standards Committee meetings to observe and participate. More detailed information on the Committee's many activities can be found at: http://www.folger.edu/bsc.

Budget and Development

Like other ALA activities in Toronto, the RBMS Preconference was adversely affected by the SARS scare. We expect to break even, but probably will not have a surplus to support the successful scholarship program for first-time Preconference attendees. As a result, the Committee is preparing a proposal to receive $3,000 from the ACRL Scholarship Fund. Other prospects for future stable funding include approaching either ABAA or an antiquarian book dealer about funding a scholarship. If possible, we would administer the scholarship. The donor would then simply supply a check directly to the recipient(s). Alternatively, there is the possibility of experimenting with a checkoff donation on the Preconference registration form.

Rich Oram completed his term as chair at this meeting; the incoming chair is Mark Dimunation.

Conference Development

All goes well with the planning of future conferences. St. Louis will be the site of the 2005 Preconference, with Eric Holzenberg chairing the Preconference Program Planning Committee and Anne Posega chairing Local Arrangements. Mary Lacy will chair the 2005 Conference Program Committee for the Annual Conference in Chicago. The Committee also has a site proposal in hand for the 2006 Preconference (preceding ALA in New Orleans), which will be announced at Midwinter. Incoming Chair Judy Harvey-Sahak will be happy to receive site proposals from any interested parties in the Washington, D.C. area for 2007, when the ALA Annual Conference will also be in Washington.

In addition, the Conference Development Committee is working to support RBMS programming and representation at other conferences. Susan Stekel-Ripley has volunteered to facilitate RBMS participation in the April 2005 ACRL National Conference in Minneapolis. Members of the Bibliographical Society of America and the IFLA Rare Book and Manuscript Section have expressed interest in having their groups work with RBMS on collaborative programming, which the Committee welcomes and will pursue.

Curators and Conservators

The two items on the agenda for the Toronto meeting were the group's name and revised charge. At the 2003 Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, Member-at-Large Katherine Reagan asked for a vote to fold this group into a new discussion group on collection development which had been proposed by Caroline Duroselle-Melish and Alvan Bregman. The group voted in favor of this idea, and Acting Chair Anne Marie Lane brought it to the Executive Committee meeting. There, Duroselle-Melish, Bregman, and Lane were charged to come up with a formal charge to present at the Annual Conference in Toronto.

The proposed group name and charge, as posted online before the Conference, read: Collection Development and Preservation Discussion Group (or, alternatively, Collection Development and Preservation Management Discussion Group). "Purpose: To serve as an open forum for the exchange of ideas on collection development and preservation of special collections materials. Discussion will focus on the current challenges facing collection development of rare books, but will not exclude issues related to manuscripts and other primary non-printed materials. The Group will promote discussion on the interplay of collection development and preservation management and will be a forum for librarians, curators, and conservators to share experiences. It will encourage and identify seminar proposals for the Conference Development and Seminars Committees and the publication of relevant articles in the journal RBM."

Though only six people attended the Toronto meeting in addition to Lane, Bregman, Duroselle-Melish, and Reagan, they expressed strong concerns about the new name and focus. As conservators, they preferred that the term "preservation" not be substituted for "conservators" or "conservation." As a completely different group of attendees from the Philadelphia meeting, they were not as amenable to the idea of merging the two groups. They argued that the topics of conservation and collection development are not sufficiently related, and that splitting the meeting time would decrease the quality of the discussions. Bregman facilitated a compromise on the name, and Reagan then led a re-writing session to refine the purpose.

Duroselle-Melish typed up the new proposal and prepared copies, and Lane introduced the revised purpose and group name to the Executive Committee: Special Collections Management and Conservation Discussion Group. "Purpose: To serve as an open forum for the exchange of ideas on collection management and conservation of rare books and special collections material. The group will promote discussion on the interplay of collection and preservation management, and facilitate dialogue between librarians, curators and conservators on issues of common concern. The group will also encourage and identify seminar topics, conference programming, and publications on relevant issues."

Attendees at the Executive Committee meeting had reservations about the new name and purpose, particularly the use of the term "special collections management," because of its broader connotations. The possibility of not combining the two discussion groups after all, and continuing to have a Curators and Conservators Group, was also discussed. The fate of the group was postponed until the Midwinter meeting in San Diego, where the group chairs will meet to discuss RBMS discussion groups as a whole.

Diversity Action Plan Implementation Task Force

The charge of the former Task Force on Diversity was completed when the Task Force submitted a Diversity Action Plan prior to the ALA Annual Meeting. In Toronto, the Executive Committee approved the Plan. Following one of the plan's recommendations, the Executive Committee agreed to create a new Diversity Action Plan Implementation Task Force.

The new Task Force will work to coordinate implementation of the strategic actions described in the RBMS Diversity Action Plan. It will also serve as a contact point for committees working to implement the plan and will ensure continuity of message and coordination of effort across committees. Members include Carolyn Coates, Adán Griego, Julie Grob (Chair), Hjordis Halvorson, and Fernando Peña.

The Task Force will work with the RBMS webmaster to post the Diversity Action Plan on the RBMS website so that all members may read it, and will begin working with various committees and individual members on particular strategic actions. One action is already on its way to being accomplished: the Fall issue of RBM will include an article by Julie Grob about diversity, special collections, and the RBMS Diversity Action Plan.

Exhibition Awards

The Exhibition Awards Committee presented the Katharine Kyes Leab & Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhibition Awards for 2003 at a ceremony at the ALA Annual Conference in Toronto. Outgoing Chair Claudia Funke, the featured speaker, discussed the merits of the winning and commended submissions, which had been announced in the Spring 2003 RBMS Newsletter. All printed catalogs and brochures entered in the competition were available for perusal at the RBMS Preconference at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. This was the final year of the three-year pilot project to evaluate electronic exhibitions, and in 2004 the genre will become a permanent awards division (Division Five). At the awards ceremony, Funke also showed images from the online exhibition of the first ten years of the Leab Awards winners. She announced that the complete exhibition would be mounted on the RBMS website in the Fall. At its business meeting, the Committee discussed final changes to the exhibition and the need for inventorying catalogs at the depositories.

Manuscripts and Other Formats

The Manuscripts and Other Formats Discussion Group meeting in Toronto was chaired by Tim Murray. The meeting began with the announcement that Murray and L. Rebecca Johnson Melvin are stepping down as co-chairs of the Discussion Group. Their successors will be Mary Lacy and Tara Wenger.

The group then had a follow-up discussion of some topics brought out at the RBMS Preconference which focused on literary forgeries. Among the topics discussed was authentication: how do we determine whether an item is what it is purported to be? We rely a good deal on the trustworthiness of the dealers from whom we acquire such materials. We also discussed various issues involving legitimately published facsimiles and how today's facsimiles can become tomorrow's, or even today's, forgeries. We had a short discussion of literary hoaxes and imaginary libraries as well, and the Clifford Irving-Howard Hughes hoax was specifically mentioned. Also discussed was an interesting example of a group of Oscar Wilde forgeries housed in a repository and known and fully described as forgeries, but were then taken out of context by a publisher and presented as originals.

The group then continued a discussion carried over from our previous meeting: "dealing with donors." We discussed our experiences handling complex gifts, working with development officers, and applying strategies and techniques developed by museums. The group thought that the development of a seminar on this topic would be worth exploring.

We ended with a brief discussion of processing and cataloging strategies, as a prelude to the ARL Conference on "Hidden Collections." The group will continue this discussion at the Midwinter meeting in San Diego.

MARC for Special Collections

Over 35 people gathered at the Annual Conference in Toronto to discuss rare book and special collections cataloging. Our first topic was whether "to classify or not to classify." In other words, do special collections use classification systems for organizing their printed collections? The majority of people present indicated that their libraries classify material in the LC classification scheme. Those who do not use LC use Dewey or a local scheme. Although in the minority, several libraries use sequential numbers, since it saves time and shelving space.

The second topic addressed the recording of source and price information; this continued a discussion from the Exlibris electronic discussion list. Participants noted that many libraries record donor information in the catalog record. This allows for recognition of the donor and makes it simple to identify books given by a particular donor. Few, if any, libraries record price, fund, or dealer information in the publicly-accessible record. Most libraries record this information in the acquisitions module of their online system, a separate database, or in paper files.

The third topic, related to catalog maintenance activities, concerned how often libraries go back and convert old-style topical subject headings (such as funeral sermons), to genre headings. Not surprisingly, most libraries do not have the staff resources to do this systematically, although most do upgrade records when work is done on them for other reasons. This discussion expanded  to the issue of how to inform public service staff and patrons of the existence, purpose, and organization of genre headings.

The final topic was whether institutions regularly use and display relator terms. Based on a quick survey of the participants present, over 50% of the libraries represented regularly use relator terms. The most commonly used are for illustrators, editors, printers, or publishers.

The participants were interested in trying to extend future sessions to 1½ or 2 hours, since all agreed it was one of their most productive sessions at ALA. Please join us in San Diego, where we will have a follow-up discussion on the ARL "Unlocking Hidden Treasures" conference, and possibly provide answers to the vexing question of what to do with all that stuff laid into volumes. Please send ideas and comments to: edwin.schroeder@yale.edu.

Membership and Professional Development

The Committee offered a seminar at the RBMS Preconference entitled "Members for the Future: The View from Newcomers to RBMS." Moderated by Committee Chair Henry Raine, the seminar included a panel of five new or recent members of RBMS, who spoke about their experiences as newcomers to the organization and provided valuable feedback about some of the section's ongoing initiatives, such as the Buddy Program and the Scholarship Program, as well as offering many valuable suggestions on what RBMS could do to be more welcoming to its new members. These suggestions were discussed at the Committee's meeting during the Annual Conference, and plans are already in place to implement them in the future.

The committee sponsors Educational Opportunities: A Directory, maintained Ellen Ellickson, and available on the RBMS website. The directory provides an up-to-date list of courses related to rare books and special collections that are currently offered through ALA-accredited schools of library and information studies. The RBMS Orientation held on the first day of the Preconference is always a big draw; this year was no exception, and over 50 attendees heard committee chairs and section officers talk about the work of the section and how to get involved in RBMS. The Committee once again participated in the ALA New Members Round Table Orientation at the Annual Conference, and provided information and literature about RBMS to interested new ALA members. For the first time, committee members also represented RBMS at an orientation session at the ACRL National Conference help in April in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Throughout the Preconference, new members and first-time attendees were offered the option of identifying themselves by wearing a "First-Time Attendee" sticker on their name badge, which encouraged more experienced members of the section to reach out to them at receptions and other social events. Other current initiatives specifically directed at new or recent members of the section include a welcoming letter sent out to new RBMS members, and the Buddy Program, which matches new or recent RBMS members with more experienced members of the section. This program is a good opportunity to learn more about RBMS and how to get involved, and is offered at the Preconference, the Annual Conference, and the Midwinter Meeting. At this year's Preonference, fourteen new or recent members were matched with volunteer buddies. If you are interested in participating in the Buddy Program at a future conference, either as a new member or as a volunteer, please fill out the Buddy Request Form or the Buddy Volunteer Form, available on the RBMS website, or contact Committee Chair Henry Raine at: henry.raine@nyu.edu.

This June, thanks to a generous allocation from ACRL, scholarships were awarded to six RBMS members to subsidize their attendance at the Preconference. Catherine Butler, library and information studies student at UCLA, Kathleen Cruikshank, technical services assistant and reference assistant at Indiana University, and Amy R. Hezel, adjunct faculty librarian at Cowles Library, Drake University, were awarded full scholarships of $695 each, including a waiver of the Preconference registration fee. Susan Dahl, metadata and cataloguing librarian at Cameron Library, the University of Alberta, Erika Dowell, public services librarian at the Lilly Library, Indiana University, and Eric Lupfer, intern at the Harry Ransom Center and student at the University of Texas, were awarded partial scholarships of $195 each, including a waiver of the registration fee.

Public Services

The Public Services Discussion Group met in Toronto in June with approximately 25 people attending. The first part of the meeting was devoted to discussion of how the increased amount of collection information available on the internet is affecting public service. Remote reference questions are on the rise, and many of them are somewhat more naive than questions received in the past. We discussed using online forms to get more well-defined questions, and how best to redirect questioners to more general collections, when appropriate. Web-savvy users may also expect that a simple click on a finding aid or catalog will produce an instant copy of the item described. This can lead to a certain amount of frustration, as well as increased demand for copies. The group discussed various limits now placed on copying: e.g., 350 pages per 6 months; no more than 10 pages per book; no more than 10 pages per day; or 100 copies per reader. Requests for scans are also on the rise, and the vast majority of PSDG attendees are providing them. Sample prices range from $2 for low-quality scans sent by email to $15 for higher-quality scans. Other forms of pricing were based on: different kinds of images; whether or not they were sent on CD; and/or what kind of metadata they include (or ought to).

The second part of the discussion concerned the role of public service staff in exhibitions. Attendees backgrounds varied dram-atically, from direct responsibility for oversight of exhibition programs, to occasional curatorial responsibility, to involvement with tours, or to no involvement at all. While some institutions are actively promoting their "museum function," others are scaling back physical exhibits due to budget cuts; some are choosing to place more resources into online exhibitions. There was discussion of how best to tie exhibitions in with the curriculum of the home institution and whether or not to consider K-12 as part of the educational program-planning component of exhibitions. Some practical discussion followed about what to do when readers request material being considered for exhibition. Some institutions put such material in a prep area, and others make photocopies of  these materials so that readers can access copies until the exhibit comes down.

Rachel Howarth announced that this would be her and Mike Kelly's final meeting as co-chairs, and that the incoming Chair is Susie Szasz Palmer of the University of Louisville.

Publications

The RBMS Publications Committee meeting in Toronto was attended by three Committee members and four prospective members. There are currently openings on the Committee, and it is good to know that there is so much interest from potential members.

The new version of the RBMS website received approval from the Publications Committee and the Executive Committee and was launched the week after the Toronto Conference.

The updated version of "Your Old Books" should be available for approval from the Executive Committee at the Midwinter Meeting in San Diego in January. Also at Midwinter, the Executive Committee will consider guidelines for using the RBMS logo and guidelines for the position of webmaster/website manager.

RBM

The editorship of RBM passed from Lisa Browar and Marvin J. Taylor to Richard W. Clement at the end of the Annual Conference in Toronto. Clement's first issue (v. 4, no. 2) will appear in November, and will feature an article by Julie Grob titled, "RBMS, Special Collections, and the Challenge of Diversity: The Road to the Diversity Action Plan," and one by Suzy Taraba titled, "Now What Should We Do with Them?: Artists' Books in the Curriculum." Grob's extended piece on diversity is an important review of RBMS efforts in this area and it summarizes current efforts in the Action Plan endorsed by the Executive Committee in Toronto.

Most of the members of the Editorial Board have agreed to continue and have provided support and continuity for the new Editor, building on the strong foundation laid down by Browar and Taylor. Members of the Board include: Jean Ashton, Kathryn Beam, Jackie Dooley, Christian Dupont, Chatham Ewing, James Fox, and Henry Raine. A number of places on the Board are now open; should you be interested in serving, contact Richard Clement at: rclement@ku.edu.

Clement and the Board are creating a publication plan for the next three years, and RBMS members are invited to contribute ideas by attending the Board meeting at Midwinter or by contacting the Editor or a Board member. Articles on the book trade (in New York and London) are in hand for the Spring 2004 issue, as is a contribution on manuscript cataloging in Germany. The Editor is particularly interested in articles with an international perspective. Articles on the repatriation of materials and the range of legal issues in special collections are underway. The Board has considered a wide range of topics for entire issues, and invites ideas on subjects for single articles or entire issues, including names of people who might write pieces. As always, submissions of completed articles are most welcome. For information on RBM, how to subscribe, and guidelines for submissions, see: http://www.rbms.info/publications/index.shtml.

Security

The Security Committee continues to urge libraries to appoint a Library Security Officer (LSO), as is recommended in the ACRL Guidelines Regarding Thefts in Libraries. If your library does not have an LSO, it should explore creating this important position. If your library already has an LSO, that person may participate in the LSO electronic bulletin board managed by Susan Allen. By that medium, LSOs receive theft reports from this country and abroad, including some that do not appear publicly. For further information about the LSO list contact Susan at: sallen@getty.edu. For information about establishing an LSO program at your library, you may contact either Susan or Everett Wilkie (ewilkie@ix.netcom.com).

The RBMS State Laws Project is basically complete. The Project is an attempt to identify all state laws regarding thefts in libraries and make their texts available on-line. The laws may be viewed at http://www.rbms.info/committees/security/state_laws. The Committee will revisit these laws from time to time to ensure that they are current. If you encounter any problems with this section of the RBMS website, please contact the Chair. The Committee expresses its thanks to Christian Dupont for his expert and timely assistance in making this project a reality.

Seminars

In the weeks leading up to the 2003 RBMS Preconference in Toronto, seminar planners modified the schedule and presenter details almost daily. Eight seminars were offered: "Authority Records in Special Collections Cataloging;" "On Beyond Transfers: Medium Rare, Offsite, and Other Issues;" "DCRM Conference Report;" "Open Archives Initiative for Sheet Music;" "Research Uses of Children's Literature in Special Collections;" "CUSTARD;" "Members for the Future: The View from Newcomers to RBMS;" and "Processing Manuscripts on a Shoestring and Other Joys of Internships."

Nine seminars were selected for the 2004 Yale Preconference during the Committee's Annual Conference meeting in Toronto. At this year's Midwinter Meeting, the Committee will finalize plans for these seminars and consider topics for the St. Louis Preconference in 2005. If you are interested in submitting a proposal for consideration, information about what to include and an electronic form are available on the RBMS website at: http://www.rbms.info/committees/seminars/index.shtml. You may also contact the Chair, Elizabeth Johnson, at: johnson1@indiana.edu or 812-855-2452. It is not necessary that you be a member of the Seminars Committee to submit a proposal.

The Committee is seeking an additional member. If you are interested, please come to the Midwinter Meeting or contact Elaine Smyth, Vice-Chair/Chair Elect, at: esmyth@lsu.edu.

Task Force to Revise Standards for Ethical Conduct

The Task Force Committee submitted a near-final version of its document (now entitled Code of Ethics for Special Collections Librarians) to the Executive Committee and received preliminary approval at ALA in Toronto. In July, we received comments from the ACRL Ethics Committee and incorporated many of their suggestions into the Code. As of this writing, the final version is awaiting approval from the Executive Committee, after which it will be submitted to the ACRL Board for action. Simultaneously, the Chair will begin the process of rescinding the Standards for Ethical Conduct for Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Librarians, 2nd edition, which should be completed at Midwinter or shortly thereafter.

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Executive Committee, 2003-2004

Margaret F. Nichols, Chair
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Kroch Library
Cornell University
607-255-3530; Fax: 607-255-9524
mnr1@cornell.edu

Elaine B. Smyth, Vice Chair/Chair-Elect
Louisiana State University Libraries
225-578-6547; Fax: 225-578-9425
esmyth@lsu.edu

Daniel J. Slive, Past Chair
Young Research Library
UCLA
310-206-0568; Fax: 310-206-1864
djslive@library.ucla.edu

John M. Cullars, Secretary
Richard J. Daley Library
University of Illinois-Chicago
312-996-2730; Fax: 312-413-0424
jcullars@uic.edu

Katherine Reagan, Member-at-Large
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Kroch Library
Cornell University
607-255-3530; Fax: 607-255-9524
KR33@cornell.edu

Isaac Gewirtz, Member-at-Large
The Berg Collection
The New York Public Library
212-930-0802; Fax: 212-930-0079
igewirtz@nypl.org

Rachel Howarth, Member-at-Large
Houghton Library
Harvard University
617-496-8679; Fax: 617-495-1376
rhowarth@fas.harvard.edu

The complete committee roster for 2003-2004 is available on the RBMS website.

2003 Annual Conference Program Report

Held on June 22, this year's RBMS program at the ALA Annual Conference was "True North: A Canadian Approach to National Book History: The History of the Book in Canada/Histoire du livre et de l'imprimé au Canada Project (HBiC/HLIC)," an overview of a five-year research project investigating the history of print culture in Canada. HBiC/HLIC will culminate in the publication of three volumes and five databases in both French and English. The program took the form of a panel moderated by HBiC/HLIC Project Manager Judy Donnelly, with speakers Yvan Lamonde (McGill University), Robert Gross (College of William and Mary), and Patricia Fleming (University of Toronto). Lamonde and Fleming are the co-general editors of HBiC/HLIC, while Gross is an editor of the History of the Book in America project and a member of the HBiC/HLIC project's Advisory Board. Bertrum Macdonald (Dalhousie University), editor of electronic resources for the project, rounded out the session with a description of the project's five bilingual databases, which will be accessible through the project's website: http://www.hbic.library.utoronto.ca/home_en.htm.

Judy Donnelly presented a series of slides depicting the iconography of the book in Canada, including the use of books in portraits as symbols of success, piety, or learning. Yvan Lamonde emphasized the importance of personal literaturediaries, letters, memoirs, and autobiographiesin the study of the history of the book and particularly in the history of reading. He noted that, in examining reading practices, one should distinguish what was available from what readers requested or actually read. Robert Gross compared HBiC/HLIC with the History of the Book in America Project, noting the large number of librarians and bibliographers collaborating on the Canadian project and its greater attention to regional differences. He added that both projects raise important questions: What is national in a given culture, and what is trans-national? In studying book history, why do scholars now tend to identify with their own nation rather than look for a transnational identity? Is the distinction between national identities truly meaningful, or just a means of splitting the history of the book into manageable pieces? Patricia Fleming added the question: Why did library schools abandon the teaching of book history just when it was becoming a hot topic? Discussion was lively at this well-attended session.

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Transitions

Lois Fischer Black has been appointed assistant head and curator of collections in the North Carolina State University Libraries. Pat Bozeman, head of special collections & archives at the University of Houston, is the first librarian to be appointed to the Emily Scott Evans Professorship in Special Collections & Archives. In addition, interest from this new endowment is being focused on the arrangement and description of unprocessed manuscript collections and the cataloging of incunabula and other rare books. Terry Catapano has been appointed special collections analyst/librarian in the Libraries Digital Program at Columbia University. Richard W. Clement is the recipient of the Gretchen and Gene A. Budig Distinguished Librarian Award at the University of Kansas for 2003. Tamar Evangelista-Dougherty has been appointed project archivist for the David Dinkins Papers in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University. Jane Gorjevsky has been appointed curator of the Carnegie Collections at Columbia University's Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Jennifer Gunter has resigned as head of special collections at Virginia Tech and is presently relocating to the Boston area. Steve Hussman is the new head of archives and special collections at New Mexico State University. Barbara Jones has been appointed Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian at Wesleyan University. Debbie Landi is now special collections librarian and university archivist at Furman University. Sally J. Leach, associate director of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, has retired after 37 years of service. Chang C. Lee has retired as special collections librarian at the University of Central Florida. Martin L. Levitt is the new librarian of the American Philosophical Society. Linda Matthews, director of special collections in Woodruff Library at Emory University, has been appointed vice provost and director of university libraries. Eugene Neely is the new university archivist and special collections librarian at Adelphi University. Michael North is now head of rare books and early manuscripts in the History of Medicine Division at the National Library of Medicine. Carolyn Parsons has been appointed special collections librarian/archivist at Mary Washington College. The archives reading room at the John P. Raynor, S. J. Library at Marquette University has been named in honor of Marquette faculty member Francis Paul Pruha, S. J. At the New-York Historical Society, Henry Raine is now Mellon Broadside Project cataloger. Anne M. Rothfeld has been appointed reference librarian in the History of Medicine Division at the National Library of Medicine. Crystal Smith has been appointed reference librarian in the History of Medicine Division at the National Library of Medicine. Eileen Smith is now catalog librarian II on the Rare Book Team at Yale University Library. Allen H. Stokes, Jr., university librarian for special collections at the University of South Carolina-Columbia, has retired after 36 years of service. Carla M. Summers has been named head of special collections at the University of Central Florida-Orlando. Irina Tarsis has been appointed curatorial assistant in the Department of Printing and Graphic Arts at the Houghton Library at Harvard University.

We note with regret the recent deaths of: Peter Bishop, proprietor of the Petrarch Press; Brooke Crutchley, Cambridge University Printer; Mary, Viscountess Eccles, scholar and collector; Sir Paul Getty, noted collector; Susan Barrow Tate, special collections librarian emerita at the University of Georgia; Bernard McTigue, head of special collections at North Carolina State University; Walter J. Ong, S. J., scholar of print culture.