Frost Byte, Issue 5, Volume 26

News

As Gloria, Allaina and Shelly Sommer (INSTAAR librarian) prepare for the 2012 Polar Libraries Colloquy, we will be open to any suggestions, lessons learned, words of encouragement, etc. Feel free to ask any questions or offer any words of wisdom as we begin the planning process. Drop us an email at library@nsidc.org.

Staff Report

Allaina attended Collaboration in the Digital Age, a forum in the Connecting to Collections initiative sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in cooperation with Heritage Preservation. This free conference included people from 43 states, Puerto Rico and China. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Bruce Cole, Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities, Adair Margo, Chairman, President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, Anne-Imelda Radice, Director, IMLS, Elizabeth Broun, Director, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Shirley Amore, City Librarian, Denver Public Library, and Lawrence Reger, President, Heritage Preservation provided opening and keynote remarks for the attendees. Many others provided the content for the sessions. The forum was held at the Denver Public Library, Denver Art Museum and the Colorado History Museum.

IMLS began Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action as a national initiative to raise public awareness of the importance of caring for collections held across the U.S. Collaboration in the Digital Age is the second of four forums and focuses on the needs of museums and libraries by helping them think strategically and collaboratively about digitization and digital preservation. Sessions focused on the fundamentals of digital content creation and preservation, emphasizing practical approaches to planning digital projects, increasing access to collections, enabling digital resources to serve multiple purposes, and protecting digital investments.

This past weekend was the second intensive weekend of teaching for Allaina and her colleague Shaun Boyd. The Introduction to Archives class visited the American Alpine Club library and archives and also received a tour of the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum. The AAC library has received a collection of large framed Washburn photographs. One (the “colossal” size) is currently on display in the library along with a few other artifacts donated by Washburn to the museum and library. Gary Landeck, AAC library and archives director, is pictured here in front of the Washburn display.

Allaina, Gary and Shaun pose in front of the Washburn display in the AAC library.

Carl Stewart, Emergency Response coordinator for Norlin libraries, spoke to the class about disaster planning for collections. He coordinated a hand’s on experience for the students by placing a “collection” in a wading pool and pouring water over the collection. He successfully simulated a pipe breaking in the library or archives and the surprise and shock of walking in on such a problem.

Over the course of 2 hours the students were able to experience how quickly paper materials absorb water, emphasizing the need to quickly take action. Here are a few photos of the experiment. It was a slightly traumatic event for Allaina and Shaun who have both personally experienced recent water disasters – Allaina during Hurricane Katrina and Shaun as recently as the current flooding in Iowa. However, it was well worth the effort. We could speak about the smell and the feel of what happens when things get wet and also emphasize the need for acting quickly to recover items.

Reminder

Kristin Gibbons is employed for the summer and will be spending much of her time on the computer in the library. If the library computer is occupied and you need to look up an item, please stop in to ask one of the librarians for assistance. The catalog is also accessible via Igloo. User ID is catalog and there is no password.

Don’t forget that you can ask us a question using Yahoo IM, Windows Live Messenger, or AIM. Just add nsidclibrary to your buddies list.

New Items in the Library

Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, vol. 19, iss. 2

Meri, #60 and #61

Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 35, iss. 8

Arctic, vol. 61, iss. 2

Mountain Research & Development, vol. 28, iss. 2

EOS, vol. 89, iss. 25

Polar Science, vol. 2, iss. 1

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, vol. 40, iss. 2