Cy STAFF
Coeditors Dillon Ferrum College P.O. Box 1000 Ferrum, Virginia 24088 [phone] [e-mail] C. A. Gardner Hampton Public Library 4207 Victoria Blvd. Hampton, Virginia 23669 [phone] [phone] (fax) [e-mail]
Virginia Libraries
July/August/September, 2006, Vol. 52, No. 3
COLUMNS
Cy Dillon and Lyn Gardner Ruth Arnold Sara B. Bearss, Ed. 2 4 31 Openers Presidents Column Virginia Reviews
Editorial Board Lydia C. Williams Longwood University Library Farmville, Virginia 23909 [phone] [e-mail] Ed Lener College Librarian for the Sciences Virginia Tech University Libraries P.O. Box 90001 Blacksburg, Virginia 24062-9001 [phone] [e-mail] Karen Dillon Manager, Library Services Carilion Health System P.O. Box 13367 Roanoke, Virginia 24033 [phone] [phone] (fax) [e-mail] Douglas Perry Director Hampton Public Library 4207 Victoria Blvd. Hampton, Virginia 23669 [phone] (extension 104) [phone] (fax) [e-mail]
FEATURES
5 Cy Dillon Edwin S. Clay III Carol Elizabeth Jones Luke Vilelle 19 23 26 28 VLA Paraprofessional Forum 2006 Conference Ten Years of Publishing Good Writing: Tom Dooley and Eclectica Marketing Yourself at Work: Or, Your Mother Was All Wrong The Art Bag Project at the Rockbridge Regional Library Making Winners of Students and the Library: Publicizing a New OPAC
Editor, Virginia Books Sara B. Bearss Senior Editor, Dictionary of Virginia Biography The Library of Virginia 800 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219-8000 [e-mail]
On the cover: Attendees at the VLA Paraprofessional Forum Conference. Photograph by Pierre Courtois.
Virginia Libraries is a quarterly journal published by the Virginia Library Association whose purpose is to develop, promote, and improve library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to advance literacy and learning and to ensure access to information in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The journal, distributed to the membership, is used as a vehicle for members to exchange information, ideas, and solutions to mutual problems in professional articles on current topics in the library and information field. Views expressed in Virginia Libraries are not necessarily endorsed by the editors or editorial board. The Virginia Library Association (VLA) holds the copyright on all articles published in Virginia Libraries whether the articles appear in print or electronic format. Material may be reproduced for informational, educational, or recreational purposes provided the source of the material is cited. The print version of Virginia Libraries is designed by Lamp-Post Publicity in Meherrin, Virginia. The electronic version of Virginia Libraries is created by Virginia Techs Digital Library and Archives and is available at http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/VALib or as a link from the Virginia Library Association website (http://www.vla.org) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (http://www.doaj.org/). Virginia Libraries is indexed in Library Literature, a database produced by the H.W. Wilson Company. Items for publication and editorial inquiries should be addressed to the editors. Inquiries regarding membership, subscriptions, advertising, or claims should be directed to VLA, P.O. Box 8277, Norfolk, VA 23503-0277. All personnel happenings and announcements should be sent to the VLA Newsletter, Kevin Tapp, Box 7024 Radford University, Radford, VA 24142, [e-mail]. The guidelines for submissions to Virginia Libraries are found on the inside back cover.
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Openers
by Cy Dillon and Lyn Gardner
A
s many of our readers know, Virginia Libraries is archived by the Virginia Tech Digital Libraries and Archives (http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/). This collection of previous issues, going back to 1996, is a valuable research tool as well as a historical resource for the Virginia Library Association. It also allows our writers and subjects to link directly to articles by or about them. In many cases, our articles show up in the results of a Google search. For instance, when I ran a Google search on the poet Jeffery Beam, the first result was his website, but the second was his Virginia Libraries interview from Volume 50, Issue 2. Of course, looking through everything on the web is not an efficient way of searching past issues, and neither is going through all the tables of contents. Recognizing the need to search the archived journals and other materials in their collection, the Digital Libraries and Archives staff have provided the Verity Ultraseek search engine to their users since the late 1990s. This resource is located at http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ ej-search.html and is managed by Lance French, Systems Administrator for Techs DLA. French explains that this software was chosen because it was and is a popular commercial search engine used by many large corporate intranets. While it is not inexpensive, it is much better than a homegrown search function, and it is periodically updated. The product is reviewed regularly, and it is always possible that DLA will
move to another search engine. Still, French is certain that reliable search software will always be a part of the DLA site. My experience with Ultraseek suggests that it has the typical strengths and weaknesses of most keyword searching. It almost always retrieves what you want, but there is almost always much that
The educational potential of interactive sites should not fall victim to political posturing.
you do not want. That is not a problem for experienced searchers, so I am confident that Virginia Libraries readers can find past articles quickly and easily. All this comes up because the Directory of Open Access Journals (http://www.doaj.org/) has offered us the option of providing article level metadata for past issues of Virginia Libraries. The coeditors have considered recruiting volunteers to be trained to tackle this large and potentially productive project, but at this point we think that the existing search function at DLA is sufficient for most research needs. We would appreciate hearing how other VLA members feel about the situation, and are very much open to changing our minds. Our email addresses are listed on the magazines contents page, so feel free to comment.
Speaking of comments, how can we be expected to avoid a bit of a rant about the latest symbolically appealing but totally misguided attempt of our Congress to tame the Internet? In this election year, the House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed H.R. 5319, which would force public libraries to block all social networking sites in order to protect children from sexual predators. The American Library Associations response that education about the dangers of the Internet is much more effective than barriers to access is right on target. The educational potential of interactive sites and the bill covers almost anything interactive should not fall victim to political posturing. As the bill is written, it might even apply to library sites with reference chat, email links, or customizable pages for individual users. That is simply an indication of our lawmakers relative innocence about the Internet. American children, on the other hand, know the medium all too well. It is estimated that half of Americas teenagers already belong to social networking sites such as MySpace, and restricting their access in the library will do little to curb the popularity of these free services. In fact, it may keep youngsters away from safe, supervised library computer rooms and push them toward going online when they are at home alone or unsupervised at a friends house. As a college librarian, I have seen the impact educational programs have on our students use of FaceBook. There is no reason to wait
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until young people go to college to address safe and intelligent Internet use. Why doesnt Congress fund Internet education in public schools and public libraries? The dollars invested will yield far more results than symbolic prohibition of interactive websites. Finally, speaking of the changes we face in this complex digital age, and returning to the subject of keyword searching versus cataloging, it would be impossible to ignore a topic that has fired up the cataloging community over the past few months: the decision of the Library of Congress to cease providing authority control for most series beginning on June 1, 2006 (http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/ series.html). Debate has raged on both sides of this issue. Digital proponents such as Karen Calhoun, in her March 17, 2006, report for the Library of Congress (The Changing Nature of the Catalog and Its Integration with Other Discover Tools, http://www.loc.gov/catdir/ calhoun-report-final.pdf), have criticized current library catalogs as providing an outmoded structure that functions more as a barrier to than enabler of access. On the other hand, cataloging proponents such as Thomas Mann, in his reports on behalf of the Library of Congress Professional Guild (such as his reaction to the Calhoun report, A Critical Review, http://guild2910. org/AFSCMECalhounReviewREV. pdf, or What Is Going on at the Library of Congress, http:// g u ild 2910.org /A F SCM EW hat Is GoingOn.pdf), warn that digital technology is not yet developed
enough to adequately take over for the traditional tasks of cataloging and that scholars and others seeking more detailed or higher quality information will miss out on many sources not retrieved through keyword searches. Indeed, as a result of this debate, there are numerous recent examples of how keyword searching fails to adequately retrieve (let alone collocate) series records that may be found in the archives of cataloging listservs such as PCCLIST (http://www.loc. gov/catdir/pcc/pcclist-info.html), AUTOCAT (http://ublib.buffalo. edu/libraries/units/cts/autocat/), and OCLC-CAT (http://listserv. oclc.org/archives/oclc-cat.html). While PCC and OCLC have stepped up to the plate to ensure that series authority work will continue, it is likely that more changes are in the offing. There are fears that other aspects of Calhouns report might lead to the elimination of Library of Congress Subject Headings. Despite the increasing power of search engines, the benefits of keyword searching, and the difficulty involved in manipulating controlled vocabulary subject headings in a library catalog, it remains true that given todays technology, subject searches can still yield more accurate and textured results than a Google search. The problem is convincing users that it is worth the time to learn to use these subject headings and in this digital age, where some information is always a click away, that is a big problem. What will the future bring? True artificial intelligence that is capable
of analyzing a books subjects and collocating similar works despite differences in terminology? Intelligent books that listen for relevant queries and step forward to announce their benefits to readers through a smart interface that would take over where modern search engines fail? At this point, we simply cant say. For the present, however, perhaps it would be wise to pursue both paths, rather than ignoring or abandoning either. Collaboration could help us achieve one of our greatest goals to provide maximum access for all kinds of users. Lets not abandon timetested knowledge about how to organize and retrieve bibliographic information; but neither should we ignore the promise of digital access to worldwide knowledge, just because it hasnt fully materialized yet. We need to strive together to build upon our knowledge to improve our services but we should not abandon what works before a replacement strategy has been developed that will truly provide an improvement. The ultimate goal might combine the assets of both views: to simplify the search process, yet achieve a higher rate of accuracy. To do that, until such time as we develop computers truly capable of subject analysis, catalogers are needed more than ever. Let the digital visionaries work with the catalogers to construct an interface that provides the user with desired searching ease while retrieving relevant and complete results through an intelligent but invisible query of detailed cataloging data behind the scenes. VL
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PRESIDENTS COLUMN
Williamsburg in November
by Ruth Arnold
I
ts almost time for the VLA Conference. As a member of this organization since the early 1980s, I always look forward to VLA as a time to renew my professional friendships and gain new ideas for my library both from vendors and the sessions I attend. This combination of continuing education and face-to-face networking is one of the primary benefits the Virginia Library Association offers its members. I hope your calendar is marked for November 9 and 10. The preliminary conference program and registration materials should already be in your hands. This year we are once again in Williamsburg. This charming historical town has been a good host to VLA in years past. Our members enjoy coming to Williamsburg and we have good attendance at the conference. There are plenty of restaurants, lots of activities, and some good shopping. We hope that many of you will take advantage of the long weekend to bring your family and stay over in Williamsburg to enjoy the offerings. The VLA Conference Committee began planning over a year ago to create a conference that will be both fun and thought-provoking. Our theme is Read-Think-Speak: The Power of Libraries. The premise relates to the positioning and opportunities we have to make a difference for our patrons by giving them access to the resources that help them make decisions about their lives, and by extension, the future of our country. We hope this conference will give you
plenty to think about and generate some good conversations. Our speaker for the opening general session on Thursday will be Thomas Frey, executive director of the DaVinci Institute. Dont be confused by the name; it has nothing to do with the popular suspense novel. Rather, it is a futurist think tank that has been recognized as a center of visionary thought. With his ability to translate trends into unique opportunities, Frey believes that libraries are transitioning from being centers of infor-
be sure to bring along your tropical shirt and be prepared to waste away.
mation to centers of culture. You wont want to miss hearing from this creative thinker and exciting speaker. For the second general session we are treating ourselves to Judith Viorst, a veteran author for both adults and children. You may know her from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, which came out in 1972 and fast became a childrens classic. You may also be familiar with her witty poetry, collected in such volumes as When Did I Stop Being Twenty and Other Injustices and Forever Fifty and Other Negotiations. Throughout Thursday and Friday, we are offering over fifty
concurrent sessions. Most of the presenters are our colleagues. We think you will find a good balance between programs that are very specifically focused on a particular subject or kind of library and those that appeal to a wide range of conference attendees no matter what their job title or library type. In response to last years conference evaluations, we are ending earlier on Friday afternoon. However, there will be sessions after lunch, so please plan to stay for them. Thursday evenings social will be pure fun. We will dance to the music of B2B, a Jimmy Buffet tribute band, while we sip margaritas and pretend were on the beach. So be sure to bring along your tropical shirt and be prepared to waste away. The more I write about our fall conference, the more Im looking forward to it. Every conference seems to have a flavor of its own, determined both by the programs offered and by those who attend. You are needed to make this conference a success. I look forward to seeing you there in November. VL
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VLA Paraprofessional Forum 2006 Conference
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ridging the Information Gap: Preserving Yesterdays Lessons, Anticipating Tomorrows Demands was the theme of the 2006 Virginia Library Association Paraprofessional Forum Conference held May 2123 at the Holiday Inn Select/Koger South Conference Center in Chesterfield County. Mary Fran Bell-Johnson of Longwood University and Marcia Cramer of Pamunkey Regional Library in Mechanicsville cochaired the conference that hosted 391 library personnel from across Virginia and neighboring states. It was a successful event that featured storyteller Donald Davis and Listen to Lifes Joey Faucette as keynote speakers. This years offerings included forty educational sessions on a variety of topics, presenting attendees with many continuing education opportunities. Lydia C. Williams, Janet D. Greenwood Library, Longwood University
Cochairs Mary Fran Bell-Johnson (below) and Marcia Cramer opened the conference with words of welcome.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS BY PIERRE COURTOIS
VLA President Ruth Arnold welcomed conference attendees on behalf of the association.
Sundays Author Banquet
Donald Davis may be billed as a storyteller from North Carolina, but those fortunate enough to attend the Sunday author banquet would tell you that he is a magic tour guide. Davis took the audience on a trip back in time and space. He began by telling the audience about his hometown and the first place of true magic he encountered as a youngster the Haywood North Carolina Public Library. The library was in an old bank building, and Davis impressed upon us that the childrens depart-
ment in the library was located in the old vault. As a child he felt that because the childrens department was in the vault, it was the most valuable part of the library. After all, werent all the valuable things in the bank held in the vault?
From the public library, we traveled with Davis to his fifth-grade classroom, where we were introduced to Miss Daisy Boyd, an antique teacher in her forty-second year of teaching who could strike terror in the hearts of her new stu-
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Incoming cochairs Marie Carter and Carole Lohman facilitated Tuesdays closing session.
dents. There we joined the class on an extraordinary, imaginary trip around the world, led by Miss Daisy. It was a school year the likes of which none of us have probably experienced. No textbooks, just an amazing adventure that taught Miss Daisys students more than they could ever imagine. Thanks to the magic of Daviss gift, we traveled with those students, and like those children in the past, we were sad when our time with Miss Daisy Boyd ended; but we were so glad to be fortunate enough to have that time with her. We could have listened all night, but had to settle for expressing our thanks for the trip with a standing ovation. Carole Lohman, Education Library, University of Virginia
in memory of Clara Stanley. BellJohnson and Cramer went on to encourage everyone to consider VLA membership or renewal and support of the VLA Foundation, explaining the support for advocacy work and continuing educa-
tion that each provides. Arnold reminded everyone to save the date (Nov. 910) for VLAs 2006 Annual Conference, Read, Think, Speak: The Power of Libraries. Bell-Johnson then explained the new VLAPF initiative to contribute to the community. To this end, the 2006 conference included a food drive to support the Central Virginia Food Bank (CVFB). BellJohnson introduced Fay Lohr, chief executive officer of CVFB. Lohr extended her sincere gratitude for the support by VLAPF. She explained that the network of more than 500 partner agencies serves 31 counties and 6 cities in the Central Virginia region. Serving as many as 4,000 daily meals approximately 50 percent of which are to children CVFB strives to meet the mission that none shall go hungry. Lohr encouraged the group to participate in making a difference in their communities, and, with thanks, invited everyone to the CVFB warehouse office in Richmond for a tour of the facility. Next, Bell-Johnson introduced Donald Davis, keynote speaker and masterful storyteller. After
Mondays Opening Session
Cochairs Mary Fran Bell-Johnson and Marcia Cramer welcomed everyone with thanks, noting the distance that some had traveled to be part of the conference. Along with VLA President Ruth Arnold, they commended the group on the strong support of the VLAPF, including the funding of the VLAPF scholarship. Particularly mentioned were those who donated time and skills in creating the Reaching for the Stars quilt
Julie Short of Lonesome Pine Regional Library was recognized as this years recipient of the Clara Stanley VLAPF Scholarship and as the Outstanding Paraprofessional of the Year.
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Author, teacher, and storyteller Donald Davis spoke at the Sunday evening banquet and at Mondays opening session. Mary Fran Bell-Johnson presented Donald Davis with a gift from the forum.
thanking VLAPF for its hospitality and easily connecting with his audience, Davis shared two stories. With topics of childhood mischief, he made clear his theme of sharing our stories to connect with each other. His childhood tribulations with dinner vegetables and reminiscences of his first solo trip to the corner store had the audience laughing, smiling, connecting, and sharing. Davis encouraged the fostering of this connection and the success of patron service therewith. Alex Reczkowski, Eggleston Library, Hampden-Sydney College
Tuesdays Closing Session
Tuesdays closing session included a speaker luncheon, awards, and the drawing for the scholarship raffle. Incoming cochairs Marie Carter and Carole Lohman opened the session with words of welcome on behalf of the forum. During this session, recipients of special awards were recognized. Julie Short, who is employed at Lonesome Pine Regional Library in Wise County, was recognized as this years recipient of the Clara Stanley VLAPF Scholarship sponsored by the VLA Para-
professional Forum Board. This year was the first time the same individual received two awards. Julie Short was also recognized as the recipient of the Outstanding Paraprofessional Award for 2006. Charles Edwin Engle of the J. Fred Matthews Memorial Library in St. Paul, Virginia, was the recipient of the VLA Paraprofessional Award for 2006, and this award gave Engles the opportunity to attend the conference because it waived his conference registration fee. Lydia C. Williams, Janet D. Greenwood Library, Longwood University
Tuesdays Keynote Address
Joey Faucette, LIFE Motivational Speaker and LIFE Seminar Leader, was the keynote speaker for this event. After a few tales of the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Social, Faucette began his presentation to help the audience move from stress to success. First, he instructed the audience to stand and stretch up, taking deep breaths. Then he had every-
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one take note of the newly relaxed state, and encouraged everyone to remember to repeat this technique for stressful moments throughout the day. Relax was his first key. The second key was remind yourself youre not in control. Faucette related a story about a flower that bloomed long past the first frost, highlighting key number three: resolve to persevere. The inspired audience was invited to join Faucettes LIFE Coach podcast, and joined him in discussion and book-signing afterward. Alex Reczkowski, Eggleston Library, Hampden-Sydney College People were compelled to stop and look at the variety of raffle prizes spread out over several tables. This years raffle featured a beautiful quilt made by women from Virginia Tech in memory of their friend and coworker Clara Stanley. Below, E. A. Mayo, Marion Eaton, Mona Farrow, and Carole Ray sold raffle tickets.
Scholarship Raffle
The scholarship raffle was an exciting conclusion to the conference. The members of the VLAPF Executive Board generously donated some unique and attractive baskets for the scholarship raffle. Once again, the Moss Society generously donated a print for the raffle, and Chris Mason of Christophers Fine Art and Framing in Farmville provided his time and talent to frame
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Listen to Lifes Dr. Joey Faucette presented the keynote address during Tuesdays closing session and got his audience up and moving. Later, he took time to sign books.
the print. Special this year was the inclusion of a memorial Reaching for the Stars quilt handmade by thirteen women associated with the University Libraries of Virginia Tech. The official VLAPF yellow and blue dominated the color scheme, and the two star patterns the Lemoyne star and the Martha Washington star were Clara Stanleys favorites. This years raffle was a great success, earning $2,200 for the Clara Stanley Scholarship Fund. Alex Reczkowski, Eggleston Library, Hampden-Sydney College
Highlights of the Conference Sessions
Building Staff Morale through Fun and Games (and Physical Intimidation) Dan Connole, Arlington County Department of Libraries
Although Dan Connole acknowledges that staff morale is really based on compensation, safety, and a sense of purpose and community, he sure does a great job finding other ways to make the workday just a bit more fun! Some of the staff-building exercises he described are familiar ones such as Hawaiian Shirt Day, when all staff members are invited to wear their Hawaiian shirts to work. However, the majority of events he talked about are behind the scenes. During a major closet clean-out, someone happened upon a box filled with pictures of fish that were intended for a childrens program. Rather than recycling them, they had a staff coloring contest, and the results were displayed around the staff room, which brightened things up for a couple of weeks. He also described an evening event that he had advertised ahead of time offering free alcohol to any
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Kathy Carter and Pat Muller presented a session sponsored by the Youth Services Forum. Below, Author/Educator Rennie Quible discussed her experiences as a volunteer at the National Archives.
staff member who volunteered to show up. Of course, he didnt explain that the free alcohol was rubbing alcohol, or that they would be using it to clean books! But pizza and drinks were offered to all; and not only did they get many books cleaned, they had fun doing it. This excellent presentation featured lots of great information complemented by an interesting PowerPoint presentation. Connole showed us the Arlington County Library intranet page thats used regularly to share jokes, announce contests, and generally brighten staff members moods. He offered many more examples of exercises and events, some that went well and some that didnt, and had the group laughing through the entire presentation. He was back by popular demand this year and those who attended this session could certainly understand why! Willow Gale, Jefferson Madison Regional Library
Why Should I Buy This Book? Pat Muller, Library of Virginia, and Kathy Carter, Roanoke City Library
When we entered the room for this session, the first thing we noticed was the great display of books on
the table at the front of the room. Some were childrens books that we used later in breakout sessions to practice with the evaluation checklist Pat Muller distributed. Others were resource materials that could be used while building a collection. Kathy Carter also supplied a list of websites that can be used in the same way. The presenters provided extensive handouts with criteria for evaluating childrens and young adult fiction, nonfiction, and picture books. Pat Muller also addressed the issue of censorship and how to handle a book challenge. The importance of creating multicultural collections
was discussed, and a list of the 50 Multicultural Books Every Child Should Know was included in the handouts. This was a very informative session. Willow Gale, Jefferson Madison Regional Library
Avoiding a Painful Desk Job and Other Library Mishaps Karen Allen, Office of Environmental Health and Safety, University of Virginia
Karen Allen, ergonomics coordinator, delivered a thought-provoking presentation. She began the session with an icebreaker by asking,
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How do you put a giraffe in the refrigerator? The next question was, How do you put an elephant in the refrigerator? She then told us that statistics show forty-four percent of our waking time is spent at work, and that we sleep twentyeight percent of the time. So, for a large part of the day, our bodies are sitting in uncomfortable positions and doing repetitive tasks while not being in proper alignment. Karen asked us to think about how we take care of ourselves. The complaints heard most often are about the back, neck, and eyes. The body sends out signals when things are not going right. Having the right equipment is not necessarily the answer to our problems but knowing how to use the equipment we do have is the key. Learning how to make the equipment work for and with us is the solution to avoiding the pain that often accompanies a desk job. Marie Carter, Alderman Library, University of Virginia
Warren Graham shared information to help us create a safe and secure workplace. Below, Sam Clay shared ways employees can market themselves.
Programming at the Pamunkey Regional Library Patty Franz and Linda Gosnell, Pamunkey Regional Library
This stimulating afternoon session, which highlighted successful programming ideas used by the staff of the Pamunkey Regional Library, drew a large crowd. Supplementing the Pamunkey representatives insightful presentation (which focused on poetry contests, adult summer reading programs, Dr. Seuss programming, teen game nights, and the best books program) were beneficial handouts including a standardized form to help streamline program planning efforts, an in-depth bibliography of programming resources, and lots of great samples of bookmarks, flyers, and brochures that have been used successfully to advertise programs. Those present could certainly not have come away from this fine session without a solid list of valuable programming ideas for their own libraries. Kim Blaylock, Washington County Public Library tional complimentary services. Attendees were encouraged to contact the SOLINET support desk for help, and had their immediate questions courteously answered by the knowledgeable representatives. Cute desk supply freebies and chocolate candy helped to conclude this presentation on a high note. Kim Blaylock, Washington County Public Library
OCLC Connexion Hot Topics: Whats New and Improved SOLINET representatives Elisha Strong and Jim Washburn
During this well-attended session, representatives from SOLINET offered up informative coverage of the latest services available on OCLC Connexion. They described upcoming billing changes as well as the bountiful selection of addi-
The Jamestown Adventure: Surviving in Early Virginia Ed Southern, author
Did you know that Indians attacked the colonists when they first landed? Did you know that
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Tom Camden, director of special collections at the Library of Virginia, discussed issues related to working with special collections. Below, Audrey Johnson, rare book librarian at the Library of Virginia, was copresenter of the session The Daily Challenges of Special Collections Librarianship.
the Indians, there would have been no survivors. This is a very good book for those interested in what the colonists at Jamestown experienced, and it would appeal to all who love history, whether young or old. With all the excitement surrounding the upcoming celebration of Jamestowns 400th anniversary, its the perfect time to read this book in order to learn more about the colony and its survivors. Mona Farrow, Perry Library, Old Dominion University
Fire, Water, or Worse: Developing a Disaster Preparedness Plan Holly Robertson, University of Virginia
Here is something to think about: in 1977, there were over one hundred tremors recorded in Virginia, and only sixteen percent of these tremors were actually felt. During her presentation, Holly Robertson informed the group that every library in Virginia should be on the alert and prepared for any type of disaster. Recent events should cause us to consider whether or not we are prepared. Natural disasters, an act of terrorism, a hurricane, a tsunami, an earthquake, a flood, or a destructive crime are just a few of the reasons why all libraries should develop a disaster response plan. During this session, Robertson allowed attendees an opportunity to view firsthand some of the damage done to libraries due to the wind and water damage resulting from Hurricane Katrina. The images she shared highlighted the fact that every library should have a disaster response plan in place and be ready for action. The presenter informed the group of some very good resources one should always have on hand in case of a disaster. Robertson
the seasoning (climate) caused a large number of the colonists to die? Did you know that there was drought in Virginia between 1607 and 1610, causing many colonists to starve because the Indians did not want to trade their corn, and that the years from 1609 to 1610 were known as the starving time? These are just a few of the interesting facts found in The Jamestown Adventure: Surviving in Early Virginia, edited by Ed Southern. Southern shared these facts and also informed the group that instead of building sturdy houses or planting crops, many of the colonists began their lives in the new world by searching for gold or looking for get-rich-quick schemes. Another interesting fact he shared was that John Smith wrote three different versions of his rescue by Powhatans daughter, Pocahontas. In the first two accounts, there was no mention of a romance between John Smith and Pocahontas. The romance story did not appear until Smiths third version. Southern told the group of Pocahontas being
kidnapped, and that her ransom payment was corn. Her father, Chief Powhatan, refused to pay the ransom, and so Pocahontas remained with the colonists and was baptized, educated, and given the name of Rebecca. Southern also told us that there were two documentations of cannibalism in the Jamestown colony. The Virginia Company appointed John Smith as one of the council members to lead the colony. He was the most active member of the colony, and if he had not made the effort to seek out and trade with
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Ed Southern, editor of the book The Jamestown Adventure: Surviving in Early America, reads a passage from his book to an attentive crowd.
Hi-Tech Access for Patrons with Disabilities Kristine Neuber, George Mason University
Kristine Neuber, assistive technology and web accessibility coordinator for George Mason University, has returned to the VLA Paraprofessional Forum as requested by attendees who have heard her sessions in past years. As in the past, she shared her wealth of experience, provided helpful information, brought equipment for hands-on demonstrations, and helped us to develop a new understanding of how to assist patrons with disabilities. Neuber demonstrated technology that can be used to assist patrons with library services and materials. Her presentation covered helping those with visual impairments, physical disabilities, hearing impairments, and learning disabilities. Everyone received handouts for future reference. The equipment she brought with her was passed around the room for all to see and touch. She talked about the importance of having adequate equipment and shared informa-
stressed that having a disaster response plan would allow the library staff to promote safety, to function and provide some type of service, to reduce or minimize damage, and to decrease the amount of time in determining what should be done. The elements of a good disaster plan are prevention, planning, response, and recovery. Therefore, a library should have a quick instruction/emergency/information sheet; a call chain list; a floor plan showing all fire alarms, fire extinguishers, and water shutoff valves; and a staff that has been trained to handle disasters at all levels. Mona Farrow, Perry Library, Old Dominion University
tion about the maintenance of this equipment. Neuber also pointed out some helpful Internet resources. Did you know that a guide horse can be used as a seeing guide for blind patrons? Yes, its true. Go to www.guidehorse. com and read about it. The group was amazed by all the information Neuber shared, and they asked many questions during her presentation. Neuber seemed to enjoy sharing her wealth of knowledge and expertise with everyone. Cynthia Bentley, Johnson Center Library, George Mason University
A Recent Translation of ILLIAD Tammy Hines, Longwood University
Tammy Hines, reader services librarian at Longwood University, presented this informative session that covered all that is involved in getting a new interlibrary loan system up and running. Acquiring a new ILL system is a process that takes some research regarding the system you wish to purchase and the documentation of statistics related to ones current system. In Hiness case, her presentation and documentation led, in relatively
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Bill Fiege shared ways to bring humor into the workplace. short order, to the purchase of a new system, ILLIAD. She shared information about the setup, templates, training, testing, and troubleshooting that had to be done to make ILLIAD a functioning interlibrary loan system. The attendees were shocked at the amount of work involved in changing systems and the obstacles encountered during this transition. Hiness question and answer period covered concerns that spanned the process from conversion to tracking daily technical problems. Hines is very much on top of ILL issues and concerns, and is excited that Longwood can now handle the growing traffic for ILL services with this new system. Cynthia Bentley, Johnson Center Library, George Mason University in the Newman Library at Virginia Tech. Peters is stacks manager there, but he works with a full-time staff and many students that help make it all happen. He discussed the practical aspects of book maintenance in libraries and explained the importance of accuracy, appearance, regular stack pickups, and adding new stacks to expand shelving. Each aspect was a project in itself. Peters uses an accuracy checking system to maintain accuracy in the stacks. Time is an important factor in maintaining the appearance of the stacks. He stressed the importance of purchasing equipment that is of a good quality and will hold up over a long period of time. He suggested purchasing sturdy and strong bookends and book trucks that can hold the books securely. He emphasized having pickups done regularly in order to cut down on lost, missing, and incorrectly shelved materials. Evaluating the current conditions of the stacks should lead to shifting that maintains at least eighty percent load capacity per shelf. Inventories should be used to effectively survey the stacks. When additional stacks are needed, purchasing and assembling them has to be a very well-planned project. In spite of the fear factor, Peters spearheaded this huge project, and it was successful. The group was amazed at how he made it all happen. Cynthia Bentley, Johnson Center Library, George Mason University
Dont Be Afraid To Weed! Kathy Carter, Roanoke City Library, and Pat Muller, Library of Virginia
Carter and Muller discussed the importance of weeding library collections, stressing the need for systematic, ongoing efforts to maintain library selections that are relevant to library patrons and to dutifully ensure that only accurate, current information is available. The facilitators identified barriers that halt weeding initiatives, reasons that weeding is so important, those who should be responsible for weeding tasks, processes, and overcoming public objections to trashing knowledge and pub-
Stacks Maintenance at Virginia Tech Christopher Peters, Virginia Tech
On this clear, sunny, warm afternoon, Peters shared an innovative process for planning new stacks
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Former paraprofessionals Ophelia Payne, Carole Lohman, Tammy Hines, Ginger Peterman, and Susie Pitts discuss their careers since earning their MLS degrees. Right, Ruth Turner and Ona Turner Dowdy enjoy some time away from the registration and sales tables.
lic funds. Significant time was spent discussing the importance of policy documents that inform weeding personnel, especially in circumstances of multiple-location library systems, in order to ensure effective complementary efforts across entire collections. Successful weeding helps not only to ease space restrictions by removing materials little used, but also to provide strong, effective collections that facilitate patron access. Chris Dixon, George Mason University
Whats Up with Government Documents? Rene Bosman, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Mary Clark, Library of Virginia
This session provided participants the latest and greatest of the gov-
ernment information resources. The Government Printing Office represents the largest publisher in the world, providing access to the collective resources of the United States government. The information produced by the GPO can provide broad demographic data and trends or highly specialized information from agency reports. Did you know teachers can access lesson plans and other resources on the Department of Education website? Did you ever look at the travel tips and warnings from the Department of State before going overseas? With a system so large and with multiple access points,
patrons often have little idea what information exists, let alone where it resides. The presenters spent considerable time explaining the GPOs move, which continues to this day, to electronic format largely accessed via agency websites. Other developments we could see down the road include a catalog of government publications, future digital systems, and digitization of paper collections. The session concluded with an update on what the Library of Virginia, as the state depository library, is managing in regard to state information. Chris Dixon, George Mason University
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Marie Carter presents photographer Pierre Courtois with a certificate of thanks from the forum.
basic overview of the field. They were also given many examples of how exciting the field can be, as evidenced by Toms overwhelming enthusiasm for what he does. Chris Dixon, George Mason University
Google Its Impact on the Library Sharon Albert and Benjamin Norris, Radford University
The Google session gave a crash course on the popular search engine, including how its designed (as far as publicly known), how to make sense of the web interface, and Googles component parts. Norris explained the algorithmic style Google uses to pull results from a users search quickly. He also explained that while the results are instantaneous, they are often not completely relevant, are mixed with paid advertisements, and may not rank the results appropriately for users. He went on to explain the parts of the Google Grid including Google Earth and Google Scholar. Participant questions mainly focused on the best ways to get at information through Google and suggested alternatives to the search engine. Chris Dixon, George Mason University
The Imperfect Image: Caring for Historic Photographs Dale Neighbors, Library of Virginia
This interactive session described the historic evolution of photographs. By tracing the methods of photo publishing, participants learned not only how to correctly identify the type of photographs they might have, but also how to care for them based upon how they were produced. Neighbors stressed that there is no cure-all for photographs, and to be extremely careful. Dale introduced popular photographic methods including daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, glass plate negatives, and film negatives, among others giving examples along the way. With each example, participants were shown the deterioration that had occurred and learned about the likely causes. Some of the most interesting examples were those photographs damaged by misguided conservation efforts. The session concluded with a question and answer session in which Neighbors offered free advice to participants on their unique circumstances. Chris Dixon, George Mason University
The Daily Challenges of Special Collections Librarianship Tom Camden and Audrey Johnson, Library of Virginia
This session described special collections librarianship specifically within the context of the Library of Virginia and the experience of the presenters. They had plenty of credibility the Library of Virginia Special Collections holds over 1.5 million volumes and 97 million documents, and is essentially a library within a library. Topics included the rare book collection, picture collection, effects of temperature and relative humidity on collections, and patron use and handling of collections. The presenters gave participants a glimpse of the daily life in special collections, listing tasks of staff as well as the usual duties of Tom Camden, who is in charge of special collections. Security concerns at the Library of Virginia, with its proximity to the capitol, figured prominently in the discussion. Participants who attended the session to explore special collections as a career direction were given a
Basic First Aid for Libraries Nancy Bell, retired from Longwood University
Nancy Bell and her two helpers, Weston Hall and Dennis Stroll, gave an interesting and helpful presentation on basic first aid good not only for libraries, but for everyone. She stressed the importance of assembling a first aid kit for the workplace and keeping it stocked with the necessities, of keeping an up-to-date list of persons qualified to administer first aid and/or CPR, and of instructing personnel on how to react in case of an emer-
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gency. There was also audience participation in a demonstration of two methods of helping a person who is choking and unable to breathe. Jean Quibble, retired from Virginia Tech University Libraries
Volunteering at the National Archives and Footprints across America Rennie Quible, author/educator
Rennie Quible presented two sessions during the 2006 conference. In her first session, Volunteering at the National Archives, Quible told the audience about some of her experiences at the National Archives. She had been able to put on the white gloves and touch some of our countrys very old and historical documents. In answer to an attendees question of how one would go about volunteering, her short, but not sarcastic, answer was to just walk in the front door and volunteer! She also brought several examples of items available from the archives store or the online store. The examples were very realistic copies of documents that are in the National Archives. There is a wealth of information in our National Archives; to get started online, just go to www.archives. gov. Quibles second session was about her book, Walking-Talking: A Navajo Code Talker Story. She told how she got the idea for the book while volunteering at the National Archives. She traveled to Gallup, New Mexico, and Window Rock, Arizona, where she met and talked with former Navajo Marine Code Talkers and people who were family or friends of the former Code Talkers. Her book had two objectives: First, to honor great Americans; second, to help young Americans meet and appreciate individuals who may not have been included in their history books, but who
Tracey Bowry of Norfolk won the framed P. Buckley Moss print. have touched our lives and have left giant footprints across Americas history. Jean Quibble, retired from Virginia Tech University Libraries
Enhancing Work-Study Student Productivity in the Library Linda Lemery, Mary B. Blount Library, Averett University
Linda Lemery, a medical technologist, was hired as circulation coordinator of Mary B. Blount Library at Averett University. She had some workplace problems to resolve, some of which seemed to relate to the work-study program: books were incorrectly shelved, shelfreading wasnt being done, shelving was behind on a regular basis, work-study students were regularly late or were not showing up for work, a criterion-based evaluation system was not in place, the library
was open extended hours without a sufficient number of students to fill the open slots, and there was no work-study student help in the summer. These issues seemed to be symptoms of larger problems whose resolution would require enhanced communication and relationshipbuilding among work-study students and library personnel. Lemery decided to restructure the librarys work-study program around developing participating students into future responsible citizens and leaders, because doing so would make them more marketable to prospective employers in the post-graduation workplace. She also believed that the librarys problems would be resolved as a byproduct of this program. She developed a list of work behaviors that would benefit participating students, modalities to measure how well participating students were acquiring those work behaviors, and an evaluation rating system incorporating both the work behaviors and the measurement modalities, and based on the financial aid form. She also documented processes, developed forms, and developed other tools loosely categorized under affirmation of value and worth (hiring, training), reaffirmation (interim and final evaluation), and communication. All tools contained percolating themes of enhancing workplace communication and building relationships. Lemery also started a community volunteer program with a target population of local high school students who needed volunteer hours as part of their high school requirements. Having the help of these community volunteers during the summer alleviated the need for more (paid) help in the library. Since these high school students came from a technologyimmersion high school and were highly skilled in computer software manipulation and hardware
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The Monday evening social was filled with music, dancing, and fun. networking, they were able to accomplish as much, if not more in some cases, than some of the college-age student assistants who worked for her. Lemery highly recommended volunteer programs as viable additions to any librarys student workforce, if the library is able to get the proper permission to implement such a plan. Sharon Albert, Radford University sitions. Still, there are some rules that remain consistent: All dates should read in the same format. Dates usually work better on the resumes right side. Items relevant to the position should be on the resume. A readable font should be used. Note what the main point is what should be noticed first. Handouts included a list of action verbs for use on resumes, along with a list describing functional skills. Also included were suggestions in design and editing from the book Resumes, Resumes, Resumes. In conclusion, Nicolaysen presented a very timely and informative seminar. At a time when a candidate may have less than a minute to impress a recruiter, a well-written resume might make the difference between rejection and an interview. Marcia Cramer, Pamunkey Regional Library in Mechanicsville Quest, and other resources to help find census records, military documents, and other sources that may assist in genealogical research. Utilizing a PowerPoint presentation, Cooper guided participants through some of these sites, demonstrating how to access primary sources such as census records; birth, marriage, and death records; newspapers; court records; and more. She provided information on major websites containing genealogical information, such as Cyndis List, www.rootsweb.com, and Family Search. Cooper cited great moments in genealogy dating back to the early seventeenth century, when the Virginia General Assembly required ministers to keep and report vital records. The difference between then and now was illustrated when Cyndi Howells set up her webpage linked to genealogical websites. Cooper gave each participant in the seminar excellent handouts, along with a CD. The seminar gave all in attendance a good working knowledge of online genealogical sources. Marcia Cramer, Pamunkey Regional Library in Mechanicsville VL
Writing That Great Resume Lori Nicolaysen, career consultant
There is no one way to do a resume. So began Lori Nicolaysens seminar, Writing That Great Resume. Nicolaysen advised the participants to think of a resume as your advertisement. The master copy can be changed based on the requirements of each particular job. Using an overhead projector, Nicolaysen then showed several examples, each for about ten seconds. Flaws in format and organization soon became quite obvious. Though some resume examples looked odd, Nicolaysen suggested that these types could be used for advertising or creative/artistic po-
Electronic Genealogical Resources Jean Cooper, University of Virginia
Jean Cooper demonstrated the use of www.ancestry.com, Heritage
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Ten Years of Publishing Good Writing: Tom Dooley and Eclectica
by Cy Dillon
E
clectica (http://www.Eclec tica.org/) was begun in October 1996 by Tom Dooley and Chris Lott. Their intention, according to the magazines current selfdescription, was to create a magazine not bound by formula or genre, that harnessed technology to further the reading experience rather than for the sake of flashy gimmickry, and that was dynamic and interesting enough content-wise to keep readers coming back for more. In the past decade, Eclectica has been just that, and has even published an award-winning collection of the fiction it has featured. The ezine has attracted enough attention to have its own Wikipedia entry, but it has stuck to Dooleys original vision of presenting good writing in a modest but attractive format. In this interview, Dooley reflects on the origin of the magazine, its accomplishments, its continuing potential, and his own passion to keep it alive.
not everyone has the lack of sense to want to keep beating their heads against the wall for no tangible gain.
VL
Eclectica has been recognized as one of the first and most professional of the Internet literary magazines. Its consistency is remarkable. Why do you think you have been able to maintain such a high standard of quality in the content and presentation of the journal?
TD
presence on the Internet at all is low expectations. What I mean is, we, meaning anyone whos been involved with the magazine, have been fully aware that were a nonpaying online magazine with a negative budget. So, when ten years go by with no income, and the New Yorker hasnt called, were not so brokenhearted that we cant gear up for another ten years. Or at least, I should speak for myself, because not everyone has the lack of sense to want to keep beating their heads against the wall for no tangible gain. But speaking for myself, Ive always felt from the beginning that the gain to be had from doing this magazine is the magazine itself. In a way, the magazine is like a child to me, in that it didnt exist before, and now it does, and I feel responsible for keeping it alive. Im not sure Ive really answered your question, though, so heres another shot at it. One of the ways weve been able to maintain a standard, besides the stubbornness to just keep doing what weve been doing, is that weve been fortunate to have the help of some energetic, high-quality individuals over the years both editors and contributors.
Before I answer, Id like to thank you for such a kindly worded question. In fact, its so kindly worded that Im not sure I can respond without sounding prideful, but Ill give it a try. The short answer to how weve been able to maintain any standards or
VL
Chris Lott was instrumental in starting Eclectica. Can you comment about his role? Chris gets all the credit for starting Eclectica and most of the credit for keeping it going for the first two and a half years. And,
TD
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considering that we were doing an issue every month for the first year, an issue every other month the second, that translates to about five years worth of work. It was his idea to start an online literary magazine, his vision for it to pursue a lofty ideal of print-quality literature on the web, his hard work and technical wizardry that put the site together into something coherent, functioning, and beautiful in its simplicity. You can go back in the archives and look at early issues, and you can see how Chris was constantly evolving and distilling the look of the magazine to what we have now. It really hasnt changed since he left, although Ive shaved away much of the functionality (comment boxes, drop down menus, search bar, etc.) in favor of the bare bones. Lookwise, Im still not in a hurry to change anything except the home page, which is, I admit, one of the least exciting, least representative home pages on the web. I dont want to give you the wrong idea that I did absolutely nothing for the first two and a half years. Nor am I saying that the magazine doesnt reflect my own vision of what an online literary site ought to be. But the truth is, I contributed very little until Chriss departure meant I either had to step up or close up.
poetry editor, Jennifer Finstrom. The word poem challenge, one of our most enduring features, was her contribution as well. Besides her work in the poetry arena, though, she has always given me solid advice when Ive needed it. Whenever Im stuck on something, she provides an unwavering, deadon perspective that clears the way. I have to mention two people whove been associated with the magazine for most of the last ten years, Stanley Jenkins and Paul Sampson. They both contribute regularly to our Salon section
Ive shaved away much of the functionality in favor of the bare bones.
VL
What other members of Eclecticas staff had significant roles in developing the magazine? My wife Julie had a significant role, in that she was one of the original contributors (second issue), back when neither of us had any idea we would ever be married to each other, and she served as the poetry editor and general coeditor for over five years. During that time, she brought in a number of great assistant editors, including Pam Gemin, Mitchell Metz, and John Reinhard. And she provided the connection to our current
TD
(op-ed); Paul is now our nonfiction/miscellany editor; and Stan has placed more stories (sixteen) in Eclectica than any other author. These guys are as much a part of the magazine as I am. Another frequent contributor, Kevin McGowin, became our review editor in 2003. He had previously worked with Damon Suave at another pioneering ezine, Oyster Boy Review, and he expanded Eclecticas review section considerably. Unfortunately, Kevins life was tragically cut short, but his protge, Colleen Mondor, has picked up where he left off. There are many others Elizabeth Glixman, our interview editor; Mike Spice, our travel editor; Don Mager, classical music reviewer and poet; and Tara Gilbert-Brever, assistant poetry editor and graphic artist and it really goes back to what I said earlier about the great people whove helped give the site whatever quality it possesses.
Has the potential you saw in web publication back in 1996 been realized? Absolutely not, but its getting there. Until theres a way for Internet writers and editors to be widely compensated monetarily for their hard work, I dont see the potential being fully realized. But given that compensation isnt yet in place, the web has still made huge strides in garnering attention and respect in the literary world. It is inevitable, I believe. Books and print magazines arent going away in the face of electronic publication, any more than movies went away in the face of television, or television in the face of cable; but just as those other media gained their own rightful place, so will publishing on the web. And the advantages instant access, global reach, a zillion other things have web publishing poised to be something really great. One of the factors that I think is starting to give momentum to online literature is National Public Radio. It makes a difference when youre driving home from work and hear commentary from someone like Andrei Codrescu, founder of the online site Exquisite Corpse. Sites like Corpse and Salon and storySouth are changing peoples minds about online literature. The day that several stories in Best Short American Stories come from an ezine, well know weve turned another very big corner.
VL
TD
VL
How do you attract accomplished and innovative writers to a magazine that doesnt pay for material? There are only two things we can offer. One is what little bit of reputation weve been able to build for ourselves, mostly by being as picky as we can be. An accomplished and innovative writer may feel that if his or her work appears in Eclectica, it means the work was selected because it met some stan-
TD
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dard of excellence and beat out a considerable amount of competition. Weve been fortunate that the last two years, the first credible effort to recognize the best fiction on the web, storySouths Million Writers Award, has lent some validation to our claim that were being really picky with the work we accept. Besides high standards, we do of course offer a permanent publishing venue with the potential to reach any person on the planet who contrives a way to access the Internet. One that isnt too hard on the eyes and has a respectable following. You are recognized as an exceptionally good fiction editor. What do you look for in a short story? The short answer is that I want to be hooked into reading the story, and then rewarded for investing the time I spent doing so. As such, I use a tiered reading approach to find stories for Eclectica. The first tier is looking to be hooked. When Im plowing through a hundred or more short stories at a time, its not too difficult for me to get into a very fickle mindset not unlike the kind of mindset I imagine the average web surfer might have. If something lacks originality or polish, Im probably going to pick up on that within the first paragraph or two. Dont get me wrong this doesnt mean a story has to have a particular kind of opening paragraph. Im just looking for assurances that my time isnt going to be wasted if I read further. If I read all the way to the end of the story, Im then looking for the reward. Ideally, the end of the story the sum total of the story will have an impact: knock the air out of me, make me laugh, something. Often its the or something that I really appreci-
ate an impact I wasnt expecting, and maybe havent encountered before. When Ive distilled a batch of submissions down to stories that have both hooked and rewarded, then I really get picky, until I have eliminated every piece I can find a reason to eliminate. The current issue has quite a few stories in it, more than I thought Id have. That seems to be the pattern lately. I set out to have only five or six, but I end up with fifteen. I know it looks bad on some level like Im not
Im psyched to have had the chance to publish fiction from every continent.
doing my job as an editor if I cant whittle them down to fewer than fifteen, but theyre all good, for hecks sake. I cant see rejecting a story I love, particularly when the only cost of including it is my time and a little extra bandwidth.
VL
TD
VL
Would you give some examples of stories you are particularly happy to have published? There are thirty of them in our first print anthology, Eclectica Magazine: Best Fiction, Volume One. That was published in 2004 and included selections from our first seven years on the web. I have a list of stories started for the next anthology, one that its going to be very difficult to whittle down to thirty when the time comes. Of course, Im happy with the stories we placed in storySouths Million Writers Award Notable Stories nine in 2003 and eleven in 2004. Their sheer number is a testament to the great writers whove been sending their work our way. In addition, two of the 2003 stories,
TD
Gokul Rajarams The Boy with the Hole in His Head and Sefi Attas A Union on Independence Day, and two of the 2004 stories, Joan Shaddox Isoms Remade Tobacco and Chika Unigwes Dreams, all made the top ten list for their respective years. Weve nominated several stories over the last few years for Africas prestigious Caine Prize, as yet with no luck, but we continue to hear from great African writers like Atta and Unigwe, and were hoping to break through there someday. Im psyched to have had the chance to publish fiction from every continent. Besides Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America, weve had some success in building connections to Europe particularly the UK, where weve collaborated with Alex Keegans Boot Camp on several flash fiction projects. The latest appears in the January/February 2006 issue. It was a fundraiser for Children in Need. They needed an outlet for the fiction they generated that was more adult-oriented, so Alex and I agreed to publish a second set of winners. Even though these stories are flash fiction, written from prompts under time constraints for a childrens fundraiser, I have to say that theyre some of my favorites. At least a couple of them are sure to make it into the next anthology. I could go on and list dozens of stories that Im happy to have published. If Ive succeeded as a fiction editor at all, as you were so kind as to suggest earlier, its probably because I really love doing this. I love going through a hundred stories and finding one or two that just blow me away. Or, to be more accurate, hundreds of stories and finding ten or fifteen. So really, any story that winds up in an issue of Eclectica is one that makes me happy.
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VL
Have you been able to continue writing yourself while editing Eclectica? Nope. I had to struggle just to find the time to do this interview. I used to write editorials in the Salon section, but lately I havent been able to put together anything remotely readable for that, either. Im not complaining, though. Ive gone through a series of realizations about myself. For one thing, while I was a decent athlete, I was a slightly better coach. More important, I got much more of a jazz out of coaching someone to win rather than winning myself. Similarly, I was a decent student, but a much better teacher, and understanding something wasnt half as rewarding to me as leading someone else to understand. When it comes to writing, its the same thing, at least at this point in my life. I think I have the potential to write a decent short story, maybe even a novel someday, but in the meantime, I get much more of a kick out of editing Eclectica, try-
TD
ing to bring peoples attention to great stories that have already been written.
VL
Do you have any innovations in mind as Eclectica moves into its second decade of publication? Other than somehow making the home page a little
TD
understanding something wasnt half as rewarding to me as leading someone else to understand.
more representative of the site as a whole? Not really. Well, I would like to eventually bring back the scrawl wall, which was a message board-like feature we used to have so people could give immediate feedback/commen-
tary after reading a piece. The trick is going to be finding a way to do that without compromising what I think is now a very clean, attractive look. Theres a website called The Best Page in the Universe, put together by a computer programmer now living in Utah. Hes been online about the same amount of time we have, and he gets about a million hits a month. Something he says about webpage design I think bears quoting: Im keeping my website shitty as a protest against all the slick-looking, contentless websites out there. Nobody cares about your stupid rotating icons and fading links (http://www.thebestpagein theuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=faq). He may have put it a little more bluntly than I would have, but the point he makes is valid, I think. The vision for Eclectica, even back when Chris Lott and I were talking about how cool it would be to start something like this, was to keep it simple, to use technology in service of content and not the other way around. VL
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Marketing Yourself at Work: Or, Your Mother Was All Wrong
by Edwin S. Clay III
(Adapted from a presentation at the recent VLA Paraprofessional Forum Conference, May 2123, 2006, in Richmond, Virginia.) odds with the blatantly capitalistic concept of marketing. In recent years, however, public libraries have begun to recognize the importance of marketing. The Fairfax County Public Library has had a marketing department since 1994. It has dramatically increased publicity and recognition for the system. ucts and services offered, we are less willing or able to ensure that coworkers and supervisors understand the skills and knowledge we as individuals bring to the table. Whether we have been in libraries for a year or a decade, we have surely seen the changes in how people access information, as well as the services we provide. Changes in technology occur so rapidly that it is difficult for us to keep up. As a result, we information professionals are constantly reeducating ourselves, refining our skill sets, and reinventing our services. If we acknowledge this, how can we expect our supervisors, our colleagues, and our users to know what we do or can do for them if we dont tell them? Lets explore why we should tell them. Why should we apply business marketing skills to ourselves? Why should we be marketing ourselves within or even outside the library? Is it for recognition, personal advancement, money? Yes. All of us have marketed ourselves to someone else
W
ho amongst you was told by your mother that its impolite to call attention to yourself? Did she remind you often that one should never try to be noticed? What did you think of such advice? Did you ever pass it on to someone else? How does such advice play out in the workplace? Could your mothers have been wrong? What Im talking about, here, is marketing. As defined by Encarta, Marketing is the selling of products or services. [Its] the business activity of presenting products or services to potential customers in such a way as to make them eager to buy. Marketing includes such matters as the pricing and packaging of the product and the creation of demand by advertising and sales campaigns. Businesses have understood for years that only by marketing themselves and their products can they expand their customer base and increase profitability. Libraries, on the other hand, have traditionally shied away from the concept of marketing. Thats perhaps because of its association with the dirty p word profit orientation. The public service orientation of the public library and the value placed on the importance of free service seem at
We market our services, but are still reluctant to market ourselves.
Those who work in libraries have realized that our institution must be willing to borrow marketing concepts from the business world in order to make both existing and potential customers aware of the services and products we offer.
Customers, Patrons, Clients
Even though information professionals have come to realize the importance of marketing, many of us still struggle with the apparent conflict between promotion or selfmarketing and service. We market our services, but are still reluctant to market ourselves. Many view self-marketing as sorry, Mom bragging. The irony is that while willing to work to ensure that our users understand and value the prod-
Edwin S. Clay III has been the director of the twenty-one-branch Fairfax County Public Library since 1982. FCPL is the largest public library system in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, as well as the largest in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Clay is a past president of the Virginia Library Association and the Virginia Public Library Directors Association.
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before. Weve marketed ourselves to obtain our current positions. Our resumes, cover letters, and responses during interviews were all designed to present ourselves at our best. Even after were on the job, we continue to present our best selves. To do so, we use selfmarketing, even though we may not recognize it as such. Look around you at work. Who among your coworkers do you consider to be particularly successful? Is that person just lucky? Luck does help, but Id be willing to bet that she or he had plans for advancement. Even if it wasnt titled my personal marketing plan, it had the same effect.
strengths support and align with your goals. If there are gaps, list the skills you believe need further development in order for you to effectively pursue your goals. You may want to update your technology skills or improve your public speaking. Maybe your organizational or interpersonal skills need some refinement. Actively seek out opportunities to develop these skills through
you are the storyteller of your own life and can create your own legend or not.
attending workshops and conferences or working with mentors and colleagues. Self-awareness is absolutely vital to self-marketing.
Make a Plan
To initiate a personal marketing plan, write down what you consider your core strengths to be. These are the skills, knowledge, and expertise that you bring to your library, which allow you to add value to it. Here are a few questions to ask yourself: Are you a creative problem-solver? Do you work well with children? Are you able to explain technology to those who have little or no experience with computers? Do you relate well to older people? Do you have highly developed organizational skills? Do you adapt well in stressful situations? Do you function effectively in a team-centered environment? Once you have decided what your strongest skills are, make a list of your short- and long-term professional goals. What do you want to be doing next year? In five years? In ten years? Ask yourself how well your
Becoming a Brand
No marketer can begin to sell a product unless he or she understands what it is about the product that makes it unique or desirable to others. Marketers use these characteristics to develop a branded package. Similarly, you cannot begin to market yourself to create your own branded package if you cannot tell others what you have to offer. What is a brand, anyway? Again, heres a definition from Encarta. As a noun, a brand is a product or manufacturer; a name, usually a trademark, of a manufacturer or the product identified by its name; a distinctive type of something.
So, what is the value of a brand? Heres what marketing guru Tom Asacker says: Salt is salt, right? Not when it comes to a blue box with a picture of a little girl carrying an umbrella. Morton International continues to dominate the U.S. salt market even though it charges more for a product that is demonstrably the same as many other products on the shelf. Management consultant Tom Peters has some interesting insights on brands, branding, and uniqueness. According to Peters, Branding is nothing more than heart. Its about passion what you care about and whats inside you. If there is nothing special about your work, Peters says, no matter how hard you apply yourself you wont get noticed. And you wont get paid much, either. Peters believes you are the storyteller of your own life and can create your own legend or not. Peters says he cant think of anything worse than being ordinary. Branding is a conscious, proactive, positive activity that forces individuals to know who they are and to articulate this knowledge succinctly and publicly. But branding cannot take place in a vacuum. To develop a brand, you need to know who the consumers of Brand You will be. In public libraries, the first group of customers to consider is the users. The products and services that any library provides are or certainly should be designed with these customers and their needs in mind. But your customers are also your colleagues, your subordinates, and your supervisors both within the library and within the larger organization it serves,
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such as a county or city government. With such a large group of potential customers, it is difficult to pick out one or two needs or wants as most important. Marketers deal with this situation by dividing their potential customers into subgroups. They determine what it is about the product that will appeal to each subgroup, and they market those specific attributes to each group based on its primary and secondary wants or needs. This can work for you as well. For example, your supervisor may place the highest priority on organizational skills, but she or he might also value team orientation, the ability to communicate effectively, or the ability to make and explain decisions. Your colleagues, on the other hand, may place the highest priority on the ability to work in a team, but they also value communication, decision-making, and organizational skills. Once you have clearly identified what it is that each group values most highly, you can focus on presenting that particular skill or attribute set when you are working with members of that group.
House of Representatives or Senate are made in the spate of an elevator ride, as a staff aide whispers into a legislators ear while heading down to the floor to cast a vote. So, whats the purpose of such a concept in a library? To me, it is not so much the speech as the exercise which forces us to think about ourselves in a new way. The techniques for creating a great elevator speech are certainly ap-
Does this sound calculating? It should. A better word, though, is strategic.
plicable to marketing oneself in a library. A self-marketing elevator speech should consist of your name, title, occupation, field of interest or desired position, and something special about yourself, such as your talents, experience, or approach. Great elevator speeches sound effortless. They are memorable and sincere. They are concise, but warm, friendly, confident, and enthusiastic. They focus not just on you, but how you can benefit a situation. And they take practice. A successful elevator speech frames what you do in a new and creative way. A landscaper I know introduces himself as someone who is turning the world green one garden at a time. A dietician friend describes her work as teaching people how to behave in front of food. You can put a special spin on your library role or function. Change I am an assistant on the
Communicating Your Brand
Have you ever heard of the elevator speech? Wikipedia defines the elevator speech (or pitch) as a brief overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. Its called an elevator speech because it can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride about twenty seconds. Conventional wisdom has it that the most important decisions made on the floor of the U.S.
circulation desk to I am in customer relations at our local public library. Likewise, I ensure that books are in order on the shelves can become I am an inventory control manager at the local public library. Does this sound calculating? It should. A better word, though, is strategic. It seems to me that the way to get where you want to be is, in essence, to follow the path of self-awareness that has been translated into Brand You. If you are successful in marketing yourself within the library, you will have established your identity, become thoroughly self-aware, demonstrated the value you bring to the organization, and been rewarded in a manner appropriate to your contributions to the library. So, with deference to mothers everywhere, heres what Mom should have told you besides that advice to always wear clean underwear: Marketing is good. Marketing is an essential element in moving ahead in the library. Know your skills and competencies. Develop that elevator speech or a thirtysecond commercial. Use such tools to develop a clear and concise Brand You. Learn to network and develop a support structure. Leverage your current customers and develop alliance partners. Brainstorm with others. Practice patience, but not for too long! And while Mom might not be on target when it comes to marketing yourself, remember what she told you many, many times: Dont be afraid to try. VL
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The Art Bag Project at the Rockbridge Regional Library
by Carol Elizabeth Jones
C
oming up with creative marketing ideas is one of the challenges faced by public libraries everywhere. The patrons who use the library know how much it enriches their lives, and any loyal patron will tell you that he wouldnt know what to do without the library. But what about those citizens who dont use the library? What would make them think that the library is a place that has something for them? What would make them believe that the library is not a static environment but one of activity, creativity, and ideas? That was the question which led to the development of the Art Bag Project at the Rockbridge Regional Library.
What We Did
We toyed with the idea of selling library tote bags with a slogan that conveyed the notion that creative things happen at the library. As we were trying to come up with such a slogan, it hit us: instead of promoting creativity at the library, we could instigate creativity at the library. We decided to purchase sturdy canvas book bags. We stenciled the name of the library on the side gusset and then sent out invitations to area artists, asking them to apply their artwork to a book bag and donate the bag for exhibit and silent auction. We thought that if we had twenty positive responses, the project would be a success. There were forty-four bags in the final exhibit.
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Left, art bag by Jennifer Cox; right, art bag by Claudia Cutler.
Publicity
The Art Bag Project was an opportunity to send out press releases as the project progressed and to have an art opening at the library. We sent out formal invitations and pointed out that this would be a rare opportunity to eat in the library. The exhibit was mounted along an entire wall and each piece was given a number (for auction) and an artist credit. The most exciting thing about the exhibit was that the styles of artwork and materials used were incredibly varied. Some employed stitchery and quilting, some incorporated threedimensional objects, many were painted, and some were just plain indescribable! The artists told us that they enjoyed having some aspects of the work defined for them (size, canvas, etc.) while other aspects were left completely open to interpretation. ing benefit, forty-four one-of-akind bags continue to promote the library as they are being used by their owners. Perhaps best of all, however, was that no one could see the exhibit and the wildly different interpretations of what to do with a canvas bag without feeling inspired. People left the library with ideas, and that really was the whole point of the project. VL
Benefits
We maintained bidding sheets for each piece of artwork in the exhibit. Bidding continued for a month. We made some money enough for a few special things for the childrens area. (We grossed $1,088 and spent $400 for materials and the opening.) More than the income, however, the real value of the project was that people were interested. The artists were interested enough to participate. Area residents were interested enough to come in to see the exhibit and to bid on the bags. As a continu-
Carol Elizabeth Jones is the youth services librarian at the Rockbridge Regional Library in Lexington, Virginia. She can be reached at cejones@rrlib. net. She attends the University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies.
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Making Winners of Students and the Library: Publicizing a New OPAC
by Luke Vilelle
N
o library-related web interface is as closely associated with the library as its online public access catalog (OPAC). Frequently the conduit through which the community interacts with the library, the OPAC is usually the only way to see the librarys holdings. For this reason, perhaps no change to a librarys online presence engenders as much emotion as a change to the OPAC. In the case of the University Libraries at Virginia Tech, the library staff believed those emotions would be overwhelmingly positive if the community would just use the new OPAC. Library staff knew anecdotally that students preferred not to use the old web OPAC (called Addison), which had featured the same navigation and appearance since its debut in 1998. Librarians used the telnet version of the OPAC because it was faster and showed information that wasnt always displayed in the web version. Upon the debut of the new Addison in August 2005, the library needed to spread the word that this was a user-friendly catalog. The OPAC implementation team, following instructions from library administration, designed the new catalog with undergraduates as the target market. The library wanted to ensure undergrads knew about Addisons new advantages. The library marketing team1 had the task of informing them, and received a $1,500 allotment from the administration to do it.
The team wanted to do more than tell students about the new Addison; having students try it out was the prime goal. The marketing team discussed taking a public relations angle an approach proven successful by the Baylor University libraries in celebrations
Library student workers, when asked what type of prize would induce them to participate in the contest, chose iPods.
to commemorate the passing of the old OPAC and the birth of a new one2 but decided to focus more on user education in order to convince students that the new Addison was worth their time. By offering a low-cost giveaway to all and valuable prizes to a few, the marketing team introduced a significant number of Tech students to the new Addison.
First Approach: Low-Cost Giveaway
The teams first, and more traditional, approach to promoting the new interface was to offer an inexpensive giveaway to all customers, including students. The team wanted the item to feature more than just the name and URL of the OPAC.
The team chose sticky pads (a generic version of Post-It Notes) to convey the message. The design featured the words New Addison in bold, with the tagline Youve never seen a library catalog like this. The web address for Addison (http://addison.vt.edu) was on the next line. Around the border of the sticky notes, eight brief bullet points about new Addison features could pique a users interest. A faded version of the University Libraries logo filled the background of the sticky notes writing area. Two thousand sticky pads cost $789. The team began handing out the pads during Virginia Techs Move-In Week, the week prior to the start of the fall semester when most of the student population returns to campus. The new Addison was a primary focus in the librarys canopy on a pedestrian mall. Library personnel distributed library literature and free lemonade to passersby. More than 350 students received library information during the three days on the mall. Most took one or more sticky pads. More pads reached the community during a week-long Addison tour two weeks into the semester. Two library staff members with a book cart, balloons, and promotional materials visited a differ-
Luke Vilelle is outreach librarian and chairs the marketing team at the University Libraries of Virginia Tech. He can be reached at [e-mail].
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ent spot on campus for three hours each day. The library table averaged about sixty visitors per day. A passive approach worked to distribute the rest of the sticky pads. During the first week of the semester, the outreach librarian placed about five Addison sticky pads next to each of the librarys sixty-plus computers. Most disappeared within a few days. Distribution within the first semester was a priority, given that Addison could only be new for so long. Homemade bookmarks, designed by circulation staff member Mary Lucado, complemented the sticky pads. The circulation department gave a bookmark, which identified the self-service circulation options in the new Addison (requesting a book, renewing your book, checking due dates, etc.), to nearly every patron who checked an item out during the first couple of months of the fall semester. Circulation distributed about 2,000 bookmarks.
Second Approach: Valuable Prizes
The marketing team spent the rest of its $1,500 on prizes for a contest that would introduce students to the new OPAC. The team chose to purchase iPods because of their strong appeal to the student population. Library student workers, when asked what type of prize would induce them to participate
in the contest, chose iPods. The marketing team purchased four iPods for $626. To be eligible to win an iPod, students had to answer four multiple-choice questions (see https:// survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp? id=1122917485414) correctly using the new Addison. The team, which wanted students to be pleased with their experience in the new OPAC, designed a set of easy questions that would highlight new features in Addison. An optional, openended question concluded the entry form: Were interested in your opinions about the new Addison. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding the catalog, please enter them here. Virginia Techs web-based surveying tool, survey.vt.edu, enabled the creation of the contest entry form. Next came the hard part: attracting entrants. Publicity for the contest centered on an image of the Hokie Bird (the Virginia Tech mascot) wearing an iPod, created by library staff member Robert Sebek. The graphic mirrored the silhouette images that had gained popularity in iPod television advertisements. The team included this image on all publicity materials postcard-sized fliers taped next to the computers in the li-
brary and handed to students during outreach events, large posters hung from the library canopy during Move-In Week, and a student newspaper advertisement. Sebek, a library news administrator, also maintained a link to the contest in the library announcements section of the home page. Other routes for publicizing the contest included a public service announcement (PSA) on the campus radio station and fliers sent to all dormitory resident assistants, in the hope that they would pin the fliers to their bulletin boards. The contest opened on August 17, five days before classes started, and entries slowly trickled in fifty over the first five days. The goal for the contest, one thousand entries, seemed far away. Momentum started to build upon the start of classes. An average of forty-eight students entered each of the first four days of classes. On Thursday, August 25, a presentation about the contest at a reference department meeting encouraged all librarians to mention the contest during library instruction sessions and at the reference desk. This tactic helped heighten awareness of the contest, as did the previously discussed Addison tour of campus. The week of the Addison tour, the second week of classes (August 29September 4), drew the most entries 358 of
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the three full weeks during which the contest was held. The largest number of entries on a single day was 103 on September 13, the next-to-last day of the contest. This indicates that perhaps continuing the contest another week or two would have proved fruitful. The marketing team set September 14 as the contest entry deadline because the team wanted to mesh the iPod giveaway with the librarys fiftieth anniversary tailgate party on September 17. In retrospect, contest entries might have received another bump from the hundreds of students who attended the library tailgate celebration. The only paid contest advertising was an ad in Techs student-run newspaper, the Collegiate Times, that ran September 7 and cost $85. The seventy-nine entrants that day were the most of any day that week, but the most important part of the ad was the showcase of comments students had made about the new Addison. Of the 1,179 contest entrants, 511 answered the optional final question, giving the library a rich set of feedback. Some comments helped the OPAC implementation team identify problems with Addison, such as a too-small typeface and a too-large search screen. The
vast majority, though, offered comments such as Its stupid-proof and I am actually looking forward to doing research in the library, which the advertisement featured. The library newsletter, Off the Shelf, which is distributed to all library donors and university
I am actually looking forward to doing research in the library.
faculty, has included these comments. The library dean found the comments helpful in illustrating the popularity of the new Addison, and has used them in presentations and in thank-you notes to university administrators who helped the library acquire the new integrated library system.
the contest drawing. In sum, the team spent about $0.53 per entrant on the iPods. The sticky pads cost $0.39 apiece. Given that each entrant to the iPod contest was definitely exposed to the new Addison (which could not be guaranteed with the sticky pads), the money on the iPods was well-spent. Upon reflection, two or three iPods might have accomplished the same thing as four. However, it was critical to have more than one multiple students asked in some form, Well, are you only giving away one iPod? Being able to tell students the library was giving away four impressed them and made them feel like they had a chance to win. And with students believing they could win, the library became a winner, too.
Notes
Marketing team members were Luke Vilelle (chair), Sharon Gotkiewicz, Paul Hover, Paul Metz, Joyce Nester, Dan Palmer, Robert Sebek, and Larry Thompson. 2 Mary Koehler Goolsby, Carol L. Schuetz, and Phillip J. Jones, From Funeral to Christening: OPAC Rites of Passage, The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finances 13.1 (2000): 34-36. VL
1
Conclusions
The contests 1,179 entrants included 820 undergraduates (3.8 percent of the undergrad population) and 349 graduate students (5.5 percent of the graduate population). Of the 1,179 entrants, 1,018 got all 4 questions right, and so were entered in
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Virginia Reviews
Reviews prepared by staff members of the Library of Virginia Sara B. Bearss, Editor
Simon Schama. Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves, and the American Revolution. New York: Harper Collins, 2006. xii + 480 pp. ISBN 0-0605-3916-X. $29.95 (hardcover). Exact numbers are not known, but many more black colonists (including black Virginians) ran away to seek freedom with the armies of the king than actively supported the revolution that white Americans (including white Virginians) led. The Continental Congress and the commander in chief of the Continental army at first refused to enlist black soldiers, although the necessity for filling the ranks eventually led to a relaxation of the rules to permit some free African-Americans and even some enslaved persons to serve in the army and gain their freedom. From the very beginning, though, the kings officers encouraged enslaved men to run away from their masters and gain their freedom fighting for the king. Tens of thousands of black Americans did so, although many of them tragically died of disease during the war, and only a portion of them enjoyed long lives in freedom afterward. Many did, though, some of them in the British colony of Nova Scotia (which then included both the present provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick). And of that group, a small portion immigrated to the coast of West Africa and there established a colony of freed people at Sierra Leone.
was ended in the so-called Land of the Free. reviewed by Brent Tarter, Editor, Dictionary of Virginia Biography
the kings officers encouraged enslaved men to run away .
SCHAMA REVIEW
A full generation before AfricanAmericans under the auspices of the American Society for ...