The New York Chapter ChapterNews
IN THIS ISSUE Message from the President
Message from the President:.........1
SLA Snapshots...........................2-3
RSS: Issues and Implementation...4
RSS 101.. ...................................4
RSS Adoption ............................4
RSS Information Center.............5
Future of RSS ............................5
Calling for Volunteers.....................7
Upcoming Events .....................9-10
Chapter Announcements.............11
SLA New Members ..................11
Nathan Rosen ..........................11
Gwen Loffler.............................11
SLA Snapshots ............................12
An Invitation to Readers ..............13
ADVERTISERS
Dialog.............................................7
Donna Conti Career Resources...12
EBSCO...........................................4
Timothy Emerson
Systems Development...............5
EOS International.........................13
Factiva ...........................................8
Global Securities Information, Inc...6
Heller Information Services..........13
InfoCurrent.....................................5
Prenax..........................................12
Pro Libra ........................................3
Wontawk......................................10
ChapterNews
Volume 78, #2 Autumn 2006
Autumn in New York,
why is the feeling so inviting…
e brisk air of fall and those particular scents in the air at this time of
T
year remind me, and probably many of us, of change. The leaves are
falling, people around us are preparing for winter, sending kids off to
college or going back to school themselves. The days are getting
shorter, we’re gearing up for the holidays and observances of Rosh
Hashanah, Ramadan, Yom Kippur, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, Hanukah,
Christmas, Kwanza, the New Year.
But underlying it all is change. Change is all around us at this time of year and I
can’t help think about the changes we are undergoing as an association.
Last year, after many years of lost members, the New York Chapter stayed more
or less at the same membership numbers – around 1100. The big news is that
the Washington D.C. Chapter, with a smaller pool of potential members, is neck
and neck with New York for the title of largest Chapter in the Association. Yes,
that is right, New York may soon no longer be able to say “We are the largest
chapter.” And all fun rivalries aside (I’m talking to you Shirley Loo…) does this
matter? Well it all depends how you look at it. Of course we are very happy for
the D.C. Chapter, and their growth is good for the whole association. But let’s
face it, we New Yorkers like to pride ourselves on having the best of everything
(the best baseball teams, shopping, live shows, parks, subway, and so on). So
what do we do about it New York? Do we care?
In September I called Shirley Loo, President of the D.C. Chapter to congratulate
her and the chapter on their efforts. I’ve known Shirley for several years and we
always have a good laugh – and that conversation was no different. What I did
mention to her is that I was going to use my presidency to raise the New York
membership by 10%.
Not a big number really when you think about it. Ten percent of 1100 is an easy
number to reach right? One hundred and ten new members in 14 months. Not
too tough. Let’s see that’s just under 8 new members per month, or let’s say 2
per week. Hmm, that’s a bit scary if you look at it that way.
So what’s wrong with 1100 members anyway and why do you keep nagging us
about growing the membership! Well, a lot of professionals are retiring in the
years ahead, others have left the information world and still others have just
dropped their membership for a variety of reasons. In fact, New York has had
(Letter continues on page 2)
1 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006
 (Letter continued from page 1)
ChapterNews as many as 3,000 members in our Chapter over the years
New York Chapter and I’m thinking the potential pool of information pro-
fessionals in this city...is a bit like an iceberg…only a tiny
Special Libraries Association percentage is actually visible and there is a large part hid-
Autumn Vol. 78, No. 2 den. So, if we have a huge pool of potential members in
this city, why are they not joining the association?
PUBLICATION SCHEDULE The question I’ve heard most often from information
ChapterNews, the bulletin of the New York Chapter of the professionals is “well, what can the association do for me.”
Special Libraries Association, is published four times a year. Well, as a very wise former president of our association
Visit our web site: www.sla-ny.org told me a while back “the association is what the mem-
bership makes of it”. Each and every one of us has a
responsibility to ensure that this association, which I
Deadlines for submitting materials: believe is so very important to our profession and to the
Winter issue: December 15 development of each and every one of us, has long term
Spring issue: March 15 viability.
Summer issue: May 14
Our Association is much more than just a voice for our
profession – although that alone should be enough. Our
Submit all material to: Association is a network of connected, active and inter-
Charles Lowry ested professionals. Professionals who care so much
ChapterNews Editor about the work they do that they often give up nights
E-mail: clowry@alm.com and weekends to teach, network, and share their knowl-
edge with others. Our Association gives us access to
Submissions: Articles on topics of general interest to infor- learning, to knowledge and most of all, to each other. I
mation professionals and the New York Chapter are welcome.
Authors can send submissions via e-mail as text file or MS
not only found my current job through networking but
Word for Windows attachments, or with article in the body of I also have hired several people through the connections
the e-mail. Please use single-line spacing, Courier font, with and relationships I’ve built in SLA and in the New York
minimal use of boldface and italics. Include a byline with your Chapter. I know where to turn when I have a problem to
full name and place of work. figure out at work, or if I need to recruit a new staffer or
even where I might find my next brilliant idea!
ADVERTISING inquiries should be addressed to: (Letter continued on page 3)
Nancy Bowles
235 East 22nd Street, Apt 9L SLA-NY SNAP-SHOT
New York, NY 10010
Telephone: (212) 679-7088 or
E-mail: nancy.bowles@verizon.net

DESIGN & LAYOUT:

Gatta Design & Company, Inc.
For inquiries call (212) 229-0071 or www.gattago.com

Special Libraries Association assumes no responsibility for the

statements and opinions advanced by contributors to the Associa-
tion’s publications. Editorial views do not necessarily represent the
official position of Special Libraries Association. Acceptance of
an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product by
Special Libraries Association.

ChapterNews STAFF Jerneeka Sams and Diane Goldstein of Infocurrent,

Director of Communications Mary Muenkel Kevin Manion (SLA NY President), Cyndi Schoenbrun of
ChapterNews Editor Charles Lowry Consumers Union at the Baltimore conference in June.
Advertising Manager Nancy Bowles
Webmaster Michael Rivas

ChapterNews 2 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006

 SLA-NY SNAP-SHOT

Lisa Ryan (SLA-NY Program Committee), Rick Mattis

(SLA-NY Treasurer), Agnes Mattis (SLA Division Cabinet
Chair) at a B&F open house in June at the Baltimore confernece.

SLA-NY SNAP-SHOT

(Letter continued from page 2)

At our annual meeting in May, I challenged the Chapter

to grow our membership by at least 10% I’ve now made
this a goal of my presidency. And yes, this is very self
serving. I want to surround myself with even more smart,
engaged people who are plugged into the business of Toby Pearlstein (SLA B&F Division Chair), Anne Caputo
their organization, who face similar problems to what and Gillian Voisey, both of Factiva, Steve Kochoff (SLA-NY
I face, who have come up with solutions and who can President Elect) at a B&F open house in June at the Baltimore
share those with me. Again, that alone would be enough conference.
for me to join, what about you? What about the guy in
the office next to you who isn’t a member. Or that new SLA-NY SNAP-SHOT
woman that just got hired that you have not met yet?
Well, that call to Shirley Loo also led me to challenge
her Chapter to a membership drive. And here is the deal:
by June, the Denver conference, whichever Chapter has
more members will be declared the winner of the NY-
D.C. Challenge. The losers will have to get up and sing a New Yorkers take a
song about the other Chapter’s city. We are still working break in Baltimore:
out the details of the competition…so watch your email Tom Pellizzi (SLA-NY
and leave with this thought…what are we going to do Director of Finance and
about it New York? Are you OK being second? Fundraising), Sandy Kitt
(Author), Kathleen Pritz
(SLA-NY Library
Kevin Manion is Director of Information Services Consumer School Liaison),
Reports. He can be reached at (914) 378-2263 or by e-mail at Rick Mattis (SLA-NY
manike@consumer.org. Treasurer)
ChapterNews 3 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006
RSS: Issues
and Implementation
by Michelle Dollinger

he New York Chapter’s October 3rd presentation

T “RSS: Issues and Implementation” demonstrated

how RSS (really simple syndication) can provide
relief for email overload. Moderated by Carol Ginsburg,
the panel discussed RSS basics, aggregators and web-
based solutions, and how information centers can imple-
ment RSS to serve their users.

RSS 101
Jamie Russell and John Cady from Business Week offered
up RSS as an alternative to repeatedly visiting multiple
news websites several times a day. It’s a way to subscribe
to news feeds from many sources and view them on
demand in one place.
The XML-based feeds often appear as headlines with
short, descriptive summaries. One drawback is that to
read the rest of a story or to get more than a summary,
users still have to visit each publisher’s page. The feeds
can be viewed in a stand-alone application, called an
RSS Adoption
aggregator, or via an online service using a web browser Coleman Jolley, Director, Interactive Products and
or as a browser plug-in or as part of an email client. Services at IDC, presented ideas about who reads and
creates RSS feeds. Coleman said RSS is being adopted
The great news is that most aggregators and web services
by the mainstream media, blogs, technology vendors
are free. Another upside to RSS is that content updates
and information vendors including IDC, Forrester
are pushed at regular intervals. The user is not required
and Factiva.
to keep checking multiple web pages to look for updates.
Users also can subscribe to parts or sections of a publica- IDC, a research and consulting firm, is repurposing
tion rather than an entire publication. content and making it available in RSS feeds in several
industry categories. They are finding RSS useful to
Jamie and John walked through setting up an account
broadcast content to users, but Coleman said, they do
with one free online reader, Bloglines, and the event was
not see it as a replacement for email when a response
sponsored by NewsGator, which also offers a free online
or dialog is required.
account as well as various paid desktop applications.
MyYahoo is another popular way to read RSS feeds. All Adoption by online users is gaining ground, but RSS
require registration and allow users to choose from pop- is still relatively unknown to the public. Coleman said
ular feeds (including sources such as The New York Times, a 2005 Yahoo! study showed that only 4% of U.S. online
BusinessWeek, Forbes, BBC, NPR, AP) or add feeds they users say they are aware of RSS, but 27% use RSS and
have located on their own. Jamie and John cautioned that are unaware. For IDC, Coleman said, accesses to RSS
online services can sometimes be buggy, since RSS is still feeds has grown 1000% in the past 2 years.
a relatively young technology.
(Article continued from page 5)
To locate RSS feeds, users can go to many popular web-
sites and look for RSS web addresses, which are usually
indicated with a small, orange icon labeled RSS or XML.
The web address can be pasted into a news reader and
many services can import batches of feeds from other
services or aggregators.

ChapterNews 4 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006

 (Article continued from page 4)

RSS in Your Information Center

Kevin Reiss is the Systems Librarian at CUNY Graduate
Center Library, and he and the other presenters men-
tioned some ideas for implementing RSS feeds.
▲ Subscriptions are portable and can be imported and
exported using many readers using the OPML format
(Outline Processor Markup Language). Research
centers can create customized, focused research feed
bundles for clients that can easily be used with almost
any RSS compliant software.
Timothy Emerson
▲ If your research center is tracking blogs, RSS can Systems Developer
provide an easy way to monitor several sites with
■ Creating new databases
little effort. Some sites even allow users to subscribe
to comments posted on a specific entry (www.won- ■ Enhancing existing databases
kette.com is one). I specialize in Inmagic database development
▲ Google News queries can be turned into feeds using using Db/TextWorks, CS/TextWorks, WebPublisher
a link labeled “RSS” provided in the left-hand side
PRO, and PERL/XML-driven customizations. I have
of the search results page. Yahoo News also has
keyword-based RSS feeds. fifteen years’ experience developing textbase appli-
cations in corporate libraries in the pharmaceutical
▲ RSS feeds can pull outside content into an intranet,
subject guide, organizational portal or personal portal. industry. In addition, I have extensive experience
working with Notes/Domino, PHP/MySQL and
Future of RSS Inmagic/Microsoft.NET applications.
The presentations concluded with ideas about the future Sample Inmagic-driven application URLs available
of RSS. RSS is well-positioned for growth because it is on request. Give me a call.
standards based and platform neutral. That makes it
deliverable on any Internet-ready device including cell Telephone: 917-698-8415
phones and PDAs. Email: emerst@gmail.com
Microsoft will build RSS into the next version of Win-
dows (Vista) and Office. In addition, more media will
output content in RSS, ratifying the standard. Podcasts, Y OUR S OURCE F OR S KILLED I NFORMATION N AVIGATORS
where users can subscribe to audio files as feeds are
• The premier source for
already popular, but they will continue to grow and offer
high-caliber library &
new opportunities to push multimedia files to users. information management
Thanks to Credit Suisse for the use of their auditorium professionals
and to NewsGator for sponsoring this program. All the • Executive search & direct hire
presentations are available on the SLA NY website at placements nationwide
http://units.sla.org/chapter/cny/. • Temporary & temp-to-hire
assignments

• Competitive candidate benefits

& training programs

A Part of TeleSec CORESTAFF

Michelle Dollinger, M.S. LIS, is a recent graduate of the

New York City Metro area: 212-642-4321
Pratt Institute and is currently working part-time in The New
nylibrary@infocurrent.com
York Times reference library. She previously earned a B.A. in
Journalism from S.U.N.Y. Buffalo State College and headed Washington, DC Metro area: 202-775-1890
IT operations at a B2B newsletter publisher that focused on dclibrary@infocurrent.com
consumer marketing.
www.infocurrent.com

ChapterNews 5 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006

ChapterNews 6 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006
Calling for Volunteers
by Kathleen Pritz, Library School Liaison

ne of the most interesting things that struck me

O when I first joined SLA was the generosity of SLA

members to share their skills and ideas with other
librarians in chapter programs and at the annual conference.
I am equally impressed when that generosity extends to
students in library and information science programs.
This year, I am the library school liaison for SLA-NY
and I'd like to remind everyone of some of the ways we
can continue that spirit of generosity and help to bring
MLIS students into the world of special libraries.
SLA-NY is kicking off its library school events with a
Student/Information Professional Mixer on Monday,
October 23rd. (For the invitation see, http://units.sla.
org/chapter/cny/nyc6_597933_1.pdf) Volunteering as an
information professional for this event or for Career Day
to be held in the spring of 2007 is a fun way to interact
with students and new comers to the profession. Both
events offer the opportunity for informal conversations
with students about how we spend our work days in a
variety of library settings and a formal presentation of
work related skills by a speaker or panel of speakers.
Diane Goldstein of InfoCurrent is giving the students
at the Student-Info Pro Mixer her insights on preparing
the best resume for the information services industry.
Remember that MLIS students have homework assign-
ments that often include visiting different libraries to
observe how reference requests are handled or to compare
cataloging or serials practices. Please encourage these
visits and try to make time to give the students a practical
view of the inner workings of your library.
The SLA-NY student organization at Pratt Institute
School for Information and Library Science, SLA@Pratt,
is very active in organizing student group tours of local
institutions. Consider inviting the Pratt students to
explore your facility by contacting Brian Gannon,
SLA@Pratt's Vice President for Activities, to make the
arrangements. (See SLA@Pratt's web site, http://pratt. Offering an internship position in your library is a serious
edu/~sla/index.html.) The Pratt students are touring the proposition requiring approvals from management and
libraries at Skadden, Arps where I work this week. human resources. But please give the idea serious consid-
Students need to apply their new skills to real world eration and discuss it with Cyndi Schoenbrun who is coor-
experiences and to learn new skills. Certain MLIS programs dinating internships for the New York Chapter. SLA-NY
require their students to spend a semester as interns in has a new partnership with LLAGNY to develop law
library and information services. Even when not required librarian internships this year.
by their schools, MLIS students find the internships use- Again, thanks to all of you who have welcomed MLIS
ful in evaluating the day to day life of the information students into your libraries recently and please continue to
professional and in gaining valuable practical experience. volunteer to bring along the next generation of info pros!

ChapterNews 7 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006

ChapterNews 8 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006
UPCOMING EVENTS
Student and Information
Professional Mixer
The New York Chapter of SLA invites library and infor-
mation science students to our Student and Information
Professional Mixer
Monday, October 23, 2006
SLA-NY Partnership 5:30-7:30 pm

SLA-NY has launched a new partnership with METRO

(The Metropolitan New York Library Council) to provide Resume Tips
New York area librarians with a new professional devel- Resume Tips by Diane Goldstein, InfoCurrent
opment series. 6:30-7:30 pm at Open Society Institute/Soros Foundations
400 West 59th Street, New York, NY
Third floor conference center
Join us for our first session:
RSVP by Thursday, October 23 to Kathleen Pritz at
Recruiting and Managing Student Interns kpritz@skadden.com.
Monday, October 30, 2006 at Metro
57 East 11th Street, 4th Floor SLA NY thanks Open Society Institute/Soros Founda-
(between Broadway and University Place, near Union Sq.) tions for generously providing its conference center and
5:00-6:30 pm. the refreshments.
SLA NY thanks InfoCurrent for sponsoring this program.
James Walther (Director of Research, Greenberg Trau-
rig, LLP) and Kimberly Burke Sweetman (Head of
Access Services, New York University) will provide their Midtown Happy Hour
best practices and guidance for recruiting and managing
The New York Chapter of SLA invites you, your friends
student interns in libraries. Whether you already work
& your colleagues to our:
with interns or are considering internship positions for
your library, this informative session will offer sound
Midtown Happy Hour
advice from professionals who are experienced in work-
ing with students. Tuesday, October 24, 2006
5:30-7:30 pm
For more information or to RSVP for this session, please
at Midtown Executive & Chemists’ Club
contact miguel.a.figueroa@gmail.com.
Rumford Hall
40 West 45th Street

Please RSVP to Kae Wells at kae_wells@yahoo.com

Other scheduled SLA-NY @ Metro events include:
Writing for Publication
PRICES: $4 for soft drinks; $6 for beer; $8 for wine;
Tuesday, November 14th
$10 for mixed; $12 for martinis
12:00-1:30 pm.
PLEASE NOTE: From: 4:30 to 6:30: 1/2 price for
Taxonomy Technologies and Successes beer ($3) and wine ($4).
Wednesday December 13th
And if you’d like to suggest a venue for a future
1:30-3:30 pm.
Midtown Happy Hour, please e-mail Steve Kochoff at
stkochoff@hotmail.com
PLEASE NOTE: MLS students — with and without
“an elevator speech” and those new to the profession
and the NY Chapter are welcome — as well as all of
our members!

ChapterNews 9 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006

UPCOMING EVENTS
And if you think June 2007
is on the other side of the world,
it’s not!

Call for Papers

SLA 2007 - Denver, CO, USA

The Contributed Papers sessions allow our members

to share their expertise, research interests, or practical
applications with all our members. Their papers are
posted on the SLA website where others may benefit
from their research.

Deadline:
Please encourage our SLA members to participate by
submitting a brief proposal, due December 8, 2006.

Details:
For details, see the Call for Papers full page announce-
ment in August’s Information Outlook, page 14; or
visit this website:
http://www.sla.org/content/Events/
conference/ac2007/callforpapers/index.cfm

Recent Papers:
To see recent papers presented, visit these archived sites:
http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/ac2006/
conference/papers.cfm

http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/ac2005/
contribpapers/index.cfm

Thank you!
Martha McPhail
Chair, Contributed Papers 2007
mmcphail@rohan.sdsu.edu

Remember the New York Chapter

web site address!
www.sla-ny.org
Check it out!

ChapterNews 10 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006

 CHAPTER ANNOUNCEMENTS
CHAPTER ANNOUNCEMENTS
SLA•NY New Members List
The “new members” list that follows is provided by
Terry Kirchner, chair of the New York Chapter’s
Membership Committee.
As part of Kevin’s emphasis on recruiting and enrolling
new members throughout 2006 and 2007, we hope to
work closely with the national SLA membership service.
It is our goal to provide new member affiliations in the
future, where that information is available.
Nathan Rosen
Nathan Rosen, Vice President in the Legal & Compli-
ance Department of Credit Suisse, has been highlighted
as a success story for 2006 by Inside Counsel magazine in
the September issue dedicated to innovators. Out of hun-
dreds of legal departments, Inside Counsel selected the ten
most innovative legal departments in corporate America
that developed solutions to common problems facing.
They choice to include one librarian – Nathan. See page
56 of the September issue, which can be found at
http://www.insidecounsel.com/issues/insidecounsel/pdfs/
IC10.pdf

A M
Chanida T. Angkanara Masayo Martin
Grace M. Mills Gwen Loeffler
B
Anh Thuy Bui N Gwen Loeffler was appointed Busi-
Karen M. Nickeson ness Analyst for Knowledge Manage-
C
Robert Caparaz P ment & Collaborative Systems with-
Amee A. Chaudry Kenneth Petricig in Global Information Services at
Valerie A. Clark Interpublic Group of Companies
R
Saira Raza (IPG) in June 2006. In this role,
D
David Dames Brett Rubinstein Gwen works closely with end users
Altagracia De Lara to understand the current state of
S
Julie A. Dooher Malinda J. Scott
information availability throughout the enterprise. She
F Eve Siegel identifies future needs based on her analysis of business
Abby Frank-Sheffield Jessica A. Stockton requirements and acts as the liaison &advocate for users
of the products developed & purchased for implementa-
H
tion. Gwen is involved throughout the software develop-
Alan Houston
Heather L. Hunt
ment life cycle and ensures that product implementations
Edith Y.C. Hwang meet user expectations. Prior to joining IPG, Gwen was
Senior Research Specialist at the global advertising and
J
marketing network Young & Rubicam Brands, for nine
Jennifer Jhun
years. Gwen has been a member of SLA since 1997, and
K
is currently Past President of the New York Chapter.
Kris Kamikawa
Her new e-mail address is gwen.loeffler@interpublic.com
Madeline J. Kiely

Remember the New York Chapter

web site address!
www.sla-ny.org
Check it out!

ChapterNews 11 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006

SLA-NY SNAP-SHOT
Rita Ormsby (SLA-NY Global Outreach Chair) receives the
award for Outstanding Achievement in Business Librarianship,
given by the SLA Business & Finance Division at the B&F
awards reception in Baltimore this past June. The award was
presented by Kammie Hedges, Director of Library Relations
for BNA which sponsors the award.
ChapterNews
SLA-NY SNAP-SHOT
Cathy Ciaccio (SLA-NY Chair of Career Day) and Marlene
Augustin-Lambert (SLA-NY Professional Development
Chari) both from Credit Suisse enjoying a snack and a drink
at one of many division parties in Baltimore this past June.
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12 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006
 An Invitation To Readers
The editor of the newsletter reminds all members of the
New York Chapter of SLA that the pages of ChapterNews
are open to all. The editor would be very pleased to discuss
and accept submissions in any of the following areas:
▲ Comings, goings, new jobs, new titles, retirements.
▲ Articles about day-to-day life in member libraries.
▲ Articles about SLA programs or social events you
might have attended.
▲ Reflections on the profession: salaries, responsibilities,
education, career path.
▲ Announcements of scholarships, awards, honors,
whether those announcements are invitations to pro-
pose candidates or are announcements of winners.
▲ Library initiatives: acquisitions, marketing/awareness
campaigns, organizational changes, etc.

The ChapterNews is a wonderful way to maximize the

value of the SLA experience, and a wonderful way to
share your experiences and successes with your fellow
librarians.
The editor of ChapterNews, Chuck Lowry, can be reached
at clowry@alm.com or 212.592.4932.

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ChapterNews 13 Vol. 78, #2 Autumn 2006