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University of Oregon Library System
The Library Staff Association News features staff profiles each month. If you would like to submit a profile, we would be delighted!
- Baker, Debi
- Bear, Richard
- Benedicto, Juanita
- Bennett, Leslie
- Butler, Barb
- Cogan, Dan
- DuFresne, Deanne
- Farrell, Ben
- Galbraith, James
- Halgren, Joanne
- Hall, Stan
- Howell, Andrew
- Hyatt, Dennis
- Laliberte, Larry
- Landazuri, David
Loya, Nancy
- Nesselroad, Lara
- Onaclea, Stephen
- Osborn, Salli-Jo
- Roberson, Jan
- Smith, Harriett
- Smith, Terry
- Stambaugh, Laine
- Storch, Susan
- Sundt, Christine
- Swain, Don
- Deanne DuFresne, Supervisor of the Douglass Listening Room
- Dennis Hyatt, Director, Law Library
- Ben Farrell, United States Newspaper Project Cataloger
- Andrew Howell, Information Technology Center Manager
- Harriett Smith, Recataloging Specialist
- Christine L. Sundt, Visual Resources Curator, Architecture & Allied Arts Library
- Juanita Benedicto, Social Sciences Reference Librarian
- Leslie Bennett, Head, Music Services Department
- Lara Nesselroad, Student Coordinator, Access Services (Circ/Reserve)
- Dan Cogan, Serials Receiving Clerk, Acquisitions Department
- Don Swain, Search and Fines/Bills Clerk, Science Library
- Barb Butler, Science Librarian, Oregon Institute of Marine Biology
- Debi Baker, Orbis Technician, Systems Department
- Susan Storch, University Archivist, Special Collections
- Joanne Halgren, Head, Interlibrary Loan
- Jan Roberson, Senior Preservation Technician, Knight Library Beach Lab
- Laine Stambaugh, Head, Library Personnel Services
- Stan Hall, Equipment Manager, Media Services
- Salli-Jo Osborn, Office Specialist I, Librarian's Office
- Terry Smith, Alternative Formats Cataloger
- Richard Bear, Microforms Coordinator
- Nancy Loya, Special Processes Clerk, Circulation Department
- Larry Laliberte, Map/GIS Librarian
- David Landazuri, Database Specialist, Catalog Dept.
- James Galbraith, Business Librarian
Deanne has spent most of her working life on campus, originally working as a student in stacks and in the BGRS library. From there she became a staff member in Documents in 1978. She promoted over to Payroll, and although intending to return to the library, did not come back til 1997. Her B.S. in Music Performance (piano) stands her in good stead in her job in Music Services, and she enjoys the hours (12-9).
One of Deanne's major interests is turtles, and she currently has four box turtles, although she once had as many as 23. She has been on several Earthwatch trips: to the Florida Keys for ten days on a 40' sailboat looking for turtles; to St. Croix to see leatherback turtles nesting, and to Kefalonia in Greece to see loggerheads nest. She's also seen Texas tortoises, on a cattle ranch.
When not in search of turtles, Deanne might be spotted at a Dark Shadows convention or a conference on alternative health or homeopathy. Bookstore devotees may also spot her on her weekly trips to Smith Family Bookstore, purusing a printed catalog of the books so that she does not buy duplicates! Deanne has cataloged about 2,000 of her extensive collection of books, and has a backlog of uncataloged books as well. She originally bought her Mac in order to catalog her numerous turtle newsletters, but they remain uncataloged as yet. Obviously Payroll was just a detour on the highway of life!
November 1998
(Submitted by hms)
My Mom marvelled that I devoted three summers of my childhood to drawing various floorplans for a church, especially since I had never been particularly devout nor expressed an interest in the ministry. I concentrated mostly on the arrangement of the pews, and when she finally asked why I thought the seating of the congregation was so important I explained I was looking for the most efficient way to collect free money when people had problems or were feeling guilty. We both remember her response: "Oh, you're thinking of lawyers, not ministers."
That correction to my lifescript at age 13 sustained me clear through my JD from the University of Washington in 1972. It wasn't until I was well into my second year of law school that I realized I wasn't really interested in becoming an attorney either.
And the rest, as they say, is history. I worked in libraries in high school as a teacher's aide, in college at the University of Missouri, and throughout my graduate studies. The second best thing I ever did was attend library school at Washington where I received my Masters in Law Librarianship in 1974. I've always admired the enterprise of librarianship, the technical rigor on the one hand and the open-ended purposes for which that rigor is applied on the other. And I've always enjoyed knowing and working with the people who have shared that career path with me, particularly at Oregon where I've worked since 1976.
(Oh, the best thing I ever did -- marry Patty in 1967)
September 1998
I have enjoyed my employment at the library since I began working here in early 1990. I started off in the newly formed Authorities Section, which at that time consisted of John Helmer, Hank Wilson, and myself. I believe that I was initially hired because I was evidently intimately acquainted with the Knight Library, especially its music collection. This special relationship with the library was the result of many pleasurable hours spent browsing the collection and working on the various woodwind and piano selections which happened to catch my eye.
At that time I was studiously working away on my degree in music. However, what I really needed just then was a decent job because my wife had just given birth to our first child and music school, while fun, was getting to be an expensive proposition. In landing the job at the library, I was able to continue on in school (part time) and make the house payments! I finally finished the degree in 1994 (BS in Music/Geology-rock music, if you will) and I am currently enrolled here at Oregon in the masters program in Environmental Studies.
I like playing music, juggling, and building things. In the last few years I added a room on my house and built a grape arbor and some lovely trellises for our clematis vines. I continue to play clarinet with my woodwind trio, in the Eugene Symphonic Band, and with the Fighting Instruments of Karma Marching Band/Orchestra (that crazy band you see at the Oregon Country Fair). My son and I just returned from a 3 week tour of Alaska where I played with the Fighting Instruments of Karma and toured with the Juggling Flying Karamazov Brothers, noted octogenarian folk singer Faith Petric, a poet, a magician, an aerialist and a whole company of other interesting people. The group I traveled with is called the New Old Time Chautauqua, and while we're based in Seattle, Washington (because that is where we applied for our 5013-C tax status) we draw on performers from around the world.
The strangest job (1977) that I've ever had was trying to sell graveyard plots over the phone. The stupidest job (1975) that I've ever had was assembling hashish pipes out of electrical parts in a warehouse in Yonkers, N.Y. The most dangerous job that I had was fighting wild fires in Oregon in 1988. The most rewarding job (my lifelong endeavor) has been being the father of my two children, Phillip and Opal.
September 1998
Andrew Howell is originally from North Bend, located near Coos Bay on the Oregon Coast. He's currently pursuing his bachelor's degree in Computer Science while working as the new ITC Manager. He has been working with the library for two years, the first year as a desk assistant in the ITC, and the second year as technical support for the Electronic Classrooms.
In his free time, Andrew enjoys bicycling, hiking, windsurfing, and boating. His extra-curricular activities at the University include helping instruct the Mt. Biking and Trampoline classes offered through the P.E. department.
Andrew is enthusiastic about the challenges of his new assignment, and looks forward to meeting many more of the staff and faculty in the library system.
October 1998
I've worked in the Catalog Department since September 1987, most recently as a recataloging specialist. I handle problems, questions, etc., pertaining to already-cataloged monographs, and do recataloging, new cataloging, and retrocon, including original cataloging assigning call numbers and subject headings. I'm currently helping to (slowly but surely) retrocon the Oregon Collection. If something is "weird" or you don't know who to ask about a problem with a book or Janus record, I'm probably the person you want to talk to!
For the past several years I have been involved with the Library Staff Association as chair of the Publicity committee. This year (1998-1999) I am co-chair of LSA, with Lisa Sieracki as the other co-chair. I've met a lot of people and gained some skills and an outlet for creative effort while doing this. And unlike recataloging, when an event is over -- it's done! No backlog!! Just a satisfying sense of accomplishment and completion.
Feel free to visit my home page or Juliet Campion's home page for some of my hobbies or work-related links: I sing with the Eugene Vocal Arts Ensemble, and off and on with the Eugene Concert Choir and the Eugene Sacred Harp Singers. Last summer I took a month off to visit England, and spent a week living in the Canterbury Cathedral close, King's College, and singing with the Berkshire Choral Festival. The highlight of the Festival was our concert in Rochester Cathedral. It was the trip of a lifetime and a wonderful experience!
My British husband Justin and I have two adored and spoiled but lovely cats, a tabby-abbysinian cross (Willow) and a black Bombay (Marigold). Marigold prefers cat food, while Willow prefers pesto, spaghetti sauce, ice cream, and anything else I might be eating.
October 1998
Thirteen, almost fourteen, is the number of years I've been working in the Architecture and Allied Arts Library's Visual Resources (formerly Slide and Photograph) Collection. In that time I've seen a lot of change, not the least of which was our move in 1990 into our present facility, 300 Lawrence Hall. Recently I put together a "Snapshot History" to show the "then" and "now" aspects of our space and to illustrate something about this special place located directly above the AAA Library's reading room.
I've been a curator of visual resources for more than 25 years. My first job in this profession was at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, for the Art History Department. I directed their collection of over 250,000 slides (lantern and 35mm slides) for 10 years, in the days before computers and digital images. When we (my husband, Richard, and cat, Bijou, and I), left Madison in 1983 I didn't have a job lined up but thought that I might be lucky someday and find a position related to images. In the meantime I started teaching summer workshops, first at University of Missouri, Kansas City, and soon after at the University of Texas at Austin. These workshops have continued during the past fifteen years. In January of 1985 I finally found a job: the Library hired me into my current position.
My interests in visual resources cross into many different arenas, for example, conservation and preservation of photographic images, professional publications (I co-edit Visual Resources and write articles for this and other journals), electronic imaging (in projects like Academic Press's Image Directory) and data standards (I recently participated in the RLG/VRA VISION project testing the workability of core categories for data exchange described at http://www.oberlin.edu/~art/vra/vision.html).
In my spare time I am an active gold- and silversmith and a charter member of G.E.M. (Guild of Eugene Metalsmiths). My work has been included in the UOMA's The Artful Box (1997) and The Artful Clock (1998) fundraisers. Examples of my work can be seen at my "after hours" website at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/csundt. I am represented by Gallery Goldsmiths, located in Galleria III, in Houston, Texas.
I also enjoy traveling. Being married to an Argentine-born architectural historian who specializes in Medieval architecture in the south of France and who also has ties to the Pacific Islands through teaching and research, I have been to many interesting places with him. My most exciting adventure was seeing the stone monuments on Easter Island (view some of Richard's wonderful photographic documentation at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/aaa/vrc/demo/i.html). I found the most serene landscapes in New Zealand and Austria and the most nerve-wracking driving in England. We made our third trip to Argentina in March and can't wait to plan number four.
November 1998
I've been at the University of Oregon since January 1997. I came here directly out of library school and have very much enjoyed working in such a friendly and invigorating environment. This job challenges me and allows me to take on new responsibilities on a frequent basis. Before I even arrived at the UO, I asked Alice Allen (who had just accepted a position at the University of Missouri in Columbia, where I went to Library School) what I could expect here. I remember what she told me as if it were yesterday, "They work their reference librarians hard there, very hard; but there's no other place that will allow you as much responsibility and experience like Eugene will."
And it's true. I've enjoyed a myraid of responsibilities in the 22 months I've been here: teaching workshops and a credit course, collection development and subject specialist for Psychology and Sociology, working at the reference desk and interacting with new people everyday, designing and creating webpages, co-editing the Oregon Library Association's newsletter, The Hotline, with Colleen Bell, and maintaining the OLA's website with her as well. I've attended a number of conferences, presented at some, and am always proud to represent the University of Oregon Library System, to be a part of this vitalizing front runner.
I have many interests outside the library as well. In fact, finding a balance between all the things I love to do and the time to do them in is quite a challenge. Let's see... I am a runner and usually train for and run one marathon a year as well as shorter races. Running is my daily meditation and it allows me to imprint the place in which I live in my geographical psyche, to feel connected to the land and to know it intimately. I love to read (don't we all?) and usually have two or three books going. Currently I'm engaged with "In Search of the Miraculous" by P. D. Uspenskii (hey, that rhymes!) and "Really the Blues" by Milton Mezzrow (second reading - fantastic book). I'm passionate about music, *especially* the music of Tom Waits. I have two daughters, Marly and Keelin, and we often speak to each other in TW lines. This delights me to no end. Growing up next to the ocean, I grew up body surfing; therefore, I have a special affinity to the sea and travel there occasionaly, just to sit there and think. Finally, I love taking roadtrips. I'll pack the girls up and we'll hit the road for a week, stopping in off-the-beaten-track Diners, watching the sun set over an unfamiliar mountain range, only to light up the sky 450 miles later. And you know we're singing to Tom the whole way through.
Anyway, that's me. I am happy here, love Eugene, enjoy my work and life in general.
December 1998
A picture of me (in a deer-in-the-headlights pose captured by Tim Klaasen
for the MLK Jr. web site)
(Wish I would
have combed my eyebrows!)
I am a frustrated musician who grew up in a family of musicians and musician wanna-bes. Both my brothers played brass instruments, and my dad played oboe in the local symphony. (We could always tell when he had a solo, as his head, which was crew-cut back in the aerospace industry days, would turn bright red. "Oh look," my brother would say, "Dad's got a solo!" Needless to say, my mom never thought that was funny!) My mom and her sisters learned to play the piano in the Depression by playing a cardboard keyboard -- then getting a chance to try it out at their weekly piano lessons on a real keyboard. But they were especially known for their rendition of "Three Itty Fishes" at family get-togethers, complete with choreography!
I started piano lessons when I was 8 years old -- and had one terrible summer of violin when I was 12 -- and entered college as a piano major. Although my playing never really shone, I love music and sang in the Acapella Choir at CSULB, with such cohorts as Richard and Karen Carpenter. (You really didn't think I wouldn't drop names in this, did you?)
I started working in libraries in my last year as an undergrad, having rarely set foot in libraries before that. (Music majors seldom did papers -- and we all winged them anyway!) I ran the listening area of the library, which fast became the Media Services Department. (What a nightmare! Keeping track of videos and making sure machines played for classes was enough to send me home with murderous thoughts!) While working, I worked on a credential to teach elementary school, but never finished student teaching. I then thought, I can't beat them, so I'll join them, and got my masters in musicology, with the express plan to get an MLS and join the world of real careers! Library school at UCLA was really fun (I know, what a nerd!) and made me decide that I had found my niche.
My niche led me to a three-and-a-half year gig at Temple University as the audio librarian and running an audio center. I lived in Media, Pennsylvania when I got there, and was known as the Audio Librarian from Media. This job led me back to this coast for the music librarian job here, which I took in 1983. I also worked as the women's studies librarian, in part (I think) because I was the last woman librarian hired at the time.
I've been lucky to work in two departments (Reference and Music Services) and to work with some wonderful cohorts. I'm especially lucky to have had some good people to share the Music Services area, such as Chingling Reed, Darrel Kau, and Deanne DuFresne (subject of a previous profile!)
My out-of-work passions include gardening (for which I have a new plot of land to work in that my husband and I carefully hardscaped last summer in anticipation of next spring's planting). My husband is one of my other passions. I also occasionally play the piano (mostly for fun) and like to cook.
December 1998
The first thing I ought to point out is that I (Lara Nesselroad) and Rebecca Fisher, who also works in Circulation, are in fact different humans. For some reason that neither of us understands, we are mistaken for each other A LOT, both by patrons and by various library staff. We don't get it, since I am about 4 inches taller, and I wear Ducks stuff and she wears (gasp) Beavs stuff, and I have kids and she has pets -- the list could go on. Anyway, I am not Rebecca.
I have been working at the library, in Circulation, since September of 1987. This means I am in the midst of my twelfth year here, although the first four were while I was a student. I know 11 years and change is nothing compared to some of these 30-year types, but considering I am 28, it is a pretty healthy chunk of my life so far.
I have, as I said above, kids: Spencer is six and Graham just turned three. They take most of my available energy. In case you are dying to know about cute kid stories, I have a somewhat up-to-date list of the best of my kids' quotes. I also have a big orange cat named Warner, who is reaching the crochety middle-aged stage of cat life. He has been remarkably patient with my kids -- he is still having to put up with being lifted around the middle, ears flat, tail dragging, especially by the little guy. My husband, Peter Bellerby, stays home with the kids during the day and works various jobs here and there in the evenings for extra income. We know this isn't the way June and Ward did things, but since my job has the insurance and the steady hours, it works for us.
Some things we like to do include watching Star Trek and the X-Files; and going to Ducks sports events (specifically women's basketball, which we have been watching long enough to see it go from being something we had because Title IX said so, to being a really exciting sport to watch; and football, which, well, if you don't know, at this point that probably means you really don't care, so I won't go on). I also have interests different from Pete's: I was a literature major, and between that and the fact that I continue to work in a library, you could probably reasonably extrapolate that I read. I almost always have a book with me, a practice which has served me well in doctor's offices and on buses. My collection isn't as big as Deanne DuFresne's, but it's still pretty impressive, probably numbering over a thousand (it's been a while since I took the time to count). I bake cookies, tarts, cakes, breads -- but not pies (somehow, I just can't bake a decent pie). I cook, too, although Pete turns up his nose at many of my creations. His loss. My kids and I also like to take walks to the supermarket -- that mile-and-a-half round trip is perfect for tiring out active little imps!
At work, I have recently become a union steward, a position I was initially a bit reluctant to assume but which I have found has some satisfying moments. I spent two years on the Classified Staff Training and Development Advisory Committee (say that three times fast--go!), and before that two years on the campus Childcare and Family Support Committee. Committees can be frustrating when things move slowly, but out of these have come things like the Olum Center (daycare); fall and spring meetings between classified staff and the President; a fledgling mentoring/training program for all staff; and the recent pilot New Horizons software training program. At work in my department, I have been hard at work getting electronic reserves off the ground (we are now at an altitude of about 2 feet, I think); and I manage the 30 or so students who work in Circ/Reserves. I and my peers create the reserve collection anew four times a year, and then dismantle it again at the end of each term. I spend a few hours a day doing direct patron service, which I find rewarding more often than not, at the Circulation desk. And I help maintain the Circulation department's internal web site, which we use as a manual that we continually update.
January 1999
Dan grew up in Connecticut in the '50s and '60s, attending Catholic schools, churches, and, in the company of his mother, meetings and rallies of various political extremists. While not necessarily buying into everything he heard, Dan was nonetheless influenced sufficiently to alarm most other members of his family; consequently he was quietly packed off to a small, liberal arts "gentleman's college" -- Washington and Lee University, the "Shrine of the South", where Confederate generals and horses are buried, and where once a year they hold a Rebel officer's ball.
Hating mint juleps and states' rights ideologies, the Army, and Rebel yells, Dan didn't quite fit in there, although by some as yet unexplained miracle, he managed to graduate with a degree in Political Science before he flunked out.
In a fit of juvenile rage, twisted pique, and a frantic desire to escape a looming personal entanglement back in Connecticut, Dan fled into the U.S. Navy for four years, where he discovered that although it was about as unpleasant as college, it was much harder to get out of and still not have a prison record or a mental health notation, although there were some close calls....
Despite all this, he managed to meet and marry an officer who'd graduated with an M.A. in English Lit. from the U of O. Immediately after escaping the clutches of the Navy, he and his wife moved to Oregon -- he to get an M.A. in History (which he'd always considered a much more "legitimate" subject than Poli. Sci.), and his wife, Frances, to obtain her Ph.D. (Victorian Literature). They produced one daughter, Elizabeth, now 22, who is about to graduate from the U of O with a double B.A. in Chemistry and French (both of which Dan considers to be as legitimate as History or Literature).
Dan began working in the Knight Library in October, 1986. He continues to work on an assignment which he gave his seventh and eighth grades when he taught parochial school. The assignment? Rewrite the legend of Faustus, but this time update it to the 20th century and use a computer. Someday -- who knows? He may actually finish it, which would make him the only person in that class to have done so.
January, 1999
I was born to search. It all began back at Ohio State University Library, where I rose through the ranks from student assistant to carrel checker, to staff searcher. This progression describes my 1970s in Ohio, as I finally saved up enough money by 1979 to buy a blue Dodge van, toss all my records, guitars, and memories into the ample cargo bay and drive away from the land of the wind-chill factor. The search was on. I headed south to New Orleans to see my cousin, west to Sedona, Arizona (T-shirt weather in January -- nice), through San Diego, and north to Eugene, Oregon. I knew a library worker from Ohio who had settled here, and really only came to visit on my way to Portland. I've been here (mostly) for 20 years now.
Interestingly, I am a searcher again. Since December 1992, I have been the Search and Fines/Bills clerk at the Science Library, at the University of Oregon. But I took the long way around to reach this destination. I finished my Journalism degree at the U of O in 1982, and even did a stint as a student assistant at the Knight Library (Main Library in those days) Circulation desk for a few quarters. But the 1980s in Eugene were lean times for this Midwest immigrant. I worked as a cabinet maker, upholstery apprentice, forest and pipeline labor hand, Lane County Park caretaker, and catering dept. worker at the Lane County Fairgrounds, to name a few. By 1990, the low wages and rising rents forced me out of the cycle of despair, and I headed for the promise of the last refuge of the Boomers, Seattle. And I'm glad I did.
Within the first 48 hours, I landed a job in a medical products warehouse two blocks from the Space Needle, where I would work for 2 1/2 years. I paid off my VISA, got health insurance, and most importantly, met my wife to be, Julie. We were married in the Spring of 1991, and by the Summer of 1992, we felt ready to give Oregon one more try. Seattle gave us the chance to take another shot at the dream we both held, a little house, on rural land, maybe even in Lane County. To bring this mini-biography full circle, we moved to Corvallis, put in a lot of applications, and I landed a job at Hewlett-Packard. Just when I was getting used to the job there, I got this job interview at the Science Library at the U of O. I couldn't resist the idea of trying to get back to library work, so I gave it a shot. As fate would have it, I started working here just before Christmas in 1992.
Against all odds, we were able to buy a little bungalow in Lowell, on about 1/3 of an acre with a million dollar view looking east up the valley of the Middle Fork of the Willamette, toward Oakridge. And the icing on our cake came in the form of our daughter, Cassidy Rose, born in the Summer of 1995. Julie is an artist and craft vendor at Saturday and Holiday Market (she makes copper garden art lately), and Cassidy is working on becoming a dancer-singer-ice skater, and when she has any extra time, she is my favorite photography subject.
This brings us up to the present era, dutifully paying off the mortgage, joyfully raising our little girl, and enjoying life and the friendship of folks I've known a long time. My hobbies include playing music (guitar mostly) with my friends, home recording, gardening (especially pepper plants), photography, and collecting Pink Floyd concert photographs from the old days (pre-1980). I plan to put my own photos on a soon to be developed web site, which will be a winter project. Who knows what the future will bring, but I am not searching for that any longer. Just for books.
February 1999
I suppose it's pretty confusing to have two people with the same name working in the UO Library system. I'm the "other" Barbara Butler and I've worked at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB) Library in Charleston for nearly seven years. This is an exciting time for the marine laboratory as we are building a new library which should be completed in March or April.
I am an active member of both IAMSLIC (International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Library and Information Centers) and the Special Libraries Association. I am the sole employee of the OIMB Library and therefore a jack-of-all-trades, doing periodical check-in, reference, circulation, shelving, and I've even learned how to tie the "bindery knot" for bundling journal issues. My husband and I enjoy living on the Oregon coast and take every possible opportunity to hike, ski or kayak (flat water for me, white water for him). Our two-year-old border collie/blue heeler cross "Rhett" accompanies us on most outings. If you are in the Coos Bay or Charleston area please stop by to see the OIMB Library -- I'll be happy to give you a tour of the marine laboratory. Until then, you can see a glimpse of OIMB at our web site.
February 1999
Ok, so just who is this Debi Baker person? Well, I'm Pacific Northwest born and raised, primarily an Oregonian who was born in Seattle. A bit of a strange twist, but so is life! After spending the first 5 years of my life pretending to be a Washingtonian, my parents realized Oregon was the place where I belonged, and moved. Of course, the fact that Interstate 5 was going to travel through where our house was currently sitting may have provided a bit of impetus.
I grew up in the Cottage Grove/London area attending almost every local grade school they had to offer. We lived in a variety of places, most of them with plenty of land so we could raise animals and a garden. Neither diversion holds much interest for me any longer.
In due time, marriage came along and the requisite 2.5 children. Actually 2 boys but at times it felt like more! Our younger son has special needs which took up a great deal of time. The boys did actually grow up and leave home. Well, they left home and are continuing to grow up! They are 25 and 22. We lost their father right after they left home, about 5 years ago.
Life began again and square dancing called me back to its safe fold. This is where our family had spent many Friday or Saturday evenings. The boys would play with their toys, complete their homework or play in an unused area of the hall while their parents danced. We were always within sight so we could supervise them.
In assisting with the dance lessons, I met a student who was learning the patterns. We hit it off and in due time marriage came again. We share many of the same interests which include indoor and outdoor activities. Inside we enjoy our individual computers, books, music, dancing. I also enjoy needlecrafts (crochet and cross stitch) and he paints (acrylic & oil). Outside we like to pan for gold, shoot, putter in the flower garden, and head to the beach.
We have a couple of 4-legged children now. Mr. Snowball and Serendipity. Add them to the 4 human children and you can have a menagerie. Yes, I'm now a "wicked step-mother" depending on to whom you speak. Don's daughter thinks I'm wonderful and his son still acts as though he is on another planet. Luckily they are both on their own and married so it doesn't impact us much except on interaction with the grandchildren.
It has been my privilege to work for Orbis 18 months now, since August of 1997. In addition to my regular duties, our union membership elected me to represent them as Steward and as a delegate to the Lane County Labor Council. I also serve the University community at large on a couple of different University-wide Committees.
March 1999
I am Susan Storch, and I have been the University Archivist since November 1997, although I have been working in University Archives since October 1996. I spent the first several months of my time here in basements beneath the dormitories, often emerging quite dirty. I prefer to be clean, by the way, in case anyone was wondering. Previously I was the Project Archivist for Tobacco Control at the University of California, San Francisco and before that I was an archivist on the Human Radiation Experiments team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. So, I had seen my share of documentation on the evil doings of government and industry, and dirty vbasements didn't frighten me at all.
In my personal life, I am mother to Max, who is 8 months old and very charming, and I am married to Michael Manga, who is on the faculty of the Geological Sciences Department. Michael and Max and I like to babble at each other and pull hair when we are together and not reading copious amounts of books. Since becoming a Mom, I have discovered that I can read up to ten books at a single sitting, and I have memorized at least five. According to Max, I can also sing, but I think he needs to tune his ears.
Michael and I are new transplants to Oregon and relatively new to the West Coast. We spend a great deal of time hiking and enjoying the outdoors in the mountains and on the coast, while supposedly doing geological vfieldwork. Max has also been on a number of these trips and is looking forward to the summer when he will take many more. When I get time for myself, I like to read, garden or exercise. I also enjoy baking, and I usually make chocolate cake without any flour because you can put in more chocolate that way.
March 1999
I was born in Goldendale, Washington and lived in Wishram, a railroad town on the Columbia River for my first few years and in the Pacific Northwest the rest of the time.
I have always loved books and libraries and have worked in them for most of my life -- from 6th grade until now. I have been very fortunate to work in a variety of settings -- circulation, reference, computer searching, technical services, and for the last 23 1/2 years in Interlibrary Loans. My professional experience started 8 years before ILL in the Science Library. Actually, when I began at UO, science materials were where the Oregon Collection and Special Collections are now. I was fortunate to help move the collection to their present location which was both an education and adventure.
Libraries continue to be exhilarating places to work -- with continual changes along with fun and interesting people to work with. When I started we thought it was great to get an electric typewriter with one of those balls that went round and round. Now if we don't have an upgraded computer every year or so we feel behind. In ILL we have embraced computers and most of our requests are received electronically. OCLC has written about our ILL service several times. We hit 3 of the coveted million ILL records and used the new ILL Direct so much that OCLC featured the library in their annual report. We are also close to the time when we will be able to receive electronic files from other libraries and then send those files on to our patrons. As Orbis grows we see our requests for books get smaller and soon we hope to offer patron initiated requesting for periodical articles.
Outside of work I love to cheer the Ducks on in football (going to the Rosebowl was a dream come true) and basketball, travel to fun places, go out to eat with my family, worship at Eugene Friends Church, and read. My latest interest is women detective stories. My husband recently retired after 31 years as a teacher and principal in Springfield and is busy making sure the house and my clothes are clean and that I am well fed. People keep asking me when I am going to retire. Why would I want to do that when I finally have a house-husband after all these years? My two sons are busy at the other end of work experience. One (Jesse) is at his last term at Western Oregon University and the other (Justin) is just starting a new job at Thurston High School. We are very proud of both of them.
Other interesting things I do: walk/jog 4 mornings a week with Aimee Yogi, collect duck beanie babies, use lots of coupons when I shop, and treat my ILL staff to pizza once a term.
April 1999
The question I'm most often asked about my job is not "what do you do", but "how were you trained to do it?". The answer is pretty much a culmination of my personal and professional life's experience.
As far back as I can remember, my best friends seemed to be paper, scissors, tape, and glue, which are the basic materials needed to make a blank book. Of course it also takes a vision or idea to fill the pages with substance, but that's another topic. Anyway, I spent most of the early part of my life involved in my little creative pursuits, which kept me happily occupied for hours. As for my academic career, I always seemed to excel in art classes, so when it came time for higher education, my liberal arts studies led to a bachelors degree in Fine Arts at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
I launched into my lucrative library career shortly after graduating from college, when I realized that there was little financial security in the life of an artist, especially when the motivation for creativity was dependent on "making it". So, I got a job at the Santa Barbara Public Library in 1975. I have since worked in four other libraries doing everything from Interlibrary Loan to Bookmobile Driver. Shortly after I moved to Oregon, in 1981, I started working at the Corvallis Public Library, processing materials and, when time permitted, mending the heavily-used collection, relying on my self-taught book binding skills. After awhile I had the opportunity to attend a couple of book repair workshops offered by what is now known as the Support Services Division of the Oregon Library Association. This is where I learned the difference between "quick and dirty" mending and Archival Preservation methods. It wasn't long before I was looking for other learning opportunities to expand my preservation skills and knowledge.
In 1987 I attended the UO/OSU Annual Conference where Don Etherington, an internationally renowned conservator, was the keynote speaker. Shortly thereafter I started working as a volunteer with Ross Bunnell, my predecessor. In the meantime I also got my foot in the door at UO, working as the night supervisor and binding specialist at the Science Library. In 1989, after Ross transferred to the Documents Department, I seized the opportunity I had been waiting for all these years. I finally had my dream job as a Preservation Technician! That was almost ten years ago and I'm still here. Of course my job has changed, from the days when "mending/special prep" was part of the Catalog Department, to the present Preservation Department which includes the Frank L. Beach Lab. Not only has my job gotten better, it's also gotten a lot bigger, with well over two million volumes to keep accessible for future generations.
I have been fortunate enough to have had several other opportunities to further my preservation vocation, including a three-week NEH-funded Conservation Technician Training program at the University of Washington. I also made my pilgrimage to the Preservation Mecca in Austin, Texas, to tour the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Booklab, and the Preservation and Conservation Studies program at the University of Texas at Austin last fall. At this point in my career in Library Preservation, I am starting to focus more on disseminating the wealth of information that I have been accumulating over the years. My goal is to increase Preservation awareness among our staff and patrons, thereby taking a proactive rather than reactive approach to the growing challenge of preserving our collections. If anyone is interested in knowing more about my job, email or phone inquiries are welcomed.
April 1999
Okay, so I'm one of those ex-Californians. Let's get that out of the way. I was born in the very same hospital as Nancy Slight-Gibney (we didn't know it at the time, of course) in Whittier, CA, a small suburb of Los Angeles. I spent most of my growing-up years in Orange County, specifically, Huntington Beach, better known as "Surf City," home of the International Surfing Museum. I attended Huntington Beach High School, where you could plan on the guys disappearing in spring months to "follow the waves." I wasn't much into water, myself, which is probably just as well, as I had a propensity for near-drownings. But I always had a great tan in those days, fool that I was!
So, how did I end up in Eugene, Oregon? Well, I attended California State University, Long Beach for both my undergraduate (BA in Russian) and graduate (MA in Linguistics) degrees. It was in 1974 that I got my first job in the CSULB library as a student assistant (I think Leslie Bennett was in the Media Services Dept. there at the time). A few years later, I obtained a position as a (classified staff) Senior Library Clerk at a community college in Huntington Beach, which consisted of assignments for three years in Acquisitions, and three years in Periodicals. By the time I finished my MA in 1986 (commuting at night on LA freeways is just lovely, let me tell you), I decided I must like libraries since I had worked in them so long. So, library school looked mighty attractive as a way of combining my love of languages and culture with information. It was at that point that it occurred to me that maybe I should consider living someplace besides California (that doesn't occur to us naturally, you know). So, I took a leave of absence from my clerk job and went to University of Arizona in Tucson (Joni Gomez and I overlapped one semester there -- but didn't know it, of course), cramming my MLS coursework into 10 months (not recommended).
Shortly after graduation (1987), I was offered the job here at UO as Acquisition Librarian (it was a new faculty position in the department in addition to the department head). Well, many of you know the story of how the department head, Dana D'Andraia, resigned a week after I got here (but I didn't take it personally). It was about that time (early 1988) that the Library was doing some of its infamous reorganizing (which I've come to know and love), that resulted in the creation of the Serials Department. After six months in Tech Services, I became Personnel Librarian. The Personnel Assistant resigned the third day I was in that department (but I didn't take it personally). I see a pattern here.... But then, of course, I hired Barbara "Goddess of Everything" Butler, and life was good.
Most of my professional involvement has been with a division of the American Library Association, LAMA (Library Administration and Management Association), that has a great track record for attracting all levels of library staff interested in human resources issues. I served four years on the LAMA PAS (Personnel Administrators Section) Economic Status & Staff Welfare Committee, one year as program co-chair, and two years as committee chair. I am currently serving my second (two-year) term on the LAMA Cultural Diversity Committee, where I hope to glean information to bring back to our own library staff development program and Library Diversity Advisory Group, on which I serve ex officio.
People wonder what I do all day. Sometimes I do, too. Working with people is hard to quantify. What are the favorite parts of my job as Head of Library Personnel Services? Why, recruitments and staff development, of course! I'm always amazed when people who don't know much about my job assume I spend 99% of my time with various recruitments. Although it may seem like that at times, there are a few other details to take care of, such as payroll (although Barbara does a fantastic job at this!), labor relations, Affirmative Action issues, diversity issues, classification & compensation issues, policy development and interpretation, preparing new contracts for academics each year, and so forth. The good news is: the job varies from day to day. Which all suits me just fine!
What do I do to relax in my spare time? It took me a while to figure that one out, too, but I'll come clean. I'm a fiction writer, and have been since I was six years-old. Not published yet, of course, but I keep at it. Around 1990, I started writing romantic comedies, and had so much fun with them, that I'm now on my fifth novel of that type. I've been a member of a local professional writers' critique group since about 1990, as well, and that's been the greatest support a writer could have. I've attended local writers' conferences and have had the opportunity to meet local and national authors, agents and publishers. My favorite personal encounter involves author Craig Lesley (The Sky Fisherman, Riversong, Winterkill), who was once a high school student in my Uncle Larry's class over in Madras. You see, Uncle Larry was a pall bearer at Craig's Uncle Oscar's funeral and.... And then there was the time I babbled incoherently to Sandra Dyckstra, Amy Tan's (The Joy Luck Club) agent. And every once in a while, Mom sends me one of those awful stories I wrote in elementary school. Keeps me humble. Keeps me laughing! Great therapy. I highly recommend it.
May 1999
I live with my wife, Marianne, and stepson, Kevin. I have a daughter, Jessica, who just turned 21 and lives in New York .
I was born in Roseburg and grew up in Riddle, Oregon. With three vsisters and two brothers, I hardly had time to be lonely! My father was a jeweler, an inventor and later became an electrician. He was always building or making something around the house. I think we had the weirdest lawnmowers and house lighting in the county. Helping him, or being around while he tinkered, offered a few insights for me about things. The first is that machines are designed by people to be used, so a person should be able to use, understand and work on almost any machine. I was never a technophobe. The second insight was that just getting the job done is not necessarily the best solution. There is always a more 'elegant' (my word for it now) solution to a problem. I generally find myself asking, "what do I really want this to do?" and then, "what is the smallest, simplest system that can do it?". I like when I discover that the big complicated problem I thought I was dealing with has changed all of a sudden to something simple and manageable.
After high school, I went to Umpqua Community College in Roseburg for a year, and then moved to Eugene to go to the University of Oregon. I studied oil painting and fine art for a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Then later I went back for a masters in Telecommunications and Film, the now defunct TCF department. I thought I would work in a field where my art, design and video interests would be valuable. I had no idea that I'd be doing what I am doing now.
I began working at the Knight Library as a classified employee in February of 1991 as the night manager of the Instructional Media Center. I had been a work-study employee in the IMC for a number of years, starting in 1973. So I started my job with more cumulative seniority than almost all the IMC employees. I was night manager for 6 years.
When the equipment manager, Bob Barzee, decided to take early retirement, I had to make a decision. I have always sought opportunities to be creative. Barzee's job seemed to be regular and controlled. I decided to try for the Equipment Manager job, but with the intent that I would be able to do it in a way that was best for me. I was sorry to leave OPEU, but I have enjoyed the transition to my present position. I find that I really like helping people get comfortable using the new media equipment.
The newest activities in my work have been my involvement with the Media Services Director search committee, the Grayson Hall Classroom Users group, and a campus classroom design Ad Hoc subcommittee.
Away from work, in my off-time hours, I seem to keep busy. Marianne and I bought a house almost two years ago and we're still trying to get it painted. There always seems to be something to do in the yard or inside the house. I carry my interests in computers and video home with me. For years I've had a small business/hobby doing graphic design and video projects for a few select (they usually select me) clients. My daughter was interested in theatre and tap dancing when she was young, and I ended up taping most of the shows that Musical Feet School of Tap puts on at the Hult Center and Agate Hall. I've helped a few people publish books by doing the transcribing/typing/editing/pre-press work on their project. And for a few years I videotaped every school play at North Eugene High School and Thurston High School.
I really enjoy camping and being outdoors. I'll have to fit some time in for that this summer. And someday I want to get out the oil paints again.
May 1999
April 6, 1999 marked my 1-year anniversary on-board the Knight Library staff. Leaving the Social Services arena to take the receptionist position in the Librarian's Office offered a sense of "coming home" (it was a previous occupation of mine). The position satisfies my desire to be of assistance without the heartache that often comes while serving families in need. Though my heart will always be there for families, I find I'm provided ample opportunity in my private life to "come to the aid!"
I am the proud mother of three fine budding young men, Joseph (16), Jacob (13) and Christopher (12). You can be sure that they remind me of their up-coming birthdays on a regular basis! They are a true blessing in my life and though there are times when parenting three teen-age boys seems like more than ANYONE should have to endure, I would not change a thing where they are concerned (except maybe their lack of desire to pick up after themselves!). On March 13 of this year I happily re-married Joseph's father, (my childhood sweetie & the boy next door!), after having been separated for seventeen years. It is true that life IS stranger than fiction!
When not meeting the needs of my family, I take care of myself by digging in the dirt. Though I have a difficult time relating to the dirt inside (the house), the dirt outside gives me great comfort. The sense of accomplishment and the visual beauty of seeing a garden take form is second to prayer for communion with the Lord. (Not to mention the benefits of planting edibles!) Among other interests I enjoy dancing, swimming, hiking & biking or anything else that takes me outdoors. (I was always a bit of a tomboy!) I have also been inclined to exercise my creative juices in the form of needlecraft, photography and various other crafty things. (Sometimes I just make things up!) Learning to make more time for these interests is forthcoming! I think it has something to do with youngsters who are becoming increasingly more independent!
June 1999
I've been working at the UO Libraries for over 20 years in various positions. My very first cataloging job was in the Map Library while I was a student in the library school. I later worked in the Science Library as a student and as a GTF, then spent a year as a GTF for the old Library 127 class (Use of the Library). I had intended to be a medical librarian "when I grew up", but I married a Eugene native shortly after I finished school -- and there were no medical library positions available in Eugene at the time. So then I volunteered at Sacred Heart Library cataloging medical journals.
All that cataloging helped me land my position in the Catalog Department in 1979. Jobs have a way of evolving around here, and mine is no exception. I started out cataloging mostly science books. Then I picked up the coordination of thesis microfilming and cataloging. I added audiovisual cataloging about 1983. When the department divided into cataloging teams, Marion Obar and I became the Nonbook and Western European Language Cataloging Team. We get to catalog all the fun stuff -- videos, computer files, Internet resources. Since I have specialized in this area, I've been a guest workshop leader for OCLC Pacific, training other librarians from Seattle to Los Angeles in the mysteries of video and electronic resources cataloging.
My husband and I met while skiing, and for years and years we were up in the mountains every weekend from December through March. Then four years ago, we found a new sport which began to steal some of our skiing time. It is cowboy action shooting, in which participants create personas from the late 1800s and compete in scenarios taken from old westerns or modeled on daily life situations of old West citizens. It is more fantasy than history, but the firearms we use are reproductions of weapons that were in production before 1900. My husband, our 16-year-old son and I all participate. I started out near the bottom of the score list, but last July I became the woman's state champion cowboy action shooter.
You can find out a little more about me on my web page.
June 1999
I started life in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1949, the only child of older parents, and hearing impaired from an early age. So the acquisition of social skills -- even the simple stuff like "hello, how are you" -- has been a struggle. I've compensated by developing a strange sense of humor based on non sequiturs...
I attended Georgia State University in the 1960s and dropped out to take part in peace activities during the early 1970s. I came west in 1975, driving a pickup with a "pioneer wagon" canopy and a sign, "Oregon or bust." During the late 70s and 80s I was active with the Hoedads, Inc., a reforestation cooperative, doing tree planting, trail construction, fire fighting, construction, insulation work, timber stand exams, surveying, bulldozer operation, log skidding, precommercial thinning, slashing, and snag felling. I've also been a baker, an animal technician (great apes and monkeys), farmer, carpenter, mechanic, grave digger, landscaper, and tree surgeon. In 1983 I took a year off from the woods to learn editing, composition, letterpress printing and bindery at the Hemlock Press, a small press in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Intermittently, to this day, I keep my hand in by running my own press out in the garage, under the name Stony Run Press. The press is a Chandler & Price 10x15 platen, built in 1886. I also write poems from time to time, which appear in journals, and have one ISBN title in print, Desire for the Land, and another waiting for a publisher, Lettuce in Winter.
I married Pattie Buff in 1977, and we have three children, Micah, 19, Bjorn, 15, and Emily, 13. My son Dan, 32, attended my recent graduation here at UO (he's from Atlanta), and he was a huge hit with the kids, whom he'd not seen since Emily was only a year old.
In 1986 I felt that my body was telling me to retire from woods work, and at a family council it was determined that Richard would go back to school full time. I completed a B.A. in English in 1989, and was hired soon thereafter as an academic records evaluator in the UO Admissions Office, a position I was to hold for eight years. From 1989 to 1993, I worked on an M.A. in English on lunch hours, and developed the Edmund Spenser Home Page and Renascence Editions as class projects. These now contain 63 titles and have afforded me the opportunity to work with scholars from around the world.
In 1997 I moved to the Knight Library to take on the work, mostly, of keeping the microforms reader/printers going. Patrons are often surprised that microformat materials are still being published, and I enjoy discussing with them the advantages of having a stable medium that stores easily and provides the equivalent of a 2400 by 2400 dpi image. We have over one million documents on microform, and it's exciting and challenging to me to try to master a collection on that scale so as to be of maximum service to the campus community and the general public.
For the last three years I've returned to school for an M.S. in Arts Management, concentrating in museum studies and informatics. Last week's graduation was a major personal milestone for many reasons, not the least of which was that I've made many friends in the Arts and Administration program, which is small enough that my lack of social skills and hearing disability were not problematical for me. I still have a lot of irons in the fire, but I'm hoping now to come up for air and do a few of my favorite things for fun, such as hiking in the Cascades, raising tomatoes, playing dulcimer, teaching Emily softball, and editing Florio's translation of Montaigne. The house needs a little work, too...
For more on your friendly neighborhood Bear, see my home page. And be sure to see the pictures of my visit last summer, with Emily, in Florida with my mom and dad!
July 1999
I am one of the old-timers here at the Knight Library, as I started working here in August 1982. I worked part-time for several years in the Acquisition Department, while taking classes to finish up my degree in Fine Arts (painting). I actually graduated in 1985, which seemed like a miracle, as I had begun college 25 years earlier, and then took time off to get married, put my husband (ex) through law school, and raise 2 children.
After graduating, my job turned into a full-time position, and I continued working in Acquisitions for almost 10 years. After working behind locked doors for all that time, I decided it was time to break out and transferred to work in the Reserve Room. I was only there for about a year and a half when our department was taken over by the Circulation Department, where I am now working as the Special Processes Clerk. In a way I have come full-circle, as I began my illustrious library career working in the Circulation Department at Butler Library, Columbia University, in NYC. After that I worked in the library at the University of Illinois, and then one summer worked in the Salem Public Library (Children's Department). My most fun job was working at Kraft Foods, where I started as a taster of various salad products, and then moved up to work in the laboratory, running tests on margarine.
I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I still don't know. So I continue to work in the library, at least bringing in a stable, if somewhat small, salary. I live vicariously through the exciting lives led by my two now grown-up children. Both have worked and/or traveled in several foreign countries -- my son in Spain, Mexico, Brazil, etc., and my daughter in Japan, Thailand, China, etc. The farthest I've been is Mexico (Puerta Vallarta), but I do have my passport ready and waiting for an exciting trip somewhere, sometime, in the future (maybe to visit my daughter in Japan!).
Meanwhile, I like to paint (acrylic/oil, watercolor) when I get motivated. I sell cards made from photos of my paintings. They are currently for sale at a store in Corvallis called Botticellis, and a store in Salem called "Made in Salem." Occasionally I will exhibit my paintings and have actually sold some. I love color, and I believe that is my main reason for painting. A photo of one of my paintings is attached to my web page : http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~nwloya/TEST.HTM. Be sure you capitalize the last part, and don't expect too much as this was my first attempt to make a web page.
Oh, and by the way, this week on my lunch hour I bought a condo!!!!
August, 1999
Originally born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, I grew up in a small Canadian town of Penetanguishene located on the shores of Georgian Bay in Ontario. My lifelong intrigue with maps began as a child when I would navigate my family on our many road-trips. This interest of mine continued as I completed my undergraduate degree in Geography at the University of Guelph in Ontario (1991) where I began to work as a GIS cartographer for one of my professors. From this point, I continued my westward drift and found myself in Winnipeg, Manitoba where one learns to layer their garments in the winter and do battle with the mosquitoes in the summer. Although Winnipeg is considered cold even by Canadian standards, my six years in Winnipeg were fantastic! I loved jogging in the –30 degree winter through the old cathedral ruins and industrial areas of St Boniface. My time in Winnipeg furthered my cartographic development with my involvement in various mapping projects through forming my own business, Academic Mapping and most importantly, through an opportunity to spend my last two years teaching a second year cartography course at the University of Manitoba.
It was during my lectureship that I became interested in Map Librarianship. As I introduced my students to the map and atlas section of the library, I became very interested in this other aspect of maps -how and why the spatial materials were arranged as they were. Then with a simple keyword search on the OPAC using the terms "Map and Librarianship", I was lead to Larrasgarrd's text of the same name. Her book (now in its 3rd edition) is amazing from the depth of coverage to the friendliness of its prose. From here, it was a natural step to return to school and complete a MLIS degree at the University of Western Ontario in London, taking every opportunity to "spin" my studies spatially.
I enjoy hiking, biking, and running- anything to get outdoors and take in the subtle poetics of the landscape. My love of books started when I met my partner Laura during our undergraduate degrees and we started to collect books. Our collection has continued to grow over the years, which does not work well with our many moves across the continent. Of course, it includes a growing list of atlases – from academic to more idiosyncratic studies like "The Atlas of Elvis". Through my reading, I have stumbled upon another interest of mine, reading philosophy, not as a mode of study, but rather for the sheer enjoyment of listening in on the personal confessions of the authors. My real enjoyment however is found in my family- Laura and our son Kierdan who is two and a half years old and an absolute joy. His main focus about our upcoming move to Eugene is "Can we play mini-golf there daddy".
I am starting the position of MAP\GIS Librarian at the University of Oregon this September (five days from writing this). On a professional basis, I am very excited about the opportunity to work in this growing field and increase my professional knowledge in the geospatial realm. On a personal side, I am really looking forward to the complete immersion in a fantastic geographical area of North America. Laura and I have always wanted to live in the Pacific Coast region and, compared to the flatness of the Prairies and London Ontario, Oregon will be a welcomed change.
As a final thought I should note that it is true as a Canadian I learned to skate as I learned to walk and to shoot a puck as I learned to use a fork.
August 1999
This September I celebrated my eighth year of employment in the Knight Library. Although my previous library experience had only been as a patron, the work has been a good fit for me; I often tell people it's like working in a toy store or a candy shop -- the materials and information we handle give me that much pleasure. It has, however, changed the way I read. These days, I'm typically in the middle of a number of books at once, and I do a lot more browsing of texts; that is, with such a surfeit of riches, I no longer feel compelled to read every book I pick up from cover to cover.
I was originally hired to assist with retrospective conversion and general database maintenance, and though my job has changed over the years, I'm still doing basically the same stuff -- only deeper, wider, faster and more detailed. I did spend 8 months doing serials check-in half-time in addition to my regular duties (which had gone to half-time during that period) and for a few years now I have been doing some authority control work. What really has changed is the way we do the work. What with all the technological advances in our culture this decade, and in this library specifically, it's a pretty exciting time to be doing library work.
My move to Oregon from the San Francisco Bay area was made basically to enhance my family's quality of life. While I sometimes still miss the ethnic and cultural diversity of that fabulous cosmopolitan city, not to mention the adrenaline rush it can afford, I don't miss the traffic, the expense, the urban dread and the active fault line virtually in my backyard. Living in this beautiful state has renewed my appreciation of nature, and the more relaxed pace I have adopted here has allowed me to indulge my artistic pursuits, which had been atrophying in the years just before we relocated.
The difference in my work situation is pretty representative of the true-to-myself freedom I now enjoy. During the 80's I worked for Xerox, and in the last position I held, Production Supervisor, one of my duties was to enforce a very square corporate dress code. That was sheer torture for me! Sure, I like to wear a white shirt with a necktie... sometimes. Here, I can come to work in shorts, sporting a pony-tail and a purple beard, and it's equally acceptable. Truly, variety is the spice of life. And Xerox had nothing comparable to the Gonzo Revue or the Zucchini Festival.
This job also led indirectly to one of my abiding recreational activities, shapenote singing. My co-worker, Harriett Smith , was unavoidably evesdropping on my original interview with Nancy Nathanson in the pre-renovation Catalog Department. When Harriett heard about my backround in garage bands and low rent theatricals, she thought I might fit in...go figure. After I got the job, she invited me to come sing with the Eugene Sacred Harp singers, and I've been doing it ever since. My music reading skills have definitely improved, but I still can't really claim to be an accomplished musician. I am, however, a pretty enthusiastic amateur. For more than a year now, I have been a member of Accordions Anonymous. I suppose music is my main creative outlet these days, though I have been known to do performance art in Eugene with the now-defunct Landfill Gardeners of Gondwanaland, and light shows for the likewise defunct tribal/industrial band Onomatopoeia. I also like to take photos, in which some of my habitual subjects are tombstones and vanity license plates.
I also used to write more than I do now, and in my xeroidal days made books of my scrawls and graphics. A copy of my most recent one, Obsolete Literature, was accepted into Oregon Collection and cataloged. That was a real thrill for me, believe it or not. I'm kind of embarassed, though, that it has been so long since I have put a collection of my stuff together. I think it's time for me to learn html and put up a web page.
I am the proud father of an 18 year old daughter, Sara Mercedes, whom this fall has matriculated at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where about 20% of her class is also named Sara(h). Talk about your educational experiences --- parenthood! I don't think I really grew up (if indeed I have) until I had a child. For me, it's something like the experience of writing a poem: I know I contributed somehow to her existence, but I can't really take credit for that, because she is writing herself and I have merely been an instrument of her flowering. All I can do is appreciate and learn from the beauty thus produced.
Enough. In closing, I'd just like to repeat what I inscribed in our library's copy of Obsolete Literature: "Thanks for giving me a job!"
September 1999
I have never asked anyone to do anything I wouldn't do (at least in theory), so I figured now that I am editing the LSA profiles I ought to go ahead and write mine. This is a calculated effort to seize moral high ground in the face of obstinate profile-writers.
There seem to be a few well-trodden paths people follow into the library profession. I chose the way reserved for "Realistic Academics." After two years of work towards my History PhD at the University of Illinois, I realized that finding employment as a history professor might not be as easy as I initially thought. I took a terminal MA and went to seek my fortune in Library Science, receiving my MLS from the University of Buffalo in 1998.
Prior to my journey to the west coast, I was employed as a Government Documents/Business Librarian at the University of Mississippi. I have to admit that Oxford, Mississippi was a pleasant surprise - a small town of striking beauty accented with the poverty Northerners expect from the Deep South. Trips to the Delta for blues, Memphis for soul, and New Orleans for jazz were frequent. Prior to that I was an Assistant Librarian for the Congressional Budget Office where my job was to make sure that secretaries took the correct number of newspapers in the morning. I lived in Bethesda, of which all I seem to remember are diplomatic license plates and bad Mexican food. There was a wonderful bookstore across from the shop that put new shocks on my car and I was living in a second floor apartment at $850.00/month - which thankfully included utilities.
I have been the Business Librarian at the University of Oregon for about 8 months now. Things are getting busier and busier, but I look forward to coming to work every day - my hackneyed measure of job satisfaction. I am proud to be a member of the staff of the Knight Library in an environment that keeps me on my toes - always another challenge to meet.
Like so many of my colleagues, I have diverse interests. Recently, I have been re-introducing myself to Dada and Surrealism, reading about the Cabaret Voltaire - Arp, Grosz, Duchamp, Tzara - et all. I am also a dedicated consumer of humor & the absurd - everything from Perelman to Jarry. When I have spare time, I like to read, watch b-movies and westerns, and listen to music. When I am inspired I build things. I am sporadically working on two projects- a miniature stage design for "Pere Ubu" and the "Shroud of Orlando" - a re-creation of the Shroud of Turin using Mickey Mouse as the subject. I also collect ancient coins, play the occasional round of golf, and I love Hockey.
September 1999