GODORT OF MICHIGAN NEWS
MARCH 1998

Table of Contents

  1. STAT-USA/Internet Workshop Highlights, December 5, 1997
  2. General Business Meeting, December 5, 1997
  3. Thurston Award Nominations Sought
  4. Jennie and Lifetime Achievement Awards Nominations Sought
  5. Godort of Michigan Executive Council Election Coming Up
  6. Godort of Michigan Spring Meeting Scheduled

(1) STAT-USA/Internet Workshop Highlights, December 5, 1997

Godort of Michigan sponsored a STAT-USA/Internet hands-on workshop in the Detroit Public Library on December 5, 1997. Ken Rodgers, director of STAT-USA, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic and Statistics Administration, led two groups through the site. Created in 1994, it serves the business and trade communities with current economic and trade data primarily gathered from U.S. government sources.

The morning session had several people who had used the service. Questions came up about search strategies and inconsistent results. STAT-USA doesn't lend itself to boolean searching or plus and quote symbols between words or phrases. Right now there is no search help on-line. Problems came up when contacting the service for help. Some libraries expressed a need for logon and logoff buttons for the service. Others questioned whether the subscription fee was enough to support the service. (The agency is at a break even point now.)

Ken wants better dialogue between libraries and the agency and said to contact him directly with questions or problems. He's aware of the weaknesses of the system, including the need to allow for a larger number of hits, the lack of a query builder, and little or no source information on many documents. They are working on many of these problems, but despite the flaws, the sytem is working will for businesses.

Source: Mary Ann Slazinski, Detroit Public Library, telephone: (313) 833-1400.

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(2) General Business Meeting, December 5, 1997

Meeting called to order by Larry Hall at 12:45 p.m.

Minutes of Previous Meeting were read by Sharon Bradley. Approved as read, unanimously approved.

Treasurer's Report presented by Michael McDonnell.

  • Marilyn Moody, speaker at the May meeting, declined our honorarium.
  • Michael noted that bank charges amount to about one member's dues per month and were starting to make a dent in the organization's resources. Michael was asked by Larry Hall to investigate moving the account to another bank or changing its status in some way to reduce charges.
  • General discussion ensued on the Godort of Michigan certificate of deposit. [Eight years ago, upon Godort's request, then treasurer Jon Harrison invested $1000 of Godort of Michigan's money in a certificate of deposit. In has earned almost $600 in interest since then.] Larry Hall suggested that this money could be moved into checking account to raise the minimum balance to avoid service charges.
  • Treasurer's Report accepted and unanimously approved.

    State Plan Revisions discussed by Ann Sanders.

  • The working draft is in the hands of council members. The Library of Michigan will place the document on thier web site when council members have received and entered comments.
  • The document will be in PDF format. Stricken/added text will be viewable in this format.
  • The council meets January 23rd and will discuss the document. Comments to any council member are encouraged as well as attendance at the next meeting.
  • The Spring regional meetings will likely focus on the state plan as well.

    New Superintendent of Documents noted by Larry Hall. Fran Buckley is the new Superintendent of Documents. He is a former DPL Librarian and a founding member of Godort of Michigan.

    Speaker's Bureau Developments.

  • As a follow-up to Marilyn Moody's presentation last May, Sally Lawler is trying to coordinate a speaker's bureau.. Sally wanted to know about everyone's efforts in this area and she distributed forms to aid her in matching up potential speakers with libraries. It was suggested that Red Tape would be a good avenue for promoting participation [Announcement appeared in December 1997 issue.] It was also suggested that members could publicize the speaker's bureau in other newsletters as well.

    Miscellaneous Announcements.

  • Oksana Urban is the new documents person at Warren Public Library.
  • A new list serv, MICHGPO, has been created and is being maintained by the Detroit Public Library. Only federal depository librarians can sign up. It will be a communication tool for depository librarians to share information or discuss problems not intended for public consumption. To subscribe, send an e-mail to listproc@detroit.lib.mi.us, leave the subject line blank, and type the following message: subscribe michgpo firstname lastname.
  • Sally Lawler recommended a label making feature that she discovered on the Enhanced Shipping List web page. It can be downloaded from the FDLP page (Tools) or you can take a look at http://libaix01.uta.edu/shiplist/instructions.html.
  • Sally Lawler requested sample reference questions that could be incorporated into training exercises. Perhaps Godort of Michigan members could include such questions on the speaker's bureau volunteer form.
  • Paula Kaczmarek requested program ideas for the rest of the year. She asked if anyone knew whether the various Michigan chapters of the Special Library Association were planning any programs on the switch from the Standard Industrial Code to the North American Classification System. The future of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) was suggested as a possible topic of interest, particularly since it is not clear whether depository libraries will have free access to the new web database after April 1. Additional program ideas included the movement of items to electronic format and inviting the new Superintendent of Documents to address Godort of Michigan.

    Minutes supplied by Sharon Bradley.

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    (3) Thurston Award Nominations Sought

    GODORT of Michigan is soliciting nominations for the Paul W. Thurston Award. The Thurston plaque recognizes a contribution to the professional literature by a practicing documents or other librarian which improves access to government information at the international, Federal, state, or local level. Membership in GODORT of Michigan is not required.

    The contribution should have been published within the past three years. Electronic publication is acceptable. If unpublished, it should have been completed in the past three years.

    Nominations must be submitted on a special form. Copies of the form may be obtained by contacting Susan K. Kruger, Chair, Paul W. Thurston Award Nominating Committee, Detroit Public Library, Sociology and Economics Department, 5201 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202; by calling (313) 833-1444; by sending an e-mail to: susank3157@aol.com; or by sending a fax to: (313) 833-1442. The deadline for submitting the nomination form is April 1, 1998.

    The award is presented in the memory of Paul W. Thurston, who set exemplary professional standards during his career as a documents librarian. It is the hope of GODORT of Michigan that the award will encourage others in both new and ongoing contributions to the documents literature.

    Past recipients of the Thurston Award include :

  • Sheila Nollen from Western Illinois University for A Guide to Programs and Subjects in Annual Reports of Illinois State Government Agencies in 1997;

  • Grace York and Sue Davidsen for their work in sharing government information over the Internet in 1995;

  • Carole Callard and the Public Services Division staff at the Library of Michigan for their efforts in compiling the five volume reference work Michigan1870 Census Index in 1993;

  • Jim Walsh and A. James Bothmer for Vital and Health Statistics Series : An Annotated Checklist and Index to the Publications of the Rainbow Series in 1992; and

  • Suzanne Schulze for her three indexes: Population Information in Nineteenth Century Census Volumes; Population Information in Twentieth Century Census Volumes, 1900-1940; and Population Information in Twentieth Century Census Volumes, 1950-1980 in 1990.

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    (4) Jennie and Lifetime Achievement Awards Nominations Sought

    GODORT of Michigan is soliciting nominations for both the Jennie Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award.

    The Jennie Award, named in honor of Jennie Cross, may be presented to a member of the Michigan documents community in recognition of current outstanding achievement or special service. Previous recipients include: Jennie Cross (1980), Paul Thurston (1983), Francis Buckley, Jr. (1985), Anne Diamond (1987), Barbara Hulyk (1990), and Jon Harrison (1995).

    A Lifetime Achievement Award may be presented to a past or present member of GODORT in recognition of an exemplary career in government documents service. Four people have received this award so far: Eleanor Boyles, Richard Hathaway, June Hawthorne, and Anne Diamond.

    Nominations should be submitted to: Susan K. Kruger, Detroit Public Library, Detroit Public Library, Sociology and Economics Department, 5201 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202; by calling (313) 833-1444; by sending an e-mail to: susank3157@aol.com; or by sending a fax to: (313) 833-1442. The deadline for submitting the nomination form is April 1, 1998.

    Nominations must include or be followed by a written letter of support. This letter should include name, address of the nominee, present place of employment, description of achievements or special service by the nominee, and the nominating source.

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    (5) Godort of Michigan Executive Council Election Coming Up

    It's time once again to think about running for office for GODORT of Michigan. Elections will be held at the April GODORT meeting in Jackson for the position of:

    Please send nominations to: Susan Kruger, Sociology and Economics Dept., Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48202; or via e-mail: Susank3157@aol.com. Nominations will remain open until just prior to voting at the April GODORT of Michigan meeting.

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    (6) Godort of Michigan Spring Meeting Scheduled

    The next meeting of GODORT of Michigan will be on April 29 at the Jackson District Library. Registration forms will be mailed to members and be made available to others in the near future. Registration details are not yet final.

    The morning program will start with Barbara Clayton from the U.S. Bureau of the Census giving a presentation on NAICS.

    More exciting topics are in the works. This will also be the day of our Annual Meeting and elections.

    Source: Paula Kaczmarek, Program Chair/President-Elect, GOVDOC-M, February 19, 1998.

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    Pointers
  • Back to RED TAPE Home Page
  • Back to Jon Harrison's Home Page
  • Back to MSU Libraries Home Page
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    Last revised 02/26/98