8th Annual Atmospheric Science Librarians International Conference
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| Links to the recorded presentations are available at the AMS Conference site. | |
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
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| 8:30am | Registration and Coffee |
| 9:00am | Welcome Address and Introductions Patty Carey, ASLI Chair, University of Washington, Seattle, WA |
| 9:15am | Session 1 Moderator: Susan Tarbell1.1 The Scripps Archives Program and the Digitization of Materials Deborah Day, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, CA Over the last two years, Scripps Archives has digitized over 3,500 still images, expedition reports, books, manuscripts, an oral history and a film from its collections on the history of oceanography and made these accessible to researchers on the web. The archivist of Scripps discusses this work and how it fits into its program to collect and make records documenting the history of Scripps available to the public.1.2 Digitizing ATS-III Image Collection – making the data searchable Jean Phillips, Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WIIn the mid-1960s, Dr. Verner E. Suomi, founder of the Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison and “Father of Satellite Meteorology”, invented the Spin-Scan camera. This instrument was the payload of the Applications Technology Satellites -I and -III (ATS-I and ATS-III) launched in 1966 and 1967 respectively. The launching of the ATS-I into geosynchronous Earth orbit pioneered continuous viewing of weather from space and allowed scientists to study a synoptic picture of existing meteorological conditions for the first time. The Schwerdtfeger Library has created a prototype database of ATS-III (and eventually, ATS-I) images for web access. The resulting database is searchable across numerous parameters and allows for several display options. Having this period in our weather history (1966-1972) accessible to researchers increases the time base available for climate study and modeling. |
| 10:15am | Break |
| 10:30am | Session 2 Moderator: Evelyn M. Poole-Kober2.1 The Role of the Atmospheric Sciences Data Center in Supporting the Earth Information System Nancy A. Ritchey, Science Applications International Corporation, Hampton, VAThe NASA Langley Atmospheric Sciences Data Center (ASDC), located in Hampton, VA was established to support the Earth Observing System (EOS) as part of NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. It is one of nine Distributed Active Archive Centers sponsored by NASA as part of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System. ESE strives to understand and protect our home planet by using NASA’s view from space to study the Earth system and improve prediction of Earth system change, giving the world new and powerful means to observe the Earth as a system.At present, ASDC supports more than 800 data sets from over 35 projects and the data volume will surpass one petabyte (the equivalent of 2 million CDs) by the end of 2004. The data volume is a combination of satellite observations, processed data, and aircraft and surface measurements. The majority of the data files contain moderately complex data structures in binary format.ASDC distributed over 58 terabytes of data to more than 8100 customers in 2003. Customers include scientists; researchers; universities; federal, state, and local governments; application users; members of the commercial remote sensing community; K-12 educators; and the general public. Detailed information about the ASDC data products, documentation, data ordering interface, and tools for working with the data, is available from the ASDC Web site at https://earthdata.nasa.gov/eosdis/daacs/asdc. 2.2 Unique Online Data and Text For Scholars and Researchers in Meteorology In cooperation with the National Climatic Data Center’s Climate Database Modernization Program, the NOAA Central Library has been able to scan and provide 24/7 access to unique data and publications for scholars and researchers. Scheduled for completion by this conference is a joint project with AMS to provide full text online access to the Monthly Weather Review from 1973 back to volume 1 issue 1 in 1872! Project Two is the ongoing scanning of the Annual Reports of the U.S. Weather Bureau from 1871! Project Three is the scanning of the full text of “meteorological treasures” such as the 1485 Latin translation of an essay by ancient Greek medical authority Hippocrates discussing the effects of climate on health. Have you accessed the complete collection of the U.S. Daily Weather Maps online from 1871? These and other unique resources will be demonstrated with web site addresses for researchers. 2.3 Library Services in an International Setting–Five Year Review The Keith B. Mather Library is the special library supporting the research at the Geophysical Institute and the International Arctic Research Center. The collection is focused primarily on high latitude geophysics: atmospheric science, permafrost, global change, glaciology, remote sensing, volcanology, seismology, space physics and aeronomy. In 1999, the library moved into a new 14000 square foot facility on two floors in the new International Arctic Research Center building. Approximately 100 foreign national faculty, staff and graduate students are served by this new library. This paper will be an overview of the informational services provided in the first five years in this new facility: collection development and publication exchange with a focus on increased coverage of Arctic, Antarctic, Japanese, Russian and Chinese geophysical publications. Other services offered in the new facility are 24 hour library access for staff and GI/IARC visitors, tours in English, Japanese and Russian, citation verification, resume workshops, interlibrary loan (same day as requested), reference and copy service. Future services will involve increasing polar networking and promotion of library services, including electronic journals. In addition, the library staff is investigating the international collaboration by our research staff on journal articles. |
| 12:00pm | Lunch |
| 1:00pm | Session 3 Moderator: Michael Fosmire 3.1 Promoting Library Services: Reaching out to Academics and Graduate Students Amy Butros, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, CA The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) Library has experienced a drop in the library gate count, in-person visits, reference queries, and attendance at library classes, for the past few years. A program was put in place to reach out to faculty and researchers (academics) by making phone calls to their offices “cold calling”, and to graduate students by offering them incentives for their time.The amount of positive feedback from the academics and students, and the new knowledge and confidence gained by the librarian from time spent researching the academics before cold calling, and preparation for the consultations and classes, branded this new program as a success. Revision of the program goals and plan a year after implementation, to streamline the workflow, turned this new venture into a routine service of the SIO Library.3.2 Collecting instruments at NCAR Diane Rabson, NCAR, Boulder, COThe National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) was founded in 1960 in Boulder, CO, to support the university research community by providing large-scale facilities such as supercomputers, aircraft, high-altitude balloons, as well as a wide array of observing systems. NCAR’s main machine shop has been producing instrumentation for field programs and experiments since 1963. Recently the NCAR Archives undertook an initiative to document the design, fabrication and use of instrumentation historically at NCAR. Few physical instruments exist after initial usage, however, owing to sheer size, deployment, or cannibalization of components for other instruments. This presentation will discuss NCAR Archives’ collection of drawings, specifications, photographs, oral histories, and field project records to document this important part of NCAR’s mission as well as the creation of an electronic database to bring it all together. 3.3 Abbott Lawrence Rotch: Observer, Extraordinaire Born in Boston in 1861 into a leading New England family, Abbott Lawrence Rotch founded Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, MA, in 1884. Some of Rotch’s notebooks have come to light while consolidating materials for offsite storage during a renovation of the Headquarters building of the American Meteorological Society in Boston two years ago. This presentation covers Rotch’s establishment of the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory and the notebooks of clippings and observations he kept of worldwide meteorological phenomena. It will also discuss his travels to other European observatories and his correspondence with even more far-flung observers and how he transferred this collected information into material that was then regularly published in the Monthly Weather Review and other journals. A sidelight is his collection of some of the earliest photographs of routine occurrences such as clouds and lightning and of other observatories. The presentation is based on archival records at Harvard, Blue Hill, the American Meteorological Society, and the Metropolitan District Commission. |
| 2:30pm-4:00pm | Exhibits |
| 6:00pm | Annual ASLI Dinner with Election of 2005 Officers Laurel Restaurant & Bar 505 Laurel Street (Corner of 5th Avenue) Drinks – 6:00pm Dinner – 7:00pm Sponsored by Cambridge Scientific Abstracts |
Thursday, January 13, 2005
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| 8:45am | Coffee |
| 9:00am | Session 5 – Publishing/Product Updates and Live Demos Moderator: Jinny Nathans5.1 Update on AMS Publishing Keith Seitter, Executive Director, AMS, Boston, MA5.2 Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts Michael Miyazaki, Marketing Manager, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts |
| 10:15am | Break |
| 10:30am | Publishing/Product Updates and Live Demos continued Moderator: Jinny Nathans5.3 American Geophysical Union Steve Cole, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC5.4 Elsevier Science Frank J. Cynar, Senior Publishing Editor, Earth & Planetary Sciences, San Diego, CA 5.5 Wiley Interscience |
| 12:00pm | Lunch |
| 1:15pm | Session 6 Moderator: Madeleine Needles6.1 AMS Publishing/BAMS Update Ken Heideman, Director of Publications, AMS and Jeff Rosenfeld, Editor, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, AMS, Boston, MAKen Heidemann, Director of Publications, AMS The AMS is in a transition time period. We’ve mastered paper-based workflow and reduced the time from submission to publication. The trend is toward an all-electronic workflow, which started in 2004. This has required a capital expenditure for training and allowances for a learning curve.As of this year (2005) Sheridan Press will publish print for the AMS and Allen Press will handle online only.In 2004, 1450 papers were accepted for publication compared to 1150 in 2001. Submissions have increased during this transition time, having a huge impact on staff. As a result, production times are up a bit, but the worst is over. Some new tools for members coming soon: members will be able to create personalized online libraries, customize the articles they want to see, and will be able to see who is citing their papers. The AMS business model will need to change but the AMS values ASLI comments on the new structure. 62% of subscribers only subscribe to one journal, not all. What does ASLI think about the future of print? 1) ASLI members report that younger scientists use electronic, older scientists like both; 2) ASLI members are worried about online archiving (will online archiving last?); 3) what does perpetual access mean? Can it mean access to backfiles via CD?? This is unacceptable. What if the company goes bankrupt and there is no print, and then no access?? Jeff Rosenfeld, Editor, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, AMS BAMS is the membership magazine of the AMS but it is also a highly cited journal in the field. The AMS is wedded to maintaining a product that represents the society to all people. As such, BAMS has a broad role to play because of diverse readers – from professionals in the field to high school students. The print version of BAMS is probably here to stay. Jeff acknowledges that a lot of what’s in BAMS is not online. BAMS is a member benefit, yet is available free online; you do not want to give away all of your content for free when it is a member benefit. The AMS could put all of BAMS content up a year later so that it is available at some point. Jeff states that ASLI members can be contributors to BAMS as book reviewers, to the May book section or possibly to coordinate book awards. |
| 2:00pm | ASLI Survey Results and ASLI Award for Best Reference Resource Discussion Patty Carey, ASLI ChairSurvey purpose: 1) to encourage new members; 2) to aid in planning conferences; 3) to aid in creating activities other than the annual conference.The survey went to past members and NCAR/UCAR institutions with libraries.Recommendations based on survey results: 1) advertise in BAMS to advertise ASLI; 2) most people want to see presentations on library issues at the annual conference – crossover programs that touch on science and libraries are popular; 3) respondents expressed interest in ASLI offering or creating a site featuring core web sites, core journals of the discipline and core books.The listserv has about 120 people – how do we improve participation in the listserv or ASLI in general? How do we enlarge the international component of the group? ASLI should be on lists of upcoming conferences – AGU, AMS, IAMSLIC, SLA, all of which post future conferences where we could be listed. The group moved to establish three new committees: 1) Book Award (or best reference source award – this could be a web site); 2) Core Web Sites; 3) Publicizing ASLI. Book Award issues to be addressed: 1) members proposed to limit the subject scope to meteorology, atmospheric sciences, hydrology; 2) limit time frame in some way; 3) should the book selected be a reference work or any book?; 4) make an announcement in the May issue of BAMS about the upcoming award for 2005, including criteria; 5) the award can be presented at the next annual conference as the ASLI Choice Award; 6) Jinny Nathans will talk with Jeff Rosenfeld to see if this plan will work; 7) the Award Committee will make an award recommendation to the Executive Board after which the award recipient will be announced. Core Web Sites Committee: 1) Committee members: Brian Voss, Heather McCullough, Anita Colby; 2) members will compile a list of core web sites related to the atmospheric sciences. Publicizing ASLI: 1) Committee members: Evelyn Poole-Kober; 2) mission: to publicize ASLI and ASLI listserv to other groups. |
| 3:00pm | Break |
| 3:30pm | ASLI Business Meeting |
| 5:00pm | ASLI Sessions end for the day |
Friday, January 14, 2005
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| 8:30am – 4:30pm | Annual ASLI Field Trip Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library and SPAWAR (Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center) Technical Library Cost: $40 (Lunch not included). Contact Judie Triplehorn at gilibrary@gi.alaska.edu to register for the Field Trip or for additional information. |
