Appointments, Departures, and Promotions 

Appointed as Adjunct Librarian both in the Reference Department at the Orlando campus and at UCF at MetroWest is Lorelle Anderson.  Lorelle earned both a J.D. and an M.L.S. from the University of Maryland—College Park.

Corinne Bishop was appointed in December as Information Literacy Librarian in the Information Literacy and Outreach Department.  She previously had worked in the UCF Reference Department as a Library Technical Assistant while working on her master's degree in Information Studies from Florida State University, from which she graduated in 2006.

John Venecek has joined the Reference Department as an Instructor Librarian. John most recently had been an instructor of English at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.  He holds the M.L.I.S. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, an M.A. in writing from DePaul University, and a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.  He also served two years in the Peace Corps as an English instructor at the Urals State Academy of Railway Transport in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Also to join the Reference Department in March as Instructor Librarian is Melinda Gottesman.  Melinda comes to UCF from Indiana University—Bloomington, where she received her M.L.S. in 2006.  She also earned a B.A. in religious studies from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School.

Mem Stahley (Head, Partnership Libraries) resigned in August 2006 to assume the position of Academic Dean of Collegewide Learning Resources at Brevard Community College.  Mem had been a member of the UCF library faculty since 1990.

Two students from the University of South Florida School of Library and Information Science, Muriel Burrell and Karen Yarbrough, are interning at the UCF Libraries during the 2006-2007 academic year as part of the ALSTARS program. ALSTARS (Academic Librarians for Tomorrow's Academic Researchers) is an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant-funded program providing full scholarships for the master's degree in Library and Information Science at USF.

Retirements

Cheryl A. Mahan, University Librarian (Reference Department), retired January 11, 2007.  Cheryl was a valued colleague who developed hundreds of professional friendships during the 30 years she worked at the University.  She came to UCF in 1977, when it was Florida Technological University.  During her career, she enjoyed and was successful at every job she encountered, including cataloging, interlibrary loan, reference service, and library instruction.  Her most satisfying responsibility was building the library collections for Modern Languages, English, Women's Studies, and African American Studies.  She initiated numerous projects such as the ALA-sponsored traveling exhibition, "Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature," and the captivating book jacket displays.  In the 1970s, while in her husband was in the Army, she was in charge of a small library in Germany.  After returning to the U.S., she decided that "working in a library was a pretty cool job."  Cheryl, an alumna of Purdue and Florida State, worked at several other libraries, including Tulane University Libraries, before joining the UCF faculty.  Now that she has lots of extra time, she and her husband, Fred, can spend time doing what they love most – traveling to visit friends and family.

Carla M. Summers, head of the Special Collections and Archives Department since 2003, has announced her retirement.  Carla has worked in Florida as an archivist, manuscripts librarian, and administrator for 30 years, first with the State Archives and then at the University of Florida.  Carla also worked for U.S. Senators Lawton Chiles and Connie Mack. The founding president of the Society of Florida Archivists, she served two terms as treasurer of the Academy of Certified Archivists and is currently a member of council of the Society of American Archivists (SAA).  Carla plans to continue her work as a special collections, archives, and records management consultant from Gainesville.

Papers, Publications, and Presentations

Penny M. Beile, head of the Curriculum Materials Center, is co-author, with Dr. David N. Boote of the College of Education, of an article, "'On Literature Reviews of and for Educational Research': A Response to the Critique by Joseph Maxwell," published in the December 2006 issue of The Educational Researcher. Penny also co-presented a paper with Rebecca Fieldler, "Increase Your Productivity!: Technology Tools for Scholarship and Collaboration," at the annual conference of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology in October 2006 in Houston.

Lee Dotson (Assistant Librarian, Systems and Technology  Department), Selma Jaskowski (Head, Systems and Technology Department), Meg Scharf (Associate Director, Public Services), and Gregg Gronlund (Orange County Library System) presented a program, "Before Air Conditioning … Beyond Digitization: Central Florida Memory" at the annual meeting of the Central Florida Library Cooperative (CFLC) in December 2006.

Lee Dotson (Assistant Librarian, Systems and Technology  Department) and Doug Dunlop (Assistant Librarian, Cataloging Department) presented a poster session, "Scanning the Past: Central Florida Memory," at the Library Information and Technology Association (LITA) National Forum on October 29, 2006.  Lee also recently participated in Orange County Public School's Teach-In to share the library profession with elementary school students.

Deborah Ebster, head of the Universal Orlando Foundation Library at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, was the subject of the "Job of a Lifetime" column in the February 2007 issue of College & Research Libraries News.  Deb noted in her interview with Ann Wheeler the unique challenges of working in and managing a hospitality library, but also the rewards: after teaching information literacy sessions for the College's history of wine class, she is invited to taste the wines!

State, National, and International Activities

Elected as incoming chair of the Education and Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is Penny M. Beile, head of the Curriculum Materials Center. She will serve a one-year term.

Frank R. Allen (Associate Director, Administrative Services) is serving a two-year term on the Program Committee of the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA).

Awards and Grants

Terrie K. Sypolt (Associate Librarian, Reference Department) has been named the 2007 recipient of the Excellence in Librarianship award, which will be presented at the annual UCF Founders' Day convocation on April 4.

The Reference and Information Literacy and Outreach departments have received $10,800 from the Office of the Provost as part of UCF's annual Undergraduate Teaching Equipment Grants program.  The grant will be used to purchase student response systems (also known as "clickers"), classroom management software, and interactive whiteboards for the main library's two instruction suites.  This year, 82 proposals were submitted from seven colleges and one from university libraries.  The total of all proposals was $1.23  million; the amount of award money available this year was $200,000.  Principal investigators for the grant are Donna Goda, Richard Harrison, and Carole Hinshaw (Reference Department); and Elizabeth Killingsworth and Jason Martin (Information Literacy and Outreach Department).

Exhibits and Other Library-Sponsored Events

The fourth annual MLIS Information Day, hosted by the UCF Libraries, will be held Tuesday, May 8 from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Universal Orlando Library at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management.  This year's theme is "Librarians 2.0: The Degree is Just the Beginning."  The purpose of the mini-conference is to encourage both undergraduates and para-professionals to consider a career in librarianship, as well as to assist currently-enrolled M.L.I.S. students to prepare for that first professional position and navigate the profession once employed.  The workshop is free and refreshments and a box luncheon will be provided, but registration is required.  For further information, contact Donna Goda, Associate Librarian (Reference Department), at (407) 823-2590 or dgoda@mail.ucf.edu.

"Love, Faith, and Myth: Illuminated Manuscript Facsimilies at the UCF Libraries" is the title of a current exhibit in Special Collections and Archives.  The exhibit showcases illuminated manuscript facsimiles acquired by the Libraries and covers three major categories reflecting medieval life: love/honor, faith/devotion and myth/fantasy.

Building and Automation

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced a grant for more than $690,000 to strengthen the roof of the UCF main library building.  The grant will pay for improvements that will make the building more resistant to disasters such as hurricanes.  The FEMA grant will pay for 75 percent of the cost to upgrade the roof, which was severely damaged during the storms Frances and Jeanne in 2004.  The upgrade will meet nationally recognized requirements for buildings considered "essential" for an organization's operation.