The General Public

"In addition to the traditional academic services offered at the Library, concerted and successful efforts have been made to provide the College community with a range of cultural activities. These include lectures and musical performances held in the Woody Tangier Auditorium. These events make great use of the newly renovated Library and create a more dynamic atmosphere that may help to transform the college from a commuter campus to a desirable destination outside of scheduled class time." Faculty Council's Committee on the Library, Annual Report 2003-2004

What began as an effort to celebrate the opening of the new facility has morphed into a vital part of the Library's outreach to the College community and to the Borough of Brooklyn. The new Library's wonderful space (particularly the Woody Tanger Auditorium and the Multipurpose Room) has allowed us to expand upon strong existing programming efforts like the annual Author Party and Spring Seminar. The Library has become a real cultural center, a role that we neither planned for nor anticipated, but in which we nonetheless rejoice. The Room Scheduler, mounted prominently on the Library's top page, allows members of the College community to check space availability and submit requests.

The Library's Celebratory Events Committee, chaired by Associate Librarian for Technical Services Judith Wild, has done a superb job of arranging and scheduling events. Actually presenting the programs requires many hands, from planning through execution:

Pre-planning & Scheduling:

Identifying the audience

Developing ideas for the event and choosing among them

Identifying appropriate presenters

Selecting a date that does not pose a conflict for attendees or with other campus events

Reserving spaces

On-going Planning:

Identifying any co-sponsors

Coordinating plans and responsibilities with the co-sponsor

Arranging for the President, Provost, or Assistant Provost to bring greetings

Arranging for technical support

Arranging for registration, whether online, via mail, or in person

Testing online registration before sending out invitations

Rehearsing the program with New Media Center and Systems staff

Checking spaces for good climate and cleanliness just before the event

Alerting Security and the Library's Security Officer when people from outside Brooklyn College will be attending

Designating a table for special guests at any meals

Arranging for coat racks

Developing a mechanism for people to pay or register on the day of the event

Interacting with presenters:

Communicating with the presenters about program content and audience

Arranging physical spaces so that they meet the presenters' needs

Determining presenters' technical needs

Meeting with presenters for pre-event technology tests and run-throughs

Arranging presenters' transportation, reimbursements, and honoraria

Public relations:

Designing, printing, and creating content:

Invitations

Flyers

URL for the invitation

Programs

Posters and other publicity

Name tags

Building an audience through:

Inviting classes to participate

Sending a save-the-date to potential attendees

Locating addresses and listservs for the audience

Placing advertisements with media and on listservs

Listing event on the Brooklyn College Smart Calendar

Mounting the invitation on the Library Web page

Placing the event on the Library's plasma screens

Sending printed posters to library schools or other organizations for promotion

Inviting Library faculty and staff

Sending invitation to presenters

Arranging Library PA system announcements the day of the event

Alerting the Office of Public Relations (Joe Fodor, Connie DiGeronimo)

Arranging for a photographer and press release

Placing ads in Brooklyn and campus newspapers

Putting an announcement on the Library's answering machine

Sending personal invitations to special guests

Monitoring registration–is it necessary to take further steps to build the audience?

Sending electronic invitations and other publicity a second time to boost attendance

Identifying a person to handle RSVPs and parking arrangements

Arranging catering:

Determining the budget for food

Planning menus

Arranging for the delivery, unwrapping, set-up, and removal of food & flowers

Staffing the event:

Alerting the Library Security officer, if the event is open to the public

Meeting and shepherding presenters the day of the event

Greeting guests at various points in the building

Directing guests to various locations within the building & on campus

Staffing the front and rear auditorium doors

Issuing name tags & distributing program materials

Providing water for the presenters

Introducing the event and conveying the house rules (especially important for music events)

Securing all spaces at the end of the event

Thanking everyone who did anything to make the event a success

Some events are more complex than others they might require greater use of technology, multiple spaces, many outside presenters, or food service. Of course, the Library does not have a Department of Events, and various people take the lead for different occasions. Some staff have their specialties–Jane Cramer is our superb producer of publicity; Samina Khan designs beautiful invitations; Nicholas Irons gets our name tags printed; Sandra Stumbo is our food specialist; and of course Suzie Samuel and her team (including Harold Wilson) provide top-flight technical support. Similarly, so staff have "their" events: Miriam Deutch plans the annual spring seminar, and Sandra Stumbo takes responsibility for the Author Party. Both professional and supporting staff from many units lend a hand, with Technical Services and Research & Access Services getting high marks for their hard work and cooperative spirit. Highlights of this year's events calendar include:

Fall Season, 2003
On October 9, 2003 we launched the "Brooklyn and Film" series with the 1953 award-winning independent film, "Little Fugitive" shot on location in Coney Island. The film's photographic techniques were groundbreaking in their day and strongly influenced French New Wave filmmaker, François Truffaut. The captivating film was followed by an interview of the film's creator Morris Engel conducted by Professor Foster Hirsch; the 85 year old Mr. Engel received a standing ovation from the packed auditorium.

November 19 saw the second event in the "Brooklyn and Film" series, a lively and often humorous panel discussion centered on the book Brooklyn Film: Essays in the History of Filmmaking (McFarland, 2002) featuring noted journalist Pete Hamill, former Brooklyn Borough Historian John Manbeck, Kingsborough English professor Robert Singer, and Brooklyn College film professor Paula Massood. A wonderful montage of clips "Hollywood on Flatbush" compiled by Bernard H. Stern Professor of Humor Dan Gurskis was also shown, to the delight of the many Brooklyn aficionados in the audience. "Brooklyn and Film" will continue in the fall 2004 with a showing of The Lords of Flatbush introduced by Borough Historian Ron Schweiger (a Brooklyn College alumnus) who promises to bring his original lobby cards and other movie memorabilia to the screening. An additional projector for the Woody Tanger Auditorium will improve the quality of our film events by enabling us to project to the center of the WTA's large screen (presently we must choose between the right or left half of the screen)

Spring Season, 2004
http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/spotlite/news/013004.htm

In the spring the Library partnered with the Conservatory of Music to bring four concerts of exciting guitar music to the College. Professor Lars Frandsen invited several acclaimed musicians to play and teach for an afternoon. Once again the 130-seat Woody Tanger auditorium proved to be the perfect venue. The programs included:

February 24 Jochen Brusch, violin, and Finn Svit, guitar, from Denmark. Music by Veracini, Schubert, Sarasate, Barrios, and Brusch.

March 11 Lars Frandsen, guitar. Music by Weiss, Albeniz, and others.

April 15 Matthew Slotkin, guitar. Music by J. S. Bach, Manuel de Falla, Ralph Towner, Francis Poulenc, and others.

May 5 Kevin Gallagher, electric guitar. Music by Bach, Brouwer, and Stravinsky.

Next year there will be both a fall and spring music series. We are also considering an event celebrating baseball in the Borough of Brooklyn. Judith Wild and Anthony Cucchiara have put together a terrific program proposal "Brooklyn Shtick" aimed at bringing Brooklyn-born comedians like Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, Woody Allen, Richard Lewis, Chris Rock, Jackie Mason, Larry David, Dom DeLuise, and Eddie Murphy to campus to talk about their craft. Seinfeld co-creator, comic, and director Larry David is a friend of Alan Dershowitz's, and Professor Dershowitz has offered to take our proposal to him.

Next year, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the College, we will stage events that feature noted alumni from a variety of fields, including politics, literature, and the performing arts. While there has yet to be a formal announcement about a College-wide 75th anniversary planning committee, we expect that Archivist Anthony Cucchiara will be a member of this group, keeping the Library in the center of the festivities and the planning.

The Celebratory Events Committee includes Jane Cramer, Tony Cucchiara, Miriam Deutch, Bill Gargan, Marianne LaBatto, Irwin Weintraub, and Judith Wild (chair), with the able assistance of Suzie Samuel and Harold Wilson of New Media.

Below is a sample of the events held in Library space during the 2003-2004 academic year.

DATE	EVENT	LOCATION	DESCRIPTION
09/04/03	Library's 1st Birthday Party	Lily Pond Reading Room	A party for the Library staff celebrating the new building's 1st birthday & a successful 1st year in our new space
09/06- 07/03	ALA Office of Information Technology Policy retreat	Multipurpose & Library Science Reading Rooms	2-day retreat
09/12/03	ITS Welcome/Coffee Hour	Multipurpose Room	A party to welcome ITS to the new building
09/19/04	Film Department Screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Liz Ledoux
09/23/03	Dershowitz Day	Woody Tanger Auditorium, Multipurpose Room	A celebration of Alan Dershowitz's gift of his papers to the Brooklyn College Library
09/24/03	Alumni Association chapter meeting	Multipurpose Room	Escorted tours of the new library & reception; music by the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music
09/24/03	METRO Government Documents Interest Group meeting	Multipurpose Room	Brooklyn College is the largest Federal documents depository in the Borough of Brooklyn
09/25/03	Library Reps, Tech Reps, Department Chairs annual meeting	Multipurpose Room	Library's annual meeting/briefing for these 3 groups
10/06/03	Open World Program opening meeting	Multipurpose Room, Woody Tanger Auditorium	An introduction to American libraries for four visiting Russian librarians, their interpreter, & our Chinese intern
10/08/03	Open World Program reception	Multipurpose Room	A reception for the visiting Russian librarians, their interpreter, & our Chinese intern
10/09/03	The Little Fugitive (Brooklyn & Film series)	Woody Tanger Auditorium	The first in the Library's 2003-2004 film series
10/21/03	New Faculty Welcome	Multipurpose Room	Annual Library welcome & briefing for new Brooklyn College faculty
10/30/03	Metropolitan New York Library Council annual meeting	Woody Tanger Auditorium	METRO is a large multi-type library consortium with over 300 library members
11/03/03	Puerto Rican & Latino Studies lecture	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Edgar Acevedo
11/06/03	Puerto Rican & Latino Studies lecture	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Edgar Acevedo
11/11/03	Faculty Council meeting	Woody Tanger Auditorium
11/13/03	Film Department screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Annette Danto
11/13/03	Scholarship Office workshop	Woody Tanger Auditorium	A scholarship workshop program for students
11/14/03	Film Department screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium
11/18/03	Seminar	Woody Tanger Auditorium	NY Times seminar & workshop sponsored by the Provost
11/19/03	Brooklyn Film panel (Brooklyn & Film series)	Woody Tanger Auditorium	The second in the Library's 2003-2004 film series
11/19/04	Brooklyn Film reception	Multipurpose Room
11/20/03	Center for the Italian American Studies event	Multipurpose Room	Reception sponsored by Modern Languages & Literatures
11/21/03	School of Education Conference	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Florence Robinson
11/25/03	Wolfe Institute program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Brook Watkins
12/01/03	Adult Literacy Program screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium
12/02/03	Philosophy Department program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Panel discussion "Paying Attention: Constructing Perception in the Arts"
12/02/03	Brooklyn College Cognitive Science Colloquium	Multipurpose Room	Robert Lurz
12/04/03	Information Technology Services program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Alcatel presentation
12/09/03	Italian American Studies lecture	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Performance & lecture
12/09/03	Faculty Council meeting	Woody Tanger Auditorium
12/11/03	Wolfe Institute program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Brook Watkins
12/15/03	Modern Languages & Literatures lecture	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Louise Mancuso
12/17/03	Adult Literacy Program screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Louise Mancuso
12/18/03	School of Education event	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Alberto Bursztyn
01/15/04	Academic Information Technologies event	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Alex Rudshteyn
01/16/04	Puerto Rican & Latino Studies presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Elizabeth Naylor-Gutierrez
01/22/04	Puerto Rican & Latino Studies presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Elizabeth Naylor-Gutierrez
01/27/04	Graduate Orientation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Anselma Rodriguez
01/28/04	Library	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Mark Gold
01/29/04	Puerto Rican & Latino Studies presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Elizabeth Naylor-Gutierrez
02/04/04	School of Education screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Shirley Steinberg
02/10/04	Faculty Council meeting	Woody Tanger Auditorium
02/11/04	School of Education screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Carolina Mancuso
02/17/04	Lecture	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Mt. Everest photo lecture by Steven Jervis
02/18/04	Film Department screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Shirley Steinberg of the Graduate Literacy Program
02/20/04	School of Education screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Louise Mancuso
02/24/04	Jochen Brusch, violin, & Finn Svit, guitar	Woody Tanger Auditorium	First in the spring 2004 Library Guitar Series
02/25/04	Howard Brick, History Department candidate	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Lecture
02/25/04	Film Department screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium
02/26/04	Dean of Undergraduate Studies conference	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Carolina Mancuso
03/02/04	President Kimmich	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Ellen Belton
03/03/04	School of Education screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	J. Winkler
03/04/04	Brooklyn College Current Event Committee	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Jamie Chosak
03/09/04	Brooklyn College Foundation event	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Debbie Goldberg
03/10/04	Film screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Shirley Steinberg of Graduate Literacy Program
03/11/04	Lars Frandsen, guitar	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Second in the spring 2004 Library Guitar Series
03/18/04	Brooklyn College Cognitive Science Colloquium	Multipurpose Room	Robert Lurz
03/17/04	School of Education screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Carolina Mancuso
03/18/04	Brooklyn College Cognitive Science Colloquium	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Robert Lurz
03/20/04	Africana Studies screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Moses Daves
03/21/04	Africana Studies screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Moses Daves
03/22/04	IRPE program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Noreen O'Neil
3/22/04	Psychology presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Guidance & Counseling Intern group
3/23/04	Thomas Archdeacon, History Department candidate	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Lecture
3/23/04	Puerto Rican & Latino Studies screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Maria Perez y Gonzalez
03/24/04	IRPE program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Noreen O'Neil
03/24/04	School of Education presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	J. Winkler
3/29/04	IRPE program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Museum of Modern Art slide show of Joseph Cornell's boxes
03/30/04	Brooklyn College Cognitive Science Colloquium	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Robert Lurz
03/31/04	IRPE program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Noreen O'Neil
03/31/04	School of Education program & screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	J. Winkler
04/01/04	Scholarship program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Fulbright grant presentation
04/01/04	Brooklyn College Honors Academy program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Douglas Hill on "Climate Change: Torn Between Myth & Fact"
04/04/04	Film Department screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Joshua Brownfeld
04/13/04	Library screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Miriam Deutch
04/14/04	IRPE program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Noreen O'Neil
04/15/04	Matthew Slotkin, guitar	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Third in the spring 2004 Library Guitar Series
04/16/04	Library Seminar	Woody Tanger Auditorium
04/19/04	School of Education presentation, workshop	Woody Tanger Auditorium	David Forber
04/22/04	English Department screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Film about Charles Dickens
04/24/04	Music Department presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Brooklyn College Day of Percussion
04/26/04	Puerto Rican & Latino Studies screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Maria Perez y Gonzalez
04/26/04	Wolfe Institute program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Poetry reading
04/27/04	Library Screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Miriam Deutch
04/27/04	Geology presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Lecture "9-11 & NYC Air Quality"
04/29/04	School of Education presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Carol Korn-Bursztyn
05/02/04	Financial Aid presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	CUNY Financial Aid workshop
05/03/04	Wolf Institute presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Brook Watkins
05/03/04	Geology Department screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Constatin Cranganu
05/04/04	Information Technology Services program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Creative Suite demonstration
05/05/04	Kevin Gallagher, electric guitar	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Fourth in the spring 2004 Library Guitar Series
05/06/04	Political Science program	Multipurpose Room	Mojubaolu Okome
05/06/04	Philosophy lecture	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Philosophy Department's Annual Sprague & Taylor Lecture
05/07/04	School of Education presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Grace Elizalde-Utnick
05/11/04	Faculty Council meeting	Woody Tanger Auditorium
05/12/04	Biology presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Martin Schriebman
05/13/04	Professional Staff Congress program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Tibby Duboys
05/17/04	Film Department workshop	Woody Tanger Auditorium	"Directing Film" workshop
05/17/04	Rhoda K. Channing Memorial event	NMC & Multipurpose Room	Dedication of the New Media Center desk & reception
05/17/04	School of Education presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Carol Korn-Bursztyn
05/18/04	School of Education orientation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Jennifer Gluck
05/18/04	Faculty Council meeting	Woody Tanger Auditorium
05/19/04	Film Department workshop	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Robert Tutak
05/19/04	Vietnam War Forum	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Philip Napoli
05/19/04	Barbara Gerber celebration	Multipurpose Room	Buffet luncheon honoring Professor Barbara Leslie Gerber for her generosity to the Brooklyn College Library
05/21/06	Visions of the Future: Library Spring Seminar	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Clay Shirky, futurist; Cathy DeRosa, OCLC Vice-President
05/24/04	Information Technology Services program	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Adobe presentation
06/01/04	Adult Literacy screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Frances Rosenson
06/03/04	Commencement luncheon	Lily Pond Reading Room
06/07/04	Psychology presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Steve Ausbury
06/08 & 06/12/04	China Conference	Woody Tanger Auditorium & group study rooms	Five-day conference co-sponsored by York College (Che-Tsao Huang) & Brooklyn College (Roberta Matthews)
06/09/04	Admissions presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Golda Gray
06/10/04	Immigration hearings	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Force for New Americans: hearings sponsored by the NY State Task Force on Immigration
06/10/04	USS Brooklyn celebration	Special Collections Gallery & Multipurpose Room	Rededication of the WW II cruiser's bell & opening of the exhibit
06/15/04	Frances Hess tour & luncheon	Chief Librarian's Conference Room	Escorted tour & luncheon honoring Frances Hess, widow for former Brooklyn College president Robert L. Hess
06/16/04	Adult Literacy screening	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Cheryl George
06/16/04	School of Education presentation	Woody Tanger Auditorium	Wayne Reed

As the chart above demonstrates, we are delighted to share the new Library with other members of the College community. Our space scheduling software, completed and online in the fall 2003, sits prominently on both the Library and AIT Web sites . From any computer, anywhere, one can see what rooms are available and the policies governing those rooms, then request that rooms be scheduled. We have advertised the room scheduler in the fall and spring Faculty Bulletins and via announce-l. The word is certainly out, because spaces are being briskly used.

On April 5, 2004 modifications began to the lily pond reading room, adapting the space for entertaining. The changes (chiefly, replacing the rectangular tables with round ones and installing a tiny pantry) were completed in time for President Kimmich to host the 2004 commencement luncheon in this space.

Staff in the Faculty Training and Development Lab are responsible for graphic design and posting the content gathered and edited by Miriam Deutch. Content includes information about Library workshops, on-going library services (proxy accounts, the e-suggestion box, electronic journals, the book sale room), and special announcements (extended hours during final exams, exhibit openings, the Minor in Curatorial Studies, the Spring Seminar, wireless hotspots, the guitar series). So that readers do not become inured to the screens' messages, both content and presentation change on a regular basis. (Nicholas Irons has designed several different templates so that he can periodically alter the screens' look).

We are exploring substituting a Flash-based program for the PowerPoint presentations now in use. Flash allows smoother animations, better image quality, greater layout flexibility, and a wider choice of special effects. We would like to include the Library's logo throughout the presentation, a scrolling ticker that will allow for repetition of information (such as Library hours) without interrupting the event slides, plus a running date/time clock allowing the viewer to read the middle event section and then glance at the ticker, all while waiting for the next screen change. Also in development is a new template system that will allow for easy and automatic changes to the plasma screens; those responsible for updates will need no technical experience or special software knowledge.

"The Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections is an archive for the college. Department chairs and faculty are reminded that they should consult with the Library's archivists before destroying any departmental records and other documents that would contribute to the history of the College. The Archives continues to collect documents about faculty, curricula, students, and staff of the College." Faculty Council's Committee on the Library, Annual Report 2003-2004

The Archives' finding aids are the cornerstone of the unit's Web presence. As more finding aids go online, the Archives' reach shifts from local to global, and 24/7 at that. The first phase of the ongoing project to put all finding aids online consisted of uploading a sample of the guides to our most popular collections. Once the guide to the Rooney Papers is complete, we will start a new phase of the project, uploading the remainder of the finding aids in accession number order. Fifteen guides are now online; recent additions include the finding aids for the William Gross, Isabel Whittier, Harry Shlockhower, and Beatrice Sieigel collections.

As part of the Artesia/TEAMS working group Special Collections staff have begun to enter items into the system, creating a test run. Thus far they have uploaded items from the Read Collection, the Farm Labor Collection, and a sampling of World War II letters written by Brooklyn College students. From the staff's perspective, there are still many kinks to be worked out and many programing issues. They are eager to take the database "live" so that readers may view the items already uploaded and staff can collect and assess this feedback. The short-term goal is to provide a showplace for Brooklyn College history in time for the College's 75th anniversary celebrations. For more about Artesia/TEAMS see the section of this report that profiles the New Media Center, above.

Early in the spring semester Chief Librarian Barbra Higginbotham asked Associate Librarian for Technical Services Judith Wild to work with Associate Archivist Marianne LaBatto and New Media Center Manager Nicholas Johnson in developing a digitization plan. While technological, personnel, and copyright obstacles have contributed to a delay in creating the plan, Professor Wild and Ms LaBatto have begun to explore the overall objectives of the plan, the criteria employed for selecting items to be digitized for distribution through TEAMS, and other issues. Their work thus far:

Objectives
Access: Digitizing and distributing documents from the archives allows viewers to examine the collection from anywhere at anytime. It enables simultaneous users to view documents.
Preservation: Digitization enables documents that are fragile or rare to be viewed without further damaging the item or subjecting it to theft. The artifact remains in the collection preserved and unharmed.
Revenue: Items from the collection could be used to create postcards and other souvenirs to sell to interested alumni/ae.
Curricular Support: Many documents can support specific instruction in history, geography, political science, and radio/television.

Selection Criteria
Support for the College undertakings (e.g. 75th Anniversary)

Photos and documents from each decade
The 25th and 50th anniversary yearbooks

Samples of most requested items

BC Photos
Brooklyn photos

Local lawmakers' papers (encouraging others to follow suit)

John J. Rooney
Susan Alter
Eugene Keogh

Rare and unusual materials valuable to researchers and the curriculum

Original kinescopes of old television programs (Sam Levenson collection)

Administrative Needs

Library records
College records
President's annual reports

Virtual Exhibits
Within these categories consideration must be made for the individual characteristics of the documents themselves:

Is the item too fragile? What would need to be done to the item to protect it during the digitization process?
Is the item unique? If an item were already available digitally through another collection, we would not want to duplicate the effort.

Scanning Issues
Follow national standards for scanning archival documents.
Create documentation so that personnel changes will not impair the process.
Understand the capabilities of TEAMS (for example, the higher the resolution, the greater the clarity, but the more file space required).
Build in periodic examination of files to identify and prevent corruption, and to refresh files so that their access does not rely on obsolete hardware.

Copyright Considerations
Does the College hold the copyright?
If not, do we have permission to display the entire entity?
If not, do we want to display more than brief excerpts?
If so, can the object meet the criteria for fair use and be suitably restricted through authorizations?

We have reached a tentative agreement with the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives to digitize their collections; a pilot project involving 13 songs has begun. If it is successful we will sign an agreement (already drafted, reviewed by Pamela Pollock, and returned to the WGF for its review) will be signed. The collection also contains still and moving images.

During this the second year in the new Library, Special Collections has experienced a high increase in visitors. The unit's very visible location on the building's first floor and the popularity of its exhibits draw students into the reading room. The Associate Archivist also encourages all tour guides to stop by Special Collections as they travel with their groups around the building. Staff have created a handout for visitors to take away with them, one which explains the unit and its work in greater detail than the time constraints of the tours allow. Formal introductions to Special Collections are given to both graduate and undergraduate classes, and classes from the History Department, Honors Academy, English Department, and English as a Second Language have come to Special Collections for Library instruction. In the fall, two classes incorporated the Beaches of Brooklyn exhibit into their syllabi.

This spring students from Professor Lilia Melani's English 2 class have become frequent visitors to Special Collections as they research Brooklyn history. Staff have also held introductions to the Archives for Erasmus Hall STAR students and high schoolers participating in a summer dig with Professor Arthur Bankoff. A result of this increased traffic is that the staff now spends a higher proportion of its time helping readers and retrieving materials, which affects the processing of new collections.

http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/spotlite/news/051804.htm

Oral history is an important of both the College Archives and the minor in Curatorial Studies. However, in 2003-2004 it emerged as a major theme. On October 29 Chief Librarian Barbra Higginbotham met with Professors Philip Napoli and Anthony Cucchiara to discuss the oral history program, with particular emphasis on developing budgets for general activities and a special program proposed to commemorate the College's 75th anniversary.

Oral History Program: Proposed Annual Budget
On January 19 the Library proposed an annual budget for oral history projects:

The Brooklyn College Library and the History Department co-sponsor a minor in Archival Studies and Community Documentation. As part of that program, we share a line approximately 4/7 History and 3/7 Library. Philip Napoli occupies that line. As part of his Library-related responsibilities, Phil manages the Archives' oral history program. He himself conducts a number of oral histories each year.

The issue at hand is the absence of funding to support this work. While Phil provides the many hours of preparation and research required for each interview, there is no funding stream for transcription, support staff, or equipment.

How Have We Been Managing?
Up until now, we have flown by the seat of our collective pants.

Why We Need Funding for Oral History

"This project would be a wonderful adjunct to Brooklyn's upcoming 75th anniversary celebration. ... You have long been a strong advocate for the Archives, oral history, and the minor in Archival Studies and Community Documentation offered by the Library and the History Department, understanding as few presidents do the ways in which such programs enrich and advance an institution. Your help and encouragement allowed us to secure both the William Alfred Collection and the Dershowitz materials. While provost you championed the New Visions grant that Phil Gallagher and Tony Cucchiara developed. When this proposal was successful, it was your decision that we be given the shared line to support the minor.

"It is fair to say that you have been a key player in archival matters at Brooklyn College–indeed within the University as a whole, where our program outshines all others. I hope that this proposal sparks your interest and that funds can be found to advance it. We look forward to your comments and will appreciate your thoughts." Barbra Buckner Higginbotham, Chief Librarian & Executive Director for Academic Information Technologies, in a February 21, 2004 letter to President Kimmich

On February 21 the Library submitted a proposal to the president for an oral history project connected to the celebration of the College's 75th anniversary, setting out a plan to profile perhaps a dozen of the greatest alumni/ae at a cost of around $27,000. The president has expressed interest in the project; funding will be a key issue.

Background and Proposal

One way in which the College can prepare to celebrate its 75th anniversary is through an oral history project profiling perhaps a dozen of our greatest alumni/ae.

The Library Archives already has a well-established and successful oral history program. Profiles of several prominent graduates are either under way or have been completed; these subjects include Leonard Tow, Alan Dershowitz, and Marty Markowitz.

In the summer 2001, in preparation for the grand opening of the new building, the Library mounted a sweeping oral history project profiling those whose hard work and creativity led to the construction of the new Library. This project was one of the highlights of the College's celebratory events. We are now eager to tackle a project celebrating the College's 75th anniversary.

Resources: 15 interviews = $26,599, exclusive of travel costs

On May 19, 2004 students in the classes of Professors Philip Napoli and Michael Foley (College of Staten Island) presented their oral history of the Vietnam War conference in the Library's Woody Tanger Auditorium. The event included a panel of both anti-war protesters and Vietnam veterans, keynote speaker Elizabeth Holtzman, and student presentations about their own oral history projects. The evening was cosponsored by the Brooklyn Studies Project at Brooklyn College and the College of Staten Island. The award-winning documentary The Fog of War with Robert S. MacNamara was shown.

Special thanks go to the panelists, a mixture of COs and vets, including brothers Denis and John Hamill, Hank Burke, and Dick Hughes. Students Brad Appell and Brant Levine chaired the program committee, and Professor Barbara Winslow from the School of Education was also a panelist. Guests included Professor Napoli's mother and his wife.

"Brooklyn College was founded during the depression on the belief that an educated citizenry is society's best hope for the future, both in terms of democracy and the economy. There could be no better evidence of this belief than Alan Dershowitz‘s work as a scholar, an attorney, a teacher--he has returned to the citizens of the country all that was invested in him, and more. And what better affirmation could there be of this truth than to have his papers at Brooklyn College where they will be available to future generations of lawyers, scholars, teachers, and citizens? No individual has been more at the intersection of law and society, our fundamental freedoms, our societal compact, than Alan Dershowitz. What better place for his papers than at that great American crossroads, Flatbush and Nostrand, where society's changes over fifty years have been faithfully mirrored? His papers, which tell that story of change and all its tumult, could not be in a more appropriate location." Barbra Buckner Higginbotham, Chief Librarian & Executive Director for Academic Information Technologies

"The committee would like to make special note of the exceptional work by Professor Anthony Cucchiara in the Archives and Special Collections. His efforts in bringing the papers of Harvard Law Professor, Alan Dershowitz, to Brooklyn College is a very significant acquisition that will draw legal scholars to the campus in the years to come." Faculty Council's Committee on the Library, Annual Report 2003-2004

"Alan Dershowitz's work has been about the Bill of Rights and the Constitution--the embodiments of the societal compact that allows for accord within communities. These documents are not meant to homogenize, but rather to respect the beautiful harmony that can come from diversity. No campus can be more diverse in both its citizens and interests than Brooklyn College, whose great strength is allowing all of us to live together, learn together, and learn from each other. Whether Alan Dershowitz learned this here at Brooklyn College or simply came to it himself makes no difference: this is what our campus is all about. The work of a person who has constantly shown us how a complex society can grow and become better is very much at home in this campus's intellectual center, the Library." Barbra Buckner Higginbotham, Chief Librarian & Executive Director for Academic Information Technologies

http://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu/about_library/speccoll/hess.htm

On June 15 the Library management team, along with Associate Archivist Marianne LaBatto and Conservator Slava Polishchuk, met with Frances Hess, widow of former present of Brooklyn College Robert L. Hess. Our purpose was to show her the new Library, share with her the wonderful conservation work done on many of her husband's books, and discuss the way forward for the Hess Collection. The afternoon began with a lovely luncheon served in the chief librarian's conference room.

We are planning to move the materials into the Special Collections Reading Room and mount a naming plaque there. When this has been accomplished, there will be a celebratory event to rededicate the collection. We have been allowing money to accumulate in the Hess Fund; as of July 1, 2004, almost $14,000 will be available, and we have plans for it. Each year, some money will be used for preservation and the rest to begin rounding out the rare book collection through judicious purchasing. Before purchasing begins, we will engage a qualified bibliographer to evaluate the collection and recommend specific titles to be acquired. This work can be done from a distance, as the entire collection, with exception of perhaps a dozen books, has now been cataloged.

Preservation is a serious issue for the Hess Collection, popular with both scholars and students. Several times in the past year when a reader requested a book it was necessary to treat the volume before he or she could examine it. (At the time the conservation survey was conducted, most of the very fragile books were put in phase boxes; they now require extensive conservation work if they are to be useful.)

http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/spotlite/news/072103.htm

"Anyone interested in Brooklyn politics and politicians will find a treasure trove of materials at the Archives and Special Collections of the Brooklyn College Library. Since the 1980s, the Archives, under the direction of Professor Anthony Cucchiara, has actively campaigned to get the papers of noted political and civic leaders who have played a role in the history of the borough. Recent acquisitions include the papers of the late New York State Assemblyman and Brooklyn powerbroker Anthony J. Genovesi, former City Councilwoman Una Clarke, and Edward Griffith, former leader of the Brooklyn delegation to the New York State Assembly." Brooklyn College Press Release, July 21, 2003

"This is an important collection, both for the study of political science and for Brooklyn history. The collection started in 1988 with the acquisition of the papers of Brooklyn Congressmen John J. Rooney and Eugene Keogh, two Irish-American Democrats who represented Brooklyn in Congress for more than thirty years. The Rooney papers are amazing. His district covered the waterfront of Brooklyn, from Red Hook to Greenpoint, and Rooney was involved in everything that went on. We are always on the lookout for more material." Anthony Cucchiara, Associate Librarian for Information Services & Distinctive Collections

In the summer 2003 staff from the Archives inventoried the records of the Office of the President, hosed in file cabinets and boxes in room 2427 Boylan. The 50-plus page inventory has now been sent to President Kimmich for review.

Una Clarke Papers - 7 cubic feet
The Personal Papers of NY City Councilwoman Una Clarke chronicle her career in the newly created 40th district in Brooklyn; these include correspondence with constituents and elected officials and highlight her numerous activities on behalf of her district.

Papers of S.M. Nishi - 3 cubic feet
Setsuko Matsunaga Nishi was a sociology professor at Brooklyn College from 1965-1999. The majority of these records document a large number of significant, progressively innovative sociological studies concerning gender, age, and nationality.

Brooklyn College Library - 50 cubic feet
This year we added 50 cubic feet of additional material to the Library Records, covering 1988-1998.

Brumberg Collection
A collection of NYC theatre programs from the 1970's to the present.

Papers of Jerome Krase
These papers cover the teaching career and professional activities of Brooklyn College Professor Jerome Krase.

Manhattan Beach Community Board
These records were reprocessed by Edythe Rosenblatt who consolidated the series and subseries into a more user-friendly format.

We have begun a search of all the rare book records in Special Collections to see which if any are in Aleph 500/CUNY+. So far, as predicted, only a small number have been found. The plan is to have conservator Slava Polishchuk repair the volumes listed in Aleph first, and then move on to the items that do not have any catalog records.