SLA GLitter BiTs

Member Interview: Eric Schwarz

Eric Schwarz joined SLA shortly after beginning his MLIS studies at Rutgers University in February 2005. At the same time he joined the GLBT issues caucus, and in 2007 and 2008 volunteered to be a co-convener working with Chris Mulready and Chris Vestal in running the caucus and planning events. In 2009 he was selected as one of five winners of the Diversity Leadership Development Program Award for "up and coming information professionals." 

His first library job was as a student assistant at the Kilmer Area Library at Rutgers (from 1989-92). He recalls that twenty years ago most research that he and other students did involved books and indexes. There were a few CD-ROMs available with full text and images from periodicals creeping into the university at that time. Now he imagines there are many students who either never need to consult printed materials for their research - or try very hard not to do so. In fact, one of his library school colleagues confessed that she had never had to borrow a book during her studies.  

Eric currently works full-time job is as a Customer Service Executive for Dow Jones, helping customers with research and account questions for Factiva and Newswires databases. He also works part-time on alternate weekends (except in the summer) as a reference librarian at Clarence Dillon Public Library in Bedminster, NJ. 

Where are you from and where are you currently located? 

I grew up at the Jersey Shore, in the small city of Brigantine. (You'll love that island for life, but you might need to leave for excitement.) I've lived in Somerville, a county seat north of New Brunswick and Princeton, for 10 years.

Tell us about your Partner/Family?

I've been with my wonderful boyfriend, Seth Bookey, for seven years. Seth has a great sense of adventure, has brought me closer to my family and his, and supports me in everything I do. Seth is also a librarian and active with the GLBT Issues Caucus.

What has SLA meant to you/how has it helped in your career?

I've met a lot of smart, caring people through SLA, and I've had the opportunity to plan, lead and facilitate connections within the information professional community. The connections and confidence I've gained from SLA have given me insight into how and why people seek and use information.

What do you consider the biggest issues facing librarians/libraries today, and if applicable, their impact on GLBT communities?

The biggest issue we face is proving and reproving our value. If people think of libraries and information centers as expendable, eventually they become expendable. In the world of business and specialized information centers, the term library is thought of as positive but antiquated. That's why it's important that SLA members seriously consider the results of the association's Alignment Project, which is meant to position ourselves and our profession in terms and actions that are meaningful to our clients and partners. That just might mean jettisoning the term "libraries" in our name. The impact of this issue cuts across all demographics. However we and the rest of the world envision the information profession, it's always important to remain sensitive to diverse populations including GLBT communities. One of SLA's strengths is our global constituency, and that's why Stephen Abram cringes when people refer to the association as "national" and why Gloria Zamora traveled to the Arabian Gulf Chapter. SLA of course was founded as a U.S. organization but is much stronger because it's global -- with the irony that the term "special libraries" is understood even less outside the United States.

What do you consider the biggest issues facing the GLBT community today (challenges and/or victories)?

The biggest challenges and victories in gay and lesbian America lately have involved relationship equality (of course, this is almost a non-issue in Canada and much of Europe). Three states in the United States now fully recognize same-sex marriages, three other states are imminent, and there are protections in some other states. (HRC.org has a succinct summary.) All of these state victories have happened in the past few years. But the biggest challenge is the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. The act is very important because many benefits of marriage are federal, not state. However, gay-rights advocates are forced to attack the issue state by state because Congress and President Obama are unwilling to expend their political capital on the issue.

Any other interesting facts you’d like to share about yourself?

As a teenager, I would hang out at the Atlantic County Library in Brigantine, shelving and stamping books and watching the library staff cataloguing and searching for materials, and probably one of the few kids on the island who knew that a zebra code was a bar code, and that APATIDs were codes for patrons or items. For example, Rebecca Flanders' The Key would have an APATID of FLAKEY* (first three letters of the creator's last name followed by the first letter of the first four words in the title, or if fewer than four words in the title, then filled out up to four in the final word of the title). There was also a number after the APATID to disambiguate duplicates. "FLAKEY*" was featured as a humorous item in the library staff newsletter.

Journal of Homosexuality: New Editorship / Call for Papers

Routledge Journals, a member of the Taylor & Francis group, is pleased to announce John P. Elia, PhD, as the new Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Homosexuality, now publishing in its 56th year.

Dr. Elia is the Professor & Associate Chair of the Department of Health Education at San Francisco  State University. Prior to  becoming Editor, Dr. Elia served as the Associate Editor and Book Review Editor for the Journal. He is also a prominent figure in the LGBT & Queer Studies field and is renowned as a leading author and researcher.   

Dr. Elia succeeds  Dr. John P. De Cecco, who continues as Editor-in-Chief Emeritus after 34 years of service. Dr. Elia may be contacted at jpelia AT sfsu.edu (see also "Call for Papers" instructions below).

Dr. Elia notes in part in his first editorial: "The Journal of Homosexuality has undergone some significant changes over the past few years. There is no question that Dr. De Cecco has been a pioneer and truly instrumental in the development of LGBT studies.  I am confident that I am joined by a plethora of individuals across the globe in thanking him for his stalwart service."  

One of Dr. Elia’s new focuses as Editor will be to update the Manuscript Submission  process to a more streamlined electronic approach, resulting in a decreased publication lag time. The frequency of the Journal will also be increased from 8 to 10 issues beginning in 2010.

The Journal of Homosexuality is devoted to scholarly research on homosexuality, including sexual practices and gender roles and their cultural, historical, interpersonal, and modern social contexts. Researchers and practitioners interested in current knowledge about human sexuality will find every issue of this journal brimming with a balanced selection of scholarly and practical articles.    The Journal was founded by The Haworth Press, Inc., which merged into the Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, in 2007.

Indexing/Abstracting: The Journal of Homosexuality is indexed/abstracted in Social Sciences Citation Index, Social Scisearch, Journal Citation Report/Social Sciences Edition, Current Contents/Social and Behavioral Sciences, MEDLINE, PsychInfo/Psychological Abstracts, EBSCOhost Products, Abstracts in Anthropology, Criminal Justice Abstracts, INIST, Lesbian Information Services, IGLSS Abstracts, Education Research Abstracts, Studies on Women & Gender Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, and AgeLine.

An ISI Ranked Journal: The Institute for Scientific Information Journal Citation Report for 2008 ranks the Journal of Homosexuality 34th out of 61 journals in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, and 60th of 101 journals in Multidisciplinary Psychology, with an Impact Factor of 0.590. More information about the  Impact Factor, which is a measure designed to determine the frequency with which the average article has been cited in a particular year, can be found at http://tiny.cc/ImpactFactor.

Free Online Sample: To receive a free online/electronic sample copy visit: www.tandf.co.uk/journals/WJHM.

Free Print Sample: To receive a free print sample copy of the Journal of Homosexuality send your name and mailing address to Jaclyn Scarborough, or Taylor & Francis, Attn: Marketing Associate, 325 Chestnut St, Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106.

Call for Papers: The Journal of Homosexuality welcomes the submission of papers on a variety of topics and from a range of disciplines and perspectives for review and publication. For complete instructions for authors, visit www.tandf.co.uk/journals/WJHM

Pictured: John P. Elia, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Homosexuality

New Caucus Co-convener

I'm happy to announce that Laurie Crunk  has agreed to take on the co-convener position. Laurie currently works as a Reference Librarian at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Laurie has previously worked as an Inspection Specialist at the Library of Congress and has experience in collection management and archival work. Laurie got her MLIS from the University of Alabama. Laurie is actually from New Orleans and has lots of good ideas for the 2010 conference!

Post-Review of 2009 SLA Conference

  The SLA 100^th Birthday Bash started out with a bang… at least for me. Before the conference even began, this First Timer was a bit nervous about a various number of things, from wardrobe to the specifics of presenting a poster session to the prospect to meeting potential employers. I was able to relieve some of my tension with Facebook correspondences, touching base with cohorts I had met at the Leadership Summit in January and via division and caucus listservs over the last few months.

   From presentations to board meetings to candidate introductions to vendor schmoozing, there was so much variety from which to choose, I was wise to study the program before I even left the state of Tennessee. When I met some of my colleagues at the Pride Parade on Saturday, the experience singularly characterized the rest of my trip- full of lots of enthusiasm, open armed greetings, lots of walking, and parties, I mean networking, galore. Because of my pre-planning, I was not overwhelmed with all the information and still left myself opportunities for rest and flexibility.

      One of the presentation topics I especially appreciated was “Be the CEO of your Life : Finding Balance in the Flexible Job Age”, which discussed how to productively compromise between one’s own work style and that of one’s coworkers’. Also, Michael Edson, the Director of Web and New Media Strategy at the Smithsonian Institution, opened a discussion on “Envisioning the Future of Museums, Arts, & Humanities Libraries : The Smithsonian Commons, a Model Institution”.  I was extremely impressed with his both style and ideas, which can be demonstrated on Slideshare.  In addition, the most encouraging news came out this past week. From all of that inspiration, he and his team finally received permission to pursue a Commons area at “our nation’s attic”.

   At the conference, the Align in ’09 campaign honestly dominated the conference more than the 100^th birthday. Looking forward was the major focus rather than glancing at the history of the last century. We heard again and again about how our labels are tripping up our advocacy, which is our best tool to show our administration and clients how much we should be valued. The association Name Change was also on everyone’s lips, but our board unfortunately kept their cards and specific ideas on the matter quite close to their collective chests.

   Of course, the receptions and luncheons with free food and drink was a great plus, in addition to the free swag of vendors. Bless their hearts, most of them had no idea what to do for a “music archives cataloger”, but at least I will never have to buy another pack of Post-It Notes and pens for the rest of my life.  Honestly, I took advantage of my employer’s generosity and sent home a box full of tchotkes, which I then distributed among our staff of eight.  Souvenirs seem to be easy to acquire at conferences.

   All in all, I had fun, although I had to fund most of my trip on my own.  Next year will be more difficult, since I will no longer have a student discount or a friend with whom to stay in New Orleans. The networking was the greatest benefit, but mostly for my personal projects within the organization and my current job search. The Leadership Summit in January gave me many more ideas to help our specific chapter and my present position within my organization. When 2010 comes, I will have to judge my potential conference investment upon my needs then compared to the benefits I experienced this year.