News Monthly Newsletter December 2003	Contents: History Lives In State Documents - Cindy McLaughlin State Library Board Report Videoconferencing Advances - Steve Cassel Sons of The American Revolution Book Donation - Paul Immel

History Lives In State Documents The range of information is as diverse as the types of state agencies themselves.

Cindy McLaughlin Deputy State Librarian for Library Services

Almost as soon as the State Library was created in 1817, provisions were made for the exchange of laws and legislative journals with other states. Resolutions passed in the early 1800's provide for sending Ohio laws to other states. In the State Library Board minutes of October 5, 1896 the State Librarian was authorized to mail a circular to the librarians of Ohio public libraries, suggesting how they might secure the various state publications. On April 26, 1898, an act was passed "providing for the distribution of state publications through the state library." Today the State Library continues to distribute state publications to libraries in and outside of Ohio.

The number of state agencies has grown as has the amount of information that each agency must disseminate. State publications have been kept in the State Library for at least the past 105 years and even longer for some of the state agencies established in the early 1800's. The range of information is as diverse as the types of agencies themselves.

The 40th Annual Report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, 1885 contains over 800 pages. It includes the report of the 1885 State Fair, which happened to be the last one held on the old grounds of the Franklin County Society; annual statistics and reports of the county societies; and the first annual report of the Veterinarian, acting under the Cattle Commission. The State Fair report includes all of the winners of the livestock, agricultural products, and machinery competitions. It includes an eight-paged list of the exhibitors at the Fair. The dates of each county fair for the year are included, as is a report from each county. Also included in the Report are essays that had been given at farm institutes around the state. One example is the "Prize Essay on Butter-making". Statistics of crop productions for the year and minutes of the annual meeting of the Ohio State Horticultural Society are also in included. While this report was a requirement of the General Assembly, it also reads as a snapshot of life in Ohio at the close of the nineteenth century.

The Report of the Ohio Department of Highways, 1939-1943 was "Dedicated to the employees of the Ohio Department of Highways now in the armed service of their country and to the Thirty-Seventh Division, Ohio's' own, which has acquitted itself so creditably in the Southwest Pacific." The department of highways had been under the direction of Robert S. Beightler from January 1939 until October 15, 1940. Director Beightler was also very active in the Ohio National Guard where he rose to the rank of Brigadier General. On October 15, 1940 the Ohio National Guard was inducted in the Army of the United State as the 37th Division, with Major General Beightler in command. After training, the Division was moved into active service in the South Pacific where it participated in the campaigns at Guadalcanal and Bougainville.

The report goes on the describe activities of the various divisions including road repair, new construction and assistance to Ohio farmers because of poor weather conditions. During 1943 an extraordinarily heavy rainfall prevented the farmers from maintaining their planting schedule. The Department of Agriculture, Ohio State University Agricultural Extension Service and the Department of Highways formulated a plan to use Highway Department tractors to assist with the plowing.

Also during this time period changes were made in snow removal. The need for materials for the war effort made it impossible to obtain replacement snowplow and grader blades. To preserve the blades the road crews were directed to raise the blades to prevent scraping on the pavement. This left about ½ inch of snow on the road. To remove this, the Department began using rock salt to melt the remaining snow.

A state commission that no longer exists is the Ohio Vicksburg Battlefield commission. It was appointed by the Governor in 1900 to locate the positions occupied by the Ohio commands on or near the investment line during the siege of Vicksburg. These locations were to be marked with monuments and assault markers. The fifth and final report in 1906 gave a condensed record of the services of each Ohio regiment and a photo-engraved reproduction of the face of each of the 38 Ohio monuments as they stand in the Vicksburg National Military Park.

This is only a sampling of the many state documents that contain information about our state's history. We hope to continue to collect and share state publications that will reflect our times from now and beyond.

The current Section 149.11 of the Ohio Revised Code requires that all state departments, divisions, bureaus, board and commissions send the State Library copies of each publication prepared for the general public. We require 70 copies in order that we may distribute them to the 51 public and academic libraries throughout the state that participate in the state depository program. As a result, every Ohioan has access to state government publications in a nearby library. Local libraries may also borrow the publications from the State Library.

The Library keeps two copies of each publication, one for the permanent reference collection, one for a circulating copy. Two copies are also sent to the Library of Congress and one copy to the Ohio Historical Society. If a state agency is unable to provide 70 copies of a publication for distribution we ask that two copies be sent. Copies of state agency publications may be sent to the State Library, 274 East First Ave., Columbus, OH 43201, Attention: Audrey Hall, Documents Consultant.

We have managed to find space for all of these materials for the past years but space on a shelf is no longer the only concern for maintaining the information provided by state government. Electronic documents come with their own unique set of problems. If a state agency is producing a publication in electronic format only they should contact the State Library and we can explore several options for storing and disseminating the document.

Government Information Services can be contacted at govinfo@sloma.state.oh.us

State Library Board Report

At the December Board meeting, Roger Verny, Deputy State Librarian, discussed Ohio's participation at the annual Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) conference in Washington, DC. The main topic was the new state Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) report procedures. Ohio had served as a pilot state for the new procedures. Other topics at the conference were maintenance of effort and outcome based evaluation.

Mr. Verny also reported on the LSTA Advisory Council meeting. Ethical guidelines were discussed concerning the discussion of and voting on projects when grant reviewers or council members have a vested interest in the project. The council decided that grant reviewers should sign a waiver, asserting they have no vested interest in the grant proposals they would be reviewing. Grant proposals would not be reviewed by anyone with a vested interest in that project.

The State Library has prepared a draft RFP for virtual reference service A task force will review the RFP before it is sent out. A separate task force will be formed to review the proposals. Both Advisory Council members and representatives from the library community will be on the proposal review task force.

Two new LSTA grant programs will soon be available. The Continuing Education (CE) Grant Program will support continuing education activities and make access to CE moneys more equitable. Two CE grant cycles would be made available each year. The program calls for a 25% match of the total project cost. The first grant cycle will begin July 1, 2004.

The Services to People with Disabilities Grant Program is being developed. Libraries interested in this program would need to attend a mandated workshop. One half of the workshop would focus on how to serve people with the disabilities, the second half would focus on creating a long range plan for providing those services. The plan should emphasize contact with other local community agencies. The plan, attached to a funding request, would be submitted to the State Library for funding of: equipment and/or assistive technologies, training for staff and/or patrons, and/or marketing and promotion.

The Council also discussed an equipment disposition policy. The policy was developed due to the recent potential closings of some school library media centers where equipment purchased using an LSTA grant is located. The policy suggests that equipment be made available to other libraries in the school system or to local library consortia. The policy will be reviewed and brought to the Board for approval.

Jay Burton, Head, Library Development and Programs, discussed the State Library Basic Skills continuing education project. The project would provide free training in core library skills to all librarians statewide. The five core library skill areas are reference, cataloging, technology, administration, and collection development. The skills would be taught on a regular basis, with a standard curriculum and consistent format. Cataloging will be the first training session. The State Library will determine the program content and timeline. The Regional Library Systems, along with other training partners, will assist in the process as needed. The first classes will begin in spring 2004.

Dr. Greg Byerly, Associate Professor, Kent State University School of Library and Information Science, told the Board about the Institute for Library and Information Literacy Education (ILILE). Kent State University received $2 million in federal funds for the new library education project. The project is funded through the IMLS. The Institute will focus on activities with PK-12 teachers, library media specialists, pre-service educators, and students working as collaborative peer-learner teaching teams in learning how to use school library media centers and information resources more effectively to enhance student learning. The ILILE has four areas of focus: Education and Training, Curriculum Development, Promotion and Outreach, and Research and Evaluation.

Dr. Byerly also reported that the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Kent State University received a $392,245 grant from the IMLS as part of its "Recruiting and Educating Librarians for the 21st Century" program. The School is the only Ohio recipient and is one of only twenty-seven institutions nationwide to receive an award. The grant, "New Librarians, New Leaders: Educating the Next Generation of School Library Media Specialists and Young Adult Librarians," will provide for the recruitment and education of sixteen graduate library school students. Eight students seeking to become school library media specialists and eight students interested in becoming young adult librarians in public libraries will become part of a special youth services cohort as a part of this project.

Dr. Byerly discussed the Ohio Historical Society Ohio Memory Project Survey on the state of digitization in Ohio. 805 surveys were mailed to archives, museums, historical societies and libraries and 342 surveys were returned. The survey found that the primary audiences for digitized images are anyone with Internet access and researchers. Factors hindering digitization include lack of staff and funding. The Ohio Historical Society will continue to sustain the Ohio Memory Project. Cooperative projects will be encouraged; partnerships will be continued; and funding will be sought.

Finally, Dr. Byerly told the Board about the Reinberger Children's Library Center, a state-of-the-art children's resource center, which opened in summer 2003. The model classroom for aspiring children's and young adult librarians and school library media specialists includes more then 6,000 books and multimedia, puppets, a demonstration school library media center, and demonstration children's and young adult areas. There are also 24 wireless PC's, a teaching station, and a distance learning / videoconferencing facility in the Center. The Reinberger Children's Library Center was made possible by a gift of $240,000 from the Reinberger Foundation of Cleveland.

Ann Tepe of the Ohio Educational Library Media Association (OELMA) presented preliminary findings from the Ohio School Libraries project, a research project on how school libraries help students learn. The project was funded through an $80,000 LSTA grant. Conducted by Dr. Ross Todd and Dr. Carol Kuhlthau of Rutgers University, the goals of the project were to provide comprehensive and detailed empirical evidence of how school libraries help students learn, and to provide recommendations for further research, educational policy development and tools for the school librarian to chart how their school library impacts learning.

An online survey of students, staff and administration was conducted in school media centers, asking how the library/media center helped learning. More than 13,000 students responded. The data are being evaluated. At this point recommendations are being developed. Dr. Todd will make a formal presentation of the results of the study at the April Board meeting.

Mr. Verny reported on the State Library / Regional Library Systems task force meeting. The task force, made up of State Library staff, regional system directors and regional system trustees, discussed the incorporation of the regional library systems into the State Library. It was decided that such an incorporation would be neither feasible nor desirable. The task force recommended the need to look at the vision, purpose, and services of the Regional Systems.

Michael S. Lucas, State Librarian, discussed the agenda for the State Library Board Retreat, Jan. 29-30, 2004.

Mr. Lucas introduced Ashlee Clark, the new State Library employee.

The Board moved to recommend to the Board of Education that Lucille L. Hastings be reappointed to the State Library Board.

For the minutes of State Library Board meetings, go to http://winslo.state.oh.us/boardmin.html.

Videoconferencing Advances

Steve Cassel Library Consultant

Videoconferencing activity at the State Library of Ohio continues to expand and improve. The VTEL system is still being used primarily for in-house programs and meetings. This has helped reduce the travel costs of SLO staff and also increase staff productivity.

VTEL technology is being used more and more as the technology presents new opportunities for service to State Library customers. With a new user manual recently compiled, the Library staff will be freed to create more imaginative programs for state government, the library community and the citizens of Ohio.

New insights in how to more effectively present programs are being discovered as staff is trained in the use of the VTEL system. For example, video format inputs into the VTEL system now include: document camera (3-D objects or hard-copy materials), personal computer (PC or laptop) video camera, VCR, and Whiteboard.

The State Library of Ohio continues to partner with Kent State University by offering a venue for students working on graduate degrees in Library and Information Science. Students can participate in the KSU 12-12-12 classes via a video conference connection from the Boardroom of the State Library. No reason for students to fight traffic to get to night classes in Kent. Other KSU 12-12-12 videoconference sites include Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Clermont, Toledo, and Wellston. In the fall 2003 semester, ninety students participated in the same KSU 12-12-12 class from five different locations across Ohio. One KSU class per year originates from the State Library Boardroom, and is broadcast to the other KSU 12-12-12 locations via OarNet.

In the last year, the State Library purchased additional VTEL hardware with LSTA funds. In the Boardroom, a video camera was mounted to the south wall, and new directional microphones were acquired. In a Library meeting room, the new VTEL equipment is a more basic system than what is located in the Boardroom. In the meeting room, the VTEL system accepts video inputs from a video camera and PC or laptop computer. The VTEL equipment the meeting room is intended for small audiences of 15 or less. State Library staff have already used the videoconferencing equipment in the meeting room several times.

What will 2004 be like? Who knows? With the advances in videoconferencing the new year will be an interesting adventure.

For questions about videoconferencing at the State Library, please contact Steven L. Cassel, Library Consultant, (614) 644-9958 or scassel@sloma.state.oh.us.

Sons of The American Revolution Book Donation

Paul Immel Genealogy Services Librarian

The Ohio Society, Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) has donated the two volume Vital Records of Bangor, Maine (Vol. 1: Birth Records, Vol. 2: Death Records, published by Picton Press) to the State Library of Ohio's genealogy collection.

The formal presentation of the donation was made in the Brahm Meeting Room at the State Library on Friday, November 21st, 2003. John R. Williams, former president of the Ohio Society, SAR, presented the two volumes to Paul Immel, genealogy services librarian at the State Library. Also in attendance at the presentation was Mrs. John R. Williams, a former state regent of the Ohio Daughters of the American Revolution; Steve Kelley, OHSSAR State Government Liaison; and Gretchen Persohn, head of research services at the State Library.

The Ohio Society, Sons of the American Revolution, was formed in 1889 and chartered by the Ohio General Assembly. The Benjamin Franklin Chapter of the OHSSAR was one of the earliest, being established in 1896 in Columbus. The General Henry Knox Chapter, which is the state's newest chapter, was formed in 2000 in Mt. Vernon.

The State Library has been the recipient of other SAR contributions in the past, including the Revolutionary War Graves Register and the Benjamin Franklin Chapter, Ohio Society, Sons of the American: 1896-1996. The two volumes presented on Friday will continue the growth of the Library's New England vital records collection, which is important for researchers tracing their Revolutionary War ancestry.

The State Library's genealogy program was created in the 1930s by a partnership between the Library and the Revolutionary War hereditary organizations to help just those kind of researchers. The Library has a comprehensive Revolutionary War collection for searchers, including SAR and DAR handbooks and publications, state rosters of soldiers/sailors and militiamen in the war, national and many local veterans' burial registers, pension file abstracts, list of French servicemen, African and Native American participants, and loyalist and Hessian records.

After the presentation, Mr. Immel gave a tour of the Library for Mr. and Mrs. Williams and Mr. Kelley. The donations will be cataloged for the genealogy collection and an acknowledgment plate which be placed in each book.