The 2024 California Library Association Conference took place at the Pasadena Convention Center on October 17-19, and several Caltech Library staff members attended. Benjamin Maggio, who supports Document Delivery and Interlibrary Loan requests in the department of Access & Collection Services, reports from the field.
The California Library Association tackled the theme of mental health in the workplace at the annual conference in October. Titled “Balancing Act: Shelf Care & Self Care,” the three-day conference offered numerous lectures under a united theme of libraries as a safe environment for patrons and staff with mental health concerns.
Some librarians gave presentations on activities they had organized for their communities. During “Self Care is Fresh Air,” staff from San Mateo County Libraries described organizing outdoor summer activities for both kids and adults. This included nature walks in city and state parks, and watercolors in the library garden. In another talk, Camille Hyatt shared photos and videos from animal encounters and pet adoption events for kids at the San Diego Public Library.
Other lectures were for the direct benefit of the attendees. Some were geared toward offering career advice to librarians, including presenting at conferences or applying to jobs after finishing school. Still others, many themed around mindfulness, sought to help librarians by instructing them in practices for creating a psychologically safe workplace. Among these was a talk that acknowledged the inherent stress of working in library advocacy, and that included advice about mindfulness meant specifically for advocates. “Music, Intentionality, and Mental Health” concluded with presenter Scott Farthing asking the listeners to compile an individual “arsenal of songs” that makes each of them feel positive emotions. He recommended that listeners who live with anxiety use their personal playlist to counteract triggering situations.
During the Saturday talk “Mindset Matters,” Kathleen Farris encouraged librarians to utilize kindness and self-reflection in the workplace. Particularly effective in her presentation was a slide titled “Changing Mindsets,” which encouraged workers to replace self-defeating thoughts (“I will never find a path”) with more positive, reinforcing language (“What are my options?”). Some of these presentations did not necessarily use the word “mindfulness.” However, the conference overall repeatedly demonstrated that that theme was always on the periphery of what was being discussed.
By highlighting activities like music and being immersed in nature, and emphasizing themes like self-compassion, kindness, intentionality, and community, the presenters demonstrated the rewards that mindfulness can offer to library staff, students, and the public. For that reason alone, the conference was a very rewarding experience.
In fall 2024, Caltech Library is hosting Crossing Over: Art and Science at Caltech, 1920–2020, an expansive public exhibition that weaves together the history of science with historical and contemporary art. How, it asks, have scientists and engineers used images and collaborated with artists to discover, invent, and communicate? The exhibition features displays of about 250 objects, most drawn from the Caltech Archives and Special Collections, including rare books, paintings, drawings, photographs, scientific instruments, molecular models, and video. It will be open September 27 – December 15, 11–4 Wednesday – Sunday.
A GALCIT Update by DiAndra Reyes
The GALCIT archival project has made tremendous progress in its first year, making headway to ensure that the rich history of the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories, California Institute of Technology (GALCIT) is properly preserved and accessible for future generations.
Over the past year, Mariella Soprano, Senior Collections and Special Projects archivist, has collaborated with Jamie Meighen-Sei, Department Administrator, Aerospace (GALCIT), and the GALCIT Department (Division of Engineering and Applied Science) to develop a robust collection plan, implement access policies, select materials, and organize the refurbishment of archival storage in the GALCIT Firestone basement. GALCIT Archival Processing intern DiAndra Reyes has been instrumental in this effort, describing materials, creating a comprehensive inventory, and rehousing them in acid-free folders and archival boxes. DiAndra has processed over 80 bankers’ boxes, resulting in 121 archival boxes of processed materials. She also published the Ten Foot Wind Tunnel Series finding aid, offering a sneak peek into the collection. As DiAndra’s internship concludes, a new intern will continue processing papers, photographs, and audiovisual materials.
Key Findings and Insights So Far
So far the processed GALCIT Collection spans from 1918 to 2005 and documents the extensive history of aeronautical engineering, fluid mechanics, and aerospace research at the GALCIT. It includes materials from significant research projects, wind tunnel developments, collaborations with military and government agencies, and the foundational work of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Some highlights include the Research Projects Series, JPL Series, and Department Series.
The Research Projects Series (1935-1985) documents GALCIT's collaborative research in aerodynamics, materials science, and structural mechanics, including significant projects like ramjet propulsion and the analysis of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse. The series contains technical papers, classified reports, and correspondence with prominent scientists such as Theodore von Kármán and Frank Malina.
The JPL Series (1939-1986) highlights GALCIT’s early activities with JPL and includes instructional materials for military personnel by GALCIT faculty, early rocket research, and the development and usage of JPL’s supersonic wind tunnel. These materials are invaluable for understanding the collaboration between academic and military-industrial development during World War II.
The Department Series (1929-2005) gives insight into faculty, student, and administrative activities throughout GALCIT’s eighty-year history. Correspondence from prominent faculty like Hans W. Liepmann provides insight into their academic contributions, while classified materials and selective service documents offer a look at how GALCIT navigated national security during periods of sensitive research.
L to R: Benjamin and Jo physically arranging the collection boxes. Jo and Benjamin organizing D. Goodstein’s correspondence. Penny, Benjamin, and Jo stopping to smile after the hard work they completed.
Jo Krajeski and Benjamin Mendez Jr. worked as Archival Processing Interns this past spring and summer in the Caltech Archives and Special Collections processing the David L. Goodstein and the Judith R. Goodstein papers. This is the first time the Archives brought in two interns to collaboratively work in the archives. The Goodsteins both spent many hours in the Archives working and researching Caltech’s history, so it was fitting to have both collections successively processed. Both David’s and Judith’s collections are now both fully organized and accessible in the reading room.
Collections and Metadata Archivist Penny Neder-Muro asked Jo and Benjamin some questions about their experiences as MLIS students and their time working as interns in the Caltech Archives. We want to thank Jo and Benjamin for helping the Archives preserve and make accessible the collections of two significant figures in Caltech’s history.
Thank you, Jo and Benjamin, for speaking with us today. You are both enrolled in San Jose State University’s Master of Library and Information Science fully online program. What drew you to pursue the MLIS degree? And how has that program prepared you for this internship?
BM: My experience as an intern for the CSULB Center for the History of Video Games, Technology, and Critical Play drew me to enroll in the SJSU MLIS program. I enjoy information in general and its importance to people. During my time in SJSU’s program, I have learned tons about the LIS field, including archives. One course that helped a lot was a course called Archives and Manuscripts. This course reviewed the importance of archives as information spaces and how to be a successful archivist.
JK: Genealogy and a growing love for researching historical events inspired me to pursue an MLIS at SJSU. I have been studying archival and library science for a while now (my bachelor’s degree is also LIS focused), so I am well-educated but had little practical experience. I jumped at the chance to work in the Caltech Archives. I also hoped to gain smarts through osmosis.
Can you please briefly describe your work as a Caltech Archives Processing Intern?
JK: I had the privilege of appraising and organizing the collections of both David and Judith R Goodstein. Depending on the day my tasks included: applying basic preservation measures to rehouse the paper materials, moving them to acid-free folders/boxes, and organizing items alphabetically, chronologically or by subject. Once the collection order was determined, we created collection guides for researchers to quickly and easily locate the information sought within their collections. It was interesting to learn what was in a collection, which determined the best way to organize it and make it accessible to archives researchers.
BM: As an archives intern, I worked alongside you (Penny) and Jo on processing, which Jo mentioned. We rehoused David Goodstein’s papers into clean archival folders and boxes, organizing, then created Goodstein’s online finding aid for his entire collection. My day-to-day included arriving at the archive around 7:30 am till 12:30 pm, Monday only for the beginning of my internship, then after that; it sped up once summer began. Jo and I used a shared spreadsheet, and we communicated a lot about which organization made the most sense.
David Goodstein was a member of the Caltech Faculty from 1968 through 2007, as Frank J. Gilloon Distinguished Teaching and Service Professor, who taught physics and served as Vice-Provost for almost twenty years. What is the one thing you learned while processing his collection that you would like the Caltech community and beyond to know about David Goodstein?
BM: One interesting fact I discovered when processing his collection was his love for his students and his upbeat, funny demeanor. From responding to fan letters for those who know him from the Mechanical Universe, to students' evaluation notes– It was amazing to see what a great teacher he was.
JK: He had a great sense of humor, which is strange to say about someone you have never met except on paper. He was also a very curious person, a great admirer (and friend) of Richard Feynman, and he formed strong lasting friendships with colleagues and others within his profession. I was very impressed by his ability and determination to learn Italian after he accepted an NSF fellowship in Rome. He would not only learn to communicate with his fellow lab team, but he would give seminars solely in Italian. I have great respect for David Goodstein.
Jo, you also had the opportunity to process Judith Goodstein’s Papers. Judith is University Archivist emeritus and founded the Caltech Archives in 1968. What do you want to share about Judy?
JK: Judy, Judy, Judy. As a history buff, I enjoyed going through her collection, seeing her research process and eventual culmination of the research. She, like David, had a knack for forming lifelong relationships with colleagues and those she met through her research. I enjoyed creating her collection’s finding aid too. I look forward to reading her books in the near future.
What is one surprising thing you learned while working in the Archives?
JK: I guess what surprises me the most about working in archives in general is the number of ways actions can be performed; there is no one way to do any task, but the outcome is the same: to provide access to the collections. I didn’t quite know what to expect from the Caltech Archives and Special collections, but I learned there is more interesting history to be found within their stacks than I ever realized.
BM: Of the many important things I learned this summer, one that will stick with me is that every collection is different, and depending on the circumstances, decisions can change; as Penny would say, “It depends.” While archives have standards set in place, every day could be different, and sometimes exceptions are made. A lot depends on donor agreements and the information being processed, such as medical records or classified materials.
What do you hope to do when you complete your MLIS degree?
JK: Ultimately, my goal is to remain in the archival field, but I am open to anywhere in the LIS field. I have really enjoyed my time working in an academic environment, but my passion lies with genealogy so maybe a state or local archive, or something along those lines. Working with NARA would be an accomplishment.
BM: After graduation, I plan to work in an academic library or in an archives. If I take the librarian route, I would love to work at a community college or CSU in either an education or systems librarian role. If I go with the archivist route, I would love to work in an archive revolving around technology and video games. With only a year left in my MLIS, I am anxious but excited for what will come. The road will be tough, but I am ready for the challenge!
Any final thoughts?
JK: This experience has been amazing. I have learned so much and felt so welcomed by the archives staff (and by extension the library crew) from my arrival to departure. I was given several learning opportunities, such as helping with reference, that helped with my coursework and gave me the hands-on experience I desired. I feel prepared to embark on other adventures and hope the archives’ staff continue to share their wisdom with future interns and students.
BM: I would like to thank all the archives and library staff who have assisted me through my internship at Caltech, especially Penny, Richard, Mariella, Elisa, and Peter. You have all been great to work with, and I hope our paths cross again someday.
This message will be my final greeting as Caltech’s university librarian, and I would like to take a moment to reflect on what the Library has accomplished in the last five years. The Caltech Library staff, including the Caltech Archives & Special Collections, are an amazing team dedicated to supporting the mission of the Institute, and I have been privileged to work with all of them. I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and I know they are, too.
One of the greatest areas of growth since 2019 is in our programming and outreach efforts, especially in our student focused events. In collaboration with the Graduate Studies Office, we’ve produced 3MT and Dissertation Writer’s Bootcamp events for our graduate students each of the past three years.
3MT: From 2021 to 2024, Caltech Library's Three Minute Thesis (3MT) event—an academic research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland in Australia—awarded over $25,000 in prizes with support from the American Physical Society, EBSCO, Elsevier, IOP Publishing, Science of Synthesis/Thieme Chemistry, Springer/Nature, Wiley, and more. The Three Minute Thesis competition challenges Caltech graduate students to explain their research in an engaging and clear three-minute talk intended for a non-specialist audience.
Dissertation Writers Bootcamp: The Caltech Library and the Graduate Studies Office Dissertation Writers Bootcamp provides a calm, distraction-free environment for writing, along with refreshments and writing and formatting support. Over the two days, optional consultations with the Hixon Writing Center and Caltech librarians will help students address formatting, copyright, data, and writing questions. We hold two bootcamps per academic year, and each one hosts 12-18 dissertation writers.
S.F.L. = Stress Free Library: Each term we turn Sherman Fairchild Library, aka SFL, into the Stress Free Library during midterms and finals. SFL provides twenty-four hour study space and services to all Caltech students along with evening snacks and hot water, puzzle breaks, visits from the Huntington Hospital Pet Assisted Therapy volunteers (“the puppies”), our soundscape study and retreat room, and much more. We also sneak a little stress reduction in over the late spring, all summer, and early fall with our SFL Amphitheater outdoor movie nights.
PST ART: The Caltech Archives was awarded a grant to prepare for the next edition of the region-wide arts initiative Pacific Standard Time: Art x Science x L.A., scheduled to open in 2024. Caltech is one of 45 cultural, educational, and scientific institutions throughout Southern California to receive support from the Getty Foundation for their projects, all of which will explore the intersection of art and science.
The Caltech Archives’ project, “Crossing Over: Art & Science at Caltech, 1920-2020,” will tell stories from Caltech’s 133 years of using art and images in science and engineering research, science communication, and building campus community.
Pacific Standard Time: Art x Science x L.A. will include dozens of simultaneous exhibitions and programs focused on the intertwined histories of art and science, past and present, that together address some of the most complex challenges of the 21st century—from climate change and environmental racism to the current pandemic and artificial intelligence—and the creative solutions these problems demand. Read more >
The running joke around the Caltech Library is that I’ve never met a project I didn’t like, and there is some truth to that. Over the past five years, we’ve migrated all of our back-end library systems and implemented a few new systems solutions, such as ARES, our online course reserves tool that is linked to Caltech’s Canvas courses. Below are a few of the behind-the-scenes projects we’ve done to help bring a better library experience to the Caltech community.
EZ Proxy > Open Athens: After upgrading our proxy server, which allowed off-campus access to Library materials without using the VPN for improved security and performance for users, we switched off-campus authentication methods from EZproxy to OpenAthens. Read more about Caltech's VPN.
EBSCO/FOLIO/LibSearch: After much research and deliberation, the Caltech Library adopted the FOLIO Library Services Platform (LSP) for use starting in the fall 2021 term. FOLIO, which stands for the Future of Libraries Is Open, is “an open-source project supported by many academic libraries worldwide, and a number of commercial vendors, including EBSCO. EBSCO contributes substantially to the technical development of FOLIO software and offers FOLIO hosting and data management services.” FOLIO offers our patrons a more integrated library search experience.
RFID Inventory: As part of our new system of RFID (radio frequency identification) tagging, we conducted a collection inventory. In addition to confirming what’s on our shelves, the completion of this project means that we can reconcile our holdings with OCLC, helping DocuServe be a better interlibrary loan lending partner and allowing us to update our SCELC Shared Print commitments. Correct SCELC Shared Print commitments will allow other SCELC libraries to weed their collections with confidence in knowing we are retaining copies of these items.
Invenio RDM: CaltechDATA, our institutional data and software repository, launched a major upgrade on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. InvenioRDM enables Caltech Library to more rapidly roll out new features and collaborate with other institutions to establish repository best practices. Our CaltechAUTHORS repository—home to over 100,000 publications written by Caltech researchers—also migrated to InvenioRDM. Most items in CaltechAUTHORS are articles, but there are also books, book chapters, conference papers, and more. The repository is updated continuously as departments and library staff add available and recently published documents.
Website Redesign: The Caltech Library website now offers improved navigation, enhanced accessibility, integration with Caltech Archives & Special Collections, streamlined content, and a vibrant visual interface. Read more about the new website >
NSF Grant: Research Data Specialist Tom Morrell and the CaltechDATA team were awarded a generous grant as part of the National Science Foundation Campus Cyberinfrastructure program. (The Caltech Library’s very first NSF grant!) Through a collaboration between the Library and Caltech’s Information Management Systems and Services (IMSS), the award will allow the standard free storage allocation in CaltechDATA to be expanded from 500 GB per research group to 1 TB per researcher. Learn more >
Collections have been a major focus of the Library’s work in the past five years, and we hope you’ve noticed! We’ve negotiated with our publisher/vendor partners to bring our campus the research resources you all need, making access more seamless and putting up fewer barriers to research. Here are a few of our collection highlights:
AIAA: Beginning in 2024, we're subscribing to all AIAA journals as well as their meeting papers.
ASME Read & Publish: Beginning in 2024 if you have an accepted manuscript with ASME and are the corresponding author, you do not pay an article processing charge (APC) - it is free to publish Open Access in their titles.
JSTOR Collection Expansion: Our Library recently subscribed to 27 JSTOR Archive Journal Collections. Our new entitlements give us access to almost 3000 journals across every area of research on our campus.
IOP Read & Publish: The Library has subscribed to the Institute of Physics comprehensive journal package, IOPscience Extra, and more than 85 journals are included in this new subscription. We have also added read-and-publish to our subscription, meaning that our Library’s IOP subscription covers *both* reading and publishing in their journal titles.
As I said at the beginning, we have an amazing staff in the Caltech Library, and they have done a lot of work to grow as a team these past few years. They have leaned into learning new skills, humoring me (at least at first) in team-building activities, and continue to expand the level of service they provide to our community.
Staff Development: We’ve done quite a bit of hiring in the last five years! Many of the positions are reconfigurations of existing staff lines but to serve new purposes as the Library evolves, and, even more significantly, many of these positions were filled with internal hires who grew into their new positions by working at Caltech.
Head of Business & Operations, Head of Access & Collection Services (2), and Head of Research Services
Reference & Instruction Librarian, Access and E-Resource Services Librarian, Systems & Discovery Librarian, Programming and Student Engagement Librarian, Geology & Planetary Sciences Librarian, Humanities & Social Sciences Librarian, Engineering & Applied Science Librarian
Library Communication Coordinator, Repository Coordinator, Library Facilities Coordinator
Collections & Metadata Archivist, Digital Archivist
Exhibition Research Assistant, Library Administrative Assistant (CLOPS), Library Support Assistants (ACS, TechHub)
Web Services Project Manager, Metadata Specialist, Systems Administrator and TechHub Manager
Librarian & Archivist Interns
Strategic Plan AY21-AY23 / AY24-27: The Caltech Library devised its first Strategic Plan for AY21-AY23 around the key theme of partnership. This plan serves as the foundation for progress at the Caltech Library and establishes future directions to ensure its growth as a premier research library befitting the world-class research institution it serves. Read the latest strategic plan here >
I feel a little tired after writing that list, but it really only reflects a small portion of what the Caltech Library has achieved! I have enjoyed working with everyone at the Library and across the Caltech campus. It’s truly an extraordinary place to work, and I will miss all of you very much.
Best wishes,
Kara Whatley
University Librarian
1) Being in the right place at the right time—following a brief career in reference publishing, I completed my MSLS at Columbia University. I went to North Carolina State University Libraries in 1991. By 1993-94, I was chairing both NCSU and the Triangle Research Libraries Network OPAC working groups as we sought to implement the next generation integrated library system from DRA.
The First International WAIS Conference was hosted at the Research Triangle Institute during this period, bringing Brewster Kahle, Paul Evan Peters, Tim Berners-Lee, and Cliff Lynch to town. This proved to be the only international WAIS conference.
Brewster Kahle would sell WAIS, Inc. to AOL in 1995. And the experimental system Berners-Lee demonstrated with a NeXT workstation at that conference, the World Wide Web, would rapidly supplant Gopher as the predominant technology for finding and reading material on the Internet.
The menuing system I designed for NCSU to provide access to the new online catalog, the HYTELNET global directory of library catalogs, and access to a variety of locally hosted literature index databases (Medline, Agricola, MLA Bibliography) would be implemented in HTML and accessed using the text-based Lynx web browser.
2) At NCSU Libraries, I was the engineering reference librarian and coordinator of online searching. In the era of dial-up access to commercially hosted databases, mediated searching was the norm. Database searching was expensive. Special academic rates were available for searching after 5:00 p.m. I spent many an early evening doing database searches in Chemical Abstracts, INSPEC, and Engineering Index, for luminescence spectra data (electro-, photo-, chemi-) of a wide variety of III-V semiconductor compounds, especially III-V nitrides. This Army Research Office funded research gave rise to Cree Semiconductors’ white LEDs.
At Caltech Library, which I joined in 1997, I tackled some challenging reference questions:
3) An interlibrary loan request came in looking for a Bible that was published with a detailed timeline from Creation to the present day, which is to say, only a handful of years after Gutenberg invented the printing press. A few hours of research identified such a volume, but not one which could be borrowed through interlibrary lending. Fortunately, the professor understood that having the book brought to campus was not in the cards. He was delighted to have it identified so that he could consult and examine it at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
4) When Prof. Fred Culick was asked to speak at the Reagan Library’s dedication ceremony of the installation of the retired Boeing 707 which had served as Air Force One for seven presidents, he wanted to show a photo of the first time a US President had flown in an airplane. Knowing that the Smithsonian Institution had digitized thousands of historic photos in the mid-1990s, I was able to email a link to a photo of Theodore Roosevelt preparing to take flight in St. Louis in 1910 before Prof. Culick returned to his office.
5) Interlibrary loan questions were never referred to the subject librarians until the DocuServe staff had exhausted all likely avenues of research. One ILL request I worked on took more than six months to fulfill. The request was for materials property data for Parthenon marble. The information had appeared in a special issue of a periodical published by the engineering school at the University of Thessaloniki. In the end, I received a complete copy of the special issue through the postal service.
6) In January 2001, I was asked to visit the ALA Midwinter exhibits to check on a vendor offering ILL automation software. Pigasys (yes, it was a play on Pegasus) proved to be vaporware, but a neighboring booth hosted Atlas Systems, which were trying to start a similar business with ILLiad. I took news of ILLiad and the developers' contact information back to Caltech.
I had worked with Sandy Garstang, head of access services, and Betsy Coles, software developer, in the fall of 2000 to create a local ILL webform to replace the ubiquitous document delivery request forms. ILLiad was designed for requesting returnables (books) and nonreturnables (photocopies of articles or chapters).
Caltech Library System had a very high traffic level, including document delivery for materials held by the library. In developing our local webform, we had mapped out the metadata needed to efficiently process journal articles, books, book chapters, conference papers, theses, and standards. The critical innovation was wedding the detailed CLS metadata schema with ILLiad.
The Atlas staff spent parts of February and March 2001 ensconced in the basement of Sherman Fairchild Library, working the more detailed Caltech Library metadata schema into their system which would execute automated lookups for material in the local catalog and in the national OCLC ILL service.
7) Caltech’s electronic thesis program got off to a somewhat bumpy start. The Library invited Ed Fox, the electronic thesis pioneer and CS professor at Virginia Tech, to campus for a one-day symposium on electronic theses during spring break 2000. Arden Albee, the Graduate Dean, was quite taken with the possibilities, but became emeritus that summer. Library communication with the Grad Office broke down for a while.
The next Graduate Dean, Rod Kiewiet, was a regular participant in the Environmental Quality Lab discussions on Tuesday mornings in which I often participated. I broached the possibility with Rod of pitching an electronic thesis program to the Graduate Studies Committee. I made that pitch during spring term 2002 and received the unanimous approval of the GSC. Dean Kiewiet stepped down from the office in summer 2002.
With a go-ahead from the GSC, voluntary deposit of electronic theses began for the class of 2002 with a requirement to be implemented for PhDs beginning with the class of 2003. I worked with Michael Hoffmann as Graduate Dean to roll out the mandatory electronic thesis requirement.
8) OpenURL linking has become so ingrained in the digital library age that it may be hard to remember when it didn’t exist. The Santa Fe Convention of the Open Archives Initiative in October 1999 led to two fundamental protocols that form the bedrock of digital libraries: OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative–Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) and OpenURL linking. Eric Van de Velde, Caltech Library’s Director of Library Information Technology, was a participant in the Santa Fe Convention and chaired the NISO committee for OpenURL 1.0 (Z39.88).
Caltech Library became the North American launch partner with Ex Libris to introduce the first commercial implementation of OpenURL, SFX. My contribution in this innovation was hosting a session of RUSA MARS Hot Topics (American Library Association’s Reference and User Services Association, Machine Assisted Reference Section) focusing on OpenURL at the ALA Annual Meeting in San Francisco in June 2001.
Library conferences are not usually known for crowd control issues. The fire marshals at SF’s Moscone Convention Center came to the 90-minute session twice to clear the people sitting on the floor and standing in the hall outside of the meeting room. With a live demonstration of the technology and representatives from Ex Libris and the NISO committee on the panel, the 75-seat room was inadequate for the 200 or so librarians trying to attend. Internet connections in convention center meeting rooms were extraordinarily rare in 2001, in part because they were prohibitively expensive. It was $1000 well spent!
9) I spent a great deal of time exploring the world of free academic electronic journals in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The CLS Online Journal Database (OJDB), implemented by Ed Sponsler, CLS software developer, and curated by me, provided a ready home to document the titles and extent of access. The OJDB permitted the Library to track click-throughs, giving us insight into:
The free e-journals I described were early contributions to DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) and often reposted in Peter Suber’s Free Online Scholarship (FOS) Newsletter, which later became Peter Suber’s Free Online Scholarship (FOS) Newsletter, which later became SPARC Open Access Newsletter. Open Access was not yet widely adopted in the late 1990s as shorthand for the free and open dissemination of scholarly content.
10) Across more than three decades of librarianship, I’ve been honored to speak at the North Carolina Library Association, California Library Association, California Association of Research Libraries, American Society for Engineering Education – Engineering Libraries Division, American Chemical Society – Chemical Information Section, Association of College and Research Libraries, American Library Association across three divisions (RUSA, ACRL, and ALCTS), Open Repositories, ORCID Annual Meeting, SCELCapalooza, the Charleston Conference, SPARC national meetings, and the inaugural Digital Initiatives Symposium. None of which would have been possible without the support of my family, my institutional home libraries, and my many collaborators within and without of those libraries.
Photo Credit: Penny Neder-Muro
In mid-June, Phillip Jaffe moved to California right after graduating with his master’s degree in library science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and assumed his new role as Caltech's Engineering & Applied Science Librarian. He settled in just in time for summer, and we asked him some questions to introduce him to the campus community. Join us in welcoming Phillip to the Library and say hi the next time you're in Sherman Fairchild!
Congratulations on your new position as our Librarian for Engineering and Applied Science! What appealed to you about this position?
Thank you—I’m so glad to be here. Since pursuing librarianship, it has been my goal to support research in an academic library setting, ideally in a scientific or technical discipline. So I really can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than here, at an institution dedicated to research excellence that’s constantly at the frontier of scientific knowledge. What I also found appealing was Caltech’s small size—especially compared to other universities with similar research outputs. I imagine this will enhance the human aspect of the job, making it more feasible to maintain working relationships with students, faculty, and staff in the division, and to stay tuned into what individuals are working on.
During your interview, we were all interested in your internship with the Executive Office of the President. Could you tell us a little about it?
I was very lucky to intern last summer in the Library of the Executive Office of the President in Washington, DC. The library’s mission is to support EOP staff, which includes the staff of the White House Office, in their work for the president of the United States. While the library of course holds all sorts of legal materials and government documents, it also maintains a print collection of popular nonfiction books—covering policy areas and political and presidential history—much like what you would find in a public library. During my internship, I helped to field reference questions from EOP staff, which varied widely in scope. Responding to a request could be as simple as retrieving a newspaper article or recommending some books on a certain issue, or it could be as involved as examining the legislative history of a particular regulation.
You recently completed your degree in library science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. What are some things that you've learned that you can bring to this new role?
One course I found to be particularly valuable and enjoyable focused on collection management. Through a series of projects for the course, I got experience evaluating a large collection for content strengths and gaps—and identifying candidate materials for acquisition as well as for removal from the collection. I hope to apply similar skills to ensure that the Caltech Library’s collection stays appropriately tailored to the research being conducted in the EAS division. I was also lucky in that there are many libraries on the UW-Madison campus, so over the course of my time there, I was able to work in a few that specialized in different scientific disciplines.
What do you like about working in libraries? What inspired you to pursue a career as a librarian?
One short answer is that I like finding stuff.
As an undergrad, my favorite part of any research assignment was always getting all my resources together—following trails of bibliographies and navigating physical and digital library spaces to locate anything that might be relevant. It was then that I first floated the possibility of pursuing a career in librarianship and started talking to librarians at my university about their work.
I am also very interested in the research process. Although I don’t think I would have it in me to do research myself, I very much like the idea of working in a research-adjacent role, where I can have a broad view of the information lifecycle and of knowledge production in a wider range of disciplines.
Lastly, I’d be disingenuous not to mention the lifestyle considerations in my decision to pursue librarianship: A library is a pleasant space in which to pass a workday, and one that I find relatively easy to get out of bed for. There are books around. There’s not a lot of yelling. Hardly ever an emergency. If any career path is mentally sustainable for me, it’s this one.
What are some of your goals, hopes, and/or plans for working with the Division of Engineering and Applied Science?
My plan is to keep in close contact with the various EAS departments, so that I can stay up to date on the research and education happening throughout the division, and make sure that the library’s collections and services accommodate the division’s needs. I’m also hoping to help uphold this institution’s tradition of benefiting society, by making sure that the knowledge produced in the EAS division is disseminated as widely, and has as great an impact, as possible.
Please join us in welcoming Alvaro Quezada as the Library's new Head of Access and Collection Services! Alvaro is joining us from USC’s Science & Engineering Library where he was a subject librarian. Prior to that position, he was a library supervisor for access services at USC’s Norris Medical Library. He holds a master’s in management in library and information science from USC and a bachelor’s of science in criminal justice from CSULA.
With his experience as both a staff member and a supervisor in access services and as a subject librarian for science and engineering, Alvaro has a unique blend of skills and experiences that will benefit ACS and Caltech Library as a whole. Alvaro started on Monday, May 20, and we're grateful that he found some time this week to answer some questions about his new role.
Congratulations on your new position as Head of Access & Collection Services, Alvaro! Could you give us an introduction to what the Access & Collection Services department traditionally handles in a library?
Thank you! The Access & Collection Services department in a library plays a critical role in managing and facilitating user access to library resources. Traditionally, this department encompasses several key functions. For starters, and the most visible to the library community, is Circulation. Circulation manages the lending of library materials and resources to library users and provides frontline support to users, answering questions related to library services, resources, and policies.
Another key function is Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery (ILL). This service allows users to request access to resources that are not owned by their institution. The ILL department will scour the country, if not the world, to provide the user access to the physical or electronic version of the resources they need.
Furthermore, Reserve Services and Collection Maintenance are also key functions of the department. Reserve Services manages the course reserves and other high-usage materials. Collection Maintenance ensures that the library’s physical collection is well-organized and accessible to all users.
Can you tell us a little about your previous work at USC?
Absolutely! At USC Libraries, I was a Science and Engineering Librarian as the subject liaison for mathematics, biology, earth sciences, physics, and astronomy. I provided research assistance to students, faculty, and researchers and designed and delivered instructional sessions on information literacy, research strategies, and effective use of library resources.
What are some lessons that you've learned in that position that you can bring to this new role?
There are several lessons that I have learned as a Science and Engineering Librarian that are going to be extremely beneficial in my new role. Most notably, learning to adapt to new challenges and environments is crucial. Having made the transition from staff to faculty in this role amidst the pandemic meant I had to not only undertake the new responsibilities of the position but determine how to complete these deliverables remotely. This experience is going to be critical in learning how to undertake the responsibilities of a library administrator (a first for me) and familiarizing myself with the various systems and workflows. Another lesson that I will bring to my new role is project management. I quickly learned the nature of the librarian position is heavily projects based. Balancing multiple projects and meeting deadlines provided me with the experience to effectively prioritize tasks, manage time efficiently, and clearly define expectations, all of which are going to be essential in my new role.
What do you like about working in libraries? What inspired you to pursue a career as a library administrator?
There is an extensive list of the things I find gratifying about working in an academic library. At the top of the list is the intellectual vibrancy and engagement that permeates the campus. These vibes are incredibly contagious and powerful enough to infuse creativity and motivation. Working in an environment that offers this experience every time I arrive on campus is an incredible way to spend my day.
The second-best thing I enjoy about working in an academic library is the contribution we make to the academic and professional achievements to our community of students, faculty, staff, and researchers. Whether it is the access to the collection of our resources, our study spaces, research support, or instruction services, in one subtle way (or in some instances, not so subtle ways), we were indispensable to their overall success.
Pursuing a career as a library administrator stems from several key motivations. The first being the opportunity to obtain a position of leadership. I have always been passionate about leading teams, setting strategic directions, and managing projects and this position presented that opportunity. In addition, throughout my career, I have been fortunate to work with mentors who demonstrated the importance of effective library leadership. Due to this experience, I have had the opportunity to establish the essential skills necessary to pursue a path where I can foster an environment of empowerment and collaboration and demonstrate to colleagues the same fundamentals.
What are some of your goals, hopes, or plans for the future of the Access & Collection Services department?
The goal for the future of the Access & Collection Services department is to continue reimagining our services, staying at the forefront of best practices, and evaluating emerging technologies to enhance the library experience for the Caltech community. In essence, to commit ourselves to the pursuit of academic excellence that is synonymous with the reputation of Caltech.
In terms of the wonderful folks in the Access & Collection Services department, my plans are to support their professional growth, and contribute to creating a positive and motivating atmosphere that promotes collaboration and appreciation of each contributing team member.
We're looking forward to working with you, Alvaro!
The Caltech Library is happy to announce that, as of April 8, Paula Gaetos is our new Programming and Student Engagement Librarian!
Paula joined Caltech Library in 2018 as Information Services Generalist Assistant, previously working as a library clerk at school and public libraries. During her time at the Library, Paula has made significant contributions to the TechHub, the Library's Events & Programming Committee, and Library signage. In December 2022, she completed her master’s degree in library and information science from San Jose State University. We are pleased that she agreed to answer some questions about her new role.
1) Congratulations on your new position, Paula! Could you give us an introduction to what a Programming & Student Engagement Librarian does?
Thanks! I’m really grateful and honored to take on this new role at the Library. A Programming & Student Engagement Librarian is responsible for developing and implementing library programming and events that support our students’ engagement and success at Caltech, particularly for our undergraduate and historically underrepresented students.
It can be events like our Outdoor Movie Nights or Craft-a-Mole for Mole Day that provide a space to hang out and decompress with other students. It can also be developing outreach initiatives, like tabling at campus events or hosting workshops, to help demystify accessing and utilizing library resources so our students are well equipped to reach their learning and research goals.
2) What are some of the developments in the Library that created the need for this new position?
The biggest development in the Library was formalizing our mission statement and strategic plan. By expressing our values and commitment to inclusive practices and prioritizing campus partnership and collaborations, it generated the momentum to develop initiatives that reflected those statements.
So in 2021, when our students and campus community returned to campus in full capacity, we picked up on the need for everyone to acclimate and reconnect with campus resources and with each other. This led to the formation of the Events and Programming Committee. Since then, we've been developing and assessing what library events and programming were implemented before and how to redevelop them to suit our students’ current needs in order to foster belonging and familiarity, like the TechHub open house or creating cultural heritage celebratory displays. We happily saw an overall increase in library resource usage and a number of first-time participants in library events as a result, especially from undergraduates.
With such a positive response and growing interest in its development, it was clear this kind of outreach was an integral part of our Library services and required a dedicated role.
3) What will a day in the life of the Programming & Student Engagement Librarian look like?
We’re just getting started, so I can’t really say for sure what would be typical, but I anticipate my workload involves a lot of planning ahead. So my day may simply start with staring at a four-month white board calendar and the annual events calendar to see what needs to be prepared for upcoming events.
It could mean connecting with the undergraduate office about their anticipated plans for next year’s new student welcome week or prepping “outreach boxes,” which are simply the mailboxes we fill with outreach materials, like flyers, stickers, and free pencils to bring to tabling events, like the DiscoTech resource fair happening this month.
4) You've previously been the co-chair of the Events and Programming Committee. What are some lessons that you've learned in that leadership position that you can bring to this new role?
The most important lesson was to allow space to say no and adapt to that boundary. EPCOM is a small and mighty team who found themselves at one point creating and participating in at least five events per term. When we laid out an annual events calendar that anticipated regular events like Ditch Day or holidays, like Lunar New Year, it’s possible to have up to ten events per term. April itself has #Gaypril, National Library Week, and Earth Week in addition to 3MT, DiscoTech, and Grad Student Appreciation Week.
It'll be easy to be ambitious and participate in all of them simply because this work is truly interesting and a well-done event is fun and satisfying to put together. It’s also a way to burn out a team’s energy and engagement in the long run.
By allowing the space to assess, prioritize, and delegate which events we participate in—being able to say no—we’re able to keep the creative energy to develop something new or improve on what we’ve done before.
5) What will you be able to do with programming and student engagement now that you can give them your full attention?
The Library absolutely has a role to play in creating a safe and engaging campus to support our students academically and holistically. So my hope is that we’re able to formalize our signature programming and events that center the Library as a third space for our campus community.
In addition, my biggest challenge is to be able to measure the Library’s impact and value to our students during their years here at Caltech. So as part of formalizing signature programming and events, I want to focus on creating programming assessments so we can document and communicate that impact in a really meaningful way.
6) What are some things we can look forward to in the future of Caltech Library events and programming?
In the short-term, newer and different free snack options during Stress Free Library events. I would love to get more of our students’ opinions on what they like to snack on while studying.
In the long-term, I really look forward to working with everyone in the Library to brainstorm utilizing all our Library spaces to host events, like the maker projects at the TechHub. I also really hope to connect more with other departments on campus for future events, especially for New Student Welcome Week.
You can reach Paula at pgaetos@caltech.edu.
The Caltech Library is sad to say farewell to Head of Access & Collection Services Franses Rodriguez this week, but Franses has a bright future ahead in her new position as Deputy Director of Research Libraries at the New York Public Library. When Franses came to the Library four years ago, we asked her some questions and the answers can be found in this blog post. We followed up with similar questions this week on the eve of her departure. (Franses is pictured above 1) left with Viet Nguyen, Reserves & Circulation Supervisor, and Benjamin Maggio, Document Delivery/Interlibrary Loan Support Staff and 2) right at her farewell party with University Librarian Kara Whatley and other staff.)
We will miss you, Franses, but we're really excited for your new adventure with the New York Public Library! Could you tell us a little about your new position?
I will serve as a senior advisor to the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries, Brent Reidy. My responsibilities include contributing to strategic planning and overseeing the execution of these plans across the Research Libraries. I will be expected to lead initiatives that span across Research Libraries, ensuring that our operations are not only successful and efficient but also conducted with a high degree of responsibility. I will be the point person for analyzing data, making regular reports, identifying issues, and finding solutions. I will also be teaching teams to foster a culture of data-informed decision-making, guide them in building strategic partnerships, and manage projects with multiple stakeholders, ensuring their success.
In terms of responsibilities, I oversee the strategy and goals of the Research Libraries, ensuring accountability for strategic initiatives. I will manage select cross-library projects and collaborate with key partners outside the Research Library divisions (Mellon Director on donor relationships and fundraising opportunities, Finance Department, Strategy and Public Impact team, Human Resources, Capital Planning, and Communications & Marketing teams) to ensure their successful execution. I will be expected to lead Research All Staff, Cabinet, and other meetings in order to contribute to the direction and morale of the team.
In our previous interview when you arrived at Caltech in June 2020, I asked you what you liked about working in libraries. What did you specifically enjoy about working for the Caltech Library?
The people I worked with and Access and Collections Services' dedication to IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) was key in my daily motivation. My ACS colleagues (Phuong, Laurel, Bianca, Mel, Dan, Ben P., Ben M., Viet, Paula, Becky, Ling, Rebecca, Andy, and Kris) exemplified true teamwork, overcoming personal and professional differences. Their intentions, always rooted in understanding their triggers and their desire to provide the best services possible, significantly influenced our work, the team, and our patrons. They were an absolute dream to work with. The next department head will be VERY fortunate. The Library leadership team (Donna, Catherine, Stephen, and Peter) provided me with such a rich learning environment and a safe space for collaboration. Together, we tackled challenging goals, supported each other daily, and made a meaningful impact. I'll deeply miss our discussions.
Kara's mentorship was transformative, giving my ideas a platform and guiding me towards a lifelong commitment to librarianship. Her influence reshaped my career path, I will especially miss her guidance.
When you started at the Library, we were all remote! Looking back, how did that auspicious beginning influence your transition to Caltech? What did you learn about working at Caltech that influenced your time at the Library once we all returned to in-person services?
Remote work taught me the importance of face-to-face interactions in building successful relationships. Despite the challenges, consistent and effective use of virtual platforms like Zoom facilitated progress and helped maintain connections during the lockdown. Meeting colleagues in person after virtual interactions bridged the gap swiftly, which really supported our collaboration.
What are you most going to miss about working at the Caltech Library?
The people and our IDEA initiatives and work.
What are you most looking forward to about your new position at NYPL?
Familiarizing myself with the teams, understanding the culture, and their challenges so I can figure out how to effectively contribute to solutions.
Do you have any final words for our staff?
I'm deeply grateful for the opportunities and experiences I've gained through working with all of you. Each moment has been truly special and invaluable to me. Remember, your contributions to this organization and each other are immensely important. By embracing our diverse perspectives and investing in understanding both ourselves and one another, we can get so much more fulfillment in our work and in life.
Best wishes, Franses!