University Archivist Honored

We are pleased to report that University Archivist Tom Frusciano has been named a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists.

Founded in 1936, the Society of American Archivists (SAA) is North America's oldest and largest national archival professional association. SAA's mission is to serve the educational and informational needs of more than 3,400 individual and institutional members and to provide leadership to ensure the identification, preservation, and use of records of historical value.

The highest honor accorded by the SAA to members is to be named a Fellow. We congratulate Tom on receiving this great distinction.

Robeson Librarian Participates
in Presidential Economic Forum

Left to right: Julie Still stands with President George W. Bush and Richard Holthaus, President of the National Association of Investors Corporation. The National Association of Investors Corporation is the national umbrella organization for a number of small investment clubs, including the one in which Julie participates.

In August, President George W. Bush asked Paul Robeson Library's Julie Still to join him in Waco, Texas for a national economic forum.

Julie is a member of an investment club and participated in July in a town meeting in Philadelphia organized by the United States Secretary of Commerce that focused on small investors' reactions to corporate misdeeds. Julie spoke up and was quoted by an AP reporter and then in a Philadelphia Inquirer story. One or both stories apparently caught the eye of the President's people, and she got invited to Waco.

The forum on August 13th was divided into eight breakout sessions, and Julie participated in the corporate responsibility group led by the commerce secretary. She represented regular citizens who invest in the market. Julie reports that she sat next to the CEO of Pfizer and across the table from the CEO of American Express - as she put it, "not my usual conversation partners." She spoke about excessive executive compensation and some of what she said was picked up by the AP newswire and run on C-Span and the Lou Dobbs Money Line.

At the plenary session that followed, representatives from each group gave the president a synopsis of the discussions in the groups and then the President spoke. At lunch President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney came through and talked with people.

Now, back at her regular work at the Robeson Library, Julie is anxiously waiting for one of the returning Rutgers students to ask: "And how'd you spend your summer?"

Friends event:

Your are cordially invited to attend

Hsu Dan's Chinese Watercolor Paintings: Exhibition Opening Reception

Summer Palace 1991, watercolor on paper

Thursday September 12, 2002
4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
John Cotton Dana Library, 4th Floor
Rutgers-Newark Campus

The paintings of Chinese born artist Hsu Dan, depicting natural scenes and objects, blend aspects of traditional Chinese painting with elements of contemporary Western art. Mr. Hsu's work has been exhibited at the Zimmerli Art Museum, Loma Linda University in California, the Sugarland Art Center of Texas, and the Watchung Arts Center in New Jersey. He teaches art classes in Green Brook, New Jersey.

The artist will demonstrate Chinese painting techniques as part of the reception.

Exhibit runs through October 31, 2002
Sponsored by the Friends of the Rutgers University Libraries

To RSVP, send email to maisonav@andromeda.rutgers.edu or call Janet Maisonave at 973/353-5222.

Librarian Published
In Library Hi Tech

Congratulations to Paul Robeson Library's Vibiana Bowman, whose article "Reading Between the Lines: An Evaluation of WindowEyes Screen Reader as a Reference Tool for Teaching and Learning" was published in the latest issue of Library Hi Tech 20(2002): 162-168. This is a special issue of Library Hi Tech devoted to accessibility of Web information resources for people with disabilities.

New Art in Alexander Library

A detail from 'A City of Cathay.'

Colleagues or students visiting the undergraduate reading room on the first floor of Alexander Library may notice a large new artwork, taking up much of the wall space near the windows overlooking the entry walkway.

"A City of Cathay" was donated in June by the Tapai Cultural Center in New York City. The Tapai Cultural Center also donated a significant collection of Chinese language books and journals to the East Asian Library in May.

"A City of Cathay" is a reproduction of a famous Chinese scroll painting held in the National Palace Museum in the Republic of China. The scroll painting portrays people and everyday activities in the riverside capital of Kaifeng, during the spring festival, in the Sung dynasty (960-1279). The original scroll is 37 feet long and only one foot high. Alexander Library's reproduction represents only part of the scroll and stands approximately five feet high and over 15 feet long.

The Libraries are grateful to the Tapai Cultural Center for this donation, which adds cultural perspective and aesthetic delight to Alexander Library.

New Information Assistant
In Special Collections

We are pleased to welcome Erin Cral, the new information assistant in Special Collections and University Archives working in the New Jersey Reading Room. Erin succeeds Amy Scott, who left Rutgers to attend graduate school in library science at the University of Michigan.

Erin graduated from Rutgers College in January 2002, with a major in history. She worked with Ruth Simmons on the Griffis collection in the fall of 2001, as part of a history department internship. She hopes to enroll in a graduate program in library science in the near future.

Rutgers Librarian Chairs
International Subcommittee

Congratulations to Lourdes Vázquez, who was recently appointed chair of the Subcommittee of Marginalized Ideas, part of the Committee of Acquisitions for the Seminar on the Acquisitions of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM).

Established in 1968, SALALM provides the only national and international forum focused exclusively on collection development and services in libraries with Latin American collections. Program committees are devoted to the intellectual and technical activities related to the collections and services of libraries with Latin American resources. SALALM has an international membership of approximately 500, including about 150 institutions.

The objectives of the subcommitee are to improve the process of collecting materials produced by or related to marginalized groups, their ideas, concerns and activities and to promote a better awareness of the nature of these materials, their significance, and how to go about obtaining them.

	August 11, 2002 July 14, 2002 The Agenda Archive

Contributors for this issue were Ron Becker, Vibiana Bowman, Francoise Puniello, Julie Still, and Lourdes Vasquez, . Contributions for future issues of The Agenda should be sent to Harry Glazer, editor of The Agenda, at hglazer@rci.rutgers.edu.