Re: AIS Library

[bobplankmail@aol.com]

All,

This discussion regarding the successor to the librarian and its location
might well be integrated with a discussion
of an Iris Library in Memory of Sid Dubose and Ben Hager, and its location,
together with the possibility of starting soon to
digitize the collection to facilitate accessibility via the Internet to the
broader Iris World. The AIS Foundation presently has
funds that could be applied towards these ends if all endeavors related to the
library could be merged into a single long range plan.

Bob



-----Original Message-----
From: Janet Smith <ypauls@sti.net>
To: aisdiscuss <aisdiscuss@aisboard.org>
Sent: Sun, Dec 4, 2011 12:03 pm
Subject: RE: [AISdiscuss] AIS Library


Questons:
How often are there requests for anything in the library?
opies of something requested?
ncoming donation to the library?
uplications of books, bulletins, anything else?
hat equipment does it have, i.e. copier, scanner, computer?
Is everything inventoried?
Thank you,
anet Smith
P.S. If anyone needs to see what the library looks like now Rita gave
e her photos which I still have from the 2010 Portland visit.
---- Original Message ----
rom: jijones@usjoneses.com
o: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
ubject: [AISdiscuss] AIS Library
ate: Sun, 4 Dec 2011 11:30:28 -0800
>Anner Whitehead sends:

Greetings.

I have used the AIS Library from time to time. I use a lot of
horticultural libraries, so I think I should speak to this question.

Since access to this collection, including access from a remote
location, is correctly considered a perk of AIS membership, I want to
encourage you first to find someone with a deep commitment to member
service and to their own self-education to run the place.

I do not think engaging Presby to operate the AIS Library is a good
idea for several good reasons, one of which is that they are now, as
I understand it, legally operating under the aegis of a municipality,
Essex County, New Jersey. Moreover, those gardens have their own
unique mission, defined by the Director in conversation to me, as
interpreting the iris collections as a living museum. I was also
informed by the Director about a year ago in a phone conversation one
snowy day when she called to comment on an article I'd written, that
their institutional records and files are as yet in the basement and
uncataloged. They have the same problems with the quantity and
quality of volunteer staff that other organizations do, of course.

I remember when I went for my first day of volunteer work, which was
weeding herbaceous borders in an historic garden in town, my husband,
an executive in the non-profit field, told me "Remember, a good
volunteer always holds herself to the same standard of professional
excellence as she would were she being paid handsomely to do the
job." I believe he is absolutely right, although my experience
suggests some folks never got that particular pep-talk.

If you like the idea of affiliating with an institution, I suggest
you may wish to approach the Elizabeth C. Miller horticultural
library at the University of Washington at Seattle.  Tell them you
want to partner, have a unique and nationally significant collection,
and just need a comfortable well lit room, a generous work table,  a
couple of chairs, the usual security, and ease of access at
convenient hours.

http://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/calendar/tours_sales.php

Then there is the Anderson Horticultural Library--internationally
famous-- at the University of Minnesota.

http://www.arboretum.umn.edu/library.aspx

Alternately, I suggest the President call Filardi, and see if he is
available to come back to work yet.

In any case, if you cannot put the library where the researchers
actually are,--demographics do count--then make sure you appoint a
librarian who understands what research involves, and is energized by
the process. Without that person you have nothing, but with the right
person, you could operate effectively from almost any place which is
not a  pluperfect hell hole, into which category I am reliably
informed the current facility falls.

Cordially,

Anner M. Whitehead








__________________
John and Joanne Jones
Registrar-Recorder
American Iris Society
35572 Linda Drive
Fremont, CA 94536
aisregistrar@irises.org


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