The SLA/PAM Professional Development Committee and IOP Publishing, Inc. are pleased to announce the 2012 PAM Travel Stipend winners:

Elizabeth Cheney graduated from the UCLA MLIS program in 2011 and began working at the UCLA Science and Engineering Library in the same year. She acts as the library liaison to the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

John Kromer is the Physical Sciences Librarian at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he is the liaison to the Departments of Chemistry, Physics, and Statistics.  Before beginning this position in February, he earned his MS in Chemistry (2010) and MA in Library and Information Studies (2011) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Outside of libraries, John enjoys trivia, bicycling, reading, and television.

Laurie Hunter is the Physical Sciences Librarian at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) and previously served as Reference Librarian at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. She began her current position in December 2011 after obtaining her MSLS from UNC-CH in May 2011. During her time at the School of Information and Library Science at UNC-CH, she was an intern at Meredith College and the Environmental Protection Agency library at Research Triangle Park, NC. Her undergraduate studies are in Computer Science and Mathematics and she hopes to use that knowledge to assist patrons in the physical sciences at UNC-CH.

Rebeca Befus is the Mathematics Librarian and part of the Information Literacy unit at Michigan State University.  Previously she worked as a First-Year Experience and Science Librarian at Wayne State University. She has written and presented on topics including First-Year Experience, information literacy instruction, and design/development of online tutorials. Her interests include instructional design, online teaching and learning, and instruction in the sciences. She received her MSLIS from Syracuse University and is expecting a M.Ed. in Instructional Technology from Wayne State University.

We will present the winners with awards and $1,000 checks to support their attendance at the 2012 SLA Annual Conference in Chicago.  The presentation will take place during the SLA  PAM Division Luncheon & Business Meeting,  held Monday July 16, 2012 12:00pm – 1:30pm. The location is being determined and will be listed in the final conference program (http://sla2012.sched.org/).

Congratulations Elizabeth, John, Laurie and Rebeca!

Selection Committee Members:

Sharice Collins, Vice President, Marketing, IOP Publishing, Inc.
Nisa Bakkalbasi, PAM Chair
Ruth Kneale, Past PAM Chair
Nedelina Tchangalova, PAM Professional Development Chair

The PAM Awards Committee cordially invites you to submit, by May 1, your nominations for the 2012 PAM Division Award and/or for the 2012 PAM Achievement Award.  Previous recipients of the Division Award include the Jahrbuch Project, the American Physical Society, and John Gardner for developing assistive technologies.  Previous honorees of the Achievement Award include Martha Tucker, Bob Michaelson, Kris Fowler, and Molly White.  There are many more deserving colleagues and worthwhile endeavors to honor.  Please send nominations for individuals or groups to any of the committee members via the e-mail addresses listed below.  If you’re thinking of someone but aren’t quite sure if you can make the May 1 deadline, then please send a message to any of the committee members.

The PAM Division Award is given for significant contribution to the literature of physics , mathematics, or astronomy, or to honor work that demonstrably improves the exchange of information within these three disciplines.  The contribution also should benefit libraries or enhance the ability of librarians to better serve their patrons.  The contribution should be special – above and beyond the normal job requirements of the individual(s) or group concerned.  The honoree(s) may be a member(s) of SLA/PAM, but need not be.

The PAM Achievement Award is reserved for recipients whose professional work is marked by distinction and dedication to librarianship in astronomy, mathematics, and/or physics.  The award recognizes those members of SLA/PAM who have made outstanding contributions to the Division.

More details, guidelines for nominations, and a list of previous winners can be found on the PAM Division web site.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Your PAM Awards Committee:

Donna Thompson (Chair) dthompson@cfa.harvard.edu (617)496-7660
Kiem Ta, kiem.ta@okstate.edu (405)744-9743
Mangala Krishnamurthy, mkrishna@ua.edu (205)348-2109

The SLA-PAM Professional Development Committee is pleased to announce that IOP Publishing is once again sponsoring four conference travel stipends to help new librarians with the expenses of attending the SLA Annual Conference. The stipends aim to accelerate the advancement of new librarians entering science/technology librarianship by mentoring them to access educational and professional opportunities within the SLA. This is the fourth year running that IOP Publishing and the PAM Division have proudly offered these travel stipends.

The selected recipients will each receive a $1,000 stipend to assist in defraying the cost of attending the 2012 SLA conference in Chicago, IL in July, 2012. Learn more about the IOP Travel Stipend Award today and nominate yourself, or someone you know.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be recent graduates of a library science program.
• Applicants must have less than 3 years of professional library information experience.
• Applicants must work in a library focusing on one or more of the PAM disciplines (physics, astronomy, mathematics, or computer science) or act as a library’s subject specialist for one or more of these disciplines.
• Applicants must be first-time attendees of the SLA annual conference, or first-time attendees in a PAM discipline.
  International applicants must be eligible to travel to the United States and must be available to participate in US-based PAM activities throughout the year.

The committee reserves the right not to grant any of the four awards if not enough applications meet all eligibility requirements and adhere to all the application procedures.

Only applicants who meet all the eligibility requirements at the time of application are submitted to the SLA-PAM review committee for travel stipend consideration.

Candidate Expectations

• Candidate must attend the SLA Annual Conference the year the award is given.
• Candidate must attend the PAM business meeting and breakfast.
• Candidate must be willing to attend PAM sessions and events at the Annual Conference and participate in a group photo session administered by SLA.
• Candidate must be available to participate in US-based PAM activities throughout the year.

Application Procedure

1. Prepare a brief letter (approximately 750 words), answering the questions:

• How do you meet the criteria?
• What do you hope to gain from attending the 2011 SLA conference?
• How do you expect/hope to be involved with the PAM division in the short and long term?

2. Submit current curriculum vitae/ resume.

Applications can be submitted via email to Nedelina Tchangalova at nedelina@umd.edu (subject line should begin with PAM Travel Stipend). Applications will be accepted until February 25, 2012. Late applications cannot be considered.

Notification

Applicants will receive notification of award status by March 17, 2012. The award check will be presented at the PAM business meeting and breakfast. No money transfer will be made in case the award recipient can’t attend the conference for any reason.

The PAM Division is deeply grateful to IOP Publishing for their continued involvement with and support of librarians at the SLA conference, and most especially for their generous commitment to the professional development of young science librarians.

Selection Committee Members:

Sharice Collins, Vice President, Marketing, IOP Publishing, Inc.
Nisa Bakkalbasi, PAM Chair
Ruth Kneale, Past PAM Chair
Nedelina Tchangalova, PAM Professional Development Chair

Nominations for the International Membership Award (IMA) are now being accepted by the Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics (PAM) Division of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). The SLA-PAM Division will present this award to a librarian from the developing world.

The award provides a two-year SLA membership for the years 2012 and 2013; a virtual (online) access to the 2012 Annual Conference; and $500 USD worth of SLA professional-development materials in the form of Click U webinars and online courses and/or e-books.  For more information about SLA professional development training, please visit the following web page:

http://www.sla.org/content/learn/index.cfm

Please submit nominations to the chair of PAM International Relations Committee (IRC) (address below) by December 5, 2011. The award will be announced in January 2012.  More information about the PAM Division and the award can be found at: http://pam.sla.org/projects/irc/

Objective:
The purpose of the award is to provide an opportunity for librarians from the developing world to be an active member of SLA and of SLA-PAM.

Components:

• The award will provide SLA membership, including PAM Division affiliation, for a period of two years.
• PAM will provide the IMA winner a virtual pass to the 2012 SLA Annual Conference.
• PAM also provides the equivalence of $500 USD in professional development through Click U online courses, webinars, and/or books.
• The award recipient will send the IMA Chair a short report on the state of scientific information/libraries in his/her country so that the report can be posted on the PAM IRC webpage.
• The award recipient will also prepare a final report reflecting on his/her experience with PAM and providing recommendations for future improvements to the award program; this report is to be sent before the end of the second year of the award to the PAM Executive Board and PAM IRC.
• The award recipient will serve as a member of PAM’s International Relations Committee (IRC) during the term of the award.

Qualifications:

• The nominee must reside and work in a developing country and have basic English skills.
• The nominee must be working currently in a library, information center, library school or other information-related capacity, in one of the subject areas related to science and technology. Priority will be given to applicants working in Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics areas.
• The nominee should not have had any previous opportunity of active involvement in SLA such as attending the SLA annual conference or any other professional library association meetings in the U.S.

Nomination Process:
Self nominations are encouraged. Nomination documentation should include the following:

• A letter highlighting the candidate’s professional career and qualification and explaining why this person should be granted the award.
• The candidate’s current professional resume.
• Contact information for the nominee: name, position, business address, and (if possible) email address.

Nominations are to be submitted by December 5, 2011, to the PAM IRC chair.  Electronic submission by e-mail is preferred.  The award recipient will be announced in January 2012. Selection will be made by the PAM Executive Board in consultation with the PAM IRC Chair/Co-Chair.

Please submit nominations to:

Khue Duong
Chair, SLA-PAM International Relations Committee
California State University, Long Beach
University Library
1250 Bellflower Boulevard

Long Beach, California 90840-1901
Phone: (562) 985-2641 | Fax: (562) 985-1703 |
Email: kduong@csulb.edu

The Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics (PAM) Division of SLA is delighted to announce Ms. Martha Nderitu as the 2011 recipient of the PAM International Membership Award. This award is presented to a librarian from the developing world for the purpose of providing an opportunity for active participation in SLA and SLA-PAM.

At the 2011 PAM Business Meeting, IRC Chair Kiem Ta had the following to share: “We talked and went places together for the past couple days and I am glad to report that last night at the International Reception Martha recognized and made connection with two fellow Kenyan librarians at the Reception.” Ms. Nderitu then gave her presentation titled “Internet Connectivity in Resource Centers.”

Ms. Nderitu is currently serving as the Information Resources and Documentation Officer at the Communications Commission of Kenya, in Nairobi, Kenya. Ms. Nderitu acquires materials in applied technology especially in telecommunications. She catalogs, classifies and assists patrons accessing the library’s collection. She also manages her library’s intranet by uploading related articles and media reviews. In 2010 her library won the first prize, special libraries category, of the Library of the Year Award (LOYA) in Kenya.

Ms. Nderitu was awarded a Masters Degree in Library Science from Kenyatta University and she also acquired further training in the management of electronic libraries from Nisiet, India. The PAM’s International Membership Award is an additional recognition for her library and the Kenya Libraries and Information Services Consortium.

Ms. Nderitu expressed great joy in winning this award and she is excited to learn and to share experiences on improved access to the most current online materials, marketing techniques, and networking with other special librarians.

The PAM Division is pleased to welcome Martha into its membership and glad she could join us in Philadelphia!

Project Euclid states in their Mission & Goals that their mission “is to advance scholarly communication in the field of theoretical and applied mathematics and statistics. Project Euclid is designed to address the unique needs of low-cost independent and society journals.”

Cornell University Library received start-up funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to develop Project Euclid, and launched Project Euclid in 2003.  More recently, Cornell partnered with Duke University Press to manage Project Euclid.

Project Euclid is a model of bringing mathematics and statistics literature to the world at both a low cost and effectively.  It provides a mixture of open access, subscription, and hosted subscription content.  It provides a way for small publishers (especially societies) to host their math or statistics journal content on the Project Euclid site and pass the savings (as well as an enhanced interface) onto the subscribing institutions.

Currently, over sixty journal titles appear on the site.  More recently, books and conference proceedings are being added.   The recent addition of the MathJax utility makes its content better than ever.  Project Euclid’s scope is worldwide, with colleges, universities, and societies from Japan, Belgium, Brazil, Iran, Poland, and Spain, as well as the International Statistical Institute, providing access via Project Euclid.

Over a dozen articles have been written about Project Euclid over the years, lauding its impact on the development of new publishing models, Project Euclid not only provides low-cost solutions that enhance access to the mathematics literature, it also has enabled other libraries to contribute to the scholarly record through the release of DPubS, an open-source publishing platform. For the transformative nature of their work expanding and redefining the role of libraries in publishing, the PAM Division awards Project Euclid with our 2011 PAM Division Award.

Our award winner has been a PAM member for quite some time and has been a very active PAM participant through the years. Her first official role in the Division was in 1981.   Her roles in PAM through the years have included:

• Hospitality Committee, 2010-11
• Strategic Planning Chair, 2009-10
• Strategic Planning Chair 2005-06 and 2007
• Vendor Update Moderator, 1992-93 and 2001-02
• Hospitality Chair, 1994-95 and 1999-00
• Chair, 1991-92
• Chair-elect, 1990-91
• Treasurer, 1982-83; 1983-84
• Astronomy Workshop Moderator, 1981-82.

One of her most important roles as a science librarian has been her activities in educating students to use information and she has done this for many years. Her blogs on physics, bioscience, math and chemistry are excellent examples of how she keeps students up to date with current matters. Recent examples are her blogs on biosciences and math.

In addition she has assisted the library community at large by reviewing science books for Library Journal over a period of years.

And finally, our award winner is a superb quilter.  In the late 1990s, she designed and quilted a banner for the PAM Division which hung in our suite at the Annual Meeting for many years.

For her many contributions to the areas of physics, astronomy and mathematics as a librarian,  and in particular her services to the PAM Division I am honored to present Peggy Dominy with the 2011 PAM Achievement Award.

This Manual supplements the PAM Division Governing Document, in order to record and disseminate the detailed policies and procedures followed by the PAM division and to provide guidance and reminders to PAM officers and committee members. In all cases of conflict, SLA directives and by-laws and the PAM Division Governing Document override these guidelines.See also SLA Bylaws, SLA Policies and Practices and SLA’s Chapter/Division Resources

Table of Contents

• About the PAM Practices Manual
• Division Structure and Governance
• Nominations and Elections
• Current Staff Listing
• Staff and committees–Practices
  • Executive Board
    • Chair
    • Chair-Elect
    • Secretary
    • Treasurer
    • Past-Chair
  • Advisory Board
    • Committees: general guidelines and specific committees
      • Awards Committee
      • Government Relations Committee
      • Hospitality Committee
      • International Relations Committee main page, practices
      • Membership Committee
      • Networking Committee
      • Nominations and Elections Committee
      • Professional Development Committee
        • Mentoring Subcommittee
      • Public Relations Committee
      • Publisher Liaisons
      • Strategic Planning Committee
    • Archivist [under revision!]
    • Bulletin Editors
    • Cataloging Liaison
    • Fundraising Chairs
    • PAMnet Monitor
    • Practices Manual Editor
    • Roundtable Moderators
• PAMnet Information
• PAM Bulletin
  • Contributors info and deadlines [under revision!]
  • Sponsorship information
• Awards
  • Awards Guidelines
  • PAM Division Award Recipients
  • PAM Achievement Award Recipients
  • PAM International Membership Award Recipients
  • PAM Travel Stipend Recipients
• Financial Policies
• Archive Retention Guidelines
• History
  • General History of the Division Part I, Part II
  • Brief History of the PAMnet discussion list and the Membership Directory
  • Previous Bylaws
  • Staff Listing
    • Staff Listing-Current
    • Staff Listing 2006-
    • Staff Listing 1991-2006
    • Staff Listing 1972-1991
  • Sponsors 1991-
• Appendices
  • Appendix A: Definition of ‘Official Correspondence’
  • Appendix B: Miscellaneous Financial Guidelines

PAM Manual compiled and maintained from 1989 to June 2000 by Marlene Cummins.
Special award to Marlene Cummins “commending her tireless work creating and maintaining the PAM Manual”, June 2000.