by Stella Ota

Welcome to the unofficial “conference preview” issue of the PAM Bulletin! SLA 2013 will be held in San Diego, California, June 9-11. Yet another amazing group of PAM volunteers and sponsors has developed a suite of PAM programs and events for your continuing professional development, engagement, and enjoyment! Check out the PAM schedule on the PAM website under “Conferences” http://pam.sla.org/sla2013/. Better yet, read on for articles about many of the PAM programs.

Our PAM events begin on Saturday June 8 with the combined Early Bird Dinner and Newcomers’ Dinner. Gratitude to San Diego PAM member Kim Bevis who had the local scoop on this festive locale for the PAM Early Birds to gather in Historic Old Town San Diego. The Newcomers Lunch, sponsored by Turpion, has been transformed this year into a very special Newcomers’ Dinner combined with the Early Bird Dinner. What a great way to meet more of the Division members!

The fabulous PAM Daily Retreat, sponsored by IOP Publishing, will open up at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday June 9, immediately after the Opening General Session. The Daily Retreat Suite will be in the San Diego Marriott Marquis and Marina (the Headquarters Hotel). Swing by the Daily Retreat after the opening session for the perfect opportunity to get your bearings, refuel, greet fellow PAM members, and then head straight out to the Physics Roundtable or the INFO-EXPO opening. The Daily Retreat will be open daily, Sunday-Tuesday, with the hours thoughtfully timed by Sharice Collins (hurrah!) of IOP Publishing to keep PAM members fueled and ready to “Connect, Collaborate, and Strategize” (that’s the conference theme, by the way.).

The PAM Business Meeting and Lunch, sponsored by APS, will be on Monday, June 10 at noon. As the only “All-PAM” session, APS generously increased their support (shout out to Barbara Hicks!) to allow for a non-ticketed, plated luncheon. This is a wonderful way to acknowledge the many PAM volunteers who will be reporting at the lunch as well as the travel stipend awardees and award winners. Of course, we will also address the business side of the organization, and I very much hope there will be time for general announcements!

Further in this Bulletin issue, you will read more about the new Louise Leckner Memorial Travel Stipends. In 2013, the IOP-sponsored PAM travel stipends were renamed in memory of Louise Leckner of IOP Publishing who passed away unexpectedly earlier this year. Louise was a familiar face at the IOP booth to many PAM members, and PAM conference planners were always blessed to have Louise’s reliable, efficient, and warm-hearted hand in getting conference logistics and details worked out. Congratulations to the inaugural awardees of the Louise Leckner Memorial Travel Stipend: Melissa Cheung, Manuel de la Cruz Gutiérrez, Kathleen Gregory, and Shirley Zhao!

The PAM Open House, sponsored by AIP, will be held Monday evening at the Marriott. Maryann Gross of AIP planned the fabulous PAM Open House last year, celebrating PAM’s 40th Anniversary. We are all looking forward to the reveal of Maryann’s Open House plans for San Diego!

Capping off the PAM events is a special tour of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). The tour includes the Birch Aquarium, the SIO Archives, and the Hydraulics Laboratory, the magic behind “the wave pool”. Thanks very much to local PAM resident Deborah Kegel for putting this together!

I will close with another round of acknowledgements for the amazing group who have made all the events and sessions possible. When you get the chance, please thank our moderators (Carol, Laurie, John, Lance, Dianne, Sue), session liaisons (Zari, Ruth), fundraising committee (Donna, Kiem), mentoring subcommittee (Emily, Jenny, Kathleen), and hospitality committee (Deborah & Kim) for making it all come together and our sponsors for their steadfast and generous support:

American Institute of Physics Publishing (AIP)
American Mathematical Society (AMS)
American Physical Society (APS)
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Institute of Physics Publishing (IOP)
Optical Society of America (OSA)
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)
SPIE Digital Library
Turpion
World Scientific Publishing Company

San Diego, here we come!

by Stella Ota

The PAM Board Meeting (as opposed to the “Business” meeting) will be held virtually on Monday June 3, 7-9 p.m. ET, using SLA’s GoToMeeting account. This is an experiment. In recent years, the Board Meeting had been held on Sunday, prior to the official start of the Annual Conference. However, with the new conference schedule, holding the meeting virtually prior to the conference will allow the most number of Board members to participate. The session seats in “GoToMeeting” are limited. If you not on the Executive Board or the Advisory Board but you would like to sit in on the meeting, please contact me at skota@stanford.edu.

by Margaret Lam & Sharice Collins

Congratulations to the 2013 Louise Leckner Memorial Travel Stipend Recipients!

Since 2009, IOP Publishing, a generous and long-time supporter of libraries and librarians, has provided funding for new PAM librarians with four $1,000 stipends to help defray the costs of traveling to the SLA Annual Conference. This year, the PAM Travel Stipends were renamed the Louise Leckner Memorial Travel Stipends to memorialize our dear friend and colleague because Louise was so proud to be a part of this program which both supports new librarians and deepens the relationships between those librarians and the PAM Division.

For 2013, IOP Publishing doubled the stipend value to $2,000 apiece for the recipients who will be attending the 2013 SLA Annual Conference in San Diego, CA. Qualifying applicants had to be recent graduates of a library science graduate program, in their first three years of professional librarianship, employed by a physical sciences library or as a subject specialist for one or more of the PAM disciplines, and first-time attendees of the SLA Annual Conference as a professional librarian or first-time attendees in a PAM discipline.

We would like to thank all of the new librarians who applied for this stipend. We appreciate the time and effort you put into your application letters and we look forward to welcoming you into the PAM Division.

Here are the 2013 Louise Leckner Memorial Travel Stipend Recipients:

Melissa Cheung is a Science and Engineering Librarian at the University of Ottawa. She is responsible for several subjects including physics, mathematics and statistics. A graduate from the School of Information Studies at the University of Ottawa, she received her MIS in 2011. She has also worked at Industry Canada’s Library and Knowledge Centre as an Information Specialist and at the Ottawa Public Library as a page. Melissa holds a Bachelor of Science from Carleton University and worked for two years as a research laboratory technician at the Ontario Cancer Institute. She is looking forward to attending the 2013 SLA Conference.

Manuel de la Cruz Gutiérrez is the Science and Technology Librarian at the University of Houston Libraries since 2011. His educational background include a B.S. in physics (U. de Guadalajara), a Ph.D. in optics (U. of Rochester), postdoctoral training in neuroimaging (Baylor College of Medicine; U. of Houston), and a MLS (Texas Woman’s University). Manuel has always been interested in research, but during his first postdoctoral years he realized than more than doing the research himself, he enjoyed supporting it. This, together with a love of science, took him on a path to become the happy science librarian he fancies himself to be.

Kathleen Gregory has worked as the Interim Science & Engineering Librarian at the University of Denver since the summer of 2012. During her first year of academic librarianship, she has developed a passion for scientific information literacy and a budding interest in data management services. Prior to entering the academic arena, Gregory worked at a military library in Stuttgart, Germany, and taught high school chemistry in Denver, Colorado. Kathleen lives with her husband and two children in Denver and enjoys spending time in the nearby Rocky Mountains.

Shirley Zhao is the Physical Sciences Librarian at Kresge Physical Sciences Library of Dartmouth College. In addition to reference, instruction, and collection services, she is a core member of the Education & Outreach program and acts as the library liaison to the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Shirley is an active SLA PAM member and the current SLA New England Director of Communications. She holds a BA from Smith College, an MS in Mathematics from NYU’s Courant Institute and an MSLIS from LIU’s Palmer School. In her free time, Shirley enjoys making bread and desserts, hiking local trails, and solving crossword puzzles.

If you have the opportunity, please introduce yourself to Melissa, Manuel, Kathleen, and Shirley at the SLA conference in June.  Help them feel at home in our division, which as we all know is a very special part of SLA.

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 new science librarians.  Three cheers for IOP Publishing!

Selection Committee Members:
Sharice Collins, Vice President, Marketing, IOP Publishing, Inc.
Stella Ota, PAM Chair
Margaret Lam, PAM Professional Development Chair
Kathleen Lehman, PAM Mentoring Sub-Committee Chair

by Emily L. Poworoznek

by Emily Poworoznek, Mentoring Subcommittee Chair

…now in its 16th year… sweet!

Hola! Are you coming to SLA in San Diego? Are you feeling a tiny bit new at all this… and would you like to have a guide, be introduced to other PAM members, get an idea of how the PAM Division works, tips on how to get the most out of the conference and exhibits?  We can help you with that!

The Conference Buddy Program is open to all PAM members and friends. It’s an opportunity for newer conference-goers to be paired with (somewhat more) experienced attendees who can help navigate the conference, and your buddy commitment is just for the conference. Depending on your preference, you can share as much time, info and fun as you want, or even just meet for conversation in the PAM Suite.

For our more “seasoned” members:  if you’ve already got a feel for things and want to welcome and pave the way for a newer attendee … let me know. Don’t be shy; share a little… and get to know a new PAM colleague.

So, sign up for the Conference Buddy Program today! Please email me with your contact info and some idea of what you’d like from your Buddy by Tuesday, May 22nd (EL@unh.edu). We’ll match buddies up and email both of you so you can make plans to meet at the conference.

By the way, if you’re interested in a mentoring connection of longer duration, PAM offers a formal Mentoring Program.  If you’re interested in knowing more about having a mentor or being one, please drop me a line, or check out our page on the PAM website (http://pam.sla.org/projects/mentoring-services/ . Thanks!

Looking forward to hearing from you soon, and seeing you in San Diego!

The PAM Mentoring Subcommittee is:

Emily Poworoznek, Chair

Kathleen A. Lehman

Jennifer Hart

by Kim Bevis

Please join us for the PAM combined Early Dinner and Newcomers Dinner at SLA 2013 in San Diego!

Date & Time: Saturday, June 8, 2013, 6:00-8:00 pm

Restaurant: Casa Guadalajara, 4105 Taylor Street, San Diego, CA 92110 http://www.casaguadalajara.com (in San Diego’s historic Old Town district)

Menu, etc.:  We will have a fiesta buffet which includes, Mixed Green Salad, Chicken & Beef Fajitas, Cheese Enchiladas, Mexican Rice, Refried Beans, Handmade Flour Tortillas, Guacamole, Chips, Various Soft Beverages, Salsas & Desserts. You can also buy your own Margarita or alcoholic beverage. Chips, Guacamole and Salsas will be served between 6:00-6:45, and the dinner buffet, including dessert will open at 6:45. We will be seated in the private Garden Room. Mariachi musicians will occasional roam through the room, so it will be quite festive. You are welcome to move to the bar after 8:00. If you would like another after dinner option, I recommend a stroll through lively historic Old Town.

Registration: Please make your reservation with me (Kim Bevis 858-622-5432, kabevis@ccrwest.org). NEWCOMERS PLEASE NOTE!  New PAM members and PAM members who are attending SLA for the first time will have their meal generously sponsored by Turpion. Please contact Emily Poworoznek for more information at:  el@unh.edu or (603) 862-4168.

Cost: $35.00

Payment (excluding Newcomers): Send checks (made out to PAM/SLA) to Michael Chesnes at the following address below BEFORE May 14, 2013.

Michael Chesnes
Library, Code 272
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771

Transportation Information:  No group transportation is provided so we’ll meet at the restaurant. Take the Trolley (Green Line) to “Old Town”. From the Trolley station turn left on Taylor St. Walk 2 blocks to Casa Guadalajara. The restaurant is located at the corner of Taylor St. and Juan St. in Old Town. There is also paid public parking by the Old Town Transit Center (trolley station) and in Old Town itself. Visit Casa Guadalajara’s website for directions/map.

We look forward to seeing you there!

by Susan Koskinen, Moderator
Chair, Publisher Relations

Connect, Collaborate, Strategize: Publishers and vendors share updates on current and future directions in changing times.

Plan to attend this year’s Vendor Update & Networking Breakfast meeting, generously sponsored by SIAM, The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

The Breakfast meeting will be on Tuesday, June 11, 8:00-9:30am.  Location, TBD.

We will hear from the American Institute of Physics (AIP); the Institute of Physics (IOP), the Optical Society of America (OSA) and Springer. There will be time for questions.

Each presenter will discuss their future plans for

• How technology will CONNECTs readers, editors, reviewers, librarians & funding agencies.
• How technology will enhance Collaboration.
• How collaboration will shape STRATEGIC next steps and product development.

by Dianne Dietrich

Greetings from your Astronomy Roundtable co-moderators! June is fast approaching, and we’re looking forward to putting together an engaging roundtable for you this year. This years’ session features lightning talks on topics such as bibliometrics, electronic resources, and virtual libraries. We hope to see you in sunny San Diego as our colleagues talk about issues that are important to them in this rapidly changing profession.

The roundtable will be held on Monday, June 10, 2013 from 10:00am-11:30am.

Speakers include Ann Coppin, Manuel de la Cruz Gutierrez, Dianne Dietrich, Jane Holmquist, Ruth Kneale, David Ruddy, and Donna Thompson.

by Laurie Reeves & Carol Hutchins

Call for discussion topics
The Mathematics Roundtable is scheduled to be held at the annual conference in San Diego on Sunday, June 9^th at 3:30pm. We would like this session to include a discussion of topics of current interest. Please send any and all ideas to co-moderators, Laurie Reeves and Carol Hutchins.

Abel Prize Awarded to Pierre Deligne of the Institute for Advanced Study
Belgian mathematician, Pierre Deligne, has been awarded the Abel Prize for his contributions to algebraic geometry and, subsequently, number theory and representation theory, among other fields. Although the prize was awarded in March, Deligne completed the work more than 40 years ago. In 1974, he proved the last Weil conjecture, and won the Fields medal in 1978 for that accomplishment. He has since built on his proof and shaped the field of algebraic geometry and its connections to other areas of mathematics. For more information, see this article.

Robert Harrington to Head AMS Publishing
AMS announced February 22^nd the appointment of Robert Harrington as Associate Executive Director, Publishing. He will manage the publishing program for books, journals, and electronic resources. Previously, Dr. Harrington was at the American Institute of Physics, serving as publisher. For the full story and short bio, see AMS News.

SIAM 2013 Fellows
On March 29^th, SIAM announced its 33 new Fellows. You can find the list here with a description of each Fellow’s research.

Kenneth Appel, 1932-2013
On April 19^th, Kenneth Appel died at the age of 80. He proved the Four Color Theorem with Wolfgang Hanken, with the proof appearing in the Illinois Journal of Mathematics in 1977. This was the first major proof to use extensive computer calculations and earned Appel and Haken the Delbert Ray Fulkerson Prize from the AMS and the Mathematical Programming Society in 1979. He worked at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1969 until 1993 and then became chair of the Mathematics department at the University of New Hampshire. He remained at UNH until his retirement in 2003. Recently, Dr. Appel was elected to be part of the first class of AMS Fellows (2012). To read more about his life and contributions, see this obituary.

by Susan Koskinen

Are you a PAM Publisher Liaison or would you like to become one?

Publisher Liaisons connect PAM members with publishers, vendors, and library advisory boards in physics, math, astronomy and computer science.

There are three types of liaison relationships.

1. Formal PAM appointments which stem from an agreement between PAM and publishers, although either party may appoint the liaison.
2. Formal, non-PAM appointments are members of PAM who are serving on a publisher’s library advisory board.
3. Informal appoints are similar to the formal, non PAM appointments, except that these persons are not PAM members but are willing to represent our interests.

If you are interested in becoming a liaison, please let me know, there are often vacancies to fill, notably the EDP liaison which requires fluent French.

A list of current appointments and further information can be found at: http://pam.sla.org/manual/staff/advisory-board/committees/publisher-liaisons

If you are a publisher liaison, please check the list and send me confirmation/ updates/ corrections at skoskine@library.berkeley.edu

This year due to the shortened SLA conference schedule, there will be NO liaisons meeting in San Diego.

I encourage you to bring your comments and questions to the Vendor Update & Networking Breakfast.

Your Liaisons reports will be published in the August PAM Bulletin.  This year our reports will be especially important; this will be your chance to let the membership know what is going on with your publisher.  I will send out a call and reminder in early July.