MessenOregon State University Libraries Volume 8, Number 1

IN PRAISE OF LIBRARIES:

"A Librarian's Search forthe Obscure" Part IYou have seen her photographs:perhaps in an undergraduate arthistory course, as illustrations ofancient Minoan or Byzantine art; orperhaps you were enthralled withthe full-color books, published inthe Sixties, to chart the dawn ofcivilization; perhaps you subscribedto Realites and followed its writersand photographers to exotic places.You saw her photographs and evenstudied the images: the bare-breasted woman in a bell-shapedskirt, holding a snake; goldennecklaces of the Steppe nomads;somber, bearded saints in Byzantinemosaics. You saw her photographsbut never knew her name.

It was these same photographs thatI discovered when I began theresearch to complete a Master ofArts in Interdisciplinary Studies

with an emphasis in MuseumStudies. It was from the photo-graphic works of Josephine E.Powell, a remarkable woman wholives and works in the Middle East,that I learned about investigatingthe obscure and about the breadthof resources at the OSU Libraries.

The research began with a few factsand a desire to know more. Powellhad surfaced as part of my interestin collectors of Oriental rugs, but aquick review of the usual indexeshad yielded only one citation, abook, which was only available inDutch, and which I obtainedthrough Interlibrary Loan, LarryBoersma in the Soil Science Depart-ment translated its introduction.Powell had contributed much in thefield of museums and had beendescribed as a living legend but nofurther information existed. A thesistopic was born. I did not realizewhat a challenge it would be andwhat a rich mother-lode of informa-tion there was to be tapped.

erWinter, 1993

I discovered that professionalphotographers are only indexed ifthey 1) are primarily responsible forthe existence of a particular work(i.e., they are "art" photographers),2) have achieved renown throughlarge collections supported bybiographical information, or 3) dosubstantial writing in conjunctionwith their photography. Further-more, popular magazines areindexed very differently fromscholarly journals, when they areindexed at all!

How, then, to find out more aboutJosephine E. Powell? My few factswere from a 1984 interview whenshe was living in Istanbul andclearly had many adventurous yearsbehind her. I did not know if shewas still alive. Since my informationhad come from the self-indexedcollectors' journal Oriental RugReview (ORR), I started my researchwith that publication and eventuallyworked my way, one page at a time,through the bound and unboundissues. Kerr Library had receivedORR from its first issue in 1981, butit had been discontinued in a serialscut in 1986.

I found scattered information: adark photograph of a small womanhere; a reference to a paper given inLeningrad there; a reference to astanding ovation! Perhaps the other"rug" journal Hali would havesomething about her, but neitherOSU Libraries nor the University ofOregon Libraries subscribe to this. Iwent to the Library InformationRetrieval Service (LIRS) office for anon-line search of RILA, the indexthat covers Hali. There was nothing.

I telephoned Oriental Rug Review."Why, yes, Josephine is still alive.Such a wonderful woman! I cangive you her address and phonenumber in Istanbul, if you wouldlike."

So I wrote to her. While I waited forher reply, I went to Portland StateUniversity and the University ofWashington to work my way, againone page at a time, through theirlibraries' issues of Ha/i and ORR. Afew more references surfaced. Noresponse came to my letter; mytelephone calls yielded only arecorded message in Turkish. AgainI went through directories: ofgeneral biography, of famouswomen, of women in general, of

"Why, yes, Josephine is stillalive. Such a wonderfulwoman! I can give you heraddress and phone numberin Istanbul, if you wouldlike."

women photographers, of anyphotographers! A new bibliographyon women travelers arrived in theLibrary. She was not in it. Stumped,I made a literature search for articlesand books on how to find informa-tion on people who cannot befound. Soon I had new ideas.

Through close reading of ORR, Iidentified a large group of peoplewho knew or were likely to knowPowell. Some of them might be at atextile conference which I wasplanning to attend in Washington,D.C., in September of 1990. I wouldinterview anyone there who knewher. To prepare, I read some mate-rial on interviewing because I couldnot waste this opportunity! Iattended the conference, andconducted three interviews. Powellwas to give a paper in San Franciscoin November, 1990. I would bethere!

Then, at last, I heard from her and Idid meet her in San Francisco. Overa few days, we became acquaintedand while she still chose to remain aprivate person, she thought itwould be "okay" if I looked at herwork. "You may write for mycurriculum vitae. Start with DavidTalbot Rice."

Then, she went back to Istanbul andI returned to Kerr Library andOASIS, the on-line catalog. DavidTalbot Rice. Byzantine Art. There,buried in the photo acknowledg-ments was her name. I wrote for hervitae to an art historian she hadrecommended but received noreply. I wrote to Powell severaltimes; however, I knew that,although she was well-educatedand articulate, writing was an effortfor her. I was on my own in KerrLibrary. I looked at every book byTalbot Rice and all that there wereat the University of Oregon. Ipicked up other books on the sameshelves and discovered otherauthors who had used her photo-graphs. Then I searched the Paperspublished by the Dumbarton OaksCenter for Byzantine Studies. ThereI struck gold.

Gradually a body of photographicliterature was forming. I had foundthe address of her office in Rome ina directory of professional photog-raphers, which was in the KerrLibrary Reference collection. Iconfirmed that it was current, in aRome telephone directory at theUniversity of Oregon. I wrote to heroffice requesting a copy of her vitae.Ten days later I had it in my hands!

Deane WatkinsBusiness Librarian

Watch for Part II of this saga in thesummer Messenger.

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Oregon State UniversityLibrariesWilliam Jasper Kerr Library,OSU Main Campus

Marilyn Potts Gum Library,OSU Hatfield Marine ScienceCenter

Friends of the library Board ofDirectorsLori Hendrick, President '93Clell Conrad, Pres-Elect '94Beverly Arthur '93Nancy Scott Asbury '95Ivan Burkert '95John C. Decius '94Pamela Fox Emory '93Dave Hackleman '95Don Hunt '94Roger Lindquist '94Henry Sayre '93Caroline Wilkins '95Danelle Lohman '93

Ex-Officio MembersDr. Melvin R. George, The

Delpha and DonaldCampbell UniversityLibrarian

Cliff Dalton, Director of LibraryDevelopment

Erin Haynes, Director, OSUFund

Mrs. Fred Merryfield, ExecutiveSecretary

Don Wirth, Director, OSUAlumni Relations

MessengerOSU LibrariesOregon State UniversityKerr Library 121Corvallis, Oregon 97331-4501(503) 737-7306

Melvin R. George, The Delphaand Donald Campbell Univer-sity LibrarianCliff Dalton, EditorMarcia Griffin, Assistant Editor

The Messenger is published inthe winter and summer of eachyear.

Melvin R. George

Many personnel changeshave occurred during the

past year; the employee count issmaller, but the high calibre of ournew and continuing employees goesa long way to make up the differ-ence. Nancy Powell, our formerdirector of development has beenreplaced by Cliff Dalton. Nancy isnow the associate director of theLibrary at Nichols State Universityin Thibodaux, Louisiana. A com-plete list of staff additions is re-ported elsewhere in this issue of theMessenger.

1993 will bring new challenges andopportunities. Support from ourFriends will enable us to betterserve the many people who useLibrary services each yearwecounted more than a million visitsto the Library last year. Many of ourFriends volunteer as Docents andBoard Members for the Friends ofthe Library. All of our Friends haveprovided valuable financial sup-port. I appreciate all that you doand I look forward to a continuingrelationship that supports libraryexcellence.

Dr. Mclviii R. GeorgeThe Delpha and DonaldCampbell UniversityLibrarian

From the Director ofLibraries1992 was a year of marvelousopportunities, great challenges, and

'" significant achievements. Friends ofthe Library have played a veryimportant role in our successes.Their continuing support of OregonState University Libraries hasenabled us to seize opportunities tocontinue, and in many cases im-prove, services during this period ofdeclining state support.

We are leaner and more efficient inour delivery of services to Libraryusers, having reduced our classifiedand administrative budget by fivepercent. Total Quality Managementteams have worked to find newmodes of operation in several of ourdivisions. We are actually servingusers better. Despite reduction inoverall enrollment, Library use asmeasured by circulation, gatecounts, photocopies, databasesearches, and interlibrary loansactually grewcirculation by 25%!

We are well on the way to being acompletely automated librarysystem. Library usersstudents,faculty, friends, businesses and

government agenciescanaccess Library servicesfrom nearly anywhere inthe world if they have amicrocomputer, modem,and telephone. Our on-linecatalog and compact diskdatabase network are nowavailable to all campususers via the university'scomputer network. Ourcompact disk (CD ROM)network supports twentydatabases; nine additionaldatabases are availablefrom Library terminals.Library users conductedmore than 100,000 data-base searches in 1992, up57% from 1991.

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Library ExpansionProject UpdateThanks to our faithful alumni,Friends, students, and faculty, weare now one-fourth of the way toour $10,000,000 goal. As of thisprinting of the Messenger, we havegifts and pledges of $2,500,000.While this is exciting news, I mustreport a minor setback in theproject. After funding the plans forthe building expansion, the Statehas suspended all higher educationconstruction projects due to BallotMeasure 5 constraints.

Oregon pays its capital constructionbills in cash, rather than throughbonds. Thus, it is necessary for theLegislature to appropriate $20million from the general fund inorder for construction to proceed.The current fiscal climate in thestate makes the funding difficult.However, we are continuing to doour part in assuring that OSU's $10million will be in place when theState has its replacement revenuestructure in place.

Lead gifts have been received fromkey major donors; the Senate of theAssociated Students of OSU haspledged $500,000; the Friends of theLibrary Board stepped forward witha pledge of $375,000; the OSUStudent Foundation has pledged$50,000 over 10 years; Blue Keymembers have given both moneyand time; and the faculty has beensupportive.

Plans are currently being formu-lated to complete the privatefunding component of this excitingproject. Your support is critical tothe success of this project. Weappreciate all that you have done inthe past. Please remember theLibrary as you formulate yourcharitable gift plans for 1993. Staytuned for further developments!

Cliff DaltonDirector of DevelopmentOregon State UniversityLibraries(503) 737-7306

Fire destroys fall issue of the Messenger!

FIRE!Question: Have you seen theLibrary newsletter from OSU? Havethe Friends of the Library at OSUforgotten us on their mailing list?

The answer in a word is 'FIRE!'OnJuly 13, while roofers were applyinghot tar to the roof of the IndustrialBuilding on the OSU campus, theirtruck overheated, hot tar leaked out,burst into flames, and spread tonearby parked cars, the IndustrialBuilding, and Adams Hall.

No one was injured in the blaze.Some 40 employees working in thecampus print shop and mailingoffices, housed in the IndustrialBuilding, evacuated the building ina hurry.

The damage included some 40% ofthe Industrial Building and itscontents; stored bulletins for thestate extension offices and researchreports, some awaiting publication.The parcels and mail for that daywere either burned or destroyed bywater, and among these were theFriends of the Library Messengerswaiting to be labeled!

Salvaging is more heartening thanwas first imagined. The $750,000Heidelberg printing press is func-tional and some information storagediscs survived when computerswere destroyed; some other equip-ment is also usable.

This fire is said to be the worstdisaster for the state since 1935,when the Capitol burned in Salem.Assessment of the damage is notcomplete, but meanwhile someemployees have found other placeson campus to continue their work.Sadly, some two dozen workers,who were paid from the income ofthe print shop, were laid off. TheOSU Administration will try to findjobs for those out of work.

Anne MerryfieldSecretary,Friends of the Library

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New Faces in OSULibrariesMarcia Griffin comes to OSULibraries from the Research Officewhere she had served since 1985 asoffice manager and most recently asexecutive support specialist toGeorge Keller, Vice President forResearch, Graduate studies andInternational Programs.

Marcia brings more than twentyyears of office support experience tothe Library. Here, she will provideprimary support to the Librarydevelopment program.

Marcia is excited about the opportu-nity to work with the Friends of theLibrary on projects including theMessenger, the annual meeting, andregional Friends of the Libraryactivities. In addition, she will workwith our new director of develop-ment, Cliff Dalton.

The mother of three grown children,Marcia is also an amateur photogra-pher, an avocation that will findmany applications in her new job. Inher free time, she enjoys gardening,canoeing, and RV travel.

Cliff Dalton joined the Library staffin November as director of librarydevelopment. He replaces NancyPowell who, with Jim Kennison,directed the Library's developmentefforts over the past two years.

Cliff is a graduate of OSU (BAScience 1966, MBA 1969) and hasbeen associated with OSU for thepast 21 years. After receiving theMBA, he was employed for twoyears as a buyer with the Meier &Frank Company in Portland,Oregon.

He returned to OSU in 1971 asassistant dean in the College ofBusiness. During his tenure with theCollege of Business he also taughtmanagement and marketing classes,was director of administration andmost recently director of develop-ment.

Cliff Dalton

John Matylonek recently joined thefaculty of Oregon State UniversityLibraries as Engineering Librarian.He succeeds Hugh Franklin whohas retired after 14 years of exem-plary service to engineering stu-dents and faculty.

John comes to the Library fromDrexel University where he servedas acting head of the Science andTechnology Library. During histhree years on the staff at Drexel, auniversity noted for its engineeringprograms, John introduced studentsto the new technologies of literaturesearching and communication inengineering. He has already incor-porated this type of instruction intoclasses for OSU engineering stu-dents and faculty.

He earned the bachelor of sciencedegree in geology from WesternMichigan University in 1988 and themaster of library studies from theUniversity of Michigan in 1989. Hebrings broad technical expertise,excellent engineering referenceskills, and a strong service orienta-tion to the position.

John lives on the edge, driving a1978 Mercury Zephyr which hemaintains himself using duct tape,band-aids and other creative repairsupplies. He reports that his nextbook purchase will be ConsumerReports' How to Keep Your CarRunning Forever. He's also "on the

5

Jo/in Mat ,'lonek

edge" as he hang glides from tallOregon mountains. For a change ofpace, aero towing and balloondropping provide the edge. Johnkeeps fit with a regular running,weight training, and Judo regimen(he holds the rank of Ni-Kyu).

A native of Michigan and son ofPolish immigrants, John speaksfluent Polish.

Coming AttractionsFriends of the Library AnnualMeeting, April 24, 1993

The annual meeting of the Friends ofthe Library is scheduled for April 24,1993. Keynote speaker will be OSUalum William Kittredge, author ofHole In The Sky and co-producer of ARiver Runs Through It. Please markyour calendar now so that you don'tmiss this exciting event! Invitationswill be mailed in late March.

Portland Area Friends of theLibrary Meeting May 15, 1993

The inaugural meeting of thePortland Area Friends of the Libraryis slated for May 15, 1993. This firstever meeting of the Portland areaFriends will feature biographerDeirdre Bair. Her presentation willaddress "Writing ContemporaryBiography." Portland area Friendswon't want to miss this happening!Invitations will be mailed in earlyApril.

Marcia Griffin

Cliff implemented a comprehensivedevelopment program in businessand is already well along with plansfor the Library's developmentprogram. He will be responsible forall aspects of library developmentincluding the Library expansionproject, a campaign to raise $10million which, with state support,will fund the expansion and remod-

r elling of the Kerr Library.Plan to hear from Cliff aboutopportunities to support OregonState University Libraries. There aremany opportunities to participate inthe Library's future, including giftsof your time and resources. Plannedgifts, including life income agree-ments, various trust arrangements,life insurance, and bequests are justa few of the options that Libraryfriends will want to explore as theyengage in estate planning. Most ofour friends are surprised to learnthat their gifts provide significantfinancial benefit to them as well asto the Library.

In his free time, Cliff enjoys reading,gardening, and travel. And, he willcertainly have opportunities totravel in his work as he visits withour Library friends throughout thecountry.

We are excited to have Cliff as ourdirector of Library developmentand we believe that you will enjoygetting acquainted with him.

Spore the Books!There may be those who read thetitle of this article and wonder whatis going onsurely there has been amisprint. Alas, this is not the casebecause the reference is to what isnow known as the OSU Libraries'great mold contamination. LastApril, Director of Libraries MelvinGeorge and Assistant UniversityLibrarian for Technical and Auto-motive Services, Charlene Grass,were visiting Kerr Library's off-sitestorage facility in Adair Village.

During the visit they discoveredthat a portion of the collection hadmold spores on the paper and that,given the current state of thebuilding, more were likely todevelop. Upon returning to campus,George consulted with Cliff Meadof the Library's Special Collectiondivision to discuss what otherlibraries have done when faced withsuch an outbreak. Mead's researchrevealed that there was a methodfor treating mold which wasrecommended by Dr. RobertMcComb of the Library of Congress.At this point, the problem wasturned over to me and I promptlycalled McComb for additionalinformation.

At the same time, the Library wasworking with the university'sPhysical Plant to see what could bedone in the short term to reduce thechance of the mold spreading. As aresult, a dehumidifier was installedat the facility and an industrial fanwas set up. While the installation ofthese devices would not eliminatethe mold, they would slow down itsgrowth until another more perma-nent treatment was found.

The problem for the Library wastwofold. The materials at Adairneeded to be treated, but theproblem would recur unless thestorage facility was drasticallyimproved. Therefore a new facilitywas needed. Since the Library washousing approximately 85,000

the Library was makingstate and national headlines.Mold was big news, at leastfor a brief time. In additionto the interest fromnewspapers and television,the Library was besiegedwith numerous remedies forremoving the mold frombooks.

volumes in storage, the answer tothese difficultiescleaning thematerials and finding a new place tostore themwas not going to beeasy. Once more, we enlisted thehelp of the University's PhysicalPlant to identify potential sites. Ourhope was to find a facility close tocampus that would be a permanentstorage site for those parts of thecollection which must be housed offcampus. Ideally, such a facilityshould have two or three offices inaddition to humidity control andgood ventilation. Then librariansand others could remain at thefacility when using materials. In thecurrent facility, items are retrievedby student workers on a twiceweekly basis. While many users canaccommodate this schedule, it islimiting to others, especially thosewanting to browse large sets ofbooks.

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Meanwhile, the Library was makingstate and national headlines. Moldwas big news, at least for a brieftime. In addition to the interest fromnewspapers and television, theLibrary was besieged with numer-ous remedies for removing the moldfrom books. Some were commonsense but not practical (e.g. thevolumes needed to be dried in thesungood for a few volumes butnot for 85,000 volumes). Othersuggestions, such as using ozonegenerators, have worked for somematerials but research has shownthat ozone is not a safe method forbooks. The most sensible methodand also the most labor intensive,was to take each item from the shelfand wipe it completely with asolution which would kill most ofthe mold. (Research also tells us thatmold is always with us and theoperative factor is to have goodhumidity control and good aircirculation.)

Today, we are closer to solving themold problem. We have proposalsfor treating the materials which theLibrary administration is reviewingand we have the possibility of a newlocation. At this time, the facilitythat has the most promise is also inneed of structural repair. As KurtVonnegut wrote, "So it goes."

Stay tuned for the next article in theMessenger which we hope will betitled "How the books were de-spored."

Karyle ButcherAssistant UniversityLibrarian

Thanks!Alumni and FriendsSupport Library Excellence

Friends of the Library have played avery significant role in the develop-ment of Oregon State University'smodern research libraries. In 1880, agift of 605 volumes from the Corval-lis Library Association marked theofficial beginning of the OSULibrary.

The Oregon State UniversityLibraries have enjoyed a longhistory of faithful support from ourFriends. Today, we count more than300 Friends who have given con-tinuously for five or more years.

Your gifts have helped build twomajor research libraries that holdmore than 1.2 million volumes andsubscribe to more than 14,000journals. The libraries also haveextensive collections of microfilms(more than 1,500,000 pieces), slides,maps, compact disks, films, video-tapes, and over 330,000 governmentdocuments.

Special Collections contain morethan 8,500 volumes, manuscripts,papers, and other items. The LinusPauling collection, a gift from Dr.Pauling, is considered one of themost important scientific archives ofan individual in this century.Special Collections also houses theAva Helen Pauling papers, theHistory of Atomic Energy Collec-tion, and a special collection on theHistory of Science in the 20thCentury. In addition, Library usershave electronic access to collectionsin major research libraries through-out the world.

The Oregon State UniversityLibraries are responsible not onlyfor the safekeeping of vast amountsof knowledge and legacies of thepast, but must also respond to theneeds of current and future genera-tions. Your gifts are helping us meet

the needs of our Library users as weexpand our collections and adoptinnovative technology.

Research libraries such as ours havebeen profoundly affected by ad-vances in technology, in the formsand types of information available,and by the ever-increasing amountof knowledge generated by humanintellectual activity. In order to meetthe changing demands of scholars,

The Oregon State UniversityLibraries have enjoyed along history of faithfulsupport from our Friends.Today, we count more than300 Friends who have givencontinuously for five ormore years.

researchers, and students, and toserve as an effective "gatekeeper"for this wealth of information, thelibraries must continually make useof new technologies in the mostcost-effective manner.

Thanks to many of you, OregonState University Libraries have been"leading the pack" with libraryautomation and innovative userservices. Your gifts have supportedexcellence in much of what we doand we appreciate your continuingsupport.

Here are some examples:

Bill ('59,'60 )and Michal ('60)Rieckmann have provided signifi-cant support to the Department ofPhilosophy and to the Oregon StateUniversity Libraries. Their gifts willcreate and support the History ofIdeas special collection.

Mrs. Fred Merryfield ('60)donated the Portfolio of "Birds ofthe Veld and Vlei" (see companionstory).

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Robert ('42) and Betty ('42)Lundeen have completed theirpledge of $600,000 to the LibraryExpansion Project. Bob continues tochair the Expansion Project steeringcommittee and his enthusiasm iscontagious!

Tillman Foreman ('42) has in-cluded the Oregon State UniversityLibraries in his estate plans. Hisvery significant gift will supportseveral Library programs.

'Alfred J. ('40) and Minnie Moore('38) Trommershausen of WalnutCreek, California, have includedOregon State University in theirestate plans (see companion story).

The OSU basketball team desig-nated part of the proceeds from itsintra-squad game to the Library "asthe broadest means possible totouch all of the students and facultyat OSU," reported Head CoachJimmy Anderson. The team electedto donate the proceeds of the gameto the Library, Educational Oppor-tunities Program, and the DisabledStudents Organization as a means ofsaying "Thank you to the students,faculty, and staff for their support."This $1,600 gift to the Library willsupport programs that directlyserve our student and faculty users.

Among the thousands of students,faculty, and friends who havesupported the Oregon State Univer-sity Libraries are over 300 dedicatedand loyal Friends of the Librarywho have contributed for five ormore consecutive years! We count72 Friends as Benefactors ($1,000+).

We appreciate each and every oneof you for your continuing support.You have been generous, and allareas of the Library have benefitedfrom your generosity. Your supportmakes a substantial difference andwe appreciate it.

Thanks!

Focus on FriendsMrs. Fred Merryfield, long-timeLibrary Friend and, without ques-tion, our most dedicated volunteerit is she who writes thank youletters to all Library donorsrecently donated the Portfolio of"Birds of the Veld and Vlei" (fieldand stream) to the Oregon State

Mrs. Fred Merryfield presents the Portfolio of "Birds of theVeld and Vlei" to Dr. Melvin George, Director of Libraries.

University Libraries. She spent twomonths last fall in South Africa andbrought back this second set ofwater color prints especially for theOSU Library. The first set was"Birds of the Southern Cape," givenin 1989. Mrs. Merryfield relates thefollowing story:

Three days before my flight home, Iheard about these latest paintings ofGail Darroll on the breakfast time TVshow "Good Morning South Africa,"just as I had done three years before.One of the curators of the Everard ReedGallery in Johannesburg, where theoriginal paintings were to be exhibited,

talked about the artist and her work.Gail Darroll is self-taught and a veryprivate person, who lives and works inthe Wilderness area on the SouthernCoast. She was not on the talk show butone or two of her paintings were shownand it was said that each one takes amont/i to complete. She begins eachwater color bird portrait by signing thepaper to prevent an error which would

ruin a month's work. She makesher outlines in the naturalhabitats and studies the colors asclosely as possible; only fordetails of feathers and structureof wings, feet, etc., does she usemuseum specimens.

The exhibition and sale of thelinu ted edition of the portfoliowas sponsored by the EverardReed Gallery and SAPPI (SouthAfrican Pit/p and Paper Indus-try) and the funds thus raisedwere donated to the SouthAfrican Nature Foundation forconservation and restoration ofnatural habitats in Kwa Zulu.

I went to the gallery thatmorning and found the exhibit inprocess of being arranged. Iact un/h,' zoent around on thefloor to look at some of theframed paintings which had notyet been hung! Upon asking Ifound that the portfolios, whichwere for sale, were not at the

gallery; so it was impossible to purchaseand take one away that morning. Afterhearing of the short time frame in whichI was working (this was Friday noonand I was leaving South Africa onMonday), the curator promised shewould have the portfolio packed andready by Saturday afternoon. And sothe purchase was made! The next day, aperfectly padded and wrapped packagewas delivered and I carried it home toCorvallis with ease.

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Al and Minnie Tro?n?nersllausen

Alfred J. and Minnie MooreTrommershausen have many fondmemories of their years at OregonState University, and Oregon Staterswill remember the Trommers-hausens in perpetuity for theirgenerosity. Al and Minnie havemade very significant provisions intheir estate plans for programs atOSU. The OSU Libraries, andLibrary users will benefit from anendowment fund which willsupport the chemical engineeringcollection. Al and Minnie's estatewill also fund scholarship endow-ments in business and engineeringand provide discretionary funds forOSU's president.

Al and Minnie attribute theirsuccesses in life to a good educationand a lot of hard work! The hardwork started long before they begantheir careers. Al remembers work-ing on campus for 25 cents per hourwhen the unemployment rate wasabout 24%. Both Al and Minnieworked their way through schoolAl earning the bachelor's degree inchemical engineering in 1940, andMinnie the bachelor's degree inbusiness in 1938.

Following graduation, Al attendedWashington State University on ateaching fellowship for one year.

His first job after graduation waswith Reynolds Metals in Longview,Washington, where he worked as acontrol engineer.

Minnie's first job was with theOregon State University ExtensionService in Corvallis where she wasemployed until their marriage in1942. In 1944, Al applied for andreceived a commission in the U.S.Navy and served in the AmphibiousForces in the South Pacific. After thewar, Al returned to Reynolds Metalswhere he assisted in the develop-ment of a large scale air pollutionabatement program. He joinedKaiser Aluminum & ChemicalCorporation in 1946 as TechnicalSuperintendent, and subsequentlyheld a number of managerial andtechnical positions, retiring as anexecutive with the parent company,Kaiser Industries. In the latter partof his career, Al was given responsi-bilities for corporate air pollutionabatement, environmental health,and safety. He held professionalengineering licenses in Washingtonand California. Minnie worked forseveral years in the communitieswhere Al was employed.

Both Al and Minnie considerthemselves Oregonians. Minnie wasborn in southwestern Oregon andattended schools in Rainier, Oregon.Al was born in Canada and raisedin Newberg, Oregon. They lived inCalifornia during most of theirworking years and have lived inRossmoor, Walnut Creek, Californiasince Al's retirement. Al is fondlyknown as Mr. Rossmoor because ofhis extensive and continuinginvolvement in Rossmoor commu-nity activities.

Library Invaded by SpooksSpooks, Cats (catalog department)and other terrestrial and alien beingsinvaded the Library staff room onOctober 31, 1992. The occasion was,of course, Halloweenthe cause wasthe Library Expansion Project. Thiscelebration of the annual spookholiday was highlighted by a cakeraffle, with the proceeds supportingthe Kerr Library expansion project.

The cake was baked and decoratedby our own Joanne Perry. JanGalloway, Library accounting officer,was the lucky winner. But, the realwinner was the Library!

Cliff Dalton, newly appointeddevelopment officer, but not yetofficially on the job, attended theevent to formally accept the gift tothe Expansion Project.

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Above, Joanne Perry, Map Librarian, baked theprize. Below, Susan Bacina, Acquisitions,Donna Meyers, Gifts and Exchanges, DebbieFarmer, Acquisitions, and So Sangsupata,Acquisitions, were among the spooks attendingthe party. Bottom, Charlene Grass, AssistantUniversity Librarian, and Joanne Perry, MapsLibrarian, look on as Cliff Dalton accepts gift tothe Library Expansion Project. Pat Grace,Director of Special Reference Services, is the guywit/i the big nose.

Laura! Maughan introduces members of a local book club to the library's collectionof book review materials during a Docent tour.

From the Docents CornerThe OSU libraries' docents had abusy year. Dad's Weekend and thesummer Elderhostel tours had thehighest attendance.

For Dad's Weekend there were talksabout the Ava Helen and LinusPauling Collection and the collectedwritings of Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln can rightly becalled an "education president." Hewas a model of life-long learningand he signed what is generallyregarded as the most importantpiece of legislation in the history ofU.S. higher education, the MorrillLand Grant College Act of 1862.OSU is one of the benefactors of thatact.

After the battle of Gettysburg,Lincoln was seeking to emphasizecommon ideas and beliefs to healthe wounds of war. He was advisedby Sara Hale, editor of Godey'sLady Book, and by Secretary ofState William Seward to choose adate for a harvest festival. Lincolnchose the last Thursday in Novem-ber for the national celebration,which we still hold today.

We were asked to provide sessionsfor the Elderhostel program on

the widearray of atlases and maps, especiallyBraille maps for cities. We featureda 1452 map of the world byLeonardo Da Vinci which shows theworld at that time.

This group also enjoyed seeing theMcDonald Collection with its 13thcentury Flemish choir book, theSumerian cuneiform tablets datingfrom around 2,000 B.C., and othertreasures. Some of the attendeescommented that the Linus Paulingtalk and video were the best part oftheir Elderhostel visit.

This year we are inviting bookgroups to browse in the Referencearea with a docent, to discover the"best and easiest route" to locatebook reviews or to make an authorsearch, especially for material aboutcontemporary authors. After thetour, the group is welcome to meetin the McDonald Room for a bookdiscussion. This program requiresreservations. Please call the LibraryDevelopment office at (503) 737-2438. Tours, given by the docents,can be scheduled for day or eveninghours.

Anyone is welcome to attend ourregular meetings on the secondWednesday of the month (exceptDecember) at 4:30 p.m., in the

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campus priorto Da VinciDays. Thedocents gavepresentationsabout theMap Collec-tion,McDonaldRoomCollection,Ava Helenand LinusPaulingCollection,and the artfound in theLibrary. Inthe MapRoom, thetalk covered

McDonald Room. There is always aspecial talk about "newly foundlibrary treasures" and other relatedtopics. For the specific topics of eachmonth, call the Information Desk(503) 737-7295.

The Docent program is alwayslooking for new volunteers to helpin this important service for ourLibrary. If you would like tobecome a Docent, please contact theLibrary Development Office (503)737-2438.

Janeanne WarkentinFellow Docent

OSU Libraries' Wish ListContinuing budget constraints haveforced us to focus on the bareessentials to support our studentsand faculty. We are unable topurchase many items or servicesthat would help us better serve ourusers. Beginning with this issue ofthe Messenger, we will highlightseveral needs hoping that ourFriends will consider helping usfulfill such wishes for our collec-tions, our facilities, and our services.If you have a desire to help, pleasecall Cliff Dalton at (503) 737-7306 todiscuss your tax-deductible gift.

Furniture for the Online CatalogSysteni. Our computerized catalogsystem allows users to search ourcollection in ways never beforepossible. We need ergonomicfurniture (desk & chair) for 20computer/user stations. $600 perstation.

Online Access for the VisuallyImpaired. Several of our users arevisually impaired. To better servethem, we need software thatenhances visibility by magnifyingthe characters on the computerscreen. $500 per station.

New Furniture for the Library'sPublic and Student Study Areas. Ourfurniture in these areas is literally

on its last leg! We need durable yetcomfortable and inviting seating.$3,000 for Monroe entrance area and$3,000 for the Jefferson entrance area.

Reference Color Computer ProjectionPanel for Library Instruction Program.The color projection panel willpermit us to project color images onthe screen, enabling us to betterinstruct our users in the use of CDROM databases and other computertechnology that uses color coding.$6,300.

Paperback Book Browsing andExchange Rack. Many users enjoysharing their books with others.This rack and browsing area, andinitial supply of paperback books,will facilitate the exchange process.$2,600.

Research Services Public Terminaland Printer for the Library Com-puter Instruction Program (CLIC).This needed equipment will allowstudents, faculty, and other users toexplore library services and search

' techniques and to print the instruc-tions germane to their needs. $3,400.

Reader/Printer for the Gum Libraryat the Hatfield Marine Science Center.The current microfiche reader isnear the end of its serviceable life.Because the libraries rely heavily onmicroform resources, a goodreader/printer is essential forlibrary users. The only reader/printer in the Newport area, itserves the entire community andfills a great need. $8,000.

Reading Table for the Gum Library.Users frequently encounter ashortage of seating. A new readingtable will help meet this need.$1,000.

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Show & TellEach year OSU Libraries hosts anOpen House at Kerr Library toprovide faculty, staff, students andlocal residents with the opportunityto meet Library staff and learnabout new resources and services.

The 1992 Open House was held onOctober 14-15. A focal point of theevent was a display in the Library'slobby designed by RameshKrishnamurthy, a graduate studentwho is employed in Special Collec-tions. The display consisted ofseveral posters explaining thefunctions of the many departmentswithin the Library, from Informa-tion and Reference, to "behind-the-scenes" areas such as MaterialsPreparation.

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Above, Joanne Perry,Map Librarian, shows theSanborn maps to OpenHouse visitors. TheSanborn fire insurancemnaps are a historiccollection. Left, ValeryKing, library technicianin Cataloging and theMap Room, demonstratesOASIS, the library'sonline catalog, to astudent during OpenHouse. A recent upgradeto the system hasignificantly improved

the response time.

In addition, a 20 minute video rancontinuously in the lobby through-out the two-day event. The video,which featured Library staff mem-bers talking about the role of theirdepartments, was directed byRamesh and filmed by CoreyBianchini, a student and the newsproducer for KBVR-TV, OSU'sstudent-run cable access televisionstation.

During Open House, Library staffwere on hand to demonstrateOASIS, the Library's newly en-hanced on-line catalog, and STAR, acomputer-assisted library instruc-tion program. There were also toursof the Compact Disk (CD) ReferenceCenter; Government Publicationsand the Map Room, the McDonaldRoom and Special Collections, andTechnical Services.

rName

Address

Friends of the LibraryOregon State UniversityKerr LibraryCorvallis, OR 97331-4502

Friends of the Library Reply Form

City State Zip

Home Phone

Work Phone

Contributions:

$1,000 and up BENEFACTOR

$500-$999 PATRON

$250-$499 SPONSOR

$100-$249 SUPPORTING FRIEND

$50-$99 CONTRIBUTING FRIEND

$24-$49 FRIEND

$10-$24 STUDENT FRIEND

Pledging a gift of $1,000 or more a year for twenty-five years (or an outright gift of$25,000), and designating it in full or in part to Friends of the Library, is one wayto become a member of the Oregon State University Presidents Club.

Please make checks payable to OSU Foundation and mail with the aboveform to:

Friends of the LibraryOregon State UniversityKerr LibraryCorvallis, OR 97331-4502

Contributions are tax deductible to the extent the law allows.Thank You!

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Oregon State University is an Affirmative Action EqualOpportunity Employer and complies with Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

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