ASSOCIATES (2004, November, v. 11, no. 2) - associates.ucr.edu
*From the Editor*
*Calendar of Events* Dr. Ruth Jackson, University Librarian, University of California, Riverside, has generously sponsored a one-year subscription to EventKeeper for the Associates Calendar of Events. Last year, Plymouth Rocket, Inc. offered Associates a free year's use of EventKeeper. I was pleased because EventKeeper is almost effortless to maintain. Since November 2003, the Calendar of Events has had more than 3,000 visits to the site, indicating that it is an important and popular source of information for library staff. I am pleased that through Dr. Jackson's support the Associates Calendar of Events will continue to be available, listing library association meetings, conferences, and activities, with a special interest in those activities relating to library paraprofessionals world-wide. See the Associates Calendar of Events at http://www.eventkeeper.com/code/events.cfm?curOrg=ASSOC.
*Integrity in Archiving* I was dismayed when Lynda Shurko kindly wrote to me in early October 2004 saying some of the BUBL archive copies of Associates issues were no longer available. When Associates moved over three years ago from the server at the University of Kansas (KU) to the University of California, Riverside (UCR), KU courteously promised to keep the Associates links open for a few years to help in the transition from one server to another. They upheld their promise, but the grace period finally ran out. KU shut down all Associates-related web access in October. Because some of the articles archived by BUBL continued to point to the old server, all articles pointing to the KU were lost. When I became editor, I had asked BUBL for a snapshot copy of the Associates archives. Luckily, it only took me a few frantic hours to find the zip disk again and figure out how to load it on my computer. Then, surprisingly, I was hit with an integrity dilemma. Should I fix those typos and errors that were in the original articles? Should I point users to now "dead" websites and links or should I update the addresses? If someone viewing the archives wanted to see the Associates Editorial Board, for example, should the viewer see the Editorial Board in place at the time, or the current one? If subscription information was directed to the University of Kansas, should it be updated? Should the archives remain exactly as when they were originally published? Jim Clark, Associates Assistant Editor, and I finally concluded that the archives should remain in their original form. As Jim painstakingly added each issue and article to the UCR server, he began to check websites and links and inserted a message in green font color with information such as "[Ed. note: This is not available, 10/14/2004.]," or would refer to the newer, active link with a new message also in green font color. We found that a few articles were totally gone and others were missing some of the text. Taking advantage of Michael D. Brooks' review in Associates (2004, July, v. 11, no. 1) at http://associates.ucr.edu/wrbro704.htm, we used the "WayBack Machine" website to find a few of our original web pages, if they had been archived by this service. Jim has completed loading all the back issues/archives onto the UCR Associates server. All web pages on the UCR server now have identification, with year, month, volume, and number of the issue. (Great job, Jim!) We are continuing to keep the BUBL archives available for users with the disclaimer "NOTE: Some of the URL's cited in the BUBL archives are no longer active." I would hope that some subscribers have complete or partial runs in print or electronic form of issues from July 1994 through July 2000 and may have some of the missing pieces needed. If you do, please contact Jim Clark, Assistant Editor, at phoenix@ucr.edu. He will send you a list of missing articles and text so that, with your help, we can recreate the back issues. See the Back Issues and Archives page at http://associates.ucr.edu/archives.htm.
*What's in this issue* The November 2004 issue of Associates has a theme-of-sorts with articles about sources and forums for library paraprofessionals, mostly centered in the United States. In the March 2005 issue, Associates will contain more articles about library paraprofessional forums internationally, possibly including South Africa, England, Australia, Canada and/or other countries. This issue contains articles about the LibrarySupportStaff.com website, the ALA-Allied Professional Association, the list LIBSUP-L, COLT (2 articles), and Library Mosaics. There are two product reviews, a web site review, a video review, an article about gifts, and one on awards. Another chapter has been added to *Rainbow's End.* And, also included are *Library Life: A Column Of Eclectic Rantings* and *My View from the Back Room.*
Happy Reading!
Wendee Eyler
Editor, Associates
rivwe@ucr.edu