Started by a man from neighboring Sierra Leone for refuge children left in Guinea during that conflict, the orphanage currently has roughly 30 children from Guinea and Sierra Leone living and being schooled there. Michael Kargbo, the orphanage director, his wife, Michaela, and two teachers do their best to care for these young children. They provide meals, lessons in French and English and a safe place to live.

Last year, Michael searched for a long time and finally found a wonderful new location for the children. Through our financial support we:
~Paid rent for the new home for the orphanage for 1 year
~Bought bunk beds, mattresses and mosquito nets for the children
~Assisted with medicine and medical treatment
~Gave several food donations throughout the year, including many bags of rice and a few laying hens.
~Donated a used laptop computer
~Purchased clothing and uniforms for the children
~Provided a cooking water supply
~Paid for teachers

Right now the rent for the upcoming year is due … $120/month to house and school all the children. It’s really so little here in the U.S., relatively speaking….but it’s a tall figure to tackle for our young friends and their teachers and caretakers in Guinea.

I know this has been a difficult financial year here in the United States for many of you, but life continues to be difficult in Guinea. Your generosity has helped land these children in what is very likely the most stable and safe situation in their young lives. Despite the incredible odds against them, they are now eating regular meals, sleeping in beds protected from malarial mosquitoes, and getting an education.

Right now, the chief concern is that the children can stay in the wonderful house that we helped them secure. By our standards, $120 for a house that shelters and schools more than 30 people seems too cheap to be true. For 30 Guinean orphans and their devoted caretakers, the sum seems insurmountable.

Any help you can give is greatly appreciated by me and certainly by all the children.

I’ve posted a few pictures to show you how your support has already made a difference.

Thank you for your help!

Liz

Bright Idea Award:

Jody Fernald and Amie Familgetti- a joint nomination
Jody and Amie were the minds responsible for the electronic exhibit that complimented Dimond Library’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.  They were not, however, responsible for the now infamous photo of Jen Carroll’s blue-frosting-tinted-tongue from that same event.  Thanks for your great idea ladies!

Tracey Lauder

Tracey was the brain behind “Furniture Moving Day,” a nice way to piece Dimond back together while also encouraging lots of visitation between departments.  Thanks Tracey!

Donald E. Vincent Award:

Peggy Barry

We all know that you can always count on Peggy to get it done. Of Peggy, a co-worker said: “I sometimes forget how difficult Peggy’s job must be; it’s easy to pop over to her desk with a problem or question and never give a thought to the fact that you are probably the 20th person to ask her for something that day. Yet she gracefully manages to balance being pulled in multiple directions, handling each request and making our lives easier, all while maintaining a sense of humor.”  Thanks for your tireless work, Peggy!

Ron Cormier

Ron’s nomination this year was renewed from one he received last year.  He is dedicated to ensuring representation for Library Operating Staff and PATs.  “He is a thoughtful leader with an understanding of the past and present, but more importantly is his focus for a cooperative thriving future.”  Thanks for your wonderful dedication and great work, Ron.

Kathy Horrigan

Kathy really went above and beyond the call of duty this year.  She was instrumental in keeping the Government Information Department running smoothly while one of her colleagues was away on sabbatical.  Of Kathy a co-worker says: “Kathy stepped up and met the challenge in a collegial, professional and positive manner. She did an excellent job. “  We appreciate it, Kathy.

Liz Fowler

Liz has been a driving force in the Library this year, particularly with her work on the Parker Media Lab.  Colleagues have lots of wonderful things to say about her. “Liz can do it all in the Loan Department—and she does it with enthusiasm, dedication and a calm demeanor.” “Liz is a very active staff member at the library, the UNH community and is always informed with the committees, groups and Library meetings offering valuable ideas and suggestions.”  We’re lucky to have you, Liz!

Pam Lehman

If you’ve never seen Pam in action, you’re missing an amazing event. Pam can work tirelessly on a project and still manage all the day-to-day necessities.  Of Pam a co-worker says: “Even in the face of difficulty Pam maintains an optimistic and determined attitude, viewing conflicts more as challenges.”  About her recent work on the PML a co-worker said: “the PML project is also demonstrative of Pam’s ability to build bridges and foster healthy working relationships with a wide variety of folks.” Pam, you’re a wonder!

Cliff Poulin

If you have a problem, Cliff can fix it.  Need to know what the standard voltage output is on a computer?  Cliff knows. And he’s happy to tell you with a smile.  A colleague says of Cliff: “Cliff has become an absolutely essential like to Systems in the past year, a link that benefits Systems, Loan, and the entire library. Cliff has put 110% of his effort and knowledge to advance [the Library] and the payoff has been returned immeasurably in time savings, effective problem resolutions, and smooth transitions.”  We really appreciate all of your hard work Cliff!

Jean Putnam

Jean is a pillar of the Loan desk.  She can figure it out, find it, or tell you how to get it. “Jeanie is one of the main reasons the Loan Desk runs so smoothly. She multi-tasks and is a creative problem solver offering valuable suggestions to staff and patrons that helps the Loan Desk, but also other desks. She is willing to take the time to explain whatever is asked and provide any help that is needed.”  Many thanks, Jean!

Judy Quist

Judy always gives everything she does 110% of her energy.  She is truly committed to her job and to the Library as a whole.  Co-workers have so many wonderful things to say about Judy: “Judy is such an integral part of the good things that are happening at the UNH Library….Judy is a pleasure to work with and a valuable member of whatever team/committee she serves on.” “Her organization and compassion and appreciated daily by both students and staff. She keeps her cool when the day’s schedule spirals into absences.” “Sometimes I’m certain this woman is super-human.” We’d like to see the cape and tights, Judy!

Ted Ward

Ted’s nomination was a renewal from one he received last year.  Ted is a dedicated part of not only Dimond Library but all the Branch Libraries and the UNH community as a whole.  A co-worker says: “As an eyewitness to Ted’s extraordinarily dedicated work over the years, I have always appreciated the way he is ready for any project coming down the pike. While I’m worrying about adding one more thing to his list, he’ll usually walk right in and ask me what I’ve got for him. That’s just his way.

Also- We’ve Drawn A Name For the “Nominate and Win a Free Day Off” Raffle-

We’d like to congratulate Cindy Hunt on winning the raffle and we hope she enjoys her prize!

If you thought it was hard for SDC to decide last year, you have no idea how agonizing the choice was this time!  We hope to see you all at the National Library Workers’ Day Luncheon to see who among these amazing people will win!!

On behalf of the SDC-
Heather Burroughs

I will be returning to Guinea for two weeks in March, dancing, spending time with my Guinean family as well as delivering goods to the neighborhood orphanage once again. If any of you would like to make contributions, I would be grateful for your assistance. Here are some of the current needs:
Children’s clothes — any sizes from toddler to boy size 14 (Used clothes that still have life in them are perfect!)

Sandals/flip flops or sneakers for children of varied ages

Markers, crayons, pens and pencils

Notebooks

Small flashlights or headlamps (especially those that have LED lights – the batteries last extra long)
Spare AA or AA batteries for flashlights or headlamps

First aid items — Band-Aids, children’s Tylenol or Ibuprofen, Neosporin, children’s cough syrup, etc

Money – which can be used to pay teachers, buy rice and other food
Here are some photos from last summer! And here’s a link in case you would like to see more. http://flickr.com/photos/29079390@N08/sets/72157606408204525/

Thank you or as the children would say, Inuwali. (that’s thank you in Susu.)

Liz

There is an abundance of Valentine’s Day spirit here in the library, but do you know where? If you can find it, you won’t be disappointed! And if you can find the right area, you sure can’t miss it.

Decorations somewhere in the library

Since 2002 the Reference Department has offered patrons with difficult or lengthy research questions the opportunity to schedule an individual consultation with a reference librarian. These sessions average around 30 to 45 minutes, but some can take a hour or longer.

At first we limited consults to UNH students, but we have since stopped asking for credentials and accommodate all requests. The first year we offered them, we did 66 consultations; in FY08 the number was 585. From the start we jotted down the subject of the consult in an appointment book, partly to keep track of trends in student topics and partly to illustrate the scope and diversity of the questions Reference is called upon to handle.

We frequently are asked to cite examples of questions we are asked, and since I recently transcribed the lot for the record and for posterity, I thought this selected list of some of our favorites might be of interest to the library staff. These are all from the FY08 crop:

Guyots (flat-topped seamounts usually found in the Pacific Ocean)
Birthrate of French Muslims
Teleportation
Integrated pest management and the grape berry moth
Attachment behavior of children in kibbutzim
Formation of political attitudes
Interracial marriage and Lebanese marriage rituals
Funerals in Mexico
The horse in Celtic religion
Equine Cushing’s disease
Acoustics of music halls
Correlation between breastfeeding in the first year and weight in adolescence
Pictorial stimuli for brain-injured children
Primary sources for public opinion on the Louisiana Purchase
Eastern European Anabaptist persecution
Exploding head syndrome
NH environmental regulation of gravel pits
The Caucasus in literature
Ethics of crying babies
Staining with MSA and EMB
Genetically modified organisms, especially Australian toads
Migrant workers in Switzerland
Correlation between professors’ attractiveness and student ratings
Graffiti and political movements
Mom blogs
Anthropology of drive-through restaurants
Statistics on sewage treatment
Existence of dragons
Anthropology of sex ratios
Sexsomnia
Beer additives
Horseback riding and terminal patients
NH taverns in the Revolutionary War
Huck Finn and vigilantes

And (drum roll!) our all-time favorite
Cybersex and artificial intelligence

This GovDocs Guy blog information was sent to me by a colleague and I wanted to pass along to you. Just this morning on NPR I heard that there are 60 days remaining in the transition period until Barack Obama takes office. Another interesting point is that no new regulations can be made after today so the Bush administration is busily working on regulations:

http://govdocsblog.kentlaw.edu/wordpress/?p=343

Another interesting thing is The United States Policy and Supporting Positions book commonly known as The Plum Book.

“This publication contains data (as of September 1, 2008) on over 7000 and Federal civil service leadership and support positions in the legislative and executive branches of the Federal Government that may be subject to noncompetitive appointment (e.g. positions such as agency heads and their immediate sub ordnance policy executives and advisors and aides report to these officials). The duties of many such positions may involve advocacy of Administration policies and programs and the incumbents usually have close and confidential working relationship with the agency head or other key officials. “
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plumbook/2008/index.html

Finally, hot off the govdoc listserv is this information about the new, 111th Congress:
The New Member Pictorial Directory: 111th Congress is now available on GPO Access at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/pictorial/111th/newmems.html.

Files in the browse table are available as PDF files. The full New Member Pictorial Directory http://www.gpoaccess.gov/pictorial/111th/pdf/fulldoc.pdf is also available in its entirety, as a single PDF file.

This publication is available to the public in online format only. This preliminary version will be superseded by the Congressional Pictorial Directory for the 111th Congress, which will be printed and distributed to depository libraries in the near future.

I wanted to share a few highlights of the IGC meeting. Attending this meeting was the start of my sabbatical. It was my first opportunity to attend any international conference and that alone was exciting. Like any major conference, there were far more interesting-sounding sessions than it was possible to attend but since this was part of my sabbatical, I tried to attend some of the ones most directly relevant to my work with maps, geospatial data and geoscience information.

The OneGeology portal for digital geologic maps had been formally introduced in the first half of the conference (www.onegeology.org). OneGeology provides access to maps from geologic surveys around the world. Here is the direct link to the portal. http://portal.onegeology.org I attended a session on digital geologic maps that included presentations from geologic surveys of Japan, Korea, and the Slovak Republic, as well as talks on the International Geologic Map of Europe (a collaboration among 48 surveys) and an international project on interoperability. It is inspiring to see so many cooperative projects. Another session was on use of GIS and geoscience data for addressing societal problems. Again, the international perspective was very interesting. Projects under development include the Czech Survey geohazard portal, a Swiss geothematic atlas, and Norwegian groundwater monitoring program.

One session that included divergent points of view was on accessing and sharing geoscience information. The speaker from the British Survey argued in favor of users paying for most data sets. He asserted that the result is higher quality and better focus on user needs as well as the obvious advantage of increased revenues for agencies. You can imagine that I found many of his ideas were challenging. The Irish Survey, in contrast, offers its data and maps for free. In a talk on sharing geochemical data, there were themes that will be familiar to many folks in libraries, such as the need for standards and best practices.

There was a separate session on metadata extolling the virtues and difficulties of creating, maintaining and using metadata. The United Kingdom’s approach is to not expect the data creators to write the metadata. Rather the scientist is interviewed by a compiler who is responsible for completing the metadata and annually validating it with the creator.

No conference is complete without visiting the exhibits. Many European and Asian national surveys had tempting giveaways: maps, postcards, CDs and DVDs, publication announcements and other goodies galore. Knowing I would be visiting the Czech Republic in a couple of months, I was especially glad to pick up a beautiful bedrock map. We did indeed make use of it as we travelled around Bohemia in October.

One other feature of the conference was over fifty pre- or post-conference excursions. After four days of sitting and hearing about geology finally we had a chance to get out and see Swedish and Norwegian rocks, but that’s a story (and lots of pictures) for another day.

Stoat! Stoat! Stoat! Cast a Leetle Vote!

Here’s more info on how and where to vote

This is just a quick reminded to everyone that the Harvest Party is coming up soon!  Next Wednesday- NOVEMBER 5^th—from 12noon to 2pm in the Staff Lounge.

There’s going to be some great food and some great people there.  It’s truly and event you don’t want to miss!

Rumor has it there might even be a Chocolate Fountain!

About three weeks ago I attended the 7th International Carnivorous Plant Society conference in Sydney, Australia. The traveling was easy after I got past the six hour flight to LA and the thirteen hour flight to Sydney. I’d only been in Australia a couple of hours before I managed to blow out the power to my hotel room using the wrong adapter, surge protector, transformer combination. Being in a five star hotel (Swissotel,) in the middle of the city next to the Sydney tower they very nicely gave me the right transformer and repaired the wiring. This was the first trip for me where I tried to send email and photos from my room back to New Hampshire each day. I could walk everywhere I needed to go in this very modern, but still quite British city, as long as I stayed to the left on the sidewalks. Sydney bills itself as one of the most beautiful cities with its combination of old and new architecture, many parks and open spaces, and large harbor with a mild climate.

Our conference host was the Royal Botanic Gardens, a large maze-like area of paths amid plantings of unusual southern hemisphere shrubs and trees. The first photo is one of the classic views from the Gardens. The second photo proves that it really was early spring there.

The presentations at the conference by invited speakers over three days were outstanding for both up to the minute information and breathtaking photography, not to mention high adventure. One example:

A British geographer / CP enthusiast was curious about a plant in wide cultivation that didn’t match the original description and specimen published a century ago. In fact, no one had seen the plant since in the wild. So he went to the Philippines and with a team climbed up the mountain covered with rain forest where the one collection had been made. Unfortunately, the summit had a, possibly secret, military installation with lots of radio dishes and solders that waved M16s in their faces. As a geographer he remembered that current Philippine maps have American English names but, a hundred years ago, the maps had Spanish names. Translating from the published location into Spanish, he was led to another mountain. Climbing up this one they ran into an open air prison with big fences within which the prisoners could roam, farm or whatever. Asked about reaching the summit the guards said that would be fine with them but the prisoners would have to take you there. So they set off with four prisoners, murderers, who were carrying meter long machetes to chop through the dense vegetation. On the summit they found the original species looking very different from what everyone was growing. The plants were a species of Nepenthes, a tropical vine with big traps.

The person introducing the speakers at the conference had a quick wit but a strong Australian accent so often half of the fifty or so members of the audience would laugh while the rest of us from overseas were scratching our heads. The organizers promised to send out the conference proceedings on DVD including all of the power point presentations and original photography.

There were two short field trips after the conference. One to the Blue Mountains a couple of hours west of Sydney, a world heritage site of sandstone cliffs and gorges covered with beautiful gray-green “blue gum”, Eucalyptus, forest with typical white-gray bark that peels off in strips. It’s a famous area where a few years ago a new genus of pine tree was discovered growing on the sides of a slot canyon.

Plants grown from the seed are sold at the Gardens. We went to Bridal Veil Falls (see photo) and hiked down the nearly vertical cliff on steps cut into the rock to see one of the largest sundew species (Drosera) that cover the dripping cliffs. A young plant is shown in the next photo.

Recently it’s been discovered that these plants have a more complex relationship with insects than was thought. Some insects are caught in the glue like drops of dew that cover the leaves and digested, some others probably serve as pollinators for the flowers, and some others are adapted to live on the leaves running up and down without getting stuck. We also stopped at the Three Sisters area which looked a little like a tourist trap from the sixties with souvenir shops, gondola rides, and a scenic look out.

A second trip visited the Royal National Park south of Sydney. We saw more carnivorous plants, orchids, and Australian shrubs.

There are over a thousand species of yellow flowered Acacia in Australia. We ended the trip with a barbecue in the middle of the park on my birthday. It was the first birthday I can remember where I ate barbecued kangaroo and lamington cake. What I didn’t expect was a flock of sulfur-crested cockatoos that flew in to watch every bite we took.

They are very professional birds seeming to approach timidly to take a small bite out of your hand then grabbing your whole sandwich and flying off. Just before we arrived they were dive bombing a large lizard they viewed as a threat. The wildlife is definitely strange there.

My last day I jammed in a visit to one of the many museums in Sydney to learn about aboriginal history and art and the Sydney Aquarium to see platypus and the large Great Barrier Reef tank. I also bought some Australian chocolates (Haigh’s),with unusual Australian flavors. When I got back, Francis liked the Lemon Scented Myrtle flavor so much he sent an email to the company about overseas orders. They wrote back that the strict bioterrorism regulations in the States caused their shipments to be confiscated, so you could only get their chocolates into this country through customs as a declared item in your luggage. I’m thinking of taking orders to pay for my next trip down under.