U.S. Specialist Activity in
Slovakia
SK-Libris recruited some of the most knowledgeable and effective librarians in the United States through a network of libraries and librarians who, from the beginning, supported the project. Specialists were recruited from the State Library of Iowa, American Library Association and the University of Northern Iowa Rod Library and College of Education. What follows is an overview of their Slovakia-based activities. Each U.S. Specialist wrote a technical report on their work there, which helped us plan future activities.
| Overview of In-Country Activities ~ U.S. Specialists To USA | ||||
Date |
U.S Participants |
Affiliation |
Purpose |
|
1998 |
||||
| 04/25 - 05/8 | Matt Kollasch | University of Northern Iowa College of Education | Establish formal relations with the Slovak library community and to choose in-country leaders, determine needs and establish objectives and outcomes. Made several site visits. | |
| 04/25 - 05/8 | Herb Safford | University of Northern Iowa Rod Library | ||
| 10/11 - 10/24 | Matt Kollasch | University of Northern Iowa College of Education | Neuhaus and Kollasch presented workshop series on effective reference services called Reference Librarian: Ambassador for the Free Flow of Information" and made site visits to consult on effective use of free Web-based library resources. Kollasch met with Daniela Gondová to plan SK-Libris activities. | |
| 10/11 - 10/24 | Chris Neuhaus | University of Northern Iowa Rod Library | ||
1999 |
||||
| 01/19 - 02/1 | Matt Kollasch | University of Northern Iowa College of Education | Kollasch attended BOBCATTS, an international library conference in Bratislava, made site visits and consultations and met with U.S. Embassy staff in Bratislava. Planning meetings with Daniela Gondová. | |
| 02/19 - 03/5 | Marilyn Mercado | University of Northern Iowa Rod Library | Union Cataloging and Consortium workshops, site visits and consultations. Meetings at National Library in Martin. | |
| 02/19 - 03/5 | Marie Harms | State Library of Iowa | ||
| 03/12 - 03/26 | Meagan Adams | University of Northern Iowa Rod Library | Present workshops and consulted on the use of distance education in the library community. Met with 35 library science students at Comenius to present distance education as employed at the University of Northern Iowa. Made several site visits to learn and discuss the possibilities of distance education in Slovakia. | |
| 03/12 - 03/27 | Barb Safford | University of Northern Iowa College of Education | ||
| 04/5 - 04/24 | Matt Kollasch | University of Northern Iowa College of Education | Jenkins, Smith and Kollasch presented papers at the Slovak Library Association Conference called INFOS '99. Each person also made site visits and consultations. Hodges and Smith worked with Slovak library association officials on library advocacy and association building strategies. | |
| 04/15 - 04/24 | Althea Jenkins | American Library Association | ||
| 04/16 - 04/30 | Sharman Smith | State Library of Iowa | ||
| 04/24 - 04/30 | Gerald Hodges | American Library Association | ||
| 05/13 - 05/18 | Chris
Neuhaus Ellen Neuhaus |
University of Northern Iowa Rod Library | Implementation of the recently acquired EBSCO (Web based full text databases). These workshops included technical aspects of EBSCO as well the importance of marketing this service to library users. | |
| 09/22 - 10/8 | Matt
Kollasch
Chris Neuhaus |
University
of Northern Iowa College of Education University of Northern Iowa Rod Library |
Present workshop on library marketing "for survival" and the EBSCO databases in Bratislava and Nitra. Plan fall study tour, meetings with Ministries of Culture and Education to lobby for the support of the EIFL Direct Database Project. Neuhaus and Kollasch collaborated with EBSCO representatives in presentation of workshops on EBSCO databases. | |
2000 |
||||
| 03/14 - 03/31 | Matt Kollasch | University of Northern Iowa College of Education | Conduct series of interviews of SK-Libris participants. Site visits and consultation regarding EIFL project. Planning meeting at U.S. Embassy. | |
| 04/7 - 04/20 | Marilyn Mercado | University of Northern Iowa Rod Library | Mercado worked presented workshop and worked with Nitra librarians regarding specific aspects of establishing and maintaining Union catalog consortium. Consulted with Comenius librarians on the implementation of VTLS (automated library system). | |
| 05/14 - 05/21 | Matt Kollasch | University of Northern Iowa College of Education | Work on grant with Slovak Library Associations for public libraries to promote understanding and use of the new Slovak Freedom of Information Act. Site visit to exemplary public library and school library. | |
