Natural Resources Information Council

Happy Hollydays!!

2005-12-22T10:52:00.000-08:00

The days are getting brighter and not just because of the Winter Solstice. I just received word that the latest attempts to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have been defeated. 2005 ends on a good note. Let's hope for a good 2006.

As an attempt to get discussion going, I'd like to offer the various Natural Resources librarians the opportunity to brag. Brag about your library, review a book, talk about how you got into being a Natural Resources Librarian.

I'd also like to start a discussion about why libraries are important in Natural Resources Management and how librarians can better sell these ideas to their managers. We've all forgotten about marketing to funders. Success stories?

May your winter holiday celebrations be merry and bright. May 2006 bring better atmospheres for the work that we do to collect and preserve literature on our collective resources.

Shifting Baselines

2005-12-08T11:50:00.000-08:00

Lately there has been some talk that dams should be considered part of the natural environment. After all, they are permanent. I'd say our baseline has made a major shift if dams are to be considered natural.

Dams are manmade structures that interfere with natural streamflows and create major obstructions in the natural order. They are the ultimate imposition of human will on the environment. They should never be considered as natural or permanent. True, they are long-lasting, but they are still removable structures.

I hope that humanity and especially the American public will eventually lose their complacency in regards to energy policy and start making strides in the direction of sustainability.

What has this to do with librarianship in the natural resources? Well, a lot actually. We hold the historical documentation that shows what the natural environment could be if we all started living in harmony with nature rather than trying to impose human 'order' and structure. Sustainability is reflected in our collection development, especially if we are striving to have Zero-Growth Collections. We also need to provide materials to help planners, policy makers and scientists develop better alternatives to our current energy sources.

Keeping Up

2005-12-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

Sitting and listening to a presenter from OCLC talk about all the new technologies to create community in our libraries.

Well, technology continues to evolve and it's terribly fast. I'm so far behind, I feel like a skeleton. I don't want to wait for technology to evolve. I want a direct link from my head to the computer. When will my USB port be installed in my head?

No Respect

2005-09-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

Well, as the third Wednesday of the month, I have a meeting with the Vancouver Lake Watershed Partnership. They will be discussing the next steps in preserving this valuable natural resource.

I've worked hard for these folks, but it was mentioned that one of the first duties of the Project Manager they propose hiring would be to collect and review the literature on the lake. This is the exact topic of my capstone project for my Master's in Environmental Policy & Management. I collected documents all the way back to the mid-1940's and created an online bibliography and digital collection of materials. This work must mean nothing to these folks. Or is it simply because I am a librarian and not worthy of scientific notice? (Doing a Google search for Vancouver Lake Watershed Partnership brings up my site first though!)

Yes, a bit of a rant, but I'm tired of not being respected. I have knowledge and research skills. I know how to read and investigate. It just torques me that these folk are so willing to ignore my work that I present to them every month.

Rant over, but still stinging.

Back to Reality

2005-09-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

In the face of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I haven't had much to say. What can be said? Thoughts of criticism of the government whirl through my head...why didn't they...?

Our natural resources have struck back at our depredations. Mother Nature vented her fury on the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. Where will she strike next?

Hopes and prayers for our colleagues in the South, for their safety, for their families, for their futures. When the time comes, those of us in relative safety will surely step forward to help you rebuild collections and save those that can be saved.

Natural Resources and balanced collections

2005-08-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

I received a disturbing email with the subject of 'scary book'. The book in question was Help, Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed. Now as a living, breathing Socialist, I could be considered an extreme liberal, but I do have conservative tendencies. I was raised as a military brat, after all. One can't escape all the nurturing of one's parents.

Anyway, the missive ended with the idea that the recipients of the email would have to buy their own copies as the StreamNet Library would not soon have this title included in the collection. I replied that indeed it would be considered for inclusion in the collection based on topic and reviews. However, if no one checks out the book, is the title valuable for the collection? Most of my patrons/clients/users have liberal leanings. But would I attract more users if they felt their views on the environment were also represented?

I took exception to the statement that the StreamNet Library would not include materials of a conservative (v. conservation) nature in our collections. As a Professional Librarian, I do tend to try to follow the ALA (American Library Association) Code of Ethics. I try not to allow my personal philosophy and political leanings to determine the slant of the collection.

In the field of Natural Resources, however, this balancing act can be rather difficult. The publishing field is awash with books that definitely have what would be considered a liberal slant. Conservative conservation materials seem to be rather scarce, or is this only a perceived scarcity because I am not actively seeking these materials? Does this also relate to being located in the Pacific Northwest? As most know, Washington and Oregon should be considered as part of Canada after the last election.

Do others have this difficulty? I'd like to work on balancing the StreamNet collections. In the subject areas covered by this library, the task can be rather difficult. So balancing liberal environmentalism v. conservative environmentalism? Is it possible? Are there recommendations for materials?

2005-08-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

In early August, the Idaho Statesman (story now only available with credit card) ran a story "Expert Changes His Mind: Dams Should Come Down" in which Don Chapman recants nearly his entire professional career as a fish biologist. Other newspapers picked up the story, so some have seen the startling news. This reversal is being hailed as a major turning point in salmon recovery efforts. The dark side has lost a major voice.

Other scientists, however are upset with the turn of events and are extremely unforgiving. Ed Chaney wrote a letter distributed via email in response that sums up with "I pledge to you personally, Don Chapman, that if the salmon killers who paid you for the past quarter century prevail, and wild salmon and steelhead of the Snake River Basin become functionally extinct, I will do everything in my limited power to ensure that future generations never forget your name."

So, while the Salmon Wars have a new voice to add to the mix to let our inestimable President know the truth of the fate of the salmon, how strong will it be against those who are still opposed to him coming back to the light? Should all be forgiven in the battle to save this icon of the Pacific Northwest, or do we turn away an ally because of previous political leanings?

Does this mean the Federal agencies and the President will finally listen to the scientific evidence, or will they continue to concoct evidence to back up their version of reality? Time will tell as Doomsday draws nearer.

Return from the Wilderness

2005-08-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

Alaska, what a wonderful place to visit. I'm not sure I'd enjoy living there as expenses can be quite high.

From a natural resources perspective, there is no feeling like the feeling of being up close and personal with your passion.

Another passion is sharing information. As our individual collections grow beyond our available space, we need to start considering formal and informal group collection development. Paper is not going away. We all crave and desire paper copies in order to insure the continued existence of information. It's natural distrust of electronic storage. I've left one too many disks on my refrigerator or TV to trust the medium. Magnetic medium is definitely unreliable. CD's are being proven as less reliable.

With these thoughts in mind, how are we approaching collection development for the long-term storage of natural resources documents and gray/black literature? I'm collecting Pacific Northwest state and tribal reports, or at least trying to. I've also been pursuing some Forest Service and other federal agency documents. I've got numerous journal runs that are duplicated elsewhere. Do we need a formal agreement on who is holding what? There are some journal runs that are not used here, except for ILL requests from other institutions.

Grizzly Maze

2005-08-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

Here at the Pacific Northwest Library Association conference, Nick Jans came to talk about his new book The Grizzly Maze: Timothy Treadwell's Fatal Obsession with Alaskan Bears. This was a fascinating story. No training in wildlife behavior, no outdoor survival skills, college drop-out, yet Timothy Treadwell survived 12 summers with the Grizzlies on the Katmai Peninsula on the Alaska Coast.

He lived in a cheap tent, kept his food in bear-proof containers on the ground and walked among the bears. He named them, sang to them and habituated them to his presence.

The 13th summer proved fatal for Timothy as well as his "girlfriend", Amy. They were attacked and eaten. Did he deserve his fate? We'll never know exactly what happened. Nick Jans has collected facts and interviews from people who knew Timothy Treadwell.

Human-wildlife interactions are always fraught with peril for the wildlife as well as the humans. When the wildlife has really big teeth and claws, humans are usually on the receiving end of the peril. Bears tend to be different though. A lot of humans, including Timothy, look upon them as the cuddly, cute stuffies we tuck into beds with our children. And, according to Timothy, this is their true nature. They are big fluffy, cuddlies. In the end though, he was proven wrong as a bear, or bears, looked on him as prey. He wasn't really trying to make pets of them, was he?

I thought I'd share this story and recommend this book as a good basis for thinking about your personal philosophy of human-wildlife interaction. Personally, I prefer to avoid wildlife interactions, even with the seemingly harmless. I'll look at squirrels, etc. from a distance. I keep my touching for the adorable plushies I can buy in a store and don't have teeth and claws.

Sitka Alaska

2005-08-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Sitka, Alaska, watching the trees grow and eagles fly by. It is soooo beautiful here. Unfortunately, DH will not agree to move here since the population is only 9,000 and the only jobs seem to be fishing.

There are a lot of cultural institutions and the local public library is very well supported. Of course another major employer is the U.S. Forest Service.

The driver of the airport shuttle informed us that there is 1 bear per square mile of the island, making approximately 4,700 bears on Baranof Island. Good thing we are downtown. Less chance of meeting dangerous wildlife while walking around.

The weather is more than agreeable after the sweltering summer in Portland. Cloudy, rainy, bit of wind and temperatures around 60 degrees F. Boy do I feel better.

North to Alaska, North to Russia's Own

2005-08-01T16:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are off to the Pacific Northwest Library Association Conference in Sitka, Alaska. Hopefully, I'll be able to send periodic updates on the superb offerings as well as the wonderful atmosphere to be experienced in Sitka.

I'd like to take the time to remind you about the curriculum library I'd like to build. Please send in your submissions.

Teaching about Wildlife

2005-07-27T22:12:00.000-07:00

So, I'm at Camp Julianna this week and am teaching the Wildlife badge to a group of 16 Junior Scouts (4th-6th grades). I've got some resources, but would like more.

For the StreamNet Library, I've committed to creating a bibliography and resource list for natural resources curriculums. I'd like to get a jump on this project, so if you are aware of a resource, please email me. As an example, I know there are Salmon boxes stashed at various locations around Washington State. Do other states have similar resources?

Hot site: Wikispecies

2005-07-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

Along with the other wiki sites now existing on the web, Wikipedia has begun a sister project called Wikispecies to create webpages for all known species. These pages are all related taxonomically as well as being searchable. I didn't have much luck with the search engine, but was able to navigate the taxonomic structure pretty well.

How does this relate to other projects?
The Tree of Life is solely authored by approved scientists for actual species accounts.

Find a Fish is solely for fishes and seems to be limited to Australian species.

BirdLife International hosts a worldwide listing of bird species. However, searching for goldfinch and starling under common name yielded 0 results.

There are many other sites that are regional in nature so that they are limited to small numbers of species. However, Wikispecies and Tree of Life seem to be on par with each other. The difference being that anyone can add, comment, edit the Wikispecies accounts and Tree of Life is limited to approved scientists. Tree of Life also has sections called Treehouse for educators as well as images and other media to support the species accounts. Wikispecies sometimes has pictures and multiple languages. This additional information depends on the contributor and available information.

NRIC Conference a success

2005-07-20T06:49:00.000-07:00

The NRIC conference in Boise seemed to be a good time for all attendees. The highlight was, of course, the moose trade. There were many fine moose passing around the room.

Second to the moose trade was the raft trip, for fun.

The information sessions were well received and quite a range of information. Bill Jarocki of the Environmental Finance Center from Region 10 was quite popular. He had us all seeing green. There there was quite a bit of information on fire, setting and suppressing. How to get stuff for free: information and management software.

Those of you who missed this one, we're already planning for next year. The NRIC business meeting voted on Las Vegas as our next destination. Dates have not been set, so let us know if you have an opinion.

This is just the beginning

2005-07-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hello All. We have now begun our blog for the Natural Resources Information Council.

Hopefully new stuff will be added at least weekly. Remember to post anything interesting to this blog so the rest of us can read about it.