A Brief History
by Betsy
King
April 1996
{Author's Note: This history was assembled from old
minutes, meeting notices and newsletters, for the 10th anniversary celebration.}
Before 1983, many librarians in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties
worked in isolation. Telephone calls across the Bay were long distance
(not to mention calls to Pasco and Polk Counties), and electronic mail
was not generally available. Organizations for librarians existed in the
Tampa Bay area, but they were not focused specifically toward special
(or specialized) libraries.
The Special Libraries Association (SLA) had
several local members, but no local chapter to draw people together. A
few special librarians knew each other individually, talked by phone,
and occasionally got together. However, no group existed that reached
out to librarians in both counties.
In 1983, Judy Dolce was the librarian at Jim Walter Research
Corporation (now known as The Center for Applied Engineering) in St.
Petersburg. Having worked in the Research Triangle area of North
Carolina, she had been involved with the active library community there.
Judy took the initiative to contact several company librarians, and she
arranged a meeting to "get to know other area librarians in order to
share ideas and to foster cooperation and growth among us."
Information specialists invited to this first meeting (according to a
letter sent out to them) were:
- Pat Boody (TECO, Tampa)
- Doug Cornwell (Florida Power Corporation, St. Petersburg)
- Judy Dolce (Jim Walter Research Corp, St. Petersburg)
- June Martin (Paradyne, Largo)
- Sue Weiss (E-Systems/ECI, St. Petersburg)
- Vici Hammerle, Mary Lipthay, and Mary Jane Houser (Honeywell,
Clearwater)
- Margaret Sumner (Research Unlimited)
They met on November 17, 1983 at the Olde Ville Restaurant, at Gandy
and 34th Street in Pinellas Park. The group discussed the feasibility of
cooperative membership for OCLC access or for document delivery
services. They also decided to continue meeting regularly.
Judy and the others attempted to identify additional local librarians
to include in this group. Word spread, and 16 people showed up at the
next meeting, held on January 23, 1984, at Critikon, Inc., in Tampa,
hosted by Dennis Vescey, Critikon's librarian. Topics included
cataloging options of OCLC and Marcive, the exchange of library forms
developed by the various libraries, and a tour of Critikon's automated
library.
The third meeting, on March 19, 1984, was lunch at Jim Walter
Research, hosted by Judy Dolce. Sue Weiss of E-Systems was our first
official guest speaker. She talked about new technology applications at
ECI.
Gwen Walters of University Community Hospital hosted the next meeting
in May 1984. A tour of the Medical Library included a demonstration of
the library's computerized system (online cataloging, ordering, and
receiving). 19 people attended this meeting.
The next meeting wasn't for another 7 months, in December 1984, again
for lunch at Jim Walter. The 23 attendees at this meeting decided to
name the group "Suncoast Information Specialists." It was felt that the
group should encompass everyone in the information field, not just those
who fell under the heading "librarian." During this time, attempts were
made to identify as many libraries / librarians in the area that we
could. The SLA membership directory, various library directories, blind
phone calls to companies, and word-of-mouth resulted in a growing list
of people to be included in each mailing. Judy Dolce continued to be the
main force in planning the meetings and sending out notices.
At this point, SISÂ was a real group, and we felt the need to become
more organized. Help was needed with the coordination of future
programs, publicity, planning for future direction, and continuing
education opportunities. The next meeting, in May 1985, at Tampa
Electric Co., was a "Let's Get Organized" meeting. Officers were chosen
for the first time -- Judy Dolce was elected president; Doug Cornwell,
vice-president; Kit Boone, secretary; and Betsy King, treasurer.
Committee volunteers were solicited. A bylaws committee was established
to begin the process of writing bylaws for SIS.
Dr. Knego agreed to become the University of South Florida School of
Library and Information Science liaison, and Pat Boody became liaison
with the Tampa Bay Library Consortium. The bylaws committee consisted
of:
- Pat Craig (USF Medical Library)
- Sarah Harman (Tampa Bay Medical Library Network)
- Gwen Walters (University Community Hospital)
- Doug Cornwell (Florida Power)
- Judy Dolce (Jim Walter)
- Betsy King (Reflectone)
The committee met many times during the next year, attempting to
define Suncoast Information Specialists without putting too many
restrictions on its future development. The final Association Bylaws were approved at the June
1986 meeting. Dues of $5.00 were set at the October 1986 meeting, with
the feeling that such a small sum would not discourage anyone from
joining, but that it would help establish a definite "membership."
Prior to this, no money at all had been involved with SIS. Betsy
King, the treasurer, had created and verified a membership list used for
mailings, had sent out a survey of libraries for a 1986 Library
Directory, and finally had issued the 1986 SIS Membership Directory,
which included 79 members.
Officers for the 1986-87 year were: Doug Cornwell, President; Gwen
Walters, Vice President; Kit Boone, Secretary; and Betsy King,
Treasurer. Carolyn Bass (TECO) volunteered to prepare a regular
newsletter. Following a couple of "trial" issues in 1986, Volume 1,
Number 1, of the SIS Info was issued in January 1987.
Some members expressed an interest in sponsoring a continuing
education workshop, perhaps with new automated tools, etc. After several
discussions and meetings, the general consensus was that the work
involved would be too much for the interest shown. It was generally felt
that the personal and professional contacts made were the most valuable
part of SIS and that bi-monthly meetings were sufficient.
Several times in SIS's history, concern has been expressed about the
lack of support, too much work by too few people, lack of participation,
etc. Somehow, these complaints seems to wax and wane over time.
SIS now boasts more than a hundred members, from virtually every niche
of the local information profession community, representing more than 60
different institutions. During the past decade, SIS has definitely
fulfilled its original goals -- "sharing ideas and fostering cooperation
and growth" among the area librarians.
