Yale Bulletin
and Calendar

March 29-April 5, 1999Volume 27, Number 26


Bennett will continue efforts to strengthen Yale's libraries

Scott Bennett, who assumed the position of University Librarian in 1994, has been reappointed to the post, President Richard C. Levin recently announced. Bennett will continue to oversee the University's library system until the summer of 2001, when he plans to retire.

In a letter to library staff and other members of the Yale community, Levin lauded Bennett's work over the past five years, writing: "I am delighted that we will have Scott Bennett's thoughtful leadership in the planning of program innovation and space renovation during the next two years, a period of critical importance to the future of the University's libraries."

Levin also cited Bennett's efforts to preserve Yale's world-class collections, as well his contributions to other projects that were undertaken or came to fruition during his tenure. These include completion of the Phase I renovation of Sterling Memorial Library; construction of the Gilmore Music Library; creation of the new Library Shelving Facility in Hamden, Connecticut; conversion of all bibliographic records to machine-readable form within the next several years; enhancing instructional activities relating to complex information resources; introducing the Minority Librarian-in-Residence program; and broadening library governance roles of senior library staff.

The University Librarian oversees all of Yale's primary library collections, with the exception of the law library. Yale has the second largest university library in the country, with over 10 million volumes. In addition to the centrally located Sterling Memorial Library, there are numerous specialized libraries and collections throughout campus, including libraries in Yale's professional schools. The University Library also offers hundreds of classroom sessions and workshops each year, many of which involve teaching participants how to identify and make good use of the wealth of online resources available to them.

Bennett sees his role as both furthering the efforts of his predecessors and laying the groundwork for his successors.

"When I think about what's been going on and what lies in front of us, one of the things I take the most pleasure in is the landmark changes we've made in the long-term preservation of Yale's collections," says Bennett, adding that much of the effort to "create sound environmental conditions" for Yale's collections has taken place over the last 10 years. "The work that's been done ensures that the collections we've acquired over the past 300 years will be here 300 years from now," he notes.

Bennett also wants to ensure that Yale faculty and students will have convenient online access to information. Currently, about 60 percent of the library's holdings are represented in the online catalog, Bennett says. A $15 million effort is now underway to see that Yale's online catalog lists all of its holdings by the year 2003.

"It's more convenient for students to seek information online rather than use the card catalog," says Bennett. "As long as 40 percent of the collection is not in our online catalog, our holdings will be underutilized by students. So, we're trying to fix that. It means converting millions of records -- it's a big job, but it's going to be done."

Another initiative Bennett says he takes pride in is Yale's role in shaping the marketplace for online information. "That's been done through the licensing work of [Associate University Librarian] Ann Okerson," he says. "Yale has really taken national and international leadership in securing better access to online information for University readers." This and other efforts, Bennett adds, demonstrate that Yale "is a place that absolutely cares about its libraries."

Before coming to Yale, Bennett was director of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, the largest library at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University. While there, he served as a delegate to the Maryland Governor's Conference on Libraries and Information Service, helping to initiate a statewide preservation planning effort and advocating increased use of mass deacidification to preserve library materials.

Bennett, an authority on 19th-century British literature and history, received a Ph.D. in English from Indiana University and a M.S. in library science from the University of Illinois. He has been both assistant professor of English and associate professor of library administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He served as assistant university librarian for collection management at Northwestern University prior to assuming his position at Johns Hopkins.

-- By Felicia Hunter


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Noted historian to present talk on 'moral authority' of U.S. presidency
Bennett will continue efforts to strengthen Yale's libraries
This year's DeVane Medals go to two English professors
League commissioner David Stern to speak on managing 'Global NBA'
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Technology's impact on nation is topic of Sheffield Lecture
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'Missing' work will be performed for first time in nearly 40 years
Vladimir Petrov dies -- taught Russian at Yale
Grants support innovative new projects using digital media
Campus Notes


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Scott Bennett