Yale Bulletin and Calendar

August 26, 2005|Volume 34, Number 1

Alice Prochaska

Yale Librarian Prochaska
appointed to a second term

University Librarian Alice Prochaska has been named to a second five-year term, announced President Richard C. Levin.

In a letter to the Yale community, Levin wrote: "During the review of the state and leadership of the library, ably conducted by Dean Jon Butler, it became evident that there was enthusiastic support for Ms. Prochaska's reappointment. Colleagues cited with admiration her sensitivity and her devotion to energizing the entire staff in thinking about the future of the library. Faculty, managers, professionals and shop stewards alike all applauded the improvements in morale that have occurred on her watch, even as she has continued to strengthen our collections and the services offered to faculty and students."

At Yale, Prochaska heads one of the world's most renowned research libraries. She leads a staff of nearly 600 people and is directly responsible for all parts of the University Library system, with the exception of the Law Library (reporting to the dean of the Law School). Since coming to Yale in 2001, Prochaska has worked with the library staff on a number of initiatives. She says the following have been particular sources of pride:

* Designing and implementing a strategic plan for the Yale Library aimed at creating "a more agile organization and a more inclusive and harmonious workplace."

* Developing closer working relationships and partnerships with other parts of Yale, from the Graduate School to the Yale Center for International and Area Studies to Information Technology Services. These include new initiatives for a "Teaching and Learning Portal" and for a "Collections Collaborative" that will bring together work on materials from Yale's museums and other University collections under library leadership.

* Creating a higher profile for Yale's holdings, including the special collections of the University Library, to increase their usefulness to instructors for generations to come.

* Enhancing all means of finding and delivering library materials, including the significant growth in the use of "Borrow Direct" (bringing books to Yale from nearly all the other Ivy League university libraries); the completion of the automated catalogue and migration to a new library management system that helps library users to find and order the materials they need in all formats, traditional and electronic; and the continuous improvement in quality of service from the Library Shelving Facility. Prochaska notes that ambitious plans are in hand for integrating access to all collections at Yale, "which will transform the personal experience of the library for all members of the Yale community."

* Fostering a strong international program, building resources for international studies at Yale, giving leadership in the field of international librarianship, and strengthening the Yale Library's connection to the wider world.

Prochaska also serves on the council of Yale's Women's Faculty Forum, chairs the trustees of the Lewis Walpole Library and serves on the board of Yale University Press and the advisory committee of the Yale Center for British Art. She is a fellow of Morse College and served for two years as a fellow of the Whitney Humanities Center.

Prochaska came to Yale from the British Library, where she had served as director of special collections since 1992. There she supervised the British Library's program to digitize material from unique and rare collections, and worked in collaborative programs to provide new electronic finding aids for archives in the United Kingdom. She also chaired the National Council on Archives and served as vice-president of the Royal Historical Society, a commissioner of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts and an adviser on a governmental committee for school curriculum initiatives. She holds honorary fellowships from the Institute of Historical Research and from Royal Holloway, University of London.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Margaret Grey is named dean of School of Nursing

Benson to step down as dean of School of Art after this year

Team discovers new planet in the outer solar system

Grant will fund center for study of nervous system

Study: Alligator eggs show effect of oxygen on development

Yale Librarian Prochaska appointed to a second term

New master's program prepares nurses for leadership roles

Exhibit explores the 18th-century 'worlds' of Francis Wheatley

Private portrait miniatures showcase the faces of public figures

Gallery hosting festive open house . . .

Architecture gallery to feature traveling art show 'Ant Farm'

Sterling Library launches new academic year with two exhibits

Researchers create powerful tool for decoding gene functions

Galapagos tortoises more diverse than once believed, say scientists

Team identifies 'signatures' of protons in water

'Canary Database' shows animals offer health warnings for humans

Team digitally reconstructs long-extinct 'Lamp Shell'

'Gene trapping' reveals how flower development is controlled

Discovery may aid development of treatment for melanoma

Drinking alcohol may lower risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Lyme disease prevention program launched in Connecticut

For 35 students, summer was a time of service in New Haven

IN MEMORIAM

John Ostrom: He revolutionized field of paleontology

Robert Abelson: Psychologist was adviser to presidential candidates

Greer Allen: University printer was inspiration to School of Art students