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Every chapter in My Life Story includes information about me, my work, my family and my friends.It also includes information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought important enough to include. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, most of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their stuff removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
1990 was not my best year, nor was it the worst. I felt like I was in limbo, however, biding my time in Ann Arbor until I could find my way back home to the Southwest. I continued to work at the Undergraduate Library, honing my reference and instruction skills, which I had started to develop when I was hired at the University of Michigan Undergraduate Library in the Fall of 1987. By this point, I had taught scores of classes and had spent hundreds of hours on the reference desk. I had also begun to train reference assistants and to take on classes outside the usual Psychology and English courses we taught every semester. I also continued my involvement in diversity work, participating as a member of the Library Diversity Council, planning film festivals, exhibits and other programs, and engaging in continuous dialogue with my colleagues about issues like racism, sexism and homophobia. I helped co-found the Gay and Lesbian Library Association, was a member of a campus Latino support group called La Alianza, and had worked diligently to enhance the Undergraduate Library’s collections of Chicano literature and Gay studies materials. I felt good about this work in particular. I also continued in the Residency program, and enjoyed the seminars and other learning opportunities that were planned for us by the Library administration. I attended seminars with people like Sharon Hogan, Peter Hernon and the very colorful and radical Sanford Berman. My colleagues in the Residency program were very bright and interesting, and I enjoyed their company. I still intensely disliked my immediate supervisor however, as she continued to try to hold me back. There was no pleasing her. She didn’t encourage me to go up for a promotion, but the Library administration did. Lucy Cohen, the head of personnel encouraged me to apply, so I went for it, and was granted a promotion to associate librarian in early 1991, in spite of my supervisor’s opinions about my worth. I wasn’t the only one to have issues with her. My colleague Karen had several major run-ins with her as did others in the department. She was a control freak and didn’t think any of us could do as good a job as she could. By the following year, she was “encouraged” by the Library administration to move on, so she started taking courses in the library school to pursue a PhD and was gone shortly thereafter.
My personal life was a mess. Brent and I continued to have our ups and downs. We just couldn’t please each other any longer, and he was never happy. He insisted that I continue going to counseling, which I did, although I thought it was a big waste of time and money. By the end of the year, he moved out for good and our relationship was over. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to work out. We weren’t a good match for each other, and we finally gave up trying to make it work. While at one point, the year before, I was infatuated with someone else, when Brent and I broke up there weren’t any other guys in my life in whom I was interested. By the end of the year, I was free as a bird, but lonely. I longed to go home.
I had good friends, however, and I had good times with them. My two friends Rhett and Judy were great drinking buddies. We would go out to the Blind Pig on Friday nights with my friend Mary Lynn, who was dating Rhett at the time, and have a blast, listening to live music, playing pool and dancing. The country band that played live music always opened with song, Apartment #9, an old Tammy Wynette classic. I just fell in love with that tune and went out in search of all the Tammy Wynette recordings I could fine. My friends and I would also go out bowling on Sunday afternoons. We all liked to drink and smoke weed, and had a great time together. My friend LeAnne was also a lot of fun, and I confided lots of things to her. She was, as I’ve said before, a bit on the kooky side, and had lots of issues, but she was always fun to talk to, and we got along great.
In 1990, I had also met another person who was very interesting. His name was Rupert Whitaker. I can’t remember how we met but h was a graduate student, and very interested in gay men’s literature. Somehow he found out that I was knowledgeable about the topic, and when we met he asked for reading recommendations, which I was more than happy to provide. We soon became good friends and would remain so for the entire year. The whole time we were friends, I had no real idea who Rupert was, but much later I learned that he had contracted HIV in the early 80s and that his partner was one of the first people in England to have died of AIDS. Rupert came from a wealthy family, and when his partner died, he established an AIDS research foundation in his partner’s memory. Rupert was studying to get his PhD when I met him, and he went on to become a well known AIDS researcher and activist, with several advanced degrees, as well as a strong patient advocate. Today he is one of the leading authorities on the virus and has lived longer with it than practically anyone else alive. At some point during our friendship, Rupert turned me on to Buddhism, and I began to attend meetings with him. I wasn’t a very good student however, and dropped out after a few sessions. I did get to meet a Rinpoche however, and that was quite a thrill. I’ll never forget the experience.
I was 31 years old in 1990, still young and “full of life” so to speak. Some people would say I was immature, and in hindsight, I guess I was. It took a long time to slow down, to stop smoking grass and to stop going out to the bars and drinking. I wasn’t happy at Michigan. I knew I needed to get back home sooner or later. I was just biding my time for the opportunity to go back. It would take another two years before I finally made it home.
1990 was also the year I started traveling in earnest. The previous year, I had taken just one trip, and that was to Dallas to attend ALA. In 1990 I took three trips. I went to ALA in Chicago in January and in March, I headed to Tucson with my friend Judy to visit my family, and then in June, it was back again to Chicago for another ALA conference. I loved Chicago, and had a great time exploring it. As of today, I have visited the city 13 times altogether.
For my first visit there, I thought I would save some money, so I reserved a room at the YMCA on the corner of Clark and Chicago Ave. in the northern part of downtown, but it was a real dump. Everything was old and worn, and it was more like a “residence” than a “hotel”. I had a feeling the place wasn’t going to work out for me. After I checked in, I then went to a gay bar I had read about, The Gentry, on Rush St, and I met an older guy at the bar. We started chatting, and when I told him where I was staying, he was shocked, and he urged me to get the heck out of the Y, telling me that it was was a dump and that there were roaches and other critters everywhere in that place. I told him I didn’t know where else to go, so he helped me find a room at the Bismark Hotel on Randolph St. The Bismark was a much nicer, but more expensive place, and was once a very elegant hotel. While it cost more, I didn’t have to worry about any bugs whatsoever. Thank God I ran into that guy.
I was in heaven in Chicago. It was a big city with lots to see, and boy I was sure adventurous! I took the train to the Pilsen district and it was a trip riding the train for the first time and seeing areas outside the downtown part of the city. I went there because I knew it had a big Mexicano population, and I wanted to look for Lucha Villa albums and other Mexican music. I bought some cassettes and a cd, but I don’t remember what exactly. The place I went to was called “Discolandia” and it was on W. 18th St. I also visited the Lozano branch of the public library on 18th Steet. My friend Pat Tarin had worked there at one point in her career. I got there early in the day, so there wasn’t a lot happening on the streets. I later made my way north to Boystown and ate at El Jardin on Halsted St. and bought an Aretha Franklin 12” single (Get it Right!) at a record shop on Belmont. I must have also gone to the gay bars since I was up there in that area.
I did a lot of other stuff while in Chicago that particular time. I soaked it all in. I went to the Art Institute of Chicago and the Newberry Library. I tried to find the Peace Museum, and I did, but I think it was closed. I remember I walked a long way that day.
1990 was also the year I got to see Aretha Franklin perform live. It was the thrill of a lifetime to see her. I went with Brent and my friend Judy. I was initially going to go by myself and had bought a ticket, but then Brent and Judy wanted to go also, so I bought two more tickets, but they were up in the balcony, unlike the first ticket which was in the 11th row, much closer to the stage. I was bummed out because I decided to sit with Brent in the balcony and I gave Judy the good seat. She said the sound was perfect, unlike up in the balcony. I was bummed, but at least I got to see Aretha live. She still had her chops in 1990. In my opinion, by the end of the 1990s her voice had changed too much and didn’t sound as good.
I also saw Etta James and Sweet Honey in the Rock this particular year. Unfortunately, Sarah Vaughan died in 1990. I was very sad about that. I had just seen her perform the previous summer.
My interest in music continued. Not only did I go to concerts, I also collected albums, cassettes and cds. I’ve mentioned before that Ann Arbor was a great place for music buffs. Schoolkids Records, Wazoo Records, Tower Records and other stores stocked some great, hard to find recordings. I became very interested in country music at this time, and started to collect more contemporary country musicians recordings. Carlene Carter, Dwight Yoakam and others were producing some amazing stuff at the time. I also continued to search out Latin music. After my mom died in 1988, I became obsessed with Lucha Villa and other ranchera singers, and was always on the lookout for their recordings. I eventually found her music, spread out all over the country, and I collected it one recording at a time.
I spent Thanksgiving with Brent and his family, and clearly remember that we went with his mom to see Dances with Wolves on Thanksgiving Day in Muskegon. What an amazing movie. The scenery was just breathtaking. By late December, Brent had moved out, and I spent the Christmas break by myself. I don’t remember much about it, but I know Brent wasn’t around. He was gone. We were together for six years altogether. We had some great times, and some very sad times. In the end, we just couldn’t make it work.
The historical Victor Lawson YMCA building, 30 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL.
Back in the day…
The Gentry was known as a “gentlemen’s” bar, and was a bit more upscale than a lot of the other gay bars in town.
The Bismark Hotel on Randolph St.
A vintage map showing the Bismark in relation to some of the other downtown landmarks.
The McCormick Convention Center at the southern edge of downtown. Getting there took some time. It wasn’t walking distance, that’s for sure.
The Art Institute of Chicago. What a great museum.
The Newberry Library, a “private” institution, has some of the world’s great literary treasures and archives. You had to have advanced permission to use it. I barely made it to the gift shop before I was told this.
The gift shop at the Newberry Library
A guide to gay Chicago. There were bars all over the place.
I enjoyed hanging out at Little Jim’s. it was a dump. Places like this are called “dive bars”. No pretentiousness here, just regular guys.
I wrote up this list of record stores before my trip to Chicago. I didn’t make it to very many of these shops, unfortunately. They were spread out all over.
18th St. in the Pilsen district.
Another list of record stores, most of which I didn’t get to.
The Rudy Lozano branch of the Chicago Public Library.
The Rudy Lozano Branch.
Receipts I’ve kept all these years…
I didn’t get to hear live music this time around, but did on subsequent trips. I picked this up at a record store.
One of my first exhibits.
The back side.
From the Detroit Free Press, January 12, 1990. MLK Day events on the Michigan campus.
One of the guest authors this year was Haki Madhubuti.
I turned 31 on January 15.
A card from my colleagues.
My friend Richard never forgot my birthday. It’s the same day as his wife’s.
A card from my dear friend Denise. I guess she had heard I was going to get to see Aretha in concert or this was a coincidence.
A card from my dear uncle Donato and his wife Mary. I bought them both University of Michigan caps and sent them to them for Christmas. After my uncle died, my aunt gave me back her cap.
This was fun. Iremember Alison Krauss and Sweet Honey in the Rock the most.
Sweet Honey in the Rock. This was the second time I’d seen them perform live.
Alison Frauss has such a sweet voice, and boy can she play the fiddle!
Detroit Free Press, February 2, 1990. Brent and I went to this show. It was excellent.
This was one of my very first published book reviews. It appeared in the February 1990 issue of “Preview Magazine”.
My friend Judy came with me to visit Tucson in early March. We had a great time.
On our way to Mt. Lemmon.
The views are amazing. I drove up the mountain and Judy drove down the mountain. She had a blast hauling ass. She was an expert driver, unlike me.
I took Judy horseback riding. It was something I had never done before.
My concert ticket for the Aretha Franklin concert.
Aretha Franklin
Detroit Free Press, April 2, 1990.
Premiered on TV on April 8, 1990. I was hooked on this show, until it got way too creepy. I couldn’t watch it after a while.
I loved watching this. It premiered on April 15, 1990.
I bought another Toyota Corolla just like the one pictured above in May. This one lasted a bit longer than the previous two. I wrecked the one I had bought before this one in an accident within a week or so of having bought it. I brought this one home to Tucson with me and drove it until 1993.
Released on 5-11-90
I love Billy Bragg’s version of the Internationale. While I didn’t buy the album at the time it was released, I’m including it here because it is a classic. Below is the video of the title song.
The Residency Group. I’m pictured here with Liz Brown, Gene Alloway, Jay Nagarashi, Elizabeth Robinson, Cass Hartnett, Karen Downing, Candace Miller, and Ruth Gustafson.
Released on June 1, 1990.
My second trip to Chicago took place in June. It was great fun.
The great Sears Tower. Going up to the top was fun..
My very first professional presentation, co-authored with my good friend Karen Downing.
I marched in the gay pride parade with the librarians contingent. My friend Richard DiRusso was with me. We screamed at the onlookers, “Return your books, motherfuckers!”. We could hear people saying, “they don’t look like librarians, that’s for sure!”. Richard and I had started drinking beer earlier in the day. We were feeling no pain when the march started.
Barbara Gittings is pioneer in the world of gay rights, and was one of the first people to openly march in Washington for the cause. I got to meet her at this conference.
What a cool building! The Chicago Water Tower…
This was the second time I saw Etta James live. I went with my friend Gene Alloway. We had a great time.
Released July 13, 1990
This is called a “Choice card”. Part of my job at Michigan was to do collection development, and every month, we were given a stack of these to read so that we could decide whether or not these books were appropriate for the Undergraduate Library collection. I loved this work.
Released on 8-13-90. Carlene Carter’s masterpiece. She’s the daughter of two country music legends, June Carter Cash, and Carl Smith. This albums rocks! See the review below.
From Rolling Stone Magazine, November 1, 1990.
This was the first album released by the Texas Tornados. I would later see them live in Tucson in 1992. These guys, Flaco Jimenez, Freddy Fender, Augie Myers and Doug Sahm, are all legends of Texas music. A great debut album.
Released on September 4, 1990. A great album. It rocks out.
This photo of me appeared in Library Journal some time in the Fall. It accompanied the article, “A New Library for the New Undergraduate”, authored by Carla Stoffle.
Released on September 9, 1990. One of my very favorites. Includes the great tune, “Why do I Keep F*!%in’ up?” My theme song for a very long time…
Released on 9-12-90
The title song was written by one of my favorite singers, Janis Ian. This is a wonderful album. Released on September 21, 1990.
Rupert Whitaker. He and I became good friends for a while. He turned me on to Buddhist meditation.
I did this display for National Coming Out day, if I”m not mistaken. One night a couple of guys tried to knock over the whole case, but were stopped by the student staff members. They were trying to be “good Christians”.
I liked to keep track of the books I ordered.
Released on October 16, 1990.
Released on October 22, 1990.
Released on October 29, 1990.
He’s my favorite male country artist. This was released on October 30, 1990.
Released on October 30. She was going through a divorce at the time. This is not a very upbeat album, but it’s very good nevertheless.
This album reminds me of our break up. I bought it sometime in December, around the time Brent left the apartment for good. It was released on November 6, 1990.
The University administration got a lot of push back after this memo was released. The PC wars were about to begin in earnest the following year, and the fallout from this was precursor of what was to come.
A great compilation. I didn’t really start liking Madonna until the following year. This album was very popular. Released on 11-13-90
Released on 11-21-90. I saw this in Muskegon with Brent and his mom.
Brent and I broke up in December 1990, after having been together for six years, since December 1984. We tried hard to make it work, but this time it was over for good.
Reference services in academic libraries have evolved significantly since the mid-1980s. In 1985-86, when I attended Library School at the University of Arizona, I took several courses in reference service, including basic reference, information sources in the humanities, and administration of reference.
“Introduction to Reference Work, Volume I”, (1982) by William A. Katz, was my textbook for the class, “Basic Reference”, LIS 505, taught by Dr. Donald Dickinson in 1985.
I also completed a six month internship at the UA LIbrary reference desk.
The University of Arizona Library Reference desk. Pat Paylore, a reference librarian, is sitting at the desk. In the background is the reference collection. It filled the entire west end of the 2nd floor.
Librarians back then did not have computers or the Internet to rely upon for finding information or finding facts. Instead, they used, among other paper-based tools, dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, chronologies, directories, indexes, bibliographies and of course, the card catalog.
The card catalog at the University of Arizona LIbrary. It was divided into the subject catalog, and the author title catalog. Pictured is just one of five or six rows of catalog drawers. Technical services staff worked day and night to keep the catalog up-to-date. The Technical Services department in the Library in the late 80’s had over 70 staff to do this work.
In 1987, after spending seven months working as a children’s librarian at the Nogales-Santa Cruz County Public Library, (my first job after library school), I was hired at the University of Michigan and worked in the Undergraduate Library as a reference and instruction librarian for five and a half years. I worked the desk an average of 12 hours a week and spent many, many hours providing classroom-based library instruction. From 1990 to 1992, I managed the reference assistant program, hiring and training graduate students in the art of reference service.
I am pictured here sitting at the reference desk at the University of Michigan Undergraduate Library, chatting with a reference assistant. The computers in the background were called “cd-rom terminals” and they provided access to single tools like “PsychLit” a computerized version of Pscyhological Abstracts.
One of my projects at the reference desk was to review reference sources in this book and “annotate” them. This was considered the reference librarian’s bible.
In 1992, I was hired at the University of Arizona Library as the Assistant to the Dean for staff development, recruitment, and diversity. My reference skills proved to be invaluable in my new job, as I considered myself an expert user of the library, and I could easily use indexes, the library catalog and other reference tools to find information related to my new job. I served as the Assistant to the Dean for 8 years.
During that 8 year-period, computers were starting to transform the way libraries provided access to information. Online catalogs made keyword searching possible, and over time more and more reference tools were available in computerized formats. However, it took a long time for computers to completely make paper-based reference tools a thing of the past. Librarians who provided reference service in specific subject areas continued to rely on what are known as “research guides” to do their work. Here are a few examples:
In 2000, I decided to shift gears and I joined the Fine Arts and Humanities team at the UA LIbrary, and my new areas of focus (with some changes over time), were music, dance, media arts, theater arts and Africana Studies. My office was in the Fine Arts Library, and my duties included reference, faculty liaison work, library instruction and collection development. I created subject research guides and spent a great deal of time adding diverse materials to the music collection, which while strongly focused on Western Art Music, held very little material on world music, jazz, Latin American music or popular music. I also did library instruction for students in theater arts, music, dance, media arts and, later, Africana studies.
By the early 2000’s, the World Wide Web had gained a strong foothold across the globe, and more and more resources were becoming available electronically. Wikipedia became the all-in-one, go to reference source for many people, especially students, and many libraries began changing how they provided reference services. Some began hiring paraprofessionals to staff their reference and information desks or eliminated reference desks altogether, and librarians who specialized in reference, were encouraged to develop new skills in other areas such as assessment, grantsmanship, and knowledge management.
Below is a sampling of the kinds of training I did and the research guides I created while a public services librarian at the Fine Arts Library:
Basic Music Reference Sources / 2005. This is the outline to a training session I created for staff at the University of Arizona Fine Arts Library. It was designed to give a basic orientation to the topic.
Country Music Reference Resources / 2005. This is comprehensive resource guide to country music that I put together in 2005 when I worked at the Fine Arts Library. It has not been updated since then. It includes some websites (likely outdated by now), but consists mostly of books, the majority of which are available at the University of Arizona’s Fine Arts Library.
Resources for the Study of Early/Modern Music. / 2006. This is a research guide I prepared for a class in the Group for Early/Modern Studies program at the University of Arizona in 2006.
Congressional Universe Training session / Workshop, April 29, 2010. I conducted this research database workshop as a member of the Library’s Research Services Support Connection Development Team. The database covers a variety of governmental and congressional resources.
Latin Music Resources / Web page, March 27, 2011. A page I created when I was the music, dance and theater arts librarian in 2011. The links no longer work, as the page is inactive, but there are still useful resources included.
The Flute: A Resource Guide / Web page, June 10, 2011. I created this web page as a resource for flute students and members of the National Flute Association when I was working out of the Fine Arts Library. The web page is no longer available, and the links in many cases do not work, but much of the information is still relevant and useful.
I worked as a member of the Fine Arts Humanities Team (which later became Team Y, and then Research Support Services) until 2011. At that point, the Dean of the Library offered me a position in Special Collections to manage the department’s exhibits and events program and to focus on building collections in the performing arts, with an emphasis on the Southwest.
As a member of Special Collections, I curated exhibitions for the Main Library, the Science Engineering Library and Special Collections from 2012 to 2018. In addition to serving as curator for the performing arts, over time I also took on management of the department’s architectural collections. Since 2019, I have managed our virtual reference services. Learning new areas and new skills came easily to me, as I continued to rely on my research skills to come up to speed on subjects and issues that I had not previously worked on.
So here we are. I was asked to do a session for you on how we do reference in Special Collections. I thought I would add some background for you, so that you have an idea of the work I’ve done in the area of reference, and so that you get a sense of how computers and the internet have, over time changed the work that librarians do.
Special Collections librarians and archivists provide access to rare, unique, and one-of-a-kind materials and material housed in archival or manuscript collections. Reference service within the context of a special collections library or archives, is really no different from the traditional reference that librarians have provided over time. While more and more material is becoming available digitally, most of the resources found in special collections and archival repositories requires physical access, human intervention and the use of fact tools and finding tools.
Source: “Providing Reference Services for Archives and Manuscripts”, by Mary Jo Pugh, Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005.
Public services in our department have changed a great deal over the past 20 years. At one point, archivists and librarians staffed the front desk, and individuals seeking access to our materials worked with specialists in the department to gain access to our archival holdings. Finding aids/collection guides were not available electronically. The librarians and archivists on staff needed to build their expertise and knowledge of our collections over time. (Arizona Archives Online, which provides access to the finding aids for materials in Special Collections, was established over 20 years ago, and was one of the first such tools available for accessing archival materials. Our department was part of this effort from the beginning, but it took many years to get all of our finding aids loaded into the system).
Approximately 10 years ago, the Library administration decided to have members of the library’s access and information services team (some had library degrees but all were paraprofessionals) manage our front desk, which they did until the end of 2019. They relied upon the Special Collections archivists and librarians to provide in-depth consultations for patrons whose needs were not readily identifiable. The AIS staff also managed our electronic reference service, and also passed on to the specialists on the staff those questions that required more in-depth subject expertise.
In 2019, the administration made yet another change, and pulled AIS staff out of Special Collections, putting the front desk operations back in the hands of Special Collections staff. This required shifting some job duties and making room in everyone’s schedules for spending time at the desk. It also required that Special Collections staff take on management of the virtual reference tools that had been used primarily by AIS staff. We had to re-learn how to use the library’s circulation system, which was new to most of us, (we switched from a company called Innovative Interfaces, Inc. to ExLibris/Alma just a couple of years ago), and we had to learn how to use Libanswers, a module in a product called Libapps, produced by a company called Springshare.
LibApps
In March 2020, just three months after Special Collections staff took over management of the front desk, the pandemic hit, and we were closed down, but still did our best to provide reference services and access to our collections. We publicized on our website that we were closed, but encouraged users to use our Services page to request research assistance and digital copies of materials, which we later started providing when possible.
In July 2020, I worked with Patricia Ballesteros, a staff member in the department, to develop a set of guidelines for the provision of reference and reading room services for users of Special Collections. It was revised a couple of times since then. The document is titled, “Recommendations for Reference/Research Consultation and Reading Room Services.“
I currently manage our Libanswers system, and twice a day I check the “queue” to see which questions have come through. These questions are either requests for appointments to view our collections, requests for subject assistance, requests for digital copies of material or permissions requests. My job is to handle those questions that I feel I can adequately answer, to handle copyright and permissions requests, and to route to the staff those questions that require their expertise. Our duplications process is handled by Patricia Ballesteros. She also manages the appointments process and the reading room operation. Because we provide service by appointment only, we are better able to prepare for our patrons’ visits, and we have their materials ready for them to view when they arrive. We allow only three people in the reading room at a time at present and provide services Monday through Friday from 10 to noon and 2 to 4pm.
Staff also receive questions directly via email or telephone. Another job I have is to gather monthly statistics on our reference service. The LibApps product contains a module called Libinsight that we use to report our statistics. We gather information on our user population, what materials they use and how frequently we respond to questions.
I recently conducted a brief training session for Special Collections staff on statistics gathering. It was in the form of a powerpoint presentation To view it, click on the following title: “Keeping our statistics up to date”.
Each year, we answer approximately 1,000 questions. You can see what our areas of focus are by going to the Special Collections page and clicking on the words “explore our collections“.
The reference interview is a very important part of the process of helping people find what they’re looking for. Sometimes, they won’t be direct about what they need, so it’s important to probe a little by asking clarifying questions. Patron’s sometimes are nervous or afraid to reveal too much information. You should tread lightly if the patron shows any signs of hesitation. Our patrons have privacy rights, and its important to treat the consultation process professionally and to keep information confidential, especially if it is in any way sensitive or if the patron requests confidentiality. Sometimes the patron doesn’t really know what they are looking for, so the job of the specialist is to help guide them in determining what resources might be useful to them. Because at present we are not providing walk in service, we encourage our users to use our online tools to figure out what they want. We also refer users to our specialists for additional assistance.
We sometimes get customers who want us to do all their research for them. At times, we do accommodate such requests, particularly if the person making the request is a major donor. Most of the time, however, we let our customers know that we can usually spend only up to 30 minutes to an hour doing research for them. As was just noted, we encourage our users to learn how to find information on their own by pointing them to a variety of tools, such as our online catalog, our Special Collections page, our indexes page, Arizona Archives online or any number of other sources available to them.
Here is a list of specialists in Special Collections:
Roger Myers: rare books, photography, artists books and anything having to do with the history of Special Collections
Veronica Reyes-Escudero: Borderlands Studies, the Southwest.
Bob Diaz: performing arts (theater, vaudeville, dance, music, film), architecture.
Erika Castano: University of Arizona History, digital formats.
Steve Hussman: political affairs, history of science, medicine, mining.
Trent Purdy: audio/visual formats, curator for the USS Arizona collection.
Amanda Howard: audio/visual formats.
Randi Johnson: digital formats.
Lisa Duncan: general questions about our archives.
While local history falls under the category of “borderlands studies”, there are others on the staff with knowledge about Tucson and Arizona history, including Erika Castano, Bob Diaz, and Roger Myers.
We tend to get lots of questions about UA history, architecture, specifically the Joesler collection, Arizona history, mining, vaudeville, local history and genealogical questions.
There are a lot of tools that we use to help our patrons. Some are fact tools, such as directories and almanacs, others are finding tools such as indexes and catalogs. Below are links to various sections of the library website, to research guides and other resources that are important to know about when working in Special Collections.
Helpful Resources:
About Special Collections page: This information page tells the reader what the University of Arizona Library’s Special Collections department’s areas of strength are: (Arizona and the Southwest, U.S-Mexico Borderlands, Literature, Political Affairs, Performing Arts, History of Science and University of Arizona History. Links are also provided to other information, including FAQ’s, hours, location and parking, contact information etc.
Architectural Collections at the University of Arizona Libraries : This page provides an overview of the architecture-related collections held in Special Collections, and provides background information about the various architects represented in our collections
ArchiveGrid . From the home page: “ArchiveGrid includes over 7 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,400 archival institutions represented, ArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies”.
Arizona, Southwestern and Borderlands Photograph Collection. Housed in Special Collections at the University of Arizona, this collection contains photographs, from various sources, of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico including places, people, events and activities, and dating from about 1875 to the present. Formats include postcards, stereographs, cabinet cards, cyanotypes, viewbooks and photoprints.
Arizona and Southwestern Biographical File. The University of Arizona Library, Special Collections. Contains biographical sketches, clippings, articles, and miscellaneous documentation of various people from the late 1800’s to the present. Files vary in size and content and do not include photographs.
Arizona Archives Online . Arizona Archives Online (AAO) provides free public access to descriptions of archival collections, preserved and made accessible by Arizona repositories, including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums. Use this source for finding archival collections housed in the UA Library’s Special Collections department.
Arizona Historical Society Library. “The Arizona Historical Society Libraries & Archives collects published and unpublished material of enduring historical value that allows researchers to explore Arizona’s economic, political, social, and cultural heritage. Formats include manuscripts, photographs, diaries, letters, oral histories, sound recordings, moving images, microfilm, maps, books, and digital files”.
Arizona History (research guide) This guide, compiled by University of Arizona librarian Mary Feeney, provides a select list of basic reference sources on Arizona, as well as a list of indexes and primary research resources useful for conducting more in-depth research in Arizona history and other related topics. Includes information on access to Arizona newspaper.
Arizona Memory Project. The Arizona Memory Project provides access to the wealth of digitally available primary sources in Arizona archives, museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions. Visitors to the site will find some of the best examples of government documents, photographs, maps, and multimedia that chronicle Arizona’s past and present.
Arizona News(research guide): This list of resources is a subset of a guide to materials by type from the University of Arizona Library’s website, and provides links to five different collections of historical newspapers from Arizona. Included are links to Mexican American newspapers, local Tucson newspapers, as well as newspapers from other cities in Arizona.
Hidden collections: These are collections housed within Special Collections that do not have any access tools attached to them.
*University of Arizona Life and Times
*University of Arizona Annual Reports from Colleges and Schools, Depts. Etc. through the early 1980s.
*University of Arizona performing arts programs of musical performances, plays, and dance recitals given by students and faculty in the Schools of Music, Dance and Theater Arts.
*The backlog
A word about genealogical research: We have tended to shy away from answering genealogy-related questions, although we do have some collections that provide access to people’s names and family histories. These include the records of the Catholic Diocese of Tucson, and the Alianza Hispanoamericana Records collection, among others. Genealogy research is time consuming, and there are other places locally where people can get expert advice. The Arizona Historical Society Library offers genealogy reference and the Church of Latter Day Saints has a local Family History Center. There is also a local organization called the Southern Arizona Genealogical Society that offers low cost memberships to people interested in genealogy.
Learn where materials are located. There are several sections of materials. The manuscript collection includes collections in the AZ call number range and the MS call number range. Our book collection uses three different classification systems, the Dewey Decimal system, Library of Congress and the Arizona Collection classification system, which was developed in house many years ago. We also have oversized materials, elephant oversized materials, maps in flat files, pamphlet collections, oversized photo and oversized vertical file collections.
A word about copyright: It’s important to know some basics about copyright law and the permissions process. A great tool for learning about it is housed at Cornell University Library. It’s called the Cornell Copyright Center. Copyright law is always changing, so it’s important to keep up with such changes when possible.
The ability to answer reference questions and research queries is a skill that is developed over time. You won’t know or learn everything all at once, and it’s important to ask for help when you need it. The Special Collections staff often works collaboratively to help our customers with questions that are difficult or time consuming.
I encourage you to learn the basic tools: our catalogs, our indexes, our finding aids and collection guides. Explore, do your own research on topics of interest to you and ask lots of questions. Reference service can be very fulfilling. It helps to have a strong desire to continuously learn new things and to explore a variety of topics.
Sources consulted and other useful titles:
American Reference Books Annual, . Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited (Main Library stacks and reference , Z1035.1 .B5344)
Art Information Research Methods and Sources, by Lois Swan Jones. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing. 1990. (Science Library N85. J64 1990)
Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives, by Gregory S. Hunter. New York; Neal-Schuman, 2003. CD 950 .H86 2003. (New 2020 edition available electronically via Ebscohost)
Guide to Reference: Essential General Reference and Library Science Sources, Chicago: American Library Association, 2014.
Guide to Reference Books, compiled by Eugene P. Sheehy. Chicago: American Library Association, 1976. (Latest edition published in 1996 and authored by Balay and Carrington. Main Library, Z1035.1 .G89 1996)
The Humanities: A Selective Guide to Information Sources, by Ron Blazek and Elizabeth Aversa, Englewood, CO.: LIbraries Unlimited, 1994, 2000. Main Library Z6265 .B53 2000 AZ 221 .
Introduction to Reference Work Volume I: Basic Information Sources, by William A. Katz. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1982. (2002 edition available at Main Library Z711 .K32 2002)
Introduction to Reference Work, Volume II: Reference Services and Reference Processes, by William A. Katz. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978.
Introduction to Reference Work in the Digital Age, by Joseph Janes. (Main Library Z711 .J36 2003)
Literary Research Guide: A Guide to Reference Sources for the Study of Literatures in English and Related Topics, by James L. Harner. New York: Modern Languages Association of America, 1989. ( 1993 edition available at Main Library, PR83 .H373 1993)
Managing Reference Today: New Models and Best Practices, by Kay Ann Cassell. London: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017. Main Library Z711 C354 2017
Music Reference and Research Materials: An Annotated Bibliography, by Vincent H. Duckles and Michael A. Keller. New York: Schirmer, 1988. (1997 edition available at Fine Arts Library, ML 113 .D83 1997)
Providing Reference Services for Archives and Manuscripts, by Mary Jo Pugh. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005. (Main Library CD971 .P84 2005)
Reference and Information Services: An Introduction, by Richard E. Bopp and Linda C. Smith. Englewood, CO.: Libraries Unlimited, 2001. (2011 edition available at Main Library, Z711. R443 2001)
Tucson: A Drama in Time, by John Warnock. Tucson: Wheatmark, 2019. (Bob Diaz private collection).
Tucson: The Old Pueblo–A chronology, Tucson Pima County Historical Commission. Special Collections F 819 .T957 T83 1977
In 2002, Library Journal started a new tradition. It created a supplement called “Movers and Shakers”, which featured profiles of librarians from across the country who LJ recognized for their work in the field of librarianship. Some were leaders, others activists, and others innovators, among other distinctions. I was very fortunate to have been nominated by my colleague and friend Patricia Tarin, and subsequently chosen to be a member of the very first class of Movers and Shakers. The tradition LJ started in 2002 continues to this day. Each year at ALA, LJ hosts a reception for all of the awardees. I’ve attended a couple of these over the years, and they are a lot of fun. Below is the article that appeared in the first Movers and Shakers supplement in March, 2002.
University of Arizona librarian, president of the Tucson County-Pima Library Board
For Bob Diaz, being a librarian is more than a career. It is a calling. “Librarians in this country are at the forefront of social and cultural change,” says Diaz. “Our world is getting smaller and smaller, and we need to continue to provide people with the tools they will need to live and work in an increasingly multicultural world.”
Throughout his life and career, Diaz has been a tireless champion of diversity and democracy, earning him a national reputation as a leader and garnering accolades, from professional recognition to a personal thank you from one of Diaz’s heroes, labor leader César Chávez. As a librarian, Diaz knows that knowledge is power. And as a librarian, Diaz has worked tirelessly to bring the experiences of all people to light, not only through his work at the University of Arizona but also as a three-year member, and now president, of the Tucson-Pima Public Library board.
Vitals
Current position: Librarian, Fine Arts & Humanities team, University of Arizona Library, Tucson Degree: MLS, University of Arizona, 1986 Activities: Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi
Diaz says he didn’t actively seek out a role on the library board, but once the opportunity found him, it was a chance he couldn’t resist. “I thought this would be a great opportunity to do community service in an area that is near and dear to me,” Diaz says. “I was born and raised here in Tucson and have been a user of the public library virtually all my life.” As president, Diaz says he will work with Library Director Agnes Griffen, as well as other board members, to ensure that the information needs of the entire community are met.
“I make it a point to be an advocate for the socioeconomically disadvantaged population in our community,” Diaz says proudly. “Librarians need to continue our efforts to provide free and easily accessible materials to our public that reflect the life experiences of all people,” he says. “We need to be defenders of freedom of expression. And as a profession, we need to develop leaders who are culturally sensitive and who are willing to battle racism, sexism, and homophobia in the workplace.”
The following article appeared in the May 23, 2003 edition of the Arizona Daily Star. Anthony Broadman, a writer for the Star, attended a program on Latin music that I had recently put together for the Center for Creative Photography, and he followed up with me and interviewed me about the work I was doing as the music, dance and theater arts librarian at the University of Arizona Libraries.
