From the Editor

This issue is full of articles about the Chapter’s Annual Meeting and MLA2010, and also includes our regular columns, except for the TechnoHumanist Corner, which will return in the fall. Thanks to Dan Kipnis, Priscilla Stephenson, and Julia Lewis for their MLA2010 reports. I welcome “newbie” Marita Malone to the Chronicle’s pages; she attended her first MLA conference and lived to tell about it. Enjoy her lighter side of the conference. Thanks also to Martha Kirby and Gary Kaplan, who provided a report on an event sponsored by the Philadelphia area chapter of SLA.
I would like to extend a personal thank you to Joan McKenzie, who retired from her position at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia in the spring. She and I roomed together at 3 by the Sea, and I got to know her better during that time and when I interviewed for a position at CPP. Whenever the Board needed information from years past, including information from older issues of the Chronicle, Joan was always able to put her hands on it promptly. I will miss her presence at Board meetings.

Sadly, I must note the passing of Janet Clinton, our Calendar editor, this past April. Janet and I only had a relationship via email in putting together the Chronicle. She was the only person who always turned in her column prior to deadlines, without the need of a reminder, and I think that spoke well of her work ethic and her sense of responsibility to her fellow Chapter members. Before her passing, she told me that she would be out on medical leave, but did not reveal details regarding her condition, and I respected her privacy regarding that matter. Although she provided instructions regarding assembling the Calendar so that someone else could manage it in her absence, it was my understanding (or perhaps my assumption) that she intended to return to her editing duties. So to me her passing is sudden. And I will miss her. Sheryl Panka-Bryman has taken over the Calendar editing duties.

I would like to welcome Crystal Knapp, our new Webmaster. This is the first issue she is publishing. And special thanks to Gary Kaplan, our former Webmaster, for providing his wisdom and guidance during the publishing process. Gary and I have held one another’s virtual hands publishing the Chronicle, assuring one another that photos will be fixed, that formatting will look ok, and that we should always remember to breathe.

I would like one or two chapter members to step up and fill two open positions within the Communications Committee: First, we need a new co-editor for the “Meet Your Fellow Chapter Member” and “Member & Library News” columns, to take on JoAnn Babish’s task in alternating editing duties with Sheryl Panka-Bryman. As JoAnn is stepping down from that role, I would like to thank her for her contributions. Second, we need someone experienced in formatting newsletters to do the same with the Chronicle. If you can turn what you see here into a nice looking PDF, we want you.

I hope you enjoy this issue and the rest of your summer.

Rachel