Mansfield Library, room 342
32 Campus Drive
The University of Montana
Missoula, MT 59812-9936
elaine.higgins@umontana.edu
(406) 243-4728 ; FAX (406) 243-4067
Education
M.S., Library Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
A. B., Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley
Professional Employment
Senior Catalog Librarian, Mansfield Library, The University of Montana, July 2004 - present
Associate Catalog Librarian, Mansfield Library, The University of Montana, May 1992 - June 2004
also Coordinator of Cataloging, Mansfield Library, The University of Montana, Apr. 1997 - present
Assistant Catalog Librarian, Mansfield Library, The University of Montana, Aug. 1971 - May 1992
Grants Received
I received a grant from the Montana Library Association to cover my attendance at a week-long NACO training session led by Robert Maxwell of BYU, held in Helena, MT, June, 2005.
I helped prepare the grant for the instruction of Indonesian submitted by Professor G.G. Weix of the Anthropology Dept, 2000.
With several others including Susan Mueller and Barry Brown, looked at ways to obtain a grant for retrospective conversion (“recon”) from the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE). On analysis of the criteria, however, we concluded that as ours was not an “unusual” recon project, it would probably not be funded by that agency. Spring, 1998.
Grant funding received to bring in a speaker for the workshop sponsored by the Montana WLN Users Group for the Montana Library Association annual conference, Kalispell, MT, May 1985. Grant was from MLA’s Continuing Education Committee. (I was Chair of the Users Group that year.)
Honors Received
Nominated for membership in the Pilot Club of Missoula, a service club for professional women, 1982.
Included in Who’s Who in Library and Information Services. Chicago : American Library Association, 1982.
Invited participant at the Catalogers’ Institute, Denver, CO, on the Library of Congress’ interpretation of AACR II, Nov. 12-14, 1980.
I am an invited member of Alpha Mu Gamma, national honorary foreign language society, 1963-.
Scholarly Publications
Higgins, Elaine. Language Finger : Have you Anything in ... ? : an index to works in and about languages of all types, other than standard Modern English, in the Mansfield Library at The University of Montana, a series of linked webpages intended as a finding aid to languages other than standard Modern English in the Mansfield Library, and general information about included languages and language families for use by anyone, worldwide.
This work now includes over 600 languages, and I continue to add to it.Fort Missoula Master Planning Committee. The University of Montana Fort Missoula Master Plan, 2004. -- Missoula: The University, 2004.
(I was the Faculty representative on the committee which prepared the report.)Higgins, Elaine. “Language Finger Grows,” in Browsing, vol. 4, no. 2, Spring, 2001.
Higgins, Elaine. “Language Finger,” in Browsing, vol. 2, issue 2, Spring, 1999.
Higgins, Elaine. “Visually-Impaired Reading Room,” in Mansfield Library News Notes, Fall, 1990.
Higgins, Elaine. “Cataloging Oriental Books,” in Mansfield Library News Notes, Spring, 1990.
Higgins, Elaine. “LIRN Rated Risky but Pushing Ahead,” PNLA Quarterly, vol. LI, no. 1, Fall, 1986.
Beall, Julianne. 004-006, Data Processing and Computer Sciences and Changes in Related Disciplines, 19th ed., rev. Albany, N.Y. : Forest Press, 1985.
(I contributed intellectual input, critiquing a pre-publication draft; I am named in the acknowledgements.)
Higgins, Elaine. “A Volcanic Saga : St. Helens Bibliography, part II.” PNLA Quarterly, XLV, Winter, 1981.
Higgins, Elaine. “St. Helens : an Initial Bibliography.” PNLA Quarterly, XLV, Fall, 1980.
Montana State Agency Author Authority File. (microfilm) 1979.
(I was on the statewide committee that put this together; it continued in use until the Montana State Library joined the Library of Congress’ Name Authority Project (NACO); because of this work, our library was ready when NACO came along, and Montana was the 3rd state to join.)
Union List of Montana Serials. 1st ed. Minneapolis, MN : [s.n.], 1977.
(I helped prepare the entries for the Montana State publications in this.)
Higgins, Elaine. “Contents for Chapter 6, AACR.” PNLA Quarterly, vol. XXXIX, no. 2, Winter, 1974-1975.
Additional In-House Publications of a Scholarly Nature
Higgins, Elaine. “Classification,” “Original Cataloging,” “Theses and Dissertations,” and “Resources” (its bibliography) for the online BMS Manual (in process), 2006.
Higgins, Elaine. “Indian Languages of the Americas with Dewey Edition 21 Classification.” 1998.
Higgins, Elaine. “Indian Languages Spoken in Montana.” 1998.
Higgins, Elaine. “A Background Paper for Consideration of Enhanced Service to Users Having Special Needs.” 1984.
Scholarly Presentations
"‘That’s Greek to Me!’ -- Identifying Languages for Technical Services Librarians (and Others)," taught in-house to BMS staff, June 22, 2004.
"'That's Greek to Me!' -- Identifying Languages for Technical Services Librarians (and Others)," program presented at MLA, Bozeman, MT, Apr. 25, 2004.“‘Language Finger,’ or Finding Materials in and about Non-English Languages,” part of “Significant Tidings” program at MLA, Kalispell, MT, Apr. 28, 2001.
“Cataloging a la Carte,” a panel presentation at MLA, Kalispell, MT, Apr. 28, 2001.
“The Mansfield Library’s Response to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,” paper presented at MLA’s “Call for Papers,” Butte, MT, Apr. 26, 1994.
“Library Services Available to the Disabled,” at a meeting of the Disabled Students during Fall Orientation, Sept. 18, 1990.
“Use of WLN and the WLN-PC,” for the Reference librarians, June 19, 1985.
“AACR II - How to Survive It!,” a panel pre-conference workshop in conjunction with MLA, Missoula, MT, May 14, 1981.
Additionally, I have trained various students workers and have also worked with library science students from other institutions interning here. Have also met with various individuals representing departmental libraries across campus, assisting them to organize their materials and make them more accessible. Most recently, this was Sindie Kennedy of UM’s Division of Educational Research and Service, Feb., 2005.
Professional Consulting
Consulted by Rich Gibbons, of Research Heritage Associates, regarding some artifacts discovered at the Marysville, MT historical site, to help identify them. Mar. 23, 2006.
Met with Peggy Jo Thomas, Librarian of the North Valley Public Library, Stevensville, MT, regarding cataloging of multimedia materials, Winter 1996/97.
Professional Memberships
American Library Association
Pacific Northwest Library Association
Montana Library Association
Technical Services Interest Group, MLA
Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Celebration Task Force, MLA
University Faculty Association
Current Committee Service
Member, Montana Library Association Conference Planning Committee
Member, Library Faculty
Chair, Cataloging Committee (both UM Voyager system-wide and in-house)
Member, Library Standing Committee on Diversity
Professional and Community Service
Usher at UM’s Commencement, May, 2005.
Volunteered as a phone answerer for KUFM Radio’s annual pledge drive, Mar., 2004.
Read and evaluated scholarship applications for Financial Aid Office, most years for the last 10.
Faculty Advisor to the UM Chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism (an educational and research “living history” group seeking to re-create the Middle Ages; our local branch is known as the Barony of Sentinels’ Keep.), 1986 - present. As an active member of this Society, I have served as both a local and a regional officer, and have learned or honed many skills. Currently (since Mar., 2001) I am the Baronial Librarian.
I helped prepare the “Illustrated History of Print” exhibit at the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, Spring, 1996.
I prepared a display and wrote a paper in conjunction with it, entitled “The Languages of Vietnam,” for a Vietnamese cultural display in Missoula in 1979, sponsored by Lutheran Social Services.
last updated Oct. 24, 2006