Hopkins libraries launch new Web catalog interface

The ability to search and request library materials has taken a step forward with the introduction of a new Web interface to the Johns Hopkins libraries catalog, now up and running at catalog.library.jhu.edu.

While the old Web interface will remain available in the near term, it will be phased out as improvements are made, says Nathan Robertson, a systems librarian for the Sheridan Libraries.

With an expanded number of search options, users now have more ability to limit and refine their searches. Requesting materials online is also easier. In the past, users had to fill out an online form, essentially retyping the item they had just pulled up from the catalog. The new form is filled in automatically, and users can specify a pickup location.

Robertson notes also that the new online searches are much faster. "Compare a keyword search for 'Shakespeare' in the old and the new," he says. "It would take minutes to return results in the old interface and only seconds in the new one."

The library staff is eager to receive feedback from users. Please send comments to Pamela.Higgins@jhu.edu or call 410-516-8325.

The 2003 salary ranges for staff have been approved

The 2003 salary ranges for staff have been approved and are now posted on the Human Resources Web site. To view charts detailing salaries by category and pay grade, go to www.jhu.edu/~hr1/compensation/salary.html#exempt2003.

Questions should be addressed to the appropriate divisional Human Resources Office.

Coffee, doughnuts--liftoff! Launch viewing set in Schafler

The space shuttle Columbia is tentatively set to soar into space at 6:48 a.m. EST on Feb. 28, carrying with it a new camera for the Hubble Space Telescope, whose construction was guided by astronomers from the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

As a special treat for those who can't make it down to Cape Canaveral to see the launch, the Physics and Astronomy Department has arranged to air the liftoff live on a large-screen television in the Schafler Auditorium of the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy, Homewood campus. All are welcome to attend, and coffee and doughnuts will be served in the lobby. (For last-minute updates on whether the shuttle will go up as scheduled, go to sm3b.gsfc.nasa.gov.)

Holland Ford, professor of astronomy in the Krieger School, led the team that built the Advanced Camera for Surveys, the new camera to be installed orbitally in Hubble by spacewalking astronauts. He estimates that ACS will increase Hubble's already formidable capacity for discoveries tenfold.

The ACS is one of several new or upgraded parts being installed by astronauts on this mission to Hubble, known in NASA parlance as Hubble Servicing Mission 3B.

In comparison to the Wide Field Camera II, another instrument already in use in Hubble, the ACS will provide two times the observational area, two times the resolution and up to five times the sensitivity.

"This means a single ACS image will capture more objects in more detail and at a faster rate than before," says Frank Summers, an astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute.

For more information on ACS, go to the team's site at http://acs.pha.jhu.edu.

East Baltimore students plan marrow registration drive

In an effort to provide patients with a better chance of finding a bone marrow or stem cell donor, Type for Life, Hopkins' third annual marrow registration drive, will take place from March 4 to 8. Organized by students of the schools of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health, this event provides free convenient registration with the National Marrow Donor Program.

Registration, which takes about 20 minutes, involves completing a short health questionnaire and having about three tablespoons of blood drawn by a Hopkins phlebotomist. A driver's license and the address and phone number of two contacts not living with you are required.

Registration is scheduled as follows: March 4, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Carpenter Room, School of Nursing; March 5, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 113 PCTB, School of Medicine, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Children's Zoo, JHH; March 6, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Anna Baetjer Room, Bloomberg School of Public Health; March 7, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., plaza level, Outpatient Center; March 8, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Children's Zoo, JHH.

Questions can be answered at mschaeke@jhmi.edu, 410-502-7716 or www.typeforlife.org. Those typed previously may update contact information at 410-955-6347.

Ambassador Richard Holbrooke to speak Tuesday at SAIS

Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will speak at SAIS at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26. His lecture topic will be "Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia: Reflections on a Decade of Challenges Securing Peace in the Balkans."

Prior to serving as ambassador to the U.N., Holbrooke was appointed by President Clinton in 1995 to assemble a team to end the war in Southeastern Europe, becoming the chief architect of the Dayton Accords.

This lecture, part of the Balkans Forum, is co-hosted with SAIS by the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs and Search for Common Ground.

The event will be held in the Kenney Auditorium of the Nitze Building. To reserve a place, non-SAIS affiliates must contact Search for Common Ground at speterson@sfcg.org or 202-777-2206.

Vaudeville's Ella Shields is subject of cabaret-like performance

Baltimore-born Ella Shields--legendary British music hall and vaudeville male impersonator and stage actress who was the likely role model for 'Victor' in the movie Victor, Victoria--is the subject of a one-woman cabaret coming to the Shriver Hall stage this week.

Harriet Lynn will give a performance titled "Ella Shields: The Woman Behind the Man" on Feb. 27 as part of the Wednesday Noon Series at Homewood.

Lynn's performance features songs Shields sang and a historical perspective of her more than 50-year career from the Victorian era to post-World War II. Shields opened the London Palladium in 1910 and performed several times in the United States on the vaudeville circuit. In 1947, she was mistress of ceremonies at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre as part of an attempt to revive vaudeville.

Harriet Lynn has performed in national Broadway companies of On a Clear Day ... and Hello, Dolly and in regional theater, including Baltimore's Center Stage. She founded Heritage Theatre Artists' Consortium in 1994 and has brought theater arts programming to the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, the Maryland Science Center, Port Discovery and the Jewish Museum of Maryland.

This performance is presented by the university's Office of Special Events and is co-sponsored with Theatre Hopkins. The event is free and open to the public.

Undergrads plans health fair for low-income Baltimoreans

Project Prevent, an undergraduate student group, is sponsoring a free health fair designed to provide preventive medical services to Baltimore City's low-income population. Project Prevent Health Fair will be held from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 2, at the Anvil Building, 1505 Eutaw Place.

Free or low-cost tests for diabetes, depression, high blood pressure and lead poisoning will be administered by health care providers. Vision tests, literature about breast cancer and health insurance information will be available as well.

Participants include the Baltimore City Health Department, the Maryland Children's Health Choice Program, the Arthritis Foundation and CHAMP--the Church Community Health Awareness and Monitoring Program.