ROLF SWENSEN - City University of New York



ROLF SWENSEN

Social Science Bibliographer

346 Rosenthal Library

Queens College

65-30 Kissena Boulevard

Flushing, NY 11367

rolf.swensen@qc.cuny.edu

EDUCATION:

B.A. in Liberal Arts, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, 1967

M.A. in United States History, University of Oregon, 1969

Ph.D. in United States Social History, Minor in Ancient Rome, University of Oregon, 1975

Certificate in Archives and Records Management Administration, Western Washington University, Bellingham, 1978

M.S. in Library Service, Columbia University, 1985

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Reference Librarian/Social Sciences Bibliographer

Rosenthal Library, Queens College, City University of New York, 1990-Present

Duties: Serve as Reference Librarian; Social Sciences Bibliographer (History, Political Science & Pre-Law); Chair Library Web Page Committee (1995-2000, 2001-Present); coordinate English 110 Initiative (2004-Present); provide Library Instruction; Acting Coordinator of Art and Music Library Services (January - December 2001). Additional non-Library duties during 2004: Teach History 262 and 767: Civil War and Reconstruction, and create and teach History 799: Research Methods in History (repeated in 2005).

Reference Librarian

Hays Library, Pace University, White Plains, New York, 1989-1990 (half -time)

Duties: Provide general reference; administer Circulation/Reserve desk on evenings and weekends; instruct patrons in use of periodical indexes and microforms; conduct computer-assisted literature searches; provide library instruction; order inter-library loan items; compile subject bibliographies; supervise several student assistants.

Curator of Manuscripts

American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie, 1987-1988

Duties: Establish, implement and maintain accessioning and processing policies; develop proposals for external funding; supervise, operate and initiate computer retrieval programs; provide supervision of reference activities; direct preparation of numerous collection guides; offer bibliographic instruction, tours and other forms of public outreach; supervise nine full-time and two part-time staff.

Head of Special Collections/Archives

Montana State University Libraries, Bozeman, 1986-1987

Duties: Develop and refine policies for newly created department; arrange, describe and preserve extensive collection of books, manuscripts and archives; reference; library instruction; collection development; serve on Government Documents desk; supervise one full-time library technician, several work-study students and interns.

Archivist

New York School for the Deaf, White Plains, 1983-1985

Duties: Initiate a School Archives, including arrangement and description of extensive institutional records and manuscripts dating from 1817; reference; develop proposals for external funding; devise demonstrations of historical materials for students and staff; supervise part-time professional librarian and volunteers.

University Archivist

Oregon State University, Corvallis, 1978-1980

Duties: Accession and describe departmental records and manuscripts; manage extensive photograph collection; administer campus-wide records management program; oversee microfilming of current university personnel records and non-current departmental records; reference; develop public relations program; prepare articles on archives and history; supervise staff of six.

TEMPORARY PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS:

Library Consultant

Boriqua College, New York City, 1989-1990 (full-time)

Duties: Design new library; assist with accreditation; revitalize cataloging, including laying the groundwork for automation; provide advice on collection development; reference; library instruction; supervise one full-time clerk, part-time workers, and volunteers.

Museum and Archives Consultant

City of Valdez, Alaska, 1982

Duties: Inventory and develop cataloging and registration system for books, records and objects in Valdez Heritage Center and Valdez Historical Society; supervise part-time staff of four. Final report urged merging of the two competing institutions, which City of Valdez later implemented.

Chief Archivist

National Archives of Papua New Guinea, 1980-1981

Duties: Reorganize all archival and records management functions in the National Government; provide advice to the 19 provinces. Specific tasks involved establishing a National Microfilm Laboratory; reference service, including for Cabinet ministers; initiating planning for new National Archives Building and National Archives Act; recruiting, training, and supervising staff of 17.

PUBLICATIONS:

“’A State of Unrest and Division’: Christian Science in Oregon, 1890-1910.” Pacific Northwest Quarterly, 97 (Winter 2005/2006): 11-18.

“’Our Cause … Does Not Need Advertising, but Protection’: The Christian Science Movement Regroups, 1908-1910.” Journal of the Society for the Study of Metaphysical Religion 10 (Spring 2004): 29-79.

“Pilgrims at the Golden Gate: Christian Scientists on the Pacific Coast, 1880-1915.” Pacific Historical Review 72 (May 2003): 229-262.

“Oregon’s ‘Poetry Landslide’: Col. E. Hofer and the Lariat.” Oregon Historical Quarterly 99 (Spring 1998): 6-47.

Review Essay on Charles E. Rankin, ed., Wallace Stegner: Man and Writer (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996) and Stephen L Tanner, Ernest Haycox (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996). Oregon Historical Quarterly 98 (Fall 1997): 365-368.

“Benjamin Smith Barton,” “Carl William Bucheister,” “Carl Leavitt Hubbs,” “Frank Eugene Lutz,” “Sigurd Ferdinand Olson.” In Biographical Dictionary of American and Canadian Naturalists and Environmentalists, ed. Keir B. Sterling, Richard P. Harmond, George A. Cevasco, and Lorne F. Hammond. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.

Review Essay on Carol Ryrie Brink, Buffalo Coat, Strangers in the Forest, Snow in the River, and A Chain of Hands (Pullman: Washington State University Press, 1993). Oregon Historical Quarterly 97 (Spring 1996): 95-98.

“Dispelling the ‘Old Green Spinach’: Impressions of Bibliographic Instruction in Eastern Europe.” Research Strategies 12 (Spring 1994): 94-114. Co-author: Suzanne Garrison-Terry.

“’All the Fantastic Forms Possible to Imagine’: The Haynes Yellowstone Park Collection at Montana State University.” Wyoming Annals 65 (Spring 1993): 36-53.

“Ernst Hofer: A German Republican Journalist in Iowa, 1855-1890.” Annals of Iowa 51 (Fall 1992): 565-602.

SUBMITTED ESSAYS:

“’You are brave but you are a woman in the eyes of men’: The Rise and Fall of Augusta E. Stetson,” revised essay now under consideration by Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion.

CURRENT RESEARCH:

“A Metaphysical Rocket in Gotham: The Rise of Christian Science in New York City, 1885-1910.” This research is primarily a comparison of the development of two very different local (branch) churches: First and Second Churches of Christ, Scientist, New York, under the leadership respectively of Augusta E. Stetson and Laura Lathrop.

“’The seekers of the Light’: An Occupational Analysis of Christian Scientists in the United States, 1890-1910.” This study will discuss the occupations of 5,000 members and their spouses, utilizing church membership record books.

“’All the Rugged Way’: A Social History of the Christian Science Movement in the United States, 1875-1910.” All previous research will be incorporated into this projected monograph.

PRESENTATIONS:

Remarks and questions about the early history of the Christian Science movement, primarily in Oregon. Sixth Church of Christ, Scientist, Portland, Oregon, July 5, 2006.

"Significant Elements in the Operation of the Christian Science Church: A Report on Research." Sponsored by Friends of the Queens College Library, Rosenthal Library, May 5, 2004. Discussion of research for “’Our Cause … Does Not Need Advertising, but Protection’: The Christian Science Movement Regroups, 1908-1910,” Journal of the Society for the Study of Metaphysical Religion 10 (Spring 2004): 29-79.

"The Upper Room: Some Thoughts and Research on the Origins of Christian Science Reading Rooms and the Establishment of the First Joint Reading Room in New York City in 1903." Given at annual meeting and centennial celebration of the Christian Science Reading Room Tri-State Committee, John Street Methodist Church, New York City, October 4, 2003.

Co-presenter, "Impressions of Bibliographic Instruction in Russia and Ukraine." Baltic and Slavic Division, New York Public Library, November 18, 1993.

Co-presenter, "Libraries, Bibliographic Instruction, and Cultural Institutions in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union." Seminar Sponsored by Long Island Bibliographic Instruction Group, Association of College and Research Libraries, Queens College, May 7, 1993.

AWARDS AND HONORS:

Arrington-Prucha Prize of the Western History Association for the "Best Essay of the Year on Religious History in the West for 2004 for…’Pilgrims at the Golden Gate: Christian Scientists on the Pacific Coast, 1880-1915' published in the May 2003 issue of Pacific Historical Review." Award accepted at Annual Conference of the Western History Association, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 15, 2004.

"Outstanding Service Award" from Continuing Education Program (Pre-Law), Queens College, June 12, 2003.

Nominee for "Throne/Aldrich Award for the best article on Iowa History Published in the Annals of Iowa in 1992," for "Ernst Hofer: A German Republican Journalist in Iowa, 1855-1890." Honorable mention accepted at Congress of Historical Organizations & Annual Iowa State Historical Society Meeting, Des Moines, June 18, 1993.

GRANTS/FELLOWSHIPS:

Fellow, Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity, Boston, Massachusetts, 2005. Four-week, $2,400 award to facilitate research on the “Rise of Christian Science in New York City.”

Recipient of Professional Staff Congress (PSC)-CUNY Research Foundation Grant ($2,000), to conduct research on the history of Christian Science during sabbatical, February 2000-January 2001

Co-Recipient of $2,700 CUNY Faculty Development Grant to conduct workshops of electronic resources in the physical sciences at six CUNY campuses, 1997

SERVICE:

University:

Electronic Resources Advisory Committee, City University of New York, 1996-2000

Grant Evaluator, City University of New York, Research Award Program, Library Review Panel, 1994-1995

College:

Delegate to Queens College Academic Senate, 1993-1997

Elections Committee, Queens College, 1991

Introduced speakers sponsored by the Friends of the Queens College Library:

Prof. Michael Wreszin (History), October 12, 1994

Prof. Emeritus Oscar Shaftel (English, Emeritus), November 16, 1994

Jeanette K. Watson Committee, Queens College, to interview and recommend students for three-year Jeannette K. Watson Fellowships [Thomas Watson Foundation], 2001-2005

Library:

Library Collection Development Steering Committee, 1998-2000, 2001-Present

Library Curriculum Committee, 2003-2006

Library Publications Committee, 1997-2000, 2001-Present

Library Web Page Coordinator, 1995-1999

Library Web Page Committee Chair, 2001-Present

Treasurer, Friends of the Queens College Library, 1994-1996

Professional:

Delegate to Council, Library Association of the City University of New York, 1994-1997

Information Exchange Committee, Rare Books and Manuscripts Section, Association of College and Research Libraries, 1986-1988

Planning Committee, Long Island Bibliographic Instruction Group, Association of College and Research Libraries, 1992-1993

Publications Committee, Library Association of the City of New York, 1992-1995

Task Force on Book Development in Russia and the Newly Independent States, Sponsored by the Center for the Book, Library of Congress, United States Information Agency, and Pubwatch, 1994-1996

COMMUNITY SERVICE:

Archivist, Thendara Mountain Club, Harriman Park, New York, 1994-Present

Initiator and Coordinator, annual October outing for Queens County homeless children, Harriman Park, 1994-Present

Substitute Organist, First Churches of Christ, Scientist, Mamaroneck, New York, 1987-1993, and Darien, Connecticut, 2002-2006

Trail Maintainer, Harriman Park, New York, 1994-1996

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:

American Historical Association

American Library Association

Association of College & Research Libraries

Library Association of the City of New York

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