EDUCATION

• M.L.S., School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University, Bloomington IN, 1986
• Ph.D., History, Indiana University, 1981
• M.A., History, Indiana University, 1976
• B.A., History and Anthropology, Stanford University, Stanford CA, 1973

HONORS, AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

• Fulbright Research Fellowship, Vienna, Austria, 1977-78
• Indiana University Graduate School Fellowship, 1976-77
• National Merit Scholarship, 1969

LIBRARY EXPERIENCE

• Assistant Director for Collections, Michigan State University Libraries, East Lansing MI, 2005-present
• Head, Main Library Reference, Michigan State University Libraries, 1998-2005
• Head, Social Sciences and Humanities Reference, Michigan State University Libraries, 1996-1998
• Humanities Librarian, McCabe Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA, 1988-96
• Assistant Librarian for Reference, Duggan Library, Hanover College, Hanover IN, 1986-88
• Supervisor of Microforms Services, Serials Department, Main Library, Indiana University, Bloomington IN, 1979-86

PUBLICATIONS

• "Structures and choices for ready reference Web sites," Reference Librarian 91/92 (2005): 117-138.
• "Visibility as a factor in library selection of ready reference Web resources," Reference Services Review 33/2 (2005): 161-172.
• Moderne Geschichte Des Balkans (German translation by Georg Liebetrau). Seuzach, Schweiz: BoD GmbH, 2004.
• "Reference collections, reference services, and the change from text to technology," New Library World 104/4-5 (May/June 2003): 135-141.
• "Rates of participation by faculty book selectors in a college library," MLA Forum I/1 (February 20, 2002). Available online: http://www.mlaforum.org/volumeI/issue1/rates.html.
• "Publish or perish? Three reasons to consider online journals," Michigan Librarian 66/11 (September/October 2001): 6.
• "Declining that invitation: A response to Jerry Campbell," Reference and User Services Quarterly 40/3 (Spring 2001): 209-212.
• "Libraries and imagination at the dawn of the World Wide Web," Libri 50/3 (September 2000): 137-156.
• "Agrarian Parties," "Agriculture," "Peasant Revolts," and "Peasants" in Richard Frucht (ed.), Encyclopedia of Eastern Europe: From the Congress of Vienna to the Fall of Communism (New York: Garland, 2000): 4-6 and 566-568.
• "Authoring specialized Web sites: The Education Book Reviews Web site," RSR: Reference Services Review 28/1 (2000): 47-54. Co-authored with Katherine Corby.
• "Novas, niches, and icebergs: Practical lessons for small-scale Web publishers," JEP: The Journal of Electronic Publishing 5/2 (December 1999). Available online: http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/05-02/sowards.html.
• "Observations of a first-year middle manager: Thirteen tips that can save you," C&RL News 60/7 (July/August 1999): 523-525, 541. Available online: http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues1999/julyaugust4/observations.htm.
• "A typology for ready reference Web sites in libraries," First Monday 3/5 (May 1998). Available online: http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/594/515.
• "'Save the time of the surfer': Evaluating Web sites for users," Library Hi Tech 15/3-4 (1997): 155-158.
• "Alphabetical order as a defect in the creation of OCLC lender strings," Journal of Interlibrary Loan and Information Supply 1/4 (1991): 53-69.
• "Library collections under a dual system: Hanover College, 1827-1909," Libraries and Culture 24/3 (1989): 317-343.
• Austria's policy of Macedonian reform. Boulder CO: East European Monographs, 1989.
• "Historical fabrications in library collections," Collection Management 10/3-4 (1988): 81-88.

REVIEWS

• Review of 100 Great American Novels You've (Probably) Never Read, by Karl Bridges, in American Reference Books Annual 2008 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2008): 432.
• Review of Gothic Literature: A Gale Critical Companion, edited by Jessica Bomarito, in American Reference Books Annual 2007 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2007): 449.
• Review of Supernatural Literature of the World: An Encyclopedia, by S. T. Joshi and Stefan Dziemianowicz, in American Reference Books Annual 2007 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2007): 450.
• Review of Pop Culture Germany! Media, Arts, and Lifestyle, by Catherine C. Fraser and Dierk O. Hoffmann, in American Reference Books Annual 2007 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2007): 500.
• Review of G. K. Hall Bibliographic Guide to Slavic, Baltic, and Eurasian Studies 2003, in American Reference Books Annual 2006 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2006): 49.
• Review of Germany and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History, edited by Thomas Adam, in American Reference Books Annual 2006 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2006): 347.
• Review of Science Fiction Quotations: From the Inner Mind to the Outer Limits, edited by Gary Westfahl, in American Reference Books Annual 2006 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2006): 481.
• Review of Acronyms, Initialisms & Abbreviations Dictionary (34th ed.), edited by Kathleen J. Edgar, in American Reference Books Annual 2005 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2005): 3.
• Review of The History of the Baltic States, by Kevin O'Connor, in American Reference Books Annual 2004 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2004): 222-223.
• Review of Austria-Hungary & the Successor States: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present, by Eric Roman, in American Reference Books Annual 2004 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2004): 223.
• Review of Der Dreibund: Europaeische Grossmacht- und Allianzpolitik vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg, by Holger Afflerbach and Aristocratic Redoubt: The Austro-Hungarian Foreign Office on the Eve of the First World War by William D. Godsey, Jr., for HABSBURG, H-Net Reviews (July, 2003). Available online: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=39401059590267.
• Review of The History of Serbia, by John K. Cox, in American Reference Books Annual 2003 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2003): 220.
• Review of Gothic Writers: A Critical and Bibliographical Guide, edited by Douglass H. Thomson, Jack G. Voller and Frederick S. Frank, in American Reference Books Annual 2003 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2003): 476-477.
• Review of Science Fiction and Fantasy Readers' Advisory: The Librarian's Guide to Cyborgs, Aliens, and Sorcerers, by Derek M. Buker, in American Reference Books Annual 2003 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2003): 477-478.
• Review of The New York Times Twentieth Century in Review: The Balkans, edited by Ana Siljak, in American Reference Books Annual 2002 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2002): 212-213.
• Review of Armenia: A Historical Atlas, by Robert H. Hewsen, in American Reference Books Annual 2002 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2002): 214.
• Review of International Dictionary of Library Histories, edited by David H. Stam, in American Reference Books Annual 2002 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2002): 261-262.
• Review of Copyright in Cyberspace: Questions and Answers for Librarians, by Gretchen McCord Hoffmann, in American Reference Books Annual 2002 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2002): 281.
• Review of Effective Management of Student Employment: Organizing for Student Employment in Academic Libraries, by David A. Baldwin, Frances C. Wilkinson and Daniel C. Barkley, in American Reference Books Annual 2001 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2001): 270-271. Co-authored with Joycelan Dick.
• Review of Who Are the Macedonians? (2nd edition), by Hugh Poulton, for HABSBURG, H-Net Reviews (June, 2000). Available online: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=18316962307937.
• Review of Austria (World Bibliographical Series, v. 66), compiled by Michael Mitchell, in American Reference Books Annual 2000 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000): 49.
• Review of Women Under the Third Reich: A Biographical Dictionary, by Shaaron Cosner and Victoria Cosner, in American Reference Books Annual 2000 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000): 215.
• Review of Regional Markets: The Demographics of Growth and Decline, by Thomas G. Exter, in American Reference Books Annual 2000 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000): 355-356.
• Review of Science Fiction Writers, 2nd edition, edited by Richard Bleiler, in American Reference Books Annual 2000 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000): 469-470.
• Review of Croatia (World Bibliographical Series, v. 216), compiled by Cathie Carmichael, for HABSBURG, H-Net Reviews (November, 1999). Available online: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=29287943745410
• Review of Federal Information Policies in the 1990s: Views and Perspectives, edited by Peter Hernon, Charles R. McClure, and Harold C. Relyea, in Library and Information Science Annual 1999 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1999): 119.
• Review of Slaves of the Machine: The Quickening of Computer Technology, by Gregory J. E. Rawlins, in Library and Information Science Annual 1999 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1999): 133.
• Review of Libraries, Immigrants, and the American Experience, by Plummer Alston Jones, Jr., in Library and Information Science Annual 1999 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1999): 137.
• Review of Enrichment: A History of the Public Library in the United States in the Twentieth Century, by Lowell A. Martin, in Library and Information Science Annual 1999 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1999): 138.
• Review of Balkanologie, edited by Patrick Michels, for HABSBURG, H-Net Reviews (July, 1999). Available online: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=7206933099889
• Review of Vienna (World Bibliographical Series, v. 201), compiled by C. M. Peniston-Bird, in American Reference Books Annual 1999 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1999): 51.
• Review of The Pocket Oxford-Duden German Dictionary, revised edition, edited by Dudenredaktion and the German Section of the Oxford University Press Dictionary Department, in American Reference Books Annual 1999 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1999): 388.
• Review of the American Library Association Archives Web site, The University of Illinois Archives, Urbana-Champaign, Ill., for H-LIS, H-Net Reviews (October, 1998). Available online: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/exhibit/showrev.cgi?path=72
• Review of A Historical Dictionary of Germany's Weimar Republic, 1918-1933, by C. Paul Vincent, in American Reference Books Annual 1998 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1998): 208.
• Review of The Oxford-Duden German Desk Dictionary: English-German, German-English, edited by Michael Clark and Olaf Thyen, in American Reference Books Annual 1998 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1998): 446.
• Review of Copyright and the NII: Resources for the Library and Education Community, compiled by the ARL Copyright Team, in Library and Information Science Annual 1998 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1998): 76.
• Review of A Copyright Sampler, edited by Wanda K. Johnston and Derrie B. Roark, in Library and Information Science Annual 1998 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1998): 76.
• Review of Copyright: Interpreting the Law for Libraries, Archives, and Information Services, Second Edition, by Graham P. Cornish, in Library and Information Science Annual 1998 (Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1998): 76-77.
• Review of Von den Balkankriegen zum Ersten Weltkrieg: Kleinstaatenpolitik und ethnische Selbstbestimmung auf dem Balkan, by Katrin Boeckh, for HABSBURG, H-Net Reviews (March, 1997). Available online:
  http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=17638864329641
• Review of The 19th Century Macedonian Awakening: A Study of the Life and Works of Kiril Pejchinovich, by Michael Seraphinoff, for HABSBURG, H-Net Reviews (April, 1996). Available online:
  http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=14099850535026
• Review of Who Are the Macedonians?, by Hugh Poulton, for HABSBURG, H-Net Reviews (July, 1995). Available online:
  http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=7560851371278
• Review of Library Collections of Harvard, Yale, and Brown from the 1780's to the 1860's, by Louis J. Pisha, in Library and Information Science Research 15/4 (1993): 380-381.
• Review of A History of the Oklahoma State University Library, by Roscoe Rouse, Jr., in Library Quarterly 63/3 (1993): 396-397.

PRESENTATIONS

• "E-Books: Issues, Perspectives and the Future" -- panel presentation at the Michigan Library Association Academic Libraries Day in Mt. Pleasant MI on May 9, 2008.
• "Research and Publishing in the Library World, or What Goes on Behind the Mirror" -- panel presentation at the Michigan Library Association Annual Conference in Lansing MI on November 7, 2007.
• "Statistics for Academic Libraries" -- presentation at a workshop held by the Access, Collections and Technical Services Roundtable of the Michigan Library Association in East Lansing MI on March 17, 2006.
• "From Text to Technology: The Changing Reference Collection" -- panel presentation with Margaret Landesman and Michael Miller, at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Atlanta GA on June 18, 2002. Summary slides available online: http://gort.ucsd.edu/ek/codes/swsala02.ppt
• "Writing and Publishing for Academic Librarians" -- panel presentation with Leonard Kniffel, Joseph Mika and Michael Seadle, at a workshop held by the Academic and Research Libraries Division of the Michigan Library Association in East Lansing MI on April 9, 2001.
• "What to Keep and What to Toss" -- panel presentation with Mary Cary and Richard Vettese, at the Michigan Library Association Annual Conference in Dearborn MI on November 4, 1999. Summary available online: http://www.lib.msu.edu/sowards/staff/professional/keeptoss.html

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

• Lecturer, Department of History, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA
  • "The Balkans in the Age of Nationalism" (Fall 1993, Fall 1995)
    • Syllabus
    • Lectures
  • "Eastern Europe" (Fall 1991)
• Faculty-Member-in-Residence, Collins Living Learning Center, Indiana University, Bloomington IN
  • "Hitler: Comparative Views" (Spring 1986)
  • "Terrorists and Terrorism" (Spring 1985)
  • "On War" (Spring 1984)
  • "History and Biography" (Spring 1983 and Fall 1985)
  • "Strauss, Klimt, Freud, Hitler: The Rise and Fall of Vienna, 1848-1938" (Spring 1982)
• Lecturer, Honors Division, Indiana University
  • "Freshman Honors Seminar" (Fall 1982, Fall 1983, Fall 1984)

EDITORIAL BOARDS

American Reference Books Annual Advisory Board

Guide to Reference Sources Editorial Review Board

Library Hi Tech Editorial Advisory Board

ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIPS AND SERVICE

Michigan Library Association (MLA)

• Conference Committee (2002; 2004; 2005)
• Membership Committee (1999-2001; 2002-2006 as chair; 2006-present)
• MLA Forum Editorial Board (2007-present)
• Multicultural Roundtable (2004-05 as board member-at-large)
• Reference Division (2001-2002 as board member-at-large)

Library History Round Table (LHRT) of the American Library Association (ALA)

• Gleason Award Committee (2006-present)
• Nominating Committee (1996-1997; 1999-2003 as chair; 2003-2006; 2006-2007 as chair)
• Research Committee (1994-1995 as chair)
• Secretary Treasurer (1998-1999)

CAMPUS SERVICE AND COMMITTEE WORK

Michigan State University Libraries

• Collection Coordinators (1997-present)
• Data Base Selection Committee (1996-1998)
• Data Base Advisory Committee (1998-2004)
• Faculty Affairs Committee (1997-1998 as chair)
• Food and Drink Task Force (1997)
• Front Door Group (1999-2003)
• Innovative Interfaces OPAC User Screens Task Force (1998-1999)
• Library Advisory Committee on Reappointment, Continuous Appointment and Promotion (2002-2004)
• Library Staff Association (2002-2003 vice-chair)
• Public Services Division Council (1996-2005)
• Search Committees (Assistant Director for Public Services 1997; State Documents/Social Sciences Librarian 1999 as chair; Reference Librarian 1999 as chair; Health Sciences Librarian 2000; Health Sciences Librarian 2001; MAGIC Librarian 2003; Reference Librarian 2004 as chair)
• Steering Committee (1997-1998 as FAC chair; 1998-1999; 1999-2000 as chair; 2000-2004 ex-officio as Faculty Council representative)

Michigan State University

• Faculty Council/Academic Council (2000-2004)
• University Standing Appeals Panel (1998-2000)

CONTACT INFORMATION

• E-mail: sowards@msu.edu
• Telephone and voice-mail: 517-432-6123, ext. 126
• Surface mail:
  Michigan State University Libraries
  100 Library
  East Lansing MI 48824-1048 USA