DAVID LESNIASKI

 

College of St. Catherine, 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105 (651) 690-8723

dalesniaski@stkate.edu

http://www.stkate.edu/~dalesnia/

and

3180 New Brighton Rd., Arden Hills, MN 55112 (651) 636-5753

 

Abbreviated vita

 

Current research interests

Librarianship: cataloging / organization of information, especially “user-friendly” cataloging; music librarianship, collection development and collection evaluation, collegial leadership, dissemination of information and, especially, of music.  Music composition: Current projects include organ music and chamber music.

 

 

Education

DMA in music composition and theory, University of Arizona.

MA in library science, University of Minnesota.

MM in music composition and theory, University of Kansas.

BA in music, Haverford College.

 

 

Teaching Experience

College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN. Assistant Professor, (2004- ).

Created and taught courses in cataloging, collection development, academic librarianship, music librarianship, online systems, and served as independent study advisor in graduate Library/Information Science program.

 

St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN (2000-2004)

Designed and taught first-year seminars Long on facts, short on truth (awarded faculty development grant for course) and Time; awarded Lilly Foundation grant for developing new course, Interdisciplinarity.

 

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. Graduate Teaching Assistant in School of Music (1986-88).

Taught honors and regular sections of first-year music theory course; created seminars for honors students.

 

Librarianship

St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN. Librarian, Assistant Professor, 1988-2004 (awarded tenure 1994). Served as

      Co-College Librarian (1999-2001). Together with other co-college librarian, assumed responsibility for overall library program, including personnel, budget, collection, and facilities. Maintained and nurtured a long history of collegial management while providing leadership in program and personnel development. Represented the libraries to outside constituencies; promoted effective communication among the libraries, the campus, and others. Lead significant internal and external review of libraries (the first since 1980).     

     Collection Development Librarian (1995-2004). Overall responsibility for coordinating ca. $900,000 collection budget (all formats) and supervising acquisitions/processing staff and functions.

     Acting systems librarian, (1999). Maintained III system during transition between systems librarians.

      Co-Serials Coordinator (1998-2004). Coordinated serials acquisitions functions and staff.

      Technical Services Coordinator (1991-94) and Cataloging Coordinator (1994). Coordinated the maintenance of established policies and procedures and creation of new policies and procedures within technical services departments (cataloging, processing, serials, acquisitions, government documents) and between technical services and other library areas.  

      Catalog Librarian (1988-1994). Responsible for original and complex copy cataloging of recordings, scores, monographs, serials, videos, software, and other materials, with emphasis on music materials. Cataloged on OCLC in accordance with national standards. Library accepted into Enhance program for sound recordings.  

      Reference (1988-99). Served at the reference desk and participated in reference rotation. Provided individualized reference service and instruction to students, faculty, and others.

 

Friends of Music Library Lilian Voudouri, Athens, Greece. Fulbright Scholar and Consultant (1995).

During sabbatical leave, served as consultant in the creation of Greece’s first research-level music library. Educated library staff and student interns in basic aspects of music librarianship; organized acquisitions procedures and participated in the selection of essential books, scores, and recordings; taught book, score, and recording and classification; strongly advocated, and, when possible, organized cooperative team-oriented approach to staff responsibilities and projects. Served on Greek Fulbright committee evaluating Greek applicants in the social sciences.

 

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Librarian/Cataloger (1983-85).

Created original cataloging, with some copy cataloging, of monographs, serials, scores, and memorabilia in Polish, Ukrainian, and English from the University’s Immigrant Archive Collection in accordance with national standards.

 

Additional library positions (prior to receiving the MLS):

 

Senate Index, Minnesota State Senate, St. Paul, MN. Indexer (1983).

Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, St. Paul, MN. Librarian (1982-83).

Minneapolis Public Library, Minneapolis, MN. Intern (1980-82).

 

 

Representative

Grants, Awards and Commissions

Academic

Curriculum Development Grant, College of St. Catherine, 2006.

Faculty Research Grant, College of St. Catherine, 2005.

Lilly Foundation grant, St. Olaf College, spring 2004, for creation of new course linking spirituality to academic life.

Faculty development grant, St. Olaf College, summer 2000, for creation of new course.

Fulbright research/lecture award to serve as consultant in the creation of Greece’s first research-level music library (Athens, 1995).

Music

Prayer, commissioned by St. Michael’s Parish, Stillwater, 2005.

Fortepiano Etudes, commissioned by the Schubert Club of St. Paul, 1999.

Fantasy on three carol tunes, commissioned by the Minneapolis Vocal Consort, 1993.

Transformations, for band, written for rededication of library, St. Olaf College, 1993.

Carolan’s Concerto, commissioned by the Lyra Concert, 1992.

Hants: divertimento for clarinet, timpani, and orchestra, commissioned by the Bucks County (PA) Symphony, 1990.

Requiem for Sonora, commissioned by the Arizona Repertory Singers, Arizona Arts Commission, and the City of Tucson, 1989.

ASCAP/Hubbell Composition Award, 1986, in part for New Brighton.

Several other commissioned works.

 

 

Selected recent

Publications and Presentations

Using blogs, wikis and Blackboard to enhance the in-class experience.  (presentation, Classrooms of the Future XII: Critical reflections on technology, May, 2006, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN)

Authority control in the 21st century (workshop presented for the Minnesota Theological Library Association, March 2006, St. Paul, MN)

Lesniaski, David. Evaluating collections: a discussion and extension of Brief tests of collection strength, College and Undergraduate Libraries 11:1 (2004), 11-24.

Retrieving and manipulating III system data (presentation, MN Innovative Users Group semi-annual meeting, May 2003, Northfield, MN)

Evaluating library collections (presentation, Minnesota Library Association annual meeting, October 2002, St. Paul, MN).

Lesniaski, David, et al., Collegial leadership in academic libraries, Crossing the divide: Proceedings of the X national conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Chicago: ACRL, 2001, p. 233-239.

Lesniaski, David. A Profile of the Music Library Association Membership Notes, 56:4 (June 2000) p. 894-906.

Surveying MLA (presentation, Music Library Association annual meeting, Baltimore, 1997).

If your patrons speak Greek, can you use AACR2?: issues of language, script, translation and transliteration in creating a multilingual catalog (presentation, Technical Services Roundtable, Music Library Association annual meeting, Seattle, 1996).

 

 

Additional faculty service

College of St. Catherine and St. Olaf:

Faculty advisor (2004- )

Roles, rank, … learn-in facilitator (2006)

 

St. Olaf College:

Faculty advisor

Center for Integrative Studies major advisor and project advisor

Examiner for Paracollege

Scholar's Day interviewer

 

 

Committees

 

College of St. Catherine:

Leader/member of various LIS accreditation task forces and LIS search committees (2004- )

Academic  Resources Committee (2006-) (elected at-large)

EARDA: Advisory Committee on grants and research (2005- )

 

St. Olaf College:

Student Information Service task force (2003-4)

Library Review Task Force (1998-2000)

CEPC (Curriculum and Educational Planning Committee) (1996-2001); vice chair (1998-9)

New Course Subcommittee of CEPC (1996-2004)

Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Nominating Committee (1998-99, 2003-4)

St. Olaf College Library Committees:

Served on, contributed to, and chaired various committees, 1988-2004, including copyright (responsible for creating campus-wide copyright policy) [chair], collection development [chair], budgeting [rotating chair], long-range planning, evaluation, preservation, newsletter, technology, serials review, media [chair], and over one dozen search committees for faculty and staff positions in all areas of the library.

 

 

 

Other

Served as organist or music director at many different churches representing several denominations (1971-present).

 

Habitat for Humanity volunteer (summer 2005).

 

Arden Hills Public Library task force member (2004-5).