Spotlight on

Sue Wilson

Spotlight Archive

One of the joys of this "Spotlight" column is demonstrating the ways in which NCI-Frederick people "break the mold," both professionally and personally.

Sue Wilson certainly is one who doesn't conform to the librarian stereotype. Professionally, not only has she been the Scientific Library's Project Manager since August 1984, but she is also President and CEO of WISCO, Wilson Information Services Corporation, a company she founded in 1978 and which since 2001 has run the Scientific Library in Building 549. Personally, she constantly stretches her comfort zone through volunteer work and the commercial vineyard she and her husband own.

Sue began work at the Scientific Library, then in Building 426, in 1974. With a double major in library science and interior design, she knew she needed to be more than a housewife. "I didn't want someone taking care of me. I wanted to make an equal contribution," she said in a recent interview.

A Different World: Los Angeles

In 1978, Sue and her husband decided to try a different world when he was offered a job in Los Angeles. There, Sue became a hospital librarian, doing cataloging, reference searches, even making rounds with the doctors. As her expertise grew, hospital administrations sought her advice on everything from architectural details to materials and equipment needed for hospital libraries. She developed her own library consulting practice, with a client base of small hospitals.

Wilson Information Services (WIS) included literature searches, library facilities design, building programs, core collection set-ups, plans for library staff training, and organizational programs; and other services such as appraising private collections, manuscript proofing, legal and market research, scientific test result illustration, searching for out-of-print books, retrieving general information, and doing computer searches for physicians and researchers. Until the advent of the Internet, "that was a very lucrative field," she noted wryly. She also did "'shepardizing'...to give a history of a legal decision, maybe a landmark case, so that a lawyer might base his case on those precedents that came before."

Reflecting on that time, she said that "Los Angeles was great for being young and learning about a whole new part of the world, but we wanted to be 'green' again, so we started looking at farms back here. The climate and the lifestyle were great in California, but it took me the same time to drive in the city to work as it does to go from our farm to here now. When we went to the post office, the public library, or the bank [or anywhere else], we had to stand in long lines like you see at the Kennedy Center or in large theaters where velvet ropes are used to herd you like cattle," she said.

The Library's Role: Then and Now

Back in Frederick County, Sue once again worked at the Scientific Library, this time as the Assistant Director. At that time, librarians, like everyone else, had just begun to employ computer-based, mainframe-oriented technologies. Most scientists preferred to have librarians, with their skill at command languages, search the complex maze of subject headings for software such as MEDLINE, the electronic version of Index Medicus. Extensive staff were needed to maintain card-based catalogs, manage print/audiovisual collections, and track patron transactions (easy to do, but labor-intensive). Document delivery from one library to another might take 10 days, since faxes and e-mail didn't exist.

Today, Sue said, "Technology allows us to individualize services and facilitates same-day delivery. Through the Internet, most scientists perform their own searches, and only turn to us when they have difficulty obtaining obscure references. Most electronic reference resources are text-based and easy to search without complicated commands. Catalogs are now online and accessible to anyone with a computer."

However, she pointed out, a disadvantage of this ease of searching is a plethora of search results, not all of which are precise or reliable. "So librarians have become guides, teaching patrons how to eliminate the chaff. Our focus has shifted to teaching and user-centered research. Many collections are still accessible in print, but with electronic resources, publishers have more control and librarians have less. We have new concerns about stability and longevity of digital collections. Traditional measures for capturing patron transactions are not as accurate and require even more computer power, although software makes statistical calculations much faster and easier. Document delivery time can now be measured in hours, not days."

Technology is also expensive, both in terms of infrastructure, such as telecommunications and hardware, and in terms of personnel needed to maintain and update systems. Now library budgets are often concentrated on licensed resources, equipment, and IT staff; fewer funds are devoted to conservation and preservation. Clerical positions are declining, while technical and managerial positions are increasing.

"Training is important because things change so quickly. Technology enhances staff development, helping us keep up to date. Teleconferencing allows us to meet with colleagues across the country without ever leaving the office. However, the future presents new issues associated with copyrights and licensing of intellectual property, and the legal and ethical issues of privacy and confidentiality," Sue explained.

Sue noted that "Some things haven't changed. Librarians are still needed to assist people in selecting resources, and storing and preserving content, regardless of format. Best of all, people contact is still essential. Many libraries report that in-person use has not decreased, despite the advantages of electronic access."

Carrying Science into Her Avocation

It is perhaps no surprise that Sue's personal life somewhat parallels her professional one: when they returned to Frederick County, she and her husband moved to the family farm (which has been in the family over 200 years), did a lot of research, and settled on developing a vineyard. They had a lot to learn about grapes.

"Little did we know how much science is involved," she said, chuckling. "You don't just stick those things in the ground and they grow, especially in Maryland! When you grow grapes, you really have so much preparation, like doing soil tests, spending at least two years just preparing ground before you can plant; learning different methods of trellising, different philosophies of light and exposure, pruning styles for different types of grapes. Microclimates affect how grapes grow best, so you have to monitor the temperature and the sun, the exposure and all that. I never knew farming was so complicated!"

The Wilsons have been successfully raising Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Seyval Blanc, and Marechal Foché grapes for 10 years now.

Volunteerism Motivating and Fun

Many NCI-Frederick employees embrace volunteerism and strive to be part of their home communities through various civic activities. Sue works with the Frederick Chamber of Commerce in a "Leadership Frederick County" program.

"It is so exciting and motivating. I am having so much fun! It gives you networking and access to mentors. It's so empowering, unlike anything I've ever done before."

The daylong sessions are jam-packed with lectures and tours that focus on Frederick County. For example, on the day that Sue's group studied law and justice, they toured the new law mall; visited FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and wrapped the day up with a mock trial at the Frederick County Courthouse.

Another session focused on the environment. "I learned about a lot of new things, not just the environment, but also about transportation issues and planning and zoning." Ironically, in that session, Sue, who had left the sprawl and smog of LA because she wanted the peace of a "green" farm, did a role-playing exercise as a developer. "That was not me. The audience was jumping up like in a real planning commission session, coming up with all the reasons why we shouldn't be doing this horrible development. And I had to step completely outside my world and help my client prove they were really good citizens and they were helping the community by bringing in all these new houses. It was a real eye opener."

In this volunteer work, Sue combines her business management skills and love of farming. "I am working with the Community Living program. Many of these people grew up on farms and still love to garden. So, our project is to develop an organic garden, where they can raise produce to supplement the food in each of the Community Living's housing units. There is a movement toward 'therapeutic' gardening" to heal people emotionally, Sue explained. "Even just watching plants grow can be a new sensory dimension for many."

Looking for New Ways for NCI-Frederick to Partner with the Community

As another part of being involved with the community, Sue has been familiarizing herself with Frederick County's educational system, "particularly the middle school level; that group hasn't really benefited as much as the elementary and high school grades have from career intervention and the science outreach programs that we have. So, one of my goals was to try to find new ways where NCI could partner with the school system," Sue said. 

She explained that participating in the Elementary Outreach program, she always finds the teachers "really excited about what we're doing. They ask questions and want any information we can give them. I started out in education and I just absolutely love going to the schools. It is so much fun. It's another way of looking at how you can further things."

Written by Maritta Grau
Scientific Publications, Graphics & Media
SAIC-Frederick, Inc.
National Cancer Institute at Frederick

Edited by Susan Fox
Office of Communication
Center for Cancer Research (CCR)
National Cancer Institute at Frederick

Photography by Photography
Scientific Publications, Graphics & Media
SAIC-Frederick, Inc.

Web Graphics and Development by Jim Miller
Computer & Statistical Services
Data Management Services, Inc.
National Cancer Institute at Frederick