ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries May 1 9 9 4 /2 5 1 Cornell is Internet site for USDA statistics Cornell University’s Mann Li­ brary is the host for more than 140 agricultural data sets gathered by the U.S. Depart­ m ent o f Agriculture (USDA) as a result o f a cooperative agreem ent betw een Cornell and the USDA. T he agricul­ tural data sets contain infor­ mation o n topics such as farm p ro d u ction e x p e n se s , m ilk and dairy product sales, Eu­ r o p e a n c o m m u n ity w h e a t supply, U.S. m eat supply and consum ption, fer­ tilizer use and ozone records for the Northeast. The data w hich previously had b e e n available for a fee o n D O S-based com puter diskettes will now b e available free to those with access to the Internet. T he Internet address for this data is u sd a.m annlib.cornell.ed u . P roject director Oya Rieger recom m ends using gopher to ac­ cess the data sets, although telnet and ftp are acceptable. Questions may b e directed to Rieger at o y rl@ co rn ell.ed u . Center for Lib rary Initiatives formed T he Com m ittee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), the academ ic consortium o f the Big T en universities and the University o f Chicago has form ed a Center for Library Initiatives (CLI) in­ tended to provide leadership and support for a growing number o f the consortium's efforts. CIC libraries are engaged in resource-sharing and other projects that further the goals o f the or­ ganization, w hich is guided by the vision o f the information resources in the CIC—-whether d evelop ed o r ow ned individually or c o lle c ­ tively— as a seam less w h o le. T yp ical o f its projects is the U.S. Departm ent o f Education- funded Virtual Electronic Library project which is designed to enable users to borrow books directly from any library in the CIC. C la ss gifts benefit libraries T he 1994 graduating classes o f the University o f Virginia (UVa) and the University o f North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) have desig­ nated their institutions’ libraries as recipients o f their class gifts. T he UVa graduating class o f 1994 pledged its class gift o f $210,000 to the library to purchase three com puter software en ­ h an cem en ts to the online cata lo g , V IRG O. T h e e n ­ hancem ents, produced by N O TIS System s In c ., are In fo -S h a re , P acL in k, and P acL o an . T h e s e a p p lic a ­ tions will allow UVa patrons to con n ect to full electronic texts and to the catalogs o f o th er libraries and search them in the sam e way they search VIRGO. In addition, they will b e able to make ILL requests online. UNC-CH students have designated their class gift to support electronic services to undergraduates. The m oney will be added to the library’s endow m ent and b e used to buy new databases or new systems that m ake library m aterials m ore available to students. High on the library’s priority list is the initia­ tion o f an online reserve reading system. T he sen ior classes o f 1991 and 1993 pledged a total o f $660,000 to the library; the 1994 class aims to add enough to that total to reach $1 million. Under a m atching grant, the National Endow­ m ent for the Humanities will add 25 cen ts to every dollar given by Ju ly 1. EBSCO projects serial prices for 1995 EBSCO Subscription Services in its early fore­ casts predicted an 8 to 10 percent increase for subscriptions to journals published in the United States and a 9 to 11 percent increase for jour­ nals published in European countries (based on current [April 11, 1994] exch an g e rates). F. D ixon B ro o k e Jr., EBSCO’s vice-president and division general manager, suggested that “b e ­ cause European journal prices are ultimately affected by the relative strength o f the U.S. dollar, those budgeting for 1995 subscriptions may wish to add 3 to 5 percent to the esti­ mated price increases for these journals. This would help insulate o n e ’s budget from a pos­ sible downturn in the U.S. dollar’s value b e ­ tw een now and w hen fixed conversion rates are set, or b etw een now and November, w hen most publishers are paid for 1995 subscriptions.” EBSCO ’s historical figures show that the av­ erage cost per title for an academ ic library w ent up only 7.1% from 1993 to 1994— a decrease from the 10% increase from 1992 to 1993. How­ ever, the percent change in the average cost o f New s f r o m the Field M ary Ellen Davis mailto:oyrl@cornell.edu 252/ C&RL News a serial title from 1990 to 1994 was 52.1% (see the graph below). Academic library cost history from EBSCO’s booklet Serial Price Projections 1995. S ilve rP la tte r signs a g re e m e n ts w it h C AR L a n d N O T IS SilverPlatter Information, Inc., a distributor of electronic information products, and CARL Cor­ poration, a provider o f integrated library auto­ mation and information systems and document delivery services, have entered into a long-term nonexclusive Technology Collaboration Agree­ ment. Pursuant to the agreement, SilverPlatter and CARL will work cooperatively to create high-value products and services for the librar­ ies that are their customers and seek to avoid unnecessary duplication o f effort. SilverPlatter also signed an agreement with NOTIS Systems, Inc., a leading provider o f information man­ agement services, that will allow both compa­ nies to better serve their mutual customers by providing access to SilverPlatter databases through Info-Share, NOTIS’ Z39-50-compliant database service. NOTIS will be developing a gateway that will allow its Z39.50 clients to access SilverPlatter databases running under SilverPlatter’s client/server-based Electronic Reference Library. Call f o r p o p u la r cultu re p a p e rs The Popular Culture Association is seeking presenters for its meeting in Philadelphia, April 12-15, 1995. Scholars who work in all aspects o f popular culture will meet and share com­ mon interests. Anyone who is interested in presenting a paper on a topic related to popu­ lar culture and libraries should send an ab­ stract o f not more than 250 words by Septem­ ber 15,1994, to: Allen Ellis, Associate Professor o f Library Services, W. Frank Steely Library, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY 41099-6101; ( 606) 572-5527; fax: (606) 572-5390. C a ll f o r sci/tech ab stra cts Science and technology librarians— take advan­ tage o f this opportunity to present your pre­ liminary original research results or ALA com­ mittee findings by submitting an abstract to the Forum for Science and Technology Library Re­ search. The Forum Committee invites abstracts describing recent research or work in progress o f interest to science and/or technology librar­ ians. Task force members will select individu­ als to present reports o f their research at the 1995 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. Proposals will be judged on the basis o f timeliness, evidence o f scholarship in method­ ology, and relevance to science and technol­ ogy librarianship. Proposals should be limited to one page and should contain an abstract of not more than 250 words, as w ell as the researcher’s name, institution, phone number, and e-mail address (when available). The deadline for submission is January 1, 1995. Papers will be selected at ALA Midwinter 1995. Send abstracts to: Kathy Whitley, Refer­ ence Department, Lupton Library, University o f Tennessee at Chattanooga, 615 McCallie Ave., C hattanooga, TN 37403-2598 ; e-m ail: KWHITLEY@UTCVM.UTC.EDU. For more in­ formation, call (6 l5 ) 755-4510. F u lb rig h t C o m m is s io n offers 1 9 9 5 -9 6 lib ra ria n a w a r d s The Fulbright Commission in London is offer­ ing two new awards for a librarian, archivist, or library administrator to pursue professional work in the United Kingdom in 1995-96. One award is for an affiliation at the University of Keele, Staffordshire; the other award may be affiliated with any eligible British institution. Applicants must be U.S. citizens employed in a full-time library post at a university or major research library. Awards are for a minimum o f three months between September 1995 and August 1996 and candidates are expected to be on paid leave o f absence from their home institutions. The grantee will receive approxi­ mately 3,000 British pounds sterling to cover travel and other expenses. Apply by August 1, 1994, with a completed application form, five- page project statement, resume, letter o f invi­ tation, and four letters o f reference. Call (202) 686-7878 to request application materials; di­ rect questions to Karen Adams at (202) 895-5393. mailto:KWHITLEY@UTCVM.UTC.EDU May 1994/253 N E H m a te ria ls a w a r d s a v a ila b le The National Endowment for the Humanities Reference Materials Program supports projects to prepare reference works that will improve access to information and resources. Support is available for the creation o f dictionaries, his­ torical or linguistic atlases, encyclopedias, con­ cordances, reference grammars, databases, textbases, etc., that will provide scholarly tools for the advancement o f research or general ref­ erence. Grants also may support projects that will assist researchers in locating information about humanities documentation. Such projects result in guides that allow researchers to deter­ mine the usefulness or relevance o f specific materials for their work. The application dead­ line is September 15, 1994, for projects begin­ ning after July 1, 1995. For information write: Reference Materials, Room 318, NEH, Wash­ ington, DC 20506. C U N Y a n d S U N Y sh a re resources The City University o f New York (CUNY) and three State University o f New York (SUNY) university centers— Binghamton, Buffalo, and Stony Brook— are sharing indexes to journals and newspapers using the Internet. The project increases access to information while saving money through the elimination o f duplicate computer and personnel resources at the CUNY and SUNY sites. The shared resources include UMI’s Newspaper Abstracts, ABI Inform data­ base, Dissertation Abstracts, and the American Psychology Association’s Psychlnfo. The data­ bases are maintained and located at each indi­ vidual campus, but those using the NOTIS on­ line library systems at each site and the NOTIS Z39.50 product PACLink which results in screen displays that are familiar to library users, have seamless access to all o f them. The coopera­ tive venture will be evaluated after one year with the expectation that if the project is widely used it will be expanded. P r e v ie w P ittsb u rgh Take a tour o f Pittsburgh before attending the ACRL 7th National Conference in March/April, 1995. The ACRL National Conference Execu­ tive Committee has copies o f a five-minute vid­ eotape on Pittsburgh that is available for you to show in your libraries or at your meetings. Academic libraries and ACRL chapters are en­ couraged to obtain copies to share with their groups. Contact Phyllis Fair at (800) 545-2433, ext. 2522 to reserve a copy. Stop by the ACRL membership booth at the ALA Annual Conference in Miami to preview the tape and, while you are there, register to win a souvenir Pittsburgh T-shirt. C o m p ile rs n e e d e d f o r CLIP N o te s ACRL’s popular CLIP Notes (College Library Information Packets) series needs compilers. CLIP Notes provide data and sample documents From college and small u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i e s o n c u r r e n t t o p i c s o f inte re st. Th ese useful resource tools are compiled under the auspices of the CLIP Notes Committee of ACRL’s College Libraries Section. Recent CLIP Notes have dealt with staff development and continuing education, emergency planning and management, interlibrary loan, and database searching. Potential topics needing compilers are: pa­ tron surveys, displays and exhibits, search and hiring procedures, copyright issues, and allo­ cation formulas. If you are interested in being a CLIP Note compiler for one o f these topics (or some other topic), contact one o f the fol­ lowing people by June 1, 1994: Pat Butcher, CLIP Note Committee Chair, Trenton State Col­ lege Libraiy, Trenton, NJ 08650; (609) 771-2433, or Carol Goodson, CLIP Notes Committee mem­ ber, Internet:cgoodson@uga.cc.uga.edu. For more information about CLIP Notes, see P. Grady Morein’s “What is a CLIP Note?” in C&RL News 46 (1985): 226-29. ■ Talk to the ACRL Board in Miami Beach Share your concerns directly with ACRL’s Board o f Directors. The first 27 minutes o f the June 25, 1994, 2:00 p.m. meeting o f the ACRL Board in Miami Beach will be given to an open-mike period. ACRL members may, on a first-come, first-serve basis, ad­ dress the board (with a limit o f three min­ utes per speaker) on any topic. The board hopes this communication method will fa­ cilitate hearing the concerns and interests of ACRL members. mailto:cgoodson@uga.cc.uga.edu