ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


5 3 4 /C&RL News ■ M ay 2001

CONFERENCE CIRCUIT

Changing universities

The role of technology

b y  H a n n e lo re  B. R a d e r

March 27-30, 2001, the European Univer­sity Inform ation Systems (EUNIS) held 
the 7th International Conference in Berlin, 
Germany, at H um boldt University.

H um boldt University, fo u n d ed  in 1810, 
currently has an enrollm ent of 33,000 stu­
dents. It has p ro d u c e d  m any N obel prize 
w inners an d  major research in th e past. Dur­
ing the time of the divided Germany, 1948­
1990, H um boldt University was located in East 
Berlin u n d er the 
g o v e r n a n c e  o f  
t h e  G e r m a n  
D e m o c ra tic  R e­
public (GDR).

H u m b o l d t  
U n iv e r s ity ’s l i ­
b r a r y  n o w  h a s  
m a n y  c o m p u te r 
services and is as­
sisting the univer­
sity in changing 
a c a d e m ic  p u b ­
lishing to accom ­
m odate the electronic environm ent.

E uropean universities, like their co u n ter­
parts in the U nited States, are involved in 
teaching, learning, research an d  service, and 
technology is greatly affecting all o f these 
areas. Restructuring is n e e d e d  an d  m any Eu­
ro p e a n  universities are looking to the United 
States for help and guidance.

T he  B r e π d d e n b u rtĵ G a te  in  B e rlin .

A pproxim ately 460 persons attended the 
conference representing m ore than 300 u ni­
versities from  39 countries in Europe. Seven 
participants represented the United States and 
on e rep resen ted  Canada, The them e of the 
conference addressed h o w  universities are 
changing in the age o f technology. The con­
ference included five preconference seminars 
addressing: inform ation system  strategies; 
streaming media; wireless LAN structures and

c o n c e p ts; e le c ­
tronic publishing 
a n d  d o c u m e n t 
servers; and digi- 

ì  ta l im a g e s  in  
teaching.

Eight keynote 
I s p e a k e rs  from  

higher education, 
government, and 

L private companies 
I a d d re s s e d  such 
* topics as:

• “Virtuality: 
Strategies for Universities in Transition” dis­
cussed the virtual university in terms of learn­
ing, student expectations, the global ed u ca­
tion market, m eeting learners’ needs in times 
o f mass provision, an d  lifelong learning,

• “Multimedia in the Digital Age
• “Strategic N etw ork D eλ⅞ lopm ent in 

H igher E ducation”

A b o u t th e  a u th o r

Hannelore B. Rader is university librarian at the University o f  Louisville, e-mail: h.raderf¡louisv¡lle.edυ



C&RL News ■ M a y 2001 / 535

• “C ooperation an d  C oordination o f In ­
form ation an d  C om m unication Services at 
G erm an Universities” described current ef­
forts o f G erm any universities to co o p erate 
m ore w ith o n e an o d ier using technology for 
research an d  education.

• “The Six W ebs o r W hy O n e Web W on’t 
D o ” w as p resen ted  by Sun Microsystems.

• “Top Performance and Partnership,” was 
presented by another vendor, Fujitsu Siemens Co.

• “Portals an d  E-business in H igher Edu­
cation,” w as p resen ted  by EDUCAUSE from 
the U nited States.

Speakers from various E uropean countries, 
the U nited States, an d  Canada also p resen ted  
124 different p ap ers related to the confer­
en ce them es:1

• C o o p era tio n  b e tw e e n  E u rop ean  U n i­
v e r s itie s . In the 21st century, E uropean u n i­
versities will benefit from cooperating across 
b o u n d aries an d  various exam ples o f c o o p ­
eration w ere presented.

• I n fo r m a tio n  T e c h n o lo g y  a n d  N et­
w o r k  C o m p u tin g  S e c u r ity . U niversities 
have to face m any potential security p ro b ­
lem s in th e  use o f inform ation technology in 
teaching an d  research an d  the use o f n e t­
works. P rocedures n e e d  to b e established to 
deal w ith security-related incidents, training 
a n d  e d u catio n  in netw ork com puting secu­
rity is n eed ed , a n d  n ew  trends in inform a­
tion security will affect universities and know l­
e d g e m anagem ent.

• C h a n g es i n  U n iv e r sity  O rg a n iza tio n  
a n d  S tructures. Use o f technology is lead­
ing to m ajor changes in university adm inis­
tration in m ost E uropean universities. Tech­
nology has a m ajor im pact o n  the structure 
o f m anagem ent, security, funding, an d  staff­
ing. Technology is enabling E uropean u ni­
versities to  co o p erate m ore an d  offer m ore 
learning advantages to their students.

• N e w  T e c h n o lo g ie s , N e w  C apabilities 
a n d  N e w  O p p o r tu n itie s. Supercom puting, 
cluster com puting, com putational grids and 
m etacom puting, a n d  virtual reality are ex­
am ples o f capabilities n o w  becom ing m ore 
an d  m ore im portant for scientific com puting 
at universities.

• S u p p o r tin g  C h an ge in  T ea ch in g  a n d  
L earning. N ew  m edia an d  international ed u ­
cational dev elo p m en ts have h e lp e d  develop 
n ew  a p p ro ach es to teaching in universities. 
Exam ples w ere p ro v id ed  for online learning,

W eb-based instruction, an d  distance learn­
ing. Discussions cen tered  o n  effective co o p ­
e ra tio n  acro ss n a tio n a l b o u n d a rie s  u sin g  
online learning a n d  teaching. Also p resen ted  
w as inform ation o n  collaborative learning in 
m edicine using th e Internet.

• L ibraries in  th e  D ig ita l A ge. Librarie
a n d  m ultim edia an d  com p u ter centers have 
o v erlap p in g  activities. Some convergence, 
partnerships, an d  n e w  structures are being 
considered. A variety of collaborations can 
result in positive an d  negative effects. Dis­
cussions o n  the changing role o f librarians 
prevailed throughout the track w ithin the con­
ference. Also covered w ere the use o f the 
Internet for delivery and m anagem ent o f in­
form ation, the UNESCO guide to electronic 
theses an d  dissertations an d  a variety o f li­
brary consortia.

Note
1. Many o f the papers have b e e n  p u b ­

lished as the Proceedings o f  the 7b In te r n a ­
tio n a l C onference o f  European University I n ­
fo r m a tio n  Systems by H um boldt University 
in Berlin, Germ any. ■

( “.B ibliographic . . c o n tin u e d  f r o m  p a g e  
5 2 7 )
please; I h a d  the CSRs to  please. T hey w ere 
m y custom ers, just as the students are my 
custom ers/patrons now . And great customer, 
great p atro n  service is w h at bein g  a librar­
ian is all about.

Notes
1. Malcolm K now les, Tloe A d u lt Learner: 

A Neglected Species, 3rd ed. (H ouston: G ulf 
Publishing C om pany B ook Division, 1986).

2. E d w a rd  E. S c a n n e ll a n d  J o h n  W. 
N ew strom , The Com plete G am es Trainers 
Play: E xperiential L ea rn in g  Exercises (N ew  
York: McGraw-Hill C om panies, 1994). ■

C o rr e c tio n

In th e article “Print b o o k  bibliographies 
o n  th e W eb,” (C&RL Neivs, March 2001), 
th e au th o r refers to  a N ew  York Times ar­
ticle th a t w a s n o t cited. It is D o reen  
Carvajal’s “The B o o k ’s in Print b u t its Bib­
liography Lives o n  in C yberspace,” New 
York Times, May 29, 2000, A l.

s