ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 25 / C&RL News relationships between university libraries in Japan and the U.S. 1) A fifth conference should be convened in Ja­ pan; date, them e and topics to be determined by representatives; size similar to the fourth. 2) Small-scale meetings on specialized topics will be convened as needed on an ad hoc basis. 3) To promote the international flow of CJK bib­ liographic data, delegates urged respect for the de­ velopment of language processing capabilities most appropriate to the countries of East Asia and the freedom of each country to develop its own na­ tional standards. Liaisons should be established. 4) Libraries in Japan and the U.S. should en­ deavor to raise the consciousness of society and take specific actions regarding the use of acid-free p a­ per. Exchange of information should be promoted. 5) Libraries in Japan and the U.S. will endeavor to help each other in their respective collection de­ velopment activities for both Japanese and U.S. publications. 6) Mutual use of the two countries’ databases should be promoted. 7) There should be further study of the need, scope of service, and linkage modalities of net­ works in both countries. 8) Appropriate clauses in the copyright law of the tw o countries governing copy services provided in lieu of ILL should continue to be protected. 9) Future conferees should consider issues re­ lated to the production of databases and the result­ ing need for resource sharing in the special libraries context. This conference has serious implications for aca­ demic librarians on both sides of the Pacific. The im portance of Japan as a partner in exchanges of information in the future cannot be ignored, as it has been for too long. O ur recent recognition of the beauties of Japanese culture must be broadened to include the burgeoning scientific and technological developments and, most practically, to promote th e need for know ledge of th e Japanese la n ­ guage. ■ ■ On November 11-13, 1988, division representa­ tives, staff, and members of ALA’s COPES Com­ m ittee and the ALA Executive Board met to work out some of the basic provisions of a new “operat­ ing agreement” between ALA and its divisions. While many details remain to be negotiated, sev­ eral significant essentials were agreed upon by those present and will be brought to a larger forum at the Midwinter Meeting. Some of the issues are: • A clarification of ALA financial fundam en­ tals: w hat do dues pay for? •M oving some items from the category of ALA indirect costs to division direct costs. • A framework for supporting divisions when they have financial problems. •A n outline for the w ritten agreement. Some of us left the meeting feeling for the first time th at there may be a new operating agreement in our lifetime! Amid all the hullabaloo and sandwiched in be­ tw een meeting preparation, the meeting itself, and a Thanksgiving holiday, ACRL marched bravely forw ard tow ard its planned goals. Professional development Planning for the Cincinnati conference contin­ ued on target. ACRL staff and the Conference Ex­ ecutive Committee visited the Conference Center and the hotels in November, and the preliminary program was mailed. Sales of exhibit space are ex­ cellent. See the sections on the Conference in this issue. Planning is underway for the RBMS Cambridge Conference. Conference chair William Joyce and his committee have been working on logistics and are well along on plans for speakers and a trade fair th at will emphasize the antiquarian book trade. More active marketing of awards resulted in a som ewhat larger num ber of nominations being subm itted for ACRL’s prestigious awards. Invitations have been sent for the Humanities Program m ing Workshop for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and their communities, co-sponsored w ith the Public Library Association and funded by the National Endowm ent for the Humanities. Enhancing service capability Advisory services continued to keep ACRL staff members on their toes. More than 40 calls from mem bers and others—not all librarians—tested our reference skills in areas relating to academic li­ brary services, standards, advisory committees, ac­ creditation, collection developm ent, buildings, funding formulas, serials, and planning. President Joe Boissé and his program committee have been examining the future of higher educa­ tion for a “Think Tank” meeting in Cincinnati that will pave the way for the President’s Program at the ALA Annual Conference in Dallas in June. The collection of statistics on non-ARL univer­ sity libraries is underway, w ith a non-print version of the statistics being considered. A proposal is under development for a study of the sources of revenue in academ ic libraries. It would be carried out by the ALA Office for Re­ ACRL executive summary January 1989 / 29 search, aided by the LAMA Statistics Committee and an advisory group that would include ACRL s Task Force on Sources of Revenue in Academic Li­ braries. Advocacy and liaison ALA’s new recruitment brochure has been pro­ duced. It includes two academic librarians as ex­ amples of what librarians do. Hannelore Rader addressed the ACRL Califor­ nia Chapter, and Bill Moffett talked to the Greater Metropolitan New York C hapter in November. On October 31 I spoke to the College and Uni­ versity Section of the Arkansas Library Associa­ tion. If their petition for chapter status is approved by the ACRL Board of Directors at Midwinter, it will bring the chapter total to 40. In November I visited the Council of Indepen­ dent Kentucky Colleges and Universities and ad­ dressed the topic of networking and automation. Strategic management directions Staff work w ith chapter, committee, and section leaders increased as plans for the Midwinter Meet­ ing heated up. Marya Engelmann began to work half-time as a d m in istra tiv e secretary, follow ing M arg aret Joichi’s resignation. The office manager position is still open. Marina Kokkinias, our Cincinnati Con­ ference secretary, has begun her tem porary stint on the ACRL staff. Those on the staff using WordPerfect have up­ graded to the 5.0 version. An additional PC will be leased to help ease the strain of conference work. ALA has continued to study its inform ation flow; Bricker and Company have been hired as consultants and are working w ith the ALA D ata Processing Steering Committee. Staff is in the midst of preparing the 1990 O per­ ating Plan and budget as this is w ritten. A prelimi­ nary draft of each will be presented at Midwinter to the Planning Committee and the Budget and Fi­ nance Com m ittee.—JoA nS. Segal ■ ■ Q Preserv u ation a Micr li ogra t ph y ics As librarians, archivists or curators, you understand the importance of maintaining the quality of your collections and retaining records of the past. Image Prints is dedicated to excel­ lence in preserving rare, brittle or out-of-print materials. We offer the library community: • Reproduction of books, periodi­ cals, newsfiles and historical docu­ ments onto 35mm, 16mm or micro­ fiche formats. • Careful handling of material during the preparation for filming process. • O n ly th e h ig h e s t q u a lity equipment and materials used for reproduction. • National, regional and local sales representatives. In a w o r ld o f d e c l i n i n g craftsmanship, Image Prints, Inc., has a steadfast grip on one specific value, uncompromising quality. Call Dave Olstad. 2730 Alpha Street • Lansing, Michigan 48910 • (517) 484-4501 • 1-800-782-4502 Greensboro, NC • (919) 299-7534 30 / C&RL News BI as theatre This is how one librarian handled an age-old problem: how to make talks about the library in­ teresting, especially to freshmen. At X avier U n iv ersity in C in c in n a ti, Vicki Young, head of reader services, uses her theatrical background to get students interested. D uring freshman orientation, the library was the last item on a two-hour agenda held on a Saturday morning, which included academic policies, bookstore poli­ cies, and ROTC. Realizing th at the students would be at an information overload, Vicki w anted to present the library in a positive light and reduce students’ anxiety. Dressed as “Ify” the Information Fairy, Vicki talked about six major misconceptions about librarians and libraries. Misconception #1: Librarians are boring, stern, old, w ith their hair in buns and chains on their glasses. Wrong! Librarians at Xavier are just the oppo­ site of this stereotype. They are helpful, friendly, and they have a sense of humor. Misconception #2: Everyone who works in a li­ brary is a librarian. Wrong! Everyone who works in a hospital isn’t a doctor. Only half of the people you see working in libraries are librarians. Librarians have a master’s degree in library science. Misconception #3: You should know how to use a library by the time you get to college, and people will think you are stupid if you ask for help. Wrong! Just because you’ve used a high school li­ brary doesn’t mean you’ll know everything about a university library. Librarians don’t expect you to. One of the duties of a reference librarian is to sit at the reference desk and answer questions. So please ask questions. Misconception #4: All librarians do is order books, read books, and check out books. Wrong! Actually this is only a small p art of a li­ brarian’s job. The m ain duty of a librarian is to help people find information. Misconception #5: Libraries only have books. Wrong! Libraries have: microfilm, journals, records, microfiche, periodicals, videos, m aga­ zin es, n ew sp ap ers, an d C D -R O M referen ce sources. Misconception #6: The main purpose of a library is to provide study space. Wrong! While the 3rd floor of the library is de­ voted to quiet study and has study carrels, the li­ b rary is also a place to do research and find infor­ m ation. The presentation was a big hit. Last year, Vicki wore a safari outfit and used the them e on an ALA poster: “It’s an information jun­ gle out there. Let your librarian be your guide.” The question remains—w hat will Vicki do next year? ■ ■ Vicki Young dressed as “Ify, ” the Information Fairy. 32 / C&RL News Martha Bowman Jan Fennell Jordan Scepanski Evan Farber Mary Ellen Elsbernd A nne Kearney