ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


O ctober 1 9 9 2 / 5 9 7

W ash in gton
H o tlin e

 

HEA signed into la w
A five-year reauthorization of 
the Higher Education Act was 
signed into law (P.L. 102-325) 
on July 23, 1992. Revision of 
library p rogram s follow ed 
re c o m m e n d a tio n s  o f ALA 
(originating in the w ork of the 
ACRL Government Relations 
Committee), the Association of 
Research Libraries, and the 
higher education community.

HEA n , A ca d em ic Libraries 
a n d  In f o r m a tio n  S erv ice s.
The legislative history reflects a new  focus on 
the electronic n etw o rk ed  environm ent. The 
quote below  is from S. Rept. 102-204 on S. 
1150, but H. Rept. 102-447 on H.R. 3553 had 
almost identical language.

Libraries are n ow  at the threshold o f a 
new  era of electronic information m ade pos­
sible by high-performance com puters and 
high-speed, high-capacity electronic net­
works such as the evolving National Re­
search and Education Network. The capac­
ity o f th e s e  em erg in g  te c h n o lo g ie s  to 
strengthen and expand the role that librar­
ies can play on our college campuses and 
throughout society cannot be overestimated. 
They enable libraries to make their hold­
ings available in a multiplicity of ways and 
places, increasing access to information dra­
matically.

Through reauthorization, the committee 
intends to build u p o n  these emerging tech­
nologies by providing a stimulus to projects 
such as those which: enable smaller and 
needier institutions to gain connectivity to 
the new  netw orked environment; prom ote 
the expansion of library and information 
services to the disabled; provide for shar­
ing of nonprint resources such as photos, 
maps, manuscripts, and sound recordings; 
preserve electronic as well as traditional 
forms o f library and information resources; 
and educate a new  generation of library 
and inform ation professionals recruited 
from diverse backgrounds to provide ser­
vices to an increasingly diverse population.

C arol C. H e n d e r so n  is d e p u ty  e x e c u tiv e  director, 
ALA W a sh in g to n  Office, NU_ALAWASH@CUA

Carol C. Henderson

II-A, C o lle g e  L ib r a r y  
T e c h n o lo g y  a n d  C o o p era ­
t io n  G rants. The unfunded 
grants for college library re­
sources are replaced with a 
re v is e d  II-D te c h n o lo g y  
grant program, w hich con­
tinues four types of three- 
year grants and a one-third 
required match.

Technology grants to in­
stitutions are am ended to 
include upgrading techno­
logical equipm ent and ac­
cessin g  m aterial in e lec­

tronic formats. For the first of the four types, 
the minimum grant is increased from $15,000 
to $25,000, with a new  maximum o f $50,000 
and a priority for developing institutions link­
ing to resource-sharing networks. The law spe­
cifically encourages NREN-related projects in the 
fourth type of grant for research and dem on­
stration projects.

II B, Library E d u cation , R esearch , a n d  D e­
v e lo p m e n t . “Library Career Training” is now 
“Library Education and Human Resource De­
velopment,” with an emphasis on meeting critical 
needs such as minority recruitment. Consulta­
tion with library and information science pro- 

(C ont. o n  p a g e  6 0 3 )

A u t h o r iz a t io n  le v e ls  FY 9 3

II-A, College Library 
Technology and 
Cooperation Grants $20,000,000*

II-B, Library Education, 
Research, and Development $10,000,000

II-C, Improving Access to 
Research Library Resources $20,000,000

II-D, HBCUs and Other 
Minority-Servicing Institutions $15,000,000**

*Such su m s as m a y  b e  n e c e s sa ry  are a u th o riz e d  to 
b e  a p p ro p ria te d  for e a c h  o f  th e  fo u r su c c e e d in g  
fiscal years.

**No fu n d s a re  a u th o riz e d  for p a rt D u n le s s a p ­
p ro p ria tio n s for p a rts A, B, a n d  C e q u a l o r  e x c e e d  
fu n d in g  for th e s e  p a rts in FY92.



O ctober 1 9 9 2 / 6 0 3

(Strassburg, 1497), o n e o f the m ost com pre­
hensive 15th-century w orks o n  natural history.

M ore than 4 0  original w orks of a rt by 
the late illustrator Charles Addams (1912-1988) 
have b ee n  acquired by the N e w  Y o rk  P u b lic  
Library. Many of the items have ap p eared  in 
the New Yorker and date from the 1930s to just 
before Addams’s death. The drawings are the 
gift o f the Lady Colyton, the artist’s former wife, 
an d  Marilyn Addams, his w idow . The Lady 
Colyton’s gift is accom panied by an endow ­
ment to support the conservation, preservation, 
and exhibition o f the works.

The papers of Saxe Commins, an editor 
at Boni & Liverwright, Random House, and Mod­
ern Library w ho died in 1958, have b ee n  ac­
quired by the D epartm ent o f Rare Books and 
Special Collections at P r in c e t o n  U n iv e r s ity  Li­
braries. His p apers contain 224 letters from 
Eugene and Carlotta O ’Neill, Sherwood Ander­
son, W. H. Auden, Sinclair Lewis, Jo h n  O ’Hara, 
W. Somerset Maugham, and others. Also in­
cluded are galleys of M ourning Becomes Electra 
and other O ’Neill plays; an annotated typescript 
o f A uden’s p oem  “A Lullaby”; an d  G ertrude 
Stein’s corrected manuscript of In  Savoy.

An exhibition of editorial cartoons first dis­
played in 1991, “Cartoonists Celebrate the First 
Amendm ent,” has b ee n  donated to the perm a­
nent collection o f the O h io  S tate U n iv e r s ity  
Cartoon, Graphic, and Photographic Arts Library. 
Eighty-three w orks by cartoonists from across 
the country make up the collection w hich toured 
the United States for 18 months.

A  collection of eight ancestral portraits has 
b e e n  given to th e R e d w o o d  L ib r a r y  a n d  
A th en aeu m , Newport, Rhode Island, by de­
scen d an ts o f C ountess László Széchényi, a 
daughter o f Cornelius Vanderbilt (1843-1899). 
Originating 270 years ago in 18th-century New­
port, the paintings w ere executed betw een 1722 
an d  1809 by major American painters— includ­
ing Robert Feke and W ashington Allston—as 
well as lesser-known Colonial artists. Subjects 
o f the paintings include New port businessm en 
Henry Collins an d  Ebenezer Flagg, and Rhode 
Island Governor Richard Ward.

The papers of author James A. Michener 
were recently acquired by the Harry Ransom 
Humanities Research Center at the U n iv e r s ity

o f  T ex a s at A ustin. The collection contains notes 
an d  drafts for m any o f Michener’s w orks in­
cluding The World Is M y H om e and The Eagle 
a n d  the Raven. The archive also contains clip­
pings, correspondence, and other materials.

A  57-volume collection of the works of 
Roman author Boethius (ca. 480-524 A.D.), in­
cluding two 15th-century manuscripts, eight in- 
cunables, and 30 16th-century editions has been 
donated to W a s h in g to n  U n iv e r sity , St. Louis. 
The earliest printed text is the 1476 Koberger 
printing o f the Consolation o f  Philosophy. Also 
included is the first illustrated edition of the 
Consolation (Strassburg, 1501). The collection 
is the gift of Philip M. Arnold o f Oklahoma, 
w ho has b een  donating his Semeiology Col­
lection to WU for nearly 20 years.

WU also received a collection o f illustrated 
books concentrating on the age o f Thomas 
Rowlandson and George Cruikshank from Mr. 
and Mrs. Edwin Grossman of St. Louis. Included 
in the 200-book collection are many early edi­
tions o f books with hand-colored illustrations 
by these artists, their contemporaries, and their 
em ulators. Also in c lu d ed  are a n u m b e r of 
m onographs about these artists. Of particular 
interest are volumes in the Doctor Syntax series 
and an unusually nice set o f The English D ance 
o f  Death (London, 1815-16). ■

(W a s h in g to n  H o tlin e  c o n t .f r o m  p a g e  5 9 7 )  
fessional bodies is required to determ ine re­
search priorities and critical needs in library 
education.

II-C, Im p ro v in g  A ccess to  R esearch  Library 
R e so u r c e s. The title, changed from “Strength­
ening Research Library Resources,” indicates the 
new  em phasis o n  grants to m ake research li­
brary “information resources” available, not just 
“holdings.”

HEA II-D, S t r e n g t h e n in g  L ibrary a n d  In ­
fo r m a tio n  S c ie n c e  P rogram s a n d  Libraries in  
H isto r ic a lly  B la ck  C o lle g e s a n d  U n iv e r sitie s 
a n d  O th er M in ority-S ervin g In stitu tio n s. The
title describes this new  part, retained by con­
ferees from the House bill and responsive to a 
WHCLIS recommendation.

HEA VI A  S e c tio n  6 0 7 . Grants for acquiring 
foreign periodicals are ex p an d ed  to include 
other types o f research materials; the authori­
zation is increased from $1 million to $5 mil­
lion, an d  grants are to be o f sufficient size to 
make an impact. ■