ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


226

ACRL at the 1978 Annual Conference

Nearly two dozen program sessions w ere spon­
sored by A C R L  and its various units during the 
1978 ALA Annual C onference in Chicago.

P r e s id e n t  E id r e d  R . S m ith  p r e s id e d  o v e r 
A C R L's principal program, cosponsored by the 
C o lle g e  and U n iv e r s ity  L ib r a r ie s  S e c tio n s . 
Speakers on the program “T h e  Academic Library 
within a National Information Policy: Towards the 
W h ite  H o u se C o n fe r e n c e  and B e y o n d ” w ere 
Richard Dougherty, University o f California L i­
brary, B erkeley; Irm a Johnson, Massachusetts In ­
stitu te of T echnology L ib rary; John M cGow an, 
N o r th w e s te r n  U n iv e r s ity  L ib r a r y ; W illia m  
Moffett, State University o f New York Library, 
Potsdam.

A C R L  section programs gave m em bers an op­
portunity to update and share their knowledge of
v irtually all asp e cts o f a cad em ic and research  
librarianship; these included replevin, library instruction,

 preservation of visual resources, auto­
mation, and bibliography.

T h e Agricultural and Biological Scien ces Se c­
tio n  sp o n s o re d  th e  p ro g ra m , “ R e c o m b in a n t 
DNA— the Right to K now ,” with a presentation 
by Jonathan King, d irector of the E lectro n M i­
croscope Facility at M IT. T h e Anthropology Se c­
tion sponsored a program on the differences b e ­
tween com puterized and traditional m ethods of 
compiling an anthropological bibliography.

T h e  Asian and African Sectio n addressed the 
to p ic o f “ B ib lio g ra p h ic a l C o n tro l and L ib ra ry  
Networks in C hina, Kuwait and N ig eria.” T h e 
Bibliographic Instruction Sectio n, offering “T he 
Politics o f L ib ra n  In stru ction ,” featured a panel 
o f ad m inistrators and librarian s discussing and 

 exploring their priorities in relation to the prob­
lems they have maintaining their priorities.

T h e Community and Junior College Libraries

A b o v e , A C R L  o f ­
f i c e r s  at th e  1978 
c o n f e r e n c e  (fr o m  
le ft  to right): E van 
i .  F ä r b e r ,  C o n n ie  
R. D u n la p , a n d  
E i d r e d  R. S m ith ‚ 
b e lo w , A C R L  main 
p r o g r a m  s p e a k e r s  
(from  left to right): 
Ir m a  J o h n s o n ,  
R ich ard  D ougherty, 
Jo h n  M cGowan, an d 
William M offett.



227

Sectio n, in conjunction with the Public Library 
A s s o c ia tio n , o ffe r e d  an a ll day c o n f e r e n c e ­
w ith in -a -co n feren ce: “C om m unity C o lleg e and 
P ublic Libraries: T h e Im petus toward Coopera­
tion!” T h e  Rare Books and Manuscripts Section 
sponsored “R arities and E p hem era at the Chicago 
H isto rical S o cie ty  L ib rary : an Illu stra te d  L e c ­
tu re .”

T h e Slavic and E a st European Section offered 
a th re e -p a rt program , which included “R e fle ctions

 on the History and Prospects o f Slavic B ib­
liography in the U nited Sta te s,” “Th e Automation 
o f Cyrillic Slavic C ataloging,” and “C u rren t D e ­
velopm ents in Romanization o f Cyrillic S c rip ts.” 

T rips sponsored by A C R L  units included the 
L aw  and  P o lit ic a l S c ie n c e  S e c t i o n ’s to u r o f  
Chicago City Hall, the Art Sectio n’s boat ride on 
Lake Michigan, and C J C L S ’s tour of four librar­
ies o f the City C olleges o f Chicago.

Association of College and Research Libraries 
Annual R eport of the President 1 9 7 7 -7 8

This has been  an active and productive year for 
A C R L. W e  have addressed or are in the process 
o f addressing several major issues that are o f con­
sid erable im portance to our association and its 
m em bers.

Plans and arrangem ents are moving along most 
e fficie n tly  for our first nation al c o n fe re n c e . A 
m ajor staff appointment was made. Arrangements 
w e r e  w o rk ed  o u t for an a n n u a l aw ard for 
a c h ie v e m e n t by an a ca d e m ic lib ra ria n . O th e r  
A C R L programs produced results worthy o f re c ­
ognition. In ad dition, A C R L , during 1 9 7 7 -7 8 , 
addressed several ALA-wide issues that have sig­
nificant im pact on our association. Finally, we 
gave a tten tio n  to co n cern s that we share with 
oth er organizations.

T h e  major critical issues addressed by the as­
sociation this year included the following. First, 
we made a beginning evaluation o f our associa­
tion’s ob jectives and the organizational structure 
needed to carry them  out effectively, based upon 
th e  re p o rt o f th e  sp e cial A C R L  Ad H o c S u b ­
co m m ittee on Goals, P riorities, and Structures. 
Second, we established a mechanism to assist our 
m em bers in addressing the com plex and difficult 
issues raised by the new  co pyright legislation. 
T hird , we gave substantive review  to the draft 
university libraries standards prepared by a jo in t 
A RL/A CRL c o m m itte e . F in a lly , we ad dressed  
the particularly com plex and critical issues re ­
lated to ownership o f public documents, as raised 
by the B. C. W est case.

T h e  Su b c o m m ittee on Goals, P rioritie s, and 
Structures was established in the fall of 1973 by 
A C R L  President Norman Tanis with the follow­
ing charge: (1) to describe the changing environ­
m ent o f research and postsecondary education; (2) 
to identify the issues and problem s relating to in­
formation and library service in this environm ent; 
(3) to d eterm ine the role for an association such 
as A C R L  in responding to these issues and prob­
lems; (4) to disregard all financial aspects or the

constitutionality of its suggestions.
T he com m ittee, chaired by L eM oyn e W . An­

derson, subm itted its recom m endations, which in­
c lu d e d  p ro p o s a ls  fo r  s ig n ific a n t c h a n g e s  in 
A C R L ’s a c tiv itie s and s tru c tu re , in th e  fall o f 
1977. T h e  su bco m m ittee s rep ort was referred, 
by the A C R L  board, to our Planning C om m ittee. 
This com m ittee is reviewing the report and will 
make recom m endations regarding its im plem en­
tation to the A C R L  board.

T h e Su bcom m ittee on G oals, P rioritie s, and 
Structures was discharged with an expression of 
th e  bo ard  s g rea t a p p recia tion . C e r ta in ly , th e  
work o f this com m ittee will facilitate A C R L ’s abil­
ity to address the major issues that lie before us. 
Its recom mendations may also contribu te to some 
significant changes in the organization and struc­
ture o f our association.

Prior to the ALA M idwinter M eeting, A CRL 
was requested  by ALA to assume responsibility 
for d e v e lo p in g  g u id e lin e s on p h o to co p y in g  o f 
co yrig h ted  m aterials that could b e  u tilized  by 
academic libraries.

A fter d iscu ssing  this issu e with W illiam  D. 
North, ALA legal counsel, who m et with us at 
M id w in te r , th e  A C R L  b o a rd  c o n c lu d e d  th a t 
A C R L should not, at this point, attem pt to de­
velop and publicize guidelines in this area. On 
the o th er hand, the board recognized the need 
fo r id e n tify in g , in d e ta il, th e  p r o b le m s  that 
academ ic libraries and librarians are encountering 
as a result o f the new copyright legislation.

C onsequently, it was decided that an ad hoc 
co m m ittee on copyright questions should be ap­
pointed within A C R L, with the task o f identifying 
questions and issues in this area that are o f con­
cern to A C R L  m em bers which req u ire legal in­
terpretation or attention. These questions would 
then b e forwarded to North for his review, rec­
om m endations, and appropriate legal action on 
the part o f ALA. This com m ittee has b e e n  ap­
pointed and has set about its task.