ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


6 3 8  / C&RL News ■ O c to b e r 2002

news

In  t h e

L ast m o n t h , ACRL P r e s i d e n t  H e le n  
Spalding in tro d u ced  h e r presidential them e, 
“N ew  Realities, N ew  R elationships,” to re a d ­
ers. In this issue, D eborah D ancik, a U.S. citi­
zen  w h o  lives an d  w orks in Canada, uses the 
them e to explore issues related to borders, both 
g eo g rap h ic an d  cultural, particularly in light 
of the changes that have occurred in the past 
y e a r  (p. 656).

From her unique perspective as an American 
living in a neighbo r i n g  country, she recognizes the 
benefits that come from exposure to practices on 
both sides of a border and encourages us to em ­
brace the opportunity for learning that will take 
place at the joint ALA/Canadian Library  Associa­
tion Conference in Toronto next summer.

A nother key relationship highlighted this 
m onth occurs on the scholarly communications 
front. Rick Johnson, SPARC enterprise director, 
writes about the partnership betw een ACRL and 
SPARC (Scholarly Publishing & Academic Re­
sources Coalition) and our shared goal of reform­
ing scholarly communication (p. 648 ). Included is

a clear overview  of SPARC’s accom plishm ents 
and future directions.

If y o u ’re interested in becom ing actively in­
volved in ACRL, w hether to w ork towards chang­
ing the scholarly communication landscape or on 
one or more of the many other important issues 
facing academ ic librarians today, the article on 
page 659 outlines the volunteering and selection 
process for ACRL committee membership. Vol­
unteering for m embership on one o f our 25 divi­
sion-level or numerous section-level committees 
is a good way to expand your skills, network with 
other academic librarians, and contribute to the 
future of the profession.

An exam ple of the type o f valuable an d  re­
warding work accomplished by committees can 
be found in the “Guidelines for Academic Status 
for College an d  University Librarians” (p. 664), 
p rep ared  by the ACRL Com m ittee o n  the Sta­
tus o f Academic Librarians an d  ap p ro v ed  by 
the ACRL B oard at the A nnual C onference.

— Stepha n ie  Orp han,Editor-in-chie f  
sorp han@ala.org

mailto:sorpixm@ala.oig