ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries May 1995/311 News f r o m the Field Ma ry Ellen Davis Pittsburgh a success! “Great conference!” “This is the best ACRL National Conference I have ever attended!” “I’m looking forward to Nashville” (site of ACRL’s 8th National Conference). G ray s k ie s and rainy weather did not dampen the enthusiasm of the 2,721 par­ ticipants at ACRL’s 7th Na­ tional Conference in Pitts­ burgh, March 29– April 1, 1995. Nearly 1,800 librarians registered to hear the four theme sessions, 54 contributed papers, 31 panel sessions, 31 roundtable discussions, and 60 poster sessions presented. Nearly 200 companies brought 614 exhibitors, and 313 individuals took advantage of ACRL’s free exhibits pass to tour the collec­ tion o f products and services available to aca­ demic libraries. A full report of the conference, including highlights of many of the sessions contributed by conference participants, will be published in the June C&RL News. C o n fe re n ce atten d ees to u r th e e x h ib its at ACRL’s 7th N ational C on feren ce in Pittsburgh. ACRL to cosponsor online information access workshop ACRL and Equal Access to Software and Infor­ mation (EASI) will jointly sponsor a three-week online workshop this fall (date to be deter­ mined) as part of a project for enhanced access to library resources by pa­ trons with disabilities. The workshop, which will be available on the Internet, will address measures use­ ful in providing those with visual or physical impair­ ments access to resources available to the general public. It will address ad­ vances in technology de­ signed to meet the needs of those who cannot use a regular newspaper or pick up a standard book. Participants will learn techniques for mak­ ing libraries accessible to patrons with all types of disabilities. Traditional information sources such as large-print, recorded, and Braille texts, and adaptive technology such as synthetic speech, large-print software and hardware, and text-to-speech reading systems, will be dis­ cussed. EASI is a confederation of 2,000 indi­ viduals dedicated to compiling and distribut­ ing information about adaptive computing technology for the disabled. It was originally founded under the umbrella of EDUCOM, but is now affiliated with the American Association for Higher Education. BCALA hosts fundraising gala To celebrate 25 years of advocating diversity and equity in America’s libraries, the Black Cau­ cus o f the Am erican Library A ssociation (BCALA) will host its 25th Anniversary Celebra­ tion with a gala fundraiser at ALA’s Annual Con­ ference in Chicago in June. World-renowned jazz great Ramsey Lewis is the featured per­ former at the Sunday, June 25, gala evening which will raise funds to endow $100,000 for the E. J. Josey Scholarship Fund, which pro­ vides scholarships for African-American students pursuing the MLS. BCALA was founded by Josey and others in 1970 to address the professional concerns of black librarians and to advance the field of black librarianship. For details about the celebration contact Khafre K. Abif, South­ west Branch Library, 920 Wesley Place and K St. SW, Washington, DC 20024; (202) 727-1381. University of Cincinnati uses cable TV The University of Cincinnati Libraries has be­ gun limited broadcasting on the Campus Cable 3 1 2 /C&RL News Television Service. Currently the library has a video loop on the air with general information about the library, its services, and its collec­ tions. Instructional videos to explain the on­ line catalog, UCLID, and specialized databases such as LEXIS/NEXIS are under development. According to Jane Carlin, acting head of train­ ing and educational services for the libraries, the library plans to offer these videos as alter­ natives to the traditional classroom bibliographic instruction session. Faculty, staff, and students will have the added convenience of schedul­ ing specific programming. “When planning a course, for example, fac­ ulty can reserve a video in September even if they don’t want to show it until December, Carlin said. “Then instead of having to check out the video themselves or arrange for a VCR, they have it broadcast directly to a classroom. Carlin sees the library channel as a good way to increase use of the libraries’ large video collection. “I’m sure many of the faculty are unaware that we have close to 1,000 videos in our special formats departments,” she said. EBSS seeks editor and moderator ACRL’s Education and Behavioral Sciences Sec­ tion (EBSS) is seeking an editor for its newslet­ ter and a moderator for its electronic listserv. The two-year appointment for the newsletter editor will begin in fall 1995. Applicants should have a working knowledge of desktop pub­ lishing. The two-year appointment for the listserv moderator will begin in July 1995 or as soon as possible thereafter. Applicants must know how to use Internet communications, and preference will be given to applicants whose ” ” institutions can host the EBSS listserv. Both newsletter editor and listserv moderator must be members of EBSS and be able to attend ALA Annual Conferences and Midwinter Meetings. Both will serve on three key committees (EBSS Executive, EBSS Publications, and ACRL Sec­ tion Newsletter Editors) which generally have been scheduled as early as Friday evening and as late as Tuesday morning at conferences. In­ terested members should submit application let­ ters, resumes, and writing samples to the EBSS Publications Chair, Joan B. Fiscella at the Uni­ versity of Illinois at Chicago Library, P.O. Box 8198, M/C 234, Chicago, IL 60680; e-mail: u46028@uicvm.uic.edu; fax: (312) 413-0424. Applications must be received by June 30,1995. BIS offers active learning materials Packets of materials from the ACRL Biblio­ graphic Instruction Section’s 1994 precon­ ference, “Integrating Active Learning into Li­ brary Instruction: Practical Information for Immediate Use,” are available on a first-come, first-served basis to the first 50 requests sub­ mitted by mail and to the first 50 requests sub­ mitted by e-mail. The packets include a tran­ script of Trish Ridgeway’s keynote address on active learning, handouts from each o f the breakout sessions, a bibliography, and a reprint of a seminal article on active learning. The materials are available through a grant from the ACRL Initiative Fund made to the BIS Continu­ ing Education Committee. One hundred pack­ ets will be distributed to state associations, li­ brary schools, and clearinghouses, and copies of the packets will be available for borrowing through LOEX. Internet access is also planned. To request your own packet by mail write: Judith Arnold, In­ structional Services Librarian, Waldo Library, Western Michi­ gan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5080. To request a packet by e -m ail c o n ta c t: J o Ann Calzonetti at u517a@wvnvm. wvnet.edu. No phone requests will be accepted. Comment on issues of access to information ALA’s In te lle ctu a l Freed om Committee (IFC) has prepared a draft Interpretation of the Li­ brary B ill o f Rights to begin ad­ dressing electronic issues in an Library staff m em bers Doug B ak er and Katie S calf use in stru c­ tion al softw are to develop p ro g ram m in g fo r th e U niversity o f C incinnati lib rary cab le ch ann el. itannicni C fo v. ni U ,sreduo S asiL :tiderc too Ph mailto:u46028@uicvm.uic.edu May 1 9 9 5 /3 1 3 ACRL to b uild Com m unity Inform ation O rg a n iza tio n s The ACRL Board o f Directors approved the creation o f the Community Information Orga­ nizations Initiative whose broad goals will be to meet the challenges and opportunities of expanding information infrastructures (along with the greater demands for public service) through the development and training o f aca­ demic librarians to take leadership roles in this age o f information. Specifically, the librar­ ians will be trained to develop a cooperative community of information providers from both the private and public sectors. “The initiative’s deeper philosophy o f lo­ cal/regional community information distribu­ tion rests on the bedrock principle o f the public’s right to government information. Since the late 1980s all levels o f government have exploited information technologies to fulfill their public information services. Document librarians (and others) have studies, debated, and lobbied for significant changes to the ex ­ isting systems of government information dis­ tribution, focusing on an updated version of the traditional model: a ‘wired depository li­ brary’ if you will,” said John Shuler o f the University o f Illinois at Chicago and the proposal’s developer. This interactive electronic civic network de­ mands a new leadership role from librarians. The project will foster a deeper level o f civic involvement which will require a closer work­ ing relationship with government agencies, public organizations, local businesses, and other community groups to assure equitable distribution o f information and services. The ACRL Board believes this initiative will lead to the creation o f these viable commu­ nity information organizations during the next five to ten years. The program’s initial phase is the creation o f an advisory committee to identify specific goals, workshop modules, and appropriate evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness o f the proposed modules. The goal o f each workshop will be to teach information providers basic organizing skills that will lead to the creation o f information organizations that best meet local community needs for proactive distribution. Another goal o f the program is for librar ies and librarians to become major contribu tors in the construction o f local public infor­ mation infrastructures. Indeed, librarians can make a place for themselves in the new in­ formation society o f the next century. intellectual freedom context. “Access to Elec­ tronic Information, Services, and Networks: An Interpretation o f the Library Bill o f Rights” is available on ALA’s gopher. To access the go­ pher point your gopher client to gopher.uic.edu port 70; select the menu option “The Library, then select “ALA,” and then “Intellectual Free­ dom Statements.” Comments should be sent to Candace Morgan, chair, IFC, c/o Office for In­ tellectu al Freedom/ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 606 l l or by e-mail to cynthia. robinson@ala.org. The IFC will also receive comments at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago until Saturday, Ju ne 24, 1995. Virtual library of Virginia adds Ariel Virginia’s 51 college, university, and commu­ nity college libraries will install Ariel for Win­ dows software as part o f the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) project. With a $5.2 million al­ location for 1994—96 from Virginia’s General ” Assembly to the libraries, VIVA is designed to enhance and facilitate the sharing o f library resources among public higher education in­ s titu tio n s . Ariel for Windows is a document transmis­ sion system from the Research Libraries Group (RLG). Using commercially available hardware and RLG’s Ariel software, libraries can scan ar­ ticles, photos, and similar documents, transmit the resulting electronic images over the Inter­ net to each other’s Ariel workstations, and print them on a laser printer. “Because the Ariel software utilizes a high resolution, the quality o f the documents is con­ siderably better using Ariel than is possible using either photocopy or fax machines. It is also faster, more reliable, and less expensive to use than fax,” said Dennis Robison, dean o f Inte­ grated Learning Resources at Jam es Madison University, and chair o f the VIVA Interlibrary Loan Enhancements Committee. mailto:robinson@ala.org