ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL N ew s ■ N o vem b er 1998 / 749 N e w s f r o m t h e F i e l d Mary Ellen Davis Consortium to build information hub for southeast Michigan The Detroit Area Library N etw ork (DALNET) will develop the “Southeast Michigan Infor­ m ation H ub,” a dynam ic user-friendly online inform ation system that will h o u se u n iq u e inform ation from a variety o f com m unity re­ sources, such as governm ent organizations, cham bers o f com m erce, trade associations, m useum s, an d more. The DALNET consortium —m ade u p o f 21 libraries, including public, community college, university, medical, law, an d art libraries lo­ cated in Southeast Michigan— will team with A m eritech Corp. to b u ild th e h u b u sin g Ameritech Library Services’ Horizon library autom ation system an d an Ameritech m an­ aged frame relay network. The hub, expected to b e fully operational by the year 2000, will offer access to traditional library resources as well as resources of econom ic developm ent, healthcare, social service, an d com m unity in­ formation. “The Southeast Michigan Information H ub is designed to serve p eo p le th roughout the seven-county Detroit regional area in their lifelong educational, cultural, research, p ro ­ fessional, and rec­ reational endeav­ o rs,” said Patricia S e n n B r e iv ik , DALNET p r e s i ­ d en t and d ean of th e W ayne State University Library System. “It will en­ ab le DALNET li­ b ra rie s to re a c h b ey o n d the walls of the library and d e liv e r text, im ­ ages, sound, and video to the desk­ to p le v e l a n d Four M innesota lib rarian eventually to p u b ­ "A d vo cacy T raining fo r lic kiosks.” w o rk. W hile attending AL W ellstone to advocate acAlready, plans Mary M artin (Univ. of St. are u n d erw ay to & Technical College), Sen. g e t th e D e tr o it Univ.), and Bill Sozansky Public Library an d its 24 library facilities th roughout the city connected to the system in spring 1999- DALNET Vice-Chair an d D e­ troit Public Library Director Maurice W heeler said, “The Detroit Public Library is uniquely positioned to deliver com m unity access to all the w onderful inform ation in the Southeast Michigan Information. In this way, custom ­ ers w h o d o n o t have in-hom e or at-w ork In­ ternet access can take full advantage of these resources.” Margaret Auer, d ean at the University of Detroit Mercy Libraries (UDM) an d chair of the DALNET Board, said the n ew system is a hit already at UDM. “We are getting enthusi­ astic feedback from students and faculty,” said Auer. “T hey are finding it easy to use and understand. We anticipated this reaction and are very pleased it has pro v ed to be so posi­ tive.” California comm unity colleges create purchasing consortium California’s 107 community college library di­ rectors have form ed a statewide purchasing consortium that will allow them to purchase Internet-based electronic information resources s put th e techniques learned at ACRL's 1998 cad em ic L ib ra ria n s" pre co n fere n ce rig h t to A's Annual Conference, they visited Sen. Paul ademic library legislative issues. Left to right: Thom as), Tom Eland (M inneapolis Com m unity Paul W ellstone, Sylverna Ford (M ankato State (Univ. of M innesota, Duluth). A 750 / C&RL News ■ N ovem ber 1998 at discounted prices in partnership with the 22-campus California State University (CSU). The new consortium is a cooperative effort led by the California Community College Coun­ cil of Chief Librarians, the group’s statewide association. The project is being assisted by th e Com m unity College League o f California an d the California State University’s Software & Electronic Information Resources office. “The Council o f Chief Librarians is pro u d to join together w ith the CSU an d the Com­ munity College League in this cooperative pur­ chase partnership,” said P asadena City Col­ lege Library Director Mary Ann Laun, w ho h ea d ed u p a special com mittee o f the co u n ­ Register early and save! Registration materials for ACRL’s 9th National Conference, “Racing Tow ard T om orrow ” April 8-11, 1999, in Detroit have b ee n m ailed ancl are available on the Web at http://www.ala.org/ acrl/prendex.html. Get on the fast track for change and equip yourself with the skills you need to stay on course as w e “Race Toward Tomor­ row .” Highlights of the conference include: • an o p e n forum o n copyright an d in­ tellectual p ro p erty issues b e tw e e n Pat Schroeder, p resid en t o f the Association o f American Publishers, an d Jam es Neal, director o f libraries at Jo h n s H opkins Uni­ versity; • k e y n o te a d d re sse s by K. W ayne Smith, president em eritus of OCLC, and Blenda J. Wilson, president o f California State University, Northridge; • a choice of 225 programs exploring the current issues o f academic librarianship such as scholarly communication, electronic publishing, distance learning, outcomes as­ sessment, and information literacy; • more than 200 exhibitors displaying and demonstrating their latest products and services; • preconferences on leadership, in­ struction, Myers-Briggs, the netw orked en­ vironment, patents/copyrights, telecommu­ nications, and buildings. Register by January 18, 1999, and real­ ize substantial savings over the regular con­ ference rate. cil to develop the program. “This venture offers avenues for community college libraries to lever­ age financial resources, control escalating costs, and increase access to electronic information re­ sources that are essential to meeting the informa­ tion needs of students.” The Community College League o f Cali­ fornia, w hich will serve as th e fiscal agent, is the statew ide association o f all 71 districts. Thomson mergers form Gale Group Thom son Business Information (TBI) m erged three o f its electronic an d reference publish­ ing subsidiaries— Gale Research, Information Access Com pany (IAC), an d Primary Source Media— into a n ew com pany called The Gale Group. “We are merging th ree strong com panies into a n ew w orldw ide leader,” said Patrick J. Tierney, TBI president. “By com bining G ale’s extensive n ew p roduct developm ent, edito­ rial, an d print publishing capabilities, IAC’s expertise in electronic publishing, an d Pri­ mary Source M edia’s expertise w ith publish­ ing original research materials, w e will create com pelling n ew products, strengthen exist­ ing ones, an d deliver the highest quality of custom er service.” Allen Paschal, president of IAC, w as ap ­ poin ted CEO o f The Gale G roup, b ased in Detroit, Michigan. … and the Thomson Science and Technology Group T h o m so n B u sin ess In fo rm a tio n also a n ­ n o u n ced the creation o f T hom son Science and Technology (TST), a new group that will in­ clude two current TBI companies: Derwent In­ formation (London) and the Institute for Scien­ tific Information (ISI) (Philadelphia). Derwent provides patent products to Fortune 1000 com ­ panies and ISI is recognized for products such as Current Contest and Science Citation Index. TBI presi- dent Patrick J. Tierney said, “The new group will focus o n being the scientific researcher’s and scholar’s preferred gateway to scientific literature, patent information, and Web content.” IS Think Tank III participants sought Continuing a long tradition o f focused delib­ eration o n the future direction o f library in­ struction in higher education, the ACRL In­ struction Section (IS) seeks nom inations of individuals with exceptional foresight and trans- http://www.ala.org/ C&RL N ew s ■ N ovem b er 1998 / 751 New in the ALA Archives T he ALA Archives, w hich the University o f Illinois Archives maintains u n d er contract for ALA, has m ade the general descriptive holdings W eb-acces­ s ib le at: h tt p : / / w w w . lib r a ry . u iu c .e d u / a h x / ala. The ALA Archives’ hom epage provides a com plete listing o f all holdings. A simple search mecha­ nism perm its keyw ord searching o f all scope an d content notes for the archives. Finding aids, w hile n o t yet available o n the Web, are available u p o n request. Also available electronically will be releases o f “N ew in the A d o nke bookm oALA Archives.” The most recent Institute acquisition featured is the Colum­ bia School o f Library Service Library Verti­ cal Files, 1832-1994 (record series 85/7/6), from w hich the accom panying p h o to origi­ nates. The files com prise over 118 cubic feet of library docum ents from the United States an d aro u n d the world. They include p h o to ­ graphs, staff manuals, publications, b o o k ­ lists, floor plans, annual reports, postcards, correspondence, exhibition catalogs, com ­ y s bile in m em orative brochures, signs, forms, and catalo g a n d library card s from p u b lic, s c h o o l, a c a d e m ic , and special libraries. There is also a sub­ stantial collection of lib ra ry e q u ip m e n t a n d v e n d o r s ’ c a ta ­ logs dating from the turn o f the century; su b je c t files o n li- brary-related topics; a series of documents from library, publish­ ing, an d inform ation erves as an ea rly science organizations fo r the Am erican in the United States A nato lia. a n d a b r o a d ; a n d docum ents from ALA annual an d m idw in­ ter m eetings an d divisions of ALA. A 120-page finding aid is available: ALA Archives, University o f Illinois Archives, Room 19, Main Library, 1408 W. Gregory Dr., U rbana, IL 61801; (217) 333-0798; illiarch@uiuc.edu.— Elizabeth R. Cardman, assistant university archivist, University o f Illinois a t Urbana-Champaign, ecardman@ uiuc.edu. formative vision to participate in “Think Tank III: Information Literacy and the Technological Transformation of Higher Education.” Scheduled to precede the ALA Annual Con­ ference in New O rleans o n Ju n e 25, 1999, Think Tank III is designed to identify an d bring together leaders in the field o f inform a­ tion literacy w ith leaders in the field o f ed u ­ cational technology to develop an agenda for inform ation literacy that reflects the transfor­ mative im pact o f technology o n the field and establish goals for innovative developm ent to m eet that transform ation. In charting a course for the future o f library instruction, Think Tank III follows a 17-year tradition set by th e first tw o IS think tank events, h eld in 1981 an d 1989- Instruction librarians are defined as pro­ f e s s io n a l lib ra ria n s p o s s e s s in g a n ALA- accredited graduate degree w hose day-to-day librarianship activities involve managing and/or designing instructional programs and teaching in­ formation literacy concepts and skills to college and university populations in a w ide variety of settings. Educational technologists are defined as non-librarian professionals affiliated w ith in­ stitutions o f higher education (or other rel­ evant organizations) w h o possess b o th theo­ retical and practical expertise in applying com­ p u ter technologies to educational endeavors at various levels. Nominations are also sought for a session m oderator an d a session recorder. The m od­ erator will guide an d sh ap e participant dis­ cussions an d en su re th e tim ely operation of the w orking session. The recorder, using a variety o f m edia, will fully d o cu m en t the events o f the w orking session. Self-nominations in all categories are w el­ com e. Nominations for instruction librarians an d educational technologists from the same institution are encouraged. Graduate students in an ALA-accredited library school program w ho http://www.library possess a strong interest in academic library in­ struction will also be considered and are encour­ aged to participate. Individuals chosen to participate in Think Tank III will receive lodging (double occupancy) in New Orleans on the night of Thursday, June 24. Meals will be provided during the working session and at the IS dinner on Friday, June 25. Each educa­ tional technology participant (non-librarian, non-AIA member) will also receive a $500 hono­ rarium to help cover travel expenses. The Think Tank III project is funded with the support of the ACRL Initiative Fund. To submit nominations or receive more infor­ mation about Think Tank III, please visit the IS W eb site at h ttp ://w w w .lib .u te x a s .e d u /is / p r o je c ts /th in k ta n k .h tm l o r c o n ta c t K eith G resham at keith.gresham@ colorado.edu. The deadline for receipt of nominations is December 31, 1998. ACRL publishes three new books ACRL an n o u n ces the availability o f th ree n ew titles: • C on stan cy a n d C hange in th e W orkl o f R e s e a r c h U n iv e r s ity L ib r a r ia n s , P ubli­ cations in Librarianship no. 51 by Rebecca Watson- Boone is a benchmark for w hat it is like to work as an academic librarian in a U.S. research univer­ sity in the mid-1990s. Work can n o t be u n d er­ stood apart from organi­ zational, group, and indi­ vidual cultural an d val­ ues; nor can w orkers be u n d ersto o d apart from the tasks an d jobs they i undertake. Through developing an understand­ ing o f th e w o rk o f th e particular academ ic li­ brarians in this study— an d th e m eaning their w o rk has for them — o n e can re sp o n d to th e challenges in their w ork environm ent an d as­ sess subsequent work-related changes that may occur in th e academ ic library. ($30.00, ACRL m em b er $27.00; 172p.; 1998, 0-8389-7984-X) • L i b r a r y a n d L e a r n in g R e s o u r c e P r o g r a m s : E v a lu a tio n a n d S elf-S tu d y, CJCLS G uide #3 by Wanda Johnston addresses several major areas o f evaluation and self-study through a survey of libraries’ practices. Be p re­ pared for your next accreditation site visit. Top­ ics covered include how respondents use reports an d plans, statistical re­ ports, and user satisfac­ tion surveys, with exten­ sive sample documenta­ tion in each of these ar­ eas. Appendices include a bibliography, criteria o f each o f th e regional accrediting agencies, and th e ACRL Standards for C om m unity, Junior, and Technical College Learning Resources Pro­ grams. ($31.00, ACRL m em b er $28.00; 224p,; 1998, 0-8389-7989-0) • ACRL U n iv e r s ity L ib r a r y S ta tis tic s , 1 9 9 6 —97, co m p iled by th e Library Research Center, G raduate School of Library an d Infor­ m a tio n Science, U niversity o f Illinois at Ur- bana-Champaign, reviews operating data from over 105 participating libraries. Institutions sur­ v e y e d are in C arnegie Classifications Research I & II a n d D o c to ra l Granting I & II. Catego­ ries o f data reported in­ fec lu d e co llectio n infor­ m atio n , su c h as v o l­ umes, monographs, seri­ als, an d m icroform s; staffing levels; expendi­ tures; a n d in terlib rary loan activities. Institutional categories include d eg rees offered, enrollm ent size, an d faculty size. ($80.00, ACRL m e m b e r $72.00; 74p,; 1998, 0-8389-7991-2) ACRL publications may be ordered from ALA O rd e r Fulfillm ent, 155 N. W acker Dr., Chi­ cago, IL 60606; (800) 545-2433, p ress 7; fax: (312) 836-9958. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/is/ mailto:keith.gresham@colorado.edu C&RL N ew s ■ N o vem b er 1998 / 753 More lib rarie s choose Endeavor The State of W ashington Community an d Technical College system, Wake Forest University, an d the University of Wisconsin System have all selected Endeavor Information System’s Voy­ ager integrated library a n d inform a­ tion access system. In addition to its sin g le cu sto m ers, E n d ea v o r n o w claims as customers nine consortiums A re n d and two statewide systems— Georgia A g ricu lt an d Wisconsin. Library, CSU N orthridge breaks ground California State University (CSU), Northridge, broke ground for the Delmar T. Oviatt Library’s n ew w in g s in S eptem ber. U niversity Library D ean Susan C. Curzon presided over the event CSU Northridge president Blenda W ilson (I), a t th e g ro u n d b re a k in g by sta te and local in clu d in g State Sen. C ath ie W rig h t (c e n te r), Dean Susan Curzon (second from rig h t), an E lb e rt, CSU vice p re sid e n t fo r a d m in is tra ti fin a n c e . at w h ich CSU’s P resid en t B lenda W ilson an d State Sen. Cathie Wright w ere featured sp e ak ­ ers. Curzon also unveiled the library’s new slo­ gan, “We’ve earned our w ings.” The library was seriously damaged during the 1994 N orthridge earthquake. T he central core w as r e o p e n e d in th e fall o f 1994. T h e w ings required m ore extensive seismic redesign, and reconstruction w as delayed until this year. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is p ro v id in g th e $20 m illion n e e d e d for rebuilding. Since 1992 th e library’s techni­ cal services, fine arts, microforms, an d instruc­ e rin g o f th e U n iv e r s it y o f Illin o is 's n e w u ral, Consum er and Environm ental Sciences Inform ation and A lum ni Center. tional materials units have been housed in tem­ porary quarters. These units will move back into the Oviatt w h en th e w ings are ready for occu­ pancy, w hich is expected to be sometime in the su m m er o f 1999. Univ. of Illin o is breaks ground O n O cto b er 9 the University o f Il­ linois at U rbana-Cham paign broke ground for the n ew College of Agri­ cultural, C o n su m er a n d E n v iro n ­ m ental Sciences Library, Inform a­ tio n , a n d A lu m n i C e n te r. T h e building will b e ready to use by the year 2000. T he n e w five-story facility will m o re th a n d o u b le th e am o u n t o f sp a ce available (to 30,000 sq u are feet) to w h at u se d to b e called the is joined ffic ia ls , Library’s A griculture Library. The Lib ra ry p roject is a result o f a p artn ersh ip A rth u r b e tw e e n private d o n o rs ($10 mil­ o n and lion), the university library, and the State o f Illinois ($10.5 million). Don't miss Dec. 1 award deadline The deadline for applying for most ACRL awards is December 1,1998. Take a moment to nominate someone to give them the recog­ nition they deserve or to apply for a grant or fellowship for yourself. Fifteen awards are avail­ able in three categories: Achievement and Dis­ tinguished Service, Research, and Publications. Details are o n the W eb at: h ttp ://w w w . ala.org/acrl/award2.html. ■ o d http://www