ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


646 / C&RL News ■ N o v e m b e r 2003

I n  t h e  news

The need to transform the system of scholarly 
communication has been a topic of significant 
discussion in the academic community for the 
last several years. We talk of the need for new 
business models to support open access jour­
nals, but it can be difficult to know exactly how 
to effect any real change. This month’s Schol­
arly Communication offering (p. 652) explains 
the process by which one endeavor, BioOne, 
was conceived, developed, and grown over the 
course of four years to offer cost-effective ac­
cess to journals in the biological, ecological, and 
environmental sciences and offers some insight 
into challenges for the future.

Another major issue in the field of academic 
librarianship has been recruitment and reten­
tion. However, the present economy poses a 
challenge to the newly minted librarian or expe­
rienced librarian looking to change jobs. In “Navi­
gating a tight job market” (p. 661), Laura Saunders

offers some good advice for librarians conduct­
ing a job search during a time when near-term 
prospects seem to fly in the face of our fear of a 
shrinking profession.

In The Way I See It (p. 664), Donna Ferullo, 
addresses the sticky issue on campuses surround­
ing piracy of copyrighted materials. She proposes 
a solution that involves collaboration between 
the entertainment industry and universities.

The final draft of ACRL’s Committee on the 
Status of Academic Librarian’s “A guideline for 
the screening and appointment of academic li­
brarians using a search committee” can be found 
on page 672. When finalized, this guideline will 
supercede die model statement on the same topic 
approved in June 2002. There will not be a hear­
ing held on this draft, so please read it here and 
submit any comments to the committee chair.

— Stephanie Orphan, Editor-in-chief 
sorphan@ala.org

mailto:sorphan@ala.org