ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries L a r a News ■ beptemüer ^uud / bUJ N e w s f r o m t h e F i e l d Stephanie Orphan First jo in t city/un iversity lib ra ry opens its d oo rs The Dr. Martin Luther King J r . Library, the first o f its kind in the nation to be jointly funded, managed, and operated by a metropolitan city and major university, opened its doors in August. The library, a collaboration between the City o f San Jose and San Jose State University (SJSU), serves more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff of SJSU, in addition to more than 918,800 residents of San Jose. The eight-story, 475,000-square-foot facility holds a collection of 1.3 million volumes, with room to grow to 2 million volumes. The idea for the new Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library was announced in 1997, with construc­ tion beginning in 2000. The increased access to information is expected to have a positive im­ pact on the community, education, and Silicon Valley innovation. SP A R C an n o u n ce s Open A cce ss N e w sletter The F r ee O n lin e S c h o la r sh ip (FO S) N ew slet­ ter, dormant since September 2002, is back in production as the monthly SPARC O pen A c­ c es s N ew sletter (SO AN ). T he new sletter will continue to be written by Peter Suber and will offer news and analysis o f the o p en -access movement, the worldwide effort to dissemi­ nate scientific and scholarly research literature online, free of charge, and free o f unnecessary licensin g restrictions. In addition, the FOS Forum has becom e the SPARC Open Access Forum. All subscribers to the FOS newsletter and forum have au to m a tica lly b e e n subscribed to the new SPARC editions. If you are not already a subscriber, instruc­ tions on how to re­ ceive the newsletter and join the forum are available online at www.arl.org/sparc/ soa/index.html. A S E R L lau nches shared chat reference service The Association o f Southeastern Research Li­ braries (ASERL) has officially launched the first phase of its cooperative virtual reference service, linking users to staff at ten ASERL libraries. When the complete system goes live in January 2004, it will be the first W eb-based reference service supported by research library staff across a region o f the country. The cooperative virtual reference system will allow patrons to use chat software to get refer­ ence help from research library experts seven days a week, 12 hours a day, with service hours added if there is demand. The system will use OCLC’s QuestionPoint software. C&RL N e w s see ks ca rto o n ist C&RL N ew s is looking for a creative cartoon­ ist to provide humorous drawings on academic librarianship and other higher education issues. Cartoons run each m onth in this colum n ( “News from the Field”) and are occasionally used to illustrate longer articles. This volun­ teer position is shared with another cartoon­ ist, with individuals’ cartoons running in five to six issues per year. If you ’d like to have your cartoons spot­ lighted in C&RL N ew s, please send samples (e-m ail attachm ents or URLs are fine) to: Stephanie Orphan, Editor, C&RL N ew s, 50 E. H u ron , C h ic a g o , IL 6 0 6 1 1 ; e -m a il: sorphan@ala.org. http://www.arl.org/sparc/ mailto:sorphan@ala.org 504 / C&RL News ■ September 2003 H aw orth Press introduces electronic access fo r all journ als The Haworth Press, Inc. announced a new ser­ vice, E-Haworth, making all Haworth academic and professional journals available electronically. E-Haworth is available to all libraries with print subscriptions free of charge, providing site-wide online access to Haworth journals, with no re­ strictions on the number of users for either a spe­ cific issue or a specific journal title. A single aca­ demic library subscription will now serve multiple campus libraries, multiple on- and off-campus programs, faculty at home or in the office, and distance learning programs. Functionality includes 24/7 access; IP authentication; easy download­ ing, bookmarking, and searching of articles; and archival access in many instances. Jo h n s H o p kin s re sto re s w a te r- d a m a g e d b oo k s Johns Hopkins University has contracted with Document Reprocessors of Middlesex, New York, the firm that helped dry out and restore books recovered from the Titanic, to rescue and restore between 6,000 and 8,000 books that were 2002–2003 ACRL President Helen H. Spalding (left) signed a cross-border agreement, on behalf of ACRL, with Jane Phillips (right), on behalf of the Canadian Association of College and University Libraries (CACUL), during the jo in t A LA /C L A A n n u a l C o n fe re n ce . The agreement reaffirms a mutual commitment b etw een A C R L and C A C U L to prom ote international activities among academic and research librarians and educators. ACRL is signing a similar agreement with the National Council of H igh er Education Lib rarie s in Mexico and looks forward to working with both organizations. Members-only content now available on ACRL Web site Beginning this month, ACRL will be offer­ ing additional members-only content on its Web site. Previously, Board documents and the ACRL Environmental Scan w ere avail­ able to members through the site. In June, the Board of Directors approved making a number o f additional items avail­ able online to ACRL members only. These include: • complete contents o f C&RL N ews and C&RL (partial contents o f C&RL N ews will continue to be freely available to the public), • conference papers, white papers, and other documents that are also available for purchase in another format, • governance-related documents, such as the ACRL G u id e to P olices a n d P roced u res, and • proprietary research documents (such as the Environmental Scan). In addition, the ACRL Leadership Di­ rectory will be made available online to ALA and ACRL members only. Implementation o f new members-only content begins in Sep­ tember 2003. F u ll-te x t o f C&RL N e w s o n lin e fo r m em bers Moving forward from the September issue, the entire contents o f C&RL N ew s will be available online for members only. Standard items, such as “Internet Resources,” the schol­ arly communication series, and articles on the president’s theme and ACRL initiatives, will continue to be offered online to the public at large. M ake th e m o st o f m e m b e rs-o n ly con tent To access members-only content anywhere on the ALA Web site, members must log in using their membership ID number and pass­ word. If you do not know your ID and/or pass­ word, go to the ALA Online Customer Service Center (https://cs.ala.org/ScriptContent/ Index.cfm) and click on the “e-mail my pass­ word” link to submit your e-mail address. You will then receive an e-mail providing you with your login and password. https://cs.ala.org/ScriptContent/ C&RL News ■ Septem ber 2003 / 505 damaged in the George Peabody Library when an air conditioning unit drain pipe backed up, caus­ ing water to leak in the library stacks. The his­ toric library, described as a “cathedral of books,” has been closed since June 2002 for renovations. The leak occurred sometime during the first week­ end in August 2003. Document Reprocessors is assisting staff by providing a freezer truck and crew of workers on site to box up affected books. Items will be freeze dried to remove the water at the company’s headquarters and leather bindings will be additionally treated to prevent warping. The Peabody Library is scheduled to reopen in early 2004. CH O ICE o ffe rs co m p ila tio n o f O u tsta n d in g A ca d e m ic Titles CHOICE’S O utstanding A ca d em ic Titles, 1998– 2 0 0 2 : R eview s o f S ch olarly Titles th a t E very Li­ brary Should Own, ed­ ited by Rebecca A. Bartlett, is now avail­ able from ACRL. This five-year compilation is an essential resource for all librarians and faculty involved with collection develop­ ment. O u tstan din g A ca d em ic Titles in­ cludes the best in scholarly titles reviewed by CHOICE; the tides included are distinguished for their excellence in scholarship, relevance, and originality. Previously named O u tstan din g A ca d em ic B oo ks‚ the new name reflects an increase in re­ view o f electronic products and Internet sites. For more information, or to order a copy o f this and other ACRL titles, go to www.acrl.org and select “Publications Catalog” from the Quicklinks drop-down menu. A L C T S m e ta d a ta t a s k fo r c e re p o rt a v a ila b le The ALCTS Metadata Enrichment Task Force (METF) has made available the final draft o f a report by Marcia Bates, “Improving User Access to Library Catalog and Portal Information.” The report is available online at lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/ bibcontrol/actionplan.html. The document com­ prises a state-of-the-art review and recommen­ dations regarding section 2.3 o f the Library of Congress Bicentennial Action Plan. Recommen­ dations include the development o f a clustered Participate in th e A C R L stra te g ic p la n n in g p ro cess ACRL is in the process o f developing a new strategic plan, which will guide the association for the next five to ten years. Member input is crucial to the develop­ ment o f this plan. Building on focus groups held at the ACRL National Conference and leadership sessions held at ALA Annual Conference, the next step in ACRL’s strategic planning process is an online survey of the member­ ship. ACRL encourages members to partici­ pate in the strategic planning process by tak­ ing this online survey. The survey will be accessible through the ACRL Web site (www.acrl.oig) from Septem­ ber 15 to September 22, 2003. You will need your ALA membership number and password to access this members-only survey. Details will be e-mailed to all ACRL members. vocabulary approach to melding natural language terms used by searchers with the many controlled vocabularies assigned to the works they are search­ ing for. The report also provides an extensive review and bibliography that spotlights issues and research in the field o f information seek­ ing behavior. METF welcomes public comment on the report, w hich can b e e-m ailed to: 2_3@worktools.si.um ich.edu. C o lle g e o f D u P a ge h o sts R u ssian lib ra ria n s The College o f DuPage (COD), in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, was host to five professional librarians from Russia for a week in May. The librarians were part of a larger delegation of Russian infor­ mation specialists that came to the United States as part o f the Open World Program, sponsored by the Center for Russian Leadership Develop­ ment at the Library of Congress. The COD group learned about the day-to-day operations and frus­ trations at a large suburban community college library and conferred with staff o f the DuPage Library System (DLS) about the roles and ser­ vices o f a state regional library system. COD was hosting the Third Congress on Pro­ fessional Education (COPE III) during the Rus­ sians’ visit, so they were able to sit in on some of the sessions, which focused on education, advancement, http://www.acrl.org mailto:2_3@worktools.si.umich.edu http://www.acrl.oig 506 / C&RL News ■ September 2003 responsibilities, and compensation. The Russian librarians remarked that they were impressed by the large role o f computerization and automation in United States libraries and the fact that our libraries are so patron-oriented. They also commented that they experience problems similar to those in the United States regarding the popular image of librarians. E nd e avor announces course content integrator Endeavor Information Systems has developed the Course Content Integrator (CCI) to complement its ENCompass digital library system. The CCI is available for use with the Blackboard Learn­ ing System 6.0 Enterprise Edition and the WebCT VistaSystem. The product enables course creators to easily integrate the libraries’ quality resources into their course management system. Endeavor will ensure content is available for long lengths of time, reducing the probability o f broken links. Libraries will benefit from in­ creased use o f their investment in electronic database content and the increased recognition o f the role the library plays in the daily educa­ tion o f the student, while institutions benefit from being able to further leverage their invest­ ment in course management systems. Project Muse o ffe rs f lex-plan Project Muse, an online collection o f scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and the arts, has announced its new Flex-Plan Subscrip­ tion Option for consortia. Starting with 2004 sub­ scriptions, library consortia will be able to design and tailor Muse collections to best meet their needs and budgets. This alternative to the current pre­ packaged collections offers consortia the ability to customize their journal collections. All librar­ ies within a consortium will have access to the same custom collection. Although the Flex-Plan is designed to offer more flexibility and options, those consortia whose members subscribe to pre­ packaged collections through the Consortium Volume Discount Plan will receive deeper dis­ counts. Individual libraries will retain the ability to upgrade their subscription to the Muse Full Database collection outside of the consortium arrangement, if desired. MIT and Rice Univ. jo in D igital Lib rary Federation The Digital Library Federation (DLF) has an­ nounced that two new strategic partners, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Rice University, have joined the organization. DLF is a relatively small and fast-moving consortium of active academic digital libraries. The addition of the expertise o f Rice and MIT is expected to “en­ rich our understanding of the use of digital library resources in research and teaching, and will accel­ erate our engagement with institutional reposito­ ries, courseware systems, and digital preservation,” said DLF director, David Seaman. DLF, founded in 1995, is a partnership organization of academic libraries and related organizations that are pio­ neering the use of electronic-information tech­ nologies. In genta launches lib ra ry u sage statistics Ingenta, Inc., an active member in Counting Online Usage o f Networked Electronic Re­ sources (COUNTER) has launched its library usage statistic solutions, providing patron us­ age data from ingeta.com and ingentaselect.com to the 14,500 libraries currently registered on the sites. The services will allow library admin­ istrators to further analyze the usage behavior o f their patrons online. The new statistics are com pliant with the COUNTER cod e o f con ­ duct and are aligned with its goal o f ensuring consistent measurement of usage statistic within the online information industry. ■ Don’t fo rg e t the Forum ACRL Forum is an open, unmoderated dis­ cussion list for issues pertinent to ACRL, aca­ demic and research librarianship, and higher education. The list provides a great opportu­ nity to share your insight into the world of academic and research libraries and librarians, keep abreast of the big issues, and network with colleagues. Share ideas, stay inform ed There’s a lot going on in the academic and research library community and many impor­ tant issues to discuss. Why not discuss them on ACRL Forum? If you haven’t already subscribed to ACRL Forum, send an e-mail to listproc@ala.org with th e m e s s a g e : S u b s c r ib e ACRL-FRM FirstName LastName. mailto:listproc@ala.org 508 / C&RL News ■ September 2003