ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries Jan u ary 1 9 9 6 /5 News f r o m th e Field M a ry Ellen D avis Tuition in crease benefits NCSU lib rarie s North Carolina State Univer­ sity’s (NCSU) Board o f Trust­ ees voted on November 17, 1995, to increase annual stu­ dent tuition by $400 for most students. Its action splits the p ro je c te d $8.2 m illion in ­ crease evenly between need- based financial aid and the NCSU Libraries. The resulting infusion of $4.1 million into the library bud get will m ean about a 35% increase to its annual state-appropriated budget o f $11.6 million. The majority o f the funds will go toward the enhancem ent o f the collections, stemming their recent decline in the face o f rising inflation and costs. The mon­ ies will help restore purchasing power for books to its level in the late 1980s, allow support for new academic programs, and forestall further serials cancellations. Remaining funds will b e used to improve the ease and speed o f access to the collections and expand services for the user community. Plans include offering a 24-hour library sched­ ule, an electronic reserves collection for 24- hour availability, a program to improve the in­ form ation-seeking com petencies o f students, and an automated system for request and on- cam pus delivery o f articles and b o o k s not owned by NCSU. The new monies will also help the NCSU Libraries create a digital library, including the enhancem ent o f electronic col­ lections and networking infrastructure. Service desk hours in the main library and hours of opening in branch libraries will be extended. “W e recognize the hardship that the tuition increase will present for many students,” said vice provost and director o f libraries Susan K. Nutter, “but the additional funding will result in significantly improved services and collec­ tions for all students and faculty at NC State, which will be o f lifelong benefit.” C o lla b o ra tiv e d e liv e ry of electronic te xts e n d o rse d Representatives from the Committee on Insti­ tutional Cooperation (CIC) mem ber institutions (the Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago) launched an effort to develop a col­ laborative process for the production and networked distribution o f electro n ic tex ts in th e hu m an ities. Their initiative transpired from a meeting sponsored by the CIC library directors an d h o s te d b y In d ia n a University’s Library Elec­ tronic Text Resource Ser­ vice (LETRS) steering com ­ mittee last October. Many o f the CIC mem­ bers have b een deeply in­ volved with electronic texts, observed LETRS codirectors Richard Ellis and Mark Day. “This meeting provided the oppor­ tunity to discuss how w e can move forward as partners in these efforts, thereby providing ac­ cess to far more materials than could be made available through individual effort,” said Day. The first set o f proposals “support CIC-wide development o f digital collections for use by our scholars and students,” said Roger Clark, director o f the CIC, noting that the initiative will enable participating universities to dem­ onstrate the feasibility o f seamless access to in­ stitutional and consortia resources, and make it easier for all CIC m em ber institutions to ac­ quire and deliver electronic text resources. El­ ements o f the initiative will include: providing networked access to existing electronic text re­ sources within the CIC; defining procedures and policies for adding new resources; identifying and employing text markup conventions and standards; sharing expertise across the CIC; and collaboration in developing an abstract model and communications protocols for text search­ ing and retrieval. A la b a m a g o v ern o r m eets students d ig itally In November the Honorable Fob Jam es, gover­ nor o f Alabama, met with an information policy class o f students at the University o f Alabama School o f Library and Information Studies (SLIS) in Tuscaloosa. What makes this event notewor­ thy is that neither the governor nor half o f the students were in Tuscaloosa at the time. The class is taught via the Intercampus Interactive Telecommunications System (ITS), a two-way compressed video system with sites through­ out Alabam a. Students at sites in Atmore, 6 /C&RL News Ron D octor facilitates a discussion between his library science students and the g o v ern or o f Alabama via an Interactive Telecom m unications System at the University o f Alabama. Gadsden, Birmingham, and Tuscaloosa meet weekly for the class. The governor participated from the Project OnRamp site in the Alabama State House in Montgomery. SLIS dean Philip Turner said, “This con nec­ tion is an example o f the real power o f digital technologies. The capacity to enrich our cur­ riculum is limited only by our imagination.’’ N e w ACRL discussion g ro up form ed Based on a recommendation from ACRL Presi­ dent Patricia Senn Breivik, ACRL has established the Alliances for New Directions in Teaching/ Learning Discussion Group. The first meeting was held at the ALA Annual Conference in Chi­ cago on Ju n e 26, 1995. The group was formed as a response to several national initiatives fo­ cusing on the increased use and integration of information technology into the teaching/learn­ ing process. Those initiatives include Educom’s National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII), the American Association o f Higher Education’s Teaching and Learning Roundtables, and the Coalition for Networked Inform ation’s New Learning Communities program. Breivik stated, “W e believe that the potential impact o f these efforts on the future o f higher education and academic libraries is so great as to warrant stra­ tegic coordination among librarians’ efforts” ( C ognotes, Ju n e 25, 1995). The article also says that the group will fa­ cilitate the evolution of strategic efforts in this area, which ties in well with both ACRL’s new Strategic Plan and ALA’s Goal 2000, according to ACRL executive director Althea Jenkins. Jo a n K. Lippincott, assistant executive di­ rector o f the Coalition for Networked Informa­ tion, was elected chair o f the group and Timothy F. Richards, director o f library and informa­ tion technology services at the University o f Michigan-Dearborn, was elected vice-chair. At the initial meeting o f the group, participants d escribed their involvement in various na­ tional initiatives, discussed the purpose o f the discussion group, and suggested ideas for its meet­ ing at the ALA Midwinter Meet­ ing in San Antonio, 8:00– 9:00 a.m., January 22, in the Conven­ tion Center, Room 201. Librar­ ians w ho have participated in any o f the national initiatives mentioned above are encouraged to contact Jo a n Lippincott (joan@cni.org) if they would like to describe their institution’s involvement at the Midwinter session. “ E v e ry Lib ra ria n a L e a d e r” p ro gram p lan n e d for N e w Y o rk ACRL’s 1996 President’s program will offer at­ tendees a three-day seminar and com prehen­ sive leadership workbook. The program will consist o f four modules over the three-day pe­ riod, July 6– 8, 1996, during the ALA Annual Conference in New York: the keynote address will focus on why librarians must b e leaders on their campuses and how they can begin the process o f cultivating more inclusive leader­ ship skills; “New Perspectives for Creative Strat­ egies” will examine ways to improve commu­ n ic a tio n s k ills a n d d e v e lo p c r e a tiv e problem-solving approaches; nine ACRL pro­ grams will address specific leadership themes; and “Assessing Your Style” will offer a hands- on session to review conference experiences and share thoughts about leadership opportu­ nities. Participants will be asked to com plete a leadership self-assessment survey. “The program will involve interactive for­ mats to train academic librarians in leadership skills and influence public policy both within their colleges and universities and in the broader arena in dealing with other professionals, pro­ fessional organizations, and public policy agen­ cies,” said ACRL President Patricia Senn Breivik. “The library profession is changing rapidly as higher education is demanding greater account­ ability and responsibility o f its librarian faculty and staff,” Breivik explained. “Librarians need mailto:joan@cni.org