ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 14 / C&R L News Issues raised by extended campus services librarians e s s ­ , ” d ­ - T h e Off-campus Library Services C onferenc proceedings state th a t th e prim ary objective o f thi m eeting is “to provide a forum w h ere practitioner involved with library services for off-cam pus con stituents [can] g ath er to exchange relevant ideas concerns, an d perspectives; and to share research. T h e fifth m eeting o f this conference did indee provide a forum for participants, this tim e in Albu querq u e, N ew Mexico from O cto b er 30-N ovem b e r 1, 1991. E lizabeth J. Burge, distance learning coordina to r at th e O ntario In stitu te for Studies in Education addressed th e opening session o f th e conferenc w ith a presen tatio n titled “Relationships an d re sponsibilities: W orking to g e th e r in distance educa tio n .” Burge n o ted th a t it is th e role o f th e off cam pus academ ic librarian to m ediate b etw een th high-tech w orld o f inform ation storage an d th high-stressed w orld o f adult learners. She encour aged participants to build relationships an d to delin eate responsibilities w ith faculty an d adm inistratio w ithin h igher education. At issue are th e m etho and substance o f th e com m unication b etw een th academ ic arm o f th e institution operating off-cam p us an d th e library services which support those off cam pus activities. T he conceptual fram ew ork d e scribed by B urge has seven m echanism s: p rogra an d course planning, m arketing, resource develop m en t, data access, technical com m unications, ser vices and m aterials delivery, and professional d e velopm ent. B urge concluded h e r presen tatio n wit discussions o f professional identity, elegance, in clusion, an d expectations, and related each to li braries an d distance education. Share your opinion with C &RL News readers D o you feel strongly about a particular issue and want to share your thoughts with a wider audience than just your colleagues down the hall? Now you have the opportunity to share your thoughts with a national audience. C&RL News is looking for well- reasoned commentaries on issues o f interest to academic and research librarians for its new column,‘T h e Way I See It.” Essays should be be­ tween 500-750 words and should be sent to ‘T h e W ay lS eelt,” C&RLNews, ACRL,50E. HuronSt., Chicago, IL 60611-2795; fax: (312) 280-7663; e- mail: U38398@UICVM. ­ , e ­ ­ - e e ­ ­ n d e ­ - ­ m ­ ­ ­ h ­ ­ H e rb e rt S. W hite, distinguished professor in th e School o f Library and Inform ation Science a t In d i­ ana University, spoke to th e conference attendees ab out his experience with off-cam pus education and provided som e advice to those w ho re n d e r off- cam pus library services. O n e o f th e th em es o f this presen tatio n was th e n e ed for m aintenance o f qual­ ity. W hite argued th at courses b o th on- an d off- cam pus m ust result in th e sam e o utcom es regard­ less o f w ho is teaching. In speaking ab out library services to individuals in out-of-the-w ay places, W hite suggested th a t th e re are no handicaps except for political barriers, an d [that] political barriers are elim inated w henever those w ho have e re cted th em d ecide it is w orth th e ir w hile.” H e fu rth er added th at do cu m en t delivery is easy b etw een any two points w ithin 48 hours an d is possible w ithin 24 hours; th u s w e m ust th in k in term s o f bibliographic . . . it is the role o f the off-campus academic librarian to mediate between the high-tech world o f information storage and the high- stressed world o f adult learners. access an d d o cum ent delivery an d retrain th e ac­ crediting associations to th in k this sam e way. W hite conclu d ed by stating th a t th e U.S. “deserves an inform ational system which is n o t restricted by a r­ bitrary boundaries o f geography.” N oting th a t need, opportunity, an d ability a re in evidence, h e asked participants i f librarians have th e courage an d con­ viction to provide this type o f inform ation access. T he co n ference’s c o n cu rren t p a p e r sessions a d ­ dressed a variety o f issues including bibliographic instruction, technology, services, m arketing, ac­ creditation, a n d research to b e tte r u n d erstan d th e off-cam pus library services environm ent. T he au­ th o r found a n u m b e r o f th e p resentations o f in te r­ est, including those by M onica C ollier (C entral M ichigan University), Lynda F ritz (U niversity o f Saskatchewan), an d Jerilyn M arshall (N orthw est­ ern University) d ealing w ith bibliographic instruc­ tion; Allen D ollerschell (R ochester C om m unity College) on contracting for local services; A ndrew Scrim geour an d Susan P o tter (Regis University) January 1992 /1 5 discussing th e role an d evolution o f contracts; T h o ­ mas A bbott and Susan S. Low e (U niversity o f M aine a t Augusta) on th e c ontinuing d ev elopm ent o f off- cam pus library services in th e state o f M aine; E d ­ w ard G a rte n (U niversity o f Dayton) an d K enneth Marks (E ast C arolina U niversity) on aspects o f th e accreditation process a n d its relationship w ith off- cam pus services; K eith C o ttam (U niversity o f W yo­ ming) ab o u t th e efforts in W yom ing to en h an ce off- cam pus library services an d to co n sider th e future o f off-cam pus library services generally; A lexander Slade (U niversity o f Victoria) on a lib rarian-cen­ te re d m odel for dev elo p m en t o f off-cam pus library s e rv ice s; a n d S h e ila L a th a m (U n iv e rs ity o f L ethbridge) discussing 60 years o f off-cam pus li­ b rary services research. T h e co n cu rre n t sessions em phasized a n u m b e r o f th em es, including th e fact th a t w hile th e re are distinctions b e tw ee n off-cam ­ pus services a n d those on-cam pus, th e re are also m any aspects o f service w hich are com parable regardless o f location. F u rth er, th ese sessions clearly illustrated a diversity o f approach a n d response to th e n e e d to provide library services for th e full range o f an in stitu tio n ’s co n stituents including th o se in d i­ viduals w ho a tte n d class an d p u rsu e library research off-cam pus. O n e o f th e beneficiaries o f this particu lar m e e t­ ing was th e A C RL E x ten d ed C am pus Library S er­ vices Section. As th e section was so w ell re p re sen te d in A lbuquerque, th e co n ference afforded th e o p ­ p o rtu n ity for section officers an d co m m ittee m e m ­ bers to discuss plans for fu tu re m eetings in San A ntonio an d San Francisco an d to re c ru it new m em b ers w ith th e su p p o rt and participation o f the con feren ce organizers. T h e O ff-cam pus Library Services C o n ference was successful for a variety o f reasons including th e significant co ntributions o f its speakers an d th e conscientious labor o f its organizers, th e staff o f th e C en tra l M ichigan U niversity Libraries. T he efforts to c re ate a valuable program an d a well- organized co n ference w ere n o t lost on th e 172 atten d ees rep resen tin g 136 educational institutions, th e U n ite d States, C anada, E n g lan d , a n d th e Barbados. As w ith th e fo u r previous m eetings, a tten d ees le ft w ondering aloud w h ere th e next Off- cam pus Library Services C o n feren ce w ould be h eld . T h is c o n fe re n c e c o n tin u e s to fulfill th e p rom ise o f h elp in g to move off-cam pus services tow ard th e m ainstream o f academ ic library activity. F o r inform ation on th e co n ference proceedings a n d fu tu re sessions contact: Ju d ith P o rter, 207 Park Library, C en tral M ichigan University, Mt. Pleasant, M I 48859; (517) 774-3500.— B arton M. Lessin, A ssistant D ean o f Libraries, W a yn e State U niversity ■ ■