june07a.indd


In the 

ACRL’s 13th National Conference, held in 
Baltimore, Maryland, March 29­April 1, had 
record­breaking attendance of more than 
4,700 library staff, exhibitors, authors, and 
guests. “Sailing into the Future—Charting our 
Destiny,” offered more than 250 programs, 
in which library leaders discussed press­
ing issues affecting academic and research 
libraries. Programs included a full range 
of invited and contributed papers, panels, 
poster sessions, workshops, forums, and 
roundtable discussions. The conference also 
featured the new category of Cyber Zed Shed 
presentations, which focused on using new 
technology in innovative ways. 

The article on page 346 provides an over­
view of this year’s conference from keynote 
speakers to the first­time attendee orientation. 
If you’d like to find out more about individual 
programs and gain insights from multiple at­
tendees, visit the conference blog at www. 
learningtimes.net/acrlblog/. 

Last year’s report of the Secretary’s Com­
mission on the Future of Higher Education, 
often referred to as the “Spellings report,” 
was released to mixed reviews among the 
academic library community. “Charting the 
same future? The ACRL strategic plan and 
the report on the commission on the fu­
ture of higher education” (p. 370) presents 
a comparison of the Spellings report (“A 
Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of 
U.S. Higher Education”) and “Charting Our 
Future: ACRL Strategic Plan 2020.” Through 
this comparison of the two documents, the 
author uncovers opportunities for librarians 
to work toward the strategic goals of ACRL, 
as well as to take leading roles in the future 
of higher education. 

The article offers a good jumping­off point 
for thinking about the Spellings report within 
the context of ACRL. 

—Stephanie Orphan, Editor­in­Chief 
sorphan@ala.org 

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June 2007 341 C&RL News 

mailto:sorphan@ala.org