sept11a.indd


September 2011 445 C&RL News

In theIn the
Welcome to the September 2011 issue of 
C&RL News. With the return of students to 
campuses across the country, academic librar-
ies and librarians are back in the groove for 
a new school year. If you are looking for in-
spiration for the new year, make sure to read 
“In the spirit of Benjamin Franklin,” where 
Andy Burkhardt, Catherine R. Johnson, and 
Carissa Tomlinson outline 13 virtues for next-
gen librarians. But don’t take “next-gen” to 
mean simply young or new to the profession. 
These virtues, adapted from Franklin’s writ-
ings, are equally important and applicable to 
all academic and research librarians.

The coming of fall can mean the start of 
new research and writing projects as promo-
tion and tenure activities kick into high gear. 
Courtney Greene and Elizabeth Ruane provide 
valuable tricks and technologies for “Col-
laborating in the cloud” to make your group 
research projects smoother and easier. Greene 
and Ruane fi eld-tested these tips while writing 
their book on mobile technologies, published 
by ACRL last year.

With the new term comes the opportunity 
for new campus partnerships. Kacy Lundstrom 

draws from her experiences as an English 
graduate assistant and a librarian to outline 
tips for “Teaching with graduate instructors.”

Fall may also mean launching long-term 
projects to improve library spaces and services. 
Valerie A. Lynn documents “A knowledge 
commons needs assessment” as the Penn State-
Hazleton Library surveyed their constituents 
in planning for future space enhancements. 
Frank R. Allen revisits his 1996 C&RL News
point/counterpoint essay on the value of 
place and concludes that “The knowledge 
commons” plays a major role in reasserting 
the library as the heart of campus.

We are also looking back (and ahead) at 
ACRL this month. Relive your time at ALA 
Annual in New Orleans with our review of 
many of the ACRL-sponsored conference 
programs and a list of Board of Directors ac-
tions. And learn more about nominations for 
the 2012 ACRL Awards Program. Make sure 
to check out the other features and columns 
this month, including Internet Resources on 
citation searching.

—David Free, editor-in-chief
dfree@ala.org