Chapter Topics
Spring 2000
THIS ISSUE
Message from the Chair
Message from the ACRL President
Nat'l Library Legistlative Day
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CHAPTERS COUNCIL MINUTES
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Chapter Topics is published three times a year by the Chapters Council of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60610 (312-944-6780).
Send submissions to: hward@oregon.uoregon.edu
©American Library Association
Lynne King ·
Chapters Council Chair
Larry Hardesty ·
ACRL President
Althea H. Jenkins ·
ACRL Executive Director
Heather Ward ·
Chapter Topics Editor
Next CT Deadline:
August 14, 2000
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAPTERS COUNCIL CHAIR
Are you ready for Chicago? Fresh from Independence Day celebrations and the break the holiday provides from normal work routines, we should be well-prepared for a productive conference and some good fun in a great city. We will meet during our traditional Sunday morning time slot, from 8:30 am to 11:00am (with a light breakfast buffet) in the McCormick Convention Center, Room N139 (Unfortunately, the first choice location of a Lake Michigan beach didn't work out.) Continuing recent practice, we will begin our session with a business meeting in the first half of the morning, and use the second half of our time for presentations and workshops. Please refer to the preliminary agenda posted in this issue for details.
For those of you who are recently elected officers of your chapters and therefore new to Chapters Council, welcome! The following may serve as a brief introduction and orientation to our group. For veteran members, I would like to take a moment and a few lines below to continue my unofficial theme for the year of defining ourselves, both for our ever-changing membership, and for others, within ACRL, ALA, and beyond.
So, what are some of the challenges that Chapters Council faces? Like any ALA unit--divisions, sections, committees, and round tables alike--the limit of only two full meetings a year can be difficult in itself, and member turnover can be an issue in every group, as well. In the case of Chapters Council membership, state and regional ACRL chapters induct new officers on a variety of schedules throughout each year, so we are virtually guaranteed new participants in need of acclimatization at every meeting. And it's not as if ACRL chapters are neat, cookie-cutter clones of one another, with the same operating procedures, issues, and concerns brought by their representatives. Some are part of state library associations, whether closely or loosely linked to the planning, programming, and funding cycles of those organizations or not. Some chapters are independent, some are regional, some are multi-state, and some are international. We have it all, and that diversity should be our strength, but it's not always easy to avoid the pitfalls that can result from our differences.
Overcoming those obstacles that potentially fracture our group is where our efforts are currently focused. Through the cumulative efforts of a number of Chapter Council officers in recent years, an attempt has been made to organize, record, and hand down Council information from one year to the next, creating structure beyond the basic outline relevant to Chapters Council as documented in ACRL's policy and procedure guidelines for its various units. The shared goal of the officers involved has been to make Chapters Council a more productive and active organization for its chapters and their members by improving continuity between Council chairs and reducing the likelihood of each new group of officers spending time and energy re-inventing the wheel in learning their jobs. Current efforts are directed to the development of an officers handbook, as well as the production of a "What is Chapters Council" brochure, to help explain our role to external audiences.
The handbook and brochure are small, but necessary, steps in what I hope will be a continuing pattern of growth and development for Chapters Council, so that we can tackle bigger issues of concern to chapter members more frequently and effectively. I hope that current and potential Chapters Council members will consider this a call to action, and will respond by taking a leadership role in the Council to help us progress from this rebuilding stage to an expanded agenda.
Please join us in Chicago on Sunday, July 9. I look forward to seeing both returning and new Chapters Council members.
Lynne King, Chair
ACRL Chapters Council
kingl@sage.edu or 518-292-1760
MESSAGE FROM THE ACRL PRESIDENT
The past several months have been very exciting for me, as I have had the opportunity to travel and speak with many of the ACRL Chapters. Last fall I spoke at ACRL Chapter meetings of Georgia, Iowa, Oklahoma, and the Washington Oregon joint meeting. This spring I attended the Minnesota Chapter meeting and will have spoken at the New Jersey ACRL Chapter by the time this newsletter is published. It has been a great experience to meet many of the Chapter leaders and to see firsthand many of the exciting programs and activities carried out by the Chapters.
In my message in the fall Chapter Topics, I described the "Excellence in Academic Libraries" program sponsored by Blackwell Book Services. To my great pleasure, I traveled to North Carolina State University earlier this spring to make the first award in the university division to the libraries of that institution. In addition to the librarians and staff, the North Carolina State University chancellor, provost, local legislators, and other dignitaries attended the awards lunch. North Carolina State University even lit up its bell tower that night (heretofore an honor reserved for athletic events) in honor of the library receiving this award. In mid-May I will be traveling to Wellesley College to present the award to the college division winner, and Althea Jenkins will be presenting the award to the College of DuPage, the award winner in the community college division. I encourage ACRL Chapter members to consider nominating their own library for this award, and to express their appreciation to their local Blackwell's representative for their generous support (each winner also receives a $3,000 gift in addition to a handsome crystal symbol of excellence).
The ACRL President's Program Committee, headed by Scottie Cochrane, has planned an exciting program for the ALA conference this summer. Following the theme of my presidential year ("Celebrating Our Successes, Confronting Our Challenges: ACRL Enters the 21st Century"), three librarians will invite us to examine our successes over the past quarter century and to confront both our current challenges and those issues we will face in the new millennium. Evan Farber will recap the past 25 years from his perspective as a long-time leader among academic librarians and a very successful college librarian in integrating the library through the curriculum. Carla Stoffle will speak from her perspective as an innovator of contemporary models for academic library administration and as a leader in confronting our present-day challenges. Emily Mobley, noted authority on scholarly communications and research libraries, will provide insight into the complexities of the future for academic librarians. Rick Ekman, a prominent leader in the higher education community and a foundation officer, will respond to the ideas presented by these three distinguished librarians. Dr. Ekman has had a long interest in supporting academic libraries. I encourage ACRL Chapter members to attend this program, which is designed to inform us, to provoke us, and to cause us to reflect on where we have been and where we are going as a profession.
Currently, plans are underway for discussion at the upcoming Chapters Council meeting regarding strategic initiative proposals. Those who were able to attend the session last summer will recall the very productive brainstorming session on recruiting. I thank the Chapters Council for their hospitality. I also thank the ACRL Chapter members for making this a great year for ACRL. I hope that this past year has been as rewarding for them as it has been for me.
Larry Hardesty
President, ACRL
lhardesty@austinc.edu
PRELIMINARY AGENDA
ACRL Chapters Council Meeting
July 9, 2000 (8:30-11:00AM)
McCormick Convention Center, Rm N139
Business Meeting (8:30-9:30)
- 1) Welcome and Introduction of Chapters Council Officers
- Lynne King, Chapters Council Chair
- 2) Approval of January Minutes
- Sherri Edwards, Chapters Council Secretary
- 3) Election of new officers for 2001
- Evelyn Minick, Chapters Council Vice-Chair/Chair Elect
- 4) Updates from ACRL Officers and Staff
- 5) Chapter Topics report
- Heather Ward, Chapter Topics Editor
- 6) Incorporation update
- 7) Chapters Council brochure development report
- Linda Kopecky, Brochure Committee Chair
- 8) Other new business
- Break (9:30-9:45)
- Discussion session (9:45 -11:00)
Building ACRL and Chapter Cooperation--Strategic Initiative Grants, and Beyond:
- Break (9:30-9:45)
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- 9:45 - 10:00 The Chapter perspective on cooperation with ACRL: What works and what needs work?
10:00 - 10:30 Discussion with Larry Hardesty, ACRL President
10:30 - 11:00 Action items and wrap-up
- 9:45 - 10:00 The Chapter perspective on cooperation with ACRL: What works and what needs work?
CANDIDATE STATEMENTS
CHAPTERS COUNCIL VICE-CHAIR/CHAIR-ELECT LINDA A. KOPECKY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF LIBRARY INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES AND DEPARTMENT CHAIR, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT SPRINGFIELD
Linda has been an active member of ALA since 1986. Her ACRL activities include
Chapters Councilor for Illinois, ACRL Government Relations Committee and its
predecessor, the ACRL Legislation Committee. Linda is the current President
of the Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries. She has served on the IACRL Executive Committee since 1995 and has participated in conference planning and programming for IACRL. Linda also sits on the Illinois Board of Higher Education's Academic Library Advisory Committee.
Within ALA, Linda has served on the Steering Committee of ALA's Government Documents Round Table for the past nine years and is currently GODORT's parliamentarian.
"I have been professionally invigorated by my activities within ACRL and my local Illinois ACRL chapter and would like to encourage more academic librarians to actively participate at both levels. In my home state of Illinois it has been up to the ACRL chapter to offer programming for the
academic library audience and there are many opportunities for involvement.
IACRL recently held a successful preconference and two-day conference that
brought together librarians from all over the state to discuss "hot topics" in librarianship. ACRL's support of our local efforts has made a noticeable difference in the quality of our programming. This is especially valuable to our colleagues who are unable to attend national conferences. Chapters Council provides a venue to discuss timely topics affecting all states,
connecting our local activities and keeping ACRL aware of what is happening at the "grass-roots" level. I do think Chapters Council needs more self-promotion as many ACRL members do not know who we are or what we can do for them. As a fourteen-year member of ACRL, my first knowledge of Chapters Council came when I became Illinois' representative. Since then, the CC
meeting and the opportunity to discuss issues with other chapter representatives has been a conference highlight for me, and CC's Presidential Candidates Forum enabled me to cast an informed vote for that important position. If elected as Vice-Chair Chair-Elect of Chapters Council I would work to make CC more visible within ACRL and to the local chapters."
Pat has served as archivist for the Western NY Ontario Chapter of ACRL for several years. She is currently co-chair of the ACRL STS Continuing Education Committee.
"Professional development and continuing education are strong interests of mine. I have served on both the Training Advisory Committee and the Professional Development Committee [Chair 1996-7] for Cornell University Library for several years and was a member of the Education & Training Advisory Committee for the South Central Regional Library Council from 1997 to 2000.
Librarianship is a commitment to life long learning, and the pace of change seems to be accelerating at an alarming rate. In this era of shrinking budgets and less and less time to spend on travel/professional development, it is essential that chapters continue to offer quality programs at the regional level. I am fortunate to be employed by an institution that strongly supports professional development for its employees. I hope to be able to give the benefit of my experience to the Chapters Council.
Librarianship has a long history of collaborative efforts. I am no fan of "reinventing the wheel" and strongly support the sharing of ideas and experiences among all librarians. If elected to the office of Vice
President/President Elect for the Chapter Council, I would make every effort to facilitate communication among chapters, and between chapters and ACRL on the national level."
CANDIDATE STATEMENT
CHAPTERS COUNCIL SECRETARY
Edwards has been active in the ACRL Ohio Chapter for nearly 10 years. She has served as President and Secretary of the chapter and is
currently Chair of the Public Relations Committee. She has served on several ACRL section committees including the Instruction Section and the Science & Technology Section. She is currently Secretary of
Chapters Council.
"As a long time member of the Ohio Chapter and ACRL, I have watched the role of ACRL Chapters expand within the organization. ACRL recognizes that the individual Chapters form the grassroots of the organization and are the greatest vehicle for achieving certain goals. Chapter members
also recognize that we must work within the structure of our national organization in areas such as legislative initiatives, programming, and membership recruitment. Only by working together can we truly affect
positive changes for academic libraries. Chapters Council plays an important role in ensuring that these two groups continue to work together. I am pleased to have contributed to the efforts of Chapters
Council by serving as Secretary the past year. If re-elected, I will continue working to increase the visibility of ACRL in our local
chapters and to promote collaboration among ACRL and the Chapters. I will also work to ensure that the deliberations of these meetings are accurately recorded and promptly communicated to Chapters Council members."
ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS ON THE HILL!
Academic librarians traveled to Washington D.C. to join 500 or so colleagues from public, special, and school libraries in visits to congressional offices during ALA's annual National Library Legislative Day on May 1st and 2nd. ALA Washington Office staff prepared scores of printed handouts and offered a day-long series of presentations in order to brief participants about a sometimes bewildering array of issues, including funding of the Elementary & Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA), the closing of the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), database protection legislation, and appropriations for the Government Printing Office.
One highlight of Briefing Day for academic librarians was the ACRL luncheon where Sharon Hogan, a leader in advocacy efforts by academic librarians, provided an excellent overview of key issues and why they mattered to academic libraries. Carrie Russell, Copyright Specialist from the Office of Information Technology Policy, followed with an update on copyright developments, particularly the hearings in progress to determine exemptions for libraries under restrictions imposed by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Over 40 people attended the luncheon, including special guest, ALA President Sarah Long.
One of the most helpful and entertaining presentations at Briefing Day was given by Stephanie Vance, former congressional staffer and author of "Government by the People: How to Communicate with Congress." Vance will also be featured at ACRL's advocacy preconference on July 7th in Chicago.
Briefing Day was followed on Tuesday with the visits to Senate and House office buildings for meetings with members of Congress and their staffers. Most attendees were a little foot-weary by the end of the day but also encouraged by the attentive reception that they and their issues received. Participation in Legislative Day by academic librarians is growing every year and provides a valuable opportunity to team with colleagues and promote a better understanding of issues affecting all of our libraries.
Patricia O. Walker
Wright State University
pat.walker@wright.edu
ACRL INITIATIVE GRANT REPORTS: Delaware Valley Chapter Lecture Series
During the fall of 1999 and spring of 2000 the Delaware Valley Chapter was able to present a lecture series thanks in part to an ACRL Initiative Grant. The goal of the lecture program was to bring together academic librarians and library and information science students with an interest in academic librarianship to hear and learn more about contemporary issues in higher education that impact our institutions and our libraries. To achieve this goal several of the lectures were held in conjunction with a library school and students were invited to attend the entire series. The series offered alternative programming to promote involvement and recruitment among non-member librarians. A free, post-work day program attracted individuals who might not otherwise be able to attend. Refreshments provided by the chapter were an added incentive. A further goal of the lecture series was to promote scholarship among academic librarians and promote an interest in higher education issues. The lectures were designed to challenge and engage, while covering topics related to, but not directly about academic libraries.
Mr. George Keller presented the first lecture on September 27, 1999 at the Drexel University College of Information Science and Technology. Please see the Delaware Valley report in Chapter Topics 20:3 for more information on this lecture.
The Chapter gathered again at Drexel University on November 30, 1999 to hear the second lecture in the series presented by Mr. John Fry, Executive Vice-President at the University of Pennsylvania. Fry is a nationally recognized university administrator, best known for the bottom-line approach that has brought extensive budgetary savings and new revenues to his campus, though not without controversy. Fry's lecture focused on the economic realities of higher education institutions. He built his talk around the theme of change using illustrations from his own experience at Penn. In summing up where the economic environment in higher education is headed, Fry reiterated his beliefs that colleges and universities of all sizes will need to be entrepreneurial, opportunistic, and able to move quickly in adapting to change while remaining faithful to the core mission of their institutions. He pointed out that the for-profit institutions and some community colleges are taking the lead in their ability to do just that. How well others will be situated for growth - or possibly survival - may depend on their ability to restructure for a more competitive education environment.
The third lecture was held on March 2, 2000 at Rutgers University's Scholarly Communication Center (SCC)--a gateway to innovative modes of scholarly communication. The speakers were Linda Langschied, Digital Project Librarian, and Ronald Jantz, Government and Social Science Data Librarian. Both speakers have developed a number of digital projects at SCC. They spoke on "New Opportunities for Academic Librarians in Scholarly Publishing." One such opportunity is the use of web technologies to create searchable databases from libraries' already existing data sets. This allows academic libraries to innovate and compete with other information providers, as well as to enter the realm of content provider. As academic libraries pursue such projects, there will be a growing need for individuals with diverse technology skills. The speakers encouraged the students to use their technology skills and ideas in an academic setting rather than being drawn to the corporate marketplace. Langschied then gave an overview of how the SCC developed, what it is doing today, and what it plans for the future. She emphasized the importance of cooperation, within an institution as well as with outside organizations, in creating digital projects due to their complexity and need for diverse library and technical skills. For more information see http://scc01.rutgers.edu/scchome. This program was co-sponsored by the New Jersey Chapter of ACRL. After the program, students met with the speakers and academic librarians from both the Delaware Valley and New Jersey Chapters.
On April 4th Nancy Kranich presented the final lecture in the series--"Staking a Claim in the 21st-Century Academy: Emerging Roles for Librarians"--at the University of Pennsylvania Van Pelt Library. Kranich is ALA President-elect and Associate Dean of Libraries at NYU. Her presentation covered three main areas--significant trends in higher education that are impacting our institutions; ways in which librarians can help our parent organizations meet present and future challenges; and recommended strategies for librarians who seek to stake their claim as active participants in the 21st Century college or university. Kranich emphasized that the library's old "build it and they will come" philosophy can no longer be tolerated. She believes librarians must take a leadership role, and become full partners in the education process. We must become better marketers, not merely selling, but focusing on our users and their needs. We must emphasize outcomes, not inputs, and routinely assess what we are doing. We must enter into strategic partnerships with faculty and other administrators, building learning communities outside our libraries. We must take risks. We must restructure our organizations so that they are more agile, less bureaucratic, and able to quickly respond to users' needs. If we can do this, then we are most certainly going to be essential to the academy in the 21st century. Kranich finished by reminding us that we are different from many other professionals because what we do is grounded in a set of humanistic values, and that will continue to make us strong advocates for barrier-free information access and the services that make it possible.
See the following for more information on the Speaker Series.
The ACRL Distance Learning Section (DLS) is initiating a new liaison activity with ACRL Sections and other ALA units. The mission of DLS is to provide leadership in promoting and supporting the development and delivery of library services for distance learning programs offered by higher education institutions. Library services for distance learning students impact not only the parent institution, but also other academic, public and special libraries in the areas in which students live and work.
Is your Chapter planning a program or discussion on issues related to distance learning librarianship? Are you interested in more information on these issues? If so, DLS may be able to help. We would be interested in co-sponsoring programs or discussions and attending your meetings, if appropriate.
Please contact me, Maryhelen Jones, if your chapter is planning a program related to distance learning or if I can answer any questions for you. For more information on DLS, please visit our web site at http://caspian.switchinc.org/~distlearn/.
CALL FOR POSTER SESSIONS FOR ACRL NATIONAL 2001
Barbara Jenkins, Co-Chair ACRL Poster Sessions Committee, encourages chapter representatives to spread the word-- Making a poster session presentation is a great way to participate at the national level.
Poster sessions are informal presentations featuring successful solutions to problems and unique or innovative library-based projects with important lessons for the academic and research library community. Successful poster sessions give special attention to graphic design for readability from ten feet away. Laptop computers and visual display devices may be used if they are provided by the presenter and do not exceed the space provided on a standard 6-foot table. These interactive sessions will be scheduled in a single time block. Each poster session presentation should last about ten minutes, including time for questions from the audience. All presenters should be prepared to repeat their presentation several times. Attendees appreciate receiving handouts of the main points of the session. Poster sessions will be located in the conference exhibits area. Full descriptions of poster-session presentations may be published on the Web.
Deadline for submission: October 16, 2000.
Proposals can be submitted via email. Submit a completed application and a 250-word abstract indicating whether you will need electricity for a laptop computer or similar device to:
