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Chapter Topics

Winter 1998 Volume 19, Issue 3

Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association

Table of Contents

Message from Lois Cherepon
Maureen Sullivan on the ACRL President's Program
Chapters Council @ Midwinter
Features
Chapter Reports

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 holman@darkwing.uoregon.edu. Chapter Topics is sent to ACRL chapter chairs free of charge. © American Library Association

Greetings to all ACRL Chapters Council Members!

I would like to thank all of you who responded so favorably to my call for volunteers for the 1999 Midwinter Meeting Workshops. Following in the tradition established by our former Chairperson, Barbara Jenkins, we will have both a business meeting and mini-workshops. Several chapters have agreed to share their experiences and expertise about establishing chapter websites. I also heard from others who are eager to exchange ideas about successful chapter programs. The 1999 ACRL Chapters Council Midwinter meeting is shaping up into an impressive list of participants. There's still time to be on the roster of either the Website Workshop or the Swap Shop Session.Please contact me if you would like to participate in either of these events. They will both take place during the latter half of our meeting.

Please try to have at least one representative from your chapter attend. If your chapter officers cannot attend, another designated representative is welcome to join us.

I'm looking forward to seeing you in Philadelphia on January 31.

Lois Cherepon
ACRL Chapters Council Chair
(cherepol@stjohns.edu or 718-390-4521)

Maureen Sullivan on the ACRL President's Program

Mary Beth Clack, the Staff and Organizational Development Specialist at the Harvard College Library, serves as the chair of the 1998-99 President's Program Committee. She and the other members of the committee have organized two exciting programs.

The President's Program Discussion Group at the ALA Midwinter meeting in Philadelphia will be led by James J. O'Donnell, Professor of Classical Studies and Vice Provost for Information Systems and Computing at the University of Pennsylvania. O'Donnell also is the author of the recently published, Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to Cyberspace (Harvard University Press). The Discussion Group will meet on February 1, 1999 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and all ACRL members are encouraged to attend what promises to be a lively and provocative discussion. We are especially eager to have strong representation from the Chapters.

An energetic and committed classics scholar who founded the Bryn Mawr Classical Review, Jim has spoken to many appreciative library audiences over the past several years as he has developed his views on academic library issues and the role of librarians in the academic community. He has a deep understanding of teaching, learning and the challenges of integrating technology in campus environments. This promises to be a lively discussion of the variegated issues involved in how leadership and learning influence the processes of strategy formulation, decision-making, assessing user needs and navigating the complexity of the electronic marketplace. It also will give us an opportunity to explore how librarians and our business partners can contribute to the collective thinking that shapes these processes. We hope that our members from both the academic and business sectors will join us at this thought-provoking discussion.

In addition, the President's Program Committee has engaged Margaret J. Wheatley as the keynote speaker for the ACRL President's Program at the 1999 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans. Author of Leadership and the New Science and co-author with Myron-Kellner Rogers of A Simpler Way, Wheatley is President and co-founder of the Berkana Institute, a principal in KRW,Inc. and a former professor of management at Brigham Young University. She speaks frequently to professional associations and corporate groups on organizational design, change and leadership.

Wheatley's exploration of new science principles and metaphors as they relate to leadership and management offers her audiences a new lens through which to view organizational life and development. Not yet widely known to library audiences, Wheatley will offer us fresh insights into how we understand, design, lead and manage change in our organizations. Her holistic view of organizational and societal change will help us grapple with the paradoxes of autonomy and control, order amidst change and adaptation, and structure and flexibility. This program will be held on Monday afternoon at the conference. We hope that you will attend both programs and that you will encourage your colleagues to participate, too.

Chapters Council @ Midwinter (Philadelphia, January 1999)

Features

The New Jersey ACRL Chapter is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. Originally founded as the College and University Library Section (CULS) of the New Jersey Library Association, the CULS constitution was signed in March 1947. Due to "inclement weather" that fall, 1948 was the first year of meetings and activities for the section. The flood of soldiers onto American campuses after the G.I. bill opened the doors to higher education started a major growth in college libraries, especially in the state of New Jersey. To better serve the unprecedented growth of libraries on college campuses, librarians wanted a forum for organized resource sharing and establishing a state-wide interlibrary loan system between colleges.

One of the original founders of the CULS was Mary Gaver of Trenton State Teachers College (now The College of New Jersey). She was elected president of the CULS in 1949-50. She went on to serve as President of the New Jersey Library Association from 1954-55 and President of the American Library Association in 1966-67. It was Ms. Gaver who suggested that closer ties to ACRL would boost the membership. In 1951, with Ms. Gaver leading the way, the CULS members voted to become an ACRL chapter. According to the records, dues-paying membership jumped from 14 to 72 in that year. Strangely, there was a hiatus of ACRL affiliation until 1979, when the NJLA CULS established chapter status with the ACRL.

In addition to producing a biannual newsletter, the CULS produced one of the first collection analysis statements of New Jersey college libraries in the 1960s. The CULS also sponsored programs on accreditation, Russian libraries, library management and technical services. One of the most active subcommittees from the 70s through today is the Technology Committee.

The New Jersey Chapter of the ACRL/NJLA College and University Section is constructing a Web site with highlights from our archives to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary. For more information, click on the birthday cake icon at the Web site.

It's important to understand copyright law and its implications for our work, but it's complex and there's rarely time to keep up with the latest legislative developments. In addition, when changes to the law threaten our ability to deliver barrier-free access to information, we need to understand legislative advocacy. That's why ACRL-DVC was fortunate to have Adam Eisgrau, Legislative Counsel for the ALA Washington Office, provide us with a dynamic day-long program to help us understand both issues.

From the Constitution to the final days of the 105th Congress, copyright has been a struggle between protecting intellectual property and guaranteeing access. Eisgrau led the audience through an overview of the major developments of the last few years, including the Green and White Papers of 1995 that led to the first Digital Protection Law, the Geneva Conference, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty, and the efforts of the 105th Congress to implement the terms of the Treaty.

Despite all of these efforts to resolve the dilemma of how to balance protection and access, Eisgrau characterized the current state of copyright as an information war. On one side is the property industry. Their battle cry is "maximum profit and maximum protection." On the other side are the fair use proponents. They fight for the balance between protection and access. The stakes in the war are rising. The property industry's latest ploy revolves around "circumvention." Eisgrau described this as any method to circumvent digital protection methods -- even something as simple as password protection. Recent proposals call for criminal prosecution for circumvention. Another scary prospect on the horizon are efforts by major database producers to push for protection rights that would give them the power to charge subscribers fees for any data taken from a database. Eisgra usees this as the next battleground in the ongoing information war.

One of Eisgrau's themes throughout the day concerned the fuzziness of fair use. As a counterbalance to the rights of publishers, it continues to be determined on a case-by-case basis. Owing to the many gray areas of fair use and the application of copyright in the digital environment, the law can be shaped by those who lobby for their cause. Eisgrau turned his attention to advocacy during the afternoon segment of the program. His main point was that advocacy is easy.

Despite the influence of lobbyists, legislators still place tremendous importance on the voices of local constituents. Using a personal example, Eisgrau explained that he can tell a representative about the importance of an issue to the library community, and get the response, "Well, then why haven't I heard from any of my constituents about this?" The power of 30 to 50 letters or faxes from constituents on a single issue is far greater than anything an ALA lobbyist can achieve.

Eisgrau then delivered his checklist for effective advocacy. Most of the points focused on meetings with legislators. Preparation is critical. Know the legislation, know the issues, know the representative's stand on the matter and be ready to explain the point of the visit quickly and authoritatively. Don't just ask for support. Ask for the representative to take a specific action. Don't forget to ask to be informed about the action and its outcome. Eisgrau acknowledged that despite the ease of advocacy, it can be practiced badly. To illustrate, he led some brave audience volunteers through two role-playing sessions revolving around a visit to a legislator'soffice. After an amusing but educational view of what can go wrong, Eisgrau gave the group pointers on the proper way to go about an advocacy visit.

Through this mix of an update on copyright law, tips on how to develop advocacy skills, and answers to our "nuts and bolts" copyright questions on ILL and E-Reserves, the program gave each participant a personal strategy for fulfilling their role as a combatant in the information war. For his parting message, Eisgrau asked our Chapter to be well represented at ALA's Legislative Day next year. A good turnout would be the best way to thank him for this informative program.

Chapters may request funding for new initiatives through the ACRL Initiative Fund. Projects are awarded on a competitive basis and should meet the goals of the ACRL Strategic Plan. Funding may range from $500 to $2,500 for each approved project. A final report describing the activity and its results is required at the time of reimbursement. Initiative fund requests are due March 15.

The ACRL/NY Metro Chapter has worked on an historic endeavor: producing a book from the diverse studies, reflections, and observations of librarians on learning and teaching the Internet. The proposal, prepared by Patricia Libutti from the contributions of ACRL/NY members, was accepted for publication by ACRL in March, 1998. The work includes varied contributions by chapter members who have acted as editors, reviewers, and authors.

The first section of the book examines the foundations of Internet learning and teaching. The Foreword was written by Anne Woodsworth, and an Overview was prepared by Patricia Libutti. A reprint from the 1988 LOEX proceedings by David W. Carr begins the consideration of the learner in the library. A cross-disciplinary literature review by Laurie Lopatin prepares the reader for the complex array of factors that come later in the book.

The second section focuses on the first to learn the Internet -- librarians. Jana Varleges wrote an excerpt from her dissertation in her chapter on the "Academic Librarian as Self-directed Learner." Her dissertation covered all types of librarians. Rona Ostrow did a qualitative analysis of the respondents to an e-mail survey for the ACRL/NY program, "Six Degrees of Connectedness," held at NYU on May 25, 1994. Rona's work included a review of such surveys before and after the 1994 one. David Magier concluded this section with his reflection of an early explorer (he has been involved in Internet use since 1978.)

The third section examines the enlargement of the "Internet-literate." Patricia Libutti follows Rona's qualitative analysis with one that used a qualitative analytical computer program to analyze the data from a fifteen-week participant observation of the Internet Training Program (ITP) at Columbia. Reflections from Cathy Thomas, Director, and Dan Caldano, Instructor, of the ITP program follow the analyses. METRO, the organization of Metropolitan New York libraries, developed an Internet training program and their experience was described from the vantage points of Betty Kulleseid (METRO Board member), David Magier (instructor, METRO training), Roger Harris (student in a recent METRO session) and Dottie Hiebing (Executive Director, METRO).

The fourth section, "The Present Tense," includes an up-to-date survey of factors involved in librarians' learning and teaching the Internet by Marilyn Rosenthal and Marcia Spiegelman. Nancy Becker focused on library schools' involvement in mid-career librarians' training. Reflections by practitioners include observations by Heather Blenkinsopp, Charlotte Moslander, Pat Carroll-Mathes, and Jayne Johnsen-Seeberger. Harriet Hagenbruch and Irina Pozansky compiled an annotated listing of web sites to help the mid-career librarian stay current with Internet technology. New MLS librarians' reflections were by Emily Contrada and David J. Franz. Theresa Mayone concluded with AfterWords.

Biographical information about the authors and about the reviewers (Julie Cunningham, Dona McDemerott, Sarah Burns, Evelyn Ehrlich, John Edwards, Cecile Hastie, Mary Kopala, and Lucy Heckman) was appended. Introductions were written by Pat Libutti and Belinda Wise. As of November 1998, approximately 90% of the work is finished; the publication is on schedule and should be available at the Midwinter conference.

Patricia O'Brien Libutti, Member, ACRL/NY Chapter

Chapter Reports

The College and University Library, Public, and Special Library Divisions of the Arizona Library Association have collaborated to develop an Arizona Business Information Web Site. The page is designed to bring together the collective expertise of Arizona librarians and centralize access to information useful in libraries, businesses and communities. Jenny Mueller-Alexander, a business librarian at Arizona State University - Main is coordinating the team and serving as pagemaster. While the page is still in development, there is ample information available to assist with reference questions. The address is http://www.asu.edu/lib/hayden/ref/busi/azlabusweb.htm.

Kentucky

The joint spring meeting of the Kentucky Library Association's Academic and Special Sections and SLA-KY Chapter will be held April 21-23 at Kenlake State Park. The theme of the conference is: Kenlake Camp: Copyright, Content & Camaraderie. Professor Kenny Crews, Director of the Copyright Management Center at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, will present a one-day seminar on copyright on Thursday, April 22. A nationally recognized expert, Professor Crews' principal research interest has been the relationship of copyright law to the needs of higher education. On Friday, April 23, a variety of mini-sessions will be presented by the members of the three sponsoring groups.

Florida

The Florida Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries sponsored it's Annual Fall Workshop on November 6, 1998 at the Holiday Inn Cocoa Beach. The day-long Workshop, "The Electronic Library: Reality Check," drew eighty-four participants from academic institutions throughout Florida. Walt Crawford from The Research Libraries Group presented the keynote address, "Now What? Creating Tomorrow's Complex Libraries," which provided the framework for the workshop. Joining Walt on the program were five librarians from Florida. Joyce Burkhart, the Instructor-in-Charge, Information Commons at the newly opened Seminole Campus of St. Petersburg Junior College prepared a video describing their new facilities. Other panelists included: Kathy Chumley (Embry-Riddle University), Wendy Helmstetter (Florida Institute of Technology), Kathleen Hoeth (Florida Gulf Coast University), Monica Metz-Wiseman (University of South Florida). Participants listened as each speaker discussed her experiences with implementing her electronic library. The workshop concluded with a lively question/discussion time between the participants and all of thespeakers.

The Florida Chapter ACRL, working jointly with the Florida Library Association Academic Section, is preparing for the annual spring program scheduled this year for Thursday, May 6, 1999. Our program title is "Making a Name on Campus: Innovative Customer Service Programs in Academic Libraries."

Georgia

The Academic Library Division (ALD) of the Georgia Library Association met during the annual conference in Macon, October 7-9. In keeping with this year's theme "A Decade of Excellence," five refereed papers were presented. For the fourth year, EBSCO and Blackwell North America awarded prizes for the two papers judged best. The prize-winning papers were "Full Text: Convenience or Quality?" co-authored by Elizabeth Jackson, Judith Brook, and Fay Sisk of Mercer University in Atlanta, and "The Impact of GALILEO on the Reference Desk: Report on a Telephone Survey of University System of Georgia Reference Librarians," co-authored by Laura Davidson of Georgia Southern University and Roxann Bustos of Augusta State University. Other papers chosen for presentation were "User Assessment of GALILEO," co-authored by David Bunnell of Mercer University in Macon and Bill Richards of Georgia College and State University; "Working Effectively with Scholars: A Key to Academic Library Success," co-authored by Julie Yang and Don Frank of Georgia Institute of Technology; and "Emergence of Distance Education and the Challenge to Academic Library Service," co-authored by Janet Hobbs and David Bunnell of Mercer University in Macon.

The ALD sponsored a program, "Trends and Issues in Academic Library Buildings and Renovations," with presenters Charlene Hurt of Georgia State University, Bill Potter of the University of Georgia, George Gaumond of Valdosta State University, and Charles Forrest of Emory University. The ALD and the Technical Services Interest Group also co-sponsored "The Expansion of GALILEO: Implementing a Statewide System." Presenters were Merryll Penson, Barbara Winters, and Caroline Killens of the University of Georgia; Crit Stuart of Georgia Institute of Technology; and Callie McGinnis of Columbus State University.

The ALD luncheon speaker was Dori Sanders, author of Clover and Dori Sanders' Country Cooking. She gave a lively presentation on her lifelong career as a peach farmer and her more recent career as a best-selling author. Information about the ALD can be found from the Georgia Library Association website at http://wwwlib.gsu.edu/gla/.

Illinois

The Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries (IACRL) sponsored two programs and a breakfast business meeting during the Illinois Library Association's annual conference. Thomas Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois University, was honored as the Illinois Academic Librarian of the Year.

IACRL's Spring 1999 event, "The Librarian as Leader in Electronic Literacy: A Virtual AND Drive-In Conference" will include an in-person conference May 14th, plus an online conference April 26th through May 28th during which experts will moderate discussion on two themes, 1) Librarians as leaders in the adaptation and implementation of Information Technology in higher education, and 2) Philosophies and practices in providing quality library support service to students in online course environments. For more information, check the conference web site or contact IACRL President Kathe Conley.

Iowa

The Iowa Chapter presented a program at the annual Fall conference of the Iowa Library Association featuring Barbara McFadden Allen of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, Center for Library Initiatives. Ms. McFadden Allen spoke on "Collaboration out of Chaos: The Challenges and the Rewards." Following her presentation, an informal discussion session allowed Iowa academic librarians to discuss opportunities for cooperation within the state.

Elections for the Chapter were held immediately after the conference. New Officers for 1999 are: Vice-President/President-Elect: Ed Goedeken (Iowa State University), Secretary/Treasurer: Mary Anne Knefel (University of Dubuque), and Member-at-Large: Jane Campagna (Scott Community College).

Louisiana

At the July 14 Executive Board Meeting, those present adopted goals and outlined activities for the upcoming year. The board held its second meeting on October 23. At this meeting the group refined plans for the chapter's annual meeting to be held February 26 at SLU in Hammond, Louisiana. The theme, "Bringing It All Home," will cover practical applications that people can take back home and implement.

The Chapter is using the $1500 awarded from National ACRL to make library presentations at three other Louisiana higher education association annual meetings. The subject of the presentations is how this transition period for academic libraries is affecting libraries, librarians, and researchers, focusing on our ever greater use of online information sources rather than printed sources. The three statewide annual conferences are the Louisiana Council of Teachers of English, the Louisiana Academy of Science, and the Louisiana Historical Association.

The chapter will join forces with the Academic Section of the Louisiana Library Association for a business meeting and program as part of the annual LLA Conference. This will take place March 16-19 in Baton Rouge.

Finally, and perhaps most exciting, we proudly announce that the Louisiana Chapter was officially incorporated on July 22, 1998.

Minnesota

The Minnesota Chapter sponsored seven sessions and a preconference at the Minnesota Library Association Annual Conference. The topic of the preconference was "Information Ethics and Policy for Libraries." Other sessions included: "Integrating Information Literacy into Your Curriculum," "Collection Development for Electronic Resources," and "Library Services for Distance Learners: Visions and Realities." Two WWW-related sessions, one on searching and one on evaluating WWW resources, were particularly well-attended and received.

We have begun planning for our annual spring event, Academic and Research Libraries Day, which will be centered around distance learning issues this year. We are once again collaborating with the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) libraries on this event. We will also be collaborating with the newly-formed Minnesota Library Association Distance Learning Round Table.

Missouri

The Missouri Association of College and Research Libraries (MACRL) held its annual membership meeting on October 7, 1998, during the Missouri Library Association Conference in Kansas City. The MACRL Steering Committee this year consisted of Chair: Stephen Stoan (Drury College), Vice-Chair: Valerie Darst (Moberly Area Community College), Recorder: Charlotte Dugan (Southwest Missouri State University), and Representative to the MLA Governing Board: Mary Tygett (Central Missouri State University).

There were two principal agenda items at the business meeting. The first was presentation of a slate of candidates for vacant positions on the MACRL Steering Committee for the upcoming year. The new MACRL Steering Committee will be: Chair and MLA Board Representative: Valerie Darst, Vice-Chair: Charlotte Dugan, and Recorder: Roy Ziegler.

The second item of business was presentation of a proposal to modify the MACRL bylaws to combine the positions of Chair and Representative to the MLA Governing Board. This is the practice with other MLA divisions. The ballot will be conducted by e-mail in accordance with MACRL bylaws.

MACRL was able to announce great success in the three sessions it organized for the MLA Conference. All three had been carefully tailoredto fit within the overall conference theme "Ensuring Access, Enriching Lives," and were very well attended. The session sponsored by the MACRL Community College SIG was entitled "Library Services in the Distance Education Environment" and waspresented by Laura Rein, Director of the Eden-Webster Library. A second MACRL session was entitled "Electronic Reserves in Academic Libraries" and featured David L. Adams, Head of Library Systems, and Charlotte Dugan, Reference Librarian, of Southwest Missouri State University. The principal MACRL session, which preceded the annual business meeting, was presented by Marilu Goodyear, Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Services at the University of Kansas. It was entitled "Surviving the Internet: Obscenity, Pornography, and Other Legal Issues."

New England

The special interest groups of the New England Chapter have been active this fall and are eagerly looking forward to future events. In fact, the New England Chapter has approved the formation of an Information Technology Interest Group to address the issues and interests of members who implement, support, use, or train others in the use of information technology in libraries. Program topics may include: networking research databases, staff training on electronic resources, next generation integrated library systems, setting up a library computer help desk, and much more. All interested ACRL/NEC members are encouraged to join. ITIG members will have an opportunity to plan programs and network with colleagues across institutions.

A letter from a mill worker to her sister, Charles Dickens' account of a visit to Lowell, a poster from the Lawrence Bread and Roses Strike of1912, birds-eye-views of textile towns, textile sample books, and cloth bolt labels were just some of the items seen by the twenty-one librarians touring Lowell's American Textile History Museum Library on October 2, 1998. Librarian Clare Sheridan gave a behind-the-scenes tour of the Osborne Library's book, manuscript, and image collections and showed some of the three-dimensional collections (including textiles and clothing). People also saw inside the Textile Conservation Center, a non-profit regional conservation center and department of the Museum.

On Friday, January 15, 1999 the Women's Studies Interest Group will meet at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe College for a tour and program. The Schlesinger Library is the foremost library on the history of women in America. WSIG co-founder Wendy Thomas will give a tour of the library and will talk about the Know How Conference on the World of Women's Information, an international women's libraries conference held in Amsterdam in August, 1998. An optional dinner at a local restaurant willfollow. For more information, contact J. Christina Smith co-chair, WSIG. In addition, the Women's Studies Interest Group and the BusinessLibrarian's Interest Group are planning a joint program on gender issues for women and men in management.

The videotapes of the extremely successful June 1998 Bibliographic Instruction program on Electronic Classrooms can be borrowed through interlibrary loan for 14 days from the College of the Holy Cross. Consult the Holy Cross catalog at http://www.holycross.edu/departments/library/website/ by searching for "electronic classrooms." For additional information about the program and Web versions of most of the presentations, see http://www.library.yale.edu/instruction/nebic/.

Also, the BIC is involved in a new initiative, "Web-in-BI." Based on feedback from large programs held the past two years, there is a need for an ongoing series of informal, yet practical gatherings of people who are interested in talking about how we're using the web in library instruction and orientation. These meetings hope to attract a variety of people, from web novices to webmasters, from library instruction coordinators to policy makers. The programs should be easy to organize, so that the energy can be spent discussing, demonstrating, and sharing information, rather than in making plans. Publicity is ready-made and can be personalized for host sites with ease. For moreinformation about how you can mount a similar project, contact Laurie Sabol.

The meeting of the New England Chapter of the Preservation-Conservation Interest Group at the State Library in Concord, NH, originally scheduled for November 12, 1998, has been postponed until March, 1999.

New Jersey

This year, as ACRL NJ celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, one of our priorities has been to find ways to communicate better with our membership. We continue to publish our chapter newsletter and recently came out with our Fall issue. In cooperation with the New Jersey Library Association, ACRL NJ maintains a chapter website to which we recently added links on how to contact our executive officers andCommittee chairs, and a set of links to the minutes of past Executive Board meetings. ACALIBS-NJ, our electronic forum for academic librarians in New Jersey continues to provide a forum for discussion of issues of interest to academic librarians with special emphasis on NewJersey. We recently sent a letter to all the directors of New Jersey academic libraries to share with their librarians. The letter discussed ways in which academic librarians in New Jersey could become involved in ACRL NJ and its committees. We hope these efforts result in more members for ACRL NJ and more discussion among our members of issues of professional interest and we look forward to an active Spring of programming.

New Mexico

Two librarians from the New Mexico Chapter of ACRL (NMARL) scooped the computer people by winning both of the awards from the annual conference co-sponsored by NMARL and NMCHECS (New Mexico Consortium for Higher Education Computer Services). Eileen Sullivan of the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Library won the Best Presentation Award for her in-depth discussion and demonstration of using boolean operators on the net. Glen Gummess of the New Mexico Junior College won the best written paper award for his co-authored contribution on Copyright Bay, an interactive Website dealing with copyright issues. (See: http://nmjc.cc.nm.us.) The creation of Copyright Bay, an important contribution to librarianship in its own right, was a collaborative effort by individuals enrolled in the George Washington University distance education program.

The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMTech) and NMARL co-sponsored a workshop on technological advances in ILL. Amy Wheat of the New Mexico Junior College demonstrated a paperless ILL environment using OCLC micro-enhancers linked to OCLC's FirstSearch; Vita Montano led a discussion on various means of record keeping; Marty Jonas of NMTech demonstrated their use of an Ariel work station; Jenifer Fell at Dona Ana Community College led a discussion on the future of ILL in New Mexico, and Kay Kriehbiel, Director at NMTech reported on the ARL Workshopon Strategies to redesign ILL/Doc Delivery. The meeting was attended by about thirty individuals, mostly the technical support staff who do the day to day ILL work in their libraries.

Eastern New York

Our Fall conference, held at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, was a great success, drawing 150 participants. The theme was, "What's Brewing in Academic Libraries." The highlight of the conference was a spellbinding keynote address by Marjorie Hodges Shaw, an attorney and Policy Advisor, Office of Information Technologies and Director of the Computer Policy and Law Program at Cornell University. Ms. Hodges Shaw's talk covered the gamut of legal and policy issues relating to the provision of web resources in academic libraries. The conference sessions covered a range of issues currently brewing in academic libraries, including copyright in the digital age, the SUNY virtual library project, and second generation library systems.The Janice Graham Newkirk Research Award, which includes a check for $500 was presented to Holly Heller-Ross from SUNY Plattsburgh, to provide support for her research into the use of literature by nursing students.

Several students from the School of Information Science & Policy at the University at Albany attended the conference and joined our chapter at the time of registration. We have been active in trying to recruit library school students into the chapter and feel that we have had some success.

Greater Metro New York

Members of the Greater New York Metropolitan Area Chapter (ACRL/NY) recently enjoyed a tour of the New-York Historical Society Library. To kick off the tour Debra Randorf, Reference Librarian, and ACRL-NY New York City Geographic Section Chair, presented a history of the society and the library.

The New-York Historical Society was begun in 1804 and the first paid librarian was hired in 1818. Due to its early founding (it was only the second historical society in the United States), its collections richly document the early history of the United States, in addition to that of New York City. After a number of temporary locations, the society built its current building at the corner of Central Park West and 77th Street between 1903 and 1908.

Henry Raines then told us of the Mellon Foundation grant that is funding a three-year cataloging project in partnership with New York University. Both retrospective conversion and cataloging of previously uncataloged items will be done. New-York Historical Society holdings are being loaded into BobCat Plus, NYU's online catalog, and can be accessed on the Internet.

The director of the library, Margaret Heilbrun, then showed us some of the treasures of the manuscript collection, ranging from the poignant (two pocket-sized diaries of Civil War soldiers, one from each side) to the mundane (the account book of a turn-of-the-century dentist).

The final phase of the tour was a look at the conservation laboratory. Alan Balicki, Conservator, not only showed us around, but demonstrated many of the techniques he uses to counter the effects of age on the library's materials.

The New-York Historical Society Library is open to the public. No appointmentis necessary. For information, call the society at (212) 873-3400.

Western New York / Ontario

On October 2nd, the Western New York/Ontario chapter held its fall conference in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. The theme for the day was"Diverse Populations: Giving the Best Service You Can," which explored issues of diversity and customer service in academic libraries. The speakers for the day presented a mixture of theory and practical experience drawn from their own institutions and used interactive, small-group sessions to draw upon the collective wisdom (or frustrations!) of the audience. For the first session of the day, Mahajabeen Ebrahim and Jodie McConnell, who are Human Rights Consultants at the University of Guelph, facilitated a session on "Diversity Awareness in the Workplace." In the afternoon, Boodie (Elizabeth) Newsom McGinnis from Cornell University presented ideas on how to develop and evaluate customer service guidelines in a library setting with a session entitled "Be My Guest: Customer Service Guidelines for Academic Libraries." Emma Duncan from the University of Toronto at Scarborough then discussed techniques for "Conflict Resolution on the Library Service Desk."

The WNY/O chapter is currently exploring the possibility of legal incorporation, and would be interested in hearing from other chapters which have recently undertaken this process.

North Dakota / Manitoba

As the ND-Manitoba Chapter enters its third year of existence, the members are working on several issues. One of the most pressing is the incorporation of the chapter. This is complicated by the dual nation status. We will be looking for assistance from the ACRL national office and hope to share strategies with the Western New York-Ontario chapter.

At our annual meeting in June, we changed our membership year to correspond to that of national ACRL and it now runs from September to August. We also decided to make all renewals begin in September in order to standardize memberships. This will stabilize our budget and enable better planning.

Our electronic discussion list is up and running. It is useful for meeting announcements and also serves as a forum for questions of interest across campuses. One recent topic of interest was whether or not libraries get funds from technology fee money assessed on students. Some libraries get money occasionally, but none reported it as a steady source of revenue.

The Chapter is beginning plans for the annual Spring meeting. The site will be Winnipeg, Manitoba, for the first time since the organization of the joint chapter.

Ohio

"Today's Actions, Tomorrow's Adventures To Infinity and Beyond!," the 24th Annual Conference of the Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO), was held November 13 at the Fawcett Center on the campus of Ohio State University. Over 300 attendees sampled the conference fare which included 11 poster sessions, 16 programs, and 5 Interest Group meetings covering a wide array of topics. Twelve exhibitors were also available to demonstrate their latest products and answer questions. Dr. William "Bill" Miller, Director of Libraries at Florida Atlantic University and past president of the Association of College and Research Libraries was the keynote speaker. His address,"Let's Fight the Myths and Embrace the Realities," discussed how academic librarians can help control their own external environment by collective action through ACRL and other avenues. His remarks highlighted the changing paradigms in librarianship and publishing and offered possible courses of action which might be most fruitful in light of anticipated and accelerated changes. Good company, great programs, willing volunteers and eager participants made for a very successful conference.

During the conference we honored Margy Kramer, Library Director at Hocking Technical College with the 1998 Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award. This award is bestowed upon an ALAO member who has promoted academic libraries and librarianship not only on their own campus, but throughout the state, and/or who has provided leadership in the organization. Margy was recognized for the many leadership roles she has played in ALAO over the years, including President, Secretary and Program Committee member. She continues to serve as our organization's archivist, a position she has held since 1989. She is equally impressive in her dedication and commitment to two year college libraries throughout the state and was instrumental in initiating the Ohio Two Year College LRC conference which now holds conferences annually. She also assisted in writing a grant that funded the Ohio Two Year College Serials Union List, an early and very successful resource sharing project among the two year colleges.

Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Chapter of the ACRL sponsored its annual Fall Conference on Friday, November 13, 1998, at Bizzell Library, University of Oklahoma, Norman. This year's conference was titled "From Vision to Reality: Libraries and Distance Education" and began with a message about the current projects of the National ACRL, presented by Althea Jenkins, Executive Director of ACRL.

The theme of the conference brought together panelists who represented the various players in the distance education arena: Dr. J. Richard Madaus, Director of the College Center for Library Automation, Tallahassee, Florida; Steve Rollins, University of New Mexico Associate Dean of Library Services and Contact Administrator, Central Library Resource, Western Governors University; Barbara Rosen, Electronic Information Services Librarian, Central Library Resource, Western Governors University; and Dr. Robert D. Swisher, Director, Instructional Technology Program, University of Oklahoma. There was also a student panel of two graduate students with first-hand experience as distance learners: Karen Cozart (University of Oklahoma) and Michael Guard (Oklahoma State University).

As part of its on-going recruitment efforts for academic librarianship and for ACRL, the Chapter provided registration for three graduate students from the University of Oklahoma School of Library and Information Studies. The students assisted with registration and other conference activities.

Oregon

Oregon ACRL welcomes new officers and board members following an election held in August: Vice-President/President-Elect: Anne Christie (Oregon StateUniversity), Members-at-Large: Darcy Dauble (Blue Mountain Community College) and Meg Buchanan (Oregon Institute of Technology), President: Anne Fox (Western Oregon University), Community Colleges Representative: Linda Cochran (Chemeketa Community College), and Communications Coordinator: Heather Ward (University ofOregon).

The Oregon/Washington ACRL Fall Conference was held October 22-23. Guest speakers were Kurt Slobodzian of the University of Phoenix, and John Byrne of the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-GrantUniversities. The speakers presented thought provoking visions of the future of academic institutions, which generated a lively discussion. Oregon and Washington librarians also led break out groups on the future of collection development, physical spaces, the teaching roles of librarians, collaborative efforts within and between institutions and identifying library users. The conference report will be coming soon to the ACRL-Oregon home page.

Plans are under way for the Oregon Library Association Annual Conference to be held March 31-April 2, 1999 in Seaside, Oregon. A preconference entitled "Managing a Library Web Site: Who manages, How to manage, and What to manage" will address library web site management from the following aspects (1) organizational, technical and design (2) content selection, evaluation, and maintenance, (3) administrative support for training and budgeting, (4) staff involvement librarians, webmasters, support staff.

South Carolina

The South Carolina Chapter of ACRL presented two programs at the Annual Conference of the South Carolina Library Association, held October 21-23 in Columbia, SC. ACRL President Maureen Sullivan was the opening general session speaker where she spoke on Leadership and Learning: New Roles and New Expectations for Librarians. Maureen also spoke at the Chapter's conference session on Habits of Highly Successful Librarians. Both of Maureen's talks were extremely well received, drawing standing-room-only crowds.

Officers were elected at the Chapter's business meeting. The new officers are: Chair: Suzanne Rook (Clemson University), Vice Chair/Chair Elect: Kathleen Turner (The Citadel), Secretary: Jane Tuttle (Columbia College), and ACRL Rep: Betsey Carter (The Citadel).

Texas

The College and University Libraries Division (CULD) of the Texas Library Association, ACRL's Texas Chapter, will have two programs at TLA's annual conference in April of 1998. The first is ACRL's President, Maureen Sullivan, speaking on "Leadership, Learning, and Creativity: Key Strategies for the Future." The second program is sponsored by the Division's Community and Junior College Discussion Group, and is entitled, "Delivering Live Reference Service to Distance Education Students: DDD/OSR Digital DocumentDelivery / Online Synchronous Reference."

Members of the Division will have the opportunity this Fall and Winter to review and comment on the Division's bylaws, including its organizational liaison with ACRL. Additionally, members will receive an assessment questionnaire in the Fall regarding the Division's performance in all of its various roles such as spokesgroup for Texas academic libraries, ACRL liaison, provider of professional educational and research growth opportunities, etc.

In an effort to provide monetary support for research and professional development, CULD's Grants Committee is again accepting grant applications from Texas academic librarians. Deadline for submission is January 15, 1999. Further information is available from the Chair of the Grants Committee, Leigh Kilman of Southwest Texas State University, (512-245-2351).

CULD has a Legislative Committee which is actively involved in seeking to influence Texas legislators to support and improve library services within the state. The chair of this Committee, Al Cage of Stephen F. Austin State University, is involved with CULD and also with the Texas Council of State and University Libraries. CULD, via its Legislative Committee, offered multiple legislative recommendations to TLA, including the important issues of increased legislative funding for TexShare (a shared database and library service entity among Texas institutions of higher education) and the opening of this information entity to all Texas public libraries. For more information contact Al Cage, (409-468-1414).

Texas libraries of all kinds are gearing up for the 76th Texas Legislature, and are getting ready for their Texas Legislative Days, February 22-23, 1999. In this event, librarians from all across Texas gather in the state capital of Austin to lobby Texas legislators for legislation and funding favorable to the libraries of Texas. For more information, contact the Texas Library Association (800-580-2852).

This Fall, an informal survey of Texas academic librarians was conducted to identify those general and legislative issues which these librarians felt were the most important.Four general issues were identified: funding and technology support, technology and rapid change, staffing issues, and distance education. Legislative issues were similar to the general issues identified: funding, filtering and the Internet, copyright, use of the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund for academic libraries, TexShare, and building partnerships. More information on the survey results can be obtained from Elaine Sanchez (512-473-9519).