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Home  News from the Field
NEWS FROM THE FIELD
C&RL News, November 2001
Vol. 62 No. 10
by Maureen Gleason
Digital Distance Education Workshop
On behalf of the ACRL membership, Maryhelen Jones, incoming chair of the Distance Learning Section, and Erika Linke, ACRL Board member, took part in a digital distance education workshop sponsored by the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) and the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC).
Funded by the Ford Foundation, the two-day workshop held in Washington, D.C. in late August focused on S.487, the Technology, Education and Harmonization Act of 2001, better known as the “TEACH Act” (http://www.ala.org/washoff/teach.pdf). Representatives from higher education, K–12, government agencies, and library associations attended the workshop.
The purpose of this act is to permit exemptions in the use of copyrighted material for educational purposes in distance education. Forum attendees reviewed the salient features of TEACH and discussed the possible impact passage of the bill would have on institutional organizations and copyright policies as they attempt to meet the stipulations in the legislation. The bill passed in the Senate and was introduced in the House of Representatives in June 2001.
Further information about the bill and its status in Congress can be found at the ALA Washington Office's Web site (http://www.ala.org/washoff/disted.html). C&RL News will publish a fuller report once the final bill becomes law.
Temple University Libraries celebrate two million volumes
The University Libraries at Temple University recently celebrated the acquisition of its two millionth volume, Larry Kane’s Philadelphia (Temple University Press, 2000). Kane, a long-time local television news anchor and now a best-selling author, was the featured speaker for the event.
Kane’s book formed the centerpiece of three milestone volumes that were selected to represent Philadelphia’s past, present, and future at the turn of the millennium. The 1,999,999th volume is a 1798 edition of The Philadelphia Directory, which lists names, addresses, and occupations of city residents that year, and the 2,000,001st volume is the CD-ROM Naturalization Records of Philadelphia, 1789–1880, documenting part of Philadelphia’s immigration history in a 21st-century format.
Guests at the event viewed special photographs and exhibits highlighting the library’s history, including Temple’s one millionth volume, which is a copy of The Cromwell Bible. Attendees also signed the Libraries Guest Book, which was first signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1936 at the dedication of Temple’s first library building.
Temple University (TU) Libraries Two Millionth Volume Celebration. Left to right:
Bunmi Samuel, president of TU Student Body, who presented the 2,000,001st
volume (a CD-ROM) on behalf of the student body; Larry Kane, local television
news anchor and author of the 2,000,000th volume, Larry Kane’s Philadelphia
(published by TU Press, 2000); Maureen Pastine, university librarian;
and Tom Whitehead, head of special collections, who presented the 1,999,999th
volume, an 18th- century Philadelphia publication.
WESS Martinus Nijhoff Study Grant for 2002 postponed
Swets Blackwell has postponed the 2002 ACRL West European Specialist Section (WESS)/Martinus Nijhoff International Study Grant after acquiring Martinus Nijhoff International, the grant’s sponsor. An announcement about the grant’s future is expected upon the complete integration of the two companies in the spring of 2002.
For further information about other ACRL award opportunities, visit http://www.ala.org/acrl/award2.html or contact ACRL Awards Program Assistant, Stephanie Sherrod at (312) 280-2515, e-mail: ssherrod@ala.org.
NEH Challenge Grant for local history
NEH has announced a special initiative to support the local history efforts of organizations with activities and collections vital to the history of a locality. Challenge grants will be awarded to strengthen, over the long term, the capacity of smaller institutions seeking to improve their humanities resources in local history and to encourage donations from nonfederal sources.
Since awards under the Challenge Grant program are intended to sustain humanities activities over the long-term rather than through one-time events or short-term projects, endowment is the preferred mechanism of support. However, requests for direct support for acquisitions and equipment will also be entertained.
Applications under the Special Initiative for Local History must be received at the regular Challenge Grants deadline of May 1. Any nonprofit organization that has not previously held an NEH Challenge Grant is eligible to apply.
For further information, contact the NEH Office of Challenge Grants at (202) 606-8309, or e-mail: challenge@neh.gov.
LC documents reactions to September 11 tragedy
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress has called upon folklorists across the nation to document on audiotape the thoughts and feelings expressed by citizens following the tragic events of September 11, 2001. These recordings and supporting documentary materials will become part of the center’s Archive of Folk Culture, the largest and most significant archive devoted to the folklore and traditional culture of Americans and of the many cultural groups from around the world that have enriched American life. Founded in 1928, the archive is now repository to more than 2 million items.
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Thoughts about the library, librarians, and our hopes and fears
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Editor’s note: The following message from Sidney Verba, Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and director of the Harvard University Library, appeared on that library’s Web site. We are reprinting it with permission as an aide to sustaining and inspiring us during these difficult times.
When the horror of September 11 burst upon us, I was writing something for a different purpose on the complexity of the work of libraries and librarians in our multimedia digital age. It was for a non-library audience and what was said would sound familiar to all of us in the library. I used the 2000 presidential election as an example of the latest news in many media that our libraries would capture for history.
Then came the attack, and those words about libraries and the election seemed trivial. Reversing Marx, history moved from farce to tragedy.
All of us these past weeks have wondered about many things. We have been at meetings, we have gone about our work, we have chatted with friends, we have walked across the campus in the early morning sunlight—and in all of these ordinary moments of life, we have felt that they were somehow unreal, that the foundation of life, of the good things in life, was gone. Some said, “Welcome to the new century.” It began on September 11 in Lower Manhattan.
For a while, death and destruction may have made many of us feel that the work we do is somehow irrelevant; not worth the attention and value we give it. That, we know, is wrong. Terrorists last week tried to destroy our way of life by taking lives. We mourn, but life goes on and must go on.
The work of the library becomes more meaningful, more important. Libraries are the most humane of human institutions; the opposite of terrorist cells. Libraries are gentle, benevolent. They celebrate the best of what we are. True, they do contain the history of human folly and of human evil, as they will contain the history of recent weeks. Terrorism is one of the most inhumane and uncivilized of all acts. But capturing the history of it—like capturing the history of all we humans do (good and bad)—is one of the most humane and civilized of activities. It allows us to remember, to learn, and to pass on that memory and learning to new generations.
Memory and learning are two of the most cherished of human abilities. In the midst of our sadness we must remember that. The terror attack tore our world apart, but it also connected us to many people we did not know. “Only connect.”
Never forget.
We will preserve the connections and the memories.
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netLibrary seeks a buyer
The electronic book provider netLibrary has informed its customers in a letter sent October 15, 2001, that it is seeking a buyer after failing to find financing sufficient to remain viable. The company is discussing its purchase with a number of potential buyers, according to the letter. The letter also states that the majority of employees are still at work, and that access to eBooks will continue for the present. There will be some reassignment of staff and curtailment of related services.
Institute of Physics Publishing launches IoP Select
Institute of Physics Publishing has launched IoP Select, a new free journals service for physicists worldwide. Online at http://select.iop.org, IoP Select is a special collection of journal articles chosen by the institute’s editors based on one or more of the following criteria: substantial advances or significant breakthroughs; high degree of novelty; significant impact on future research.
Updated on a weekly basis, IoP Select covers all areas of physics. Qualifying articles are published first in the source journal and then become free for 365 days from the date they enter the Select service. To complement the service, a special e-mail alerting facility is available to keep up-to-date with newly released articles.
A full list of the titles covered can be found within IoP Select at http://select.iop.org (choose “Display content by journal”).
Nominations sought for Africana bibliography award
The African Librarians Council of the African Studies Association seeks nominations for the 12th biennial Conover-Porter Award for excellence in Africana bibliography or reference work. Any Africa-related reference work, bibliography, or bibliographic essay published separately or as part of a larger work during 1999, 2000, or 2001 can be nominated for the 2002 award.
The prize of $300 will be presented during the 2002 annual meeting of the African Studies Association in Washington, D.C. Nominations must be received by January 15, 2002, and should include a brief justification and at least one review.
Send nominations to or request further information from Kenneth P. Lohrentz, 320 Anschutz Library, University of Kansas Libraries, 1301 Hoch Auditoria Dr., Lawrence, KS 66045-7537; phone (785) 864-4593, fax (785) 864-5705; e-mail: klohrentz@ukans.edu.
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The impact of electronic reserves on reference services
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Sherratt Library of Southern Utah University initiated its electronic reserves program in the summer of 1999 with the goal of eliminating paper reserves while improving the accessibility, integrity, and management of the reserve collection.
Sherratt Library serves 6,000 FTE students in a variety of undergraduate and four master’s degree programs. E-reserves would include photocopies of articles, syllabi, quizzes and tests, but not books.
Although we were convinced of the benefits of e-reserves, we recognized that much of the burden of providing service would shift from the circulation desk to the reference desk. With 13,561 reserve transactions annually (including books), we were concerned about the impact on reference service.
Our reserve statistics did rise dramatically. There was an increase of 60 percent over the previous year, based on hits received by the e-reserves Web page. However, evidence suggests that e-reserves questions did not place an undue burden on the reference desk and did not diminish other reference service to students.
We attribute this favorable outcome to three causes. First, the library’s e-reserves are easy to locate on the Web and easy to use. Second, our students are more familiar with electronic resources generally and therefore had little problem with e-reserves. Third, the library’s e-reserves handout, which was very popular, gave sufficient information to answer most questions.
The library’s experience with e-reserves has been a positive one, even though we did have to purchase a larger hard drive for the library’s server. It saved time for circulation staff without burdening reference staff. Most important, it has provided greatly improved access to a better product for students.—Scott Lanning, Southern Utah University, lanning@suu.edu |
ARL 1999–2000 statistics now available
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has just published the latest in its annual publications describing collections, staffing, expenditures, and service activities for 112 of its member libraries, all but 10 of these university libraries.
The latest statistics document the continued increase in costs for the purchase of materials and the increased demand for library user education and interlibrary borrowing. Unit costs for serials (up 226% since 1986) and for monographs (up 66% since 1986) have continued to rise, with corresponding drops in purchases by research libraries. While interlibrary borrowing is up 190% in the same time period, there have been modest declines in the number of reference transactions and total circulation.
General information about the ARL statistics can be found on the Statistics and Measurement Program Web page at http://www.arl.org/stats/arlstat/.
ALA reacts to events of September 11
ALA, in expressing its deepest sympathies to those affecting by the September 11 tragedies, has pointed out the ways in which libraries can be important resources during these stressful times. Free Internet access, computers and databases, directories and other information can all assist the public.
ALA has also joined with the American Association of Law Libraries and the Association of Research Libraries in expressing its concern to members of Congress that privacy and First Amendment rights be weighed while developing measures to assure national security.
To guide librarians who may be approached by investigators, ALA has made available a series of questions and answers about the confidentiality and privacy of library records.
All of these materials can be seen at http://www.ala.org/pio/crisis/index.html/.
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on Oct .1 for Marquette University’s new $55 million, 120,000 sq. ft. John P. Raynor, S.J. Library, expected to open in fall 2003. The celebration included donors, trustees, students, faculty, and university administration, including (pictured left to right): Board President, alumnus, and Kimberly-Clark CEO Wayne Sanders; Marquette President Father Robert Wild, S.J.; Heather Hathaway, English Department; Nicholas Burckel, dean of libraries; Susan Haarman, student and Raynor scholar; Tommy Thompson, former governor of Wisconsin and present secretary of Health and Human Services; David Buckholdt, Marquette’s vice president for academic affairs. More photos and information are available on the Raynor Library Web site at http://www.marquette.edu/library/raynor/index.html.
Resignation to protest journal policies and costs
Forty members of the editorial board of Machine Learning Journal have resigned in protest of that journal’s policies and costs. The board members, in a letter to colleagues in the discipline of machine learning, explained that despite the possibility of easy circulation of articles via the Internet, Machine Learning Journal restricts access to those willing to pay a yearly fee of $1,050 (institutions) or $120 for individuals.
The board members commend to their colleagues a new journal in their field Journal of Machine Learning Research (JMLR), created “based on a new vision of the journal publication process in which the editorial board and authors retain significant control over the journal’s content and distribution.” They point out that articles published in JMLR are freely available, with no limits or conditions, at the journal’s Web site.
JMLR is a partner journal of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) and joins other journals in science in moving to low-cost publication alternatives. The board members refer their colleagues to the SPARC Web site at http://www.arl.org/sparc for further information and examples.
Support for @ your library campaign
Milner Library at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, has joined ALA’s @ your library campaign by distributing pencils, pen lights, bookmarks, and other useful items with the Milner Library logo to incoming students this fall.
Brightly designed in the school colors of red and white, the free merchandise tells students to “Power up @ your library” and provides students with the library Web address. Student newspaper ads, a poster-size calendar of events, and a student planner given to first-year and transfer students were also part of the campaign.
The Campaign for America’s Libraries is a five-year public education campaign sponsored by ALA, and signified by the phrase @ your library. Illinois State’s Assistant to the Dean for Grant Writing, Development and Public Relations, Toni Tucker, decided to join the ALA campaign after attending its first training session.
Deborah Davis, manager of the Campaign for America’s Libraries, praises the Milner Library promotion as a great example for other academic libraries. Other libraries that use the campaign in their public relations efforts are encouraged to send examples to: Sara Groves, ALA Public Information Office, 50 E. Huron, Chicago, IL 60611. Librarians can send campaign questions or requests to e-mail: atyourlibrary@ala.org.
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