Volume 14 Number 2

Fall 1997

1. Instruction Section News
   • Message from the IS Chair: Discover the Value of IS Work for Yourself!
   • Section Website & Listserv Administrator Appointed
   • IS Website Administrator Asks:
   • Do You Use the IS Web Site?
   • Exec Accepts Policy Committee Proposal to Archive IS Web Site
   • Continuing Ed Survey Reveals High Interest in New Teaching Technologies
   • Candidates for IS Newsletter Editor Sought
   • Instruction Section Awards: Call For Nominations
   • S.F. Annual Conference Program: Using Their Imaginations in the Cause of the Library
   • Candidate Slate Set for Upcoming Spring Elections
   • Continuing Education Needs and Interests Survey
   • 1997-1998 Instruction Section Advisory Council
2. ALA Midwinter Meeting (January 9-15, 1998)
   • IS Midwinter Meeting Discussion Forum
   • Midwinter Discussion to Focus on Proposed National Information Literacy Institute
   • Creole Dinner in the Crescent City
   • Where is the IS Midwinter Meeting schedule?
3. Annual Conference Program Preview
   • "Research with a Small r: Approaches for the Instruction Practitioner"

It is customary for new section chairs to announce, with appropriate fanfare, a theme that will emboss their term of office. While not inordinately inclined to break with tradition, I have decided to use my term as chair to work with the various Section components to enhance their productivity for the membership.

This decision is not a result of a deficiency in the efforts of the many tireless committee and task force members who work long and hard, at conferences and at their home institutions, to further the understanding and utilization of instruction theory and practice. Rather, this emphasis comes from an appreciation of the activities underway, the opportunity our new Strategic Plan provides, and the continued growth of our membership. I particularly want those members who are not yet a part of our committee and task force work to conclude that there is value to their affiliation with the Section.

I am especially interested in hearing from the larger membership during my term. My email address is: rhensley@hawaii.edu. I want to learn more about what concerns you have, what "product" you want from the Section, and what value you see to what we are providing. Testimonials of value are good; ideas are too.

There are some new directions the Section will take during the next year. I have asked all committees to identify at least one activity that they can complete in the coming year and one long-term activity that they can begin work on, so that we can look at a distinct body of completed work next July when my term ends.

I have asked Emerging Technologies in Instruction, Management of Instruction Services, Teaching Methods, and the new Research & Scholarship committees to consider activities related to distance learning and evaluation. These two issues have emerged as "growth" areas for instruction and deserve attention.

The Section's new website/listserv administrator has begun a process of determining, with the assistance of the Communication Committee, modifications to the Section's web site so as to enhance its usefulness. I would like to see the web site function as a site members turn to for an early alert to instruction issues, a resource for identifying the parameters of an instruction concern, a place to discover who's thinking, who's doing, who's writing. In keeping with this desire, I have asked Section committees to consider "position papers" as a product for their efforts which can be made available on the web site.

In a word, my theme is: DO! I join a terrific team of individuals serving on the Section's committees and task forces. We are committed to a productive year for the membership.

--Randy Hensley, Chair, Instruction Section

Elizabeth Dupuis has been appointed to the newly created position of Instruction Section Website/Listserv Administrator, effective at the 1997 Annual Conference in San Francisco.

Elizabeth brings to this position a solid working knowledge of instructional issues and activities through her work as Head of the Digital Information Literacy Office at the University of Texas at Austin Undergraduate Library as well as her professional contributions and involvement in the realm of instruction. In addition, she has strong web experience, having for the last three years been the web administrator for the UT Undergraduate Library.

Prior to the creation of an IS position to handle these duties, the IS web site and Advisory Council listserv were created and ably administered by Mary Jane Petrowski, former Chair of the Communication Committee and current Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect of IS.

The IS Communication Committee, on which this position serves, is delighted to welcome Beth and echoes the sentiment of the Section as a whole in its heartfelt thanks to Mary Jane's leadership in this endeavor.

--Barbara Beaton, Chair, Communication Committee

There are thousands of web sites, but the ACRL Instruction Section web site might be one to bookmark.

How many sites help you plan your schedule at the next ALA conference, offer information about committees for which you can volunteer, provide guidelines for your instructional programs, and lead you to other important library-related sites? The IS web site can do all these things and more. Please visit us at: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/is/

If you haven't visited the site lately, here are some highlights:

Information about New Orleans for ALA Midwinter Meeting. Currently you can find information about the lively city itself. As it gets closer to conference time, we will add more information about meeting times, programs, and highlights. Keep checking back.

Committee Charges, Chairs, and Volunteer Information. If you have an interest in instruction, there is bound to be a committee that would interest you. Browse through the committee charges and contact the chairs for more information. You can also volunteer for committees through a convenient form on the web.

Guidelines for Instructional Programs in Academic Libraries. When you need a benchmark for your instructional programs, here is a document that can give you some guidance.

Instruction Section Handbook. It is always nice to have access to information such as the responsibilties of the officers, bylaws, strategic plan, and structure of the organization. This handbook will help to explain how the Section operates.

Multilingual Glossary. International students can be easily served by taking a look at this glossary and learning how to translate library and computer terms.

Award Winners. Get some inspiration from past award winners who have published articles, created new programs, and had a lifelong impact on instructional programs in libraries.

Knowledge Base. This general collection of information will give you a sense of the history and topics relevant to the Section. Use the bibliography to find publications by and about IS. Learn what conference programs, discussion sections, and think tanks have been held in the past. Discover projects, such as the ACRL/CNI Internet Education Project, to which you can contribute materials.

The IS web site was created more than a year ago as a way of collecting important documents and providing links to other important sites. With the recent creation of an IS Website Adminstrator position, we are redesigning the site to be most useful to the people who use it.

Whether you visit the IS web site often or infrequently, we'd like your comments. What would you like the site to include that is not already there? How would you like the site organized?

Please send any suggestions to Beth Dupuis, IS Website Administrator, at: beth@mail.utexas.edu. All comments are welcome.

--Beth Dupuis, IS Website Administrator

An IS Policy Committee proposal for archiving the Instruction Section web site was accepted by Executive and Advisory at the San Francisco annual conference.

The proposal recommends printing out both the public format and the html coding to save in the IS archives. This "snapshot" of the IS web sitewill be taken before Midwinter and before Annual. Beth Dupuis, the new web site administrator, will begin the archiving process this January before Midwinter.

In other Section news, revisions to the IS bylaws were approved by Executive and Advisory and have been sent to the ACRL Constitution & Bylaws Committee for review. The revisions include changes in the appointment of committee chairs and the addition of provisions for filling vacancies on Executive and on IS committees. IS members will be asked to vote on the revisions this spring.

--Kristin Jacobsen, Chair, Policy Committee

During spring 1997, the Continuing Education Committee disseminated a "Needs and Interests Survey" to gather information on continuing education topics of interest to instruction librarians and on the preferred method of delivery of that instruction.

The survey, consisting of only five questions, was intentionally kept short in hopes of generating a large number of responses. The survey appeared in the spring 1997 issue of the IS Newsletter, on the IS web site, and on the BI-L listserv.

Responses were compiled and reported back to the Continuing Education Committee by committee member Jody Caldwell at the 1997 ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco.

Results indicate that instruction librarians have a great deal of interest in receiving continuing education in the development of their pedagogical skills. Learning about new technology and using technology to teach are also areas of high interest.

Among respondents, state and regional meetings and online instruction were the two most favored venues for obtaining continuing education. The survey revealed that access to both e-mail and the Internet is ubiquitous. Most respondents were Instruction Section members.

Survey responses are still being sought. The survey reappears in this issue of the IS Newsletter and will appear on the IS web site and on the BI-L listserv this fall. New responses will be reported during the 1998 Midwinter Meeting in New Orleans.

--Jo Ann Calzonetti, Past-Chair, Continuing Education

The Instruction Section is seeking candidates for editorship of the Instruction Section Newsletter.

The successful candidate will:

• have experience with library instruction;
• be a member of the Instruction Section;
• attend ALA Annual Conferences and Midwinter Meetings during her/his term as editor (1998-2000); and
• serve as a member of the Instruction Section's Communication Committee, as ex-officio member of the Section's Advisory Council, and on the ACRL Newsletter Editors' Committee.

Candidates should submit a resume, a cover letter, 3-4 samples of their work, and must describe the equipment they have available for use. Experience with desktop publishing software is very helpful, and an e-mail account is required to expedite communication with Instruction Section members.

The new editor will be selected at the 1998 ALA Midwinter Meeting and will work with the current editor on the Spring 1998 issue.

Applications should be sent by December 15, 1997 (date extended), to:

Barbara Beaton, Chair
IS Communication Committee
209 Hatcher Graduate Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1205

For further information or questions, contact Barbara Beaton at barbara@umich.edu or at (313) 764-3166.

More information on the awards and submission procedures is available at the IS web site: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/is/

Submissions for all three awards must be postmarked by December 1, 1997.

A panel of experts from inside and outside the library profession put their minds together in the cause of "Imagining the Learning Library" at the Association of College and Research Libraries' President's Program. Organizers described the "learning library" as one whose purpose or "story" lies in inviting exploration and presenting opportunities for learning and research.

"To get to the center we need to find a clear and unifying story for the library," something we currently lack, said Northwestern University Library's Betsy Baker. To this end, she offered an alliterative list of verbs that suggest core values: converge (the library must be "a true convergence point in the information landscape," bringing together various resources and points of view), conduce ("to lead or tend, especially to a desired result"), and convey ("to bring our story to life, we must convey it to our readers"). To the string of verbs, she added the noun community ("We must be part of the learning community").

From her experience at Walt Disney Imagineering, where she is creative resources advisor, Peggy Van Pelt knows it takes "highly talented, focused, committed people to translate ideas" into a place people can enjoy. The requisite talents include cooperation, teamwork, communication, storytelling ("the oldest form of communication"), and imagination ("It is imagination that ignites and changes the value of knowledge").

"The learning library has the potential of being an exciting adventure," Van Pelt concluded, leaving the audience with the notion that "the concept of the learning library is in your talented and very capable hands."

Barry Braverman, senior VP and executive producer at Walt Disney Imagineering, noted similarities between the work of librarians and that of theme-park designers: Both are under pressure to redefine themselves in the face of evolving technology, changing economic realities, and shifting cultural patterns. And like theme parks, which face competition from new forms of entertainment, libraries are seeing other institutions&emdash;super bookstores, the Internet&emdash;move into their traditional domain. To address these challenges, said Braverman, libraries need to question traditional paradigms, adopt new technologies when appropriate, and experiment with new ways to meet the needs of their patrons.

Disney conducts extensive market research (Braverman called it "an obsession with studying our guests"), and he suggested "that you too need to know as much as you can about your patrons." If you carefully study them, he warned "you might even find that your patrons have a different view of what it is that you do than you do."

Braverman noted that libraries, like Disneyland, have been viewed as sanctuaries from the outside world. It's important to keep in mind, he said, because new technologies may threaten that sense of solitude.

Libraries have remained remarkably constant architecturally despite changing collections, observed architect Craig Hartman, whose firm, Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill, designed the new Library of Virginia (American Libraries, Feb., p. 20). In an increasingly "cyber" environment, it's crucial for the library to maintain its physical presence, he said, noting that part of the importance of the library as a physical place is as a space for a community of users to gather.

"Clearly the library is in transition," said Hartman, stating that getting to the new paradigm is the task before us as librarians and architects.

--reprinted with permission of the American Library Association from the August 1997 issue of American Libraries

The Nominating Committee is pleased to announce the slate of candidates for the Instruction Section election to be held in the spring of 1998:

--Bonnie Osif, Judith Pask, and Beth Woodard, Nominating Committee

Save a spot on your calendar! Plan to attend the 1998 IS Discussion Forum at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in New Orleans on Sunday, January 11, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm..

The forum topic is "Managing the Electronic Classrooom: Demands and Expectations." The discussion forum is being sponsored by the IS Management of Instruction Services Committee.

Check the Midwinter Meeting program for the exact location of the discussion forum.

Join us for a stimulating and informative session!

--Kathleen Tiller, Member, Continuing Education Committee

A discussion forum about the proposed National Information Literacy Institute (NILI) will be held during the 1998 Midwinter Meeting on Sunday, January 11, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm.

The discussion forum will provide IS membership with an opportunity to discuss the planned NILI initiative and to engage in a discussion about its nature and its possibilities.

The NILI will be dedicated to the training of instruction librarians, the creation of programming for library administrators on issues related to information literacy, and the planning of forums to bring together various higher education organizations to discuss information literacy as part of the educational enterprise.

The NILI initiative is being led by Cerise Oberman, Director of the Feinberg Library, State University of New York, Plattsburg. ACRL is providing planning funding.

A planning group has been formed with representation from a number of groups, including the Instruction Section.

Join your IS friends--old and new--for an unforgettable dining experience in one of America's great restaurant cities. Praline Connection Gospel & Blues Hall, nestled in the chic "SoHo of the South" Warehouse/Arts District of New Orleans, offers some of the best Creole Soul cuisine in the city, is a short, two-block walk from the Convention Center, and is wheelchair accessible.

Because of the tentative nature of the Section meeting schedule for the upcoming ALA Midwinter Meeting in New Orleans, the IS Executive Committee has decided to distribute both the initial schedule of meetings and, later, the final schedule of meetings on the Instruction Section web site instead of in the fall IS Newsletter. You can find the schedule at the following URL: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/is/

In addition, the final schedule of meetings will be posted on the BI-L listserv, and members of the Advisory Council will receive the initial and final schedules via the Section's listserv. This decision will allow for increased space in the newsletter for content-oriented information of interest to the membership. If this change causes an inconvenience for our larger membership, please contact Randy Hensley, IS Chair, at: rhensley@hawaii.edu

Does the idea of doing research intimidate you? You aren't alone! Get advice on conducting action-oriented research for problem-solving in your library by attending the IS conference program in Washington, D.C.

The 1998 IS program will focus on real-life scenarios faced by instruction librarians and provide solutions and strategies for the practitioner researcher. Keynote speaker Diane Nahl, professor at the University of Hawaii, School of Library and Information Studies, will give special attention to the preliminary stages of the research process.

A panel of three practitioner researchers will spotlight their research while offering practical advice based on the pitfalls and successes they have experienced. These panelists will come from a community college, college, and university environment. The program planning committee welcomes recommendations for persons to serve on this panel.

If you know a librarian who has conducted a research project to solve an instruction-related problem or to gather information, please forward his or her name to Marilee Birchfield, at marilee@sc.edu or (803) 777-4267.