BIBLIO-NOTES

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NEWSLETTER OF THE ACRL ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE DISCUSSION GROUP

#12, Spring 1988

Biblio-Notes (ISSN 1076-8947) is published twice a year by the Literatures in English Section (formerly, English and American Literature Section) of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association. Paper subscriptions are free to members of the section.

Editor: Timothy Shipe, University of Iowa Libraries Iowa City, IA 52242

Copyright 1988 by the American Library Association.

NEW ORLEANS MEETINGS

Discussion Group Program and Membership meeting

Date and time: Mon., 11 July, 2:00-5:30 P.M.
Place: Le Meredien, Conde Room.
Topic: The Literary Byte: Research in the Online Age.

Discussion Group Dallas Program Planning Committee

Date and time: Mon., 11 July, 8:00-9:00 A.M.
Venue : Intercontinental, Fulton Room.

Lorraine Jean is so far the sole member of this committee. If no one else shows up at the meeting, there will be no EALDIG program in Dallas. Your help is needed. ALL INTERESTED DISCUSSION GROUP MEMBERS ARE URGED TO ATTEND AND JOIN THE COMMITTEE SO A DALLAS PROGRAM CAN HAPPEN!

NEW ORLEANS PROGRAM

The title of the EALDIG program will be "The Literary Byte: Research in the Online Age." The focus will be a discussion of the ever-widening impact of technology upon reference service to researchers in the humanities, particularly in literary fields. Speakers will address the historical antecedents and philosophical implications for library service, the practical applications of both online searching and CD products in the reference room (with special emphasis on the MLA Bibliography), and product development from the producer's point of view (for example, the planned joint RLG-MLA research-in-progress database). The speakers will be Loss Glazier, curator of the American Literature Collection at the University of Southern California, Scott Stebelman, English and American Literature subject specialist at George Washington University, Robert Walther, Reference Librarian, University of Pennsylvania, and an as yet unnamed representative of the Research Libraries Group. N.B.: Rumors of a 9:00 A.M. to noon EALDIG meeting on Monday are totally unfounded!

MINUTES, 1988 MIDWINTER MEETING (SAN ANTONIO)

The ACRL English and American Literature Discussion Group met on 11 January 1988. Melissa Cain chaired the meeting, which was attended by about 25 individuals.

  1. Open positions were announced.
  2. The difficulty of keeping an up-to-date and accurate mailing list was discussed at some length. The list was passed around to the group present, and changes were made as recognized. Phone numbers were added. It was decided that a tear sheet might be attached to the newsletter for people to fill out and return if still interested in receiving this; it was noted that many people are interested who cannot/do not attend sessions.
  3. Timing of the next newsletter was discussed. It was decided to mesh its timing with elections and with the availability of information on time and venue of upcoming EALDIG meetings.
  4. The program for the summer ALA conference for our group will be from 2-5:30 p.m. on Monday, July 11. The broad subject will be how technology affects how we handle clientele. Also on July 11, from 8-9 a.m., there will be a planning meeting for the Dallas program.
  5. The group decided that they would like to pre-plan a luncheon following our session whenever possible.
  6. A lengthy discussion was held on the advisability of forming a new group, related but distinct from our present group, for the purpose of discussing specific reference tools. A motion was passed as follows: "Items for discussion should be submitted to the agenda of regular meetings, unless a member feels an item warrants a separate meeting time and requests that the chair schedule such a time." The motion came from Laura Fuderer and was seconded by Noel Peattie.
  7. The discussion moved to the question of what kind of reference monographs ALA might publish in the fields of English and American Literature. This was in response to an explicit request from ALA Publishing Services for suggestions from EALDIG. It was decided to make this an agenda item for summer. A call for ideas will go out in the newsletter. [Editor's note: This is the call. Please bring your ideas to our program and membership meeting in July. The Publishing Services' request is an opportunity we should not overlook.]
  8. The question was raised and discussed at some length about whether or not small press publications, particularly of a literary nature, are being adequately represented in collections. It was pointed out that regional publications are generally being collected at the regional level. RLG was believed to have started such a project in an effort to organize collection development, but the group wondered if this needs to be picked up and expanded. The need for a Spec-Kit on the problems of small press collecting was pointed out. This discussion led to consideration of such a project for the future for this group.
  9. The Chair reported that the Literary Reference Tools Committee had disbanded. The proposed union list of reference works in English, American, and Comparative Literature proved unfeasible because too few reference librarians were willing to participate in the time-consuming survey of their shelflists which was vital to the project's realization.

Celia Hales, Secretary

CALIFORNIA POETRY BIBLIOGRAPHERS

Mission Statement

  • The California Poetry Bibliographers, an independent Chapter of the California Library Association, exists as a forum for discussing and acting upon concerns influencing the collection of and access to poetry in the State of California. It also exists to further the use of poetry in libraries of all types.
  • The California Poetry Bibliographers will meet twice annually, once at California Library Association's annual conference, and once in early April. An additional meeting may be scheduled as needed.
  • The Chair will take office after a one-year term as Chair-elect. Elections for a Chair-elect will be held annually, nominations being made at the April meeting and voting taking place by mail between the April and November meetings. New officers will take office as of the November meeting. The Poetry Czar (poetry reading coordinator) will be appointed by the Chair on an annual basis.
  • The California Poetry Bibliographers also provides continuing education for its members, including visits to California literary collections and discussions of current issues in the management of, acquisition of, and access to literary collections.
  • The California Poetry Bibliographers will sponsor both a program and a poetry reading at the annual California Library Association conference.
  • Reports from the English and American Literature Discussion Group of ACRL are welcome at business meetings.

Prepared by Loss Pequeno Glazier

LIBRARY COVERAGE OF AMERICAN LITERARY SMALL PRESSES: SURVEY

EALDIG members and any other interested parties who receive this newsletter are urged to complete and mail the attached survey. It reflects several concerns and issues that arose at our program on poetry and small press publishing last summer in San Francisco. One concern was whether libraries are adequately collecting poetry and other creative literature that is published by small presses. If not, could such coverage be improved by cooperative acquisitions programs of some sort and are such programs feasible? The survey denies all charges of being a scientific sampling, random or otherwise, and would shrivel into confetti before the cold eye of definitive terminology. It is intended to be impressionistic and dependent on experts' opinions, not on measures of shelflists or counts of titles. Please take a few minutes to fill it out and add as much commentary on separate pages as you wish. Thanks.

Laura Fuderer, 3/88

NOMINATIONS AND ELECTION INFORMATION

Nominations for 1988/89 Discussion Group officers and Members-at Large Steering Committee will be accepted until June 10, 1988. Ballots will be mailed to discussion group members following this nomination period. Election results will be announced at ALA.

Individuals may nominate themselves or colleagues for positions. Nominees MUST BE MEMBERS OF ACRL.

Before making a nomination(s), please contact the individual you are considering for the post and be certain this person is willing to serve and is an ACRL member.

All nominations must include the nominee's current address, title, business address and business telephone.

Nominations will be accepted for:

Vice-Chair/Chair Elect
Secretary
3 Members at Large

Current officers (1987-88) are:

Chair: Melissa Cain (Davis Library, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599). Phone (919) 962-1356.

Vice-Chair/Chair Elect: Lorraine Jean (Pattee Library, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802). Phone (814) 865-6368.

Secretary: Celia Hales (Wilson Library, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455).

Members at Large. Steering Committee:

James Campbell (Alderman Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903).

Richard R. Centing (English Library, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210).

Noel Peattie (Shields Library, University of Californiam, Davis, CA 95616).

Please send your nominations to:

Melissa Cain
Humanities Reference Department
Davis Library CB# 3922

University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599

Library Coverage of American Literary Small Presses: A Survey

Institution: _____________________________________________
Address: ______________________________________________
Phone number: __________________________________________
Respondent: ____________________________________________

1. How extensively do you collect small press publications?
(Please rate the following from 1 (minimally) to 5(exhaustively):

a. Poetry:

Books/pamphlets___________________________
Broadsides________________________________

b. Fiction_____________________________________________
c. Essays, other prose_________________________________
d. Little magazines____________________________________
e. Other (identify)_____________________________________

2. Do you have special collections or strengths relating to small press publications? Yes No

If so, please describe (e.g., particular authors, presses, periods, genres, etc.)

3. Are your small press publications shelved together as a special collection or are they largely integrated into the main circulating collection?

4. Do you think members of EALDIG should attempt to coordinate their small press coverage? Yes No
If not coordinated, would you like to be better informed about small press collections in this country? Yes No
Please expand your reply or give your opinion on these issues (e.g., how can cooperation be achieved?)

If you have any documentation regarding your collections or collecting policies, would you send it along with this form to Laura Fuderer, Bibliographer for English and Romance Language and Literature, Hesburgh Library, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame IN 46556? Many thanks for your cooperation.

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