ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

News from the Field

Stephanie Orphan

National Library Week to feature National Library Workers Day

The Allied Professional Association of ALA (ALA-APA) is sponsoring the first-ever Na- tional Library Workers Day during National Library Week (April 18-24). The purpose of National Library Workers Day, designated as Tuesday, April 20, is to recognize all library workers, including librarians, support staff, and others who make library service possible every day. Its message is “Libraries Work Because We Do,” and libraries are also invited to use the slogan, “We work @ your library,” to tie into ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries.

National Library Workers Day was estab- lished by a resolution passed by the ALA-APA Council during the 2003 ALA Annual Confer- ence in Toronto.

Simmons/Harvard team to assist Iraqi libraries

In response to the devastating effects of war on Iraqi libraries, the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) and the Harvard University library system are launching a joint program to pro- vide training for Iraqi librarians and archi- vists to help modernize Iraqi libraries and address the country’s serious shortage of li- brarians. The program will begin in May, when a team of Simmons faculty and Harvard librarians meet with Iraqi librarians in Amman,

Jordan, for a curriculum-planning retreat. The Iraqis will identify their needs for training to rebuild collections and modernize their li- brary systems. Subsequently,

Simmons faculty will teach gradu- ate library courses for Iraqi librar- ians and, in collaboration with Harvard librarians, will oversee a series of special projects and serve as long-term mentors via the Internet.

Simmons and Harvard have re- ceived $100,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities, through its “Recovering Iraq’s Past” program, for the two-year project. Simmons GSLIS directed a similar library-rebuilding program in Vietnam, and the ongoing Bosnia Library Project, based at and supported by Harvard, has assisted in rebuilding damaged library collections in Bosnia since 1996.

Lexis Nexis offers campaign coverage

Lexis Nexis has created a one-stop resource for U.S. election coverage, with information available for subscribers and nonsubscribers. Current flat-rate subscribers to news content can access the new Campaign 2004 file on the lexis.com and nexis.com services at no additional charge. The file contains information from top news sources, including ABC News, CNN, Gallup Poll News Service, National Public Radio, NBC News, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.

Coverage begins with stories from October 1, 2003, and is updated daily. Nonsubscribers can view some of the coverage, including candidate information, campaign news, and candidates’ positions on major issues by visiting www.lexis.nexis. com/camρaign2004.

Columbia U. named depository institution for Human Rights Watch Archive

Columbia University Libraries has been designated the depository institution for the Human Rights Watch (HRW) Archive, a collection of documents spanning 25 years of the organization’s investigations into human rights abuses around the world. The archive offers a unique, comprehensive view of human rights conditions in more than 70 nations around the world during the last two-and-a-half decades and provides a complete picture of the investigative, public education, and lobbying activities of HRW.

In selecting Columbia to administer the archive, HRW acknowledged the scope and strength of Columbia’s existing human rights programs, many of which will draw on the new resources for teaching and research.

UCF opens hospitality management library

The University of Central Florida (UCF) opened the Rosen School of Hospitality Management Library in January 2004. The 9,000-square- foot branch is an integral component of the school’s new $28 million campus. The library will serve the research needs and interests of the Rosen School’s 900 students and faculty and the greater UCF community, as well as provide an information resource for the hospitality industry in Central Florida.

The library offers seating for 150, 24 public access computers, wireless laptops for checkout, an instruction room, media workstations, and an opening collection of 4,000 volumes. Staffing consists of two librarians, three support staff, and six student assistants.

UCLA launches online info lit tutorial

The UCLA Library has launched “Bruin Success With Less Stress,” a student-centered, interactive, online tutorial designed to guide undergraduate students through information literacy topics, including intellectual property, file sharing, citing and documenting sources, project management, and academic dishonesty.

Users are guided through the tutorial by characters Carlos and Eddie, who represent typical UCLA students. The tutorial was created by the Information Literacy Program, a UCLA Library program designed to enhance students’ ability to locate information efficiently, evaluate it, and use it effectively. It can be accessed at www.library.ucla.edu/ bruinsuccess.

Wayne State selects Millennium

The Wayne State University Library System has chosen the Millennium system from Innovative Interfaces as its new integrated library system to replace the Horizon system. The product offers integrated functionality that assists libraries with the management of their e-re- sources, a critical area of need within the Wayne State system. Wayne State offers more than 350 academic programs to more than 33,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.

Texas Tech offers Virtual Vietnam Archive

Nearly one million pages of Vietnam War- related research materials are now accessible through the Virtual Vietnam Archive, a free, online resource that is part of the Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University.

The virtual archive includes the full text of more than 80,000 documents, 60,000 photos and slides, hundreds of interviews with veterans and other participants, and steaming audio and video recordings. Approximately 20,000 pages of new material is added each month. The archive is available at www.vietnam.ttu.edu (select Virtual Vietnam Archive).

CSU-Bakersfield offers pre-MLS internships for minorities

California State University-Bakersfleld (CSUB) has developed a new internship program aimed at encouraging broader representation by minorities in the information professions. The program provides professional training from faculty librarians to university undergraduates planning to pursue careers in library science. The interns are paid to work an average of ten to fifteen hours per week performing their internship duties.

Currently, three interns are working through a series of training sessions that require reading background literature, participating in discussions, attending and assisting with research courses, and observing on the reference desk. Over the course of the year, they will take part in a variety of projects and work with librarians in nearly all aspects of the library, including collection development, cataloging, archives, public relations, reference, and classroom teaching.

The students were chosen for this year’s positions based on their grades, abilities, interests, and preparation, following an interview by a library panel.

Southern Oregon Digital Archives: Preserving a unique bioregion and its ethnohistory

Southern Oregon University (SOU) Library’s Southern Oregon Digital Archives (SODA) provides a wealth of research materials on the regional ecology and indigenous peoples of southwestern Oregon and northwestern California. Funded by a congression- ally directed grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), this Web-based digital library contains fully searchable documents, books, and articles in the public domain, or for which SOU has received author/publisher permission.

Public access to the SODA database began in October 2002; as of September 1, 2003, this growing digital library contained over 1,000 items, ranging in size from a few pages to several hundred pages. The items that make up SODA form two related collections, the Bioregion Collection and the First Nations Tribal Collection. This month’s cover image of a wokus plant is from the SODA collection.

The Bioregion Collection

The Siskiyou/Klamath/Cascade bioregion of southern Oregon and northern California is recognized by scientists around the world as an area that is uniquely rich in plant and animal species and is home to the recently established (2000) Cascade- Siskiyou National Monument. Over the past 30 years, SOU Library has actively collected federal and state government publications relating to this unique bioregion. The SODA Bioregion Collection consists of more than 700 documents related to the bioregion, including environmental impact statements, species studies, timber management plans, stream surveys, and watershed assessments.

A unique aspect of SODA is that SOU Library is establishing collaborative arrangements with local agencies to borrow older documents for scanning and to capture e-versions of newly produced documents. Some of the materials preserved and made publicly accessible in SODA include environmental impact statements, species studies and recovery plans, streams surveys, and watershed assessments.

First Nations Tribal Collection

The First Nations Tribal Collection features nearly 400 documents, books, and articles relating to the indigenous peoples of the Siskiyou/Klamath/Cascade bioregion and adjacent areas. Some of these groups include the Alsea, Coos, Hupa, Klamath, Modoc, Shasta, Siuslaw, Takelma, Tolowa, Wintu, and Yahuskin nations. Materials include treaties, native language dictionaries, pre-1923 books and articles, Bureau of American Ethnology publications, and over 50 years of annual reports of the Indian agents from Oregon Indian agencies.

The First Nations Collection brings together difficult-to-find ethnohistorical and federal documents about the peoples who were, and continue to be, caretakers of this unique bioregion. The library consulted with tribal representatives to determine scope and appropriateness of material for this comprehensive database of texts on the ethnohistory, government relations, and culture of these nations.

Searching SODA

All documents in the digital archives are fully searchable by keyword and phrase. The SODA database is best accessed using Mozilla 1.0 or later, Internet Explorer 5.0 or later, or Netscape 6.0 or later. Many documents are quite lengthy, and a highspeed connection is recommended. Links to help screens provide search tips and an online user’s manual. Extensive information about the SODA project, including the IMLS grant application, progress reports, metadata creation guidelines, and copyright, is available from the SODA Web site, soda.sou.edu. A review of the SODA Web site is included in this month’s Internet Reviews column.—Mary Jane Cedar Face, Southern Oregon University, cedarface@sou.edu

Oberlin Group libraries endorse licensing guidelines and principles

The Oberlin Group of Liberal Arts College Libraries has approved a resolution endorsing the Northeast Regional Libraries (NERL) Licensing Guidelines and Principles for review of licenses for electronic products. The resolution was approved at the group’s fall 2003 meeting. Prior to this, a survey was conducted to identify how many Oberlin member libraries reviewed and amended licenses for electronic products to ensure that the license included authorized use for interlibrary loan, use by walk- in patrons, and use in e-reserves. An example of a generic license along with the guidelines, can be found at: www.library.yale.edu/NERLpublic/ licensingprinciples.html.

. .. and support open access through PLoS membership

Fifty-one members of the Oberlin Group have become institutional members of the Public Library of Science (PLoS), a nonprofit advocacy organization and publisher of open-access journals, which are available for free online and subsidized largely by author-side charges for publication. Scientists affiliated with member institutions are entitled to substantially reduced fees for publishing in PLoS journals.

The Oberlin Group is an association of the libraries of 75 leading liberal arts colleges from across the United States.

Community colleges to host Put it in Writing @ your library workshops

For the first time, community colleges will be hosting Put it in Writing @ your library workshops for aspiring writers, led by writers from Woman's Day magazine. The workshops are part of the third year of the Put it in Writing program, which previously was hosted by public libraries only; five of this year’s host libraries serve community colleges. During the two-hour workshops, Woman’s Day writers will offer tips on how to get published, drawing from their own experiences and specialties. Workshops, which will be held during National Library Week (April 18-24), are free and open to the public. ■

Registration is open for ACRL preconferences

ACRL will offer three preconferences in Orlando, Florida, on Friday, June 25, 2004. Keep up to date with the latest developments in infomration commons planning, information literacy, and scholarly communication.

• Information Commons: Nuts & Bolts Planning

During this full-day preconference, Information Commons (IC) leaders will provide nuts and bolts instruction for early-state IC planners. Increase your understanding of IC planning, implementation, and assessment issues. Return to your institution with increased clarity of IC problems and possible solutions, as well as practical guidelines and preliminary planning and implementation.

• Information literacy: Time for a Comprehensive Plan

Using a workbook created by the preconference presenters, attendees will be guided through the process of creating a comprehensive plan for information literacy. Learn how to identify essential elements in constructing a comprehensive plan and discover how to apply those elements to build a successful long-term information literacy plan. Leave the session with an outline and draft plan for your home institution.

• Scholarly Communication 101

Receive an introduction to the scholarly communication landscape from ACRL members who are experts on scholarly communication issues. Become fluent with scholarly communication issues and trends and position yourself to participate in campus communications programs and other advocacy efforts.

The deadline to register is May 21, 2004. Complete details, including registration materials, are online at www.ala.org/acrl/events.