ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

News from the field

Grants

•Cornell University Medical College Library, New York, has been awarded a Medical Library Resource Project Grant by the National Library of Medicine for $290,000 to establish the Cornell Health Sciences Computerized Library Network. Under the terms of the grant, the libraries of Cornell/New York Hospital, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic, and the Hospital for Special Surgery will be linked into an online, integrated system located at the College Library. Within a two-year period all library functions are scheduled to be automated. A special software component, mini-MEDLINE, will be available during library hours for users to execute bibliographic searches on selected portions of the MEDLINE database.

•The Harvard University Divinity School Library has received a research grant of $56,856 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to ensure preservation of and enhance access to the Paul Tillich manuscript collection. The funding will allow the library to arrange the works and correspondence, prepare an inventory, take steps to preserve the materials, and microfilm the entire collection.

•The New York State Library, Albany, has received a $217,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to continue its work on translation of the original Dutch archives of New Netherland. The grant covers the three-year period 1984-87, and will require that the project raise $74,000 from private sources. The Dutch records in the state archives have previously been inaccessible to scholars because of the lack of an authoritative translation. Eleven volumes have been published so far under the project, all of them prepared by Charles Gehring.

•Northern Illinois University Libraries, De Kalb, have received a $3,000 Japan Foundation grant for purchase of library materials on the arts and business in Japan.

•The Swedish-American Historical Society, Chicago, has been awarded a $44,551 grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities for a descriptive inventory of its archives. The project is expected to serve as a model for similar organizations which also have substantial backlogs of unproc-

The Coalition for Literacy needs your support

According to one study, over 23 million adult Americans cannot read well enough to meet their daily needs. In an increasingly complex technological society, Americans must now apply reading and writing skills to shop intelligently, qualify for most jobs, and maintain an income above poverty level.

The Coalition for Literacy, begun in 1981 by the American Library Association, brings together eleven national agencies or organizations, each with a deep commitment to work toward the eradication of functional illiteracy. Their purpose is a nationwide campaign to inform the nation of the problem of illiteracy in the United States and point to solutions on the local level. The project has three approaches:

•A national multi-media campaign to focus attention on adult illiteracy.

•An 800 telephone number to link potential volunteers or providers of other supportive resources with existing programs, or to link those people who want to establish new programs with those agencies that can provide them with assistance: (800) 228-8813.

•On-site technical assistance and training to those who want to develop new adult literacy programs, upgrade current programs, or form local literacy resource coalitions.

The Coalition includes the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE); the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA); the American Library Association; B. Dalton Bookseller; Contact, Inc.; the International Reading Association (IRA); Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. (LVA); Laubach Literacy International (LLI); the National Advisory Council on Adult Education (NACAE); the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS); and the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education (NCSDAE).

The Coalition for Literacy needs funding, volunteers, and the commitment of organizations in the public and private sectors. You may write for further information to: Jean Coleman, Coordinator, Coalition for Literacy, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795. essed holdings.

•Tufts University Libraries, Medford, Massa-chusetts, have received a $100,000 grant from the Surdna Foundation to further awareness of information technology among library users and staff. The grant, awarded for a three-year period, will be used to support projects designed to upgrade understanding of news information technologies on the part of librarians, faculty and students.

•Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a grant of $151,000 by the Buhl Foundation of Pittsburgh, which will enable the college to pioneer the concept of a static-capacity library. The model is intended to enable the college to save the cost of constructing a new library wing, improve library service, and facilitate the management of library resources. It will also feature an open-stack, manageable collection for undergraduate use; increased utilization of shelf space; conversion of materials to microform; the use of mechanized compact shelving; increased staff to assist with the review of the use of materials and the maintenance of the catalog; and transfer of certain materials to remote storage. The Westminster holdings will reach a maximum of 300,000 volumes.