ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

News from the Field

Mary Ellen Davis

Cornell is Internet site for USDA statistics

Cornell University’s Mann Li- brary is the host for more than 140 agricultural data sets gathered by the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture (USDA) as a result of a cooperative agreement between Cornell and the USDA. The agricul- tural data sets contain infor- mation on topics such as farm production expenses, milk and dairy product sales, Eu- ropean community wheat supply, U.S. meat supply and consumption, fer- tilizer use and ozone records for the Northeast. The data which previously had been available for a fee on DOS-based computer diskettes will now be available free to those with access to the Internet. The Internet address for this data is usda.mannlib.cornell.edu. Project director Oya Rieger recommends using gopher to ac- cess the data sets, although telnet and ftp are acceptable. Questions may be directed to Rieger at oyrl@cornell.edu.

Center for Library Initiatives formed

The Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), the academic consortium of the Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago has formed a Center for Library Initiatives (CLI) intended to provide leadership and support for a growing number of the consortium's efforts. CIC libraries are engaged in resource-sharing and other projects that further the goals of the organization, which is guided by the vision of the information resources in the CIC—-whether developed or owned individually or collectively—as a seamless whole. Typical of its projects is the U.S. Department of Education- funded Virtual Electronic Library project which is designed to enable users to borrow books directly from any library in the CIC.

Class gifts benefit libraries

The 1994 graduating classes of the University of Virginia (UVa) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) have designated their institutions’ libraries as recipients of their class gifts. The UVa graduating class of 1994 pledged its class gift of $210,000 to the library to purchase three computer software enhancements to the online catalog, VIRGO. The en- hancements, produced by NOTIS Systems Inc., are Info-Share, PacLink, and PacLoan. These applica- tions will allow UVa patrons to connect to full electronic texts and to the catalogs of other libraries and search them in the same way they search VIRGO. In addition, they will be able to make ILL requests online.

UNC-CH students have designated their class gift to support electronic services to undergraduates. The money will be added to the library’s endowment and be used to buy new databases or new systems that make library materials more available to students. High on the library’s priority list is the initiation of an online reserve reading system. The senior classes of 1991 and 1993 pledged a total of $660,000 to the library; the 1994 class aims to add enough to that total to reach $1 million. Under a matching grant, the National Endowment for the Humanities will add 25 cents to every dollar given by July 1.

EBSCO projects serial prices for 1995

EBSCO Subscription Services in its early forecasts predicted an 8 to 10 percent increase for subscriptions to journals published in the United States and a 9 to 11 percent increase for journals published in European countries (based on current [April 11, 1994] exchange rates). F. Dixon Brooke Jr., EBSCO’s vice-president and division general manager, suggested that “because European journal prices are ultimately affected by the relative strength of the U.S. dollar, those budgeting for 1995 subscriptions may wish to add 3 to 5 percent to the estimated price increases for these journals. This would help insulate one’s budget from a possible downturn in the U.S. dollar’s value between now and when fixed conversion rates are set, or between now and November, when most publishers are paid for 1995 subscriptions.”

EBSCO’s historical figures show that the average cost per title for an academic library went up only 7.1% from 1993 to 1994—a decrease from the 10% increase from 1992 to 1993. However, the percent change in the average cost of a serial title from 1990 to 1994 was 52.1% (see the graph below).

Academic library cost history from EBSCO’s booklet Serial Price Projections 1995.

SilverPlatter signs agreements with CARL and NOTIS

SilverPlatter Information, Inc., a distributor of electronic information products, and CARL Corporation, a provider of integrated library automation and information systems and document delivery services, have entered into a long-term nonexclusive Technology Collaboration Agreement. Pursuant to the agreement, SilverPlatter and CARL will work cooperatively to create high-value products and services for the libraries that are their customers and seek to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort. SilverPlatter also signed an agreement with NOTIS Systems, Inc., a leading provider of information management services, that will allow both companies to better serve their mutual customers by providing access to SilverPlatter databases through Info-Share, NOTIS’ Z39-50-compliant database service. NOTIS will be developing a gateway that will allow its Z39.50 clients to access SilverPlatter databases running under SilverPlatter’s client/server-based Electronic Reference Library.

Call for popular culture papers

The Popular Culture Association is seeking presenters for its meeting in Philadelphia, April 12-15, 1995. Scholars who work in all aspects of popular culture will meet and share common interests. Anyone who is interested in presenting a paper on a topic related to popular culture and libraries should send an abstract of not more than 250 words by September 15,1994, to: Allen Ellis, Associate Professor of Library Services, W. Frank Steely Library, Northern Kentucky University, Highland

Heights, KY 41099-6101; (606) 572-5527; fax: (606) 572-5390.

Call for sci/tech abstracts

Science and technology librarians—take advantage of this opportunity to present your preliminary original research results or ALA committee findings by submitting an abstract to the Forum for Science and Technology Library Research. The Forum Committee invites abstracts describing recent research or work in progress of interest to science and/or technology librarians. Task force members will select individuals to present reports of their research at the 1995 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.

Proposals will be judged on the basis of timeliness, evidence of scholarship in methodology, and relevance to science and technology librarianship. Proposals should be limited to one page and should contain an abstract of not more than 250 words, as well as the researcher’s name, institution, phone number, and e-mail address (when available).

The deadline for submission is January 1, 1995. Papers will be selected at ALA Midwinter 1995. Send abstracts to: Kathy Whitley, Reference Department, Lupton Library, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 615 McCallie Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37403-2598 ; e-mail: KWHITLEY@UTCVM.UTC.EDU. For more information, call (6l5) 755-4510.

Fulbright Commission offers 1995-96 librarian awards

The Fulbright Commission in London is offering two new awards for a librarian, archivist, or library administrator to pursue professional work in the United Kingdom in 1995-96. One award is for an affiliation at the University of Keele, Staffordshire; the other award may be affiliated with any eligible British institution. Applicants must be U.S. citizens employed in a full-time library post at a university or major research library. Awards are for a minimum of three months between September 1995 and August 1996 and candidates are expected to be on paid leave of absence from their home institutions. The grantee will receive approximately 3,000 British pounds sterling to cover travel and other expenses. Apply by August 1, 1994, with a completed application form, five- page project statement, resume, letter of invitation, and four letters of reference. Call (202) 686-7878 to request application materials; direct questions to Karen Adams at (202) 895-5393.

NEH materials awards available

The National Endowment for the Humanities Reference Materials Program supports projects to prepare reference works that will improve access to information and resources. Support is available for the creation of dictionaries, historical or linguistic atlases, encyclopedias, concordances, reference grammars, databases, textbases, etc., that will provide scholarly tools for the advancement of research or general reference. Grants also may support projects that will assist researchers in locating information about humanities documentation. Such projects result in guides that allow researchers to determine the usefulness or relevance of specific materials for their work. The application deadline is September 15, 1994, for projects beginning after July 1, 1995. For information write: Reference Materials, Room 318, NEH, Washington, DC 20506.

CUNY and SUNY share resources

The City University of New York (CUNY) and three State University of New York (SUNY) university centers—Binghamton, Buffalo, and Stony Brook—are sharing indexes to journals and newspapers using the Internet. The project increases access to information while saving money through the elimination of duplicate computer and personnel resources at the CUNY and SUNY sites. The shared resources include UMI’s Newspaper Abstracts, ABI Inform database, Dissertation Abstracts, and the American Psychology Association’s Psychlnfo. The databases are maintained and located at each individual campus, but those using the NOTIS online library systems at each site and the NOTIS Z39.50 product PACLink which results in screen displays that are familiar to library users, have seamless access to all of them. The cooperative venture will be evaluated after one year with the expectation that if the project is widely used it will be expanded.

Preview Pittsburgh

Take a tour of Pittsburgh before attending the ACRL 7th National Conference in March/April, 1995. The ACRL National Conference Executive Committee has copies of a five-minute videotape on Pittsburgh that is available for you to show in your libraries or at your meetings. Academic libraries and ACRL chapters are encouraged to obtain copies to share with their groups. Contact Phyllis Fair at (800) 545-2433, ext. 2522 to reserve a copy.

Stop by the ACRL membership booth at the ALA Annual Conference in Miami to preview the tape and, while you are there, register to win a souvenir Pittsburgh T-shirt.

Compilers needed for CLIP Notes

ACRL’s popular CLIP Notes (College Library Information Packets) series needs compilers. CLIP Notes provide data and sample documents From college and small university libraries on current topics of interest. These useful resource tools are compiled under the auspices of the CLIP Notes Committee of ACRL’s College Libraries Section. Recent CLIP Notes have dealt with staff development and continuing education, emergency planning and management, interlibrary loan, and database searching.

Potential topics needing compilers are: patron surveys, displays and exhibits, search and hiring procedures, copyright issues, and allocation formulas. If you are interested in being a CLIP Note compiler for one of these topics (or some other topic), contact one of the following people by June 1, 1994: Pat Butcher, CLIP Note Committee Chair, Trenton State College Libraiy, Trenton, NJ 08650; (609) 771-2433, or Carol Goodson, CLIP Notes Committee member, Internet:cgoodson@uga.cc.uga.edu.

For more information about CLIP Notes, see P. Grady Morein’s “What is a CLIP Note?” in C&RL News 46 (1985): 226-29.