ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

News from the Field

Mary Ellen Davis

Cal State Fullerton com- pletes addition

California State University, Fullerton, opened its new addition—University Library- North—this fall. Connected to the existing University Li- brary-South, the 188,000- square-foot building almost doubles the university’s to- tal library square footage. A striking four-story, multicol- ored curved wall of glass comprising the entire north side of the new building offers a sweeping view of the distant San Gabriel Mountains and allows in natural lighting. Con- necting both buildings is a dramatic three-story glass and blue-steel atrium with east and west entries that allow access to both facilities.

Seating space increased from 650 to more than 3,000 reader stations and the new ones are equipped with upgraded electrical and cabling systems that enable students to access power, voice, and databases from almost any location in the new library. Future plans include laptop docking capabilities. The new facility will add 275-375 computer workstations during the next two years providing increased access to electronic catalogs, inhouse electronic information, the Internet (which can be used to explore remote databases), and government documents.

“The enlarged and enhanced library will function as an information hub … and facilitate rapid retrieval and creative use of the world’s store of recorded information,” explained Richard C. Pollard, university librarian.

Lehigh Univ. Libraries, Computing, and Telecommunications merge

Library, computing, and telecommunications services at Lehigh University have merged into a new organization known as Information Resources, under the direction of vice-provost Arnold Hirshon. The new unit features client- centered organizational structure with crossfunctional teams to support each of the university’s four colleges, several major administrative areas, and the general student population. Each team incorporates one or more consultants in information retrieval, desktop computing, instructional design, and enterprisewide information. Team leaders are drawn from all the service units and work with their teams to fos- ter a holistic, integrative ap- proach to meeting campus information needs. In addi- tion to Client Services, Infor- mation Resources comprises Administrative, Planning, and Advancement Services; Information Management Services; and Technology Management Services. Col- lection management and advanced technology are areas given special em- phasis at the top level of the new organization. Technical support for distance education and a media center focused on international educa- tion, both previously outside the merged units, were added to Information Resources. The new unit has a staff of 140 FTE, a library print col- lection of more than one million volumes, and two major facilities, the Linderman Library and the E. W. Fairchild-Martindale Library and Computing Center.

Cal State, Fullerton’s new library addition offers seating for an additional 2,300 readers and nearly double the square footage.

Univ. of Wyoming Libraries benefit from class gift

The graduating class of 1946 raised $20,000 as a 50th year class reunion gift for the University of Wyoming Libraries (UW). Francois (Margaret) Dickman, a 1946 alumna, orchestrated the fund drive, with its success announced at a Homecoming reunion luncheon on October 11, and again at the football game the next day. The gift will purchase “best books” not already in the libraries’ collections. The University Libraries sponsor the 50th year reunion luncheon each year at Homecoming.

“This has become a special tradition at UW,” said Keith Cottam, director of libraries. “Alums from the class of ’47 have already stated their intent to double that amount next year, and you can bet we are encouraging the spirit of competition.”

Wyoming Consortium receives award

The Wyoming Academic Libraries Consortium (WALC) received the Wyoming Library Association’s 1996 Georgia Shovlain Award for the state’s best library project. WALC’s Wyoming Academic Libraries Resource Project upgraded telecommunications lines and implemented an Ariel network linking Wyoming’s academic libraries and the state library. The network is now expanding to include public libraries.

“The project is helping to overcome some of the geographical and technological remoteness and information isolation in Wyoming,” said Keith Cottam, UW libraries director and project director. A $134,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education provided significant support for the project.

Members of the Consortium are: University of Wyoming, Casper College, Central Wyoming College, Eastern Wyoming College, Laramie County Community College, Northern Wyoming Community College District/Sheridan College and the Gillette Campus, Western Wyoming Community College, and the Wyoming State Library.

Save money with ACRL early bird registration—January 8 deadline

Save nearly 30% over onsite registration rates by registering now for the ACRL 8th National Conference in Nashville, April 11-14, 1997. The conference offers more than 175 sessions on the general theme, “Choosing Our Futures,” and promises to give participants an action plan to take home and implement to achieve the preferred future for their libraries.

Cornel West, one of America’s most celebrated academics and a professor of philosophy of religion and Afro-American studies at Harvard University, will give the keynote address. Alan Guskin, chancellor at Antioch University, and Eli Noam, professor at Columbia University and an expert on telecommunications, will examine the future of higher education. Roundtable discussions and poster sessions will provide opportunities for sharing information, networking, solving common problems, and exploring innovative solutions. More than 250 exhibitors will share the latest in products and services Registration materials have been mailed and are available on ACRL’s homepage at http:// www.ala/acrl.html. Early bird registration fees are $225 for ACRL members; $275 for ALA members, and $350 for nonmembers. To request materials contact Darlena Davis at ddavis@ala.org or (800) 545-2433 ext. 2519.

Lindα Hall Library celebrates 50th anniversary with visit from Sally Ride

The Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, Missouri, hosted a talk by Sally K. Ride, former NASA astronaut, as part of its 50th anniversary cel- ebration. Ride talked about the U.S. space program and shared a “home movie” of her ex- perience in space with other astronauts aboard the shuttle Challenger, explaining that “astro- nauts are like tourists . . . the first place we go when we get back is the photo lab.”

Sally Ride

The Linda Hall Library is a privately funded public library ot science, engineering, and technology in the U.S. that began in 1946 in the home of Herbert and Linda Hall. It now has a collection of more than one million volumes. Other anniversary events at the library included a black tie dinner, the issuance of commemorative postcards and notecards depicting the library and its collections, and special exhibitions. For more information about the library visit its homepage at http://www.lhl.lib.mo.us.

Attend New Learning Communities Discussion Group at Midwinter

ACRL President William Miller will engage academic librarians in a discussion about the “new learning communities” developing on their campuses. The discussion will focus on the nature of the learning communities and explore librarians’ roles and involvement and how these should evolve as we approach the 21st century. To facilitate the discussion, representatives from higher education organizations and universities with learning communities programs on campuses have been invited to participate. Discussion leaders for the session are: Steve Gilbert (AAHE/TLTRT), Carolyn Jarmon (EDUCOM/NLII), Susan Perry (CNI), and Todd Kelley (Johns Hopkins University). The discussion session is scheduled to meet on Monday, February 17, 1997, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

RBMS launches new listserv

ACRL’s Rare Books & Manuscripts Section (RBMS) has launched its own listserv to facilitate communication among section members and others interested in the section's work. The RBMS list is unmoderated and membership in it is open to anyone who wishes to join. One need not be a member of RBMS, ACRL, or ALA to belong or to send messages to the list.

Because it is a list devoted to RBMS, it accepts postings relating to that topic only. Topics appropriate for posting include: official RBMS, ACRL, or ALA announcements; agendas or meeting minutes for RBMS, ACRL, or ALA meetings; discussion of items directly related to the business, operations, policies, or philosophy of RBMS, or ACRL and ALA as they affect RBMS; opinions about the operations, philosophy, and policies of RBMS; and announcements about items or documents being mounted on the RBMS homepage.

To join the list, send the message SUBSCRIBE RBMS YOUR NAME to: listproc@library. berkeley.edu. Be sure to leave the subject line blank.

Operation of the RBMS list is made possible by the generosity of the University of California at Berkeley Library Systems Office and Digital Library Office, which maintain the host machine. The list liaison is Everett C. Wilkie Jr. of the Connecticut Historical Society. List policies are set by the RBMS Publications Committee, which is charged by the RBMS Executive Committee with oversight of the list.

International ILL agreement signed

New Mexico State University (NMSU) and the Universidad Autonoma de la Ciudad Juarez have entered into reciprocal borrowing and interlibrary loan agreements that allow faculty, staff, and students of the two universities to borrow publications from either library. Believed to be the first of its kind between American and Mexican academic libraries, the agreement allows individuals to borrow publications directly or to request them via ILL without having to cross the border.

“The collection of rare books, documents, and maps of northern Mexico will be an added resource to NMSU as it extends its effort into Mexico,” said Charles Townley, dean of NMSU’s library.

The new agreement strengthens an important link with the Trans-Border Information Technology Collaborative (TBITC), which provides electronic information for the El Paso, Las Cruces, and Juarez communities. Once electronic catalogs of the two libraries are available on the TBITC Web page, faculty, staff, and students at NMSU, the Universidad Autonoma, the University of Texas at El Paso, the Dona Ana Branch Community College, and El Paso Community College will be able to identify resources in all regional academic libraries.

WRLC Web now includes local image collections

The Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) recently unveiled a new look for its shared electronic library system, ALADIN (Access to Library and Database Information Network). ALADIN provides access to the libraries’ shared online catalog, plus locally mounted article citation databases and full article images. The Web interface now allows the system to display locally created image collections. Three image databases developed by George Mason University are currently available: selected images from the Virginia Civil War Archive, Planned Community Archives, and the American National Theater Academy archive. American and George Washington Universities have developed prototype electronic reserve collections containing images of lecture notes, sample exams, and articles which may be viewed and printed by students of those universities.

The libraries’ shared catalog and local image collections are available to all Web searchers at http://www.aladin.wrlc.org, but access to locally mounted citation databases and full article images is restricted to students and faculty of WRLC universities to comply with licensing requirements.

Members of the WRLC are: American University, Catholic University of America, Gallaudet University, George Mason University, George Washington University, Marymount University, and the University of the District of Columbia. The ALADIN Web uses OCLC’s SiteSearch (WebZ) and Ameritech Library Services’ PacLink Z39.50 server software to provide a single interface to five major software systems operated by WRLC: Ameritech’s LMS, MDAS, and InfoShare software, supporting the libraries’ online catalog and the locally mounted article citation databases; UMI’s PowerPages system which provides the full articles images; and OCLC’s SiteSearch Image Support Package which maintains the locally created image databases.

OCLC PromptCαt to offer shelf-reαdy materials

OCLC, Academic Book Center, and Yankee Book Peddler are working with selected libraries to fine-tune a process that will provide shelf- ready materials to libraries. Through the OCLC PromptCat service, which provides automated copy cataloging for materials on order with vendors, the shelf-ready option (available May 1997) will provide electronic files of labels for the physical processing of books.

The system will work like this: the vendor sends OCLC a list of materials being sent to the library; then OCLC locates the matching records and extracts an LC classification call number from the bibliographic record. To ensure that the call number in the record matches the call number on the item, electronic label files will be generated for the vendor at the same time the OCLC-MARC records are created for the user. Within a turnaround time of a few hours, the vendor will pick up the file of labels for physically processing the materials.

Brown Univ. selects EBSCOhost

Brown University has selected the World Wide Web interface EBSCOhost to access the Academic Search FullTEXT 1,000 and MasterFILE FullTEXT 1,000 databases. Academic Search FullTEXT 1,000 includes full text for more than 1,000 journals and abstracts, indexing for more than 3,100 scholarly journals, and coverage of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Christian Science Monitor.

Raynna Bowlby, library system’s/planning analyst at Brown, commented, “Academic Search FullTEXT 1,000 is the product that the Brown University Library has been waiting for. The combination of academically oriented full- text journal articles with access via the now ubiquitous Web browser brings more of the information that faculty and staff need right to their desktops . . . quickly, easily, seamlessly.”

The MasterFILE FullTEXT 1,000 database includes information on a broad range of general topics with full text for 1,000 journals and abstracts and indexing for more than 3,100 journals. ■

Share your opinion with C&RL News readers

C&RL Newsis looking for well-reasoned commentaries on issues of interest to academic and research librarians for its column “The Way I See It.” It’s an opportunity to share your thoughts with a national audience. Essays should be between 500-750 words and should be sent to “The Way I See It,” C&RL News, ACRL. 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795; fax: (312) 280-2520; e-mail: medavis@ala.org.