ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

News from the Field

Mary Ellen Davis

Colorado's catalog on the Web

The University of Colorado Libraries (UC) has placed its catalog on the Web in a seamless interface with its other resources.

“The University Libraries is one of the first libraries to seamlessly link its catalog to its homepages and put it on the World Wide Web for everyone to access,” said Lori Arp, head of the reference department at UC’s Norlin Library.

With 1.7 million records, the catalog pro- vides information about UC’s 12 million print, audio/video materials, microformats, and CD-ROM resources. The Web site also provides access to ex- ternal Web sites, such as organizational homepages and electronic journals though online links. Al- though some of the information is restricted by subscription to on-campus users, much of it is available to all. Remote users can electronically transmit interlibrary loan re- quests to have materials sent to their closest library.

To use Webcat, visit the libraries’ homepage at http://www-libraries.colorado.edu/ and click on “services” and then on Chinook.

CSU, San Marcos offers interactive exhibit

“Bells and Whistles—Sidetracked in the Library” is a new exhibit at Cali- fornia State University, San Marcos that offers more than a wall full of images. There will also be sounds to hear, objects to touch, spaces to enter, holes to peep through, and instructions to follow—all used to engage the viewer in physical learn- ing experiences.

Created by local artists Richard Keely and Anna O’Cain, the inter- active, multimedia installation is de- signed to call attention to the potential of sidetracks or accidental discoveries in the pursuit of scholarly research. The exhibit runs through March 27.

St. John's University Law Library joins U.N. Network

St. John’s University’s Rittenberg Law Library has become one of only two American libraries since 1977 to be designated as United Nations depository libraries. The Law Library was selected from more than 1,500 libraries from around the world that applied for depository designations.

St. John’s is now part of an international network of 362 libraries in 141 countries and territories bringing U.N. documents and publications to users around the world. Seton Hall’s Walsh Library was the other U.S. library named a U.N. depository library.

Old Dominion dedicates new room

The opening of the F. Ludwig Diehn Composers Room at Old Dominion University was celebrated December 19, 1997. A gift from the composer and Norfolk, Virginia, resident, Ludwig Diehn, the facility was established to house the University Library’s collection of manuscripts, scores, and other special collections of 20th-century musical compositions. Completed in the summer of 1997 as an addition to the Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Center at Old Dominion University, the room is a research facility for scholars, conductors, and performers. A German businessman and composer, Ludwig Diehn left Germany in 1937 and worked in the United States until turning to full-time composing in 1940. The Diehn Collection was presented to the university in 1993. The Diehn Room is a 7,600 square foot structure designed by George Nasis, AIA, of the Moseley McClintock Group, Virginia Beach, Virginia. The single-floor building holds a music listening facility in addition to the main reading room, seminar room, and offices.

The F. Ludwig Diehn Composers Room at Old Dominion University houses the library's collection of manuscripts, scores, and special collections of 20th-century musical compositions.

The award-winning Carter Library at King's College University of Western Ontario has contributed to a 420% increase in usage.

"Imagining the Learning Library" tape available

Complete and abridged versions of the 1997 ACRL President’s Program in San Francisco are now available as vid- eotapes for borrowing by ACRL chapters, libraries, and individuals wishing to use these as part of local programming.

The program, “Imag- ining the Learning Li- brary,” features presenta- tions by Betsy Baker of Northwestern University and by several members of the Disney “Imagi- neers.” The full program runs 2.5 hours on two half-inch tapes; the a- bridged version runs 72 minutes on one half-inch tape. ACRL en- courages state and regional chapters to bring this program to those members who may not have been able to travel to ALA last sum- mer.

To borrow the tape for a three-week period, send an ALA-approved interlibrary loan form to the ALA Headquarters Library, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795. There is a $3.00 charge to cover postage costs. Advanced reservations for the tapes will be honored by calling (800) 545-2433 ext. 3277 or via e-mail at larc@ala.org. For details about the program content, contact Elisa Topper at ACRL at etopper@ala.org.

ACRL Statistics Committee seeks data

ACRL’s Statistics Committee is developing a homepage on the Web to point to URLs for academic library statistics. If you know of academic library data posted on the Web, please send the URLs to Curt Holleman at Southern Methodist University at e-mail: chollema@mail.smu.edu.

King's College Library wins award

The G. Emmett Cardinal Carter Library at King’s College, University of Western Ontario, has been awarded the City of London 1997 Urban Design Award as outstanding entry in any category in this year’s competition. According to chief librarian John Clouston, use of the library has increased 420 percent in the last year. A record number of patrons (1,400) was recorded on a day in October. The number of users recorded in the College’s former library was 254. Clouston believes the library’s welcom- ing environment and facilities are significant factors in attracting patrons. Although King’s has about 1,700 students, active patrons at the new library number between 5,000- 6,000 as people from the larger Western Ontario community also use the library.

UMI adds Univ. of Chicago dissertations

UMI has completed cataloging the entire mi- croform collection of doctoral dissertations and masters theses from the University of Chicago. The collection of 32,000 titles, accumulated during the past century, has been added to UMI’s Dissertations Abstracts database, which now includes more than 1.5 million biblio- graphic citations of which more than one million are available in full text. The disser- tations can be accessed electronically through UMI’s online service, ProQuest Digi- tal Dissertations. Copies of dissertations can be obtained using Dissertation Express, UMI’s online ordering service. For more in- formation check out http://www.umi.com.

LC awards preservation contract

The Library of Congress has awarded a $3.3 million contract to provide book preserva- tion services to Preservation Technologies, L.P. The company will treat a minimum of 216,400 books during the next four years using its patented Bookeeper® process to neutralize acids in the paper. The contract follows a previous agreement that resulted in deacidification of 92,000 books over 18 months, after completion of a joint initia- tive between Preservation Technologies and LC that enhanced the effectiveness of the Bookeeper® process.

Los Alamos wins award

The research library at the Los Alamos Na- tional Laboratory re- cently was awarded the Quality New Mexico Roadrunner Award. The annual award recognizes New Mexico organizations for significant progress in building customer-focused processes through their commitment and implementation of quality principles. The Laboratory’s research library is the first library to be honored with this award. The library was recognized for providing distinguished service in support of scientific research and was cited for integrating a strong customer service focus with visionary planning using a well-defined process. The library is a leader in developing digital library products and was among the first of its type to digitize and provide access to full-text, full-image databases through customer’s desktops. ■

Celebrate National Library Week, April 12- 25, 1998. This "Read" poster is just one of dozens of materials available from ALA Graphics. Call (800) 545-2433, press 7 to request a full catalog.