ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

When worlds combine: Indiana University's INforum

By Charlotte Hess

A library and computing center joint venture

Librarians and information technologists at Indiana University have developed an innovative program of professional education and development to improve communication and build links between the two groups. The Con- tinuing Education Committee of the IU- Bloomington Library Faculty Council and a newly formed committee from University Com- puting Services have given the name “INforum” to their shared venture. In September 1993, these two committees began to jointly sponsor a series of 90-minute noontime programs of presentation and discussion oriented to the pro- fessional development needs of both librarians and information technologists. These programs are designed to share knowledge, build better understandings of common problems and pos- sible solutions, and create an environment of collaborative learning and communication among those involved in information access and technology.

This grassroots enterprise grew out of in- formal discussions between information pro- fessionals who had returned from national meetings where there were calls for closer ties and increased awareness of the growing inter- dependence of librarians and information tech- nologists. They discussed the greater need for a better understanding between information professionals on many pressing issues. At the December 1992 CAUSE (the Association for Managing Information Technology in Higher Education) conference in Dallas, for instance, the theme of developing partnerships between libraries and computer centers was identified in several presentations. (See conference summary in C&RL News, February 1993, pp- 86-87). At the June 1992 Board meeting of ACRE, the Task Force on Professional Development presented its report “Professional Development and Continuing Education Directions for ACRL.” The report listed “developing management workshops to facilitate collaboration and cooperation between librarians and computer center professionals” as a priority area for professional development. In its November 16, 1992, program overview, the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) identified one of its goals as “To integrate, by providing opportunities for senior administrators of libraries and senior administrators of information technologies in higher education institutions to work with comparable administrators from other institutions and organizations in a common enterprise directed toward a shared future.”

Indiana University’s INforum planning committee, composed of 14 librarians and university computing professionals, began their work in April of this year. Some primary goals of this venture were identified as 1) creating opportunities for ongoing communication between librarians and information technologists; 2) building better understanding between the two cultures and diverse languages of librarianship and information technology (with a possible goal of developing a common language); and, 3) identifying areas of parallel interest where information technologists and librarians are working on the same, similar, analogous, or related problems of information technology and information management.

After agreeing on the purpose and goals of the INforum series, the group identified the first program topics to be offered in the fall semester:

Charlotte Hess is a librarian at Indiana University, Bloomington, e-mail:

• When Worlds Combine: How technologists and librarians communicate. The two languages and two cultures of librarianship and information technology.

• Making Connections: National Issues and Local Initiatives in Networked Information Resources. A survey and report on what’s happening in the networked information and information resource field in the national organizations (e.g., ACRL, CAUSE, Internet Engineering Task Force [IETF], etc.), or in national communications of shared interests (e.g., some of the informal information communities that communicate on the Internet). Also a report on what’s happening, at Indiana University and in the state of Indiana, that corresponds to national issues or addresses national initiatives.

• A report on the development and future plans of Indiana University’s Library Electronic Text Resource Service (LETRS), a collaborative project between the University Computing Services and the Libraries to develop an innovative electronic text center.

Other INforum programs planned for the spring 1994 semester will address such topics as: “Information Anarchy and Information Overload;” “Copyright, Intellectual Property and Electronic Information;” and “Issues on the Internet and NREN.” ■