ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

News from the Field

Save Pittsburgh postcards and win

In January ACRL members received their first postcard about the ACRL 7th National Conference in Pittsburgh: “Continuity and Transforma- tion: The Promise of Con- fluence,” March 29-April 1, 1995. As reported in the No- vember 1993 C&RL News, sav- ing this postcard and two oth- ers that will be mailed later this year makes you eligible for a drawing for free conference and preconference registrations. Col- lect all three postcards, staple them together, and bring them to the ACRL booth at the 1995 Midwinter Meet- ing to be in- cluded in the drawing. Six win- ners will be se- lected; all post- cards must be addressed to the same person. Note: If you are not attending the 1995 Midwinter Meeting, staple your postcards together and mail them to the ACRL office by January 10, 1995, to be included in the drawings.

ETS tests on Internet

The Education Resources Information Center Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation (ERIC/AE) at the Catholic University of America has made test information available on the Internet. The information includes: an alternative assessment database with full-text essays on more than 18 topics; the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Test Collection database that provides a system for searching more than 9,500 test descriptions; and the Büros Test Review Locator that identifies Büros publications that contain reviews of specific tests. The ERIC/AE site can be accessed by gophering to gopher.cua.edu under Special Resources. ERIC/AE’s Internet address is ERIC_AE@ cua.edu.

Even Beethoven joins the Net

The Beethoven Bibliogra- phy Database, a project of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at San Jose State University, is now available according to a re- cent listserv posting. The database, begun in 1990, in- dexes books and articles about Ludwig van Beeth- oven, and first and early editions of his scores. All materials included are located at the Beethoven Center. To reach the da- tabase, telnet to: sjsulibl.sjsu.edu or 130.65.100.1; login: Lib; select D on main menu; select Beethoven Bibliography Database. To order a copy of the instructions for using the database and a list of subject terms, call the Beethoven Center at (408) 924-4590 or e-mail: elliot@sjsuvml .sjsu.edu.

New dean off to running start

Texas A&M University’s new library dean, Fred Heath, got off to a running start when he teamed up with Aggie football coach R. C Slocum for the annual Friends of the Sterling C. Evans Library Fun Run. Sponsored by the H.E.B. Grocery Company, the Fun Run raises aware- ness and funds for the Evans library. More than 200 participants ran or walked for the library, including many staff members. Participants were eligible for donat- ed prizes including a trip to Cancún, a mountain bike, and a personal fax/copier/phone. Pro- ceeds from the run will help fund the Friends of the Library professorship, a $150,000 project that is part of the university’s “Capturing the Spirit” campaign.

Fred Heath

ALA to broadcast new teleseminar

“Achieving Breakthrough Customer Service,” a video teleseminar presented by the American Library Association, will be broadcast live to more than 300 meeting sites on Thursday, May 12, 1994.

American labor leader Cesar Chavez and Israeli Premier from 1969-74 Go Ida Meir are the subjects of the new Great Minds posters researched by ACRL’s New Publications Advisory Board and produced by ALA’s Graphics Department. The posters are available for $5 each from ALA Graphics. Send order and prepayment to ALA Graphics or call (800) 545-2433, press 8, with your credit-card order.

James L. Heskett, UPS Foundation professor of business logistics at the Harvard Business School, will present a powerful new model for customer service in all types of libraries. Other presenters will be announced.

The program will include opportunities for local participants to work in teams to examine how their libraries can create gains in productivity and customer value. Participants will also “visit” libraries with successful customer service programs.

Early-bird registration before March 15 is $34.95 for ALA members and $39 95 for nonmembers. Group rates are $29.95 for 5-24, and $19-95 for groups of 25 or more. Add $10 after March 15.

For registration information write or call ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 606l 1; phone: (800) 545-2433, ext. 5052. To organize a local meeting site call Cheryl Cummings at Kathleen Gilroy Associates (KGA) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at (617) 354-5204.

Collection policies for your curriculum materials center

A revised and expanded second edition of the Curriculum Materials Center Collection Development Policy has been published by ACRL. This new edition addresses ongoing collection development policy concerns while introducing new areas of interest such as new technologies and collection evaluation. Also included for the first time are sample collection development policies. Administrators and education librarians and faculty will find this book of interest as a clearly defined collection development policy is highly useful in supporting budget requests and in keeping faculty, administrators, accrediting agencies, and other interested parties informed of selection and re- evaluation processes. Curriculum Materials Center Collection Development Policy was developed by two joint subcommittees of the Problems of Access and Control of Education Materials Committee and by the Curriculum Materials Committee of ACRL’s Education and Behavioral Sciences Section. Committee chairs and compilers are Beth G. Anderson, Virginia Nordstrom, Karin Duran, and Allison G. K. Kaplan. The publication sells for $16.95 ($14.95 to ACRL members) and is available from ALA’s Order Department, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611 (ISBN: 0-8389-7707-3). Or call (800) 545-2433, press 7.

Don’t let disaster catch you unprepared

ACRL has just published CLIP Note #17, Emergency and Disaster Planning for College Libraries‚ reporting the results of a new survey of small college and university library policies on emergency and disaster plans. Several complete plans are included in the publication. Emergency and Disaster Planning for College Libraries (ISBN: 0-8389-7710-3) was compiled by Susan C. George, physical sciences librarian at Dartmouth College, under the auspices of the

ACRL College Library Section’s CLIP Notes Committee. The 146-page publication sells for $28.95 ($25.95 to ACRL members) and is available from ALA’s Order Department, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Or call (800) 545-2433, press 7.

ALA developing gopher

ALA staff are working with consultant Ed Valauskas to develop an ALA gopher. Plans call for the gopher to provide electronic access via the Internet to a wide variety of ALA and unit information. ACRL documents such as press releases, the Guide to Policies and Procedures, standards and guidelines, board actions, and awards information will be mounted on the gopher. The gopher will be demonstrated for the ALA Executive Board during its spring 1994 meeting. If development stays on schedule, the gopher will be available for public use no later than the 1994 ALA Annual Conference in Miami.

Jurassic Parklives at Utah State University

Utah State University librarians were bur- ied in dinosaur data in June 1993 as they planned a new program for nearly 400 high school students who were being recruited by the College of Engineering. Our staff designed an assignment which was interesting, relevant and fun. Summer ’93 was the sum- mer of the dinosaurs and this became our subject. For those who had read Juras- sic Park, or seen the movie, topics leapt from the story. They included cloning, DNA, optic surveying, remote sensing, small island irrigation, and even moats. Materials on waste removal, irrigation, and DNA are available, but current information on moats? That’s when we realized we could teach thinking and searching skills using dinosaurs as a motiva- tor. We used moats in the assignment and then explored with the students the correct termi- nology (canals), zoo planning, and more.

Students were given some very basic instruction on online searching and then sent in groups of two or three to try their skills, hands- on, using our online catalog. Each group worked together on a printed assignment with spaces provided for answers. The assignment required some writing but was designed to teach search skills throughout the exercise.

Though formal evaluations are still being collated, we know this year’s visits were very successful. Our first observation was the intensity with which the students addressed the computer. They learned the commands, read the screens, and tried to “crack” the vocabulary. Working to- gether, they shared their knowledge and skills and creativity. They also met all the librarians and simply had fun. It was a cooperative venture for librarians and staff.

A dinosaur image was built into the background of the students’ assignment. A bright blue-and-white dinosaur button with the statement “I searched for dinosaurs in Merrill Library” was awarded to all the students.

For more information on the program, contact Robert Morrison, Merrill Library, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-3000 or robmor@ cc.usu.edu.—Mary I. Piette, Robert Morrison, and Betty Dance, reference librarians, Utah State University, Logan