ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

News from the Field

Martinez takes top post at ALA

Elizabeth Martinez, city librar- ian of the Los Angeles Public Library, has accepted the ap- pointment as executive direc- tor of the American Libraiy Association effective August 15, 1994. The appointment resulted from a national search conducted by a 20- member search committee, with the final decision made by the 12 voting members of ALA’s Executive Board.

Hardy Franklin, president of ALA and director of the District of Columbia Public Library, commented: “Elizabeth Martinez’s experience in administration and management, especially through crises such as the Los Angeles Public Library has encoun- tered, will be valuable as she assumes the po- sition of chief executive officer of our 56,000- member association. She is seeking the challenge of moving an institution in new, pro- gressive directions. We believe we have that challenge to offer to her.”

Elizabeth Martinez

Martinez has been in her current position for almost four years. Before that she was county librarian of the Orange County Public Library (1979-1990); and served as chief of public services and regional administrator of the Los Angeles County Library. A native of California, Martinez holds a B.A. degree in Latin American studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MLS from the University of Southern California.

UnCover Reveal unveiled

A table of contents alert service, UnCover Reveal, has been released by the UnCover Company. Anyone who has created an UnCover profile that includes their e-mail address and fax number may select a list of journal titles in which they are interested. When the next issue of any of those titles is entered into the UnCover database, the table of contents is automatically e-mailed to them. The e-mail table of contents alert service is free. Articles ordered by reply e- mail will be delivered by fax for a service charge of $8.50 U.S. plus copyright fee, and a fax surcharge outside of the U.S. or Canada. The UnCover da- tabase may be accessed through the Internet by telnetting to database. carl.org or by dial-up at (303) 756-3600; first-time users are prompted to create a profile when they log on.

Bradley Univ. digitizes images

More than 15,000 images pertaining to the history of central Illinois are being digitized and copied onto photo CDs improving the access to and preserving the image collection at Bradley University’s Cullom-Davis Library, Peoria, Illinois. The Historic Image Database will be indexed and loaded into a recently acquired Kodak PCD Jukebox 100. The multidisc player will allow for expansion of the collection up to 60,000 images and provide random access to any image though computer workstations on campus and eventually throughout the region on Heartland Freenet. Photographic quality electronic prints will be available within two business days to library patrons.

Vatican Library to digitize and automate

The Vatican Library, the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and IBM have initiated a project to expand access to the library’s collection through the cost-effective use of technology. The pilot project has four main components: to create a digital image database containing a sample of full-printed volumes, manuscripts, and artworks; to determine the feasibility of using networks and other electronic media (e.g., CD-ROM) to distribute the images; to convert the library’s pre-1985 catalog of nearly two million cards into an electronic database; and to explore the related issues of usability, protection of distributed images, and cost and permissions management. “The excitement of this project lies in the possibility of having a volume only available at the Vatican Library made accessible electronically on scholars’ workstations in a university or classroom thousands of miles away,” said the Prefect of the Vatican Library.

The Vatican Library announced plans to digitize its collections and automate its services.

The Vatican Library, founded in the mid- 1400s by Pope Nicholas V, is a repository for many rare materials. The collection includes a lavish manuscript of Ptolmey’s Geography, an illustrated copy of Dante’s Divine Comedy, and the four oldest surviving manuscripts of Virgil’s poems. The library houses over 150,000 manuscripts and over one million printed books, including 8,000 books published during the first 50 years of the printing press. It also holds collections of drawings, prints, and coins.

ACRL and CNI identify use of networks in teaching

ACRL is cosponsoring, with the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) Working Group on Teaching and Learning, a project that calls for the identification of examples of network use to support undergraduate teaching and learning. The example programs will be described at an invited conference at Estrella Mountain Community College Center in Phoenix, Arizona, July 31-August 1, 1994. Barbara A. MacAdam, who chairs the Bibliographic Instruction Section’s Emerging Technologies in Instruction Committee, is coordinating ACRL's contribution to the project.

SUNY applies educational technology

The State University of New York’s (SUNY) Office of Education Technology is supporting three projects: a data- base-sharing project, a full-text delivery project using Ariel, and a study of ownership/access is- sues for high-cost-journals as part of its mission to promote library technology and electronic infor- mation sharing both within SUNY and with other national and international databases. 1) Nine SUNY campuses will ex- amine online databases over SUNYNet to evaluate the use of new software products and ex- amine the computing, network- ing, service, financial, and policy issues associated with this form of resource sharing. Project con- tact-. Cerise Oberman, chair of the SUNY Council of Library Directors. 2) A consortium of five SUNY campuses will acquire and implement Ariel software to evaluate high- speed document delivery over the Internet. Evaluation will include in-depth analysis of the programmatic, technical, and policy consider- ations involved in the implementation and pos- sible expansion to more campuses. Project con- tact: Barbara D. Farah, SUNY College at Geneseo. 3) Four University Center libraries will collaborate on a detailed economic analy- sis of the choices facing libraries of subscribing to scholarly journals, relying on electronic ac- cess or some combination of print and elec- tronic. Project contact: Meredith Butler, SUNY at Albany.

Share your ideas at ACRL’s 7th National Conference

There’s still time to share your ideas with your colleagues via a paper, panel program, or poster session at ACRL’s 7th National Conference, March 29-April 1, 1995, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Although intents to submit were requested by May 1, 1994, we would be happy to receive your paper or panel program proposal by July 1, 1994, even if you missed the intent deadline.

Contributed papers:Submit by July 1, 1994, a completed proposal form (found in the January 1994 C&RL News insert), a 200-word abstract, and your completed paper to Marion Reid, Director of Library Services, California State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, CA 92096-0001. If you have questions contact Reid by mail or e-mail: marion_reid@csusm.edu.

Networked information technologies: CNI report

The theme for the spring meeting of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) was “Advances in Networked Information Technologies.” Your ACRL representatives (Tom Kirk and Noreen Alldredge) attended many of the sessions. Developments of most interest to ACRL members include:

• The $26 million currently available through the Department of Commerce’s Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program. Goals of the program, which provides matching funds, are to: 1) promote the development of the national information infrastructure for the public sector; and 2) enhance the delivery of services by nonprofit organizations;

• A telecommunications exchange established by New York governor Mario Cuomo to strengthen New York’s economic position and enhance the quality of life of the state’s citizens by working towards a network of networks (a mesh topography) with a backbone capable of gigabyte transfer and peer-to-peer relationships;

• Continuing considerations of intellectual property management included presentations on: a client server application at Case Western Reserve University, which is designed to maintain and manage security, copyright, royalty, and permission provisions; an electronic credit system developed at Carnegie Mellon University, which provides billing services; work between the Corporation for National Research Initiatives and the Library of Congress Copyright Office on registration of digital work over the network; and research on linking digital libraries of technical reports.

Additional details on these and other relevant presentations are available on the coalition’s Internet server which is accessible by ftp, gopher, and NCSA Mosaic.

Via ftp: URL:ftp://ftp.cni.org/CNI/tf. meetings/1994a. spring/agenda. txt.

Via Gopher: URL:gopher://gopher.cni.org: 70/0/cniftp/tfmeets/1994a. spring/agenda, txt.

ACRL members are encouraged to use the server to review handouts from the sessions and discussion documents as well as photos taken at the meeting with a digital camera.— Noreen Alldredge, California State University, Hayward

Panel sessions:Submit by July 1,1994, a com- pleted proposal form (found in the January 1994 C&RL News insert) and a 200-word abstract to

Sarah Watstein, Assistant Director for Academic Ser- vices, Virginia Commonwealth University Li- brary, Richmond, VA 23824-2033. If you have ques- tions contact Wat- stein by mail or e- mail: swatstein@ ruby.vcu.edu.

Poster sessions:Submit by November 1, 1994, a completed proposal form (found in the January 1994 C&RL News insert) to Sandy Ready, Mankato State University, Me- morial Library, MSU Box 19, Mankato, MN 56002-8400. If you have questions contact Tom

Peischl at (906) 227-2117; e-mail: tpeischl@nmu. edu.

You can direct any general questions to Mary Ellen Davis at ACRL headquarters by phone (800) 545-2433, ext. 2511, or e-mail: mary.ellen.davis@ala.org.

Pittsburgh offers prizes

Win big prizes! Visit the Pittsburgh Convention & Visitor’s Bureau and ACRL booths in the Exhibits Hall at the ALA Annual Conference in Miami Beach. Several drawings for hotel room nights, dinners, lunches, tours, and Pittsburgh novelties will be held throughout the exhibit hours. Stop by and drop off your business card or complete a drawing entry form; you do not need to be present to win.

Be the first to own an ACRL 7th National Conference t-shirt! Shirts will be on sale at the ACRL booth and the ALA Store.

Make your plans now to attend the ACRL 7th National Conference in Pittsburgh, March 29-April 1, 1995.