ACRL College & Researc Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

In the News

In his article on developing a bibliographic utility in Brazil, Richard Phillips explains that the Brazilian phrase “jeito” loosely translates as “finding a way to get a difficult task done.” Librarians everywhere have substantial experience with “jeito.” Despite shrinking budgets, librarians have continued to provide quality services and collections to their library users. Networking, resource sharing, and cooperative collection development are just some of the creative ways librarians have found to provide access to materials their patrons need. In this issue we look at a variety of networks and resource sharing arrangements, both formal and informal.

Susan Oberlander describes the formation of the New Mexico Consortium of Academic Libraries and its success in developing a funding formula for academic libraries. Kathleen Dunn and Myra White talk about how an informal multitype network can bring benefits to both staff and library patrons. Marion Ritter describes four current resource sharing projects where collection development is effectively being coordinated among a number of institutions in the Pacific Northwest and the San Francisco Bay area.

Recognizing that not all libraries can collect everything that researchers need, the Library of Congress’ experiment with the American Memory Project is an impressive attempt to provide both traditional and nontraditional research materials in one easy place—a CD-ROM workstation. A report on this project is found in this issue. The Coalition for Networked Information is also exploring the distribution of information. At its Spring meeting, members looked at electronic library systems, NREN, and changing needs of library users.

International cooperative activities and networking are also important to librarians in the U.S. After a trip to Mexico, Dale Cluff offers suggestions for cooperative projects to benefit libraries in Mexico and the United States.

I am pleased to introduce Gail Junion-Metz and Ray E. Metz as co-editors for a new quarterly column, “Chapter Topics.” Beginning with this issue the column will report on “some of the interesting things being said and done in ACRL chapters which have an impact on the profession.” As co-editors of the quarterly ACRL newsletter, Chapter Topics‚ Gail and Ray are uniquely qualified to report on current chapter activities.

—Mary Ellen K. Davis

Editor and Publisher