ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Highlights of ACRL’s Midwinter Meetings

At its Midwinter meeting, the ACRL Board of Directors approved two sets of standards developed by the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section; the “Statement on Appraisal of Gifts,” which replaces the 1960 policy on appraisal, and the “Statement on Legal Title.” The approved statements have been published in the March 1973 issue of CRL News (v. 34, no. 3, p. 49–50). The Rare Books and Manuscripts Section is developing a form that can be used in assigning legal title.

The board passed a resolution, also recommended by the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section, which urges ACRL to take steps to effect change in those sections of the Tax Reform Act of 1969 which deal with gifts to tax- exempt institutions:

BE IT RESOLVED that the ACRL Board of Directors take immediate and vigorous steps to seek elimination of those sections of the Tax Reform Act of 1969 which limit the tax advantages of gifts of self- created materials to tax-exempt research institutions and to restore to the pre-1969 tax appraisal guidelines all such gifts. Additional steps must be taken to prevent proposed legislation, now pending in Congress, to limit the tax advantages in gifts of any book, manuscript, or art collection to tax-exempt research institutions.

The resolution was referred to the Legislation Committee for implementation.

Two recommendations were referred to the LAD Committee on Statistics for College and University Libraries. The ACRL Board recommends that the committee attempt a market analysis among academic libraries of their interest, need, and level of concern for annual statistics, and especially for their willingness to pay for annual statistics. The board also recommends that the committee address itself to the need for two additional kinds of statistical compilations; (1) for correlations of library size characteristics against other institutional data in the HEGIS document, such as faculty and student body size; and (2) for more data on the productivity and output of libraries for comparative use for purposes of performance evaluation.

Upon recommendation of an ad hoc committee chaired by David Kaser, ACRL will redouble its efforts to impress upon the National Center for Educational Statistics the importance of frequent, accurate, comprehensive library statistics for many purposes other than to justify and evaluate grant programs. ACRL will undertake similar efforts with the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.

The ACRL Planning Committee, in developing a five-year plan for the Association, has been considering short-range and long-range goals and objectives. In pursuing short-range objectives, ACRL will promote with other organizations the standards of academic librarian- ship and the status of librarians, will continue to communicate with the membership and maintain its publications program, will provide support for the eleven sections, will encourage the growth of ACRL chapters and strengthen college and university libraries sections within ALA chapters, and will recommend increased support for the ACRL headquarters staff.

The board received reports from two sections which plan preconferences in connection with the 1973 conference in Las Vegas. The University Libraries Section will present a preconference on “The Role of the University Library in Information Networks.” In Los Angeles, the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section will hold a preconference on “Pacific Coast Research Collections.”

Nine sections plan program meetings during the Las Vegas conference. Continuing its previous programs, the University Libraries Section will hear Fellows of the Council on Library Resources discuss their research. A debate on open or closed archives for Letter- press editions will be sponsored by the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section. The Junior College Libraries Section will discuss the “Guidelines for Two-Year College Learning Resources Programs” (CRL News, no. 11, December 1972, p. 305–15).

The Anthropology, Art, and Asian and North African Sections will co-sponsor an illustrated lecture on African art. A program on developing networks in the biological sciences will be presented by the Agriculture and Biological Sciences Section. The Education and Behavioral Sciences Section will present a discussion and demonstration by the American Psychological Association of the computer search program P.A.I.S. The Law and Political Science Section’s program will be a “practicum” on the types of information most appropriately obtained from traditional printed census sources and on those best obtained through the census tapes. The ACRL division program will consider the “Future of the Library and Information Services in Post-Secondary Education.”

The board approved two preconferences to be held prior to the 1974 conference in New York; “Library Support for Non-Western Area Studies,” sponsored by the Asian and North African Section, and a preconference honoring the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section.

The ACRL Board strongly endorsed the resolution presented by AHIL which urges that a larger percentage of the budget be assigned to conference programs.

Two grant proposals were approved by the Board of Directors. The proposal to revise the 1959 Standards for College Libraries is being recommended for a J. Morris Jones—World Book Encyclopedia—ALA Goals Award. The proposal to develop an Academic Library Administration Internship Program for Black Librarians is being referred to the ALA Executive Board for approval and funding.

The board received a progress report on the “Joint Statement on Faculty Status of College and University Librarians” (CRL News, no. 8, September 1972, p. 209–10). In December 1972, the Board of Directors of the Association of American Colleges announced that it could not endorse the adoption of the statement in its present form. That board did reaffirm its concern for the status of academic librarians, but found that “the teaching and research functions which, in terms of the statement, would justify the ‘fundamental identity’ of certain librarians with the teaching faculty are insufficiently defined.” The AAC Board “feared that adoption of the statement by the AAC would create great pressures on institutions to grant faculty status, including tenure, to most, if not all, professional librarians, regardless of the quality of their administrative performance.” The American Association of University Professors will consider the joint statement at its April meeting in St. Louis.

The ACRL Academic Status Committee will review the action taken by the Association of American Colleges. The committee also plans to review statements on governance currently used by library faculties and to develop a model governance plan and guidelines for peer performance evaluation.

At its meeting, the ACRL Standards and Accreditation Committee reviewed a draft of guidelines for branch libraries. The draft will be submitted to other librarians for comments and additional information.

The Joint Committee on University Library Standards (ARL/ACRL) met during the Midwinter meeting to continue developing a standards statement for university libraries.

The Joint Committee on University Extension Library Services (NUEA/ACRL) met to discuss goals and objectives of the committee and to plan a possible program meeting at the NUEA conference in Omaha in April.

Mr. Wallace C. Olsen, Library Liaison Officer, National Agricultural Library, met with the Executive Committee of the Agriculture and Biological Sciences Section and other agriculture librarians to discuss the role of the National Agricultural Library in information dissemination.

The Junior College Libraries Section reported that it had completed its project to prepare periodical bibliographies for seventeen public service occupational programs. Plans for publication are under way. ■ ■

College & Research Libraries is published by the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, 17 times yearly—6 bimonthly journal issues and II monthly, combining July- August, News issues at 1201-05 Bluff St., Fulton, Mo. 65251. Subscription, $15.00 a year or, to members of the division, $5.00, included in dues. Circulation and advertising office; American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, Ill. 60611. Second-class postage paid at Fulton, Missouri 65251.

News editor: Allan Dyson, Moffitt Undergraduate Library, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720.Associate News editor: Susana Hinojosa. Assistant Librarian. Reference Department, Moffitt Undergraduate Library. Editor: Richard M. Dougherty, University Library, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720. President,ACRL: Russell Shank, Executive Secretary, ACRL; Beverly Lynch, ALA.