ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

News from the Field

Mary Ellen Davis

Colorado State Univ. adds wireless network

3Com Corporation donated $23,000 to Colorado State University (CSU) to add a wireless network to the library in an attempt to alleviate crowding in computer labs. Whether they’re in study carrels, at tables, or in the stacks in CSU’s five-story Morgan Library, students using their own or library-provided laptops now enjoy flexible access to all electronic resources available on CSU’s campus network, including library resources, university services, student groups, etc. They also can connect to CSU’s Web site to use such resources as RAMweb—an online student services utility that lets students view and update their contact information, financial aid data, and academic records and transcripts. The new wireless network additionally offers fast, easy access to the library’s 400-plus browser-accessible databases, which contain abstracts and full-text journal articles on academic subjects ranging from agriculture to veterinary science. Users are offered immediate full-text display, download, and e-mail delivery options for thousands of journal articles. Students are also using the wireless network at virtually any location within the Morgan Library to rapidly reserve books, extend borrowing time, arrange interlibrary loans, and browse new acquisitions.

Valparaiso University launches $75 million campaign

Valparaiso University (VU) is launching “Three Goals, One Promise: The Campaign for Valparaiso University,” a $75 million campaign to construct a new library and information resources center on campus and to add to the university’s endowment in support of academic programs and student scholarships.

Comprising the campaign are $30 million for a 100,000 square-foot library and information resources center, $35 million for endowment, and $10 million to support day-to-day operations of the university during the campaign, which is expected to end December 31, 2001.

Richard Duesenberg, a member of the VU Board of Directors and chair of the campaign, with his wife, Phyllis, said that more than $57.8 million already had been pledged from individuals and corporations who were given an early description of the campaign.

The new four-story library and information resources center will be nearly double the size of the 40-year-old Moellering Library and combine traditional library services and contemporary electronic information technology in one facility. The building will have space for the collection, study areas, classrooms, conference rooms, and offices.

Western Kentucky University unveils new Web service

Western Kentucky University (WKU) Libraries and Museum has developed a Web-based service to the WKU community called TIP (Topper InfoPortal), which they hope will streamline and make more productive their Web searches. TIP allows campus users and others to find the very best local, regional, national, and international Web sites in some 38 categories as well as access to all of WKU’s electronic resources and Web catalog. TIP has three major functions: 1) “Search Function” for WKU-funded databases and online catalog, KCVL databases and online catalogs, and Web search engines all in one place; 2) “Our Picks” with more than 450 selected Web sites, and 3) “Additional Library Resources.” TIP complements the WKU Libraries and Museum Web site and does not duplicate local information, such as faculty/staff directories, library hours, services, etc. Visit TIP at http://www.wku.edu/Library/tip.

National University of Singapore will add digital identification technology

The National University of Singapore (NUS) Library and 3M Library Systems will introduce an integrated system of digital identification technology to the university’s libraries. The project involves two million books and materials across six libraries, making it the largest library site radio frequency identification project in the world, according to 3M.

The National University of Singapore Library is implementing 3M's digital identification technology.

The 3M digital system tracks library materials by a “smart label tag” affixed to each item. Each tag includes a tiny antennae and microprocessor chip that contains information unique to the item it marks. The tags will be decoded via radio frequency waves so that items can be tracked as they enter, move about, and exit the library with patrons. The digital system will automate tracking lost items and taking inventory and minimize unauthorized removal of library materials as it provides for patron checkout that integrates magnetic security with detection systems located at the exits/entrances to the libraries.

Patrick Lye, head of circulation at NUS, said, “Students can return materials when and where it is most convenient for them and, because the book drops also integrate digital identification technology, they can accept and identify items, dispense a receipt to the borrower, and check items back into the library’s automation system." The system is expected to be fully operation at the NUS Central Library in June 2001.

ACRL candidates for president announced

The candidates for the 2001 ACRL vice-president/president-elect are Elaine Didier and Helen Spalding.

Didier is the dean of Kresge Library at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Spalding is the associate director of libraries at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. The election will take place in Spring 2001.

New journal for librarians published by Johns Hopkins University Press

Portal: Libraries and the Academyis a new quarterly journal being published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Portal will disseminate scholarship in all aspects of librarianship within higher education and explore how technology is affecting librarianship and scholarship, as well as the role of libraries in meeting institutional missions. Serving on Portal’s editorial board are many of the former members of the Journal of Academic Librarianship (JAL), who resigned in protest in 1998 after it was purchased by a large European publisher.

Charles B. Lowry, dean of libraries at the University of Maryland in College Park, and Susan Martin, university librarian at Georgetown University, serve as executive editors. Gloriana St. Clair, university librarian at Carnegie Mellon University, serves as managing editor.

Annual subscriptions for individuals will cost $48.00. The institutional subscriptions will be $145.00. Portal will also be available on the Web as part of the Project MUSE® collection of online journals. Visit muse.jhu.edu for more information.

RBML has new name and focus

Rare Books & Manuscripts Librarianshiphas been given a new name, format, and editorial focus by its editors. The new journal, called RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage, will feature a larger format and will expand its focus to include stewards of special collections outside the library world.

Editors Lisa Browar and Marvin J. Taylor explained the reasons behind the changes: “As rare book and manuscripts libraries have previously metamorphosed into special collections libraries, so too are special collections libraries changing into cultural heritage repositories before our eyes.” RBM will reflect these changes, appealing to an audience not only of librarians, but also of “… scholars, students, archivists, fine printers, photographers, museum professionals, video producers, filmmakers, and anyone interested in and working to preserve cultural heritage. … The goal of the newly configured journal is to foster a conversation that transcends traditional professional boundaries.” Future topics include: coping with emerging technologies, new economic models for collecting, strategic partnerships, library-museum relations, moving images and recorded sound, and legal issues.

On April 24, St. Mary's College of Maryland sponsored a public talk by Henriette Avram, the architect of the MARC record and its subsequent development as a national and international standard. Avram reviewed her experiences at the Library of Congress and her work promoting the use of MARC. Pictured here left to right are librarians Susan Sloan, Kerie Nickel, Terry Leonard, Todd Kelley (associate provost and librarian of the college), Henriette Avram, Rob Sloan, Celia Rabinowitz, and Joe Storey.

RBMis published twice a year. Rates for a one year subscription are $35 for U.S.; $40 for Canada, Mexico, or other PUAS Countries; and $50 for other foreign countries.

The University of Minnesota's new Andersen Library is a 185,000 square foot facility that features two storage caverns, mined from sandstone in the bluffs of the Mississippi River.

University of Minnesota opens new library

The University of Minnesota opened to the public the Elmer L. Andersen Library, named for the governor. A unique feature of the 185,0 square-foot facility situated on the bluffs of the Mississippi River, is its two storage caverns, mined from the sandstone in the bluffs. Each cavern measures 600 feet long, 65 feet wide, and 23 feet high. The caverns, in which archives are kept in optimal conditions (62 degrees F. and 50 percent relative humidity), can store up to 1.9 million volumes on 26,000 shelves. The caverns required mining and blasting out more than 2.5 million cubit feet of sandstone and limestone.

The Andersen Libraries houses the majority of the university libraries archives and special collections, the Central office of the MINITEX Library Information Network, and the Minnesota Library Access Center (which stores important but infrequently used, collections from other Minnesota libraries in climate-controlled conditions.

“To preserve one-of-a-kind and rare books and manuscripts, the Andersen Library includes state of the art storage areas that will serve Minnesota book-lovers and researchers for generations to come,” said University Librarian Tom Shaughnessy. “Andersen Library’s high capacity will ensure that libraries statewide can use more of their limited resources for new books and enhanced library services, rather than for storage. The facility is truly an asset for our entire community.”

The total cost of the building was $46.5 million, including an appropriation from the Minnesota Legislature and $8 million in university funds. The building won the Harry H. Edwards Award for precast concrete building design from the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute. The building features a state-of-the-art pumping and waterproofing system that is guaranteed to keep the building dry even in the event of a 500-year flood.

ACRL offers books on faculty/librarian collaboration and English literature

The Collaborative Imperative: Librarians and Faculty Working Together in the Information Universe,edited by Dick Raspa and Dane Ward, is a book about librarian and faculty collaboration—as it exists now and as it could exist.

The authors assert that collaboration will be the next great transition in higher education and in a series of essays, the possibilities of librarians working across disciplines and traditional university boundaries are explored, starting with the interpersonal aspects of collaboration. The focus is on developments within and beyond the instructional arena. A key idea is that collaboration is as much an issue of relationship building as it is one of specific initiative.

Included in this book are a review of the literature, case studies of exemplary programs at the institutional level, reports of surveys of informal collaborations, a directory of resources, as well as theoretical models of the collaborative enterprise.

The Collaborative Imperative(ISBN 0-8389-8085-6) is available for $24 from ALA Order Fulfillment.

Literature in English: A Guide for Librarians in the Digital Age,(Publications in Librarianship no. 54), edited by Betty H. Day and William A. Wortman, delivers a wide-ranging series of essays that address concerns related to the acquisition, organization, and use of information sources related to the study and teaching of English literature.

Among the issues discussed are the changed literary canon, the expanded range of research and course interests, and the impact of new electronic resources on traditional print.

The 350 page, Literature in English (ISBN: 0-8389-8081-3) sells for $32.00.

Both books may be ordered from ALA Order Fulfillment, 155 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 6θ6ll; phone: (800) 545-2433 (press 7) ; fax: (312) 836-9958.

New back issue finder

Back Issue Finder (http://www. BackIssueFinder.com) has launched a new Web marketplace dedicated to locating and selling periodicals and ephemera. Back Issue Finder offers a searchable database of more than 230,000 items for sale from hundreds of sellers around the world. Back Issue Finder is a division of Sheboygan, Wisconsin-based Book Link, an out-of-print and remainder online bookseller. ■