ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

News from the field

Mary Ellen Davis

Register for support staff teleconferences

ACRL is cosponsoring the National Institute for Library Personnel teleconference produced by the College of DuPage (COD) in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. “Soaring for Excellence” will deliver ten live, interactive, satellite tele- conferences and train 30,000 library assistants at 300 viewer sites. The programs, which will provide special- ized training for support staff in library and information services, will be broadcast beginning on February 14, 1995, and then on the first Tuesday of each month through June 1995. COD was awarded a $125,000 grant by the U.S. Department of Edu- cation to produce the teleconferences.

The programs—covering topics such as “Libraries Then and Now: What Does the Future Hold,” “Individualized Library Service for a Diverse Population,” and “Technology and the Library Staff,”—form a core framework for developing skills in working as a member of the library team. Continuing education and college credits will be offered for the teleconferences. Bernard Fradkin, dean of the Learning Resources Center at COD is codirecting the project with Linda Slusar, coordinator of COD’s Library Technical Assistant program.

Site registration for the teleconference series is $295 before November 15, 1994, and $395 after that date. Individuals wishing to participate in the teleconferences should contact local academic institutions to determine possible locations. For more information call the teleconference hotline at (708) 738-3583 or fax (708) 858-0499.

Carnegie Mellon selects SIRSI system

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has selected SIRSI’s Unicorn Information Management System to replace the LS2000 library system it’s been running for ten years. CMU had been the “alpha test site” for the NOTIS Horizon system, until development of the system was abruptly discontinued and the NOTIS Systems division combined with Dynix as part of Ameritech Library Services (C&RL News, September 1994).

Charles Lowry, CMU university librarian, said that “Unicorn is designed to meet our requirements for a second generation li- brary system. It is a UNIX- based open system that vigorously exploits the opportunities presented by client/server architec- tures in highly networked environments.” Lowry added that although fol- lowing an accelerated pace to replace the system the search was no less rigorous.

Imaging initiative launched by Getty

The Getty Art History Information Program (AHIP) has formed an international Imaging Initiative to address issues related to the use of digital images in the arts and humanities. The initiative will foster the development of standards necessary to ensure that scholars, teachers, students, and the general public have access to images of art and cultural objects over electronic communications networks. “The ‘information superhighway’ offers the possibility for improved access to our artistic and cultural heritage,” said Eleanor Fink, director of AHIP. “This potential can only be realized, however, if common approaches are developed for the recording, storage, and distribution of electronic visual information.” Concerns addressed by the initiative will include standards, intellectual property rights, and developing a common vision of image access. Jennifer Trant, a specialist in arts information management, will manage AHIP’s Imaging Initiative. Trant can by reached by phone at (310) 451-6381, or e-mail at jtrant@getty.edu.

ACRL poster session deadline extended

Share your latest creative thinking with your colleagues through a poster session at ACRL’s 7th National Conference in Pittsburgh, March 29-April 1, 1995. You now have until December 15 to submit your poster session proposal. Poster sessions are information presentations featuring successful solutions to problems, and unique and innovative library-based projects with important lessons to share with the larger academic and research library community.

Submit your proposal to Thomas M. Peischl, chair, Poster Sessions Subcommittee, c/o Mankato State University Library, Box 19, Mankato, MN 56002-8400. Detailed instructions may be found in the “Call for Papers” published as an insert in the January 1994 C&RL News. Questions? Contact Peischl by e-mail at tpeischl@nmu.edu or phone: (906) 227-1117.

CJCLS seeks authors

ACRL’s Community & Junior College Libraries Section (CJCLS) is actively looking for publication proposals to enrich the literature of community college librarianship. To aid their effort CJCLS has established a permanent Research and Publications Committee. Those interested in developing a research or publication project should request a copy of the section’s “Research and Publications Guidelines” from the committee’s chair, Beverley Gass, Dean, Learning Resources Center, Guilford Technical Community College, P.O. Box 309, Jamestown, NC 27282; phone: (910) 454-1126, x2434.

Internet teleconference to be aired

“Exploring Internet 3: Business and Commercial Applications,” sponsored by D & F Associates, Inc., will be telecast on Thursday, December 1 from noon to 2:00 p.m. (EST). The teleconference will feature Mary J. Cronin, professor of management and university librarian at Boston College and author of Doing Business on the Internet: How the Electronic Highway Is Transforming American Companies; and Paul Christy, director, Information Lab, STAT- USA, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. Arrangements to view the teleconference can be made by calling (815) 756-2530 or faxing (815) 756-1126.

USC opens $27.5M Leavey Library

The University of Southern California’s (USC) Leavey Library, designed from the ground up as a “teaching library” opened this fall. Packed with electronics, the Leavey Library was “designed to prepare these students to make critical judgments about this flood of electronic information and to control and use it,” said univer- sity librarian Peter Lyman.

“We say ‘Login and learn,”’ said Leavey Library director Chris Ferguson. “Users need to feel comfortable with this technology, not just to use the libraries of today and tomorrow, but to function in an increasingly digital world.”

The Leavey Library’s features include: a 24- hour-a-day Information Commons furnished with 100 single and group workstations with pie-shaped tables (see photo) to facilitate student interaction and cooperation; a 50-seat auditorium equipped with modern multimedia projection capabilities; 21 rooms for group study and special classes; two learning rooms— one with 15 workstations and one with 25— for training in library skills, database searching, and the use of the Internet; seating for 1,475 patrons; touch screen interactive information kiosks; a computing “Discovery Center” where students and faculty can explore the latest in hardware and software; an initial collection of more than 65,000 volumes with room to grow to more than 120,000; a traditional reading room offering reserve services, a periodical reading room with study carrels, comfortable lounges, and tables, and a copy center—all designed for 24-hour use.

The Information Commons at USC’s new Leavey Library was designed to encourage student collaboration.

The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation donated $9 million for the project. Other major contributions included $4.5 million from the Ahmanson Foundation and $2.5 million from the Weingart Foundation. The library was designed by the architectural firm of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott.

Notes

1. H. W. Taylor and B. Singh, “Radioactivity in Fine Papers,”.foumal of Environmental Radioactivity 21 (1993): 177-87.
2. B. Y. Lalit, V. K. Shukla, and T. V. Ramachandran, “The Radioactivity Content of Books,” Health Physics 40 (May 1981): 735-39.
3. B. Y. Lalit and V. K. Shukla, “Radioactivity in Books Produced During the Last 50 Years,” Health Physics 41 (Sept. 1984): 447-51.
4. Taylor and Singh, “Radioactivity in Fine Papers,” p. 185.