ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

News from the Field

Stephanie Orphan

NYPL unveils new South Court building

A new six-story glass structure will be unveiled at the New York Public Library on May 14 and opened to the public on June 1. South Court, which rises within the southern courtyard of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, is the first above-ground structure to be added to the landmark flagship building since it opened in 1911.

South Court will offer training to the public in research techniques and methodologies and will include a public Orientation Center and an auditorium with multimedia and Webcasting capabilities.

The $29 million project was funded through a $17.5 million capital construction grant from the City of New York and a gift of $8.5 million from Celeste and Armand Bartos, for whom South Court’s Education Center will be named. The building was designed by Davis Brody Bond LLP, the architectural firm responsible for the majority of the renovations to the Humanities and Social Sciences Library over the past 20 years.

Political cartoon collection available through Digital Library of Georgia

A collection of editorial cartoons by Clifford “Baldy” Baldowski, cartoonist with the Atlanta Constitution for more than 30 years, is now available on the Web via the Digital Library of Georgia. Prior to his death in 1999, Baldowski donated more than 7,000 cartoons to the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia. The electronic availability of the work, which deals with topics including the Civil Rights Movement, the Cold war, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, is the culmination of a collaborative effort between the Russell Library and the Digital Library of Georgia.

The Clifford H. “Baldy” Baldowski Collection includes the artist’s original editorial cartoons from both the Augusta Chronicle and the Atlanta Constitution. Baldowski was awarded the Sigma Delta

Chi National Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism for a cartoon reflecting the threat of southern school closings in the ’60s and was awarded four Freedom Foundation’s George Washington Medals for cartoons heralding America’s constitutional freedoms and patriotism.

The cartoons, along with supporting materials, such as commentaries, a biographical essay, and suggested reading links, can be found online at http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/baldy.html.

Site license edition of ChoǐceRevîews.online now available

CHOICEhasannounced the launch of the new site license edition of its Web-based review service, Choice Reviews, online. The site license edition provides IP-based access to the acclaimed CHOICE review database and offers 24/7 Internet access to more than 80,000 CHOICE reviews. Distinctive features include easy campuswide and institutional access, a “Selected Records Page” that allows all users to create, edit, e-mail, and print customized lists of reviews while online, and reasonable pricing.

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped announces telecommunications initiatives

The National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Physically Handicapped has announced a collaboration with NFB-NEWSLINE, a service of the National Federation of the Blind, and Bookshare.org, an online Web service. NFB- NEWSLINE provides audio versions of daily newspapers through a toll-free telephone number; is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; and is free to anyone in the United States who is eligible to receive services from NLS. Bookshare.org allows individuals to download more than 8,000 books in Braille and provides the capability to listen to books with the aid of synthetic speech software.

ACRL represented at 21st Century Literacy Summit

The 21st Century Literacy Summit, hosted by the Bertelsmann Foundation and AOL Time Warner Foundation, was held in Berlin in March to promote a “transatlantic dialogue of decision-makers from government, business, and academia” to discuss issues related to what was termed “new literacy for a convergent media world.” ACRL was well-represented at the invitation-only summit, with executive director Mary Ellen K. Davis, past presidents Patricia Breivik and Hannelore Rader, and task force member Michael Eisenberg in attendance. Speakers included former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The international conference included attendees from Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and an array of European countries.

As the Europeans used the term, 21st century literacy focuses on the use of information technology and the Internet in the future and their effects on education, workplace skills, and civic engagement. The conference addressed key areas in which individuals must enhance their knowledge and critical thinking skills: technology literacy, information literacy, cre- ativity, and social competence and responsi- bility.

U.S. attendees of the 21st Century Literacy Summit posed for a picture at Reichstagsgebäude (from I. to r.): Kristina Palmer, Bay Area Video Coalition; Andrew Blau, Flanerie Works; Patricia Breivik, San Jose State University; Hannelore Rader, University of Louisville; Michael Eisenberg, University of Washington; and Mary Ellen Davis, ACRL.

Maryland Interlibrary Consortium chooses Endeavor

The Maryland Interlibrary Consortium (MIC) is implementing Endeavor’s Voyager integrated library management system and ENCompass digital management and e-content system. MIC, which formed ten years ago to share an inte- grated online system, consists of the libraries of five private colleges. The consortium will now also share patron and materials holdings databases and a digital library. The MIC is the first group to select both systems but begin implementing ENCompass before Voyager. With both implementations now under way, MIC plans to have simultaneous searching of Voyager and ENCompass available to research- ers this fall.

Chroniclelaunches trial of campuswide site licensing

The Chronicle of Higher Education has made available a campuswide site license edition to five institutions. Cleveland State University, Co- lumbia University, Stanford University, Univer- sity of Iowa, and University of Nevada—Reno have been selected to participate in a oneyear introductory trial that significantly en- hances the magazine’s existing password- based electronic ac- cess. Participants re- ceive complete access to the Chronicle Web site, which includes daily updates as well as supplements that do not appear in the print edition. Complete text from the newspaper, which is printed on Fri- day, is available on the Web the following Monday morning. In addition to the current issue, the archive of more than 12 years of the Chronicle are available and fully searchable.

Appropriate use policies for computers provided in ACRL's latest CLIP Note

Appropriate Use Policies for Computers in College/University Libraries, CLIP Note #31,compiled by Jane H. Tuten and Karen Junker, includes 27 library-specific appropriate use policies (AUPs) and 26 institutional policies. Survey responses from 135 college and small university libraries were compiled, analyzed, and summarized to reveal not only the commonalities, but also the variety in appropriate use policies and in the processes used to create them.

Respondents generously authorized the inclusion of their library or institutional documents, allowing the reader to fully appreciate the style, tone, and format as well as the content of policies from public and private insti- tutions from all parts of the country. Also in- cluded is a useful list of URLs provided by respondents with library and institutional poli- cies online, increasing the number of sample policies available for review.

Appropriate Use Policies for Computers in College/University Libraries(ISBN 0-8389-8181X, 2002) is $25.00; ACRL members re- ceive a 10 percent dis- count. To order ACRL publications, contact ALA, P.O.Box 932501, Atlanta, GA, 31193- 2501; phone: (866) 746-7252 (866-Shop ALA); fax: (770) 442- 9742. An order form is also available online at http://www.ala.org/ acrl/pubsform.html. ■

ACRL/Harvard Leadership Institute

Academic libraries exist in a constantly changing environment with many new challenges and many available opportunities. New demands on academic libraries call for fundamental shifts in leadership knowhow. In response to these challenges, ACRL is collaborating with the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education to offer its popular ACRL/Harvard Leadership Institute.

At the ACRL/Harvard institute, you will be among your fellow leaders in academic librarianship. The institute is designed for directors of libraries and individuals in positions such as associate university librarian, assistant dean, vice president of information resources, university librarian, and college librarian. The institute would also be useful for individuals regularly involved in decision-making that affects the entire library operation and that involves other important relationships on campus.

Comments from past participants include:

“For the first time I have understood what I can find and see in myself to be a leader, and I know that I have excellent tools with which to do this. I wall learn to build on my strengths.”

“I expected excellence and that is exactly what I found. The quality of the program, the faculty, and the participants made for an outstanding experience. Thank you for setting the tone and providing the space and time for open discussion and debate, laughter and learning.”

“I think the mix and diversity of participants was integral to the success of the program. I enjoyed the chance to meet librarians from all types of academic institutions, and all parts of the country.”

The 2002 ACRL/Harvard Leadership Institute will be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 4-9, 2002, Registration materials and complete details about the institute are available on the Web at http:// www.gse.harvard.edu/~ppe/. (Under programs, select “Higher Education,” then scroll down to ACRL Leadership Institute.) Register early as spots will fill quickly. ACRL/ Harvard Leadership Institute alumni benefits include a subscription to an ongoing electronic list and annual alumni reunions at the ALA Midwinter Meeting.

Questions about this institute can be directed to acrl@ala.org; (800) 545-2433, ext. 2519.