ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

News from the Field

Professor bikes across America for Penn State Libraries

Penn State engineering pro- fessor, Joseph H. Goldberg, will bicycle across the United States this summer to raise money for the university li- braries. Goldberg is one of 60 participants in Ride Across America, a 47-day bicycle trek across the U.S., spon- sored by Pedal for Power, a program of the nonprofit Bi- cyclists’ Educational and Legal Foundation of the League of American Wheelmen. To qualify, Goldberg must raise $5,000 or more from donations. Sponsors may either pledge a flat donation or a per mile rate. A portion of the donations cover ride expenses and the rest will be split between Ride Across America and the libraries. “I am thrilled to be able to bike across the country and at the same time raise money for Penn State’s Library,” says Goldberg. “A teaching and research-oriented university like Penn State cannot survive with- out a modern library. ”

Women's archivist position endowed at Duke

In the name of documenting women’s “voices” for future research, writer/feminist Sallie Bingham has given a $750,000 gift to permanently fund the position of women’s studies archivist at Duke University. This is the first endowed library position at Duke and one of the first endowed women’s studies archivists in the nation. Income from the endowment will fund up to 50% of the salary and benefits of the archivist position, now held by Virginia Daley, who currently chairs ACRL’s Women’s Studies Section; Duke’s Perkins Library will provide the other 50%. Bingham is an author of short stories, plays, and novels whose publications often examine issues of power, patriarchy, and women’s roles in family and society.

NISO offers online sources

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has established three online information sources about their activities and standards. These services are: niso-1, a listserv used by NISO to announce activities and news from the standards committees as well as to announce ballot- ing and publication of new and revised standards; an anonymous ftp server pro- viding a variety of informa- tion including a complete list of NISO published and draft standards, and a go- pher server providing ac- cess to the same set of in- formation files. To subscribe to niso-1 send an e-mail message to listserv@- nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu containing the single line message, subscribe niso- 1 yourfirstname yourlastname. To access NISO via anonymous ftp, do ftp sally.fcla.ufl.edu and sign on with a log-in ID of anonymous and a password of guest. Change directory to /go- pher-data/ .niso-1/ .data. To access the NISO gopher from your gopher client do gopher sally.fcla.ufl.edu. For details contact NISO at (301) 975-2814 or internet niso@enh.nist.gov.

Applications for NEH reference materials grants due Sept. 1

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) invites applications for its reference materials program to support the preparation of reference works that will enhance the availability of information and research materials. These projects include research tools such as dictionaries, historical or linguistic atlases, encyclopedias, calendars, concordances, reference grammars, databases, and textbases, as well as bibliographies, descriptive catalogues, union lists, indexes and other guides to materials in the humanities. The September 1, 1993, deadline is for projects beginning July 1, 1994. Applicants are encouraged to submit a three-to- five page preliminary proposal by July 1, 1993, for staff review. Questions on tools should be directed to Helen Agüera or Adrienne Lo and on guides to Michael Poliakoff or Karen Bond, all of whom can be reached at (202) 606-8358 or by mail at 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Room 318, Washington, DC 20506.

Task force on Intellectual Freedom wants your opinions

Should ACRL have a standing committee on Intellectual Freedom as other divisions do? What are some of the current intellectual freedom issues confronted by academic libraries? Should ACRL respond to the issue of “political correctness?” These are some of the questions now being discussed by ACRL’s Task Force on Intellectual Freedom and they welcome your opinions. The task force, set up in June 1992, will submit its final report to the ACRL Board of Directors in 1994. Members of the task force are: Noreen S. Alldredge (Montana State University), Charles Beard (West Georgia College), Ellen Johnson (University of Central Arkansas), Nancy H. Marshall (College of William and Mary) and Arthuree Wright (Howard University).

Send your comments to: Task Force Chair Judy Gibson Noyes, Case Library, Colgate University, 13 Oak Dr., Hamilton, NY 13346; phone: (315) 824-7362; internet: jnoyes@cen- ter.colgate.edu.

ACRL and CAUSE publish book on information jobs in higher ed

Reinvesting in the Information Job Family on Campus: Context, Changes, New Jobs, and Models for Evaluation and Compensationby Anne Woodsworth and Theresa Maylone examines the impact of information technology on organizational structure and job classifications in higher education. Reinvesting in the Information Job Family on Campus reports the results of a two-year study funded by the Council on Library Resources that tested a methodology to examine jobs in computing centers and libraries. The study validated the notion that a single job family for academic computing and library jobs is emerging. This book, published by CAUSE in cooperation with ACRL is available to members of ACRL and CAUSE for $12.00—a 50% discount off the $24.00 list price. Order from ALA Order Dept., 50 East Huron St., Chicago, IL 606ll; phone: (800) 545-2433, press 8; fax: (312) 944-2641.

Also of interest is CAUSE’S Reengineering Teaching and Learning in Higher Education edited by Robert C. Heterick Jr. This CAUSE Professional Paper #10 examines information technology’s impact on the teaching and learning process at a research university, a small liberal arts college, a community college, and a large state comprehensive university. Although some authors hold reservations about technology, all express their enthusiasm for the positive changes it can bring to the educational process. Reengineering Teaching … is available for $24 from CAUSE Publications, 4840 Pearl East Circle, Suite 302 E, Boulder, CO 80301; (303) 449-4430; fax (303) 440-0461.

NEH grants for archival research in Eastern Europe

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), to commemorate the 2,500th anniversary of the birth of democracy, is seeking projects reflecting emerging opportunities for research in recently opened archives in newly democraticized countries, such as the former Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe or the republics of the former Soviet Union. Projects may address topics in any field of the humanities but preference will be given to projects that investigate documents whose physical condition or whose uncertain future access necessitates urgent attention. Grants of up to $20,000 are available to cover travel ($2,800) living expenses (not to exceed $1,250/ month) and research expenses. Although the first application deadline was May 11, 1993, proposals will be reviewed at bi-monthly deadlines, subject to availability of funds. Contact NEH at (202) 606-8210 or e-mail: nehres®- gwuvm.gwu.edu with “archival research” in the subject line.

Springer journal preview service

Springer-Verlag is offering the table of contents and article abstracts of 30 scientific journals via Internet three to six weeks before publication of the printed journal. Access to the table of contents is free; access to the abstracts is available for a $20 annual fee payable only by credit card. This offer is not available to commercial information suppliers. The aim of this two-year project is to promote rapid scientific exchange electronically. The address of the mailserver is svjps@dhdspri6 (inbinet/earn). Send an e-mail message consisting of the word “help” to obtain detailed information about the service and how to take advantage of the offer. ■