ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

News from the Field

Stephanie Orphan

NCES releases academic library dataThe National Center for Education Statistics has released a new report based on academic library data collected in fall 2000. The report, E.D. TAB: Academic Libraries: 2000, is based on information from the 2000 Academic Libraries Survey. The tables in the report summarize library services, staff, collections, and expenditures for libraries in degree-granting post-secondary institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report is available in PDF at nces.ed.gov/ pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004317.

Kluwer establishes Scientific Advisory Board

Kluwer Academic Publishers (KAP) has established the KAP Scientific Advisory Board as a source of information to help the publisher understand the needs and wishes of the scientific community. KAP intends to consult the board when dealing with issues such as open access, copyright policy, online publishing, new types of publications, and author services.

The KAP Scientific Advisory Board is made up of 15 members representing the scientific environment by subject area, geography, KAP product type, and age. The board can be consulted by KAP at any time and will hold two yearly meetings.

NYPL offers high-speed wireless access

The New York Public Library (NYPL) has introduced free highspeed wireless Web access for laptops at 53 NYPL branches in the Bronx and Manhattan. Patrons bringing in their wireless- equipped laptops will have access to the entire range of full- text databases normally accessible from the library’s own computers, in addition to access to the Internet. The high-speed wireless connections are available at all times the libraries are open. A brochure explaining how to make the connection is available at each enabled branch. All 34 Bronx branches are wireless- equipped, as well as 19 libraries in Manhattan, including the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Indiana University unveils photo collection

The Indiana University (IU) Digital Library Program has unveiled a digital collection of 14,500 color images of everyday life in the middle of the 20th century. Taken by amateur photographer Charles Weever Cushman between 1938 and 1969, the images document a cross-section of American and international subjects, from inner-city storefronts and industrial landscapes to candid portraits and botanical studies.

Deteriorating color on some of the slides led IU’s digital image specialists to consult with experts at the University of Basel in Switzerland, who recreated mathematically what the dyes on the slide might have looked like at the time of processing. This allowed specialists to color-correct about 250 of the images. This technology will also guide future digital image projects in the United States. The collection, which is part of the Indiana University Archives, can be viewed at www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/ cushman.

Schlesinger Library prepares for renovation

The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study is preparing for major renovations in 2004. As part of the process, the library will be closed to all users from January 19 to February 9, 2004. During this time, library services will move to Agassiz House in Radcliffe Yard. Access to collections will resume on a limited basis beginning February 10. Renovations to Schlesinger Library are expected to be completed in fall 2004. For the duration of the renovation project, most of the library’s holdings will be in the Harvard Depository; advance notice will be required to access materials. An interim reading room will be open by appointment only.

ProQuest expands agreement with News International

ProQuest Information and Learning has expanded its agreement with News International to include two new newspaper titles, the Sun and News of the World, in its products. The agreement continues coverage of the Times and the Sunday Times, which are already part of ProQuest’s online databases. The News International content will appear in ProQuest Newsstand products and several products targeted at international ProQuest customers, such as ProQuest Learning: News.

ARL Diversity Program launches résumé site

ARL’s Diversity Program has created the MLS Graduate Student Resume Database, for recent library school graduates pursuing employment in academic and research libraries. The database allows graduate students within six months of graduating from an MLS program, or within six months of completing a post-MLS residency or fellowship program, to post their résumés at no cost. ARL members will be able to review the résumés free of charge; nonmembers may subscribe to the service. Graduate students wishing to post their résumé may do so at db. arl. org/careers/res/submit. html.

Univ. of Minnesota launches open source LIBDATA

The University of Minnesota Libraries has released LibData: Library Web Management System, an open source library-oriented Web-based application consisting of an integrated database architecture and authoring environment for the publication of subject pathfinders, course-related pages, and allpurpose Web pages. LibData was built with open source components (Apache, mySQL, and PHP) and is being offered as open source to the library community under the GNU Public License. The software and its documentation can be downloaded from Plato, a test foundry for the libraries’ Digital Library Development Laboratory (plato. lib.umn.edu/).

Gale expands biography resource center

Thomson Gale’s Biography Resource Center now contains content from 87 published volumes containing more than 138,000 new and updated biographies. Users can now access all of the biographical entries from the eight-volume American Eras set and more than 200 entries contained in the most recent Encyclopedia of the World supplement. In addition, 720 new biographies, which are not in any Thomson Gale print source have been created to provide information on high-profile individuals currently in the news. The Biography Resource Center contains narrative and thumbnail biographies, full-text magazine articles, Web sites that highlight and amplify an individual’s life and works, and a research guide.

ILCSO increases membership by 48 percent

After maintaining a steady level of membership for several years, the Illinois Library Computer Systems Organization (ILCSO) has increased its membership by 48 percent in less than 12 months. ILCSO admitted 12 members in December 2002 and nine in November 2003, expanding from 44 to 65 member institutions. Work will soon begin to incorporate the nine newly admitted libraries into ILLINET Online, ILCSO’s Endeavor Voyager system, and Universal Catalog. The nine members admitted in 2003 are Eureka College, Heartland Community College, Illinois Central College, John Wood Community College, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Parkland College, Quincy University, Sauk Valley Community College, and William Rainey Harper College.

Elsevier adopts COUNTER code

Scientific and technical publisher Elsevier has signed a declaration for compliance with the international COUNTER Code of Practice for the usage reports of its ScienœDirect product. The COUNTER Code of Practice governs the recording and exchange of online usage data, primarily focusing on journals and databases, and is supported by a global organization of librarians, publishers, and their professional organizations.

COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources) is a multiagency, not-for-profit organization with an objective of developing and maintaining a single, internationally accepted, extendible Code of Practice that allows consistent measurement of online information product usage. A definitive register of COUNTER-com- pliant vendors can be found on the COUNTER Web site: www.projectCOUNTER.org.

ALA Graphics offers customized @ your library products

ALA Graphics now offers customizable posters and bookmarks, including @ your library campaign pieces, to help you promote your library on campus. You can feature your staff on the Ultimate Search Engine poster; include bookmarks with your order and add your library’s hours, Web site, and other information on the back.

Shown here are materials created for Dickinson State University’s Stoxen Library. “The ALA Graphics staff helped immensely through the customization process,” said librarian Lillian Crook, who is featured on the bookmark. “These [posters and bookmarks] really capture the campus’ attention and uniquely highlight the personal service that the librarians offer at Dickinson State University.”

Information about customizing your own “The Ultimate Search Engine is @ your library” or “Read” posters and bookmarks is available online at www.alastore.ala.org (dick on “Customization”), or call John Chrastka at ALA graphics: (800) 545-2433, ext. 4027. ■