ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

News from the Field

Mary Ellen Davis

George Mason creates new center of learning

George Mason University officially opened its new George W. Johnson Center on April 11 and 12. The $30 million building combines a 100,000-square-foot, state-of- the-art library with the meet- ing, programming, and food service space often associated with a student union.

Charlene S. Hurt, direc- tor of libraries, described the building as triple the usual size of construction projects, with eight acres of floor space. Hurt said, “The size and loca- tion alone enable it to be central to the cam- pus; our goal was to cluster activities to assure that centrality, and thereby give a ‘commuter campus’ a heart.”

As the largest building on the campus, the center brings together a technology-based undergraduate library, generous spaces for both solitary and group study, and audiovisual rooms for group projects, as well as a movie theater, ballroom, bookstore, computer store, bank, and credit union. The building is wired so that students can plug in their laptops almost anywhere they choose to sit (60% of the 1,000 library seats are wired for power and network connection).

The new library encompasses four major areas:

• an extensive multimedia collection with appropriate equipment and service desk;

• a teaching/extended reference area for drop-in and scheduled instruction in various information sources and extended assistance in research (including a fully wired interactive classroom seating 40 at networked workstations);

• a collection of books focusing on undergraduate learning and multicultural content, interspersed with a variety of seating; and

• an Information Desk, jointly managed by the library and University Information Services that provides information about the library, the building, and the university as a whole via a series of networked terminals, and a University Center homepage.

Hurt said, “The process of planning a library in a student union began with a desire to create a new kind of learning environment for undergraduates . . . and an interest in supporting new ways of teaching under- graduates that depended on collaborative learning, ex- tensive use of media and technology, and an aware- ness of the growing diver- sity of our campus.”

Library staff, computer services staff, student union staff, and auxiliary services staff worked together to plan the building. Hurt praised these new relationships outside the libraries and said that the new building was giving librarians a new role with both faculty and students: “We expect these relationships to grow now that we’re actively occupying the building. Perhaps most signifi- cant is our new partnership with faculty, espe- cially with New Century College (George

George Mason University’s new George W. Johnson Center successfully combines a state- of-the-art undergraduate library with services more commonly found in the student union.

Directors of the libraries forming the new Chesapeake Information and Research Library Alliance are (1 to r): Susan Martin, Mod Mekkawi, Ann MacLeod, Barbara Smith, Susan Bryteson, and James Neal.

Mason’s innovation in undergraduate education), and our evolving role as part of the team of mentors students rely on as they work their way through college,”

Take a virtual visit of the center at http:// ulcweb.gmu.edu/communities/library/about.html.

Alliance formed in Chesapeake Bay

Six research institutions in the Chesapeake Bay region have formed the Chesapeake Information and Research Library Alliance (CIRLA). The founding members of CIRLA are the University of Delaware, Georgetown University, Howard

University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland at College Park, and the Smithsonian Institution, all members of the Association of Research Libraries. The following individuals were elected as officers: James Neal (Johns Hopkins), president; Susan K. Martin (Georgetown), vice-presi- dent/president-elect; and Barbara Smith (Smithsonian), secretary-treasurer.

The overall goal of CIRLA is to enhance education and research at member institutions through collaborative development of library collection and service programs and expanded use of information technology.

Compilers needed for new CLIP Notes

ACRL’s College Libraries Section’s CLIP Notes Committee is seeking volunteers to compile CLIP Notes. The CLIP Notes (College Library Information Packets) series, in its 16th year, provide data and sample documents from college and small university libraries on topics of interest to academic librarians.

The CLIP Notes committee wants your ideas for topics to cover. Recently and soon-to-be- published CLIP Notes have investigated allocation formulas, patron surveys, reference training, tenure and promotion, displays and exhibits, and searching and hiring procedures. Older CLIP Notes looked at newsletters, inter- library loan procedures, staff development and continuing education, emergency planning, and managing student employees.

To suggest a topic or volunteer to be a compiler contact: Elizabeth Sudduth, CLIP Note Committee Chair, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, VA 23005; (804) 752-7258; e-mail: esudduth@rmc.edu.

Choice Ethnic Studies on sale

The Ethnic Studies series, compiled by the editorial staff of Choice‚ is on sale for 50% off, through August 1, 1996.

Each volume contains carefully selected reviews of recent scholarly titles dealing with a single American ethnic group. The four tides are: African and African American Studies ($12), Asian and Asian American Studies ($11), Latino Studies ($11), and Native American Studies ($8.50). Send prepaid orders (include $5.00 for s/h) to: Steven Conforti, Choice, 100 Riverview Center, Middletown, CT 06457.

Censorship exhibit available

“Censorship in Public Colleges and Universities,” a new exhibit developed by the Long Island Coalition Against Censorship, is ready for distribution. The exhibit examines more than 20 incidents of censorship from McCarthyism in the 1950s through the present day. Incidents such as censoring lectures, films, plays, student newspapers, and sex discrimination are described. Twenty-three 11” x 14” illustrations (21 are in color) are accompanied by text. Copies of the exhibit are available for $48 by sending a letter or purchase order to Donald Parker, Co-coordinator, Long Island Coalition Against Censorship, P.O. Box 296, Pt. Washington, NY 11050; or call Parker at (516) 944-9799.

SIU Library’s system staff member Chris Novy demonstrates the World Wide Web to a visitor at the Information Fair.

UM establishes School of Information

The School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Michigan has been replaced by a School of Information whose purpose is to educate graduate students for professional and teaching careers in human-centered information access, management, and systems.

“We will continue our commitment to educating graduates as librarians and provide them with the knowledge and skills required of emerging information technologies,” said dean Daniel E. Atkins. “By offering an expanded curriculum that includes librarianship, next generation systems architecture, human-computer interaction, organizational information systems, archives and records management, and digital publishing, we are creating an academic program that brings together in a synergistic way these different specializations.”

Additional details about the new school are available at http://www.si.umich.edu/.

ACRL Instruction Section unveils Web site

ACRL’s Instruction Section (IS) is the latest ACRL unit to offer a Web site. The site, currently hosted by Colgate University Libraries at http:// www2.colgate.edu/instruction/ is also linked from the ACRL homepage at http:// www.ala.org/acrl.html.

The project was originally conceived in 1994 as a gopher site offering access to policy statements, conference and committee information, and section publications. The Web-based site allows IS to link to other useful sites and create interactive forms. The site now offers a committee volunteer form, detailed conference and committee information, and a growing list of section documents, including the current draft of “Guidelines for Instruction Programs in Academic Libraries.” The section plans to include a history of the section and feature a unique “oral history” of the Miriam Dudley Instruction Librarian Award winners. The site was developed under direction of the IS Communication Committee with design and technical assistance from Jeffrey O’Connell, Colgate Library technical specialist.

At press time, other ACRL sections linked to the ACRL homepage include Rare Books & Manuscripts, Education and Behavioral Sciences, Western European Specialists, Science and Technology, and Women’s Studies. Other ACRL units interested in linking to the ACRL homepage should contact Mary Ellen Davis at medavis@ala.org for information.

Information Fair a success at SIU

More than 200 Recreation Center users visited the Southern Illinois University Morris Library’s Information Fair on February 28. Visitors were treated to demonstrations of the Netscape software, the library homepage, several multimedia products, and about two dozen ERL SilverPlatter databases that can be combined for searching. The Information Fair, staffed by members of the library affairs faculty and staff, was a collaborative effort with the Recreation Center staff.

Reminder: Use ACRL’s new e-mail addresses

The ACRL staff wants to hear from you and our volume of e-mail messages has been a bit lighter than usual. Please be sure that you have updated your nicknames files and address books to use our new e-mail addresses. ALA’s new node is @ala.org. Staff addresses generally take the form of first initial last name @ala.org. For example, contact Althea Jenkins at ajenkins@ala.org. For staff with more than one first name try the first initial of each, e.g., reach Mary Ellen Davis at medavis@ala.org.

UnCover and National Writers Union create copyright royalty system

The UnCover Company and the National Writers Union (NWU) have created a transaction- based writers’ royalty system using electronic media. Under the agreement, NWU will clear copyrights and distribute royalties to writers for fax delivery orders from UnCover. With more than seven million citations from 17,000 periodicals, and with more than 4,000 entries added daily, UnCover has one of the largest magazine and journal article databases.

To handle the royalty system, the NWU has formed Publication Rights Clearinghouse (PRC), which will operate out of the NWU’s Oakland, California, office. Both NWU members and nonmembers are eligible to enroll.

“We have always been diligent about copyright fees,” said Rebecca Lenzini, president of CARL Corp., which created and continues to offer the UnCover service. “This exciting arrangement … uses existing technology to make sure creators receive a fair share of the revenue from the emerging information industry.”

VCU establishes new endowment

Several years ago, the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Friends of the Library Board committed to raising money to create an endowment to support staff development activities. Donations to the fund now total more than $10,000, and the endowment is officially established. The VCU Friends of the Library Staff Development Endowment Fund will support training and development activities for the VCU library staff, including seminars, workshops, and other training programs. Donations have come from board members, library staff, friends, and fundraising projects. Most recently, the Circuit City Foundation made a $2,000 donation.

Sirsi’s UNICORN system installed

The Itawamba Community College Learning Resource Center in Fulton, Mississippi, the Jones .County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi, the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, and the Carroll Technical Institute in Carrollton, Georgia, have all recently selected the Sirsi Corporation’s UNICORN Collection Management System. The UNIX-based system uses client/server technology to improve the process of managing and accessing library holdings.

“UNICORN was chosen on the strength of customer recommendations,” explained Sandra Broadhead, library director at Jones County Junior College. “Other junior and community colleges in Mississippi have used UNICORN since the 1980s and they are still very pleased with what they are able to do with the system. We also want to be able to share resources easily with other Mississippi colleges, and UNICORN will allow us to do that.”

Network of Alabama Academic Libraries to use Information Access

The 28 member institutions of the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries (NAAL) have decided to provide access to Information Access Company’s InfoTrac SearchBank service, which provides 24-hour Internet access to a wide range of indexed, abstracted, and full-text periodicals in a variety of disciplines.

Commenting on the new service, Sue Medina, NAAL director, said, “Budget cuts have forced academic libraries in Alabama to cut more than 5,600 journal titles. This statewide license is a significant benefit because NAAL members save money over individual subscriptions and restore some of the titles their own budget cuts forced them to cancel.” ■