ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

CONFERENCE CIRCUIT: ACRL at the Midwinter Meeting: Actions of the ACRL Board of Directors

During the 2002 ALA Midwinter Meeting in New Orleans, the ACRL Board of Directors met on January 20 and 22 and took the following actions. The actions appear here along with the strategic directions that they address.

Ed. note:There were no actions taken related to Strategic Direction 3.0.

Strategic Direction 1.0: Society recognizes the contributions that academic and research libraries and librarians make in higher education, scholarly communication, and civic development.

Awards

Passed a resolution, thanking Martinus

Nijhoff International for its past sponsorship of the Martinus Nijhoff International West European Specialist Study Grant.

Recruitment

Approved the charge for the ACRL/ARL

Joint Task Force for Recruitment into the Profession. This task force is charged with developing fresh strategies for recruiting and advancing a new generation of talent for the profession of academic librarianship to succeed in the 21st century.

Scholarly communication

Approved the establishment of a Scholarly Communications Discussion Group.

Approved implementation of the Scholarly Communications Task Force’s recommendations:

• that ACRL be actively engaged, as one of its highest strategic priorities, in working to reshape the current system of scholarly communication for a period of three years beginning at ALA Annual 2002;

• that ACRL’s activities in the area include broad-based educational work, political advocacy, coalition-building, and research;

• that ACRL establish a standing committee on scholarly communication that has primary responsibility for coordinating ACRL’s scholarly communications activities, under the general direction of the Board, including recommending an agenda for action, establishing criteria against which the ongoing nature of this strategic priority can be evaluated, and developing a mechanism for liaison with other groups, organizations, etc. This committee will make regular reports to the Board on this initiative, with a recommendation on the ongoing nature and funding of ACRL’s involvement in these issues at ALA Annual 2005;

• that ACRL hire a consultant to serve as a staff person who can work actively on scholarly communication issues, including carrying out ACRL’s scholarly communication agenda. The consultant will report to the ACRL executive director and work under the general direction of the Standing Committee and the Board;

• that ACRL budget up to $90,000 for each of the three years of this initiative; and

• that the scholarly communication initiative be evaluated at the end of the initial three- year period with a recommendation to the Board at ALA Annual 2005 about the continuance of this as a regular program if it is deemed to be effective and worthwhile.

Standards

Charged a task force, to be called the College and Research Libraries Standards Task Force, to:

• adapt the “Standards of College Libraries” (2000) for use as a document and process that would apply across all types of academic libraries;

• move the revised standards through the appropriate ACRL and ALA standards approval process as outlined in the ACRL Standards and Accreditations Committee Policies and Procedures Manual (2000); and

• make recommendations to the ACRL Board, including budget and other resource implications, for implementation and association support for the standards (e.g., workbooks, preconferences, and assessment tools).

Strategic Direction 2.0: Academic librarians advocate for public policy, legislation, and institutional change that enhance the values and contribution they make to learning, teaching, and research.

Government relations and advocacy

Approved a revised budget for the 2002

Advocacy Preconference.

Voted to contribute up to $2,000 towardsthe LSTA Reauthorization Coalition’s estimated travel expenses of $6,000 needed to continue work towards LSTA.

Approved placeholder funding up to

$10,000 for FY03 for the Focus on the Future Task Force.

Approved a budget of up to $30,000 for

FY03 for advertising in The Chronicle of Higher Education or a similar venue the Board deems appropriate.

Partnerships

Passed a resolution commending the African American Studies Librarians Section for partnering with the Library of Congress and the Program for Cooperative Cataloging to establish the African American Funnel Project.

Strategic Direction 4.0: Academic and research librarians are continually engaged in learning for their professional development and growth.

Established a registration fee of $275 forthe ACRL National Conference.

Approved funding of $26,250 to fund upto 50 ACRL National Conference registrations

(at $275 each) and up to 50 travel awards of $250 each.

Asked the National Conference Scholarship subcommittee to review the criteria for National Conference scholarships in anticipation of advertising scholarships for the Charlotte conference.

AFAS and the African American Funnel Project

Whereas the African American Studies Librarians Section (AFAS) partnered with the Library of Congress and the Program for Cooperative Cataloging to establish the African American Funnel Project.

Whereas AFAS initiated a Cataloging Issues Discussion Group and conducted a survey to look at ways of improving access to African Americana in library catalogs.

Whereas the African American Funnel Project provided the opportunity for librarians to propose new subject headings and changes to existing headings relating to the African American experience.

Whereas the African American Funnel Project resulted in major improvements in providing access to African Americana in library catalogs.

Be It Resolved that the ACRL Board of Directors acknowledges and applauds the initiative and leadership that the African American Studies Librarians Section provided to the African American Funnel Project of the Library of Congress and the Program for Cooperative Cataloging. The Board also lauds the extensive changes accomplished by the Project that will provide improved access to African American materials.

Approved the Instruction Section

Preconference Proposal for ALA Annual Conference 2003.

Approved a revised budget for the 2002

RBMS preconference.

Resolution honoring Martinus Nijhoff International

Whereas, for 17 years, the bookseller Martinus Nijhoff International, through its sponsorship of the Martinus Nijhoff International West European Specialist Study Grant, has provided academic li- brarians from North America with the wherewithal to extend their knowledge of Western European book history, the book trade, and librarianship through a generous program of grant sup- port; and

Whereas, this support has resulted in the publication of several monographs and book chapters, close to two dozen articles in scholarly journals, the establish- ment of an entirely new journal devoted to reviews of Western European publica- tions of scholarly in- terest, numerous ex- hibits, lectures, and conference papers, and a much higher level of understanding and competence in

West European studies on the part of American librarians than can be expressed quantitatively; and

Whereas, the 15 American librarians who have benefited from this support without exception regard the travel and research, which the Nijhoff grant has made possible, to have been a significant event in their professional lives; and

Whereas, the Western European Studies Section (WESS) of ACRL has been privileged to be associated with the Martinus Nijhoff International West European Specialist Study Grant from its inception; and

Whereas, ACRL itself has taken note of the benefits of this support over the years for its membership and has by resolution of its Board attached its name to this resolution, joining in this expression of appreciation.

Therefore, be it resolved, that ACRL, on behalf of its entire membership, especially WESS, sub- mits to Martinus Nijhoff International this state- ment of its most profound gratitude for die many years in which said award has enriched our orga- nizational culture, and especially commend Ineke Middeldorp-Crispijn, area manager for the United

States, and Bas Guijt, managing di- rector of Martinus Nijhoff Interna- tional, for the gen- erosity, foresight, and wisdom they have shown in de- veloping and main- taining said award, which merits being continued; and Be it further re- solved, that the Ex- ecutive Committee of WESS of ACRL shall take upon it- self the compilation of the names of all of those who have been recipients of this award since its institution, die names of whom the Secretary of WESS is ciirected to attach to and publish with all copies and publications made of this Resolution.

Disposition of the resolution: Copies of this resolution shall be sent to each living recipient of the Martinus Nijhoff International West European Specialist Study Grant, to the above mentioned representatives of Martinus Nijhoff International, to ACRL for publication in College & Research Library News, and to the editors of the WESS Newsletter and of WESSWeb, where, in addition to the text of tiis resolution and the names of all award recipients, a thorough and complete compilation of books, articles, exhibits, conference presentations, and other contributions to scholarly intercourse attributable to said award shall be appended for the attention of the membership of WESS and of the general public.

Mary Reichel presented ACRL’s resolution honoring Martinus Nijhoff during the WESS meeting at Midwinter. Back row (I. to r.): Jeff Garrett (Northwestern, Nijhoff ’98), Sem Sutter (University of Chicago, Nijhoff ’97), Jeffry Larson (Yale, Nijhoff ’00), Richard Hacken (Brigham Young, Nijhoff ’99), Philipp Neie (CEO, Swets Blackwell), Frederick Lynden (Brown, First Nijhoff winner, ’86). Front row: Mary Reichel, Ineke Middeldorp-Crispijn (Martinus Nijhoff/ Swets Blackwell), and Barbara Walden (Chair, WESS).

Strategic Direction 5.0: ACRL is a national and international interactive leader in creating, expanding, and transferring the body of knowledge of academic librarianship.

Appointed Charles Schwartz for a five-year term as editor of ACRL’s Publications in Librarianship series. Following a one-year term as intern under the current editor, John Budd, the term will begin following the ALA Annual Conference in 2003.

Reappointed Lisa Browar and Marvin

Taylor to a second three-year term as coeditors of RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage that will begin at the close of the ALA Annual Conference 2002.

Strategic Direction 6.0: ACRL is an effective and a dynamic organization that continually enhances its capacity to create its future and assess and improve its performance in carrying out its mission.

Approved the 2001—2002 ACRL Performance Indicators.

Approved the revised AFAS bylaws forplacement on the Spring 2002 ballot for vote by the membership.

Approved the revised ARTS bylaws forplacement on the Spring 2002 ballot for vote by the membership. ■