ACRL College & Researc Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

News From the Sections

ART SECTION

The ACRL Art Section meetings were held in conjunction with ALA New York Conference meetings, beginning July 7, 1974. The conference opened with a business meeting on Sunday, which included reports on the current ACBL meeting, preliminary plans for the 1975 San Francisco Conference, and a description of the Bicentennial Bibliography project of the Archives of American Art by Bernard Karpel, editor and coordinator of the project.

On Monday the Art Section toured the Cloisters Museum and participated in an informal session on library resources with Kate Chipman, librarian at the Cloisters Museum. Tuesday’s activities included a tour and lecture at the auction house of Parke-Bernet, followed by an examination of the Parke-Bernet library. Evening activities included an open house hosted by ARLIS/NY at the American Crafts Council, followed by informal dinner arrangements and museum touring. Wednesday included the evening reception for ACRL members at the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library.

The executive committee met for breakfast Thursday morning, at which time plans were discussed for the 1975 San Francisco meeting. From ten o’clock until twelve noon the Art Section met at the Frick Collection with the curatorial staff, followed by a lecture on the collection and its development. During the remaining time Art Section members viewed the collection. The overall turnout for meetings was good, and the tours, arranged by Ms. Barbara Sevy, were particularly appreciated by the membership.

COLLEGE LIBRARIES SECTION

At the Las Vegas Conference, the executive board of the College Libraries Section, ACBL, voted that an ad hoc committee be established “to reexamine the Section’s position vis-a-vis ACRL and ALA [and] to clearly state goals and objectives recognizing the fundamentally unique needs of college libraries as distinct from junior college and university libraries. …”

Since that time the committee has held meetings at Midwinter 1974 and at the Annual Conference in July 1974. Liaison has been set up with the ACRL subcommittee on goals, and guidance has been sought from a variety of individuals including past officers of CLS.

Committee consensus has emerged that discussions of the group should now be summarized for the attention of CLS membership. Accordingly the following Draft Statement of CLS Goals is published. The committee requests that CLS members respond with detailed criticisms and suggestions, addressed to the committee chairman. These responses will guide committee discussions at Midwinter 1975. A final report is scheduled for the Annual Conference in 1975.

DRAFT STATEMENT OF CLS GOALS

The goals of CLS shall be:

1. To provide a forum for discussion of problems concerning undergraduate library service primarily. These are problems which are either unique to the college library or, where more generalized, are of immediate and pressing concern to the college library.
2. In providing this forum, to make certain that the major concerns of all types of college library receive attention, particularly those which exist in relative geographical and professional isolation from major academic centers.
3. To arrange programs, meetings and other activities which will encourage direct membership participation.

The committee suggests that programs and activities centering around themes such as the following would make a useful beginning toward realization of goals such as the above:

The effectiveness of present “standards” or “guidelines”for the maintenance of adequate levels of service in the college library. The extent to which “standards” make a difference in problem solving in the college library.

Regional cooperatives and the college library, including the concept of community use of the college library, emphasizing “best practice,” management problems, fiscal implications, public relations, and similar considerations.

Data retrieval in the college library with consideration of the potential for joint use or sharing of terminals on a local or regional basis among cooperating college libraries. The place of the nonprint media in the college library: the “learning resources center” and the college library.

Library instruction for the undergraduate, its place in the teaching-learning process and the contribution of the professional staff of the college library in the provision of this instruction.

The enlargement of graduate instruction, continuing education programs, and service to the community programs on the college campus and their impact on college library services.

Continuing education for the college library staff. The potential contribution of consortia, library schools, and other agencies in this area.

CLS members are urged to send written reactions to the foregoing in care of the committee chairman at the following address: Charles L. Higgins, Director of Learning Resources, Nazareth College of Rochester, 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14610.