ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

C&RL Newsturns 30!

By Pam Snelson

Join the anniversary celebration each month

C&RL Newshas been a basic fixture on my office bookshelves for my entire professional career. It is hard to imagine academic librarians staying on top of their profession without the News and its association information, job ads, People columns, and prac- tical articles. After 30 years of publishing the News‚ we can proudly look back on many accomplishments and successes.

As happens with many journals and newsletters, C&RL News began life as a supplement to another publication, College and Re-search Libraries (C&RL). After a brief time as ACRL News in 1966, C&RL News has enjoyed three decades of success as an independent entity.

However, the roots of C&RL News go even deeper. The first issue of C&RL (December 1939) contains the column “News from the Field.” Coincidentally, that first column contains a note about the dedication of the Rose Memorial Library at Drew University. Minutes of the ACRL business meeting were printed in the first issue of C&RL. Both of these functions, reporting association business as the official medium of communication between ACRL and its members, and serving as a clearinghouse for library news by announcing personnel changes are still important components of today’s News. A timeline on the next page highlights some milestones in the history of the News.

Anniversaries are the perfect occasions for celebrations

To celebrate the News’ 30th anniversary, the 1995–96 Editorial Board has planned a year- long series of events. The cover of this issue graphically illustrates the changing face of the News. An ongoing anniversary quiz will test your ability to match headlines with a publication year and answer questions about events covered in the News over the past 30 years. Each issue of the News during this cele-bratory year will include excerpts from past issues featuring histori- cal spots and prominent people. The Editorial Board commissioned several articles especially for this anniversary year: Ed Holley will write a ret- rospective on the last 30 years of the News; Peter Lyman will forecast what the next 30 years hold for academic librarianship; and Norm Stevens will contribute a hu- morous and whimsical look at the News.

What can you expect from C&RL News in the years ahead? Of course there will be current information relating to issues, activities, and personalities of' the higher education and academic library fields. But the News also strives to keep its focus in step with the changes in college and research libraries.

As academic librarians have interacted more and more with computing professionals, higher education associations, and subject-oriented organizations, the News has published reports on meetings of kindred groups such as educational and research agencies and learned societies. It will continue to do so in the “Conference Circuit” column. The News endeavors to assist librarians by publishing articles that address current needs of practitioners. The series of articles on subject Internet sources and the Internet Reviews column are two ways in which the News will continue to serve this function. The News’ presence on the Internet will certainly continue. You will see an expanded C&RLNewsNet on the Web (URL: http:// www.ala.org/acrl.html) featuring early postings of job ads, “News from the Field,” and reviews of Internet sources that are hotlinked directly to the sources reviewed.

Pam Snelson is assistant director for automation and public services at Drew University and chair of theC&RL News Editorial Board; e-mail: psnelson@drew.edu

C&RL Newshistory

1966	ACRL Newspublished March through December as supplement to College & Research Libraries.
1967	College & Research Libraries Newspremiers in January as a monthly magazine with a combined July/August issue.
1967-	ACRL members serve as editors of the News. They include David Kaser, David
1980	Doerrer, Michael Herbison, Alan Dyson, Susana Hinojosa, Mary Frances Collins, Anne Dowling, John V. Crowley, and Jeffrey T. Schwedes.
1975	Index to the News appears, thanks to Eldon Tamblyn.
1980	C&RLand C&RL News become separate publications with their own ISSN numbers beginning in January.
	First ACRL staff editor, George Eberhardt, appointed.
1981	“Washington Hotline” becomes a monthly column first appearing in the September issue; before that it appeared sporadically as “Inside Washington,” which was part of a column called “News Briefs.”
1988	In the March issue Norman Stevens begins a series of ten articles called “Innovations: Humor and creativity,” which run until July/August 1991.
1990	The “Preservation News” column has its start in the March issue.
1991	Mary Ellen K. Davis becomes current editor and publisher.
	In the February issue the News publishes its first “Racial & Ethnic Diversity: Information Exchange” column.
	The December issue of the News publishes the first “The Way I See It” column, providing a forum for the opinions of academic librarians.
	Full-color covers, often highlighting collections in academic libraries, appear on each issue.
1992	Reports of library and higher education conferences are published in the new “Conference Circuit” column beginning with the April issue.
1993	The July/August issue includes the first in an ongoing series of articles on Internet resources by subject.
	Survey of ACRL members reveals that C&RL News is one of the most important services that ACRL provides its members.
C&RL NewsNetdebuts on the Internet featuring job ads and “News from the Field.”
1994	The “Internet Reviews” column is first published in the February issue.
1996	“ACRL Partners in Higher Education” column begins in the April issue to highlight ACRL’s liaison efforts with other professional organizations and associations of higher education.
	C&RLNewsNetWeb page debuts at http://www.ala.org/acrl.html.

The News is your magazine; its purpose is to publish articles and provide current information relevant to academic library services and collections. Tell me (psnelson@drew.edu) or Mary Ellen Davis (medavis@ala.org), editor of the News, your likes and dislikes. Tell us about new columns that would be useful to you. Send your press releases and newsletto the editor. When the News celebrates its golden anniversary in 2016, its format and content will have evolved in reaction to the needs and demands of ACRL members. We welcome your input.

Ed. note:I’d like to extend a special thanks to the members of the 1995–96 C&RL News Editorial Board for their creative ideas and their enthusiasm for C&RL News upon its 30th anniversary celebration. The members of the Board were: Pam Snelson (chair), Irene Hoffman, Robert Martin, Zenaida Fernandez, Gary Thompson, Marion Reid, and ex officio members Richard Hume Werking, Gloriana St. Clair, and Susan Martin. ■

C&RL News30th anniversary quiz

What do you recall reading in C&RL News each month for the past 30 years? To celebrate the News’ 30th anniversary, the Editorial Board and editors of C&RL News have written a series of questions based on news and articles published since its incep- tion in 1966. Five questions (and answers) will be published each month to help you wend your way through the past 30 years of academic librarianship as reported by C&RL News.

We hope you have as much fun this year answering the questions as we did writing them.

1. An article titled “The coup that failed:An eyewitness account” covered the IFLA conference of what year and in what city?

2. Bing Crosby’s alma mater acquired theentire collection of the Bing Crosby Historical Society in 1993. Where did “der Bingle” attend college?

3. Who was the first person to receive theACRL Academic/Research Librarian of the Year award and in what year?

4. Name a mass deacidification processreported in the News during the 1980s.

5. What product was the Pine Cone marketing?

Answers:(The C&RL News issues in which the answers may be found are given in parentheses.) 1. That was the 1991 IFLA Conference held in Moscow (October 1991). 2. “Der Bingle” attended college at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington (February 1994). 3. Keyes D. Metcalf and Robert B. Downs shared the first award in 1978 (December 1978). 4. Wei T’o was the name of the process that used a liquefied gas solution and vacuum drying to deacidify books (December 1984, January and March 1985, January 1987). 5. A lightweight vacuum cleaner called MiniVac, designed for cleaning hard-to-reach areas around microcomputers, typewriters, and other office equipment (June 1985).