ACRL College & Researc Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

C&RL News guidelines for submission of articles or columns

A statement of purpose and content forCollege & Research Libraries News.

Purpose of C&RL News

College & Research Libraries Newsis the official news magazine of the Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, it reflects the priorities of ACRL as embodied in the goals and objectives of its Strategic Plan. Its purpose is to record significant activities of ACRL and to report news about academic and research libraries. As the official ACRL news magazine, CirRL News maintains a record of selected actions and policy statements of the Association and publishes timely reports on the activities of ACRL and its sections, committees, discussion groups, councils, task forces, and chapters.

As a vehicle for communication among college and research libraries, C&RL News reports news items pertinent to academic and research librarian- ship, including information on bibliographic instruction, continuing education, appointments, acquisition of special collections, grants to libraries, new technology, and publications (brief notices).

The editor bears responsibility for the contents of each issue of C&RL News. Materials selected by the editor must be newsworthy, timely, and of practical value to people in the field. The editor has authority to decide what material is appropriate for publication, based on the following guidelines. The editor also reserves the right to make appropriate revisions in material selected for publication in order to standardize style or improve clarity (except official ACRL documents, president’s letters, and similar material).

Formal, theoretical, or research-oriented articles inappropriate for C&RL News will be forwarded to the editor of College ò- Research Libraries for review.

I. Length

Articles and columns should be no more than 3,000 words and no less than 500 words.

II. Style

C&RL Newsstyle is informal, but informative and accurate.

III. Content

Materials selected should fall into one of the following categories.

a. Reports on a project, program, or research underway or recently completed dealing with a topic relevant to academic librarianship. Footnotes should be minimal and charts or tables avoided. These reports may be preliminaiy descriptions of programs or research to be published formally at a later date in library literature (e.g., “Undergraduate Term Paper Citations in Two Colleges and Two Universities: A Comparison,” January 1990).

b. Reports on a recent conference or workshop of interest to academic or research librarians (e.g., “Middle States Association Makes a Commitment to BI,” December 1989).

c. Reasoned and informed speculation or comment on a relevant topic, especially if solicited by the editor or an official ACRL group (e.g., “The Future of Reference II,” October 1989).

d. State-of-the-art reports on a relevant topic (e.g., “Installing a Local Area Compact Disk Network,” December 1989).

e. Standards, guidelines, or recommendations of an ACRL committee or other official ACRL group (e.g., “Standards for University Libraries,” September 1989).

IV. Manuscript

Authors should submit two copies, doublespaced, following either the Chicago Manual of Style or Turabian.

Printing output to be avoided: low-resolution dot matrix, proportional spacing, oversize type, and hyphenated word breaks.

Manuscripts may also be submitted in electronic format (hard copy is still required) either:

a. via ALANET, to ALA0306; or

b. in a text file on an IBM-compatible diskette, preferably in Xywrite III+ or in an ASCII file.

V. Requests for Donations

C&RL Newsmay occasionally print requests for the donation of books or materials to libraries, especially foreign libraries, which have suffered extensive loss through fire, hurricane, or other natural disaster. Other libraries soliciting contributions for other reasons will be referred to the rates for classified advertising in C&RL News.

Editors note: These guidelines were adopted by theC&RL News Editorial Board at the Denver Midwinter Meeting on January 25,1982.

Humanities projects grants available

Humanities Projects in Libraries and Archives, a program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, invites proposals for support of planning or presenting public humanities programs. Applications for planning awards should include: a clearly defined topic or thesis, a list of scholars to be involved in the project, and a plan of work describing preparations and intended results. Planning grants provide support for up to six months. Implementation awards are made for periods of one to three years. Proposals for implementation must also include a clearly defined topic and substantiate how scholarship in the humanities will reach a general audience. All proposed projects must demonstrate active collaboration between humanities scholars and librarians or archivists.

Examples of recently funded projects: a state library conducted a series of reading and discussion programs on regional literature; an urban library presented an exhibition and published a catalog on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War; several university libraries presented a series of lectures and mounted a traveling exhibition on the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. These and other examples are included in the program’s guidelines, which are available from the Office of Publications and Public Affairs, National Endowment for the Humanities; (202) 786-0438. A list of projects currently being supported by the program is also available on request.

Upcoming deadlines for planning awards: February 1, 1991, for projects beginning after July 1, 1991; May 3, 1991, for projects beginning after October 1, 1991; and August 2, 1991, for projects beginning after January 1, 1992. Upcoming deadlines for implementation awards: March 15, 1991, for projects beginning after October 1,1991; September 13,1991, for projects beginning after April 1, 1992.