ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Highlights of the Midwinter Meetings of the ACRL Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of the Association of College and Research Libraries met three times during the ALA Midwinter Meeting: on Monday, January 31, 1977; on Wednesday, February 2, 1977; and on Thursday, February 3, 1977.

Bibliographic Instruction

In response to increasing interest from ACRL members, the Board of Directors voted unanimously to establish a Bibliographic Instruction Section within ACRL. The section, which will replace the ACRL Bibliographic Instruction Task Force, will sponsor programs at conferences, develop policy statements on bibliographic instruction, explore methods of evaluating bibliographic instruction programs and materials, promote needed research, and cooperate with Project LOEX and other groups in areas of mutual interest.

The Guidelines for Bibliographic Instruction in Academic Libraries, developed by the Bibliographic Instruction Task Force, was approved as ACRL policy.*

Legislation

The Board approved a statement, developed by the ACRL Committee on Legislation, on federal legislative policy in regard to college and research libraries:

Support for academic libraries at all levels must be an integral part of federal funding for higher education. Library resources and services must be strengthened to meet

• The Guidelines for Bibliographic Instruction in Academic Libraries was published in the April 1977 issue of C&RL News. the changing dynamics of teaching as well as the needs of students, faculty, and researchers at all levels of higher education.

It is imperative that any federal legislation which stimulates new or expanded educational programs shall provide sufficient funds to meet the library resource needs, including personnel, required for the success of these programs.

Expansion of knowledge, new technologies for both the bibliographic control and the dissemination of knowledge, and increased demand for information services make it essential that funding be adequate to enable all academic libraries to develop appropriate levels of adequacy in collections, services, and facilities. At the same time, substantial specialized financial aid is necessary for major research libraries if they are to continue to acquire the best product of global scholarship and make it widely available. A serious effort must also be made to provide support for consortia and other cooperative efforts which are attempting to profit from the efficiencies of technology in order to expand the accessibility and availability of resources.

Funds for library materials and personnel, federal scholarships and loans, work- study programs, special grants, research grants and contracts, and assistance in building programs benefit the nation by improving the quality of higher education.

The Board recommended that the statement be incorporated under the section “College and Research Libraries” in the forthcoming new edition of the publication Federal Legislative Policy of the American Library Association and that the wording in the present edition be dropped.

White House Conference

Upon the recommendation of the Committee on Legislation, the Board voted to establish a committee to serve as a liaison between ACRL and the agencies involved in the planning of the White House Conference on Libraries and the various state conferences preceding it. The committee will contact appropriate individuals involved in the planning process in order to see that college and research libraries are adequately represented.

ACRL Chapters

The Board welcomed as new ACRL chapters the Academic and Research Libraries Division of the Maryland Library Association and a group of librarians from Southern California, designated the Southern California Chapter. College & Research Libraries

The Board unanimously approved the recommendation of the ACRL Publications Committee that Richard D. Johnson, director of libraries, State University College, Oneonta, New York, be reappointed as editor of College ír Research Libraries for a three-year term (1977-80).

Choice

ACRL President Connie R. Dunlap reported that the editor of Choice, Dr. Richard K. Gardner, has resigned effective June 1, 1977, and outlined the procedures for the search for a new editor. The Board of Directors unanimously endorsed a resolution prepared by the ACRL Publications Committee in recognition of the contributions of Dr, Gardner as editor of Choice:

The ACRL Publications Committee is duly grateful and wishes to recognize Richard K. Gardner for the outstanding contribution he has made to academic librarianship during the eight years he has served as editor of Choice. Dr. Gardner has brought to this position a scholar’s appreciation of literature, a librarian’s concern for book evaluation and collection development, and an administrator’s skill in prudent management. Whereas the future of Choice was uncertain when he accepted appointment, this publication has achieved a high level of professional respectability, practical value, and financial stability under his editorial direction. Therefore, the Publications Committee requests that the ACRL Board of Directors extend thanks and appreciation to Dr. Gardner on behalf of the Association and the academic library community.

The Board also endorsed unanimously a resolution prepared by the Choice Editorial Board:

WHEREAS Dr. Richard Gardner has twice served as Editor of Choice, and

WHEREAS Dr. Gardner has been an effective and careful editorial and financial manager of the publication, and

WHEREAS he has won the respect and affection of his staff, his editorial board, and the users of the publication, and

WHEREAS Dr. Gardner has respected and encouraged the participation of ACRL membership in building a successful publication, and

WHEREAS during Dr. Gardner’s tenure Choice has grown to be one of the American Library Association’s proudest publications and one respected and imitated internationally for the high quality of its reviewing service, and

WHEREAS he has accepted an invitation to return to teaching and research in the library school at the University of California, Los Angeles,

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Choice Editorial Board commends Dr. Richard Gardner for his fine service to academic libraries and to the entire library profession and expresses its sense of loss in his leaving and its best wishes to him for a happy and successful future.

ACRL Nonprint Media Publications

The chairman of the ACRL Publications Committee, Mary A. McKenzie, announced the initiation of a search for an editor for the newly established ACRL Nonprint Media Publications series, with the publication of a notice in the March 1977 issue of College ir Research Libraries News.

Tribute to Louise Giles

The Board of Directors paid tribute to Louise Giles, past president of ACRL, who died on December 31, 1976, through the reading of a statement and by its unanimous endorsement of an ALA Council resolution calling for the renaming of the ALA Minority Scholarship in memory of her.†

Collective Bargaining in Academic Libraries

A proposal to analyze the impact of collective bargaining on the status and benefits of academic librarians was approved in principle and specifically endorsed for submission for funding from the J. Morris Jones and Bailey K. Howard-World Book Encyclopedia-ALA Goal Awards.

Reproduction of Manuscripts and Archives

The Statement on the Reproduction of Manuscripts and Archives for Commercial Purposes, developed by the Committee on Manuscripts Collections of the ACRL Rare Books and Manuscripts Section, was approved as ACRL policy.*

† The statement and the Council resolution were published in the March 1977 issue of C&RL News.

ACRL Budgets

The chairman of the ACRL Committee on Budget and Finance, Richard A. Olsen, presented the 1977-78 draft budgets for ACRL, College & Research Libraries, CirRL News, Choice, and the ACRL 1978 national conference.

Proposed ACRL Bylaws Amendment

Upon the recommendation of the Committee on the ACRL Constitution and Bylaws, the Board approved a proposed ACRL Bylaws amendment on ACRL publications programs.§

IFLA Representatives

The Board of Directors endorsed the nominations of Jane G. Flener and Beverly P. Lynch as an alternate as representatives to the International Federation of Library Associations section on university libraries.

Catalog Code Revision

ACRL’s representative to the ALA Resources and Technical Services Division Catalog Code Revision Committee, LeRoy D. Ortopan, reported to the Board on the committee’s progress in revising the catalog code.

ACRL Executive Secretary

President Connie Dunlap noted the recent resignation of Dr. Beverly P. Lynch as executive secretary of ACRL and reported on the search for a new executive secretary. The ACRL Publications Committee introduced a resolution recognizing the contributions of Dr. Lynch:

The ACRL Publications Committee extends its warmest appreciation to Beverly P. Lynch as she leaves her post as ACRL Executive Secretary. During her term Dr. Lynch has consistently shown thoughtful concern for all aspects of the division’s publishing program and has served as an effective liaison with ALA Publishing Services. Her ability to foresee areas calling for policy decisions, her perceptive reading of the key elements to be considered, and her awareness of relevant ALA policy and practice have substantially assisted the committee in its work. Adding to the pleasure of the relationship, Dr. Lynch’s guidance, support, and counsel have obviously been generated not merely by a sense of duty but more importantly by a genuine personal commitment to promote the allied interests of academic librarianship and the profession as a whole through ALA. The Publications Committee therefore requests that the ACRL Board endorse the recognition of Dr. Lynch’s contributions and join in this expression of thanks to her.

‡ The Statement on the Reproduction of Manuscripts and Archives for Commercial Purposes appears on p. 143 of this issue of CirRL News.

§ The text of the proposed amendment was published in the April 1977 issue of CírRL News.

The resolution carried by acclamation. The Board unanimously expressed its gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Lynch for her service to ACRL.

At the Thursday meeting of the Board of Directors, the ACRL president introduced the newly appointed executive secretary, Dr. Julie A. Virgo. The Board enthusiastically welcomed Dr. Virgo to her new position. ■ ■