ACRL College & Researc Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

News from the Field

Mary Ellen Davis

AAUP endorses ACRL statement on intellectual freedom

The American Association of University Pro- fessors (AAUP) Council endorsed the ACRL Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries: An Interpretation of the “Library Bill of Rights. ” Endorsed by the ALA Council at the 2000 Annual Conference, the Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries (http://www.ala.org/acrl/principles.html) were developed by the ACRL Intellectual Freedom Committee in 1999.

“Academic freedom … is indispensable to librarians, because they are trustees of knowledge with the responsibility of ensur- ing the availability of information and ideas, no matter how controversial, so that teach- ers may freely teach and students may freely learn,” said Mary A. Burgan, general secretary of AAUP. The AAUP endorsed the Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries at its November 11, 2000, Council meeting.

“We are pleased and honored to have the Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic libraries endorsed by AAUP,” said Laurence Miller, the past chair of the ACRL Intellectual Freedom Committee under whose leadership the principles were developed. “As the in- formation function of academic libraries within the higher education community be- comes increasingly critical, it is important for that community to reaffirm its commitment to equality of access and to intel lectual freedom in general.”

ACRL to introduce E-Books

ACRL has added its first electronic book (e-book) to its list of publica- tions. E-books are available for sale on the ACRL Web site’s Publications page, linked to an “E-Pubs” corner.

Hugh Thompson, ACRL’s direc- tor of publications, said, “The elec- tronic format offers unique features such as the ability to search and display data of special interest. These features will be tremendously helpful for readers of our statistics titles and directories, enabling them to access and compile relevant information quickly and easily.” Thompson added that readers access ACRL’s e-books by purchasing a password for each title. Sample pages will also be available for review on the Web.

Among the first titles to be available in electronic-only format will be In Print: Publishing Opportunities for College Librarians, edited by Alice Bahr, and the Directory of Curriculum Materials Centers, Fifth Edition, edited by Fred Olive.

Internet start-up Questia to launch this month

Questia^SM, an Internet start-up company, plans to launch an online research service at the end of January. Marketed directly to undergraduate students as a research paper writing tool, the service offers subscribers the ability to search its digital collection of 50,000 books and journals in the liberal arts by subject, including full-text and relational searches, as well as by title, author, or ISBN number. Questia hopes to grow to more than 250,000 titles in the next three years. At press time a firm subscription rate had not been set but Questia CEO Troy Williams predicted that a semester subscription would be about the cost of a new textbook.

Questia offers subscribers a suite of research and writing tools, including automatic footnote and bibliography generator, highlighter, dictionary, encyclopedia, and personalization tools. The selection of the Questia collection is being managed by former University of Iowa librarian Carol Ann Hughes, who works with an advisory group of university librarians and faculty.

YBP and Alibris form alliance

Alibris, supplier of out-of-print books, has become the sole provider of out-of-print (OP) and out-of-stock indefinitely (OSI) materials to YBP Library Services, a supplier of books and services to academic libraries. YBP will provide integrated access to the Alibris inventory of more than 12 million hard-to-find books. YBP will source OP and OSI titles from Alibris. Alibris will supply the books from its network of bookselling partners, or from its own inventory, and will deliver the requested books to YBP. YBP will then include the books in the regular customer order shipments, ensuring that these titles get YBP review, cataloging, physical processing, and collection management services.

Reichel focus for 2001-2002

Mary Reichel, ACRL vice-president/presi- dent-elect, has announced that “ACRL: The Learning Community for Excellence in Academic Libraries” is the focus for her presidential year (2001-2002). This theme puts emphasis on learning in all of its aspects. Reichel said that, “Learning is the heart of academic librarians’ efforts with students to educate them in infoπnation literacy and critical thinking. Learning also emphasizes ACRL’s fundamental value of sharing ideas, research, problems, and solutions through meetings, conferences, organizational work, and publications. Focusing on learning also serves as an umbrella for valuing diversity among our members, and learning from each other, as well as emphasizing active recruitment into the profession.”

In support of vice-president Reichel’s focus, five priorities were identified for the 2001-2002 year: valuing members, encouraging continuous learning, promoting diversity and strengthening recruitment into the profession, promoting information literacy and scholarly communication, influencing higher education and governmental groups, and envisioning the future.

ACRL releases "Student's Guide to Evaluating Libraries"

There have been evaluative guides to the colleges that have the best programs, the best parties, the best Greek systems, and just about any other facet of student life that will help prospective students select the right college or university for them. Now ACRL has produced a “Student’s Guide to Evaluating Libraries in Colleges and Universities.”

The guide, available on the ACRL Web site (http://www.ala.org/acrl/evalguide.html), is intended to help prospective college students and their families choose schools with library facilities that meet their educational needs.

“Information is available today in an unprecedented volume and variety of formats, and the importance of good academic libraries to students entering college in the 21st century cannot be overemphasized,” said Althea H. Jenkins, ACRL executive director. “By working with well-trained and knowledgeable librarians and other information professionals, college students acquire the critical thinking and information literacy skills that ensure academic and career success, as well as prepare them for lifelong learning.

“We hope students and their families use the ‘Student’s Guide to Evaluating Libraries in College and Universities’ to make decisions about which college or university best fits their educational needs, and look closely at which institutions provide libraries both as places for study and as coordinates of connectivity on their campuses.”

Developed by academic librarians Larry Hardesty, David Bishop, Gloriana St. Clair, Charles Peguese, Sue Stroyan, and Ilene Rockman, the guide offers a list of questions for students to ask regarding library facilities, resources, and services. Among the criteria to be considered are the size of the library’s collection, the availability of electronic resources, and interlibrary loan services and support for emerging technologies.

Copies of the evaluation brochure have been made available to such groups as the American Association of School Counselors, National Association of Career and Guidance Teachers, and the National Association for College Admissions for distribution to their clientele and juniors and seniors in high schools across the United States. The brochure is also offered as an addition to Web sites such as Collegeboard, CollegeLink, Collegenet, Peterson’s Collegequest, EMBARK, and USNews.com. Get the brochure from the ACRL Web site at http://www. ala.org/acrl/evalguide.html or request print copies from ACRL by contacting Meredith Parets at (312) 280-2515 or mparets@ala.org.

IS assessment preconference—June 2001

Gain the information and skills directly related to the assessment needs of instruction librarians during the preconference, “How to Keep From Glazing Over When You Hear the Word Assessment: Realistic Strategies for the Library Instruction Community.” This program will be held as a preconference to the ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco, Friday, June 15, 2001.

During this hands-on session, acquire tips from assessment specialists and return to your institution ready to apply your knowledge of assessment to your own program.

Learn what questions to ask when designing assessment strategies, find out how to write assessment statements, and discover the types of tools needed for measuring learning outcomes.

Speakers include Patricia Senn Breivik, San Jose State University; Debra Gilchrist, Pierce College; ancl Bonnie Gratch Lindauer, City College of San Francisco. Registration for the preconference will start in early 2001.

Watch the ACRL Web site (www.ala.org/ acrl) for details!

Pearson Higher Education partners with EBSCO

Pearson Education announced a partnership with EBSCO Information Services to develop customized online research collections providing access to content from selected academic journals and other publications. Beginning in early 2001, students using Pearson Higher Education texts and Companion Web Sites™ will be able to search for articles specifically relating to their discipline area.

With more than 1,400 companion Web sites online in 2000 and plans to add more, Pearson’s alliance with EBSCO is part of its strategy to match its texts with Internet-delivered services. With this partnership, EBSCO is introducing its Content Select program and working with its publisher partners to build customized collections of periodical content.

For the initial launch, EBSCO will create a series of discipline-specific collections in the fields of psychology, education, sociology, history, information management, political science, medical science, economics/ finance, marketing/management, chemistry, and biology.

Register for ACRL Denver Conference

Register by February 12, 2001, and take advantage of reduced registration for ACRL’s 10th National Conference, Crossing the Divide. The conference will be held in Denver, March 15-18, 2001. The conference features programs addressing issues such as resources for distance learning, scholarly communication, information literacy, collaborations and partnerships, and services for users. Selected program topics include:

•Working in Partnership Across Service Points and Cyberspace

•Digital Collections: Acceptance and Use in a Research Community

•Digital Librarian, Cybraian, or Librarian: Who will Staff Digital Libraries?

•Improving Student Learning Through Faculty Development

Visit www.ala.org/acrl/denver.html for a complete program, housing and travel information, registration forms, and the ACRL Session Finder.

Build your own personalized itinerary by using the Session Finder to identify all the conference programs, preconferences, workshops, and exhibits related to your specific interests and needs. If you have questions, call (800)545-2433, ext. 2515 or e-mail acrl@ala.org.