ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

News from the field

Mary Ellen Davis

Stanford creating digital Dewey for Internet

Stanford University’s inte- grated digital library project is attempting to invent the electronic equivalent of the Dewey decimal system for the Internet. Imagine trying to find information in a library where the books are orga- nized differently on every shelf. It’s much like that for people searching for informa- tion on the Internet. Stan- ford’s project seeks to provide a simple and consistent interface that enables people to find the information they seek on the Internet, regardless of where it is stored or how it is organized.

The Stanford project is one of six digital library projects begun last September as a result of a joint $24.4 million initiative by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Stanford’s four-year effort is designed to create a “virtual library” by providing Internet users with a seamless interface to the wide variety of information sources and collections available on the Net. Hector Garcia- Molina, project director and professor of computer science and engineering, said, “We intend to develop a common environment that links everything from personal information to library collections to large research databases.”

The basis of this environment will be an “information bus” consisting of basic concepts, language, and protocols that can tie together the materials, services, and users of information. In addition to the technical problems it will address, the project will tackle concerns about the cost of information and such critical issues as protection of intellectual property rights, privacy, and security of personal information.

Commission and CLR vote to affiliate

The Boards of Directors of the Commission on Preservation and Access and the Council on Library Resources (CLR) voted on February 24 to affiliate with one another, with the first step being a joint presidency. Deanna B. Marcum has agreed to serve as president of both organizations and has pledged to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness. The affili- ation was effective March 1.

Billy Frye, chairman of the Commission, and Mar- tin M. Cummings, chairman of the Council, said, “We see the joint appointment as a major step in strengthening the programs of CLR and the Commission as they support and advocate the essential role of libraries in a time of changing opportunities and needs.”

A main objective of the affiliation is to achieve staffing and programmatic efficiency. Other affiliation principles are that each organization remains distinctive and complementary, the independence of each board will be preserved, each organization will retain fiscal independence, and cooperative projects will be undertaken if deemed advisable by both boards.

More on information literacy data

The January and February “News from the Field” columns reported on ACRL joining the Association of Higher Education in a cooperative research project to collect data on existing information literacy programs in higher education institutions across the U.S.

Survey forms were sent to college and university campuses requesting information and more than 200 responses were received.

In the second phase of this study 26 institutions with exemplary information literacy programs were selected to participate in the first regional workshops to be held in the middle states region. The first workshop was held at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science on March 27; the second will be held on May 1 at Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York. Plans call for workshops to be held in the western region.

The 26 participating institutions are being asked to send teams of three to the workshops. The team members can include librarians, faculty, computer center staff, and/or administrators. Invitations for the March and May workshops went out to campus contacts for the Middle States Association regional accrediting agency.

Duke focuses on international library programs

A new Center for International Library Programs at Duke University was inaugurated in February. The purpose of the new center is to “focus and integrate the provision of resources to our academic community,” according to Peter Lange, vice provost for academic and interna- tional affairs at Duke. “The libraries of the uni- versity have successfully developed resources to support academic work and teaching in international and area studies, but the time has come to coordinate our efforts across campus.” The international and area studies team at Perkins Library is joining with its campus counterparts—the Fuqua School of Busi- ness Library, the Law Library, the Medical Center Library, and the Divinity Library—to es- tablish the Center for International Library Programs.

Initial plans for the center include closer coordination of acquisitions, a realistic assess- ment of the international resource needs of faculty and students, an evaluation of the impact of electronic resources on research patterns and library budgets, and the development of workshops on the use of new technologies in international research. The center plans to establish an internship for young librarians with an interest in pursuing careers as foreign-area bibliographers.

Ameritech Library Services names new president

Ameritech Library Services President Paul

Sybrowsky announced in late February that he will become chairman of the company to give him more time to pursue a new business venture, and that Thomas Quarton will succeed him as president.

Quarton, formerly a vice-president with Ameritech Enhanced Business Services, will assume day-to-day operations and will be working in tandem with Keith Wilson, executive vice- president of the company. Quarton comes to Ameritech Library Services with more than 20 years of experience in business development and consulting, with an emphasis on building market-driven and customer-focused companies.

Sybrowsky was a cofounder of Dynix, Inc., in 1983 and served as both general manager and president of Ameritech Library Services after Dynix and NOTIS Systems were purchased by Ameritech Corporation. He has been recruited to become president of Vicendus, a new Provo- based enterprise which will apply distance learning technology to adult education conferences and seminars.

Elsevier's electronic subscriptions next step after TULIP

Elsevier Science is introducing Elsevier Elec- tronic Subscriptions (EES), an electronic ver- sion of its traditional research journals. This new service, to be available initially on a pilot basis, will offer libraries complete electronic editions either in addition to or in lieu of paper jour- nals. EES is available for all of the more than 1,100 Elsevier Science journals, published un- der the imprints of Elsevier, Pergamon, North- Holland, and Butterworth-Heinemann.

The electronic subscriptions will be provided in cover-to-cover bitmapped page images (black/white single page TIFF files, resolution 300 dots per inch, compressed using CCITT Fax Group IV). Bibliographic header informa- tion, including the abstract and keywords (when present), will be provided in struc- tured SGML-tagged text. The full text will be provided as an unedited and unstructured ASCII file—similar to the format used in TULIP, an ex- periment in full-text electronic subscriptions undertaken by Elsevier Science and nine universities beginning in 1991.

EES files are intended to be implemented with either the library’s own software or third-party software, making use of open stan- dards available now. Elsevier Sci- ence will be inviting institutions to participate in the pilot phase, ex- pected to last through 1995.

Smithsonian Libraries available on Internet

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries’ online catalog can now be accessed via the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) on the Internet. The Smithsonian Libraries’ catalog carries records of its 18 branch libraries. To access SIRIS and the libraries’ catalog, use telnet to connect to siris.si.edu. To exit SIRIS, type STOP.

Chinook blows into CU-Boulder libraries

The University of Colorado at Boulder dedicated a cluster of terminals to signal the official start of the University Libraries’ catalog, Chinook, on January 10. The dedication included a ceremony suggested by a Native-American staff member to “secure clearance and possibly a blessing for the use of the name,” according to Deborah Fink, the public information officer for Norlin Library. Chinook is an Indian name that refers to warm winter winds that gust along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, dramatically raising temperatures and evaporating snow. The Chinook catalog is one component in the CU-Boulder Libraries’ new Innovative Interfaces system, which also includes cataloging, circulation, serials control, and acquisitions models.

VCU game benefits Black History Archives project

The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Athletic Department contributed $6,000 of the proceeds from the VCU vs. Virginia Union University (VUU) basketball game to the VCU Libraries’ Black History Archives Project. The project is a cooperative effort by VCU, VUU, and the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, Inc., to find, preserve, and make available for public use the historical records of African Americans within the Commonwealth of Virginia. The project, a major component of a program funded since 1990 by the Ford Foundation, IBM, and VCU, uses advanced technology to digitize and store information in a database. The database now includes records of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Richmond Crusade for Voters, the Fourth Baptist Church, Gillfield Baptist Church, and the Astoria Beneficial Club.

Virginia Commonwealth University athletic director Richard Sander (far right) presents a check for $6,000 to (1 to r) John Whaley, Vonita Foster, and Barbara Ford to fund the Black History Archives Project.

STS seeks new logo

The Science and Technology Section (STS) of ACRL is sponsoring a contest for the design of a new logo in ASCII. An entry may be a design of the acronym (STS) or it may be a graphic design that represents disciplines addressed by the section—science and engineering/technology—or a combination of the acronym and the disciplines. The ASCII format is dictated by the proliferation of electronic communication. The logo will be used on newsletters and other STS publications—electronic and print. Entries will be accepted until May 15, 1995. Please submit your designs to Edward Gonzalez at e-mail: icefg@asuvm.inre.asu.edu; fax: (602) 543-8540; or mail: Arizona State University West, Fletcher Library, 4701 W. Thunderbird Rd., P.O. Box 37100, Phoenix, A2 85069-7100. For details contact Gonzalez or Carol Robinson at e-mail: csrobins@mit.edu at the Barker Engineering Library 10-500, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139.

ACRL listserv corrections

The February issue of C&RL News listed the wrong addresses for the Extended Campus Libraries Services Section (ECLSS) listserv, Offcamp, and the Discussion Group on Electronic Text Centers, ETEXTCTR.

To subscribe to Offcamp send the message “subscribe offcamp first name last name” to listserv@cms.cc.wayne.edu or to listserv@ waynestl.bitnet.

To subscribe to ETEXTCTR send the message “Subscribe ETEXTCTR your name” to LISTPROC@lists.princeton.edu. The editors regret the errors.