ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

News from the Field

Stephanie Orphan

Margot Sutton Conahan named manager of professional development for ACRL

ACRL is pleased to announce that Margot Sutton Conahan is the division’s new manager of professional development. For the past four years, Conahan has worked on ACRL’s profes- sional development programs, initially starting out as the professional development assistant until May 1999, when she was promoted to the position of program officer.

In the role of program officer, Conahan has been responsible for ACRL’s entire slate of pro- fessional development offerings, including the biannual National Conference, preconferences, Immersion Programs, institutes, workshops, and Job Shadow Day. She oversaw all aspects of professional development planning, includ- ing budget development, publicity and promo- tion, logistics, and on-site management. Conahan also worked closely with ACRL pro- fessional development member groups and outside vendors, and currently serves as staff liaison to numerous committees. In her new role, Conahan will continue to be responsible for the development, implementation, and man- agement of existing professional development programs, and will also work on the creation and development of new programs and deliv- ery methods.

Conahan received a BA in literature with a mi- nor in German from Tinman State University.

MetaScholar Initiative established

Emory University Libraries, the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET), and the Association of Southeastern Research Librar- ies (ASERL) have collaborated to establish the MetaScholar Initia- tive. The initiative consists of two projects funded by the Andrew W.

Mellon Foundation to create a metadata system to support schol- arly research in the humanities. The MetaScholar Initiative will be one of the first national projects to implement the new Open Digital Library architecture protocol, developed by Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and State University protocol to harvest, organize, and provide integrated access to metadata on digital resources stored at multiple institutions.

The two projects that make up the initiative, MetaArchive.org and AmericanSouth.org, will test the application of the Open Archives Initiative Metadata Harvesting Protocol, which allows a central server (the “harvester”) to collect metadata from multiple, distributed sources, normalize it, organize it, and offer the resulting database to users. Both project sites are being constmcted from freely available, open-source software and will benefit educational institutions, libraries, scholars, and students.

New definition of America enters OED.com

A new definition of the word America has been added to the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary(http://www.oed.com), along with another 1,764 new and revised entries. The new definition of America was added as part of the ongoing quarterly updates to the reference tool. The figurative use of America to mean “a place which one longs to reach; an ultimate or idealized destination or aim; an object of personal ambition or desire,” was first used about 400 years ago by John Donne. Other recently added words and phrases include a series of derivatives of big(ibig hair, big easy, big picture, etc.), drivetime, ladies wholunch, ands sustainable tourism. Oxford lexicographers continue to revise and enhance OED.com as part of the continuing work towards the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, tentatively scheduled for publication in 2010.

New York Timesand Wall Street Journal fully digitized

ProQuest’s Information and Learning Unit has fully digitized the complete backfìles of the New York Times (1851 to 1999) and Wall Street Jour- nal(1889 to 1985) as part of its ProQuest Historical Newspapers program. The newspapers have been digitized from cover to cover, including news stories, editorials, photos, graphics, and advertisements. Searchers can use basic keyword, advanced, guided, and relevancy search techniques to locate information, or they can browse through issues page by page, as one would browse a printed edition. Full-text of the Wall Street Journal dating from 1986 forward and of the New York Times from 1999 forward is available from ProQuest in ASCII full text.

Univ. of Southampton and Ingenta enter strategic partnership

Ingenta, Inc. has signed a strategic partnership with the University of Southampton, a key player in the Open Archives initiative (OAi), to develop software that will form an integral part of the growing Open Archives movement. Under the terms of the partnership, Ingenta will create an enhanced, commercially supported version of the ePrints software originally developed by the University of Southampton’s Department of Electronics and Computer Science. ePrints, which allows organizations to create Web-based archives (e-print services) for their research articles, lecturer notes, and other documents and associated metadata, is the leading software resource supporting the OAi. Ingenta's enhancements will make ePrints available as a service to institutions worldwide. A share of the proceeds will be channeled back into supporting Southampton’s research and development efforts in continuing to evolve ePrints, which will also remain available as open-source software.

Oregon State Univ. to study student use of paper and electronic resources

Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries reference and instruction department, with the support of OSU’s Writing Intensive Curriculum, has undertaken a project that will study student use of paper and electronic resources. OSU reference librarians will analyze students’ bibliographies to determine what types of library resources they cite in their papers and the completeness and accuracy of the citations. Results from the study are expected to aid in understanding how to best collect resources to facilitate student research. The findings will also help develop methods to guide students more effectively in their use of library resources in all formats.

ACRL's latest Webcasts focus on information literacy and assessment

The most recent installments in ACRL’s e- Leaming Webcasts series are “How to Keep From Glazing Over When You Hear the Word Assessment’: Realistic Strategies for the Library Instruction Community” and “Information Literacy: Connecting Standards and Objectives to Programs and Curriculum-Case Studies of Early Implementers.”

The assessment Webcast was originally an all-day preconference and includes four primary presentations, handouts used for exercises during the breakout sessions, and additional materials. The information literacy Webcast will increase your understanding of the contents, use, and variety of applications for the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.

The six original Webcasts in the series are still available and are now being offered at a 50% discount from the original pricing. These information-packed sessions focus on digital reference, personalized research clinics, information literacy, and emerging technologies. e-Learning Webcasts include streaming video of speakers’ presentations, synchronized PowerPoint slide presentations, bibliographies, and discussion questions. For more information about these professional development opportunities and ACRL member discounts, visit http://acrl.telusys.net/webcast/index.html.

Tidewater Libraries develop new music collection

The New Music Performance Collection is a cooperative project of the Virginia Tidewater Consortium libraries to serve music faculty members who incorporate new music into their teaching. Participating consortium libraries include Old Dominion University, Hampton University, Christopher Newport University, Norfolk State University, and the College of William and Mary.

The goal of the project is to provide opportunities for students to perform new music compositions created by living composers after 1970. Titles and descriptions of compositions, audio selections, and composer information are accessible through a Web-based database and the online catalog of the Old Dominion University Libraries.

National Library Week grant available to promote the role of librarians

U.S. libraries of all types are invited to apply for a $4,000 National Library Week Grant for the best library promotion/public awareness campaign during National Library Week, April 6-12, 2003, that promotes the role librarians play in the 21st century. The grant is sponsored by Scholastic Library Publishing and administered by ALA’s Public Awareness Committee. This is the first year that the grant will specifically focus on the work of librarians. In doing so, the grant supports die Campaign for America’s Libraries’ goal of promoting librarianship as a profession.

Grant proposals must incorporate the @ your library brand (for example, “The Ultimate Search Engine @ your library” or “Information Experts @ your library”). The brand, which is open-ended and provides room for creativity, should be used on any and all promotional and publicity material to support National Library Week. The application deadline is October 15, 2002. An application form and guidelines are available at http://www.ala.org/pio/ nlw/grolierapp. doc.

Let Freedom Read: read a banned book

Host a "Read-out"

In celebration of Banned Books Week 2002 (September 21 to 28),

ALA is encouraging libraries to participate in a nationwide event that will highlight the importance of free speech and free expression.

Join ALA and host a “Read-out,” a continuous reading of banned and challenged books.

Libraries and individuals that would like to celebrate the freedom to read may freely use this 2002 Banned Books Week image on their Web sites; visit http://www.ala.org/ bbooks/ for more information.

This is a perfect opportunity to share and celebrate the importance of Banned Books Week with your community. Encourage members of your staff and library users to participate as a reader in your Let Freedom Read event. Promote your event to local media, and share your plans with ALA by e-mailing oif@ala.oig.

A list of the most frequently challenged books, press materials, and talking points are available on the ALA Web site at http:// www.ala.oig/bbooks/toplOObannedbooks.html.

Expand beyond Banned Books Week

You don’t need to stop promoting banned and challenged books at the end of Banned Books Week. Maintaining awareness of these books can be a year-round affair. The University of California (UC) Berkeley library’s 2002 summer reading program is an excellent ex- ample of a way to promote the reading of banned books outside the context of Banned Books Week.

This year UC Berkeley’s an- nual “Summer Reading List” for freshman was made up of banned or challenged books for which synopses were provided from various people across the campus. Books included were Song of Solomon, The Adveritures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, The House qf the Spir- its, and others. The write-ups were provided by faculty, librar- ians, administrators, and staff. The library also provided links to online resources related to the censorship of books, including the ALA’s Banned Books Week page. The selected books were from ALA’s list of the “100 Most Challenged Books in 1990-2000.” You can read more about UC Berkeley's sum- mer reading program at http://wwrw.lib. beikeley.edu/readTingLih/SunimeiReading/.

We hope that you will participate in this yeart Banned Books Week and take advantage of opportunities throughout the year to create awareness of these important works.

Univ. of Cincinnati partners with Underground Railroad Center

The University of Cincinnati (UC) University Libraries and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center are partnering to create a digital library focusing on the history of the Underground Railroad. The library will hold Underground Railroad archival collections, such as oral history interviews with Underground Railroad participants, maps, articles, photographs, and annotated correspondence. The UC Libraries will add the bibliographic records for these collections to their online catalog. The contents of the digital library will be added to the OhioLINK Digital Media Center. Scholars affiliated with OhioLINK member institutions will be able to access the collection at any time. The agreement between the two entities designates UC as a “Freedom Station” dedicated “to educating the public about the historic struggle to abolish human enslavement and secure freedom for all people.” The public can visit any “Freedom Station” to view the interviews, documents, and images that will make up the digital library collection.

Classification Web available through Library of Congress

The Libraiy of Congress (LC) has released Classification Web, the first Web-based cataloging and reference product to come out of its Cataloging Distribution Services. Classification Web lets users access, search, and browse all LC Classification Schedules and LC Subject Headings, speeding up the process of verifying and assigning classification numbers to libraiy materials. The product also provides automatic calculation of classification table numbers, a permanent personal or institutional notes file, the ability to link to a local Web online public access catalog (OPAC) for many major vendor systems, and links to a preset list of institutional OPACs.

Alaska libraries select Sirsi's Unicorn

An alliance of 35 Alaskan libraries, including the University of Alaska (UA)-Fairbanks, will implement Sirsi’s Unicorn Library Management System. UA-Fairbanks’ Elmer E. Rasmuson Library is the largest library in Alaska, with 1.75 million items. Its collection includes an extensive collection of Alaska and Polar Regions materials, including rare books, photographs, motion pictures, and oral history tapes. ■

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