ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

News form the Field

California quake rocks libraries

The earthquake that hit southern California in mid- January had an uneven affect on the academic libraries in the area. One of the libraries hardest hit was California State University, Northridge (CSUN), whose library and computing center have been declared structurally un- sound. Although estimates and plans change daily, Su- san Curzon, vice-provost for information technology resources and dean, University Libraries, indicated that it may be a year before the library is reopened. Curzon reported that virtually all buildings on campus had been hit and that preliminary estimates for campus repair costs are at $350 million. Classes resumed in mid-February in trailers and Curzon, whose operations have been upgraded from a tent to a trailer, says that they hope to have reference service available in a trailer within the next few weeks. Curzon is also investigat- ing setting up the library in a sprung structure similar to the one used at UCLA. In the interim, “UCLA and USC have just been wonderful about granting library privileges to our students and faculty,” praised Curzon. “We are running hourly shuttle buses for our stu- dents to the UCLA library.” She said that library staff who had been placed on leave immedi- ately after the quake now have been deployed to other offices. Curzon indicated that many li- brarians had called to offer as- sistance and that she was appre- ciative of their generosity.

Trouble does pull people to- gether. At Occidental College, college librarian Jacquelyn Mc- Coy reported that student vol- unteers spontaneously arrived at the library to reshelve the 50,000 books that had been knocked to the floor. Over 50 students ar- rived and had the books back on the shelves within one day. The items are now being shelf- read. McCoy attributed the spontaneous volunteer effort to the successful campuswide volunteer initiative which is an integral part of Occident- al’s curriculum. Occidental was fortunate not to have any structural damage.

According to Dan Lester, network information coor- dinator at Boise State Uni- versity Library, who pro- vided reports on the Internet, damage at other California university and college libraries was extensive. California State University, Fullerton, had 150,000 to 200,000 books down; Santa Monica City College had 130,000 books on the floor; Pepperdine University had about a quarter of its books down; and the University of Califor- nia, Irvine, had several thousand books fall. The L.A. Times reported that over one million volumes at UCLA’s main and branch libraries “hit the deck,” but the libraries are open.

IITF announces computer bulletin board

The Clinton administration’s Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF) announced on December 16, 1993, the operation of a computer bulletin board system. The purpose is to provide public access to I1TF and other National Information Infrastructure (Nll)-related docu- ments, including IITF schedules, committee re- ports, and minutes of meetings. Some parts of the menu are still under construction, but avail- able now are frequently asked questions, points of contact, press releases, and documents such as Vice-President Gore’s December 21 speech at the National Press Club on Nil and telecom- munications policy.

Part of the University of California, Northridge, Library after the earthquake on January 17.

This cake was part of the Rhode Island School of Design’s (RISD) fall 1993 celebration of ELIZA, its new online catalog named after Eliza Buffington, the school’s first librarian, and Eliza Greene Radeke, RISD’s sixth president. ELIZA was made possible by a $100,000 grant from the Champlin Foundations and matching funds from RISD.

For access to the IITF bulletin board through the Internet, gopher to iitf.doc.gov or telnet to iitf.doc.gov and login as gopher. Comments may be sent by e-mail to nii@ntia.doc.gov, or phone (202) 501-1920. For further information con- tact Charlie Franz, Dan Davis, or Art Altenburg at (202) 482-1835; e-mail: cfranz@ntia.doc.gov. (Re- printed with permission from ALAWON, the ALA Washing- ton Office’s listserv.)

Pasadena dedicates new library

The Walter T. Shatford II Li- brary was dedicated at Pasa- dena City College (PCC) last fall. Named in honor of the longest-serving member of the college’s Board of Trustees, the library houses 113,000 books, 60,000 periodicals, and 50 computer terminals. There are now 900 study spaces for students, more than double the previous number. The library shares its new building with the Instructional Resource Center, Instructional Televi- sion, and KPCC-FM 89.3. The library, the newest and larg- est library in the statewide community college system, is part of a 10-year campus ren- ovation and building plan at Pasadena City College. Ac- cording to David Dowell, the library’s director, the recent earthquake had minimal ef- fect on the new structure. Only 2,000 books fell and the only damage to the building was cosmetic cracks in the plaster.

Free access to elec- tronic AIDS information

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has eliminated all online charges for searching three AIDS-related databases and an online directory of sources of information. The action, effective immediately, was announced January 25 at a meeting of the NLM Board of Regents. The 75,000 members of the NLM international on- line database network may now search AIDSLINE®, AIDSDRUGS, AIDSTRIALS, and DIRLINE® without charge. The change is the result of recommendations made at the National Institutes of Health HIV/AIDS Information Ser- vices Conference in June 1993, at which mem- bers of community organizations made it clear that even the existing modest fees were inhib- iting access to the databases.

JALacquired by JAI Press

The Journal of Academic Li- brarianship has been ac- quired by JAI Press of Green- wich, Connecticut. The jour- nal, published bimonthly, in- cludes scholarly articles, re- search reports, book reviews, and article abstracts. To ensure editorial continuity, Richard Dougherty (University of Michigan) will continue as founding editor and Charles Martell (California State Uni- versity) will continue as associate editor; Peter Hernon (Simmons College) will become executive editor. Plans are also under way to expand international coverage.

The new Walter T. Shatford n Library at Pasadena City College.

Resolution addresses escalating serials costs

The Faculty Senate of the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville, recently passed the following resolution in support of the UT Libraries. The resolution is an attempt to raise the consciousness of all faculty about ways to control the escalating rise in serial prices. In 1993 the UT Libraries spent over $2,345,955 on serials and periodicals. This amount is over 70% of the libraries’ materials budget. According to dean of libraries Paula T. Kaufman, the continuing escalation in serials prices jeopardizes the Libraries’ ability to fund the purchase of books essential to so many humanities disciplines. The resolution echoes similar attempts by faculty nationwide to call attention to this serious threat to scholarly research and communication.

Faculty Senate Resolution

WHEREAS, the University Libraries is faced with an ongoing crisis in responding to the information needs of the University community, caused in part by increasing serials prices and the proliferation of titles and formats, and

WHEREAS, the Faculty Senate Library Committee has studied the problems of serials prices, and

WHEREAS, the Faculty Senate Library Committee has grave concerns about the pricing structures for certain journals, particularly in the sciences and engineering disciplines, and

WHEREAS, we the members of the Faculty Senate, recognize that this crisis must be addressed by the scholarly community as a whole,

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate fully supports and encourages the Libraries and the faculty to control the costs and the quality of scholarly journals by the following:

• Cancelling journals when, after faculty review, the level of cost is above what is deemed appropriate;

• Declining to transfer copyrights to publishers who exploit them;

• Saying “no” to serving on editorial boards or as reviewers for journals with poor track records, i.e., indefensible price increases;

• Resisting pressures to publish articles in fragments;

• Refusing to purchase material of questionable value; and

• Educating members of our professional societies about the hidden danger in contracting with commercial publishers to publish society journals.

National Women's History Month celebrated

The theme for National Women’s History Month (NWHM), March 1994, is “In every generation, action frees our dreams.” To exemplify the theme, eleven 20th-century women or groups of women are portrayed on the 1994 commemorative poster. Individuals included are: Margaret Bourke-White, a pioneering photo- journalist; Althea Gibson, the athlete who broke the color barrier in tennis; Martha Graham, the mother of modern dance; Kitty O’Neil, highspeed racer and Hollywood stuntwoman; and Mae Jemison, NASA’s first African American female astronaut. Groups of women on the poster include: the Japanese picture brides who ventured to America between 1900-1919; the 20,000 garment workers who struck in New York City in 1909; the suffragists involved in the California campaign in 1911; and the delegates to the landmark National Women’s Conference in Houston in 1977.

The NWHM poster is available for $6.00, plus $3.50 s/h, from the National Women’s History Project, Dept. P, 7738 Bell Road, Windsor, CA 95492 or call (707) 838-6000.