ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

CONFERENCE CIRCUIT: The President’s Discussion Forum at Midwinter

Exploring a world of values

by Pamela Moffett Padley

ACRL President Helen Spalding’s theme, “New Realities, New Relationships,” invites the exploration of educational and research challenges across borders. The President’s Discus- sion Forum at the Midwinter Meeting brought together a panel of three librarians, representing Canada, the United States, and Mexico, to exam- ine the major issues facing academic and research libraries in their prospective countries.

Concerns of academic library administrators

Bob Seal, university librarian at Texas Christian University, began the discussion by offering four issues of concern to those in academic library administration: 1) assessment; 2) a new model for the college and university library; 3) support for distance and online education; and 4) the role of the academic library in its parent institution.

Assessment, whether through homegrown questionnaires, focus groups, or a standardized instrument like LibQUAL, must include follow-through and reporting to stakeholders in order to be truly effective and to improve user satisfaction and perceptions.

The new library model includes an information commons, cybercafé, noisy zones for group study, and staff who consider that students and faculty are not an interruption but rather their reason for being there. Successful academic librarians in the new model are innovative, risk-taking, enthusiastic, and “impatient,” questioning traditional methods. He encouraged us all to “not only think out of the box, but get out of the box.”

The Internet and advances in computer technology have propelled e-leaming to the point that entire degree programs are now available via the Web. Libraries are expected to provide equal or comparable services to all students, yet institutions do not always enlist the library’s help or even inform the library when a new distance education program has been initiated. It is critical for the library to take the initiative, serve on campus curriculum and e-leaming committees, and partner with faculty and administrators to ensure the success of new programs.

Lastly, Seal asserted that the library staff must become more visible and engaged on campus in order to enhance the institutional role of the academic library. He urged library staff to attend convocation, march in graduation exercises, eat in the faculty-staff dining room, and volunteer for charitable events. He stressed that “this is not just the director’s job,” but something that all librarians and many staff can do.

Librarianship in Mexico

Alvaro Quijano, director at Biblioteca Daniel Cosio Villegas El Colegio de Mexico, offered a general overview of Mexican librarianship, which illustrated challenges far different from those faced in the United States and Canada.

About the author

Pamela Moffett Padley Is senior catalog librarian at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, e-mail: padley@umbc.edu

In a country of 100 million inhabitants, less than 1 percent are students in higher education. Less than 1 percent of Mexico’s population has Internet access. Eight colleges provide library education at the bachelor’s level; an MLS is not required to serve as a librarian. Of approximately 1,000 Mexican librarians, less than 100 hold an MLS and around ten have Ph.D.s. Only two schools in Mexico offer graduate programs in librarianship—one public (MLS and Ph.D.) and one private (MLS only). Most library degrees are conferred in the United States, while some are from the U.K. and Spain. There is no national bibliography and no union catalog. The Internet is the first choice for research sources. Recruitment to the profession is a key challenge.

Quijano observed that Mexico’s long-shared border with the United States offers opportunities for collaboration, technology, and information exchange. Collaboration with the United States and Canada is now critical as Mexico seeks to develop standards for librarianship and to enhance the visibility and role of librarians and libraries in Mexico. “We need to share for our users,” concluded Quijano. “We need to share with our partners, we need to share materials, but mostly, we need to share knowledge.”

The challenges of Canadian libraries

John Teskey, director of libraries at the University of New Brunswick, described very different geographic, economic, legislative challenges. With 32 million citizens spread over 9 million square kilometers, Canada has been described as having “too much geography and too little history.” Budget constraints and geographic distance have necessitated collaboration. With the exchange rate near $1.52 Canadian to U.S. dollars, Canadian libraries’ purchasing power has dropped sharply. Eighty percent of material purchased is either priced in U.S. dollars or originates in the United States. These limitations present challenges in collecting a full range of material.

Teskey described the legislative landscape and how Canadian academic and research libraries are joining to compete on a larger scale for limited federal funds. In Canada, education is a provincial responsibility, with funds coming from the federal government. One new federal program, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, funded $20 million for a collaborative proposal signed by 64 university presidents across ten provinces with the goal of providing researchers across the country with unfettered access to the research literature. Negotiating as a national body has enhanced the four regional academic associations’ ability to effect change.

Questions and comments from the audience focused on several themes, including diversity rates, language barriers, multicultural communities, cross-border security, hiring and exchange programs across borders, and resource sharing. ■