ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

The impact of electronic reserves on reference services

Sherratt Library of Southern LJtah University initiated its electronic reserves program in the summer of 1999 with the goal of eliminating paper reserves while improving the accessibility, integrity, and management of the reserve collection.

Sherratt Library serves 6,000 FTE students in a variety of undergraduate and four master’s degree programs. E-reserves would include photocopies of articles, syllabi, quizzes and tests, but not books.

Although we were convinced of the benefits of e-reserves, we recognized that much of tire burden of providing sendee would shift from the circulation desk to the reference desk. With 13,561 reserve transactions annually (including books), we were concerned about the impact on reference service.

Our reserve statistics did rise dramatically. There was an increase of 60 percent over the previous year, based on hits received by the e-reserves Web page. However, evidence suggests that e-reserves questions did not place an undue burden on the reference desk and did not diminish other reference service to students.

We attribute this favorable outcome to three causes. First, the library’s e-reserves are easy to locate on the Web and easy to use. Second, our students are more familiar with electronic resources generally and therefore had little problem with e-reserves. Third, the library’s e-reserves handout, which was very popular, gave sufficient information to answer most questions.

The library’s experience with e-reserves has been a positive one, even though we did have to purchase a larger hard drive for the library’s server. It saved time for circulation staff without burdening reference staff. Most important, it has provided greatly improved access to a better product for students.— Scott Lanning, Southern Utah University,lanning@suu.edu

ALA reacts to events of September 11

ALA, in expressing its deepest sympathies to those affecting by the September 11 tragedies, has pointed out the ways in which libraries can be important resources during these stressful times. Free Internet access, computers and databases, directories and other information can all assist the public.

ALA has also joined with the American Association of Law Libraries and the Association of Research Libraries in expressing its concern to members of Congress that privacy and First Amendment rights be weighed while developing measures to assure national security.

To guide librarians who may be approached by investigators, ALA has made available a series of questions and answers about the confidentiality and privacy of library records.

All of these materials can be seen at http://www.ala.org/pio/crisis/index.html/.

Resignation to protest journal policies and costs

Forty members of the editorial board of Machine Learning Journalbswe resigned in protest of that journal’s policies and costs. The board members, in a letter to colleagues in the discipline of machine learning, explained that despite the possibility of easy circulation of articles via the Internet, Machine Learning Journal restricts access to those willing to pay a yearly fee of $1,050 (institutions) or $120 for individuals.

The board members commend to their colleagues a new journal in their field Journal of Machine Learning Research (JMLR), created “based on a new vision of the journal publication process in which the editorial board and authors retain significant control over the journal’s content and distribution.” They point out that articles published in JMLR are freely available, with no limits or conditions, at the journal’s Web site.

JMLRis a partner journal of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) and joins other journals in science in moving to low-cost publication alternatives. The board members refer their colleagues to the SPARC Web site at http://www.arl.org/sparc for further information and examples.

Support for @ your library campaign

Milner Library at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, has joined ALA’s @ your library campaign by distributing pencils, pen lights, bookmarks, and other useful items with the Milner Library logo to incoming students this fall.

Brightly designed in the school colors of red and white, the free merchandise tells students to “Power up @ your library” and provides students with the library Web address. Student newspaper ads, a poster-size calendar of events, and a student planner given to first-year and transfer students were also part of the campaign.

The Campaign for America’s Libraries is a five-year public education campaign sponsored by ALA, and signified by the phrase @ your library. Illinois State’s Assistant to - the Dean for Grant Writing, Development and Public Relations, Toni Tucker, decided to join the ALA campaign after attending its first training session.

Deborah Davis, manager of the Campaign for America’s Libraries, praises the Milner Library promotion as a great example for other academic libraries. Other libraries that use the campaign in their public relations efforts are encouraged to send examples to: Sara Groves, ALA Public Information Office, 50 E. Huron, Chicago, IL 60Ó11. Librarians can send campaign questions or requests to e-mail: atyourlibrary@ala.org. ■