ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

News from the Field

Mary Ellen Davis

Innovative Interfaces and netLibrary establish alliance

Innovative Interfaces and netLibrary announced an alliance to integrate the use of eBooks with Innovative’s automated library systems (INNOPAC and Millennium). Under the agreement, Innovative will develop additional features to enable its software to automatically notify interested libraries of the availability of specific netLibrary eBooks, and to enable libraries to purchase eBooks electronically. Full MARC records for netLibrary eBooks may also be loaded into the library catalog with access to the eBook. Preview access (such as the ability to view the table of contents, the first few chapters, etc.) may also be provided.

Regents College teams with Johns Hopkins to create virtual library

Regents College and the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University have joined forces to create the Regents College Virtual Library (RCVL).

At the heart of the new library services available to Regents students are electronic reference materials, reference librarian services via e-mail or toll-free phone, online bibliographic databases, Web-based general and discipline-specific reading rooms. Special services, such as home delivery of print-based materials and personalized research services, are available on a per-use fee basis.

Because Regent students so value the flexibility of their degree programs, making library services available at any time, from virtually any place, “is one of the most important and exciting benefits that we have been able to offer our students,” said C. Wayne Williams, president of Regents College.

“RCVL will operate as an auxiliary enterprise, providing Johns Hopkins with valuable experience in delivering electronic collections and services to students participating in the innovative, distance-learning degree programs at Regents College,” said James

G. Neal, dean of university libraries and Sheridan director at Johns Hopkins University. “This collaboration will serve as a model for quality academic support service through technology while preserving personal touch and professional oversight.”

Regents College (www.regents.edu) is a degree-granting institution designed for adults who choose to complete their college degrees in a self-paced, portable manner. A private institution, Regents has pioneered in distance learning, since its founding in 1971.

University at Albany campaign tops $3 million goal

Thanks to the generosity of more than 3,000 donors and to a $500,000 challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation, the University at Albany, SUNY, has raised $3.8 million in private funds to help equip its libraries as state-of-the-art interchanges on the information superhighway.

Launched in April 1998, the campaign for the libraries sought to raise $3 million by the end of 1999 and thereby earn a $500,000 Kresge challenge grant. At the end of 1999, donors had given $3,302,291, which with the Kresge grant raised the final total to $3,802,291.

The library project was the result of a private-public partnership. New York State provided $26.6 million to construct and equip a new library housing science collections, special collections and archives, and the university’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The campaign sought $3.5 million in private support to fully update and coordinate the new building with the University at Albany’s other two libraries.

Kappa Waugh

Expand your knowledge base with ACRL preconferences

Keep up with the rapid changes in academic librarianship by attending an ACRL preconference at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago on July 7. Choose from workshops on licensing, advocacy, instruction, technology, and rare books. Details may be found at http://www.ala.org/acrl/confhp.html.

Navy Department Library celebrates 200th birthday

The Navy Department Library took the occasion of its 200th anniversary in March 2000 to review its history. Established just three weeks before the Library of Congress, the library traces its roots to a March 31, 1800, letter from President John Adams to Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert directing him to establish a library that would contain “… the best writing… on the theory and practice of naval architecture, navigation, gunnery …” From unique signal books, including Thomas Truxtun’s personal copy of Instructions, Signals and Explanations … (1797), to scrapbooks, like the 1936 “FDR Trip Aboard the USS Indianapolis, the library’s holdings provide an eclectic array of historical material documenting the country’s naval heritage. Located in the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., the library is open to the public (http://navylibrary.nhc.navy.mil). ■