ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

ACRL preconferences in Nashville

Gain practical new skills you can apply in your library

ACRL is offering the following preconfer- ences prior to its 8th National Conference in Nashville, April 11–14, 1997. Select one or more of these seminars and gain practical new tools that can benefit your library. Update your knowledge with topics such as digitizing collections, fundraising, preferred futures, the learning organization, using digital information, designing the library building of the future, tech- nical services workstations, new learning com- munities, and providing data services. Check future issues of C&RL News for additional preconferences. Unless otherwise noted, preconferences will be held in the Convention Center or a conference hotel.

Friday, April 11 8:30 a.m.—3:30p.m.

Preferred Library Futures

It is possible for you and your staff to create the futures you prefer for your organization. One need not be a captive to the futures the experts predict. Why do we presume they are prescient? You can take control, envision where you want your library to be, and develop strategies to get there. Attend this preconference and gain practical tools you can use back home to move your organization toward its preferred future. The process is both creative in nature and practical in outcome. Attendees will return home with problem-solving processes they can use in a variety of situations. Attendees will also gain insight about organizational change. For example, what are the conditions that must be present before an organization is likely to change? Presenter; Richard Dougherty, an academic librarian who is currently a professor in the School of Information at the University of Michigan and associated with the Lippitt Planned Change Institute. Dougherty has worked with many groups of librarians, provosts, computing professionals, publishers, etc. He also works with individual libraries in the public and academic sectors. He has conducted preferred futuring workshops in Ireland, England, Denmark, South Africa, and Israel.

$150 ACRL members; $180 ALA members; $220 nonmembers

Friday, April 11 1:00–4:30 p.m.

Georeferenced Information in a Digital World: Putting your Library on the Map

Learn how to effectively and efficiently use vital demographic, geographic, and environmental information available in a digital form, and how to find out about maps, aerial photographs, and satellite images over the World Wide Web. This hands-on workshop (each participant will work at a computer with an Internet connection) will examine the Alexandria Digital Library (one of six NSF/ARPA/NASA Digital Library Initiatives) that focuses on online access to spatial data and other georeferenced information. You will learn how to find spatial data in digital form on the Web; and how to identify software, hardware, and staff requirements for dealing with online access to spatial data. Presenters: Joseph Boisse, university librarian, University of California, Santa Barbara; Terence Smith, executive director, Alexandria Digital Library; Randall Kemp, digital-data librarian, Alexandria Digital Library; Mary Lynette Larsgaard, assistant head, Map and Imagery Lab, University of California, Santa Barbara. Location: Vanderbilt University. Enrollment limited to first 31 registrants.

$65 ACRL members; $75 ALA members; $85 nonmembers

Friday, April 11 1:00—4:30p.m.

Building the New Age Library

If you are charged with building or renovating a library building, you need to consider how some of the changes experienced by higher education—such as the increasing use of technology, collaborative learning styles, the in668/C&RL News crease in interdisciplinary studies, the expansion of delivery to distance learners, and the evolution of the lifelong learner—play out on your campus and how the library building can contribute to the evolution of the university into 21st-century institutions. This involves a great deal more than putting technology in libraries, and it challenges some of our basic assumptions about the library as a place of quiet study and contemplation, and as a depository of the world’s wisdom. This preconference will examine new ways of thinking about library buildings, provide practical examples of how to plan the library building of the future, and share concrete information about what has worked and what hasn’t. George Mason University’s Johnson Center Library—a library sharing space in a building with food services, bookstore, computer labs, movie theater, and an innovative undergraduate program—will be the central case study of the program. Designers of the building will trace its evolution from the initial concept through the first year of occupancy and discuss the influence of the various factors having an impact on higher education and libraries. Presenters: Charlene S. Hurt, director of libraries, George Mason University; Philip Tompkins, director of libraries, Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis; and Geoffrey Freeman and Wendall Wickerham of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott.

$75 ACRL members; $85 ALA members; $95 nonmembers

Friday, April 11 8:30 a.m.–4:30p.m.

Funding Our Future: Fundraising Strategies for Libraries

Learn how you can raise the funds your library needs to achieve its preferred future. This preconference will start with the basics of organizing a new library development program, annual funds, major gifts, and campaigns, and continue through advanced topics such as unique ways of acknowledging library donors. Participants will gain insight into the mechanics and the art-and-science of fundraising for libraries, strategies for implementing and strengthening already existing fundraising programs, and sharing ideas for new ways to raise money. Ways to fine-tune traditional methods of raising money and acknowledging library contributions will also be covered. Presenters: Four seasoned fundraisers who chose the world of libraries: Adam Corson-Finnerty, director of development, University of Pennsylvania;

Gwendolyn Leighty, development officer, Smithsonian Institution Libraries; Michele Fletcher, director of development, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and Lynn Trojahn, director of development, University of New Mexico.

$135 ACRL members; $160 ALA members; $190 nonmembers

Friday, April 11 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

The Learning Organization: Developing Skills to Work in Teams and Solve Problems

This workshop will explore the three disciplines of the learning organization which focus more directly on the individual’s role and contribution: mental models, personal mastery, and team learning. Participants will learn how to question assumptions, how to engage in meaningful dialogue to develop a better understanding of problems and to solve them, and how to improve both interpersonal and team communication. Although the context is the learning organization model, the workshop will be useful to anyone interested in improving his or her understanding of and skills in interpersonal interaction and communication. Speakers: Shelley E. Phipps, assistant dean for team facilitation, University of Arizona, and Maureen Sullivan, organizational devlopment consultant, Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Both speakers have experience in helping libraries explore how to become learning organizations. $125 ACRL/ARL members; $150 ALA members; and $175 nonmembers. (Offered by ARL; use separate registration form.)

Friday, April 11 8:00 a.m.–4:00p.m.

Seizing the High Ground: (Re)Creating Technical Services with Smart Machines and Networked Librarians

The Technical Services Workstation, suitably outfitted with electronic tools and in conjunction with the Internet and Z39.50, promises to revolutionize the future of technical services operations into a tightly integrated processing environment. This revolution will not happen without planning and training and a thorough understanding of the evolving technology and its implications for human and machine resources. The experts assembled for this preconference—a potent mix of theorists, developers, and practitioners—will address these issues within an overall perspective and place them squarely within the context of the challenges facing academic libraries. Learn how to

November 1996/669address staff training issues, see examples of productivity enhancements developed in real settings, and gain a vision of the future of technical services. (Note: this preconference, sponsored by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), has been completely updated from previous presentations in the ALCTS TSW institute series.) Speakers: Howard Harris, vice-president, RMG Consultants; Bruce Johnson, senior library information systems analyst, Library of Congress; Michael Kaplan, head, database management and coordinator for OCLC/RLIN operations, Harvard College; David Williamson, senior descriptive cata- loger, Library of Congress; and Diane Vizine-Goetz, consulting research scientist, OCLC. $145 ACRL/ALCTS members; $195 ALA members; and $245 nonmembers

Friday, April 11 8:30 a.m.—12:00 p.m.

User Needs: Service Models for Data Libraries

Collections of machine-readable numeric data pose a new challenge for the library. Many academic libraries have begun developing digital collections (images and electronic text). These collections may require individualized assistance from the data library staff forcing us to develop a new model of service. Using the Social Sciences Data Center at the University of Virginia as a backdrop, this preconference will explore service issues associated with data libraries, and will give participants the opportunity to discuss similar projects and initiatives in their own institutions. You will learn about financial and staffing issues, how to determine user needs for data and service, and examine service models. You will also be able to identify technological and programming requirements as well as opportunities for innovation and partnership. Speaker: Patrick Yott, coordinator of social sciences data services, University of Virginia.

$65 ACRL members; $75 ALA members; $85 nonmembers

Friday, April 11 1:30–5:00p.m.

Digitizing Archival Collections

Learn how to digitize your archival collections for online distribution. The Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers and the Thomas A. Edison Papers—two documentary projects digitizing their collections for online access—will be used to discuss and demonstrate their approaches to putting digitally processed archival materials online. The Pauling Papers, an archival collection at Oregon State University, is establishing an electronic archive that includes typed and handwritten material, using proprietary software to organize the archive and optical characters recognition to index the large number of typewritten documents in the collection. The Edison Papers, a documentary publishing project that has published a selective edition of the full Edison archive in microfilm and a more selective edition of transcriptions in printed volumes, is scanning its film to create images of the documents. The Edison project will eventually provide SGML-tagged text, including editorial material now in its published volumes as well as document transcriptions linked to document images. Speakers: Robert Rosenberg, director, Thomas A. Edison Papers, Rutgers University; Cliff Mead, special collections librarian, and Ramesh S. Krishnamurthy, project director, Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers, Oregon State University.

$65 ACRL members; $75 ALA members; $85 nonmembers

Friday, April 11 8:30 a.m.—4:30p.m.

New Learning Communities: Collaboration through Technology

This preconference will focus on the process of forming successful New Learning Communities through partnerships of faculty, librarians, information technologists, and others. Presentations by team members and educational leaders will help participants gain an understanding of the concepts involved in successful collaborations; exposed them to examples of New Learning Communities in which student involvement and the teaching/learning process are emphasized; and see projects from model programs. The University of Washington’s UWired project will be used as a case study to illustrate one approach to bringing technology into the service of teaching and learning. Characteristics of the new learning community, how to create a learning environment, and assessment and evaluation will be covered. Speakers: Philip Tompkins, Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI); Randy Hensley, University of Hawaii; Mary McMahon, Gettysburg College; Susan Perry, Mt. Holyoke College; Betsy Wilson, Andi Bartelstein, Bunny Laden, and Anne Zald, University of Washington; Karen Williams, University of Arizona; Peggy Seiden, Skidmore College; and Mary Jane Petrowski, Colgate University.

$150 ACRL members; $180 ALA members; $220 nonmembers