ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

ACRL actions, June 1984

The Board of Directors of the Association of College and Research Libraries met twice during the ALA Annual Conference in Dallas: on Saturday, June 23, 1984, and Tuesday, June 26, 1984.

Activity Sections/Board relationship

The Board accepted and endorsed portions of recommendations by the Task Force on Activity Sections/Board Relationship:

First, that membership on the ACRL Board of Directors (excluding the three officers and three exofficio positions) be reduced from eight to seven, these slots to be filled by election from paired nominations (staggered) as follows: one pair nomimated by ULS; one pair nominated by CLS; one pair nominated by CJCLS; two pairs nominated by the Activity Sections Council; two pairs nominated by the Chapters Council. This arrangement would effectively replace the current system of six members from the type-of-library sections, and one member each from the Activity Sections and Chapters Council. The Board then referred the recommendation to the Constitution and Bylaws Committee with the instruction that it be translated into appropriate constitutional language for adoption by the ACRL membership. As with all changes to the ACRL Constitution, this motion requires one more approval by the Board at the next Midwinter Meeting as well as ratification by ACRL membership.

Second, that each section be encouraged to appoint or elect a Board of Directors liaison officer who would be responsible for attending all meetings as an observer and who would receive a Board agenda at the same time as Board members.

A Task Force recommendation that each ACRL member be allowed to join any two sections of ACRL without surcharge was not approved. The Board then disbanded the Task Force with thanks and voted to appoint a new Task Force to explore the issues raised by the proposal that was not passed.

Association for Educational Communication and Technology

The Board approved a motion to approach AECT on the setting up of a formal liaison in the form of a joint committee. The Community and Junior College Library Section was mentioned as the ACRL unit most likely to carry out the function.

Audiovisual materials

The Board endorsed the proposal of the Resources and Technical Services Division’s Audiovisual Committee that an ad hoc interdivisional committee be established within ALA to promote Cataloging in Publication for audiovisual materials.

Bibliographic Instruction Liaison Project

The Board instructed the ACRL office staff to explore ways to provide office support for the activities undertaken by the BI Liaison Project Officer and to negotiate for continuation of the press kits.

Budget and Finance Committee

The Board approved the 1984-85 budget for ACRL and Choice submitted by the Budget and Finance Committee. (A summary of these budgets will appear in an upcoming issue of C&RL News.)

Planning Committee

The Board endorsed and supported the planning process for ACRL described in the document “A Proposed Planning Process for the Association of College and Research Libraries” (this proposal appears on pp.396-401 of this issue of C&RL News'). The Board then approved the creation of a Strategic Planning Task Force, as recommended by the Planning Committee.

Professional Association Liaison Committee

The Board established a new standing committee, based on the recommendation of the Bibliographic Instruction Section and the Planning Committee, that will have a Board mandate to bring ACRL’s many interests before other professional associations.

Publications Committee

The Board approved the recommendation of the Publications Committee that the Board will not act on any proposals for new ACRL publications or substantial revisions in current publications without first consulting the Publications Committee.

Rare Books and Manuscripts Section

The Board approved the RBMS request for a 1985 preconference on “Changing Values and Rarity” to be held in Chicago.

A request to establish an RBMS Award for Exhibition Catalogues was referred back to the RBMS Executive Committee.

Research Development Committee

The Board voted to establish an Ad Hoc Committee on Research Development that will work with existing groups to aid research.

Standards and Accreditation Committee

The Board rescinded the ACRL Guide to Methods of Library Evaluation issued in 1968, and approved a June 1984 edition of the ACRL Policies and Procedures Manual.

Task Forces

The Board approved extending the charge of the Task Force for the Support of New Committee Members and Committee Chairs until June 1986.

The Board also accepted the reports of the Task Forces on Library Schools and Academic Libraries, and on the Research Needs of Academic/Research Libraries, thanked the members for their work, and referred the reports to the ACRL Planning Committee to analyze and refer to the appropriate units.

The Task Force on Performance Measures recommended to the Board that ACRL support the development of a manual for the collection of performance measures for academic libraries and that an ACRL committee on performance measures be established to monitor work on the manual. The Board accepted the Task Force’s report, referred it to the Planning Committee for comment, discharged the Task Force with thanks, and established an Ad Hoc Committee on Performance Measures for Academic Libraries.

Academic or Research Librarian of the Year Award

The Association of College and Research Libraries invites nominations for the Academic or Research Librarian of the Year Award, presented jointly by ACRL and the Baker & Taylor Company. Anyone wishing to submit nominations should send the form on the following page to ACRL/ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611- 2795.

Recipients of the award since its inception in 1978 have been Keyes D. Metcalf and Robert B. Downs (1978); Henriette D. Avram and Frederick G. Kilgour (1979); Evan I. Farber (1980); Beverly P. Lynch (1981); William Budington (1982); Richard M. Dougherty (1983); and Richard D. Johnson (1984).

The Award Committee selects persons to receive the award in accordance with the following guidelines:

Purpose: To recognize an individual member of the library profession who is making an outstanding national or international contribution to academic or research librarianship and library development.

Criteria: Individuals nominated should have demonstrated achievements in such areas as:

1. Service to the organized profession through ACRL and related organizations.

2. Significant and influential research on academic or research library service.

3. Publication of a body of scholarly and/or theoretical writing contributing to academic or research library development.

4. Planning and implementing a library program of such exemplary quality that it has served as a model for others.

The nominee does not have to meet all of the above criteria.

Rules: The award shall be made each year at a time and place to be determined by the ACRL Board of Directors. Announcement of the award shall be made by the ACRL president at a time and place to be determined by the ACRL Board of Directors. If, in the opinion of the Award Committee, no worthy candidate is nominated in a given year, the award will not be presented that year.

Richard Johnson receives the 1984 award in Dallas.

Nominations: Nominations for the award must be returned to the chair of the Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award Committee and must be postmarked no later than December 1, 1984. Nominations must be submitted in quintuplicate and should be accompanied by a statement of supporting reasons and a copy of the nominee’s resume. Please do not solicit supporting letters seconding your nomination. Such letters will not be considered in the Award Committee’s decision.

Nature of the award: The Academic or Research Librarian of the Year Award shall consist of $2,000 and an appropriate citation.

The Award Committee for 1984 consists of the following persons: Patricia G. Oyler (chair), Associate Professor, Simmons College, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 300 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115; Cynthia B. Duncan, Dean of Library Services, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23508; Elinor Ebeling, 228 Clubhouse Drive, Middletown, NJ 07748; David Kaser, 2402 Rock Creek Drive, Bloomington, IN 47401; William A. Moffett, Director of Libraries, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH 44074; Charles B. Osburn, Dean and University Librarian, Central Library, University of Cincinnati, University and Woodside, Cincinnati, OH 45221.