ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Letters

Information for administrators

To the Editor:

As a librarian who has crossed over into another area of information services, I was particularly pleased to see the article, “Information for Administrators,” in the January issue of C&R.L News. Technologies will present librarians with ever expanding opportunities to provide information support to college and university administrators.

I would encourage, however, that we not limit ourselves to isolated support of the administrative function. Rather, we should take the initiative to become part of Strategic Information Systems (SIS) and Decision Support Systems (DSS) being developed at many universities. By incorporating our services with those provided by other campus information providers, we can truly have an impact on decision-making at the highest organizational levels.—Judith A. Copier, Manager of Information Technology Planning.

Backlogged books

To the Editor:

Since the middle sixties the Orange Public Library (New Jersey) has been organizing and displaying its non-fiction backlog by accession number. (A backlog assures a constant flow of books for the cataloger, maximizing the cataloger’s time.)

After a book is received, the ply of the order form previously filled by title as an “on order” notice is replaced with another ply of the order form now bearing the accession number (see my “Backlog to Frontlog,” Library Journal, September 15, 1969). Daniel Gore seized upon this idea and adapted it for Macalester College. Gore provided rough subject classification to the Frontlog by preceding the accession numbers with the LC class letters (see Gore’s “In Hot Pursuit of FASTCAT,” Library Journal, September 1, 1973).

Displaying the backlog makes new books browsable, and browsing is a major factor in book circulation. At the Orange Public Library I find that new books in almost all subjects circulate more than old books. Many of our Frontlog books circulate more with a single title entry than they do when they get their proper classification number and full catalog entry.

“Ask at Reference for Backlogged Books,” C&RL News, January 1988, pp. 12-15, implies that books do not lose their usefulness with age. I find the opposite is the case: circulation of books in most subjects weakens with age. The prompt availability of new books is an enormous attraction for our users.

Trinity’s program provides access only if an author or title is known, it requires two trips (48 hours apart) to the library, and interaction with library staff. I’ll wager that if Trinity displayed its backlog in a public area they would have a far higher circulation than 103 books over a fifteen-month period from a collection of 8,000 to 25,000 books.— Marvin H. Scilken, Director, Orange (NJ.) Public Library. ■ ■

Nominations wanted for new Hugh Atkinson Memorial Award

Nominations and applications are sought by May 15, 1988, for the Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award newly established to honor Atkinson’s life and accomplishments. The award will recognize outstanding accomplishments by academic librarians working in library automation or management who have improved library service, development or research.

The annual award will be given for the first time at ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans this July. This first award consists of an unrestricted $2,000 cash prize and a plaque.

Individuals may nominate themselves or be nominated by others. To be eligible for the award the nominee must be a librarian employed in a university, college or community college library in the year prior to application for the award and must have a minimum of five years of professional experience in an academic library. The nominee must have demonstrated achievement (including risktaking) related to library automation or library management that has contributed significantly to improvements in the area of library automation, library management, and/or library development or research.

Those wishing to nominate someone (including themselves) for the award should write a letter outlining how the candidate meets the above criteria. Letters should be accompanied by a current copy of the candidate’s vita and should be sent to: Hugh Atkinson Memorial Award, ACRL/ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795. The deadline for nominations is May 15, 1988.

This new award is funded by an endowment, which at this time stands at $60,000, created by individual and vendor contributions given in memory of Hugh C. Atkinson. Additional funds are sought to bring the endowment to at least $100,000. Send your tax-deductible contributions to the Hugh Atkinson Memorial Award at the address above.

Hugh C. Atkinson was born on November 27, 1933, and died October 24, 1986. He was a graduate of St. Benedict’s College and of the Graduate Library School of the University of Chicago. He worked in the libraries of the University of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Military College, the State University of New York at Buffalo, Ohio State University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign (UIUC). Especially in the latter two institutions he established a reputation as one of the major innovators in modern librarianship.

“His ideas on library automation, on cooperation, and on the organization of libraries were a decade or more ahead of their time,” stated Michael Gorman, a long-time friend and colleague at UIUC, in the award proposal.

“In the UIUC Library, one of the largest libraries in the world, he oversaw innovations in each of these areas. He has been described as the ‘father’ of the Illinois LCS network (the most developed state-wide network of its kind in North America) and was certainly responsible for establishing an ethos of cooperation in the state of Illinois which has been of great benefit to the citizens of that state.

“Within the UIUC Library he was responsible for the creation of a major online catalog and for the reorganization of the administrative structure of that library, which has rapidly become the paradigm for many other major research libraries.

“Those who knew him will remember his vision, his kindness, and his individuality.”

The new award is jointly sponsored by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA), the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA), and the Resources and Technical Services Division (RTSD), four divisions of ALA.

For further information about the award, contact Michael Gorman, Chair, Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award 1988, University of Illinois, 246A Library, 1408 W. Gregory Dr., Urbana, IL 61801; (217) 333-0318; or Mary Ellen K. Davis, ACRL Program Officer, ACRL/ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; (312) 944-6780. ■ ■