ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries N ovem ber 1984 / 541 The changing role of libraries in higher education: A symposium at Northern Illinois Academic librarians and university adm inistra­ tors m et at N orthern Illinois University, DeKalb, on Septem ber 17-18, 1984, to identify and discuss the challenges th a t their libraries will face in the next decade. The NIU symposium was unique in th a t it offered a forum for both library and univer­ sity adm inistrators to share their views on cam pus­ w ide inform ation issues. “A dm inistrative Perspectives on the C hanging Role of Libraries in H igher Education: C ritical Is­ sues and Challenges for the 80s” was sponsored by the NIU Office of the Provost and the University Libraries. N ineteen pairs of library directors and adm inistrators from universities across the conti­ nent p articipated. The keynote speakers w ere Robert W allhaus, deputy director for academ ic and health affairs of the Illinois Board of H igher E ducation; and Ro­ derick T. Groves, deputy director of academ ic af­ fairs of the Illinois Board of Regents. Both speakers addressed trends in higher education w hich are af­ fecting academ ic libraries, including shifts in de­ m ography, th e increasing use of com puter n e t­ works, and the im petus for educational reform . The influence of state legislation was examined by T he H onorable Jim E dgar (Illinois Secretary of State and state lib rarian of Illinois) and E .J. Josey (chief of the B ureau of L ibrary Specialist Services for the New York State L ibrary, and 1984-85 presi­ dent of ALA). E dgar highlighted the support for resource sharing th a t the state has given its state university system, m aking the University of Illi­ nois, C h a m p a ig n -U rb a n a , th e larg est “ public- acad em ic lib r a r y ” in Illinois. An increasingly college-educated public, he said, m ust have free access to academ ic library m aterials through n et­ works housed in local public libraries. Josey reviewed the history of New York State’s aid to research libraries, culm inating in this year’s $1.3 million in annual grants to assist in regional autom ation projects, and $1.1 million in annual grants for preservation and conservation of re ­ search m aterials. M aurice Glicksman, provost and dean of the fac­ ulty a t B row n U niversity, and M errily T aylor, Brown University librarian, spoke on the im pact of com puter literacy on libraries and librarians. “One byproduct of increasing com puter literacy even in such traditional areas as the hum anities,” Glick­ sm an said, “is m ore of an interest in interdiscipli­ nary work. ” Im peratives for change in academ ic li­ b ra rie s , he a d d e d , w ill be m o re in s titu tio n a l cooperation and less concern about pride of ow ner­ ship. Taylor saw librarians as taking a m ore active M errily Taylor at the N IU Sym posium . role in p la n n in g for in form ation m anagem ent. Since they have perhaps a better grasp of reality versus theory in in fo rm atio n control, lib rarian s m ust ensure th a t new technologies have built into them the safeguards inherent in traditional for­ mats. W ill the com puter fulfill the scholarly need to browse? W ill it be able to access Mark T w ain for users who ask for Samuel Clemens? Will current databases be kept for 20 years for future historians? “A lib rarian ’s knowledge m ay be unique in the uni­ versity,” Taylor said, “and m ay be m ore im p o rtan t th a n technical expertise alone.” Theodore W elch, N IU ’s director of libraries, re­ viewed the lib rary ’s crucial ability to com pete suc­ cessfully for available funds. “Each library should have its ow n fundraising office w ith a liaison to the cam pus Office for D evelopm ent,” he said. W elch recom m ended th a t someone w ith library expertise should staff th e office, as “it is easier to teach grantsm anship to a lib rarian th a n it is to teach li­ b rary skills to a fundraiser.” The University of W isconsin-Parkside was rep ­ resented by C arla Stoffle, who is com pleting a six- year to u r of duty as assistant chancellor for educa­ tional services, and H annelore Rader, director of th e lib ra ry /le a rn in g center. Stoffle em phasized th a t lib rarian s are still in th e lib ra ry business, w h ich encom passes in fo rm a tio n m a n a g e m e n t. “Technology will not drastically change w h a t we d o ,” she said, “b u t it will help advance it.” She added th a t one change m ight be to fill the aca­ dem ic posts of vice-president for inform ation or com puter technology w ith librarians, especially if there are no qualifying h ard w are specialists. Rader said th a t for a library to deal successfully w ith tech­ 542 / C&RL News nology it is essential to have good cooperation be­ tw een the library and the academic adm inistra­ tion, a situation th a t has worked well at Parkside. O ther speakers at th e NIU symposium were: Hiroki Kato, professor of Japanese language at N orthwestern University, who highlighted the dif­ ferences between U.S. and Japanese academic fac­ ulty; Nancy Brown, university librarian at the Uni­ v e rsity of S a s k a tc h e w a n , w h o spoke on th e eo-existence of hierarchical and collegial govern­ ance structures in academic libraries; Joe Boissé, university librarian at the University of C alifornia, Santa B arbara, who talked about collective b a r­ gaining (“its prim ary advantage is th a t it creates a new pow er base of unionized lib rarian s ’); and Paul Vassallo, dean of library services at the Uni­ versity of New Mexico, who emphasized the neces­ sity for adequate planning strategies for academic inform ation systems. N orthern Illinois is exploring the possibility of having another symposium on the same topic some tim e in the future. ■ ■ H igher E d u cation Act revision du e in 1 9 8 5 By N ancy K ra n ich N ew York University Chair, A C R L Legislation C om m ittee A C R L ’s Legislation Committee grapples with the definition of a “needy library. ” T h e Higher Education Act will expire on Sep­ tem ber 30,1985. Although the Act is subject to au ­ tom atic extension, it is highly likely to be consid­ ered for revision by th e next Congress. Several a tte m p ts a t revision w e re in itia te d la st y ear. C aught in a debate over student aid, the bill never moved out of committee. Among the other contro­ versial parts of the bill was the College L ibrary Re­ sources Program (H E A II-A )—a program th a t was not funded at all in the FY 1984 budget. The original purpose of Title II-A was to provide grants to academic libraries to assist in the m ainte­ nance and im provem ent of th eir lib rary collec­ tions, and to enable them to share resources and participate in library networks. W hile the program allotted only $890 per institution in FY 1983, it has been authorized to expend up to $10,000 per appli­ can t. Since its in cep tio n in 1966, over 45,000 awards have been granted, w ith an annual p artici­ pation of 2,500 academic libraries, resulting in a cum ulative contribution exceeding $196 million for acquisitions. Congressional reluctance to continue to fund HEA II-A has stemmed from a belief th a t the p ro ­ gram m ust be need-based and not just provide equal and m inimal sums of money to any academic library th a t applies for support. Indeed, m any li­ braries have benefited greatly from this program in the past; those not currently m eeting even the m in­ imal standards for adequacy of library resources (estimated at half of all four-year college libraries in a recent analysis) could make significant prog­ ress tow ard upgrading their resources if funds were available once again. A renew ed program could