ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries October 1996/565 N ews from the Field M a r y Ellen D a v is U n iv . o f V a . e x p lo r e s fu tu re o f ra r e b o o k s The economics of electronic versions of rare books is the subject of a two-year study being undertaken by the Uni­ versity o f Virginia Library. Sponsored by a $400,000 grant from the Andrew W. M ellon foundation, the project will compare usage and costs between electronic texts and original printed editions of rare early Ameri­ can fiction. As part of the study, 582 first editions of important novels and short stories will be digi­ tized and put on the World Wide Web. Called the Electronic Archive of Early American Fic­ tion, the online collection will include books published between 1775 and 1850. The books chosen for the project range from the earliest American novels, such as Susanna Rowson’s Charlotte (1791) through James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last o f the Mohicans, Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales o f the Grotesque and Arabesque, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter. All texts will be taken from rare first editions in the Barrett Collection and other collections in the Library’s Special Collections Department. “This project is an exciting opportunity to investigate how rare materials can be distrib­ uted widely through new computer technol­ ogy,” said Karin Wittenborg, uni­ versity librarian. She added that a major goal of the project is to see if rare research materials can be made available at a reason­ able cost on the Web. Two versions of each text will be made available on the Inter­ net. According to David Seaman, coordinator of the Electronic Text Center in the Library, “We plan to have computer images of each page o f each o f the 582 vol­ umes— 125,000 pages altogether. More importantly, there will be searchable texts. Look up a word like ‘liberty’ and you will get a list of quotations showing how authors in the early Republic were using that word.” Seaman can be reached for further inform ation at dms8f@ virginia.edu. S p r in g fo o t b a ll b e n e fits LS U lib r a r y The spring football game for the Louisiana State Uni­ versity (LSU) Tigers not only was the best attended spring game among the Southeastern Conference (SEC) universities, it was also a successful fundraiser for the LSU Libraries. The game in Tiger Stadium was free but sideline seats were sold with the proceeds— $34,000— going to the LSU Libraries. A pregame crawfish boil benefited scholarship funds. Jennifer Cargill, dean of LSU Libraries, said, “The game was a hoot. Next fall we are doing a fun run to start off the football season with 50% of the proceeds coming to the libraries. The rest of the money will be used to purchase comput­ ers for the Academic Center for Athletes.” P o s te r s e s s io n s s o u g h t fo r A C R L N a s h v ille c o n fe r e n c e Proposals for poster sessions are sought for ACRL’s 8th National Conference, “Choosing Our Futures,” April 11– 14, 1997, in Nashville. Poster sessions are informal presentations featuring successful solutions to problems and A screen image from the University o f Virginia’s Electronic Archive o f Early American Fiction. 566/C&RL News Call for p articip atio n in the Show case of Id eas— 1 9 9 7 ACRL P resid en t’s Program The 1997 ACRL President’s Program Plan­ ning Committee invites you to participate in a Showcase of Ideas as part of the program, “Imagining the Learning Library.” The program will be held Monday, June 30, 1997, at 2:00 p.m. during the ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco. The Showcase of Ideas promises to be an integral and exciting part of this program, whose speakers will include members of the Disney Imagineering Team. The program is being jointly sponsored by six ACRL sections: the Instruction Section, the College Libraries Section, the Community and Junior College Libraries Section, the Extended Campus Li­ brary Services Section, the Education and Behavioral Sciences Section, and the Asian, African, and Middle East Studies Section. The committee envisions the Showcase of Ideas as a forum in which librarians from all types o f college, university, and research li­ braries can present some of the forward-think­ ing and innovative ways they are communi­ cating the teaching mission of the library and creating learning environments in their insti­ tutions. Areas that may be of high interest to the ACRL community include: • collaborative learning initiatives and teaching projects; • integrated learning environments, either virtual or physical; • innovative tutorials or services, elec­ tronic, Web-based, or other; • marketing or public relations activities; • distance learning or reference services. Proposals that describe other ways of ex­ pressing the teaching and learning mission of the library are also welcome. The Showcase of Ideas will consist of informal presentations that can take the form of poster sessions or demonstrated papers. Presenters should be prepared to repeat the presentation several times. Each presentation should last about ten minutes, including time for questions. These interactive sessions will be a spectacular con­ clusion to the President’s Program. To submit a proposal, send a 250-word ab­ stract with your name, address, phone num­ ber, and e-mail address by December 31, 1996. If you would like to include photographs or other visual materials to support your proposal, please do so (indicate if your presentation will require access to electricity). Proposals will be accepted by mail, e-mail, or fax. The re­ view panel will consist of representatives from each of the sponsoring sections. The commit­ tee is looking forward to broad representa­ tion from the sections of ACRL. Send proposals to: Patricia Lovett, Biology Library, Jordan Hall A304, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405; (812) 855-9792; fax: (812) 855-6612; e-mail: plovett@indiana.edu. unique and innovative library-based projects with important lessons for the academic and research library commu­ nity. Submit a 250-word abstract and a completed program application (available on the World Wide Web at http://ala. org.acrl.html or in the “Call for Participation” insert in the January 1996 C&RL News) by N ovem ber 1, 1996, to: Janice Simmons-Welburn, Coordinator, Per­ sonnel & Diversity Programs, Univer­ AC RL sity of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, IA 8 t h N a t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e 52242-1420; e-mail: j-simmons- welburn@uiowa.edu. R e g is te r fo r N a s h v ille n o w a n d s a v e ! The advance registration package for ACRL’s 8th National Conference in Nashville, April 11-14, 1997, has been mailed to all ACRL members as well as additional academic librarians. You should receive your copy this month. A copy of the brochure and registration form have also been mounted on mailto:plovett@indiana.edu http://ala mailto:welburn@uiowa.edu October 1996/567 Southern Utah University’s new library fea­ tures a two-story reading room that offers library users a 50-mile view o f the valley. the ACRL Conference home­ page at http://www.ala org/acrl.html. Register by Janu­ ary 8 and save nearly 30% off the onsite registration ι fee. Early-bird registration for ACRL members is $225; for ALA per­ sonal members, $275; for nonmembers, $350 and for students, $95. Housing and airline reservations can also be made by calling ACRL’s official travel agent, Travel Technology, at (800) 355-8091 or (312) 527-7300. Don’t delay; regis­ ter today and get your choice o f hotels. To re­ quest a brochure contact Darlena Davis at (800) 545-2433 ext. 2519 or e-mail: ddavis@ala.org. R a d e r f e a t u r e d in in fo lit e r a c y t e le c a s t Hannelore Rader, director of the Cleveland State University Library since 1987, will examine new models for developing information skills in the electronic age during the telecast of “Exploring Internet 7: Information Literacy: Restructuring Learning in an Electronic Environment.” The event will be telecast Thursday, November 7, from 1:00– 3:00 p.m. (ET). To receive the tele­ cast or purchase a video of it, phone or fax D & F Associates, Inc., at (317) 580-9393 or e-mail: dfassoc@tbcnet.com. S o . U ta h U n iv . d e d ic a t e s n e w lib r a r y Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough gave the keynote address at the dedication of Southern Utah University’s new library last spring. The $10.4 million building has 80,500 square feet, 1,210 study stations, 44 biblio­ graphic access stations, 10 group study rooms, an electronic classroom, and capacity for 260,000 books. The building, designed by the architectural firm o f Fowler, Ferguson, Kingston & Reuben, features a two-story, rotunda-like reading room that offers an unobstructed view o f the valley. Diana Graff, dean of library services, said, “The grand reading room looks north over the val­ ley and you can see for 50 miles.” Also of interest is the garden-level Garden o f Symbols, created by David Phillips o f Cam­ bridge, Massachusetts, and funded by the Utah 1% for Art Program. The Garden depicts sym­ bols as communi­ cation through time. Water seeps from tw o sand­ stone spires that are visible from the entry level. U n iv . o f lo w a o p e n s In fo C o m m o n s . . . The University of Iowa’s Hardin Library for Health Sciences opened in late August its Information Commons, a 5,000- square-foot multimedia teaching facility with an electronic classroom that seats 50 and in­ cludes 25 workstations for students, faculty, and staff to use for class-related and independent projects. The goals o f the facility are to increase stu­ dent literacy o f electronic information, promote scholarly creativity through the use of new tech­ nologies and information resources for teach­ ing and research, and to encourage the inte­ gration o f innovative formation technologies in the curriculum. The $1.5 million dollar Information Com­ mons project is a cooperative project between University Libraries and the College o f Medi­ cine, with additional funding from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust. . . . a n d p u ts its in stru c tio n p r o g r a m o n th e W e b The University of Iowa (UI) Libraries’ computer- Sha re your lib rary’s new s C&RI News wants to hear about your library’s activities. Information in the “News from the Field,” “Grants & Acquisitions," and “People in the News” columns is gathered from press releases and notices we receive. If you don’t share your ideas and activities with us we can’t share them with C&RL News readers. Be sure to put C&RL News on your mailing list today. Send notices to the Editor, C&RL News, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 606 ll; or e-mail: medavis@ala.org. http://www.ala mailto:ddavis@ala.org mailto:dfassoc@tbcnet.com mailto:medavis@ala.org 568/C&RL News assisted instruction program, Library Explorer, is now available on the World Wide Web at http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/libexp/. Designed to engage UI students in independent, self-directed learning, Library Explorer on the Web helps people learn how to choose information sources, find appropriate tools, find books us­ ing the online catalog, and find periodicals us­ ing indexes. Library Explorer on the Web is hypertextual and can be perused like an elec­ tronic book; the program gives direct telnet ac­ cess to the UI Libraries’ online catalog. For more information on using Library Explorer, contact Marsha Forys at (319) 335-5301 or at marsha­ forys@uiowa.edu. A C R L ’ s In stru ctio n S e ctio n w a n t s y o u r co m m e n ts o n stra te g ic p la n ACRL’s Instruction Section (IS) is developing a new strategic plan that will provide direction for the section’s activities over the next several years. Like the recently adopted ACRL Strategic Plan on which it is modeled, the IS plan will be a dynamic document that will meet the chang­ ing needs o f library instruction. At meetings held in New York City during the ALA Annual Conference last June, the section's executive committee and advisory council reviewed and approved a draft for general circulation among ACRL members. The draft is available at http://www2. colgate.edu/instruction/. Please take time to review it and let the IS Advisory Council know what you think. There is still time to share your ideas on what you feel should be included in the new IS strategic plan and what direction IS should be taking over the next five years. Send your suggestions (by e-mail if possible) to Karen Williams, Social Sciences Team, Uni­ versity of Arizona Library, Tucson, AZ 85721- 0055; e-mail: kwilliam@bird.library.arizona.edu; phone: (520) 621-4865; fax: (520) 621-9733. O C L C in tro d u c e s B ib N o tific a tio n s e r v ic e OCLC has introduced Bib Notification, a ser­ vice that automatically delivers upgraded, full- level OCLC-MARC records to libraries that have previously attached their symbol to less-than- full bibliographic records. Bib Notification is available for all types of libraries. “The University of Maryland at College Park Libraries is excited to be among the first to use OCLC’s Bib Notification service,” said John ACRL seeks editor for book series, ACRL P u b lica tio n s in Librari a n s h ip ACRL is seeking applicants for the editor of its book series, Publications in Librarian­ sbip (PIL), which began in 1952 and has pro­ duced a number of noteworthy works rang­ ing from single-authored monographs to edited collections. These include Academic Libraries: Research Perspectives, edited by Mary Jo Lynch and Arthur Young (1990) and The Landscape o f Literatures, by Paul W. Metz (1983). The current editorial board is recruiting projects and the new editor will see some of these to publication as well as develop others. Responsibilities: Together with a four- to seven-member editorial board, the editor is charged with encouraging research and writ­ ing that is appropriate for the series, identify­ ing topics and authors for new books, refer­ eeing submissions, and editing manuscripts for publication. The new editor will serve on a volunteer basis and succeed Stephen E. Wiberley Jr., whose term ends in July 1998. The incoming editor will first serve as associate editor from September 1997 until June 1998. Requirements: ACRL membership is re­ quired. Candidates should have experience in research and writing, the ability to evalu­ ate submissions and edit manuscripts, talent in working with authors, and an understand­ ing of publishing. How to apply: Persons wishing to be con­ sidered for the five-year term as editor should communicate their interest, accompanied by a statement of qualifications and names of three references by December 1 to: Ann C. Schaffner, Gerstenzang Science Library, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02254. Additional information about the series is available from Stephen E. Wiberley Jr., UIC Library, Box 8198, m/c 234, Chicago, IL 60680- 8198; phone: (312) 996-2730; fax: (312) 413- 0424; e-mail: wiberley@uic.edu. http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/libexp/ mailto:forys@uiowa.edu http://www2 mailto:kwilliam@bird.library.arizona.edu mailto:wiberley@uic.edu October 1996/569 Cal Poly drew attention to its disposal o f the card catalog through a “Guess the Number o f Cards” contest and fundraising events. Schalow, head, Cataloging Department, UMCPL. “We are seeking ways to use our limited staff resources most efficiently while striv­ ing to get the books to the shelves faster and a bib­ liographic record into our local system sooner. By us­ ing Bib Notification, we can accept less-than-full cataloging records with the understanding that these records will be automati­ cally upgraded.” OCLC will scan the On­ line Union Catalog nightly to locate records that have been upgraded from minimal to full level through the Enhance or CONSER programs, tape updates from the Library o f Congress or other national libraries, or the merging of records. Minimal-level records that have been updated to full level will be moved to the Bib Notifica­ tion candidate file. OCLC will examine the can­ didate records to determine which Bib Notifi­ cation users currently hold a copy of these records and will deliver to each user a file of upgraded MARC records. Bib Notification will be offered free of charge to libraries through the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 1997. Ed ito r s o u g h t f o r C o lle g e L ib r a r ie s n e w s le t te r Applications and nominations are invited for the position of editor of the CLS Newsletter. A publication o f the College Libraries Section (CLS), the newsletter is issued, printed, and dis­ tributed twice yearly by ACRL. Responsibilities: The editor solicits, edits, and writes news announcements and longer articles o f interest to the members of the section. The incoming editor will assume full responsibility for the Newsletter after the 1997 ALA Annual Conference. The appointment is for a two-year term with the possibility o f one two-year re­ newal. Requirements: ACRL/CLS membership is re­ quired. The successful applicant will have pre­ vious editing experience, access to and knowl­ edge of appropriate word processing or desktop publishing software, and must attend the ALA Annual Conferences and Midwinter Meetings. He or she will serve as an ex officio mem­ ber o f the CLS Communications Committee and attend its meetings. How to apply: The deadline for receipt of applications is December 16, 1996. Nomina­ tions, letters o f application relating experience to the duties of the position, and resumes should be sent to: Larry R. Oberg, CLS Chair-elect, Mark O. Hatfield Library, Willamette Univer­ sity, 900 State St., Salem, OR 97301; (503) 370- 6561; fax: (503) 370-6141; e-mail: loberg@ willamette.edu. Applications will be reviewed by the CLS Communications Committee at the Midwinter Meeting in February 1997, and the successful candidate will be announced thereafter. C a l P o ly r e tire s c a r d c a t a lo g w ith co n te st The Kennedy Library at California Polytechnic State University celebrated the end o f an era as it disposed of its card catalogs last spring. Al­ though the library automated its catalog and stopped filing cards in the drawers in 1989, the card catalogs were kept as a backup. To highlight the change to total dependence on its online system, PolyCat, the library filled an exhibit case with catalog cards and offered a $100 gift certificate from the university’s book­ store to the one submitting the closest estimate. The winning guess was 28,813 cards— only 400 more than the actual 28,413 cards displayed. Other events included a card catalog build­ ing contest, a silent auction o f the catalog cabi­ nets, and construction of a permanent wall of recognition on which the names o f donors will be displayed on the front of catalog draw­ ers. ■