ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


364 /C&RL News

A  bridge between ACRL and 
other organizations

By Elaine Coppola, Norma Hervey, and Susanna Bartmann Pathak

Reports to ACRL ’s Professional 
Liaison Committee

T he initial intent o f ACRL in establishing thProfessional Liaison Committee was to en
courage members to offer papers and poste
sessions, participate on panels at professional
meetings, and/or publish in journals o f othe
professional organizations. For some years in
the 1980s, competitive funds were available t
support building stronger links to other groups
in higher education.1 While funding is no longer
available, the committee continues to encour­
age and monitor liaison activities.

In response to a request from committe
chair Barbara Ford (Virginia Commonwealth
University), the committee recently received a
number o f written reports from official ACR
liaisons. The committee believes that their ac
tivities are o f interest to all ACRL members who
like ACRL president Tom Kirk (Berea College),
place importance on networking as a way o
sharing our strengths and enhancing our abil
ity to achieve mutual goals.

The ACRL liaison reports
The Modern Language Association. ACRL 
has two official liaisons to the Modern Languag
A ssociation  o f  Am erica (M L A ): Susanna
Bartmann Pathak (Johns Hopkins University)
and William Gargan (Brooklyn College). Among
their liaison activities are encouraging ACRL
members to join and participate in the MLA
attending the MLA annual conventions and re
porting on programs, projects, and other issues
at a variety o f ALA meetings and on electroni

e 
­
r 
 

r 
 

o 
 
 

e 
 
 

L 
­
, 
 
f 
­

e 
 
 
 
 
; 
­
 

c

discussions lists when relevant; and participat­
ing in the MLA’s programs and activities. One 
special area o f participation is with the MLA 
International Bibliography. Several members 
o f ACRL’s English and American Literature Dis­
cussion Group index for the Bibliography and 
a large group (25+ members) have worked 
on ACRL’s Ad Hoc MLA International Bibliog­
raphy Scope and Overlap Committee which 
studies and advises on the coverage o f the 
Bibliography. This cooperative effort has 
proven so successful that ACRL is being peti­
tioned to establish a permanent discussion 
group (MLA International Bibliography in Aca­
demic Libraries Discussion Group) with an ex­
panded focus. Additionally, many joint mem­
bers o f ACRL and MLA are members o f MLA 
committees, give papers at the annual con­
ventions, and/or publish articles and books 
in their fields o f expertise.

The Coalition for Networked Informa­
tion. ACRL liaisons to the Coalition for Net­
worked Information (CNI) are Thomas Kirk and 
Noreen Alldredge (California State University- 
Hayward). They attend the semiannual meet­
ings o f the CNI and prepare a report forC&RL 
News (see News from the Field, page 357 o f 
this issue). As Kirk indicates, CNI focuses on 
the activities o f its membership rather than con­
ducting programs o f its own. Thus, its working 
groups dedicated to areas o f effort (e.g., Trans­
formation o f Scholarly Communication, Legis­
lation, Teaching and Learning, Modernization 
o f Scholarly Publication, Access to Public In­
formation) are excellent avenues for ACRL in­
volvement. Kirk has worked closely with the 
Teaching and Learning Working Group that is 
participating in two projects: 1) the work o f

Elaine Coppola is social sciences reference/bibliographer at Syracuse University; Norma Hervey is head 
librarian at Luther College; and Susanna Bartmann Pathak is resource services librarian at Johns Hopkins 
University. They are all members o f the ACRL Professional Liaison Committee.



June 1994/365

the ACRL/BIS Emerging Technologies in In­
struction Committee on developing models for
instruction in the use o f the Internet, and 2) a
proposal for an invitational conference on the
incorporation o f networking into teaching and
learning activities.

The Association for Asian Studies. Wil­
liam Sheh Wong (University o f Califomia-Irvine)
is the ACRL liaison to the Association for Asian
Studies (AAS). He reports that AAS has three
librarians’ groups: 1) CEAL: the Committee on
East Asian Libraries (159 members, 108 are also
ALA members); 2) CONSALD: the Libraries
Documentation Committee o f South Asian
Council (29 members, 7 are also ALA mem­
bers); and 3) CORMOSEA: the Committee on
Research Materials on Southeast Asia (29 mem­
bers, 5 are also ALA members). In addition,
there is an Asian Librarians Liaison Committee
(ALL) which includes the chairs o f the three
librarians’ groups and three other individuals.
Wong feels there are good opportunities for
joint panel proposals and seminar and confer
ence cosponsorships by ACRL and AAS.

The American Association of Universit
Professors. The American Association o f Uni
versity Professors (A A U P ) liaison is Jody
Newmyer (Eastern Connecticut State Univer
sity), who is a member of the AAUP Council.
At the November 1993 Council meeting there
was consensus for the AAUP to join with othe
organizations (including A LA ) to take 
proactive stance in ensuring that a nonprivatized
electronic information network dedicated to
non-commercial educational uses is maintained.

The American Chemical Society. ACR
liaisons to the American Chemical Society (ACS),
Division o f Chemical Information, are Arleen
Som erville (University o f Rochester) and
Howard Dess (Rutgers University). Somerville
has asked chemistry professor Norman Crai
(Oberlin College), a member o f ACS’ Commit
tee on Professional Training, to write an articl
for C&RL News about the impact o f journal an
Chemical Abstracts cancellations on ACS certi
fication. In addition to her activities on thre
ACS committees, Somerville has encouraged
communication on bibliographic instruction be
tween ACRL’s Bibliographic Instruction Sectio
and ACS’ Division o f Chemical Information an
submitted reports on ACS activities to ACRL’
Science and Technology Section’s electronic
newsletter.

The National Forum on Information Lit
eracy. Barbara Ford and Althea Jenkins (ACRL)

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

­

y 
­
 

­
 
 

r 
a 
 
 

L 
 
 
 
 

g 
­
e 
d 
­
e 
 

­
n 
d 
s 
 

­

are ACRL liaisons to the National Forum on In­
formation Literacy. Ford reports that she worked 
with Patricia Breivik (Towson State University) 
to prepare an article for American Libraries on 
information literacy that was published in Janu­
ary 1992, and has submitted another article on 
information literacy going international. Ford 
notes that Breivik’s involvement with the fo­
rum is an excellent example o f an academic 
librarian’s involvement with another professional 
organization which has opened doors to ACRL 
collaboration.

As these reports show, ACRL liaisons are 
very active and successful in their activities. The 
ACRL Professional Liaison Committee is certain 
that many other librarians, official liaisons or 
not, are involved with other professional orga­
nizations. We are interested in reporting on your 
activities in future issues o f C&RL News. We 
also invite your comments and ideas for future 
liaison activities. Please contact Susanna 
Bartmann Pathak, Milton S. Eisenhower Library, 
The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles 
St., Baltimore, MD 21218; e-mail: SPATHAK® 
JHUNIX.HCF.JHU.EDU.

Note
1. Jacquelyn M. Morris, “Funds for professional 
activities,” C&RL News 49 (May 1988): 291- 
92; Louise S. Sherby, “ACRL professional liai­
son activities,” C&RL News 50 (April 1989): 
287-89. ■

(INFORMA cont. from  page 347) 

log Project; Query by Image Content (QBIC); 
Simon personal communications manager pro­
viding cellular phone, fax, e-mail, cellular pager, 
address book, calendar and appointment 
scheduler, calculator, clock, paperless note pad, 
handwriting and keyboard functions, help func­
tions, and message pager; Images of the French 
Revolution; Promenade: The National Agricul­
tural Library and University o f Pittsburgh Im­
age Database Project; IBM ThinkPad notebook 
computer with the Trackpoint II pointing de­
vice; the Patent Information Access Server 
(P IA S ); and Express Author multim edia 
authoring tool, with which faculty can create 
effective courseware quickly, easily, and with 
no computer programming.

Look for INFORMA incorporated as a track 
within the IBM Higher Education Executive 
Conference next spring. ■