ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 263 P h ilad elp h ia C on ference Highlights Philadelphia’s summer heat and stickiness and the frequent taxicab rides down narrow, crowded streets did not deter the 12,819 conference at­ tendees from their busy schedule of meetings, programs, tours, informal discussions, receptions, and visits to the exhibit area. Among the conference events were ACRL- sponsored tours of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the University of Pennsylvania Museum, and the Bucks County Community College Library, and fifteen program meetings. After ALA busi­ ness was over, librarians had many opportunities for fine dining, visits to Independence Hall and other historic spots, enjoyment of the musicians, jugglers, and other street performers in Head House Square, and side trips to the zoo, the race track, the Society Hill shopping area, and even some of the many local libraries. ACRL’s Program Meeting* The ACRL program, “Fiscal Challenges and Responses in Higher Education,’’ was held in the Philadelphia Civic C enter on July 12. After a business meeting in which Richard D. Johnson was officially congratulated for his successful year as acting editor of C hoice, Frank Newman, presi­ dent of the University of Rhode Island, opened the program with some thoughts on higher edu­ cation in the 1980s. He envisioned the next dec­ ade as an era of intense competition for students and resources that will be made bearable by the universities’ recovery from their drop in prestige of the 1970s, an improved job market for graduates, H erm an Kahn (left) and F ran k Newman in d e b a te. William Budington receives A C R L’s R esearch L ibrarian o f the Year A w ard. Oscar & Associates and a shift towards the realistic use of ad­ vanced technology and human creativity. New­ man said that librarians will need to become skill­ ful managers who not only can choose successful programs, but who can also convince adminis­ trators that those programs comprise a solid plan for the future. Herman Kahn, futurist and director of the Hudson Institute, Croton-on-Hudson, New York, presented several scenarios of what may be in store for the world in the coming decades. He foresees five major technologies that will shape the 1980s (microprocessing, biotechnology, space transport, robotics, and superconductivity), but he believes that through all this advancement books will not become obsolete. Kahn peppered his talk with many remarks that were designed to generate controversy or at least to stim ulate thought, such as: “ Many modern troubles are caused by the inability of sociologists and engi­ neers to deal with problems that would have been simple without graduate training” ; and, “Libraries are in trouble, not because there are not enough funds around— they are hurting be­ cause people who earn now want more of a say in how to spend their money.’’ The ACRL Reception was held afterwards at the University of Pennsylvania Faculty Club. The Baker & Taylor Company provided abundant re­ freshments and presented the ACRL Research L ibrarian of the Year Award to W illiam Budington, librarian at Chicago’s John Crerar Li­ brary. 264 The ACRI/ B aker & Taylor reception Audiovisual Committee* “The Use of Non-Print Resources for Scholarly Inquiry” was the program sponsored by ACRL’ Audiovisual Committee and co-sponsored by the Library Research Round Table and the RTSD Audiovisual Committee. Cathleen Flanagan, Uni versity of Utah, gave an overview on non-prin resources, while specific case studies were pre sented by Jane Lange, National Archives and Records Service Audiovisual Division, and Marie P. Griffin, Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers Uni versity. Bibliographic Instruction Section* BIS sponsored an interesting program on bib liographic instruction theory entitled “Back to th Books: Bibliographic Instruction and the Theory of Information Sources.’’ Patrick Wilson, Schoo of Library and Information Studies, University o California, Berkeley, presented his humanisti theory of bibliographic instruction called “Prag matic Bibliography,’’ and was followed by France Hopkins, reference librarian at Temple Univer sity, who offered a practical application of Wil * Cassette recordings of this event are availabl for purchase. Write ALA Cassettes, American Li brary Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611, for further information. The quality of th recordings is very high, even for speakers who may have veered away from the microphone oc casionally. Oscar & Associates method. A quantitative approach to BI was offered by Conrad H. Rawski, School of Library s and Information Science, Case Western Reserve University, who spoke on “The Nature of Litera­ tures: A Synergetic A ttem pt.” Comments on ­ Rawski’s in terp retation were then made by t Thomas Kirk, Berea College. ­ Black Studies Librarianship Discussion Group " A panel of librarians and scholars discussed ­ “Prospects for the Future of Black Studies Collec­ tions and Librarianship” at this group’s annual meeting. Valerie Sandoval, acquisitions librarian for New York Public Library’s Schaumburg Cen­ ­ ter for Research in Black Culture, spoke about e specific methods of selecting and acquiring Afro- American studies materials. Ann K. Randall, l Brown University, observed that bibliographic f control of Black studies collections has increased c dramatically since the 1960s and the current ­ thrust is toward resource sharing and the use of s online databases for describing and locating ­ unique resources. son’s College Libraries Section* e “Theft in L ib raries” was the theme of the ­ well-attended CLS program, co-sponsored with the University Libraries Section, the Rare Books e and Manuscripts Section, and ALA’s Resources and Technical Services Division. Some of the ap­ ­ proaches toward solving the theft problem were: creating a security officer position for ALA who At Midwest Library Service, We Take The Team Approach To Assist Your Library To best serve your needs, we have formed five problem-solving service teams to help take the hassle out o f book-buying. Each team is composed o f a Sales Representative in the field and a Customer Service Representative in our home office. Once alerted by your phone call made on our Toll-Free WATS Line, 1-800-325-8833, (Missouri customers, please call COLLECT 0-314-739-3100) your problem-solving team, geographically assigned to your library, goes into action immediately. It is another facet of Midwest Library Service’s tradition o f excellence.Midwest Library Service 11443 St. Charles Rock Road May we have the privilege Bridgeton, M o. 63044 o f serving your library? “ 23 Years of Service To College and University Libraries” 266 might be a contact person and who would be knowledgeable about procedures to take in spe­ cific instances (William Moffett); performing a self-inventory of security needs (Richard Boss); identifying in the open stacks m aterials that should be removed to special collections or other high-security areas (Daniel Traister). Community and Junior College Libraries Sec­ tion* The CJCLS program, “Fiscal Challenges: The Two-Year College Response,” addressed the spe­ cific budgetary problems that community and junior college libraries face. Speakers included Alice B. Ihrig, Moraine Valley Community Col­ lege, who discussed fiscal politics, and Keith W. Russell, Council on Library Resources, who shed light on federal policies. Continuing Education Courses ACRL’s Continuing Education Program spon­ sored eight CE courses in Philadelphia on July 8 -9. The one- and two-day courses attracted 137 A C R L m em bers and non-m em bers from academic, public, and special libraries across the country. Maureen Sullivan, Association of Research Li­ braries, led participants in “Librarians As Super­ visors” in a discussion of current managerial con­ cepts and practices. Abandoning the total lecture approach, Sullivan strongly encouraged participa­ tion by members of the group. Participants in Dennis Robison’s “Establishing the College Bibliographic Instruction Program: The Director’s Role” considered the components essential to establishing a BI program within the academic institution. In a relaxed atmosphere participants were able to ask questions and voice concerns while Robison provided information and practical advice on dealing with a variety of situa­ tions. Through a series of exercises and surveys, Grady Morein, University of Evansville, led a group of 29 participants toward an understanding of the factors which influence the library’s posi­ tion within an academic institution. The program, “Strategies and Tactics for Enhancing the Role and Position of the Library within the College or U niversity,” was conducted informally and af­ forded participants an opportunity to share ideas and meet colleagues with similar concerns. In “Time Management and Conducting Effec­ tive M e e tin g s ,” S h eila C re th , U n iv ersity of Michigan, provided means of identifying and solv­ ing those most frequent time problems as well as the most frequent and frustrating problems re­ lated to committee meetings. Creth’s enthusiasm and the clarity of her presentation inspired the group’s confidence. David Cobb of the University of Illinois and Charles Seavey of the University of Wisconsin explored the information potential of maps in “An Introduction to Maps in Libraries: Maps As In­ formation Tools.” The knowledgeable and person­ able duo entertained participants’ questions and discussed the resources available to librarians in­ terested in map collection development and ref­ erence. F ran k Newman (left) chats with D avid W eb er a fte r the program . 267 In “Teaching Methods for the Bibliographic In­ struction Librarian,” Cerise Oberman, University of Minnesota, presented information on learning theory and practice in instruction methods to a group of 24 participants. Those attending were able to evaluate their own teaching approaches and learn new ones. Oberman’s own presentation reflected many of the teaching methods she dis­ cussed. Participants in “Writing the Journal Article and Getting It Published” were supplied with an overview of the publishing process as well as a discussion of how participants might devise effec­ tive strategies for publishing their own work. Through handouts and a writing exercise Richard Johnson, State University College at Oneonta, led the group through a review of some grammar basics and proceeded to a thorough treatment of manuscript presentation and submission. To “Survey Research Methods” instructor Gary G olden, U niversity of Illin o is, participants brought specific questions related to their respec­ tive research work. Golden dealt with these indi­ vidual questions in a well-organized fashion and went on to provide an overview of the meth­ odology involved in conducting survey research. In addition to course content, participants in general were pleased by the size of the classes which were small enough to allow for maximum interaction between instructors and students. Par­ ticipants were also lavish in their praise of the well-air conditioned classrooms. Barbara Macikas, ACRL program assistant for continuing education, noted: “Overall, the pro­ gram in Philadelphia was a great success. The fact that we did get such a good turnout in these eco­ nomically hard times is encouraging. I hope that the local offerings ACRL plans to co-sponsor with interested groups will bring the CE program out to those who might be unable to attend the na­ tional conference.” Education and Behavioral Sciences Section The E B S S program was entitled “Videodisc Applications in Education and the Behavioral Sci­ en ces.” The keynote speaker was William H. Ford, executive vice president of the Interna­ tional Institute of Applied Technology, who dis­ cussed specific programs developed for the U.S. Army and the University of Maryland, a College Careers Program, and the PATSEARCH system, all on videodisc. One of the panelists discussing the topic was Thomas Suprenant, University of Rhode Island Graduate Library School, who spoke on the effect of the electronic cottage on society. Preconference The Rare Books and Manuscripts Section held its 23d preconference, “Growth in the Face of Diversity: The Business of Special Collections in the 1980s,” at the University City Holiday Inn, Philadelphia. Focusing on the practical work that librarians perform in a variety of institutional set­ ings, the nine speakers raised issues both of sim­ ple coping and of continued growth even at a time of economic uncertainty. A particular em­ phasis was on the situation of smaller special col­ lections. David H. Stain, Andrew W. Mellon di­ rector of New York Public Library’s Research L i­ braries, delivered the keynote speech and Samuel A. Streit, Brown University, spoke on deacces­ sioning. The 235 conferees also attended recep­ tions at the University of Pennsylvania’s Van Pelt Library and the Library Company of Philadel­ phia. Rare Books and Manuscripts Section* The RBMS program dealt with “Friends of Li­ braries in Support of Special Collections.” Presid­ ing was Stephen Ferguson, Princeton University Library, who introduced the speakers who dis­ cussed their experiences with both formally and informally organized groups of friends. The speakers were Richard M. Ludwig, Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University; Margaret Maloney, Osborne Collection, Toronto Public Library; Anne-Marie Bouche, Albert M. Bender Collection, Mills College Library, Oak­ land; and Brian Rogers, Connecticut College Li­ brary, New London. Slavic and East European Section* M. Mark Stolarik, executive director of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, moderated the SEE S program entitled “Preserving Cultural Her­ itage: Ethnic Press and Ethnic Research Centers in the United States and Canada.” The five speakers detailed the problems encountered in collecting ethnic materials and the methods that their collections used to deal with specific situa­ tions. Western European Specialists Section “Resources of German-Speaking People” was the W ESS program topic. Knut Dorn, of Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, and board member of the D eutsche Bibliothek, provided a general overview of publishing trends, patterns of coop­ eration, and bibliographic control of literature in the German-publishing countries. The text of his talk will be published in a future issue of the WESS Newsletter. Peter R. Frank, curator of the Germanic Collection at Stanford University, men­ tioned specific online search strategies, key refer­ ence works, and particular institutions that might help librarians keep up-to-date in the German language field. ■ ■