ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 6 48 /C&RL News B y M arcia D u n c a n Low ry Touring th e lib ra rie s o f P ittsb u rg h E nhance y o u r conference trip with these not-to-be-missed tours W hen ACRL’s 7th National Conference rolls into Pittsburgh in March 1995, attend­ ees should feel right at home. Pittsburg site of 31 colleges and universities, attended by more than 100,000 students. Therefore, there are many fine libraries in the area for visitors to explore independently or as part of several planned tours. The local arrangements com­ mittee has scheduled visits that will not inter­ fere with any conference programs. Here’s a snapshot of w hat’s on the agenda. The University of Pittsburgh Established in 1787, the University of Pittsburgh is a state-related public research institution situ­ ated three miles from dow ntow n in Oakland, the city’s medical and cultural center. The Ca­ thedral of Learning, a 42-story Gothic sky­ scraper, marks the center of campus and houses administrative offices and classrooms. T h e D a r lin g to n M e m o ria l Library, also housed in the Cathedral of Learning, maintains collections of approximately 17,000 volumes o f books and journals, and an extensive collec­ tion of pamphlets, early atlases and maps, and over 45 linear feet of manuscripts, letters, and journal books. D onated by the Darlington fam­ ily in 1918, the library is especially rich in Ameri­ can history of the colonial period, the French and Indian War, the Revolution, and the War of 1812, and focuses on Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio valley. The library is scheduled for touring in groups of 12 to provide an inti­ mate look at this special collection. h i T h e S te p h e n C o llin s F o s te r M e m o ria l building, designed by Charles Klauder in the Gothic style, harmonizes architecturally with the adjacent Cathedral of Learning. The struc­ ture houses a concert hall, museum, and library devoted to the American composer. Foster was a native of Pittsburgh and wrote most of his ss othneg s here. Much o f the library collection was donated by Josiah Kirby Lilly, an Indianapolis pharmaceutical manufacturer. It contains m anu­ scripts, first editions of sheet music, rare books, letters, and personal possessions o f the com­ poser. T h e U n iv e r s ity Library S y ste m (ULS) will host demonstrations of its electronic course re­ serves and its Electronic Text Project. In the fall of 1994 the ULS, in conjunction with the Computing and Information Service Department (CIS), initiated a pilot project to put a cross section of the university’s course reserve mate­ rials into a form that is accessible from the cam­ pus computer network. Software developed in­ h o u se is u se d to place m aterials into the electronic repository. Materials can be viewed from workstations using Mosaic software in the departmental libraries, in the public com put­ ing labs, in dorms, or from any other location on the campus network. A second joint project of the ULS and CIS was undertaken in late 1994 investigating the production, storage, and use of electronic text in the academic library environment. The pri­ mary goal of the Electronic Text Project is to identify the technological and operational prob­ lems with research texts marked up with SGML (Standard Generalized Mark-Up Language). To understand the problems first hand, the project is creating electronic editions of important early Latin American texts, encoded in SGML. The Marcia D u n ca n Lowry is reference librarian at Robert Morris College, Pittsburgh; e-mail: lowry‹Srmcnet. robert-morris.edu morris.edu November 1994/ 649 al o n iv e a m p electronic editions developed by the project will contain graphic images, hypertext linking, and will be accessed using Mo­ saic. The Latin American Studies Collection is a core resource of the university and this project will lead to a series of electronic edi­ tions developed at Pitt. T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f P i t t s ­ b u r g h ’s S c h o o l o f Library a n d In fo r m a tio n S c ie n c e (SLIS) will open its doors to conference at­ tendees as well. This will be an opportunity to tour one of the top library schools in the coun­ try and the largest o f its kind in North America with ten degree programs and more than 700 stu­ dents. Join a tour of the school and its well-equipped computer labs; attend a demonstration of Promenade, an image database o f bonsai trees and other flora T h e C ath ed r developed in cooperation with in g o n th e U the National Agricultural Library; P ittsb u rg h c learn about continuing education opportunities; and m eet som e of the distin­ guished students enrolled in the program. Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is located within walking distance of the University of Pittsburgh. A private coeducational university, CMU was formed in 1967 w hen Carnegie Insti­ tute of Technology (founded in 1900 by An­ drew Carnegie) and Mellon Institute (founded in 1913 by A. W. and R. B. Mellon) merged. The university ranks am ong the w orld’s lead­ ing research centers. CMU has played a pivotal role in the devel­ opm ent and implementation of distributed com­ puting. In 1992 the University Libraries’ Project Mercury released the w orld’s first distributed electronic Library Information System (LIS). The libraries have continued to serve as a develop­ mental test bed for distributed information re­ trieval tools and techniques. These include ref­ erence servers, page-image distribution, and, perhaps most importantly, the application of graphical user interfaces. CMU is also pioneer­ ing the developm ent of natural language pro­ cessing (NLP), which is the centerpiece tech­ nology of the next decade. Information retrieval (IR) using NLP overcomes the problems of key- word-Boolean retrieval in full-text databases. T h e U n iv e r s it y L ib r a r ie s will conduct onstrations during the conference to high­ light recent and future w ork in distributed information retrieval and the m anagem ent o f full text. The demonstrations will feature: 1) Mercury/LIS interface and da­ tabases; 2) HELIOS Digital Ar­ chives of congressional papers; 3) full-text retrieval using natu­ ral language IR; and 4) image retrieval of full-text journal pages. These services are available on th e cam p u s n e tw o rk an d are m anaged generally through the common user interface of LIS. T h e H u n t In stitu te f o r B o ­ t a n ic a l D o c u m e n t a t io n will welcom e visitors for a behind- the-scenes view of this interna­ tionally recognized botanical in­ stitution, along with an exhibit f L earn­ and presentation on the institute’s r sity o f collections and programs. The in­ u s. stitute focuses on all aspects of botanical history and includes a rary of over 23,000 titles including many rare rks published betw een 1550 and 1850; an collection of over 30,000 watercolors, draw­ s, and original prints; and a portrait collec­ n of 21,000 prints, paintings, drawings, and otographs representing some 18,000 bota­ ts, botanical artists, and horticulturists. e Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh ree to the public” reads the inscription over entrance to the Carnegie Library, a gift to people of Pittsburgh by Andrew Carnegie 1895. The Carnegie is a public trust and in­ des the Main Library, 18 branch libraries, Bookmobile Center, the Library for the Blind d Physically Handicapped, and the District m Center. The ACRL Conference will pro­ e a unique opportunity to view “w hat’s go­ on at the Carnegie” during the All Confer­ ce Reception. Guided tours will be conducted staff and advance registration information ll be forthcoming. me join us! RL’s 7th National Conference in Pittsburgh fers something for everyone. From historical chives and special collections to cutting-edge formation technology—it’s here. It’s a ‘Burgh ing! See you in Pittsburgh! ■ dem lib wo art ing tio ph nis Th “F the the in clu the an Fil vid ing en by wi Co AC of ar in Th