ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries October 1988 / 609 WASHINGTON HOTLIN E Carol C. Henderson Deputy Director, ALA Washington Office (202) 547-4440; (ALA0025) Several provisions of interest to academic and research librarians are buried in the mammoth trade bill recently passed by Congress and signed by the President on August 23. The legislative history of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (HR 4848, now PL 100-418) is complex. An earlier version, HR 3, was vetoed. HR 3 included all the provi­ sions high-lighted below, and like many omnibus bills, originated in a series of proposals (many with their own bill and report numbers) developed by the various congressional com­ mittees, in this case at the request of congressional leadership early last year. Florence Protocol. Section 1121 of the trade bill provides implementing legislation for the 1976 Nairobi Protocol (or supplement) to the UNESCO-sponsored Florence Agreement (Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials) which eliminated import tariffs on printed and certain other materials. The Nairobi Protocol provides for the removal of import duties on audio-visual and microform materials and materials for the blind and physically handicapped not included in the original agreement. On imports, a num­ ber of U.S. tariffs on materials from all countries will be eliminated; on exports of affected U.S. materials, the countries adhering to the Protocol (16 so far) are obligated to make the same tariff eliminations. ALA has been a long-time advocate of the protocol. Permanent implemen­ tation will also fulfill a recommendation of the 1979 White House Conference on Library and Information Services. NTIS. Section 5163(c) prohibits the National Technical Information Service from fur­ ther contracting out except for contracts of $250,000 or less. In addition, NTIS is to "maintain a permanent archival repository and clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of non­ classified scientific, technical, and engineering information." Separate bills to reorganize NTIS are still pending. HEA II-D. An additional $2.5 million for FY 1988 (and such sums as necessary for the next three years) is authorized in Section 6241 for the Higher Education Act II-D College Li­ brary Technology and Cooperation grants, for "activities that will enable libraries to participate more fully in the initiative funded under the Education and Training for American Competitive­ ness Act of 1987." This title refers to the education portion developed by the House Education and Labor Committee. Rep. Major Owens (D-NY) saw the relationship of academic library technology to U.S. competitiveness and pressed for this provision early in 1987 when the newly-enacted HEA II-D had not yet been funded. The original II-D statutory language in the Higher Education Act authorized $5 million for fiscal year 1987 and such sums as necessary for each of the four succeeding fiscal years. Congress provided first-time funding of $3,590,000 for FY ’88, and funding of $3,651,000 for FY ’89 is in the final stages of congressional approval at this writing. Because almost two years have lapsed since the trade bill language was proposed, the practical effect on the pro­ gram of the added authorization now available is unclear. (cont’d on p. 644) 610 / C &R L News Letters Statistics To the Editor: In the June 1988 issue, I read with interest the article by Emerson Hilker, “Survey of Academic Science/Technology Libraries.” The Engineering Libraries Division of the American Society for E n ­ gineering Education, a group of about 180 aca­ demic engineering librarians, has published a sur­ vey of engineering libraries that may interest ACRL members. The first edition of the engineering libraries sta­ tistical survey covered 1984-85 and included more than 100 libraries. The 1985-86 data is now ready for publication. The results have been useful, par­ ticularly during the accreditation process and for comparing library resources. W e originally intended to collect data on engi­ neering libraries. However, through the process of gathering data and speaking with librarians, we learned a great deal about the services, resources, and collections in both engineering and science li­ braries; our publication reflects this. If you wish to obtain a copy of the Engineering Libraries Division survey, you may contact the American Society for Engineering Education, Suite 200, Eleven Dupont Circle, N. W ., Washing­ ton, DC 20036. The cost is $ 1 2 .0 0 .—James Fries, Feldberg Library, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755. ACRL continuing education scholarships ACRL will offer two tuition-free scholarships for ACRL continuing education courses held prior to the ALA Annual Conference in Dallas or the ACRL National Conference in Cincinnati. The applicant must: 1. be a member of ACRL by the application deadline (December 1, 1988). 2. hold a master’s degree in library science from a program accredited by ALA. 3. have at least three years experience in a library prior to the application deadline. 4. be currently employed in a library in a posi­ tion generally accepted as “professional,” as de­ fined by their institution. 5. have not previously been granted and utilized this scholarship. 6. have given evidence of professional growth as indicated by committee work, membership in pro­ fessional organizations, etc. 7. have the prerequisite background to benefit from the course selected. Awards will be made based upon: 1. evidence of commitment to librarianship as a profession. 2. potential benefit to the individual and the profession. 3. relevance of the course requested to current position or clearly identified career track. 4. financial need. 5. service to ACRL, ALA, or the wider profes­ sion. For additional information about these scholar­ ships, contact ACRL/ALA, 59 E . Huron St., Chi­ cago, IL 60611-2795. Samuel D. Proctor to speak at ACRL National Conference Samuel D. Proctor, a clergyman, educator and author, will be one of the keynote speakers at the ACRL Fifth National Conference, April 5 -8 , 1989, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Proctor served as the associate general secretary of the Na­ tional Council of Churches during the 1960s and became the senior pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City in 1972. He is a former president of Virginia Union University (1955-1960) and North Carolina A & T State University (1960-1964) as well as a former di­ rector of the Peace Corps. From 1964 to 1984 he was Martin Luther King Professor in the Grad­ uate School of Education at Rutgers. Since his retirement in 1984 he has been professor emeri­ tus there. Proctor’s books include The Young Negro in America, 1960-1980 (Association Press, 1966) and Sermons from the Black Pulpit (Judson, 1984). He has received numerous awards and honorary degrees. Proctor was the keynote speaker at an Octo­ ber 1987 ACRL workshop for librarians from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). He stated that librarians should play a significant mentoring role for inquisitive stu­ dents at HBCUs. “We don’t know,” he said, “who these people are. They may be leaders of the fu tu re — a Jesse Jackson or a Douglas W ilder.” October 1988 / 613 George Eberhart attempts to emulate noted movie star at a recent ALA staff party. ACRL staff profile George M. Eberhart, editor of College & R e­ search Libraries News, joined A CRL in 1980 after serving three years as serials/reader services librar­ ian at the University of Kansas Law Library, L aw ­ rence. In addition to meticulous editing of all C &RL News articles and columns, Eberhart oversees pro­ duction for the magazine. Using an elaborate but enlightened system of P C -b ased text coding, Eberhart is able to transmit the entire issue via mo­ dem to a typesetter in Indiana, who then delivers relatively error-free galleys the following day. Although aided considerably by such tim e- savers as an optical text scanner, electronic mail, and a very flexible word processing software pack­ age (Xyw rite I I I + ), E b erh a rt and the C& R L News assistant editor still are under an incredible amount of pressure the first two weeks of every month to bring A CRL members the high quality news magazine they have come to expect. “W e jok­ ingly refer to those days as Hell W eek,” Eberhart said, his desk a byzantine morass of papers and press releases, “because all our concentration is fo­ cused intensely on C &R L News production. If other staff members want us to do other tasks like fill out time cards, submit payment requests, or go to lunch, we just laugh and tell them to wait a week.” Eberhart also manages production for the semi­ annual Rare Rooks & Manuscripts Librarianship, advises the section newsletter editors on editing and production m atters, and helps the C & R L News assistant editor with the classified advertising workflow. On weekends Eberhart serves as librarian and archivist for the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, a research facility in Chicago set up by the former director of the Astronomy Department at Northwestern University and scientific consultant to the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book. “I don’t know whether or not UFOs are alien spacecraft,” Eberhart said, “but I do think the UFO phenome­ non is a scientific mystery that should be examined by all b ra n ch e s of th e scien ces. M ost U FO reports— about 9 5 % — can be explained as air­ craft, stars, satellites, or other misperceptions. It’s that 5 % of unexplainable cases that is the essence of the problem .” Eberhart’s comprehensive two-volume bibliog­ raphy, UFO s and the Extraterrestrial Contact Movement, was published in 1986 by Scarecrow Press. A 1973 graduate of the Ohio State University School of Journalism, Eberhart obtained his MLS from the University of Chicago in 1976. His mas­ ter’s thesis topic was the historical cartography of 614 / C&RL News Greenland (at one time he aspired to map librari­ anship) , He worked for five years as a paraprofes- sional in the C ircu lation D epartm ent at Ohio State, and held a position as research assistant for the Journal of Law and Economics while going to library school at Chicago. Eberhart contributes reviews to Booklist and the International UFO Reporter, and writes a monthly column for the Chicago W eekender. He presented a paper on UFO literature at the annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association in New Orleans last March. His other books include Monsters (G ar­ land, 1984) and A Geo-Bibliography of Anomalies (Greenwood, 1980), the latter being chosen the fol­ lowing year as an Outstanding Academic Book by Choice. One of E berhart’s less esoteric hobbies involves collecting root beer cans, bottles, mugs, posters, and root beer memorabilia of all types. W ith his wife, Jennifer Henderson, he is the founder of the American Root Beer Tasters Association, an orga­ nization dedicated to the preservation of facts and folklore about the beverage. New C&RL News assistant editor Cheryl Robinson-Smith has been appointed as­ sistant editor of College & Research Libraries News, effective in July. She replaces Gus Friedlan- der, who has enrolled in a m aster’s program in history at Northwestern University. R o b i n s o n - S m i t h ’s most recent position was as an editorial assistant for the Institute of Gas Technology, C hicago, where she edited, pro­ duced, and wrote copy for gaslink, one of the In stitu te’s new sletters, and keylining and pro­ Cheryl duction for Energy Top­ ics. She was also respon­ Robinson-Smith sible for production work on research reports and technical papers. A 1985 graduate of Roosevelt University in journalism/public relations, Robinson-Smith is completing a master’s degree in communications at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a C hi­ cago native, and has worked as an intern for the devlopment office of Jobs for Youth, a non-profit Chicago youth counseling organization, and for the National Easter Seal Society. She enjoys read­ ing current popular fiction, and does keylining and other production work on a freelance basis. As assistant editor of C &RL News, she will be re­ sponsible for several of the regular C&RL News columns, all A CRL classified advertising, includ­ ing the Jobline and the Fast Job Listing Service, and she w ill oversee production of the section newsletters. Correction The St. Catherine Monastery of Mount Sinai is located in the Arab Republic of Egypt, not Is­ rael as reported in the June 1988 issue, p .384. degree from ALA-accredited school and minimum of four years experience, including online database searches in university library. Teaching experience desirable. Position available: immediately. Salary: $22,000--$24,500. Send letter of application and resume with names and telephone numbers of three references to: Director of Human Resources Management, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO 64468. An affirmative action, equal opportunity employer, Northwest encourages women and minorities to apρly. SERIALS LIBRARIAN. Responsible for technical and public service functions in a combined serials and microform department with 1,650 subscriptions, 69,000 bound volumes and 1.1 million microform items. Supervises clerical and student employees. Some night and weekend reference work. Opportunity for involvement in bibliographic instruction, and/or online searching. Requires ALA MLS, strong service orientation and demonstrated communication and human relations skills. Professional experience in academic or research library, especially in serials is preferred. Successful supervisory experience and knowledge of automated serials procedures is desirable. Tenure track position. Instructor or Assistant Professor. Nine month contract. Additional summer employment usually available. Competitive salary. Excellent benefits. Screening will begin October 15, 1988, and continue until position is filled. Send letter of application, full vita and supporting documentation and three letters of reference to: Louis Como, Bailey Library, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA 16057. AA/E EO. (Washington Hotline, co n t’d) Other provisions. The trade bill also includes a variety o f literacy, education, and technology programs, including a student literacy corps, technology education, regional tech­ nology transfer centers, and an Education Department Office of Training Technology Transfer to serve as a clearinghouse for education and training software. It also strengthens international enforcement of intellectual property rights.