ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C & R L N e w s ■ M a y 2 0 0 0 / 4 0 9 C o m p u t e r s i n L i b r a r i e s 2 0 0 0 CONFERENCE CIRCUIT H i g h l i g h t s f r o m t h e 1 5 t h a n n u a l c o n f e r e n c e b y P e t e r V . D e e k l e C o m p u t e r s i n L i b r a r i e s 2 0 0 0 , p r e p a r e d i n c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h t h e S p e c i a l L i b r a r i e s A s s o c i a t i o n , w a s h e l d i n W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . , M a r c h 1 5 - 1 7 . I t s s p o n s o r , I n f o r m a t i o n T o d a y , I n c . , d e s c r i b e d i t a s “ N o r t h A m e r i c a ’ s l a r g e s t t e c h n o l o g y c o n f e r e n c e a n d e x h i b i t i o n f o r l i ­ b r a r i a n s a n d i n f o r m a t i o n m a n a g e r s , ” a n d , i f i n i t i a l e s t i m a t e s r e f l e c t e d a c t u a l a t t e n d a n c e , m o r e t h a n 3 , 0 0 0 p e r s o n s a t t e n d e d t h e t h r e e - d a y e v e n t . F o r t h o s e u n f a m i l i a r w i t h t h e c o n f e r e n c e f o r m a t , e a c h d a y c o n s i s t s o f c o n c u r r e n t m o r n ­ i n g a n d a f t e r n o o n t r a c k s , w i t h p r e - a n d p o s t ­ c o n f e r e n c e d a y l o n g p r o g r a m s b e f o r e a n d a f ­ t e r t h e m a i n c o n f e r e n c e . A l l c o n f e r e e s r e c e i v e p u b l i s h e d p r o c e e d i n g s a t t h e o n s i t e r e g i s t r a ­ t i o n d e s k . A m o n g t h e s e s s i o n s I a t t e n d e d f o r t h e L e a r n ­ i n g : T r a i n i n g a n d I n s t m c t i o n t r a c k , w a s “ V i r ­ t u a l I n s t r u c t i o n — T u t o r i a l s a n d L i t e r a c y . ” T h e t w o p r e s e n t e r s , E r i c a L i l l y f r o m K e n t S t a t e a n d K a r e n H a r t m a n f r o m M a r y W a s h i n g t o n C o l ­ l e g e , h i g h l i g h t e d u n i q u e W e b t u t o r i a l s a n d t h e m e a n s f o r t h e i r c r e a t i o n a n d m a i n t e n a n c e . C r e d i t i n g A C R L ’ s “ G u i d e l i n e s f o r D i s t a n c e L e a r n i n g L i b r a r y S e r v i c e s ” a s a b a s i s f o r p l a n ­ n i n g a n d s e t t i n g s e r v i c e p r i o r i t i e s , t h e y d e m ­ o n s t r a t e d m o d e l s o f v i r t u a l r e f e r e n c e s e r v i c e . H o w t o d o i t o n t h e W e b I p a r t i c u l a r l y a p p r e c i a t e t h e v a r i e t y o f p r o ­ g r a m t y p e s a t t h i s c o n f e r e n c e , r a n g i n g f r o m p a n e l d i s c u s s i o n s a n d p r e s e n t a t i o n s t o d e m ­ o n s t r a t i o n s e s s i o n s a n d p r a c t i c a l “ h o w t o ” s e s ­ s i o n s . T h e l a t t e r i n c l u d e d “ H o w t o D o I t o n t h e W e b ” f e a t u r i n g t h e B i b l i o g r a p h i c a l C e n ­ t e r f o r R e s e a r c h ’ s M i c h a e l S a u e r a n d L a u r a C o h e n f r o m t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f A l b a n y . T h e y c o n d u c t e d a s e s s i o n o n h o w t o t e a c h s e a r c h ­ i n g s k i l l s f o r a d y n a m i c W e b e n v i r o n m e n t . F o r a n o t h e r p r o g r a m K a r e n H a r t m a n j o i n e d T u f t s U n i v e r s i t y ’ s R e g i n a R a b o i n f o r “ N e t ­ w o r k e d T e a c h i n g — W h a t t o T e a c h a n d H o w . ” T h e y o f f e r e d i n t e r e s t i n g a p p r o a c h e s t o t e a c h ­ i n g t h e “ e s s e n t i a l W e b ” i n 5 0 m i n u t e s . D i g i t i z i n g , o w n e r s h i p , a n d f u t u r e A w h o l e t r a c k a t t h e c o n f e r e n c e w a s d e v o t e d t o t h e d e s i g n a n d m a i n t e n a n c e o f l i b r a r y W e b s i t e s . A n n e m a r i e D e l V e c c h i o o f L E X I S - N E X I S m o d e r a t e d t h r e e s u c c e s s i v e s e s s i o n s . D e s i g n t i p s , p r o m o t i o n a l s t r a t e g i e s , a n d a d v i c e o n o v e r c o m i n g h u r d l e s w e r e r e p o r t e d b y p r e ­ s e n t e r s f r o m a c a d e m i c l i b r a r i e s . C o n t e n t a n d c o l l e c t i o n s w e r e t h e s u b ­ s t a n c e o f “ D i g i t i z i n g C a s e S t u d i e s . ” T h e s e t w o c o n s e c u t i v e s e s s i o n s o n t h e s e c o n d d a y i n ­ c l u d e d a l i v e d e m o n s t r a t i o n b y C a r o l A n n H u g h e s , o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f I o w a , o f a d i g i ­ t i z e d s p e c i a l c o l l e c t i o n p r o j e c t . T h e s e c o n d p r o g r a m h i g h l i g h t e d t h e u s e o f d i g i t a l m e d i a t e c h n o l o g y i n p r o d u c i n g m a c h i n e - r e a d a b l e d o c u m e n t s f o r a l l m a j o r U n i t e d N a t i o n s o r ­ g a n s b y N a t h a l i e L e r o y a n d t h e A r m y R e s e a r c h A b o u t th e a u th o r P e t e r V . D e e k le is c o l le g e l i b r a r i a n a t W h e a t o n C o lle g e , e - m a il : p d e e k l e @ w h e a t o n c o l l e g e . e d u mailto:pdeekle@wheatoncollege.edu 4 1 0 / C & R L N e w s ■ M a y 2 0 0 0 Laboratory’s digital collection (o v e r 5,000 PD F file s ) o f techn ical reports b y Lillian W o o n Gassie. N ot all o f the program s con cern ed services and resources. W. Lee H isle o f Connecticut C o lle g e and D an ielle Mihram from the U n i­ versity o f Southern California join ed a panel o f attorneys, legal p olicy analysts, and the R eg ­ ister o f Copyrights in a w id e-ra n g in g presen­ tation concerning ow nership rights, censorship, and protection. This session raised ethical and legal questions for libraries and society regard­ ing an individual’s right to unrestricted infor­ mation access, regardless o f an individual’s age. Forecasting trends and d evelo p m en ts has alw ays b e e n a significant part o f this con fer­ ence. Laverna Saunders o f Salem State C o l­ lege, p ro v id e d a com p reh en sive description o f the virtual academ ic library and its impact on staff, organization, w o r k styles, and out­ com es measures. But in his presentation, “Yes, T h e y Still Want to Print!” D avid Bennett o f R ob ­ ert Morris C ollege, rem in d ed con ferees that as electronic resources increase in nu m ber and variety, m ore patrons w an t to print copies. Com puters in Libraries has established a tradition fo r e v e n in g hospitality venues. This year, the e v e n in g “T e c h n o lo g y and K n o w l­ e d g e Forum : A L o o k at D e a d and E m ergin g T e c h n o lo g ie s ,” an in form al p a n el o f p resen t­ ers, o p e n e d this social/post prandial e v e n t w ith a ro u sin g ren d itio n o f T h e B e a tle s ’s “H ard D ays N ig h t.” D u rin g a fr e e -w h e e lin g e x c h a n g e o f op in ion s, panelists traded c o n ­ cern s an d p re d ic tio n s , in c lu d in g : w o r r ie s abou t the M icro so ft stran gleh old o n creative d e v e lo p m e n t, the p roliferation o f n e w search en g in e s d e s ig n e d b y person s w ith o u t in d e x ­ in g o r m etadata k n o w le d g e , lim itations o f b a n d w id th fo r in fo r m a tio n access, an d a w o r r is o m e shortage o f librarians in this “ in­ fo rm a tio n a g e .” O n e reason the c o n fe r e n c e m o v e d fro m its Crystal City, Virginia, site w a s the n e e d fo r m o re exh ib it space, w h ic h the present v e n u e at the W ashington H ilton provides. N ea rly 100 in form ation te c h n o lo g y v e n d o rs participated. T h e ir g e n e r o u s s p o n s o rs h ip p r o v id e d the m ea n s fo r th e d iv e r s e p r o g r a m o ffe r in g s th rou gh ou t the c o n fe r e n c e w e e k . C om pu ters in Libraries 2000 p ro v e d , o n c e m ore, that a c o n fe r e n c e w ith “s o m e th in g fo r e v e r y o n e ” c o u ld b e b oth edu cation al and e n ­ tertaining. ■