ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries September 1986 / 517 ministrative secretary for Sandy and Mary Elle for about six months, but after the Baltimore Co ference, she decided she did not want to stay wit us permanently. W e have hired two part-time e ployees, Dawn Jacobson and Margaret Lentz s that each staff member has one supervisor and eac exempt person has a dedicated support staff me ber. In filling our new office manager position w promoted Elaine Opalka, who had been Cathlee Bourdon’s administrative secretary. O f cours that left her position open, but we were fortunat in being able to hire Karen Duhart, who has an e cellent secretarial background. Emma also needed a successor and we were abl to hire Vivian Hunter, who had worked for RTS into the position of administrative assistant. Vivia is a well-educated and skilled woman who will, am sure, also be a valuable addition to the staff. W e have had two changes in the assistant edit position in C &R L News. Lorraine Dorff was wit us only six months, but left to accept a better pos tion for which she had interviewed before comin to ACRL. Luckily, Gus Friedlander was availabl when we went looking for another assistant edito and he began May 1. His previous experience i publishing and journalism has been helpful. Thus we are at our full complement of 11 F T staff members (12 persons) in our Chicago hea quarters. We hope you had an opportunity to me our new staff members, as well as old staff me bers in new hats in New York or back in Chicago At C hoice, the major personnel changes hav been related to staffing the operation of the Thir Edition of Books f o r C ollege Libraries. Virgini Clark has been serving as the project editor und the management of Pat Sabosik. Virginia’s positio n n­ h m­ o h m­ e n e, e x­ e D , n I or h i­ g e r, n E d­ et m­ . e d a er n at C hoice was therefore left vacant; we have been fortunate in being able to fill it by hiring Robert Balay, longtime head of reference services at Yale University. T hroughout this rep ort, I have referred to ACRL staff members to indicate their areas of re­ sponsibility and expertise. As a division, ACRL has been very fortunate in being able to hire competent professionals to staff its operations in Chicago and Middletown, Connecticut. W e also use regular staff meetings and informal communication means to ensure that all staff members have— in addition to th e ir know ledge of th eir own area of specialization— an understanding of the salient as­ pects of their colleagues’ areas. Therefore, ACRL members may expect to be able to receive accurate inform ation about division m atters from staff members, even if the question involved is not ex­ actly in that person’s bailiwick. At worst, the re­ quest for information will have to be transferred only once to the proper person; at best, an answer may be immediately available. VII. Summary ACRL is in a very strong position programmati­ cally, financially, and in its staffing. W e move into an exciting year, in which the new Strategic Plan will be implemented, Books f o r C ollege Libraries editing will be completed, a new series of NEH workshops will be carried out, and there will be new initiatives in the area of continuing education and professional development. I look forward to meeting more ACRL members, and to working with a new team of leaders. Thank you for all the volunteer work, which is what really keeps the As­ sociation of College and Research Libraries go­ ing. Letters Carpeting the stacks To the Editor: The cover photo on the C& RL News July/Au gust issue really got my attention. Since publishin “Moving Steel Stacks with a Special Dolly” in L i brary Acquisitions, Practice and Theory in 1982 have received a number of requests for copies of th drawings of the dolly, but until I read James Seges ta’s article, “Pulling the Rug out from under th Stacks,” I ’ve never read any reports from peopl who have actually built and used the device. Fro the information Mr. Segesta has gathered it is eas to see that the dolly provides a cost-effective ap proach to moving steel bookstacks and is rapidl becoming an accepted procedure in the bookstac moving process. Dave Roberts and fellow Miam University Physical Plant employees deserve spe ­ g ­ I e ­ e e m y ­ y k i ­ cial recognition for their inventive genius in creat­ ing this “low tech” solution to a library dilemma of long standing. Using the dollies to move lo a d ed bookstacks, however, is a potentially dangerous practice. In or­ der to be sure that loaded stacks can be moved safely, the equipment and procedures used should be examined and approved by a trained safety en­ gineer. A situation involving tremendous weights, uneven floors, unskilled personnel and a center of gravity that may be much higher than advisable, can only lead to disaster. As tempting as the con­ cept may be, moving the stacks with books in place is something to avoid at least until some technical expertise has been applied to the need for examin­ ing all of the relevant safety considerations.— Brian Alley, Dean o f Library Services, Sangamon State University. 518 / C & RL News W ater leaks To the Editor: The cover of the April issue looked very familiar, as you can see from the accompanying photograph. Our leaks have been chronic and have plagued us for years. When space became so critical that the shelves had to be used, we were forced to find a way to co-exist with the leaks. The solution turned out to be a suspended ceiling of plastic sheeting attached to a wooden frame­ work (1x2” lumber) suspended from the overhead beams by wire. Long drainspouts led from the ceil­ ing to catch buckets, thus controlling the accumu­ lated water and eliminating splashing onto nearby books. A few areas that seemed especially vulnerable to possible water damage remain draped as a security measure, but at least 80 % of the shelves were un­ covered, making the books easily accessible once more. One day’s work for two men almost four years ago has saved thousands of dollars worth of books from water damage and an immeasurable amount of staff time and frustration inherent in dealing with the effects of heavy rains that nearly always seem to occur when the library is closed! A new roof installed this summer should end our leaks; however, no one is rushing to pull down the suspended ceiling until we are sure there will be no further need for i t .— R ach el S. M oreland, H ead o f Circulation and Reserves, Kansas State Univer­ sity. SLA’s 1986 Annual Conference “Excellence in the World of Inform ation,” the theme of the 77th Annual Conference of the Spe­ cial Libraries Association, permeated the entire meeting program. A total of 5,161 librarians came to Boston for the Conference, held June 7– 12, but preceded by two days of 25 continuing education courses. Some 125 programs were offered by the 29 divisions of the Association, featuring lots of CD- RO M , autom ation, electronic publishing, but most of all excellence— in management, informa­ tion delivery, and service. General sessions featured Rosabeth Moss Kan­ ter, noted management professor, author, and con­ sultant. Her emphasis on management techniques and change drew an overflow audience that did not go away disappointed. Following Kanter, Dr. Julianne Prager, executive director of corporate technical planning and coordination at 3M, de­ scribed a corporate environment conducive to cre­ ativity and innovation (she even told us how they invented those little yellow Post-It note pads). A panel on technological innovations discussed such topics as blue sky ideas for the future, questions of government control, and finally, moral and ethical issues that need to be addressed. The exhibits area (improvised from the Shera­ ton’s garage when Hynes Auditorium underwent major renovation after the conference site had been locked in) featured some 287 booths, with an em­ phasis on technology, technology, and technology. Compared with exhibits of even ten years ago, the percentage of book dealers and print material ven­ dors has decreased drastically. New products ad­ dressed specifically to the one-person library (a preponderance of SLA members work in them) were the focus of attention in the crowded exhibit hall. L ike all good conferences, this one featured many social events. Receptions for divisions and chapters, mostly sponsored with accustomed gen­ erosity by vendors, were the order of the day (or evening!). The Association banquet— always a gourmet delight and an upbeat affair— revolved around the awarding of honors. Some $20,000 was given away in scholarships, and nine members re­ ceived high accolades. The SLA John Cotton Dana Award went to Doris Schild and Ann Strickland, for “exceptional service by members to special li­ b ra ria n sh ip .” Ed Strable and E lizab eth Gibbs Moore were elected to SLA’s Hall of Fame. Mary McNierney Grant received the SLA Professional Award in recognition of her service as editor of the 1963, 1976, and 1984 editions of Business and F i­ n a n cia l Services. V ivian A rterbery, Jim Tcho- You can't judge a book bu its title. . . . . . that's why you need the N E W index to Scientific Book ContentsTM ! 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So it’s easy to pinpoint ex­ three quarterly issues and an annual actly those book chapters relevant cumulation. A 1985 annual is also to a specific research area. available. ISBC indexes nearly 36,300 chap­ For more information—and a free ters from over 2,200 newly published, sam ple issue—fill out the coupon b e ­ significant scientific books. And ISBC low and mail it today! Or ca ll toll­ provides multidisciplinary coverage free (800) 523-1850, extension 1405. of books in all scientific subject areas. There’s no need to search individual, discipline-oriented in­ dexes for the information you need. You’ll find ISBC important for: • current awareness—ISBC's quar­ terly issues offer timely coverage • bibliographic verification—ISBC's com plete bibliographic informa­ tion on books and chapters en­ ables you to verify citations • retrospective searching—ISBC is cum ulated annually September 1986 / 521 banoff, and David Bender shared a special award for their work on SLA’s Long-Range Plan, and Fred Kilgour was elected to honorary membership in the association (which he accepted by asking “why now?”). The business of the association was carried on in divisional meetings, the annual business meeting, and the Board of Directors meetings before and af­ ter the official Conference dates (the idea here is that Board members may then attend and enjoy the conference and have a chance to meet with mem­ bers and be available to them). At their June 6 -7 session, the Board received a report of strong finan­ cial condition for the 1985 year and the first quar­ ter of 1986, including optimistic reports about the costs of the new building. A new State-of-the-Art Institute was announced: the first will be held in October and will feature government information, including topics such as privatization of informa­ tion, Gramm-Rudman and its impact, closing of government libraries and contracting out. The ob­ jective is to prepare information professionals to take a proactive role in using information to deliver services. Newsman Steve Bell will be keynote speaker, and the proceedings will be published. The long-range planning process continued, with the addition of another year to the plan, and four new goals added: membership development, government relations/information policies, re­ search, and association organization. The Board passed a resolution on U .S .-Canada trade restric­ tions, requesting representatives of both govern­ ments to study the import levies in terms of their impact on the public’s access to information. On June 13, the Board elected Laura Rainey as its Secretary. It voted to continue offering division- sponsored continuing education courses on the Thursday at the end of the conference. Two special ommittees were established: one to investigate ar­ as for membership growth, and another on re­ earch. The Board also approved extending a mem­ er price for the 1987 Anaheim Conference to embers of the Western Map Librarians Associa­ ion. A survey of the association, held during the pring, had not been completely analyzed, but reliminary figures released indicated that 46 % of he SLA members are in corporate environments, 8% in academic libraries, 12% in nonprofit asso­ iations, and 11% in government. 44–48% are in ne-person libraries. General matters of interest round the conference were the move to Washing­ on, the new staff (23, of which 19 are new), the xpansion of outreach activities, the fact that the ues increase had not resulted in a loss in member­ hip (which remains around the 12,000 mark), and he general health of the association. Following everal years of great activity, the tenor of this eeting was calm contentment. Two ACRL members were elected to offices in LA: Emily Mobley, associate director at Purdue niversity L ibrary (president-elect); and Jan e ooney, director of information services for the ank Marketing Association (director at large). President of the Association for its upcoming ear is Frank Spaulding, Bell Telephone Labs, olmdel, New Jersey. In his inaugural address paulding called for more coalitions with other in­ ormation organizations and stressed the need for esearch.—JoAn Segal, A C RL Executive D irec­ or. c e s b m t S p t 1 c o a t e d s t s m S U C B y H S f r t Have course, will travel For the past year, ACRL has been piloting a new continuing education program aimed at making the same CE courses that have been offered nation­ ally more accessible to librarians locally. The needs assessment undertaken during the A CRL Presi­ dent’s Program in 1985 indicated that members would like courses to be brought closer to them and at a more reasonable cost. Local presentations of CE courses are currently being hosted by library organizations and academ ic institutions in re­ sponse to that need. The program operates quite simply and can eas­ ily be adapted to fit the needs of most local spon­ sors. Local presentations may be used in a number of ways. Some colleges and universities have of­ fered a course as a professional development oppor­ tunity for their staff. Costs are borne by the institu­ tion and attendance can be either voluntary or compulsory. ACRL chapters have offered courses as stand­ lone activities which are open to the public for a ee. Since the overhead is usually lower for those rganizations than for A CRL, fees can be set lower han those for the same courses offered by ACRL at ational conferences. On June 13, three CE courses were presented as art of a conference with a central theme. The In­ iana Chapter of ACRL, Ball State University L i­ raries, and Ball State College of Business co­ ponsored this in n ovative program (see pp. 2 3 -2 4 ). A CRL provided presenters for several anagement-related courses. These courses were ombined with other speakers, including Beverly ynch, then president of ALA, as keynote speaker. he conference registration included one CE ourse per person, half a day with three speakers on arious management topics, and several meals. he fee was lower than ACRL fees for a single a f o t n p d b s 5 m c L T c v T 522 / C & RL News Local presentation costs Flat fee One day: $330 (ACRL organizational mem­ bers), $480 (non-members). One-and-a-half days: $495 (ACRL organiza­ tional members), $720 (non-members). Two days: $660 (A CRL organizational members), $960 (non-members). Additional costs All travel and housing for presenter. Syllabi (at cost), $5 each. For further information contact: Sandy Donnelly ACRL/ALA 50 E. Huron St. Chicago, IL 60611-2795. course at national conferences. The conference proved very successful and the co-sponsors hope to make it an annual event. ACRL currently has 25 courses available for lo­ cal presentations and is continuously developing new ones. In addition to providing an instructor and paying their honorarium, ACRL will send the corresponding syllabi, evaluations, and certificates of completion, and will record the CEUs (continu­ ing education units). T ravel and housing for the in­ structor and all other local arrangements are planned and paid for by the host organization. Syl­ labi are purchased for each participant at cost. ACRL charges a flat fee to the host organization for this program with a cost variance between ACRL members and non-members (see box). Eleven courses have been offered as local presen­ tations from August 1985 through June 1986 with 255 participants. They have been offered in nine different states from Oregon and Montana in the West to Indiana and Michigan in the East. A twelfth course was presented in August in New Jer­ sey. There are five additional courses scheduled for 1986–87. Hosts have included special libraries, ACRL chapters, state associations, university and college libraries, and a state-funded grant pro­ gram. ACRL can monitor quality control by course evaluations, by using a previously developed sylla­ bus and by hiring skilled presenters. Our feedback indicates that this program is reaching librarians who cannot attend national conferences, thereby furthering ACRL’s goal “to contribute to the total professional development of academic and re­ search librarians” and at the same time increasing its visibility. If your organization or institution is interested in learning more about this program contact: Sandy Donnelly, ACRL/ALA, 50 E. Huron Street, Chi­ cago, IL 60611-2795.