ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 420 / C&RL News In the News This issue offers an eclectic mix o f articles and news items for your perusal this summer. ACRL immediate past president, Barbara J. Ford, gives highlights of ACRL’s 1990-91 activities and ACRL president, Anne Beaubien, offers a look at her plans for 1991-92. Katie Laurence shares with us some wonderful photos and descriptions from the menu collection at the Cornell University School of Hotel Admini­ stration Library. Imagine sitting down to a dinner offering 111 different dishes including 10 orna­ mental confections and five different species of duck! Evelyn Riché-Olivier recaps the 1991 John Cotton Dana Public Relations Awards and urges us to think about our own p.r. plans. The Biblio­ graphic Instruction Section developed a detailed checklist for planning end-user searching instruc­ tion that is reproduced in this issue and our colum­ nists provide you with timely updates on their usual beats. The advent of summer usually means a change of pace for those working in academic institutions; I hope your summer includes a break from your usual routine. C& RL News will be back with the September issue. — Mary Ellen K. Davis E d itor an d Publisher ABEU libraries propose cooperative collection development to combat increasing costs Directors of the Association of Big Eight Univer­ sity (ABEU) libraries and other regional research libraries met at Kansas State University, Manhat­ tan, on May 1—2. The meeting focused on the growing inability of individual research libraries to purchase publications needed on campus by re­ searchers and students. The group proposed im­ plementation of a regional library cooperative with ABEU Libraries as the nucleus to share resources among the research libraries o f the region. Such a strategy would shift the emphasis from acquisition o f publications by individual libraries to sharing of materials via an improved access and delivery sys­ tem. Participating in the meeting were Owen Cylke, president of ABEU, and representatives of all the libraries of universities participating in ABEU (University of Colorado, University of Nebraska, University o f Kansas, Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University, University of Okla­ homa, University of Missouri, Iowa State Univer­ sity). Other participants represented the University of Arkansas, University of New Mexico, and Linda Hall Library o f Kansas City, Missouri. The proposed programmatic basis of the re­ gional cooperative includes providing detailed in­ formation about the serial holdings of participating libraries, by implementing a regional ŌCLC union list of serials, and the rapid delivery of materials by using fax technology. This will allow transmission of optically scanned and digitized copies of docu­ ments from microcomputer to microcomputer (and finally to a printer) via Internet. Cooperating libraries will also propose to enhance document delivery by implementing a one- to two-day over­ land courier system using a commercial courier service. ■ ■ Call for poster sessions at the ACRL National Conference The National Conference Executive Com­ mittee invites you to submit a poster session proposal for the ACRL Sixth National Confer­ ence to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 12-14, 1992. Poster sessions are informal presentations of unique and trendsetting programs and activi­ ties being carried out in academic or research li­ braries. Potential presenters of poster sessions should submit a poster session proposal form (call the ACRL office, (800) 545-2433, ext. 2516 for the form). The deadline for submitting a completed form is November 1, 1991. Send the completed form to Jean E. DeLauche, ACRL Poster Sessions, 7040 North 60th Street, #203, Milwaukee, WI 53223. The conference theme, “Academic Librar­ ies: Achieving Excellence in Higher Educa­ tion,” will explore the major issues confronting academic libraries now. The following are the sub-themes of the conference: diversity in the academic community; the increased complex­ ity of information resources in many formats; the research agenda for academic and research libraries; and technology and library users.