ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 3 3 8 / C&RL News W ith th is c o lu m n , th e ACRL Racial a n d Ethnic Di­ versity C om m ittee h o p es to start a series o f “th e m e -re ­ la t e d ” n e w s item s. F u tu re them es will include: biblio­ graphic instruction, collection d e v e lo p m e n t, r e c r u itm e n t activ ities, a n d lib rary p r o ­ gramming. T he them e for this colum n is o n going research o n issu es o f race an d e th ­ nicity w ithin libraries an d the profession. Asian Am erican librarians W ithin m any professional fields, Asian Ameri­ cans are not seen as an underrepresented group. It is w idely believed that m any Asian American librarians are hired prim arily for their language skills, a n d b e c a u se o f this p e rc e p tio n Asian A m erican librarians h av e n o t a ttain ed the level o f e x e c u tiv e /m a n a g e m e n t p o sitio n s in p r o ­ p o rtio n to th e ir re p re se n ta tio n in th e p ro fe s­ sion o r th e p o p u la tio n at large. Ichiko Morita, h e a d , C a ta l o g in g D e p a r tm e n t, a n d L eta H endricks, h e a d , H u m an E cology Library at th e O h io State U niversity Libraries, are test­ ing this h y p o th e sis b y surveying A sian A m eri­ can librarians. A q u estio n n aire has b e e n d e v e lo p e d that will elicit inform ation on: barriers to advance­ ment; discrim ination b ased o n race, age, sex, an d nationality; a n d barriers related to cultural differences an d language. T he authors expect th e findings to contribute greatly to the future developm ent o f Asian American librarians. P u b ­ lication o f results is expected. For additional information contact: Ichiko Morita, Library, O hio State University, C olum bus, O H 43220; (614) 292-8114; fax (614) 292-7859; em aih ich ik o . m orita@ osu.edu African American librarians T he professional literature suggests th at aca­ dem ic libraries are evolving to b e m ore sensi­ tive to a n d inclusive o f African A m erican li­ brarians. To test this perception, th e co-authors, G lendora Jo h n so n -C o o p er an d D eb o rah Curry, Susana Hinojosa, University o f California, Berkeley, is chair o f the ACRL Racial a n d Ethnic Diversity Committee R a c i a l & E th n ic D i v e r s i t y In fo rm a tio n ex ch a n g e Susana H in o jo sa q u e rie d A frican A m erican academ ic librarians through a detailed questionnaire to ascertain opin io n s reg ard ­ ing affirmative action, job satisfaction, a n d racism in th e p rofession. O n e h u n ­ d re d e ig h ty lib rarian s re ­ sp o n d e d to th e survey w ith a m a jo rity e x p r e s s in g a n e e d for further research in th e areas o f race an d race relations w ithin the profes­ sion, cultural diversity, an d professional developm ent. T h e c o -au th o rs w ill discuss th e ir findings in a p a p e r to b e p re s e n te d at th e First N ational C o n fe re n c e o f A frican-A m erican Librarians, S ep tem b er 4 -7 , 1992, in C olum bus, O hio. For fu rth er info rm atio n contact: G len d o ra J o h n ­ son -C o o p er, State U niversity o f N ew Y ork at B uffalo, U n d e rg ra d u a te Library, 109 C ap en Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260; (716) 636-2943; fax ( 7 1 6 ) 6 3 6 -3 8 5 8 ; e m a i l : u g l g j c @ u b v m .c c . b u ffalo .ed u ARL/OMS In its s e c o n d y ear o f activities w ith a grant project fu n d ed b y H.W. W ilson, ARL/OMS has c o n d u cte d research to identify m odels for di­ versity program s w ithin industry, h ig h er e d u ­ cation, a n d librarianship. L iterature review s w ere conducted, an d the findings from a p e ­ rusal o f the literature will be p roduced an d m ade available this year. In addition, 17 site visits w ere conducted, an d discussions w ere held w ith library an d university adm inistrators, librarians, an d local consultants o n diversity issues. Al­ ready available are three SPEC kits that an a­ lyze a survey of ARL libraries’ efforts w ith d i­ versity, m inority recruitm ent, an d affirmative action, including exam ples o f m aterials p ro ­ d u c e d an d u se d by ARL libraries w ithin their program s a n d diversity activities. A mailing list has b e e n established a n d regu­ lar u p d ates o n th e project an d ann o u n cem en ts o n th e availability o f n e w products will b e dis­ tributed to those o n th e list. Inquiries about th e project or requests to b e a d d e d to th e m ail­ ing list can b e d irected to: Kriza Jennings, Di­ versity C onsultant, Diversity Project, B ox 815C, ARL/OMS, 1527 N ew H a m p sh ire Ave. NW, W ashington, DC 20036. ■ mailto:morita@osu.edu mailto:uglgjc@ubvm.cc buffalo.edu