ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 70 / C&RL News A cadem ic co llea g u es in con cert B y H a n n e lo r e B . R a d er Director o f Libraries Cleveland State University A summary of the 1987 ACRL President’s Program in San Francisco. T h e ACRL President’s Program at ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco, entitled “Academic Colleagues in C oncert,” was held June 29,1987, at the University of San Francisco. The program fea­ tured three speakers: Chancellor Sheila Kaplan, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, spoke on “State C olleges a n d U n iv e rsitie s a n d A c ad em ic L i­ braries” ; Professor John L anning, University of Colorado, addressed “The L ibrary-Faculty P a rt­ nership in C urriculum D evelopm ent” ; and L i­ b rary and C o m p u ter C en ter d irec to r M ichael Kathm an, St. Johns College/St. Benedict College, talked about “The Im pact of Technology on Infor­ mation H andling in Higher E d ucation.” After these excellent presentations the audience of about 400 academic librarians form ed discussion groups and addressed one or m ore of the questions listed below. These questions were derived from the national symposium, “Libraries and the Search for Academic Excellence,” sponsored by Colum bia University and the University of Colorado, held at the Arden House, New York, M arch 15-17, 1987. 1. How can academic librarians take p a rt in gen­ eral education and curriculum planning to ensure th a t inform ation literacy will be a dem onstrable outcome of undergraduate education? 2. Plow can academic librarians create new and productive partnerships w ith faculty to prepare students for life-long learning in an inform ation so­ ciety? 3. How can inform ation-gathering skills become an integral p art of the curriculum ? 4. How can academic libraries continue to pro­ vide their users w ith free and equitable access to in­ form ation given the trem endous expense related to using new technology? 5. W hich key concepts define academic librari- anship in the age of inform ation technologies? 6. How can librarians assist users in solving prob­ lems by using new inform ation technologies? 7. How can the lib rarian ’s role in the inform a­ tion society be explained to the public and relevant funding agencies (TV, m edia, etc.)? 8. W hat should be included in a National Infor­ m ation Policy as related to higher education? 9. W hat role should the library play in the cam ­ pus governance of technology? 10. W h a t w ill th e new role for academ ic li­ braries be w ithin the network of scholarly com­ m unication? 11. How should a new type of publishing system be developed on campuses given the fact th a t p rin ­ cipal research producers, peer reviewers, and elec­ tronic publishing mechanisms are available on the campuses? W hat p a rt should the library assume in this endeavor? 12. How could academic libraries assume a lead­ ing role in assessing, selecting and m anaging elec­ tronically advanced inform ation resources for the academ ic community? 13. How can academic libraries provide infor­ m ation service for the business community? 14. How can academic library services be realis­ tically assessed using statistics, research, etc.? February 1988 / 71 Tw enty-tw o discussion leaders provided sum­ maries of the group discussions. (Questions 6, 8 ,1 1 , 13 and 14 were not chosen for discussion.)* Questions 1, 2 and 3 In order to be successful, the general education program must utilize those faculty who have both high status and in whom library interest has been cultivated. The academ ic librarian m ust become an advocate for the library through professional, social and intellectual contacts. Participation in student faculty discussions can enhance the lib rari­ an’s status by broadening the student’s knowledge and m aking fa c u lty a w a re of in fo rm a tio n re ­ sources. L ibrarian responsibility for both collec­ tion developm ent and user education in a given subject area is another vehicle to bring about coop­ erative efforts. L ibrarians must be prepared to con­ tinue their education and w rite m aterials th a t will dem onstrate their special expertise. There was unanimous agreem ent th a t librarians should be members of an institution’s curriculum committees in order to ensure integration between course m atter and the library’s resources. L ib rari­ ans must be p a rt of long-range planning com m it­ tees and task forces for proposed new courses and/ or general changes in the curriculum and direction of the university. C om m on priorities for the library and institution m ust be agreed upon by the aca­ demic and library adm inistration to make the best use of lim ited resources. W ithout an agreem ent on priorities, the library staff will continue the struggle to try to provide an increasing n u m b er of services w ith in ad eq u ate staffing and resources. L ibrarians m ust be involved w ith and active in various professional accreditation associations. By so doing, pressure can be brought to bear on insti­ tutions to show evidence th a t the student in a p a r­ ticular discipline can conduct library research, and th a t students can indeed find inform ation as re­ quired of practicing members of the discipline. The library director m ust be seen as a key m em ­ ber of the adm inistration and thus be inform ed of issues th a t affect th e curriculum . This position w o u ld increase th e p ro b a b ility th a t lib ra ria n s w ould gain entrance to the relevant committees. L ib ra ria n s w ere n o t in ag reem en t th a t they should urge their institutions to establish library or research com petency testing as a requirem ent for course com pletion or graduation. L ibrarians doing their ow n subject-oriented research seem to enjoy a *Eugene Engeldinger, Jacquelyn Morris, P atri­ cia D . M a u g h a n , A lan R itch a n d M ary B eth Bunge, George Lupone, Cecily Johns and Bill Mof­ fett, Collette W agner, W illiam F. Rogers, M arva L. D eLoach and Philip T ram dack, Ann M eronet, Anne Beaubien, Jo Ann C arr and M argaret Auer, M arian W inner, D w ight Burlingame, Bob C a r­ m ack , Susan A llen, P a t W eav er-M ey ers, Liz Salzer. special relationship w ith faculty, and this m ight be a model to encourage. L ibrarians m ust try for appointm ent to relevant faculty committees and involve faculty more on li­ brary committees. They must clarify for faculty the role of the library in the educational process and build facu lty -lib rarian partnerships. W henever possible librarians should become involved in fac­ ulty departm ental meetings. They could also in­ volve faculty in the lib rarian recruitm ent process. The library has taken on new responsibilities in the last ten years, including language labs, AV, and satellite classrooms. Consequently, traditional services m ay have been less emphasized. L ib rari­ ans’ fam iliarity w ith new technology has been helpful in faculty relationships, because librarians have taken on a different type of teaching role. Faculty are interested in technology, b u t do not w an t to be tau g h t in groups or in the traditional m anner; therefore, other ways of teaching have to be developed. Teaching people to be self-sufficient really takes m ore staff tim e and, consequently, more staff will be playing a role in the teaching process. Technology is presenting new and m ore visible problems, b u t can be used to enhance the librarian in a teacher role. L ibrarians are m ore and m ore be­ coming managers: more non-librarians are in su­ pervisory or d epartm ent head roles; com puters are m aking this possible by taking over routine tasks such as filing. It is most im portant to keep up on the electronic advancem ents. Scholars are form ing electronic networks and bypassing traditional com m unica­ tion m ethods (e.g., periodicals and letters). L i­ braries will receive the synthesis of this com m uni­ c a tio n , no t necessarily th e p rim a ry resources. Remote access can be seen as something th a t would bring the librarian into the network of scholarly- com m unication. It can be a tool to increase contact betw een faculty and librarians and to increase li­ brary use. Aggressive m arketing should be stressed as a ve­ hicle for increasing cooperation between faculty and librarians: especially im portant here is to pro­ ject the right image of librarians. L ib ra ria n s m ust also w ork w ith accre d itin g agencies and play a significant role in the program accrediting process. An ACRL-sponsored program on library standards and program accreditation w ould be useful. Question 4 Free and equitable access to libraries for campus users will be a m ajor concern for academ ic lib rari­ ans. Financial support for library services varies greatly am ong academ ic libraries. It was felt th a t some services will have to become fee-based, al­ though some subsidies for most services will be preferable. Socioeconomic forces affect equitable access to 72 / C & R L News inform ation. Academ ic users m ay be inform ation- rich because of existing structures to access infor­ m ation; even so, there m ay be inform ation “haves” an d “have nots” determ ined by academ ic disci­ p lin e . T hose in th e sciences a n d business h av e greater technologically advanced inform ation re ­ sources th a n those in th e hum anities. To create equitable access, it m ust be advantageous for th e inform ation “haves” to finance th e inform ation needs of th e “have nots.” T here also was general concern th a t th e cost of inform ation could push up th e cost of higher education to th e point w here soci­ ety at large w ould not be w illing to support it. T he m eans of providing equitable access to in ­ form ation lie beyond the library. L ib rarian s m ust continue to lobby faculty, adm inistrators, an d leg­ islators to provide funds for inform ation. U niversi­ ties should absorb the costs of providing in fo rm a­ tio n in te c h n o lo g ic a lly a d v a n c e d fo rm a ts . As CD -ROM technology develops, th e cost of access­ ing inform ation m ight stabilize. In fo rm atio n in ­ dustries m ight look for ways to m ake d a ta entry cheaper, thus low ering the cost of inform ation. A bold step w ould be nationalizing inform ation u tili­ ties such as O C L C an d D IA L O G . Q uestion 5 L ib rarian s m ust have an interest in th e academ ic enterprise and play academ ic politics successfully. They m ust serve as “filters” betw een inform ation and users. L ibrarians m ust be aw are of “hi te c h ,” move w ith it, an d show it to users; if librarians do not take th e initiative here, others w ill take aw ay m uch of th e lib ra ria n ’s role. They m ust be “ag ita­ tors” for providing inform ation/access/instruction in a w ide variety of resource areas. Included in this must be a range of view points and evaluation of sources. Q uestion 7 Is it necessary to im prove actively th e im age of librarians? Reasons to do so include m aking it eas­ ier to do BI, enhancing creditibility am ong stu ­ dents a n d fa c u lty m e m b e rs, a n d , in effect, to “co m p ete” w ith in fo rm a tio n -o rie n te d c o rp o ra ­ tions w ith large advertising budgets. O ne example was A pple’s ad for th e M acintosh, w hich stated th a t th ro u g h end-user searching one could “check out of th e lib rary for good.” It was felt th a t because service is often taken for subservience, th e lib ra ria n ’s role m ust be exam ­ ined. T here is a need to establish a ta rg e t m arket and go after it. Service orien tatio n coupled w ith technological and bibliographical expertise m ight well be seen as an asset, p articu larly by academ ic clientele. As th e professional role of librarians is newly recognized, a move aw ay from th e faculty status issue m ay result: how ever, faculty status for some m ay increase initial visibility am ong class­ room faculty. O ne new role for th e academ ic lib rary m ay be as a collection of m aterials, w ith access possible from outside its physical location. In this context lib ra ri­ ans w ill increasingly becom e consultants to th eir constituents in th e areas of access and evaluation of sources. In BI, this will necessarily change th e em ­ phasis from teaching library use to teaching “infor­ m ation literacy skills.” Because th ere are so m any users, it m ay not be ap p ro p riate to ta rg e t th e entire m arket. Some users will be served by com m ercial end-user services, others by lib rary services. Relationships w ith com ­ m ercial services m ay be synergistic— as m ore of the public becomes interested in and aw are of th e p o ­ te n tial for accessing inform ation, so th eir a w a re ­ ness of all lib rary services m ay greatly increase. Q uestion 9 T he com bining of lib rary services and com puter services u n d er one adm inistrative stru ctu re should take the following issues into consideration: • T h e re is a danger of non-librarians directing th e library. •D iffe re n t skills m ay be required. •E ffo rts should be m ade to determ ine how the tw o services com plem ent each other. • T h e governance situation should be han d led on a cam pus-by-cam pus basis w hich it is hoped will lead to a cam pus-w ide and senior ad m in istra­ tive basis for a know ledgeable sharing of w h a t li­ braries are about. •B e c o m e a m em b er of a cam pus c o m p u tin g com m ittee an d develop and use lib rary liaison. •L ib ra ria n s should be able and w illing to c a ta ­ log and m anage com puter softw are. Q uestion 10 T he scholarly com m unication netw ork will be greatly affected by the inform ation infrastru ctu re w hich is th e province of academ ic libraries. L i­ brarians w ill play a m ajor role in the m aintenance and m erging of old and new inform ation technolo­ gies. C om pounding this role will be th e question of th e preservation of in form ation—both th a t w hich is contained in b rittle p ap er form and th a t w hich is in electronic fo rm at and easily changed. T he im ­ p act of th e loss of direct com m unication betw een the lib rary and its users will require th a t libraries serve as th e fulcrum for the balancing of user needs and th e availability of inform ation. This role will be most im p o rta n t in interdisciplinary areas. In o r­ der to com pete against com m ercial inform ation brokers, librarians m ust be th eir o w n — and th eir users’— best advocates. Q uestion 12 T here was concern ab o u t w ho makes decisions and how librarians becom e involved in decision­ m aking processes relating to technology an d elec­ tro n ically ad v an ced in fo rm a tio n resources. L i­ b rarian s m ust assert th e role of th e lib rary in this February 1988 / 73 im p o rta n t a re a , and at an early stage in th e decision-making. Should librarians not be able to become a part of the process, they should form their own committees and processes. Politically, cam pus dynamics m ight prevail, b u t librarians could influence the process. Librarians can play a leadership role in building scholarly work-station networks. Librarians must be aware of the needs of users and provide them w ith information in any format. Summary The discussions focused on an overview of the li­ brary’s role today and w hat will likely be the future demands placed on it in the areas of providing ac­ cess, selection and resources management. Part of the problem in defining the library’s role is in meet­ ing the demands of the patrons (including faculty) who will understand only imperfectly, if at all, the direction in which the library and information in­ dustry is going, and w hat services will be provided. Besides traditional kinds of library service, there will be much more instruction in the structure of information sources. Vendors will compete w ith li­ braries in providing direct access to some resources. Libraries will be required to provide traditional services, but will be in competition w ith vendors providing new and more specific (and profitable) access. While profit will be found in serving as a broker, pressure will be on libraries as university information utilities to facilitate direct access to in­ formation through vendors. In fact, the role of the library as a partner in research will need to be rede­ fined. As academic librarians address the future these issues will continuously have to be reexamined and problems will have to be solved in creative ways. Librarians agreed on the following: •T h e focus must be on the prim ary beneficiaries of library development, the users. •A wider range of services will have to be iden­ tified. •T h e library will continue as a social entity. •T h e “top end” of the m arket will be taken by vendors. •Inform ation may be fee-based. •T h e library role as information broker on cam ­ pus is directly proportional to the funding for infor­ mation access which the library receives. •T h e library must see the big picture and un­ derstand the degree of entrepreneurship appropri­ ate for a positive environment. •T ra d itio n a l views of the lib rary ’s role will have to be m oderated by an understanding of the access issues involved and by the reality of budgets. •L ibraries will participate in the distribution of financial resources for the development of infor­ mation access systems by the university in a com­ petitive and uncertain environment. ■ ■ ACRL executive summary Professional education The following local CE course presentations were held: Librarians as Supervisors (CE101) in Las Cruces, New Mexico, w ith 31 participants; and Principles of Strategic Planning in the Library Environm ent (CE111) at the University of Puerto Rico. W ork continues on details regarding the WESS Conference in Florence, Italy. Several contribu­ tions were received as a result of the work of the Fundraising Subcommittee chair M artha Brogan, special events chair Anna Perrault, and Florence Conference Committee chair Assunta Pisani. Enhancing library service capability A nne B eau b ien a tte n d e d a m e e tin g of th e LAMA/PLA/Office for Research Project on Non- Tax Sources of Revenue for Public Libraries to lis­ ten for ideas on extending the project to academic libraries. The ACRL Performance Measures Committee discussed and evaluated proposals for an O utput Measures Manual. The Committee planned at the time of w riting to present a final proposal to the Budget and Finance Committee and the Board of Directors at the M idwinter Meeting in January. Advocacy and liaison JoAn Segal and Cathleen Bourdon met infor­ mally with Elaine Didier, president of the Associa­ tion for Educational Communications and Tech­ nology, to discuss th e progress of a jo in t ACRL/AECT Standards Committee. Charles Cullen, president of the Newberry Li­ brary, and Donald B. Simpson, president of the Center for Research Libraries, visited ALA on De­ cember 10. They made presentations about their respective libraries and organizations and had dis­ cussions w ith our staff about ACRL. Research and publications Tem porary staff members have been added to the Books fo r College Libraries project to help bring the m anuscript to completion. Project direc­ tor Patricia Sabosik discussed w ith UTLAS steps to move autom ation aspects of the project forward. The ANSS, CLS, and EBSS section newsletters 74 / C & R L N ew s w ere m ailed , brin g in g to a close th e F all cycle of section new sletter p u b lication. Headquarters activities A new co m p u ter an d p rin te r have been installed th a t w ill p rim a rily be used for C & R L N ew s p ro ­ duction. T h e new e q u ip m en t w ill allow m agazine p roduction to sw itch from a d edicated w o rd p ro c ­ essing system to m icrocom puters. A C R L s ta f f w o rk e d on p r e p a r i n g th e 1989 budget for ap p ro v al a t th e M id w in ter C onference. JoAn Segal an d M ary E llen D avis served on th e ALA W o rd Processing Task F orce a n d h elped to develop a policy for ALA on h a rd w a re a n d soft­ w a re configurations. ALA staff h e a rd a p resen tatio n on th e im p lica­ tions of th e new tax la w w ith reg ard to associations, inclu d in g rules for th e ded u ctio n of professional ex­ penses for trav el to m eetings. A C R L staff w orked on th e 1989 O p e ra tin g Plan. A d ra ft w as sent to th e P lan n in g C o m m ittee for dis­ cussion a t th e M id w in ter M eeting. P resident Jo an n e E u ster p la n n ed a L eadership m eeting for A CRL B oard m em bers an d guests for M id w in ter a n d has set up several o th er o p p o rtu n i­ ties for m em b er leaders to o b ta in help w ith th e ir duties an d responsibilities.—JoAn S. Segal, A C R L E xecu tive D irector. ■ ■ Six p e r c e n t a n d o th e r sta n d a r d s B y Steve M arquardt D irector o f Libraries University o f W isconsin-E au Claire Getting from the real to the ideal. W ritin g in th e N ovem ber 1987 issue of C &R L N ews, J. R ich ard M adaus appeals to “professional ethics” to argue for a bigger slice of th e academ ic b u d g e t. M a d a u s sta te s t h a t p ro fessio n al ethics should extend “to th e basic level of th e acceptance or rejection of th e conditions a n d circum stances under w h ich w e as professionals w ill allow o u r­ selves to w o rk .” H e suggests th a t a t th e p o in t of in ­ terview ing a n d being h ired , each lib ra ria n should raise th e A C R L academ ic lib ra ry b u d g et sta n d a rd of 6 % of cam pus ed u catio n al an d general (E&G) funding: “O u r n atio n al stan d ard s w ill be credible only w h en every lib ra ria n applying for every job brings th em up before th e y are hired. ”1 R ich ard M adaus, “A cadem ic L ib ra ry F u n d ­ ing an d Professional E th ic s,” C‹&RL N ew s 48 (No­ vem ber 1987): 606-609. M adaus is correct th a t th e “im m ed iate results w o u ld be a lo t of unfilled positions,” because m an y institutions restrict th e ir su p p o rt of th e lib ra ry to an a m o u n t closer to one h a lf of 6 %. An even m ore im m ed iate result w o u ld be exclam ations from a d ­ m inistrators th a t such a sta n d a rd is unrealistic an d u n affo rd ab le. (Indeed, are th e re libraries o u t th e re still enjoying 6 % of E& G?) A dm inistrators w ould label such a sta n d a rd as self-serving, an d w o u ld ask w h y 6% is necessary. F o r th e lib ra ria n , this 6 % is an ideal resource in ­ p u t, b u t for th e academ ic ad m in istrato r, it is an in ­ conveniently large expenditure o u tp u t. Such an a b r u p t d e m a n d , u n ju stified by a n y th in g o th e r th a n a self-set sta n d a rd , w ill seem less like ethics or even academ ic politics, b u t ra th e r m ore like greed. I t m ay even seem d o w n rig h t u n eth ical, in th e sense th a t “behavior becom es u n eth ical w h en it favors a