College and Research Libraries Editorial Mysteries, Wonders, and Beauties This is my last editorial. Gloriana St. Clair assumes the mantle of editor with the July issue. I wish her every success. A last editorial may somehow resemble a last chance. Fortunately I have had many chances. This last one, however, permits a moment to reflect on two familiar themes- people and ideas. Together, interacting, they represent what I view as the core purpose of libraries. Learning, problem solving, personal growth, and knowledge are but a few of the possible outcomes. From this start we may hope to further other higher-level social and cultural goals. Academic librarianship has made tremendous strides in the past few decades. The de- gree of our professional maturity has grown and our profession has become more and more robust. Our ability to serve has broadened and deepened. Should we be proud? Most cer- tainly! Should we be satisfied? At moments, yes! Librarians have made outstanding prog- ress in bringing the dynamic quality of computers and communication technologies to bear on how we process items and how we transport them. Nevertheless, librarians have a static rather than a dynamic orientation to the content of items. The warehouse or collection-based paradigm still holds sway. The centerpiece of this paradigm is the provision of items shelved locally. A new access-based paradigm is emerg- ing and gaining many adherents. Its centerpiece is the provision of items wherever they may be located. What happens between the user and the content of items is beyond the boundary of either paradigm. As academic librarians we have defined our boundaries with considerable clarity. They have not been forced upon us. Indeed, all but a few librarians seem to hold to a value free or zero value-added philosophy toward the contents of what we own or get. We have con- structed this reality. It is ingrained in our standards and our professional ethics. These choices have inhibited the development of our profession. What happens between the user and the content of items, or between "people and ideas,'' should be the central focus of academic librarianship. In this sense I support a mys- teries, wonders, and beauties paradigm. Where our profession now ends up is where I believe we should start. A line of popular lyrics comes to mind, ''One foot over the line sweet Jesus. One foot over the line." Someday I would like to see us take that step. This does not mean that we should set aside traditional practices. Frank Lloyd Wright once observed, "Please do not build to the size of a man, but build for the size o.f his spirit.'' In architecture our libraries may sometimes approximate this goal but in our professional philosophy and in our daily practices the spirit is often measured by inches on the shelf. The mysteries, wonders, and beauties created by people and read by others are beyond what we set out to reach. To the authors who have created and submitted their ideas for publication in College & Research Libraries-thank you! To the members of the Editorial Board (Brian Alley, Sheila Creth, Miriam Drake, Stephen Gerhardt, Phyllis Jaynes, David Laird, Frederick Lynden, Deanna Marcum, Paul Metz, Brian Nielsen, Jordan Scepanski, and Nancy Van House) 179 180 College & Research Libraries May 1990 who refereed over six hundred manuscripts, to the Assistant Editors (Deborah Jakubs and Larry Oberg), and to the Research Notes Editor (Gary Lawrence) and the Book Review Edi- tor (William Jones)-my heartfelt thanks! To the readers-thank you for allowing me and other past editors the freedom to express ourselves openly. First Amendment rights are critical to our society. It is a great profession that upholds these values. CHARLES MARTELL How does your collection measure up? You need reliable quantitative data to justify collection management decisions. You need a flexible analysis system designed with yotir library's goals in mind. Introducing ........................ OCLC! AM/COS Collection Analysis Systems. Collection Analysis CD compares your holdings against those of similar institutions, using a subset of the OCLC database on compact disc. Tape Analysis gives you a custom-designed MARC tape analysis for your library or group. A Tape Match against Books for College Libraries is also offered. . OCLC/AMIGOS Collection Analysis Systems Available exclusively in the U.S. from AMIGOS Bibliographic Council, Inc. 11300 North Central Expressway, Suite 321 Dallas, Texas 75243 (800)843-8482 (214)750-6130 ACRL and ALA Publishing present- Measuring Academic Library Performance: A Practical Approach The library management tool you've been waiting for! Measuring Academic Library Performance offers an easy-to-use set of output measures that you and your staff can perform without specialized training or knowledge of statistics. The data you obtain can be used to evaluate the library's services, to demon- strate the library's value, and to guide resource allocation. Commissioned and approved by the ACRL Board of Directors, the manual is the result of two years of development and field-testing. The project was headed by Dr. Nancy Van House of the University of California at Berkeley, who also worked on the development of Output Measures for Public Libraries (ALA, 1987). The measures are specifically designed for academic libraries. The manual contains all the background information and materials you need to carry out a measurement project, including survey forms ready to photocopy. The manual will also be available with a database software package to make your data collection even easier! Measuring Academic Library Performance: A Practical Guide By Dr. Nancy Van House, Beth Weil, and Charles R. McClure Prepared for the Association of College and Research Libraries, under the auspices of the Committee on Performance Measures, Ad Hoc Available in June 1990. Book: $29.00 pbk. ISBN 0-8389-0529-3 Book & Diskette Package: $70.00 ISBN 0-8389-0542-0 ALA BOOKS American Library Association 50 East Huron Street Chicago, Illinois 60611 The Only Complete Reference QURAN in English with comprehensive co~entary and full translation- invaluable to scholars of international studies, world politics, and comparative religions. •This beautiful, five volume reference set encompasses 1400 years of historic research conducted by western, oriental and middle eastern Islamic scholars. It offers authorita- tive exposition of all key concepts in Islam and their evolutionary environments. "This Commentary of the Holy Quran, written by a renowned Islamic Scholar is a vital reference providing a ready source of original research on tracing the roots of Quranic terms and phrases and in the analysis of the cultural and his- torical environment of the origins of Islam in particular, and of]udaism and Christianity in general." "I have used this work myself in my researches on science in Islam. As is well-known, the Holy Quran contains some 740 verses-nearly l/8th of the Holy book-which exhorts Muslims to reflect on Allah's creation. This played an impor- tant role in the rise of science within Islam which played an important role towards the continuation of scientific spirit up to the 16th century." Abdus Salam Professor Abdus Salaam The First Muslim Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1979 "The greater commentary of the Holy Quran is the magnum opus of Hazrat Mirza Basheerudin Mahmud Ahmad. It is a most valuable exposition of the numberless verities comprised in the Holy Quran and is a great milestone in the history of the exegesis of the Holy Quran. It has drawn superlative encomiums from scholars of the Holy Quran ." Muhammad Zafariilla Khan President of the UN General Assembly 1962 President of the World Court of Justice •This is a complete reference on the Islamic faith c~ntaining the complete text of the Quran. The index, concor- dance and bibliography assist readers in understanding Islamic practices and their cultural and historic roots. Clear and Functional Fortnat PT. 5 AL·NISA Of. ~ •Provides translation 122. These are they whose abode r-:~' .- ·, , , , . ·~ ,_ • , ,•,, ':""t I _,....- ohall be Hell and •they shall find no ~~-'~ ~-' '~ ~-'~ d:J_,I V" of important words from Arabic to English. nyof eecape from it.•• ~~ ~f~~ 123. Butcu to ~hose who believe and ,; ,... ·:l>.·'' , 1 • ~ ., , ,,., . ,; :' do good works, We will adm 1t them ~r.,u.;....;:.- .,:o.JI~_,~,~~I.J lDto gar~~na, bene~th which streams .. .,,,., "':" .. "" , ,,.,.., ,., , ,.. ftow, ab1dmg therem for ever. It u 1~, +.!.<.:.':'.#-_AJ:l)l ~ ~