Initiative Fund Report [Conference Report]

  	
  	
  	
  


	Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship  	Summer 1999  


	DOI:10.5062/F4QN64QH


  

Conference Reports
    Initiative Fund Report: Partnering with the American Society   for Engineering Education, Engineering Libraries Division
      Barton Lessin
  Assistant Dean and Director
  Science and Engineering Library
  Wayne State University
  Detroit, MI
b.lessin@wayne.edu    
    As a representative of the ACRL Science and Technology Section (STS), Barton Lessin  attended the Executive Committee meeting of the American Society for Engineering  Education, Engineering Libraries Division (ASEE ELD) at the ASEE Annual Conference  held in Charlotte North Carolina in June, 1999. The purpose was to explore possible  areas of partnering between STS and ELD. On June 28 at the 1999 ALA Annual  Conference the STS Council met to consider the list of potential areas for  cooperation generated during the ASEE ELD Executive Committee session.     Following an explanation of the intent of each of the items on the ELD list offered  to the group by Mel DeSart, the ASEE liaison to the STS meeting, the members of the  STS Council proceeded to identify a small number of projects that best fit the  needs of the STS membership. Fortunately, in doing this it was quickly clear that  there is a good deal of interest in concepts considered by both groups to be high  priority. 

    The STS Council identified six items from the list for possible collaboration. In  most cases we were able also to name a part of the STS organization that could  serve as the lead for this collaboration. The list that follows uses the same  numbering system that was used during the ELD meeting on June 22, 1999. 

    #1 Recruitment. This will be referred to the STS Comparative  Statistics committee to begin and to the Membership and Continuing Education  Committee if pursued jointly. The focus of this collaboration will be on the  successful recruitment of science and engineering librarians. 

    #2 Center for Research Libraries project. This will be referred to  the STS Subject and Bibliographic Access Committee if pursued jointly. The focus of  this project will be to identify and suggest appropriate titles to CRL to add to  their project. 

    #4 Comparative statistics. This will be referred to the STS  Comparative Statistics Committee if pursued jointly. Both the ELD and the STS send  surveys to libraries. The intention of this project will be to coordinate those  efforts and to get a larger number of institutions to contribute data. 

    #12 Newsletter communication liaison. This will be referred to the  STS Publications Committee if pursued jointly.

    #16 Virtual committee members. This may happen naturally if other  projects are pursued jointly by STS and ELD. 

    #19 Information literacy. This potential area for collaboration  represents the only item on the list where there is no existing segment of the STS  organization that is a match for the expected focus of this project. We understand  that this situation is also the case for the ELD. The project focus will be  developing outcomes-based standards for people in the sciences and engineering that  are compatible with other ACRL standards. 

    The above list has been sent back to ASEE ELD for further discussions intended to  lead us to a mutually agreed upon list for action. 

    The STS Council remains strongly interested in collaboration with the ASEE ELD.   The Council looks forward to future correspondence from the ELD Executive Committee  with the hope that we will find project areas that serve the interests of both the  ASEE ELD and the ACRL memberships. 

    

  

  
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