ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 122 / C&RL News ■ February 2000 College & Research Libraries news English and Reichel share plans for ACRL Vote in the election this spring by Ray English and Mary Reichel E d note: C&RL News offered ACRL candi­ dates for vice-president/president-elect, Ray English and Mary Reichel, this oppor nity to share their views with the member­ ship. Although many of the issues facing ACRL are discussed informally at meetings, we want to use this venue to provide a na­ tional forum to all members. We hope this will assist you in making an informed choice w hen you receive your ballot this spring. RAY ENGLISH “Oh, you better start swimming Or you’ll sink like a stone For the times, they are a-changin’” —Bob Dylan “Toto, I’ve a feeling w e’re not in Kansas anym ore.” —Dorothy, Wizard of Oz Writing this position piece has provided a very enjoyable opportunity for me to reflect on the state of academic libraries and ACRL. As I’ve looked back at the recent past. I’m struck by the extraordinary technological changes in our libraries that have taken place in just the last few years. Ubiquitous com­ puters and networking, Web-based catalogs, library Web pages that provide central ac­ cess for research, electronic journals, e-prints. tu­ Ray English Mary Reichel e-books, electronic reserves, digital collec­ tions (including primary sources of excep­ tional richness), and distance education are just some of the features of our new land­ scape. The new technologies have, in some re­ spects, put us in a position to provide richer information resources for our students and faculty than ever before. But the new envi­ ronment is also much more complex and demanding, both for our users and for us. As w e’ve provided library resources and ser­ vices electronically, w e ’ve created whole new library functions at the same time that w e’re continuing the operations of the print- based library. Staying abreast of such fast-paced change and increasing complexity is essential for all of us. Even more challenging is our need to A b o u t th e a u th o r s Ray English is director o f libraries a t Oberlin College, e-mail: ray.english@oberlin.edu; Mary Reichel is university librarian at Appalachian State University, e-mail: reichelml@appstate.edu mailto:ray.english@oberlin.edu mailto:reichelml@appstate.edu C&RL News ■ February 2000 / 123 shape the change w e ’re experiencing in ac­ cordance with our values, rather than sim­ ply let change happen to us. Only by being leaders, advocates, and activists— both on our own cam puses and at state and national levels— can we sustain the quality o f our libraries and ensure that they remain central to our institutions’ edu­ cational missions. A C R L 's re sp o n se ACRL has responded well to the changes in academic libraries, higher education, and our external environment. Our association is very mature, with strong financial resources and a large, stable, active membership. The 1996 strategic plan continued the association’s his­ torical emphasis on professional develop­ ment, but it also placed new priorities on national legislative advocacy and outreach to higher education organizations. As I write, a new strategic plan is sched­ uled for adoption by the ACRL Board at the Midwinter 2000 meeting. The new plan will further expand the roles o f the association into new areas o f critical importance, such as scholarly comm unication. I fully support the new strategic plan and would work e n ­ ergetically to accomplish its goals. If elected, I would be particularly interested in collabo­ rating with the ACRL Board, committees, sec­ tions, and chapters in the following areas. P ro fe ssio n a l d e v e lo p m e n t If w e’re to deal effectively with the changes transforming our libraries, it’s essential that ACRL continues to provide a variety o f pro­ fessional development opportunities. We es­ pecially need to build on recent efforts to increase the leadership and advocacy skills o f our members. The association has had great success with its national conferences, annual conference programs, preconferences, and institutes. We need to make these opportunities as acces­ sible as possible to everyone who works in academ ic libraries. I would place high pri­ ority on keeping the costs o f conferences and institutes as low as possible and pro­ viding scholarship opportunities for those who are not in the best position to partici­ pate. I would also like to encourage further efforts to use technology to m ake program­ ming more available at regional and state levels. The W eb broadcast o f Jim Neal and Pat Schroeder’s debate at the Detroit National conference, which was the focus o f the In­ diana chapter’s state program, is a fine e x ­ ample o f w hat’s possible. O utreach and le g is la tiv e a d v o ca cy We face particular challenges at state and national policy levels. Publishing in the digi­ tal era is increasingly characterized by li­ censes and contract law, rather than copy­ right, and there are continuing pressures from comm ercial interests to privatize infor­ mation that has historically been in the pub­ lic domain. It’s now a regular occurrence for us to learn o f new bills in Congress that have major implications for libraries. Fair use and wide public access to information can only be assured if we continue to work ac­ tively to shape legislation and national in­ formation policy. The recent developm ent o f an ACRL leg­ islative agenda, the reallocation o f a staff po­ sition, and especially the creation of the ACRL legislative network have been very positive responses to these concerns. As a next step, I would encourage ACRL to look for ways to broaden participation by ACRL members in legislative advocacy and to build legisla­ tive coalitions with organizations that share our interests. ACRL has been quite su ccess­ ful in creating links to other higher educa­ tion organizations. It’s now time for us to move from outreach to collective action. S c h o la rly co m m u n ica tio n It’s imperative that we explore all possible avenues to create a scholarly publishing en ­ vironment characterized by ease o f access, fair prices, and archival perm anence. The pricing practices o f som e journal publishers remain a major threat to the quality o f all academ ic libraries. As prices have gone up faster than bud­ gets, the quality o f print collections has de­ clined and the system o f scholarly com m u­ nication itself has com e under increasing pressure. In years past, the most problem ­ atic publishers have claimed that their price increases were due primarily to increased costs. We now know— beyond any reason­ able doubt— that they were motivated by profit maximization and that their prices will 1 2 4 /C& RL News ■ February 2000 Even m ore c h a lle n g in g is o u r need to sh a p e th e c h a n g e w e 're e x p e r i­ e n c in g in a cco rd a n ce w ith o u r v a lu e s, ra th e r th a n s im p ly let c h a n g e h a p p e n to us. respond to political and com petitive pres­ sures. ACRL’s legislative and outreach efforts have put the association in an excellen t p o ­ sition to play a m uch m ore active role in shaping scholarly com m unication. As is the case in the legislative arena, we need to work collaboratively with other organizations, e s­ pecially the Scholarly Publishing and Aca­ dem ic Resources Coalition, to m obilize as much pressure as possible against those pub­ lishers w ho are the worst offenders. We also n eed to d em o n strate throu gh actu al e x ­ am ples that high-quality, reasonably priced journals and other form s o f scholarly co m ­ m unication are feasible. Finally, w e must e d u ca te facu lty on ou r ca m p u se s ab o u t scholarly com m unication issues. ACRL can play a particularly valuable role in fostering cam pus education programs. In fo rm a tio n lite ra c y Our users face a m uch m ore co m p lex infor­ mation environm ent than a d ecad e ago. Us­ ing that environm ent to the best advantage requires m ore skills and abilities. Unless our students b eco m e genuinely inform ation lit­ e r a te , ra th e r th an sim p ly fo llo w in g an Internet mania, they will increasingly bypass libraries— particularly the printed resources we offer— in favor o f what is erroneously perceived to be faster and better m eans o f a p p ro a c h in g re s e a rc h p ro b lem s. In that event, education and acad em ic libraries will both suffer. We will m ake real progress in this area only th ro u g h ca re fu l c o lla b o r a tio n with teaching faculty on the integration o f infor­ mation literacy into our curricula. T h e ACRL Institute for Inform ation Literacy, the articu­ lation o f inform ation literacy co m p eten cies, and the docum entation o f best practices are w onderful initiatives in this area. They d e­ serve ACRL’s continuing strong support, as do ACRL President-elect Betsy W ilson’s plans to develop broader collaboration am ong dif­ ferent types o f libraries and other organiza­ tions interested in this issue. C o m p o s itio n o f th e p r o fe s s io n ACRL’s most recent survey o f m em bership indicates that we are mostly m iddle-aged or older, and that w e ’re overwhelmingly Cau­ casian. Students, our primary user group, are becom ing increasingly diverse. In addition, academ ic libraries are experiencing problems in filling vacant positions. We must strengthen recent efforts to recruit new librarians into academ ic libraries and also redouble our ef­ forts to diversify the profession. ALA’s Sp ec­ trum Initiative, the recent Congress on Pro­ fessional Education, and ACRL’s discussions with library school deans offer good begin ­ ning points for our work in this area. I believ e that o n e o f the keys to our su c­ cess involves encouraging all acad em ic li­ braries to b eg in program s to recruit stu­ dents— esp ecially th ose from u n d errep re­ sented groups— into the profession. Virtu­ ally all o f us em ploy significant num bers o f student w orkers and many o f use have quite diverse student bodies. As an initial effort we can all initiate program s designed to di­ versify our student work forces and to dem ­ onstrate to students the exciting possibilities o f library careers. I would b e particularly interested in d ev elo p in g m odels for a c a ­ dem ic libraries in these areas. It’s also e s­ sential that w e continue dialogue with library sch ools to ensure that their curricula are as responsive as possible to the needs o f aca ­ dem ic libraries. C o n c lu s io n Given all the issues and challenges we face, it’s natural to w onder if it’s even possible to shape the direction o f change. It’s also natu­ ral to wish for a sim pler tim e and place. (C an ’t we som ehow click a pair o f red shoes and return to D orothy’s Kansas?) But w e all know there is no going back— and no stand­ ing still. T he times require m ore and m ore that w e be activists in virtually all aspects o f our professional lives. If w e d o n ’t want to sink like D ylan’s m etaphorical stone, w e all have to swim. I want to thank the Nominations Com ­ mittee for selecting me as o n e o f two cand i­ C&RL News ■ February 2000 / 125 dates for ACRL President for the year 2 0 0 1 - 02. Having recently served on the ACRL Board, the ACRL Executive Committee, and as chair o f the ACRL Budget and Finance Committee, I feel that I am very familiar with M A R Y R E IC H E L It is an h o n o r to b e asked to run for P resi­ dent o f ACRL and I w ould like to start my statem ent by sharing with the readers the strengths I b eliev e I w ould bring to the role. I have b e e n an acad em ic librarian sin ce 1974 (o v er a quarter o f a century, but w ho is co u n tin g ?) and an activ e m em b er o f ACRL and ALA sin ce 1977. Through the years I have b e e n active in ACRL as chair o f the Instruction Section, chair o f Appoint­ m ents and N om inations C om m ittee, chair o f the P resid en t’s Program Planning Com ­ m ittee, and a m em ber o f the ACRL Board. I have d evoted the tim e, energy, and re­ sou rces to th ese en d eav ors b e ca u se ACRL is im portant for each o f us as individuals and for all o f us as a p rofession . I have gained far m ore than I have giv to ACRL by com ing to know librarians from all over the country, from d ifferent types o f higher ed u catio n institutions, from dif­ ferent backgrounds, and with different pri­ orities. T h ere is no doubt in my m ind that I am a far better librarian b ecau se o f my involve­ m ent in ACRL and ALA, and I w ould like to see ACRL co n tin u e to provide activities and forum s that help individuals d evelop into the best acad em ic librarians and staff they can b eco m e. Sharing ideas, research , p ro b le m s , and s o lu tio n s is a p o w erfu l m eans o f im proving o u rselv es and a c a ­ dem ic library services. ACRL’s im p ortan ce for our p ro fessio n and for acad em ic libraries can n o t be o v er­ stated. W hile part o f ALA and its overall co n ce rn s, ACRL is the p ro fession al v o ice for the acad em ic library com m unity in all types o f higher ed ucation institutions. I am proud o f the increasingly p roactive stan ce that ACRL is taking in publicizing its stand­ ing as the o rgan izatio n re p re se n tin g all acad em ic libraries and librarians. I agreed to b e nom inated for the p resid en t’s role, the issues that confront our association and well qualified to serve in this capacity. I would enjoy the challenge o f bringing an increased sense o f activism and engagem ent to our association. in part, b e ca u se I b eliev e I can provide lead ership that will help the asso ciatio n b e c o m e even stronger. S t r e n g t h s My individual strengths include the ability to k eep my eye on the ultim ate goal, the b ig p ictu re o f w hat w e are strivin g to ach ieve. U nderstanding the overview a l­ low s a focu s on what is truly im portant and the ability to cut through red tap e w hen n ecessary to get som eth ing done. I am resp ectfu l o f the a sso cia tio n ’s o p e ra t­ ing p rin cip les, but I also know that e x p e ­ ditious gu id an ce through the b u reau cracy w ill m a k e th e a s s o c ia tio n m u ch m o re m eaningful to individuals w ho want to see ch an g e or w ho want to co m p lete a goal. Another o f my strengths is my ability to listen to others and to pull people together for more powerful decisions through co n ­ sensus than would have been reached indi­ vidually. I understand how the Board works, how the ACRL staff interacts with the Board, how ACRL relates to ALA, and I would work to m ake the Board as accessible to m em ­ bers as possible. At the same time, m em ­ bers need the Board to be serious about its fiduciary responsibilities. My service on the SOLINET Board, as well as the ACRL Board, has led to a strong understanding o f the fi­ nancial aspects o f organizations. P r io r it ie s As president, I w ould support ACRL’s stra­ tegic plan and I w ould em p h asize 1) re­ cruitm ent to our p rofession and b ro a d e n ­ in g m e m b e r p a r t i c i p a t i o n in t h e association; 2) ACRL’s strong legislative and p o licy fo cu s; and 3) c lo se r co n n e c tio n s w ith o t h e r h ig h e r e d u c a t i o n g r o u p s through an em phasis on the im portan ce o f inform ation literacy and sch o larly co m ­ m unication. As we exp and recruitm ent o f bright, tal­ en ted individuals from a variety o f aca- en 126 / C&RL News ■ February 2000 I w o u ld like to see A C R L continu e to p ro vid e a ctiv itie s and fo ru m s th a t help in d iv id u a ls d e ve lo p into the best acad em ic lib ra ria n s and s ta ff th e y can becom e. d e m ic d is c ip lin e s , I b e lie v e a c a d e m ic librarianship and ACRL will thrive only if we are successful in increasing ethnic diver­ sity among our colleagues and in ACRL. To that end, I would try to make appointments within the association that would increase diversity among active members. I would support the work o f the Ad Hoc Committee on Recruiting into the Profession, implement its recommendations, and exam ine the need to make recruiting a standing committee, as w ell as su p p o rtin g su ch e ffo rts as J o b Shadow Day. As a Board member, I watched (and I hope helped) ACRL strengthen our involve ment in legislative and policy issues. Devot ing staff time to legislative and policy activi ties made timely notice o f emerging issues possible and allowed a broader representa­ tion o f academ ic librarians to respond to these important issues. The renew ed dedi­ cation to helping shape legislation and policy also reinvigorated the Government Relations Committee. This initiative has improved our relationship with the Association o f Research Libraries. I would do what is necessary to continue this emphasis. In fo r m a tio n lit e r a c y a n d s c h o la r ly c o m m u n ic a tio n T h e c o rn e rs to n e o f my c a r e e r and my participation in ACRL has been my belief in the importance o f what we do as academic librarians, especially our involvement with the education o f undergraduate and gradu ate students. In these wonderful, exciting, and challenging times, information literacy is more essential than ever for students. Students prefer easily accessible resources; research shows that librarians/researchers/ faculty members also prefer easily accessible resources. It is no surprise then that the Internet is so popular. We have the challenge and excitem ent of helping students learn the necessary critical thinking and evaluation abilities to determine whether the easily ac cessible r e o u r c e s are also the most suitable resources for the academic task or project. Being in academic libraries now allows us the luxury o f focusing on students’ evalua tion o f resources and use o f them. Similarly, academic libraries’ role in the scholarly communication process is a vital one. Librarians reach faculty, administrators, and staff through not only our support o f the research process, but also in our leadership in helping researchers understand the full dimensions o f the scholarly communication process. Faculty respect for libraries and their in terest in collaborating with librarians in the educational process is derived from the sup port they receive in accomplishing their own research and in understanding the “food chain” o f scholarly communication— from re searcher to publisher to libraries and back. In our own right, ACRL has a distinguished history o f promoting research related to aca demic libraries and information studies. As president, I would continue to support C ollege a n d R e s ea r c h L ib ra ries and our other publications that advance knowledge in our field. In fact, we are a model o f a successful nonprofit, scholarly publishing effort. As President o f ACRL, I would tie my se lected priorities to current initiatives, such as the Institute for Information Literacy and a continual emphasis on the bright future o f academic libraries, and the role libraries play in the educational and scholarly communi cation process. With this emphasis, a closer relationship to higher education is a natural priority. Strong academ ic libraries are key to a strong higher education for undergraduate and graduate students. That future may come in a different set o f cloth es from the ones we have b e e n w earing, but the n ecessity for strong libraries contin u es. Explaining the im portance o f acad em ic libraries is a crucial role for ACRL, and, as President, I w ould ask the asso ciatio n to d efine w hat we think acad em ic libraries, services, and co llectio n s will be in 2010 and beyond . We can d evelop a m odel vi sion that will be useful for us as a p ro fes sion and on our cam pu ses as a guide to the future o f acad em ic libraries. ■ C&RL News ■ February 2000 / 727 128 / C&RL News ■ February 2000