ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 8 0 /C & R L N ew s Turock urges su p p o rt f o r e q u ity No ones knows better than college and uni versity librarians that the information superhigh way is not about the fu ture; it’s about now. You have been at the cutting edge of information tech nology for decades strug gling to k eep students and scholars current in their disciplines. But the public is not nearly as well versed. W hen asked by an AT&T survey team, “Can you help me find Betty Turock the inform ation su p e r highway?” members of the public responded, “Just turn left on Forty-Second Street” and “I travel it all the time, but I can’t tell you how to get there from here.” Decisions are being made now by legislators and policy-makers that will affect the quality of library service in higher education well into the next century. Unless w e take on the job of informing the American public w hat is at stake, those decisions will be made without informed public participation— and they may not be the decisions w e desire. As part of ALA Goal 2000, I have focused my year as president on ensuring that all libraries are major access points to the information su perhighway. I am meeting with media in 10 cities to take this message to the American people. I will also host a summit called “A Na tion Connected: Defining the Public Interest in the Information Superhighway” that I hope will becom e a model for other such discussions. But I cannot do it alone. I need—ALA needs— college and university librarians to play a lead ership role in achieving ALA Goal 2000. As members of ACRL, you have already made a strong financial contribution. But ALA cannot succeed without your individual commitment as well. We need you to: • become members of the Library Advo cacy Now! Network and to provide advocacy training for academic librarians; • urge administrators to make information technology a priority for libraries; • visit or write state legislators and Con gressional representatives to urge their support for libraries o n the information superhighway; • sponsor a summit on your campus; • participate in “Log on @ the Library Day”; • collect signatures for the Equity Petition. O ur libraries need your commitment now. Together we must make certain that librarians are partners in designing, implementing, orga nizing, and navigating the information super highway.— Betty J. Turock, President, ALA Prizes offered for NLW media placements The 1996 observance of National Library W eek (NLW), April 14– 20, co n tin u es the theme “Libraries Change Lives” with the ad dition of a tagline— “Call. Visit. Log o n .”—to highlight the role of libraries in making infor mation technology available to the public. This is the fourth year for the theme that the NLW Committee claims has been the most popu lar—and powerful—ever. To focus attention o n how technology is helping libraries change lives, ALA will award an Encarta 96 Encyclopedia Multimedia CD- ROM (retail value $54.95), compliments of Mi crosoft, to every library that submits a story, editorial, column, or interview carried by non library media—newspapers, magazines, news letters, radio, or TV—about how the public is benefitting from computers, the Internet, and other information technology at the library. A grand prize, consisting o f a complete Microsoft CD-ROM library— m ore than 30 p ro d u c ts (re ta il v a lu e $ 1,300)— w ill be aw arded for the best placement. The top 10 entries will receive the Microsoft Reference Library (retail value $164.85). All types o f li braries are eligible to enter. Placements must appear after January 1, 1996, in nonlibrary media. Copies o f articles or tapes (audiocassette or VHS videotape) should be submitted by May 10 to the ALA Public Information Office, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611, along with a letter docu menting how the placement originated and contact information for the library. A certifi cate will be given to the local media that pub lished/aired the story. For more information, contact the ALA /PIO at (312) 280-5044/5040; fax: (312) 944-8620; e-mail: pio@ala.org. ■ mailto:pio@ala.org F eb ru a ry 1 9 9 6 / 8 1