ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


348

tation back on the job , working every Friday and 
Saturday for two years.

The push to go for the P h .D . was largely self- 
inflicted. I had the feeling that I hadn’t com ­
pleted the whole experience of higher education, 
and now I ’m glad I did. I have a feel now for 
what research is all about, can identify with the 
faculty I work with, and have been able to en­
courage my staff to do a lot of things in the li­
brary on the basis of research.

E d.: B efore letting you go, may I ask you about 
the American L ibrary Delegation Study Trip to 
the P eople s R epu blic o f  C hina in S eptem ber? 
You went on the trip as a representative o f  ARL. 
W hat are your impressions?
LA: W e visited fourteen C hinese universities in 
five c it ie s . O u r hosts at ea ch  stop w ere so 
friendly; they wanted us to see everything. Invar­
iably the first point that they made during the 
briefings was that the cultural revolution had 
been devastating to them. They are very much

aware that China has fallen behin d , and they 
agree that China must open its doors to the world 
and learn from it. They are serious about this. 
They want to learn about library practices in the 
W est, especially in the area of automation.

It took us a while to realize how basic their 
needs are— where they are starting from. After a 
while we didn’t assume anything. They know that 
learning W estern methods is not enough; they 
n e e d  th e  te ch n o lo g y  th at lie s  b e h in d  i t —  
computer hardware, and so on. Moreover, they 
have an especially difficult p roblem , since the 
task o f c o n v e r tin g  C h in e s e  c h a r a c te r s  to 
m a c h in e -re a d a b le  form  is d efy ing  the w hole 
world. W e kept telling them  that China could 
make a special contribution in this area.

One of the purposes of the trip was to establish 
a communication link betw een librarians of the 
two countries. The next step in the process will 
come when our Chinese counterparts visit the na­
tions of the W estern world to see what we are 
doing. ■■

A cadem ic/R esearch L ib rarian  
of the Y e a r Award

The Association o f C ollege and Research L i­
b raries invites nom inations for the Academic/ 
Research Librarian of the Year Award, presented 
jointly by ACRL and the Baker & Taylor Com ­
pany. Anyone wishing to subm it nom inations 
should request a nomination form from the ACRL 
office, 50 E . Huron S t., Chicago, IL  60611.

Keyes D. M etcalf and Robert B. Downs shared 
the first Academic/Research Librarian of the Year 
Award in 1978. H enriette D. Avram and F red er­
ick G. Kilgour were named corecipients of the 
second Academic/Research Librarian of the Year 
Award in 1979.

The Awards Committee selects persons to re­
ceive the award in accordance with the following 
guidelines:

P U R P O SE : To recognize an individual m ember 
of the library profession who has made an out­
standing national or international contribution to 
academic and research Iibrarianship and library 
development.

C r i t e r i a : P e rso n s n o m in a te d  should have 
demonstrated achievements in such areas as:

1. Service to the organized profession through 
ACRL and related organizations.

2. S ig n ific a n t and in flu e n tia l r e s e a rc h  on 
academic or research library service.

3. Publication o f a body o f scholarly and/or

theoretical writing contributing to academic 
or research library development.

4. Planning and im plem enting a library pro­
gram o f such exemplary quality that it has 
served as a model for others.

5. N om inee does not have to m eet all four 
criteria stated above.

R u l e s : The award shall be made each year at 
a time and place to be determined by the ACRL 
Board of Directors. Announcement of the award 
shall be made by the ACRL president at a time 
and place to be determined by the ACRL Board 
o f D ire c to rs. If, in th e  opinion o f the Award 
Com m ittee, no worthy candidate is nominated in 
a given year, the award will not be made that 
year.

N o m i n a t i o n s : Nominations for the award must 
be returned to the chairperson of the Academic/ 
Research Librarian of the Year Award Comm ittee 
and must be postmarked no later than April 1, 
1980. Nominations must be submitted in quintup­
licate. Nominations must b e complete on the ap­
plication form. The presence o f attachments will 
disqualify the nomination. Secondary letters will 
not be considered in the Award C om m ittee’s de­
liberations.

N a t u r e  o f  t h e  A w a r d : T h e  Academic/ 
Research Librarian of the Year Award shall con­
sist of $2,000 and an appropriate citation. ■■