ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


March 1 9 9 6 /1 3 1

ACRL/CN I select C ase W estern for v irtu a l 
u se r education collection

ACRL and the Coalition for Networked In­
formation (CNI) selected Case Western Re­
serve University (CWRU) as the site to de­
velop a virtual collection of Internet user 
education and training materials. The purpose 
o f this project is to identify exemplary user 
education and training materials related to the 
Internet and networked information resources, 
especially those materials which integrate 
print and electronic resources and teach evalu­
ation of networked resources.

CWRU agreed to develop a mechanism for 
bringing those items together in a distributed 
environment, e.g., via a Web page, and to 
encourage authors of exemplary materials to 
mount them on the Internet on a server or to 
provide that service for them as a repository 
o f last resort.

This announcement is the culmination of 
a process begun in 1993 as part of ACRL presi- 
dent-elect Tom Kirk’s presidential theme of 
networking. In June 1993, the Emerging Tech­
nologies in Instruction Committee, on behalf 
o f the Bibliographic Instruction Section (now 
the Instruction Section), began work on a 
project to foster effective strategies for instruct­
ing users in the networked information envi­
ronment. In addition, CNI expressed specific 
interest in finding ways to explore use of the 
network itself to provide both instruction on 
the actual use of the Internet and other cur­
ricula, and measurement and evaluation of 
Internet resources and services.

In June 1994, the Committee on Emerging 
Technologies released “User Education for the 
Internet: Report and Recom m endations,” 
which included a key recommendation that 
the Instruction Section (IS) establish an on­
going mechanism to identify excellent instruc­
tional programs and materials for teaching in 
the networked environment, and work within 
ACRL and with CNI to maintain a suitable elec­

tronic resource o f such information.
In September 1995, at the request of IS, 

CNI posted a “Call for Participation” asking 
interested institutions to submit a proposal 
for developing a virtual collection of Internet 
user education and training materials.

The call received eight excellent propos­
als from institutions with strong networking 
credentials. A review committee of members 
of the Emerging Technologies Committee and 
CNI selected Case Western Reserve after a 
lengthy review o f the proposals.

Keith Morgan, chair of the Emerging Tech­
nologies Committee, said, “the committee is 
excited by the prospect o f developing this 
collection in partnership with CWRU. A cen­
tral site showcasing excellent models of In­
ternet instruction can be a valuable resource 
for all librarians involved with teaching the 
Internet.”

Ray Metz, interim director o f the CWRU 
Library and director, Library Information Tech­
nologies, echoed this reaction: “We are very 
excited about hosting the CNI/ACRL site. Edu­
cating our users about digital information is a 
major component of our vision for our library. 
We are excited about the opportunity to be­
gin working with the next generation of user 
education materials which we anticipate will 
be more interactive and multimedia.”

Announcement of URLs and a request for 
submission of materials will be made soon. 
Further information is available on the Emerg­
ing Technologies Web Page at either http:// 
www2.colgate.edu/instruction/ or http:// 
w w w.lib.ncsu.edu/staff/kam organ/etech. 
html.

For further information contact: Keith Mor­
gan, North Carolina State University, e-mail: 
K e ith _ M o r g a n @ n c s u .e d u ; o r J o a n  K. 
Lippincott, CNI, e-mail: joan@cni.org; or Tom 
Klingler, CWRU, e-mail: tek5@po.cwru.edu.

9958; or write: ACRL Order Fulfillment, 155 N. 
Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606.

Log-on@thelibra ryday
ALA en cou rages all libraries to jo in  log- 
on@thelibraryday, Tuesday, April 16, 1996, dur­

ing National Library Week celebrations. Dem­
onstrations will introduce the public to the in­
formation superhighway and spotlight the role 
o f libraries in linking students and the public 
with the new information technology. A “tour 
guide,” including the White House, Congress,

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/staff/kamorgan/etech
mailto:Keith_Morgan@ncsu.edu
mailto:joan@cni.org
mailto:tek5@po.cwru.edu