ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ Septem b er 1998 / 565 N e w s f r o m t h e F i e l d M ary Ellen Davis A C R L e n d o rse s SP A R C p ro g ra m ACRL has endorsed, become an affiliate, and contributed $5,000 to the Scholarly Publish ing & Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), an initiative of the Association o f Research Li braries (ARL) that aims to reduce the cost of scholarly journals by supporting the introduc tion of high-quality, lower-cost alternatives to existing high-price titles. Althea H. Jenkins, ACRL’s executive direc tor, said, “ACRL agrees that the challenge of access to scholarly research primarily in the fields o f science, technology, and medicine, is a compelling issue of concern to research li braries. ACRL enthusiastically endorses the SPARC initiative and intends to work closely with ARL to advance the goals and projects of SPARC among academic libraries.” SPARC seeks to help scholarly publishers— including learned societies, university presses, start-up ventures, and others— enter markets where prices are high and competition is needed. It expects to reduce the risks o f mar ket entry for its publisher-partners and to pro vide faculty with prestigious and responsive alternatives to current publishing vehicles. SPARC will solicit or encourage the introduc tion of new titles by providing a ready sub scription base and by generating support for SPARC projects from faculty. Membership in SPARC is open to academic institutions, re search libraries, and organizations that share SPARC goals and values. The American Chemical Society (ACS), which publishes 26 peer-reviewed research journals, is SPARC’s first partner. The agree ment calls for ACS and SPARC to collaborate in creating at least one new ACS scientific jour nal each year for the next three years. The new journals will be priced at one-quarter to one-third the price o f competing titles. SPARC has also been endorsed by the Ca nadian Association of Research Libraries, the Association o f American Universities, the As sociation o f American University Presses, the Big 12 Provosts, and the National Association o f State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. S ie n a C o lle g e b e g in s b u ild in g n ew lib ra ry Siena College has broken ground on a $13.5 million new library in the heart o f the college campus in Loudonville, New York. The build ing was designed by the distinguished Boston architectural firm o f Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott. Jay Lucker, librarian emeritus from Massachusetts Institute o f Tech nology, served as the building consultant for the project. With a capacity for 400,000 volumes, 700 seats, and 500 network connections, the new 71,000 square foot, three-story facility will double the space in the current library, which opened in 1954. The first floor will serve as the hub for library services, housing circula tion and reference centers, a new book area, a newspaper and current periodicals lounge, offices, the main web work station cluster, and a 24-hour general purpose computer lab. With heavy emphasis on materi als and study space, the second floor will house most of the book collec tion, special collections, faculty rooms, and a student lounge. The au diovisual/reserve center will be lo cated on the lower level. The front of the library will pro vide a panoramic view o f the main campus quad, flanked by the science building, the main classroom build- An architect's rendering of Siena College's planned library building, which will be able to house 400,000 volumes, 700 seats, and 500 network connections. 566 / C&RL News ■ Septem ber 1998 ing, and the old library, which will become a campus center. Students studying in the east reading rooms on all three floors in the back of the building will enjoy a view o f trees and mountains. Siena College is a Franciscan col lege with an enrollment of 2,700 full-time and 600 part-time students. A C R L s e e k s p ro p o s a ls f o r p o s t e r s e s s io n s Novem ber 1 is the deadline for poster ses sion proposals for ACRL’s 9th National Con ference, “Racing Toward Tomorrow,” which will be held April 8-11, 1999, in Detroit. Poster sessions are informal presentations featuring successful solutions to problems Oct. 15 deadline for A C R L scholarships Don’t miss the October 15, 1998, dead line for applying for an ACRL National Conference Scholarship. Fifty scholarships consisting o f complimentary registration (a $255 value) and $250 for travel ex penses will be awarded. The scholarships will provide entry- level librarians (with a special focus on underrepresented minorities) with a pro fessional development experience and expand participation in ACRL’s National Conference (April 8-11, 1999 in Detroit). Details about the scholarships and an ap plication form may be found at http:// w w w .ala.org/acrl/confschl.html. and unique and innovative library-based projects with important lessons for the academic and research library commu nity. Proposals should address one or more o f the conference themes: changing environment, alternate re sources, new kinds o f learners, mul tiple roles for librarians, partnerships and competition, and an expanding knowledge base. Details for preparing a proposal and an application form may be found on the Web at http://www.ala.org/ acrl/call4prt.html. Send proposals and direct questions to Glenda S. Neeley, U n iv e rs ity o f L o u is v ille , e-m ail: glenda.neely@louisville.edu. In d ia n a U n iv e r s ity n a m e d to ru n In te rn e t2 n e tw o rk Indiana University has been chosen to run Abilene, a super-fast, fiber-optic data net work connecting members o f Internet2. Some parts o f the network are expected to be up and running as early as N ovem ber. The network, named for the storied frontier-era terminus in Abilene, Kansas, is expected to serve more than 130 major research universities with more sophisti cated and faster networking capabilities for scholars, researchers, and students (see ALAWON v7, n42, April 20, 1998). In A p ril, V ic e P resid en t G ore an nounced that three large communication and technology companies will contribute more than $500 million in equipment and services to build a faster Internet network. Officials said that improvements in net working may soon lead experts to mea sure speeds in “LOCs”— the number o f times the contents o f the Library o f Con gress could be transmitted per second. Abilene is a project o f the University Cor poration for Advanced Internet D evelop ment. For more information, go to http:// www.ucaid.edu/abilene. (Ed. note: This re p o r t was taken fro m ALAWON, the ALA Washington Office Newsline.) O ct. 16 d e a d lin e f o r c o n te s t to n a m e Choice W eb s e rv ic e ACRL’s Choice: Current Reviews f o r Academic Libraries is holding a contest to come up http://www.ala.org/ mailto:glenda.neely@louisville.edu http://www.ucaid.edu/abilene C&RL News ■ Septem ber 1998 / 567 ACRL launches new data collection effort It has been said that there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. Yet for the efficient man agement o f complex institutions such as academic libraries, statistical data are es sential. A number o f agencies presently collect data on academic library opera tions; however, many o f these efforts are confined to relatively small subsets o f the entire academic library universe, or they are years out o f date by the time they ap pear. For large segments o f the library community, there are no reliable, timely data readily available. ACRL has been producing one o f those subset publications, a compilation o f uni versity library statistics with a relatively small sample size every other year. Be ginning in the fall o f 1998, however, and continuing thereafter on an annual basis, ACRL will expand the scope o f its publi cation and request data from all academic libraries in the U.S. and Canada. “I have long considered the restricted universe o f the ACRL survey, and the fact that it did not come out every year, as major limiting factors to its usefulness,” said William Miller, former president of ACRL and chair o f the advisory commit tee to the project. “This new, annual pub lication will give us much greater access, especially with its accessibility on the Web.” The information gathered, based on the Association o f Research Libraries annual questionnaire, will cover collections, ex penditures, staffing, interlibrary loan, and the use o f electronic formats. ACRL will be sending out letters by the end o f September requesting your partici pation in this project. The data collection process will be largely accomplished via the Web, although alternatives will be avail able for those who do not have access to the Web. Most participants will access the survey instrument on a Web site, complete the form, and submit information electroni cally; the results will then be compiled and made available both on the Web and in print. The data will be published each April or May. For easier usability, the data will be reported in four major Carnegie Classi fications: doctorate-granting universities, master’s degree colleges and universities, baccalaureate colleges, and associate o f arts colleges. These data sets will be produced in four print volumes, as well as made available on the Web. This project is intended to assist any one wishing to compare management and collection data o f comparable institutions in North America. However, the usefulness o f the data will depend on the degree to which institutions respond to the request for information. P le a se re sp o n d ! ACRL urges you to look for the request to participate in this survey, either by filling out the form promptly if you are the person in your organization respon sible for doing so, or by forwarding the request to whom ever is responsible for completing surveys at your institution. W ith w id e s p re a d p articip ation , this project has the potential to produce a comprehensive database that will be in valuable to all segments o f the academic library community. with a short but descriptive name for its new Web-based review service. Known as Choice O nline during the beta test phase, the new service w ill include Choice re views from 1988 to present, customized notification o f new reviews, special list functions, and more. The projected launch date is January 1999. The winner may elect to recieve either a New England Clambake, ready to pop on the stovetop and amaze your friends, or $100. Four runners-up will each receive a copy o f the new (August 1998) Choice Web Review Supplement, which contains re view s o f nearly 500 Web sites (a $24 value). The deadline for entries is October 16. For en try d eta ils, v is it “ N e w s from C H O IC E ” at http://w w w .ala.org/acrl/ choice/news.html. http://www.ala.org/acrl/ 568 / C&RL News ■ Septem ber 1998