ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 327 librarians a nudge in the wrong direction, so far as obtaining additional education is concerned. For many librarians, a certificate program em­ phasizing library administration and/or the ap­ plication of automation to library operations will be more useful than a subject master’s de­ gree. Yet, an MLS and a certificate are not lit­ erally two master’s, and written standards tend to be interpreted rigidly. Another consideration in setting educational requirements is the possible effects they may have on recruitment patterns. One of the rich­ est sources of talent for libraries is the flow of middle-aged, married women returning to work. Generally, they earn an MLS in their forties. Requiring still another degree may dis­ courage some or even many of them from en­ tering academic library work. This would be undesirable, for it is unlikely that younger men and women will replace them adequately. In summation, I believe library faculties should make their own decisions on academic qualifications, that these faculties should keep their standards flexible, and that those writing such standards should try to determine the so­ cial consequences their decisions may have. Benjamin R. Beede Rutgers University ■ ■ News From the Field ACQUISITIONS • A small collection of rare scholarly books has been given to W heaton College by an anonymous donor, according to Paul Snezek, collection development librarian at the college. The sixteen volumes were purchased from the working library of James Lea Cate, emeritus professor of medieval history at the University of Chicago. They represent books to be found in a religiously oriented college library of the sixteenth to early eighteenth century. The collection includes a rare edition of the Bible and volumes on church history of an ear­ ly period, later church and secular history, bi­ ographies of Christian secular monarchs, canon law, church calendars, lives of the saints, a book of sermons, and a work on cosmogony. One manuscript in book form represents the Islamic religion, but is quite similar to Christian works. It contains long prayers by two well- known Islamic sufi, similar to a Catholic monk. The Turkish copyist of the Arabic text has made comments in the margin and at the end in his own tongue. Snezek calls the volume “A museum piece.” The rarest of the western books, according to Snezek, is the Biblia Sacra, published in Lyon, France, in 1541. It is im­ portant historically because it was printed dur­ ing the period Lyon was supplanting Paris as the chief city for publication of Bibles. The book is a later edition of the volume reported to be the First Latin Bible of Modern Times. • The Brandeis University library has re­ cently acquired a significant collection of scarce books, pamphlets, newspapers, and photo­ graphs pertaining to the famous Dreyfus trial. The collection formerly belonged to Leon Lip­ schütz of Paris, France. Included in the collec­ tion are many association copies as well as let­ ters by Emile Zola, Georges Clemenceau, Fer­ nand Labori, and other personages connected with the case. This acquisition was made pos­ sible through the beneficence of Mrs. Helen S. Slosberg in memory of her late uncle, Max Sagoff. AWARDS AND GIFTS • Geroid T. Robinson, founder of the Rus­ sian Institute at Columbia University who died March 31, 1971, has willed his $240,000 estate to the Columbia University libraries to main­ tain and expand the libraries’ Russian holdings. The bequest also includes Dr. Robinson’s per­ sonal library of Russian language volumes and books on Russian history, culture, and politics. A leading scholar on the Soviet Union, Pro­ fessor Robinson was a pioneer in advocating Russian studies in the United States. The Rus­ sian Institute at Columbia, which he founded in 1945, was the first undertaking of its kind in this country on a graduate level. In the last quarter century, the institute has trained scores of specialists in Russian affairs, many of whom have become prominent in diplomacy, educa­ tion, journalism, and international trade and fi­ nance. • With the aid of grants totaling $100,000 from the National Endowment for the Humani­ ties, Council on Library Resources, and College Entrance Examination Board, the Dallas P ub­ lic Library is beginning implementation this month of a two-year program designed to offer residents of the area the opportunity to gain up to two years of college credit without attending a formal classroom lecture. The Dallas Public Library’s “Independent Study Project” involves the College-Level Ex­ amination Program (CLEP) developed by the College Entrance Examination Board. The Board and the Council on Library Resources 328 have each allocated $25,000 in support of the program while the National Endowment for the Humanities has allocated $50,000. Southern Methodist University is actively supporting the project. Five Dallas Public Library branches are par­ ticipating in the investigation of the effective­ ness of the public library as a center for inde­ pendent study toward achieving a college edu­ cation. The five branch libraries will provide information about the program, distribute read­ ing lists and study guides, and upon request schedule meetings with tutors and workshops devoted to such subjects as effective reading and how to study independently. Thus em­ ployed persons, housewives, and others, study­ ing on their own time and at their own speed in a place of their own choosing, can work to­ ward a two-year college education. Southern Methodist will conduct an ongoing evaluation of the project. It has been instru­ mental in helping develop the program, and will supply study guides, reading lists, and tu­ tors to a great extent. A number of other area colleges or universi­ ties have agreed to recognize scores made by CLEP students on the examinations. They in­ clude: Christian College of the Southwest and the University of Texas ( Southwestern) Medi­ cal School, both in Dallas; Texas Christian Uni­ versity and Texas Wesleyan College, both in Fort Worth; and North Texas State University, Denton. • The National Home Library Foundation, Washington, D.C., has awarded the George W ashington University library a grant of $40,000 to install a set of the Encyclopaedia Britannica’s ultra-microfiche “Library of Ameri­ can Civilization” with all available associated equipment and bibliographic support. The li­ brary is to make the resource known to a wide, local audience, and to permit its use both on and off-site during the year 1972. From its evaluation of the one-year demonstration, due to begin January 1, 1972, the library hopes to develop information of help to other libraries in gaming maximum utilization of book re­ sources in ultra-microfiche form. • Professor Roy M. Mersky, director of re­ search and law librarian at the University of Texas at Austin, has announced that the Tex­ as Criminal Justice Council has approved the Criminal Justice Reference Library’s application for continued support with a grant of $87,120 for the twelve-month period beginning with September 1971. This grant assures the contin­ uation of the collection, housed within the Tarlton Law Library of the University of Texas Law School. The reference function of the Criminal Jus­ tice Reference Library will also be expanded, s e ­ as a result of the new grant, by the introduction of a selective dissemination of information sys­ tem which will provide periodic notification of acquisitions to users on the basis of a previously established profile of the individual user’s inter­ ests. The bibliographic data, as well as abstract and indexing terms, will be computerized. Th individual user interest profiles will also be stored in machine-readable form, so that a match of users’ interests with new acquisitions can be instantly achieved and the user can be so notified. This system, presently in the final stages of development, will facilitate not only the user-notification function bu t also the pro­ duction of special bibliographies and subject- oriented acquisitions lists. Also as a result of the new grant, the staff of the Criminal Justice Reference Library has been expanded to a total of three professional librarians, one programmer-analyst, and addi­ tional clerical assistants. Four special bibliog raphies have been published by the staff during the last year, and the quarterly publication of CJRL Newsletter was initiated. The Newsletter will continue, and several additional special bibliographies are in various stages of planning and preparation. Further information can be obtained by writ­ ing Professor Roy M. Merskey, Director, Crim­ inal Justice Reference Library, School of Law, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78705. • The F isk University library has been awarded a grant of $86,377 by the National Endowment for the Humanities to strengthen and support its Black Oral History program. The program is under the direction of Mrs. Ann Allen Shockley, associate librarian, and head of special collections, associate professor, Li­ brary Science. The project is designed to bridge gaps in black history and culture through taped inter­ views with persons from all walks of life who can give fresh and different information ger­ mane to the black experience in America. It is a cooperative undertaking with other academic departments of the university as well as with the local community. Fisk University is the first major black uni­ versity to become actively involved in this most recent technique in historical research. The col­ lection of unwritten history will be made avail­ able for scholarly research, to support black studies programs of other colleges and univer­ sities, and to suppelement existing primary and secondary sources. MEETINGS Dec. 12-15, 1971: The Ninth IASLIC (In ­ dian Association of Special Libraries and Infor­ mation Centres) Conference will be held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India. 329 Topics will be “Indian Reference Material” and “Technical and Scientific Information-Users’ Needs and Services.” Dr. A. Bose, Indian In­ stitute of Technology Central Library, IIT Post Office Kanpur-16, India should be contacted for further information. March 22-25, 1972: The Alaska Library As­ sociation annual meeting will be held at the YWCA Building, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. The general theme will be “Redesign.” Program chairman is Miss Nancy Lesh, 1802 11th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501. April 13-15, 1972: The Oklahoma Library Association will meet at Oklahoma State Uni­ versity, Stillwater, Oklahoma. Mrs. Neysa Eber­ hard, Curriculum Materials Laboratory, Univer­ sity Library, Oklahoma State University, Still­ water, OK 74074, is the convention publicity chairman. May 18-20, 1972: The Midwest Academic Librarians Conference will meet May 18, 19, 20, 1972, at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. Convention chairman is Donald E. Thompson, Wabash College Li­ brary, Crawfordsville, IN 47933. MISCELLANY • The Esther J. Piercy Award is an annual citation presented in recognition of a contribu­ tion to librarianship in the field-of technical ser­ vices by younger members of the profession. The recipient must be a librarian with not more than ten years of professional experience who has shown outstanding promise for continuing contributions and leadership in any of the fields comprising technical services by such means as: (1 ) leadership in professional associations at local, state, regional, or national levels; (2) contributions to the development, application, or utilization of new or improved methods, techniques, and routines; (3 ) a significant con­ tribution to professional literature; (4 ) conduct of studies or research in the technical services. The award is donated and administered by the Resources and Technical Services Division. Deadline for nominations, January 1, 1972. Send nominations to Mrs. Roma S. Gregory, Head, Acquisitions Department, University of Rochester Library, Rochester, NY 14627. • The Archives of American Art, Wash­ ington, D.C., is now engaged in three major film projects. Through the cooperation of the North Carolina Department of Archives and History, the archives has recently finished film­ ing those records of Black Mountain College which document its art program. Now being filmed by the archives are the records of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., dating from its 1859 founding by William W. Corcoran. The third and last part of the rec­ ords of the MacBeth Gallery, founded in 1892 by a Scottish immigrant, William MacBeth, are being readied for filming. The MacBeth Gallery was the first New York gallery to deal exclu­ sively in American art, and its records are rich in information on the growth of the American art market, particularly in the first third of the century. Sections of the records through the late 1920s are already on film; those now being prepared will complete the gallery’s history to its close in 1954. • The John Pendleton Kennedy Papers of the Peabody Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, have been temporarily trans­ ferred to the Maryland Historical Society to be microfilmed for the National Historical Publi­ cations Commission. The papers will not be available to scholars until August 1972. Under the sponsorship of the NHPC, the Maryland Historical Society is also microfilming its Cal­ vert Papers (MS. 174) and Lloyd Papers (MS. 2001). These two collections will be closed to researchers from May 1972 to May 1973. • Presented to the University of Nebras­ ka Libraries—Lincoln on the occasion of the acquisition of their one millionth volume was 330 a copy of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, sec­ ond collected edition, 1542. The volume was a gift of Mr. Johnney Johnsen, president of the Nebraska Book Company. The ceremony was held July 13, 1971. • In November 1970, a questionnaire was sent to the chief librarians of the thirteen units of the City University of New York to make some preliminary soundings as to what the on­ set of open enrollment had meant to them in terms of resources and programs and what, if any, approaches were being attempted to meet the particular library needs of basic-skills stu­ dents, i.e., those students singled out by the colleges as needing remedial instruction. Ten out of the thirteen librarians contacted respond­ ed. The following was among the information obtained through the questionnaire or was con­ cluded from the information supplied. 1. Roughly speaking the number of entering freshmen in these institutions tended to double from the fall of 1969 to the fall of 1970. In spite of this, three libraries received no addi­ tional funds over the previous year, and one had its funds for supplies and binding de­ creased. (Three libraries did not answer this question.) In no case did a library receive any significant raise in the number of new profes­ sional or nonprofessional lines assigned them over the past year, so that it could not be seen from additional provisions—where there were any additional provisions—that the parent in­ stitutions had acknowledged any increased needs for the libraries even with the increase in student enrollment. 2. Formal library instruction currently re­ ceived by freshmen consists of orientation tours, group lectures in the library, and classroom teaching, without any particular approach seeming to have the edge over the others. How­ ever, only one library provides some formal li­ brary instruction to every freshman while one other gave a “hopefully” yes. 3. Three libraries did not conduct any stud­ ies or make any plans to prepare for open en­ rollment prior to its onset; two libraries set up department committees to make such studies an d /o r to make recommendations, but in both cases little in the way of concrete results seems to have come directly from these committees. The most far-reaching endeavor established a working relationship between the library and the Basic Educational Skills department in or­ der to prepare lectures for all students taking basic-skills courses and to prepare lists of suit­ able readings. 4. In most cases the responsibility for the li­ braries’ planning and carrying out of services to basic-skills students was not specifically as­ signed but was kept as a general responsibility of the chief librarian. At three of the four senior colleges, librarians were hired by SEEK or sim­ ilar basic-skills departments to work with their students. • Authors, publishers, and members of the Theatre Library Association are invited to sub­ mit nominations for the 1971 George Freed- ley Award which will be presented by the as­ sociation next spring. Established in 1968, in memory of the late theatre historian, critic, au­ thor, and first curator of The New York Public Library Theatre Collection, the award honors a work in the field of theatre published in the United States. A plaque is presented to the au­ thor on the basis of scholarship, readability, and general contribution to the broadening of knowledge. Only books on theatre per se will be consid­ ered: biography, history, criticism, and related fields. Excluded from the category of theatre are vaudeville, puppetry, pantomime, motion picture, television, radio, opera, circus, dance and ballet, plays, and similar dramatic forms. Other works considered ineligible are textbooks, bibliographies, dictionaries and encyclopedias, anthologies, collections of articles and essays published previously and in other sources, and reprints of publications. Nominations are to be submitted in writing to the president of the Theatre Library Associ­ LIBRARY MANAGEMENT and BUILDING CONSULTANTS, INC. Serving academic libraries since 1948 Management Surveys Building Programs Reviews of Plans Equipment Layouts Equipment Design and Specifications Send fo r our free brochures Suite 258 540 Frontage Road Northfield, Illinois 60093 331 ation, Louis A. Rachow, The Walter Hampden Memorial Library, 16 Gramercy Park, New York, NY 10003. Publishers will be asked to submit two published copies of all books nom­ inated to the president at the same address. No galley sheets or proofs will be accepted. Books nominated for the 1971 award must have been published in the 1971 calendar year. If no date of publication appears on the title page or its verso, the date must be indicated in the written nomination. All nominations must be in the hands of the jury by January 15, 1972. The selection of the award winner will be de­ termined by a five-member jury appointed by the president of the Theatre Library Associa­ tion. • Beginning July 1, membership in the New England Library Information Network (NELINET) was expanded to include fifteen new libraries. The new members are: Boston University, Brown University, Colby College, Connecticut College, Curry College, Dartmouth College, Hampshire College, M.I.T., Naval War College, Northeastern University, Rhode Is­ land College, Rhode Island Junior College, Tufts University, Wesleyan University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Prior to this time the membership was com­ prised of the five New England State Univer­ sity Libraries: the University of Connecticut, University of Maine, University of New Hamp­ shire, University of Rhode Island, and the Uni­ versity of Vermont. Membership expansion is viewed as the first step in phase 2 of the proj­ ect’s development. Phase 2, according to Ron Miller, director of NELINET, will see NELINET’s transition from being almost solely a research project to an “on-line” operational support system, with all member libraries connected through CRT (cathode ray tube) terminals to a central com­ puter system. The planned system will support every functional operation within member li­ braries as well as interlibrary communications and file searches by users. • The Rutgers Graduate School of Li­ brary Service will present the first lecture of the annual Richard H. Shoemaker Memorial Lectures on Bibliography on November 3, 1971, at 8:00 p.m. at Hickman Hall (New Brunswick, Douglass Campus). The lecturer will be Sir Frank Francis, former director and principal librarian of the British Museum and currently consultant to the Council on Library Resources. This lecture is open to the public. It will be published at a later date. For further information, write to Peggy Koye, Rutgers Graduate School of Library Service, 189 College Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08903 or phone 201-247-1766, ext. 6500. Stacey’s is you r one source fo r all medical, scientificand technical books. A nd we can supply books processed, ready to shelve, using either N ational Library of Medicine o r Library of Congress cataloging. O ff The Press is Stocevs monthly an notated list of the new books available in all of the above categories. A nd books listed are in stock fo r immediate shipment. For more inform ation on Stacey’s book services and you r free subscription to O ff The Press, fill in and mail the coupon below. 332 • Members from six Southwestern states met Tuesday, July 27, at the Capitol Building in Oklahoma City to design a policy for projects of the Southwestern Library Interstate Collaborative E ffort Council, commonly known as SLICE. It was the first time in the history of U.S. library development th at six state librarians and presidents of six state li­ brary associations have come together to begin building and developing interstate library co­ operation between states. The membership, comprised from states of the Southwestern Library Association region (Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) embarked on the task of resource evaluation for the purpose of sharing resources with others. During the meeting, members discussed the necessity to search out the needs of the region and decide what library services could be bet­ ter performed by two or more states. In ad­ dition, SLICE recognized the importance of identifying the special strengths of the region that were feasible to share with each other. To initiate its operation, SLICE has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Council on Library Resources Incorporated (Washington, D .C .). An office is being established to carry out the interstate library cooperation program to : (1 ) investigate and help implement inter­ state service to meet library needs which can­ not be provided by a single state; (2 ) serve as a regional clearinghouse and communications agent for interstate projects and programs; (3 ) develop a long-range plan for regional li­ brary development; determine and pursue the feasibility for funding the same; and (4) im­ plement a regional educational program direct­ ed to the present and potential application of the Library of Congress MARC tapes and the SDI (Selective Dissemination of Information) services administered by the Oklahoma Depart­ ment of Libraries. One of the office’s specific responsibilities is to plan, promote, and coordinate a regional program based on LC MARC tapes and re­ lated SDI services utilizing the present MARC programs developed by the Department of Li­ braries by: (1) educating regional librarians concerning MARC and its potential, (2 ) in­ forming regional librarians about the present automated MARC and SDI services available through the Department of Libraries, and (3) investigating and developing additional MARC, SDI, and related services at the regional level. Mr. Kenneth Bierman, data processing co­ ordinator for the Department of Libraries, ex­ plained MARC Oklahoma to the SLICE Coun­ cil composed of Mrs. Marguerite Cooley and Mrs. Betty Thomas, Arizona; Mrs. Frances Neal and Mrs. Mary Gale Ownbey, Arkansas; Miss Sallie Farrell, Louisiana; Miss Calla Ann Crepin, New Mexico; Mrs. Ralph Funk and Dr. Roscoe Rouse, Oklahoma; Miss Katherine Ard and Mrs. Phyllis Burson, Texas; while Mr. Lee Brawner, President of the Southwestern Library Association presided. The special consultants to the council, Mrs. Allie Beth Martin, past president of SWLA, Mr. Pearce Grove, Presi­ dent-elect of SWLA, and Miss S. Janice Kee, Library Services Program Officer, USOE, Re­ gion VI, Dallas, also participated. • At the September 25 business meeting of the WLA Academic Libraries Division, four resolutions were passed. They are as follows: 1. This Division of the Wisconsin Library Association endorses and supports the efforts of the Council of Wisconsin Librarians in es­ tablishing a central academic inter-library loan and reference office for Wisconsin. In exploring avenues of funding for this program, the Coun­ cil of Wisconsin Librarians is requested to make every effort to provide service for the under­ graduate student. 2. The Academic Libraries Division of the Wisconsin Library Association rejects the No­ vember, 1970, working draft of the ACRL Guidelines for College Libraries as an inade­ quate revision of the 1959 minimum standards, and this Division does establish a Standing Committee on standards for academic libraries which is charged among other things with com­ municating specific recommendations for stan­ dards to the ACRL Committee on Standards. 3. Recognizing its leadership responsibility in providing academic administration with such guidelines as will assist in eliminating the pres­ ent inconsistencies and inequities in the ap­ pointment and status of professional academic librarians in Wisconsin, this division endorses and adopts the official ACRL interim standards for faculty status, as adopted at the annual ALA conference on June 24, 1971, until such time as permanent joint standards are agreed upon by AAUP, The Association of American Colleges, ACRL, and perhaps other education­ al associations. 4. As the representative body for the aca­ demic librarians of Wisconsin, this Division strongly objects to the ALA Committee on Pro­ gram Evaluation and Support reduction of funds for CHOICE and CRL News. Because of the importance of the ACRL publications program to academic librarians in particular, we urge the restoration of these funds. PUBLICATIONS • The following papers are available from the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, P.O. Box 219, Aspen, CO 81611. July 1971. $2.50. “Statement by Jean Monnet.” Speech deliv­