ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 816 / C&RL N ew s ■ N o v e m b e r 1999 Developing Web pages fo r professional communication In 1996, t h e lib ra ry a t th e U n iv e rs ity o f Illinois, U rbana-C ham paign, d e c id e d to m ak e p r o fe s s io n a l h o m e p a g e s fo r a ll o f its lib ra r­ ian s, a n d b rin g its c o lle g ia l c o m m u n ic a tio n in to th e e le ctro n ic age. W ith th e a id o f th e T im C ole, S ystem s Li­ b ra ria n fo r D igital P rojects, a n d h is staff, th e s ix lib r a r ia n s in t h e A c a ­ d e m ic R e s id e n t L ib ra ria n P r o g r a m t o o k o n t h i s project. T h e result w a s th e L ibrary F a c u lty D ire c to ry ( h t t p : / / w w w . l i b r a r y . u iu c .e d u /f a c u lty /). T h e tra d itio n a l m e a n s o f c o m m u n i c a ti n g w ith o n - a n d o ff - c a m p u s c o l ­ lea g u es for librarians at the university w a s a p rin te d university library a n ­ n u a l re p o rt. B ut th e p u b lic a tio n h a d a sm all circulation, g o in g o n ly to a se lec t few in e a c h d e p a r tm e n t, a n d e v e n th a t sm a ll a m o u n t o f e x p o su re c eased in the 1980s w h e n the a n nual p u b lic a tio n died. W ith th e a b s e n c e o f a c u r re n t, a ll-in c lu ­ sive source sh o w in g librarians’ professional ac­ tivities, R o b e rt W ed g e w o rth , t h e n u n iv e rsity lib ra ria n , w a n te d to d e v e lo p s u c h a n o n lin e p ro file /b ib lio g ra p h y fo r lib ra rian s th a t c o u ld d o w h a t th e o ld p a p e r a n n u a l re p o rts c o u ld not: p ro v id e to c o lleagues o n - a n d o ff-cam pus a co n cisely visible a n d easily acc essib le in d e x o f p u b lic a tio n s b y lib ra ry fa cu lty , a n d a d e ­ scription o f th e library faculty’s services. W hile th e library m aintains tw o w o n d e rfu l resources, th e “L ibrary F a c u lty R e se arc h In te re sts D a ta ­ b a s e ” a n d t h e “R e ce n t L ibrary F a c u lty P u b li­ cations D atabase,” th e professional h o m e p a g e s p r o v id e th e o p p o r t u n it y fo r d ire c t a c c e s s to e a c h fa c u lty m e m b e r, a n d o ffe r d a ta o n a p e r s o n ’s re s e a rc h in w h a t is p e rh a p s th e first location in w h ic h colleagues w o u ld search for any inform ation. T h e r e a r e 116 lib ra ry f a c u l t y p a g e s , a n d , o f t h e s e , m o r e t h a n 54% g o b e y o n d directo ry inform a­ tio n a n d g iv e a lib ra ria n ’s p ro fessio n al d u tie s, activi­ t ie s , a n d p u b l i c a t i o n s . D u rin g a s n a p s h o t p e r io d o f a c a d e m ic y e a r 1997 th o u g h su m m er o f 1998, the faculty p ag es r e c e iv e d m o r e t h a n 3 2 ,0 0 0 h its . M o re t h a n 48% o f th o se hits w e re from c am pus, b u t m ore th a n 51% c a m e fro m o u ts id e th e u n iv e rs ity , in c lu d in g o th e r states a n d co u n tries. W e b e lie v e o u r W eb p a g e s h a v e s tre n g th ­ e n e d o u r lib ra ria n s’ c o m m u n ic a tio n w ith th e c a m p u s a n d w ith c o lle a g u e s e ls e w h e re , a n d w e h o p e t h a t o t h e r l i b r a r i e s w ill l o o k at s u c h p ro je c ts fo r t h e i r lib r a r ia n s .— N i n a C. D a v is , U n i v e r s i ty o f I l l i n o i s a t U r b a n a - C h a m p a ig n , c a r o n @ n in c .e d u a n d J e a n M. D i c k i n s o n , N e w M e x i c o S t a t e U n iv e r s ity , jedickin@ lib.nm su.edu W a lla c e L ibrary; o n e o f t h e first fu lly c o m ­ p l e t e d p ro je c ts o f t h e s c h o o l ’s $ 1 0 0 -m illio n campaign. The renovation, m ade possible by a $3- m illion g ra n t from th e P e ter Ja y S harp F o u n d a ­ tion, e x p a n d e d th e library’s c o m p u te r netw ork, c re a te d th e P e ter Jay Sharp Special C ollections room — w h ic h p rovides environm entally secu re storage for rare materials— increased shelf, exhibit a n d staff space, renovated the m ain reading room, a n d p ro v id e d n e w lighting, carp e tin g , a n d fur­ nishings. All the library’s seats are w ired for p o w e r a n d data so that laptop users can p lu g in. D uring th e first y ear o f its 5-year, $ 100-million cam paign, th e Julliard School h a s already raised $52.2 mil­ lion. A C R L m a k e s in fo rm a tio n lite ra c y re so u rce s a v a ila b le on W eb ACRL’s In stitu te fo r In fo rm a tio n L iteracy h a s c re a te d a p rim e r o n inform ation literacy for fac­ ulty a n d academ ic administrators. This prim er is l o c a t e d o n t h e IIL W e b p a g e a t h t t p : / / w w w .a la .o rg /a c rl/n ili/w h a tis.h tm l. T h e site is d e s ig n e d to p ro v id e a b a sic in ­ tro d u c tio n to in fo rm a tio n lite rac y b y a n s w e r­ in g fo u r b a sic q u e s tio n s : 1) W h a t is in fo rm a ­ tio n literacy?; 2) W h a t s h o u ld fa c u lty a n d a d ­ m in istra to rs k n o w a b o u t in fo rm a tio n literacy program s; 3) Are th e re so m e m o d el pro g ram s I c a n e xam ine?; a n d 4) W h e re c a n I fin d m o re info rm a tio n ? uiuc.edu/faculty/ mailto:caron@ninc.edu mailto:jedickin@lib.nmsu.edu http://www.ala.org/acrl/nili/whatis.html