ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 4 8 0 /C & R L N ew s ACRL addresses the future, p art 2 M ore su m m a ries o f the program s offered in Nashville T his is the second part of our report on theprograms offered at ACRL’s 8th National Conference in Nashville. Part one appear the Ju n e issue. C&RL News thanks the many volunteers w ho agreed to report o n the ses­ sions. Their help is appreciated. Assessment takes a variety of forms In “A ssessing Library Learning to Im prove T each in g an d O u tc o m e s,” B o n n ie G ratch- Lindauer’s (City College o f San Francisco) para­ digm categorized instructor g ood practice cri­ teria and learner competencies, relating each criterion of regional accreditation standards or institutional goals to an indicator and the cor­ responding m ethod o f data collection. Librar­ ians must be involved in this activity critical to th eir institutions. Similarly, M ignon Adams (Philadelphia College of Pharmacy & Science) stated, “If w e d o n ’t docum ent w hat w e add to higher education, som eone else may take our place.” Focus groups are one o f the best mecha­ nisms o f assessment because they reveal u n ­ derlying attitudes. Bonnie Anne Osif (Penn State University) advocated the use of the concept map, a graphical, hierarchical representation going from general to specific w hich show s relationships, organizes information, and links new information to prior knowledge. Concept m aps are used as indicators o f students’ know l­ edge before and after a class, as aids for in­ structors to find w eaknesses in their presenta­ tions, as an active learning exercise, an d as organizational frameworks for presentations. Molly Royse (Kansas State University) and Su­ san H en th o rn ’s (Berea College) longitudinal study at Berea College generated qualitative ed and quantitative data. Freshmen undergo tests covering know ledge and attitudes before and after their one-sem ester course. Faculty are sur­ veyed to discover their attitudes tow ard librar­ ies and librarians. Focus groups yield data about junior-year students’ attitudes and abilities re­ lating to their freshman library experiences. Li­ inbr arians evaluate the bibliographies o f senior capstone papers.—A n n e Berwind, A u stin Peay State University The client is alw ays right In her talk titled “Waiting for the Electrician,” Mary Bolin (University o f Idaho) described how she began h er study o f client centeredness b e­ cause she felt it w as just a current buzz phrase being used to abuse librarians. She learned that the term com es from the mental health profes­ sion and describes a form of treatment in which the counselor tries to assume the inner frame of reference of the client and see the world as the client does. Bolin concluded, after surveying the library literature, that librarianship is the client-cen­ tered profession. She said w e should no t be intimidated by claims o f the private sector lead­ ing the way, but be ourselves an d continue to build on the strengths o f the programs and ser­ vices w e provide. Her specific recom m endations for technical services w ere to keep all types o f clients in mind and identify with the user. Make certain w e know w h at w e are d o in g an d b e w illing to tak e risks. If a client asks for so m eth in g w e sh o u ld say “y e s ” first. K eep a positive m ind set; a w illingness to co n s id er ch an g es an d n ew w ays o f d o in g things w hich w ould b e more helpful to o ur clients. She says w e should catalog everything, be visible, be a part of w hatever is going on, and take credit for o ur expertise.—D ia n n e Delong, Illinois State University J u ly /A u g u st 1 9 9 7 / 4 8 1 Users confront e-journals In “The Nature of the Electronic Journal: Struc­ ture and Use of Information in Scholarly Elec­ tronic Journals,” Barbara DeFelice (Dartmouth College) discussed the Dartmouth Web jour­ nals test, the nature of the electronic journal, user reactions to Web journals, and challenges to library user services. One of the goals of the study was to better understand how faculty and students use and find out about Web e-jour­ nals. The user feedback was particularly inter­ esting as it seemed that while users liked the idea of having access to e-journals, they didn’t necessarily like using them. The user needs to be able to rely on the access to and content of the e-journals. The time involved in printing an article from an e-journal was also a big is­ sue for many faculty members. DeFelice concluded that it is not enough for libraries just to provide access to e-journals. Librarians should take the extra step o f show­ ing users how to use them. She also suggests that as librarians, we now have a “window of opportunity” in which to guide e-joumals in a direction that is beneficial to scholarship.— Linda A. Rich, Bowling Green State University Journal access: W hat do faculty really need and how do they get it? Judith Johnson and Betty Rozum (both Utah State University) reported on their 1994/95 sur­ vey on the journal information-seeking behav­ ior of faculty and researchers. They w anted to determine 1) w here faculty obtained journal materials that neither they nor the library owns; 2) how faculty found out about these articles; and 3) w hat faculty might be willing to do per­ sonally to broaden access to journal informa­ tion. The librarians found that the five major sources of these needed journals were personal subscriptions, interlibrary loan, other libraries, colleagues, and reprints. Faculty identified ar­ ticles in journals not ow ned by USU through citations in other articles, periodical indexes, word of mouth, and the Internet. A follow-up survey was sent to individuals w ho reported that they personally subscribed to journals not ow ned by the library; 90% indicated a willing­ ness to share their journal issues with other colleagues. From this data, librarians built a cen­ tralized database of journal titles that faculty w ere willing to share. Future plans include monitoring and maximizing the resource shar­ ing already in practice and tracking Internet and electronic journal use. Members of the au­ dience raised questions about the systematic sharing of personal journal subscriptions.— Linda A. Brown, Bowling Green State Univer­ sity Student searching on a "w ired" campus As Skidmore College was recently ranked one of the top 25 most “wired” campuses in the country, this study of Skidmore students en­ titled “Undergraduate Students and the Digital The exhibits hall at the conference was home to 756 exhibitors from more than 150 companies show ing their state-of-the-art products and services. 4 8 2 /C & R L N ew s Library: Information-Seeking Behavior in a Het­ tium for Educational Technology in University Systems (CETUS). The partners in CETUS are: the State University System o f New York, the California University System, and the City Uni­ versity o f New York. CETUS has published a Discussion Series o f four booklets: • The A cadem ic Library in the Inform ation Age: Changing Roles; • Fair Use o f Copyrighted Works: A Crucial Element in Educating America; • Inform ation Resources a n d Library Ser­ vices f o r Distance Learners: A Framework fo r Quality, • Ownership o f New Works a t the Univer­ sity: U nbundling o f Rights a n d the Pursuit o f Higher Learning. For information about ordering print copies o f these publications at a modest cost, contact: bonnie@calstate.edu. The publications will soon b e a v a ila b le e le c tr o n i c a lly at: h t t p : / / w w w .cetus.org. In addition to the theoretical discussion, two of the panel mem bers spoke about their own experiences setting up a valuable W eb-based teaching tool. As a very practical exam ple o f a collabora­ tive effort am ong faculty, librarians, and ven­ dors, Michael Long and Nancy Nuzzo (both SUNY-Buffalo) sp o k e ab o u t th e tech n iq u es they u sed to p u t together the University of B u ffa lo m u s ic o lo g y h o m e p a g e ( h t t p : / / w in g s .b u f f a lo .e d u /a c a d e m ic /d e p a r tm e n t/ AandL/m usic/m h.htm l). Some co n c ern w as e x p re sse d th at al­ though librarians are encouraged to take on new entrepreneurship roles, these skills have not yet becom e part o f prom otion criteria for librarians.— Pat Viele, Cornell University The W eb—libraries and information providers A very diverse group o f presenters w as put together for the panel session entitled “Tak­ ing the Lead: The Role o f the Library and the Information Provider in the Age o f the World Wide W eb.” Boyd Collins (Rutgers Univer­ sity) discussed the Infofilter Project and his Library Jo u rn a l “W ebw atch” column as ways to provide reviews of good W eb sites. He elaborated on his criteria including: content (com prehensiveness, uniqueness), authority, organization, searchability o f site, currency, and quality o f graphic design. Dan Bosseau (San Diego State University) erogeneous Environment” was of particular in­ terest. Kris Szymborksi began the session with an overview o f the study w hich w as designed to p ro v id e insight into stu d e n t research p a t­ tern s an d p e rh a p s so m e o f th e differences th at co n trib u ted to m ore successful search m odels. The study design consisted of individual in­ terviews, group interviews o f experienced re­ searchers, and group interviews with students working on senior theses. The subjects, w ho included 29 upperclass m en and 42 w omen, w ere working on a variety o f research assign­ ments, and J o f the group had do n e database searching multiple times. When asked how they learned to use computers, bibliographic instruc­ tion in the library came in a distant fourth and the top two m ethods included one-on-one in­ struction with a librarian an d self-teaching. Peggy Seiden, elaborating on the results and conclusions, mentioned that few students chose wholly inappropriate databases, and that they generally coped with information overload fairly well. They perceived their searches as success­ ful even if they pulled up 200,000 hits. This might be due to their tendency to look at the material that com es u p first and then ignore the rest.— Debbie Malone, Ursinus College Pioneer librarians “The Academic Librarian As Transform ation Leader” highlighted the work o f the Consor­ Jim Harris makes a point about job security during his presentation on "The Learning Paradox.” argued that libraries n eed to respond to the mailto:bonnie@calstate.edu http://www.cetus.org wings.buffalo.edu/academic/department/ J u ly /A u g u st 1 9 9 7 / 4 8 3 opportunities p resen ted by the W orld Wide Web. Among libraries’ advantages for taking a leadership role are the general perception of their reliability, interest in quality control, and experience with archiving. He said library in­ volvement in Web devel­ opm ent issues on campus should be pursued because Technology by itself adds no value to the customer, and even the best equipment w ill not overcome deficient training or poor management. it is a “good thing to d o ” and it is “politically correct to be seen as successful.” Jacqueline Trolley (In­ stitute for Scientific Infor­ mation, publishers of Cur­ rent Contents) discu ssed th e sch o larly p u b lish in g environm ent and the vari­ ous players in the com peti­ tive Web market. According to Trolley, ISI b e­ lieves th e “q u an tity an d quality o f journal materials is param ount.” They also recognize the importance o f an end-user interface. They ho p e to create a linking environm ent to link bibliographic databases to primary publisher content. Dan W oods (Information Access Co.) dis­ cussed the n eed for and problem s associated with authentication o f the remote user access­ ing c o p y rig h te d d atab a ses. H e said W eb- accessed databases must restrict remote Web access to registered library users, be quick and easy for libraries and for users, and safeguard the user’s right of privacy.— Bartow, University o f Nebraska Technology, learning, and the customer One of the most important and valuable m od­ els librarians have borrow ed from the business world has b een that of the customer. No li­ brary organization can function effectively u n ­ less the needs o f both the external customer (the patron) and the internal customer (the staff member) have b een met. Although one would assume the concept o f customer service to be an intrinsic part of the goals of any library, how often have w e all seen the hum an services as­ pect o f our profession take a back seat? In “Libraries and the Post-Job O rganization” Lori Goetsch (University of Tennessee, Knox­ ville) exam ined a w orld in w hich w ork and jobs w ould be defined by customer needs, not by job descriptions, organizational hierarchies, and restrictive personnel policies. The most suc­ cessful and satisfied people in the age o f tech­ nology will be the ones w ho are able to as­ sume multiple roles as needed and w ho can learn new specialties quickly in an ever-chang­ ing w ork environment. The importance of having a customer-driven organization w as em pha­ sized even further by Gary Geer (University of South Carolina) in “The Produc­ tivity Paradox: Implications for Libraries.” He proposed several reasons w hy our in­ vestment in com puter tech­ nology has not always re­ s u lt e d in th e d e s ir e d payoffs. Technology by it­ self adds no value to the cu sto m er, and ev en the best equipm ent will not overcom e deficient training o r poor management.—M aija M. Lutz, H arvard University Distance learning via the Web Needing to teach 3,000 freshman composition students information-seeking skills and replace the freshman library w orkbook that has been used at James Madison University for more than 12 years are what prom pted the Carrier Library reference staff to design W eb-based instruction modules in sum m er 1996. Lynn Cameron and Lorraine Evans presented to a standing-room- only crow d an overview, advantages, areas needing im provem ent, future plans, an d an evaluation of their W eb-based instruction pro­ grams in “Go for the Gold: A W eb-based In­ struction Program.” “Go for the Gold” has 17 modules which all English composition faculty are required to use. An advantage to using the Web as a teaching medium is that it is acces­ sible to students and faculty at all times from the library, com puter lab, dorm, or home. A more computer-literate faculty is an area that needs improving. A new version of “Go for the Gold,” faculty training programs, and m ore pre­ tests are planned. Cameron believes “this is an evolving project and will take time to make it an effective teaching tool.”— N ancy Allen, Uni­ versity o f South Florida at Sarasota The learning organization This preconference subtitle tells it all: “The Learning Organization: D eveloping Skills to Work in Teams and Solve Problems.” Present­ ers Maureen Sullivan (consultant) and Shelley Phipps (University o f Arizona) spent all day 4 8 4 / C&RL N ew s o u tlin in g th e th re e d isc i­ plines o f the learning orga­ n iz a tio n : m e n ta l m o d e ls, team learning, an d personal m a ste ry . M ental m o d e ls, they said, are reflections of the p eo p le w ithin organiza­ tions. The learning organi­ z a tio n a s k s e v e r y o n e to question their thinking p ro ­ cesses, an d adjust them for the organization’s good. O ur m ental m odels m ust survive scrutiny and reflect reality as they change an d grow. This scrutiny leads to em pathy, w hich th en allow s aw are­ ness an d creativity to flour­ ish w ithin the organization. T eam learn in g involves a d ee p understanding o f dia­ Kate N evins talks about the “joys o f ooperating” in her p resentation on Partnerships and C om petition.” logue, a tactic that seeks out c “individual differences as a m ethod to achieve progress. Set guidelines for your dialogues, they urged, so that organiza­ tional grow th can occur. Such guidelines might include: listening carefully, respecting opinions, sacrificing ego, and experim enting with ideas. The biggest barrier to team learning is becom ­ ing defensive! Personal mastery asks individu­ als to take responsibility for their ow n learn­ ing. This involves gathering inform ation and inviting feedback regularly. It also acknow l­ edges mistakes as em ployees see them selves p art o f a m ore m eaningful p rocess.— K athy Sanders, University o f A rkansas a t Little Rock Nevins encourages partnerships Kate Nevins’s invited paper, “Partnerships and Com petition,” prom oted alliances for libraries. Nevins (SOLINET director) review ed success­ ful library partnerships, then outlined the chal­ lenges and benefits o f cooperation. Partnerships appeal to librarians’ service natures, b u t are out­ w eighed by unappealing com petition. Yet com ­ petition exists an d librarians must turn it into beneficial partnerships. The “joys o f co o p erat­ ing,” she said, exist in ILL, OCLC, state, and regional networks. These concepts w e embrace. But challenges like reaching o u t to co rpora­ tions, blending With unfamiliar organizational cultures, or reshaping com fortable infrastruc­ tures m ust also be em braced. “N ever u n d eres­ tim ate th e value o f being co n n ected ,” Nevins said. Lawrence Dow ler (Harvard College) and Jo h n Secor (Y ankee Book Peddler) reacted to Nevins’s p a p e r. D o w ler, w h o e x ­ p r e s s e d th e “c o n tr a r ia n ” p o in t o f v iew , a c k n o w l­ e d g e d libraries’ successes, bu t quickly noted failures. H e e x p r e s s e d c o n c e r n s ab o u t th e proliferation of databases, failure to collect an d preserve for future gen­ erations, an d loss o f collec­ tive m em ory w h en organi­ zations dow nsize. “Will w e fo rg e t,” h e w arn ed , “w hy w e w ere h ere in th e first p la c e ? ” S e c o r ’s r e m a rk s w ere intended to a d d value to N evins’s talk. He en co u r­ aged librarians to consider th em selv es e n tre p re n e u rs an d en ter business arrange­ m en ts fearlessly. “It’s just plain dum b to go it alo n e,” he said.— K athy Sanders, University o f A rkansas a t Little Rock Beyond affirm ative action—towards diversity In “Securing Full O pportunity in American So­ ciety: If Affirmative Action Is Not O ur Best Strat­ egy, T hen What?” Sheila Creth (University of Iow a) focused on em ploym ent in higher ed u ­ cation generally an d academ ic libraries specifi­ cally. She argued that w ithout a w hole-hearted com m itm ent to equality o f opportunity for all, affirmative action is imperative. Citing statistics from Christopher Edley’s Not A ll B lack & White: A ffirm ative A ction a n d A m erica n Values, Creth do cu m en ted th e anticipated grow th in th e mi­ nority population during the next 20-25 years. These dem ographic changes will be reflected o n college cam puses w h ere a m ore diverse population dem ands m ore diverse staff. Creth also offered statistics to illustrate the disparity o f opportunity b etw een blacks an d whites. Challenging traditional argum ents against affirmative action, Creth d e b u n k e d the notion that preferential treatm ent implies lack o f merit. She cited num erous factors unrelated to merit by w hich p eo p le have advanced in the library profession. To those w ho argue that beneficia­ ries o f preferential treatm ent will suffer the stigma o f being regarded less qualified, Creth argued that doing w ithout special treatm ent is w orse than enduring th e stigma. J u ly /A u g u s t 1 9 9 7 / 4 8 5 The new ideal o f prom oting organizational one of the modules in w hich clips from Star Wars w ere incorporated into instruction on searching for movie information. Fair use laws allow use of 30-second clips in an educational environment, and discussion of such ethical use of recorded information becom es part o f the course.— Debbie Malone, Ursimts College DE library leaders deliver instruction differently—creatively! The institutional diversity that typifies distance education was exemplified by extended cam­ pus librarians during the program “Library In­ struction for Off-Campus Students: Four Views of Services and Support.” Janet Feldman (Indiana University-Purdue University-Columbus) gave a branch librarian’s view. Characterizing her institution as “begin­ ning the odyssey,” she discussed serving 1,800 community students 50 miles from the nearest large campus. For her, instruction means “teach­ ing the library all day” and offering formal class­ room instruction using a research case study approach with clear instructional objectives and learning outcomes. Anne Casey (Central Michigan University) discussed introducing off-campus students to OCLC’s FirstSearch databases on the Web. The CMU program reaches students in 17 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico. Beginning about 18 months ago, CMU’s FirstSearch instruc­ tion has involved in-class presentations, d e­ tailed searching instructions, program new s­ letter features, and garnering faculty support. Jean Caspers (O regon State University) d e­ scribed the first stages o f a Web tutorial that reflects the conceptual com ponents o f a library research strategy. Through hypertext links, stu­ dents explore strategy aspects and refine their thinking about each aspect’s applicability to a W ant more info? Many of the programs at ACRL’s 8th Na­ tional Conference w ere audiotaped and are available for purchase. A com plete list ap­ pears as an insert in the June 1997 issue or call InfoMedia at (800) 367-9286 to order. The full text o f the contributed papers is being m ounted on ACRL’s Web page and should be accessible by mid-month (http: / / www.ala.oig/acrl.html then select National Conferences). diversity to ensure equality not only goes b e­ yond preventing or com pensating for discrimi­ nation but also enhances services by guaran­ teeing fresh perspectives on, and approaches to, the work o f academic librarians.— Dorothy Fitzgerald Glew, M oravian College Multimedia information literacy An innovative project designed to increase stu­ dent information com petence was presented in “The Student-Centered Electronic Teaching Library: A New Model for Learning.” Referred to as SET, the program at Cal Poly is a com bi­ nation electronic classroom, multimedia labo­ rato ry , an d in fo rm atio n c o n c o u rs e . Ire n e Hoffman provided background o n the initia­ tive, w hose focus is producing learning rather than providing instruction. Funding was pro­ vided through an increase in tuition and the new revenue was distributed to n ew projects w hich could dem onstrate a direct impact on students. The SET library incorporates a laboratory classroom as well as small group seminars, drop-in clinics, course-related one shots, and credit courses with em phasis on collaborative learning across disciplines. The W eb-based in­ teractive teaching m odule with classroom ex­ periences that dem onstrate information com ­ petency skills can be seen at: h ttp://w w w .lib. calpoly.edu/infocom p. Paul Adalian described the renovated class- room /laboratory which included 16 terminals on 4-5 foot tables allowing plenty o f space for 2-3 students to work together and use print sources in conjunction with the online materi­ als. He dem onstrated som e o f the active learn­ ing strategies he uses in the classroom which included students in groups o f three creating search statements on w hite boards around the laboratory, and a takeoff o n the conceptual a p p r o a c h in w h ic h s tu d e n ts c o m p le te w orksheets before they receive instruction on a particular electronic resource. Judy Swanson described the collaboration betw een the multimedia specialist and the ref­ erence librarians in creating fascinating ani­ mated instructional modules using Macromedia Director and other software tools. In the class­ room, students becom e familiar with basic page layout, design, and presentation through as­ signments using Microsoft Powerpoint and Web a u th o rin g to o ls su c h as htm l a n d A dobe Pagemill, an html editor. Swanson demonstrated http://www.lib calpoly.edu/infocomp http://www.ala.oig/acrl.html 4 8 6 /C & R L N ew s Conference attendees are treated to a night of country lin e dancing at the Wild Horse Saloon. topic. In using the tutorial, students experience the circularity and multidimensionality o f vari­ ous research phases. Susan Barnes Whyte (Linfield College) re­ ported on a teaching/reference librarian support initiative she has spearheaded in an English re­ search writing course. She effectively used com­ puter conferencing for students to post formal assignments, work in small groups, and infor­ mally chat online. This approach has created a “community of learners w ho do n ’t com e to cam­ pus, but are actively engaged in self-directed as well as collaborative learning.”—M aryhelen Jones, Central M ichigan University E-Journals—are they so different? In “Electronic Journals—Are They Really So Dif­ ferent? The Findings from an Academic Library’s Pilot Project,’’Ball State University (BSU) librar­ ians Stanley Hodge, Suzan Burks, Brad Faust, D iane H unter, Lesley Milner, an d Rebecca Sheffield described an aggressive program at BSU to m ake electronic journals available to users and to integrate these resources into the collections. A team of librarians participated in the decision-making and implementation of the pilot project. The group identified issues, as­ signed them to departments, and coordinated their efforts (e.g., access services staff checked equipm ent and Internet resources daily with assistance from the serials cataloger). Selectors co n sid ered th e a d d e d value of e-journals, needs for user training, and seam­ less access from public workstations as well as curricular and research needs for new titles. After a year’s study, only four titles out o f 64 w ere found to be true equivalents to the printed products. Deselection decisions w ere m ade fre­ quently as serials migrated or changed. Web cover pages were created by the cata­ loging staff for each e-journal. A record was also established in the OPAC. Double listings w ere viewed as a means of prom oting a new service and offered ways to track use. Assistance was offered with electronic jour­ nals at the periodicals floor in addition to the reference area. Verification o f URLs and cita­ tions in an electronic w orld was found to share much with printed counterparts. However, the phenom ena of vanishing sites was a new ex­ perience. Topics identified for future decisions in­ cluded interlibrary loan, reporting holdings to OCLC, and expanding services o f e-journals to off-campus users.— Pam Cenzer, University o f Florida ■ (Choosing cont. fr o m p a g e 4 78) at the ACRL National Conference provided a unique an d m o m en to u s o p p o rtu n ity for th e academ ic library p ro fessio n to co n sid er al­ tern ativ e scen ario s for its future an d to d e ­ fine actions th a t w o u ld h elp co n tro l its d e s­ tiny. T h e p a r tic ip a n ts re c o rd e d c o n c re te actions th at they w o u ld u n d e rta k e in their libraries, for them selves, an d w ith in ACRL to g ain th a t control. In th e m o n th s an d years ah ead , th e h u n d red s o f individual decisions and actions arising out of the conference will help define our futures. Notes 1. Paul Saffo, “The Electric Piñata: Informa­ tion Technologies and the Future of the Library,” in A cadem ic Libraries: Achieving Excellence in H igher Education. P roceedings o f the Sixth National Conference o f the Association of Col­ lege and Research Libraries, Salt Lake City, 1992, pp. 13-17. 2. Peter Schwartz, The A rt o f the Long View: The Path to Strategic Insight f o r Yourself a n d Your Com pany (N ew York: Doubleday, 1991). 3. Joel Arthur Barker, Future Edge: Discov­ ering the New Paradigms o f Success (New York: Morrow, 1992). 4. Paul Evan Peters, “From Serial Publica­ tions to D o cum ent Delivery to K now ledge Management: O ur Fascinating Journey, Just Be­ g un,” Serials Librarian 28 (1996): 37-56. ■ J u ly /A u g u s t 1 9 9 7 / 4 8 7