ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 456 / C&-RL News Cincinnati: Building on the First Century A C R L ’s Fifth National Conference, April 5-8, 1989, marked one hundred years of progress. .A .ca d em ic and research librarians from all 50 states and eight foreign countries paid court to the Queen City at ACRL’s Fifth National Conference, April 5 -8 . Attendance was higher than at any other AC RL conference, topping by nearly 300 the pre­ vious record set in Boston in 1978 at A C RL’s first. By Friday, 2,128 librarians had registered, along with 551 exhibitors, 191 exhibits-only passes, and 17 guests. Perhaps it was the baseball, or the chili, or the season, or the riverfront— or a combination of many factors— but the atmosphere matched the mood of our members, who seemed eager to meet with their peers and seek inspiration from the pro- N eX T ’s Michael Hawley entertains at the piano during an A C R L reception. June 1989 / 457 grams and papers, without the burden of commit­ tee work. ACRL president Joe Boisse (University of C ali­ fornia, Santa Barbara) pitched the first ball at the Reds/Dodgers baseball game Wednesday night, and Julie Houston (Ohio Wesleyan University), chosen in a nation-wide competition, sang the na­ tional anthem. Five hundred conferees braved the chill night air to watch the Reds win and see ACRL conference facts go up in lights on the Reds’ score­ board. The programs Attendance was high at the five program ses­ sions, which looked to the future as well as the past. Although Steven Jobs, co-founder of Apple Com­ puter and president of N eXT, In c., was unable to give the opening keynote address, Michael Haw­ ley, also of NeXT and developer of the digital books for the NeXT computer, took his place. Hawley opened with a list of “G reat Moments in Book Technology” that began with Ts’ai Lun’s invention of paper in 105 A.D . and ended with the digital book. The first generation of NeXT computers will be loaded with a few of these digital books, among them W ebster’s Ninth Collegiate Dictionary and the O xford Dictionary o f Quotations. Hawley demonstrated how these worked by looking up a quote from his digitized version of the complete works of Shakespeare, bringing up the definitions and illustrations of some of the words in the quote, and finding related quotations— all on one NeXT screen! Having a 250-megabyte hard drive and a huge amount of memory helps. Getting the NeXT computer to interface with the large-screen video projection system that Haw­ ley used for his presentation was tricky, according to conference manager Cathleen Bourdon. “On Tuesday night,” she said, “we learned that the only interface that would make the system work was at NeXT in California. A NeXT technician and the in­ terface immediately hopped a flight from Califor­ nia and, after many hours of set-up, got the place wired flawlessly.” Hawley also described some of the musical inno­ vations he has been responsible for as a graduate student at M IT , among them a computerized pi­ ano that accompanies a violinist and allows for the soloist’s variations in tempo. At a reception in Joe Boisse’s suite that evening, Hawley demonstrated his own pianistic expertise by playing classical mu­ sic, show tunes, and Scott Joplin rags. Robert A. Caro, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and biographer of Robert Moses, described his work on a three-volume life of Lyndon B. Johnson. Early on in his research he realized that in order to understand the environment that shaped L B J ’s personality and politics, he would have to experi­ ence the Texas hill country at first hand. For three Multi-window magic with the N eX T computer, at Hawley’s presentation. 458 / C&RLNews Edward G. Holley. years Caro lived in the area and learned, from the local people who remembered those times, what it was like to live there before Johnson, as state sena­ tor, brought hydroelectric power to the region. Samuel D. Proctor, professor emeritus of educa­ tion at Rutgers University, delivered an inspiring oration on the importance of quality education for the future of American society. Proctor charged his audience, as educators, with a mission to “uplift students above the neurological and the instinctive and induct them into the life of the mind and the world of thought.” A classical education, with its emphasis on character building, “is the most pro­ found answer to the travails of modern life.” It shows young people, he said, the margin of free­ dom they have in their lives by taking them beyond the indicative (“I do”) and imperative (”Do!”) modes to the subjective (“What could I do”). Mary Anne Dolan, former editor of the Los An­ geles Herald Examiner, expanded on her article, “When Feminism Failed,” in the June 26, 1988, New York Times Magazine, which describes her disillusionment with the women on her staff who were unable to resist the “male corporate tenden­ cies of power, money and status.” Dolan warned of the problems facing the next generation of children who are “in double jeopardy by modeling their be­ havior on mothers who are reinforcing the male models of the past.” She called for a second stage of feminism in which the differences between men and women are reaffirmed. A panel of four librarians, moderated by Mau­ reen Sullivan (Yale University), reacted to Dolan’s presentation, which was expected to generate some controversy. Susan Brynteson (University of Dela­ ware), Richard Dougherty (University of Michi­ gan) , Debbie Hull (ISI Marketing), and Sarah Prit­ chard (Library of Congress and chair-elect of ACRL’s Women’s Studies Section) commented on the speaker’s viewpoint. Pritchard’s description of women’s growth of power within librarianship and the American Library Association was very pene­ trating. Mary Anne Dolan. Other program sessions included Ed Holley’s ad­ dress at the luncheon honoring academic leaders (reprinted in this issue on pp. 464-67); differing viewpoints on education for librarianship debated by Robert Hayes (University of California) and Irene Hoadley (Texas A&M University), and mod­ erated by Pat Swanson (University of Chicago); sneak previews of new automated library systems, collection materials, and related services by 20 dif­ ferent vendors; the changing mission, goals and ob­ jectives of college libraries over the past 100 years, analyzed by library directors from various types of institutions; and a two-day post-conference on “In­ spiring Enthusiasm for Research,” in which 11 pre­ senters suggested ways in which barriers to library research might be removed, ways to set up an ad­ ministrative framework for supporting research, and ways for researchers to network both within the institution and outside it. Papers and poster sessions Four weeks before the conference when advance registration hit 1,600, the conference planners re­ alized that there would probably be overcrowding in the meeting rooms. Since the rooms couldn’t be enlarged, the ACRL staff prepared signs offering an alternative: “Sorry, session is full. Plenty of room in the exhibits!” Local arrangements coordi­ nator Ron Frommeyer (University of Cincinnati) and his assistants had the dubious task of telling at­ tendees that sessions were full. Ron said that most of them were understanding. CirRL News reporters managed to squeeze into a few sessions. George Eberhart attended one that described the series of Australian dime novels pub­ lished by Alfred Cecil Rowlandson in the late 19th century. Carol Mills, librarian at the Riverina- Murray Institute of Higher Education in Australia, described the difficulty she had in tracking down this fugitive material, much valued for its artwork. “Inside the Library Research Process,” pre­ sented by Carol Kuhlthau (Rutgers University) and June 1989 / 459 Robert Hayes and Irene Hoadley. Mary George (Princeton University), focused o users’ thoughts and feelings as they seek informa tion. Reporter Laura A. Sullivan (Northern Ken tucky University) said that Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process model helps the reference librarian determine the real question a user has and wha stage they are at in the search process. Choice magazine celebrated its own anniversar (its 25th) with a paper session. Editorial staff mem bers Helen M. M acLam and Ronald H. Epp were joined by reviewer Steven Bowman (Department of History, University of Cincinnati) for a discus sion of the political and ethical issues in reviewing. Case studies based on actual incidents in Choice’ publishing history were used as illustrations o problems and solutions. “B ack to the F u tu re: Closing the P eriodical Stacks" was attended by Rebecca Sturm Kelm (Northern Kentucky University), who reports: ”In- troducing herself as a Dutch woman married to Polish man and having a name possible only in Samuel D. Proctor, n ­ ­ t y ­ ­ s f a Robert A. Caro. America, T jald a Belastock’s was a lively and pro­ ductive session. T he library at Bentley College made the decision to go back to the closed stacks of the past in an effort to provide better access for all users. Service efforts were being thwarted by muti­ lation and loss, duplicate subscriptions were costiy, and frustration for both users and staff was high. Treating the periodicals area, as a reserve collection proved most successful. Her audience was obvi­ ously an interested one, and the question and an­ swer portion of the session was well used.” The Conference proceedings will be available at the end of June and will be sent to all full confer­ ence registrants. Support for printing the proceed­ ings has been generously provided by the Faxon Company. Those who were not full conference registrants may purchase the proceedings for $22 (ACRL members) or $30 (non-members). Thirty-eight poster sessions, reviewed and se­ lected by members of the National Conference Pro­ gram Committee, were presented in the exhibit hall on Thursday and Friday. The sessions offered an opportunity for an informal exchange of practi­ cal concepts and methods. O ther events E ach of the program sessions was preceded by the presentation of one or more “distinguished ca­ reer citations” to librarians whose careers had ended before the establishment of A C R L’s Aca­ demic or Research Librarian of the Year Award. Those honored were: Page Ackerman, Gertrude Annan, Jack D alton, Herman Fussier, Guy Lyle, A.P. Marshall, Law rence Powell, Joseph Reason, Eileen Thornton, and James O. W allace. M any o f th e exh ibitors a t co n feren ce w ere pleased with the “humane hours” allotted for the Exhibit Hall, which allowed those who were tied to the booths all day an early escape time of 3 :00 p.m . to join librarians and others at receptions, 460 / C&RL News Joseph H . Reason (left), A C R L president in 1971-72, is honored by current president Joseph Boisse (right). L eft to right: Jo e Boisse, M artha Bow m an, and Evan F a rb er cut the ribbon at the exhibits opening. June 1989 / 461 Choice celebrates its own anniversary at the exhibits booth. baseball games, and dinner. The white aisle car­ peting in the exhibit hall really brightened up the place and garnered many comments. Exhibits manager Sandy Donnelly went to great pains to persuade the decorating company th a t peach drapes and white carpeting really would work. ACRL program officer Alia Al-Taqi spent most of her time at the membership and exhibitor regis­ tration booths. One time, while she was making ex­ hibitor badges, a vendor with an excruciatingly long name stopped by to register. It took Alia three tries to get it right. Only then did she realize that he was really signing up for a Tri-State Industrial Conference going on at the same time. He kept the badge as a souvenir. The receptions at the Public Library of Cincin­ nati, the Lloyd Library, and the Contemporary Arts Center (where the “Hope Springs” exhibit was featu red ) were outstanding. E d ito r G eorge Eberhart spent many fun-filled minutes taking photographs of ACRL members eating, drinking, and dancing the night away. ACRL executive di­ rector JoAn Segal said, “Social time was great as one party outdid the other. So, speaking moder­ ately, I ’d say Conference was a smashing success!” Margaret Myers, director of the ALA Office for Library Personnel Resources, and Beverley Wash­ ington, ACRL administrative secretary, never sat down while working in the Conference Placement Center. More than 120 job seekers had their pick of the 219 jobs that were listed at the center. The National Conference Committee deserves a round of applause for a well-planned, exciting event: Martha Bowman and Evan Farber (co­ chairs) , Jan Fennell (contributed papers), Mary E l­ len Elsbernd (local arrangements), Jordan M. Sce- panski (programs), and Anne Kearney (conference assistant). ACRL meets the press Program officer Mary Ellen Davis spent most of her time in the ACRL press room, but it wasn’t all fun and games. She reports: “Working in the Press Room was quite different from attending the usual round of committee meetings. Deb Robertson, ALA’s public information officer, and I processed requests for press badges and answered people’s questions about what was happening. One after­ noon a man walked in and asked for a press pass. Now that I was experienced in this process, I rou­ tinely asked him for his press identification. I was not prepared for his press i.d. to say CBS News. “I gulped and tried not to look too much in shock as I typed his name and a ffilia tio n . (W ow, I thought. CBS News is covering our Cincinnati Conference. W e have really made the big time. I had visions of Dan Rather or Charles Kerault doing an interest piece on academic librarians.) Such hopes were soon dashed, however, as I talked with the reporter. He said he had been sent down to 462 / CirRL News i CM* Ree DeDonato, New York University, explains the fin er points of N YU ’s campus network during a poster session. ONLINENYU ■ NET PROJECT INFORM * Alia Al-Taqi says that A C R L ’s centennial t-shirts will still be on sale at Dallas. cover the Pete Rose story and that nothing was hap­ pening today so they had sent him over to find out what the librarians were up to. The reporter was not too excited about the prospect and claimed he had been sent over just to prevent him from being paid for hanging out and drinking coffee.” Never too early to plan A C R L ’s Sixth National Conference will take place in Phoenix, Arizona, April 1 -4 , 1992. W e hope you will join us there when A C RL returns to th e W e stl— GME. ■ ■ Now, Even More Big News It’s an era of rapid change in the history of newspapers. New publications are springing up, while others are closing dow n. How can you m onitor all of this activity? The third edition of the United States Newspaper Program (USNP) N a tio n a l Union List can help your library track dow n information on m ore than 77,000 U.S. newspapers published during the last three centuries. From Publick Occurrences in 1690 to USA Today, this new edition o f the USNP N a tio n a l Union List gives you basic bibliographic and holdings data on newspapers held by libraries, archives, and historical societies in 28 states and territories and the District of Columbia. This new third edition has 20,000 m ore citations than the sec­ ond edition, and represents three times the information found in the first edition. For your library’s newspaper needs—w hether historical research or up-to-the-minute reference questions—the USNP N a tio n a l Union List, available on microfiche, is an invaluable tool for directing patrons tow ard the right information. To order your copy of the USNP The USNP N a tio n a l Union List is a cooperative N a tio n a l Union List, call OCLC toll-free: project o f the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Library o f Congress, and OCLC. U.S. 800-848-5878 Ohio 800-848-8286 Canada 800-533-8201 See the third edition o f the USNP o c 1 N a tio n a l U n ion L ist at the LC Publishers Book Exhibit, Head­ OCLC O n lin 1 e C o m p u te r quarters Booth Number 9 5 3 , ALA L ib ra ry C e n te r, Inc. Annual Conference, Dallas, Texas, 6565 Frantz Road Dublin, Ohio June 2 4 - 2 7 . 4 3 0 1 7 -0 7 0 2