ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL New s ■ June 2001 / 585 ACRL NATIONAL CONFERENCE Crossing the divide Coverage from ACRL’s 10th National Conference, Part 2 This is the second half o f the report from the ACRL National Confer­ ence in Denver. Part one appeared in the May is­ sue. C&RL News thanks the m any vo lu n teers w ho provided reports on the sessions. W hat—do y o u g e t a brain w ith t h a t? At the paper session “What—do you get a brain with that? Jour­ nal Access Paradigm Change at a Liberal Arts U n iv e r s ity ,” Ja m e s H arpe r and John Payne (Furman University) presented a creative response to the challenge of soar­ ing science journal subscription costs. At Furman, the journal budget was continu­ ally increased to pre­ vent cuts, and the m onograph budget was suffering. Harper and Payne explained that the strategy was to target a group of science faculty, educate them about the se­ rials crisis, provide them with an on-demand document delivery/SDI service trial as a po­ tential replacement for individual subscriptions, and to do this in an atmosphere of tmst—no cuts would be made unless the faculty pre­ ferred the document delivery solution. Teri Switzer, John Culshaw, and Jennifer Kutzik the funds released by these cuts to in­ crease m onograph b u d g e ts .— S h a ro n were three of the ever-present, alw ays-help ful Local Arrangements Committee who wore cowboy hats so that attendees could easily seek them out. The initial service used for the trial was Carl Uncover, and then CISTI was added. The combination of two services seemed to work best. Faculty had unlimited search access, individual SDI profiles, and the option to request document delivery for an unlimited number of articles. Harper and Payne reported that at the trial’s end, the faculty test group overwhelm­ ingly preferred Fax/Ariel access to individual articles from thousands o f titles rather than print access to only the titles in the library. They also found that this solution was m uch le s s c o s tly than either print or online full-text sub­ scriptions. As a re­ sult, the Furman fac­ ulty opted to drop severa l print su b ­ scriptions to fund the document delivery system for all faculty, and the library was able to use some of Clayton, K no x College, sclayton@knox.edu D ig ita l co lle ctio n s a n d ToCs vs. fu ll te x t Leslie Manning moderated “Online Journals: Utility of ToCs vs. Full Text,” a rich and in­ formative presentation o f particular interest to science librarians. mailto:sclayton@knox.edu 586 / C&RL News ■ June 2001 C onference planners W. Lee Hisle (chair), Camila A lire (local arrangem ents), Nancy A lle n (volunteers), and Jim W illia m s (local arrangem ents) relax a t th e A ll-C onference Reception at th e Denver A r t Museum. Julie Hurd (University of Illinois at Chicago [UIC]) reported on her research concerning the acceptance and use of digital collections by scientists. This study employed the use of struc­ tured interviews with selected faculty in the basic and health sciences at UIC. The elec­ tronic resource most heavily used depended substantially u pon the discipline involved. Users in the basic sciences reported a need for advance prints on publishers’ Web sites, but in the health sciences, interactive text prod­ ucts (such as MD Consult) were found to be more valuable, as were Web sites devoted to evidence-based medicine. Specialized data repositories such as the Genome project represent another type of elec­ tronic product increasingly used by scientists. “Path” plays a significant part in usage of electronic journals. While the library’s pre­ pared listing of e-journals was heavily con­ sulted, OPAC links w ere rarely used. Some of the unanticipated consequences of con­ ducting the research included sharing infor­ m ation w ith faculty ab o u t n ew resources available through the library, garnering feed­ back on effective ways to com m unicate with faculty, and validating the im portance of fac­ ulty input. George Porter (California Institute of Tech­ nology) reported o n an intriguing study, re­ cently com pleted w ith CalTech IT colleague Ed Sponsler, in w hich the usefulness of non- full-text resources was examined. The study relied heavily o n click-through technology to accumulate data on e-jour- nal use. Print journal use was also considered with data col­ lected using reshelving counts. P orter’s research revealed that non-full-text resources like table of contents (ToC) and ab­ stracts may be profitably used to determ ine w hether proper choices w ere m ade for journal cancellation, to gauge campus dem and for a title, and to as­ sist with licensing decisions. Porter acknow ledges that the user population at CalTech is som ew hat rarefied, but the techniques he devised to m ea­ su re jo u rn al u sag e a n d th e value of ToCs will be useful to science librarians in a variety of settings. As he p u t it, “Your mileage may vary, but the techniques will transfer.” It is interesting to note that, like Hurd, Porter re­ ported that the meticulously maintained elec­ tronic journal list on the library system’s Web page, not OPAC, is the primary tool used by students and faculty seeking specific e-jour­ nals. Additional information about this presen­ ta tio n m ay b e f o u n d at h t t p : / / l i b r a r y . caltech.edu/publications/acrldenver/.— B ìyna Coonin, East Carolina University, cooninb® mail.ecu.edu Recruiting undergraduates to the profession In “Academic Librarians: The Next G enera­ tion,” the panel challenged academic librar­ ians to becom e active recruiters for the pro­ fession by treating student library w orkers as potential future librarians. The panelists— Ray English (Oberlin College), Nancy M agnuson (G oucher College), Carolyn Sheehy (North Central College), LeRoy Stohl (Mary W ash­ ington College)— described ways they had successfully encouraged som e students to enter library school, w hich included devel­ oping student contracts that take into consid­ eration the student’s skills and interests. In addition to the typical tasks, they ex­ plored using students for developing and maintaining Web pages or turning to them for help in preservation and collection d e­ velopm ent. Regardless of their talents and http://library mail.ecu.edu C&RL News ■ June 2001 / 587 skills, students can provide valuable input in evaluating new products or services. One panelist suggested offering awards to student assistants to recognize their co n ­ tributions. More generally, they suggested librarians look for mentoring opportunities, especially for students from different ethnic and racial backgrounds. The panelists offered the fol­ lowing advice. Have students attend confer­ ences; visit other libraries or library schools. Participate in career day events or recruit alumni who have become librarians to speak at career-related events. If possible, offer fi­ nancial incentives for students to attend li­ brary school. As academic librarians, we have the op­ portunity to show students the benefits and the challenges of being a librarian. We are facing a shortage of librarians. At other con­ ference sessions and round table discussions, there were reasons given for this shortage. This session presented creative ways to attract more undergradu­ ates to the profession.—Joseph Fennewald, Pennsylvania State- Hazleton, jaf23@psuliaspsu.edu "Shifting sands"—Our changing profession This invited paper by Michael Ray, w ho joined the University of Arizona library in 1997 as a loaned executive and remains as their Team Systems director, is aimed at academic librarians who are alarmed about the sta­ tus and future of their profes­ sion. It is a case study of the university library, w hich by 1997 had undergone a team-based reorga­ nization and assumed three strategic, admin­ istratively-supported projects: 1) digitally publishing special collections and journal ar­ ticles on the Web, 2) developing partner­ ships with faculty to train students in Internet use, and 3) introducing information literacy to undergraduates in a new Integrated Learn­ ing Center. P la c e d w ith in th e fra m e w o rk of professionalization theory, Ray’s study ex­ plains how librarianship competes within a larger, interdependent sphere of professions (which includes professors, publishers, and computer technicians) for legal, social, and technical control over occupational tasks. To maintain such jurisdictional control, profes­ sionals will simultaneously exclude others, delegate low-status tasks to paraprofession­ als, usurp others’ functions, and try to gain entrance into denied areas. Librarians in his case study adopted two new roles: instruction professional or infor­ mation systems professional. The first group teams with professors to teach students Internet skills. The second view themselves as managers of knowledge, designers of da­ tabases, and experts in curricula, metadata, and copyright, thereby usurping other’s com­ petencies. Librarians view the second role as providing greater prestige and future prom­ ise; it is more technical and closer to the mar­ ket. Ray recommends: 1) emphasizing con­ tinuing education (although he feels librar­ ians should acquire Ph.D.s to be better ac­ ACRL Colleagues Chair Bill M ille r and ACRL Executive Director Althea Jenkins chat w ith ACRL member Agnes Balash. cepted by faculty colleagues; many gradu­ ate library schools are now training under­ graduates as information systems profession­ als for the corporate world), 2) changing the metaphor “information literacy” to “informa­ tion navigation” to avoid negative connota­ tions, such as “information illiterates,” and 3) constructing a customized model of online search requirements to reflect what faculty and students really need, rather than what vendors want to sell. Ray’s complete paper is available at http://www.ala.org/acrl/denver/ ray.html.—Margaret Holleman, Pima Community College, pholletnan@pimacc.pima.edu mailto:jaf23@psuliaspsu.edu http://www.ala.org/acrl/denver/ mailto:pholletnan@pimacc.pima.edu $.e7 59 a c h ACRL Cassette Tape Order Form Friday □ Tape 2-3: Creating Partnerships in Support of Students' Scholarship and Removing Walls of Distrust □ Tape 4 -5: Science and Information Literacy on the Internet and An Online Competency Test for Information Literacy □ Tape 6: From "My Library" to "My Librarian": A Reinvestigation of Personalized... □ Tape 7: Digital Dilemmas: Demystifying Ethical Decisions in Academic Libraries □ Tape 8: Where Will We Find Our Replacements? Recruiting New Professionals... □ Tape 9: The Academic Library as Place: Opportunities for Restoration/Rejuvination □ Tape 10: Research Services for Distant Learners: the OLADE Project □ Tape 11: The Future is Now: Reference Service for an Electronic Era □ Tape 12: Artists: the Neglected Patrons? □ Tape 13: Academic Library/Museum Collaboration: I'm OK, You're OK, We're All OK □ Tape 14-15: The Persistence of Print in a Digital World: Three ARL Libraries... □ Tape 16: This Changes Everything: Information Literacy in the New Core Curriculum □ Tape 17: Academic Librarians: The Next Generation: Successful Strategies... □ Tape 18: Web Portals: Solving the Problems of Creation and Maintenance □ Tape 19: The State of the States: Innovative Consortial Models for Supporting... □ Tape 20: Assessment of Student Learning □ Tape 21: Western Voices - Patricia Limerick □ Tape 22-23: Serving Users Who Need Help Reading the Fine Print □ Tape 24-25: Assessing Information Literacy Skills; Developing a Standardized Instrument; and Assessing the Information Literacy of Undergraduates: Reports from UCLA □ Tape 26: The Crossroads: Ethical and Legal Resolution of the Path to be Taken □ Tape 27: Working in Partnerships Across Service Points and Cyber Space □ Tape 28: Creating Change: Scholarly Communications in Transition □ Tape 29: Playing Well with Others: Ideas to Increase Your Campus Library Partnerships □ Tape 30: In Search of the Future: Library Services Planning and the Prediction of... □ Tape 31-32: Access...Moving to the (Mostly) Electronic Collection in a Small College; and What— Do You Get a Brain with That? □ Tape 33: Electronic Europe: Digital Projects by Libraries, Cultural Heritage Networks □ Tape 34: Find, Evaluate, Organize: Using Scenarios to Assess Student... □ Tape 35: The "Star Model" - An Approach to Organizational Change □ Tape 36: Relationship Management: Competing for our Future □ Tape 37: Critical Thinking in Interdisciplinary Instruction: Strategies... □ Tape 38: Herding Fish and Corralling Cats: Aligning Information Literacy Programs... Satu rd ay □ Tape 39: The Entrepreneurial Library: Creating Revenue in the Age of E-commerce □ Tape 40-41: Distance Education, Web-Resources Design and Compliance with ADA and Usability Testing and Students with Disabilities: Achieving Universal Access... □ Tape 42: Downloading Detectives: Searching for Online Plagiarism □ Tape 43-44: The Communication Center: A Full-Service Academic Resource... □ Tape 45: Learning Together: The Synergy of Faculty-Student-Librarian Collaboration □ Tape 46: Nailing Jello to the Wall: Information Literacy at the State University of New York □ Tape 47: Becoming Pockets of Hope: The Challenge to Academic Libraries □ Tape 48-49: Collegial Leadership in Academic Libraries and Calling the Shots: Examination of a Self-Managed Team... □ Tape 50: ACRL Legislative Update - Database Legislation and Copyright... □ Tape 51: Improving Student Learning Through Faculty Development □ Tape 52: Teaching for Competency: Partnering with Faculty to Integrate ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards... □ Tape 53: Digital Dominoes: The Impact of Digital Reference on the Traditional Reference... □ Tape 54: QUEST: Quality! Evaluate, Select, Take: Teaching Information Evaluation Skills... □ Tape 55: Shifting Sands: The Changing Jurisdiction of Librarians in the... □ Tape 56-57: Advocacy for Intellectual Freedom in an Academic Library...Problems Presented by New State Uniform Computer Information Laws... □ Tape 59-60: Digital Librarian, Cybrarian, or Librarian with Specialized Skills... □ Tape 61-62: Learning From Experience: Strategies for Distance Learners and Crossing to Web-based Distance Instruction □ Tape 63: Information Literacy: Connecting Standards and Objectives to Programs... □ Tape 64: Developing Future Leaders Through the College Library Director Mentorship Program □ Tape 65: eBlack Studies, Bridging the Digital Divide: Academic Excellence... □ Tape 66: Bridging the Information Literacy Divide: Partnerships for Change... □ Tape 67: The Grass IS Greener at College Libraries: Making the Move from.,. □ Tape 68: Do You Have a Disaster Plan? Planning and Preparedness... □ Tape 69: Emerging Technology and Policy Trends: A Conversation with C liffo rd Lynch □ Tape 70-71: Students as Co-Partners for Information Literacy and Instruction and Learning by Teaching: Student Presentation of Databases □ Tape 72-73: Testing the Design of a Library Information Gateway and Testing and Evaluation of a Database Selection Expert System □ Tape 74-75: From Bl to IL: The Paths of Two Liberal Arts Colleges and Transforming Bibliographic Instruction Activities into an Information Literacy Program Sunday □ Tape 76-77: The Postmodern Library in an Age of Assessment □ Tape 78: Working with Academic Library Faculty on Grants Submissions □ Tape 79: From Digital Divide to Digital Opportunities: Information Literacy and the Digital Divide □ Tape 80: Digital Reference: The Future of Academic Reference? - R. D avid Lankes □ Tape 81: Online Journals: Utility of ToCs vs. Fulltext □ Tape 82: Testing Library Web sites: ARL Libraries Weigh In □ Tape 83: A President’s View - Claire G audiani Buy 10, Receive 1 Free! Name: ________________________________ Address:_______________________________ Number of Tapes X $7.95/each: ________ citV: ------------------------------------------------------ Postage/Handling X $ 1.00/each:________ State:________________________________ _ T . Total: $ _________________ Z ip :__________________________________ Please make checks payable to: Telephone:----------------------------------------------- T jm sku rd ah l Direct all correspondence to: Tim Skurdahl, 9645 S. Timber Hawk Circle, Suite 22, Highlands Ranch, CO 80126 (720) 344-0183, e-mail: skurdahl@qwest.net 590 / C&RL News ■ June 2001 Making your library more ADA- compliant In “Serving Users W ho N eed Help Reading the Fine Print—It’s All Fine Print to Them ” Christina W oo (University of California, Irvine) described the integration of adaptive tech­ nology into the reference area. Motivated by increasing num bers of stu­ dents needing and accustom ed to accessible technology, th e U niversity o f C alifornia Library’s obsolete and remotely located equip­ ment was replaced. The cam pus Office for Disability Services provided not only furni­ ture, hardw are (closed-circuit video magnifi­ c a tio n , PC s, s c a n n e r s ) a n d s o f tw a r e (ZoomText, Kurzweil 1000/3000, JAWS), but ACRL's n e w "P ro d u c t U p d a te T h e a te r," w h e re e x h ib ito rs co uld provide in -d e p th coverage o f th e ir services, p roved p o p u la r w ith attendees and e x h ib ito rs alike. also training for students and staff. O ne adap­ tive workstation was placed in the reference service area of the tw o cam pus libraries. Each workstation is available to all users; signage indicates that priority is for users with dis­ abilities. Photographs illustrated the conve­ nience and m ultiple purposes o f the special­ ized furniture. Woo offered a variety of low-cost solu­ tions to im prove overall library accessibility. Kickstools allow users to view labels and materials o n u p p e r shelves; stools painted in high-contrast colors are m ore visible. Flash­ lights available at service points im prove ac­ cess in inadequately lit stacks. W hite text on black background is recom m ended for end- panel ran g e signage. W all-m ounted signs placed at levels easily reached w ith a h an d ­ held magnifying glass im prove independent navigation. W ooden blocks inexpensively transform tables for w heelchair access. Online availability of m aps and other print h an d ­ outs allow use w ith voice-output an d m agni­ fication software.— Brenda L. Hazard, Univer­ sity a t Albany, SUNY, bbl81@ albany.edu Science and information literacy on the Internet Laura Bartolo and Aimee G erm an (Kent State University) described collaboration betw een universities, K-12 schools, an d industry in creating rem ote experim ents and establish­ ing criteria for evaluating W eb resources in their presentation “Science an d Inform ation Literacy o n the Internet: U sing th e ACRL a n d Project 2061 Standards to Create a Science W eb Page Evaluation T ool.” Goals of the collabora­ tion w e re to d ev elo p n o v e l s c ie n tif ic r e ­ sources, to encourage students’ interest in sci­ ence, to prom ote inno­ vative uses of technol­ o g y , a n d to u n if y science literacy and in­ form ation literacy stan­ dards. Bartolo and G erm an discussed h o w the col­ laborative efforts began w h e n the National Sci­ ence F oundation’s Science an d Technology C enter for Advanced Liquid Crystalline Opti­ cal Materials—based at Kent State University, Case Western University, and the University of Akron—approached librarians at Kent State about outreach program s for K-12 schools. K-12 students an d teachers in Cleveland city and Portage County schools designed experi­ m ents o n topics such as w ind tunnels and p o s t e d th e m o n th e W eb ( h t t p : / / o lb ers.kent.edu/alcom ed/R em ote/), so that anyone could use them. They also linked to information resources on their topics. Keithley Instruments and Beta-Micron provided equip­ m ent for running experim ents. Bartolo an d G erm an said selecting high- quality Web sites for linkage to these experi­ ments, as well as creating high-quality sites mailto:bbl81@albany.edu olbers.kent.edu/alcomed/Remote/ C&RL News ■ June 2001 / 597 for experiments, required infor­ mation literacy skills and neces­ sitated creation o f criteria for evaluating Web sites. No exist­ ing evaluative criteria had suf­ fic ie n tly u n a m b ig u o u s la n ­ guage. P ro p o se d criteria fo­ cused on sites’ text and creators and their appearance and navi­ gability. S tu d e n ts u s in g th e to o l s h o u ld h av e fo u n d , fo r e x ­ am ple, B ecky’s G uiding Re­ so u rc e C entre (h ttp ://w w w . geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/ 6690/index.htm) “b a d ” and the Genetics Science Learning C enter (h ttp :// gslc.genetics.utah.edu) “good” because of au­ thority, scientific language, citing sources, and experimental m ethods and findings. Reliabil­ ity testing of the tool on 80 to 100 students yielded statistically significant results.— Kate M anuel, C alifornia State University, H a y­ ward, kmanuel@ csuhayward.edu The persistence of print in a digital world With the onslaught of electronic publications, there are many library professionals w ho fear the end of the print journal. However, the three speakers at the presentation “The Per­ sistence of Print in a Digital W orld”—-James Burgett (University of Kentucky), John Haar (Vanderbilt University), and Linda Phillips (University o f T ennessee)—suggested that print will persist, with libraries sustaining a hybrid collection that is part print and part digital. Even so, with the proliferation of print jour­ nals still a reality, and in the face of budget cuts and increasing space shortages, the p an ­ elists’ ARL libraries, decided to form a unique partnership to “confront this enduring issue.” They agreed to maintain a joint print-based collection using a separate central catalog, IRIS, which w ould be accessible to all three libraries. The project is developing “through expedited docum ent delivery, a joint serials archive, and collaborative collection build­ ing.” Special attention is focused on the joint serials archive, with each m em ber “assum­ ing responsibility for maintaining and pro­ viding access to selected journal backfiles so W orkshops— a new p ro g ra m fe a tu re — gave attendees th e o p p o rtu n ity to in te ra ct w ith each o th e r and th e speakers. that the other IRIS libraries could discard duplicates.” Libraries of record have only to maintain the archives, not the current sub­ scriptions. Also successful is the Germanists Project in which materials from all three li­ braries are selected as for a single collection. Ultimately, the panelists stressed, the suc­ cess of IRIS will depend o n the confidence of library bibliographers in the IRIS process, fast delivery of requested materials, visibility of the project among colleagues and admin­ istrators, and effective recordkeeping and se­ lection procedures. By demonstrating that unifying selected print collections lessens duplication, increases research specialization and controls space management, hopefully, this project will e n ­ courage other institutions to collaborate and to illustrate the benefits of collaboration to their ow n administrations and colleagues. — Susan B. Markley, Villanova University, susan.markley@villanova.edu Web portals Library portals are a way to help students m anage information overload. Panel m em ­ bers discussed three different approaches to creating library portals in the session “Web Portals: Solving the Problems of Creation and Maintenance.” Librarians at Lehigh University chose to organize the information universe along the colleges and majors offered at the school. Each section of the portal is called an InfoDome (w w w .lehigh.edu/library/infodom e/); each InfoDome includes three key elements: library resources, featured resources, and Web re­ sources. Jean M. Johnson (Lehigh University) geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/ gslc.genetics.utah.edu mailto:kmanuel@csuhayward.edu mailto:susan.markley@villanova.edu http://www.lehigh.edu/library/infodome/ 592 / C&RL News ■ June 2001 A nne Beaubien answers questions a t her poster session. descried InfoD om e as “a n in teg ra te d a p ­ proach that ensures stable, structured, and unified access to library research resources.” Deb Holmes-W ong (University of South­ ern California) p re sen ted the issues an d co n ­ cerns h er library faced as it initiated a portal­ like service. Problem s ranged from deciding on taxonom y to organizing the results to plan­ ning fo r o n -g o in g m ain ten an c e. H olm es- Wong recom m ended that o ther libraries start­ ing a portal define the project, decide the focus of th e portal database (generation of lists o r searching), an d create guidelines for consistency in ap p ro ach an d format. Eric Lease Morgan (North Carolina State University) d e sc rib e d MyLibrary@NCState (m y.lib.ncsu.edu/), a service in w hich library users create their ow n portals. W hen users create their account, they identify them selves as being interested in a discipline. Based on information they provide, the users’ custom ­ ized portals provide links to library resources on a subject. In addition to these resources, the custom ized portals have inform ation on the subject librarian for that discipline as well as relevant news, information, and announce­ ments.—Julia K. Nims, Eastern M ichigan Uni­ versity, jnim s@ online .emich .edu New to the core curriculum The session “This Changes Everything: In­ formation Literacy in the N ew Core Curricu­ lum” focused o n the developm ent, im plemen­ tation, an d assessm ent of a tw o-credit course on information literacy at York College of Pennsylvania (YCP). The speakers Mary Graham (YCP), Susan Campbell (YCP), Perri Druen (YCP), and Vickie Zeiler (York Health Systems) provided back­ ground information on the devel­ opm ent o f the course as a result of General Education Reform at YCP. Issues identified in design­ ing the online class included get­ ting the commitment o f the col­ lege community, rem odeling the classroom , a n d staffing issues. eText, which is an online textbook of the course, was also shown. A student an d faculty m em ber o f YCP w ere invited to share their experiences with inform ation lit­ eracy an d h o w it benefited their personal an d professional lives. The student and faculty assess­ m ents c o n d u c te d at YCP w e re discussed, w hich both focused on the value o f the course an d clarity o r aw areness of objectives. In addition to that, the student assessm ent asked for com parison of the course w ith o th er YCP courses, w hile the faculty assessm ent asked for their suggestions for im provem ent. G en­ erally, b oth assessm ents obtain ed favorable results. Some faculty recom m endations for im provem ents w ere contextualizing inform a­ tion literacy by linking it to English classes a n d a c c o m m o d a tin g s t u d e n t ’s d iffe rin g needs.— Rochelle A. Perez, Tacoma C o m m u ­ nity College, rperez@ tcc.tacoma.ctc.edu Delivering distance learning, from Calgary to Quito Training future energy sector leaders in Latin America an d w orldw ide, th e University of Calgary, partnering w ith the Latin American Energy Organization, offers an M.S. in e n ­ ergy and the environm ent delivered at OLADE (O rganización Latinoamericana de Entergîa) headquarters in Quito, Ecuador. The library sup p o rt for the 14-month program w ith re ­ search assistance, d o cu m en t delivery, and access to electronic databases, along with site visits an d instruction sessions, w as described in this p ap e r presentation “Research Services for D istance Learners: The OLADE Project” by Arden M atheson (University o f Calgary’s M anagem ent Resource Centre). As the delivery of courses evolved with new technologies, the library and instructional literacy com ponent also evolved. The Man­ agem ent Resource Centre staff, w ith techni­ cal support, designed an d p ro d u c ed a CD- ROM p roduct to m eet the instructional goal my.lib.ncsu.edu/ mailto:rperez@tcc.tacoma.ctc.edu C&RL News ■ June 2001 Z 593 of the Research Skills module for its distance learners. Using video clips and teaching screens, the CD-ROM provides an overview and dem o n stratio n o f database content, searching techniques, and hands-on practice. Though the CD-ROM accommodates Internet searching and provides Web links to data­ bases and sites, its content can be delivered without Internet access. Questions from the audience about the reliability of connectivity in an “off-continent” environment gave Matheson the opportunity to reiterate that one of the strengths of the CD-ROM is its usefulness as an instruction tool without an Internet connection. Partici­ pants also asked about updating the CD-ROM, w h ich M atheson a c ­ knowledged as an issue w hen da­ tabase vendors change search in­ te r f a c e s .— B a rb a ra P etersohn, G eorgia S ta te U niversity, bpetersoh n@gsu. edu The postmodern library in an age of assessment Regarded as a historical period that marks the end of the era of enlight­ enm ent and reason and as a theory that shifts away from control and convention, postmodernism is char­ acterized by ambiguity, subjectiv­ ity, relativism, fluidity, multidimensionality, chance, and even playfulness. Modernism, by contrast, is certain, objective, universal, stable, linear, controlled, and somber. Mod­ ernists understand the world by dividing it and examining the parts. Rules are constant, and objectivity is vital. Sound familiar? It should, as libraries have been the “quintessential modernist organization.” Bibliographic control reflects a modemist view­ point, whereas an emerging “pom o” perspec­ tive is revealed by the divergent Internet, li­ braries without walls, virtual reference, and so on. Libraries are hybrid organizations, still valu­ ing resources, holdings, and access, but em­ bracing use and, increasingly, learning as their primaiy principles. In “The Postmodern Library in an Age of Assessment,” Kathy Ray (University of the Pa­ cific) imagines the postm odern library orga­ nization as a bug happily flying along until it hits the “windshield of assessment.” The tra­ ditional assessment tools of libraries are m od­ ernist in that they are quantifiable, verifiable, analytical, event focused, and stable over time. Examples include standardized tests, sur­ veys, and statistics. They are important and necessary but are also limited in what they can assess. Indeed, they do not assess the activities in which libraries are increasingly involved. Pomo tools complement traditional assessment by measuring trends, examining processes, emphasizing holism, and allow­ ing for dynamic conditions. Focus groups, interviews, observation, and portfolios allow individual, open-ended responses to be seen in the aggregate. These tools look at relation­ Interactive learning was an im p o rta n t elem ent o f ACRL's program sessions. ships and inter-connectedness; through them libraries can ask the question, “How do we impact student learning?”—-JaneanneRockwell- K in c a n o n , W estern O regon University, kincanj@wou.edu Personalized Research Clinics The purpose of the session “From ‘My Li­ brary’ to ‘My Librarian’: A Reinvestigation of Personalized Research Clinics” was to discuss how libraries can effectively incorporate re­ search project clinics (RPCs) into their busy reference service environments. Thus, after loosely defining an RPC as a one-on-one per­ sonalized research consultation with a librar­ ian, the panelists Catherine Cardwell (Bowl­ ing Green State University), Katherine Furlong (G ettysburg College), and Julie O ’Keeffe (Marquette University)—launched into a lively and wide-ranging discussion covering pub­ licity, assessment, and potential pitfalls. Although each of the institutions repre­ sented somewhat different approaches to the mailto:kincanj@wou.edu 594 IC&RL News ■ June 2001 RPC booking process, there w as consensus am ong the panelists that limiting the n um ­ ber o f RPCs p er w e ek is a necessity in order not to be overw helm ed by d em and (as was in fact the case at Gettysburg before they revam ped their process). It is sometimes use­ ful to vary limits b ased on dem and—as is done at Bowling Green, for exam ple, w here there are m ore RPC spots available during “crunch” time at the e n d o f term. All three libraries advertise their RPCs in fairly similar fashion, b u t m easure the suc­ cess o f their programs in quite different ways. Two of the institutions target only the p a ­ trons, by m eans of a survey (one written, one over th e telephone). In th e third case, however, b oth the p atron an d the librarian are required to fill out an evaluation form, post-RPC, an d rate its success (then the re­ sults are com pared to determ ine w h e th e r both parties felt the sam e w ay about the in­ teraction). The panelists concluded the session by confirming that as long as the n u m b er of RPCs is k e p t to a m anageable level, this value-added service is indeed w orthw hile.— S u s a n R u sse ll, U n iv e r s ity o f T o ro n to , srussell@credit. e rin . u to ro n to . ca Proceedings available Crossing the D i­ vide: Proceedings o f the 10th N a tio n a l Conference ofACRL is available for $50 to ACRL m em bers ($55 list). The p ro ­ ce ed in g s in clu d es the full text of the invited and contrib­ u t e d p a p e r s e s ­ sions. O rder the 344-page proceedings (ISBN 0-8389-8142-9) from ALA O rd e r Fulfillment, 155 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606. Or call (800) 544-2933, press 7 or fax (312) 836-9958. Selected sessions will also b e available as Web broadcasts. Details will b e avail­ able on the ACRL Web page at http://www. ala. o rg /acrl/denver. htm l. Becoming pockets of hope S p e a k e r, E ileen d e los R eyes (H a rv a rd G ra d u ate School of E ducation) a rg u e d in h e r sessio n “B ecom ing P o ck ets o f H ope: T he C hallenge to A cadem ic Libraries o f the 21st C entury” that libraries n e e d to struggle to rem ain p o c k e ts o f h o p e in o u r in stitu ­ tions. She defined “pockets of h o p e ” as “physi­ cal, intellectual, em otional, spiritual, and p o ­ litical com m unities w here participants e n ­ gage in reflection and action, challenging the despair so w idespread throughout o u r e d u ­ cational institutions to d ay .” de los Reyes has c o a u th o red a soo n -to -b e-p u b lish ed book, Pockets o f Hope: H ow Students a n d Teachers Change the World. She shared an h er experience in w hich she noticed som ething was w rong at her in­ stitution after returning in January from a year sp en t w riting h er book. W hen h e r stu­ d e n ts fa ile d to b e c o m e e n g a g e d in th e courses, she began asking w hat had changed. Eventually she discovered that a n u m b er of student-focused faculty an d administrators h ad left, a n d in so d o in g h a d cre a te d a “vacuum in the fabric o f caring” that sus­ tained the students. This forced h er to ask, “W hat h ap p e n s w h e n you lose too m any pockets of hope?” H er answer: “You cannot replace som e­ thing that has d ev e lo p e d organically, that is not part of the formal structure of your or­ ganization, if you d o n ’t k n o w that it existed in the first p lace.” She challenged librarians, “w ho believe in hum anizing our institutions,” to identify and u n d erstan d the connection b e tw e e n ourselves a n d o th e r p o ck ets o f h o p e o n campus. “I am counting o n you because you have always b ee n there for me and countless oth­ ers as the p eo p le an d the spaces that keep ou r institutions from becom ing pockets of despair.” Q uestions p o sed for discussion included identifying “pockets o f h o p e ” at your insti­ tution an d exam ining h o w to sustain and link the library w ith other “p o ck ets” o n cam ­ pus. Answers included stu d en t services and organizations, custodians, food seivice w ork­ ers, an d faculty. (c o n tin u e d on p a g e 615) C&RL News ■ June 2001 / 595 C&RL News ■ June 2001 / 615 subjects), FAQs (questions with answers), man pages (help with individual commands), and the “Linux Gazette” (a magazine with tips and tricks). Access: http://w w w .linuxdoc.org/. • MSDN O n lin e . Microsoft Developers Network provides a bounty of technical in­ formation, sample code, documentation, tech­ nical articles, and reference guides for de­ velopers using Microsoft tools, products, and technologies. It also contains standards and release inform ation, as well as sam ples, downloads, and tutorials. Access: http://m sdn. microsoft. com /default. asp. • N u m e r ic a l R e c ip e B o o k s O n-Line. The site provides access to the complete text of the following Numerical Recipes book from Cambridge University Press: Numerical Reci­ pes in C: The A rt o f Scientific Computing, N u­ merical Recipes in Fortran 77: The Art o f Sci­ entific Computing, and Numerical Recipes in Fortran 90: The Art o f Parallel Scientific Com­ puting. Access: http://lib-www.lanl.gov/nu- m erical/. • s e a r c h V B .c o m . searchVB.com is a technology specific search engine for Vi­ sual Basic (VB). It provides access to VB Web sites, new s, products, services, and te c h n ic a l tip s. Access: h ttp ://s e a r c h v b . techtarget.com/. • TTT System : T opic, Task, & Test. The TTT System includes topics (background readings), tasks (activities for practice), and tests (m u ltip le ch o ice a n d interactively graded) for beginners w ho want to learn how to write programs in the C++ language. Ac­ cess: http://clio.mit.csu.edu.au/TTT/ stdcpp/. • UNEXhelp fo r U sers. This site contains helpful information for users of the UNIX operating system. It is organized by tasks, com­ mands, concepts, and utilities, and includes a searchable glossary. Access: http://cypress. mcsr. olemiss. edu/unixhelp/. • World Lecture Hall—Computer Science. The World Lecture Hall has an extensive listing of computing and computer science courses. Ac‹æsx http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/cs/. Note 1. Michael Fosmire and Elizabeth Young, “Free Scholarly Electronic Journals: An An­ notated Webliography,” Issues in Science a n d Technology L ibrarianship 28 (Fall 2000), h ttp ://w w w .lib rary .u csb .ed u /istl/O O -fall/ internet.html (20 November 2000). ■ ( “Crossing the divide” cont. fro m page 594) “It takes a conscious effort to create part­ nerships,” said participant John Forsythe of Bowling Green, Ohio. “The library is the ultim ate facilitator.”— N aom i Sutherland, University o f Tennessee a t Chattanooga, Naomi-Sutherland@utc.edu Digital dominoes This well-attended panel presentation, “Digi­ tal Dominoes: The Impact of Digital Refer­ ence on the Traditional Reference Model,” described the MIT and Cornell University real-tim e digital re fe re n c e projects. Pat Flanagan (MIT) gave an overview of their pilot project “Ask Us!—Live,” which uses the chat and cobrowsing capabilities of LSSI soft­ ware. Volunteer librarians from all MIT li­ braries staff the service. She reported that the user satisfaction rate has been high. Paul Constantine (Cornell University) discussed the developm ent of their “LiveHelp” service, w hich has been operational since January 2000. “LiveHelp” incorporates LivePerson chat software, which allows for canned responses and the pushing of Web pages. The vision for the service is to provide users with access to high-quality reference service digitally anytime from anywhere, for reference service to be a key component of the digital library, and for it to be “high tech and high touch.” LiveHelp is staffed by a combination of lib ra ria n s a n d r e f e r e n c e a s s is ta n ts . Constantine acknowledged that implemen­ tation of digital reference requires a shifting of resources. Deborah Helman, Lisa Horowitz, Sarah W enzel (MIT), and Nancy Skipper (Cornell) spoke about software selection and other planning issues, policy issues, training, staffing, and marketing of their digital refer­ ence services. Possible developments may include collaboration with other libraries to provide extended hours of service, voiceover IP capability, and real-time technical, interli­ brary loan, and technical assistance.—Martha Tarlton, University o f North Texas Libraries, tarlton@library.unt.edu ■ http://www.linuxdoc.org/ http://msdn http://lib-www.lanl.gov/nu-merical/ http://lib-www.lanl.gov/nu-merical/ searchVB.com searchVB.com http://searchvb techtarget.com/ http://clio.mit.csu.edu.au/TTT/ http://cypress http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/cs/ http://www.library.ucsb.edu/istl/OO-fall/ mailto:Naomi-Sutherland@utc.edu mailto:tarlton@library.unt.edu