ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries June 1986 / 383 Energies for Transition in Baltimore A C R L ’s Fourth National Conference, April 9-12, 1986, provided a glimpse of the future. B altimore was the perfect location for under- scoring ACRL’s Fourth National Conference, “E n ­ ergies for Transition.” The architecture, the activ­ ity, and the atmosphere are those of a very modern city, yet one that is firmly rooted in its rich past. The inner harbor area is an appealing mix of old and new, with the venerable “U.S.S. Constella­ tion” vying with the ultram odern National A quar­ ium for the tourist’s attention. Even the April w eather—chilly, drizzling, overcast—was a cool reminder of the transition of w inter into spring. The inclement w eather did provide unexpected persuasion for the 2,309 librarians, exhibitors, and friends who mostly chose to stay inside and listen to paper presentations and w ander through the ex­ hibits rather than w ander about the city’s streets. Participants came from 48 states and 19 foreign countries (many of the foreign librarians were visit­ ing the U.S. courtesy of the United States Inform a­ tion Agency's month-long international program , “Academic and Research Libraries in the United States"). Nearly 86% attended the full conference, and about 26% were not members of ACRE. The sessions Attendance was high at the six theme sessions, which covered a broad range of trends in society. As Conference Publicity Chair Bill Wilson sum m a­ rized it: “An underlying message of all the theme speakers was that a major mission for academic li­ brarians will be to create the context in which in­ formation can be personalized so as to transform the lives of individuals, or, to turn public knowl­ edge into private knowledge.” Alan C. Kay, a leading scientist for Apple Com­ puters, described some of the research he con­ ducted at the Palo Alto Research Center to design personal computers th at even 3-year-old children could learn to use. Current research is tending to­ wards systems that can be used intuitively, Kay said. To illustrate his point he ran a film th a t showed how a woman who hadn’t exercised in 20 years was taught how to play tennis in 30 minutes by sensing intuitively the movements of the sport. As she explained it, “Every time I tried to think, things went w rong.” Other computer trends Kay expects to see per­ fected over the next ten years are: more portable systems that people can carry everywhere like pen­ cils or wristwatches; com puter terminals as com­ mon as electrical outlets; and systems th at act as agents to weed out irrelevant m aterial and re­ package im portant information in a form at con­ venient to use, somewhat like a personalized news­ paper. Poet and novelist Maya Angelou, the second con­ ference theme speaker, described the transform a­ tions in her life that led her to pursue a literary and artistic career. Librarians have at their fingertips all the information gathered under hum an exist­ ence, she said, and consequently they have the pow er to transform hum an m inds, not m erely transact education. In her presentation, which brought a standing ovation, Angelou reminded librarians that, like writers, they have a serious charge to transform this country into something more than it is today— 384 / C h R L News Maya Angelou Alan C. Kay allie Kravetz, author of Ethel Ennis: The Reluctant Jazz Star, autographs her book at the A C R L store. S D avid M cCullough greets the audience after his them e presentation. C ontributed papers given by James F. Comes (left) and B. A nne C om m erton (right). 386 / C&RL News to serve people, not technology. “The goal,” she said, “is to be able in dying to say, ‘All my conscious life and energy, all my arts and crafts have been dedicated to the most noble cause in the world: the education and the liberation of the human spirit and mind, beginning with my ow n.’ ” Barbara S. Uehling, chancellor of the University of Missouri-Columbia, spoke about the need for more customized library and information services based upon a better understanding of marketing concepts. She predicted that services in university libraries will be reorganized around the informa­ tion characteristics of classes of users, particularly researchers, rather than around traditional aca­ demic disciplines. Theme speaker Robert F. Asleson, president of International Thomson Information, Inc., stressed the fact that, although technology has wrought great changes in the publishing industry, the objec­ tives of both publishers and librarians have re­ mained the same: “to maximize the use of materials and services that we provide for the betterment of library users and society as a whole.” Asleson pre­ dicted an even closer library-publisher relationship for the near future—as users become more aware of the capabilities of online information systems, there will be an increasing demand on libraries to provide those services and the materials that sup­ port them. D avid M cC ullough, host of the PBS series “Smithsonian W orld,” compared the “unfinished business” of perfecting American society with the outlook of Thomas Jefferson toward the plans for his home at Monticello. Jefferson never stopped re­ vising and improving Monticello, and at one point he tore down the existing building and built a com­ pletely different one. One critical aspect of American society that re­ quires the most improvement, McCullough said, is television, for which he presented some ominous statistics: every single day 40 million Americans watch (and pay close attention to) “The Wheel of Fortune”; by the time the average American child finishes high school, he has spent much more time in front of television than in the classroom; most children’s programming on weekends is designed to sell toys, quite often expensive toys, that poor families can ill afford. If a child's exposure to history is prim arily through television docudramas, which are quite often written by people who care little about the facts, McCullough said, it is no wonder that even college graduates can escape having to learn about the realities of the Civil W ar, for example. Librari­ ans should bring their influence to bear on young people by putting them in the hands of good w rit­ ers. “We can go anywhere we want in the past through good books, and sometimes through good film or good television,” he said. “A person who doesn’t understand history is like someone who spends their whole life eating hamburgers when there is a great buffet to choose from .” One other theme session took the form of a panel iscussion in which three novice researchers asked uestions of three experienced researchers on the otivations for empirical research in librarian- hip. Several panelists called for renewed thesis re­ uirements and research methodology courses in li­ rary schools to encourage the right thinking equired both for conducting research often essen­ ial for tenure as well as understanding the research eeds of graduate students and faculty. Other conference notes •Most of the 60 contributed papers were well eceived and stimulated considerable discussion, any times to standing room only audiences. Past CRL president Sharon Rogers noticed a shift way from the “how we did it good” paper pre­ ominant at the first two ACRL conferences to­ ard a more analytical approach and more experi­ entation w ithin the framework of conceptual umanism. Of the three categories of papers ac­ epted (research reports, position papers, and idea riefs), position papers seemed to generate the ost interest and discussion by getting people in­ olved in vital issues. •T h e published conference proceedings were istributed to full conference registrants and are till available for sale (ACRL members $22, non­ embers $30) to those who were unable to attend. o place an order, contact ALA Publishing Ser­ ices, Order Dep’t, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, L 60611. Audiocassettes of the paper sessions none of the theme sessions were recorded) are vailable for $8 per tape, plus $3 handling charge, rom Chesapeake Communications, 6330 Howard ane, Elkridge, MD 21227. •T h re e hours of New Product Seminars, at hich representatives from 39 firms described heir products, were well attended and were useful s an index of exhibits to visit for particular types of quipment needed a t the home library. •W ra p -u p sessions at past conferences have entered around a panel that evaluated the con­ ributed paper topics in terms of the conference heme. In Baltimore, the wrap-up took the form of videotaped retrospective of the major conference vents, recorded by a team of video production rofessionals. Memorable snippets of the tape in­ luded Tom Kirk’s comment that the Pratt Library eception was “user-friendly,” and the two librari­ ns who explained that the initials ACRL stood for nyone Can Read Literature. •A t the ACRL Placement Center, 66 job seekers xamined 113 job vacancy listings (24 in adminis­ ration, 73 in public services, and 16 in technical ervices). The commonest job openings were refer­ nce positions (29). Of the 113 job listings, 27 called or^a second subject master’s degree or Ph.D. as a equired or desired qualification. Seventeen were ntry-level positions without any experience re­ uirements. New York had the most jobs listed d q m s q b r t n r m A a d w m h c b m v d s m T v I ( a f L w t a e c t t a e p c r a A e t s e f r e q June 1986 / 387 Jo Harrar, Conference Chair, and Sharon Hogan, A C R L President, cut the ribbon at the Exhibits Reception. Reception fo r Conference Program participants at the Peabody Library, Johns Hopkins University. 388 / C&RL News National Conference Committee: (l-r) Jo Harrar (chair); Bill Wilson (publicity); Danuta Nitecki (papers); Charmaine Boyd (publicity); and Diana Cunningham (special events). The National Aquarium Reception. (35), followed by C alifornia (16), Pennsylvania (9), and V irginia (7). O ne P lacem ent C en ter ap p li­ cant suggested th a t for fu tu re conferences there should be a category for jobs in F lorida an d the Southwest of interest to retired librarians. • M a n y conference atten d ees re m a rk e d th a t their most m em orable experiences w ere th e recep­ tion at the N ational A quarium or M aya A ngelou’ electrify in g p re se n ta tio n . O th ers listed specific continuing education courses or c o n trib u ted p a ­ pers, bu t everyone seemed to agree th a t the stim u ­ latin g en vironm ent of the city of B altim ore m ade it an ideal conference location. • J o H a rra r, C onference P lanning C om m ittee chair, said th a t th e rap id ity and smoothness w ith s w hich things w ere accom plished was a trib u te to the h a rd w ork and efficiency of all th e volunteers involved w ith local arrangem ents and the ACRL h e a d q u a r te r s staff. “ A C R L ’s n a tio n a l c o n fe r­ ences,” she said, “are valuable as continuing e d u ­ cation devices th a t provide an o p p o rtu n ity for li­ b rarian s, especially m iddle m anagers or people in th eir first or second jobs, to catch up both form ally and inform ally on th e policies and practices of a rapid ly -ch an g in g profession.” • A C R L ’s F ifth N a tio n a l C onference w ill be held in C in cin n ati in April 1989. W e hope you will jo in us th e n w h e n A C R L r e tu r n s to th e M id ­ west. ■ ■ A C R L’s strategic plan T h e A C R L S tr a t e g ic P la n n i n g T a sk F o rc e (SPLAT) m et on April 29 to review and revise its p la n , in c o rp o ra tin g m a n y c o n trib u tio n s from ACRL m em bers and officers m ade over the past tw o years. They have p re p a re d and will present to the ACRL B oard at its m eeting in New York a re p o rt in c o rp o ra tin g th e ir b a c k g ro u n d w ork: th e w orking principles underlying th e p lan , th e p la n ning m odel an d p la n n in g process, and an executive sum m ary of goals, subgoals, an d objectives, to gether w ith th e sources from w hich they derived. T he p la n itself will be included in th e report: the revised mission statem en t, th e com plete m atrix of goals, subgoals, objectives, strategies, responsibili ties, resources needed, and tim elines, plus a set of strategic m an ag em en t directions an d some recom m e n d ed changes in fin a n c ia l policies. T h e next steps will be described including th e im p lem en ta tion of th e p la n , its evaluation, th e developm ent of an an n u al o p eratin g p la n , a process for constant re vision and u p d a tin g on an an n u al basis, an d m e th ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ods for dissem ination. A p p en d ix m a te ria ls in c lu d e p a p e rs re s u ltin g from research an d discussion grow ing out of the Task F orce’s early work: a m em ber needs report; a strategic factors rep o rt, w hich analyzed external facto rs, m a rk e t facto rs, a n d o p p o rtu n itie s an d th rea ts facing the Association; a strategic au d it re ­ p o rt, describing present program s, activities, poli­ cies, strategies, and strengths and weaknesses; and a resources rep o rt, detailing the Association’s fi­ n c ia l h is to ry , its f a c ilitie s , in f o r m a tio n r e ­ urces, h u m a n resources, an d analyzing ALA as a source. In sum , th e Task Force has carried out th e p ro ­ ss described in “A Proposed P lan n in g Process for e A ss o c ia tio n of C o lle g e a n d R e s e a rc h L i ­ a r i e s , ” C & R L N e w s , S e p te m b e r 1984, p p . 6-401, and is now ready to present its w ork to the CRL B oard for its a p p ro v a l.—JoAn Segal, A C R L xecutive Director. ■ ■ a r 9 o e e h n s r c t b 3 A E J W a sh in g to n .” It described th e T ib e ta n collection of th e Special F oreign C u rre n c y P ro g ram (for­ m erly th e PL-480 P ro g ra m ), various catalogs avail­ able for accessing the collection, th e need for an a n ­ alytic catalog an d an analytic catalog for T ib etan historical works th a t I com piled, th e w ork done by W estern scholars on analyzing T ib etan historical genres, and th e usefulness an d in h eren t problem s of T ib etan genre labels for classification purposes. T w enty historical genres are easily identifiable, m aking genres useful for classification purposes, p a rtic u la rly for an online d a ta b a se , should one ever be p u t to g e th e r for T ib e ta n c o lle c tio n s.— e ffr e y D . S ch o en in g , U n iversity of W a s h in g ­ ton. ■ ■ June 1986 / 389 ___ 090 A POPULIST APPROACH TO AUTOMATION: ___ 290 THE SYLLABUS EXCHANGE: A DATABASE AND DEVELOPING LOCAL SYSTEMS IN A MAIN­ CURRICULUM CLEARINGHOUSE FOSTER COL­ FRAME CONTEXT/MOVING FROM A FIRST LABORATION BETWEEN A RESEARCH LIBRARY, GENERATION TO A SECOND GENERATION INTERDISCIPLINARY SCHOLARS AND CLINICAL ONLINE CATALOG DATABASE PRACTITIONERS ___ 100 JOB DESIGN FOR THE AUTOMATED TECHNICAL ___ 300 THE FLOW OF HUMAN RESOURCES: A TURN­ SERVICES ENVIRONMENT/ACADEMIC LI­ OVER AGENDA FOR ACADEMIC LIBRARIAN- BRARIANS’ WORKLOAD SHIP ___ 110 GOING PUBLIC: BORN AGAIN CATALOGING ___ 310 SHARING SERIAL COLLECTIONS IN THE ONLINE NETWORKS/ACCESS POINTS ___ 320 ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN THE ONLINE AND BOOK USE: DOES THE CATALOG RECORD LIBRARY MAKE A DIFFERENCE? ___ 330 ASSESSING COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT ___ 120 TECHNICAL SERVICES: PUBLIC SERVICES ORGANIZATION IN A SMALL ACADEMIC LIBRARY BEHIND CLOSED DOORS/THE EFFECT OF ___ 340 RESOLVED: LIBRARY SCHOOLS DO NOT MEET AUTOMATION ON THE RATE OF CHANGE IN THEIR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES IN TRAINING PROCEDURES ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS TO PERFORM RESEARCH ___ 130 END-USER INSTRUCTION: WHAT ARE YOU ___ 350 A LIBRARY RESEARCH APPLICATION OF DOING?/THE EFFECT OF AN END-USER TRAIN­ FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS ING PROGRAM ON AN ONLINE SEARCH ___ 360 PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS AND SOURCE SERVICE LINKAGES IN UNDERGRADUATE INFORMATION­ ___ 140 CD-ROM OPTICAL DISK TECHNOLOGY IN SEEKING BEHAVIOR LIBRARIES: ACCEPTANCE AND IMPLEMEN- ___ 370 THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM/FINANCING TATION/THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS OPTICAL ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: MAKING THE TRANS­ DISK PRINT PILOT PROJECT, STAFF EVALUATION ITION FROM ENROLLMENT GROWTH ___ 150 INTEGRATION OF AN ONLINE SEARCH SERVICE ___ 380 FREEDOM OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION INTO THE REFERENCE DEPARTMENT/REF- IN MACHINE READABLE FORM: THE LI­ ACCOUNT NUMBER ERENCE BEYOND (AND WITHOUT) THE RE­ BRARIAN’S ROLE 86121 FERENCE DESK ___ 390 BEYOND THE BOOK: COLLECTION DEVELOP­ _____________________ _ ___ 160 THE PLATEAUED EMPLOYEE ANDTHE MENT AND THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 0 QUALITY CONTROL OF ONLINE CATALOGS: MANAGER’S ROLE/A LIBRARY MIDDLE LIBRARIAN AUTOMATION VS. HUMAN CONTROL/ERROR MANAGER LOOKS AT PERFORMANCE DETECTION IN BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORDS: APPRAISAL ___ 499 COMPLETE SET ACRL 1986 CASSETTES - $294.00! CAN THE COMPUTER DO IT ALL? ___ 170 PAY FOR PERFORMANCE: THE TERMS (Includes 3 FREE cassettes and 4 custom 0 CONCEPTS FOR BIBLIOGRAPHIC INSTRUCTION EXPERIENCE/SUGGESTED GUIDELINES FOR storage album s!) IN THIS TIME OF TRANSITION/BUILDING A SALARY DETERMINATION IN AN ACADEMIC BRIDGE: ARTICULATION PROGRAMS FOR LIBRARY BIBLIOGRAPHIC INSTRUCTION ___ 180 STAFF UTILIZATION IN BRANCH LIBRARIES: 0 THE ACADEMIC LIBRARY’S CHANGING ROLE A RESEARCH REPORT ACCESSORIES IN THE UNIVERSITY SETTING/THE BENEFITS ___ 190 A MODEL INTERACTIVE AUTOMATED ACQUI­ ___ PANASONIC RQ-350 CASSETTE RECORDER/PLAYER OF RESEARCH FOR ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS SITIONS SYSTEM ($59.95)AND THE INSTITUTIONS WHICH THEY SERVE ___ 200 REDUCTION OF NOISE IN TWO CAMPUS LIBRARIES OF A MAJOR UNIVERSITY ___ CUSTOM STORAGE ALBUM ($6.00)0 HANDLING OF SERIALS IN MICRO REPRO­ DUCTION: SINGLE BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD/ ___ 210 DEVELOPING-WORLD IMPRINTS IN ACADEMIC MULTIPLE/INTEGRATING MICROFORMS WITH LIBRARY COLLECTIONS GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS: A THIRD ___ 220 CURRICULUM CHANGE: TRANSITIONS IN TIME ALTERNATIVE ___ 230 THE USE OF AN ELECTRONIC CONFERENCING ___ Total Individual Cassettes at $8.00 each = $___ 0 MANAGING VALUES IN AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY/ SYSTEM AS A MIDDLE AND UPPER MANAGE- ___ Total Complete Sets at $294.00 each = $___ STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE MENTTOOL IN AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY ___ Total 12-Cassette Specials at $88.00 each = $___ 0 EARS: THE PHOTOCOPY SOLUTION/AN ___ 240 LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES, ONLINING (Includes 1 FREE cassette & 1 FREE storage album !) EVALUATION OF DELIVERY TIMES AND COSTS SEARCHING, AND ECONOMIC SURVIVAL ___ Other:_______________________________ = $------OF NON-LIBRARY DOCUMENT DELIVERY ___ 250 THE OPEN SYSTEM INTERCONNECTION AS (qty.) (please specify item & price) SERVICE A BUILDING BLOCK IN ELECTRONIC NET­ WORKING Maryland residents add 5% state tax = $___0 LIBRARIAN SATISFACTION WITH COMPUTER BIBLIOGRAPHIC SEARCHING/ONLINE ___ 260 ROBOT AT THE REFERENCE DESK Postage & Handling = $ 3.00 SEARCHING AN DTH E RESEARCH PROCESS ___ 270 HARDCOPY IN TRANSITION: THE PLAN FOR A GRAND TOTAL = $___ 0 COMPUTER ACCESSIBLE MATERIAL IN THE PROTOTYPE AUTOMATED STORAGE AND RE­ ACADEMIC LIBRARY: AVOIDING THE KLUDGE/ TRIEVAL FACILITY FOR LOW USE LIBRARY CAPTURING THE MAINSTREAM: AN EXAMI­ MATERIALS AT CALFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, To figure Postage, add $3.00 per order. For any order to NATION OF PUBLISHER-BASED AND SUBJECT- NORTHRIDGE be shipped outside the U.S. add 15% of the to ta l order BASED APPROVAL PLANS IN ACADEMIC ___ 280 TEACHING MICROCOMPUTER LITERACY: NEW amount. LIBRARIES ROLES FOR ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS