ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ November 2000 / 913 ACRL NATIONAL CONFERENCE Colorado’s rich legacy Tour some of Colorado’s libraries by Ellen Greenblatt C olorado is h o m e to a v a rie ty o f lib ra ries. Take the o p p o rtu n ity to v isit s o m e w h e n y o u a tte n d th e 10th ACRL N a tio n a l C o n f e r e n c e h e r e in D e n v e r fro m M arch 15-18, 2001. A few of th ese libraries can b e visited by tak­ ing a d vantage o f p re co n fe ren c e tours. Regis­ ter for these tours online at w w w .ala.org/acrl/ denver.htm l. O thers are just a sh o rt w a lk or b u s ride aw ay from th e co n fere n ce venue. Som e will re q u ire som e ad v an c e planning, b u t are certainly w o rth th e trip. A three-library tour Let’s start w ith the to u rs. T h e ACRL lib ra ry to u r w ill take y o u to three d i f f e r e n t s t o p s . First stop is the Col­ lege Hill library, a joint-use facility be­ tw e e n . th e Westminster Public Library a n d Front Range Community College. Located on the A student reading by a w Front Range Com­ Library stacks. in m unity College’s Westminster Campus, this facil­ ity o p e n e d in April 1998. D e sig n e d b y the architectural firm o f B ennett, Wagner, a n d G rody, the 76,000-square-foot, tw o-story fa­ cility has tw o m ain en tra n ce s— o n e o n the lo w e r level m ea n t prim arily for p u b lic use a n d a n o th e r o n the u p p e r level c o n n e c te d to the m ain c am pus b u ilding by an en clo se d w alkw ay. A long, gently c urved wall w ith large w in d o w s o n th e n o rth w e st side o f the b u ild in g p ro v id es p a n o ra m ic view s of the Rocky M ountains. T he tw o libraries faced m any challenges in d e v elo p in g the n e w facility, including in­ tegrating th eir o n lin e catalogs; overcom ing staff c oncerns a b o u t job re dundancy; p ro v id ­ ing p a rking for p u blic patrons; a n d selling the library to c o n ­ stituents. Find o u t h o w th ese dilem ­ m a s w e r e r e ­ solved as y ou tour this functional a nd attractive facility. For m ore infor­ m a tio n , visit the Front Range Com ­ m unity College Li­ brary at the Col­ lege Hill Web site at dow in the College Hill h t t p : / / a u . f r c c . c c c o e s . e d u / About the author Ellen Greenblatt is assistant director fo r technical services a t Auraria Library, University o f Colorado a t Denver, e-mail: egreenbl@carbon.cudenver.edu http://www.ala.org/acrl/ http://au.frcc cccoes.edu/ mailto:egreenbl@carbon.cudenver.edu 914 / C&RL News ■ N ovem ber 2000 ~LIBRARYW and tlie Westminster Public Library at College Hill’s Web site at http://www. ci.westminster.co.us/RecreationAndLibrary/ LibraryFacilities/collhill.htm. The next stop is the University of Colo­ rado (CU) at Boulder Campus where you will visit the J e r r y Craił Jo h n s o n E arth Sci­ e n ces and Map Library, which opened its doors in January 1998 in the newly built Benson Earth Sciences Building. The Earth Designed by renowned architects Michael ColussyJenksD uBois, the new Denver Public Lib of the outstanding modern architecture to be Sciences Library is the newest library facility on campus and is named for the mother of two CU graduates, one in geology and one in business. The library covers about 11,000 square feet on two floors in the southwest corner of the building. The south facing windows of the first floor provide views of the cam­ pus and the Flatiron Mountains beyond. The collection supports teaching and research in geology and its various disciplines, physical geography, geographical information sys­ tems, and environmental studies. The Earth Sciences Library is just one branch of the CU at Boulder Libraries— the largest library collection in the Rocky Moun­ tain region with more than 11 million books, periodicals, government publications, audio­ visual materials, microforms, maps, manu­ scripts, papers, broadsides, posters, and com- puter-based resources. The University Librar­ Gr ra fo ies consist o f five additional branches— Math/ Physics, Engineering, Business, Music, and a main library, Norlin. Special collections include the Willard Pamphlet Collection of 16th- and 17th-cen­ tury English printed tracts; the Epstein and Bloch collections o f children’s literature; and the Leo Miller John Milton Collection o f origi­ nal photography by major photographers. For more information about the CU Librar­ ies, point your browser to h t t p :/ / w w w -l i b r a r i e s . c o l o r a d o .e d u / p s / e s c / frontpage.htm. The final stop on the tour is n etLib rary, In c., which is also located in Boulder. netLibrary is the world’s pre­ mier provider o f electronic books providing 24/7 access to the more than 28,000 titles in its online collection and p ro v id in g the a b ility to search the full-text o f each electronic book. However, netLibrary still operates un­ der the traditional library model allowing only one person at a time to access aves and K lipp each e-book (unless the li­ ry is an example brary has purchased more und in Denver. than one copy). Users “bor­ row” the e-book for a set loan period, and the book is automatically “returned to the library” when the loan pe­ riod is over. Learn more about this innova­ tive company by touring its production fa­ cilities and participating in an online dem­ onstration. Lunch will be served in their au­ ditorium. The Colorado Springs to ur The Colorado Springs tour will culminate in a reception at the new El P o m a r C en ter (EPC) on the CU at Colorado Springs cam­ pus (still under construction at this writing). Monitor the progress o f the construction by pointing your browser to the EPC Webcam at http://web.uccs.edu/elpomar/cucam.htm. This 108,000-square-foot facility houses the Kraemer Family Library and the Information Technology Services Department. A primary feature o f the facility is the In­ formation Commons Service Area, which http://www http://web.uccs.edu/elpomar/cucam.htm C&RL News ■ Novem ber 2000 / 915 organizes workspace and service delivery around an integrated digital environment. The facilities will also house a television studio, media cen ter, te le c o n fe re n c in g rooms, student multimedia development facilities, com puting services, and com ­ puter labs. For more information about the K ra e m e r F a m ily L ib ra ry , s e e http:// w eb . u ccs. edu/library/. V isit PASCAL Yet another tour opportunity will be a visit to P reserv atio n and A ccess Service Cen­ te r fo r Colorado Academic Libraries (PAS­ CAL), the newest high-density remote stor­ age facility in the United States. The purpose of this facility will be to provide space-effi- cient storage for up to 1.6 million infre­ quently used volumes in a temperature and humidity controlled environment. It is a joint public-private venture between the CU at Boulder, the CU at Denver, the University o f Colorado Health Sciences Center, and the University o f Denver. With a planned opening in January 2001, this $4.1 million facility will store low-circu- lation materials on 30-foot-high shelves ar­ ranged by size rather than by classification number. Items will be organized by a unique barcode method for retrieval. Materials moved to PASCAL will continue to be re­ flected in the online catalog of the owning library and users will be able to request de­ livery back to their home campus. The facility replicates a design that origi­ nated at Harvard and has been copied in nearly two dozen sites across the country. This tour will overview the construction, management, and retrieval of materials in PASCAL. See http://www-libraries.Colorado, edu/ttp/iaa/offsite.htm for more information about the facility. Don't miss this opportunity Join ACRL in Denver, March 15-18, 2001, and focus on learning at the only confer­ ence dedicated to meeting the needs o f aca­ demic librarians. Take h om e p ractical ideas to put to u se in y o u r library. Keep up with the lat­ est library research and techniques with our featured speakers, research papers, and panel sessions. More than 200 peer-re­ viewed programs will address the issues you face on campus, including topics such as advocacy for programs and values, infor­ mation literacy, resources for distance learn­ ing, scholarly communication, collaborations and partnerships, and services for users. C h allenge y o u r th in k in g w ith o u r keynote speakers. Our diverse slate of key­ note presenters— Michael Hawley, Dreyfoos assistant professor o f Media Technology at MIT Media Lab; Patricia Limerick, chair of the Center of the American West at the Uni­ versity of Colorado; and Claire Gaudiani, president o f Connecticut College—will en­ lighten you on critical issues and challenges faced not only on your campus, but also in our everyday lives. C reate a n etw ork o f lib rary con tacts. Network with your colleagues and find so­ lutions to common challenges during poster sessions and roundtable discussions. Visit with librarians from across the country dur­ ing the Dinner with Colleagues and at the All-Conference Reception at the Denver Art Museum. See the Mile High City as you participate in a tour of Denver and its envi­ rons. Hit the slopes with conference chair W. Lee Hisle at Keystone Resort. Learn about the latest products and services. Visit with more than 200 vendors and learn about cutting-edge products and services. See state-of-the-art Web products, publications, media products, and services available to academic and research librarians. Reserve y o u r space fo r th e p rem iere con feren ce fo r academ ic librarians. Reg­ ister by January 8, 2001, and save money! Registration materials are on the Web at www.ala.org/acrl/denver. html. Bookm ark th e ACRL C onference Web site! Use our Session Builder to search by keyword and customize your conference schedule before you even get to Denver! Complete details about the conference, in­ cluding the full conference program, are available onlin e at www.ala.org/acrl/ denver.html. http://www-libraries.Colorado http://www.ala.org/acrl/denver http://www.ala.org/acrl/ 916 / C&RL News ■ N ovem ber 2000 Do-it-yourself tours There are several libraries within walking range o f the Convention Center so you can create your own tour. One of the closest is the D en ver Public L ib rary (DPL), which is world-famous for its collection of western Americana and its model children’s library. DPL’s Western History/Genealogy Depart­ ment is recognized for its superior collec­ tion o f genealogy resources and its histori­ cal collection o f maps, manuscripts, and photographs that present the development o f the trans-Mississippi West with a focus on mining, Native Americans, and local and regional history. Another major collection emphasis is con­ servation. The photographic subdivision has becom e renowned for its pioneering digiti­ zation work, illustrated by its recent incor­ poration into the American Memory Project of the Library o f Congress. For more infor­ mation about the DPL, visit http://www. denver.lib.co.us/. For more inform ation ab o u t the W estern H istory /G en ealog y Department’s photography collection in par­ ticular, visit http://gowest.coalliance.org/. Also located downtown is A u raria Li­ b ra ry , a unique academic library in that it serves three separate institutions— the CU at Denver, Metropolitan State College o f Den­ ver (the nation’s largest baccalaureate-only institution), and the Community College of Denver. The library and surrounding cam­ pus are located on the site o f one o f the earliest settlements in Colorado, the town o f Auraria. Historic preservation is an important ele­ ment on this urban campus. Stroll down 9th Street park to get a feel for 19th-century Den­ ver or visit the former Tivoli Brewery (which now serves as the student union). While not a historical landmark, Auraria Library, designed by Helmut Jahn o f C. F. Murphy Associates and built in 1975, won an American Institute o f Architects Distin­ guished Building Award. Major collections include the Geographic Information Sys­ tems (GIS) Collection, the Thonssen Rheto­ ric Collection, the B eb ee Juvenile Literature C ollection , and the N ational M unicipal League Collection. For more information see http://library.auraria.edu. Just a short bus ride from the Conven­ tion Center to north Denver is the recently renovated and expanded D ayton M em orial L ib rary at Regis University. This renovation features an unusual variety o f individualized study spaces, as well as small group study areas and a parent-child room, all wired for Internet access. A fully equipped electronic classroom of unique design is heavily used by librarians and teaching faculty alike. The architect for the project was Weese, Langley, Weese of Chicago. O f regional importance is the Regis col­ lection o f Santos, artistic depictions of saints by Southwestern artists. It is one o f the larg­ est Santos collections in the United States and a portion o f the collection is always on display in a special gallery. Find out more a b o u t th e lib r a r y b y v is itin g http:// www. regis. edu/lib/dmlhome. htm. Another Denver-area academic library is P e n ro s e L ib rary at the University of Den­ ver. The Penrose Library and its music branch house more than 2.8 million items o f mate­ rial, including books, periodicals, microfilm titles, and government documents. Signifi­ cant collections include the Husted Culinary Collection, one of the larger cookery collec­ tions in the United States with more than 8,000 volumes; the Victor Miller Civil War Collection; the B e c k ju d a ica Collection; and the Davis Moore Collection o f Books about Books and Printing. Manuscript collections include the papers o f William Barrett, au­ thor o f L illies o f th e F ie ld and T he L eft H an d o f G od, and the papers o f Colorado Con­ gressman Wayne Aspinall. Visit the Penrose Library hom ep age at http:/w w w .p en lib. du.edu/. Situated in Fort Collins about 65 miles north o f downtown Denver, the C o lo ra d o S tate U n iv e rs ity (CSU ) L ib ra rie s consist o f Morgan Library and two branches, the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and Atmo­ spheric Sciences (located on the Foothills Campus). Library holdings include more than 2 mil­ lion books, bound journals, and government documents. More than 20,000 journal sub­ scriptions are available in the Journal Read­ ing Room and more than 500 subscription- based electronic resources are available ei­ ther onsite or by remote access. The collec­ tions are enhanced by an expedited interli­ brary loan service for delivery o f materials from other libraries. http://www http://gowest.coalliance.org/ http://library.auraria.edu http://www.penlib C&RL News ■ N ovem ber 2000 / 9 17 The Benson Earth Sciences building at the Univ Boulder. T h e M o r g a n L i b r a r y ad d itio n and renovation project was com pleted in the spring o f 1998, and the library now offers both one-on-one and group instruction on information resources and provides more than 200 public terminals to access spe­ cialized indexes and W eb-based sources. Wireless technologies have been installed throughout the building, providing connec­ tivity anyw here within Morgan Library. Special collections include the Vietnam War Literature Collection, International Poster Collection, Germans From Russia C ollec­ tion, and the Dr. D. K. Bailey 19th Cen­ tury Botany Collection. Visit http://manta. colostate.edu/tour/ to take a virtual tour o f the library. Located roughly 50 miles northeast of downtown Denver in Greeley are the Uni­ v e rsity o f N o rth ern C o lorad o (UNC) Li­ b r a r ie s , which consist o f the Jam es A. Michener Library and two branches, the re­ cently constructed Music Library (which opened in 1997) and the Laboratory School Library, which collects fiction and nonfic­ tion learning resources and media for use in grades K-12. The libraries’ collections include more than 1.5 million items in monograph, periodical, government document, audiovisual, and mi­ croform formats. One of the highlights o f the Michener Library is the recently constructed, cutting-edge Information Literacy Presenta­ tion Facility, the backbone o f UNC’s innova­ tive information literacy curriculum. Another treasure is the James A. Michener Special Collection, which was created when the Pulitzer Prize-winning author named UNC the international repository for his pa­ pers, artifacts, and memorabilia. Michener taught at the university in the 1930s and re ­ ceived his master’s de­ gree from that institu­ tion. To find out more about the UNC Libraries, visit their Web page at http://library.unco.edu/. Take a virtu al tour There are many more lib r a r ie s th ro u g h o u t ersity of Colorado at Colorado. To find out more about the various special collections throughout the state, visit the Special Libraries in Colorado Web site at http://www.virtualref.com/_slic/. The site’s database is searchable by name, county, and subject. Or turn to another wonderful site for learning more about Colorado libraries— the Colorado Digitization Project (CDP) at http:/ /coloradodigital.coalliance.org/. The CDP is a collaborative initiative involving Colorado’s archives, historical societies, libraries, and museums. The Project is creating a digital library-museum highlighting Colorado’s var­ ied historical and cultural resources. This in­ formation-rich site is a must-visit for anyone interested in digitization. Another useful site is the Access Colo­ rado Library and In form ation N etw ork (ACLIN) and the Colorado Virtual Library at http://www.aclin.org/— a cooperative project o f the Colorado State Library and the Colo­ rado library community to provide access to the information resources o f the libraries throughout the state in support o f educa­ tion, business, health, social service, and personal growth activities. Visit the “about” section o f this site to tour the Colorado Vir­ tual Library or download a free Colorado Virtual Library Screen Saver. So whether you visit virtually or in per­ son, you're sure to discover what we Colo­ radans have known all along— that there is a rich library legacy through the state, high­ lighting both innovation and tradition. Note 1. Author Ellen Greenblatt would like to thank the faculty and staff o f the featured libraries for helping her compile the infor­ mation for this article. ■ http://manta http://library.unco.edu/ http://www.virtualref.com/_slic/ http://www.aclin.org/%e2%80%94a 918 / C&RL News ■ November 2000