Date: Jan.31, 2001
From: Eleanor Cook (Appalachian State U.) <cookei_at_appstate.edu>
Subject: Update on ACQNET and AcqWeb
READ THIS! LOTS OF EXCITING NEWS - ABOUT:
** What's happened to ACQNET this year
** What's going on with AcqWeb
** New home for the ACQNET Archives
** Goodbye to departing editorial board members and hello to new ones
Dear ACQNET Subscribers,
Welcome to the new millenium! ACQNET has been in existence since
December 1990 and this past year has seen some major changes. If you
are a relatively new subscriber, you may not even be aware of what these are,
so please continue reading.
The editorial board took a hard look (again) at the structure of ACQNET
this past year. ACQNET used to be an electronic newsletter, with
an ISSN, volume and issue numbering. After polling the subscribers
several times in the last few years, we finally decided to break from this
structure. The last issue of ACQNET in its previous form was v.10,
no.17, July 31, 2000.
As of August 2000, ACQNET began to function more like a typical
electronic list. In other words, postings may go out as individual
queries, and do not have to be digested with other postings, although
the editor may group responses on a single thread when it is useful to
do so. There was some concern when we first went to this format that people
could not tell that the postings were coming from ACQNET; that was
quickly rectified by making sure the subject line always begins with ACQNET
or ACQflash. (ACQflashes are the postings of a time-sensitive nature
and they continue to go out as quickly as possible.)
There hasn't been a huge change in traffic and the work load on the
editors has been significantly reduced, so I'd say it's been a win-win
situation. ACQNET continues to be a moderated list, and although some
people like the spontaneity and wild-and-wooly atmosphere of open
lists, ACQNET's subject matter does not lend itself to that format.
Perhaps some of you wonder why?
First of all, ACQNET is committed to maintaining a non-commerical space
for acquisitions and collection development librarians and others to discuss
workaday issues. If this list was unmoderated, we would be overrun with
advertisements. Believe me, you have no idea what kinds of stuff I get
that you the subscribers never see! You wouldn't want to see it all,
I guarentee. I'm particularly sure you don't want the viruses.
Second, because we are affiliated with AcqWeb, we have a place to go
to see the commerical sites we all depend on. And speaking of AcqWeb,
we have news from that quarter to share here as well.
NEWS FROM ACQWEB
AcqWeb, which most of you use regularly, is the World Wide Web site
maintained by Anna Belle Leiserson and a core cadre of editorial
assistants. If you have not had the pleasure of experiencing AcqWeb,
what are you waiting for? It's at:
http://acqweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/
Let me digress for just a minute and clue you in on some news from
AcqWeb. AcqWeb continues to grow, particulary the publisher section,
and Anna Belle is groaning under the weight of it. If you ever wonder,
how does she do it all, believe you me, she is wondering the same thing!
For those who might not know, AcqWeb and ACQNET are not commerical products.
They both are operated entirely by volunteer effort. Anna Belle and David
Marshall have done the bulk of AcqWeb's work in their spare time for the
past 6 years -- since the dawn of Web time. Pretty amazing!
At the Charleston Conference in November 2000, some of us from the
ACQNET and AcqWeb editorial boards (and interested others) got
together to brainstorm various ideas.
As a result, Anna Belle and company are going to be developing some
new editorial mechanisms for AcqWeb, so that there will be a bigger and
thus stronger support team. There is an effort being made to establish a
group of subject "bibliographers" to assist with the continued building and
maintenance of the core part of AcqWeb. Jack Montgomery is heading up
this effort. For more information, contact him at: Jack.Montgomery_at_wku.edu
Also, right now there is an AcqWeb questionnaire available for people
to respond to. You can access this questionnaire by going to:
http://acqweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/acqweb/survey.html
Jack Montgomery, Western Kentucky University, and Eve Davis, Ebsco
Information Services, are compiling the results of the survey.
We hope you will take the time to respond to the questions so AcqWeb
can continue to serve your needs.
BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE! NEW ACQNET ARCHIVES SITE
ACQNET is pleased to announce that its archives have found a new home
and a new archivist. Eric Lease Morgan, a long-time supporter of
ACQNET (he has maintained a mirror site with a search engine for
years) has totally revamped and webified the offical archives.
These archives are NOW available via ACQWeb:
http://acqweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/acqweb/acqnet.html
and we hope you will visit them, try out the search engine, and give us
your feedback. Eric is ever mindful of the need for improvements, and
awaits subscriber feedback. Send him your thoughts at:
eric_morgan_at_infomotions.com
FINALLY, a HUGE THANK YOU is in order. ACQNET has three
incredible people who are stepping down from the editorial board this
year, and I cannot thank them enough for their years of service. These
individuals are:
Cynthia Coulter, University of Northern Iowa
Cynthia was one of the first people to assist me with editing
ACQNET, and she was really good! She has gone on to do some pretty
spectacular things professionally, including earning a Ph.D, chairing
the building committee for her university's new library building and
so many other things I could not possibly list them all. She
continues to be active with our various professional organizations and
I would not be surprised to see her name in the news doing something
really cool.
Anne Haynes, Indiana University
Anne also was a superb editor for ACQNET and I will truly miss her
quiet, thoughtful style. Talk about dependable! Anne has done many
things for ACQNET through the years. She maintained the subscriber
list and the index back when we had these - they took a lot of work to
maintain before the technology caught up with the needs for this type
of maintenance. (The listproc software does it for us now, eliminating
the need for what Anne used to faithfully do.) She also assisted me
with the editing of issues, which required quite a bit a time and
energy. Anne has moved into a reference position and is enjoying her
new life there.
Peter Stevens, University of Washington
Peter created and maintained one of the first comphrehensive acquisitions
department web sites ever built. He was also a regular contributor to
ACQNET, offering advice to all concerning many kinds of vendors and
publishers. When the powers that be reassigned him to Business Reference
at the University of Washington a few years ago, Peter, always the optimist,
found he enjoyed his new assignment and so is putting a lot of energy
into it, just like he always did for ACQNET. As the ACQflash editor until
December 2000, he was just that, a FLASH of delightful light. I can't
thank him enough for his hard work, insights, and especially his moral
compass. Peter has always been a straight arrow who tells it like it
is.
AND NOW : A few new faces...
May I welcome... (drum roll)
KARL DEBUS - University of Wisconsin-Madison
Karl worked for the Office of the President's Library before moving
to Wisconsin, and there is not much he can tell us about his former
job, but I figure if he could pass the security clearance, he must be
a good guy! I met Karl while serving on an ALA Committee and I think
he'll be a great part of the editoral board. Welcome Karl!
Keith Powell - Alabama State University
Keith is another dude I met at ALA, and he originally hails from
California. I suspect we'll see Keith in lots of places in the future,
and I am pleased to welcome him to the ACQNET editorial board.
ERIC LEASE MORGAN - Infomotions, Inc.
Eric is serving as the offical ACQNET archivist, and while he is not
an acquisitions librarian, he is a techie extraordinaire. In reality
his affiliation for purposes of this effort is more entraprenurial - he
has a company on the side called Informotions and it's through that
the ACQNET archives are being maintained. Eric has maintained a mirror
archives site thorough his "Mr. Serials" project for years, so he is
really no stranger to ACQNET. I am just thrilled to have his support
in this new way.
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Received on Wed Jan 31 2001 - 23:08:00 EST