ALCTS Network News v17n17 (May 13, 1999)
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/ann/ann-v17n17.txt
ALCTS NETWORK NEWS
An electronic publication of the
Association for Library Collections & Technical Services
Volume 17, Number 17
May 13, 1999
In this issue:
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, AN2
REGISTRATION FOR ADVANCING ACQUISITIONS PRECONFERENCE CLOSES MAY 21
CONGRESS ON PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
ALCTS OFFICERS' PAPER ON CONGRESS SITE
DEADLINE FOR NEH PRESERVATION AND ACCESS GRANTS
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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, AN2
This issue marks the eighth anniversary of AN2. What started out as
a use for a relatively new technology (electronic discussion lists),
AN2 has become a routine means of communication with people around the
world who are interested in the work and activities of ALCTS. We can
tell from the subscriber list that some people who received the first
issue eight years ago are still with us, but we know that many more of
you have joined us.
Our goal with AN2 is to continue to provide current and relevant
information to help you derive the most from your membership in ALCTS.
We are happy to include your news announcements (but not position
listings) provided they are sent to us electronically (send to
alcts@ala.org). We hope to be responsive to your information needs.
-- Karen Muller, Editor, AN2 & Executive Director, ALCTS
(kmuller@ala.org)
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REGISTRATION FOR ADVANCING ACQUISITIONS PRECONFERENCE CLOSES MAY 21
"Advancing Acquisitions: Services, Standards, and Skills," will be
held June 24-25, 1999, in a one and a half day program sponsored by
the Acquisitions Section of ALCTS. The program is a preconference to
the 1999 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA. The registration
deadline is May 21, 1999.
The preconference is designed to give acquisitions librarians an
overview of the ever-changing library acquisitions environment and
help them update their skills and knowledge.
The preconference is primarily for experienced acquisitions and
serials librarians and heads of technical services departments.
David McCune, Sage Publishing, and Don Halloran, Academic Book
Center, will discuss the forces and realities shaping the publishing
and vendor businesses. Ross Atkinson, Cornell University, will update
"Managing Traditional Materials in an Online Environment," (LRTS 42:1)
with an emphasis on managing new materials acquisitions while
maintaining traditional materials purchases.
Other speakers include Trisha Davis, Ohio State University; Dan
Tonkery, The Faxon Company; Christian Boisannas, Cornell University;
Adrian Alexander, Big 12 Plus; and Joyce Ogburn, Old Dominion
University.
To register online, visit
http://www.internetpros.com/registration.cfm; download and complete
the form. Registration fees are $175.00 for ALCTS members, $225.00
for ALA members and $275.00 for non-members. The fees include lunch
on June 24th. Completed registration form with payment should be sent
to: American Library Association, Dept. #77-6565, Chicago, IL
60678-6565; or fax - completed form to 312-944-7841. Whether mailed
or faxed, forms should be sent only once to avoid duplication. For
more information, contact Yvonne A. McLean at ymclean@ala.org or
312/280-5032.
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CONGRESS ON PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
More than 100 delegates from national and international associations
of library and information studies educators and professionals
convened in Washington, DC for a two day Congress on Professional
Education, April 30-May 01, 1999 sponsored by the American Library
Association. The Congress aimed to reach consensus among stakeholder
groups on the values and core competencies of the profession and on
strategies for action to address common issues and concerns. The
impetus for the Congress arose from changes in name of some programs
of graduate education, the seeming lack of attention to core
competencies, and the national shortage of professionals to work with
young people and diverse and underserved populations.
The Congress began with an overview of current issues. Theodore
Marchese, Vice President for the American Association for Higher
Education, assessed the state of higher education-"these are the good
times"-and compared library and information studies with programs in
nursing, education, and social work. He noted that other professions
are moving to more student- and problem-centered education based on
evidence and clear outcomes. Barbara Moran, University of North
Carolina-Chapel Hill, reviewed the previous twenty years of Library
and Information Studies in the academy and the changes implemented to
ensure that programs not only survived but thrived. Marilyn Mason,
Cleveland Public Library, articulated professional issues, including
recruitment, diversity, compensation, continuing education, specific
shortages in youth services and marketing a more accurate image of the
profession. In this context delegates worked to clarify guiding
principles and values, core competencies and barriers to improved
education.
Susan Martin, Georgetown University, later addressed the structure
and process of accreditation comparing ALA accreditation with
education (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education),
engineering (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology), and
social work (Council on Social Work Education). Marion Reid,
California State University, San Marcos, provided her viewpoint of the
ALA accreditation process from the perspective of a site visitor.
Janet Swan Hill, University of Colorado, Boulder, commented on the
perceived weaknesses of the accreditation system.
A panel of Marcia Bates (UCLA), Toni Carbo (University of
Pittsburgh), Mary K. Chelton (Queen's University), and Brian
Schottlaender (UCLA) illuminated a range of issues arising from
concerns about the current curriculum of programs. Bates suggested
that our traditional focus on text was inappropriate for a culture
that is increasingly multimedia-oriented, and urged that we consider
the term "information" to be a broad rubric encompassing all formats
for recording and transmitting knowledge. Carbo stressed that most LIS
programs, even those in schools lacking "library" in their names,
provide a solid grounding in traditional topics such as cataloging
(perhaps called "organization of information"), recognize the need to
prepare librarians to serve specific user populations like children
and make extensive efforts to meet those needs. Chelton noted that, as
sixty percent of public library users are children or young adults,
every librarian working in a public library should be prepared to
respond appropriately to the needs of that population such that
"audience" for courses does matter. She stressed that a "kid friendly"
orientation needed to be woven throughout the curriculum in addition
to specific courses. Schottlaender reinforced the distinction between
education and training and stressed that graduates need to understand
management and change, communicate effectively and take practical
risks: the tools of the trade are only a means to an end.
Additionally, panelists from a variety of libraries addressed the top
professional concerns that had surfaced during consensus-building
exercises. This reaction panel generated lines of delegates at two
microphones with their comments and questions. The panelists were
Carolyn Caywood (Virginia Beach Public Library), Rick Forsman
(University of Colorado), Sheila Intner (Simmons College), Brenda
Johnson (District of Columbia Public Library), Joel Shoemaker
(Southeast Junior High School, Iowa) and Barbara Spiegelman
(Westinghouse).
The full text of presentations and commentary is on the Congress
website .
Recommendations will be developed based on the deliberations of
delegates. These recommendations will propose strategies to address
* core values and explicit competencies for the
profession,
* recruitment, including marketing librarianship as the 21st
century profession, salaries and working conditions,
* accreditation, including a process for the ongoing revision of
standards, their rigorous application and resulting consumer
information, mainstreaming within ALA the ALA/NCATE process for school
librarians who choose that route, access to programs and
specializations, areas of critical shortages, alternate methods for
teaching and learning, education and training for different categories
of personnel, foreign credentialing,
* clarification of the roles of educators and employers,
continuing education, mentoring,
* a clear and funded research agenda for the profession with
appropriate dissemination of results, and
* diversity, broadly defined, across all of these areas of
concern.
A structure for continuing dialogue will also be recommended.
The Congress was organized by an eighteen member steering committee
representative of the major associations and groups within the library
and information profession. A full report with recommendations to the
ALA Executive Board will be filed by the end of June.
-- Ken Haycock, Chair, Congress Steering Committee
(ken.haycock@ubc.ca)
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ALCTS OFFICERS' PAPER ON CONGRESS SITE
ALCTS Past President Janet Swan Hill and ALCTS President Sheila
Intner co-authored a paper, "Preparing for a Cataloging Career: From
Cataloging to Knowledge Management," for the Congress on Professional
Education. The URL for the paper is
http://www.ala.org/congress/hill-intner.html, and it is also linked
from the ALCTS web pages at www.ala.org/alcts/publications.
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DEADLINE FOR NEH PRESERVATION AND ACCESS GRANTS
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is a grant-making
agency of the U.S. federal government that support projects in the
humanities. Eligible applicants are: U.S. nonprofit associations,
institutions, and organizations, as well as U.S. citizens and foreign
nationals who have been legal residents in the United States for a
period of at least the three years immediately preceding the
submission of the application.
NEH's Division of Preservation and Access supports projects that will
create, preserve and increase the availability of resources important
for research, education, and public programming in the humanities.
Support may be sought to preserve the intellectual content and aid
bibliographic control of collections; to compile bibliographies,
descriptive catalogs, and guides to cultural holdings; to create
dictionaries, encyclopedias, databases, and other types of research
tools and reference works; and to stabilize material culture
collections through the appropriate housing and storing of objects,
improved environmental control, and the installation of security,
lighting, and fire-prevention systems. Applications may also be
submitted for national and regional education and training projects,
regional preservation field service programs, and research and
demonstration projects that are intended to enhance institutional
practice and the use of technology for preservation and access.
Projects may encompass collections of books, journals, newspapers,
manuscript and archival materials, maps, still and moving images,
sound recordings, and objects of material culture held by libraries,
archives, museums, historical organizations, and other repositories.
The Division has a single, annual DEADLINE for applications, JULY 1.
Final decisions will be announced the following March. Guidelines and
instructions can be downloaded from the NEH Web site
http://www.neh.gov/html/guidelin/preservation.html.
A list of recent awards is also available at that site under "What's
New". http://www.neh.gov/html/awards/preserv99.html
To address a question to the NEH staff, e-mail us at
preservation@neh.gov.
-- Barbara Paulson
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ALCTS NETWORK NEWS (ISSN 1056-6694) is published irregularly by the
Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, a division
of the American Library Association. Editorial offices: ALCTS, 50 E.
Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; Sheila Intner, President; Karen Muller,
Executive Director & Editor; Editorial Assistance: Yvonne McLean,
Shonda Russell, Beatrice Calvin.
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an2 v17_no17