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NEWS FROM THE FIELD
C&RL News, April 2007
Vol 68, No. 4
by Stephanie Orphan
SPARC redesigns Web site
SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) has reorganized and redesigned its Web site to better serve the scholarly communications community and facilitate access to SPARC resources. The new Web site provides one-click access to SPARC’s major program areas: advocacy, education (publications and resources), and incubation (partners), as well as information on membership, meetings and events, SPARC Consulting services, and the organization itself. There are also direct links to resources by theme (author rights, journal pricing, open access, open data, public access to research, and repositories) and by audience (libraries, authors, publishers, and the media). The new portals for authors and publishers have been added to highlight SPARC’s ongoing role in collaborating across stakeholder groups in scholarly publishing. Also featured are new resource sections, including those on open access and repositories, feature articles, available directories, discussion lists, links to supporting organizations, and more. Visit the new SPARC Web site at www.arl.org/sparc.
Triangle Network purchases Endeca platform
Members of the Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN) have jointly purchased the Endeca Information Access Platform. Duke University, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill will use the Endeca platform to create a single interface that will search across the online catalogs of all four institutions. Endeca’s approach to information retrieval mimics the human discovery process by integrating the two most common means of finding information online (searching and browsing) allowing people to adapt and hone their searches continually based on their own determination of relevancy. The new “Search TRLN” catalog will debut in 2008. The TRLN libraries will use the Endeca platform to research and develop additional services in support of consortial activities. Information about Endeca can be found at www.endeca.com.
Columbia brings back The New Leader in digital format
The New Leader, which concluded 82 years of print publication in early 2006 with an expanded final issue, has returned as a bimonthly online magazine hosted at Columbia University. The online version of The New Leader, which is in PDF, is virtually identical to the print version in appearance and in its coverage of international and domestic affairs, literature, and the arts. Currently, there is no access charge for The New Leader online, which has been receiving more than 3,000 hits per week since its launch in January with the January/Feburary issue. At its peak, the print magazine had 30,000 subscribers worldwide. Established in 1924, The New Leader gained prominence as a liberal anti-Communist voice and strong advocate of civil rights. Its contributors have been prominent liberal writers and critics. The magazine is available online at www.thenewleader.com.
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ACRL releases essay on changing role of academic libraries
ACRL has published an essay on the changing role of academic libraries that resulted from an invitational summit held on November 2 and 3, 2006, in Chicago. ACRL convened the summit to address how technologies, on the one hand, and the changing climate for teaching, learning, and scholarship, on the other, will likely recast the roles, responsibilities, and resources of academic libraries over the next decade.
The summit was conducted as an unscripted roundtable facilitated by Robert Zemsky of the Learning Alliance. The summit was attended by 30 leaders who both care about academic libraries and have the ability to look over the horizon in order to imagine an alternative future. The time together resulted in a discussion paper that is now available at www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/future/changingroles.htm.
The summit identified three essential actions libraries must take to achieve the necessary transformation and remain vital forces on campus in the years ahead.
• First, libraries must evolve from an institution perceived primarily as the domain of the book to an institution that users clearly perceive as providing pathways to high-quality information in a variety of media and information sources.
• Second, the culture of libraries and their staff must proceed beyond a mindset primarily of ownership and control to one that seeks to provide service and guidance in more useful ways.
• Third, libraries must assert their evolving roles in more active ways, both in the context of their institutions and in the increasingly competitive markets for information dissemination and retrieval.
Summit participants further suggested possible roles for ACRL:
• Convene and facilitate dialogues with leaders of key constituencies to consider the future of libraries in supporting the missions of higher education institutions.
• Contribute to national efforts to better understand elements of successful learning.
• Identify and monitor indices of change in the environment of libraries and information dissemination.
• Provide leadership in helping libraries and librarians make effective use of technology in supporting research and education.
• Provide national leadership in communicating the potential and performance of libraries in adopting new paradigms and meeting changing demands of institutions, faculty, and students.
Keep the conversation going
ACRL seeks to continue the conversation about the changing roles for librarians, libraries, and ACRL. The first response, prepared by Julie Todaro, ACRL vice-president/president-elect, is posted with the essay. Add your comments to ACRLog at acrlblog.org/2007/03/15/acrl-summit-report-on-changing-role-of-academic-libraries-now-available/.
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Bowker developing nonfiction readers’ advisory tool
Bowker has announced the development of Non-Fiction Connection, a comprehensive readers’ advisory tool for nonfiction titles. The new electronic offering will allow patrons or librarians to find nonfiction titles based on books they have already read. Users will log on to the subscription-only service, enter the title of a book they already know they enjoy, and search for similar books from Bowker’s nonfiction database. Using the browse feature, users will also be able to locate books within various narrative nonfiction genres. Non-Fiction Connection will be available in June 2007. Bowker is offering discounts of up to 25 percent for advance orders; for product updates and pricing information, go to www.bowkersupport.com/nonfc/.
Crime victim assistance video archive online through University of Akron
A comprehensive repository of information and history of the crime victim assistance field is now available through a video archive hosted by the University of Akron’s Information Technology Services and University Libraries. The Oral History of the Crime Victim Assistance Field was created by the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Victims of Crime and assigned as a project to Justice Solutions in Washington, D.C. The archive includes more than 60 hours of video interviews with pioneers in the field and panel interviews with the original President’s Task Force members and past directors of the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, and U.S. Department of Justice, making it the largest of its kind in the world. The Oral History of the Crime Victim Assistance Field is available online at vroh.uakron.edu/index.php and on site in the University Libraries Archival Services.
“Census of Institutional Repositories” available online from CLIR
The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has published the results of its census of U.S. academic institutions with respect to their involvement in institutional repositories (IR). The report, “Census of Institutional Repositories in the United States: MIRACLE Project Research Findings,” written by Karen Markey, Soo Young Rieh, Beth St. Jean, Jihyun Kim, and Elizabeth Yakel of the University of Michigan School of Information, identifies the wide range of practices, policies, and operations in effect at institutions where decision makers are contemplating planning, pilot testing, or implementing an IR. The census is a first step in a longer-term undertaking called the MIRACLE (Making Institutional Repositories a Collaborative Learning Environment) Project. It’s available online, free of charge at www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub140abst.html.
WebFeat launches automated search engine
WebFeat has announced the launch of the industry’s first automated federated search engine. WebFeat Express version 2.1 enables libraries to configure their WebFeat federated search engines using the latest release of the WebFeat Administrative Console (WAC). With WAC, librarians can select databases for inclusion in their WebFeat system, as well as their own library catalog and remote user authentication. WAC now automatically configures the library’s WebFeat system—performing any required handshake with the library’s content providers. Libraries may obtain access to WAC to configure their own WebFeat Express system for evaluation at webfeat.org/products/nohassle_trial.asp.
Nature debuts networking Web site for scientists
Nature Publishing Group has launched Nature Network, a free online networking Web site for scientists worldwide. The site will help scientists meet like-minded researchers, hold online discussions, showcase their work, share information with groups, and tag content. Participation is free. Nature Network also features local hubs, which offer area news, blogs, jobs, and events, in addition to the global tools. User-driven upgrades will continue to be rolled out. Nature Network can be found at network.nature.com.
Univ. of Illinois joins Open Content Alliance
The University of Illinois (UI) has joined the Open Content Alliance (OCA)—an alliance of educational institutions, Internet companies, and other groups in the United States and abroad that is building a digital archive of public domain books for universal and free public access. OCA now has more than 60 partners and announced in December that it already had digitized and made available 100,000 books, which are downloadable through its parent company, the Internet Archive (www.archive.org/index.php). Other partners in the alliance include Smithsonian Institution Archives, University of California, University of Chicago, and Adobe Systems. With more than 10 million volumes and nearly 24 million items, UI is the largest public university collection in the world and in a position to contribute significantly to the alliance. The first 32 books contributed by UI can be found on the OCA home page at www.opencontentalliance.org/.
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RSVP for the ACRL Luncheon
National Library Legislative Day: May 1-2, 2007, Washington, D.C.
This year marks the 33rd National Library Legislative Day! Join hundreds of library supporters from across the country visiting Members of Congress to share stories about libraries in your communities and to talk about the needs and accomplishments of libraries in your area. Find more information on events and hotel or register to attend by Friday, April 7, 2007, at www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washevents/nlld/.
Network with your academic colleagues at ACRL’s Legislative Luncheon
Join your academic and research colleagues at a special ACRL Luncheon during the briefing day Tuesday, May 1, at the Holiday Inn on the Hill. Hear George L. Mehaffy, vice president for leadership and change at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. RSVP by Tuesday, April 17, 2007, for the complimentary luncheon at https://marvin.foresightint.com/surveys/Tier1Survey/ACRL/160.
Can’t come to Washington?
You can still participate in Legislative Day by organizing library supporters in your state to phone, fax, and e-mail Congress on May 1st and 2nd. “Virtual Legislative Day” communicates the needs of libraries to Congress and increases the impact of the National Library Legislative Day in Washington D.C. Organizing a virtual legislative day is easy. Find out how at www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washevents/nlld/virtuallibrarylegislativeday/vlld.htm.
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Xrefer adds Routlege titles
Xrefer, which provides customizable online reference collections, has signed an agreement with Routledge to integrate 11 of the publisher’s award-winning titles into the Xreferplus Ready-Reference collection. Each of the new titles has been named Outstanding Reference Sources by ALA’s Reference and User Services Association. Titles include Encyclopedia of African Art; Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760–1850; Holocaust Literature: An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work; and Reader’s Guide to the Social Sciences.
Oberlin-coordinated recruitment program to expand
Through a new grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a cooperative program designed to recruit undergraduates from diverse backgrounds into the library profession will continue and expand. The award in the amount of $575,000 will allow the libraries of two historically African American institutions—Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Saint Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina—to join the collaborative recruiting effort, which is coordinated by the Oberlin College Library. In addition to Oberlin, the libraries of Occidental, Swarthmore, Wellesley College, and the Atlanta University Center (which serves Morehouse and Spelman Colleges, and Clark Atlanta University) will all continue to participate in the program. The expanded program will continue to promote librarianship as a potential career choice for large numbers of undergraduates. The intensive internship opportunities, graduate library school scholarships, and programming about important issues in librarianship remain essential features of the program. Each participating school will also host a one-year, full-time position for a recent graduate. Leadership development will be an integral part of the expanded program. The new award will fund the program for 18 months, beginning January 1, 2007.
CDP and BCR to merge
The Collaborative Digitization Program (CDP) has merged into the Bibliographical Center for Research (BCR), as of April 1. The merger will enable BCR to build new service programs in the area of digitization and reach out to cultural heritage organizations in addition to bringing CDP-based training, best practices and guidelines, and consulting services to its 1,100 member libraries. CDP has moved from its offices at the University of Denver to BCR, also based in Colorado. CDP was established in 1999 as the Colorado Digitization Project to enable access to cultural, historical, and scientific heritage collections of the West by building collaboration between archives, historical societies, libraries, and museums.
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I can't live without . . .
My favorite new site is LibraryThing.com, a site that allows you to create book lists. I use it as a new “Virtual New Book” shelf for the College of Education faculty and students at University of Southern Florida. It is very easy to get on to this site, create a virtual book shelf that is customized, and share the links with others. A social networking tool for books, it also has book reviews and the ability to tag data so it’s searchable.
The link to my recently created list of education titles is at: www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=edlib. —Susan Ariew, University of South Florida
...Librarything
www.librarything.com
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