Library Juice 3:47 - December 13, 2000


Contents:

  1. Rory's stories at LISNews
  2. Bibliotheca Alexandrina: Revival of the Ancient Library of Alexandria
  3. Suggested priorities for progressive librarians...
  4. IFLA's Professional Priorities
  5. History of the ALA Code of Ethics
  6. New Library World/ Librarian's World
  7. Harcourt/Reed Elsevier - Letter from ARL to DOJ
  8. Spectrum Scholarship information
  9. ACRL National Conference Scholarship Deadline Extended
  10. IPL Volunteering
  11. Volunteer in rural Africa

Quote for the week:

"I venture to suggest that we are in the middle of a conceptual revolution
rather than an electronic revolution: by which I mean that the electronic
communication revolution facilitates the exchange of messages, data, and
information. more people can be contacted more frequently with more
messages and more information than in the past; but the real revolution is
conceptual, and involves the way in which we view information: we are now
much more concerned about its quality, application, and usefulness than we
were just a few years ago."

"New roles for information professionals in the development of consensus,"
Michael Brittain, a paper delivered at the LIANZA 2000 (Library and
Information Association of New Zealand) Conference.
http://www.conference.co.nz/lianza2000/papers/MichaelBrittian.pdf


Homepage of the week: Toni Samek
http://www.ualberta.ca/~asamek/toni.htm

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1. Rory's stories at LISNews

By now I have posted a good collection of stories on LISNews.

You can get them all linked from one page by going to the URL:

http://www.lisnews.com/search.php3?author=rory

Keep it and check back every month or two for more stories (though most
of it has been here in Library Juice).
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2. Bibliotheca Alexandrina: Revival of the Ancient Library of Alexandria

http://www.bibalex.gov.eg/

        "With the heritage of the Ptolemies as its inspiration, the
        new Library of Alexandria will attempt, according to its
        charter, to build a sum of knowledge embracing the
        writings of all peoples." (Navigate via the site map; the
        site is also searchable.) Revival Project shows who's
        involved, architectural design, and statistics. Ancient
        Library has ancient history, archaeological marine
        research in the presumed location of the ancient library,
        and information about contemporary scholars. BA
        Collections gives the mission of the library, what
        materials will be collected, and examples of donations
        and rare books. More about collections is available in
        New BA. - wh

From: Librarians Index to the Internet: http://lii.org
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3. Suggested priorities for progressive librarians...

Discussion on the international listserv "Progressive Librarians Around
the World" has focused on Cuba lately, primarily in response to Robert
Kent's campaign against Cuba and in favor of the "Independent Librarians"
there. Some members of the list grew tired of this discussion, feeling,
justifiably, that we have already heard all we need to hear from "both
sides."

Mark Rosenzweig responded to the call to talk about other issues with his
suggested agenda for the group. I am copying it here for Library Juice
readers, followed by a response from a representative of BiS, a Swedish
organization of progressive librarians.

-Rory

Re: We do have other issues to think about
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 17:36:20 -0500
From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra[at]earthlink.net>
To: "Progressive Librarians Around the World" <ProgLib[at]listbot.com>

Progressive Librarians Around the World -
http://www.germany.net/teilnehmer/100/115158/adresse.htm

Martyn is right: we do have other issues to think about, and at least/at
last we have Cuba and hopefully Kent off the agenda for the time being. So,
enough...genug . CLSG and other individual initiatives will continue
covering that area of concern.

To proceed to positive work:

I would like to propose the following 10 points as a basis for discussion
of principles/goals shared by progressive librarians internationally.

  1. we shall work towards an international agenda as the basis of common
    action of librarians everywhere actively committed, as librarians, to
    social justice, equality, human welfare, and  the development of cultural
    democracy.
  2. we will unite librarians and information workers in opposition to the
    marketization of public goods, to privatization of social resources and to
    outsourcing of services and will oppose international treaties and
    institutions which advance destructive neo-liberal policies.

3)we insist upon the equality of access to and inclusiveness of information
services, especially extending such services to the poor, marginalized and
discriminated against, including the active solidarity-based provision of
information assistance to these groups and their advocates in their
struggles.

4) we shall  encourage the exploration of alternative models of human
services; promote and disseminate critical analysis of information
technology's  impact on libraries and societies; and support the
fundamental democratization of existing institutions of education, culture,
communications.

5) we shall undertake joint, interdisciplinary research into fundamental
library issues (e.g. into the political economy of information in the age
of neo-liberalism and corporate globalization)  in order to lay the basis
for effective action in our spheres of work.

6) we will support cooperative collection, organization and preservation of
the documents of people's struggles and the making available of alternative
materials representing a wide range of progressive viewpoints often
excluded as resources  from the debates of our times.

7) we will investigate and  organize efforts to make the
library-as-workplace more democratic and encourage resistance to  the
managerialism of the present  library culture.

8) we will lead in promoting international solidarity among librarians and
cooperation between libraries across borders on the basis of  our joint
commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related
covenants  which create a democratic framework for constructive cooperative
endeavours.

9) we will organize in common with other cultural and educational
progressives, to help put issues of social responsibility on the agendas of
international bodies such as IFLA and UNESCO.

10) We  shall oppose corporate globalization which, despite its claims,
reinforces existing social, economic, cultural inequalities, and insist on
a democratic globalism and internationalism which respects and cultivates
cultural plurality,   which recognizes the sovereignty of peoples, which
acknowledges the obligations of society to the individual and communities,
and  which prioritizes  human values and needs over profits.

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

What about our network?
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 22:47:14 -0500
From: "Lennart Wettmark/Hervor Svenonius" <sve.we[at]xpress.se>
To: <ProgLib[at]listbot.com>
Reply to: "Progressive Librarians Around the World" <ProgLib[at]listbot.com>

Progressive Librarians Around the World -
http://www.germany.net/teilnehmer/100/115158/adresse.htm

Mark Rosenzweig has recently sent an excellent ten points list to this
list-serv as a contribution to the further discussion of the basis of our
world wide progressive network. I hope we don't forget to relate to his
contribution.

This is the short platform of the Swedish Bibliotek i Samhälle (BIS) from
1999:

BiS is a socialist organisation open to people working in libraries and to
others with an interest in library issues

BiS believes that it is the objective of libraries to defend and further
develop democracy:

by supporting freedom of speech and helping to guarantee  the provision of
information as a base for the creation of fully informed public opinion and
social
criticism

by being a publicly financed and democratically governed institution
developed through dialogue with patrons and the community

by reaching out to, promoting literacy amongst and mentoring primarily
those who are at risk of being socially excluded from information

by proactively offering information and literature which provides
alternative viewpoints, is not easily accessible and serves as an important
supplement
to popular and widely available commercial sources.

Lennart Wettmark
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4. IFLA's Professional Priorities

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
(IFLA) is a worldwide, independent, non-governmental organization. The
purposes of the Federation as stated in its Statutes are "to promote high
standards of delivery of library and information services; to encourage
widespread understanding of the value and importance of high quality
library and information services in the private, public and voluntary
sectors; and to represent the interests of its Members throughout the
world." The Professional Priorities outlined in this document will provide
guidance in the development of IFLA?s professional activities. These
priorities are to be incorporated into the professional programmes
throughout IFLA?s organizational structure, recognizing especially that the
needs, concerns and views of every region of the world are to be taken into
account, particularly those in the developing world. Regional concerns,
communication and information exchange among IFLA?s members, and the use of
electronic technology to facilitate the implementation of its priorities
underpin all of these professional priorities.

Supporting the Role of Libraries in Society

IFLA supports the establishment and maintenance of libraries by serving as
an international advocate to ensure that the vital role of libraries in the
digital age is well understood and acted upon. IFLA lobbys on behalf of
libraries with government officials and community leaders, using all
available avenues to secure appropriate funding and staffing of library
services worldwide.

Defending the Principle of Freedom of Information

IFLA believes that all people have a fundamental right to create and
acquire information and to express their views publicly. The right to know
and the freedom to express are two aspects of the same principle.

Libraries play a key role in securing these rights, and IFLA supports this
role by defending the ability of libraries to acquire, organize, preserve
and make available the widest variety of materials, reflecting plurality
and diversity in the society, and thus to protect and enhance democracy and
a free debate; by defending the ability of libraries to ensure that
selection and availability of material and services are governed by
professional principles, not the political, moral or religious views of
individuals or governments; and by defending the ability of libraries to
make materials and services available to all users, with no discrimination
due to race, creed, gender, religion, age or any other subjective reason.

Promoting Literacy, Reading, and Lifelong Learning

IFLA's programmes promote literacy in many aspects, helping libraries
worldwide to develop programmes that support increased literacy for all
people, including basic literacy (the ability to use, understand and apply
print, writing, speech and visual information in order to communicate and
interact effectively), reading (the ability to decipher print and other
forms of notation, to understand written language and its construction, and
to comprehend the meaning of the written word), information literacy (the
ability to formulate and analyze an information need; to identify and
appraise sources; to locate, retrieve, organize and store information; to
interpret, analyze, synthesize and evaluate that information critically;
and to evaluate whether the information need has been satisfied) and
lifelong learning (providing for the needs of all learners, whether formal
or informal, helping to raise the aspirations and achievements of
individuals of all ages and abilities).

Providing Unrestricted Access to Information

IFLA seeks to influence political and economic decisions that have an
ethical impact on access to information so that all persons throughout the
world have the same opportunity to participate in the information society
without regard to physical, regional, social, or cultural barriers. Ongoing
technological progress seems to widen the gap between the information rich
and the information poor world-wide. IFLA supports programmes which provide
support for information access in developing regions of the world.

Balancing the Intellectual Property Rights of Authors with the Needs of
Users

IFLA assumes a dual responsibility, both to the producers of intellectual
property and to libraries as representatives of information users, because
safeguarding and providing access to products of the mind are fundamental
to the growth of knowledge.

IFLA works to protect the rights of authors and the role of libraries by
playing an active role with organizations such as WIPO and UNESCO in the
drafting of appropriate treaties and legislative models which recognize the
dichotomy between the rights of authors and the needs of users.

IFLA also works to assure that intellectual property rights support the
universal availability of information by such activities as encouraging
national legislation for legal deposit and assuring the right of libraries
to make copies of published documents in a manner consistent with
principles of fair use. Safeguarding these rights must involve both the
owners of intellectual property and its users. It necessitates working in
collaboration with authors, publishers and librarians.

Promoting Resource Sharing

IFLA serves as an international forum and advocate for sharing information
in all its forms across national borders. It promotes the communication of
bibliographic information which is the basis for all resource sharing, it
works to develop cooperative principles for international lending, and it
supports a voucher scheme to liberate lending reimbursements from national
currencies. IFLA works to encourage the sharing of resources, by
supporting traditional lending and document delivery, by promoting the
communication and easy exchange of bibliographic information, and by
encouraging the development of virtual libraries whose holdings will be
accessible without regard to geography or national boundaries.

Preserving Our Intellectual Heritage

Although responsibility for the preservation and conservation of the
intellectual heritage in their custody is ultimately the responsibility of
individual libraries, IFLA works to promote the establishment of regional,
national and international priorities and the application of the best
scientific knowledge in the fulfillment of this responsibility. One of
IFLA's primary activities is to ensure appropriate coordination at the
international level through programmes such as advocacy, training and the
development and dissemination of standards and best practices. IFLA also
participates in international activities related to disaster preparedness
and recovery.

Developing Library Professionals

IFLA works to strengthen the abilities and knowledge of library and
information science professionals and paraprofessionals throughout the
world in order to improve service to the user. Programmes supported by IFLA
encompass all educational processes, including library and information
science curricula and continuing education activities such as lectures,
seminars, workshops and in-service training.

Promoting Standards, Guidelines, and Best Practices

IFLA actively promotes standards, guidelines and best practices to provide
guidance to libraries throughout the world in how to perform core functions
well, and in many cases how to perform them in the same manner. The latter
is particularly important in areas such as electronic communications where
conformity with clear, established and widely accepted and understood
standards is indispensable for the exchange of information in
cost-effective ways.

Supporting the Infrastructure of Library Associations

IFLA supports the infrastructure of library associations, especially in
countries and regions where these are poorly developed, because they
provide the essential means for accomplishing IFLA's goals at the national
level. Library associations provide many valuable services to librarians.
They work to develop effective library programmes and services that meet
the needs of library users and advance societal objectives and interests,
ensuring public access to information, and preserving and protecting
cultural resources.

Representing Libraries in the Technological Marketplace

IFLA serves as an international advocate for libraries and their users,
seeking to influence the development of technology in the world
marketplace, especially technology that controls the flow and availability
of information. IFLA represents both the sophisticated interests of
high-tech libraries and the practical concerns of more traditional users.
It negotiates on behalf of libraries (and for the benefit of library users)
in discussions on international trade and telecommunications, and it also
works to encourage the development of affordable technologies that will
bring information to all the populations of the world.

IFLA November 2000

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5. History of the ALA Code of Ethics

Documents relating to the history of the ALA Code of Ethics are
available at http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/historyofcode.html

________________________________________________________________________top


6. New Library World/ Librarian's World

http://www.mcb.co.uk/nlw.htm

The librarian's role is changing in response to new needs and the influence
of new technology. By increasing your awareness of the potential for change
and innovation within your profession, New Library World enables you to make
the most of opportunities to provide the service your readers want now - and
in the future. A subscription also includes Librarians' World, a personal
view of the modern library. It's lively mix of news and comment creates a
sociable and stimulating read guaranteed to keep you and your colleagues on
the ball.

Subscribers have access to full-text articles. The articles can be viewed or
saved to disk in either HTML or PDF formats.

Editor: Linda Ashcroft
Email: L.S.Ashcroft[at]livjm.ac.uk

> From NewJour-L
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7. Harcourt/Reed Elsevier - Letter from ARL to DOJ

Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 11:32:49 -0500 (EST)
From: Mary Case <marycase[at]arl.org>
Reply-To: arl-directors[at]arl.org
To: Multiple recipients of list <arl-directors[at]arl.org>
Subject: Harcourt - Reed Elsevier

Dear ARL Directors:

As you know, Harcourt General announced last Friday (October 27) that it
had accepted a bid from Reed Elsevier and Thomson to purchase
Harcourt.  Prior to the deal being announced, we had sent a letter to the
Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) expressing our
concerns about the impending transaction.  We have been contacted by an
attorney at the DOJ and will be speaking with DOJ staff on Monday.  Below
is the letter that was sent.

As you will notice, we have focused our complaint on the acquisition by
Reed Elsevier of the Worldwide Scientific, Technical, and Medical Group of
Harcourt.  Companies included are Academic Press, W.B. Saunders, Mosby,
and Churchill Livingstone.  Under the terms of the agreement, Reed
Elsevier will buy Harcourt outright in a transaction estimated to be worth
$5.6 billion.  Reed will retain Harcourt's STM businesses, in addition to
its grade- and high-school text-publishing divisions.  Reed will sell the
college textbook businesses and most of the corporate and
professional-service segment to Thomson for $2.1 billion.

We will keep you posted on developments.  If the DOJ is interested in
investigating our concerns further, we may be contacting you for
information.

Thank you,
Mary

*********************************************
September 18, 2000

Susan Edelheit
Assistant Chief
Civil Task Force
Antitrust Division
Department of Justice

Dear Ms. Edelheit:

As Executive Director of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), I am
writing to express my members' concern about the impending sale of
Harcourt General (Harcourt), one of the largest publishing companies in
the world (over $2 billion in revenues in FY99).  ARL is a membership
organization representing 121 of the largest research libraries in North
America.  ARL represents its members in matters of federal policy and
industry practice that impact their ability to fulfill their missions.
Over the past 15 years, ARL's members have been severely effected by
publisher price increases and are very concerned about the ongoing
concentration of the publishing industry.

In the aggregate, ARL libraries spend over $900 million a year on books
and journals to support the information resource needs of faculty,
students, and the public.  But these dollars have been unable to keep up
with the inflation in the cost of library materials.  Librarians make
their purchase decisions by broad subject categories, evaluating titles by
price, quality, and anticipated use.  They purchase as many titles in each
subject area as their budgets will allow.  The more titles in a subject
area a publisher owns, the greater its market share and power.  Of
particular concern over the past 15 years have been the high prices of
journals in science, technology, and medicine (STM), an area of publishing
increasingly dominated by a few large commercial companies.

According to Library Journal, STM journals have increased in price about
11% a year between 1990 and 2000.  The 2000 subscription price for an STM
journal averaged $974.  This is over 5 times more expensive than a title
in the humanities ($188) and almost twice as expensive as a title in the
social sciences ($504).  Moreover, recent studies show that the prices of
STM journals published by commercial firms are far more expensive than
those published by not-for-profit society and association publishers.  A
study conducted at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, found that
commercially published journals in physics were, on average, 2.5 times
more costly than not-for-profit journals, and in neuroscience, they were
6.5 times more expensive.  [www.library.wisc.edu/projects/glsdo/cost.html]

The high prices of STM journals have had a devastating effect on
libraries' ability to support the information needs of their
communities.  According to statistics collected by ARL, between 1986 and
1999, the typical research library has had to cut journal subscriptions by
6% and decrease the purchase of books by 26%, all while spending 170% more
on journals and 34% more on books.  At the same time, worldwide publishing
output increased over 50%.  Libraries cannot even afford the same number
of resources acquired in 1986 let alone the same proportion of published
knowledge.

Journal publishers know that demand for their products is very
inelastic.  Faculty need to publish to receive tenure and promotion and
willingly give their articles (often produced with the support of public
funds) to publishers without any payment in return.  This provides
publishers with an immense source of free content.  In turn, libraries are
expected to acquire the journals in which their faculty publish and which
are needed by the faculty and their students for research and
teaching.  In research begun while he was an economist on staff at the
Department of Justice (DOJ), Mark McCabe has demonstrated just how
inelastic this demand is.  He shows that despite increases in prices of
biomedical journals by the major commercial publishers of almost 200%
between 1988 and 1998, library subscriptions to these publishers' journals
declined by only 1.5%.  ["Academic Journal Pricing and Market Power: A
Portfolio Approach," July 2000.  [http://www.prism.gatech.edu/
~mm284/]

In addition to the market power held by these companies, mergers and
acquisitions have also had an impact on STM journal prices.  McCabe's data
show that after the purchase of Pergamon Press by Elsevier Science (a Reed
Elsevier company) in 1990-91, the price of Pergamon biomedical titles
increased 27% while the Elsevier titles increased about 5.2%.  A similar
result occurred from the purchase of Lippincott by Wolters Kluwer that
same year, with Lippincott titles experiencing about a 25% price increase
due to the merger.  These data demonstrate that modest transactions that
would not rise to the concentration thresholds of current antitrust
guidelines could in fact enhance the market power of the merging companies
and significantly increase the price of scholarly journals.

Both Reed Elsevier and Wolters Kluwer have confirmed (Professional
Publishing Report, Sept. 8) that they are seriously considering a bid to
purchase Harcourt, which has a significant Worldwide Scientific, Technical
and Medical Group (about $700 million in revenues in FY99).  ARL believes
that the sale of Harcourt as a whole or the sale of its Worldwide STM
division or any of its individual companies (Academic Press, Mosby,
Churchill Livingstone, W. B. Saunders) would contribute to the continued
concentration of STM publishers and significantly increase prices.  Of the
13 companies publishing 10 or more quality-ranked biomedical titles in
1998, according to McCabe, only 8 remain.  Harcourt is one of the three
largest of these.  The net effect of the sale of Harcourt would be a
continued erosion of libraries' ability to provide information resources
for their constituencies.  For these reasons, we believe that any such
transaction should be prevented by antitrust enforcement agencies.

In 1997 Reed Elsevier and Wolters Kluwer proposed a merger.  The Antitrust
Division and the Merger Task Force of the European Union both investigated
the transaction.  ARL was contacted by the DOJ and both our organization
staff and our members worked tirelessly to provide information to DOJ
attorneys and economists.  While the Reed Elsevier and Wolters Kluwer
merger was abandoned by the companies in anticipation of
competition-related concerns, ARL and its members are still very concerned
about any other transactions in this industry segment.  As in 1997, ARL
and its members stand ready to help in any way we can.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,
Duane E. Webster
Executive Director

***************************************
October 27, 2000

Susan Edelheit
Assistant Chief
Civil Task Force
Antitrust Division
Department of Justice

Dear Ms. Edelheit:

As a follow-up to my letter of September 18 regarding the possible sale of
Harcourt General, I am attaching a press release from Harcourt General
dated today announcing that it has agreed to sell the company to Reed
Elsevier.  In addition, I have attached an article about the transaction
from today's Wall Street Journal ("Reed Elsevier, Thomson Near Harcourt
Deal," p. A3).

I would just like to reiterate that the Association of Research Libraries
believes that the sale of Harcourt, and especially its Worldwide
Scientific, Technical, and Medical division, to Reed Elsevier will have
severe repercussions for libraries, researchers, and the public.  This
transaction will result in a further concentration of STM publishers and
significantly increased prices.  The net effect of the sale will be a
continued erosion of access to scientific research and information
resources.  Again, we believe that this transaction should be prevented by
antitrust enforcement agencies.

Please do not hesitate to contact us as this transaction comes under
review.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,
Duane E. Webster
Executive Director

Attachments

   Mary Case, Director
   Office of Scholarly Communication
   Association of Research Libraries
   21 Dupont Circle, N.W., Suite 800
   Washington, D.C.   20036
     (202) 296-2296 X112
     Fax:  (202) 872-0884
     Internet: marycase[at]arl.org

________________________________________________________________________top


8. Spectrum Scholarship information

Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 18:55:32 -0600
From: Satia Orange <sorange[at]ala.org>
To: OLOS Chairs <oloschrs[at]ala.org>
Cc: outreach[at]ala.org
Subject: [OLOSCHRS:528] Re: [ECAUCUS:1298] Spectrum Scholarship and Some Data

Dear REFORMA, APALA, AILA, BLACK CAUCUS, AFAS, CCMCCD,
Recruitment Network and Spectrum Scholars:

Please forward my message on to your membership.

I want to ask your help in aggressively recruiting for the
ALA Spectrum Scholarship designated for under-represented
groups of color in the profession of librarianship. The scholarship
is $5,000 and is for attendance to a graduate program that is
accredited by the ALA. We want
to have a good pool and we want this year's jury to work very
hard at selecting 50 scholars and 15 alternates.

Applications, personal statements, transcripts and professional
references are required.

Applications can be found and submitted at http://www.ala.org/spectrum/

Criteria and eligibility can be found at the same website.

THE DEADLINE is MARCH 1, 2001

For your information we have 3 classes of Spectrum Scholars.
Their ethnic breakdown has been  as follows:

Class of 98-99:
42% African American/Black
26% Asian/Pacific Islander
30% Latino/Hispanic
2% American Indian

Class of 99-2000
52% African American/Black
20% Asian/Pacific Islander
20% Latino/Hispanic
8% American Indian/Alaska Native

Class of 2000-2001
59% African American/Black
8% Asian/Pacific Islander
25% Latino/Hispanic
2% American Indian/Alaska Native
6% Bicultural/Belonging to more than one group

Spectrum scholars represented 4% of total 1998 enrollment
in ALA-Accredited Master's Programs and 4% of the total enrollment of
students of color (in schools that reported ethnicity).

The ALA Office of Human Resource Development and Recruitment's
analysis of ALISE statistics indicates that graduates from ALA-accredited
masters programs in library and information studies for the years 1991-1997
range in percentages from 88% to 92% White/Caucasian with the 1997-1998 class
being 89% White/Caucasian.

The bits of information given above are part of the report
submitted to the Executive Board of ALA in October of 2000.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Your help in this effort is needed and appreciated.

Sandra Rios Balderrama
Office for Diversity
American Library Association
50 East Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611, USA
http://www.ala.org/spectrum/

phone:1-800-545-2433 ext. 5020
or 1-312-280-5020
fax: 1-312-280-3256
e-mail: sbalderr[at]ala.org
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9. ACRL National Conference Scholarship Deadline Extended

The application deadline for the 2001 ACRL National Conference Scholarship
Program has been extended until January 8, 2001. The scholarships will allow
academic librarians new to the profession to attend the 2001 ACRL National
Conference in Denver,

Colorado, March 15-18, 2001.

"In this time of rapid change and unfettered opportunities and challenges,
ACRL is proud to offer this excellent professional development opportunity,"
said ACRL President Betsy Wilson. "National Conference scholarships increase
the participation

of librarians from diverse populations in ACRL's activities and programs, and
help ACRL become a more inclusive organization. Previous recipients have told
us how valuable they found the conference programs, and the opportunity to
meet with their

colleagues in academic librarianship." Held biennially, the ACRL National
Conference is the only conference dedicated to serving the interests of
academic librarians.

Applicants must be current ACRL members, and must be employed in an academic
library. Additional criteria and entry forms can be found at
http://www.ala.org/acrl/ncsclrshp.pdf. Program, exhibits, and registration
information about the 2001 ACRL
National Conference can be found at its website,
http://www.ala.org/acrl/denver.html.

With over 11,000 members, ACRL is the largest division of the American

Library
Association. ACRL is dedicated to enhancing the ability of academic library
and information professionals to serve the information needs of the higher
education
community and to improve learning, teaching, and research.

Meredith Parets
Program Assistant
Association of College & Research Libraries
50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL  60611
Phone: (312) 280-2515
Fax: (312) 280-2520
Email: mparets[at]ala.org
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10. IPL Volunteering

><< Do you have any suggestions on how to contact public/academic/special
> libraries in order to volunteer in the area of reference?  I am a current
> library student living in the SF area and am interested in reference work.
> I do not have any work experience and agree with you that volunteering or
> a practicum might help me out.
>
> Stephanie Woodbury
>  >>

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At 09:49 PM 12/7/00 EST, DianneJBL[at]aol.com wrote:
>Hi Stephanie,
>What about volunteering with the Internet Public Library? I did that for a
>couple months (before I got too busy with a paying job), and it was really a
>lot of fun--without the pressure of an actual reference desk: at IPL, you

can
>answer only those questions you want to answer, and have plenty of time to
>look up your answers and word them carefully. I thought it was a great
>experience.
>Dianne Lyons, Resource Specialist
>Massachusetts Prevention Center
>

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Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 09:24:49 -0500
From: Michelle Filleul <mfilleul[at]fas.harvard.edu>
To: newlib-l[at]usc.edu
Subject: Re: reference volunteer

This peaked my interest,  Diane, do you have someone to contact about doing
this type of reference work?

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From: "Kate (Irwin) Dixon" <kdixon[at]capital.net>
To: Michelle Filleul <mfilleul[at]fas.harvard.edu>
Cc: newlib-l[at]usc.edu
Subject: IPL volunteering, was Re: reference volunteer

See http://www.ipl.org/ref/STAFF/Recruit.html
for their recruitment page.

Thanks for mentioning this, Dianne -- I've been meaning to volunteer since
I was in school. My brother actually used to work for the IPL & it's a
great resource. I'm going to sign up today! :)

Happy Friday, all...
Kate
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Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 12:00:50 EST
From: RobertsBeth[at]aol.com
To: <kdixon[at]capital.net>, <mfilleul[at]fas.harvard.edu>
Subject: Re: IPL volunteering, was Re: reference volunteer

Hi all:
The only thing that bothers me about the IPL (I do think it is a wonderful
resource) and other Online question and answer pages, is that they don't seem
to want to pay librarians for the wonderful work we do for them. I do
understand that they probably could not operate at all if they had tp pay us,
but, still...

There are many of these services (Askanything,com, etc.) but nobody is paying.
We are giving our expertise away free. That is O.K I suppose, but what if we
demanded to be paid, then what would happen?
What do others think of these free Q&A sites?

Beth
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Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 14:28:27 -0600
From: "Lydia (Lee) Harris" <lharris1[at]students.uiuc.edu>
To: newlib-l[at]usc.edu

Hi there,

IPL gets many of their volunteers by working with students taking reference
classes. I am at UIUC and answering some of the questions on IPL was part of
the course requirements. Then it is my choice whether or not I continue to
volunteer. All answers are reviewed and Patricia Memmott does an excellent job
of providing feedback.

If you are new to the area of reference, IPL is a great place to acquire some
experience.

You might want to review the work of Nicholas G. Tomaiuolo before you assume
that all of the "Aska" services do not pay their staffs. In fact, some of them
do.

The best thing about IPL is the wide range of questions, which keeps
encourages staying on with online searching strategies and reference sources.
There are no directional questions. Some questions require just directing the
person to resources and others to factual answers. In fact, I have found a
number of questions directed to IPL which come from library students. There is
also an art to explaining some answers. The best question I chose to answer
was a request for statistical information online showing how many amateur or
aspiring writers there are.

Lee Harris

Lee Harris
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
MLIS LEEP student
lharris1[at]uiuc.edu

"All opinions expressed are hopefully somebody else's."
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11. Volunteer in rural Africa

Librarian Volunteer Announcement
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2000 14:21:18 -0500
From: "Maggie Hite" <hitem[at]ils.unc.edu>
To: ALA International Relations Round Table <alaworld[at]ala1.ala.org>
Cc: "Maggie" <hitem[at]ils.unc.edu>
Reply to: alaworld[at]ala1.ala.org

Please pass this along to members who may be interested.

Inform the World!  http://rtpnet.org/wlp/itw2001.htm
Spend the summer of 2001 helping communities get access to the information
they need to build a better future.  As an Inform the World (ITW) Volunteer
Librarian in rural Africa, you could use your professional skills to help
rural librarians in English-speaking South Africa. Instead of spending the
summer battling with your online catalog, you could teach a class on book
repair, help implement a simple cataloguing system or read stories to a
group of eager children. If living and working in rural South Africa sounds
like a challenge you would enjoy, then join us for this exciting service
project.  Your work will help African librarians turn collections of books
into centers of lifelong learning.

Who: The World Library Partnership (WLP) is a nonprofit organization
dedicated to building global understanding by promoting literacy, learning
and access to information. We believe that libraries empower individuals and
enrich communities, and we advocate for sustainable, community-based
libraries in developing areas of the world. The World Library Partnership
(WLP) will be working with the South African Department of Education's
Centre for Educational Technology and Distance Education.
What: The Inform the World Program will train and place 30 American
librarians in rural libraries in South Africa. The volunteers will conduct
practical service projects determined by the needs of their host libraries.
Previous volunteers trained librarians in basic skills such as how to
inventory, weed, repair and catalog books. They used their knowledge and
creativity to paint murals, make display boards, produce publicity fliers
and pamphlets and help clean, brighten and re-organize libraries.  They
worked on projects ranging from creating a bus bookmobile to riding along on
a donkey driven bookmobile. After returning to the U.S., the volunteers also
work with WLP to design projects that will continue to help the libraries
they visit.

When:  July 15th to August 15th. The program begins with training and
orientation in South Africa.  The volunteers then travel to their host
libraries where they spend three weeks working on service projects.  The ITW
volunteers and their African host librarians will travel as a group to the
Zimbabwe International Book Fair for a debriefing/evaluation session and to
buy books for the South African libraries.
Eligibility:  WLP invites professional librarians and library school
students from all disciplines to apply.  Flexibility, a sense of adventure
and the ability to adapt to very basic living conditions are a must.

Cost:  The cost of the trip is $2000. This includes placement, training,
materials, in-country orientation and debriefing, accommodations, most
meals, site visit by the trip coordinator during the project, registration
for the Zimbabwe International Book Fair, in-country transportation. WLP can
provide materials and suggestions to help volunteers secure additional
funding from other sources.
Deadline: The Application Deadline is January 31st, 2001. We welcome early
applications. We will interview qualified applicants by phone and announce
the final selections by the end of February.
http://rtpnet.org/wlp/itw2001.htm

Maggie Hite
Assistant Director
World Library Partnership
1028 Bahama Rd.
Bahama  NC 27506
U.S.A.
www.rtpnet.org/wlp
hitem[at]ils.unc.edu
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