College & University Libraries Division

Notes from the Chair
     By Theodore Drake

Greetings, Here at Tarrant County College enrollment is up 7.5 % to a record high of 34,620 and our libraries are buzzing with students as we work with full-time and adjunct faculty alike to integrate the teaching of critical thinking and information literacy skills across the curriculum. I hope your fall semester is going as well!

In response to CULD membership concerns about the staffing of professional positions in light of the recently revised SAC standards an Ad Hoc Committee was formed to prepare a recommendation for TLA position paper. David Drake (American InterContinental University) was kind enough to chair the committee and was ably assisted by Linda Bixler (Texas Woman's University), Karen Hopkins (University of Texas at Arlington), and Cindy Swigger (Texas Wesleyan University). I believe they've done a great job in preparing a working draft and we welcome your comments and suggestions.

Academic Librarian Credentials
A Position Statement

In the Principles of Accreditation approved by the College Delegate Assembly in December 2001 and effective January 2004, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revised its standards for accreditation of colleges and universities, including those in Texas. Whereas the previous Criteria for Accreditation specifically stated "Libraries and other learning resources must be adequately staffed by professionals who hold graduate degrees in library science or in related fields such as learning resources or information technology," the new Principles include only "The institution provides a sufficient number of qualified staff--with appropriate education or experiences in library and/or other learning/information resources--to accomplish the mission of the institution." (3.8.3) The statement of the new standard is inherently vague in its use of the undefined term "appropriate education" and completely ambiguous in its equating "experiences" with education. Strictly interpreted, the new statement could allow for the employment of "librarians" with clerical experience but no degree of any kind, while the word "other" further stretches the boundaries of what might be considered applicable.

The Texas Library Association reaffirms its belief that while there are often other professional positions within academic libraries which may require different educational credentials, the minimum educational credential for any position as librarian or library director is a master's degree in library science from a university accredited by the American Library Association. Additional education or experience, or a combination thereof, may be required for positions beyond the entry level.

We will discuss the draft during the CULD business meeting in Austin at Annual Conference 2005 and assuming it is the will of the CULD members present and approved by the CULD board we intend to submit it to TLA Council for adoption. At this point this is very much still a work in progress, please send your comments and suggestions on this document to me via email:  theodore.drake@tccd.edu

The TLA Annual Conference in Austin the week of April 5-8, 2005 promises to be among the best ever. As you will see from Karen Hopkins report elsewhere in this newsletter we are working closely with the program committee to ensure a good selection of programs for academic librarians.  Because of Austin's popularity during the legislative session, we urge you to book your hotel reservations early. You may call 800/243-1205, or you can book your hotel online at: https://www.ambassadorstechnology.com/tla05. TLA's popular roommate service is also available again this year at: http://www.txla.org/conference/forms/roommate.html

2005 Conference Preview
The preliminary Conference program has a variety of interesting surprises for everyone next April.  Here is a preview of the programs CULD has planned:

April 5, 2005, 8:30 – 12:00
Pre-Conference (Co-sponsored with GODORT)
GIS-Geographical Information Systems: It’s for Libraries, Too!

You have heard all the hype about GIS – now, come LEARN about it!  This session will help you learn fundamental concepts of GIS, provide demonstration and discussion of the wide range of services available with GIS, and help you understand the resources necessary for implementing library GIS programs.

Presenters: Eva Garza, GIS Librarian, Rice University; Joshua Been, GIS Librarian, University of Texas at Arlington.

April 6, 2005, 10:15 - 11:50
RFID: The New Technology Wave (Co-sponsored with PLD)

Learn about the real issues in implementing RFID from making the decision to implement through developing procedures.  Hear about the RFID adventures from both a public library and an academic library perspective.

Presenters: Staff from Eugene Public Library, Eugene, Oregon; Sidney Watson, Science/Engineering Librarian, Lied Library, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

April 6, 2005, 1:00 - 1:50
Technology Trifecta: Students, Faculty, Librarians 

Hear how three of your colleagues use technology to connect faculty, students and librarians.  Find out how to convince faculty to include GIS assignments in their curriculum, how to stimulate library use through WebCT and what can happen when librarians are set loose on campus with laptops.

Presenters: Joshua Been, GIS Librarian, University of Texas at Arlington; Frances May, Coordinator of User Education & Outreach, University of North Texas; Kreg Walvoord, Assistant Head of Reference Services, University of Texas at Dallas.

April 6, 2005 3:00 - 3:50
New SACS Directions

Find out about the new Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' Principles of Accreditation and how they differ from the old Criteria. Develop a better understanding of the changes in store for your institution from Texas librarians now working with the changes.  Save your questions for Wednesday’s facilitated discussion!

Presenters: Mark Hanna, College Librarian, Amarillo College; Gilda Baeza Ortego, Library Director, Texas A&M -  Kingsville; Cary Sowell, Head Librarian and Director of SACS Self Study, Northridge Campus Library, Austin Community College.

April 7, 2005  12:00 - 1:20
Discussion of SACS Realities

Grab your lunch, bring your questions and join in a facilitated discussion about the new SACS Principles of Accreditation.  Share your thoughts with fellow librarians from all kinds of higher education libraries in this follow up discussion to Wednesday's presentation of the new SACS directions.

Facilitator: Cary Sowell, Head Librarian and Director of SACS Self Study, Northridge Campus Library, Austin Community College.

April 7, 2005,  2:00 – 3:20
CULD Program with Business meeting following
Technology Impact on Academic Libraries

Dazed by the changes in our evolving roles caused by continual rapid advances in technology? What does the technological future hold for libraries and librarians on academic campuses?  Hear thoughts on developing a clear vision of how to work with technology while learning new ways of providing service.

What do DSpace, the jake Project, open source software, and Prospero all have in common?  Daniel Chudnov!  Before accepting his current position as a systems programmer, Dan was a system curator with DSpace at MIT.  A 1997 graduate of the School of Information at the University of Michigan, Dan was a founding contributor to the Prospero project, began jake, and is a continuing active proponent of open source software.  He has presented at conferences including ACCESS 2003, Netspeed, Computers in Libraries, and most recently was a featured speaker at the OCLC Symposium at the 2004 ALA Conference in Orlando.  Come hear Dan’s unique vision for the future of libraries and librarians in the academic environment!  

Presenter: Daniel Chudnov, Systems Programmer, Yale Center for Medical Informatics, Yale University School of Medicine.

April 8, 2005  8:00 - 9:50 (Program/Discussion)
CULD Community/Junior College Discussion Group

Bring your questions and concerns as we continue the discussion of the new SACS principles of accreditation and how they relate and impact Junior and Community Colleges.  We will also be electing new officers

April 8, 2005  10:00 - 11:50
CULD Executive Board Meeting

By Karen Hopkins

Take a Bow--Or Encourage Someone Else To!

The 2005 ACRL Excellence in Academic Libraries Award nominations and applications are due December 3!  This award annually celebrates academic libraries that are outstanding in furthering the educational mission of their institutions.  $3,000 for each type-of-library award (college, community college, and university) will be presented by Blackwell's Book Services.

  We need your help to identify libraries that are deserving of this prestigious award.  The ACRL Excellence in Academic Libraries Award committee is currently accepting nominations for all three awards, and the deadline is December 3, 2004.  Please visit the ACRL Awards website at http://www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/acrlawards/excellenceacademic.htm, or contact me for more information.

Trevor Dawes
Excellence Award Nominating Committee Chair
Circulation Services Director

Princeton University Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544

609.258.3231 - voice ; 609.258.0441 - fax; tdawes@Princeton.EDU

Announcing Digital Libraries Interest Group (DLIG)

It’s official!  There is a new kid on the block at Texas Library Association-the Digital Libraries Interest Group, DLIG.  The mission of DLIG is to promote interest, and provision of, digital and data services by Texas academic, public, school and special libraries and librarians.  The group is concerned with numerous issues affecting digital library services, including standards and best practices; preservation, access, and copyright; collection development and assessment; and authentication, data security, and collaboration. 

By Mary McCoy

Newsletter Editor: Jo Monahan

CULD Home Page

Placed online October 7, 2004.
Copyright 2004, TLA College & University Libraries Division.