TLA/CULD Newsletter Spring 2002

Notes from the Chair…

There are several excellent programs planned for Annual Conference this year. Martha Tarlton, Cary Sowell, and Jon Luckstead have done an excellent job of putting together a slate of programs that address the issues of the day. Marketing, Assessment, and Accreditation are key elements to emphasizing the value our libraries bring to our organizations. CULD is bringing you programs on all three areas! See the articles in this newsletter for more details.

If you’ve recently attempted to hire a librarian, you know that many libraries are experiencing difficulties finding and hiring quality candidates. CULD is also in the final stages of developing a scholarship to attract individuals to the profession. Plans are to provide a scholarship to a Texas resident who has been accepted as a graduate student to a Texas ALA-accredited library education program and who also plans to concentrate his or her studies in academic librarianship.

Included in this newsletter is the ballot for your next CULD Vice Chair/Chair Elect and Secretary/Treasurer. Be sure to mark your ballots and return them by March 31^st. I want to thank all of those individuals who have volunteered to serve CULD by working on committees or agreeing to run for office. The most valuable resource we have is each other and involvement in CULD is a key way to draw upon this resource. If you would like to become involved with CULD, let Martha Tarlton, Chair-elect, or myself, know.

See you in Dallas!
 

CULD News

by Martha Tarlton

CULD is sponsoring a number of exciting and informative programs at annual conference which should be of great interest to academic librarians. We hope that you will be able to attend as many of these as possible. From 2:00 until 3:50 on Wednesday, April 24 the Community and Junior College Discussion Group is sponsoring the program "The 10 Year Itch: SACS Accreditation Revisited." On Thursday, April 25 from 9:00 until 9:50 our own Julie Todaro, past TLA President and Dean of Library Services at Austin Community College, will discuss "Marketing New Initiatives for Higher Education." CULD is also co-sponsoring a program during that time on "TexShare – Building Collections One Click at a Time!" Thursday afternoon from 2:00 until 3:50 will be a CULD business meeting and program. Noted futurist Clifford Lynch, Director of the Coalition for Networked Information, will be giving a thought-provoking presentation on "The Library in the Digital World." Then at 9:00 on Friday, April 26, Danny Wallace, Director of the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Oklahoma will present "Training Librarians to Go the Distance," a discussion on preparing librarians to serve distance education students.

In addition to the above, CULD is sponsoring a preconference workshop on "Continuous Assessment for College and University Libraries: Practical Application of ACRL Standards" the afternoon of Tuesday, April 23. Bill Nelson, chair of the ACRL College Libraries Standards Committee, and Dr. Fernekes serves on that committee. The two of them have present similar workshops for ACRL and for a number of state library associations. I encourage you to register for this highly valuable preconference. You will find it very worthwhile!

Report from the Community and Junior College Discussion Group

by Cary Sowell

The hot topic for community college libraries as well as for all academic libraries has been the new SACS accreditation standards. Last fall when the TCSUL/TICUL/TCCJCL organizations met in Austin, the program at that meeting was on the new standards. Cary Sowell represented the community college point of view on a panel discussing the new proposed standards. The new standards were adopted at the annual SACS meeting in December, 2001. The library portion of the SACS Criteria has gone from 33 "must statements" to one core requirement and three comprehensive statements.

The Community and Junior College Discussion Group planned a program for the TLA conference in Dallas to continue the dialog on the new standards. The program is titled "The 10 Year Itch: SACS Accreditation Revisited" and is scheduled on Wednesday, April 24, 2:00-3:50 pm. Two institutions in Texas have already piloted using the new standards, Texas A & M University and Richland College (Dallas County Community College District). Cary Sowell will give an overview of the new standards and then members from those two libraries will discuss their experiences in using the new standards. This should be a very useful program for all academic librarians facing SACS accreditation in 2004 or later

TLA Sets Up CULD Listserv

By Edward Kownslar

The Texas Library Association has established an email listserv for CULD members. Subscribing is voluntary, but we strongly encourage you to sign up and stay current with CULD events and issues affecting academic libraries in Texas (TexShare, HEAF, legislation, etc.).

To access and use the CULD listserv, just follow these quick and easy steps:

        1.  On the TLA web page (www.txla.org), click on "Members Only Section."

        2.  The next screen will ask you for your user name and password. If this is your first time, click
             on "Setup Login Account" and then type in your TLA member number.

        3.  On the next screen, click on "Member Distribution Lists."

        4.  When the next screen appears, click on "Lists for TLA Divisions.

        5.  Click on "College and University Libraries."

        6.  On the next screen, click on "Subscribe to CULD.

        7.  The next screen will ask you for your full email address and name. When you have typed this
             information and have set your preferences, click on "Save." You will receive confirmation that
             you are now subscribed through email.

        8.  At this point, you may use the options or click on the "Home" key on the browser’s toolbar to
             exit.

        9.  The next time you access the CULD membership list, you only need to type in your email
             address.

A "mini-history" of the College and University Libraries Division

by Julie S. Alexander

The first mention in the Texas Library Association Archives in the Texas State Library of any session discussing issues relevant to college libraries was at TLA in San Antonio in April 1907. This discussion was not sponsored by any formal "college group," but rather were talks by academic librarians who had "issues." By the year 1925, there was a TLA Round Table group devoted to College and Universities. At the first College Round Table meeting two talks were given: "The University Library," by Professor R.A. Tsanoff, Rice Institute, Houston, and "What should the Senior College Expect of the Junior College," given by Mrs. B.B. McClanahan, Librarian, at North Texas Agricultural College, Arlington.

Through the evolution and historical development of CULD there were many important issues that the group discussed. In 1949, the group was vitally interested in status for college librarians. The Division prepared a report "Administrative and Faculty Status of College Librarians in Texas." This report was discussed and then widely disseminated throughout the state. The status document was later published in the September 1950 issue of the TLA Journal. The statement received wide support from across the US and from other library associations. It was the opinion of the members that they had put themselves on record and that they had put the College Division of TLA on the map.

Another topic of concern in 1950 was the loyalty oath that employees of the State of Texas had to sign. Mr. Dix, Chairman of the Committee on Intellectual Freedom of the Texas Library Association proposed the desirability of having the Committee get in touch with the corresponding ALA Committee. No formal action was taken.

In 1952, the College Division recommended that the College Division Chair appoint a statewide committee to work toward compiling a Texas Union List of Serials. This idea was studied and discussed for several years, along with the related issues of hiring staff to compile, edit, and publish such a list. In 1953 it was concluded that the Library of Congress had announced plans to continue publishing the Union List of Serials and that a Texas Union List would be duplicative.

In 1958, the College Division was concerned about a surplus of funds in its TLA account. The proposal was made to fund a scholarship for a student who planned to enter the college library field in Texas. As a result, two $150 scholarships were awarded that year, with one going to Oleta Wittenmeyer (TWU) and John Burton Sanders (UT).

Dr. Ed Holley in 1967 urged all academic librarians in the state to give full cooperation to the Survey Resources Committee of the State Coordinating Board on Higher Education. This committee was conducting a statewide survey of library resources in Texas.

From 1970 through 1971 there was another survey distributed by CULD on librarian status. The questionnaire was eleven pages and a lot of data was collected. The senior public colleges and universities returned the questionnaire with a wide variation in the way that the questions were answered. The public and private junior colleges were concerned with rank, relationship to faculty, retirement, and the workweek; private senior colleges were concerned with the lack of salary information from the private colleges. Stuart Dyess and Dr. Roland Streit published an article on the results in the November 1972 TLA Journal.

In 1977 CULD members approved the Guidelines for Research Applications. This outlined to offer support for research projects to advance professional knowledge, to provide data on college and university libraries for planning and development, to provide better libraries and improved services for colleges and universities. Also at the April 1977 meeting, the ACRL chapter status was approved by membership as part of the Goals and Objectives for the Division.

Beginning in 1979 and continuing today, CULD has sponsored a variety of workshops and seminars along with ACRL and TLA. These are aimed at staff development and education for CULD members, as well as outside audiences. Some examples of these are: October 1979, a two-day workshop on AACR2 with TLA Catalogers and Classifiers RT and the CULD Committee on Education; February 1981, a one-day workshop on "Resource Sharing in Texas Libraries: Projects, Problems, Prospects;" April 1981, "Online Library Catalogs: preconference; September 1984, A joint conference, "Education for the Information Age," sponsored by the Oklahoma and Texas Chapters of ACRL. In 1990, "Fund Raising and Grantsmanship for the 1990’s", a very successful TLA preconference was sponsored; "The Customer-Centered Library in an Era of Networking," was the CULD preconference in 1995.

CULD has been an active partner with the Legislative Committee of TLA to support those issues of legislative concerns of Texas academic librarians. In 1978, CULD expanded that concern to support any legislation designed to improve library service regardless of the segment of library work affected. CULD regularly supports the Legislative Committee through donations. In addition, CULD has been a regular contributor to the Texas Conference on Library Automation.

In April 1987, a petition was put forth to create within CULD a discussion group of Community-Junior College librarians to discuss their mutual concerns. It was not until April 1990 that there was an appearance in the TLA Program for the Ad Hoc Community and Junior College, Business Meeting and Program. This discussion group now holds regular meetings at both Annual Assembly and Conference, and has presented several programs since its creation.

May of 1991 saw the creation of the U.S./Mexico Relations Committee. The Charter meeting had a goal to explore and identify specific initiatives that would be feasible for U.S. academic Libraries to take that would be mutually beneficial to Texas and Mexico.

The above has just been an introduction to the more complete history that is being compiled for the TLA Centennial celebration. The last set of minutes and correspondence files for CULD in the Texas State Archives are dated 1991 and after this time the information gleaned for the more complete history was taken from conference programs.

CULD Programs in Dallas
 

As Jeanne Pyle has already mentioned, CULD and the CULD Community/Junior College Discussion Group are sponsoring several sessions at the TLA Annual Conference. The pre-conference and programs cover a wide range of topics and interests. Check the program listings in your Annual Conference guide or on the web at http://www.txla.org/conference/conf.html for more information about the individual programs. Here’s a convenient listing by date and time to pull or cut out and bring with you to Dallas. See you there!
 
 
 
 

DATE	PROGRAM	TIME
Tues., April 23rd (Pre-Conference)	Continuous Assessment for College and University Libraries: Practical Application of ACRL Standards	1:00-5:00 pm
Wed., April 24th	The 10 Year Itch: SACS Accreditation Revisited	2:00-3:50 pm
Thurs., April 25th	Marketing New Initiatives for Higher Education	9:00-9:50 am
Thurs., April 25th	Texshare: Building Electronic Collections One Click at a Time!	9:00-9:50 am
Thurs., April 25th	The Library in the Digital World/CULD Business Meeting	2:00-3:50 pm
Fri., April 26th	Training Librarians to Go the Distance	9:00-9:50 am

 
 

This year, all of the CULD elected positions are open. A biography and brief statement from each candidate follow on the next several pages. A separate ballot is enclosed to mark, fold, and mail. Ballots must be received by March 31, 2002 to be counted. Be sure to vote!

For Vice Chair/Chair-Elect:
 

Melody S. Kelly: Candidate for Vice Chair/Chair Elect of CULD

Melody Kelly is the Associate Dean of Libraries, University of North Texas (UNT). She joined the UNT Libraries’ faculty in 1974 and served as Head of Government Documents (1984-2001). Melody has also taught a course in government information for the University of North Texas School of Library and Information Sciences since 1987, and the course is now offered online through the UNT distance education program. She has been an active member of TLA since 1974, serving most frequently as an office in TLA-GODORT and now as Co-Chair of the 2002 Conference Program Committee.

Statement of issues: Distributed education and the site-based services often compete for limited staff and budgetary resources. As an academic librarian I am concerned with the need to implement effective assessment instruments (particularly for electronic resources and services) that will assist us to effectively manage resources, meet the needs of our multi-type clientele, as well as meet the changing accrediting standards.
 
 

Karen L. Hopkins: Candidate for Vice Chair/Chair Elect of CULD

Karen Hopkins is the Assistant to the Director for Planning and Assessment at the University of Texas at Arlington UTA. She joined the UTA staff in 1977 as Humanities Cataloger. Karen has been an active member of TLA for many years, most recently serving as Chair of the Texas Regional Group of Catalogers and Classifiers and as a member of the 2002 Conference Program Committee.

Statement of Issues: Expanding my understanding of libraries and their influence on society has been the driving focus of my participation in professional groups. I see this opportunity to serve CULD as a way to continue the CULD tradition of finding new ways to provide grants, to influence legislative initiatives, and to collaborate toward better understanding of roles for academic librarians. We need to continue to use our collective wisdom to influence the evolving information forum as well as find new avenues to educate our academic constituencies about our abilities.

For Secretary/Treasurer

Maurice G. Fortin: Candidate for Secretary/Treasurer of CULD

Maurice Fortin is the Library Director of Angelo State University, where he has been since 1996. He has also served on the faculty at the University of North Texas Libraries in several positions. Maurice has served on several TLA committees and has been an elected office in several groups and round tables. Maurice is currently on the Professional Rights, Responsibilities, and Recruitment Activities Committee, the TLA Legislative Committee, and the 2002 Conference Program Committee.

Statement of Issues: I have always felt one should be very active in the profession. To that end, I have served in many capacities within TLA. I hope to use my term as Secretary/Treasurer of CULD to encourage participation in our programs, services, and committees by all members of CULD.
 

Cary Sowell: Candidate for Secretary/Treasurer of CULD

Cary Sowell is the Head Librarian at Austin Community College’s Northridge Campus, a position she has been in since1986. She joined the ACC system in 1975 as a Reference Librarian at the Ridgeview Campus. Cary has been active in CULD, most recently serving as Secretary. She has also served as the Chair of the Community and Junior College Discussion Group.

Statement of issues: I welcome the opportunity to be considered for the position of Secretary/Treasurer of CULD. If elected, I will support the CULD Executive Board and serve the membership by providing an accurate report of Division activities. I believe that advocacy for libraries is a very important issue, and I will continue to support the TLA and CULD legislative efforts on issues affecting libraries and librarians. I also will continue to support and represent issues involving community colleges to the CULD Executive Board.
 

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Send comments to: Edward Kownslar

Copyright 2001, TLA College & University Libraries Division.
Last Updated on February 20, 2002.