Contents
ACRL/NEC Welcomes New Board Members!
1999 Spring Conference Report
President's Annual Report, 1998-1999
ACRL/NEC Membership Tops 1,200!
Preservation/Conservation Interest Group
Focuses on Non-Print Media
Information Technology Interest Group Holds First
Meeting
Business Librarians’ and Women’s Studies
Interest Groups Explore Gender and Management Styles
Save the Date
ACRL/NEC Welcomes New Board Members!
A warm welcome and congratulations to the newly elected officers. They are Harvey Varnet, Vice President/President-Elect; Brinley Franklin, Treasurer; and Louise Buckley, Member-at-Large. The chapter thanks Jane Hedberg and her nominating committee for their work in presenting an excellent slate of candidates and for overseeing the election process. I look forward to working with them to meet the needs of the chapter members.
--Laura Walters
President
Marketing for the Millennium: The UCONN Experience and Beyond
March 19, 1999
Meeting on the final day of winter, members and non-members of ACRL/NEC were treated to a warm reception at the Dodd Research Center on the University of Connecticut’s Storrs campus. Even as UCONN staff were following their men’s basketball team’s journey to the Final Four, the conference attendees were looking for information, advice, models and encouragement as they journeyed towards the millennium.
Doris Ann Sweet, outgoing ACRL/NEC President, opened the program by thanking the UCONN program planning committee for their determination and hard work in making this conference memorable. Doris was followed by Paul Kobulnicky, Vice Chancellor for Information Services and University Librarian, who introduced the conference theme, "Marketing for the Millennium: The UCONN Experience and Beyond." Paul briefly explored the concept that marketing is simply a service, adding value to what we already give to our patrons. Keynote speaker Camila Alire, Dean, University Libraries, Colorado State University, expanded upon Paul’s opening remarks by presenting, "What’s Up with the ‘M’ Word? Marketing Services of the Academic Library."
The panel discussion, "Keeping Up with the Times: Marketing Academic Libraries in a Changing Environment," was moderated by Scott Kennedy, Area Head, Research & Information Services and Chair of the Liaison Advisory Team, and featured Francine DeFranco, Education Liaison Librarian and Chair of the User Team; Richard Fyffe, Area Head, Collection Services; and Darlene Waller, Political Science Liaison Librarian and Latin American Specialist, all from the UCONN Libraries.
After lunch the group moved to the handsome Homer Babbidge Library where four simultaneous break-out sessions were held: 1) "Ownership and Access in a Global Information Economy," presented by Richard Fyffe, Susan Martin, Acquisitions Librarian, UCONN Libraries, and Susan Spiggle, Professor and Head of the Marketing Department at UCONN’s School of Business; 2) "Market Research: Analyzing the Data, Implementing Results," presented by Francine DeFranco and Brinley Franklin, Director of Library Services, UCONN; 3) "Selling the Library/Buying the Library: Dual Perspectives," presented by Barbara Cervera, Psychology Liaison Librarian, UCONN, and Etan J. Markus, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, UCONN; and 4) "Accountability? Evaluating and Measuring Our Successes," presented by Terry Plum, Network Services Librarian, UCONN, and Darlene Waller. The break-out session reports and wrap up were steered by Scott Kennedy.
Keynote Address
Camila Alire’s opening remarks spoke to the library world’s concern, confusion, and utilization of marketing principles. Camila emphasized that it is not enough (anymore) to rely upon faculty and students to come to the library. She asserted that academic libraries have become very complacent, because heretofore there have never been competitors on campuses. But with the recent emergence of information technology departments, shrinking budgets, and outsourcing, how we present ourselves and our services has become critical.
Using Philip Cutler’s four P’s of marketing--product, price, place, and promotion--Camila outlined how to incorporate these principles into the marketing of academic libraries. Marketing should be interwoven into the strategic planning process by identifying what should be promoted and how, who is the targeted audience, what type of outreach is needed, and how to evaluate existing services. Drawing on Boon and Kuse’s five objectives of promotion, Camila then focused on the promotional functions of marketing: to provide information to consumers (students, faculty, etc.), increase demand, differentiate between products (services, databases, etc.), accentuate a particular product, and stabilize sales (sustaining and increasing consumers).
In closing her presentation she recognized that theory may stimulate discussion, but practicality elicits action. Among other things, Camila urged librarians to stay abreast of cutting edge activities in academic libraries and academic research; be visible on campus; use our facilities for functions both related and not related to the library; listen to users without becoming defensive; publish information about unique, different, or new services or resources in student and staff publications; and notify users when difficulties are anticipated.
Panel Discussion on Marketing Academic Libraries in a Changing Environment
Darlene Waller’s theme for the first portion of the panel discussion was "Target Markets: Segmenting by Discipline." Focusing on UCONN’s Academic Liaison Program, Darlene described how the program was designed to create targeted microcosms with solid bases of trust between the consumers (students, faculty, staff) and librarians. The "anatomy" of an academic liaison includes acting as a department’s primary contact and facilitating communication; understanding and representing a department’s needs; and incorporating information access skills, knowledge of subject matter, and skill in promoting libraries. With the liaison program the library has changed from a reactive to a proactive role, communication has been strengthened, and there has been a solidifying of loyalties within the campus community.
Francine DeFranco’s presentation, "Marketing Research: Purpose and Process," stressed the importance of continual assessment of services, collections, equipment and facilities. Assessment provides measures of accountability, suggests new approaches or initiatives, and, most importantly, positively positions libraries to pursue resources and services valued by users. Francine outlined steps for conducting market research. These include establishing regular opportunities for user assessment, communicating survey results to staff and users, developing opportunities for library staff to share information about library services to ensure optimal marketing effect, and incorporating marketing research into everyday decision-making. The expected outcomes of using marketing research methods within an academic library are identification and development of products and services to meet user needs, more confidence in decision-making, and increased ability to attract resources and users.
The final panel speaker was Richard Fyffe, who presented "Marketing Informed Choice: Faculty and Librarians in the Information Marketplace." Briefly discussing the difference in cultures between a library (a gift economy) and a market economy, Richard then focused on collaborative partnerships between librarians and faculty. As consumers and controllers of resources, librarians need to measure use value against cost and be able to say no to high costs and unacceptable terms for acquiring resources. The faculty, as producers of information, must rethink how and where they publish, the role of editorial and review boards, and the effects of traditional copyright assignments. The faculty must be supportive of the decisions that librarians make as consumers, and as both consumers and producers, the scholarly community needs to control how their information is marketed and disseminated.
Concurrent Break Out Sessions
Ownership and Access in a Global Information Economy
Richard Fyffe revisited a point he made during the morning, namely that print purchases are regulated by copyright, but electronic purchases are regulated by the terms of the license negotiated with the vendor of the product. Because librarians must comply with the vendor’s terms on restriction, fair use, and confidentiality, the implications for licensing decisions in the current electronic environment are much more complicated than those associated with purchase of print materials. Following Richard, Susan Martin emphasized the importance of having written guidelines for the licensing process. UCONN has a written set of guidelines, which serve to clarify who the users of the product are, geographical usage areas involved within the university, and UCONN’s stance on liability, fair use, and issues of confidentiality and privacy. Once the vendor’s license agreement passes through the directives in the guidelines, then Susan considers cost, vendor reputation, and product flexibility. Finally, Professor Susan Spiggle emphasized how important it is for librarians to consider both the media and the message when trying to convey the realities of today’s information marketplace to the constituents of the university. She recommended the use of a clearly written summary of the product’s content and emphasized the need to convince faculty that their influence is important when trying to negotiate licenses.
Market Research: Analyzing the Data, Implementing Results
A very informative session with Francine DeFranco and Brinley Franklin began with an overview of how the collection and analysis of data on user needs plays a significant role in their strategic planning process and development as a learning organization. Francine described the role of the User Team in identifying what information is needed and which survey method will provide the required data. Reviewing the data and selecting appropriate methods of analysis are the next steps in the process. Methods for reporting and communicating results include handouts, newspaper articles, Web reports, or presentations by librarian liaisons. Deciding how to implement the results obtained by the User Team is the responsibility of the Leadership Council. Brinley demonstrated the use of a matrix to plot survey results into four areas: high satisfaction, low use; high satisfaction, high use; low satisfaction, low use; and low satisfaction, high use. Armed with this information, the Leadership Council is then able to identify high use, low satisfaction areas in collections, services, and facilities where it makes the most sense to implement changes.
Selling the Library/Buying the Library: Dual Perspectives
A stimulating and fun presentation about the UCONN Academic Liaison program from the perspectives of a librarian and a faculty member was presented by librarian liaison Barbara Cervera and Professor Etan Markus from the Psychology Department. Both were very positive about the liaison program and saw its greatest benefit as facilitating communication by providing a single point of contact. Conversely, both were frustrated because no one person can supply the subject expertise that such a multifaceted discipline requires for collection development. To illustrate how the liaison program works, Barbara and Etan described the difficult process of making journal cuts in 1995 and 1997. Both stressed the need for communication in the process and remarked that it is unfortunate that cutting journals is one of the most effective ways to get the attention of faculty! Desktop access to databases and involvement with the SPARC initiatives to return scholars’ and educational institutions’ rights to their own work were also discussed. Faculty appreciate being able to use databases in their offices, but they are sometimes frustrated by databases that are not designed to conform to their way of doing research. Etan also commented that faculty who are working toward tenure are highly unlikely to refuse to submit their manuscripts to journals being "boycotted" through SPARC.
Accountability? Evaluating and Measuring Our Successes
Terry Plum and Darlene Waller provided an overview of selected practices used by UCONN Libraries to measure and collect user satisfaction with various electronic resources. Criteria for performance measures derived from ISO 11620, IFLA Guidelines, and ARL Selected Ratios were highlighted. These measurements can point to areas of possible change, as data collection and analysis are routine and data are commensurable. To illustrate the techniques for measuring and analyzing the performance of electronic resources, Terry and Darlene compared two full-text journal sources, JSTOR and ACS, and two full-text databases, Academic Universe and IAC. Darlene then provided examples of how the academic liaison creates an action plan and provides a set of data necessary to implement the plan. Darlene and Terry concluded their session by discussing several criteria that are missing from performance measures, such as the quality of interactions (e.g. searching), patron’s time and successes, and scenarios such as a patron looking for a particular electronic journal or a faculty member using ILL.
Breakout Session Reports and Wrap Up
Scott Kennedy moderated the breakout session reports and it was evident that UCONN’s experience with marketing their libraries had been challenging and educational, filled with exciting and at times scary choices. But the choices UCONN made have positioned them to face the millennium with confidence and vision. And from the tenor of the conference attendees as they headed home, it was apparent that they felt armed with new and perhaps radical information that they too could use to positively position themselves and their libraries for the millennium. UCONN staff have made conference presentations and other materials available at http://www.lib.uconn.edu/its/acrl_ne/.
--Regina Raboin
Tufts University
The New England Chapter was both active and productive in 1998-99,providing quality programming throughout the year, working hard to enhance communication with members, sponsoring a salary survey and furthering relationships with other organizations. The board also acted on various administrative issues for the chapter. Interest groups continued to play a vital role in carrying out the chapter’s mission and a new interest group for Information Technology was launched.
Laura Walters and her program committee developed an outstanding fall conference on changing library organizations, "Inside, Outside/Upside, Downside." Maureen Sullivan, President of ACRL, and Shelley Phipps led a highly successful pre-conference, an "Introduction to Facilitation Skills" workshop for 50 participants. The spring conference, developed by staff at the University of Connecticut in conjunction with the program committee, focused on marketing for libraries, drawing on the Connecticut experience and featuring Camila Alire as the keynote speaker.
NEBIC sponsored "sold out" programs on electronic classrooms and electronic reserves. The Continuing Education Committee, chaired by Margaret Manion, sponsored three programs: "Managing Difficult Patrons" and second iterations of "Electronic Classrooms" and "Electronic Reserves." The richness and diversity of interest group programming is quite astounding. A few examples: a visit to the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, with a program on the Lowell mill women; a visit to the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University; "Business Web Page Design;" "Management Styles: Do Men and Women Differ?;" "Digitization of Library Materials as Collection Development;" and at the Library and Archives of the New Hampshire Political Tradition in Concord, New Hampshire, the topic, "Books, Etc: The Battle to Gain Control of Non-Print Media." NEBIC has developed its own Web pages and has plans to make this a very useful site to anyone interested in bibliographic instruction. A new interest group for Information Technology was proposed by Julie Linden and approved by the board.
The chapter Web site blossomed this year under the hand of Webmaster Andrew White. The board sponsored Andrew’s participation in an online course on making a Web site accessible, in an effort to make sure our homepages are as user friendly to the greatest number of visitors as possible. Issues of the newsletter are now published on the Web site, and appear well in advance of the printed version. The articles and announcements include convenient links to relevant sites and e-mail addresses.
The Publicity Committee Co-Chairs, Marilyn Steinberg and Sarah Wenzel,developed guidelines for a chapter e-mail list, identified a list home, a list owner and a moderator. The list is now in operation, hosted at Boston University by Paula Carey, and moderated by Member-at-Large Marilyn McSweeney. If you haven’t joined yet, send the following command in the body of your e-mail message to majordomo@bu.edu: subscribe acrlnec-l and your e-mail address. The list allows timely announcements of programs and other important ACRL/NEC information and is a limited scope, low traffic list. Your in-box will not be filled with mail from this list!
The existence of an e-mail list for the chapter led the board to consider whether the newsletter could be published exclusively on the Web site. Notification to members of a new edition can now be accomplished through the list, and the major advantages would be a significant cost saving and faster delivery. Before making this definitive decision, however, the board is seeking broad member opinion on the impact of eliminating a print edition. Editor Maggie Bartley has developed a survey questionnaire that was distributed at the spring conference and will be distributed at the spring interest group programs to elicit member feedback.
Herb Carson, of the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, carried out a salary survey of non-ARL New England academic libraries under the sponsorship of the chapter. A total of 52 libraries participated, and each of these received a copy of the survey results. A few copies remain for sale and can be obtained by sending a check for $10 made out to ACRL/NEC to: Herbert Carson, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Assistant to the Director for Regional Studies, Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, University of Rhode Island, Rodman Hall, Suite 2, 94 West Alumni Avenue, Kingston, RI 02881.
Several years ago, chapter officers spent much time and energy in a process that finally led to tax exempt status on the federal level for the organization. This year Treasurer Debbie Wilcox applied for tax exempt status for ACRL/NEC in Massachusetts. It was granted just in time for the fall conference, saving the chapter almost $1000. Good timing, Debbie!
The board has discussed membership issues, including recruitment of new members and clarification of membership questions. Membership Chair Laurie Sabol is developing plans to more actively recruit student members at library schools in the region. While interest group members are not required to be members of the chapter, interest group chairs will make sure that membership information and applications are available at their meetings and programs. Spring and fall conference registration forms now highlight the financial advantage of becoming a member to receive a lower registration rate. Other strategies for recruiting members will continue to be on the board's agenda.
Relationships with other organizations can benefit ACRL/NEC members in various ways and gain publicity for the chapter. Marilyn McSweeney acted as liaison to the academic section of the New England Library Association this year, and the result will be co-sponsorship of a program at the NELA fall 1999 conference. This arrangement will allow ACRL/NEC members to register at the NELA rate. The chapter also was a sponsor, for the second year in a row, of the Massachusetts Historical Records Advisory Board Forum.
Finally, I want to express what a pleasure it has been for me to play a part in carrying out the business of ACRL/NEC. The fact that such a vigorous organization is run entirely by volunteers is a tribute to the spirit and talent of research and academic librarians in New England. If you are interested in becoming more involved in the work of the chapter, you should know that participation can happen on many levels. Please let President Laura Walters (lwalters@infonet.tufts.edu) or Vice President Harvey Varnet (hvarnet@vmsvax.simmons.edu) know if you would like to become more active in the chapter; if you would like to become involved in an interest group, contact the chair of the group. The rewards of participation are great--you won't be sorry!
--Doris Ann Sweet
Past President
Since taking over the duties of membership chair last fall, I've spent a lot of time on the membership database. With over 1,200 individual members, keeping the database current is a never-ending job! I want to thank all of you who have responded to the pink form I sent a few months ago asking for your current mailing address. If any of the following circumstances apply to you, please contact me as soon as possible:
Invariably, when people register for conferences and workshops for which there is a registration fee, confusion arises about the mysterious "institutional membership" category. Briefly stated, there is none! If your library is receiving ACRL/NEC mailings, it's because, as a courtesy--and one that we are happy to provide--your library's name and address are in the membership database. However, although the category of institutional membership does not exist for the New England Chapter of ACRL, ACRL National does offer institutional memberships.
I count on you to spread the word about benefits of membership in the New England Chapter to your friends and colleagues who aren't among the initiated. We are especially trying to recruit new members from the scores of library science students in the area. At only $5 a year for all membership benefits, this is a great deal for prospective librarians, not to mention a chance to network. For tips on how you can be an honorary liaison between ACRL/NEC and potential new members in your library, your region, or your state, please be in touch with me. Also feel free to make copies of the membership form and distribute them. Do not hesitate to be in touch with me if I can help with any membership questions.
--Laurie Sabol, Chair, Membership Committee
Tisch Library at Tufts University
(617) 627-5167
LSABOL@tufts.edu
The chapter’s Preservation/Conservation Interest Group held its spring meeting entitled, "Books, Etc: The Battle to Gain Control of Non-Print Media," on March 25 at the Library and Archives of the New Hampshire Political Tradition in Concord, New Hampshire. Michael York, Librarian, began the meeting with an overview of the Archives of the New Hampshire Political Tradition, which collects materials in a wide range of formats to document the presidential primary and politics in New Hampshire. His presentation was followed by five speakers who discussed administrative issues and solutions for handling non-print media in libraries: Barbara Sagraves, Preservation Administrator, and Eric Alstrom, Conservator, of Dartmouth College Library; and Oliver Cutshaw, Binding Librarian, Nancy Schrock, Chief Collections Conservator, and Beth Doyle, Conservation Intern, from Harvard College Library.
The administrative issues concerning non-print media focus on access, security, and use. Separating media from text seems to provide the most effective solutions for both storage and preservation because the media can be better controlled,especially for special collections such as music. For large libraries with diverse collections, the problems become more complex as books and serials arrive with accompanying media. Processing units and preservation departments are called upon to provide housing that will keep these materials together.
The in-house solutions for housing media ranged from off-the-shelf boxes to adaptations of library bindings and in-house enclosures. Although there was some question about how much money should be allocated to housing items that have a life span of twenty years (if they are not stolen or become readable only on obsolete equipment before then), there was consensus that vinyl should be replaced immediately. Acceptable storage materials included polypropylene, Tyvek, acid-free paper, and Mylar (where static is not an issue). Commercial binders such as Acme and Bridgeport have developed inserts of Plastizote for phase boxes to accommodate media. CMI makes custom sized acid-free corrugated boxes with spacers for media. In-house examples included inserts of acid-free corrugated board or Volara foam, and envelopes of paper, Tyvek, and polyethylene within pamphlet binders.
Copies of the program handouts can be found online. For an overview of administrative issues, see "Those Pesky Accompanying Materials" at http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/. The archival issues are presented in three Conserve O Grams published by the National Park Service and available at http://www.cr.nps.gov/csd/publications/conserveogram/cons_toc.html. These are 19/8 "Preservation of Magnetic Media," 19/19 "Care of Archival Compact Discs," and 19/20 "Care of Archival and Magnetic Media." Also helpful is the NEDCC Manual at http://www.nedcc.org/manhome.htm.
At the business portion of the meeting, the Preservation/Conservation Interest Group agreed on the topic for a fall 1999 meeting in Boston--a talk on conservation and preservation supplies to be followed by guided tours to stores carrying specialty items for conservation. We also compiled a list of future topics, which included disaster recovery, treatment of leather (a review of current techniques, possibly with demonstrations), and selection and preparation of materials for digitization.
If you would like to be placed on the mailing list for future meetings of the Preservation/Conservation Interest Group, contact Barbara Sagraves at Dartmouth College Library, Hanover, NH 03755, or at barbara.sagraves@dartmouth.edu.
--Nancy Schrock
Harvard University
The Information Technology Interest Group (ITIG) held its first meeting on February 5th. Officers were chosen, each for a one-year term (the first group of officers will serve through June 2000). Julie Linden (UMass Amherst) will serve as chair, Colleen Anderson (Bryant College) as vice-chair, and Charity Hope (UMass Amherst) as secretary. To date, ITIG has over 75 members.
ITIG plans to offer two major programs a year, one in the fall and one in the spring. The first spring program is "Electronic Reserves: Experiences from the Pioneers," co-sponsored with ACRL/NEC’s Continuing Education Committee at UMass Lowell on May 26.
The group's other current project is the development of a resource directory of technology experts, a list of ACRL/NEC members who volunteer to consult informally with other members on selected technology issues. The resource directory promises to become a valuable tool for information sharing across institutions. We need volunteers to work on this project, which is currently coordinated by Charity Hope. Contact Charity (chope@library.umass.edu) for more information and to get involved.
Our next meeting is on May 10, 1999, from 10:00 -1:00 at Bryant College in Smithfield, Rhode Island. The agenda includes planning for the fall program,appointing a Webmaster, planning for informal discussion groups on technology topics, and discussing the progress of the resource directory.
There has been no shortage of project and program ideas for this new group, and so there's plenty of work to do! Please consider becoming an active member of ITIG; we welcome your ideas, suggestions, expertise, and skills. For meeting minutes and for more information about programs and projects,visit the ITIG web site at http://www.bates.edu/acrlnec/sigs/itig/.
--Julie Linden
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The Women's Studies Interest Group and the Business Librarians' Interest Group held their first joint program at the Boston University School of Management on April 23, 1999. The topic, "do the management styles of men and women differ?" is one that is of great interest to both fields. The speakers, Dr. Gary Powell of the University of Connecticut and Dr. Francine Hall of the University of New Hampshire differed in the styles and contents of their presentations in informative and agreeable ways. Both Dr. Powell and Dr. Hall have written extensively in their fields, and their books and articles are widely available.
Dr. Powell presented the findings of his research on the glass ceiling, that "subtle, strong barrier that is so strong that it prevents people from rising beyond a certain level because of non-job relevant personal qualities." He and his colleague, Tony Butterfield, found that far fewer women apply for promotions than men, but that when they do, they are proportionately more likely to get promotions. They concluded from this that women's belief in the glass ceiling prevents them from applying for promotions. The factors that had the greatest significance for promotion were not gender, race, or age, but whether the applicant was an insider to the department and the number of years of work experience. Insider status was a plus, but work experience was a minus. Because the study was carried out in only one organization, and it is one that is committed to anti-discriminatory policies, the findings are not conclusive, but they are provocative. They sparked a lively discussion about the effect of the perceived glass ceiling, differences in attitudes between younger and older women in the work force, and the methods that researchers use to get information for studies on sensitive topics.
Dr. Hall spoke about Janusian leadership, the ability to hold two opposing perspectives at one time. Gender is a social construct in which boys and girls have traditionally learned to interact differently. Boys learn to play in teams where competition is integral to games and to bonding. Girls learn to play in groups where bonding is based on fostering relationships. Men and women bring these socialized characteristics with them to the workplace, carrying on in roles that they learned as children. She made the point that encouraging girls to take part in organized team sports helps them in later life to interact with men at work. Dr. Hall used anecdotes from her own lifelong experience as a woman in the men's world of business education to illustrate her points about the differences in male and female socialization. She emphasized the importance for successful women to guide younger colleagues away from the stereotypical female roles of service and nurturing if they are to succeed in that world. However, in the spirit of Janusian leadership, the ability to engage in both competitive gamesmanship and cooperative relationships is crucial to the creation of balanced, successful organizations. There was a general discussion about how much, or little, gender socialization has changed over the years and the effect the changes are having on family life.
The sixteen attendees at the meeting participated comfortably in the discussions after the presentations and during the break. The Boston University School of Management building, which has a very "corporate "feel" to it, contributed to the spirit of the meeting. Thanks to Carol West, Dave McChesney, and Andree Rathemacher of the BLIG and J. Christina Smith and Sarah Mitchell of WSIG for presenting a very successful program.
--Christina Bellinger
University of New Hampshire