ACRL New England Chapter News Online
Winter 2001, No. 92

Linda Collins
Harvard University

The newest addition to the ACRL-NEC Special Interest Groups met for the
first time on Friday, January 12, 2001. Twenty-three professionals
representing all aspects of Access Services met at the Healey Library at
the University of Massachusetts Boston. The Access Services Interest
Group (ASIG) hopes to be a forum for professionals involved in the many
functions of Access Services including but not limited to Circulation,
Reserves, ILL, and Stack Maintenance. Following introductions and a
discussion on the long overlooked need for this type of group, the
planning began.

The group identified the need for a balance of broad discussion, with a
sharing of how things are done in individual libraries. A Program
Committee was formed and a smaller group was appointed to begin working on
a presentation addressing electronic reserves and copyright. Future topics
may include customer service standards and training, the recent trends in
circulation statistics and the effects on staffing, student training,
patron initiated charge-outs and renewals, and building safety and
security.

Volunteers agreed to work on a web page and listserv to keep all members
of the group informed and to reach those who cannot attend meetings.
Anyone interested in joining should contact Linda Collins
(lcollins@fas.harvard.edu), Ellen Royalty (Ellen.Royalty@umb.edu), or
Linda Roscoe (lroscoe@mail.lesley.edu).