Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) National Conference
| Date | 01 June 2005 |
| Pages | 7-8 |
| Published date | 01 June 2005 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419050510613783 |
| Author | Julia Gelfand,Susan Jackson |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Association of College & Research Libraries
(ACRL) National Conference
Julia Gelfand and Susan Jackson
LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 5 2005, pp. 7-8, #Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050510613783 7
The theme, ``Currents and
Convergence: Navigating the Rivers of
Change'' attracted a record number of
attendees to the Association of College
and Research Libraries (ACRL)
Twelfth Annual Conference in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 7-10,
2005. A record number of submitted
papers, presentations, poster sessions
and a full special events program
contributed to a packed schedule over
the three days. The conference had
three main aspects, the pre-conference,
main conference sessions and the
tradeshow with exhibits and vendor
presentations. This meeting offered
seven pre-conferences with themes
ranging from Outcome Assessment
Tools, Middle Management in
Academic Libraries, Copyright,
Information Literacy in the Disciplines
and Institutional Digital Repositories.
The Opening Keynote Session featured
William J. Mitchell, Professor of
Architecture and Media Arts and
Academic Head of Media Arts and
Sciences at MIT and he addressed the
topic, Libraries, Cities, and Networks,
where he demonstrated how changes in
buildings and networks were due to
various applications of technology.
Considering the audience, his examples
were most relevant, with slides showing
the monolithic Los Angeles Public
Library contrasting with an internet hub
in San Jose where the access to
resources may be equally great. The
contrasts of physical space usage with
virtual space usage demonstrates how
building construction requirements and
space planning have changed the entire
sphere of how we function.
Historically, Mitchell took us back
to the old public bath house with its
local well and the kind of networking
and community-building that created
compared to how we live today with
modern plumbing and a more
decentralized model. Today, we can
infer how wireless networks cast the
same shadow on how we do not need to
go anywhere specific to access
information, because we can experience
a more barrier-free environment with
access to content in many buildings
with a keystroke. Exploring the new
collaborations that students engage in
via laptops and PDAs, and the changes
in classroom interactions and teaching
styles forces new relationships with the
entire academic community but also
forges new ideas for architecture and
the sense of space and place that
libraries have become.
``Women of Mystery,'' was the
theme of another keynote session where
a panel of three women mystery writers
participated in a program moderated by
Liane Hansen from National Public
Radio. The three authors were, Carolina
Garcia-Aquilera, J.A. Jance and Valerie
Wilson Wesley and each of them
described the route they took to find
their writing voice and what social
context influenced their writing and
theme development. As mysteries
continue to be of interest to a growing
segment of readers, plot lines thicken
and become more sophisticated, the use
of technology to solve crimes and test
hypotheses is clear and readers expect
good writing, so the challenges of being
a successful author are many.
The final keynote speaker was
Sylvia Hurtado, Professor and Director
of the Higher Research Institute at the
University of California, Los Angeles.
Diversity of college experiences and
student enrollments contributed to a
wide range of experiences post-
September 11. That focus suggested
ways libraries respond to diversity, new
information products and programming
on the campus.
There were several invited paper
sessions where speakers addressed
issues of particular interest to academic
librarians. The first such paper was
delivered by Betsy Barefoot,
Co-Director and Senior Scholar at the
Policy Center of the First Year of
College and she explored the freshman
year experience over time. With
diversity being so great, large classes of
first-generation college educated in the
USA, the range of distance education,
non-resident commuters as well as the
traditional college/university environment
offering different contexts for students,
the opportunities for academic
librarians has never been greater to
participate in influencing that first year
experience.
Roberto Ibarra, Special Assistant for
Diversity Issues at the University of
New Mexico reaffirmed earlier talks
when he spoke about ``A Place to
Belong: The Campus Library as a
Prototype for Context Diversity.'' He
called for the use of ``context diversity''
to create academic climates and
cultures that foster richer relationships
among the participants.
Judith Russell, Superintendent of
Documents, relayed how the work of
the Government Printing Office in its
recent release of ``A Strategic Vision
for the Twenty-First Century,'' is trying
to help each library continue its work in
the development of its digital library.
There were nearly 160 poster
sessions covering all areas of work
engaged in by staff in all kinds of
academic libraries, community
colleges, liberal arts colleges, research
universities, satellite campuses,
distance education models, etc. The
entire span of work conducted in
academic libraries was explored by
different posters, that showcased
subject-based programs, assessment
tools, information products, methods,
bibliographic instruction, technical
service procedures, management
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