| Association for Library Collections & Technical Services Annual Report 2006–2007 | |
| Bruce Chr. Johnson | |
| Bruce Chr. Johnson is Assistant Chief, Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; bjoh@loc.gov | |
The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) celebrated its first fifty years during 2006–2007. This celebration took the form of looking back, assessing where we are today as an association and as a profession, and considering where we would like to see our profession in the years to come. This year was punctuated by great tumult in the collections and technical services fields, and ALCTS focused much of its energies on directive change and professional advocacy. In doing so, the most tangible achievements came in the areas of education, dialog and collaboration, publication, standards creation, and organizational renewal.
ALCTS celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of both the association as well as its flagship scholarly publication, Library Resources & Technical Services (LRTS). The anniversary theme has been “Commemorating the Past, Celebrating the Present, Creating the Future.” An exciting array of events was planned by the ALCTS Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration Committee, ably led by 2002–2003 ALCTS president Olivia M. A. Madison. The following is a synopsis of a few of the anniversary events.
This symposium, held January 19, 2007, in Seattle, Washington, in conjunction with the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting, examined significant changes in scholarly communication, library services, collections, and staffing created by the digital environment. The symposium speakers discussed scholarship in the digital age, new communication models, the future of cooperative technical services and enabling technologies, and the training and education of staff working with digital collections. Statements, intentionally controversial and intended to evoke discussion from the panelists and stimulate audience participation, are the subject of Digiblog, ALCTS’ first Web log.
The speakers and topics at the symposium were:
- Keynote speaker: James Hilton (University of Virginia): “Scholarship in the Digital Age: Opportunities and Challenges”;
- Lorcan Dempsey (OCLC): “Moving to the Network Level: Networks Change Structures”;
- Meg Bellinger (Yale University): “Library Collections and Technical Services in the Digital Age: Perspectives and Predictions for the Profession at the Half-Century Mark”;
- Greg Tananbaum (author and consultant): “Scholarly Communication 2.Oh: New Models of Publishing and Library Services”; and
- Brian Schottlaender (University of California-San Diego), Tom Clareson (PALINET), David Nuzzo (SUNY–Buffalo Library), Oliver Pesch (EBSCO Information Services), and Robert Wolven (Columbia University Libraries).
This day-and-a-half-long conference engaged attendees in a thought-provoking, open, and participatory exchange on the transformation of our work and the profession. Presenters and attendees collaborated to explore the challenges we face and to develop a vision of the future roles of collections and technical services librarians. Participants were enriched and energized by this experience. After the three plenary session speakers, attendees had an opportunity to discuss how the issues and insights the speakers offered will affect the future of technical services. These sessions, led by an outstanding group of facilitators, provided a forum to explore the challenges we face and to develop a vision of the future roles of collections and technical services librarians.
The plenary session speakers and topics were:
- Richard Lanham: “The Two Markets: Libraries in an Attention Economy”;
- David Lankes: “Collecting Conversations in a Massive Scale World”;
- Dianne van der Reyden: “Preservation at the Library of Congress”; and
- Stephen Abram: “Social Libraries: The Librarian 2.0 Phenomenon.”
Peter Morville is author of Ambient Findability and president and founder of Semantic Studios, a leading information architecture, user experience, and findability consultancy. He is widely recognized as a father of the information architecture field, and he serves as a passionate advocate for the critical role that findability plays in defining the user experience.
Many of the issues that ALCTS explored this year did not lend themselves to longer-range program planning. The association now is using the forum construct to allow for open discussion of hot issues with very short planning timelines. The following is a listing of forums from the 2007 Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. Details for forums at the 2007 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., were not finalized at the time that this report was being written.
- “Collection Management and Development Section Forum on Collecting E-Resources Use Data: Outsource or In-house?”
- “Disaster Recovery Forum”
- “Forum on Library Education”
- “Forum on Non-English Access”
- “Forum on the Future of Cataloging”
- “Publisher Vendor Relations Open Forum: Libraries and University Presses Working Together?”
- “Resource Description and Access (RDA) Update Forum”
- “Ripped from the Headlines”
ALCTS CE falls broadly into two categories: workshops intended to introduce practitioners to basic and intermediate skills, and workshops and events focused on emerging trends in the profession. Nineteen workshops, institutes, preconferences, and Web-based courses were successfully offered a number of times during 2006–2007. Participant feedback was consistently very positive. The CE events were:
- ALCTS National Conference (Washington, D.C., June 20–21, 2007);
- Basic Collection Development and Management Workshop (Philadelphia, March 22–23, 2007);
- Basic Creation of Name and Title Authorities Workshop (Chicago, April 30–May 1, 2007);
- Basic Subject Cataloging Using LCSH Workshop (Washington, D.C., April 4–6, 2007);
- Comprehensive Series Training (Washington, D.C., June 21, 2007);
- Definitely Digital–Midwinter Meeting Symposium (Seattle, January 19, 2007);
- Digital Project Management Basics Workshop (Chicago, December 8, 2006);
- Fundamentals of Acquisitions, a Web-based course (July 10–August 4, 2006; August 28–September 22, 2006; October 16-November 10, 2006; February 12–March 9, 2007; May 21–June 15, 2007);
- Fundamentals of Library of Congress Classification Workshop (Washington, D.C., June 21, 2007);
- Map and Geography Round Table (MAGERT) Rare, Antiquarian, or Just Plain Old: Cataloging Pre-Twentieth Century Cartographic Resources Pre-conference (Washington, D.C., June 21, 2007);
- Managing the Multigenerational Workplace: Practical Techniques Preconference (Washington, D.C., June 22, 2007);
- Metadata and Digital Library Development Workshop (Washington D.C., July 17–18, 2006; Chicago, December 11–12, 2006; Seattle, January 17–18, 2007);
- Metadata Standards and Applications Workshop (Chicago, July 24–25, 2006; Syracuse, N.Y., April 19–20, 2007);
- Principles of Controlled Vocabularies and Thesaurus Design Workshop (Washington, D.C., April 12–13, 2007);
- Rules and Tools for Cataloging Internet Resources Workshop (Chicago, April 16–17, 2007)
- A Supervisor's Academy: Essentials of Supervision for the Professional Librarian (Richmond, Va., June 7–8, 2007);
- Technical Services Management: Generational and Workflow Issues Pre-conference (Washington, D.C., June 22, 2007);
- What They Don't Teach in Library School: Competencies, Education, and Employer Expectations for a Career in Cataloging Pre-conference (Washington, D.C., June 22, 2007); and
- Workflow Analysis, Redesign, and Implementation: Integrating the Complexities of Electronic Resources in the Digital Age Pre-conference (Washington, D.C., June 22, 2007).
Additional workshops are being developed by various ALCTS groups, some in collaboration with outside groups, such as the Program for Cooperative Cataloging and the Cataloger's Learning Workshop. Although several of this year's workshops were delivered in a distance learning mode, there is considerable interest and volunteer investment in broadening additional opportunities to make them available to many more for whom face-to-face workshops are less than optimal. These efforts are being pursued concurrently with an exploration of a more curricular approach to continuing education.
The ALCTS publishing program is flourishing. A new volume on business resources appeared in the Sudden Selector Series, and several new titles in the ALCTS Papers series were issued. In addition to the new print publications, a number of new online resources became available.
New titles and series included:
- Commemorating Our Past, Celebrating Our Present, Creating Our Future: Papers in Observance of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services;
- Managing Electronic Resources: Contemporary Problems and Emerging Issues;
- Perspectives on Serials in the Hybrid Environment;
- The Preservation Manager's Guide to Cost Analysis;
- Salsa de Tópicos/Subjects in SALSA: Spanish and Latin American Subject Access; and
- Sudden Selector's Guide to Business Resources (Sudden Selectors Series/Collection Management and Development Section).
Forthcoming titles and series include:
- Bound Right: A Librarians Guide to Managing Commercial Binding Activities;
- Copy Cataloging Done Smarter: Using PCC Records in Non-PCC Libraries; and
- Guide to the ANSI/NISO/LBI Standard for Library Binding.
Web publications included:
- Guidelines for Cataloging Record Sets: Reproductions (Microform and Electronic) and Original Sets.
In addition, ALCTS Newsletter Online (ANO) Editor Mary Beth Weber has done an outstanding job this year in enhancing both the content and format of our online newsletter. Initiatives included:
- The format was expanded to enable readers to read or print an entire issue in one continuous display.
- Author guidelines are included with the masthead and editorial policy.
- A listing of all submission deadlines for the year now is included in each issue of ANO. This includes regular features, such as Sage Support Staff Travel Grant reports, International Federation of Library Associations and Organizations (IFLA) reports, and conference announcements and post-conference reports.
- The “Looking Ahead” feature (a calendar of upcoming conferences and events) now includes a note that reports from that events listed in the calendar are welcome, as are additions to the calendar.
During the 2004–2005 year, ALCTS raised its personal and institutional membership dues by $10 per year. This increase was intended to fully fund the association's ongoing operation. We have had two years to assess this change's impact, and membership levels have held steady while ALCTS has essentially achieved a balanced budget for the first time in several years.
The Organization and Bylaws Committee this past year proposed the removal of section names and objectives from the ALCTS Bylaws, a change that was subsequently ratified by an ALCTS membership vote. This is a significant move, because it now gives section leaders the ability to more easily and efficiently revise and update their names and mission statements to reflect current goals, emphases, and values. In a time when rapidly changing technologies play such a pivotal role in shaping the environment in which we work, our organization and all its parts must be empowered to move forward at a similar pace in defining ourselves and our purpose.
The Library of Congress's (LC) spring 2006 series authorities announcement triggered discussion about what role LC should play in the cataloging world as well as what role ALCTS and ALA should play in shaping the future of cataloging. It was clear in analyzing 2006’s events that ALCTS was unprepared for the dynamics of cataloging change.
In response to this reality, the ALCTS board commissioned the Cataloging and Classification Section (CCS) Executive Committee to analyze change in the profession, particularly with an eye toward what the association should be doing about it. The resulting studies, “ALCTS and the Future of Bibliographic Control: Challenges, Actions, and Values” and “Overview of the Next Steps Documents Developed by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) Sections (Acquisitions, Cataloging and Classification, Collection Management and Development, Preservation and Reformatting, and Serials) and the ALCTS Council of Regional Groups,” came to be known generically as the “Next Steps” documents.1 They served as catalysts for an association-wide discussion of professional advocacy and what steps ALCTS must take to exert a more proactive leadership role in driving professional change. Although many more questions than answers were raised in the course of this discussion, many of the conclusions are being incorporated into the ALCTS strategic plan as tactical initiatives.
Closely related to this analysis of ALCTS leadership roles, the association actively engaged in the work of LC's Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control.2 Two of the working group's three ALA members are ALCTS members (ALCTS councilor Diane Dates Casey and 1997–98 ALCTS president Janet Swan Hill), and the association is providing written testimony for each of the working groups’ public hearings.
The revision of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd edition (AACR2) has now ceased, and development of an entirely new descriptive analysis and access code, Resource Description and Access (RDA), has taken its place. This change has come in part in response to a heightened awareness that traditional cataloging codes must be relevant in the rapidly evolving metadata world. In addition to on-going standards development work, ALCTS held two forums to allow membership to keep pace with changes and provide feedback and input. The Cataloging and Classification Section also has taken steps to establish an RDA Implementation Task Force.
The Task Force on Non-English Access finished its work and reported its conclusions to the membership. Public comment was received and incorporated into the task force's final report, with eleven recommendations for further action.3 The task force and its chair, Beth Picknally Camden, are to be commended for their diligent work and their extraordinary, clearly presented call for practical solutions that can be implemented.
Digital preservation and curation issues now are being actively explored in ALCTS. The new electronic discussion list, DIGIPRES, was launched in February and, as of this writing (May 2007), has nearly one thousand participants around the globe. The list's announcement read in part:
PARS’ new discussion list, DIGIPRES, is dedicated to digital preservation and invites you to join. For purposes of clarity, a working definition of digital preservation is included in this invitation: “Digital preservation combines policies, strategies and actions that ensure access to information in digital formats over time.” Subscribe to the new list at http://lists.ala.org/wws/info/digipres by clicking on the Subscribe button in the left-hand column.
The Serials Section (SS) voted to change its name to the Serials and E-Resources Section at the 2007 ALA Annual Conference. The Union List of Serials Committee changed its name to “Committee on Holdings Information.” It also developed a new charge:
To address and study matters relating to holding information, with special attention to standards, use, and functionality in the exchange and use of holdings information in and among systems. The committee is further charged with recommending and participating in the development of standards and best practices and with communication and promoting the application and use of these. The Committee's interests include the application of holdings information wherever it appears, including local, group, and union catalogs, and union lists.
The following awards were presented at the 2007 ALA Annual Conference:
- ALCTS Outstanding Collaboration Citation: CLOCKSS.
- Banks/Harris Preservation Award: Walter Henry (Stanford University Libraries).
- Best of LRTS: Jim Stemper (University of Minnesota Libraries) and Susan Barribeau (University of Wisconsin Libraries in Madison).
- Blackwell's Scholarship Award: the late Ross Atkinson.
- CSA/Ulrich's Serials Librarianship Award: Julia Blixrud (Association of Research Libraries).
- Esther J. Piercy Award: Robert L. Bothmann (Minnesota State University, Mankato).
- First Step Award: Paula Webb (Delta State University).
- Leadership in Library Acquisitions: Nancy Gibbs (Duke University).
- Margaret Mann Citation: Robert Wolven (Columbia University).
- Ross Atkinson Lifetime Achievement Award: Brian Schottlaender (University of California, San Diego Libraries).
- Sage Support Staff Travel Grants: Monica Claassen-Wilson (Kansas University), Julia Merkel (James Madison University), Audrey Pryce (Bank Street College of Education), Nancy Slate (Mamie Doud Eisenhower Public Library), LaShawn Wilson (Auburn University), and Siu Min Yu (Rice University).
As ALCTS enters its second fifty years, its members find the profession in a period of rapid and dynamic change. ALCTS is committed to exerting leadership through education, dialog and collaboration, publication, standards creation, professional advocacy, and organizational renewal. Our greatest strength lies with our members’ creativity and dedication. The future has never been brighter … or more uncertain. That said, together we will prevail and flourish.
References
| 1. | ALCTS Cataloging and Classification Section Executive Committee, “ALCTS and the Future of Bibliographic Control: Challenges, Actions, and Values” (Oct. 3, 2006), www.ala.org/ala/alctscontent/alctspubsbucket/bibcontrol/NextSteps2006.pdf (accessed May 25, 2007); “Overview of the Next Steps Documents Developed by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) Sections (Acquisitions, Cataloging and Classification, Collection Management and Development, Preservation and Reformatting, and Serials) and the ALCTS Council of Regional Groups” (Apr. 12, 2007), www.ala.org/ala/alctscontent/alctspubsbucket/bibcontrol/NextSteps2007.pdf (access May 25, 2007) |
| 2. | Library of Congress Task Force on the Future of Bibliographic Control, www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future (accessed May 25, 2007) |
| 3. | Task Force on Non-English Access: Report (Sept. 18, 2006, revised March 16, 2007), www.ala.org/ala/alcts/newslinks/currentissues/nonenglishaccess/Non-EnglishReport07.pdf (accessed May 25, 2007) |
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