Site Contents
24 Sep 2003
C. Judson King
Provost and Senior Vice-President – Academic Affairs
University of California
1111 Franklin #12102
Oakland, CA 94607-5200
Dear Provost King,
Now that my term as President of the Librarians Association of UC (LAUC) has ended, I thought it might be useful for you to receive a report on the past year’s LAUC activities.
In 2002/2003, LAUC officers, Assembly delegates, and members discussed, debated and came to agreement or consensus on a wide range of important issues and concerns related to LAUC’s mission, to advise the University on professional and governance matters of concern to librarians, and to advise the Office of the President on the following (other than those issues covered by the Memorandum of Understanding with the AFT):
In 2002/2003, LAUC concerned itself with a number of significant topics, including information literacy, the LAUC Position Papers, the Distinguished designation for librarians, the USA PATRIOT Act, and LAUC Awards.
INFORMATION LITERACY
In Spring 2002, delegates to the LAUC Assembly passed a resolution regarding information literacy <http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/committees/iltf/il.doc>. In Fall 2002, in keeping with this resolution, LAUC established an Information Literacy Task Force with a limited one-year term and a limited charge:
We asked the Task Force to coordinate its work with the University Librarians’ Common Interest Group (CIG) on Information Literacy, once the CIG had been formed. The Task Force will submit its final report at the LAUC Fall Assembly on December 6, 2003, and will then pass its work on to this CIG.
Again, in support of LAUC’s Spring 2002 resolution on information literacy, I met with two UC statewide Academic Senate Committees, University Committee on Educational Policy (UCEP) and University Committee on Library (UCOL), regarding the need for an information literate UC community. See <http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/president/uceptalk.doc> and <http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/president/ucoltalk.doc> for copies of my presentations to UCEP and UCOL, respectively.
I was delighted to have the company of Carol Hughes from UC Irvine, Chair of the ULs’ CIG on Information Literacy, at the meeting with UCEP. Carol’s made a number excellent points and her presence at the meeting underscored the ULs’ continuing interest in this issue. I was equally delighted to have the company of Linda Kennedy from UC Davis at the meeting with UCOL, as Linda was the incoming LAUC President at the time, and contributed excellent points to the discussion regarding LAUC’s many areas of interest, particularly the issue of privacy and confidentiality for library users.
Immediately following my presentation, UCOL passed an important resolution regarding information literacy, which includes the following:
“ The challenge of information literacy arises partly from the rapid
growth of research and information tools and the students’ inability
to deal with these tools. Aspects of the illiteracy crisis include
plagiarism, a lack of critical thinking skills, an inability to identify and
evaluate sources, and a lack of understanding of intellectual property
issues such as copyright. The problem on UC campuses is illustrated
by the 1999 research study, "Information Competence at UCLA,"
included in: <http://www.library.ucla.edu/infocompetence/>
The committee suggests that UC campus senates and library committees address this question and to this end encourages departments to establish collaboration among faculty and appropriate librarians to create teaching activities that generate information literacy.”
The LAUC web site provides much additional information under the subcategory, Information Literacy: <http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/committees/iltf/index.html> , including a copy of the complete UCOL resolution: <http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/president/ucol-il-res.doc>
You might also be interested in knowing that within the past three to five years, accrediting agencies nationwide have been adding information literacy to the list of factors that institutions should consider in accreditation self-studies. In addition, the Educational Testing Service has just set up a committee to develop scenario-based online testing for combined information literacy and information technology competency. These are a few important indicators of the growing significance of this issue at all levels, and to all segments of society.
LAUC POSITION PAPERS AND THE DISTINGUISHED DESIGNATION
LAUC established a Task Force to review LAUC Position Papers #2-5, and recommend updates, revisions and additional Position Papers, if necessary <http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/committees/ppr/>
At the Spring 2003 Assembly, delegates discussed and accepted proposed revisions to Position Paper #1, “ Criteria for Appointment, Promotion and Advancement in the Librarian Series,” with minor modifications, and immediately remanded the revised Paper to the Position Paper Review Task Force, to be reviewed along with the other four Position Papers.
As a reminder, Position Paper #1 had made reference to the Distinguished designation for librarians. The Position Paper #1 revisions accepted by delegates to the 2003 Spring Assembly eliminated those references. As a result, the Task Force is now considering various options regarding how LAUC may want to address issues surrounding the Distinguished designation. This Task Force’s final report is due at the Spring 2004 LAUC Assembly. The newly revised Position Paper #1 is available on the LAUC web site <http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/paper01.html>, along with the other LAUC Position Papers <http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/about/index.html>
UC librarians have been discussing the issue of the Distinguished designation for some time, and are still grappling with the issues of whether, how, and on what basis this designation should be awarded. We understand that UC faculty have been working on this issue for some time as well, and we look forward both to learning of their recommendations and those of the LAUC Position Paper Task Force.
USA PATRIOT ACT RESOLUTION
Delegates to the LAUC Spring 2003 Assembly passed a resolution reflecting UC librarians deep concern with significant privacy and confidentiality issues for library users, related to the USA PATRIOT Act <http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/about/resolution.html> In keeping with this resolution, I have contacted the University Librarians to
… urges all UC Libraries to post in a prominent place within the library a notice to library
users as follows: "WARNING: Under Section 215 of the federal USA PATRIOT Act
(Public Law 107-56), records of the books and other materials you borrow from this
library may be obtained by federal agents. That federal law prohibits librarians from
informing you if records about you have been obtained by federal agents. Questions
about this policy should be directed to: Attorney General John Ashcroft, Department
of Justice, Washington, DC 20530." (borrowed from the San Diego Bill of Rights
Defense Committee's "Resolution in Support of the Bill of Rights")…
LAUC’s resolution on the USA PATRIOT Act reaffirms librarians’ concern about the privacy and confidentiality of library users, and supports documents and resolutions to this effect passed by a number of different groups, including the American Library Association. <http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Our_Association/Offices/Intellectual_Freedom3/Statements_and_Policies/Intellectual_Freedom2/Interpretations/Privacy.htm>
See the LAUC Background Documents web site, under “Privacy Laws and Related Information” for additional information. <http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/related_org_res.html>
As the resolution directs, I also contacted the UCOP Legislative Office regarding endorsement of related legislation
… that LAUC send a statement of support to the UCOP legislative office endorsing Representative Bernard Sanders' H.R.1157, the "Freedom to Read Protection Act of 2003",
which would amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to exempt bookstores and libraries from orders requiring the production of any tangible things for certain foreign intelligence investigations…
I appreciated received Marc Aarens’ very detailed and thoughtful response regarding this request. Lately there seem to be almost daily new developments regarding the USA PATRIOT Act, so it is good to know that UC is continuing to monitor the various bills related to this Act, as librarians are still very concerned about the issues it raises. I have forwarded Mr. Aarens’ letter to Linda Kennedy (D), the new LAUC President.
LAUC AWARDS
I established a pilot LAUC President’s Travel Award to fund a new LAUC member to attend the LAUC Spring 2003 Assembly. Though the LAUC budget has been quite tight, and we have made many efforts to economize, the LAUC Executive Board agreed that this Award was a very important and also a very small investment in what we hope will be the new generation of LAUC leaders. We also established an ad hoc committee to consider various issues and procedures regarding this award and two other possible awards, a LAUC Member of the Year Award and a LAUC Lifetime Achievement Award.
As many UC librarians near retirement, we want to recognize and show appreciation for the many dedicated LAUC members who have made significant contributions to the UC Libraries and the University. In addition, we want to encourage new UC librarians to participate in LAUC by helping them understand and appreciate the significance of this unique organization.
OTHER ISSUES
Throughout the past year, LAUC responded to many calls for feedback on significant issues, including several very important white papers on UC-wide Collection Management proposals, developed and forwarded by the University Librarians, as well as the report of the ULs’ UC Government Information Task Force.
LAUC has also been successful in working with the ULs to expand avenues of communication, by disseminating important LAUC documents, announcements and agendas to the ULs through the UL convener, by including the LAUC Vice-President in discussions with ULs, and by inviting the ULs to speak with LAUC members at both the Fall 2002 and the Spring 2003 Assemblies. We certainly hope that we can expand communication and discussion with the ULs further, and I know that Linda Kennedy will continue to work on this in the year to come.
I hope that LAUC will continue to build on the efforts we have undertaken this past year with many segments of UC, including faculty, administrators, staff, ULs, and UCOP, as we fulfill our critical advisory role. I know that Linda Kennedy will do an excellent job as LAUC President in 2003/2004, and I look forward to the coming year’s activities.
Sincerely,
Esther Grassian
LAUC President 2002/2003
cc: Linda Kennedy, LAUC President 2003/2004
Carol Hughes, Chair, ULs’ Information Literacy CIG
Andrew Grosovsky, Chair, UCEP
A.A. Afifi, Chair, UCOL
Karen Butter, UL Convener
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