President's Letter - LAUC

President's Letter of Welcome and Goals for 2004-2005

TO: LAUC Membership

FROM: Terry Huwe, 2004-2005 LAUC President

Dear Colleagues,

Today marks the first day of my term as President of the Librarians Association of the University of California, and I am writing to you to share some of the ideas that were discussed at the August 20, 2004 Turnover meeting. Before doing so, I wish to thank Past President Linda Kennedy for her outstanding service as President. Also, my hearty thanks to all outgoing Divisional Chairs, each of whom made important contributions. A special thanks go to Tammy Dearie (SD), outgoing LAUC Representative to the Systemwide Operations and Planning Group (SOPAG), and ex officio member of the Board.

I plan to renew Esther Grassian's monthly email letters to the membership, to keep you apprised of ongoing developments. But in starting the academic year, I wish to take this moment to articulate a vision for LAUC during 2004-05, at some considerable length. I do so with the Executive Board's support. For those of you who do not have time to read this message now, I can tell you that it will appear on the LAUC Web in the near future, along with future messages throughout the year.

LAUC IN THE LIFE OF THE UNIVERSITY

LAUC was formed to create opportunities for academic librarians to advise the University, its President, its Chancellors, the University Librarins, and library administrations on matters of import to the profession. Our advisory role has expanded with the times. Changes in our profession, in the information producing economy, and in the idea of the University are now constant, and a relatively new, highly robust culture of advisory bodies now spans the entire UC system. LAUC is an important partner in that advisory culture. During 2004-05, I will work with the Executive Board to take advantage of the many opportunities LAUC now has to offer its collegial advice within that culture, and I will keep the membership apprised of this activity.

LAUC FALL ASSEMBLY: NOVEMBER 4, 2004, UC BERKELEY

The Fall Assembly will be held at The International House, at UC Berkeley, on Thursday, November 4, 2004. This promises to be a very exciting and unique opportunity for LAUC to discuss the substantive issues facing the profession and the University, with a somewhat different format. LAUC has invited SOPAG to attend the Fall Assembly, and SOPAG has accepted the invitation. We are working on the details, and I can already say that this dialogue and discussion will provide an excellent occasion for us to learn more about SOPAG's crucial role. The second program will bring together members of the statewide Faculty Senate University Committee on Library (UCOL), with faculty members of various campus senate library committees. Andre Oullette (I, Anesthesiology) Rogers Burbaker (LA Sociology), Elaine Tennant (B, German and Scandanavian Studies) Professor Ben Crow (SC, Sociology), incoming UCOL chair, Martin London (SF) will be present, with one more speaker pending. Details on both of these programs will appear soon on the Assembly Web site, which we'll announce once it's up and running.

OPEN INVITATION TO ATTEND THE FALL ASSEMBLY

I invite all members of LAUC to consider travelling to Berkeley to attend the Fall Assembly, as it will focus on several fundamental areas of concern for all Librarians. Moreover, since Standing Committee work will, for the most part, be the focus of the Spring Assembly, the Fall Assembly is an ideal venue for us to gather, share ideas, and update friendships. My thanks go to Cris Tarr (B) and the LAUC-B Planning Committee for being our hosts.

FALL ASSEMBLY TRAVEL SUPPORT FOR "NEWER" LIBRARIANS

I will fund a total of 4 "newer" librarians, two from the South (airfare), and two from the North (ground travel), to attend the Fall Assembly. Later this month, I will send out a call for expressions of interest. I will convene a subcommittee of Divisional Chairs to review expressions of interest and select the fnalists. Exact details will come later, but I can say now that my working definition of "newer" is ten years or less service with the University.

INVITATION TO THE CALIFORNIA DIGITAL LIBRARY STAFF

In recognition of the constantly growing relationship between LAUC members and our colleagues at the California Digital Library, I will send a special invitation to the CDL to attend the Fall Assembly. In addition, the Executive Board has expressed an interest in exploring how LAUC can work with CDL staff in more effective ways. This might best be posed as a question: How can LAUC help advance the work of the CDL, and in return, how might the CDL community increase its links to our professional life and activities? At the least, the Executive Board wishes to explore this question in a positive and collegial fashion.

ASSEMBLY LISTSERV: CONDUCTING ASSEMBLY WORK ONLINE

With the Board's support, I will create a new listserv, which will be comprised of all divisional delegates to the Assembly. Together with the Executive Board's listserv, this will enable "The Assembly" to be in communication prior to the event. I believe that this will ease some of our deliberative work by creating shared understandings and encouraging dialogue _before_ we arrive in person at the Assembly. I will encourage Assembly delegates and Divisional Chairs to share as much as our deliberations with the membership as they wish, in recognition of the fact that LAUC is a parliamentary, member-driven organization. This approach is even more likely to ease our work in advance of the Spring Assembly, where our time will be devoted to committee business.

LAUC STATEWIDE REPRESENTATIVES: A NEW OPPORTUNITY

LAUC members play important, advisory roles to the many systemwide bodies that advise the University Librarians. Our extensive involvement in this new advisory culture of "continuous planning" is, in my opinion, a "success story" of which we can be proud. The Executive Board shares my belief that both LAUC and its individual representatives will benefit from a more _coordinated_, two-way dialogue between the Board and the representatives. This may involve a conference call, or the formation of a new Ad Hoc Committee, whose membership will include all statewide reps. The goal is not to create more work for anyone, but instead to create more opportunities for our reps to know what is happening throughout the statewide advisory community. This in turn, may create opportunities for LAUC to advance its advisory activities in a collegial, yet strategic fashion. In my opinion, this is one of the most important and exciting opportunities we have during the coming academic year.

LAUC POSITION PAPERS

The Executive Board has identified two topics that warrant a formal position by LAUC, as a follow up on our revised guidelines for position papers. The two topics are Copyright and Fair Use, and Privacy Issues. Later this year, I will issue a call for expressions of interest, and charge two Ad Hoc Committees to write the papers. LAUC is also interested in consulting with the University Librarians, to ascertain whether a joint, collaborative approach to the scholarly initiative is appropriate. In contrast to our past position papers, which address many of the ongoing issues facing us in the workplace, these new papers will be works of scholarship, suitable for publication. It is possible that LAUC may offer honoraria to incite interest in this new approach to writing position papers with high levels of scholarship. This new role for the position paper series mirrors LAUC's fundamental identity as an academic association of experts, working on the cutting edge, in the "world's leading public University." If successful, LAUC may consider further Web-based publishing opportunities for the membership.

STANDING COMMITTEE NEWS

Not all Chairs have been selected yet, due to vacations and summer travel, but I can announce three Committee Chairs:

Committee on Committees, Rules and Jurisdiction: Paul Weiss (SD)
Committee on Professional Governance: Rob Melton (SD)
Committee on Library Plans and Policies: Ken Furuta (R)

I will announce the balance when they are chosen.

LAUC WEB UPDATE

Ilan Eyman (B), our newly appointed Webmaster, is following through on the outstanding work of outgoing Webmaster Beth Dupuis (B). Past President Kennedy led the Board in formulating an enhanced strategy for the statewide LAUC Web. The new Web will add many new features and links, and will become a repository of our past activities and publications. We anticipate a fall "rollout" for the new Web site.

SPRING ASSEMBLY: UC SANTA BARBARA

UCSB will be our Spring Assembly host. The date of the Spring Assembly will be finalized this fall at Berkeley. The Board wishes to thank Eric Forte, SB incoming Chair, and the Santa Barbara Division for hosting us.

I look forward to working with the membership this year, and I know that the Executive Board joins me in feeling excited about the potential of these plans.

Sincerely,

Terry Huwe (B)
LAUC 2004-2004 President

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