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<title> vol5no4</title>
<H1><img ALIGN=TOP src="GIF/fondren_logo.gif">News From Fondren</H1><H3>A 
Library Newsletter to the Rice University Community</H3><p>
<h4>volume 5, number 4                                            Spring 1996</H4><p>
<hr><hr>

<h3>In This Issue</h3><ul>
<li><a href="#report">Library Gains Twenty-Four Hour Facility</a>
<li><a href="#improving">Gifts in Kind: A Valuable Resource</a>
<li><a href="#acquiring">Faculty Evaluate Library</a>
<li><a href="#creating">Behind the Scenes: Acquisitions</a>
<li><a href="#dyn">Did You Know...</a>
<li><a href="#delivering">Collection Analysis Project Update</a>
<li><a href="#developing">Information Kiosks Installed in Library</a>
<li><a href="#statistical">Center for Electronic Texts and Images Opens</a>

</ul>
<p>
<hr><hr>


<h3><a name="report">Library Gains Twenty-Four Hour Facility</h3></a>
by David Minter, Interim Vice Provost and University Librarian, dcmin@rice.edu
<p>
As the most heavily used center of academic activity at Rice, Fondren Library needs to expand its space to accommodate the more than 665,000 people who enter the building each year, as well as the 35,000 volumes added annually. The recent approval by the 

Rice University Board of Governors of a plan to return the space currently occupied by the Computer and Information Technology Institute (CITI) and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy to the library will free 11,140 assignable square feet f

or stack expansion and a twenty-four hour study area. 
<p>
The regained space will allow the library to expand its stack capacity by 246,960 volumes.  This will not only relieve the current over-crowding; it also will provide space to accommodate growth in the collections for six or seven years. The majority of t

he stack area will be gained in the basement. 
<p>
On the first floor, the north side of the building will be restored to its original form. The floor plan includes a two-story open space overlooked by a balcony, similar to the current periodicals/circulation area on the south side of the building. The sp

ace will be designed so that it can be closed off from the rest of the library and can be kept open twenty-four hours a day. 
<p>
<img src="GIF/expansion.gif">
<p>
<b>Representational diagram of the integrated study and research space on the first floor of Fondren Library.</b>
<p>
The new integrated study and research space will occupy approximately 9,280 square feet. It will house the reference collection, bibliographies, and the reserve collection, totaling more than 58,000 volumes, as well as a video collection of 2,900 cassette

s.  To facilitate the use of these materials, they will be surrounded by a number of computer work stations, mixing Unix machines, IBM PCs, and Macintosh computers. 
<p>
There will be 110 study spaces for individual students, a computer classroom, and four group study rooms, designed to encourage collaborative work and study.  In short, the new center will be the finest study and research facility ever made available to t

he students and faculty of Rice University, and it will provide room for ample growth for future development of the collections and equipment utilized in this center.   
<p>
<hr>
<p>

<h3><a name="improving">Gifts in Kind: A Valuable Resource</h3></a>
by Barbara Kile, Director of Library Promotion and Public Affairs, kilebar@rice edu<br>
and Nancy Boothe, Director, Woodson Research Center, boothe@rice.edu
<p>
The benefit to Fondren Library of gifts in kind, monetary gifts, and endowed funds has been highlighted in previous issues of <i>News From Fondren</i> (<a href="nff4no3.html#support">v.4, no.3</a> and <a href="nff5no3.html#developing">v.5, no.3</a>). Thro

ugh the Gifts and Memorials Program, the library receives about $50,000 each year--money that is used to purchase needed materials. In addition, income from endowed funds provides approximately 9 percent of the money spent annually on library resources.<p

>
<img src="GIF/valeriusmaximus.gif">
<p>
<b>Title page of <i>Valerius Maximus von geschichten der Romer vnd aussers Volcks</i>.</b>
<p>
Gifts in kind are also valuable sources of new materials for Fondren Library. An important need is met by gifts that fill in gaps in the library's serial holdings or replace missing and mutilated volumes. However, gifts of materials that are rare or diffi

cult to obtain are the ones that excite the scholar's curiosity. 

<h4>Chinese Collection</h4>

A recent gift of three hundred Chinese books, presented by the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Houston, exemplifies some of the unusual items the library receives.  Written in Chinese and English, the collection includes both novels

 and books on many topics: biography, art, architecture, history, economics, Chinese language, and travel.
<p>
Sampling some of the items received, novels entitled <i>Wandering</i>, 
<i>Tang Dynasty Stories</i>, and <i>Three Kingdoms</i> attract 
attention. Biographies delineate the lives of Confucius, master painter 
Xu Beihong, and Tibetan spiritual leaders, while 
modern Chinese writers are profiled in a biographical dictionary. Art 
books covering the history and technique of Chinese painting and 
calligraphy bear titles such as <i>A Hundred Plum Blossom Paintings</i>. 
An <i>Atlas of the People's Republic of China</i> shows the locations of 
the various ethnic groups in China.

<h4>Livingston Gift</h4>
A unique gift of a different kind came to the library in 1994 through the generosity of  Mr. L. E. Livingston, a 1965 graduate of Rice University.                 Mr. Livingston's gift included a dozen rare sixteenth and seventeenth century volumes publis

hed in London and on the Continent. The topics of these books include English history and law, literature, antiquities, mathematics, and metallurgy.
<h4>Valerius Maximus von geschichten der Romer</h4>
Nancy Boothe, Director of the Woodson Research Center, describes one of the books, <i>Valerius Maximus von geschichten der Romer vnd aussers Volcks</i>, as the oldest in the donation and possibly the most interesting. The work  is a German translation of 

the author's <i>Factorum et Dictorum Memorabilium</i>, a text on Roman civilization, social life, and customs. It was published in 1541 in Strassburg by Jacob Cammerlander, a printer whose shop employed its own woodcutter and was famous for its book ornam

entation. Cammerlander was active from 1531 to 1548, publishing about 140 titles.
<p>
<img src="GIF/fletaminor.gif"><p>
<b>Engraving of gold washers from <i>Fleta Minor</i>.</b>
<p>
The binding on this edition-not contemporary with its printing-is of blind-stamped vellum; the covers close with a pair of handwrought metal clasps.  The typeface is "black letter," a forerunner of the German Fraktur. The book's title page is unusual in t

hat author and title appear in a rectangular block, with ornate border decoration placed above two side-by-side bordered illustrations of different sizes. Elegant initials appear throughout the text, and the last page is adorned   with a woodcut.

<h4>Fleta Minor</h4>

Another noteworthy title in the Livingston gift collection is an English translation of Lazarus Ercker's Beschreibung aller frnemisten mineralischen Ertzt- und Berckwercksarten. According to historian and bibliographer of science, Bern Dibner, this work i

s a very important contribution to the literature of mines and metallurgy. Ercker, who lived from about 1530 to 1593, was inspector-general of the mines of Hungary, Transylvania, and the Tyrol. The technology he described remained in use for two centuries

.
<p>
<img src="GIF/fletaminor2.gif"><p>
<b>Depiction of Lazarus Ercker from <i>Fleta Minor</i>.</b>
<p>
This particular edition, printed in London in 1683 by T. Dawks, is titled: <i>Fleta Minor. The Laws of Art and Nature, in Knowing, Judging, Assaying, Fining, Refining and Inlarging the Bodies of Confin'd Metals</i>. The first part of the volume is an Engl

ish translation of Ercker's German text, while the second part contains "essays on metallick words, as a dictionary to many pleasing discourses," by Sir John Pettus, the translator.
<p>
Throughout the text, there appear forty-four exquisite "sculptures." These engravings illustrate the practices and devices of Ercker's trade, such as gold washers washing ore ("oar"); smelting and drying ovens; an "athanor," or great furnace; and Ercker h

imself, using scales and weights to assay metal ores.
<p>
<hr>


<h3><a name="acquiring">Faculty Evaluate Library</h3></a>
by David Minter, Interim Vice Provost and University Librarian, dcmint@rice.edu<br>
and Andrea Martin, Director, User Services, andrea@rice.edu
<p>
As part of an annual evaluation of library services, a faculty survey was again conducted in February of this year. Although all faculty members received surveys, a particular effort was made to contact School of Humanities faculty, who were underrepresen

ted on the 1994 survey. One hundred seventy-five faculty, or one-third of full-time faculty, responded.  (See Tables 1 and 2.)
<p>
<pre>Table 1: Years at Rice

	         #	%
Less than 1 	 6	 3%
1 to 5 years	 4      25%
6 to 10 years   33      19%
11 to 20 years	41	23%
Over 20 years	49	28%
Missing		 3	 1.5%
</pre><p>
<h4>Use of Fondren Library Services</h4>
This year's survey indicated little change in usage of library services. The book/journal collection again had the highest use (95%), followed by interlibrary loan (73%), course reserve (71%), RiceInfo (66%), reference service (51%), and government public

ations (46%). Use of the Brown Fine Arts Library increased to 42%, due in large part to an increased number of music faculty responding to the survey. Fondren Express and bibliographic instruction had low usage rates (17% and 7%, respectively).

<h4>Adequacy of Collection</h4>
Eighty-one percent of survey respondents indicated that the library collection is adequate for their teaching purposes, a 2% increase over the previous survey. Sixty-three percent thought the library was adequate for research. Interlibrary borrowing to su

pplement Fondren Library's collections was heaviest in Social Sciences (87%), Engineering (81%), and Humanities (78%). (See Table 3 below and Table 4 on <a href="#page7">page 7</a>.)
<p>
<pre>Table 2: Respondents by Division

		   #	  %
Architecture	   4	  2%
Engineering	  21 	 12%
Humanities	  51	 31%
Jones		  10	  6%
Music		  16	 10%
Natural Sciences  45 	 27%
Social Sciences	  23	 14%
Other		   3	  2%
</pre><p>
<h4>The New LIBRIS</h4>
A new question in this year's survey asked for feedback on the new LIBRIS system. Seventy-seven percent of the respondents had used the new system this past fall. Fifty-three percent found the graphical interface to be easy/OK to use, 20% found it difficu

lt to use, and 27% had not tried it. Thirty-seven percent found the character-based interface easy/OK to use, 13% found it difficult to use, and 50% had not used it. Faculty who asked for training on the new system, as well as faculty who found the system

 difficult to use, will be contacted to arrange personal training sessions. (Regular LIBRIS training sessions are conducted every Wednesday at noon.)

<h4>Use of Electronic Resources</h4>
The growing importance of online information to the Rice community is evidenced by increases in the use of electronic resources in the library. Electronic requests for document delivery or reference assistance and electronic submission of reserve lists sh

owed a 7% increase in the last year, with users growing to 25% of survey respondents. Use of Internet resources increased 5%, reaching 62%, and use of Rice campus information increased 4%, reaching 58%. However, faculty have not taken advantage of the net

work drops added in reading areas or the Apple powerbook computers purchased for use in the library.
<p>
<pre>Table 3: Divisional Affiliation of Faculty Who Indicated that 
the Fondren Library is Adequate for Education and Research

	 	Education	Research
Architecture	   67%		   67%
Engineering	   91%		   86%
Humanities	   69%		   43%
Jones		   90%		   89%
Music		   56%		   62%
Natural Sciences   98%		   75%
Social Sciences	   86%		   50%
Other		   33%		   50%
</pre>
<p>
<a name="page7"><pre>Table 4:  Usage of Interlibrary Borrowing Services by Division

			Users
Architecture		  75%
Engineering		  81%
Humanities		  78%
Jones			  60%
Music			  62%
Natural Sciences	  67%
Social Sciences		  87%
Other			  40%
</pre>

<h4>Overall Rating of Library</h4>

As in the 1994 survey, most of the 151 faculty respondents gave the library an overall rating of good to excellent. When ranking the importance of various library services, expanding the collection continues to be the highest priority for most faculty mem

bers (73%).
<p>
<hr>


<h3><a name="creating">Behind the Scenes:  Acquisitions</h3></a>
by Jean Caswell, Assistant University Librarian for Technical Services, caswell@rice.edu
<p>
The Acquisitions Section in Fondren Library is part of the Technical Services Department-a department of thirty-six people who perform the bulk of the behind-the-scenes processing of materials for the library. Acquisitions' personnel receive all books, se

rials, and non-print items purchased by the library. The section is responsible for paying invoices for non-serial purchases, including items for which we have standing orders and items which must be prepaid, and for working with the vendors and publisher

s who sell materials to the library. Acquisitions consists of seven staff members.

<h4>Head of Acquisitions</h4>
In addition to supervising Acquisitions staff, the Head of Acquisitions has many other duties. She checks all requests for materials that are submitted by collection development librarians, determines from whom materials should be bought, and sometimes pl

aces orders herself when materials need to be acquired quickly or orders have special requirements. The Head of Acquisitions spends much of her time solving problems: she investigates subscription lapses and overlaps, answers vendor questions about orders

 and bills, works with collection development librarians concerning materials ordered, and helps out where needed in the section.
<p>
<img src="GIF/marcoflores.gif"><p>
<b>Library Receiving Clerk Marco Flores adds a current journal issue to the catalog.</b>
<p>
<h4>Duties of Staff Members</h4>
Books may be individually ordered by the library or may come on approval. With an approval plan, profiles are set up with a book vendor detailing in what areas we wish to acquire materials, and the newly published materials in those areas arrive automatic

ally. One staff member is responsible for unpacking, checking, and paying for materials individually ordered by the library, while another staff member takes care of materials bought on approval. A third staff member handles materials that come on standin

g order, i.e., orders set up with a publisher or vendor for everything in a series or every new edition of a regularly published item (such as the <i>Physicians' Desk Reference</i>, which comes out yearly).
<p>
Two serials receivers are responsible for checking in issues of newspapers and serials, and one serials shelver is responsible for shelving serials and keeping the Current Periodicals Room in order.

<p>
<img src="GIF/lindquistacero.gif"><p>
<b>Janice Lindquist, Head of Acquisitions (on left), confers with Liliana Acero, Library Receiving Coordinator, about monographic orders.</b>
<p>
<h4>Volume of Materials Handled</h4>
Fondren Library has approximately 9,600 serials and standing orders that are received through Acquisitions. Serials receivers processed over 60,000 newspapers and serials issues last year. In addition to serials, the Fondren Library Acquisitions Section r

eceived over 37,000 books and other print materials, 1,445 sound recordings, 570 videos, 200 computer files, and 42,923 microforms in fiscal year 1995.

<p>
<hr>

<h3><a name="dyn">Did You Know...</h3></a>

<table><tr><td width=120><img align=top 
src="GIF/fondren_bullet.gif"></td><td>Two new indexes have been added 
to the FirstSearch suite of databases on <b>RiceInfo</b>. <a 
href="http://riceinfo.rice.edu/Fondren/Virtual/Indexes/sci_eng.html"<i> 
Agricola</i></a> covers agricultural-related journa
ls beginning with 1970; <a 
href="http://riceinfo.rice.edu/Fondren/Virtual/Indexes/humanities.html"><i>
Art Index</i></a> indexes English-language art materials beginning with 1984.
</td></tr></table><p>
<p>
<p>

<table><tr><td width=100><img align=top 
src="GIF/fondren_bullet.gif"></td><td>Internet access to 
<i>INSPEC</i>, a journals index covering computing, electronics, 
mathematics, and physics, is being tested and should be available on 
<b>RiceInfo</b> shortly.</td></tr></table> <p>
<p>
<p>

<table><tr><td width=120><img align=top 
src="GIF/fondren_bullet.gif"></td><td>Fondren Library has recently 
started purchasing the early volumes of <i>Les Belles lettres</i>, 
issued by the Association Guillaume Bude. We plan to acquire all volumes 
of this important series  by the end of the year.</td></tr></table>
<p>
<p>
<p>

<table><tr><td width=100><img align=top 
src="GIF/fondren_bullet.gif"></td><td>Two major new microform sets 
have been added to Fondren Library's collection: <i>Women Advising 
Women, Part 1-Early Women's Journals, c1700-1832</i> and <i>The Papers 
of Margaret Sanger</i>.</td></tr></table> <p>
<p>
<p>

<table><tr><td width=70><img align=top 
src="GIF/fondren_bullet.gif"></td><td>The February book sale organized 
and sponsored by the Friends of Fondren Library netted 
$7,900.</td></tr></table> <p>


<hr>


<h3><a name="delivering">Collection Analysis Project Update</h3></a>
by Kerry Keck, Coordinator, Collection Development and Electronic Information Resources, keckker@rice.edu
<p>

The analysis of the Fondren Library collection announced last fall is nearing completion of its first stage. This first stage has involved preparation by the collection development staff of a collection evaluation, "base line" report for each general subj

ect area, paired with a corresponding collection development policy.
<p>
The Collection Analysis Project, as initially proposed, is an extensive, multi-year project. Due to continuing controversy within the profession over the value of the conspectus model selected in the initial proposal, the Study Team elected to develop the

 "base line" reports. Although these reports stand on their own merit, the collected data can also be utilized in the conspectus model if a new Vice Provost and University Librarian endorses use of the conspectus.
<p>
Work on analyzing the Fondren Library collection will continue, both to expand knowledge of existing areas and to respond to ongoing changes in the Rice University curriculum. Events such as the recent announcement of a new academic department and undergr

aduate major (biomedical engineering) illustrate the need to continually revisit the library's priorities and adequacy.

<h4>Methodology</h4>
The methods employed for this "base line" project emphasize analysis of collection support for undergraduate programs. Methodology included
<ul>
<li> comparing the five-volume bibliography <i>Books for College Libraries</i> to LIBRIS,

<li> searching the <i>OCLC/AMIGOS Collection Analysis Collection Development</i> disk for statistics on books commonly held in other Association of Research Libraries collections which are missing from Fondren Library,

<li>checking core journal lists against the Fondren Library collection.
</ul>
Supplementing this data on undergraduate collections, the collection development staff analyzed several factors of greater interest to faculty and graduate students. Budgets of separate disciplines were compared with  those of libraries of institutions re

garded as peers by the academic department (where obtainable). In addition, faculty publications were sampled to determine what percentage of citations are available in Fondren Library. Finally, currently held and new electronic resources were reviewed.
<p>
As Sara Lowman, Head of Reference and a Study Team member, writes in her executive summary, "The Study Team decided that, in the modified Collection Analysis Project, we should focus on building the collections for the future, instead of trying to 'fix th

e  past.' "     The library is already adding a number   of titles identified as desiderata during the collection analysis. Acquisition of books needed for undergraduate use will be a high priority in the next year.
<p>
A summary of the initial Collection Analysis Project results will be prepared for use by the various groups currently planning for Fondren Library's future. Detailed subject reports will be available to interested members of the Rice community.
<p>
<hr>

<h3><a name="developing">Information Kiosks Installed in Library</h3></a>
by Amy Spare, Head, Government Publications and Special Resources, spare@rice.edu
<p>
Where are pay phones in the library? How much are copy cards? What are the hours of the Brown Fine Arts Library? The answer to these and other questions is a "click" away on the new Fondren Library Information Kiosks located in the rotunda on the first fl

oor of the library.
<p>
The kiosks use Photoshop and Hypercard to create a database of basic information about Fondren Library's building and services. Photographs, scanned floor plans, and text files are included.

<h4>Screen Choices</h4>

The opening screen of the kiosks offers the following choices: 
<ul>
<li>Where is
<li>What is
<li>Who is
<li>When is
<li>Welcome 
</ul>
Selecting "Where is" reveals floor plans of the library, while "What is" provides descriptions of library services and departments. To locate a public service staff member of the Fondren Library, select "Who is." Building and department hours are listed u

nder "When is." If you prefer to go directly to a department or a topic, click on the "Index" button at the bottom of the screen.
<p>
The kiosk project was the vision of former Vice Provost and University Librarian Beth Shapiro. Committee members Sara Lowman, Ginny Martin, and Amy Spare planned and directed the project, with technical assistance provided by Rob Fulmer, Tom Lytle, and Ch

ris Eisbach. Much of the construction was completed by student worker Beth Boudreau.
<p>
If you would like a demonstration    of the kiosk, please ask a librarian at the Reference Desk to assist you.

<p>
<img src="GIF/kiosk.gif"><p>
<b>Adrian Crowne uses the new information kiosk.</b>
<p>

<hr>

<h3><a name="statistical">Center for Electronic Texts and Images Opens</h3></a>
by Nell Warnes, Technical Support Specialist, nell@rice.edu
<p>
The purpose of the new Center for Electronic Texts and Images is to allow users access to electronic texts and to encourage electronic publishing. The Center provides the equipment needed to create electronic documents and images.  Although the electronic

 texts that are available can be viewed from any computer on campus, help in working with the texts is furnished only in the Center.
<p>
Initially the Center will focus on electronic publishing on the World Wide Web. This includes creating new documents using a text editor, such as Microsoft Word, and converting them to HTML (HyperText Markup Language), as well as converting existing docum

ents to electronic form. The latter can be accomplished by scanning in the document and using optical character recognition software to process the text.
<p>
Fondren Library is negotiating to become a charter member of the Humanities SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) Server program, headquartered at the University of Michigan. Through this program, electronic humanities texts currently available on C

D-ROM in Fondren Library will be available to Rice researchers via <b>RiceInfo</b>. We hope to complete the negotiations shortly and provide access by early summer.
<p>
Some examples of texts that we plan to have available online are:
<ul>
<li> <i>Database of African-American Poetry, 1760-1900</i>: includes more than 2,500 poems written by African-American poets in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The poets chosen are among those listed in William French's bibliography, <i>Afro

-American Poetry and Drama, 1760-1975</i>.
<li><i> Patrologia Latina Database:</i> covers most major and minor Latin authors, including the works of the Latin Fathers (from Tertullian in A.D. 200 to Pope Innocent III in 1216). The collection comprises the most influential works of late ancient and

 early medieval theology, philosophy, history, and literature.
<li><i> English Poetry: The English Poetry Full-Text Database</i>: contains over 165,000 poems drawn from 4,500 printed sources.
</ul>
The Center is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. It is located in room 616 on the sixth floor of Fondren Library.

<p>
<hr>


<h3><a name="locations">Fondren Library Locations and Frequently Called Numbers</h3></a>
<pre>
Reference			285-5113
(1st floor Fondren Library)

Brown Fine Arts Library		527-4832
(3rd floor Fondren Library)

Business Information Center	527-6062
(1st floor Herring Hall)

Circulation 			527-4021
(1st floor Fondren Library)

Fondren Express			527-8101    
(Basement Fondren Library)	ext.2869

Government Publications		285-5483
(Basement Fondren Library)

Document Delivery		527-8101 
(Basement Fondren Library)	ext.2284

Reserve Desk			527-8101
(1st floor Fondren Library)	ext.2294

Woodson Research Center		527-8101
(1st floor Fondren Library)	ext.2586


Semester and Holiday Hours

For information about regular and  holiday hours, call 527-4800
</pre><p>
<hr><hr>

<h2>News From Fondren</h2>

<h3>Vol.5 no.4,                          Spring 1996
Fondren Library, Rice University, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX, 77251-1892, 713-527-4022</h3>
<p>
Published three times a year, in the Spring, Fall and Winter.
<p>
Editor: Elizabeth Baber (baber@ricevm1.rice.edu).<br>
Newsletter Committee:  Barbara Halbert, Kerry Keck, Jane Segal<br>
Proofreading:  Jean Caswell, Joe Hatfield<br>
Publications Coordinator:  Barbara Kile<br>
Desktop Publishing:  Kay McStay<br>
Photographer: Photographer Betty Charles
<p>
<i>News From Fondren</i> is a copyrighted publication of the Fondren Library, Rice University.  All or part of
<i>News From Fondren</i> may be redistributed, with appropriate credit.
<p>                 
Statements of fact and opinion appearing in <i>News From Fondren</i> are the responsibility of the authors and do not imply the endorsement of Rice
<hr>