ASDAL Action, the official publication of the Association of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians, reflected the trends of the association and of SDA libraries and librarianship in the past twenty years. A condensed version of this research was presented at the ASDAL annual conference held at Pacific Union College, Angwin, California held on June 19-24, 2001. The presentation was jointly presented with Lauren Matacio, current editor of ASDAL Action, and Cynthia Mae Helms, past editor of ASDAL Action. During Cynthia's term as editor, Lauren served as assistant editor and during Lauren's term as editor, Cynthia served as assistant editor.

The three-part presentation is outlined as follows:

Part 1 - "Quiz" and History of ASDAL Action" - Lauren Matacio

Part 2 - "Trends" and "Panel of Editors" - Cynthia Helms

Part 3 - "Answers to the Quiz" and "Recognition of Editors and Coordinators"

This paper is the full research of the section "Trends" for those who want more than the condensed version presented at the conference and published in the ASDAL Web page www.asdal.org/).

Adventist Resources

As SDA librarians it is quite logical for us to be interested in Adventist Resources. The inclusion of the Adventist Resources Column in ASDAL Action in 1992 was an example of this interest. But more than that, we carried out various projects as follows:

Adventist Heritage and EGW Resources - The Ellen G. White Collections at Pacific Union College, Loma Linda University, La Sierra University, and Andrews University were given attention in the early to mid-80's. In the Fall 1995 issue, a report was given on the first joint meeting of librarians with international directors of EGWhite Research Centers. Librarians discussed formation of consortium to share electronic databases, Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index, and Religion Index.

Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index - The minutes of the 1981 meeting revealed funding problems regarding publication of SDAPI. The mid-80's were characterized by attempts to computerize. Ten years later, SDAPI reached a crisis and Andrews University came to the rescue. SDAPI moved from Lom Linda University to Andrews University. Retired editor Collins was replaced by Dan Drazen. In 1994, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists helped out financially. In 1999, the Conference minutes show that SDAPI would no longer be in paper.

Obituary Index - In Nov 1985, it was announced that Andrews was computerizing all entries currently in the Heritage Room Obituary File. In Fall 1986, it was mentioned that the Heritage Room at Andrews would head the obituary consortium. The cooperative project dealing with obituary records was done by people from Walla Walla College (Sheila Clark) and La Sierra University (Vera May Schwarz). We have gone from cards to paper to various forms of electronic delivery. More on the SDAPI during Keith Clouten and Marilyn Crane's presentation.

EGW Classification scheme - Jan. 1982, Keith Clouten presented a detailed classification schedule compatible with the works of Ellen G. White. In April 1986, the Library of Congress acknowledged receipt of the Classification for Adventists and EGWhite. In the Winter 2000 issue, Maynard reported that he sent a letter to the editor of American Libraries calling his attention to ASDAL's worldwide membership and contribution to bibliography and librarianship through SDAPI and LC supplemental schedule to BX 6151-6158.

The fact that we are Seventh-Adventists explains the main reason for our interest in Adventist resources. This is the driving force behind the formation of an Adventist Resources Column in ASDAL Action which began in 1992 with Gary Shearer as the first columnist.

Publishing World

Literary awards - The idea of literary awards was suggested by Keith Clouten in 1989. The Literary Awards Committee was formed as a standing committee of 5 members in the same year. In 1990, recommendations for literary awards were solicited. In 1993, winners of the award were announced. In 1994, the committee awarded an adult non-fiction by an unknown author (pseudonym). By 1995, the committee outlined problems and solutions. By 1996, it was voted that the Literary Awards Committee be discontinued. Although there were calls for suggested titles, there was hardly any publicity about the winning titles and/or authors in ASDAL Action. Probably books reviews and author profiles or interviews would have spurred more interest in this project.

Cooperative Ventures

The first cooperative venture was the indexing on cards for the SDAPI as mentioned in the Winter 1995 issue.

Clearinghouse (SAIL) - Jan. 1984, ASDAL Action mentioned that Adventist libraries outside North America frequently requested library materials. An ASDAL subcommittee was appointed to study the idea of a clearinghouse. In Oct. 1984, a Library Resources Clearinghouse was proposed. The clearinghouse was to receive, process, distribute library materials useful to overseas educational institutions. It might employ a retired librarian on salary supplement. The services would be extended to include consulting, short-term professional assistance, etc. A detailed proposal was recommend to the General Conference Dept. of Education. In 1985, Harvey Brenneise looked into the possibility of merging with ADRA. He reported that ADRA was not willing to commit to a merger because it was set up for multiple copies while ASDAL was interested in dealing with one copy per title. In1987 this idea appeared to have been stalled or put to rest because of lack of funds and support from the G.C.

In the Fall 1988 issue, the Overseas Library Committee made the following recommendations: donor libraries in NAD send out list of weeded books for libraries to select from; any North American Division college/university adopt an overseas library; assign one person to coordinate current awareness service and have ASDAL fund photocopying and mailing of materials. In 1989, Marley Soper as coordinator of overseas libraries reported that the most important need of overseas libraries is good personnel.

After meeting with the presidents of affiliated schools in 1994 and 1995, Keith Clouten from Andrews University reported the birth of a new service in 1995. SAIL which originally stood for "Services to Affiliated Institutional Libraries" is now expanded to provide "Services to Adventist International Libraries." The one-time membership of $100 covers free books, book ordering, periodical subscription, and site consultation. In 2001, Ralph Koehler reported that SAIL Germany has delivered 270 books to libraries in Eastern Europe and Africa in the year 2000.

Cooperative Information Access (ALICE) - In the Winter 1996 issue, Harvey Brenneise in reporting for the Cooperative Information Access Committee stated the need for an Adventist Electronic Library Consortium. Adu Worku's presidential letter in the Spring 1996 issue announced the establishment of the ASDAL Cooperative Information Access Committee as a standing committee charged with the responsibility of identifying and evaluating electronic resources and services for sharing. By Fall 1996, ALICE which stands for "Adventist Library Information Cooperative" replaced the Cooperative Information Access Committee. The ALICE Council composed of library directors of member libraries was chaired by Keith Clouten (AU)-the person who coined the name ALICE. The project committee was composed of Gilbert Abella (LSU), Peg Bennett (SAU), Harvey Brenneise (AU), Mark Coopsey (WWC), and Joel Lutes (PUC). After the formation of ALICE, not many articles were written about what it has been doing, what databases have been acquired or dropped, what it has done to be part of the bigger body of consortia, or any changes in the organization or structure of the Council except for occasional references to ALICE in the institutional reports.

Personnel

Scholarship - The Hilts Scholarship has been given since 1985 but it was not till 1995 that a list of recipients was published. An addendum was printed in Winter 1996. Full articles written about a recipient and replacement of recipients appeared in 1995-96. Although we have heard a lot about the Hilts Scholarship for years, it was not until Fall 1997 that we got a picture of "The Man Behind the Hilts Scholarship"- thanks to Maynard Lowry. There were not very many articles about the award or the recipients and their contributions to the field. There were years when there was either no money or no recipient. In the Fall 2000 issue, Paulette Johnson (chair of the Scholarship Committee) called for support for this scholarship. With 16 recipients to date, we would to continue this scholarship with support from all of us. In that same issue, Gilbert Abella in the president's letter mentioned the need to create a viable endowment to provide scholarships yearly. Maynard Lowry will pursue some fund raising for this purpose but we all need to support it.

Placement Service - The first issue of ASDAL Action (1982) announced a Placement Service limited to those who held a master's degree or were expecting to complete one. Pacific Union College was chosen to be the site for this service. In 1984, this service was renamed Job Referral Service. By 1987, Taylor Ruhl who ran this service announced that 5 positions were open and 3 were hired. This service was discontinued in 1992 because it was felt that the libraries had changed the method by which positions were being filled and therefore the Job Referral Service had outlived its usefulness.

Rank and Tenure - Another issue that ASDAL dealt with like the rest of the library profession was that of rank and tenure. In 1988, the Rank and Tenure Committee presented a Librarian Evaluation Form and in 1993 conducted a survey to find out what SDA librarians in North America were doing about this. In 1994, it was decided that ACRL standards would be used.

Special Sections - There was a fleeting interest in meeting the needs of medical librarians within the association but that did not get very far. However, the interest in school librarians persisted through the years. In 1986, the need to include school librarians was brought up in the editor's corner. In 1987, even if the response to the free issues of ASDAL Action sent to all academy libraries in NAD was minimal, the School Librarians' Committee announced their intention to be an active group. Articles aimed at school librarians were written by Bob DuBose and Christina Keslake. Questionnaires were distributed in 1989 eliciting topics for the next conference. Katye Hunt and John Kihlstrom put out a one-time newsletter in 1994. Katye Hunt was busy running ANGEL, a service to school libraries, in Southern Adventist College (University). The school librarians kept up with the trends by addressing different issues in their column which was first called School Librarians' Forum in 1993 and School Librarians' Column later on. In 1999, ASDAL's influence on the K-12 educational system of the church came in the form of an invitation from the North American Division to participate in the division-wide teachers' convention. We need to continue our interest in school librarians and school libraries.

Librarianship

Observations - Outstanding articles that dealt with the profession as a whole and SDA librarianship in particular appeared within the last four years or so. Arthur Winzenreid's article in the Spring 1998 issue addressed the church's need to develop a world vision. He mentioned that our church schools are staffed by untrained professionals and our collections are developed with narrow perspectives.

Mary Jane Mitchell's article written at the turn of the century brought out interesting observations regarding SDA librarianship. She observed that the top jobs are held by men. She also raised questions about librarianship as becoming a respected position in the denomination, the effect of technology and its possible effect on changing gender roles, etc. According to Mitchell, the challenge is to be in the cutting edge of library services and information technology.

Target Areas - Maynard Lowry's presentation on "Vision for SDA Librarians in the 21^st Century" at the 18^th conference and the results of the survey that he conducted during that presentation painted a picture of the target areas for the future: personnel, information access, and resources. Quality Service was emphasized by Lauren Matacio's article in the Winter 1999 issue. Speaking along the lines of quality service, Andrews University reported that they had formed a team to deal with Continuous Quality Improvement.

Technology

Technology was one hot topic that always appeared every single year of the past twenty years.

1980's - Volume 1, No. 1, January 1982 reported that Loma Linda University librarians were making 5-year projections for automation: online catalog, use of computer for statistics, electronic mail and messaging, and vertical file subject headings. The second issue announced that an article entitled "Will Computers Revolutionize College Libraries" written by Kathy Dunn from La Sierra and Larry Onsager from Union College was published in the Journal of Adventist Education. The ASDAL president received a suggestion that the future conference be about computers and library automation. It was then planned that the 1983 conference include mini-sessions on minicomputer applications to libraries under the direction of Keith Drieberg.

In 1983, ASDAL Action announced that Southern Union College had installed its online catalog using LAMBDA system and Union College had received a grant to carry out retrospective conversion, initiate OCLC acquisitions and serials subsystems, and begin a course-related program of library instruction. During that time, Walla Walla College had purchased 6 ROM readers which were more accepted than the microfiche catalog.

By the mid-80's, libraries were bragging about their microcomputers, CD-ROMs, management systems, and Dialog. In Jan. 1985, we read that "Union College will be one of the most highly automated schools in the nation once its new automated circulation and catalog library system is installed....This will make Union the first school to provide access to online catalog in every dorm room." In Fall 1987, "Andrews was one of the first libraries in Michigan to purchase Dissertation Abstracts Ondisk." And while other libraries were talking about their Intelligent Catalogs on CD-ROM and LaserCats, Southern was having problems with Sidney to the point where it was dropped in favor of Mandarin..

1990's - The early to the mid-90's was characterized by articles dealing with integrated systems, Internet connections, and more databases. It was big news for libraries to have Internet access for e-mail and remote searching of library catalogs. This was not limited only to libraries in North America. The Fall 1993 issue reported that Spicer Memorial College had been included in the planning and implementation of PUNE NET (automation and networking of libraries in Poona Metropolitan area) and that Universidad Adventista de las Antillas received a grant to increase patron access to library resources through participation in the UPRENET (University of Puerto Rico Educational Network) and OCLC. The Fall 1993 issue also introduced SDA-Librarian, an electronic discussion group.

It was so refreshing to see an article in the Winter 1997 issue about automation of a school library. Thunderbird Adventist Academy was finishing its automation using Follet. The students could access the local public library from 3 stations and that the books they borrowed were being dropped off via a courier service. The school was given free access to the Internet by the phone company U.S. West. The Spring 1997 issue revealed that Canadian Union College closed out MultiLis and switched over to DRA, Walla Walla College went online with a lot a fanfare, and Southwestern Adventist University got an approval to purchase Library Solutions.

2000's - As we got closer to the year 2000, people were talking about Ariel, instruction classrooms, access of databases through consortia, grants for more technological resources, fulltext, and wireless networks. Censorship, intellectual freedom, websites, URLs, eBooks, ejournals, fulltext, and digital resources were buzz words that frequently appeared in ASDAL Action. In the School Librarians' Column (Spring 2000), Nancy Kim stated that the most important role of the vision of a reinvented library is building the information infrastructure-another buzz word right there!

While automation created news during the last twenty years, there were other types of technology that also got in print. In the 1985 issue, it was big news for Atlantic Union College to loan polaroid cameras. It as also big news in 1990 for Andrews University to receive a fax machine through a grant from the Library of Michigan. In the year 2000, Lauren Matacio promoted audiobooks.

Technology has meant so much to ASDAL that several conferences were built around this theme.

1983 - Pre-Conference on Micro-computers

1992 - Libraries and Technology

1994 - Electronic Library

1995 - Global Electronic Village: Sharing Human and Information Resources

1996 - Serials Collection Development in the Electronic Age

1997 - From There to Here: Document Delivery in the Electronic Age

Collaboration and Cooperation

Another popular topic throughout the past twenty years was that of collaboration and cooperation whether they be within the Seventh-day Adventist library circle, with other SDA institutions, or with other libraries in the region. The concept of sharing around the globe was the theme for the15^th annual conference theme: "Global Electronic Village: Sharing Human and Inforamtion Resources." The 19^th conference emphasized the theme "Working Together: Cooperation among Seventh-day Adventist Libraries." Both of these conferences were held outside the United States: the former one in England and the latter one in Mexico.

Within the Institution - Networking with different departments, schools, or colleges within the same institution was evident in the 90's. Atlantic Union College established an Ottilie Stafford Poetry Collection in conjunction with the English Department. Library Instruction is one library service that lends very easily to collaboration as library instructors join hands with the teaching faculty, most commonly with the English classes. Evidence of this type of networking with the teaching faculty goes back even to the first issue of ASDAL Action.

In Winter 1994, Florida Hospital College purchased CINAHL and Medline in collaboration with the medical library. A similar arrangement in a hospital setting was reported in 1999 when the Loma Linda University administration requested that the Webb Memorial Library (University) and the Jesse Medical Library and Information Center (Medical Center) study ways of integrating services to better serve the campus constituency.

The library at Andrews University participated with the University during Creative Arts Week in 1998. It collaborated with the Department of Modern Languages in sponsoring the Holocaust Exhibits and Program as reported in the Winter 2000 issue of Action. The program included lectures, videos, and tours. The Communication Department in Southwestern Adventist University started a monthly book discussion club based on the library's New York Times Best Sellers shelf.

With the Community - Union College has developed relations with genealogical societies in its region. The Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society placed its library in the Union College Library as reported in Fall 1990. Three years later, we read that the non-Nebraska genealogical materials of the Nebraska State Historical Society are housed in Union College.

Community involvement does not only involve collections. Atlantic Union College reported in Spring 1993 that the library participated in community service day by cleaning windows at the Lancaster Town Library.

With SDA Libraries (Besides those mentioned in the first part) - Way back in the first issue of ASDAL Action, President Larry Onsager "received requests that we exchange student newspapers and look into the possibility of cooperative computer databases among Adventist libraries." The next issue (Feb. 1983) revealed that Andrews University and Loma Linda University expressed interest in exchanging newspapers. The request for cooperative computer databases made in 1982 become a reality in 1996 with the formation of ALICE.

Cooperative book buying for Adventist libraries was another idea that came up in 1993 but it did not survive because the appointed committee's survey led them to conclude that such service would be impractical. Geographic dispersal of Adventist institutions was pointed out as a major problem. The Purchasing Consortium Committee ceased in 1994 with the resignation of the chair.

Southern Adventist University's ANGEL project which was reported in the 1980's and project Goliath which is currently going on as part of the School Librarians' Section are good examples of what we are doing for our own school libraries in the country.

With Other Libraries - Resource sharing was well documented in ASDAL Action. In 1984 Union College reported that they joined the Nebraska Library Communication and in 1989 they joined PICKLE, a consortium of nine libraries. Joining consortia seemed to popular in the 90's when we read the following reports: Avondale College joined UNILINC; Kettering Hospital joined OHIOLINK; Canadian University College joined NEOS AND TAL (The Alberta Library); Southwestern Adventist University joined LEIAN (Llano Estacado Information Access Network); Florida Hospital College joined LIRN (Learning and Information Resource Network) and ICUF (Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida); Columbia Union College joined MIC (Maryland Interlibrary Consortium); and Thunderbird Adventist Academy joined Scottsdale Link In 1990, Carolyn Gaskell reported that Walla Walla College participated with 3 other libraries in establishing a collection in theater and drama. In 2001, WWC joined a collaborative project of the Orbis Library Consortium for the purchase of 2,500 netLibrary e-books.

ASDAL's interest in working with libraries has gone beyond the national borders. The concept of a clearinghouse and how Andrews has made it a reality with SAIL is a vivid illustration of our desire to network with international libraries. One of the most recent issues of ASDAL Action recorded the trip of Ruth Swan to Ghana, the visit of Norma Greaves to Barbados, and the response of Keith Clouten to the call for help from Mission College (Thailand).

With SDA Institutions/Organizations - The most recent evidences of our attempts to reach out to other types of organizations or institutions are the librarians meeting with system managers in conjunction with the Adventist Virtual Learning Lab held at the turn of the century. The meetings began in 1998. Peg Bennett's appeal in the Fall 1999 issue was for us to all begin planning process for our cooperation in distance learning so that we will not lag behind when the first courses are offered by the consortium.

Administration and Management

Finances - In the early 80's reports were given on budget cuts as well as budget increases. In the Fall of 1989, Southwestern reported that the Library Committee finally accepted the recommendation to have a true materials budget, i.e. periodicals, books, and AV all in one figure. By the 90's we saw a shift from "what's happening with our budgets" to "what can we do to augment our budgets." One method of increasing one's budget is by participating in a phonathon as described in Jess Oliver's Spring 1992 article, "How to Raise $18,000 for the Library on the University's Annual Phonathon." Grant writing is one method as described by Carolyn Gaskell in the Fall 1994 issue. Andrews University and Canadian University received Ariel through government grants. Pacific Union College received an award for $1,500 from Worthington Foods to strengthen their vegetarian collection. Maynard Lowry wrote articles about La Sierra's endowments, which is still another method. In the article "Adventist Librarians Envision the Challenges of the Future," Lowry pointed out that one issue is to increase the libraries' share of existing resources at the primary allocation point; the second is to seek ways to increase the size of the pie to be divided."

Buildings - All throughout the past twenty years, anything about buildings made good news-new buildings, extensions, and remodeling. The first issue talked about Union College's New Library. Montemorelos added a second floor in 1987. In 1991, we read that Heritage Hall at Southwestern Adventist College would be replaced by a 3.5 million dollar building. In 1994, Southwestern Adventist College had a grand opening for the Chan Shun Hall Centennial Library. In the late 90's we read that Southwestern remodeled an old AV room into a library instruction classroom. Moses Golola reported on the plans for a new university library in Bugema University, but we have not seen or heard of its fulfillment. Still in the works are the new building plans for Columbia Union College and Pacific Union College

A significant observation throughout the years were the shifts between departments within a library or with other entities of the institution. In 1984, Andrews brought the ILL and the Microcomputer Room together in Tech Services so that ILL person could use OCLC; Columbia Union College got additional floor space with the removal of the Education Department to a newly renovated building; and Pacific Union College got more space when they were relieved of the college phone equipment. The following year, The Heritage Room at Andrews University got the Egyptian Room when the Horn Archaelogical Museum moved out. In 1989, Southern's Center for Individualized Instruction was housed in the library and the University of Eastern Africa's library was moved to the ground floor of the New Student Centre. In 1990, Southwestern's Media Library was moved from the library to the bookstore. In 2000, the Adventist Heritage Center and the E. G. White Research Center at Andrews formed the Center for Adventist Research. Southern reported that the Instructional Media Department came to their Library.

Disaster Planning and Preservation - Randy Butler has been advocating the importance of Disaster Planning and Preservation since 1986 when he wrote articles dealing with the Los Angeles Central Library Fire. He also wrote an article in 1988 entitled "Save the Records: Preservation of Academy Records and Memorabilia." The following SDA libraries reported their own disasters: Loma Linda in 1992 and Kettering Medical College in 1994 had flooding problems. Two conferences dealt with this issue. The 1992 conference held in Walla Walla included a workshop "The ABC's of Library Disaster Planning and Wet-Book Packout" and the 1999 conference held in Montemorelos had a workshop on "Proper Materials Preservation." In addition to conducting these workshops, Randy began editing the Preservation Corner in 1998. With all these concerns for disaster planning and the need to preserve, ASDAL Action has not had any full length article on what libraries are actually doing to address the issue.

Name Changes - We also witnessed a trend in name changing during the last few years. Southern Adventist College and Southwestern Adventist College dropped "College" in favor of "University;" Canadian Union College replaced "Union" with the word "University." We saw the merging of Loma Linda University and La Sierra College into Loma Linda University; and then its split into two separate universities.

Personnel

Recruitment and Retention - Just like the rest of the work world, librarians were faced with retirements, resignations, and new employees. Maynard Lowry pointed out the issue of recruitment and retention in his article in the Winter 1989 issue: "Librarians in SDA Colleges and Universities: A Recruitment and Retention Problem." The picture as described in that article is as follows: fewer people were getting into library school, there was a decline in supply due to retention or attrition, and working age librarians were moving to other employment. The Hilts scholarship is one attempt to bring in more librarians. Lowry presented various strategies to encourage people to join our profession. Harvey Brenneise responded to that article by bringing out more problems and suggestions. Ten years later, Maynard wrote another article along the same lines: "Adventist Librarians Envision the Challenges of the Future." We currently know of at least three librarians moving to other employments: 3 to development and 1 to full-time teaching.

Change - The rapid changes in technology no doubt had an effect on the personnel so much so that one of the seminars for the 1990 conference was on "Stress Management." Another aspect of change is that of reorganization as seen in Andrews University's complete reorganization reported in the Spring 1994 issue. We see our changing role as service workers in Keith Clouten's article in 1996: "Librarians in the Saddle?" In this article he discussed the future of librarians and described higher education as being individualistic and provocative in the future.

Active Participation - One positive trend that has been observed in the past issue of ASDAL Action is SDA librarians' participation in other organizations. In 1991, the Editor chronicled ASDAL members' participation in professional organizations. A few examples of active participation are Loranne Grace's involvement with the Chattanooga Area Library Association, Carolyn Gaskell with the Washington chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries, Marley Soper with the Learning and Information Resource Network, Margaret von Hake with the Congress of Academic Library Directors, and Bob Baldwin with the Maryland Community College Library Consortium.

Services and Collections

Public Service - Bibliographic/Library Instruction was the most highly covered service in ASDAL Action. Way back in 1982, Larry Onsager and two faculty members participated in a workshop on bibliographic instruction at Earlham College. Evan Farber's influence on ASDAL was quite strong as he was featured at the 1986 conference. In the early 90's, we read about computer demonstrations at Andrews University and Walla Walla College. In the mid-nineties, Sheila Clark wrote two articles about instruction: the first one dealt with the information literacy, and the second one with active learning. Cynthia Helms wrote an article on teaching the use of the online catalog. In 1999, Andrews University announced a Web Tutorial. Sheila Clark explained how web making and web designing have become a part of library instruction. Nancy Kim pointed out in the Spring 2000 issue that "teaching technology has become a school librarian's responsibility." In that same issue, Wolfhard Touchard revisited the age-old approach to using handouts in his article "The Value of Handouts or Study Guides as Teaching Tools." Bruce McClay wrote a two-part article on library instruction. The Spring 2001 issue had an article by Sabrina Pusey on information literacy on a Christian campus. The latest emphasis has been on distance education with the formation of an ad hoc committee at the 2000 conference and the birth of the new column "From a Distance." The articles in ASDAL Action definitely showed how SDA library instructors have shifted their emphasis through the years in order to catch up with the changing trends brought about by technology,

Technical Service - Aside from all the articles that dealt with automation, there were a few articles that dealt with acquisitions and cataloging. Reports were on changing from DDC to LC and the demise of the card catalog. Atlantic Union College reported in 1988 that they used Baker and Taylor's Beta Phone service which provided catalog cards, book cards, and pockets for books that they ordered. Bernard Helms from Andrews University wrote an article about acquisitions. Southwestern Adventist University outsourced cataloging on standing orders from Baker and Taylor in 1997.

Collections - In the early 90's there were articles that dealt with special collections such as the Pitcairn collection at Pacific Union College, the Ottilie Stafford Poetry Collection at Atlantic Union College, and the Outreach Resources Collection at Andrews University. In the late 90's Southwestern Adventist University received a complete set of the U.S. Supreme Court Reports, Loma Linda University received the Grainger-Burden materials, and Pacific Union College received the Walter Rea, Charles Weniger, and Frank Riggs collections.

A sprinkling of articles throughout the twenty-year period dealt with periodicals. In 1983, Canadian Union College tried out microfiche as an alternative to binding scholarly and non-illustrated journals. In 1985, Pacific Union College began a current awareness program. In 1990, Atlantic Union College rearranged their periodicals into alphabetical order to the pleasure and delight of the patrons because they did not have to look up call numbers.

Within the last year or two, Andrews University addressed the periodical crisis by creatively restructuring the budget, redesigning the physical plant, and changing the mode of access. More about this in another presentation. A fairly new concept in collection development is NetLibrary where free electronic books can be accessed. The winter 2001 issue announced the availability of the African Digital Library.

Publications

Bibliographies - There was a few announcements along the lines of bibliographies and core lists. They are listed below with the years when they were published in ASDAL Action:

Clouten, Keith (1988) - A Framework of Learning Resources

Shearer, Gary (1989) - A Basic Selection of Books for Heritage Room Collection

Brenneise, Harvey, ed. (1992) - Library Standards and Guidelines for Institutions Affiliated with or Offering Extension Programs of Andrews University

Touchard, Wolfhard (1995) - A Basic Theological Bibliography: An Annotated Research and Selection Guide

Loma Linda University? (1995) - Bibliography of Ellen G. White Titles, 3^rd ed.

Indexes - The completion of a five-year index to Spectrum was announced in the Winter 1991 issue of ASDAL Action.

International Libraries

Listening to their Needs - As an organization founded in North America, ASDAL's interest has not been limited to Americans only. In fact its great interest in international libraries and librarians in its worldwide church is quite remarkable. There was always something in ASDAL Action about international libraries or librarians every single year since 1983. Many of the early articles dealt with international libraries' needs for staff, books, and card catalog cabinets. There were also news about library buildings in Papua New Guinea and Montemorelos. This trend continued through the years in distinct stages as follows.

Talking about Them: Committees - ASDAL's interest in international libraries was evident in the formation of committees to deal with the matter. In 1988, the ad hoc Overseas Libraries Committee completed its work but a review committee decided to keep that Committee. Other forms of group interest were evident in the appointment of a Coordinator of Overseas Libraries in the 80's and a Task Force for International Cooperation in the 90's

Reading out to Them: Conferences - Some of the 1990 conference topics dealt with culture and the international scene. The keynote speaker spoke about "Culture and Librarianship." The library director from Avondale spoke about "Librarianship: The International Scene." In 1991, ASDAL had the courage to approach the GC with a recommendation that a librarian be included in evaluation teams.

In 1995, the association held its first conference outside North America: Newbold College, England. At that conference, the association took a bold step in voting to have an international conference every five years. At that same conference, Keith Clouten reported on the work done by the Task Force on International Cooperation with a report of their survey and with a list of the international libraries' needs. The second international conference was held in Montemorelos in 1998 and we hope to have the third international conference in Argentina in 2002.

Open Communication - In the mid 90's there were articles showing how the international libraries were coping with automation, networking, and information skills. ASDAL Action began focusing on lengthier articles about international libraries from 1997 to 2000. One such lengthy article was about Keith Clouten's meeting with SDA librarians in Africa. ASDAL Action published reports from Russia, Uganda, Argentina, Germany, Philippines, and South Africa. Visits to several European libraries and specific libraries such as the Romanian Seminary Library (Romania), Avondale College (Australia), Valley View University (Ghana), etc. were also reported.

Other aspects of the international scene were addressed such as "A Comparison of India and U.S. Library Services" by Abraham Philip, "Library Education in Australia" by Peter Marks, "An Overview of Latin American Libraries" by Hernan Hammerly, and the "Centennial Celebration of Friedensau University Library" by Ralph Koehler. The establishment of SAIL, SAIL Germany, and ASDAL Action Europe are also indications of SDA libraries/librarians' interest in international librarianship.

ASDAL has been in action all these twenty years! Let's keep up our activities and be sure they get printed in ASDAL Action.