Academic library directors across the state established the Oklahoma Council of Library Directors in 1988 in an effort to better coordinate networking efforts and other collaborative projects. Additional charges given by the State Regents have expanded OCALD’s role in higher education.
About OCALD
The Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education is an elected committee of faculty whose purpose is to “communicate with the Chancellor and the State Regents the views and interests of all Oklahoma college and university faculty on those issues that relate to the constitutional and statutory responsibilities of the State Regents.”
OCALD was established in 1988 by academic library directors in order to better coordinate library networking efforts and other collaborative projects.
In 1997, the State Regents contracted with Dr. Jim Mingle and the State Higher Education Executive Officers association for assistance in addressing strategic and operational issues to position Oklahoma higher education in the technology era. Dr. Mingle’s report, Technology 2000: Recommendations on the Utilization of Information Technology in the Oklahoma Higher Education System, was presented to the State Regents at their September 5 meeting. At the October 31 meeting, the State Regents accepted the report’s 20 recommendations in concept, directing staff to work with the appropriate advisory councils in developing specific recommendations to be presented to the State Regents.
The 12th recommendation in Technology 2000 called for the State Regents to recognize the Oklahoma Council of Academic Library Directors (OCALD) as an official advisory council to the State Regents. The State Regents established OCALD as a formal advisory council at their meeting on December 12, 1997. The first meeting of OCALD as a formal advisory council was held January 28, 1998.
In their action, the State Regents identified the following charges for the council:
- Serve as the vehicle for sustaining a more coordinated library system with the specific charge of developing a “virtual” library through which all residents have equal access to library collections in Oklahoma and throughout the world via technology.
- Implement a variety of projects including further interlibrary loan cooperation, a statewide courier system, expanded borrowing privileges, a central materials storage facility, and additional resource sharing protocols.
- Coordinate the State Regents’ library initiatives with those of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and the Library Media Division of the State Department of Education.
- Examine student access to learning resources and serve as a resource group to address issues such as copyright, the utilization of information resources, and intellectual property, as appropriate.