The ARL Visiting Program Officer (VPO) program provides an opportunity for a staff member in an ARL member library to assume responsibility for conducting part or all of a project for ARL. The program provides a highly visible professional development opportunity for an outstanding staff member and serves the ARL membership as a whole by extending the capacity of ARL to undertake additional activities.
Typically, the member library supports the salary of the staff person and ARL supports or seeks grant funding for travel or other project-related expenses. Depending on the nature of the project and the circumstances of the individual, a VPO may spend extended periods of time in Washington, DC, or may conduct most of the project from her/his home library. In either case, contact with ARL staff and a presence in the ARL office is encouraged as this has proved to be mutually beneficial for the VPO and for ARL.
The ARL Strategic Plan reflects the scope of ARL's current agenda and suggests the range of issues where a Visiting Program Officer project could make a contribution. Individuals who wish to propose a project they could advance for ARL, or those who wish to nominate a librarian to serve as a VPO, may contact Sue Baughman, Associate Deputy Executive Director. Each appointment has its own time frame and will be dependent on securing support from the potential VPO's home library and identifying the financial resources needed to undertake the assignment.
Name & Sponsoring Library |
Year |
Project Undertaken |
| Lars Meyer Emory University |
2007–09 | Assess the state of preservation programs in ARL libraries |
| Neil Rambo University of Washington |
2007–08 | Advance ARL e-science agenda |
| Michael Rush Yale University |
2007–08 | Advance agenda of ARL Special Collections Working Group |
| Trisha L. Davis Ohio State University and Diane Grover University of Washington |
2006–07 | Refine and extend the benefits of a pilot workshop on analyzing and mapping license terms for use in electronic resource management (ERM) systems |
| Susan Weaver Kent State University |
2006–07 | Raise awareness about library assessment and assessment tools in Greek libraries |
| Evelyn Frangakis New York Public Library and Jill Thomas Boston College |
2003–05 | Investigate resources for use by the library community in the handling and preservation of still images in the digitization process |
| Carla Montori University of Michigan |
2003–06 | Advance the agenda for recognizing digitization as a preservation reformatting option and help define and refine the ARL Preservation Statistics |
| Monica McCormick University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
2005–06 | Advance the agenda of the Special Collections Task Force |
| Susan Gibbons University of Rochester |
2006 | Advance the work of the ARL Task Force on Enhanced Environments for Teaching and Learning |
| Eudora Loh University of California, Los Angeles |
2004–05 | Shaping new strategies for the AAU/ARL Global Resources Program |
| Judith Panitch University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
2002–04 | Advance the agenda of the ARL Special Collections Task Force |
| Dan Hazen Harvard University |
2003–04 | Director of AAU/ARL Global Resources Network |
| Brendan Rapple and Barbara Mento Boston College |
2002–03 | Explore to what extent libraries and universities are using data mining technologies to improve research productivity. They have compiled and prepared SPEC Kit 274, Data Mining and Data Warehousing. |
| Gordon Fretwell University of Massachusetts |
2002 | Collect and analyze e-metrics data recommeded from the ARL E-Metrics project. |
| Susan Beck Rutgers University |
2002 | Investigate the impact of assessment on library decision making |
| Doug Jones University of Arizona |
2001–02 | Work with the New Measures Initiative to address the role of the library in support of research |
| Deborah Jakubs Duke University |
1996–2002 | Director of the AAU/ARL Global Resources Program |
| Carolyn Synder Southern Illinois University Carbondale |
2000–01 | Work with ARL's Online Lyceum and the development of business plan to direct program's activities |
| Dawn Kight Southern University Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
1999–2000 | Work with ARL's Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce and the OLMS Online Lyceum |
| Vicki Coleman University of Kansas |
1999–2000 | Work with the ARL New Measures Initiative including web site development and with ARL's Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce |
| Trish Rosseel Electronic Library Network (Vancouver, BC) |
1999 | Development of Electronic Means to Deliver OLMS Training Content |
| Karen Zuidema, James Hodson, and Nancy John University of Illinois at Chicago |
1998–99 | Development of a WWW Resource on Digital Library Activities in ARL Libraries |
| Mark Winston Valdosta State University (Georgia) |
1997 | Diversity Issues in Academic Libraries |
| Trisha L. Davis Ohio State University |
1997 | Licensing Workshop with ARL's Office of Scholarly Communication |
| Timothy Jewell University of Washington |
1996–98 | The Character and Nature of Research Library Investments in Electronic Resources |
| Toni Olshen York University |
1996 | Diversity in Canadian Libraries |
| Kendon Stubbs University of Virginia |
1995–96 | Measuring User Satisfaction & Quality Service |
| Stanley Wilder Louisiana State University |
1995 | Age Demographics of Professionals in ARL Libraries |
| Mark Grover Brigham Young University |
1994–96 | ARL/AAU Latin American Demonstration Project |
| Pierre Guilmette Laval University |
1994 | ARL Foreign Acquisitions Project (French language) |
| Jim Gillispie Johns Hopkins University |
1994 | US Government Depository Library Program |
| Gail Kennedy University of Kentucky |
1994 | Quality Management |
| Mary Jackson University of Pennsylvania |
1993 | ILL & Document Delivery |
| Dan Hazen Harvard College Library |
1992 | Latin American Studies Assessment Project |
| Donna Koepp University of Kansas |
1992 | ARL GIS Literacy Project |
| Patrick McGlamery University of Connecticut |
1992 | ARL GIS Literacy Project |
| Gayle Garlock University of Toronto |
1992 | ARL Foreign Acquisitions Project |
| Assunti Pisiani Harvard University |
1992 | ARL Foreign Acquisitions Project |
| Susan Barnard Kent State University |
1991 | Total Quality Management |
| Jean Loup University of Michigan |
1989 | Statistical Projects, University E&G Expenditures |
| Beth Shapiro Michigan State University |
1989 | Access & Performance Measures for Research Libraries |
| Crystal Graham University of California, San Diego |
1989 | Guidelines for Bibliographic Records for Preservation Microform Masters |
| Sandra Peterson Yale University |
1989 | OMB's Circular A-130, Paperwork Reduction Act |
| Karen Turko University of Toronto |
1988 | Mass Deacidification Technologies |
| Rhonda MacInnes National Library of Canada |
1988 | OMS Training Program |
| Diane Smith Pennsylvania State University |
1988 | Government Information Access & Info Policy Issues |
| Samuel Streit Brown University |
1988 | HEA II-C Program: A Ten-Year Assessment |