What is the place of print in the digital age? That fundamental question, along with a thoughtful sequence of publications and conversations conducted over the past 20 years, inform the draft white paper, Concerted Thought, Collaborative Action, and the Future of the Print Record, by the multi-organization Working Group on the Future of the Print Record.
The working group seeks comments on the draft white paper from the library and higher education communities by Tuesday, January 31, 2017, in order to continue developing its argument and proposed solution. Comments may be submitted using the form at the bottom of the white paper webpage, or to Elizabeth Waraksa at the e-mail address above. An open discussion of the draft white paper will be held with Modern Language Association Convention attendees in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Friday, January 6, 2017, at 1:45 p.m. in the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, room 401–403.
In the white paper, the working group argues:
- the collective cultural heritage embodied in the vast print record held in libraries’ general, circulating collections must be preserved and made accessible for future generations; and
- no single institution or existing organization can provide a satisfactory solution for sustaining this cultural legacy.
Coherent, collective action is required on the part of the entire higher education community to sustain the print record. The working group proposes a research agenda for, and suggests a path toward, a national system for print collection management that derives from core values. These values inform academic research and teaching, and will provide over time a salient public good. Implicit in successfully addressing this grand challenge is mutual trust among institutions, their libraries, scholarly communities, information specialists, and administrators.
The Working Group on the Future of the Print Record, formed in January 2014, is composed of the following members:
Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Modern Language Association, working group chair
Dan Cohen, Digital Public Library of America
Seth Denbo, American Historical Association
Mike Furlough, HathiTrust
James Grossman, American Historical Association
Chuck Henry, Council on Library and Information Resources
Geneva Henry, George Washington University
Robert H. Kieft, Occidental College, retired
Deanna Marcum, Ithaka S+R
Judy Ruttenberg, Association of Research Libraries
Elliott Shore, Association of Research Libraries
Andrew M. Stauffer, University of Virginia
Elizabeth Waraksa, Association of Research Libraries
Steven Wheatley, American Council of Learned Societies
About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 124 research libraries in the US and Canada. ARL’s mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, facilitating the emergence of new roles for research libraries, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.
