To: ARL Directors
From: Duane Webster
Re: May–June 2007 E-News for ARL Directors
These news notes are organized by the strategic directions identified in the ARL Strategic Plan: Scholarly Communication; Public Policies Affecting Research Libraries; and Library Roles in Research, Teaching, and Learning. In addition, there is an initial section for Governance and Membership Activities and complementary sections on Diversity, Professional Workforce, and Leadership Development; Library Statistics and Assessment; and Other Items of Interest to ARL Directors.
E-News for ARL Directors is a collaboration of ARL program staff, compiled and edited by Duane Webster (duane@arl.org) and Kaylyn Groves (kaylyn@arl.org).
You are encouraged to route the E-News to your staff and others in your institution.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Governance and Membership Activities
1. ARL Membership Convenes in St. Louis to Consider Libraries & the Research Process
2. Member Orders Now Being Accepted for ARL 75th Anniversary Special Collections Book
Scholarly Communication
3. Pilot Testing of SERU License Alternative Begins in June
4. Universities of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Endorse CIC Author Amendment
5. Science Commons and SPARC Release Online Tools for Authors
6. Final ACRL/ARL/SPARC Webcast on Author Rights Runs June 18
7. Publishers’ White Paper Defends Current Copyright Transfer Practices
8. DSpace Launches Tool for Searching across All DSpace Repositories
9. Encyclopedia of Life Puts 1.8 Million Species Online
10. Humanities—the Final Frontier of Commercial Journal Publishing?
11. One Publisher’s Positive Take on the Emerging World of Information Abundance
12. SPARC-ACRL Forum to Explore Progress of Open Access Publishing Models
13. SPARC Recognizes Ted and Carl Bergstrom as SPARC Innovators
14. SPARC Partnership with U Minnesota’s AgEcon Search Highlights Exemplary Repository
Public Policies
15. Court Reverses Opinion in Greenberg v. National Geographic Society
16. Competitiveness Legislation Passes US House and Senate
17. National Endowment for Humanities Update
18. Library of Congress Update
19. US House Passes Presidential Records Reform Act
20. Campus Law Enforcement Emergency Response Act Introduced in US Senate
21. US GPO Requests Comments on Establishing Shared Regional Depositories
22. Library Copyright Alliance Endorses Statement on WIPO Development Agenda
23. US House Committee on Science and Technology Conducts Hearing on P2P File Sharing
Library Roles in Research, Teaching, and Learning
24. Evaluating Physical and Virtual Space to Support Teaching and Learning
25. CNI Update
Diversity, Professional Workforce, and Leadership Development
26. ARL Diversity Initiatives to Host Reception during ALA Annual in DC, June 22
27. Minority Recruitment in Research Libraries: A Model of Success, June 24
Library Statistics and Assessment
28. ARL Statistics and Assessment Committee Develops Implementation Plan for New Ways of Measuring Collections
29. ARL Statistical Surveys Update
30. LibQUAL+® Update
Other Items of Interest to ARL Directors
31. ARL Booth and Events at ALA Annual Conference in DC, June 22–26
32. ARL Transitions
33. Governance Transitions
34. Other Transitions
35. Grants
GOVERNANCE AND MEMBERSHIP ACTIVITIES
1. ARL Membership Convenes in St. Louis to Consider Libraries & the Research Process
ARL President Sherrie Schmidt (Arizona State University) convened the 150th ARL Membership Meeting May 23-25 in St. Louis, Missouri. One hundred and six member libraries were represented at program sessions examining Libraries & the Research Process: Exploring How to Demonstrate Returns on Investment. The program was complemented with briefings and informal discussions led by ARL Directors and others. The Business Meeting featured updates from the Board and key committees, including a report on implementation plans for new ways for ARL to measure collections and the introduction of a new expenditures-focused index. See item 28 below. An overview of the meeting program and discussion sessions, as well as speaker slides and papers are being posted on the meeting Web site as they become available. See http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/mmproceedings/150mmproceedings.shtml.
[back to top]
2. Member Orders Now Being Accepted for ARL 75th Anniversary Special Collections Book
To commemorate ARL’s 75th Anniversary, 118 ARL member libraries are participating in a project that illustrates the extraordinary nature and scope of the special collections in ARL member libraries and how these collections are being used to advance research, teaching, and learning. The publication Celebrating Research, and a companion Web site, will be issued this October.
The audience for the publication includes scholars, donors and potential donors, institutional administrators, and the educated public. The Editorial Committee is comprised of Phil Cronenwett, Special Collections Librarian Emeritus, Dartmouth College; Kevin Osborn, Research & Design Ltd.; and Sam Streit, Interim Associate University Librarian, Brown University.
The print edition of Celebrating Research will comprise 300+ pages with 400+ images illustrating the wide variety of research materials. The volume will be printed in four colors on a high-quality, acid-free paper.
Each member library will receive one complimentary copy of the book. For ARL member libraries that would like to order additional copies, there is a special price for orders placed before September 15, 2007: $100 per copy for orders of 1-9 copies; $90 each for orders of 10 or more copies shipped to the same address. Shipping and handling fees are in addition to the price of the book. (After September 15 the book will be sold at a higher price.) Orders for this members-only prepublication offer should be directed ASAP to the project mailbox 75@arl.org.
[back to top]
SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION
3. Pilot Testing of SERU License Alternative Begins in June
The Shared Electronic Resource Understanding (SERU) project enters a pilot phase for use in June with the public release of SERU 0.9. SERU provides an approach that libraries and publishers can mutually adopt as an alternative to negotiating a license for many e-resources; where the two parties agree to forgo a license, they can reference the SERU statements.
During the pilot phase, interested publishers and libraries can experiment with this new practice using a draft version of SERU. Publishers and libraries will be able to register at the NISO Web site as either supporters of the project or implementers of the 0.9 version of the draft SERU Statements of Shared Understanding. The pilot phase will run through the remainder of 2007.
More information on the SERU project is available at http://www.niso.org/committees/SERU/.
[back to top]
4. Universities of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Endorse CIC Author Amendment
In late April and early May, faculty at three member institutions of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation voted to support the consortium’s author amendment and to encourage faculty members to retain copyrights in their work when granting rights to publishers. The amendment attaches to publishers’ copyright transfer or license agreements to enable authors to retain the rights they need to deposit works in institutional repositories. See http://www.cic.uiuc.edu/groups/FacultyGovernanceLeaders/archive/WhitePaper/
CICAuthorsRights.pdf.
[back to top]
5. Science Commons and SPARC Release Online Tools for Authors
Science Commons and SPARC have released new online tools to help authors exercise choice in retaining critical rights in their scholarly articles, including the rights to reuse their scholarly articles and to post them in online repositories. The new tools include the Scholar’s Copyright Addendum Engine, an online tool created by Science Commons to simplify the process of choosing and implementing an addendum to retain scholarly rights. By selecting from among four addenda offered, any author can fill in a form to generate and print a completed amendment that can be attached to a publisher’s copyright assignment agreement to retain critical rights to reuse and offer their works online. See http://www.arl.org/sparc/media/07-0517SC.html.
[back to top]
6. Final ACRL/ARL/SPARC Webcast on Author Rights Runs June 18
On June 18, ACRL and ARL, through the Institute on Scholarly Communication, along with SPARC, offered their final joint webcast on author rights. Julia Blixrud, Assistant Director for Public Programs of SPARC, and Trisha Davis, Rights Management Coordinator of the Ohio State University Libraries, discussed ways authors can amend publisher copyright transfer agreements to keep key rights to journal articles. This webcast provided librarians with the basic information needed to educate faculty on campus before they transfer ownership of their intellectual output and help them understand the consequences and options. See http://www.arl.org/sparc/media/07-0419Webcast.html.
[back to top]
7. Publishers’ White Paper Defends Current Copyright Transfer Practices
Three publisher organizations representing many commercial and scholarly publishers have issued a white paper defending current practices as offering “an appropriate balance” between author copyright management and publisher assumption of author copyright. The three organizations—the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers; the Association of American Publishers’ Professional/Scholarly Publishing Division; and the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers—recognize several activities as fair use, such as “quotation of just enough of the original to convey the critical point, and proper citation and crediting” and they argue that current practices are largely sufficient to meet the needs of scholarly dialog and critique. The white paper asserts that the “scholar-friendly nature of most academic journal publishers’ copyright policies” is sufficient to justify prevailing practices of copyright transfer and exclusive licensing. The document, “Author and Publisher Rights for Academic Use: An Appropriate Balance” is available at http://www.alpsp.org/ForceDownload.asp?id=391.
[back to top]
8. DSpace Launches Tool for Searching across All DSpace Repositories
The DSpace Federation has created a search engine that searches across all repositories using the DSpace open source software. A 2006 SPEC survey found that DSpace software is the most widely implemented repository software at ARL member libraries (see http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/spec292web.pdf). The new discovery tool uses a Google Co-op search engine and is available at http://www.google.com/custom?cx=002016835368729837274%3A_wvysrx-tsc&sa=
Search&cof=CX%3ADSPACE%3BFORID%3A0&hl=en&client=google-coop-np.
[back to top]
9. Encyclopedia of Life Puts 1.8 Million Species Online
Use of the wiki in the service of science takes a big leap forward with the launch of the Encyclopedia of Life project. Major museums and research institutions have joined together to work with funding from the MacArthur and Sloan foundations to create a public resource describing all known species. The encyclopedia will be managed and edited by scholars to ensure currency and quality and is expected to become a focus for documentation of new species as they are discovered. The project and the resource it will create provide a compelling example of the value offered by new kinds of information resources that harness the collective activity of scholarly communities and make the results freely available to advance research and scholarship as well as public policy and public education. The encyclopedia is currently available at http://www.eol.org/.
Project partners include the Field Museum, Harvard University, Marine Biological Laboratory 1.8 (Woods Hole), the Smithsonian Institution, the Biodiversity Heritage Library, and, most recently, the Missouri Botanical Gardens. The project is also exploring alliances with complementary efforts such as the Atlas of Living Australia.
[back to top]
10. Humanities—the Final Frontier of Commercial Journal Publishing?
A recent article in IT Week presents an interesting analysis of the trend lines for the humanities publishing market, particularly in the journal arena. As the article’s title suggests, “Business Is Booming for the Humanities.” While publishing of science and technology tend be widely discussed, a quiet revolution is well underway in the humanities and scholarly publishers are on top of it.
The article notes that journals director at Palgrave Macmillan, David Bull, reported, “’We want to grow; so do our competitors. The way we do it is either through buying journals, launching titles, publishing on behalf of clients or innovating.’ Palgrave is looking to do a little bit of all four to meet the needs of its users.”
It isn’t clear how libraries will be able to accommodate a wave of new growth in digital products. Rolfe Janke, Vice President and Publisher at Sage Reference, acknowledged, “There is no new money about. Our job is to take other publishers’ money away.”
The article is available at http://www.itweek.co.uk/2189398.
[back to top]
11. One Publisher’s Positive Take on the Emerging World of Information Abundance
Michael Jensen, the Director of Web Communications for the National Academies and Director of Publishing Technologies at the National Academies Press, has introduced an alternative way for scholarly publishers to look at their future: the “deep niche.” Jensen bases his observations in part on the experiences of the National Academies Press in providing content in a world where information is increasingly abundant. In an article in the Journal of Electronic Publishing Jensen lays out the deep niche concept. See http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3336451.0010.206.
Jensen also describes “The New Metrics of Scholarly Authority” in a recent piece in the Chronicle Review. He elaborates the ways in which the development of Web 2.0 is being driven by this new reality of information abundance. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i41/41b00601.htm.
[back to top]
12. SPARC-ACRL Forum to Explore Progress of Open Access Publishing Models
The SPARC-ACRL Forum, “Course Check: A Conversation with Three Open Access Publishers about the Challenges of Sustainability,” will be held at the ALA Annual Conference in Washington DC, Saturday, June 23, 4:00–5:30 p.m. in the Georgetown Room, Hilton Washington, 1919 Connecticut Avenue NW. See http://www.arl.org/sparc/media/07-0507Forum.html.
[back to top]
13. SPARC Recognizes Ted and Carl Bergstrom as SPARC Innovators
SPARC has recognized the father-son team of Ted and Carl Bergstrom as the new SPARC Innovators. The Bergstroms advance the open sharing of scholarly information through original research and the creation of innovative tools that are used widely by the academic community to assess the value of research. See http://www.arl.org/sparc/media/07-0605.html.
[back to top]
14. SPARC Partnership with U Minnesota’s AgEcon Search Highlights Exemplary Repository
SPARC has aligned with AgEcon Search, a free Web-based repository at the University of Minnesota that collects, indexes, and electronically distributes full-text copies of scholarly research in agricultural and applied economics. AgEcon Search is a collaboration of the University of Minnesota Libraries, the university’s Department of Applied Economics, and the American Agricultural Economics Association. AgEcon Search completed a successful migration to the DSpace software in April, and has become part of the University of Minnesota’s Digital Conservancy that is hosted by the University Libraries. This SPARC Scientific Communities partnership recognizes how the creators of AgEcon Search have developed a model subject-specific repository that is innovative, collaborative, and successful as a focal resource for studies in this field. For more information, see http://www.arl.org/sparc/partner/07-0614.html.
[back to top]
PUBLIC POLICIES
15. Court Reverses Opinion in Greenberg v. National Geographic Society
On June 13, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed an earlier ruling in the case Greenberg v. National Geographic Society; this is a very important ruling for publishers who want to digitize their works. This ruling permits digital versions of existing works if no changes are made to the works. Greenberg, a photographer sued the National Geographic for including his works in a CD-ROM compilation of all of the issues of the National Geographic magazine. An earlier ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled against the National Geographic Society. An appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected and the case was again before the Eleventh Circuit. Throughout this case and a related case, Faulkner v. National Geographic Society, the Library Copyright Alliance (LCA)—a coalition of five major library associations including ARL—filed amicus briefs. In this round, the LCA and the Society of American Archivists (SAA) filed an amicus brief due to concerns that the Eleventh Circuit decision could hinder the use of digital technologies. The Copyright Act is “media-neutral,” and libraries believe that it should allow publishers to take advantage of new technologies to preserve and distribute creative works to the public. The LCA and SAA viewed the CD-ROM of the National Geographic magazine as no different than if a microfilm version of the magazine had been made. The original collective works that are reproduced in digital facsimiles constitute a permissible revision and are not themselves changed by the transformation from paper to the CD-ROM version. For more information, see http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/greenbergreversal13june07.pdf.
[back to top]
16. Competitiveness Legislation Passes US House and Senate
The US House and Senate will convene a conference committee to reconcile provisions in two bills: the 21st Century Competitiveness Act of 2007 (HR 2272), which passed in the House on May 21, and the America COMPETES Act (S 761), which passed in the Senate earlier this year.
Both bills respond to the recommendations proposed by the National Academy of Sciences in the report, Rising above the Gathering Storm, and the Council on Competitiveness report, Innovate America. The America COMPETES Act focuses on three areas to maintain and improve US innovation: increase research investment; strengthen educational investment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and develop an innovation infrastructure. The legislation would increase education partnerships funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Laboratories, and increase funding for NSF, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. It would also direct the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to increase basic research and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to promote leadership in the ocean and atmospheric research and education fields.
The House legislation authorizes a total of $23.6 billion over fiscal years 2008–10, including $21 billion for research and education programs at the NSF, $2.5 billion for the research labs, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and other activities at the NIST, and $96 million for early career awards and teacher professional development programs at the Department of Energy (DOE).
[back to top]
17. National Endowment for Humanities Update
Appropriations
On June 7, the US House Committee on Appropriations marked up the FY 2008 Interior and Related Agencies appropriations legislation. The committee approved a $19 million increase for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for a total of $160 million. The funds will provide additional support to a number of programs including Preservation and Access, the “We the People” Initiative Grants, and “Digital Humanities” Initiatives. It is expected that the full House may act on the Interior bill soon. The Senate has yet to act on the Interior and Related Agencies bill.
Grants
On May 31, the NEH announced that 118 successful grant applicants will receive $17.5 million. NEH describes these projects as those “designed to advance humanities research and prepare scholarly editions, provide high-quality public programming on television and in libraries, support projects in US history and culture, preserve and stabilize significant humanities collections, and support long-term plans for strengthening humanities programming at cultural institutions.” Eight awards, totaling $2,577,596, were made in support of the National Digital Newspaper Program with an additional $2,606,308 awarded for stabilization projects. For more information, see http://www.neh.gov/news/archive/20070531.html.
In addition, NEH recently announced continued support for the preservation and stabilization needs of cultural institutions in the Gulf Coast following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. One of the recipients, the Archives and Library of the Newcomb Center for Research on Women at Tulane University will receive $368,511. These funds will preserve the collection of books, records, and manuscripts dealing with women’s education in the South by installing heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems and by acquiring new storage furniture. For more information, see http://www.neh.gov/news/archive/20070601.html.
[back to top]
18. Library of Congress Update
Appropriations
The US House Committee on Appropriations marked up the FY 2008 Legislative Branch appropriations bill on June 12, allocating $572.5 million to the Library of Congress (LC), a 12.5% increase over FY 2007. The bill allocates $6.5 million to the National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP), far short of the $21.5 million requested. The NDIIPP funds were included in LC’s base budget, which is a positive development. The bill allocates $12.5 million to the Digital Talking Books program. The requested funding for this program is the first of a four-year analog-to-digital transition of the library’s Talking Books program. As the $12.5 million allocation is less than what had been requested, legislative language authorizes the Librarian of Congress, if needed, to secure monies from other LC programs. It is expected that the Senate may consider FY 2008 Legislative Branch legislation on June 21.
Working Group on Bibliographic Control
The Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control of the Library of Congress will conduct its third and final session on July 9 in Washington DC. The working group is examining the future of bibliographic description in the 21st century. The group was convened by and will report its findings to Associate Librarian for Library Services Deanna Marcum in November 2007.
The focus of the July 9 session is “Economics and Organization of Bibliographic Data.” A background paper that includes a series of questions will form the basis of the meeting. The paper is available online http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/meetings/docs/ecoandorgofbibdata-final.pdf.
The working group invites written responses to the questions in the background paper, along with any other commentary related to the general topic of the session. For information about how to submit written commentary see http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/meetings/submit-testimony.html.
Attendance at the July meeting will be limited to 140 registered attendees. The registration form will be online soon.
[back to top]
19. US House Passes Presidential Records Reform Act
In a vote of 333 to 93, the US House of Representatives passed the Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007 (HR 1255) on March 14. The act seeks to nullify Presidential Order 13233 that allows current and former presidents great latitude in withholding presidential records. Provisions in HR 1255 would set a timetable for current and former presidents to object to the release of records; limit the authority of former presidents to withhold presidential records while providing the sitting president with the authority to reject claims of executive privilege by previous presidents; limit claims of executive privilege only to current and former presidents; and eliminate the authority of vice presidents to assert executive privilege to vice presidential records.
On March 14, a companion bill (S 886) was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Leahy (Chair, Committee on the Judiciary, D-VT) and Sen. Bingaman (D-NM). The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
[back to top]
20. Campus Law Enforcement Emergency Response Act Introduced in US Senate
US Senators Durbin (D-IL) and Obama (D-IL) have introduced the Campus Law Enforcement Emergency Response Act (S 1229). The legislation would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education to report information concerning their law enforcement response programs. In addition, the institutions would also report campus law enforcement emergencies in annual security reports. The institutions would be required to test annual law enforcement emergency response programs and inform those on campus of any law enforcement emergency within 30 minutes of an incident. Notifications may include e-mail alerts, telephone alerts, text-message alerts, radio announcements, television alerts, audible alert signals, and public address announcements. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. For more information, see http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.1228:.
[back to top]
21. US GPO Requests Comments on Establishing Shared Regional Depositories
The US Government Printing Office (GPO) has requested that directors of Federal Depository Libraries (FDLs) comment on draft “Guidelines: Establishing Shared Regional Depository Libraries.” The draft guidelines provide regional FDLs with flexible and useful guidance in developing additional models of access to government information. The purpose of the draft guidelines is to allow regional and selective FDLs to explore and implement new innovative approaches that take advantage of the digital environment. The draft guidelines are available online http://www.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/mgt/shared-regional.pdf. Library directors are encouraged to write in support of the draft guidelines prior to June 29; letters may be sent to Cynthia Etkin at cetkin@gpo.gov.
[back to top]
22. Library Copyright Alliance Endorses Statement on WIPO Development Agenda
The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA)—a coalition of five major library associations including ARL—joined the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and Electronic Information for Libraries (eIFL) in a statement before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) meeting on proposals relating to a WIPO Development Agenda. The statement, “A Development Agenda for WIPO: Why Libraries Care,” strongly supports the call for a WIPO Development Agenda and states, “the development of information technologies, and in particular the Internet, has created a completely new environment in which the role of traditional information services must be thoroughly revised. The potential of networking, cooperation, and digitization modify substantially the functions of acquiring, storing, and disseminating information and knowledge. Here, special attention must be paid to the least developed countries so that they do not lag behind technological advances.” Robert Oakley, Director, Law Library, Georgetown Law Center, is representing LCA at the WIPO meeting. For more information, see http://www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/.
[back to top]
23. US House Committee on Science and Technology Conducts Hearing on P2P File Sharing
On June 5, the US House Committee on Science and Technology conducted a hearing on possible technological solutions to P2P file sharing on campuses. The focus on technological solutions to illegal file sharing was a departure from earlier hearings that have focused on copyright concerns. Witnesses and members of the committee explored different types of technological approaches and their effectiveness. Overall, several broad themes emerged from the hearing. First, technology is seen as only one part of the solution and technological solutions will not end illegal file sharing. Education will be key to changing behaviors. And finally, more legal alternatives are needed, especially those that are not hindered by digital rights management measures. For more information, see http://www.science.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1858.
[back to top]
LIBRARY ROLES IN RESEARCH, TEACHING, AND LEARNING
24. Evaluating Physical and Virtual Space to Support Teaching and Learning
At the recent ARL Membership Meeting, a popular discussion session centered on a hybrid teaching-and-learning installation at Georgia Tech Library. Discussion leaders Richard Meyer (Georgia Tech) and Crit Stuart (ARL) suggested that customer-informed programming followed by post-occupancy assessment are required to demonstrate returns on investment to both stakeholders and consumers. The presentation explored metrics and assessment tools that capture customer reactions and suggest corrections and future implementations. For a summary document see http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/mmproceedings/meyer-stuart.shtml.
Crit Stuart, ARL Program Director for Research, Teaching and Learning, invites member institutions to identify programs, resources, and training opportunities that would benefit their work to support teaching and learning on their campuses. Contact Crit at crit@arl.org.
[back to top]
25. CNI Update
CNI Executive Director Clifford Lynch delivered the closing keynote address at ETD 2007, the 10th International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations, held in Uppsala, Sweden, June 13–16, 2007.
At the upcoming American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Washington DC, Lynch will participate in the program “Museums, Libraries, Archives: A Convergence,” on Sunday June 24. Also at ALA, CNI Associate Executive Director Joan Lippincott will speak on new technologies and teaching trends as part of the ACRL Women’s Studies Section program “Once upon a Furl in a Podcast Long Ago: Using New Technologies to Support Library Instruction,” on Monday, June 25, 8:00–11:30 a.m.
In August, Clifford Lynch will be the closing keynote speaker at the Seminars on Academic Computing (SAC) Directors Leadership Seminar in Snowmass Village, Colorado.
Planning continues for the Fall 2007 CNI Task Force Meeting, to be held in Washington DC on December 10–11, during which the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will present its 2007 Awards for Technology Collaboration; more information on the awards is available at http://matc.mellon.org/.
CNI will cosponsor the Third International Digital Curation Conference, “Curating Our Digital Scientific Heritage: A Global Collaborative Challenge,” which takes place December 12–13, 2007 in Washington DC, following the CNI Task Force Meeting. Submissions of papers, posters, and demonstrations for that conference will be accepted until August 15, 2007. See http://www.dcc.ac.uk/events/dcc-2007 for more information.
Interviews conducted during the CNI Task Force Meeting held April 16–17, 2007, in Phoenix, Arizona, are now available at http://connect.educause.edu/folksonomy/cni2007spring. The podcasts include conversations with plenary speakers Stephen Murray of Columbia University and Marc Smith of Microsoft Research, as well as interviews with the incoming Executive Director of the Digital Library Federation, Peter Brantley, and with Jack McCredie of the University of California, Berkeley. These recordings are designed to function as an extension of the meeting, complementing the standard program, and providing an opportunity for the broader CNI community to hear from some of our key presenters and attendees. Presentation materials for many project briefings are also available now from the project briefing pages on the Task Force Meeting Web site http://www.cni.org/tfms/2007a.spring.
[back to top]
DIVERSITY, PROFESSIONAL WORKFORCE, AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
26. ARL Diversity Initiatives to Host Reception during ALA Annual in DC, June 22
The ARL Diversity Initiatives will host its annual reception on Friday, June 22, 5:30–8:30 p.m., at the ARL office, 21 Dupont Circle NW, Suite 800, Washington DC. For more information, contact Jerome Offord Jr., jerome@arl.org.
[back to top]
27. Minority Recruitment in Research Libraries: A Model of Success, June 24
A program session at the upcoming American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Washington DC will discuss ARL’s Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce, focusing on its program model, funding, and future goals. While the US population is becoming more diverse with each new generation, the research library profession is not keeping pace with the diversity of the general population. The Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce is working diligently to recruit librarians from underrepresented groups into careers in research libraries. This program session is scheduled for Sunday, June 24, 2007, 4:00–5:30 p.m., at the JW Marriott, Salon III, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC. For more information, contact Jerome Offord Jr., jerome@arl.org.
[back to top]
LIBRARY STATISTICS AND ASSESSMENT
28. ARL Statistics and Assessment Committee Develops Implementation Plan for New Ways of Measuring Collections
At the recent ARL Membership Meeting and in response to the recommendation from the ARL Task Force on New Ways of Measuring Collections, the ARL Statistics and Assessment Committee developed an implementation plan that defines four actions:
(a) ARL will produce an expenditures-focused index starting with 2005–06. This index will include total library expenditures, salaries and wages for professional staff, expenditures for total library materials, and number of professional and support staff.
(b) The definition of current serials is changing from the number of serial subscriptions to the number of unique/de-duped titles. Any given title should be counted only once across all formats and should be reported as electronic if available starting with the ARL Statistics 2006–07.
(c) The ARL Supplementary Statistics will eliminate a number of questions, most of which are related to electronic journals.
(d) ARL will start collecting qualitative data to develop a profile of ARL member libraries. The members of the Statistics and Assessment Committee will undertake an implementation test by collecting descriptive, qualitative information about key aspects of a library’s operations.
A detailed memo was presented at the ARL Business Meeting in May and will also be forwarded to the ARL Survey Coordinators. For more information regarding the task force’s recommendation, see http://www.arl.org/stats/aboutstats/tfnewways.shtml.
[back to top]
29. ARL Statistical Surveys Update
The status of the ARL annual surveys is:
- ARL Annual Salary Survey 2006–07: All data collected. Prepublication tables are available at http://www.arl.org/stats/annualsurveys/salary/sal0607.shtml.
Final printed publication is in production.
- ARL Statistics, ARL Academic Health Sciences Statistics, ARL Academic Law Statistics, 2005–06: All data collected. Final tables to be issued in the coming days.
- ARL Supplementary Statistics and ARL Preservation Statistics, 2005–06: Data collection is underway.
For information regarding the annual data-collection activities, contact Martha Kyrillidou, martha@arl.org.
[back to top]
30. LibQUAL+® Update
The 2007 LibQUAL+® Session I officially closed on May 31, 2007, collecting over 152,000 responses from 218 institutions. International institutions accounted for 40% of all registrants and they collected 47% of the total responses. Of the international participants, Canada had the largest number of participating institutions (63), and these institutions collected over 50,000 responses.
The LibQUAL+® team encourages participants to prepare for the next steps in the process: analyzing survey results and taking action. The following are resources that may help participants understand their results and take action in creative ways:
[back to top]
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST TO ARL DIRECTORS
31. ARL Booth and Events at ALA Annual Conference in DC, June 22–26
Visit ARL at booth 2252 in the Washington Convention Center, Saturday–Monday, June 23–25, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and Tuesday, June 26, 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. See http://www.arl.org/events/arlala/ for a list of all ARL events at the ALA Annual Conference.
[back to top]
32. ARL Transitions
South Carolina: Thomas F. McNally, Director of the Thomas Cooper Library at the University of South Carolina, has been named Interim Dean of Libraries, upon Paul Willis’s retirement June 30, 2007.
[back to top]
33. Governance Transitions
Sandra Yee, Dean of Wayne State University Libraries, will serve as the OCLC Members Council President for 2007–08.
[back to top]
34. Other Transitions
American Association of Law Libraries (AALL): Kate Hagan was named Executive Director, effective June 18, 2007. Interim Executive Director Steve Ligda will remain at AALL through July to assist with the transition.
[back to top]
35. Grants
Two ARL member libraries were awarded Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Grants by the Institute of Museum and Library Services in June 2007:
Emory University
Award Amount: $773,336
Matching Amount: $291,158
Grant Category: Masters Level Programs
Project Title: “Recruiting and Educating Librarian’s for the Digital Age: Diversifying Librarianship in the South”
The Emory University Libraries and their partners, the University of North Texas and the Atlanta University Center, will address the need for professional librarians with contemporary skill sets in north Georgia.
New York Public Library
Award Amount: $329,750
Matching Amount: $344,717
Grant Category: Continuing Education
Project Title: “Leadership Now! at The New York Public Library”
The New York Public Library’s project, “Leadership Now!,” will develop an enhanced workforce of mid-level managers equipped with the skills and vision to enhance the library’s role as a learning organization.
[back to top]
DEW 6/19/07
Duane E. Webster
Executive Director
Association of Research Libraries
21 Dupont Circle NW
Washington DC 20036
v: (202) 296-2296
fax: (202) 872-0884
cell: (202) 251-4431
e-mail: duane@arl.org
