For immediate release:
January 3, 2008

For more information, contact:
Neil Rambo
Association of Research Libraries and
University of Washington Libraries
neil@arl.org

ARL Releases Agenda for Developing E-Science in Research Libraries

Washington DC—The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Joint Task Force on Library Support for E-Science has released its final report, an "Agenda for Developing E-Science in Research Libraries," which is available on the ARL Web site via http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/ARLESciencefinal.pdf.

The report states, "E-science has the potential to be transformational within research libraries by impacting their operations, functions, and possibly even their mission. … The [task force] focused its attention on the implications of trends in e-science for research libraries, exploring the dimensions that impact collections, services, research infrastructure, and professional development."

The task force concluded that "ARL's engagement in the issues of e-science is best focused on educational and policy roles, while partnering with other relevant organizations to contribute in strategic areas of technology development and new genres of publication. These types of strategic collaborations will also provide opportunities to re-envision the research library's role and contribution as 21st-century science takes shape."

With the support of ARL's three strategic direction steering committees, the recommendations in the report will be incorporated into the annual program planning for the Association to be undertaken by the ARL Board of Directors in February.

The members of the 2006–07 Joint Task Force on Library Support for E-Science were: chair Wendy Lougee (University of Minnesota), Sayeed Choudhury (Johns Hopkins University), Anna Gold (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Chuck Humphrey (University of Alberta), Betsy Humphreys (National Library of Medicine), Richard Luce (Emory University), Clifford Lynch (Coalition for Networked Information), James Mullins (Purdue University), Sarah Pritchard (Northwestern University), and Peter Young (National Agricultural Library). The staff liaisons to the task force were Julia Blixrud, Assistant Executive Director, External Relations, ARL, and Neil Rambo, Visiting Program Officer, ARL, and Director, Cyberinfrastructure Initiatives, University of Washington Libraries.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries in North America. Its 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, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is located on the Web at http://www.arl.org/.