For immediate release:
October 26, 2009

For more information, contact:
Lee Anne George
Publications Program Officer
Association of Research Libraries
202-296-2296
leeanne@arl.org

New Roles for New Times

New Report Series Developed

Washington DC--The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is initiating a new series of invited reports addressing emerging roles for research libraries. The New Roles for New Times series will begin publication with five reports in 2010. The reports will identify and delineate emerging roles for research library staff and present research on early experiences among ARL member libraries in developing the roles and delivering services.

Reports being developed are:

• Transforming liaison librarian work
  Karen Williams, University of Minnesota

• Repository services
  Sarah Shreeves, University of Illinois

• Digital curation and preservation
  Tyler Walters, Georgia Tech

• Library roles in promoting graduate students’ development of research skills and understanding of scholarly communication
  Lucinda Covert-Vail and Scott Collard, NYU

• New roles in providing print collections: remote storage and collection consolidation
  Emily Stambaugh, California Digital Library

Each report will describe the emerging role, articulating the audience affected by the new role and the benefits various constituencies experience as a result of the new role. Reports will highlight existing work, report authors’ findings, and offer analysis of trends, best practices, and key issues. Reports will be freely available as PDF files on ARL’s New Roles for New Times Web site http://www.arl.org/rtl/plan/nrnt/index.shtml. Print versions of the reports will be available for purchase for $25 each.

Complementing the report set, ARL will work with the New Roles authors to organize corresponding webcasts on each topic. Webcasts will be scheduled to follow a report’s release.

Further information about the program, planned reports, and report authors is available at http://www.arl.org/rtl/plan/nrnt/index.shtml.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 124 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, 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 http://www.arl.org/.