For immediate release:
June 11, 2009

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

Call for Proposals for SPEC Survey Topics 2010

Deadline July 24, 2009

Washington DC—The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is seeking proposals for 2010 SPEC survey topics. For more than 35 years ARL has gathered and disseminated data through the SPEC survey program to assist libraries in the continuous improvement of their management systems. Each year, ARL works with librarians in North America to develop six surveys of the ARL membership on “hot topics” related to research library policies and practices. (Survey authors do not need to work at an ARL member library, but only ARL libraries are surveyed.)

Criteria for selecting a survey topic include its currency and insightfulness, its importance to research libraries, its relevance to ARL’s three strategic directions (Scholarly Communication; Public Policies; and Transforming Library Roles in Research, Teaching, and Learning) or the Association’s programs that promote diversity and assessment, and whether documents that illustrate current policies and practices can be gathered. Examples of current developments of interest to research libraries that could fit the SPEC model include activities to increase discovery and access to “hidden collections,” digital image collections and services, digital preservation, and graduate student outreach, among many others.

Proposals should be brief (two to five pages total) and should include the following elements:

• A short bio of the author(s) indicating qualifications to carry out research on the proposed topic.

• An overview of the topic with a discussion of why it is important to examine it at this time and a description of what you hope to learn from the survey data. Include a statement such as “The purpose of this survey is to...” (This text will be used to introduce the survey to respondents.)

• A paragraph indicating the relevance of the research topic to one or more of ARL’s three strategic directions.

• A list of the main categories of survey questions—reflecting your description of what you hope to learn—along with a sample question for each category.

• A list of the types of supporting documentation you would request from survey respondents.

Each author of a topic selected by ARL for inclusion in the 2010 SPEC survey cycle will work with ARL staff to design the survey and analyze the results for publication as a SPEC Kit. Every SPEC Kit contains an executive summary of the survey results; survey questions with answer tallies and selected comments; the best representative documents submitted by survey respondents, such as policies, procedures, handbooks, guidelines, Web sites, job descriptions, brochures, etc.; and a selected reading list of the most current literature available on the topic for further study. The complete survey process from design to publication takes about 18 months and authors are committing to complete the work within that time frame. Each author receives a modest honorarium for their contributions to the program.

To be considered for 2010, proposals must be submitted online by July 24, 2009. Proposals will be reviewed and successful authors will be notified by August 3. Additional information and the link to the online submission form are available at http://www.arl.org/stats/specsurveys/specfaq.shtml.

Resources

Description of ARL’s Strategic Directions:
http://www.arl.org/arl/governance/stratplan.shtml

For previous SPEC survey topics see:
Complete list of published SPEC Kits:
http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/spec/complete.shtml
2009 SPEC surveys:
http://www.arl.org/stats/specsurveys/

Details on the SPEC survey process and author expectations:
http://www.arl.org/stats/specsurveys/specfaq.shtml

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 on the Web at http://www.arl.org/.