For immediate release:
December 10, 2007
For more information, contact:
Lee Anne George
Association of Research Libraries
202-296-2296
leeanne@arl.org
Washington DC—The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published Liaison Services, SPEC Kit 301, which identifies the current roles of liaisons in ARL libraries and the changes in their interactions with academic departments since the last SPEC survey on liaison services in 1992. This new SPEC Kit explores whether liaisons are being reactive to faculty and student needs, partnering in providing teaching/library instruction, pioneering in the new electronic world. It also documents how libraries mix the activities of traditional liaison responsibilities with the new trends that are fostered by the evolving needs of today’s library patrons.
The previous SPEC survey on liaison services in libraries in 1992 concluded that, “Until recently the library collection has formed the focus of library activity. But as the physical collection becomes less central, the user is becoming the focus of library services. The role librarians are to have in this decentralized information environment could depend largely upon the effectiveness with which liaison librarians are able to monitor, anticipate, and respond to user’s information needs.” Many changes have taken place in libraries and in society since 1992. Electronic communication and electronic publications have changed library patrons’ expectations and challenged libraries to provide access to a wide variety of materials while adjusting to their patrons’ constantly evolving information-seeking behaviors and technological needs.
The definition of the liaison role also has changed. The 1992 Reference and User Services Association guidelines for liaisons described the liaison role as primarily to gather information for collection development. The 2001 guidelines have an expanded definition of liaison work that includes five components. Three components stress collection development while two emphasize other purposes, namely public relations and communicating clientele needs to the library staff and governing body. Now librarians are taking on a number of new roles and responsibilities, including partnering with faculty in the classroom, acting as academic advisers and mentors, and providing computer software and hardware support.
This survey was distributed to the 123 ARL member libraries in May 2007. Of those 123 libraries, 66 (63 academic and 3 non-academic) responded by the deadline for a 54% response rate. Only 1 of the academic libraries does not provide liaison services to academic departments in their university; these services are not applicable to the non-academic libraries. Of the 66 responding libraries, 29 (49%) began offering liaison services before 1980.
This SPEC Kit includes documentation from respondents in the form of descriptions of liaison roles, responsibilities, and services offered; job descriptions; and training materials for liaisons.
The table of contents and executive summary from this SPEC Kit are available online at http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/spec301web.pdf.
SPEC Kit 301, Liaison Services
Susan Logue, John Ballestro, Andrea Imre, and Julie Arendt • October 2007 • ISBN 1-59407-794-0 • 172 pp. • $45 ($35 ARL members)
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Designed to examine current research library practices and policies and serve as resource guides for libraries as they face ever-changing management problems, each SPEC Kit contains a summary analysis, survey questions with tallies, pertinent documentation from participating libraries, and a reading list and Web site references for further information on the topic.
2007 SPEC Kit subscription (ISSN 0160-3582): $215 ARL member/$285 nonmember, six issues per year, shipping included (additional postage may apply outside North America).
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/.