News

The video of the webcast “Using ARL Salary Data to Make the Case for Higher Salaries” presented on May 21, 2013, is now available on ARL's YouTube channel. This webcast examines how to use the ARL Annual Salary Survey beyond the published data. The speakers showcase how libraries have used ARL's custom report services, identify how to demonstrate salary issues that need to be addressed, and discuss strategies leaders have used to make the case for improved salaries. Webcast slides (PDF) are also available for download.

image © Chris TarnawskiSave the dates August 4–6, 2014, for the next Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment, to be hosted in Seattle, Washington, by ARL and the University of Washington Libraries. The conference goal is to build and further a vibrant library assessment community by bringing together interested practitioners and researchers who have responsibility or interest in the broad field of library assessment. The conference provides a mix of invited speakers, contributed papers and posters, and workshops that stimulate discussion and provide workable ideas for effective, practical, and sustainable library assessment.

Mark A. PuenteARL's director of diversity and leadership programs, Mark A. Puente, submitted the following comments to Library Journal (LJ) in response to the May 23 editorial by Michael Kelley, "The MLS and the Race Line": Mr. Kelley provides some interesting and provocative comments about the effectiveness of diversity recruitment programs such as the collaboration between the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the Society of American Archivists (SAA) recently funded by IMLS. But as previous commenters have pointed out to him, no one strategy is going to be effective for every recruit and a variety of approaches should be used. ARL’s approach should be seen within a larger context of attempts to ameliorate this vexing problem.

Peter Suber, image © SPARCThe Harvard Library and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University have appointed SPARC senior researcher Peter Suber as director of the Office for Scholarly Communication (OSC), which spearheads campus-wide initiatives to open, share, and preserve scholarship. Suber's appointment is effective July 1, 2013. He will continue his current activities with SPARC as well as his roles as director of the Harvard Open Access Project, as a Berkman Center faculty fellow, and as research professor of philosophy at Earlham College.

image © Ed UthmanARL is recruiting an individual to be the director of public policy initiatives. ARL is a nonprofit, member-driven institutional organization representing 125 research and academic libraries in the US and Canada. ARL’s mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve.

image © TAMUToday the Texas A&M University (TAMU) and University of Texas (UT) systems are opening a Joint Library Facility at TAMU’s Riverside Campus. The $6.3 million, 18,000-square-foot facility will house more than 1 million books from the collections of the two universities and make them available for use by other academic or medical institutions.

Library and Archives Canada, image © LACOn May 21, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) sent an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking him to consult with the library and archival community during the selection process for the next Librarian and Archivist of Canada. Daniel Caron resigned as Librarian and Archivist of Canada on May 15.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has updated its Public Libraries in the United States Survey (PLS) search and compare tools with FY 2011 unimputed data. The survey collects descriptive statistics annually from more than 9,000 public libraries in the US.

image © John SchniebelARL, LibQUAL+^®, and SPARC are offering several events at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference to be held in Chicago this summer. Highlights include: 

ARL/LibQUAL+ Booth
Friday, June 28, 5:30 p.m.–Monday, July 01, 2:00 p.m.
(during exhibit hours)
McCormick Place Convention Center, Booth 528

image © Wally GobetzThis week ARL joined 109 other organizations as part of the Coalition for National Science Funding in a letter (PDF) to the US House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, as well as the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, expressing concern about recent Congressional actions that call into question the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) merit review process for awarding research grants.