News

image © Tom LohdanToday the Association of American Universities (AAU), Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and Association of Research Libraries (ARL) released a two-page statement by David E. Shulenburger calling on the research university community to provide input to the US Government for increasing access to the results of federally funded research.

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) has announced the appointment of four new members to its Board of Directors: Robert Darnton, the Carl H. Pforzheimer university professor and university librarian at Harvard and former DPLA Steering Committee member; Jamie Hollier, president of Anneal and partner in Commerce Kitchen; Amy Ryan, president of the Boston Public Library and former DPLA Steering Committee member; and Siva Vaidhyanathan, the Robertson professor in media studies and chair of the Department of Media Studies, University of Virginia.

University of Texas at Austin, Perry-Castañeda LibraryARL executive director Elliott Shore has embarked on a "listening tour" of ARL member libraries. This is the fourth in a series of informal reports from his visits.

Last week my listening tour of ARL member libraries took me to four of our five Texas members while I was in the south-central part of the state for the CNI Membership Meeting. I visited UT Austin, Texas A&M, the University of Houston, and Rice University.

Joseph Lucia, image © Temple University Joseph P. Lucia, university librarian and director of Falvey Memorial Library at Villanova University, has been named Temple University's dean of university libraries, effective July 1, 2013. For details, see the April 10, 2013, Temple news release, "Joseph P. Lucia Appointed Dean of Temple University Libraries."

image © MorBCNARL has released a pre-publication version of an article on “Open Educational Resources as Learning Materials: Prospects and Strategies for University Libraries,” which will be featured in the forthcoming Research Library Issues (RLI) no. 280.

image © MCC IndianapolisARL’s booth at the ACRL 2013 Conference, April 10-12 at the Indianapolis Convention Center, will highlight a variety of tools that demonstrate the value of libraries:

LibQUAL+ will award up to three institutions in-kind grants to participate in the 2014 LibQUAL+ survey, with a goal of offering one grant for every 50 libraries registered. This will be the ninth year LibQUAL+ has sponsored an in-kind grant program. There are two application deadlines for the 2014 grant program: June 14, 2013, and December 13, 2013. (The early deadline allows the LibQUAL+ team to plan for translations in new languages with an adequate planning cycle.)

Tom Leonard, university librarian at University of California (UC), Berkeley, submitted a winning entry to the New Yorker’s weekly cartoon caption contest. The cartoon, by artist Joe Dator, shows a cat and a mouse sitting outside a mouse hole. The mouse is pointing a gun at the cat, who has his front left paw raised and his mouth slightly open. Leonard’s caption reads, “Six rounds. Nine lives. You do the math.” Leonard wins a signed copy of the cartoon with the caption. For more on this story, see the UC Berkeley news release, "One librarian. Eight words. One big win in New Yorker cartoon caption contest."

University of Chicago, Mansueto LibraryARL executive director Elliott Shore has embarked on a "listening tour" of ARL member libraries. This is the third in a series of informal reports from his visits.

The latest stop on my listening tour of ARL members was Chicago, where I visited four institutions during the week of March 11. This trip was organized by 2011–12 ARL Research Library Leadership Fellow (RLLF) Marianne Ryan of Northwestern University Library. At each institution, I met with the professional staff and director—Bernie Reilly at the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), Mary Case at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Judi Nadler at University of Chicago (UChicago), and Sarah Pritchard at Northwestern University. While I was in Chicago, I also met with the executive directors of ALA and ACRL, Keith Fiels and Mary Ellen Davis.

image © Chrystal Parsons

In "The Impact of the Supreme Court’s Decision in Kirtsaeng v. Wiley on Libraries" (PDF), Jonathan Band explains the recent copyright decision on the scope of the "first sale" doctrine, its context, and its likely consequences for libraries in the US. In short, the Supreme Court's opinion is a landmark victory that strengthens the legal foundation of library lending, and the Court's extensive reliance on the Library Copyright Alliance's amicus brief shows the importance of library engagement in policy debates. Continued vigilance will be necessary, Band explains, as rights holders disappointed with the Court's majority opinion could go to Congress for a change to the law.