For immediate release
June 21, 2010

For more information, contact:

Jennifer McLennan
SPARC
(202) 296-2296 ext. 121
jennifer [at] arl [dot] org

Kara Malenfant
ACRL
(312) 280-2510
kmalenfant [at] ala [dot] org

State of play: SPARC-ACRL forum to highlight latest “Big Moves” to create change in scholarly communication

Washington, DC and Chicago, IL – SPARC and ACRL will co-host a timely panel discussion at the upcoming meeting of the American Library Association (ALA) in Washington, DC, on the state of play for key and recent developments in the move to expand access to scholarly research – including federal policy action and major campus-based moves to push for change and exert collective power. The forum will be held Saturday, June 26, 2010 from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM at the Washington Convention Center, Room 206.

As policies to ensure public access to publicly funded research have taken center stage in Washington, campus-driven efforts to expand access across the continent have made significant strides forward. Economic concerns continue to add pressure to the mix, and the precarious dynamics of the scholarly communications marketplace are becoming better known across academe. In this turbulent climate, libraries have a clear opportunity to reinforce their decades-long concerns and to highlight opportunities for change that the community has collectively developed.

This SPARC-ACRL forum will highlight major developments in the move to create change in scholarly communication as well as actions libraries can take to use current pressures to advance local momentum. With an overview and moderation by Heather Joseph, Executive Director of SPARC, featured topics will include:

• Public access policies – Legislative and administrative moves to deliver free online access to the results of publicly funded research, with Stephanie Carlton, Legislative Assistant to Senator John Cornyn.
• Collective action on campus – The University of California faculty’s resistance and potential boycott of Nature Publishing Group, in response to a proposed 300% cost increase, with Brian Schottlaender, University Librarian at University of California-San Diego. 
• Copyright implications – The long-simmering debate over e-reserves and online sharing, and the lawsuit against Georgia State University, with Kevin L. Smith, J.D., Scholarly Communications Officer at Duke University.
• Change from the ground up – Campus-based policies to ensure Open Access to institutional research outputs through proactive copyright management, with Jonathan Miller, Library Director at Rollins College. 

**MEMBERS OF THE PRESS, PLEASE NOTE: Selected comments will be made OFF THE RECORD.**

The forum will be held Saturday, June 26, 2010 from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM at the Washington Convention Center, Room 206. The ACRL Scholarly Communications discussion group, which offers a more intimate setting to explore topics in greater depth, will be held Sunday, June 27, from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM at the Grand Hyatt Washington, room Constitution A.

Separate registration for this event is not required. For further details on the forum, visit http://www.arl.org/sparc/forum.

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SPARC
SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), with SPARC Europe and SPARC Japan, is an international alliance of more than 800 academic and research libraries working to create a more open system of scholarly communication. SPARC’s advocacy, educational and publisher partnership programs encourage expanded dissemination of research. SPARC is on the Web at http://www.arl.org/sparc.

ACRL
The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), represents nearly 13,000 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. It is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments. ACRL is on the Web at http://www.acrl.org.