Category: ARL Libraries

"ARL Library Budgets after the Great Recession, 2011-13"

Charles B. Lowry has published "ARL Library Budgets after the Great Recession, 2011-13" in the latest issue of Research Library Issues: A Report from ARL, CNI, and SPARC.

Here's an excerpt:

In short, for five years ARL institutions have been in a pattern that departs from the historic expectation of increased funding intended to at least ameliorate the inflation rate for library acquisitions and the cost of operations and personnel. Like acquisitions, administrative budgets have demonstrably suffered more since 2008 than at any time in recent decades. In sum, the downturn of 2008 was followed by a progressive de-funding of library budgets that reflected what was happening in higher education institutions generally. Recent years are best characterized as highly volatile. The trends do not encourage optimism that budgets have turned the corner, and this will have consequences for the teaching and research within higher education and in the market place of scholarly communications internationally.

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John P. Culshaw Named University Librarian at University of Iowa

John P. Culshaw has been named University Librarian at the University of Iowa.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Culshaw joined the university libraries at CU-Boulder in 1991 as central reference librarian. From 1996 to 2008, he oversaw the libraries' Systems Department, providing leadership and direction for information technology, media, and web services. In 2008 he was appointed associate director for administrative services. His position was renamed senior associate dean of libraries in 2011.

As senior associate dean, Culshaw provides administrative and budgetary leadership for libraries that have an annual budget of $20.9 million and staff in six physical locations.

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Gerald Beasley Appointed Vice-Provost and Chief Librarian at University of Alberta

Gerald Beasley has been appointed Vice-Provost and Chief Librarian at the University of Alberta.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Concordia University Librarian Gerald Beasley has been appointed vice-provost and chief librarian at the University of Alberta, effective July 1, 2013, for a five-year term. . . . .

Beasley came to Concordia in 2008 from Columbia University, where he was director of the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. His previous appointments include the positions of head librarian and associate chief curator at the Canadian Centre for Architecture. Beasley holds an MA in Library Studies from University College, and an MA and BA in English Language and Literature from Oxford University.

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"Dealing with Data: Science Librarians’ Participation in Data Management at Association of Research Libraries Institutions"

College & Research Libraries has released an e-print of "Dealing with Data: Science Librarians' Participation in Data Management at Association of Research Libraries Institutions"

Here's an excerpt:

This study, a survey of science librarians at institutions affiliated with the Association of Research Libraries, investigates science librarians' awareness of and involvement in institutional repositories, data repositories, and data management support services at their institutions. The study also explores the roles and responsibilities, both new and traditional, that science librarians have assumed related to data management, and the skills that science librarians believe are necessary to meet the demands of data management work. The results reveal themes of both uncertainty and optimism—uncertainty about the roles of librarians, libraries, and other campus entities; uncertainty about the skills that will be required; but also optimism about applying "traditional" librarian skills to this emerging field of academic librarianship.

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ARL Academic Law Library Statistics 2010-2011

The Association of Research Libraries has released ARL Academic Law Library Statistics 2010-2011 (print: $135; $65 for ARL members; online: $170).

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

In 2010-2011, the reporting law libraries held a median of 370,485 volumes, spent a total of $216,677,517, and employed 1,987 FTE staff. Expenditures for materials and staff accounted for the bulk of total expenditures, at approximately 46% for each of the two categories. Respondents reported spending a total of $25,469,277 for electronic materials, or a median of almost 28% of their total materials budgets; this includes a total of $22,185,942 for electronic serials.

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ARL Academic Health Sciences Library Statistics 2010-2011

The Association of Research Libraries has released ARL Academic Health Sciences Library Statistics 2010-2011 (print: $135; $65 for ARL members; online: $170).

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

In 2010–2011, the reporting health sciences libraries held a median of 217,811 volumes, spent a total of $240,675,218, and employed 1,977 FTE staff. Expenditures for materials and staff accounted for the bulk of total expenditures, at approximately 52% and 38% respectively. Respondents reported spending a total of $101,124,356 for electronic materials, or a median of almost 89% of their total materials budgets; this includes a total of $97,504,002 for electronic serials.

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Appraising our Digital Investment: Sustainability of Digitized Special Collections in ARL Libraries

ARL and Ithaka S+R have released Appraising our Digital Investment: Sustainability of Digitized Special Collections in ARL Libraries .

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The research reveals that understanding the continuing costs for sustaining digital collections is a challenge across libraries. Responsibility is frequently dispersed among departments, and staff time and other costs are rarely allocated expressly to these activities or accounted for project-by-project. Almost universally, libraries are funding this activity out of their base budgets, suggesting that they will continue to need to shift funds from other things in order to support this as a priority.

While libraries are supporting these collections within their operations, the study's findings also reflect concern over sustainability, with librarians citing lack of funding and staff capacity as major challenges to sufficient investment in their digital collections. . . .

The three-part survey, designed with input from the ARL community, was sent to all ARL member libraries in the US and Canada and completed by 89 library directors, a response rate of 70%. In addition to the institutional perspective provided by library directors, library staff responded to other sections to offer insight into activities and costs for all of their institution's digitized collections, and questions about individual projects.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital/Print Books | Digital Scholarship |

Ed Van Gemert Named Vice Provost for Libraries and University Librarian at University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ed Van Gemert has been named the Vice Provost for Libraries and University Librarian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Van Gemert served as deputy director and associate director for public services in the General Library System before assuming interim leadership. He also held the interim role in 2006, while former librarian Ken Frazier served as interim UW-Madison chief information officer. Van Gemert is an active member of the Association of Research Libraries, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the Council of Wisconsin Libraries. He also chairs the Strategic Advisory Board of the HathiTrust, a partnership of major research institutions and libraries working to preserve and ensure access to the record of human knowledge. His research interests include organizational management and digital library development.

| Digital Curation Bibliography: Preservation and Stewardship of Scholarly Works (EPUB, PDF, paperback, and XHTML) | Digital Scholarship |

Changing Role of Senior Administrators, SPEC Kit 331

ARL has released the Changing Role of Senior Administrators, SPEC Kit 331.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published Changing Role of Senior Administrators, SPEC Kit 331, which focuses on the professional, administrative, and management positions that report directly to the library director (or, in some ARL member libraries, the position that serves as the representative to the Association), positions that have not been examined by a SPEC survey since 1984. This SPEC Kit explores the responsibilities of these positions, and the skills, qualifications, and competencies necessary for these administrators to successfully lead a transforming 21st-century research library. The publication looks at whether and how position requirements have changed in the past five years, whether the number of direct reports has changed, whether these administrators have assumed new areas of organizational responsibility, and how they acquire the new skills to fulfill those responsibilities.

| Reviews of Digital Scholarship Publications | Digital Scholarship |

Report of the ARL Joint Task Force on Services to Patrons with Print Disabilities

The Association of Research Libraries has released the Report of the ARL Joint Task Force on Services to Patrons with Print Disabilities.

Here's an excerpt from:

This ARL task force report highlights emerging and promising strategies to better align research libraries with other institutional and related partners in ensuring accessibility to research resources while fully meeting legal requirements. The report addresses the technological, service, and legal factors relating to a variety of information resources with respect to print disability. These factors resonate closely with the existing research library agenda to make scholarly communication more open, to foster independence among its user base by teaching information literacy, to honor and invest in diversity, as well as to focus on the growing trend toward universal design in instruction.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital/Print Books | Digital Scholarship |

Librarians at McGill University Library Adopt Open Access Policy

Librarians at the McGill University Library have adopted an open access policy.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

McGill librarians are granting the McGill University Library a nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license to exercise any and all rights under copyright relating to their scholarly articles, in any medium, and to authorize others to do the same, provided that the works are properly attributed to the authors and not sold for a profit.

Specifically, each librarian grants a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported license for each of his or her scholarly articles.

| Transforming Scholarly Publishing through Open Access: A Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

ARL Statistics 2010-2011

The Association of Research Libraries has released ARL Statistics 2010-2011.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

ARL libraries are a relatively small subset of libraries in North America, but they account for a large portion of academic library resources in terms of assets, budgets, and the number of users they serve. The total library expenditures of all 126 member libraries in 2010-2011 was slightly more than $4.6 billion; of that total, roughly $3.2 billion was spent by the 115 university libraries and more than $1.3 million by the 11 nonuniversity libraries.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog | Digital Scholarship |

"Issue Brief: Massive Open Online Courses: Legal and Policy Issues for Research Libraries"

ARL has released "Issue Brief: Massive Open Online Courses: Legal and Policy Issues for Research Libraries."

Here's an excerpt:

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) raise significant legal and policy questions for research libraries, which are often asked to support the development of MOOC courses. These questions involve information policy concerns that are central to research libraries, including the proper application of fair use, the transition to open access as the default mode of scholarly publishing, and the provision of equal access to learning materials for students with and without disabilities. Where possible, research libraries should engage in conversations around MOOCs and promote their core values. By doing so, they will also promote the continuing vitality of libraries as partners in the educational mission.

| Reviews of Digital Scholarship Publications | Digital Scholarship |

"Issue Brief: 21st-Century Collections: Calibration of Investment and Collaborative Action"

The Association of Research Libraries has released "Issue Brief: 21st-Century Collections: Calibration of Investment and Collaborative Action."

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Carton Rogers, Vice Provost and Director of Libraries at the University of Pennsylvania, chairs the ARL Transforming Research Libraries Steering Committee, which originally requested the issue brief. According to Rogers, this paper provides directors with an excellent overview of emerging and horizon issues and the challenges of building 21st-century collections. "The paper's emphasis on networked resources, teamwork, and cross-institutional collaboration underscores the need for new roles and new competencies for our workforce, which is currently a key focus of the committee's agenda. We encourage discussions of the shared future projected in the report, its implications for library staff, and for the ongoing support of research, teaching, and learning on our campuses."

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

MacKenzie Smith Named as University Librarian at UC Davis Library

MacKenzie Smith has been named as the new University Librarian at the University of California, Davis Library.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

MacKenzie Smith, an academic research library leader specializing in information technology and digital knowledge management, has been chosen to lead the University Library at the University of California, Davis.

She will officially assume her new post as university librarian on June 1.

"I am extremely pleased that Ms. Smith will be joining us shortly," said Ralph Hexter, provost and executive vice chancellor at UC Davis."Her expertise and vision will help us transform the library into an academic hub that promotes the innovative use of digital information resources in discovery and learning for the future." The university librarian reports to the provost. . . .

Smith, who now lives in Berkeley, has helped lead technology strategy for libraries at MIT and Harvard University. Most recently research director for MIT Libraries from 2011-2012, she led cutting-edge research projects in digital libraries and archives; Web applications for scholarly communication; and digital data curation in support of e-science.

As associate director for technology at the MIT Libraries from 2002 to 2011, Smith oversaw the libraries' technology operations and strategic planning. She led the development of an open source software platform for digital archives and created a digital library research program on applied technology for libraries and archives.

| Institutional Repository and ETD Bibliography 2011 | Digital Scholarship |

Richard Luce Named Dean of the University of Oklahoma Libraries

Richard Luce, Vice Provost and Director of Libraries for Emory University, has been named Dean of the University of Oklahoma Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Rick Luce, a librarian upon whose expertise the National Science Foundation has drawn to serve on four Blue Ribbon panels, has been selected to serve as dean of the University of Oklahoma Libraries, pending approval by the OU Board of Regents at its May meeting. Luce currently is vice provost and director of libraries at Emory University and previously was director at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He will fill the position being vacated by longtime OU library dean Sul Lee, who last year announced his plans to retire, effective June 30, after serving as dean for more than 30 years.

In addition to serving as University Libraries dean, Luce will hold appointments as a professor, as the Peggy V. Helmerich Chair and as associate vice president for research, OU Norman campus.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog | Digital Scholarship |

Harvard Library Releases over 12 Million Bibliographic Records under CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication

The Harvard Library has released over 12 million bibliographic records under the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication license.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The Harvard Library announced it is making more than 12 million catalog records from Harvard’s 73 libraries publicly available.

The records contain bibliographic information about books, videos, audio recordings, images, manuscripts, maps, and more. The Harvard Library is making these records available in accordance with its Open Metadata Policy and under a Creative Commons 0 (CC0) public domain license. In addition, the Harvard Library announced its open distribution of metadata from its Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) scholarly article repository under a similar CC0 license.

"The Harvard Library is committed to collaboration and open access. We hope this contribution is one of many steps toward sharing the vital cultural knowledge held by libraries with all," said Mary Lee Kennedy, Senior Associate Provost for the Harvard Library.

| Open Access Bibliography: Liberating Scholarly Literature with E-Prints and Open Access Journals: Those wishing to learn more about the open access movement would be well served by turning to Bailey's Open Access Bibliography. . . .This title is a major contribution to the study of the open access movement in general, as well as its emergence in the early twenty-first century. — Mary Aycock, Library Resources and Technical Services 52, no. 3 (2008): 212-213. | Digital Scholarship |

Harvard: "Faculty Advisory Council Memorandum on Journal Pricing: Major Periodical Subscriptions Cannot Be Sustained"

Harvard University's Faculty Advisory Council on the Library has issued "Faculty Advisory Council Memorandum on Journal Pricing: Major Periodical Subscriptions Cannot Be Sustained"

Here's an excerpt:

Since the Library now must change its subscriptions and since faculty and graduate students are chief users, please consider the following options open to faculty and students (F) and the Library (L), state other options you think viable, and communicate your views:

1. Make sure that all of your own papers are accessible by submitting them to DASH in accordance with the faculty-initiated open-access policies (F).

2. Consider submitting articles to open-access journals, or to ones that have reasonable, sustainable subscription costs; move prestige to open access (F).

3. If on the editorial board of a journal involved, determine if it can be published as open access material, or independently from publishers that practice pricing described above. If not, consider resigning (F).

4. Contact professional organizations to raise these issues (F).

5. Encourage professional associations to take control of scholarly literature in their field or shift the management of their e-journals to library-friendly organizations (F).

6. Encourage colleagues to consider and to discuss these or other options (F).

7. Sign contracts that unbundle subscriptions and concentrate on higher-use journals (L).

8. Move journals to a sustainable pay per use system, (L).

9. Insist on subscription contracts in which the terms can be made public (L).

| Transforming Scholarly Publishing through Open Access: A Bibliography: "This work gives an outstanding overview of scholarship relating to the growing Open Access movement." — George Machovec, The Charleston Advisor 12, no. 2 (2010): 3. | Digital Scholarship |

LYRASIS to License E-resources for ARL Libraries

Under a new agreement, LYRASIS will license e-resources for participating ARL libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

On November 18, 2011, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and LYRASIS signed an agreement designating LYRASIS as an agent to negotiate licenses for online content on behalf of interested ARL member libraries. This is the culmination of an effort that began in 2010 to identify a strategy for ARL to influence the marketplace regarding licensing rights, technical specifications, and business terms to meet the needs of research libraries.

This activity has involved task forces, the Reshaping Scholarly Communication Steering Committee, and the ARL Board. The initial task force drafted a white paper outlining the potential areas of action that ARL could take and content that could be considered, and a second task force developed an RFP that went to prospective agents. The Board approved the recommendations, RFP, and agent decision. The license offerings identified for this initiative will not be exclusive to ARL members, but may include libraries with which they have established licensing relationships.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

Association of Research Libraries Endorses the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities

The Association of Research Libraries has endorsed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

On November 1, 2011, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) joined over 300 organizations and institutions to endorse the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.

In a letter to Dr. Peter Gruss, President of the Max Planck Society, Winston Tabb, ARL President and Sheridan Dean of University Libraries and Museums at the Johns Hopkins University, wrote, "The Association of Research Libraries has been a longtime and consistent supporter of Open Access and has worked hard to advance its principles internationally. During the October 2011 meeting of the Board of Directors a decision was taken to become a signatory to the Berlin Declaration. I am pleased to extend our endorsement of the Declaration and join the growing number of signatories from North America."

| Transforming Scholarly Publishing through Open Access: A Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

Digital Preservation, SPEC Kit 325

The Association of Research Libraries has released Digital Preservation, SPEC Kit 325. The table of contents and executive summary are freely available.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The survey asked ARL libraries about their digital content, their strategies for preserving that content, and the staff, time, and funding they currently devote to digital preservation. It also asked each responding library to compare its digital preservation activities of three years ago to current activities and project three years into the future. In addition, to better understand the roles of research libraries in the emergent field of digital curation, the survey sought to identify issues that are and are not being addressed through current practices and policies.

This survey revealed, as the digital preservation field is maturing, that most ARL libraries are rising to the challenge of establishing policies, workflows, and infrastructures to systematically preserve their rapidly expanding bodies of digital content. The survey also revealed that most ARL libraries are actively engaging in in-house digital preservation rather than outsourcing it to external parties, thus maintaining their control and ownership over the digital content that they curate.

| Digital Curation and Preservation Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

"ARL Library Investment Index 2009-2010"

The Association of Research Libraries has released the "ARL Library Investment Index 2009-2010" as an xls file.

Here's an excerpt:

ARL makes publicly available the ARL Library Investment Index (previously named the ARL Expenditures-Focused Index). Beginning with data for 2005-06, this Index replaces the public availability of the ARL Membership Criteria Index. This new Index is highly correlated with the ARL Membership Criteria Index and less affected by changes in the collections variables. The ARL Library Investment Index calculates principal component scores and the analysis is based on all university member libraries' data (as compared with the ARL Membership Criteria Index, which is based on the 34 founding members of the Association). It is a summary measure of relative size among the university members of the association and has also been calculated retrospectively beginning with data from 2002-03. The Index scores are rounded to two decimal places, which may give the appearance of identical scores (and thus ranks) for some institutions; in fact, when the complete principal component score is calculated, it is extended to higher precision decimal places. Each institution has a unique result and place in the rank order.

| New: Institutional Repository and ETD Bibliography 2011 | Digital Scholarship |

ARL Executive Director Charles B. Lowry Announces His Retirement

Association of Research Libraries Executive Director Charles B. Lowry has announced his retirement.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Charles B. Lowry has announced that he will retire from his position as Executive Director of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) at the end of December 2012. By announcing his retirement plans now, Lowry provides the ARL Board of Directors with time for a search and a seamless transition of leadership.

Lowry was appointed Executive Director in 2008 for a three-year term, which was extended for an additional two years at the request of the ARL Board. He has led ARL through significant expansion in membership and renewal of its strategic plan. During his tenure, ARL's capacities and offerings have been strengthened and expanded. Guided by Lowry's leadership, the Association:

  • gained three new members—University of Calgary, University of Ottawa, and the US National Archives and Records Administration;
  • renewed its strategic plan twice;
  • led the reshaping of the Library Copyright Alliance;
  • navigated the difficult economic downturn that began in 2008;
  • expanded ARL's Public Policies capacity, a vital strategic direction; and
  • conducted successful searches to replace three highly accomplished senior staff essential to the Association's mission.

| New: Google Books Bibliography, Version 7 | Digital Scholarship |

University at Buffalo Names H. Austin Booth as Vice Provost for University Libraries

The University at Buffalo has named H. Austin Booth as Vice Provost for University Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

H. Austin Booth has been named vice provost for university libraries at the University at Buffalo, Harvey G. Stenger, UB interim provost, announced today. Her appointment is effective immediately.

Booth has served as interim associate vice president for university libraries since June 1, 2010. . . .

As vice provost for university libraries, Booth is responsible for nine libraries that serve UB's 12 schools and colleges, manages an annual budget of $20 million and oversees a staff of 150.

UB's library system is the largest and most comprehensive in the State University of New York and includes more than 4 million print volumes, access to more than 50,000 electronic journals and the largest collection of James Joyce manuscripts, notebooks and letters in the world. . . .

Prior to her appointment as interim associate vice president, Booth served as director of collections and co-director of the Arts and Sciences Libraries.

Booth, who holds the rank of full librarian, joined UB in 1997 and received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Librarianship in 2005.

Her research focuses on digital culture, and on higher education and information technology. She earned a master's degree in library and information science from the University of California-Berkeley and holds a master's degree in English language and literature and a graduate certificate in women's studies from the University of Michigan, where she was named University Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor and held a Mellon Fellowship. She received bachelor's degrees in English and economics from Cornell University.

| New: Google Books Bibliography, Version 7 | Digital Scholarship |

Columbia University Libraries Adopt Open Access Policy

The Columbia University Libraries have adopted an open access policy.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Columbia University Libraries is joining a growing movement among universities and research institutions to make scholarly research free and available to the public online. The Libraries is among the first departments at the university to adopt an open access resolution, which calls for faculty and other researchers to post their journal articles in online repositories such as Columbia's Academic Commons. In January, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory became the first program at Columbia to adopt an open access resolution.

The resolution for the Libraries, which goes into effect on June 1, 2011, will require librarians and other professional staff members to deposit their published scholarly works into Academic Commons or another repository that makes the work publicly available. By posting articles in an open-access repository, authors are able to make their works freely accessible to anyone in the world with an Internet connection and discoverable via Google Scholar and other search tools, thus promoting a wider dissemination of research and information.

"The Libraries at Columbia have championed open access to research,” James G. Neal, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian, said. "It is appropriate that its professional staff should model this policy and place their works in repositories for wide access and use."

The resolution covers only scholarly journal articles and is not retroactive. There is an opt-out feature built into the resolution, with respect to publishing an article in a journal that insists on exclusivity.  The resolution will also cover Health Sciences Library professional staff.

| Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Transforming Scholarly Publishing through Open Access: A Bibliography |