ARL Membership Meeting Looks at Access, Accountability, and Affordability Issues

One hundred and eleven member institutions were represented at ARL's 143rd Membership Meeting, held in Washington, D.C., on October 15-16. At the meeting, three new directors were introduced and welcomed to the ARL community Linda Matthews (Emory), Catherine Murray-Rust (Colorado State), and Gary Strong (UCLA). ARL members also saluted three of their colleagues who are retiring Edward Johnson (Oklahoma State), Richard Lucier (Dartmouth), and Emily Mobley (Purdue).

The meeting opened with a keynote address by Carol Schneider, President of the Association of American Colleges & Universities, on "Organizational Strategies to Deliver a Liberal Education." She spoke of the need to rethink the mapping of the undergraduate experience to deliver a 21st-century education. "Intentional learners are integrative learners," who are defined as cumulative, analytic, research-based, engaged, critical thinkers. Schneider emphasized that each campus must discuss how its curriculum can be shaped to help students develop the necessary intellectual and integrative skills.

Moving toward Open Access

Mary Case, Director of ARL's Office of Scholarly Communication, convened a panel to discuss "The Hard Reality of Moving toward an Open Access Model." Professor Stuart Shieber, Harvard University, gave a  provocative talk about why journals need not be so expensive. Access, archiving, and marketing, he claimed, are not costly. Using the JAIR Model (an open access journal in artificial intelligence), he pointed out how open access e-journals can succeed. However, the reality of moving toward an open access model will be hard on those in scholarly publishing, whether they publish commercial or noncommercial journals. Heather Joseph, President of BioOne, followed with an analysis of  publishing by scholarly societies that reflected the difficulties of moving toward open access. She said that under the current subscription model, societies recoup up to 70% of their costs from subscription fees--under open access, who will cover these costs? To define the real costs involved in publishing, BioOne is systematically examining the past three years of financial data from a representative cross-section of participating publishers. This data will help the societies determine what level of revenue would be necessary to make the transition to open access. Ultimately, societies will be more apt to move to open access as clear reliable sources of funding are identified.

Access Strategies for Government Information

Ridley Kessler, North Carolina at Chapel Hill, gave a briefing on the results of the recent ARL survey of Federal Depository Libraries. Ken Frazier, University of Wisconsin, and Judith Russell, Government Printing Office, spoke about the issues involved in the digitization and preservation of government information. Frazier also led a discussion on access strategies for government information. "A  National Digitization Plan for Retrospective Government Documents" was distributed at the meeting.

Background papers, slides, and summaries of all October 2003 Membership

Meeting presentations appear on the ARL Web site.

Highlights of the ARL Business Meeting, October 17

ARL President Fred Heath (Texas at Austin) reported on Board actions and discussions. He announced that the Board elected Ann Wolpert (MIT) as Vice President/President Elect.

Members voted to accept the dues recommendation of U.S. $19,570 (an increase of $570 or 3%) for 2004.

The membership elected three new ARL Board members Camila Alire (New Mexico), Marianne Gaunt (Rutgers), and Betsy Wilson (Washington).

Statistics & Measurement Committee Brinley Franklin (Connecticut), Chair, reported on four actions recommended by the committee (a) in the ARL Statistics, the "volumes held" category will be revised to account for the positive impact of collaborative de-duping activities that are taking place as a result of volumes transferred or de-accessioned to a shared remote facility; (b) a series of questions will move from the ARL Supplementary Statistics to the annual ARL Statistics starting in 2004, after 10 years of testing; (c) the data elements collected through the ARL E-Metrics pilot will be moving into a regular ARL Supplementary Statistics collection cycle starting in 2004; and (d) to streamline the way the ARL Membership Criteria Index is disseminated, this information will be included in the ARL Statistics publication.

ARL/ACRL Task Force on Recruitment Shirley Baker (Washington in St. Louis), reported on the task force's new recruitment video. Produced with a grant of $25,000 from ALA, the short (5-7 minutes) video shows the many faces of and career opportunities for academic librarians. The current question is how best to distribute and use the video. Availability will be announced via e-mail and the video will be put on both the ARL and ACRL Web sites in a downloadable version. Members also suggested putting it on library Web sites; making it available to library schools; and calling attention to it in library, campus, and high school newspapers/newsletters.

ARL Executive Director's Report Duane Webster announced a number of new features that would be available for members on the ARL Web site the Director's E-News will be posted on the Web site and a new feature will be added to the ARL home page showcasing a member institution. He also provided an update on the AAU/ARL Global Resources Network.

At the conclusion of the business meeting, Fred Heath thanked the ARL members, Board, and staff for their support. He presented the gavel to Sarah Thomas (Cornell) who began her term as ARL president. She congratulated Fred Heath on his leadership as ARL President over the last year. She also acknowledged the contributions of three Board members whose terms ended with this meeting Paula Kaufman (Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Nancy Baker (Iowa), and Sarah Michalak (Utah).

Sarah Thomas announced that the next Membership Meeting will be held May 11-14, 2004, in Tucson, Arizona, at the Lowes Ventana Canyon Hotel. The host libraries are the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. The program theme will center on "Systemic Change in Research Institutions."

Highlights of the ARL Board of Directors Meetings, October 14 and 16

The ARL Board met twice. Actions taken include:

Elected Ann Wolpert (MIT) as ARL Vice-President/President-Elect.

Endorsed a recommendation from the Scholarly Communication Committee to make 2004 the Year of the University Press in order to give visibility to press-library innovations and partnerships.

Endorsed a recommendation from the Information Policies Committee to establish a steering committee to develop a business plan for the digitization of retrospective collections of government information.

Established a merit salary pool of up to 3% for ARL staff salaries in 2004.

Approved recommendations that clarify the procedures for consideration of new members.

Approved minutes from the July 2003 Board meeting (to be distributed

separately).

Scholarly Tribes Conference Attracts Wide Interest

The ARL conference on "Scholarly Tribes and Tribulations How Tradition and Technology Are Driving Disciplinary Change," held on October 17 in Washington, D.C., attracted over 140 participants. The meeting explored how information technology is changing the way scholars work and communicate, and at the same time, how scholars' disciplinary traditions are shaping how technology is used. An enthusiastic audience heard scholars in the physical and life sciences, the social sciences, and humanities.

The keynote address was given by Blaise Cronin, Professor of Information Science, Indiana University. The disciplinary scholars included Milton Corn, M.D., Associate Director, NIH; Michael Lesk, Professor, Rutgers University; John Unsworth, Dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Barbara O'Keefe, Dean, School of Communication, Northwestern University. The afternoon included concurrent discussion sessions in the sciences, humanities, and social sciences. Clifford Lynch, Executive Director, CNI, moderated the closing panel and shared his thoughts for future steps. Presentations are available with notes from the discussion sessions to follow soon. Participants are encouraged to fill out the conference evaluation.

AAU/ARL Global Resources Network Reports Progress

A full status report on the AAU/ARL Global Resources Network was distributed to all ARL directors at the October ARL Membership Meeting. At the Business Meeting, Duane Webster reported that voluntary member contributions were sufficient to fund the program for another year. Just over 60 libraries have contributed a total of $90,000, allowing the transition planning to go forward. He also announced that Dan Hazen, on loan from Harvard to ARL to manage the GRN, was recently named Head of the Collection Development Department for Harvard's Widener Library. As a result, there will be a change in the leadership of the GRN although Dan has assured all that he will continue to be available part-time through the winter months and will help with the transition to a new GRN director.

Also during the Membership Meeting, Bernie Reilly reported on the readiness of the Center for Research Libraries to provide an operational home for two of the GRN projects (Latin America and Germany) currently supported by ARL. On November 12, representatives from the Boards of CRL and ARL will meet to discuss details of this relationship, including principles for participation and fees for the AAU/ARL Global Resources Network Projects. A proposed action plan for the Global Resources Network for 2004-05 will be developed by the end of 2003. A meeting of the Advisory Committee is anticipated in the first quarter of 2004. For more information, contact Duane Webster.

Revised Scholarly Communication Brochure Now Available

As you may have noticed at the ARL meeting, the Create Change brochure has been revised and is now available for distribution. Designed for campus distribution, it outlines the challenges faced by scholarly communications and lists potential actions for faculty to consider. The new edition of the brochure features a colorful new design and size, updated statistical data, and information on open access. Brochures can be purchased for $10 per bundle of 50 copies directly from ARL's fulfillment service, PMDS. Requests for a few complimentary copies can be sent to MaShana Davis. The revised text is also available on the Create Change Web site for downloading and local adaptation. The Create Change brochure is a joint project of ARL, ACRL, SPARC, and SPARC

Europe.

PLoS Biology Provides Free Access to Top-Tier Biology Research

ARL and SPARC joined a coalition of major library and public interest organizations in praising the October 13 premier of the first "open access" journal published by the Public Library of Science (PLoS), a nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians. PLoS Biology a monthly peer-reviewed journal available free online, features research of exceptional significance, including several groundbreaking articles that recently have received extensive coverage in the worldwide news media. PLoS is employing a new model for scientific publishing in which research articles are freely available to read and use through the Internet. The costs of publication are recovered not from subscription fees--which limit

information access and use--but from publication fees paid by authors out of their grant funds and from other sources. For further information.

ARL and SPARC Track Advances in Open Access

The first issue of PLoS Biology premiered midst much media attention. Articles in major newspapers throughout the country included stories about the research featured in the new journal while other sources covered the launch of the journal itself and the open access movement. Articles in this latter category included "Who Will Pay for Open Access?" by Declan Butler in the October 9 issue of Nature, and "Opening the Books on Open Access" by David Malakoff in the October 24 issue of Science. There is also an interview with Harold Varmus on open access in this week's New Scientist. Complete listing of news coverage of PLoS.

.

A conference on "Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities" in Berlin on Oct. 20-22, led to the Berlin Declaration in support of open access. The signatories to the declaration drafted the statement "to promote the Internet as a functional instrument for a global scientific knowledge base and human reflection and to specify measures which research policy makers, research institutions, funding agencies, libraries, archives and museums need to consider." The declaration was signed by all of the German research organizations.

The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers in the U.K. recently issued a position statement "wholly in favour of maximizing access to research literature." The statement goes on to note that such proposals as open access journals "raise complex economic, logistical and sociological questions" and encourages experimentation with the open access model to test their viability.

TEACH Act Web Cast Attracts Over 1,000 Viewers

ARL and EDUCAUSE presented a live Web cast on the TEACH Act on October 30 to over 1,000 librarians, instructional designers and distance education providers, university administrators, and teaching faculty across North America.

The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act, enacted in late 2002, has changed the application of copyright law to digital materials used in the online learning environment. The TEACH Act has generated many questions that highlight the need for implementation strategies in order to take advantage of the rights this Act offers. This Web cast gave viewers and participants general knowledge about the TEACH Act and its implications; opportunities and challenges; and introduced us to effective implementation approaches to put into practice at campus levels. Expert presenters were Donna Ferullo, Director, University Copyright Office, Purdue University; Peggy Hoon, Scholarly Communication Librarian, North Carolina State University; and Rodney Petersen, Policy Analyst and Security Task Force Coordinator, EDUCAUSE.

This Web cast was designed and managed by ARL's Office of Leadership and Management Services (OLMS). Web casts are a new mode of content delivery for the OLMS, allowing for live Web delivery incorporating video, PowerPoint slides, and interactive question-and-answer discussion. Web casts provide affordable training that allows for group viewing on your campus to make the most of the learning opportunities. The presentation, including all related resources, is available on a view-on-demand basis through December 31, 2003. To register for the view-on-demand presentation or contact Karen Wetzel, Program Officer for Distance Learning. For more information about other OLMS offerings or contact DeEtta Jones.

Special Collections Conference Recommendations Advanced

The Special Collections Task Force met October 14 in Washington, DC to plan how to follow up on the interest shown at the "Exposing Hidden Collections" conference held the previous month. One of the major recommendations issuing from the conference was identification and promotion of a shared commitment to certain themes and subjects to encourage cooperative action among libraries and archives to process this material. One follow-up action, expected to launch soon, is a survey to assess the interest of ARL, IRLA, and Oberlin Group libraries and archives in cooperative projects on certain themes and subjects. The survey will also ask for brief descriptions of the "top three" hidden collections a library or archive is most eager to process, regardless of theme, format or vintage.

The task force established three additional goals to follow up on the conference recommendations. Members of the group agreed to pursue development of (1) a position statement that will encourage libraries and archives to expose hidden collections though some form of expedited access; (2) a recommendation for a technical strategy for an inventory of unprocessed collections that includes establishing cooperative ties to the PCC (Program for Cooperative Cataloging) and with the group revising the rare book cataloging standard; and, (3) an ACRL/RBMS pre-conference on using collection level records to deal with backlogs of unprocessed special collections. A summary and report on the recommendations that emerged from the "Exposing Hidden Collections" conference in September are available on the ARL Web site

Also at its October meeting, the task force reviewed plans for a small working meeting it will hold in November on training and education for careers in special collections. For more information on the work of the Special Collections Task Force, see the ARL Web site or contact Judith Panitch.

IMLS Awards Grants for Recruiting and Educating Librarians for the 21st Century

ARL's Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce was awarded funding through a new program of the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Recruiting and Educating Librarians for the 21st Century. This grant allows ARL to offer stipends to 45 library school students from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds over the next three years. In addition to fiscal support, stipend recipients will work with a "professional coach" and take part in a leadership development symposium. A long-term funding strategy is currently being designed with guidance by the Diversity Committee and Metropolitan Consulting Group.

Coaches will be recruited from past and present ARL Leadership and Career Development Program participants. They will hone their coaching skills in a one-day Teach-Model-Coach program offered through the Chicago Multi-Type Library System. Finally, a leadership symposium will be offered to a broader group of library school students, hopefully drawing beneficiaries of the IMLS Recruiting and Educating Librarians for the 21st Century program from around the country.

The IMLS awarded $9,898,338 in 27 inaugural grants under this new program. Fifteen of the awards went to ARL institutions, including 11 library schools plus Georgetown University (in partnership with Chesapeake Information andResearch Library Alliance [CIRLA] and ARL), Texas A&M University's Medical Sciences Library, University of Iowa Libraries, and Vanderbilt University's Eskind Biomedical Library. The Georgetown-CIRLA-ARL project will provide 13 people from diverse or underserved populations with the educational, experiential, and financial means to enter the field of research librarianship. A complete list of awardees is available.

For more information about the ARL Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce contact Jerome Offord, Program Officer for Training and Diversity.

LibQUAL+(TM) Registration Update

To date, more than 110 institutions have registered for the Spring 2004 LibQUAL+(TM) survey. Libraries have until mid-December to sign up for the 2004 survey. The Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) is sponsoring its member institutions to participate in LibQUAL+(TM) for the third year in a row. Additional groups of libraries coming on board this year include the American Jesuit College and University Law Libraries, Church Education System Library Consortium, and European Business Schools Librarians Group. Participation is expanding to institutions as far away as Egypt and the United Arab Emirates with the American University of Cairo and the American University of Sharjah. This year for the first time and in partnership with the Medical Library Association, a small group of hospital libraries will also pilot LibQUAL+(TM). To register, visit the project Web site. For more information, contact Martha Kyrillidou.

LibQUAL+(TM) Events at ALA Midwinter

The LibQUAL+(TM) team will present a number of workshops at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Diego for survey participants and prospective participants

"LibQUAL+(TM) Process Management"

January 10, 2004

10:00 am-12:00 pm

To register

Open House with the LibQUAL+(TM) team (no registration required)

January 10, 2004

12:00-1:00 pm

"LibQUAL+(TM) From Assessment to Action"

January 10, 2004

1:30-4:30 pm

To register

"LibQUAL+(TM) A Total Market Survey"

January 11-12, 2004

8:30 am-4:00 pm both days

To register

For more information about these events or contact Martha Kyrillidou or Amy Hoseth.

Inaugural Share Fair at LibQUAL+(TM) Two-Day Workshop

The annual two-day workshop for survey participants at ALA Midwinter in San Diego will include a new feature the first LibQUAL+(TM) Share Fair on Monday morning, January 12, 2004. The Share Fair will provide past participants with an opportunity to share materials and information about their surveys with new project participants and the wider LibQUAL+(TM) community. All past participants are invited to prepare and present informal displays about their LibQUAL+(TM) survey participation. For more details. For more

information, contact Amy Hoseth.

From LibQUAL+(TM) to e-QUAL(TM)

The most recent development in the LibQUAL+(TM) project is the team's adaptation of the survey to the digital library environment. This effort, called e-QUAL, is partially supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, National Science Digital Library (NSF/NSDL). The overarching goal of e QUAL(TM) is to develop a digital library service quality assessment process that enhances student learning by permitting the allocation of resources to areas of

user-identified need. Many digital libraries are still in their formative stages of development so the creation of an evaluation tool like the envisioned e-QUAL(TM) survey needs to be undertaken with care.

The e-QUAL(TM) project is currently in the qualitative stage of research. The team is studying digital libraries--such as the Math Forum, MERLOT, and DLESE--via interviews, site visits, and focus groups. The qualitative analysis will help the project understand digital library users' perceptions of service quality. The e-QUAL(TM) project will develop and test an initial set of survey questions in

late 2003. A second round of testing is planned for spring 2004. A call for participation will be issued to test the proposed items later in the year. For more information or contact Martha Kyrillidou.

E-Metrics Participation Invited for 2004

ARL members were invited to participate in the E-Metrics test implementation scheduled to take place from October 2003 to summer 2004 through a letter posted to the ARL-directors e-mail list on October 7. The goal of this testing phase is to prepare libraries to collect data that identify and describe electronic resources as proposed through the E-Metrics project. Through this process we attempt to demonstrate the practicality of ongoing collection and publication of data on electronic resources. The pilot process is open at no cost to all participants who supported the E-Metrics project financially in the past; new participants may participate for $2,000. To date, we have at least eight new participants interested in coming on board, increasing the total number of participants from 35 to 43 libraries. Next steps between now and January include the development of E-Metrics Web cast training sessions. For more information, contact Martha Kyrillidou.

ARL Statistics Data Collection Web Cast

ARL offered a one-and-a-half-hour Web cast presentation/workshop on issues related to the ARL Statistics annual data collection to (a) inform new survey coordinators about the data collection process for 2002-03, (b) facilitate the effective incorporation of new data elements into the annual data collection cycle for 2003-04, and (c) inform upcoming discussions that will take place among the directors of ARL libraries at the October ARL Membership Meeting, regarding changes in the ARL annual data collection. The live Web cast on October 9 included presentations by Martha Kyrillidou, Mark Young, and Julia Blixrud.

This was the first Web cast ARL offered and it proved to be a great success, with 67 login sessions and high evaluation scores. Some sites watched the workshop in teams of up to 15 people, so an estimated number of more than 100+ colleagues attended this inaugural Web cast.

For those of you who missed the live Web cast session, you will soon be able to watch the archived version through the NACUBO Learning Gateway Archive. If you already registered for the workshop, you may access the archive with the user name and password mailed to you on October 8 by Martha Kyrillidou in an e-mail with the subject "Login information for ARL Webinar." If you have not registered for the workshop, you may follow the instructions on the ARL Web site. There is no registration fee to view this archived Web cast.

New Measures Initiative Review and Status Report Published

In "Mainstreaming New Measures," Julia C. Blixrud takes stock of new measures in research libraries in a special double issue of the ARL Bimonthly Report 230/231 (Oct./Dec. 2003). The 32-page report documents a rich and varied set of new measures projects undertaken by ARL and some of its member libraries in recent years. The measurement activities covered in the issue include the topics of library user satisfaction, electronic resources, learning outcomes, library impact on research, cost-effectiveness, utilization of library space, and organizational capacity. Ten copies of the issue were shipped to each member and are also available online.

ARL Statistics and Measurement Program Update

ARL Annual Salary Survey 2003-04. 121 surveys received. Preliminary tables will be issued as soon as we receive the remaining three surveys.

The annual statistical surveys were mailed in August. Data collection is underway for:

* ARL Statistics 2002-03 (38 surveys returned)

* ARL Supplementary Statistics 2002-03 (34 returned)

* ARL Academic Law Library Statistics 2002-03 (26 returned)

* ARL Academic Health Sciences Library Statistics 2002-03 (17 returned)

* ARL Preservation Statistics 2002-03 (6 returned)

* University and Library Total Expenditures 2001-02 (2 returned)

The Library Materials Budget Survey 2002-03 conducted for the ALCTS/CMDS/Chief Collection Development Officers of Large Research

Libraries Discussion Group is underway. For additional information regarding the annual data-collection activities, please contact Martha Kyrillidou.

CNI Update

Preparations continue for the upcoming Fall 2003 Task Force Meeting, to be held in Portland, Oregon, December 8-9. Executive Director Cliff Lynch will review the Coalition's progress and launch the 2003-2004 Program Plan at the opening plenary session. Details about the meeting can be found on the Coalition Web site

.

In early October, CNI Executive Director Clifford Lynch presented his popular "Cliff's Notes" survey of trends in digital libraries, information policy, and emerging interoperability standards at the ACCESS 2003 conference, in Vancouver, British Columbia. At the end of the month, Lynch delivered an opening keynote on critical issues for the future of research libraries at a conference held at the University

of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

CNI Associate Executive Director Joan Lippincott participated in planning and delivered a plenary talk at a workshop on "Facilities Planning" sponsored by the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education (NITLE) and Project Kaleidescope, held at DePauw University, October 24-26.

University Leaders Urged to Address New Models of Scholarly Communication

The latest issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education includes an important and high-profile article by Richard C. Atkinson, the recently retired president of the University of California. In his analysis of "A New World of Scholarly Communication," Atkinson urges attention to the future of libraries. "The ballooning costs of academic publications are preventing faculty members and researchers from gaining access to the world's scholarship and knowledge." He urges university presidents to support strategies that create a new model of scholarly communication. However, he also laments the "homage" that is paid to the ARL membership criteria index, which he sees as hampering libraries' ability to cooperate fully. Atkinson is concerned that the index does not give "credit for building shared collections and effectively applying technology to their delivery." In a memo to ARL directors on November 4, ARL Executive Director Duane Webster wrote that ARL shares Atkinson's concerns about how the membership criteria index is misunderstood or misused. He also pointed out that the index

does incorporate electronic and print journals acquired via consortia as well as electronic books locally held and collectively purchased. The Atkinson essay is in the Chronicle of Higher Education, November 7, 2003 (Section The Chronicle Review, Volume 50, Issue 11, Page B16) and is available online.

Change Magazine Devotes Issue to Tensions over Intellectual Property

The November/December issue of Change Magazine focuses on the current tensions over the appropriate use of intellectual property and offers some prominent calls for change. Two vice-chancellors, Richard Edwards (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and David Shulenburger (University Kansas) co-authored the lead article, "The High Cost of Scholarly Journals (And What to Do About It)." Edwards and Shulenburger blame an "unexamined reliance on the market" for the unreasonably high cost of scholarly journals and they call for legislation that would require the results of all federally funded research to be returned to "their proper status--a public good" by being placed in a freely accessible electronic archive within six months of publication. Three other articles in the same issue of Change examine different tensions within the universities about copyright law Peggy Hoon (North Carolina State University) defends the librarian activist role in public and legislative debates, including those on intellectual property; Marjorie and Brian Shaw (University of Rochester and Harter Secrest & Emery LLP respectively) analyze student perceptions of copyright law; and Kenneth Crews (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) discusses copyright, distance education, and the TEACH Act. As Editor Cheryl Fields points out, these articles provide rich insights for reflection and discussion.

ARL Publications Recently Released

ARL Bimonthly Report 230/231 (October/December 2003). Special Double Issue on New Measures. ISSN 1050-6098. 32 pages.

ARL Preservation Statistics 2001-02. Mark Young and Martha Kyrillidou, comps. and eds. 2003. ISSN 1050-7442. 59 pages. Highlights from the publication show that, while specific figures are still prone to fluctuation, there is also a general trend toward the expansion of preservation activities. Expenditures for 116 ARL libraries were $96,575,155 in 2001-02, reflecting a 4.7% increase from 2000-01 and an increase of about $36 million since the survey's inception in 1988-89. Total preservation staff increased to 1,835.31 FTEs, the most since 1995-96. 88,170 volumes were reported microfilmed, a sharp increase from 2000-01 and the highest level since 1997-98.

Library Print Preservation An Administration Briefing. George J. Soete with contributions by Janice Mohlhenrich Lathrop. 2003. ISBN 0-918006-99-6. 29 pages. This publication responds to a need articulated by ARL library directors for a brief non-technical survey of preservation methods--their appropriate uses, advantages, and disadvantages--and preservation costs. It is intended to provide an overview and to help library administrators in their local planning for preservation and in their communication with preservation specialists. A list of readings and links to various Web sites provide resources for further study.

SPEC Kit 275, Laptop Computer Services. Myoung-ja Lee Kwon and Aline Soules. August 2003. ISBN 1-59407-607-3. 126 pages. Over the last several years, many libraries have developed laptop lending programs in an ever-expanding effort to provide users with the tools they need to combine their library research with other work, such as writing papers. They are also providing network access for laptops that is as ubiquitous as technology permits. In order to understand the nature of these services, this SPEC survey gathered information on

the types of laptop services currently offered, how the services are provided, how they are funded, the benefits and challenges of the services, and changes since inception. The survey also explored the extent to which wireless services are offered in libraries. The table of contents and executive summary from this SPEC Kit are available online. To order print copies or to obtain more information about ARL publications, please call the ARL Publications Distribution Center (301) 362-8196, e-mail or visit our website.

ARL Home Page Will Highlight Member News

ARL is offering members the opportunity to showcase their institution on the ARL Web site. Each week, the spotlight will be on a different ARL member. This will be your opportunity to share an item of interest--a new building, an award, a new program or partnership, an extraordinary grant--with the library and higher education communities. Announcements on the ARL Web site are read by a wide variety of educators, librarians, journalists, and policymakers, and are sent each week to over 1,000 subscribers of the ARL Announce e-newsletter. When something special happens at your library that you think warrants wide visibility, let us know. We will need a headline or brief description of the item you wish included as well as a URL that will provide additional information. Please send this information to Judith Matz. This opportunity will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. In the interest of fairness, once an institution has had its turn, it will not have another opportunity until all ARL members that wish to do so have had their turn.

ARL Transitions

Chicago Martin Runkle announced that he is retiring as Director effective October 1, 2004.

ARL Staff Transitions

John D'Ignazio joined SPARC on October 29 as Communication Specialist. John recently finished a Master of Design in interaction design at Carnegie Mellon University. He also has an M.A. in journalism from the University of Maryland and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Lehigh University.

Dan Hazen (Harvard), Visiting Program Officer for the AAU/ARL Global Resources Network, has been named Head of the Collection Development Department for Harvard's Widener Library.

Board Leadership Updates

CISTI The Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information appointed Jean-Pierre Côté as the new chair of its Advisory Board. Jean-Pierre is the Directeur général, Service des bibliothèques, at the Université de Montréal. He is a past president of the Canadian Associations of Research Libraries (CARL).

EDUCAUSE has announced three new members of its Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2004. John Bucher, Director of Information Technology at Oberlin College, and Ellen Waite-Franzen, Vice President for Computing and Information Services at Brown University, were elected by primary representatives of member institutions. John Hitt, President of the University of Central Florida, has been appointed by the current board. One appointed member is selected each year to add balance from the variety of IT sectors critical for advancing higher education.

RLG James Neal, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian, Columbia University, has been elected as the new chair of the Research Libraries Group.

Honors

Nancy E. Gwinn, Director of Libraries at the Smithsonian Institution was named Distinguished Alumnus for 2003 of the University of Wyoming and was honored at the recent homecoming festivities.