The Open Landscape Environment as The Expanse

Building on the 2019 ACRL/SPARC Forum on Collective Reinvestment in Open Infrastructure, this program will explore how libraries can make different commitments to fund content created by open infrastructures. Library collections increasingly promote and reflect such open content and many have chosen to contribute to funding those products. There is not one formula or roadmap to underwrite the publishing and distribution costs of these open resources. There are many variables and considerations as some open content corresponds to serials and others are books or monographs. Open access content is increasingly found in nearly all subject areas, as scholarly publishing models have evolved. Open access does not come without a price to create, maintain and preserve the outputs. Libraries are reconsidering whether they want to commit so much to purchase materials or subscription-based products, when it is unclear what the anticipated use of any materials will be over time. Planning and opportunities for new and more flexible decisions concerning adjustments to and expenditures of the materials budget are under exploration by libraries. There are many options to invest in creating more content to be released as open access. Such options include contributing financially from the Library collections or materials budget to subsidizing or covering APCs, engaging in a more “library as publisher” model hosting journals, publishing books, creating OERs, and offsetting other expenses that ultimately drive a more intensive open infrastructure. Library leaders and partners will share their ideas about trying different approaches to contribute to more open publishing initiatives and explore whether efforts in deploying current book and serial costs to offset opportunities to build a wider and more open infrastructure is on the horizon. This analysis should incorporate the costs of analytical tools necessary to the use of such content in today’s research. Questions will be solicited ahead of time to reflect audience’s interest in such a rethinking of the library collections budget. Please email Julia Gelfand at with your questions

Recruiting for Diversity: Strategies for 21st Century Research Librarianship

Academic libraries, especially research libraries, are recognizing the benefits and importance of recruiting librarians from diverse backgrounds. The imperative for diversity in higher education and, therefore, in its libraries, provides the context for outlining strategies to recruiting the best and brightest librarians from underrepresented groups. Creative efforts at the national professional organizational level to recruit broadly and effectively are making a difference in widening the pipeline at the entry-level and at higher position levels. In many cases research libraries are campus leaders for diversity initiatives including recruitment and for good reason. This paper will lay out strategies for robust diversity recruiting activities at the organizational and institutional level using the University of Tennessee\u27s experiences as a basis for discussion. Finally, a summary of successful strategies in the current and future context of higher education will provide a roadmap and a catalyst for even greater strides in diversifying academic and research libraries and, in turn, our colleges and universities to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century global society

Conference Report - 2004 National Diversity in Libraries Conference: “Diversity in Libraries: Making It Real”

“Diversity in Libraries: Making It Real” was the topic and the objective of the 2004 National Diversity in Libraries Conference. Intentionally designed to focus on pragmatic, real-world approaches to fostering diversity, the gathering took place May 4-5 at the brand new Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia. A record 300 librarians from across the country – and a few from other nations – responded to the call and came together for two days of learning and sharing experiences about this important issue. Sponsors for the fourth national diversity conference included the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET), the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Library Alliance, and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL)

Personnel Costs and Patterns in Libraries

published or submitted for publicatio

The Power of Empathetic and Collaborative Leadership

This paper provides background on the concepts of empathetic and collaborative leadership. Select areas in which empathetic and collaborative leadership can advance research libraries to become more effective, fair, and equitable environments will be examined. These include, but are not limited to, organizational structure, diversity and inclusion efforts, recruitment, orientation, fundraising, internal meetings, professional meetings, and effective stakeholder interactio

A Practical Methodology for the Study of Job Components and Staffing Needs

published or submitted for publicatio