1. PUBLISHING AND LIBRARIES
Securing Our Future in the Brave ―Now‖ World –
―The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be‖
Charles B. Lowry Ph.D.
Executive Director
Association of Research Libraries
Society for Scholarly Publishing
31st Annual Meeting
May 27 – 29, 2009
ARL www.arl.org
3. The Current Fiscal Landscape of Research Libraries: Report on the ARL Survey
4. Has your library already experienced base budget reductions/take-backs
in FY 2008-2009? Total Responses: 99
US US Canadian US Canadian
Total
Public Private Academic Nonacademic Nonacademic
Yes 55 35 1 5 3 0
No 44 24 14 5 0 1
Table I
The Current Fiscal Landscape of Research Libraries: Report on the ARL Survey
5. Has your library already experienced base budget reductions/take-backs
in FY 2008-2009? Total Responses: 99
Budget Reductions Budget Reductions
Already Implemented Already Implemented
Yes No
Possible Reductions Later
22 8
Yes
Possible Reductions Later
33 36
No
Table II
The Current Fiscal Landscape of Research Libraries: Report on the ARL Survey
6. If you answered yes, what was the percent impact on the total budget?
Total Responses: 55
Standard
Minimum Maximum Mean Median
Deviation
.04% 10% 3% 3% .0227
Table III
<1% 6
1 – 1.50% 7
2 – 2.50% 14
3 – 3.75% 6
4 – 4.70% 6
5 – 5.20% 3
6 – 6.70% 3
8 – 10% 3
The Current Fiscal Landscape of Research Libraries: Report on the ARL Survey
7. If you can, please indicate the percentage impact on Staffing, Other
Operations, and Acquisitions: Total Responses: 49
Impact on Staffing Only 15 31%
Impact on Operations only 8 16%
Impact on Acquisitions only 2 4%
Impact on Staffing and Operations 8 16%
Impact on Staffing and Acquisitions 5 10%
Impact on Operations and Acquisitions 3 6%
Impact on all three 8 16%
Table IV
The Current Fiscal Landscape of Research Libraries: Report on the ARL Survey
8. Did you award staff salary increases at the beginning of this fiscal year?
Total Responses = 55
2008 – 2009 Pay Increments
Merit increase only 16 34%
Flat percentage increase only 6 13%
Both Merit and Flat percentages 19 40%
Neither Merit nor Flat percentages 3 6%
Retention only 1 2%
Bonus only 1 2%
Retention and Bonus only 1 2%
Table V
The Current Fiscal Landscape of Research Libraries: Report on the ARL Survey
9. Please indicate which of the following staffing modifications have been
required? Check all that apply.
Hiring Freezes 34 68%
Eliminate vacant positions 29 58%
Staff layoffs 6 12%
Early retirement program 6 12%
Staff furlough(s) 2 4%
Give backs of salaries as charitable contributions to the
2 4%
university
Salary reductions 1 2%
Other 10 20%
Table VI
The Current Fiscal Landscape of Research Libraries: Report on the ARL Survey
10. 2009 – 2010 Budget Planning
Total Responses: 81
Action Number % Total
Expect Increase 9 11%
Do Not know at this time 7 9%
Expect flat budget 9 11%
Reductions expected Total: 56 69%
Yes; do not know amount 11 14%
2% - less than 5% 14 17%
5% - 10% 28 35%
Greater than 10% 3 4%
Table VII
The Current Fiscal Landscape of Research Libraries: Report on the ARL Survey
11. Best Date for 2nd Survey
4% 3%
52%
41%
May-June
July-October
November-January
later 2010
Fig. I
The Current Fiscal Landscape of Research Libraries: Report on the ARL Survey
12. The Current Fiscal Landscape of Research Libraries: Report on the ARL Survey
13. Transformational Times
www.arl.org/bm~doc/transformational-times.pdf
Transformational Times
15. Trends – Scholarly Communication
• Budget reductions will have substantial impact on library
collecting presenting opportunities as well as threats.
• ―New Model Publications‖ are beginning to move into the
mainstream.
• Libraries will begin building relationships with faculty to
promote change.
• Stronger impetus to bring dissemination back under the
auspices and control of the academy.
Transformational Times - Trends
16. Trends – Scholarly Communication
• Transformations in scholarly communication practices are
driving development and re-engineering of library services.
• The role and practices of scholarly communication are
becoming more embedded in research practices and cultures
placing new demands on libraries.
• Large funders are increasingly promoting cyberinfrastructure
development but are also developing requirements for
management of content (e.g., publications and data).
Transformational Times - Trends
17. Trends – Public Policies
• Two issues — the economy and national security — will dominate
congressional and executive branch activities.
• Congress and the administration will devote attention to review,
repeal, and/or revise government policies in a host of areas.
• There will be a renewed focus by government on technology and
innovation issues.
• Continued advances in technology will enhance search and
access.
• There will be continued focus and tension around copyright and
intellectual property issues.
Transformational Times - Trends
18. Trends – Public Policies
• There will be enhanced focus by federal funders on
cyberinfrastructure developments.
• There will be greater difficulties in trying to balance competing
policy interests with attendant challenges on the legislative
front.
• There will be increased efforts to allow new forms of
scholarship to emerge.
• There will be a continued focus on accountability and
assessment on the local, state, and national levels.
Transformational Times - Trends
19. Trends – Public Policies
Federal Research Public
Access Act (FRPAA)
Fair Copyright in Research
Works Act (H.R. 801)
Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act (FISA)
USA PATRIOT Act
Section 108
Transformational Times - Trends
20. Factors
Web 2.0
Changes to Pedagogy
Transition to e-research
Reconceptualization of collection formats
Collaboration
Downsizing and Digitization
Re-imagining roles
Shifting behaviors and expectations
Assessment
Transformational Times - Trends
21. Trends – RTL
• Libraries to construct new forms of engagement and support.
• Research library collections and collecting have new
meanings.
• Research libraries and virtual environments inhabited by
students, faculty, and researchers.
• Shifts in pedagogy affect how libraries partner with faculty to
support student learning, scholarship and productivity.
Transformational Times - Trends
22. Trends – RTL
• Libraries will discover opportunities to engage non-typical
students.
• As university budgets tighten, many library building programs
and new initiatives will face cutbacks and delays.
Transformational Times - Trends
24. University’s Role
• In the digital age, a wide range of campus servers host new
kinds of digital scholarship created within and disseminated
from academe—a renaissance of campus publishing has been
seeded.
Adapting the Research Library Mission
25. Range of Online Resources
At 46 ARL institutions, EIGHT principle types of digital scholarly
resources:
-E-only journals
-Reviews
-Preprints and working papers
-Encyclopedias, dictionaries and annotated content
-Data
-Blogs
-Discussion forums
-Professional and scholarly hubs
Adapting the Research Library Mission
26. Project Findings
- Digital innovations are taking place in all disciplines.
- Digital publishing is shaped powerfully by the traditions
of scholarly culture.
- Some of the largest projects with greatest impact have
been in existence a long while.
- Many digital publications are small, niche projects.
- There appears to be a very long tail in the field of digital
scholarly publishing.
- Innovations relating to multimedia and Web 2.0 content
and functionality are encouraging the emergence of new
types of publications.
Adapting the Research Library Mission
27. Project Findings
- Establishing credibility is not easy, but is of critical
importance.
- Achieving sustainability – especially for those projects
with an open access mandate – is a universal
challenge.
Adapting the Research Library Mission
28. Digital Scholarly Resources and
the University Library…
In addition to the volume of scholarly resources
distributed through traditional channels like commercial
publishers and university presses, independent
scholarly projects – often of great relevance, but
sometimes unknown outside their area of focus – crop
up in every discipline. Learning about these many niche
resources is only possible through an ongoing dialogue
with those scholars who create and use them.
Adapting the Research Library Mission
29. Digital Scholarly Resources
Valuable role for the library to play in supporting these
new digital initiatives
Promote high-quality Libraries important
work build audience nexus of
for digital resources Create new communication
projects
Build audience for Ongoing interaction
digital resources between the library
Put new projects
and faculty =
on surer footing
greatness
Adapting the Research Library Mission
30. Integrating
Digital Scholarly Resources are good AND
libraries must also continue to play their traditional role of
planning for preservation and archiving.
Adapting the Research Library Mission
31. Easier Said than Done
New
Standards,
Hardware, and
Operations
Migration
Traditional Roles
Adapting the Research Library Mission
